South Africa to host World Economic Forum Africa Summit 2027, government announces 09:50, January 27, 2026 By Madiketso Motaung ( People's Daily Online South Africa will once again take center stage on the global economic calendar after the World Economic Forum (WEF) confirmed that the country will host the WEF Africa Summit in 2027. The government has welcomed the decision, describing it as a strong vote of confidence in South Africa's ability to deliver world-class international events. The announcement follows closely on the country's successful hosting of the G20 Summit, reinforcing South Africa's reputation as a reliable and capable destination for large-scale global gatherings. Government officials say the WEF's decision reflects confidence in the country's institutions, its infrastructure readiness, and its track record in managing complex events safely and professionally. Beyond the diplomatic significance, the summit is expected to bring real economic benefits. Officials anticipate a boost to tourism and increased activity across sectors such as hospitality, transport, logistics and related services. More broadly, the event is seen as an opportunity to position South Africa as a key gateway for investment and trade into the African continent. The WEF Africa Summit last took place in South Africa more than seven years ago, when Cape Town hosted leaders from across the continent and beyond. Its return offers a timely platform to deepen continental cooperation, promote inclusive growth, and showcase progress on reforms shaping Africa's future. The government believes the summit will help amplify Africa's development priorities while strengthening regional and global conversations on trade, investment and structural transformation. In a statement, the South African government expressed its appreciation to the WEF for selecting the country as host, reaffirming its readiness to deliver a successful summit in 2027 and to welcome delegates from across Africa and the world. As planning gets underway, business leaders and analysts will be watching closely to see how the summit can help unlock new investment, strengthen economic ties across the continent, and highlight Africa's growing influence in the global economy. For the government, hosting the WEF Africa Summit signals a continued commitment to multilateral engagement, economic reform and sustainable, inclusive growth for all South Africans. (Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang) Interview: China's Global Governance Initiative crucial to world order: Australian historian Xinhua) 11:23, January 31, 2026 SYDNEY, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Global Governance Initiative (GGI) is crucial for the international order, said Australian historian John Queripel. "The GGI is important because without that, we've got the law of the jungle. And a world like that is constantly at violence and gives no security. It's a dangerous world. We need global governance. We need to go back to the system set in place," Queripel, also a writer and social commentator based in Newcastle, Australia, told Xinhua. Following the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, the GGI was proposed by China in 2025 to promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system and work together for a community with a shared future for humanity. Its core concepts include staying committed to sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, the people-centered approach, and real results. "The GGI is a pilot. It outlines essentially what the UN has been saying for a long time," he said. China has increasingly been seen as the side in world politics that is pressing for proper global governance, and it speaks very much of the place of the United Nations (UN) and the smaller nations, he said. Noting the United States' decision to withdraw from dozens of international organizations, Queripel said that "it's left the heavy lifting to China, particularly as a global power, but China is taking on that," adding that it's a dangerous world where the U.S. is becoming totally unpredictable. The international order is set not by the powerful, but by the United Nations, he asserted. "The alternative is that we have a peaceful international order, or we live with duplicity, unpredictable violence and the asserting of power over others," he added. "You don't have to go to war; you work things out," Queripel said, citing the ideas from "The Art of War" by the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu. "Military power has its limitations, and economic win-win is much more effective," he added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) HONG KONG, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Six people had been arrested for robbing 51 million yen (about 330,000 U.S. dollars) of cash at Hong Kong's Sheung Wan on Friday, the Hong Kong Police Force said on Saturday. The suspects, five male and one female, aged between 23 and 52, had been detained on suspicion of robbery, the police said, adding that more arrests are likely. The police said that on Friday morning, two employees of a Japanese precious metal company were carrying 190 million yen of cash for currency exchange around Des Voeux Road Central in Sheung Wan when two men snatched a backpack containing 51 million yen from them. The two men fled the scene in a getaway car. Around six hours after the incident, the police arrested the two alleged robbers of Japanese nationality, along with a female accomplice, who were carrying 4.6 million yen of the stolen cash at the Hong Kong International Airport. Two male employees of a cryptocurrency exchange were arrested later on suspicion of assisting in the disposal of stolen cash. The police also tracked down another 7 million yen at a money changer. A 27-year-old Japanese man who reported the robbery was detained after police investigation revealed that he was the alleged inside man. His contradictory statements alerted the police, who had been suspicious of the unusually precise timing of the snatch and grab. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 30, 2026) - Permex Petroleum Corporation (CSE: OIL) (FSE: 75P) ("Permex" or the "Company") has received a Notice of Default from the holders of its secured convertible debentures (the "Debentures") which were issued on November 1, 2024. The Debentures have an aggregate principal of $4,276,389 with interest accruing thereon at 10% per annum, and are secured by the Company's assets. In a letter dated January 28, 2026, Mr. Jeffrey E. Eberwein, on behalf of himself and as collateral agent for all of the other debenture holders, notified Permex that it was in default of its obligations under the Debentures by failing to make any payments on or before November 2, 2025, and made demand for immediate payment of all outstanding indebtedness under the Debentures. Mr. Eberwein further advised that unless payment is provided or alternative assurances and/or arrangements made by February 18, 2026, the Debenture holders will seek to enforce its rights and remedies under the Debentures, which may include repossession of its collateral. The Company reports that it has not filed its audited annual financial statements for the year ended September 30, 2025, the related management's discussion and analysis, and its Form 52-109FV1 CEO and CFO certifications of annual filings by the regulatory deadline of January 28, 2026. Contact Information Forward-Looking Statements The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain "forward-looking statements", which are statements about the future based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate or true. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law. We seek safe harbor. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/282286 Source: Permex Petroleum Corporation VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 30, 2026 / Star Copper Corp. (the "Company") (CSE:STCU)(OTCQX:STCUF)(FWB:SOP) is pleased to announce the grant of 3,400,000 restricted share units (the "RSUs"), 500,000 stock options (the "Options") and 500,000 performance share units (the "PSUs", together with the RSUs and Options, the "Incentive Awards") to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company under its omnibus equity incentive plan (the "Plan"). All 3,400,000 RSUs vest over a period of three years, with one third of the RSUs vesting on each of the one, two and three year anniversary from the date of grant. Upon vesting, each RSU is redeemable for one common share in the capital of the Company (the "Common Shares"), cash or a combination of Common Shares and cash in accordance with the Plan and as determined by the Company. The Company, in its sole discretion, may elect to defer the vesting of any portion of the RSUs to a subsequent year. The Options are exercisable to acquire up to 500,000 Common Shares at an exercise price of $1.15 per Common Share and expire on January 29, 2029. The Options vest as to 20% on the date of grant and each of the 6, 12, 18 and 24 month anniversaries of the date of grant. The PSUs entitle the holder to receive up to 500,000 Common Shares and will vest upon the acquisition of greater than 5.0% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company by a third party investor. The grant of the Incentive Awards is subject to the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange and applicable securities laws. On Behalf of the Board of Directors ~Darryl Jones~ Darryl Jones CEO, President & Director Star Copper Corp. About Star Copper Corp. (CSE:STCU)(OTCQX:STCUF) (FWB:SOP/WKN A416ME) Star Copper Corp. (the "Company") is an exploration and development company focused on developing high-potential copper projects in mining-friendly jurisdictions. The Company aims to advance its 100%-owned Star Project in British Columbia's prolific Golden Triangle and Sheslay District (watch our videos https://starcopper.com/media/). The project hosts multiple copper-gold porphyry-style targets, including Star Main, Star North, and Copper Creek. Significant exploration including historical drilling has confirmed open mineralization at depth and in all directions. Star Copper's strategic plans include geological mapping and geophysical surveys to refine existing targets, diamond drilling programs to test high-priority zones, environmental baseline studies and permitting groundwork alongside data analysis and resource modeling to support a future resource estimate prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The Company further plans to advance its Indata Project with follow-up drilling to expand on previous high-grade copper and gold intercepts, trenching and surface sampling to delineate mineralized zones, and infrastructure improvements for site accessibility and operations. With a commitment to sustainable development and value creation, Star Copper aims to position itself to support surging industrial demand to meet growing global electrification needs. For more information visit: www.starcopper.com to watch our selection of videos at https://starcopper.com/media/, and while you are there, sign up for free news alerts at https://starcopper.com/news/news-alerts/ or follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook or LinkedIn. More information regarding the project, including historical drilling, is available under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and/or in the Company's February 26, 2025 technical report. Investor Relations Star Copper Corp. Email: info@starcopper.com Web: https://starcopper.com/ Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans in respect of its business and properties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, but are not limited to, the early stage nature of the Company's properties, the inherently unpredictable nature of resource exploration, market conditions and the risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect, and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. SOURCE: Star Copper Corp. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/metals-and-mining/star-copper-announces-grant-of-rsus-stock-options-and-psus-1132126 Burlington, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 30, 2026) - Promino Nutritional Sciences Inc. (CSE: MUSL) (OTC: MUSLF) (FSE: 93X) ("Promino" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press releases dated December 18, 2025 and January 19, 2026, the Company has closed its private placement, issuing a total of 37,380,433 units ("Units") at a price of $0.03 per Unit for gross proceeds of $1,121,413 (the "Private Placement"). Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each, a "Share") and one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"), with each Warrant being exercisable to purchase one additional Share at a price of $0.06 for twelve (12) months from the date of issuance. In connection with the Private Placement, the Company paid finders' fees of $69,233 in cash and issued 2,307,767 finders warrants (each, a "Finder's Warrant"), with each Finder's Warrant being exercisable to purchase one Share at a price of $0.06 for twelve (12) months from date of issuance. Upon closing of the Private Placement, AlphaNorth Partners Fund Inc. ("AlphaNorth"), beneficially owns or exercises control or direction over 18,824,851 Shares, representing approximately 10.71% of the issued and outstanding Shares. Immediately prior to the closing of the Private Placement, AlphaNorth beneficially owned or exercised control or direction over 12,158,184 Shares, representing approximately 8.78% of the then issued and outstanding Shares. AlphaNorth also beneficially owns or controls 17,154,667 convertible securities of the Company. Net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to (a) accelerate growth through investments in inventory and (b) for general corporate purposes, excluding accrued salaries to officers or directors of the Company and payment for Investor Relations Activities (as such term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange). All securities issued upon closing of the Private Placement are subject to a four month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws. About Promino Nutritional Sciences Inc. Promino Nutritional Sciences is a Canadian innovation company focused on science-based, clinically proven nutrition for muscle health and recovery. Its core product, Rejuvenate Muscle Health, is a clinically researched amino acid formula designed to rebuild, restore, and rejuvenate muscle tissue. The Company also produces Promino - NSF Certified for Sport, trusted by elite athletes. Promino's ambassadors include Stanley Cup Champion Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights) and MLB legend Jose Bautista. Learn more at www.drinkpromino.com and www.rejuvenatemuscle.com . Forward-Looking Statements and Financial Outlook This news release contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipates", "expects" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the expectations of management regarding the proposed Offering, and the expectations of management regarding the use of proceeds of the Offering. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including that: the Company may not complete the Offering on terms favorable to the Company or at all; the Canadian Securities Exchange may not approve the Offering; the proceeds of the Offering may not be used as stated in this news release; the Company may be unable to satisfy all of the conditions to closing of the Offering; and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca 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. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. For further information about Promino: 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/282290 Source: Promino Nutritional Sciences, Inc. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 30, 2026) - Spark Energy Minerals Inc. (CSE: SPRK) (OTCID: SPARF) (FSE: 8PC) ("Spark" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that the Canadian Securities Exchange has approved an extension of the expiry date of 2,241,668 common share purchase warrants originally issued on January 31, 2024 (the "January Warrants") from January 31, 2025 to February 22, 2026. The extension aligns the expiry of the January Warrants with the end of the Company's previously announced warrant incentive program (the "Incentive Program"), providing holders of the January Warrants with additional time to participate in the Incentive Program before its conclusion on February 22, 2026. During the Incentive Program, the January Warrants have a reduced exercise price of $0.05. In addition, the Company will grant to each holder who exercises their January Warrants during the Incentive Program one additional common share purchase warrant for each January Warrant exercised (each, an "Incentive Warrant"). Each Incentive Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one common share of the Company for a period of 1 year from the date of issuance, at a price of $0.06 per share. All other terms of the Incentive Program remain unchanged. For further details on the Incentive Program, please refer to the Company's news release dated January 21, 2026. About Spark Energy Minerals Inc. Spark Energy Minerals Inc. is a Canadian company advancing the exploration and development of critical minerals essential to the clean-energy transition. The Company's primary focus is Brazil, where it controls a significant land position within the country's emerging Lithium Valley - a region recognized for its lithium, gallium, and rare-earth potential. Spark's flagship Arapaima Project spans approximately 91,900 hectares and hosts multiple targets for lithium and gallium-REE mineralization. Through systematic exploration, Spark aims to help strengthen the secure and sustainable supply of minerals that power electrification, renewable energy, and modern technologies. The Company is committed to responsible exploration practices and supporting Brazil's development of a transparent, sustainable critical-minerals supply chain. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/282291 Source: Spark Energy Minerals Inc. VICTORIA, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 30, 2026 / Boron One Holdings Inc. ("Boron One" or the "Company") (TSXV:BONE) is pleased to announce that the Company has accepted subscriptions for 10,135,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit, for gross proceeds of $506,750. Each unit is comprised of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, exercisable for three years from the date of closing, at an exercise price of $0.05 in the first year, and $0.10 in the following two years (the "Warrant Exercise Period", subject to the Corporation's option to accelerate the expiry date if the stock trades at $0.12 per common share for the initial exercise period and $0.22 per common share for the subsequent period. The Common Shares and Warrants comprising the Units will be subject to a four-month and one day hold period in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable securities legislation. Related parties transactions account for 240,000 of the units to be issued to one insider, making this a related party transaction. The Company is relying upon exemptions contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7 (a) of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the shares being issued to the insider is less than 25% of the market capitalization of the Company. The Company intends to use net proceeds of the Private Placement for working capital requirements. The Company paid finder's fees to qualified finders of $19,250 and issued 231,000 broker warrants. The Private Placement is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including approval from the TSX Venture Exchange. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Tim Daniels, President About Boron One Holdings Inc. Boron One Holdings Inc. is an international mineral exploration and development company with boron assets in Serbia. Headquartered in Victoria, B.C., Canada, Boron One's shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BONE". For detailed information please see Boron One's website at www.boronone.com or the Company's filed documents at www.sedar.com. For further information, please contact: Boron's Public Quotations : Boron One Holdings Inc Blake Fallis, General Manager Phone: 1-250- 384-1999 or 1-888-289-3746 info@boronone.com www.boronone.com Canada TSX Venture:BONE Berlin:EKV US:SEC 12G3-2(B) #82-4432ERVFF OTC PINK:ERVFF 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 news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Such forward-looking information is provided to inform the Company's shareholders and potential investors about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "anticipate", "proposed", "estimates", "would", "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "will", and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking information contain these identifying words. More particularly and without limitation, the forward-looking information in this news release includes: expectations regarding the Company's business plans and operations. Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and assumptions that have been used to develop such information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the Company's current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs based on information currently available to the Company. Whether actual results, performance, or achievements will conform to the Company's expectations and predictions is subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the Company's expectations. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. SOURCE: Boron One Holdings Inc. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/metals-and-mining/boron-one-announces-first-closing-of-financing-1132129 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 30, 2026) - Carlyle Commodities Corp. (CSE: CCC) (FSE: BJ4) ("Carlyle") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release of January 23, 2026, it has upsized its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") to aggregate gross proceeds of up to $3,750,000 and has closed the second and final tranche thereof. Under the second tranche, Carlyle issued 104,500,000 subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.01 ($0.20 on a post-Consolidation basis) per Subscription Receipt, for additional gross proceeds of approximately $1,045,000 In total, Carlyle raised aggregate gross proceeds of $3,750,000 under the Private Placement. The Private Placement was conducted in connection with Carlyle's proposed business combination (the "Transaction") with Silver Pony Resources Corp. ("Silver Pony"). As previously announced, Carlyle intends to consolidate its common shares in connection with the Transaction on a basis of 20 pre-consolidation shares for 1 post-consolidation share (the "Consolidation"). Carlyle Chief Executive Officer and Director, Mr. Morgan Good, commented: "Obviously we are excited at the level of investor interest in this offering and to close it so swiftly. Many interested investors unfortunately were not able to participate as the Company was mindful of dilution while strengthening its balance sheet to support upcoming exploration activities and broader corporate initiatives." Each Subscription Receipt will automatically convert into one unit of Carlyle (a "Unit") (for no further consideration and without any further action by the holders thereof) upon all conditions for the closing of the Transaction being satisfied or waived (the "Escrow Release Condition"). Each Unit will consist of one common share of Carlyle (each a "Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of Carlyle (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share of Carlyle (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.015 ($0.30 on a post-Consolidation basis) per Warrant Share for a period of 18 months following the date on which the Escrow Release Condition is satisfied, subject to adjustment in certain events. The expiry date of the Warrants may be accelerated if the closing price of the Shares on any Canadian stock exchange equals or exceeds $0.025 ($0.50 on a post-Consolidation basis) for five consecutive trading days. In such event, Carlyle may, within 15 business days following the occurrence of that condition, accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by issuing a news release, in which case the Warrants will expire on the date that is 30 calendar days after the date of such news release, as specified therein. The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be held in escrow pending satisfaction of the Escrow Release Condition. In the event the Escrow Release Condition is not satisfied or waived within 180 days following the closing date of the Private Placement, the net proceeds of the Private Placement will be returned to the subscribers in accordance with the terms of the subscription receipts. If the Escrow Release Condition is met, Carlyle anticipates that the net proceeds will be used for exploration work on the Silver Pony Resources Trout Lake Projects and general working capital. In connection with the second tranche, Carlyle: (i) paid to certain eligible finders an aggregate cash commission of $51,200; and (ii) issued to certain finders an aggregate of 6,960,000 finder's warrants (each a "Finder's Warrant"). Each Finder's Warrant is exercisable into one unit of the Company (a "Finder's Unit") at an exercise price of $0.01 ($0.20 on a post-Consolidation basis) for a period of 18 months from the date of issuance. Each Finder's Unit is comprised of one Share and one-half of one warrant (a "Finder's Unit Warrant"). Each full Finder's Unit Warrant is exercisable into one Share at an exercise price of $0.015 ($0.30 on a post-Consolidation basis) per share for a period of 18 months from the date of issuance. In total, Carlyle paid aggregate cash commissions of $176,000 and issued an aggregate of 19,440,000 Finder's Warrants under the Private Placement. All securities issued in connection with the Private Placement are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance. The Company also wishes to clarify that its news release of January 23, 2026, inadvertently stated that it had raised $2,855,000 in the first tranche; the correct amount raised in the first tranche was $2,705,000. For more information regarding the Transaction, please refer to Carlyle's news release dated December 31, 2025. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. About Carlyle Carlyle is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties. Carlyle owns 100% of the Quesnel Gold Project located in the Cariboo Mining Division, 30 kilometers northeast of Quesnel in central B.C, as well hold the option to acquire 100% undivided interest in the Nicola East Mining Project, located approximately 25 kilometers east of the mining town of Merritt, B.C., and is listed on the CSE under the symbol "CCC" and the Frankfurt Exchange under the ticker "BJ4". ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CARLYLE CARLYLE COMMODITIES CORP. "Morgan Good" Morgan Good President and Chief Executive Officer 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 Carlyle regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "expects", 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 completion of the Transaction and the Consolidation; the satisfaction of the Escrow Release Condition and the timing thereof; the conversion of the Subscription Receipts; the use of the net proceeds from the Private Placement for exploration on the Trout Lake Projects and for general working capital; and the advancement of the Trout Lake Projects. These forward-looking 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: that the Escrow Release Condition will not be satisfied, that the Transaction will not close, that the Consolidation will not be completed, and that the net proceeds will not be used as anticipated. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, Carlyle has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that: the Escrow Release Condition will be satisfied, the Transaction will close, the Consolidation will be completed as anticipated, and the net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used as anticipated. Although management of Carlyle 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. 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 release. 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/282292 Source: Carlyle Commodities Corp. BANGALORE, India, Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the world's largest independent IT and business consulting services firms, has appointed Gopal Chhetri, Senior Vice-President, Asia Pacific Global Delivery Centers of Excellence, to lead CGI's Global Capability Centers (GCCs) business. Gopal will lead CGI's AI-first GCC strategy, helping scale delivery and transformation capabilities for clients and strengthening India's role in CGI's global delivery ecosystem. As GCCs move beyond scale to become strategic engines for innovation, modernization, and resilience, CGI is strengthening its capabilities to help clients embed GCCs at the core of their enterprise agenda, aligned to strategic priorities and accountable for measurable business outcomes. "CGI supports hundreds of leading global enterprises from its Asia Pacific Global Delivery Centers of Excellence. With over 25 years of industry experience, Gopal's appointment strengthens our ability to help our clients move from process efficiency to measurable business outcomes, including improved customer experience and business performance," said Rakesh Aerath, President, CGI Asia Pacific Global Delivery Centers of Excellence. Gopal's appointment reinforces CGI's focus on client proximity and its commitment to enabling clients to set up, scale, and transform their GCCs, leveraging its global delivery model and decades of experience to create sustained value from their investments. "I'm honored to take on this role at a time when GCCs are redefining their purpose and value for the enterprise. Today, clients are evolving from execution to orchestration and want GCCs that can modernize platforms, use AI responsibly, and create lasting enterprise value. We look forward to helping clients evolve their GCCs into strategic hubs that support their global operations," said Gopal Chhetri. As the GCC leader, Gopal will focus on expanding CGI's GCC business, and scaling capabilities across digital engineering, cloud, and AI, as well as talent development, leadership pipelines, collaboration and market-ready delivery blueprints. About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 94,000 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2025 reported revenue is CA$15.91 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2771653/CGI_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/cgi-appoints-gopal-chhetri-to-lead-its-global-capability-centers-business-302674226.html ATLANTA, Jan. 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Media personality, author, and cultural commentator Jay Walker has signed a three-book publishing deal with Legacy Ink, following the release of his debut book, Once Broken, Now Bold: My Search for God in a Restless America. The multi-book agreement marks a significant expansion of Walker's relationship with Legacy Ink and positions him as a cornerstone voice in the publisher's growing catalog of faith-driven, culture-conscious works. The deal builds on the momentum generated by Once Broken, Now Bold, which has been praised for its raw honesty and thoughtful engagement with faith, identity, and purpose in a divided and restless America. Once Broken, Now Bold chronicles Walker's personal journey through brokenness, public scrutiny, spiritual searching, and renewal. Blending memoir with cultural commentary, the book speaks directly to readers navigating faith outside of traditional boxes while still seeking truth, healing, and clarity. "Jay Walker is not interested in surface-level inspiration," said Marcus Ellington, Senior Publishing Director at Legacy Ink. "His writing challenges readers to wrestle honestly with God, culture, and themselves. This three-book deal reflects our long-term commitment to his voice and vision." Under the new agreement, Walker will release two additional titles with Legacy Ink over the coming years. While details remain under wraps, the forthcoming books will continue to explore themes of spiritual formation, leadership, and living boldly in an era marked by uncertainty and rapid change. Walker's influence spans podcasting, television, live events, and social commentary, where he is known for merging faith with unfiltered storytelling. The publishing deal further solidifies authorship as a central pillar of his broader media and impact platform. Once Broken, Now Bold: My Search for God in a Restless America is available now through major booksellers. About Jay Walker Jay Walker is an author, media host, and entrepreneur whose work sits at the intersection of faith, culture, and personal transformation. Known for his candid voice and fearless storytelling, Walker continues to build platforms that inspire reflection, growth, and bold living. About Legacy Ink Legacy Ink is a faith-forward publishing company committed to amplifying voices that challenge, heal, and inspire. WOAHRAE, Inc. is the majority owner of Legacy Ink, holding a 52% ownership stake, supporting the company's mission to develop culturally resonant, impact-driven authors and stories that leave a lasting legacy. Media Inquiries: Khali West kwest@woahrae.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae1719fa-c5a1-4ffc-ae73-91e76333b8c8 LUCKNOW, India, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Uttar Pradesh is expanding its international engagement through a series of direct partnerships with global economies, focusing on clean energy, advanced manufacturing, skilling, urban services, and digital infrastructure. The state's approach centres on sector-specific collaboration aligned with its development priorities, positioning it as an emerging player in subnational economic diplomacy. This strategy was reflected on Wednesday during a courtesy call in Lucknow between Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and an eight-member high-level delegation from Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture, led by Vice Governor Junichi Ishidera. The meeting reviewed progress under the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2024 between the Government of Uttar Pradesh and Yamanashi Prefecture, with discussions focusing on clean energy, green hydrogen, innovation, and capacity building. Welcoming the delegation, the Chief Minister underlined the importance of the India-Japan partnership, highlighting cooperation in sustainable development and industrial technology. He shared updates on Uttar Pradesh's green hydrogen roadmap, including the establishment of Centres of Excellence to support research, innovation, and skill development. The Uttar Pradesh Green Hydrogen Policy 2024 was also outlined, with the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) designated as the nodal agency for implementation. The delegation was informed about effective implementation of the MoU signed for green hydrogen project in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority region. Japanese representatives acknowledged the progress made by the state in clean energy and expressed interest in further collaboration. Alongside Japan, Uttar Pradesh has been engaging with several other countries to advance sector-led partnerships. With the United Kingdom, the state is working on education, skilling, urban services, and heritage tourism. Germany is collaborating on manufacturing excellence, skill development, and industrial standards, while the Netherlands is supporting initiatives in water management and urban resilience. South Korea is partnering with the state to strengthen electronics and advanced manufacturing hubs. The state's global outreach received further momentum at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Uttar Pradesh signed a USD 25-billion Memorandum of Understanding with AM Green, among the largest single MoUs signed by an Indian state. The agreement includes the development of a 1-gigawatt AI hyperscale data centre, aimed at positioning Uttar Pradesh as a key node in the global digital infrastructure landscape. Uttar Pradesh Government officials said the State is working through specialised agencies and industrial development authorities, with a focus on translating international cooperation into on-ground outcomes across sectors. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2873495/Uttar_Pradesh.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/uttar-pradeshs-global-outreach-building-direct-international-partnerships-for-growth-and-sustainability-302675584.html Regulatory News: Winamp Group (Paris: ALWIN) (Brussels: ALWIN), owner of the Winamp, Jamendo and Bridger platforms, continued in 2025 the strategic transformation initiated around Winamp for Creators. The year was marked by a phase of structuring and preparation, both in terms of product and commercial development, aimed at creating the conditions for a gradual ramp-up of monetization starting in 2026. In this context, the Group's normalized consolidated revenue amounted to 2.15 million, reflecting a deliberately managed transition phase. "The foundations are now in place to drive effective revenue growth from 2026 onward. The features to be delivered by the end of February will complete a fully-fledged platform designed to meet artists' concrete monetization needs. Product reception and the interest expressed by creators confirm the relevance of the strategy launched two years ago. This construction phase was essential to bring together, within a single platform, services that are currently fragmented across multiple players. We invite investors to join us on Thursday, February 26, for a dedicated webinar focused on our 2026 outlook," comments Alexandre Saboundjian, CEO of Winamp Group. 2025: A year dedicated to structuring an international artist base Winamp Group continued to expand its international artist base. Approximately 75,000 artists are now registered across the Group's platforms, including around 5,000 artists on the Winamp for Creators platform. Among these 5,000 artists, the majority are still using the platform under free offerings or in a discovery phase, with monetization expected to build progressively. The Group's priority is to support this base toward revenue-generating offerings, with an initial structuring objective set at 10,000 monetized artists on Winamp for Creators-a threshold from which revenue dynamics are expected to accelerate significantly. The first marketing campaign, entitled "Creator Program" and launched at the end of 2025, enabled Winamp Group to engage with more than 4,000 artists across over 110 countries, confirming the platform's international appeal and the relevance of its positioning for independent creators. In 2025, the catalog managed by Winamp Group expanded significantly and is expected to generate recurring revenues in the coming years. To date, more than 100,000 tracks have been entrusted to the Group for the recovery of revenues generated on YouTube through YouTube Content ID, as well as 34,000 tracks entrusted to Bridger for copyright management. Winamp for Creators: a complete, credible and monetization-driven platform In 2025, Winamp Group reached a decisive milestone in the development of Winamp for Creators, with a platform now nearly complete, and the final features scheduled for deployment by the end of February. The focus was placed on developing differentiated marketing tools, designed as a genuine conversion lever to support artists in their transition from freemium offerings to paid subscriptions. The platform also integrates an enhanced copyright management offering led by Bridger, a Group entity that has become a member of CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers). This institutional recognition guarantees a high level of quality, reliability and international coverage, strengthening the credibility of Winamp for Creators with artists and partners. In the same spirit of defending creators' rights, Jamendo continues to actively pursue legal actions initiated following the alleged use of its catalog in developments related to artificial intelligence, in order to protect artists' rights and the integrity of its catalog. Jamendo will communicate on the next steps of the proceedings opposing Suno and Nvidia when appropriate. 2025 Revenue Winamp Group's normalized consolidated revenue amounted to 2,149,774 in 2025, compared with 2,286,297 in 2024. Reported consolidated revenue totaled 1,753,185, with the difference resulting from improvements in revenue recognition methods in accordance with IFRS 15, as detailed in the press release dated July 31, 2025, relating to first-half revenue. "The 2025 financial year reflects a deliberate construction phase, during which we prioritized product quality, the credibility of our offering and the gradual structuring of monetization." explains Olivier Van Gulck, CFO of Winamp Group 2026: Raising awareness of the new Winamp and accelerating monetization Following a 2025 year focused on product structuring and building an international artist base, the key challenge for 2026 will be the market adoption of Winamp's new positioning among creators. While Winamp remains largely associated, in the collective imagination, with its legacy as a music player, the Group intends to shift scale by making Winamp for Creators a reference platform for independent artists. 2026 is expected to be a year of acceleration, driven by: a now complete and proven platform, an artist base progressively converting to paid offerings, the materialization of strategic partnerships with key players in the music ecosystem. Next Meeting February 6, 2026 Extraordinary General Meeting About Winamp Group Winamp Group is a pioneering and leading company in the digital music industry. With extensive expertise spanning multiple business areas, the Group owns the iconic Winamp platform, the copyright management company Bridger, and the music licensing company Jamendo. Winamp Group aims to build the future of the music industry by making sustained investments in innovative solutions, as well as in the talent and skills of people who love music. The Group upholds the core values of its brands: empowerment, access, simplicity and fairness. Winamp envisions a world where artists and their fans are more connected than ever through a cutting-edge music platform. Bridger's mission is to support songwriters by offering a simple and innovative solution to collect their rights. Jamendo enables independent artists to generate additional revenues through commercial licensing. Finally, Hotmix offers a bouquet of more than sixty free thematic digital radio stations. About Winamp www.winamp.com Winamp redefines the music experience by creating an innovative platform that strengthens the connection between artists and their fans. We provide powerful tools that enable creators to manage their music, grow their audience and maximize their revenues, while delivering a seamless listening experience through the Winamp Player. Winamp for Creators is our dedicated platform, designed to give music artists everything they need to succeed. From monetization tools to music management services, it brings together essential resources that empower creators to take control of their careers. About Hotmix Radio Hotmix offers a selection of over 60 personalized music stations, accessible via www.hotmixradio.com and the Hotmix mobile applications. Designed for true music lovers, Hotmix delivers an authentic and transparent listening experience, perfectly tailored to your mood, atmosphere and daily rhythm-whether at home, on the go, dining with friends or working out. Crafted with passion by our best human programmers, each stream is carefully curated to deliver music that resonates. Choose your Hotmix. Click and listen! About Jamendo www.jamendo.com Jamendo's mission is to connect musicians and music lovers around the world. Our goal is to bring together a global independent music community by creating a unique experience and generating value around it. Jamendo provides the ideal platform for independent artists to share their creations as easily as possible, while reaching new audiences internationally. About Bridger www.bridgermusic.io Bridger is committed to supporting songwriters by offering innovative solutions for copyright collection. Designed as an intuitive and easy-to-use copyright management platform, Bridger enables songwriters to register their musical works in just a few minutes and unlock additional revenue streams beyond their digital distributor. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260131685351/en/ Contacts: Investors Relations Olivier Van Gulck investors@llama-group.com Crew members cast a net into the sea on Jan. 28, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) A crew member unloads the catches at the vessel on Jan. 28, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) The sun rises over the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 29, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) Crew members transfer the catches from a shuttle boat at the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 29, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) People buy seafood at the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 29, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) Crew members sort out the catches at the vessel on Jan. 28, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) Crew members transfer the catches to a shuttle boat at dawn near the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 29, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) The fishing vessel of Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang is seen anchoring near the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 28, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) Crew members operate at night at the vessel on Jan. 28, 2026. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) This photo taken on Jan. 28, 2026 shows the sorted-out catches at the vessel. As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) This combo photo shows Huang Ningbo sails to the operation area on Jan. 28, 2026 (above), and he sails back at dawn to the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 29, 2026 (below). As dawn breaks, the Bohe port in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, is already a bustling scene. Captain Huang Ningbo and his brother Huang Ninglang steer their fishing vessel, leading the crew to the sea for fishing operations. Each fishing expedition is a battle against the sea for freshness. After the procedures of setting nets, hauling them in, sorting the catches, and returning to port, Huang and the crew deliver their freshly harvested seafood to the Bohe port in the early hours of the next morning for market selling. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan) Streaming on Sony LIV, Freedom At Midnight Season 2 explores the aftermath of Indias Independence, placing Pandit Nehru at the heart of its narrative Actor Sidhant is receiving widespread praise from audiences and the film industry alike for his portrayal of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Freedom At Midnight Season 2. Ever since the series began streaming, social media has been buzzing with admiration for the actors nuanced performance, with viewers applauding his attention to detail from his physicality and walk to his dialogue delivery and emotional restraint. Netizens, in particular, have flooded Sidhants comment sections with glowing reviews, calling his portrayal impactful, authentic, and deeply moving. Many viewers feel that he has successfully embodied not just the look of Indias first Prime Minister, but also the immense responsibility and emotional weight Nehru carried during a defining phase of the nations history. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Heres what neitizens have to say - one viewer wrote, The tension and emotion in your voice at that very moment and at that very scene is commendable! @sidhant, highlighting the gravitas he brought to the role. Another fan praised his dedication and journey, commenting, All the hard work, detachment from social media are now finally paying off! Its now your performance that is doing all the talking! So proud of you! Several admirers were especially struck by his expressions and screen presence, with comments like The Expressions! Fire and You were just brilliant dominating the discussion. Long-time fans also acknowledged his growth as an actor. I have been watching you since 2016. Youve come a longgggg way and Im so proud of you, read one heartfelt note. The appreciation extends beyond netizens, with filmmaker Nikkhil Advani resharing praise for the performance, while casting director Vaibhav Vishant and writer Arpita Chatterjee also lauded the cast and the emotional impact of the series. Games View All Streaming on Sony LIV, Freedom At Midnight Season 2 explores the aftermath of Indias Independence, placing Pandit Nehru at the heart of its narrative. For Sidhant, the role marks a major career milestone, reinforcing his ability to shoulder complex, historically significant characters with depth and conviction. The first film minted Rs 3.44 crore on day one, the second Rs 3.75 crore on the second day, and Mardaani 3 has opened at Rs 3.80 crore. All eyes are now on the weekend business Rani Mukerjis cop drama Mardaani that came out in 2014 soon bloomed into a franchise for Yash Raj Films. The second part came in 2019 and part three has come out in 2026. And as per the early estimates of its box-office collections, it has become the biggest opener of the franchise. The first film minted Rs 3.44 crore on day one, the second Rs 3.75 crore on the second day, and _Mardaani 3_ has opened at Rs 3.80 crore. All eyes are now on the weekend business. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The narrative of the thriller foregoes levity in favour of stark visuals and a soundtrack that underscores the emotional weight of the case. The central mystery, that of almost 100 girls reported missing in 3 months, is revealed to be part of a chilling, well-organised criminal enterprise, forcing Shivani and her team into a relentless pursuit that tests both her resolve and resourcefulness. Bollywood hails Rani Mukerji Ranbir Kapoor is really happy to see the entire film industry of India come together to celebrate his favourite actor Rani Mukerjis 30th year in cinema with Mardaani 3! Rani was Kapoors co-star in his debut film Saawariya and was there for him when he needed someone the most. So, Ranbir roots for Rani to win with every film, every performance. Ranbir says, Rani is the co-star of my first film Sawaariya and she is the first person who told me that if I worked hard, I would go a long way. I will never forget that interaction because it gave me so much confidence when I needed it the most. I have seen her as a person closely, I have seen her work closely and have been bowled over by her grace, charm and brilliance. Games View All He adds, It is really amazing to see the entire industry come forward to celebrate 30 years of her iconic legacy. I have always felt that Rani is one for the ages, one of the greatest ever actors in India and someone who has defined our industry through her work. Her choice of projects and roles have shaped how women are portrayed on the screen today. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Nikki Glaser discussed the Epstein Files at Golden Globes 2026. Read all about the Epstein Files and the big names connected to it. American comedian and actress Nikki Glaser surprised everybody at the Golden Globes 2026 when she spoke about whats being called as the Epstein Files. Here is everything you need to know about the controversial files. It has its connection with child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who passed away in 2019. What are The Epstein Files? The Epstein files are a body of documents detailing the criminal activities of American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his affiliates. During the American presidential election campaign, it was the idea of Donald Trump. However, he has since said that the files are simply fabrications by members of the Democratic Party. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A lot of pictures have surfaced on social media that go way back in time. It has pictures of public figures like Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, and Kevin Spacey. According to a report by US media, at least 16 files have disappeared from the Internet. And as per The Epstein Files Transparency Act, the government was required to release all the unclassified material in its possession that was related to Epsteins sexual offenses. The other celebrities that have been captured in the photographs from the files are comedian Chris Tucker, billionaire Richard Branson, the former United Kingdom ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor formerly known as the UKs Prince Andrew and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson. After years of negotiations, India and the European Union sealed the largest trade deal for both sides covering two billion people and about 25 per cent of the worlds GDP. This is the eighth such free trade agreement for New Delhi in the past six years. Thats what makes FTA our Word of the Week Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a photograph with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. The leaders of India and the European Union announced the "mother of all trade deals" after two decades of negotiations. AFP This week, all eyes turned to New Delhi as the country marked its 77th Republic Day. While the parade to mark the occasion struck the perfect balance of showcasing military might along with our rich culture, much of the attention was on the chief guests at the event Antonio Luis Santos da Costa, the president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. But the Republic Day parade wasnt the sole purpose for the EU delegations visit to India. A day after the January 26 celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the EU officials sat down for a crucial India-EU summit, following which it was announced that talks on the historic and ambitious free trade agreement, which had been in the pipeline for a while, had been finalised and that they had sealed the mother of all trade deals. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The trade deal, the largest for both sides, covers about two billion people and represents a combined market of nearly $27 trillion and about 25 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). As you sit back this weekend and relax, we discuss this trade deal in length and why we chose it as our pick for Word of the Week. Also, before you think it, yes, we know Free Trade Agreement isnt one word :=) A Free Trade Agreement, explained A free trade agreement is an arrangement in which two or more countries commit to opening up their markets to one another by lowering or removing tariffs, quotas, and other trade barriers, making it easier for goods and services to move between them. These deals help create an open and competitive international marketplace. Unlike what many may think, free trade agreements, FTAs, dont abandon all control of imports and exports. In many cases, an FTA would have policies in place that exempt specific products from tariff-free status to protect home producers from foreign competition in their industries. Many believe that the Cobden-Chevalier treaty, concluded in 1860 between Britain and France, was the first ever free trade agreement signed, with many describing this deal as the priming of a free trade epidemic that infected the European continent and led to a swift break with centuries of protection. As the World Trade Organisation notes in one report, over a period of 15 years since signing the Cobden-Chevalier treaty, this led to the conclusion of 56 similar PTAs in Europe, liberalising trade. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Indias tryst with FTAs In an attempt to establish improve trade with countries, India has long been pursuing trade deals with other countries. It was in 1998 that India signed its first ever FTA Sri Lanka, followed by the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), which was signed in 2004. In 2005, it signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore, and later, a wider FTA with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2010. This was followed by a lull period from 2012 to 2021. From 2021 onwards, the country once again turned its focus on trade agreements and to date, it has finalised eight such pacts. It began with the MauritiusIndia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership in February of 2021. Next came the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE on February 18, 2022. Under this deal, which came into force in May, the UAE eliminated 97 per cent of tariff lines, covering 99 per cent of Indias exports. In turn, India removed tariffs on 80 per cent of goods. Next came the FTA with Australia in April, making 85 per cent of Australian goods exports to India by value tariff-free. In 2024, India signed an FTA with the European Free Trade Association, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland under which $100 billion worth of investments were committed and one million direct jobs was promised. Pigeons sit near a poster of Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcoming British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Mumbai. The FTA between India and the UK is expected to boost bilateral trade by $34 billion annually. File image/Reuters Then in July 2025, PM Modi signed off on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the United Kingdom that provides duty-free access to 99 per cent of Indias exports to the UK, covering nearly 100 per cent of the trade value. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In the same year, India also signed an FTA with Oman and New Zealand. While Muscat agreed to duty-free access for 99.38 per cent of Indias exports, Wellington offered duty-free access for all Indian exports and pledged $20 billion in investments by 2040. And now, the mother of all trade deals And following with this trend, on January 27, India finally sealed a FTA with the European Union, with von der Leyen saying, We did it, we delivered the mother of all deals along side PM Modi and European Council President Antonio Costa. After years of negotiations, the two sides agreed on a pact which slashes or removes tariffs on the vast majority of goods. India will eliminate duties on 93 per cent of EU imports by value; the EU will do so for 99 per cent of Indian exports. As PM Modi told Indian workers and industry leaders in sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery that the agreement will prove very helpful for you, adding that it will not only boost manufacturing in India but will also expand Indias services sector. This free trade agreement will strengthen confidence in India for every business and every investor in the world. India is working extensively on global partnerships in all sectors, Modi said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The agreement will make certain EU goods cheaper in India European cars, chemicals and plastics, pearls and precious metals, chocolates and olive oil, wine, beer and spirits among others. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Council President Antonio Costa attend a joint press statement at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi where they announced the sealing of the India-EU FTA. File image/Reuters India will also provide improved access for EU firms in financial and maritime services, and both sides will simplify customs rules and provide stronger intellectual property protections. But this trade deal isnt just about the India and the EU and the strengthening of their ties. The FTA is also an attempt by both sides to diversify further, especially at a time when US President Donald Trump is upending the world order with his tariff regime. At 50 per cent, India is one of the most heavily tariffed nations by the US under Trump. Meanwhile, EU tensions with the Trump administration have been building as well, particularly over the US presidents insistence that the US be allowed to take over Greenland, which is a territory of EU member Denmark. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And buoyed by the FTA with the EU, India is looking to sign off on more such trade deals, with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, world-leading authority on global security, political risk and military conflict, noting that Delhi is in active negotiations for 11 trade agreements covering 24 countries. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died after his private plane came crashing down near the runway at the Baramati airport. What went wrong on that flight? We explore this and more in our weekly roundup People pay their last respects to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar after he was killed in a VSR Ventures-operated Learjet 45 aircraft crash in Baramati, January 28, 2026. Reuters India was in a state of shock this week. Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, died in a plane crash in Baramati. His sudden demise has raised questions about who could be the next Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief. In a big victory for India, New Delhi has announced a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU). Dubbed the mother of all trade deals, both sides are set to benefit from the pact. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD There has been a resurgence of the incurable Nipah virus in India. Two cases have been confirmed in West Bengal, leading to fears across Asia. Heres all this and more in our weekly wrap from India. 1. Ajit Pawar, a prominent politician from Maharashtra, was killed in a plane crash this week. The Learjet 45 aircraft carrying him and four others, including two crew members, tilted to its left moments before crashing near the runway at the Baramati airport. The other people on board the aircraft included Captain Sumit Kapoor and co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak, both experienced pilots; personal security officer Vidip Jadhav; and flight attendant Pinky Mali. The plane flew for just thirty-five minutes after taking off from Mumbai before it crashed. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is probing the incident to determine what caused the private aircraft to come down. We trace the final moments of the ill-fated aircraft here. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel look at the wreckage of the Learjet 45 aircraft in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others were killed after it crashed in Baramati, January 28, 2026. Reuters 2. Ajit Pawars demise has stunned Maharashtra. The NCP chief had reshaped the politics of the state, emerging as one of the most powerful leaders. Politicians across party lines mourned his death. Ajit is survived by his wife, Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar, and their two sons Parth and Jay. The 66-year-old was the nephew of NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar. This story looks at who is who in the family. 3. India and the EU have announced the completion of formal talks on the long-awaited FTA. Under the pact, tariffs on European-made cars imported into India would be significantly reduced from the current 110 per cent to just 10 per cent. Not just cars, the deal will result in a sharp reduction in tariffs on most goods traded between the two sides. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The agreement has been hailed by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was the chief guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations. This agreement will bring major opportunities for the people of India and Europe, Modi said. It represents 25 per cent of the global GDP and one-third of global trade. Von der Leyen posted on X, India and Europe have made a clear choice. The choice of strategic partnership, dialogue and openness. We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible. The pact will be implemented in about a year, but why has it not been signed yet? We explain here. 4. Indias free trade agreement with the EU comes at a time when New Delhis ties with the United States have frayed. While Washington is trying to pressure India with its high tariffs, New Delhi has advanced towards lowering dependence on the US. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Indias ties with the EU have strengthened over the years. The new trade deal could see European exports to India double by 2032, as per the bloc. Trade between India and the EU surpassed that between India and the US as well as between India and China. We take a look at how India is coming closer to the EU. 5. The resurgence of Nipah virus cases in India has caused anxiety across Asia. The virus, which is transmitted from animals to humans, has a fatality rate of up to 75 per cent. Currently, there is no cure or vaccine for the infection. Reports of multiple cases in West Bengal have spurred worries in China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, when travel increases. It has also led to screening measures at airports across Asia. Recently, a new study found that an oral antiviral medication could help manage outbreaks of the deadly virus, Chinese researchers say. Read more here. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 6. India celebrated its 77th Republic Day this week. European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President von der Leyen were the chief guests at the grand parade in New Delhi. India showcased its military might on the Kartavya Path in the first R-Day parade since Operation Sindoor. From battle tanks and drones to hypersonic glide missiles, the countrys defence capabilities wowed the audience. There were also many firsts in this years parade. We take a look here. India celebrated Republic Day with great enthusiasm and pride. The magnificent parade at Kartavya Path showcased the strength of our democracy, the richness of our heritage and the unity that binds our nation together. Here are some glimpses pic.twitter.com/0wqbrR0Phx Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 26, 2026 7. The University Grants Commission (UGC) faced a huge backlash over its new equity regulations to prevent caste-based discrimination in colleges and universities. The rules defined caste-based discrimination as discrimination only on the basis of caste or tribe against members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). This led to nationwide outrage among the upper-castes who claimed the regulations were non-inclusionary. They also flagged concerns about their potential misuse. The Supreme Court has now put the UGCs new rules in abeyance. But what were in the statutory bodys regulations? We explain here. This is all we have for you this week. If you like our analyses of the latest news, you can bookmark this page. The motive behind bombing the coffee shops, the arrested doctors were seeking to send a message to the Israeli military over its war in Gaza. However, some members of the group wanted to limit their attacks to security forces in Jammu and Kashmir Security personnel gather at the blast site after an explosion near the Red Fort in the old quarters of Delhi on November 10, 2025. AFP File The group of doctors who were behind Delhis car blast that killed over a dozen people in November last year was targeting a global coffee chain whose owner is a Jew. According to a report by The Hindu, the white collar terror module was active and planning the attacks for the past four years. The terror module was reportedly set to attack outlets of the coffee chain. The Delhi blast case is currently being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has so fararrested nine people. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What was the plan? A source told the news outlet that differences had emerged between the suicide bomber Dr Umar Nabi, and Muzamil Ahmad Ganaie, Adeel Ahmed Rather, and Shaheen Saeed from Uttar Pradesh over the possible choice of targets. The motive behind bombing the coffee shops, the arrested doctors were seeking to send a message to the Israeli military over its war in Gaza. However, some members of the group wanted to limit their attacks to security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The accused watched online videos and intended to create bombs from scratch. That is why thousands of kilos of urea bags were recovered from them. They had experimented a lot by mixing various chemicals, ensuring that the bombs are prepared from locally available materials, thereby not raising any red flags, the source said. Group wanted to revive offshoot of al-Qaeda A senior official stated that the group intended to revive Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), the Indian branch of al-Qaeda. The outfit was originally founded by Zakir Musa, who was killed by security forces in 2019. Following the 2021 death of the groups last commander, Muzamil Ahmad Tantray, the accused, including several doctors, allegedly sought to resurrect the organisation and establish Islamic law in India. Coincidentally, Novembers Delhi blast followed an extensive investigation conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir police to find a terror module linked to two terror outfits, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and the AguH, after pamphlets issued by Jaish-e-Mohammad surfaced in Srinagar in October last year. India hosted a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Saturday in a concerted push to deepen engagement in trade, energy and strategic cooperation as tensions rise in the West Asia. Indian and Arab foreign ministers on Saturday reaffirmed their shared commitment to a zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism, reviewing ongoing cooperation to counter extremist threats. The discussions highlighted mutual backing in tackling terrorism in all its forms, with India acknowledging steps taken by several Arab nations to address counter-terrorism and transnational crime, amid concerns that such threats remain among the gravest challenges to global peace and security, according to report. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the foreign ministers and delegations of the Arab League here in the national capital and underlined that enhanced cooperation across sectors like trade, tech and energy will take the partnership to new heights. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In a post on X, he called the Arab World a part of Indias extended neighbourhood, linked by enduring brotherly ties and commitment to peace and stability. Delighted to receive the Foreign Ministers and delegations of the Arab League today. The Arab world is a part of Indias extended neighbourhood, linked by deep civilisational bonds, vibrant people-to-people connections and enduring brotherly ties, as well as a shared commitment to peace, progress and stability. Confident that enhanced cooperation in technology, energy, trade and innovation will unlock new opportunities and take the partnership to new heights, the Prime Minister said on X. Delighted to receive the Foreign Ministers and delegations of the Arab League today. The Arab world is a part of Indias extended neighbourhood, linked by deep civilisational bonds, vibrant people-to-people connections and enduring brotherly ties, as well as a shared commitment pic.twitter.com/GSqth4nXEN Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 31, 2026 India and the United Arab Emirates co-chaired the talks, with foreign ministers and senior officials from all 22 Arab League member states attending. It was the first such gathering in New Delhi that followed a decadelong hiatus since the inaugural forum was held in Bahrain in 2016. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Indias Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that the global order was undergoing a transformation for a variety of reasons, including conflicts. Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year. This impacts all of us, Jaishankar said. An Indian analyst said New Delhis outreach to Arab nations reflected its efforts to position itself as a reliable economic and diplomatic partner at a time of geopolitical rivalries and disruptions to global supply chains. This is an effort by India to project a sense of partnership with the Arab world when regional fault lines are sharpening, said Harsh Pant, vice president of foreign policy at New Delhi-based think tank the Observer Research Foundation. Indias trade with Arab league countries exceeds $240 billion annually, driven largely by energy imports such as crude oil and liquefied natural gas. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies India and Arab League nations agreed on deeper cooperation, backed a two-state solution for Palestine, condemned terrorism, reaffirmed commitment to the UN charter and pledged joint action on regional security and development. India and the Arab League nations on Saturday laid out a broader vision for deeper two-way ties, pitched for a sovereign and viable Palestine state living side-by-side with Israel and underlined the need for conducting international relations based on the UN charter. At the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting, the two sides condemned cross-border terror and called on all countries to work collectively to combat terrorism, dismantle terror infrastructures and terror financing and bring the perpetrators of terrorist acts to justice without delay. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The India-hosted meeting saw the participation of 19 member countries of the Arab League, considered as an influential grouping. A declaration unveiled at the end of the meeting said the two sides have agreed to strengthen joint efforts to counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as they have strongly condemned the heinous terror attack in Pahalgam targeting innocent Indians. It said the Arab League member countries have reaffirmed their full and steadfast support to India in confronting terrorism in all its forms. The declaration said the meeting discussed a wide range of regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the question of Palestine, support for multilateralism and respect for the sovereignty of states, counterterrorism and reforms of the UN Security Council. The two sides have reaffirmed their commitment to safeguarding international peace and security, it said. The two sides emphasised the importance of international relations being founded on respect for the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in internal affairs, the declaration said. It added that the two sides have reaffirmed their commitment to achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the Middle East in accordance to international law, relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. They called for a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine based on 1967 borders, living side by side in peace with Israel. Both parties supported the practice of inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, it said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The two sides welcomed the outcomes of last years Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit, which culminated in the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. They commended the pivotal role played by the Arab States particularly the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar as well as the United States of America, the Delhi Declaration said. It said the meeting urged all the parties concerned to fully comply with the implementation of the agreement and noted the launch of the Arab-Islamic plan for relief, recovery and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. It further underscored the necessity of ensuring adequate, sustained and unimpeded access to humanitarian and relief assistance throughout the Gaza Strip, guaranteeing the continued operations of relief agencies and international and humanitarian organisations. The remarks by India and the Arab League nations come days after US President Donald Trump unveiled his Board of Peace that seeks to work towards bringing a lasting peace to Gaza and possibly, resolve global conflicts. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India and the Arab League nations also vowed to expand cooperation in the areas of energy, digital domain, heath and education. The two sides condemned attacks by Houthi militias on maritime navigation and emphasised that the protection of the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait and the southern Red Sea is not only an Arab and regional responsibility, but also a shared international responsibility and a matter of global interest. They warned against any attempt to undermine the stability in the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, the declaration said. Both sides also reaffirmed their collective determination to act as constructive forces for peace, equity and sustainable development, and strengthen the South-South cooperation. The Andaman and Nicobar Command on Friday conducted joint patrols in the region that resulted in the detention of nine poachers on board a dinghy carrying diving equipment The Indian Coast Guard has increased surveillance in the Northern Andaman Sea after receiving information of possible poaching activity on the waters. The Andaman and Nicobar Command on Friday conducted joint patrols in the region that resulted in the detention of nine poachers on board a dinghy carrying diving equipment. The late-night operation was carried out by ICGS Rajshree near Narcondam Island. Acting on specific intelligence received of likely poaching activity, HQ ANC enhanced surveillance in the Northern Andaman Sea. Joint patrols by ANC units led to apprehension of nine poachers onboard a dinghy with diving equipment on 29 Jan 26 by ICGS Rajshree near Narcondam pic.twitter.com/nhqImZRQtj Andaman & Nicobar Command (@AN_Command) January 30, 2026 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In November last year, six foreign poachers were apprehended in a week-long operation in the remote and treacherous terrain of Lookout Post (LoP) Tillongchoung. The operation, called Castle Bay, was conducted jointly by the Andaman and Nicobar Police (including IRBn personnel) and units from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Foreign poaching syndicates from neighbouring countries are constantly targeting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a critical biodiversity hotspot, to exploit its fragile marine and forest resources. The most common victim is the sea cucumber. Highly prized in Southeast Asian markets for medicine and food, these creatures are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Actthe same legal status given to tigers. Their loss is ecologically devastating. As natural cleaners of the ocean floor, sea cucumbers recycle the nutrients necessary to keep coral reefs and seagrass meadows healthy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A new proposal by lawmaker LSK Devarayalu seeks to bar under-16s from using social media in India, intensifying global discussions on youth safety, digital addiction, and data exploitation. A proposal to restrict childrens access to social media has been introduced in India by a political ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, placing the country into a widening global debate over the effects of digital platforms on young peoples well-being and online safety. The draft legislation, aimed at limiting under-16 use, emerges as India remains a major market for global technology companies and a significant source of user data. Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also one of the worlds largest producers of data for foreign platforms, lawmaker Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu told Reuters on Friday. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Based on this data, these companies are creating advanced AI systems, effectively turning Indian users into unpaid data providers, while the strategic and economic benefits are reaped elsewhere, he said. Global backdrop to the debate Australia recently became the first country to block children under 16 from social media, a step welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticised by major technology firms and free-speech supporters. Frances National Assembly this week supported legislation to prevent children under 15 from using social media, while Britain, Denmark, and Greece are examining similar measures. Meta has previously said it supports laws enabling parental oversight but warned that governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites. Indias IT ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Details of the proposed bill India is the worlds second-largest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion internet users, and it does not set a minimum age for social media access. Devarayalus 15-page Social Media (Age Restrictions and Online Safety) Bill, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters, states that no one under 16 shall be permitted to create, maintain, or hold a social media account, and accounts found in violation should be disabled. We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users age be placed on the social media platforms, Devarayalu said. Policy discussion in India Indias chief economic adviser drew attention on Thursday by saying the country should frame policies on age-based access limits to address digital addiction. Devarayalus proposal is a private members bill rather than government legislation, but such measures often prompt parliamentary debate and can shape future lawmaking. He represents the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which governs the state of Andhra Pradesh and plays a key role in PM Modis government. BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- China's Xinhua News Agency has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation with London-headquartered Brand Finance on the occasion of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China. The MoU, signed remotely on Thursday, aims to promote collaboration across multiple levels and areas, including the exchange of information products, personnel exchange, think tank research, and the organization of forums and related events. The world will move beyond the US, and Donald Trump would be solely responsible. Trump has failed to realise that despite Americas power, there are alternatives available to those who seek them US President Donald Trump threatened Europe on Greenland, placing it in a quandary. Post his discussion with Mark Rutte, Nato Secretary General, Trump backed down from threats of tariffs and use of military power, while claiming victory. Trump mentioned, Were going to have total access to Greenland, adding, Were going to have all the military access we want. He also mentioned that its a deal thats forever, without giving details. It has been almost a week, and no further inputs have flowed. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Denmark and Greenland, the parties involved, are yet unaware of what transpired between Trump and Rutte. It is possible that there would be future discussions between the US and concerned nations on Greenland. Trump continues to rant and rave at his allies, accusing them of acting against US interests. At Davos, Trump was at his insulting best, largely at those who believe they are close to him. He mocked Europe for its renewable energy policies, claiming China was selling windmills to stupid people in Europe. He added that European countries are destroying themselves. He belittled Switzerland, as it was only good because of us [the US]. He also mocked French President Emmanuel Macrons beautiful sunglasses and also issued threats of tariffs to Canada. His ultimate comment was on US military and economic power: Without us, most of the countries dont even work. Bullying and pushing his way have been Trumps methodology all through his tenure. On trade imbalances, he imposes high tariffs, forcing leaders to run to Washington to assuage his ego. Heads of state from Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia and others met Trump to gain reprieve from his tariffs. Not much happened. Ultimately trade deals were inked on Trumps terms, many yet to be implemented. That still did not end additional tariff threats. Trump believes that tariffs are the best means of subjugating nations. Even his peace deals have a measure of bullying. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been insulted in the White House and threatened with cutting off all support, compelling him to bend. Adverse comments on his non-holding of elections have flowed regularly. Zelenskyy tried to get into Trumps good books by publicly rebuking Europe and praising Trump in Davos, but to no avail. He termed Europe as a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers, while claiming Trump is needed as no security guarantees work without the US. Interestingly, it was Europe which backed him more than Trump. He has been forced into talks with Russia. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israel had to swallow Trumps choice of nations in his Board of Peace (BoP) and also to accept the participation of countries in Gaza as determined by Trump. Netanyahus objections have been ignored. Trump announces, at least once a week, that he has stopped eight wars, whereas, in reality, all are either ongoing or had concluded well before. Almost no one is concerned about his claims, least of all Norway, which manages the Nobel award. Europe, which remains militarily as well as economically dependent on the US, has been facing the brunt of his anger. As he was departing Davos, he threatened Europe with retaliation if it dumped US Treasury bonds to pressure Washington. This was Europes ultimate weapon. Trump warned, If that would happen, there would be a big retaliation on our part, and we have all the cards. What could be expected was explained by Mark Rutte, who mentioned, If anyone thinks that the EU, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US keep on dreaming. You cant. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD There is no doubt that the US currently possesses the most powerful economy and military; hence, it possesses the ability to influence the globe. Previous US presidents projected their military power in regions based on their perceptions, leaving a mess. However, these actions were taken alongside their allies in Europe. It was this approach which bound Europe and the US. With the passage of a year, the world has become used to Trumps tantrums. His attempt to push through the Board of Peace (BoP) has met with limited success. Nineteen inconsequential nations have signed up. The ones who matter, Europe, India, China, etc, have maintained a distance. Flaws in the BoP are well known. Nations have also learnt to adjust to Trumps theatrics. India has ignored Trumps comments and accepted his tariffs while seeking alternate markets with free trade agreements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to rush to Washington or bow to Trump. New Delhi has maintained silence on hundreds of Trumps announcements of having stopped Operation Sindoor as well as of reducing procurement of Russian oil. It has also not endorsed his name for a Nobel award, as Pakistan has done. India, unlike China, lacks a lever to counter Trump and hence faces the brunt. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD China is exploiting its control over rare earth minerals as a bargaining chip to push back against the US. Trump has been coerced into avoiding sanctioning China for procuring Russian oil. Post his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October, Trump mentioned that they did not discuss oil, adding, He [Xi] has been buying oil from Russia for a long time. It takes care of a big part of China. Nations like Pakistan have adopted a different approach. Islamabad is cosying up to Trump, massaging his ego, inking deals with his family-dominated companies, participating in the BoP, nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize and also declaring its willingness to participate in Gaza. Many have realised that the US can never be a trusted ally. Hence, they have begun seeking alternatives to trade so as to offset US threats and tariffs. Countries in demand are India and China. The reason: large markets, a growing economy, a secure environment, an autonomous foreign policy and refusal to kneel before Trump. Global leaders are flocking to New Delhi and Beijing, inking trade deals favourable to both sides. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In Indias case, while its trade agreement with the US faces stumbling blocks, those with other nations are moving. These are being negatively looked upon by Trumps advisors. On the recent India-EU trade agreement, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned, We have put 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India. The world will move beyond the US, and Trump would be solely responsible. Trump has failed to realise that despite Americas power, there are alternatives available to those who seek them. (The author is a former Indian Army officer, strategic analyst and columnist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.) The IndiaEU free trade pact will be judged not only by tariff lines and market size but by whether Indias textile supply chains can show cleaner water, safer work and lower emissions at scale Officials project that Indias textile and garment exports to Europe (currently about $7.2 billion) could double or even quadruple in the coming years under the FTA. Image: Reuters Indias textile and apparel sector, which directly employs about 45 million people, is on the cusp of a major opportunity. The recently concluded free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union immediately eliminates tariffs of up to 1012% on Indian textile exports. This zero-duty access dramatically improves Indias price competitiveness in the EU market a market valued at $260+ billion in annual imports. Officials project that Indias textile and garment exports to Europe (currently about $7.2 billion) could double or even quadruple in the coming years under the FTA. It at least partly absorbs the impact of the 50 per cent tariff imposed by Indias largest destination for textile exports, the USA. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, alongside this optimism looms a new challenge. The European Union is rolling out strict sustainability regulations most notably the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EUCSDDD) that could become a make-or-break factor for Indias textile exporters. In essence, tariffs are no longer the only barrier to trade. The EUs due diligence laws will require companies to verify that their entire supply chain is free from human rights abuses and environmental harm. Seen together, the FTA and due diligence can feel like opposing forces, one promising speed and the other insisting on checks. A more useful reading is that they are complementary. If industry, brands and public funders coordinate, the sector can convert regulatory pressure into operational discipline and market trust. Due diligence is the new EU border check The EUCSDDD will require large companies operating in the bloc to identify, prevent and address human rights and environmental harms across their operations and key suppliers. The duty of care formalised by the law is backed by requirements for risk assessment, prevention and mitigation plans, monitoring, public reporting and fair grievance procedures. A parallel push on climate transition plans tightens the net further by asking companies to align with decarbonisation pathways and to demonstrate progress that is measurable and verifiable. While the legal obligations fall first on companies in scope, the practical effects travel upstream. Textile factories that sell to these companies will be asked to provide evidence, not only assurances. For Indias exporters, the new regime feels less like a checklist and more like a change in operating model. The countrys textile base is vast and diverse, with a long tail of micro, small and medium enterprises that specialise in narrow processes and rely on short orders and quick turnarounds. Many already navigate an alphabet of voluntary certifications. EUCSDDD is different because it standardises expectations, widens the lens from single facilities to value chains, and raises the bar on traceability and remedy. The difference becomes visible in the questions buyers will now ask as a matter of routine. Where did the fibre come from and can its origin be verified. Which chemicals were used in the dye bath and do they meet restricted lists. How is wastewater treated and what do discharge logs show. Are wages and hours documented and do workers have safe, credible channels to raise concerns and see remediation. These are not theoretical queries. They determine whether a brand can demonstrate due diligence to regulators and to consumers who increasingly expect proof rather than promises. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Why Indian MSMEs will find the first mile hard All these sustainability requirements sound great on paper, but they pose a huge challenge for Indias smaller textile firms. Compliance with EU due diligence norms requires capabilities that many smaller firms currently lack from tracking raw material origins, to monitoring factory emissions, to maintaining health, safety and labour protocols on par with international norms. Significant investment and operational changes will be needed to meet these benchmarks. For example, under upcoming EU rules, buyers will expect suppliers to estimate their carbon footprint, ensure no forced labour in any tier, and map the geolocation of farms or mills to prevent deforestation-linked sourcing. These are tall orders for a typical small factory. There is a real risk that many Indian MSMEs could be caught unprepared by the fast-evolving rules, creating a compliance gap that puts the FTAs benefits in jeopardy. Encouragingly, both industry and policymakers recognise this compliance gap and the need to address it. The European Commission itself has noted that for developing countries, one benefit of the new due diligence regime will be sustainable investment, capacity building and support for value-chain partners. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Where support is most needed If the goal is to translate the FTAs price advantage into durable market share, five areas merit priority support across Indias textile and apparel clusters. The first is capacity building that is practical and continuous. Factory managers and supervisors need clear guidance on risk assessment, chemical management, wage and hour documentation, occupational safety and corrective action planning. Workers need to know their rights and the channels through which issues can be raised without fear. Cluster-level training centres and mobile helpdesks can translate legal language into checklists and standard operating procedures in local languages, reducing the reliance on ad hoc consultants and one-off workshops. The second is traceability and digital readiness tailored to MSMEs. Off-the-shelf systems can be costly or too complex for small units. What works better are light, modular tools with simple interfaces and offline functionality that capture the few data points buyers routinely request. When clusters adopt a common approach, suppliers do not start from zero each time a new client arrives, and buyers can map their chains with less duplication. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The third is grievance handling and credible remediation. EUCSDDD expects accessible complaint procedures that work in practice, not only on paper. In textile cluster towns where workers are mostly migrants and where subcontracting is common, a trusted channel matters as much as a written policy. Shared hotlines administered by independent CSO partners, trained mediators who can resolve issues before they escalate, and transparent follow-through on remedies can build confidence among workers, management and buyers alike. When problems are surfaced early and fixed reliably, disputes are fewer and production is steadier. The fourth is environmental upgrades that cut emissions and pollution at source. Common effluent treatment plants need modernisation and rigorous monitoring. Mills and dye houses can often achieve quick gains through better heat recovery, variable frequency drives, improved liquor ratios and boiler retrofits. Rooftop solar and cleaner fuels are increasingly viable where grid reliability and tariffs support investment. Prioritising measures with one to two year paybacks helps MSMEs cross the first financing hurdle, after which a pipeline of larger projects becomes bankable. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The fifth is decarbonisation, linked to real reductions in the value chain. European companies are under pressure to address Scope 3 emissions. When reductions are measured against a transparent baseline and monitored over time, brands can count them toward their Scope 3 climate goals, and suppliers can bank lower energy bills and an additional revenue stream from carbon credits. And these are not just theories. The German agency TUV SUDs audits in Panipat (2025, Solidaridad) show that about 700 tonnes CO2e per unit can be avoided annually through heat recovery, efficient steam, and controls, roughly the footprint of hundreds of Indian households. A road map that keeps trade and sustainability aligned Europe now has an opportunity to match market access with practical support. Prime Minister Modi has urged everyone to combine their respective strengths to make the FTA a double engine of growth story for the global economy. The Indian textile industry now needs the triple engine support of civil society organisations (CSOs), brands and donors. And it will not be charity, but rather a strategic investment for both EU brands and donors. For brands, it reduces compliance risk under the EUCSDDD by strengthening supplier performance and traceability, thereby safeguarding reputation and securing more stable, efficient supply chains. It also enables measurable progress on decarbonisation, a key requirement for Scope 3 emissions reduction. For CSOs, such investment aligns development objectivessuch as promoting decent work, environmental protection, and MSME competitiveness with the broader trade agenda. Supporting shared infrastructure, skills training, and grievance mechanisms not only prevents costly violations but also builds resilience across entire textile clusters. It reinforces the credibility of the FTA, deepens strategic ties between India and the EU, and catalyses private-sector co-investment, making sustainability both scalable and inclusive. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD At the end, this agreement isnt just about swapping tariff concessions; its about two major democratic powers deciding that trade should also uplift workers, protect the environment, and bring transparency to how goods are made. If it succeeds, it could become a template for sustainable trade deals worldwide, proving that commerce can be a win-win-win for economies, for society, and for the planet. (The author is the managing director of Solidaridad Asia and works with farming communities for sustainable development in agriculture. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.) India has had civilisational and commercial linkages with the League of Arab States (LAS) for centuries, and the region has been dubbed as Indias extended neighbourhood in view of the convergence of interests on a wide range of issues and perspectives. In this context, Indias holding the second edition of the India-Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Delhi on January 31, 2026, bears special significance. With just seven countries in the Arab League from its inception in 1945, LAS has grown to a group of 22 nations arising out of countries in the Gulf, West Asia, and North Africa and also undertaking maritime trade through the Suez Canal, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden. Syria: with the new regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa in place, the country has been reinstated as a member of the Arab League. LAS maintains robust relationships with major powers of the globe, including Russia, France and Brazil, and has missions in over 20 countries, including India and the US. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India too maintains an observer state status in the Arab League. Since the LAS takes decisions on a majority basis, the organisation has faced criticisms as it has failed in achieving collective, unanimous decisions, including in the LAS response to the Gaza conflict, the Abraham Accords, etc. Nevertheless, LAS has, over the years, been an important institutional vehicle in strengthening and coordinating the political, economic, social and cultural fabrics of the Gulf, West Asia and North Africa. Defence Cooperation A number of countries within the Arab League have had increasing defence cooperation with India, particularly the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, through strategic partnerships, joint military exercises, military industrial networks and maritime security. Key initiatives include Security and Growth for All in the Region (Sagar) for maritime security, including curbing acts of piracy, the Duqm port agreement with Oman and potential exports of Tejas fighters, BrahMos missiles and Aakash missiles from India. During UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyans visit to Delhi recently, a strategic defence partnership was established to streamline the defence cooperation mechanism. With Saudi Arabia, a structured ministerial committee has been formed for regular interaction. Operation Sankalp (2019) demonstrated Indias active role in ensuring security in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman. Defence cooperation is also extended to other areas such as intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism, and critical and emerging technologies, including cyber, space, and drone capabilities. As part of the institutional framework, the India-Arab partnership is ably supplemented by the Arab-India Cooperation Forum that was established in 2008 by focusing on reinforcing strategic ties and addressing shared security challenges. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Imec Factor The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (Imec) which was launched at the 2023 New Delhi G-20 summit, is aimed at fostering connectivity and economic integration between India, the Gulf, and West Asia, including the Arab League member countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Once completed, this ambitious enterprise is likely to spur massive infrastructure development, seamless logistics, and sustainable growth. This would be supplanted through building state-of-the-art transport networks, including shipping and railways, and digital infrastructure for ensuring smooth and efficient trade across the Arab League countries. Partner countries in the League of Arab States (LAS), such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, etc, are likely to reap immense benefits in integrating green technologies, renewable energy resources, and eco-friendly infrastructure, as well as in leveraging digital technology, AI, and data analytics. Even countries outside of the original signatories to Imec such as Israel and Bahrain, are likely to benefit through modernisation of Haifa port by linking it with the Arabian Peninsula and for onwards movement to European markets. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD For Bahrain, Imec will help by connecting King Hamad Causeway to the Saudi mainland. The UAE, an important Arab League member, acts as a primary Eastern anchor by connecting India to the Gulf through its major ports, Fujairah, Jebel Ali, and Abu Dhabi. Similarly, Saudi Arabia provides an outlet for increased naval infrastructure through a financial commitment of $20 billion to the Imec initiative. Trade and Economy Since the Manama Declaration of 2016, trade and economy have increased exponentially between India and LAS. Currently, trade volume exceeds $240 billion, including $107 billion in hydrocarbons. India imports nearly 50 per cent of its crude oil, 60 per cent of LNG, and 45 per cent of LPG from the 22-nation Arab League, with emphasis on infrastructure, renewable energy and financial sectors. A number of countries in LAS have also expressed intent to join actively in Make-in-India ventures. One of the important outcomes from the July 2023 Sixth India-Arab Partnership Conference (IAPC) that was held in Delhi was a roadmap for diversifying various trades; capacity-building linkages were made between India and LAS under New Horizons in Investment, Trade, Services. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Indian Diaspora in the Arab League The Indian diaspora living in the various Arab League states has a sizeable population of over 9 million. They constitute one of the largest overseas communities and expatriates working in the Gulf, the Middle East and North Africa. In Kuwait, the Indian expatriates constitute 29 per cent of the countrys population, numbering approximately 1.1 million, whereas the native Kuwaiti population is just a bit higher with 30 per cent of the population. In Saudi Arabia, Indian expatriates constitute 13 per cent of the total of over 2.7 million. The UAE has one of the largest Indian expatriate populations, numbering 4.5 million. Bahrain and Oman too have a significant number of Indians working in various sectors. Together, the expatriates have sent a record amount of remittances to India, thus fortifying Indias foreign exchange reserve. Education and Cultural Exchanges In the education sector, various universities and institutes in the Arab League of countries have forged partnerships and MoUs with their Indian counterparts in India, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Stem) subjects, as well as in skills development, digital platforms, research, and student exchanges. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The first India-Arab Universities Presidents Conference that was held in New Delhi on February 5-6, 2025, paved the way for increased educational collaboration in scientific research, AI, quantum computing, biotechnology and various aspects of curriculum development. Under Indias New Education Policy (NEP-2020) and its flagship drive towards internationalisation, IIT-Madras has established a branch campus in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Similarly, a number of high-profile private universities of India, such as BITS-Pilani, Manipal MAHE, IIM-Rohtak, and SP Jain-Mumbai, too, have established campuses in Dubai. Indias soft power capabilities, particularly in music, arts, theatre, drama, literature and Bollywood, have a huge catchment of popular imagination in a large swathe of the Arab League. Prime Minister Modis proactive diplomacy and outreach to the Indian diasporic population worldwide, including in the Gulf, Middle East, and Africa, have earned a tremendous amount of goodwill and appreciation of Indias distinctive culture and its splendid diversity. India-Arab Festivals do take place at various Arab League countries on a regular basis, as well as holding heritage festivals in various Indian cities. In recent times, the International Day of Non-Violence and the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi were held under the auspices of the Arab League at various forums in a big way. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD As India is on the cusp of being a major, competitive power in its own right as a rising and emerging nation, Indias position impinges upon blending strategic autonomy with a sense of openness and transparency and putting national interests at the forefront. Indias engagement with the Arab League fits into this prism through careful calibration of meaningful partnerships, which is conducted through flexible and principled diplomacy and willingness to engage with all the relevant stakeholders in a multipolar world order amidst global tumult. (Mohammed Badrul Alam is Director of Research; Professor and Head, Department of Political Science (Retd), Faculty of Social Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.) The new US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, a close confidant of President Donald Trump, arrived in Delhi this month, pledging to arrest and reverse the downslide in bilateral relations. On January 12, he said, No country is as essential to the US as India. Similarly, ahead of his expected trip to the US next week for critical minerals conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Gor on Thursday, underscoring Indias continued engagement with the new envoy and signalling the importance New Delhi places on revitalising bilateral relations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Earlier, on January 20, Gor said he would ensure that senior officials of the US government regularly travel to India. However, given Trumps growing roguish behaviour, the importance of being Gor has diminished between his appointment in August last year and his assumption of charge on January 14. He made an unprecedented visit in November last year to deliver a letter from Trump for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The conversation recently on the sidelines of seminars in India has been none other than the slump in India-US ties meant to be the defining relationship of the 21st century. Two views predominate: that multi-alignment has worked well and has withstood Trump bullying. The corollary? Maybe it was time for India to resuscitate the Russia-India-China (RIC) framework. The other view is that India could have handled Trump better by massaging his ego. A look back at India-US relations reveals several milestones worth mentioning. The military foundation of the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership (CGSP) was laid by Lt Gen Claude Kickleighter of the US Pacific Command in 1991, later reinforced by four foundational agreements starting with Lemoa (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement) and culminating in last months renewal of the 10-year Defence Framework Agreement, a key component of CGSP. Its nearest equivalent is the Special Privileged Strategic Partnership with Russia. However, thanks to President Trump, the CGSP stands at its lowest level today. On January 12, US Ambassador designate Ukraine-born Sergio Gor, 38, a bachelor, descended on Shanti Path, New Delhi, and made what former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran described as a noisy entry: he drove in a convoy that included an armoured car with red and blue blinking lights. From the steps of the US Embassy, Gor made all the upbeat remarks about US-India relations. He announced Indias inclusion (as an afterthought) in Pax Silica, a US-led eight-nation cooperative on semiconductors, critical minerals and artificial intelligence. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The rhetoric was impressive, rekindling hopes of breathing life into a dying relationship. He also said Trump will visit India soon! Gor was sworn in in the Oval Office by Vice President JD Vance on November 11 and was congratulated by Trump. He jumped the queue for Senate ratification and was cleared for the job after convincing senators that he would take India-US relations as high as the sky. He is reputed to enjoy high trust of and access to Trump. He is the first US ambassador to India who is also his presidents special envoy to South and Central Asia, though two Indian-origin career diplomats are already designated: Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Paul Kapoor and Ricky Gill, the White House advisor for the same region, who was reassigned recently. Gor is confronted with twin challenges: reviving trust and injecting substance into the diminishing bilateral relations. The US has squandered trust in New Delhi by hurting and hitting Indias key interests. These are the SPSR (Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership) with Russia acquisition of cheap oil, defence equipment and political and diplomatic support. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With Iran, with whom India has enjoyed good relations, though frictions have arisen due to US sanctions. India has stopped buying any Iranian gas or oil but has sought a waiver on Chabahar Port, which ends in April 2026. To wean India off Russia, the US has imposed punitive tariffs of 50 per cent, and another 500 per cent tariff on the purchase of Russian oil hangs like the sword of Damocles. Work on the India-US trade deal started in February 2025 but lost momentum after Trump tariffs. Still, six rounds of talks have taken place without closure. Other ticklish issues are visas, deportation, and the growing hostility towards Indo-Americans in the US, which has given rise to anti-US sentiment in India. The release of the US National Security Strategy in December and NDS this month makes it clear that India no longer holds any of the global significance it enjoyed during Trump 1.0 or the Biden period. It figures just twice in NSS, whereas China appears 11 times; in NDS, the US seeks respectful relations with China. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What this will do to US intelligence and operational cooperation on Indias China challenge across LAC is unknown. Quad has lost its primacy, as was evident from the indefinite postponement of the summit in India last year. The focus of the Trump doctrine is the Western Hemisphere. While foundational agreements and institutional bindings remain, their salience has diluted, resulting in India being driven closer towards BRICS, SCO and even RIC, the optics of which are anathema to Trump. The Chinese White Paper on Defence reveals that India patching up on the border and normalising ties with Beijing are a consequence of the widening gap in India-US relations. Trust is not a band-aid but is built over time through G-to-G, B-to-B and most of all P-to-P. When India was negotiating the Hawk Trainer Aircraft contract with the UK in 1985 and India-US relations were the pits, New Delhi inserted a clause that there were to be no US parts in it, as earlier the US had stopped supplying spare parts for the Sea Hawk helicopters for the Indian Navy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Diplomats are attributing 90 per cent of Indias woes to Trumps personal pique New Delhi not endorsing his self-proclaimed role in brokering peace. One wonders if things would have been different had India thanked him for the US contribution to the ceasefire. Under these circumstances, Gors task is cut out for him. His job is to get Trump to shed his pique with Modi. It is no secret they speak with each other frequently. While fundamental relations in defence, counterterrorism, space and technology will remain steady, the big picture is ruptured. Matching his role as special envoy for the region, which is Indias extended neighbourhood, will involve balancing US interests in the region with those of Indias. Transforming rhetoric into reality will be Gors defining challenge. (The author is former GOC IPKF South Sri Lanka and founder member Defence Planning Staff, now Integrated Defence Staff, Ministry of Defence. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.) STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Gazas health ministry said that the strike on the tent in the south killed seven members of one displaced family, including a child and an elderly person Palestinians gather in a tent that is placed on top of the rubble of buildings destroyed during the war in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, December 31, 2025. File Image/Reuters The Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday that 11 people died in the region after Israel launched an attack that targeted people living in shelters in the south of the Strip. Munir al-Barsh, the general director of the ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP that 11 people were killed and 20 more were wounded as a result of strikes carried out by the occupation targeting civilians in a tent and an apartment. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israel continues its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement amid a severe shortage of medical supplies, medicines and medical equipment, Barsh added. The US-brokered ceasefire, aimed at ending the nearly three-year-long war between Israel and Hamas, is still in place despite both sides alleging the other of violations. The first phase of the ceasefire largely halted the fighting and provided for the release of all remaining living and dead hostages held by terrorists in Gaza in exchange for prisoners and the bodies of dead Palestinians held by Israel. Gazas health ministry said that the strike on the tent in the south killed seven members of one displaced family, including a child and an elderly person. Israel acknowledges deaths Meanwhile, Israel has acknowledged that the data released by Gazas health ministry, saying that over 70,000 people have died in the Palestinian region since the start of the war, is accurate. However, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that the toll does not include people still trapped under rubble in destroyed buildings. According to Times of Israel, that figure is 10,000. According to reports from the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 440 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition and starvation throughout the conflict. Israeli officials have contested these figures, suggesting that Hamas may be inflating the death toll or attributing deaths caused by pre-existing medical conditions to the food crisis for strategic purposes. US approves Israel arms sale deal The United States on Friday approved multibillion-dollar weapons sales to both Israel and Saudi Arabia, at a point of high tensions with Iran. The State Department said it green-lighted a $3.8-billion sale of 30 Apache attack helicopters to Israel, which has agreed to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability, the State Department said in a statement. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies Is Bangladesh shunning its liberation-era identity? This question crops up as Muhammad Yunus pushing Bangladesh to align with Pakistan amid debates on how the 1971 Liberation War is remembered. Critics warn of an ideological shift that could weaken the countrys secular, language-based foundations. As Bangladesh heads closer to the February 12 national election, its ties with Pakistan have hogged international limelight. Many see this as Bangladesh walking back on its history. Pakistan is today viewed by the world as the hub of terrorism. Pakistan observers link this fundamentalist terrorism to the forces its leadership unleashed at the birth of the nation. Though the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, called himself secular, he unleashed fundamentalist forces that led to the partition of India and creation of Pakistan. Jinhans secular mask was soon thrown away by the nation created for Islamists, who later captured military institutions as well. And now, Pakistan watchers mockingly say, Pakistan doesnt own an army the Pakistan Army owns a country. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD One of the consequences of unleashing Islamist forces for and in Pakistan was the persecution of Bengali-speaking Pakistanis who lived in East Pakistan. A group of Bengali activists rose in protests in the 1950s and 1960s. That protest later turned into a movement for the Liberation of Bangladesh. India had to intervene in the Liberation War of Bangladesh as it triggered an immigration crisis in India. Of the many heroes that emerged from the Bangladeshi Liberation War, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman were the most prominent. Mujibur led a political campaign while army officer Rahman led the military revolt against Pakistan Armys brutal crackdown on protesters and general Bengali-speaking populace. Pakistan denied Mujibur to form the government despite winning a landslide in the 1970 election. The Islamist forces that Jinnah and the Pakistan Army had unleashed were against the idea of a Bengali from East Pakistan ruling over the Urdu-speaking West Pakistan. Bangladeshi freedom fighters shed blood, stood against persecution and sacrificed their lives to protect their cultural identity and self-esteem of the Bengali people. Now, the caretaker or interim government of Bangladesh under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus stands accused of unleashing similar forces in the country. Yunus faces similar criticism from rights groups and international agencies that was seen during Pakistans crackdown on East Pakistanis during the Liberation War. One fallout of the Yunus brand of politics is the rewriting if school textbooks which is never an academic exercise. Bangladesh and reimagined history Rewriting school textbooks is about memory, legitimacy and the moral foundations of a nation. In Bangladesh today, the struggle over how 1971 is narrated is shaping not only domestic politics but also the countrys geopolitical posture particularly towards Pakistan, the very state from which it fought to break free. Rewriting of history textbooks, especially the ones taught in schools and colleges, was carried out with a vengeance between 2001 and 2006 under Zias prime ministership. The role of Sheikh Mujib in the 1971 war was drastically downplayed and the revised textbooks said he had not played any role in the liberation war. It was Ziaur Rahman who was projected as the prime hero of the war. Mujibs role was reduced to that of a mere bystander, says recently published Inshallah Bangladesh, a critically acclaimed account of the 2024 Bangladesh revolution that led to the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina government by Deep Halder, Jaideep Mazumder and Shahidul Hasan Khokon. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What makes this moment especially sensitive is that the shift is unfolding under leadership associated with reformist credibility and global goodwill. Yet critics argue that Bangladesh is witnessing not merely curricular adjustment, but a deeper reorientation of identity one that coincides with warming engagement with Islamabad and a loosening of the moral centrality of the Liberation War. History is not a chapter in Bangladesh it is the constitutional foundation Bangladesh is one of the few countries whose founding trauma is embedded directly into its constitutional DNA. The 1972 Constitution was built on four foundational principles: nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism. Nationalism in that framework did not mean religious identity. It meant Bengali linguistic nationalism a direct rejection of the Pakistan states attempt to define identity primarily through Islam and Urdu. The Language Movement of 1952, the Six-Point Movement, and the Liberation War were all driven by the assertion that language, culture and political rights not religion alone defined the Bengali nation. Every time the interpretation of 1971 shifts, it is not merely historical debate; it is a reinterpretation of what those constitutional principles mean. Bangladeshs politics has long swung between two identity models Since independence, the countrys political trajectory has oscillated between two competing visions: a liberation model rooted in secular, language-based nationalism, and a model that places greater emphasis on Islamic identity and strategic distance from India. This pendulum is visible in constitutional and political shifts. Secularism was diluted after 1975, Islamic symbolism entered the Constitution, and Islam was later declared the state religion. Subsequent governments restored some liberation-war symbolism while retaining those Islamic markers. The result has been a layered and sometimes uneasy state identity. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Why 1971 memory shapes foreign policy psychology BangladeshPakistan relations have never been purely diplomatic. They are shaped by unresolved questions from 1971, including the absence of a formal state apology from Pakistan, disputes over pre-1971 financial assets, and the enduring public memory of mass atrocities. These factors have long acted as psychological constraints on how close Dhaka could move towards Islamabad. If the centrality of 1971 weakens in education and national symbolism, that psychological barrier lowers as well. The Inshallah Bangladesh: The Story of an Unfinished Revolution argues that for a different geopolitical comfort zone to emerge, the genocide of 1971 has to be completely erased from textbooks and from the nations public memory. The Islamists are trying to widen the fissure between India and Bangladesh so that New Delhi could establish a permanent presence in Bangladesh the Islamists are trying to widen the fissure between India and Bangladesh, write the authors, who travelled the country and interviewed hundreds of witnesses, including the oused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her secret exile residence in New Delhi. The Jinnah symbolism and the identity question Muhammad Ali Jinnah is not a neutral historical figure in Bangladesh. He represents the two-nation theory, the privileging of Urdu, and the political structure East Pakistan ultimately rebelled against. The decision to commemorate him publicly in Dhaka in 2024 was therefore seen by many as symbolically loaded. To erase that symbol, Bangladesh celebrated its own Father of the Nation, Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina. Mujibur was assassinated by the same fundamentalist forces in 1975, while Hasina and her sister were away, and thus escaped the massacre of the family. When Hasina climbed the ladder of politics and became the prime minister, her government set up panels to rewrite the countrys history, establishing Mujibur a figure that towered over Jinnah in Bangladesh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The rewriting of all history texts to make her father, Sheikh Mujib, the central figure of the liberation movement while whittling down or even obliterating the role and contributions of others The history of the liberation movement became a Mujib-centric one, write the authors of the Inshallah Bangladesh. To celebrate Jinnah and Urdu is to completely reverse the ideals of the freedom movement and turn back the clock, they write about Yunus turning the Bangladeshs clock back to Pakistan times. The issue is not the event alone, but what it signals: that figures once seen as embodying the political logic Bangladesh rejected are becoming discussable in mainstream space. Civil society space and political risk Bangladeshs political culture has long involved sharp cycles of repression under different regimes. Space for dissent has narrowed at various points in its history, making open debate over national identity politically charged. Claims that muted public backlash reflects fear rather than approval must be seen within this broader pattern of polarisation. These ideological signals are unfolding alongside renewed diplomatic engagement between Dhaka and Islamabad. Trade and connectivity discussions have resumed, maritime links have reopened after decades, and high-level meetings have taken place. Calls to revive regional forums long stalled by IndiaPakistan tensions have also resurfaced. Each step can be defended as pragmatic diplomacy. Yet in the Bangladeshi context, diplomacy cannot be divorced from memory. When engagement accelerates while the narrative of 1971 appears less morally central, the two processes begin to look linked rather than coincidental. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Reconciliation without reckoning? Yunus supporters argue Bangladesh cannot remain permanently bound by 1971. Economic diversification, regional connectivity and strategic autonomy require engagement with all neighbours, including Pakistan. Critics counter that the issue is not engagement but sequence. In many post-conflict reconciliations, acknowledgement of past crimes precedes normalisation. In the BangladeshPakistan case, the foundational trauma of 1971 remains politically and emotionally active. Moving forward while that memory fades institutionally risks turning reconciliation into amnesia. What unleashing forces really means The fear is not of military reversal. It is of ideological regression: religion-centred political identity overtaking linguistic nationalism, dilution of the secular constitutional spirit, rehabilitation of Pakistan-era narratives, and weakening of the moral exceptionalism of 1971. These are the forces Bangladeshs liberation war sought to escape. Can a nation built on memory afford to blur its origin? Bangladesh has every sovereign right to pursue an independent foreign policy. But its state identity is inseparable from a war fought to define who the nation was and was not. The debate is not about freezing history. It is about whether reinterpretation is shading into erasure, and whether that erasure makes it easier for ideas rejected in 1971 to re-enter the political mainstream. The central question is no longer only how history is told. It is whether, in softening the story of 1971, Bangladesh is also softening its distance from the very forces it once had to fight to escape. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Chinas Minister of Emergency Management, Wang Xiangxi, is under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, the countrys anti-corruption watchdog said on Saturday, as President Xi Jinpings anti-graft campaign continues. Chinas Minister of Emergency Management, Wang Xiangxi, is under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, the countrys anti-graft watchdog said on Saturday, as Beijings sweeping corruption crackdown continues. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection did not disclose further details in its brief statement on Wang, who also serves as a Communist Party secretary. Investigations into sitting cabinet ministers are relatively uncommon. The probe comes amid President Xi Jinpings years-long anti-corruption campaign. Last week, the defence ministry said it was investigating top general Zhang Youxia, who ranks second only to Xi in Chinas military hierarchy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Earlier this month, Xi said the fight against corruption was a battle China must not lose, after a record 65 senior officials were placed under investigation last year. The campaign has also widened to include former leaders of universities and state-owned enterprises. Wang, 63, assumed office in July 2022 after serving as chairman of state-owned power generator National Energy Investment Corp. He was last seen in public earlier this week, when he addressed a routine internal meeting focused on self-criticism among cadres, according to an official release from the Ministry of Emergency Management. Separately, the anti-graft watchdog also announced an investigation into Sun Shaocheng, the former Communist Party secretary of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, state-run China Daily reported. A wave of coordinated militant assaults struck several districts of Balochistan, including Quetta, leaving four policemen dead and triggering major security operations across the region Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long faced an insurgency led by Baloch separatist groups. A wave of coordinated militant assaults struck several districts of Pakistans Balochistan province early Saturday, leaving at least four policemen dead and setting off security operations across the region. The violence unfolded in the insurgency-affected southwest, with explosions and gunfire reported from multiple urban centres as authorities moved to repel the attackers, officials said. The coordinated gun and suicide attacks are being carried out across Balochistan, mainly in Quetta, Pasni, Mastung, Nushki and Gwadar districts, a senior security official based in the provincial capital of Quetta told AFP. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In Quetta, the assaults began around 6am with a powerful explosion, followed by intense gunfire that continued for two hours along with multiple blasts. Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long faced an insurgency led by Baloch separatist groups, who frequently target security forces and foreigners and have kidnapped government officials. A senior police official, speaking anonymously, told Arab News that militants tried to enter the city but were stopped by police and other law enforcement agencies. The terrorists attacked a police mobile at Sariab Road, which resulted in the killing of two policemen, he said. Police and other law enforcement agencies denied space to the terrorists in Quetta city and a clearance operation is still going on. Residents in Dalbandin and Nushki reported hearing explosions and gunfire early Saturday, with similar incidents reported in Mastung, Gwadar, Pasni, and Turbat. Officials say attacks were foiled Shahid Rind, the Balochistan chief ministers aide for media and political affairs, said police and the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) had thwarted the attacks and were pursuing the assailants. After the killing of more than 70 terrorists at different places in Balochistan in the last two days, terrorists have attempted to attack at a few places in Balochistan, which have been foiled by timely action by the police and FC, he said on X. At present, the pursuit of the fleeing terrorists is underway. More details will be revealed very soon. Claim of responsibility and background In a statement on Saturday, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said it had launched Operation Herof 2.0, involving a series of attacks across several Balochistan cities. Saturdays violence follows coordinated assaults by the group in August 2024 in different districts of Balochistan that left dozens of people dead. Separatists accuse the central government of exploiting the regions resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani government rejects the claim and says it is working to improve conditions for local communities in Balochistan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan Railways suspended train services from Balochistan to other parts of the country for a day after the attacks. During a private briefing in Washington, DC, the Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid bin Salman (KBS), said that if the US President Donald Trump does not follow through with his threats, the Iranian regime would end up being stronger During a private briefing in Washington, DC, the Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid bin Salman (KBS), said that if the US President Donald Trump does not follow through with his threats, the Iranian regime would end up being stronger, four sources told Axios on Friday. The remarks from the Saudi defence minister mark a sharp reversal from the countrys public topic points cautioning against escalation, and from the deep concern Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) expressed to Trump three weeks ago. Interestingly, that warning was one reason Trump decided to delay a strike. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Another reason why the remark is significant is that KBS is the crown princes younger brother and closest confidant. The Saudi prince is on a visit to Washington to hold talks on Iran as West Asia braces for American military action, as Tehran has vowed that the response would be unprecedented. Earlier this year, Trump ordered a massive US military buildup in the Gulf, though White House officials insist he hasnt made a final decision and is still willing to explore diplomacy. At that time, there were no serious direct negotiations between the US and Iran. KBSs trip to Washington On Thursday, KBS held a lengthy meeting at the White House with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Joint Chiefs chair Gen. Dan Caine. The main focus of the meeting was the possibility of a US strike in Iran, a source close to the matter told Axios. However, Saudi Arabias public posture has been very cautious. On Wednesday, MBS told Irans president in a phone call that the kingdom would not allow the US to use its airspace for an attack on Iran. Meanwhile, the Saudis also said in a statement that they respect Irans sovereignty and seek a diplomatic solution. As per the report, KBS was less restrained in an hour-long meeting on Friday with 15 think tank experts on the Middle East and representatives from five Jewish organisations. The sources revealed that the Saudi prince thought that Trump would have to take military action after threatening it for weeks, but would also have to try to mitigate the risks of regional escalation. At this point, if this doesnt happen, it will only embolden the regime, KBS said, according to the sources in the room. Two sources said they understood KBS to be reflecting the message hed conveyed at the White House. However, he also said he left that meeting without a clear idea of what the Trump administrations strategy or intentions were on Iran. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the Saudis navigate the situation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The newly released set of Epstein Files alleged that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates tried to hide a sexually transmitted disease from his wife, Melinda, after having sex with Russian girls The newly released set of Epstein Files alleged that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates tried to hide a sexually transmitted disease from his wife, Melinda, after having sex with Russian girls. In one of the emails that the late sex offender seems to have sent to his own account one of 3 million pages of files released by the Department of Justice on Friday he appeared to have taken issue with Gates for ending their relationship. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD TO add insult to injury, you then subsequently, with tears in your eyes, implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you with antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda, and the description of your penis, the message says. The release of the doccument was announced by Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney-general, on Friday and came more than a month after the December 19 deadline that was set in legislation mandating that the entire trove of documents related to Epstein be released. As of now, the files have exposed several of Epsteins powerful connections with figures like US president Bill Clinton, Lord Peter Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to the US, billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk and Gates. Another mail regarding Gates read: I have been asked and wrongly acquiesced into participating in things that have ranged from the morally inappropriate, to the ethically unsound . . . From helping Bill to get drugs, to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women, to being asked to provide adderall fro [sic] bridge tournaments. Absolutely False: Gatess team Meanwhile, the Microsoft co-founders spokesperson dismissed the claims, calling them absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epsteins frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame, the spokesperson said. It is pertinent to note that the Trump administration initially resisted the publication of all the Epstein files but backed down after bipartisan pressure, including from the presidents allies on the right flank of the Republican Party. The Justice Department maintained that it could not release all the files before December 19 because it needed to comb through the documents to protect the identities of victims with redactions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD We redacted every woman depicted in any image or video, except Ms Maxwell, Blanche said, referring to Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in his criminal activities. We did not redact images of any men, unless it was impossible to redact the woman without also redacting the man," he added. However, the Democrats have been accusing the DoJ of continuing to conceal some of the material, saying the full trove of documents amounted to 6 million pages. BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday exchanged congratulations with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune over the successful launch of an Algerian remote sensing satellite from Jiuquan in northwest China. Xi said the Algerian remote sensing satellite project, following the launch of the Algerian communication satellite, is another successful cooperation between China and Algeria in the aerospace field, and is an important manifestation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Algeria. Noting that China-Algeria relations have made significant progress in recent years, with continuously strengthened political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation, Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Algeria ties and is willing to work with President Tebboune to continuously enrich the comprehensive strategic partnership, so as to better benefit the people of both countries. Tebboune, for his part, said the successful launch of the Algerian remote sensing satellite is another substantial achievement in aerospace cooperation between Algeria and China, and a new milestone in the development of bilateral relations, which will help both sides expand cooperation prospects. Algeria is willing to continue to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, he added. Freshly unsealed US Justice Department files reveal a 2009 email placing Mira Nair at a Ghislaine Maxwell-hosted afterparty attended by Bill Clinton and Jeff Bezos during events for Nairs film Amelia. Director Mira Nair (R) and her son Zohran Mamdani (L) poses during the Los Angeles premiere of "Queen of Katwe," in Hollywood, California, September 20, 2016. File Image/Reuters Freshly unsealed files linked to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have brought to light a 2009 email that mentions acclaimed filmmaker and mother of New Yorks Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Mira Nair, in connection with a gathering at Ghislaine Maxwells Manhattan townhouse. The message, sent in the early hours of October 21, 2009, by publicist Peggy Siegal, surfaced in documents released on Friday by the US Department of Justice. It refers to an afterparty associated with Nairs film Amelia and lists several well-known attendees. The email forms part of a much wider disclosure concerning Epsteins activities and contacts. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Email referencing Nair and industry figures The email describes Siegal leaving the afterparty at Maxwells home following an event tied to Nairs 2009 film Amelia. Just left Ghislaines townhouse after party for film, Siegal wrote in the early-morning message dated October 21, 2009. She added that the gathering was attended by former US President Bill Clinton and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, along with Mira Nair. The email goes on to comment on the reception of Amelia, writing that the film received a tepid reaction, before describing other industry events Siegal planned to attend. The message was one of hundreds of thousands of documents unsealed as part of the Justice Departments latest disclosure related to Epsteins crimes and his interactions with prominent figures. Nair directed Amelia, a biographical drama starring Hilary Swank as aviator Amelia Earhart and Richard Gere as her husband, publisher George Putnam. What the latest Epstein files include Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department has released more than three million pages of records in its latest disclosure tied to Jeffrey Epstein, along with over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The material, posted on the departments website, includes documents that officials said were withheld from an initial release in December while they reviewed an additional trove and redacted sensitive information to protect victims. The newly released batch contains records involving several high-profile figures, including Prince Andrew, as well as email correspondence between Epstein and Elon Musk and other prominent contacts spanning politics, business and culture. The disclosures were made under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed after months of public and political pressure demanding greater clarity on the governments handling of the Epstein investigation and his ties to powerful individuals, including his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Todays release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act, Blanche said at a news conference. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Epstein, a former financier, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was later convicted for her role. An explosion struck an eight-storey building in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, damaging parts of the structure and nearby vehicles, while authorities said the cause of the blast is still under investigation. Visuals of the explosion which was reported in Irans Bandar Abbas port city. An explosion struck an eight-storey residential building in Irans southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, state media reported, with authorities saying the cause of the blast remains under investigation. The incident occurred on Moallem Boulevard, according to Iranian state television. Two floors destroyed, vehicles and shops damaged State TV said the explosion destroyed two floors of the building, damaging several vehicles and nearby shops. Visuals aired on state media showed the buildings facade blown apart, exposing parts of the interior, with debris scattered across the surrounding area. Other Iranian media outlets carried similar reports but provided no details on what triggered the blast. Rescue teams deployed, no deaths reported Rescue and firefighting teams were immediately deployed to the site. Emergency responders shifted the injured to nearby hospitals. Hormozgan province crisis management chief Mehrdad Hassanzadeh told the official IRNA news agency that investigations were underway to determine the cause of the explosion. He said no fatalities had been reported at the time of filing this report. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Tasnim rejects claims of IRGC target The semi-official Tasnim News Agency dismissed social media claims that the explosion targeted a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, calling the reports completely false. The IRGC is a key pillar of Irans security establishment and reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Strategic port, rising regional tensions Bandar Abbas lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime route through which about one-fifth of the worlds seaborne oil passes. The explosion comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US, following a major crackdown on nationwide protests triggered by economic hardship and ongoing Western concerns over Irans nuclear programme. Earlier on Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the US, Israel and European countries of exploiting Irans economic difficulties and fuelling unrest. The incident also coincides with the deployment of a US aircraft carrier group to the region after strong rhetoric from US President Donald Trump, who recently said an armada was heading towards Iran. The ruling centred on a technical legal flaw. The murder charge required a crime of violence to be used as a foundation; while prosecutors argued that stalking Thompson met this threshold, Judge Garnett disagreed Luigi Mangione (R) appears in Manhattan Supreme Court for a pretrial evidence hearing in the murder case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, in New York, on December 9, 2025. AFP A federal judge dealt a significant blow to the prosecution on Friday, ruling that Luigi Mangione cannot face the death penalty for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. US District Judge Margaret M. Garnett dismissed two of the four federal charges against Mangione: murder involving a firearm and a related weapons offence. However, she maintained two counts of federal stalking, which still carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to the December 4, 2024, shooting in midtown Manhattan. The ruling centred on a technical legal flaw. The murder charge required a crime of violence to be used as a foundation; while prosecutors argued that stalking Thompson met this threshold, Garnett disagreed. In her written opinion, Garnett acknowledged the complexity of the legal logic. The analysis contained in the balance of this opinion may strike the average person, and indeed many lawyers and judges, as tortured and strange, and the result may seem contrary to our intuitions about the criminal law, Garnett wrote. But it represents the Courts committed effort to faithfully apply the dictates of the Supreme Court to the charges in this case. The law must be the Courts only concern. Defense attorney Karen Agnifilo expressed relief outside the courthouse, calling it an incredible decision. During the hearing, cheers were heard from Mangiones supporters, some of whom have come to view him as a folk hero for his alleged actions against the health insurance industry. In another development, a man has been arrested after he tried to help Luigi Mangione break free from a lockup in Brooklyn. Mark Anderson arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Centre with a plan to jailbreak Mangione. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Anderson, 36, arrived at the facility impersonating an FBI agent. What made his story more believable was a piece of paperwork that was supposedly signed by a judge who authorised the release of Mangione, the accused in the UnitedHealthcare CEOs murder. After failing to secure a job opportunity in New York City, Minnesota native Anderson found work at Louie & Ernies Pizza in Pelham Bay. However, his journey took a turn when he was arrested for impersonating a US government officer. When asked for identification, Anderson presented a Minnesota drivers license and claimed to be armed; a subsequent search of his backpack revealed a large barbecue fork and a pizza cutter. He appeared before a Brooklyn federal judge on Thursday afternoon but did not enter a plea. New satellite imagery reveals Iran has installed roofed coverings over damaged structures at its Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities, obscuring international monitoring months after Israeli and US strikes Israel targeted the facilities early in the conflict, followed by US strikes using bunker-busting bombs and cruise missiles. Fresh satellite imagery has revealed new construction at two of Irans nuclear facilities previously hit by Israeli and US strikes, with activity emerging months after a 12-day conflict in June. The images, captured by Planet Labs PBC, show new roofs placed over structures at the Isfahan and Natanz sites, developments that come as international inspectors remain barred and remote monitoring remains a key oversight method, according to the Associated Press. The coverings are the first major signs of construction detectable by satellite at any of Irans bombed nuclear facilities since the conflict. The roofs block overhead views of ground activity, increasing concerns about what work may be taking place at the locations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Iran has prevented inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency from accessing the sites, leaving satellite observation as the main monitoring tool, the news agency reported. Diplomatic pressure and military posture US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on Iran to negotiate over its nuclear programme to avoid potential American military strikes, pointing to Tehrans violent suppression of nationwide protests. The United States has deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers to the Middle East, though it remains unclear whether force will be used. Experts say the new structures do not appear to signal reconstruction of damaged facilities. They want to be able to get at any recovered assets they can get to without Israel or the United States seeing what survived, said Andrea Stricker of the Washington-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies. The roofs, she added, likely allow Iran to assess whether key assets such as limited stocks of highly enriched uranium survived the strikes. AP reports that Iran has added roof structures over its nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan, sites previously hit in attacks. The coverings now obscure satellite observation of activity on the ground, complicating international monitoring efforts. pic.twitter.com/S7nvfWoKbi Iran War Updates (@StrikeMonitor) January 30, 2026 Damage to nuclear infrastructure Before the June conflict, Iran operated three main nuclear sites. Natanz, around 220 kilometres south of Tehran, housed advanced centrifuges enriching uranium up to 60%. Isfahan produced uranium gas used in enrichment, while Fordo is located deep beneath a mountain. Israel targeted the facilities early in the conflict, followed by US strikes using bunker-busting bombs and cruise missiles. The White House later said the attacks significantly degraded Irans nuclear programme, though full details remain limited. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD At Natanz, Israel destroyed the primary above-ground enrichment plant on June 13, with US strikes later hitting underground halls. Satellite images show Iran began constructing a roof over the destroyed structure in December, completing it by months end. Electrical systems at the facility appear to remain disabled, the Associated Press reported. Excavation and underground work Imagery also indicates continued excavation near Natanz at Pickaxe Mountain, where analysts believe Iran may be building a new underground nuclear facility. At Isfahan, a similar roof was completed in early January over a damaged structure near the sites northeast corner. The Israeli military previously said strikes there hit facilities connected to centrifuge manufacturing, declining to comment on the new work. Additional images show tunnels near Isfahan being filled with dirt, a defensive tactic used before the war, while one tunnel appears to have been reopened and reinforced. These roofs appear to be part of an operation to recover any sort of remaining assets or rubble without letting us know what they are getting out of there, said Sarah Burkhard of the Institute for Science and International Security. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Sean OConnor of the open-source intelligence firm Janes said the aim was likely to obscure activity rather than to, say, repair or rebuild a structure for use. Missile-related sites also active Satellite imagery further shows Iran rebuilding facilities tied to its ballistic missile programme, including at the Parchin military complex near Tehran. Work has resumed at a location known as Taleghan 2, previously identified by analysts as housing equipment for high-explosive testing related to nuclear weapons research. This has been reconstituted very rapidly, said Lewis Smart of Janes. Its being expanded to potentially make it more resistant to penetration attacks and bombings. Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful, while Western governments and the IAEA say Tehran operated an organised weapons programme until 2003 and has retained the technical capacity to pursue a bomb. Tensions have resurfaced in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran announced plans for a live-fire military drill in the strategic waterway, prompting a warning from the US military. The strait is a vital global shipping route through which about one-fifth of the worlds oil supply passes. A US Navy SH-60 helicopter hovers off the bow of the USS Enterprise July 20, 1998, during a training exercise near Puerto Rico. The United States had deployed USS Enterprise and the 7th Fleet to intervene in the India-Pakistan War of 1971 on Pakistan's side. (Photo: Timothy Smith/US Navy/AFP) The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and a critical artery for global energy trade, has once again emerged as a flashpoint as Iran plans a military drill that could intersect a key international shipping lane. Iran has warned vessels that it will conduct a live-fire exercise on Sunday and Monday in the strait, through which about one-fifth of the worlds oil supply passes. US issues warning to Iran In response, the US militarys Central Command cautioned Tehran that any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near American forces, regional partners, or commercial vessels could raise the risk of collisions, escalation, and wider destabilisation. The command said it would not tolerate actions that threaten US warships or commercial traffic. Why the Strait of Hormuz matters At its narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz is just 33 kilometres (21 miles) wide. It connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, allowing ships to reach global markets. While Iran and Oman control parts of its territorial waters, the strait is considered an international waterway open to all vessels. The United Arab Emirates, including the port hub of Dubai, also lies close to the route. Historically vital for trade, the strait has in modern times become indispensable for oil and gas shipments. Although Saudi Arabia and the UAE operate pipelines that can bypass it, most oil volumes have no alternative route. The majority of energy shipments passing through the strait are bound for Asian markets. Past threats to the waterway have triggered spikes in global energy prices, including during Israels 12-day war against Iran in June. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Details of the planned drill A notice to mariners issued on Thursday warned of planned naval shooting in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and Monday. The coordinates suggest the drill could extend into the Traffic Separation Scheme, a 3.2-kilometre-wide, two-lane system that manages ships entering and exiting the Persian Gulf. The northern lane of this system falls within the area marked for the drill. Iran has not released further public details, but the exercise is likely to involve the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which operates fast-attack vessels in the strait and has a history of tense encounters with the US Navy. Rising regional tensions The US Central Command acknowledged Irans right to operate in international waters but warned against interference with American aircraft, warships, or commercial vessels. It stressed that the US Navys Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet remains prepared to respond to any unsafe actions. Tensions in the region remain high, with US President Donald Trump having previously threatened military action against Iran over its domestic crackdown and nuclear programme. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying destroyers are currently deployed in the Arabian Sea, while Iran has warned it could target US interests and allies across the Middle East if attacked. Irans army chief Amir Hatami has warned the US and Israel against any attack, asserting that Irans nuclear expertise cannot be wiped out, even as tensions rise following Washingtons expanded military deployments in the Gulf. (File) This shows Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran, on April, 9, 2007. AP Iranian Army Chief Amir Hatami said Irans nuclear expertise cannot be wiped out, responding to US President Donald Trumps remarks that Tehran may seek a deal to avoid American military strikes. Hatami also warned the US and Israel against launching any attack, saying Irans armed forces were on high alert amid Washingtons expanded military deployments in the Gulf. If the enemy makes a mistake, it will undoubtedly endanger its own security, the security of the region, and the security of the Zionist regime, Hatami said, according to Irans official IRNA news agency. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He added that Irans forces were at full defensive and military readiness. US naval deployment raises confrontation fears Hatamis remarks came after the US sent a naval strike group to the Middle East led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Trump has threatened military action following a deadly crackdown by Iranian authorities on weeks of anti-government protests. The deployment has fuelled fears of a direct confrontation. Iran has warned it would retaliate with missile strikes on US bases, naval assets and allies, including Israel, if attacked. On Friday, Trump said he expected Iran to pursue negotiations over its nuclear and missile programmes rather than face US military action. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier said Tehran was open to nuclear talks but stressed that its missile and defence capabilities were not negotiable. Nuclear technology cannot be eliminated The US carried out strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites in June, briefly joining Israels 12-day conflict with Iran. Israeli attacks also targeted military facilities and killed senior officers and nuclear scientists. However, Hatami insisted Irans nuclear know-how remains intact. Irans nuclear technology cannot be eliminated, even if scientists and sons of this nation are martyred, he said. Strait of Hormuz drills and IRGC designation On Friday, US Central Command said Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would conduct a two-day live-fire naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies. CENTCOM warned the IRGC against unsafe and unprofessional behaviour near US forces. The US designated the IRGC a terrorist organisation in 2019, a move the European Union followed on Thursday. Iran criticised the EU decision and said it would respond. Protests and deadly crackdown Nationwide protests over rising living costs erupted in Iran on December 28 and later expanded into broader anti-government demonstrations, peaking on January 8 and 9. Iranian authorities said the protests turned violent and accused the US and Israel of fomenting unrest. Officials have put the death toll at 3,117. However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it has confirmed 6,563 deaths, including more than 6,000 protesters and 124 children. The protests have since subsided. Leadership calls for public engagement On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged the government to address public grievances. We must work with the people and for the people, he said in a speech broadcast on state television, stressing that justice and fairness were key to national stability. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The same day, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visited the shrine of Ruhollah Khomeini in southern Tehran. State media said the visit marked the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The announcement followed statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ali Shaath, newly appointed to head the Palestinian administrative committee governing Gazas daily affairs, that it would likely open soon Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel line up at the crossing into the Gaza Strip at the Rafah border on the Egypt side, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Rafah, Egypt, October 17. REUTERS file Israel said Friday that it will reopen the pedestrian border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt over the weekend, marking an important step forward for U.S. President Donald Trumps Gaza ceasefire plan. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said in a statement that starting on Sunday a limited movement of people only would be allowed through the Rafah crossing, Gazas main gateway to the outside world. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The announcement followed statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ali Shaath, newly appointed to head the Palestinian administrative committee governing Gazas daily affairs, that it would likely open soon. While COGAT said the passage will open in both directions on Sunday, Shaath said the first day will be a trial for operations and that travel both ways will start Monday. Israel as of Friday agreed to allow up to 150 people to leave each day 50 medical patients with two family members, an official familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing diplomatic talks. Up to 50 people who fled during the war can return daily, the source said. Roughly 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians need treatment outside Gaza, according to the territorys health ministry. Gazas health system was decimated in the war, rendering advanced surgical procedures out of reach. COGAT said both Israel and Egypt will vet individuals for exit and entry through the crossing, which will be supervised by European Union border patrol agents. In addition to screenings at the crossing, Palestinians leaving and returning will be screened by Israel in the adjacent corridor, which remains under Israeli military control. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The crossing has been under a near complete closure since Israel seized it in May 2024, saying the step was part of a strategy to halt cross-border arms smuggling by Hamas. It was briefly opened for the evacuation of medical patients during a short-lived ceasefire in early 2025. Israel had resisted reopening the crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza on Monday cleared the way to move forward. A day later, Netanyahu said the crossing would soon open in a limited and controlled fashion. Thousands of Palestinians inside Gaza are trying to leave the war-battered territory, while tens of thousands who fled the territory during the heaviest fighting say they want to return home. The reopening is one of the first steps in the second phase of last years U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, which includes challenging issues ranging from demilitarizing Gaza to putting in place an alternative government to oversee rebuilding the mostly destroyed enclave. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Netanyahu said this week that Israels focus is on disarming Hamas and destroying its remaining tunnels. Without these steps, he said that there would be no reconstruction in Gaza, a stance that could make Israels control over Rafah a key point of leverage. More deadly strikes in Gaza Palestinians in Gaza on Friday mourned friends and relatives who died earlier this week in Israeli strikes, which have slowed but not stopped since the return of the remains of the final hostage held in the territory. Three Palestinians were laid to rest in traditional Islamic funeral rites. Men gathered to pay their final respects, carrying the shrouded bodies through the streets before praying over them. Israels military said four people were killed in airstrikes Friday in central Gaza, saying they were armed and approaching troops near the ceasefire line dividing Israeli-held areas and most of Gazas Palestinian population. The most recent deaths Friday are on top of the 492 Palestinians killed since the ceasefire began in October, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry doesnt distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures. It maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Japan and Britain agreed to accelerate cooperation on cybersecurity and critical minerals, strengthening security and economic resilience amid rising regional tensions and growing concerns over Chinas influence in the Indo-Pacific. Japan and the United Kingdom agreed on Saturday to fast-track cooperation on cybersecurity and the supply of critical minerals as concerns grow over Chinas expanding influence in the Indo-Pacific region. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his visit to Japan came at a moment of profound global disruption, marked by geopolitical, economic and technological shocks that are reshaping international relations. Starmers overnight stop in Tokyo followed his visit to Beijing, where he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and agreed to pursue a long-term, stable strategic partnership. The visit comes amid heightened tensions between Japan and China, particularly after comments by Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi on the possibility of Japans involvement should China take military action against Taiwan, the self-governed island claimed by Beijing. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Speaking at a joint press conference, Starmer said he and Takaichi had agreed to deepen collective security cooperation across the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific, strengthen economic resilience, and launch a new cyber strategic partnership aimed at safeguarding their economies from growing digital threats. Japan has been stepping up its cybersecurity as experts have raised concerns about its vulnerability, especially as the country accelerates its military buildup and works more closely with the United States and other partners. Meanwhile, Takaichi, noting a growing concern about the global export restrictions on critical minerals, said we agreed that it is urgent for the like-minded countries to work together to strengthen supply chain resilience. Critical minerals include rare earth elements. While 17 elements are classified as rare earth, the US government has identified 50 minerals overall that are labelled critical minerals, which also include a number of other minerals that are seen as essential to the economic and military strength of the nation. Japans only treaty ally is the US and, in response to uncertainty over Washingtons security commitment in the region, the East Asian country has been expanding and stepping up its partnership with other friendly nations, such as Australia and Britain. As major trading and defence partners, Japan and Britain agreed to cooperate in building more diversified supply chains in critical minerals and other areas, he said. The two sides will work together to support institutions for a free and predictable multilateral trade system, including expanding the 12-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and its collaboration with the EU. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD I hope to elevate Japan-British relations even higher, Takaichi said. With inputs from agencies The maker of the dolls, Pop Mart, has announced that London will serve as its European headquarters, with plans of opening seven more shops in Britain A Labubu in a Santa Claus outfit is displayed for sale at a holiday market in Times Square in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 15, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper The ugly-cute dolls, Labubu, will set up a base in London in a bid to drive up sales in the United Kingdom. The deal was struck during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmers historic visit to China. The maker of the dolls, Pop Mart, has announced that London will serve as its European headquarters, with plans of opening seven more shops in Britain. Starmers four-day visit aims to inject growth into Britains economy by strengthening ties between the countries through improved market access, lower tariffs and investment deals, such as Pop Marts. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Despite their scary appearance, Labubu dolls became a collectors item as soon as they hit the racks 18 months ago. Labubu shops across UK Pop Mart will open in seven locations in Britain, including Birmingham, Cardiff and a new flagship store on Londons Oxford Street. It also plans 20 more stores across Europe. The investment will create over 150 jobs in Britain, the statement said. London stands at the heart of the global creative ecosystem, and we are thrilled to plant our European roots here, Grant Wang, Pop Marts founder and chief executive, said in a statement. Pop Mart is one of a group of Chinese consumer-facing companies, including fashion retailer Urban Revivo and coffee chain Luckin, that are turning to overseas markets to try to counter weaker domestic spending linked to a prolonged property crisis and wage security concerns. Real progress Starmer met top Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, with both sides highlighting the need for closer ties. The British leader told business representatives from the UK and China on Friday morning that both sides had warmly engaged and made some real progress. The UK has got a huge amount to offer, he said in a short speech at the UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China. Mexicos President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that US President Donald Trumps move to slap new tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba would trigger a humanitarian crisis in the Latin American nation Mexicos President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that US President Donald Trumps move to slap new tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba would trigger a humanitarian crisis in the Latin American nation. Trumps tariffs came at a time when Cuba is already suffering from chronic fuel shortages and regular blackouts. On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order, declaring a national emergency and laying the groundwork for such tariffs, ratcheting up the pressure to topple the communist government in Havana. A White House statement after the announcement cited the Cuban governments alleged ties to Russia, Hamas and Hezbollah to explain the new tariffs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD While the statement did not name Mexico, it is worth noting that Sheinbaums government has been the top oil supplier to the island since 2025, surpassing Russia and Venezuela. On Friday, the Mexican president said that her government would seek more information from the US State Department on the tariffs, while exploring alternative ways to provide humanitarian aid to the Cuban people. We will seek a way, without putting Mexico at risk, of course, but always seeking solidarity with the Cuban people, she told reporters. For the longest time, Cuba has been struggling with increasingly severe blackouts. In her statement, Sheinbaum emphasised that tariffs could directly affect hospitals, food supplies and other basic services for the Cuban people. Cuba is in a precarious situation Meanwhile, Cubas president, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, said in a post on X that Trump sought to suffocate the islands economy and that the tariffs revealed the fascist, criminal, and genocidal nature of a clique that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal gain. The island is receiving warnings from Trump right after the US captured and transported Nicolas Maduro, a key ally of the government, from Venezuela at the start of the year. A week later, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post: THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA ZERO! Soon after Trump signed the executive order, the Financial Times reported that Cuba only has enough oil to last 15 to 20 days at current levels of demand and domestic production, and could soon face sharp rationing. Sheinbaums comments also came after a week of increasing threats from Washington. Meanwhile, Mike Hammer, the US charge daffaires in Havana, on Wednesday said: The Cubans have complained for years about a blockade, but now there is going to be a real blockade. The issue of oil shipments to Cuba is a fraught one for Sheinbaum, who is striving to show the Trump administration that Mexico is a partner on trade and security without alienating the left wing of her party, Morena. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies. RIGA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- A Canadian soldier serving in the NATO Multinational Brigade Latvia died near Riga on Thursday, the Latvian Defense Ministry said on Saturday. The soldier has been identified as Sebastian Halmagean, a gunner from the Royal Canadian Artillery. He had served in the Canadian Armed Forces for nearly three years. This was his first overseas deployment. The Canadian Forces Military Police is investigating the soldier's death with support from the Latvian side. No further information will be provided, but there is no indication that this incident poses an increased threat to the safety and security of Canadian troops deployed in Latvia, the ministry said. Last September, another Canadian soldier, Warrant Officer George Hohl, a vehicle technician serving in the Canadian-led NATO multinational brigade, who had gone missing, was also found dead. The crowd gathered in freezing temperatures after Bruce Springsteen performed at an anti-ICE concert in the city. The US rock legend recently released Streets of Minneapolis, a tribute to the two dead protesters A demonstrator holds a sign, in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, during a protest more than a week after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US. Reuters Minneapolis continued to see protestors braving the icy weather conditions to rally against the deployment of ICE agents and the deaths of two US citizens in a span of one month. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis and neighbouring St. Paul to identify and detain immigrants in President Donald Trumps push against illegal aliens. Around 3,000 ICE agents are deployed in the state, which is nearly five times more than the local law enforcement force. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In freezing temperatures, protesters in Minneapolis carried posters with slogans like ICE OUT NOW! while calling for the removal of the current administration. Many demonstrators held images of Renee Good and demanded the impeachment of President Trump and Vice President JD Vance. I dont think our federal government should be terrorising our people like this, Sushma Santhana, 24, told AFP as protesters chanted our streets! around her. The crowd gathered in freezing temperatures after Bruce Springsteen performed at an anti-ICE concert in the city. The US rock legend recently released Streets of Minneapolis, a tribute to the two dead protesters. DOJ orders civil rights probe on Prettis killing The US Justice Department has started a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis, a senior official said on Friday. The departments investigation could potentially lead to criminal charges against the officers involved, though there is a high legal bar to bring such a case. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the FBI was examining Saturdays shooting with potential assistance from the departments Civil Rights Division, which typically plays a leading role in investigations into use of force by law enforcement. He cautioned that the review was preliminary and he downplayed its scope. This is what I would describe as a standard investigation by the FBI when theres circumstances like what we saw last Saturday, Blanche said at a news conference. Over 200 people were reportedly killed in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday Labourers dig at the Rubaya coltan mine in the town of Rubaya, which is controlled by M23 rebels, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in March 2025. Reuters Over 200 people were reportedly killed in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday. The death toll was shared by Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the mine is located, Reuters reported. However, the governor feared that the death toll was likely to increase. As per the report, the mine was located some 60km (37 miles) northwest of Goma city, the provincial capital of North Kivu province. It collapsed on Wednesday, but the precise casualties from the tragic incident remain unclear. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD More than 200 people were victims of this landslide, including miners, children and market women. Some people were rescued just in time and have serious injuries, Muyisa told Reuters, adding that about 20 injured people were being treated in health facilities. We are in the rainy season. The ground is fragile. It was the ground that gave way while the victims were in the hole, he said. Meanwhile, Eraston Bahati Musanga, the governor of North Kivu province appointed by the M23 rebel group, told the AFP news agency on Friday that some bodies have been recovered, without giving a specific figure of the number of those killed and injured, but suggesting a potentially high death toll. More details awaited An adviser to the provincial governor put the death toll at more than 200, while speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters because he was not authorised to brief the media. In the midst of the confusion, AFP reported that it was unable to confirm the death toll with independent sources as of Friday evening. Franck Bolingo, an artisanal miner interviewed at Rubaya by AFP, said people are believed to still be trapped inside the mine. It rained, then the landslide happened and swept people away. Some were buried alive, and others are still trapped in the shafts, Bolingo told the news agency. It is pertinent to note that Rubaya produces about 15 per cent of the worlds coltan, which is processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal that is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. The mine, where locals dig manually for a few dollars per day, has been under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group since 2024, after previously changing hands between the DRC government and rebel groups. It is pertinent to note that the United Nations has accused M23 rebels of plundering Rubayas resources to help fund their rebellion, backed by Rwanda, an allegation that the government in Kigali denies. Despite the DRCs exceptional mineral wealth, more than 70 per cent of Congolese live on less than $2.15 a day. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Tens of thousands of people have left Pakistans Tirah Valley after mosque announcements warned of possible military action, though officials deny any planned operation Residents from Tirah valley, who fled a remote mountainous region bordering Afghanistan, gather to get themself registered, in Bara, Khyber District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (Reuters) Thousands of residents have moved out of a remote mountainous area in northwestern Pakistan in recent weeks after mosque announcements urged families to leave in anticipation of possible conflict. The departures have taken place in the Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the Afghan border, with people relocating to nearby towns despite severe winter weather, according to residents. Residents said warnings broadcast from mosques advised people to evacuate to avoid potential clashes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The announcements were made in the mosque that everyone should leave, so everyone was leaving. We left too, said Gul Afridi, a shopkeeper who moved with his family to Bara, a town 71 km (44 miles) east of the Tirah Valley. Local officials in the area, speaking on condition of anonymity, said thousands of families had departed and were being registered for assistance in nearby towns. The Tirah Valley has been considered a sensitive security zone and a base for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an Islamist militant group responsible for attacks on Pakistani security forces. Government and military responses The Pakistani government has not formally announced any evacuation or military operation. On Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif rejected suggestions that an operation was planned or underway in Tirah, describing the movement as a routine seasonal migration linked to harsh winter conditions. A Pakistani military source familiar with the situation gave a different account, saying the relocations followed months of discussions among tribal elders, district officials and security authorities regarding the presence of militants in Tirah. The source said militants were operating among civilian populations and exerting pressure on residents. The source declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. The source said civilians were encouraged to temporarily leave to reduce the risk of harm as targeted intelligence-based operations continued, adding there had been no build-up for a large-scale offensive due to the areas mountainous terrain and winter conditions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistans military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the interior ministry, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government did not respond to requests for comment made on Friday. Residents rejected suggestions that winter alone drove the movement. No one left because of the cold, said Abdur Rahim, who said he left his village for Bara earlier this month after hearing evacuation announcements. It has been snowing for years. We have lived there all our lives. People left because of the announcements. Gul Afridi described a perilous journey through snowbound roads along with food shortages that made the evacuation an ordeal that took his family nearly a week. Here I have no home, no support for business. I dont know what is destined for us, he said at a government school in Bara where hundreds of displaced people lined up to register for assistance, complaining of slow processes and uncertainty over how long they would remain displaced. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Abdul Azeem, another displaced resident, said families were stranded for days and that children died along the way. There were a lot of difficulties. People were stuck because of the snow, he said. The Tirah Valley drew national attention in September after a deadly explosion at a suspected bomb-making site, with officials and local leaders offering conflicting accounts of whether civilians were among the dead. (With agency inputs) India on Saturday rejected claims linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modis 2017 Israel visit that surfaced in newly released US Justice Department documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday rejected claims related to Prime Minister Narendra Modis 2017 visit to Israel that appeared in newly released documents linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The ministry dismissed the references as baseless and strongly refuted any suggestion of impropriety. In a statement, the MEA said it had taken note of reports about an email from the so-called Epstein files that mentioned the Prime Minister and his Israel visit. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Our statement to clarify certain reports https://t.co/WvcGHeA01D pic.twitter.com/thmZFcNWsM Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 31, 2026 Beyond the fact of the Prime Ministers official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt, the ministry said. Reference limited to official Israel visit Responding to the reports, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal clarified that the reference in question related only to Prime Minister Modis official visit to Israel in July 2017. He said there was no basis for drawing any other conclusions from the email. Prime Minister Modis 2017 visit was significant as it marked the first time an Indian Prime Minister travelled to Israel since the two countries established full diplomatic relations in 1992. Fresh release of Epstein-related documents The clarification came after the US Department of Justice on Friday released a large tranche of investigative material linked to Jeffrey Epstein. The release made public more than three million pages of records, along with over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images. Announcing the disclosures, Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the release was part of a transparency mandate passed by Congress last year. He added that this marked the final phase of disclosures planned under the law, with many documents heavily redacted to protect victims or ongoing investigations. Background on Epstein case The newly published files include material that had been withheld from an initial release in December. The law also mandates the disclosure of records related to Epsteins longtime associate and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein died in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump plans to issue about 65,000 additional H-2B seasonal worker visas to help employers facing acute labour shortages, according to the Federal Register The administration of Donald Trump is set to issue roughly 65,000 additional H-2B seasonal guest worker visas until September 30, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The expansion is intended for employers facing serious financial strain due to a shortage of domestic labour, Reuters reported. The move effectively doubles the 66,000 visas made available each year to industries including construction, hospitality, landscaping, and seafood processing, acknowledging that employers in these sectors may be struggling to find workers. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A temporary rule enabling the release of the extra H-2B visas is set to be formally published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the notice said. Wider immigration crackdown The Republican leader launched a broad immigration crackdown after returning to the White House in 2025, portraying immigrants without legal status as criminals and a burden on their communities. His administration also tightened several forms of legal immigration, introducing wide-ranging travel bans and conducting reviews of refugee and asylum cases. The number of available visas was also expanded under former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and during Trumps earlier 20172021 term. Employers in seasonal sectors, including hotels, had pushed strongly for more visas. Some construction firms reported worker shortages during Trumps tougher immigration enforcement drive. Groups advocating lower levels of immigration opposed the additional visas, arguing they depress wages for US workers. Trump also made it more difficult for technology companies to secure staff through the H-1B programme, adding a $100,000 fee that led to a legal challenge. Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to have more extensive and friendly ties with British financier and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein than what was previously known to the public, DoJs latest documents show Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to have more extensive and friendly ties with British financier and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein than what was previously known to the public. The revelation of their relationship was made in the recently released set of Epstein Files by the Department of Justice on Friday. The emails and other related documents appeared to show that Musk and Epstein cordially messaged each other on two separate occasions. The event was planned for Musk to visit the infamous Epsteins island. The documents released on Friday also included Musk and Epstein emailing in both 2012 and 2013 to determine when Musk should make the trip to Little St James. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, neither of the two exchanges appeared to have resulted in Musk visiting the island. As per the records, the billionaire apparently had to cancel the visit for logistical reasons. Will be in the BVI/St Barts area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit? Musk states on 13 December 2013. Any day 1st - 8th . Play it by ear if you want. Always space for you, Epstein replies. The controversial emails Musk then went on to send several emails relaying his schedule, and the two settled on 2 January as a date for the visit. The email exchange ends with Epstein telling Musk that he would need to remain in New York and sending his regrets that they could not meet. Bad news- Unfortunately, my schedule will keep me in New York. I was really looking forward to finally spending some time together with just fun as the agenda. So I am very disappointed. Hopefully, we can schedule another time in the near future, Epstein wrote. In November 2023, the British financier sent Musk another email asking, How many people will you be for the heli to the island? Probably just Talulah and me. What day/night will be the wildest party on your island? Musk replied, in an apparent reference to his former wife, Talulah Riley. The Tesla CEO then followed up with an email on 25 December in response to another Epstein message that encouraged him to visit and offered the use of his helicopter. Do you have any parties planned? Ive been working to the edge of sanity this year, and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose. The invitation is much appreciated, but a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what Im looking for, Musk wrote. Understood, I will see you on st Barth, the ratio on my island might make Talilah uncomfortable, Epstein responded. Ratio is not a problem for Talulah, Musk said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The recent revelations of Musks ties with Epsitien garnered significant attention since the billionaire has been harshly critical of those linked to Epstein. The newly released emails appear to contradict his own longstanding denial of any ties. Back in 2019, the SpaceX CEO told Vanity Fair that Epstein was obviously a creep and claimed that Epstein tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island. I declined. The emails between the two moguls came years after Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida. Authorities later arrested Epstein in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges. However, the British financier passed away the same year, awaiting trial. On Friday, many got insights into the life of the US First Lady, Melania Trump, in a new documentary titled Melania.Here are some of the takeaways from the documentary US first lady Melania Trump promotes Amazon MGM Studios upcoming documentary film "Melania" at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US. File image/Reuters On Friday, many got insights into the life of the US First Lady, Melania Trump, in a new documentary titled Melania. The documentary premiered at the Kennedy Centre and was widely distributed in 1,500 theatres nationwide. The film is produced by the first lady herself and was recorded on the 20 days of January last year, culminating in President Donald Trumps second inauguration. The director, Brett Ratner, followed Melanias back and forth from Mar-a-Lago to New York and Washington DC. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Here are some of the takeaways from the documentary: Melanias love for her mother The documentary made several references to the First Ladys beloved mother, Amalija Knavs, who died in January 2024. In the movie, Melania speaks often about grief, and about the influence of her mother, a former pattern maker whom she credits, in part, with her love of fashion. She went on to describe Knavs as the richest thread in my life, whose quiet strength shaped me. On the anniversary of her mothers death, Melania was attending the funeral of a former US President, Jimmy Carter, in Washington, then, back in New York, went to St. Patricks Cathedral to light a candle for her mother. Her immigrant roots The movie also touched upon her immigrant roots. Notably, in an administration whose anti-immigration policies have led to violence, Melania was often seen surrounded by immigrants, like Herve Pierre, her French fashion designer, a friend of more than eight years. Meanwhile, Tham Kannalikham, the interior designer responsible for changing over the White House to Trump 2.0, describes how her family left her native Laos when she was 2, and how the opportunity to work on the presidential residence became part of her American dream. The First Lady herself talked about her journey as an immigrant from Slovenia to the White House a reminder of why I respect this nation so deeply, she says. Everyone should do what they can to protect our individual rights. Never take them for granted, because in the end, no matter where we come from, we are bound by the same humanity. Her love for her son While Barron Trump was often seen in the movie, he was never heard. However, Melania mentions that she is proud of how her son has navigated his unusually public childhood. As he grows up, its very important that he lives the life he wants to live, she said. Melania also mentioned how her son would not get out of the car his choice. When the public festivities are ultimately moved indoors because of extreme cold, she confesses that she feels relieved. Being in a more secure, enclosed space brought a certain peace of mind. Her style The first ladys graphic palette very symmetrical, right angles, black and white, as her closest adviser, Marc Beckman, recently described it in the documentary. Her clothes, both in the documentary and during the promotion, became a fashion statement. Lack of Trump In the documentary, the first lady often referred to the US president as my husband. While there were a few phone calls between the two, no private dinners together or interactions outside their political roles were shown. This can be due to the fact that the Republican firebrand does not have a reputation for being accessible, and the documentary upholds that. Overall, the documentary showcased how the American First Lady saw herself and her family. The United States has approved nearly $16 billion in arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia amid escalating West Asia tensions. The deals include helicopters, tactical vehicles and Patriot missiles to boost ally defence. The United States has moved forward with nearly $16 billion in new arms sales to two key West Asian allies Israel and Saudi Arabia as geopolitical tensions in the region show signs of escalation, particularly around Iran and the fragile ceasefire in Gaza. The US State Department formally notified Congress of the approvals ahead of late-January announcements in what is believed to be one of the most significant foreign military sales authorisations in recent years. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The arms packages include approximately $6.67 billion worth of defence equipment for Israel and $9 billion for Saudi Arabia, highlighting Washingtons intent to reinforce allied deterrence capabilities amid complex regional dynamics. US officials have stressed that the deals are designed to bolster defence and are not intended to disrupt the military balance in the West Asia. For Israel, the State Department reportedly outlined four separate sales components that aim to strengthen both air and ground capabilities. The largest element involves 30 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, advanced aircraft typically used for reconnaissance, close support and defensive missions, equipped with targeted weapons systems for complex operational environments. Another major portion of the package includes about 3,250 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, armoured platforms intended to support troop mobility and various logistical functions. Additional portions include power systems for armoured personnel carriers and a small number of light utility helicopters. The Saudi package centres on air and missile defence, with 730 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles and related equipment at its core. Patriot systems are widely used by US allies to intercept ballistic and aerial threats and are seen as a key component of integrated regional defence networks. The US government says these interceptors will enhance not only Saudi Arabias ability to defend critical infrastructure and civilian populations but also the wider Gulf security architecture. Strategic considerations and congressional oversight Officials from the US State Department have repeatedly framed these sales within the context of longstanding defence partnerships. In statements accompanying the notifications to Congress, Washington asserted that reinforcing Israels and Saudi Arabias defensive capacities aligns with broader US national security interests and supports allied readiness against evolving threats. Moreover, the department has maintained that none of the new sales will meaningfully alter the overall military balance in the region. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, the approvals have sparked debate within the US political establishment, particularly regarding the pace and transparency of the process. Under US law, foreign military sales are typically subject to mandatory notification periods during which Congress may review, raise objections or seek further clarifications. Several lawmakers have pressed for more detailed engagement, especially concerning the timing of the Israel portion of the package, given ongoing diplomatic sensitivities tied to the Gaza ceasefire and broader peace efforts. Critics argue that significant arms deals announced during times of heightened conflict risk being perceived as endorsements of hard-line policies, rather than as neutral efforts to promote deterrence and security cooperation. Supporters counter that the partnerships with Israel and Saudi Arabia have long been central pillars of US strategy in the West Asia, serving to reassure allies, deter regional adversaries and protect American personnel and assets stationed abroad. Regional dynamics and broader implications The timing of these approvals is particularly notable. The sales came as the US continues to exert diplomatic pressures connected to the Gaza ceasefire, a process that has eased some hostilities but left significant challenges, such as disarming militant groups and reconstructing devastated areas, unresolved. Simultaneously, tensions with Iran remain a central security concern. Tehrans missile development activities and support for proxy forces across Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria have intensified regional instability. In this context, bolstering allied defences serves dual purposes: deterring potential aggressive actions and reinforcing collective defence postures. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD For Israel, the new equipment is meant to improve operational flexibility and defensive readiness; for Saudi Arabia, it strengthens air defence capabilities at a time when the Gulf faces diverse aerial and missile threats. The deployments of Patriot missiles and attack helicopters are widely interpreted both as force multipliers and as strategic signals of continued US commitment to partners in the region. The broader implications of these sales extend beyond immediate defence considerations. Arms agreements of this scale and nature often intersect with diplomatic negotiations, regional alliances and global perceptions of US foreign policy priorities. As the deals move through congressional review windows and begin the lengthy contracting and delivery process, policymakers in Washington and allied capitals will be watching closely to assess how these new capabilities integrate into the evolving security landscape of the West Asia. A partial US government shutdown began after Congress missed the 2026 budget deadline amid a fierce dispute over immigration enforcement following fatal Minneapolis shootings US senators on January 30 approved a last-minute deal backed by President Donald Trump to avert the worst impacts of an imminent government shutdown,. A funding deadline expired at midnight on Saturday, pushing the US government into a partial shutdown after Congress failed to approve a 2026 budget in time. The lapse followed stalled negotiations on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers pointing to disputes over immigration enforcement funding and recent events in Minneapolis as key obstacles. Despite the shutdown taking effect, congressional leaders indicated that action in the House early next week could quickly restore funding. Talks collapse amid immigration dispute Negotiations broke down amid Democratic anger over the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents, an issue that derailed discussions over fresh funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Instead of going after drug smugglers, child predators, and human traffickers, the Trump Administration is wasting valuable resources targeting peaceful protestors in Chicago and Minneapolis, Senate Democratic Minority Whip Dick Durbin posted on social media. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This Administration continues to make Americans less safe. Scope of the shutdown Roughly three-quarters of federal operations are affected, potentially setting off shutdown procedures across agencies covering education, health, housing and defence. Departments were expected to begin implementing contingency plans overnight. Leaders from both parties said the Senates action made a short disruption more likely than a prolonged deadlock. If the House approves the package early next week, funding would be restored within days, reducing the practical impact on services, contractors and federal workers. However, if the shutdown lasts more than a few days, tens of thousands of federal employees could be placed on unpaid leave or required to work without pay until funding resumes. Senate action and House schedule Late Friday, the Senate passed a package covering five outstanding funding bills to keep most federal agencies operating through September, along with a two-week stopgap measure to keep DHS running while negotiations over immigration enforcement continue. The House of Representatives was not in session when the deadline passed and is scheduled to return on Monday. President Donald Trump supported the Senate agreement and urged swift House approval, signalling he wanted to avoid a lengthy shutdown the second of his second term after a record-long stoppage last autumn disrupted federal services for more than a month. Political backlash The Senate breakthrough came after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina removed a procedural block that had delayed the package. He had objected to elements of the DHS stopgap and to House-passed language repealing an earlier measure allowing senators to sue the Justice Department if their phone records were seized during past investigations. Graham lifted his hold after Senate leaders committed to future votes on legislation he is sponsoring aimed at cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities that decline to cooperate with federal deportation operations. Democrats have remained united in opposing new DHS funding without changes to immigration enforcement policy following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. Their deaths intensified scrutiny of federal agents and hardened resistance to approving immigration funds without new safeguards. Party leaders accused immigration authorities of operating with too little oversight and called for reforms such as stricter warrant requirements, limits on certain enforcement tactics and greater accountability for field agents. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Much of the US media viewed the White Houses decision to separate DHS funding from the broader budget package as recognition that the administration may need to adjust its deportation strategy after political fallout linked to the Minneapolis deaths. Republicans remain divided. Some lawmakers acknowledged the need for changes after the shootings, while conservatives warned against concessions they believe could weaken enforcement. Several signalled they would press their own priorities in upcoming DHS negotiations, including measures aimed at states and cities limiting cooperation with federal authorities. Although Congress has already passed six of the 12 annual funding bills, those measures cover only a minority of discretionary spending. The remaining legislation finances large parts of the federal government, making the lapse significant if it continues. The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo on Friday night directing agencies to prepare for an orderly shutdown, stating: It is our hope that this lapse will be short. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The United States has pitched the resumption of Venezuelan oil purchases to India, as Washington pushes New Delhi to reduce its dependence on Russian crude amid rising trade pressure and tariffs, according to a Reuters report. At present, India and the United States have strained ties over the stalled negotiations for a bilateral trade deal and Trumps tariff threats. File image/Reuters The United States has suggested that India may soon resume purchases of Venezuelan oil as part of a push to reduce New Delhis dependence on Russian crude, amid mounting pressure after tariffs took effect, Reuters reported. The move is part of a broader US effort to steer Indias oil imports away from Russia while recalibrating energy ties between the two countries. Sources cited by Reuters said India is likely to cut Russian crude imports by several hundred thousand barrels per day in the coming months. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Renewed IndiaVenezuela engagement Washingtons pitch of Venezuelan oil comes amid renewed diplomatic engagement between New Delhi and Caracas. Venezuelas interim president Delcy Rodriguez said on Friday that she had agreed with India on energy cooperation during a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The call came a day after Venezuela opened its hydrocarbons sector to private companies. PM Modi said in a post on X after speaking with Rodriguez that the two sides had agreed to further deepen and expand our bilateral partnership in all areas, with a shared vision of taking India-Venezuela relations to new heights in the years ahead. Venezuela opens oil sector to private investment Venezuela, which holds the worlds largest proven oil reserves, has recently reformed its laws to allow private investment in the energy sector. The move marks a significant departure from decades of state control and is aimed at attracting foreign capital and reviving its struggling oil industry. Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs in March 2025 on countries buying Venezuelan oil, including India, as his administration intensified pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. US forces captured Maduro on January 3, after which Washington began directing the Caracas government and announced plans to control Venezuelas oil industry indefinitely. India looks to diversify crude imports India became a major buyer of Russian oil after Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered Western sanctions and discounted prices. However, growing US pressure and rising trade costs have pushed India to diversify its crude imports. Oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said last week that India is expanding its sourcing options as Russian imports decline. US tariffs on Indian goods rose to 50 per cent in August after Washington imposed an additional 25 percent levy over Indias purchases of Russian oil. Operational challenges linked to Western sanctions have also encouraged Indian refiners to increase imports from alternative suppliers. KIEV, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is prepared to observe an energy ceasefire with Russia that began overnight on Friday, the Ukrinform news agency reported. "Ukraine is ready to mirror the restraint from strikes, and today we did not attack Russian energy facilities," Zelensky said in an evening address. He added that the U.S. had proposed a one-week pause in attacks on energy infrastructure. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to refrain from attacking the Ukrainian capital and other cities for a week due to the severe cold. Earlier on Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia had agreed to suspend strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities until Feb. 1 following Trump's request, according to RBC-Ukraine news outlet. Japanese public figures across the political and academic spectrum gathered in Tokyo on Thursday to protest Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan, warning that her comments and her administration's push for military expansion risk heightening regional tensions and drawing Japan into war. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Zip Code BANGKOK, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- As the robotic gripper of a drone was loosened, a life jacket was thrown to the person who had fallen into the water for rescue. This was the video footage shown by a contestant of the Thailand division semifinal of Lancang-Mekong Countries Science and Technology Innovation Competition, demonstrating the mechanism for life jacket deployment in water-rescue operations of the drone platform with a gripper. The semifinal was co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Innovation Cooperation Center (Bangkok) and Yunnan Academy of Scientific and Technical Information on Thursday. More than 300 universities, research institutes, and enterprises from the six Lancang-Mekong countries have signed up for the competition. Semifinals were held simultaneously in China, Thailand, and Myanmar, where 120 project teams competed for 60 spots in the finals. The participating projects cover a wide range of fields, including biomedicine, modern agriculture, information technology, and sustainable development. Contestants in the Thailand division semifinal are generally concerned about the common technological challenges faced by the Lancang-Mekong countries. Dibesh Karmacharya, a contestant, presented a solution for antibiotic resistance in poultry together with his team. With long-term experience in biological research, he found that the problem of excessive use of antibiotics in poultry farming is widespread in the Lancang-Mekong countries, which may exacerbate the issue of antibiotic resistance and affect the development of the poultry farming industry in these countries. "We have developed a probiotic additive that provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional antibiotic treatments," Dibesh said. Dibesh's team comprises members from Vietnam, Laos and Nepal. After learning the news of this competition, his team signed up immediately. "When we saw that this competition was specifically designed for Lancang-Mekong countries, we knew it would be a great opportunity to participate. There are also many Chinese scientists working on similar issues, so we believe this will be an excellent way to strengthen our cooperation network, even if we don't win," he said. Kiatkamjon Intani, deputy head of the Department of Farm Mechanics at Kasetsart University, said that this competition brought together scientific and technological workers from the Lancang-Mekong countries to jointly solve the problems they all face. "The Lancang-Mekong countries form a community of shared interests, with each nation boasting its own unique strengths. This competition allows us to break down barriers and forge ahead hand in hand," added Kiatkamjon, who was also one of the judges of the semifinal. Emerging technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence were also key focuses for participants from the Lancang-Mekong countries. Nathapol Nithichodchaisiri, a lecturer from Siam Technology College in Thailand, brought unmanned aerial vehicles with his team, which are mainly used for rescuing victims in earthquakes and fires. "We are very glad to showcase our latest products and innovative ideas at the competition," said Nathapol, expressing the hope to take this opportunity to promote their innovations to the international market and participate in more rescue missions. Kiatkamjon said he was pleased to see that all the contestants' innovations are rooted in the real needs of the Lancang-Mekong countries. "Living by the same river, we should enhance cooperation through platforms like this competition," he said. 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. CHRISTINE GALLAGHER/Special to the Sentinel I spent hours on Goree Island off the coast of West Africa learning about its 400-years of slavery history and current status as a UNESCO site. President Trump sits on the podium during a session on the Board of Peace initiative of US President Donald Trump at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Saturday roundly rejected rumors of the assassination of its Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri. In a statement on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the rumor was spread by an Israeli social media account, identified as Terror Alarm, describing the account as "the operational arm of (Israel's intelligence agency) Mossad in psychological warfare." It added that the account has a track record of spreading rumors about security and military areas and had earlier claimed that Commander of the IRGC Quds Force Esmaeil Qaani had been assassinated. According to Sepah News, the Terror Alarm's rumor-spreading makes more sense, given U.S. President Donald Trump's psychological operation through sending warship fleets to the West Asia region over the past few days. Also on Saturday, the IRGC's Navy also dismissed the rumor, saying no drone attack has been carried out against any of its headquarters in Hormozgan province, and no building affiliated with the force has been destroyed, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Mon Monday 54 /26 Morning clouds followed by afternoon sun. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the mid 20s. Mon Monday 54 /26 Clouds giving way to sun . Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the mid 20s. Ex-colonel gets 11 years in China spy case; leak charges remanded ROC Central News Agency 01/30/2026 07:33 PM Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized an 11-year prison sentence for an ex-Air Force colonel who recruited spies for China while on active duty, but remanded charges involving the leak of military secrets back to a lower court. Former Colonel Chang Ming-che () served as a department director at the Air Force Academy before being discharged for his involvement in an espionage case -- first exposed by the media last June -- according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND) at the time. According to Taichung prosecutors, Chang received NT$1.34 million (US$42,608) from his handlers between 2019 and 2023, with some monthly payments reaching NT$65,000, for his role in providing intelligence and recruiting military spies for China. Chang was recruited by three Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers attached to the Guangdong Provincial Government's overseas office in Bali, Indonesia, in 2019, and received a US$10,000 signing bonus, prosecutors said. The meeting was arranged by Chung Shun-he (), a China-based Taiwanese businessman who died while the case was pending before the Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Court last year, prosecutors added. Prosecutors indicted Chang, Chung, and a then-active-duty military officer, surnamed Yeh (), who they found had also been recruited by Chung to work for China following a 2023 meeting with PLA officers in Singapore. Last September, the Taiwan High Court handed Chang a combined 16-year prison term for multiple offenses, including developing a network for an external entity, espionage and the collection of military secrets. In the same ruling, the court dismissed all charges against Chung due to his death and acquitted Yeh, citing insufficient evidence. On Thursday, the Supreme Court remanded two other charges of Chang -- for which he received four and three-year prison terms, respectively -- to the lower court for a retrial. The grounds for the Supreme Court's ruling have not been made public. MND notes last June that the case was uncovered through internal leads and subsequently referred to the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office for investigation. (By Hsieh Chun-lin, Lai Yu-chen, Hao Hsueh-ching and Shih Hsiu-chuan) Enditem/ASG NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Contracts Contracts for Jan. 30, 2026 AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $2,805,961,005 hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and fixed-priced incentive undefinitized contract for F-15 Republic of Korea aircraft upgrades. This contract provides for the design and development of an integrated suite of aircraft systems to support modification of the F-15K aircraft for the Republic of Korea Air Force and Defense Acquisition Program Administration. Work will be performed at St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2037. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales to the Republic of Korea. This contract was a sole source acquisition. Foreign military sale funds in the amount of $540,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8634-26-C-B002). L3 Technologies Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, has been awarded a $283,300,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the performance of ground control element support and sustainment services. This contract provides for ordering of logistics support and sustainment services required to maintain and enhance the performance of element systems and ancillary capabilities. Work will be performed at Salt Lake City, Utah, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 29, 2031. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,500,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Command, Control, Communication, and Battle Management Portfolio Acquisition Executive Office, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA239826DB001). Oracle America Inc., Redwood City, California, was awarded an $88,112,197 firm-fixed-price task order for the Cloud One program. This contract provides for Oracle Cloud service offerings in support of the Air Force's Cloud One program and their customers. Work will be performed at the contractors designated facilities across the contiguous U.S. and is expected to be completed by Dec. 7, 2028. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $280,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8726-26-F-B005). L3Harris Technologies Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded an $80,269,309 modification (P00354) to a previously awarded contract (FA8823-20-C-0004) for the National Space Defense Center, and Distributed Space Command and Control System Sustainment Option Year Seven, including depot-level maintenance, mission software support, hardware modification support, sustaining engineering analysis, cybersecurity support, and technical data management and limited supply support. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $1,586,276,940 from $1,506,007,631. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; and Dahlgren, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2027. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $78,302,110; and fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,200,000, are being obligated at the time of award. The Space Systems Command Directorate of Contracting, Peterson SFB, Colorado, is the contracting activity. Dark Wolf Solutions LLC, Herndon, Virgina, was awarded a ceiling of $67,200,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for cyber space innovation support services. This contract provides for assisting the Secretary of the Air Force Chief Information Office and the Department of the Air Force in their effort to rapidly accredit appropriately tested emerging technologies for the assessment and remediation of cyber vulnerabilities. Work will be performed at the Pentagon, Washinton D.C.; Department of Defense facilities; and other contractor and third-party facilities within the U.S., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 5, 2031. This contract was a sole source Small Business Innovation Research Program Phase III acquisition, and one offer was received. Fiscal 2026 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,750,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force District of Washinton Contracting Directorate, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA701426D0001). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $50,000,000 time-and-materials, firm-fixed-price task order for commercial agile software development services. This contract provides for direct sustainment and modernization of software development in support of the Strategy Mission Planning and Execution, Data Fusion, and Visualization suite of software applications. Work will be performed at Bellevue, Nebraska; and Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2031. This contract was a competitive acquisition, and one offer was received. Operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $685,155 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Command and Control Division, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (FA2217-26-F-B001). Sierra Nevada Company LLC, Englewood, Colorado, has been awarded a $26,375,510 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-reimbursement modification (P00026) to a previously awarded contract (FA2834-24-C-B002) for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center. This modification is for the repair of stringer cracks on the Engineering and Manufacturing Development 1 aircraft. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $13,107,266,157 from $13,080,890,647. Work will be performed at Englewood, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2027. Fiscal 2025 research, development, testing, and evaluation funds in the amount of $26,375,510 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Liverpool, New York, has been awarded an $18,823,706 modification (P00076) under a previously awarded contract (FA8730-21-C-0022) for three-dimensional expeditionary long-range radar. This modification provides for option exercise to produce one radar system, and associated production management the basic contract. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $572,885,957 from $554,062,251. Work will be performed at Liverpool, New York, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 15, 2027. Fiscal 2026 procurement funds in the amount of $18,823,706 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES Booz Allen Hamilton,* McLean, Virginia (HQ003426DE003); Deloitte Consulting LLP,* Arlington, Virginia (HQ003426DE004); Clarity Innovation LLC,* Ponte Verda, Florida (HQ003426DE005); Leidos Inc.,* Reston, Virginia (HQ003426DE006); Tyto Government Solutions Inc.,* Reston, Virginia (HQ003426DE007); Bridge Core LLC,* Reston, Virginia (HQ003426DE008); and KBR Wyle Services LLC, Chantilly, Virginia (HQ003426DE009), were awarded a multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a shared ceiling of $561,000,000 for support to the Office of the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (ODCAPE) Joint Data Support Division (managed by the Office of the Secretary of War, ODCAPE) for identifying, collecting, analyzing, and managing data related to historical, current, and future U.S. and non-U. S. military forces. Work locations will be performed at the Pentagon, and the Mark Center. The estimated completion date is Jan. 8, 2031. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance, defense wide funding is in the amount of $21,000.00 is obligated. The contracting activity is Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia. NAVY General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $255,134,514 hybrid, cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost-only contract (N0003026C1005) for the fiscal 2026-2027 Strategic Weapon System (SWS) Fire Control Subsystem (FCS) efforts. The contract has options in the amount of $485,309,314. This contract award also benefits a Foreign Military Sale to the United Kingdom. Tasks to be performed include FCS development, production, sustainment, modernization, repair, installation, training, and technical engineering services support for the U.S. SSBN, UK SSBN, and SSGN fleets. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (87%); United Kingdom (4%); Groton, Connecticut (3%); Quonset Point, Rhode Island (2%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (2%); Bangor, Washington (1%); and Kings Bay, Georgia (1%). Work is expected to be completed on June 1, 2033. Fiscal 2026 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $29,638,636; fiscal 2026 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,430,533; fiscal 2026 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $65,721; fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $13,850,000; fiscal 2025 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,490,687; fiscal 2025 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,429,268; fiscal 2025 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,800,228; fiscal 2024 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $22,659,599; fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $31,459,487; and fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $613,811, are being obligated on this award. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was awarded as a sole source acquisition pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1) and was previously synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) online portal. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting authority. Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $89,003,482 firm, fixed-price contract (N3220526C0006) for a 185-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry dock availability of Military Sealift Command's hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19). This contract includes a base work package and three unexercised options for additional work and time, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of this contract to $90,220,312. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, beginning March 20, 2026, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 20, 2026. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $89,003,482 are obligated and will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Government wide Point of Entry website and one offer was received. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220526C006). Katmai North America LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, is being awarded a $37,600,000 firm-fixed-price and cost reimbursement (travel and other direct cost only) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with a five-year ordering period for business and operations services in support of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. The contract ordering period is from Feb.15, 2026 to Feb. 14, 2031. This contract requires performance primarily at the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $1,565,091; and 2026 research and development (Navy) funds in the amount of $579,225, will be obligated at the time of award for task order one. Subsequent task orders will utilize fiscal year operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) and Research and Development (Navy) funds available at time of task order award. This contract was procured as a sole source to an Alaskan Native company under Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-5(b)(4), 6.303-1(b), 6.303-2(d), 19.808-1(a) and Class Deviation 2020-O0009.The Marine Corps Installations National Capital Region-Regional Contracting Office, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M00264-26-D-0003). Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is awarded a $29,420,128 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-22-C-5501) to exercise the Option Year 3 line items for dual band radar (DBR) design agent and technical engineering follow-on requirements support of the DBR systems installed aboard Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers and Zumwalt-class destroyers. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts (40%); Marlborough, Massachusetts (20%); San Diego, California (15%); Norfolk, Virginia (10%); Andover, Massachusetts (5%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (5%); and Chesapeake, Virginia (5%), and is expected to be completed by January 2027. Fiscal 2026 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,115,607 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Young & Rubicam LLC, New York, New York, is being awarded $29,000,000 for a modification (P00021) increasing the ceiling available to a previously awarded, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract (N00189-21-D-Z024). This modification will provide for marketing and advertising services in support of the Navy Recruiting Command advertising program. This modification will bring the estimated cumulative value of the total contract value from the previously modified $550,182,742 to $579,182,742. The original contract included a one-year base ordering period that began in May 2021 with four one-year ordering period options. The contract is in its final fourth-year option ordering period and the ordering period will be completed by May 2026. Work will be performed in Memphis, Tennessee (59%); and New York, New York (41%). No new funding will be obligated at time of award. Operations and maintenance (Navy) funds will fund individual orders with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract modification action is being executed on a non-competitive basis pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.212-4. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. Detyens Shipyards Inc.,* North Charleston, South Carolina, is awarded a $28,193,867 firm-fixed-price contract (N3220526C1222) for a 136-calendar day shipyard availability for the Post Shakedown Availability of Military Sealift Command's fleet replenishment oiler USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 207). This contract includes a base work package and four unexercised options for additional work and time, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of this contract to $29,016,429. Work will be performed in North Charleston, South Carolina, beginning March 2, 2026, and is expected to be completed by July 15, 2026. Fiscal 2026 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,193,867 are obligated and will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Government wide Point of Entry website and four offers were received. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220526C122). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $25,507,850 modification (P00004) to a firm-fixed-price order (N0001922F2016) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001921G0006). This modification adds scope for the production and delivery of 16 infrared search and track (IRST) pod block II weapon replaceable assemblies to include16 fuel tank assemblies, 16 sensor assembly structures, and final system integration and acceptance testing of 16 IRST pods, as well as providing non-recurring engineering, sustainment, and tooling in support of IRST low-rate initial production Lot Eight for the Navy. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (79.7%); and Santa Ana, California (20.3%), and is expected to be completed in August 2028. Fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $25,507,850 will be obligated at the time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Liverpool, New York, is awarded a $19,079,792 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-23-C-6106) to exercise options for engineering and maintenance services at Intermediate Maintenance Activity, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in support of the MK48 heavyweight torpedo efforts. Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by February 2027. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,732,335 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Detyens Shipyards Inc., * North Charleston, South Carolina, is awarded an $11,028,108 firm-fixed-price contract (N3220526C1220) for a 75-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry-docking availability of Military Sealift Command's expeditionary fast transport USNS Cody (T-EPF 14). This contract includes a base work package and four unexercised options for additional work and time, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of this contract to $11,307,404. Work will be performed in North Charleston, South Carolina, beginning March 30, 2026, and is expected to be completed by June 12, 2026. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,028,108 are obligated and will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was a small business set-aside solicited via the Government wide Point of Entry website and three offers were received. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Systems & Technology Research LLC, Woburn, Massachusetts (N6600123C4037) was awarded a $9,565,901 contract modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the development of innovative payloads to conduct acoustic warfare to counter active surface sonars, bringing the cumulative face value of the contract to $20,467,210. Work will be performed in Braintree, Massachusetts; Springfield, Massachusetts; Woburn, Massachusetts; South Kingstown, Rhode Island; and Arlington, Virginia. The expected completion date is Jan. 3, 2027. This modification exercises and incrementally funds the first option of the contract. At the time of the award, $3,000,000 in fiscal 2026-2027 research, development, test, and evaluation funds from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency were obligated. The contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. NIWC Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Avon Protection Ceradyne LLC, Salem, New Hampshire, has been awarded a maximum $40,509,375 modification (P00064) exercising the fourth one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-22-D-1516) with four one-year option periods for second generation advanced combat helmets. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Ohio, with a Feb. 6, 2027, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2026 through 2027 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. DEFENSE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AGENCY ASRC Federal Administrative Services LLC, ** Beltsville, Maryland, has been awarded a $28,213,164 firm-fixed-price contract (HS002126CE004) for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). This is a bridge contract which provides Case Processing Operations Center support services. Work will be performed at Boyers, Pennsylvania; and St. Louis, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2026. Fiscal 2026 DCSA defense working capital funds in the amount of $9,451,192 were obligated at the time of award. This is not a multiyear contract. One solicitation was issued, and one proposal was received. DCSA Procurement Solutions, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small business **8(a) direct award https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/4394525/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deputy prime minister W. Kosiniak-Kamysz: we will always watch over building strength, security and peace Poland - Ministry of National Defence 28.01.2026 - I would like to thank all of you for the service to your countries, working together with Poland. Building a strong, safe Poland in a friendly environment, looking for friends rather than pointing out enemies. Guarding against those who threaten us, those that provoke us, those who have started a hybrid war, who sow unrest not only against us, but especially against our eastern neighbour, Ukraine. I am talking about the Russian Federation, who is, according to our strategy, the largest threat to the security of Europe, to its peace and tranquillity - said the deputy prime minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. On 28 January 2026, the minister of national defence has met in Warsaw with the members of the military diplomatic corps accredited in Poland. The meeting was focused on an overview of the most important events of the previous year, impacting the increase of international defensive capabilities in the area of international security, as well as planning paths forward and priorities for mutual cooperation. It was an opportunity to thank the attaches for their work, developing international cooperation and bolstering the support for defence within NATO and the EU. We are a country that loves peace. We are a country that wants peace. Peace needs strength to defend itself. It is a beautiful thing, but it does not have the ability to defend itself. We cannot protect ourselves with just this word, this strategy, if we do not have sufficient strength. That is why our defence budget for this year is over 200 bln PLN. It is one of the largest budgets in nominal terms among the NATO countries and reaches almost 5% of GDP. (...). Why does Poland spend so much on armaments? Why do we invest so much in our defence? We do not plan on attacking anyone. We have plans to build the strength and security of the eastern flank of NATO, the European Union, Poland and our allies. We want to be the strongest of the strong - said the deputy prime minister W. Kosiniak-Kamysz. In his speech the minister of national defence noted the value that building alliances, including the transatlantic alliance, has. We will be building the strength of our alliances in the coming years, and in the year 2026. The role of Poland is to bolster the transatlantic ties. There is no NATO without the United States. There is no strength and power of the United States without their participation in the North Atlantic Alliance. It is all connected. NATO arose from transatlantic relations, and must be based on them. (...) Our line of transatlantic understanding is existentially important to Poland, Europe and the United States. I am unshakeably convinced that we are always treated seriously and respectfully - among the commanders, veterans of shared fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, wherever we were standing arm in arm, as allies, with our friends from the United States, France, Great Britain and other NATO countries, wherever we defend not just values but really - the lives of citizens of those regions where we go as Polish military contingents, UN missions, NATO missions, European Union missions. This is the respect we expect for our veterans - stressed the minister. Poland does not limit itself to our influence that comes from the friendship with all the European Union countries, the shared assistance to Ukraine delivered by NATO and the EU, but our actions and cooperation reach other parts of the world as well. South Korea is, and will be in the coming years, an important partner when it comes to modernization and technological progress. I am thankful for all the good agreements, especially those signed in the previous year, for the Polonization of the K2 tank, the assembly of which is due to begin in the abedy Steelworks in Gliwice, or acquiring the opportunity to manufacture in Poland the missiles for the Chunmoo launcher. This is a visible signal not just of cooperation of defence industries, but also moving manufacturing capabilities to Poland and Europe, of independence in this regard - noted the minister. I wish a good year to all those who take care of building security. I believe that the strength of our alliances will be greater than any evil and neo-imperial designs, and those who demolish peace, who sacrifice hundreds of thousands, if not millions of their own citizens, will eventually lose. There will be a reckoning, perhaps first and foremost from their people. We will always watch over building strength, security and peace. I want to thank all military representatives accredited in Poland for their mission, and their relations. I wish you all a good and safe year - noted the deputy prime minister W. Kosiniak-Kamysz at the end. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghanistan: FAO and Asian Development Bank advance $100 million initiative to boost food security and resilience Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Project to support more than one million Afghans in restoring livelihoods and withstanding future shocks 29/01/2026 Rome/Kabul -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are implementing a $100 million initiative to bolster food and nutrition security and restore agricultural livelihoods for more than one million vulnerable people across Afghanistan. Over the next two years, the project will support more than 151 000 households (or 1 057 000 people), including returnees from Pakistan and Iran, host communities and families affected by recent earthquakes and floods. The initiative will help rural households restore livelihoods, protect livestock, and rebuild disrupted agricultural production systems. Addressing multiple, compounding crises Agriculture remains the backbone of Afghanistan's rural economy, yet it continues to struggle with low productivity, limited access to inputs and restricted market opportunities. Repeated natural disasters have destroyed crops, livestock assets and irrigation infrastructure, while large-scale return movements from neighboring countries have placed additional pressure on already vulnerable host communities. Large-scale life-saving agricultural support and food assistance delivered at the height of the food crisis helped curb acute food insecurity nationwide. However, conditions have since deteriorated again. In 2026, 17.4 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity, including 4.7 million in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), characterized by wide food consumption gaps and high acute malnutrition. Persistent drought conditions, combined with anticipated La Nina impacts bringing below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures into early 2026, are further heightening risks. With millions of Afghans already facing mounting pressures and at risk of slipping into deeper acute food insecurity and malnutrition, there is an urgent need for sustained investment that goes beyond emergency response to strengthen long-term resilience. This initiative prioritizes climate-smart and people-centered interventions to boost agricultural production, improve food and nutrition security and diversify rural livelihoods. Special attention will be given to the most vulnerable communities, particularly women-headed households and communities in provinces most affected by climate and economic shocks. Fostering sustainable growth in Afghanistan The project marks another milestone in the strong partnership between FAO and ADB in Afghanistan. Since 2022, ADB has provided approximately $265 million in grants through FAO to strengthen agricultural production and curb acute food insecurity across the country. Through this collaboration, FAO has reached an estimated 5. 6 million vulnerable people, supporting more than 841 000 households in restoring crop and livestock production, improving food security and nutrition and stabilizing food supply chains during a period of severe humanitarian crisis. FAO assistance packages have demonstrated strong cost-effectiveness and lasting impact. For around $200, a wheat cultivation package can feed a family of seven for an entire year, meeting 70 percent of daily energy needs. Farmers using FAO-certified seeds achieved 27 percent higher yields, with each household producing an extra 360 kg of wheat - enough to feed two additional people annually. These packages also generate sufficient quality seed for three to four subsequent seasons, ensuring lasting gains. Livestock support has increased herd ownership by 50 percent and improved household nutrition through increased milk and meat consumption. "Our partnership with ADB is delivering real, measurable results for farming families across Afghanistan," said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General. "From the outset, this collaboration has focused not only on meeting immediate food security needs but also on closing Afghanistan's food production gap and creating space for private sector recovery. With ADB, we have enabled millions of rural households to access the tools and resources they need to grow food, protect their animals and ensure their families have enough nutritious food. This project deepens our shared commitment by expanding support beyond emergency needs toward more diversified, agriculture-based livelihoods, strengthening crop and livestock production, post-harvest activities and market opportunities, with a particular focus on women who play a central role across Afghanistan's farming and livestock sectors," he added. By bridging immediate food security support with longer-term resilience-building, the initiative aims to ensure that families not only recover, but are better equipped to withstand future shocks in a highly vulnerable context. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deputy Prime Minister Radosaw Sikorski takes part in Foreign Affairs Council Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Republic of Poland 29.01.2026 Poland's top diplomat Radosaw Sikorski participated in a monthly meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) held in Brussels on 29 January. The talks covered Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East and in the Great Lakes region. Another important item on the agenda was security. Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure prove that Russia is not interested in making peace. Therefore, we should continue to help Ukraine and put pressure on the aggressor", said Deputy Prime Minister Radosaw Sikorski. He pointed out that Poland supports the reconstruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure and called on other member states to intensify their aid to Kyiv. The head of Polish diplomacy said he expects that the 20th sanctions package against Russia will soon be adopted. We need to impose sanctions on refineries that process Russian oil. This would supplement the sanctions we have on the clunker fleet", urged Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski. The head of the Polish MFA emphasised that we need to fulfil our commitments to NATO, including by allocating adequate resources for armaments. Poland can act as a role model. We're off to a good start with the SAFE instrument. It's EUR 150 billion for the most advanced types of armaments, and nearly one-third of that will go to Poland," added the minister. EU foreign affairs ministers also held an exchange of views with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk about priorities set for this year for the institution he heads, also in the context of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the situation in Belarus. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address On the unity of the North Atlantic Alliance in the context of modern threats Poland - Ministry of National Defence 29.01.2026 - I have had the honour to deliver a keynote speech during the meeting of the ministers of defence and the most senior commanders of the United States Armed Forces and allied armies in Europe, on the invitation from general Grynkewich. I have presented the Polish perspective on building the strength of transatlantic relations, bolstering NATO and the need to increase European defence spending, so that Europe is an equal partner to the United States in terms of military capabilities. I have also talked about the threats the Alliance faces, especially on the eastern flank of NATO, but also the ones for the entire Alliance - Russia and terrorism being the latter. I have touched on the issue of combating these threats, building the Alliance's strength and resilience and maintaining its unity. I have spoken about our experiences, our shared history, but also that NATO is not just an organization, a treaty or ministerial meetings. NATO is primarily its soldiers - their stories, their lives and readiness to shed blood and sacrifice their lives for peace and security - said deputy prime minister W. Kosiniak-Kamysz after the conclusion of the talks in Ramstein regarding regional security and support for Ukraine. On 29 January 2026, the deputy prime minister - minister of national defence Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has participated in the meeting of chiefs of Staff of NATO countries in the Ramstein base in Germany. It was another meeting devoted to the situation in Ukraine and the support it receives, and to regional security. - I am glad that the words on modernization, transformation and defence spending were well-received. I have stressed that we cannot wait until the year 2035 - spending on the level of 5% of GDP are needed here and now, as quickly as possible. The threats are not diminishing, but rather keep rising, and Europe must take greater responsibility. The Alliance does not exist without the United States. There is no NATO without the United States, but there is also no global power of the United States without their participation in NATO. I have been underscoring this in my talks with the military commanders, especially the strong representation of the United States Armed Forces, headed by general Grynkewich. The mere fact of inviting me - the sole minister of defence of an Alliance member state - to deliver a speech, next to the Secretary General of NATO, shows how important Poland's role is, and how the Polish voice on shared security is perceived. We have also discussed the support for Ukraine, the capabilities we are acquiring, our standing in the European Union and securing 44 billion euros in the SAFE programme and the agreement of the European Commission to our purchase plans with the Secretary General of NATO. I have also presented a topic that will, in my view, be the most important in the coming days and months: strengthening the air defence of Poland, or the SAN programme - a layer of anti-drone defence, anti-drone shield and anti-drone wall, being a part of the Eastern Shield projects and the defence of the eastern flank of NATO. A strategic agreement will be signed tomorrow - underscored the minister of national defence The deputy prime minister has arrived on the invitation from the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, general Alexus Grynkewich. During his visit, minister Kosiniak-Kamysz ha salso met with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte. - We have also discussed the support for Ukraine, the capabilities we are acquiring, our standing in the European Union and securing 44 billion euros in the SAFE programme and the agreement of the European Commission to our purchase plans with the Secretary General of NATO. (...) Likewise, we have talked about the capability of allied forces to operate in different parts of the world and about how important the participation of Poland is in this context - in different areas and different scopes of engagement. I am glad that the voice of Poland is heard and heeded in NATO, and our perspective on security and threats, our sensibilities, are well-received in the North Atlantic Alliance. We are a proven and loyal ally. We are fulfilling all obligations stemming from the North Atlantic Treaty, including Article 5, and we are counting on solidarity, because the Alliance means solidarity - it is a two-way relationship - noted the deputy prime minister. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi Arabia Participates in Eighth Meeting of the Global Alliance for Implementation of the Two-State Solution in Ireland Saudi Press Agency Thursday 10/08/1447 Dublin, January 29, 2026, SPA -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated in the eighth meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, held in Dublin, Ireland, under the auspices of the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with broad participation from member states and international partners. The Kingdom was represented at the meeting by Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Manal Radwan, who delivered a speech affirming that the Global Alliance constitutes a unique international platform for aligning peace tracks and ensuring their coherence and effectiveness in support of a political solution. She commended the pivotal role of the United States of America and the efforts led by President Donald J. Trump, stressing that coordination with the United States to implement the comprehensive peace plan represents a genuine opportunity to end the conflict and move toward a phase of regional integration and sustainable stability. Dr. Radwan underscored the importance of implementing UN Security Council Resolution No. (2803), which serves as the legal and political reference for the current phase, particularly with regard to the work of the Board of Peace, ensuring the withdrawal of Israeli forces, ending the occupation, and creating the necessary conditions for political progress. She noted that Ireland's experience in peacebuilding demonstrates that complex conflicts are resolvable when peace processes are linked to an inclusive track, a clear political horizon, the rejection of violence, and the promotion of dialogue and confidence-building. Dr. Radwan reiterated warnings regarding the seriousness of the ongoing violations by Israeli occupation forces of the ceasefire agreement, emphasizing the importance of the New York Declaration, the comprehensive peace plan, and UN Security Council Resolution No. (2803), which together constitute a comprehensive and coherent framework. She pointed out that the current phase requires intensified diplomatic efforts, dialogue, and joint action to prevent deviation from the core objectives of ending the conflict and achieving peace. She also stressed the need to support the Palestinian National Authority, build its institutional capacities, and ensure institutional and geographical linkage between Gaza and the West Bank, in a manner that preserves the unity of Palestinian territory. In concluding her remarks, Dr. Radwan reaffirmed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's commitment to continuing to work with regional and international partners to achieve a just and lasting peace that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people for self-determination and the establishment of their independent state, while ensuring security and stability for all peoples of the region. -- SPA 16:20 Local Time 13:20 GMT 0048 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint statement by the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Canberra and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 30 January 2026 Category: International relations The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Canberra and the Australian Government stand with the people of Afghanistan. We do not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate representatives of the Afghan people. We strongly condemn the Taliban's persistent systematic abuses of human rights - particularly against women and girls, and voices of dissent. We reaffirm our shared commitment to human rights, and the dignity of the people of Afghanistan. The Embassy has continued to serve the Australian Afghan community since the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021. The Australian Government thanks HE Wahidullah Waissi, Ambassador of Afghanistan, for his dedicated service over this difficult period. Likewise, the Embassy thanks the Australian Government for holding the Taliban accountable for their egregious abuses of human rights and disregard for international law, and for its principled support for the people of Afghanistan as well as its continued humanitarian assistance and engagement with the Afghan Australian community. In light of the prevailing circumstances, following consultations instigated by the Australian Government, and in the context of constraints beyond the control of the Embassy, given concerns the situation was not able to continue in perpetuity, we advise that the Embassy's operations will be suspended after 30 June 2026. While this was not the preferred outcome, an understanding has been reached regarding an orderly and dignified transition, without prejudice to the Embassy's or the Australian Government's principled position on the situation in Afghanistan. Beyond 30 June 2026, the Australian Government, as the host nation, will continue to respect and protect the premises of the Embassy, together with any remaining property and archives, in accordance with international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961. The Australian Government has no intention of accepting a Taliban-appointed diplomat, Honorary Consul or other representative. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Army Chief Amir Hatami on Saturday warned that if the United States makes any mistake, it will definitely jeopardize its own security and that of Israel and the entire West Asia region, according to the official news agency IRNA. Speaking at a national festival in Tehran, Hatami emphasized the Iranian armed forces' readiness amid escalating tensions with Washington. "Today, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are in complete defense and military readiness and closely monitoring the enemy's movements in the region. We have our finger on the trigger," he said. He added that "If the enemy makes any mistake, it will undoubtedly jeopardize its own security and that of Israel and the region." He also welcomed neighboring countries' announcements that they will not allow their territory or airspace to be used against Iran, noting these countries "know any insecurity against Iran will make the entire region insecure." Hatami emphasized that if the other side is willing to resolve the problem, it should treat the Iranian nation with respect. The warning came amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier said that a "massive armada," led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, is heading towards Iran, warning that "time is running out" for Tehran to reach a deal with the United States. On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in Istanbul that the country is willing to negotiate with the United States, but not under threat. California-Mexico military partnership strengthens with visit to the Golden State California Governor - Gavin Newsom Jan 30, 2026 What you need to know: California and Mexico military leaders join efforts in Sacramento to continue sharing military expertise and help protect our regions. SACRAMENTO -- As part of a new partnership between the California and Mexico military departments, Governor Gavin Newsom today thanked Mexico's National Defense Secretariat (DEFENSA) for their visit to California earlier this week. Nearly a dozen military leaders from Mexico joined California National Guard officials in Sacramento for a multi-day hands-on understanding of the state's leadership responding to public safety and emergency management capabilities. This partnership is a testament of our commitment to collaboration and mutual values. The California National Guard has a proven track record of keeping Californians safe and helping our neighbors when we receive the call. California's partnership with Mexico strengthens our state's ability to keep people safe during natural disasters and prevent transnational crime. Governor Gavin Newsom During this visit, the California National Guard showcased a range of Army and Air Force aircraft supporting California's public safety and emergency response mission. Apparatus displays included a counter-drug operations and all-hazards use Army Black Hawk helicopter, a specially configured long-range mission rescue Air Force Pave Hawk helicopter, a highly advanced Air Force MQ-9 Reaper that monitors wildfire behavior and provides situational awareness for disasters, and an Air Force C-130 aircraft with the Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) to drop fire retardant on active wildfires. In addition, California officials displayed their Air Force F-15 fighter jet, representing the Guard's role in safeguarding U.S. airspace as part of the nation's homeland defense mission. In late 2025, the California National Guard and Mexico's DEFENSA, which is the government department managing the Army and Air Force, signed a letter of intent to further enhance border security, amplify our tied economic prosperity, and share military expertise. Known as the State Partnership Program, this U.S. Department of Defense security cooperation initiative pairs state National Guards with foreign partner nations to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships through military cooperation, disaster response collaboration, and broader civil-military exchanges that support U.S. defense and foreign policy objectives. The California-Mexico Partnership builds upon California's existing National Guard Partnerships with Nigeria and Ukraine. The work the Cal Guard servicemembers do is vital to California's overall public safety. California and Mexico share deep cultural, economic, and geographic ties including a 140-mile border and face many of the same challenges, from natural disasters to transnational crime. From disrupting dangerous drug trafficking networks and supporting communities during emergencies, to strengthening resilience during times of crisis, California servicemembers bring valuable experience to this partnership and will learn from the expertise of their Mexican counterparts as well. Together, this collaboration reinforces a shared commitment to safety, preparedness, and cooperation on both sides of the border. Protecting the border The Cal Guard's ongoing efforts, including operations conducted by its Counterdrug Task Force, play a crucial role in addressing drug trafficking. There are over 400 servicemembers deployed statewide, including at ports of entry, to combat transnational criminal organizations and seize illegal narcotics. Recently, Governor Newsom announced significant strides toward taking down organized drug rings, including the seizure of over 35,065 pounds of fentanyl and more than 51.8 million pills containing fentanyl, with a street value of more than $498.4 million since 2021. As soldiers have gotten back to doing crucial public safety work, it's important to remember that an estimated 32% of Cal Guard's servicemembers dedicated to the Counterdrug Task Force were reassigned by the President to unlawfully militarize Los Angeles. Increasing disaster resiliency Our regions also face similar natural disaster risks due to our shared geography. Both California and Mexico are vulnerable to earthquakes and the effects of climate change, such as wildfires and drought. Cal Guard servicemembers have been critical in protecting the state from natural disasters and emergencies, such as Task Force Rattlesnake. Joint Task Force Rattlesnake is made up of over 400 Cal Guard members, who work at the direction of CAL FIRE to help fight and prevent fires. This partnership will strengthen disaster preparedness and build on the existing cooperation between California's Office of Emergency Services and the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. During the fires in January, members of the Mexican military's specialized firefighting unit and disaster relief workers joined in the response efforts. Recognizing our shared economies Mexico is California's largest export market, and California is home to the largest Latino/Hispanic population in the United States. Nearly 40 percent of the Cal Guard's personnel identify as Latino/Hispanic. Mexico ranks 2nd globally in total two-way trade with California ($97.8 billion), after China ($137.9 billion) and Mexican-owned companies in California support more than 13,800 jobs. Since 2019, California and Mexico have signed seven memorandums of understanding. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Sudan: Statement by the Spokesperson on the rise of insecurity in the country European External Action Service (EEAS) 30.01.2026 Brussels, Belgium EEAS Press Team The European Union follows with concern the escalating security situation in South Sudan especially in Jonglei State and calls on all parties to return to the terms of the 2018 peace agreement. An immediate ceasefire is the only guarantee for peace and stability in South Sudan. We strongly condemn any inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians. We will work with the international community for upholding justice and holding those responsible to account if necessary. The EU has heavily invested in peace in South Sudan, supporting IGAD and the institutions of the peace agreement and providing humanitarian aid to millions of South Sudanese. We are alarmed by the high number of people displaced or left without any care or lifesaving assistance that the resurgence of internal conflicts has caused. The European Union calls for unrestricted humanitarian access, adherence to International Humanitarian Law and the protection of humanitarian facilities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Baltic defence ministers to establish joint Military Mobility Area Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Defence 30. January 2026 - 17:37 Rounding out Estonia's year presiding over Baltic defence cooperation, the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania met in Tallinn today to discuss defence cooperation in the region, joint procurements, the future development of the Baltic Defence Line and the creation of a joint Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Military Mobility Area (MMA). The aim in establishing an MMA is to harmonise peacetime border crossings and movement and transport procedures. The end result of creating MMAs will be the establishment of a harmonised area across Europe. Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur says that as befits close neighbours, Estonia's cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania is strong. "In order to deepen that cooperation, my fellow defence ministers and I have decided to establish a Baltic Military Mobility Area, which will allow our defence forces to move military equipment on a common, standardised basis," he explained. "This is important in strengthening our defence posture, with the ultimate goal being to create a 'military Schengen zone' across Europe." Latvian Minister of Defence Andris Spruds says the three Baltic States have the desire to work together that is needed for defence cooperation. "Our security is only as strong as our will to act," he remarked. "The Baltic Defence Line and industrial cooperation are our responsibility, and a practical response to regional challenges. By synchronizing our forces, we are not only strengthening the NATO border but also creating a lasting foundation of stability for all of Europe." Lithuanian Minister of Defence Robertas Kaunas described the letter of intent signed today for the formation of a Baltic Military Mobility Area. "It means that, when necessary, Lithuanian military equipment can move freely to defend Riga, Estonian artillery can support Vilnius, Latvian forces can lend their strength to Tallinn and vice versa, with each nation's capabilities seamlessly supporting the others," he said. "In times of crisis, every hour matters - bureaucratic borders cannot slow down our defence. The Baltic States will never again be anybody's backyard. We are the guardians of NATO's eastern flank, and we take that responsibility seriously." According to the three ministers, the Baltic Defence Line has evolved into a modern, cross-domain defence concept. "Estonia's focus will be on completing the construction of bases, barriers and storage sites," Minister Pevkur explained. "To date, all primary containment equipment has been delivered and stored. We have selected a standard bunker and tested it in the south-eastern part of the country, with a view to launching a major call for tenders this year. We will also continue to build a significant number of containment ditches in 2026. The Defence Line has become an essential element in ensuring the security of the eastern flank of NATO and the EU." In addition, capacity upgrades to meet the goals of NATO forces through joint procurements and with the help of the European Union's SAFE Loan Instrument were discussed. For example, Estonia and Latvia have acquired Piorun short-range and IRIS-T medium-range air defence systems, deliveries of which will start in 2026. The Baltic States have also cooperated to develop deep-strike capabilities with HIMARS rocket launchers, which the Estonian Defence Forces received and put into service in 2025. Estonia and Lithuania also form part of a group of countries that have decided to intensify cooperation for the development and possible future procurement of next-generation CV90 combat vehicles. The cooperation format of Baltic defence ministers was presided over by Estonia in 2025, with Latvia taking over the role in 2026. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IOM Sounds Alarm as Displacement in Yemen Soars International Organization for Migration News - Global 30 January 2026 Geneva/Aden, 30 January 2026 -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is responding to an alarming level of renewed insecurity in eastern Yemen that has forced new waves of families to flee their homes. Many have arrived in Ma'rib Governorate, where severe shortages of shelter, clean water, and essential services are putting newly displaced communities at immediate risk. As a new surge of displacement continues, many newly arrived families are living in overcrowded shelters, makeshift structures, or with host communities already under pressure. Ma'rib hosts some of Yemen's largest displacement sites, including Al Jufainah Camp, where around 16,000 families lack adequate shelter and basic services. This is increasing pressure on limited resources and heightening protection risks, particularly for women, children, older persons, and persons with disabilities. "Families are once again fleeing with almost nothing, arriving exhausted and vulnerable," said IOM Director General Amy Pope. "This surge in displacement is pushing already desperate communities to the brink. Without immediate and sustained aid, countless lives are at risk." IOM has provided emergency assistance to more than 1,600 newly displaced families, many of whom arrived after days of movement under unsafe and exhausting conditions. Assistance includes shelter support, water and sanitation services, health care, and protection. IOM is delivering immediate lifesaving assistance across Ma'rib City and Ma'rib Al Wadi, including emergency cash support and referrals for multi-purpose cash assistance. Working with local authorities and humanitarian partners, and with funding from European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), IOM has reached additional families. However, shortages of shelter materials, non-food items, and rapid response stocks continue to limit the scale-up of assistance. Beyond the immediate response, IOM teams continue to support displaced families and host communities with shelter and non-food items, primary health care, mental health and psychosocial support, and protection services, including psychological first aid and referrals for specialized care. After more than 11 years of conflict, Yemen's economy and public services remain severely strained, leaving 19.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 4.8 million internally displaced. With only around 25 per cent of needs currently covered, millions remain without access to lifesaving assistance, including health care, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene, cash assistance, and protection services. IOM remains committed to responding to displacement across Ma'rib and Yemen, closely monitoring movements and adapting its response as needs evolve. The Organization calls on donors and the international community to urgently increase flexible and sustained funding to ensure lifesaving assistance reaches families in need and to prevent further deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Yemen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Baltic Ministers of Defence signed an agreement on 3B Military Mobility Area Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence 2026-01-30 International cooperation | Security and defense policy On January 29-30 the Baltic Defence Ministerial Committee (3B) met in Tallinn, Estonia. Minister of National Defence Robertas Kaunas, Minister of Defence of Latvia Andris Sprudsand Minister of Defence of Estonia Hanno Pevkur discussed agenda of the NATO Defence Ministerial due in February, status of joint regional projects, creation of a joint Baltic Military Mobility Area, transatlantic relations and assistance to Ukraine. The 3B Military Mobility Area project was launched in 2023 under NATO coordination to secure conditions for a smooth and interrupted movement of military forces. In the long-term, the project is designed to create an integrated military mobility area spanning all of Europe. "The Joint Declaration of Intent on 3B Military Mobility Area signed today means that if necessary, Lithuania's military assets will be able to move freely towards Riga, Estonia's artillery will support Vilnius, Latvian capabilities will back up Tallinn, and vice versa. Every hour is critical in a crisis, we cannot let the walls of bureaucracy undercut our defence. The Baltic states shall never again be a periphery of anyone. We are the owners of the eastern flank of NATO and we seriously take on the implementation of the NATO defence plans," said Minister of National Defence Robertas Kaunas. The meeting also focussed heavily on the status of regional projects: the Baltic Defence Line and the Eastern Flank Watch. The Baltic states work hand in hand to secure EU financing for implementation of these projects to ensure stronger countermobility and border defence capabilities. The ongoing collaboration with Poland on the Eastern Shield addresses mutual integrity of the projects and efficient implementation of the NATO defence plans. "Our defence cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania is steadfast like it should be between close neighbors. The Decision taken at the NATO Summit in The Hague to reach 5% of GDP defence spending target is an important step for the Baltic unity and our common objectives. We will review the progress made towards that goal over the year at the upcoming NATO Defence Summit in Ankara in June. Today in Tallinn, with my Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues, we have taken the decision to establish a 3B Military Mobility Area to ensure that the equipment of our defence forces can move on the basis of a joint, agreed and standardized system," said Minister Defence of Latvia," said Minister of Defence of Latvia H. Pevkur. "Our security is as strong as our will to enact. The Baltic Defence Line and industrial cooperation is our responsibility and practical response to regional challenges. When we coordinate our capabilities, we not only strengthen the border of NATO, but also form a strong foundation for stability of all of Europe," said Minister of Defence of Latvia A. Spruds. The Baltic Defence Ministers also discussed strengthening NATO security and agenda of the upcoming NATO Summit in detail. R. Kaunas underscored that the highlight of the Summit in Ankara to Lithuania will strengthening of air defence through implementation of the Rotational Air Defence Model and transition from air policing to peacetime air defence. Ministers also agreed that Europe should take more responsibility for its security and aim for 5% of GDP defence spending as agree at the historical meeting at The Hague Summit. In the discussion on strengthening the transatlantic ties, Ministers underscored the importance of continuing the strategic U.S.-Baltic cooperation and expressed gratitude to the United States for the security assistance strengthening the Baltic security and defence capabilities. The efforts has been instrumental in stepping up the U.S.-Baltic cooperation as well. Ministers also addressed capability development to ensure NATO capability targets, including the initiatives implemented by means of common acquisition or planned to be implemented via the EU SAFE instrument. When discussing the assistance to Ukraine, Ministers agreed that NATO and EU member states needed to retain and step up military assistance, especially to tick off the shortages on the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). The 3B Minister also reiterated the 3B commitment to render assistance worth at least 0.25% of GDP annually, as well as to continue the support and deploy forces in the format of the Coalition of the Willing in case a ceasefire of peace deal is reached. At the end of the meeting Ministers signed a Joint Communique on further defence cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turk urges ambition on crimes against humanity treaty Press releases Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 30 January 2026 GENEVA -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk today welcomed ongoing preparatory talks toward an international treaty on crimes against humanity. "The start of deliberations on a convention on crimes against humanity is a milestone moment for States to strengthen international law's protection of people from atrocities, and their ability to work together to combat impunity," said Turk. "This is a once in a generation opportunity to advance prevention and accountability for crimes against humanity. I therefore encourage States to be ambitious." Representatives of States, international organizations and civil society organizations have been meeting in New York since 19 January to prepare for the start of formal negotiations on the long-awaited Convention. The Preparatory Committee has been discussing, among other matters, a definition of crimes against humanity, the general obligations of States to prevent and punish such crimes, the rights of victims, and national and international measures that should be available to States to prevent and punish. "The process is long and many hurdles will have to be cleared. However, I am encouraged that the preparatory talks have got off to a good start, with a high level of engagement by States, as well as by civil society actors," said Turk. The UN Human Rights Chief called on States to be ambitious, urging them to reflect international law as it is evolving and to ensure that the definition also addresses contemporary challenges and forms of harm. He recalled his earlier support for the codification of the crime of gender apartheid and encouraged States to give this and other proposed additions to the definition serious consideration in the negotiations. "The delegates should make a future-proof Convention, one that addresses deep historical injustices that continue to affect our world today, but also one that takes into account contemporary forms of grave attack on our common humanity and looks to protecting a future of dignity and justice for our children and grandchildren." The High Commissioner also underscored the paramount importance of an inclusive process. "All efforts must be undertaken to ensure diverse civil society groups and all other relevant voices are at the table throughout the process. A process that is open to all stakeholders and relevant expertise is an absolute must," said Turk. "Victims and survivors must be at the centre of the process and the Convention if it is to truly fulfill its promise to them," he said, urging the Preparatory Committee to allow their participation in the next phases of the process. Turk urged delegates to reflect on how the treaty can provide for the best possible operationalization of the Convention, for example through a treaty body. "The convention must not remain words on paper; it must incentivize and capacitate States to turn the norms into reality for their populations," he said. He pledged his support for the process and his Office's availability to engage with States and others and share expertise. Crimes against humanity generally refer to specific crimes when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, including murder, extermination, torture and other mistreatment, including forms of sexual violence. Unlike war crimes that occur only during situations of armed conflict, crimes against humanity can occur both in war and in peacetime. Additionally, unlike war crimes and the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and associated State obligations to repress and prevent them are so far not yet codified in a standalone international treaty. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel to partially reopen Rafah border crossing after long closure Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 6:53 PM Israel says it will reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt over the weekend after months of urging from the UN, humanitarian organizations and ordinary Palestinians but only for the "limited movement of people." "The Rafah Crossing will open this coming Sunday in both directions, for limited movement of people only," COGAT, an Israeli military body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement on Friday. Entry and exit "will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission," it added. It said an additional screening and identification process will also be conducted at a designated corridor under Israeli military control. The crossing, situated on the besieged territory's southern border with Egypt, is the only route in and out of Gaza that does not pass through the Israeli occupied territories. It lies in territory held by Israeli forces since their pull-back behind the so-called "Yellow Line" under the terms of a ceasefire deal that began in October. The Israeli regime troops still control more than half of the besieged Gaza Strip. Before Israel's announcement, Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), had called on Friday for the international community to urgently improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza. "The international community must now seize every opportunity to scale up efforts that alleviate suffering in Gaza," Spoljaric said. "Many people in Gaza are still living in the rubble without basic services, struggling to stay warm amid harsh winter conditions," she stated. "Thousands of families continue to wait for news about their loved ones. Hospitals, homes, schools and water systems need to be repaired, and unexploded ordnance must be cleared," the ICRC chief noted. Spoljaric called on Israel to ease entry restrictions on so-called dual-use material and equipment, such as water pipes and generators, to restore basic infrastructure. The vital link for humanitarian supplies has been shut for two years. The gateway is a vital entry point for aid, but has been closed since Israeli forces took control of it in May 2024 and past bids to reopen it have failed to materialize. The humanitarian situation in the besieged territory of more than two million people remains grave, with most of the population displaced and many living in tents with little or no sanitation amid harsh winter weather. Meanwhile, Hamas on Friday repeated its call for the ceasefire's guarantors to exert "serious pressure" on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent him from obstructing the fragile ceasefire deal. The Palestinian group once more called on Israel to immediately reopen the crossing, calling for the "immediate transition to the second phase" of the truce. The core part of the first phase of the plan was completed after the return of the remains of the last Israeli captive in Gaza earlier this week. Hamas then called for Israel to complete the implementation of all the provisions of the ceasefire agreement, "especially the opening of the Rafah Crossing in both directions without restrictions." Hamas, in its Friday statement, said that Israel's continued shelling of multiple areas across Gaza, along with demolition operations in parts of the enclave, amounts to terrorism and reflects Israel's blatant disregard for the ceasefire and its insistence on evading its obligations. The group pointed to the latest Israeli strike east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza earlier on Friday, which killed two young men. Israeli strikes have killed more than 490 people since the ceasefire came into force in early October. More than 71,600 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli genocidal war across the blockaded Palestinian territory since October 7, 2023. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli raids displace 25,000 Palestinians from Tulkarem refugee camp in West Bank Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 8:32 AM Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem alone over the past year, amid increasing Israeli army's attacks and settler violence. Tulkarem Deputy Governor Faisal Salameh confirmed that the ongoing aggression for over a year has forced about 25,000 Palestinians to leave their homes in Tulkarem's refugee camps of Tulkarem and Nour Shams. That came amid Israel's raids, destruction of infrastructure, and the near-total closure of both camps. Salameh noted that the first wave of displacement forced thousands of families to seek shelter in schools, mosques, hospitals, and charity offices, before stretching into a prolonged crisis. The Israeli attacks have not spared the shelters, with reports saying Israeli forces on Thursday stormed a shelter for displaced people south of Jenin, after invading two towns north of Tulkarem earlier in the day and vandalizing property in civilian homes. Since January 2025, Israel has intensified its attacks on various parts of the occupied West Bank as part of its attempts to Judaize and impose its control over the territory. In total, about 40,000 Palestinians have been uprooted from their homes in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2025, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarem. Satellite imagery from last month indicated that approximately half of all buildings in Nour Shams Camp have been damaged or destroyed by Israel since the start of the aggression last year. The escalated aggression against the occupied West Bank comes against the backdrop of Israel's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. Israel launched the war on Gaza in October 2023, killing nearly 71,000 Palestinians before the war came to an end last October with a fragile ceasefire agreement. Since October 7, 2023, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by settlers and soldiers in the occupied West Bank. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Rubio's Call with Mexican Foreign Secretary de la Fuente US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson January 30, 2026 The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramon de la Fuente about advancing shared priorities and regional security. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Rubio's Call with UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson January 30, 2026 The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Secretary and the Foreign Minister discussed the ongoing implementation of Phase Two of President Trump's Gaza peace plan. They also spoke about developments in Yemen and the importance of countering the threat posed by Iranian regime-backed Houthi terrorists. The Secretary and the Foreign Minister continued their engagement on Sudan and the urgent need for a humanitarian ceasefire. They agreed to continue coordination in support of regional security and stability and remain in close contact. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. approves massive new arms sales to Israel, Saudi Arabia Xinhua) 13:49, January 31, 2026 WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The White House has approved massive new arms sales totaling 15.67 billion U.S. dollars to Israel and Saudi Arabia, two major U.S. allies in the Middle East, amid tensions over Iran's unrest, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Friday. The new sale to Israel, totaling 6.67 billion dollars, comprises four separate packages, including one for 30 Apache attack helicopters equipped with rocket launchers and advanced targeting gear, and another for 3,250 light tactical vehicles aimed "to extend lines of communication" for Israeli forces, according to the statement. The sale to Saudi Arabia, worth 9 billion dollars, covers 730 Patriot missiles and related equipment and is intended to support a major regional non-NATO ally, the statement said. The State Department said it notified Congress of the sales' approval earlier on Friday. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese military on Saturday conducted combat readiness patrols in the territorial waters and airspace of China's Huangyan Dao and the surrounding maritime and aerial areas. The People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command said in a statement that since the beginning of January, it has organized naval and air forces to step up patrols and vigilance in the waters and airspace surrounding the territorial waters of Huangyan Dao, and resolutely countered infringement and provocative actions by individual countries in the region. The move is aimed at resolutely safeguarding China's sovereignty and security, and upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea region, the command said. Secretary Rubio's Call with Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Meredov US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson January 30, 2026 The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Sergio Gor spoke today with Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov. They discussed progress in enhancing regional security and economic prosperity in Central Asia. Secretary Rubio reaffirmed the United States' commitment to partnering with Turkmenistan to grow business ties and strengthen the bilateral relationship. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Rubio's Call with Greece Foreign Minister Gerapetritis US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson January 30, 2026 The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis today to discuss deepening U.S.-Greece cooperation on energy security and regional stability. Both leaders emphasized the continued importance and long history of the U.S.-Greece strategic partnership. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Department of Public Information . News and Media Division . New York 30 January 2026 The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General. ** Guest Good afternoon. I am pleased to be joined by our guest Anita Kiki Gbeho, who is the Deputy Special Representative in the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and Resident Coordinator in South Sudan. She is joining us from Juba to brief on the situation in South Sudan. And you will recall that, yesterday, we said that the Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the continued escalation of violence in South Sudan, most recently in Jonglei State, which has caused many deaths, injuries and the reported displacement of 180,000 civilians. The Secretary-General calls on the Government of South Sudan and opposition forces to take immediate and decisive action to halt all military operations and de-escalate the situation through inclusive dialogue. The full statement is online. And with that, I'll turn this over to our guest. Ms. Gbeho, the floor is yours. [This part of the briefing is not transcribed.] ** Myanmar All right, I will now continue with the second part of today's briefing. I will start with a statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on Myanmar. Five years since the military seized power and arbitrarily detained members of the democratically-elected Government, the suffering of the people of Myanmar has deepened. The cycle of impunity persists, with widespread violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating situation in Myanmar and its serious regional ramifications, including rising transnational crime, mass displacement nearly 5.2 million people, internally and across borders acute food insecurity, economic volatility and escalating violence, particularly the ongoing air strikes by the military hitting civilian populations and infrastructure. The Secretary-General strongly condemns all forms of violence and urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint, uphold international human rights law and international humanitarian law and enable safe, sustained and unimpeded access for the United Nations and its partners to deliver humanitarian assistance and essential services to all those in need. The Secretary-General continues to stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their democratic aspirations for an inclusive, peaceful and just society and reiterates the need to ensure the protection of all communities, including the Rohingya. A viable path back to civilian rule must be founded on an immediate cessation of violence and a genuine commitment to inclusive dialogue with the full participation of civil society, including women, youth, ethnic and minority communities. The Secretary-General urges Myanmar stakeholders and international actors to ensure an environment that allows the people of Myanmar to freely and peacefully exercise their political rights and reiterates his call for the swift release of all those arbitrarily detained, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Regional and international unity and sustained engagement are needed to support a Myanmar-led solution to the crisis that fully addresses the root causes of conflict, ensures accountability and responds to immediate humanitarian and development needs. The Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Myanmar, Julie Bishop, continues to engage with all stakeholders, in close cooperation with the Associated of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other regional partners, in the search for common ground that can provide a foundation for a durable resolution and sustainable peace in Myanmar. ** Colombia This morning, we issued a statement in which the Secretary-General said that he is saddened by the plane crash in north-east Colombia which happened on 28 January, which claimed the lives of 15 people. The Secretary-General extended his condolences to the families of the victims, who include a member of Colombia's Congress representing a "peace district", a congressional candidate from the same region and two humanitarian workers. He also expressed his solidarity with the people and Government of Colombia. Also on Colombia, our colleagues from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) tell us that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating across several regions as clashes between non state armed groups intensify in the country. Our humanitarian colleagues note that civilians in the states of Cauca, Narino, Guaviare, Arauca, Choco and Norte de Santander are increasingly facing killings, kidnappings and restrictions to their movement. In Catatumbo, near the border with Venezuela, clashes in the first half of this month between non-State armed groups have claimed the lives of more than 60 civilians. Thousands of people have been displaced or confined in their homes, cutting off their access to services and humanitarian assistance. Our humanitarian colleagues are deeply concerned by repeated attacks on medical services in Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Norte de Santander, which have left communities without essential care. Climate-related emergencies are also increasing humanitarian needs. Heavy rains have triggered landslides and flooding in some states. In rural Buenaventura, in the Pacific region, floods have left more than 15,000 Indigenous Peoples in need of shelter, clean water, health support and food. We, along with our humanitarian partners, continue to engage with authorities to support the humanitarian response, improve access to aid and strengthen preparedness. Even after prioritizing the most severe needs and what can realistically be delivered, the Humanitarian Response Plan remains critically underfunded. Last year, we received just a quarter of the $342 million required. This year, we're asking for $384 million to reach 2.6 million of the 6.9 million people who need aid. ** Occupied Palestinian Territory Our colleagues in OCHA tell us that families in Gaza continue to face harsh winter conditions. On Tuesday, another child reportedly died from hypothermia. This is the eleventh child who has died this way since the beginning of the winter season, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Since October 2025, the UN and our partners have distributed tens of thousands of tents, providing shelter to over half a million people. However, tents provide limited protection, especially during the rainy season. We continue calling for more durable shelter solutions to limit people's dependency on tents. Meanwhile, while prices for most food items are currently 38 to 96 per cent lower than prices in the first week of October 2025, before the ceasefire, most prices remain higher than before the October 2023 escalation, some items more than 230 per cent. Even with the improved availability of goods since the ceasefire, unemployment in Gaza stands at over 80 per cent, and households lack purchasing power to buy many of these items. This is according to the World Food Programme's (WFP) latest Market Monitor on Gaza. In the absence of predictable and affordable access to fuel, more than half the population is still resorting to using waste as fuel for cooking, which exacerbates health and protection risks, in addition to environmental hazards. Even with the improvements in food consumption this month, humanitarians stress that the entry of aid and commercial supplies must be sustained and further diversified. To address malnutrition, humanitarians have expanded services through dozens of facilities established since the ceasefire. More than 190 centres are currently distributing infant formula, providing blanket feeding, and other critical support to children. In the West Bank, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a social media post yesterday that, in the past few days, electricity and water have been cut off in schools and health centres in East Jerusalem that provide critical services to thousands of people. We reiterate that restrictions on humanitarian operations must be lifted. This includes ending the ongoing ban on UNRWA, which continues to serve communities despite operating under severe constraints. It also includes lifting registration requirements imposed on NGOs [non-governmental organizations]. All of our humanitarian partners should be allowed to bring in supplies and operate without hindrance across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. ** Lebanon Peacekeepers of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) continue to discover unexploded ordnance in their area of operations. Yesterday, a UNIFIL patrol found four unexploded ordnances, including a rocket launcher tube, projectile warheads and an illuminating artillery shell in Sector East. As per usual practice, these were referred to the Lebanese Armed Forces for disposal. In support of the Lebanese Armed Forces, peacekeepers conducted four-day coordinated activities with Lebanese Army personnel to enhance operational readiness and improve joint operational capabilities, including foot and vehicle patrols, checkpoints and the use of individual and tactical vehicle equipment. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ground and air activities in the Mission's area of operations continue. In the past three days, UNIFIL peacekeepers observed 18 Israel Defense Forces activities north of the Blue Line, involving hundreds of IDF vehicles and personnel. We reiterate that both parties must fully respect the Blue Line and fulfil their obligations under Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). ** Yemen Turning to Yemen: Following the entry by the Houthi de facto authorities yesterday into at least six UN offices in Sana'a, all of which are currently unstaffed, and the removal of most telecommunications' equipment from these offices, as well as several UN vehicles to an unknown location, Julien Harneis, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, said he regrets that these actions were taken unilaterally and without discussion with the United Nations, thereby eliminating any opportunity to reach mutually acceptable arrangements for the delivery of assistance. The de facto authorities did not inform the UN of the reasons for doing so. Furthermore, the Houthi de facto authorities have not authorized the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) to operate flights to Sana'a for more than one month, nor to Marib for more than four months, further exacerbating the humanitarian situation, particularly in areas under their control. These restrictions come at a time when, after more than 11 years of conflict, Yemen's economy and public services remain severely strained, leaving 19.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 4.8 million internally displaced. We recall Security Council resolutions 2801 (2025) and 2813 (2026), which call upon the Houthis to enable a safe and secure operating environment, including through the immediate and unconditional release of all detained personnel from the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and diplomatic missions. ** Sudan From Sudan, OCHA warns that the situation in the State of South Kordofan is deteriorating rapidly, with civilians facing escalating violence, continued displacement and a near-total collapse of basic services. This week, the security situation in the city of Dilling worsened significantly, with intense artillery shelling and drone strikes reported across multiple neighbourhoods. Local sources indicate that dozens of civilians have been killed, but telecommunications' disruptions are preventing the verification of casualty figures. While nearly half of Dilling's population, some 117,000 people, is estimated to have been displaced, many others remain trapped inside the city, cut off from assistance. Basic services are on the brink of collapse: food is largely unavailable in markets, livelihoods are severely restricted and most health facilities have exhausted their medical supplies. The situation in the state capital, Kadugli, remains equally alarming, with more than 80 per cent of the population, some 147,000 people, believed to have fled to other parts of South Kordofan and beyond. An OCHA team visiting the locality of Abu Jubaiha this week reported that thousands of people are still arriving from Dilling and Kadugli, with 250 to 300 people arriving daily. Some people reported being on the move for several weeks in search of safety, with deaths occurring along the way. Overall, more than 88,000 people have been displaced across the Kordofan region since late October, as fighting continues to drive civilians from their homes. Our partners continue to operate in Dilling where possible, but severe insecurity, supply shortages and access constraints are affecting operations. As we have previously noted, an interagency convoy with supplies intended for Dilling and Kadugli remains in El Obeid in neighbouring North Kordofan and has been unable to proceed, due to the security situation. We continue to urge an immediate cessation of attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and call for rapid, safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access to reach people in need. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that between late October 2025 and mid-January 2026, more than 127,000 people were displaced from El Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur State, due to heightened insecurity. The majority remain within North Darfur, while others have sought refuge across several states, further straining already overstretched services. With needs rising sharply across several regions, OCHA once again calls on donors to step up urgent support. In 2026, we and our partners require $2.9 billion to reach more than 20 million people in need across Sudan. ** Mozambique The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today noted that recurrent climate shocks are again driving mass displacement across Mozambique. According to UNHCR, the latest floods have displaced around 392,000 people, adding pressure to a country grappling with conflict in the north, which displaced more than 300,000 people in the last quarter of 2025 alone. UNHCR said that an estimated 100,000 people are now sheltering in around 100 temporary accommodation centres, including schools and public buildings. Overcrowding in these centres is severe, heightening protection risks. With partners, UNHCR is supporting the Government to provide much-needed assistance, particularly in Gaza Province. Mobile protection teams are identifying and addressing the most critical risks among the most exposed. ** World Interfaith Harmony Week Sunday marks the start of World Interfaith Harmony Week, a time to emphasize that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue are essential to building a culture of peace. The week was established to promote harmony among all people, regardless of their faith. ** Honour Roll Last, we would like to say thank you to our friends in Manila, Seoul, Castries, Stockholm and Saint John's for their full payment to the regular budget. The payments from the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saint Lucia, Sweden and Antigua and Barbuda bring the number of Member States on the Honour Roll to 36. And with that, I'll take your questions. Gabriel? ** Questions and Answers Question : Thank you, Farhan. Israel has announced that they will open the Rafah Crossing on Sunday, but with limited movement of people only. How is that going to affect the UN scaling up aid into Gaza, the fact you will not be able to get cargo through there? Deputy Spokesman : Well, we certainly hope to see Rafah also enabled for the movement of cargo. Reinstating the movement of cargo through the Rafah Crossing is critical to increase the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza, and that in turn would expand the scaling up of the humanitarian response. As for those departing, we've made it clear repeatedly that those who choose to leave or return must be able to do so voluntarily and safely. Question : On a separate topic, has the Secretary-General sent a letter to Member States about the financial state of the Organization? Deputy Spokesman : Yes, that letter went out to the Member States yesterday. Question : And can you characterize what that letter, the point of the letter and what was the key message in the letter? Deputy Spokesman : The key point is to underscore the gravity of the current financial situation that the United Nations faces. The Secretary-General has, as you know, repeatedly made clear the problem both of non-payment of dues by Member States and the related problem of the UN being forced to repay Member States for budget money that it does not spend. And so those two factors have put us on an unsustainable trajectory. And the Secretary-General had already warned last November that returning nearly $300 million in credits would trigger a liquidity crisis for our budget this year. And now, of course, we are facing that crisis now. And I'd like to point out that we ended although more than 150 Member States paid their dues last year, we ended 2025 with a record $1.56 billion in outstanding dues, which is more than double that of the previous year. So, unless either the payments come in, or we're not compelled to spend, to return the monies that we are not able to spend because we didn't receive the budget unless one of those two things happen, we face a real danger of running out of money. Question : And in the letter, he said, he warned that, if there weren't changes, that there could be a financial collapse of the Organization. Those are pretty strong words that certainly are going to cause alarm perhaps with anyone that receives that letter. Why is he saying this now? And is that hyperbole, or is that really the reality? Deputy Spokesman : It's not hyperbole. The people who handle our finances simply look at the numbers. And over the years, we've had to scramble and use whatever funds we have available to keep our operations going. Once our reserves have dwindled to this extent, our ability to do that has been undercut. When it comes to paying, it's now or never. We do not have the sort of cash reserves and the sort of liquidity to keep functioning, as we've done in previous years. And this is something that the Secretary-General has warned with increasing strength each year. Yes. Namo? Question : Thank you, Farhan. I haven't heard you make a statement about the comprehensive agreement, so-called comprehensive agreement signed between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus today. Do you think we will have something about that? Deputy Spokesman : Yes. I believe, we will have something about that for you later. This is something that we've been monitoring. I do expect that sometime this afternoon, we will have more to say. For now, it's clear that it's welcome to have an agreement between the Syrian Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces. And of course, we want all sides to work swiftly to ensure the implementation of that agreement, but we expect more later on today. Yes? Question : Bahman Kalbasi, BBC Persian. And can I get a maybe a bit of a clarity on what Secretary-General said yesterday regarding Iran? He was asked repeatedly about the scale of the catastrophe, a number of people who've been killed in the thousands of thousands and what the reaction has been. And he said he has had a conversation with Iranian officials, but he didn't elaborate which one, what has been, you know, the result of these conversations given that we now know that the Government on 8 and 9 January opened fire, sprayed a crowd of women, children, young people, demonstrating unarmed protesters killed in the tens of thousands injured and killed. Do you think you can shed light on just the conversations or the statement? Because there's only been one statement of condemnation; that came the first day. Deputy Spokesman : That statement of condemnation still applies, and we continue to be concerned about the killings of protesters. All people everywhere, including Iran, have the right to protest peacefully, and that right must be protected. The reports have been alarming. You've seen what our human rights office has been saying. You've seen the Secretary-General's statement. He has spoken with different Iranian officials. I would like to point out also that our head of political affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, when she was in Afghanistan, met with the senior Iranian official, the ambassador there, and also underscored our human rights concerns. And this is something we're doing in all of our interactions with the Islamic Republic. Question : He has talked about with which officials in Iran? Is there going to be a readout of what that was, that interaction? Deputy Spokesman : I mean, when we believe it's useful to identify speakers, we do so. But, when it works better, in terms of not providing those details, we have to just give you the overview of this. You've seen what the statement says. The things that we have been saying in public about Iran is also what the Secretary-General has been conveying in private. Beyond that, we don't have any further details to share at this stage. Question : And lastly, apart from the killing that happened on 8 and 9 January, it's an ongoing situation. Amnesty International just came out about an hour ago with a statement about thousands of thousands of detainees, many of them in danger of being tortured and even executed. I personally spoke with somebody this morning who recounted a young woman who was being arrested because she took part in protest and died, while getting arrested because they beat her up so hard. Do you think the response generally, having seen the Secretary-General go in front of cameras, response to this have been proportionate? We're talking about tens of thousands of people killed and injured in less than 48 hours. Deputy Spokesman : Well, the Secretary-General has been very clear in his condemnation of this. And indeed, he said it again in this very room yesterday and will continue to hold Iran to account. They have to abide by international human rights law, and they have to make sure that excessive force is not used, and particularly that force is not used against peaceful protesters. Islam? Question : Thank you, Farhan. I have a question on UN budget issue. I wanted to ask this question to [inaudible], but just before you, but I wasn't given opportunity. Perhaps they didn't see my hand. So, I would like to direct to you... Deputy Spokesman : I'm sorry, Islam, background briefings are on background. Please do not disclose that at this public briefing. Question : Okay. Let me ask in general then, if I may? Deputy Spokesman : Yes, please. Question : Can I ask in general, to the best of your knowledge, my understanding is that there's some regulation problem at the UN regarding the budget? Regulations are not sort of Bible, as far as I know, can be changed by the two thirds of the UN General Assembly with the agreement of P5 [permanent five members of the Security Council]. Again, to the best of your knowledge, has there been any initiative to amend these regulations? And if not, what kind of obstacles have prevented such changes? Deputy Spokesman : Ultimately, this is something that we have brought to the attention of Member States. It's something that the Secretary-General brought to the attention of the Member States just yesterday in a letter. And you're quite right that the Member States can change their regulations, but we are counting on them to understand the severity of the situation we face and to take action appropriately. Okay. And then, Minlu. Question : I may ask second question, please? On Iran. There are reports that Turkish President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan offered teleconference between parties, US and Iran Presidents, and US President [Donald J.] Trump expressed sort of interest. And today, Iranian Foreign Minister was in Turkiye. He also said that, you know, they are open to negotiations. Does the UN involve in this kind of backdoor diplomacy pushing the parties to sort of negotiate to solve the problem with the diplomacy rather than military strikes. What you can tell us about it? Deputy Spokesman : Well, what I can tell you is that we always encourage negotiations and diplomacy as the way to deal with Iran's issues, including issues regarding its nuclear programme and its human rights record. We've said that many times, and we will continue to uphold all efforts to have a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Yes, Minlu? Question : Following question on Iran. How does the United Nations view the reported deployment of additional military forces by the United States to Iran? Deputy Spokesman : We are concerned about any signs of an escalation in the region. We made clear repeatedly that any further escalation would be harmful to the region as a whole, and we want to make sure, as I just told your colleague Islam, that the parties seize any opportunities for a diplomatic solution to this. Have a good weekend, everyone. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Darfur's children living on a thin line between abandonment and hope UNICEF Remarks This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Sudan Chief of Communication Eva Hinds - to whom quoted text may be attributed - at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva 30 January 2026 GENEVA/PORT SUDAN, 30 January 2026 - "In Darfur today, reaching a single child can take days of negotiation, security clearances, and travel across sand roads under shifting frontlines. But the work is critical, particularly in places like Tawila - from where I have just returned - where hundreds of thousands of children have fled unspeakable violence. It is also where their families have built an entire city from sticks, hay, and plastic sheeting. Nothing about this crisis is simple: every movement is hardwon, every delivery fragile. "And still, under these conditions, support is getting through. In just two weeks, UNICEF and partners vaccinated over 140,000 children, treated thousands for illness and malnutrition, restored safe water to tens of thousands, opened temporary classrooms, and provided food, protection, and psychosocial care. It is painstaking, precarious work - delivered one convoy, one clinic, one classroom at a time - but for children in Darfur, it is the thin line between being abandoned and being reached. "I have just returned from a 10-day mission to Darfur. Even with years of experience working in emergencies, what I witnessed was unlike anything before. The scale of displacement, the fragmentation of the conflict, and the collapse of essential services have created a situation where every child is living on the brink. "Travel across Darfur is extremely difficult. Roads are mostly sand and stones, and every movement requires multiple permissions, and careful planning to ensure the safety of our teams. None of it is straightforward. But it is the only way to reach children who have had only very limited access to support for months. "Nothing prepared me for what I saw in Tawila. I had been briefed: over 500,000 to 600,000 people are sheltering there. But standing inside that vast expanse of makeshift shelters - hay, sticks, plastic sheeting - was overwhelming. It felt like an entire city uprooted and rebuilt out of necessity and fear. It is a city rebuilt out of desperation, larger than my hometown Helsinki and every one of those families is there because they had no choice but to flee. "Within that immense space, there were moments that will stay with me. "My colleagues and I met Doha, a teenage girl who had just arrived from Al Fasher with her aunt and siblings. Before the war, she had been studying English. Her name refers to the soft light just after sunrise, and she embodies that image - hopeful and determined. She told us she dreams of returning to school and eventually teaching English to other children. "At a nutrition site, we met the aunt of a little girl named Fatima, who had been brought for treatment for malnutrition. Fatima's mother, her sister, had been lost to the conflict. The aunt held the child close, doing everything she could to keep her safe. "And at a centre for women and girls, I met mothers who had nothing left. They told me they had no food, no blankets, no warm clothing for their children. "The children are freezing," one mother said. "We have nothing to cover them with." "These personal stories reflect only a small part of a much wider situation in North Darfur. "Sudan is the world's largest humanitarian emergency, yet one of the least visible. Limited access, a complex conflict, and competing global crises mean the suffering of millions of children is going unseen. "What I witnessed is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding on a massive scale. "Sudan's children urgently need international attention and decisive action. Without it, the horrors facing the country's youngest and most vulnerable will only deepen." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Sudan: 'All the conditions for a human catastrophe are present' 30 January 2026 - Military tensions in South Sudan are "rapidly expanding" between Government forces and opposition militia as fighting continues in restive Jonglei state. Briefing journalists based at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday, Anita Kiki Gbeho, Officer in Charge of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said Jonglei has become a 'flashpoint' for fighting, with civilians caught in the crossfire. With over 200,000 people displaced by the conflict this month, the senior official - who also serves as Resident Coordinator - warned of a 'sharp surge' in cholera cases. Over 500 were reported nationwide this month whilst treatment centres are 'overwhelmed' and 'critically short' of supplies. Aid delivery difficulties Although aid efforts are continuing with government support, access continues to be 'severely challenged' by road and river restrictions that are preventing aid distribution and medical evacuations. The world's youngest nation gained independence in 2011 but soon slid into civil war with fighting between forces loyal to the national army under President Salva Kiir and those supporting main opposition leader Riek Machar, who is currently on trial facing serious charges, including murder, which he denies. A Government offensive got underway this week in three counties of Jonglei following opposition gains. All civilians and aid workers were urged to evacuate. Humanitarian facilities 'looted' Ms. Gbeho told reporters that "humanitarian facilities are being looted and damaged (including at least seven [sites] in Jonglei), assets are being confiscated, and aid workers intimidated," while the UN peacekeeping force is facing "similar challenges". The disruptions to aid and peacebuilding efforts are having an "intolerable impact on people," with the mission warning that "all the conditions for a human catastrophe are present." Speaking online from South Sudan, Ms. Gbeho underscored that despite the release of $10 million to support the humanitarian response from the Central Emergency Relief Fund, "more support is needed." Restore peace Despite the shortages of supplies, Ms. Gbeho stated that the priority is "to stop the fighting, protect civilians and preserve the peace process" and to work with the African Union and the IGAD bloc of nations in the region to "restore adherence to the [2018] peace agreement." Echoing the remarks of the Secretary-General on Thursday, Ms. Gbeho reiterated that "the solution to the current crisis is political, not military", calling on the country's leaders to take "urgent, immediate action to cease hostilities, de-escalate tensions through inclusive dialogue, and return to consensus-based decision-making". 'A defining moment' To conclude, Ms. Gbeho emphasised that "the power to make positive change rests with the South Sudanese themselves." She described the juncture as "a defining moment - a critical junction for South Sudan. The decisions it makes now could either lead them on a path towards peace or to further conflict." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Colombia UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory UN calls for durable shelter solutions as families endure punishing winter OCHA reports that families in Gaza continue to face harsh winter conditions. On Tuesday, another child reportedly died from hypothermia. This is the eleventh child who has died this way since the beginning of the winter season, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Since October, the UN and its partners have distributed tens of thousands of tents, providing shelter to over half a million people. However, tents provide limited protection, especially during the rainy season. The UN continue calling for more durable shelter solutions to limit people's dependency on tents. Meanwhile, while prices for most food items are currently 38 to 96 percent lower than prices in the first week of October 2025 - before the ceasefire - most prices remain higher than before the October 2023 escalation - some items more than 230 percent. Even with the improved availability of goods since the ceasefire, unemployment in Gaza stands at over 80 percent, and households lack purchasing power to buy many of these items. This is according to the World Food Programme's latest Market Monitor on Gaza. In the absence of predictable and affordable access to fuel, more than half the population is still resorting to using waste as fuel for cooking, which exacerbates health and protection risks, in addition to environmental hazards. Even with the improvements in food consumption this month, humanitarian partners stress that the entry of aid and commercial supplies must be sustained and further diversified. To address malnutrition, humanitarian partners have expanded services through dozens of facilities established since the ceasefire. More than 190 centres are currently distributing infant formula, providing blanket feeding, and other critical support to children. In the West Bank, UNRWA said in a social media post yesterday that in the past few days, electricity and water have been cut off in schools and health centres in East Jerusalem that provide critical services to thousands of people. OCHA reiterates that restrictions on humanitarian operations must be lifted. This includes ending the ongoing ban on UNRWA - which continues to serve communities despite operating under severe constraints. It also includes lifting registration requirements imposed on NGOs. All humanitarian partners should be allowed to bring in supplies and operate without hinderance across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. *Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Gaza with urgent support. Sudan Uptick in fighting triggers mass displacement of civilians, collapse in services OCHA warns that the situation in the State of South Kordofan is deteriorating rapidly, with civilians facing escalating violence, continued displacement and a near-total collapse of basic services. This week, the security situation in the city of Dilling worsened significantly, with intense artillery shelling and drone strikes reported across multiple neighbourhoods. Local sources indicate that dozens of civilians have been killed, but telecommunications disruptions are preventing the verification of casualty figures. While nearly half of Dilling's population - some 117,000 people - is estimated to have been displaced, many others remain trapped inside the city, cut off from assistance. Basic services are on the brink of collapse: food is largely unavailable in markets, livelihoods are severely restricted, and most health facilities have exhausted their medical supplies. The situation in the state capital, Kadugli, remains equally alarming, with more than 80 per cent of the population - some 147,000 people - believed to have fled to other parts of South Kordofan and beyond. An OCHA team visiting the locality of Abu Jubaiha this week reported that thousands of people are still arriving from cities of Dilling and Kadugli, with 250 to 300 people arriving daily. Some people reported being on the move for several weeks in search of safety, with deaths occurring along the way. Overall, more than 88,000 people have been displaced across the Kordofan region since late October, as fighting continues to drive civilians from their homes. Humanitarian partners continue to operate in Dilling where possible, but severe insecurity, supply shortages and access constraints are affecting operations. As we have previously noted an interagency convoy with supplies intended for Dilling and Kadugli remains in El Obeid in neighbouring North Kordofan and has been unable to proceed due to the security situation. OCHA urges an immediate cessation of attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and calls for rapid, safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access to reach people in need. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, the International Organization for Migration estimates that between late October and mid-January, more than 127,000 people were displaced from El Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur State, due to heightened insecurity. The majority remain within North Darfur, while others have sought refuge across several states, further straining already overstretched services. With needs rising sharply across several regions, OCHA once again calls on donors to step up urgent support. In 2026, the UN and its partners require $2.9 billion to reach more than 20 million people in need across Sudan. *Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Sudan with urgent support. Colombia Clashes between armed groups cutting civilians off from basic services OCHA reports that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating across several regions as clashes between non-state armed groups intensify. Civilians in the states of Cauca, Narino, Guaviare, Arauca, Choco and Norte de Santander are increasingly facing killings, kidnappings and restrictions to their movement. In Catatumbo, near the border with Venezuela, clashes in the first half of this month between non-state armed groups have claimed the lives of more than 60 civilians. Thousands of people have been displaced or confined in their homes, cutting off their access to services and humanitarian assistance. OCHA is deeply concerned by repeated attacks on medical services in Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Norte de Santander, which have left communities without essential care. Climate change-related emergencies are also increasing humanitarian needs. Heavy rains have triggered landslides and flooding in some states, while. In rural Buenaventura, in the Pacific region, floods have left more than 15,000 indigenous people in need of shelter, clean water, health support and food. The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to engage with authorities to support the humanitarian response, improve access to aid and strengthen preparedness. Even after prioritising the most severe needs and what can realistically be delivered, the Humanitarian Response Plan remains critically underfunded. Last year, the UN and its partners received just a quarter of the $342 million dollars required. This year, the appeal is for $384 million to reach 2.6 million of the 6.9 million people who need aid. The Colombia Humanitarian Fund is one of the few flexible sources of financing available. Since its launch in 2024 it has allocated $5 million to humanitarian partners to respond rapidly in hard-to-reach areas. *Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Colombia with urgent support. Posted on 30 January 2026 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Security Council Renews Mandate of United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, Adopting Resolution 2815 (2026) Meetings Coverage Security Council 10100th Meeting (PM) SC/16286 30 January 2026 The Security Council today renewed the United Nations peacekeeping presence in Cyprus for another year, welcomed the intensification of dialogue in 2025 and called upon the sides and all parties to engage actively with the Secretary-General and his team. By a recorded vote of 13 votes in favour to none against, with 2 abstentions (Pakistan and Somalia), the Council adopted resolution 2815 (2026) (to be issued as document S/RES/2815 (2026)), and decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 January 2027. Deployed in 1964 to help prevent a recurrence of fighting between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, UNFICYP is one of the United Nations' longest-running missions. It monitors the ceasefire lines, maintains the buffer zone and supports efforts towards a lasting political settlement. By its terms, the Council recalled the importance of achieving an enduring, comprehensive and just settlement based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in relevant resolutions. The text expressed the Council's full support for UNFICYP, stressed the need for the sides and all involved parties to respect its mandated authority in and delineation of the buffer zone and to refrain from unilateral actions in contravention thereof. It stressed that UNFICYP's mandated authority extends throughout Cyprus, called on all parties to continue to cooperate with the Peacekeeping Force and strongly urged full respect for UNFICYP's freedom of movement throughout Cyprus. By other terms, the Council condemned the continued violations of the military status quo along the ceasefire lines and regretted the lack of progress on an effective mechanism for direct military contacts between the sides and the relevant involved parties. It also called upon the sides to reduce existing barriers to intercommunal contact and emphasized the importance of effective communication for risk-mitigation and trust-building between the communities, The text requested the Secretary-General to submit two reports, by 6 July 2026 and 4 January 2027 respectively, on his good offices, in particular on progress towards reaching a consensus starting point for meaningful results-oriented negotiations leading to a settlement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - on a plane crash in Colombia United Nations Secretary-General 30 January 2026 New York, UN Statements | Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Delivered by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General The Secretary-General is saddened by the plane crash in northeast Colombia, on 28 January, which claimed the lives of 15 people. He extends his condolences to the families of the victims, who include a member of Colombia's Congress representing a "peace district", a congressional candidate from the same region and two humanitarian workers. The Secretary-General also expresses his solidarity with the people and Government of Colombia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 30 January 2026 - Day 1437 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 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 157 combat clashes. The Russian enemy launched one missile strike, using one missile, 42 air strikes, dropped 106 controlled air bombs. In addition, used 4358 kamikaze drones and carried out 3117 shells of settlements and positions of Ukrainian troops. In the Northern Slobozhansky and Kursk directions today, the Russian enemy launched one air strike, dropping three controlled air bombs, carrying out 75 shelling positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements, including two from reactive systems of salvage fire. In the South Slobozhansky direction, Russian forces attacked the positions of Ukrainian units in the areas of settlements of Staritsa, Prylipka, Vovchans ,ki Hutory, Vovchansk and towards Kruglogo, Grigorivka, Figolivka, Petro-Ivanivka. Ukrainian units fought off 17 attacks, three more combat clashes are currently ongoing. Four attacks were repelled by Ukrainian defenders in the Kupyansky direction, towards Kurilivka, Petropavlivka and Novoosinovy. Another battle is currently underway. In the Lyman direction Ukrainian soldiers stopped seven attacks in the area of zarichny, tverdohlibovogo and towards druzelubivka, drobisevogo. In the Slavic direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled seven Russian attempts to move forward, towards the zakitnogo and in the area of dronivka, yampol and svato-pokrovsky. Three clashes are underway. In the Kramators komu direction theRussian opponent did not carry out offensive actions. In the Konstantinivka direction, the Russian occupiers today stormed the positions of Ukrainian defenders 14 times near the settlements of Scherbinivka, Pleshiyivka, Ivanopilya, Sofiyivka and towards Illinivka, Stepanivka and Novopavlivka. TheRussian enemy committed 38 attacks in the Pokrovsky direction. The Russian occupiers tried to advance in the areas of the settlements of Mirnograd, Pokrovsk, Kotline, Udacne, Molodetske, Filiya and towards Ivanivka and Rodinsky. Fights are still going on in some locations. According to preliminary calculations, today in this direction Ukrainian soldiers killed 59 Russian invaders and wounded 21; destroyed 52 unmanned aircraft, one control point, 10 automobile and two special transport units, two ground robotic complexes, also injured three vehicles units and eight Russian personnel shelters. In the Oleksandrivsky direction, Ukrainian units stopped nine Russian attacks, in the areas of Rybnogo, Zlagoda and in the direction of Oleksandrograd and New Zaporizhia . 17 Russian attacks took place in the Gulyaipil direction - in the area of Gulyaipol and towards Zelenoy, Dobropillya, Gulyaipilsky and Olenokostyantinivka. In some locations, the fights are still ongoing. Russian airstrikes were suffered by Rizdvyanka, Barvinivka, Kopani, Vozdvizivka, Zaliznycne, Dorozhnyanka and Charming. In the Orihiv direction, the Russian enemy three times attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders, in the area of Stepnogirsk and in the direction of Primorsky. Zarichne suffered an air strike. In the Pridniprovsk direction, the Defense Forces repelled one Russian attack. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that from 24 to 30 January, in response to Ukrainian terrorist attacks launched on civilian facilities in Russia, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out one massive and six group strikes, which hit defence industry enterprises of Ukraine, power and transport infrastructure facilities that supported the AFU, ammunition and POL depots, production facilities and storage areas of attack unmanned aerial vehicles, temporary deployment areas of AFU formations and foreign mercenaries. During the week, as a result of active offensive actions, units of the Sever Group of Forces liberated Staritsa (Kharkov region) and Belaya Bereza (Sumy region). Russian troops inflicted fire damage on formations of four mechanised brigades, two assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, three territorial defence brigades, one National Guard brigade, and two border security detachments of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. In total, in the area of responsibility of the Sever Group of Forces, the enemy losses were more than 950 troops, five armoured fighting vehicles, 74 motor vehicles, and eight field artillery guns. In addition, three electronic warfare and counter-battery stations as well as 11 ammunition and materiel depots were neutralised. Over the past week, as a result of resolute actions, units of the Zapad Group of Forces liberated Kupyansk-Uzlovoy (Kharkov region). Russian troops hit manpower and hardware of five mechanised brigades, two airmobile brigades, three assault brigades of the AFU, two territorial defence brigades, and three National Guard brigades. The AFU losses in this direction were more than 1,300 troops, 22 armoured fighting vehicles, 132 motor vehicles, and 13 field artillery guns. In addition, 29 ammunition depots were destroyed. As a result of resolute actions, units of the Yug Group of Forces liberated Berestok (Donetsk People's Republic) within 24 hours. Russian troops delivered strikes at formations od five mechanised brigades, one motorised infantry brigade, one airmobile brigade, one assault brigade, one mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one marine brigade, and two territorial defence brigades. Over the past week, in the area of responsibility of the Yug Group of Forces, the enemy losses were more than 1,020 troops and 18 armoured fighting vehicles including five foreign-made ones. In addition, 98 motor vehicles, 25 artillery guns, seven electronic warfare and counter-battery stations, and 22 ammunition, POL, and materiel depots were neutralised. The Tsentr Group of Forces' units continued active offensive operations. Russian troops hit manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, two jaeger brigades, one airmobile brigade, two air assault brigades, three assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one marine brigade, one territorial defence brigade, and four National Guard brigades. During the week, the enemy losses were more than 2,680 troops, two tanks, 54 armoured fighting vehicles, 80 motor vehicles, and ten field artillery guns. The Vostok Group of Forces' units advanced into the depths of enemy defence and liberated Ternovatoye (Zaporozhye region) within 24 hours. Russian troops launched attacks on five mechanised brigades, one assault brigade, three assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one marine brigade, two territorial defence brigades, and one National Guard brigade. In total, in the area of responsibility of the Vostok Group of Forces, the enemy losses were more than 2,315 troops, two tanks, 22 armoured fighting vehicles, 104 motor vehicles, and eight artillery guns. Over the past week, as a result of coordinated actions, units of the Dnepr Group of Forces liberated Novoyakovlevka (Zaporozhye region). Over the past 24 hours, Russian troops took control over Rechnoye (Zaporozhye region). In addition, Russian troops inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade, and one coastal defence brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The AFU losses were up to 315 troops, 54 motor vehicles, three artillery guns, 16 electronic warfare and counter-battery stations as well as four materiel depots. Over the past week, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces destroyed three MLRS combat vehicles including one U.S.-made MLRS launcher. Air defence systems shot down four guided aerial bombs, 46 U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, one S-200 anti-aircraft missile converted to hit ground targets, and 822 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. The Black Sea Fleet's units destroyed an AFU uncrewed surface vehicle. In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the enemy has lost 670 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 111,634 unmanned aerial vehicles, 646 anti-aircraft missile systems, 27,404 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,653 MLRS combat vehicles, 32,952 field artillery guns and mortars, and 53,186 support military vehicles. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former TD Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes, Laundering $5.5 Million to Colombia Friday, January 30, 2026 For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs A Florida man pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting bribes and facilitating the laundering of more than $5.5 million to Colombia while employed by TD Bank, N.A. According to court filings, Leonardo Ayala, 25, of Homestead, Florida, accepted bribes and exploited his position as a bank employee to help launder drug money to Colombia. From June to Nov. 2023, Ayala opened fraudulent accounts, issued over 150 debit cards to shell companies, and unblocked debit cards that TD Bank had restricted due to questionable activity. The bank accounts and debit cards were then used to make more than 12,000 ATM withdrawals in Colombia, funneling approximately $5.5 million out of the United States. In exchange, Ayala received more than $6,000 in bribes paid in cash and through a peer-to-peer digital payment network. Ayala pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with conspiring to launder monetary instruments and receipt of bribes by a bank employee. The charge of money laundering conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The charge of receipt of bribes by a bank employee carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Ayala's sentencing has been set for June 11. A federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey made the announcement. The DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and FDIC-OIG are investigating the case. The department also thanks the Morristown Police Department for their assistance with the investigation. Trial Attorneys D. Zachary Adams and Chelsea Rooney of the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marko Pesce, Chief of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering and Recovery Unit for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case. The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section's Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system. Topic: Financial Fraud Components: Criminal Division Criminal - Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) USAO - New Jersey Press Release Number: 26-82 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address ISLAMABAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launched attacks in multiple locations in southwestern Pakistan's Balochistan province, killing at least 10 people, officials told Xinhua on Saturday. Press conference - Sydney Transcript Friday 30 January 2026 Sydney Prime Minister Anthony Albanese The Hon Anthony Albanese MP Prime Minister of Australia ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. National Cabinet has met in Sydney this morning, and we've reached a landmark agreement to deliver record funding to state and territory hospitals, but also secure the future of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This agreement represents one of the most significant national reforms in living memory. These reforms will ensure that Australians can continue to access world class healthcare, as well as disability supports. It prioritises investment in our precious public health system and builds on my government's measures to strengthen Medicare. It is a major step forward in addressing the pressures that are there on our health and aged care systems, as well as on the NDIS, ensuring their sustainability into the future. As part of this deal, the Commonwealth will provide an additional $25 billion for public hospitals to reach a record $219.6 billion over the next five years. This is three times more additional funding for public hospitals than was agreed to under the last five year agreement under the Morrison Government. We also committed to working together to make the NDIS better and more sustainable. We want growth in the future to be 6 per cent or less, and have agreed to work towards that. My government will continue to help states to take pressure off their hospitals as well. On top of this agreement, through the 1800MEDICARE system that began on January 1, through the additional Urgent Care Clinics, of which we will have 137. 120 of those are already open, and they've taken pressure off emergency departments. And the record new investment in expanding bulk billing is working. There are now 3,300 medical centres that are fully bulk billed. 1,300 of those are new as a direct result of our tripling of the bulk billing incentive. In addition to that, we are opening 92 Medicare Mental Health Clinics, cheaper medicines for every Australian, and delivering the most significant aged care reforms that have been implemented by any government this century. The success of our Commonwealth has always been about finding common ground. And I want to thank the Premiers and Chief Ministers for the work that we've done together over a long period of time, making sure that our focus is not on ourselves or on politics, but is on patients, how do we deliver the health care that Australians need and that Australians deserve. And under our Federation system, what that requires is for the Commonwealth, together with states and territories, to work together in the interests of the respective states, but also in the national interest. And that is what we have been provided for with this agreement. We know that we need to get older, longer stay patients out of hospital rooms and into dedicated care, and the aged care reforms will assist with that. We know that we need to provide quality care for Australians with a disability, and the reforms will do that, as well as ensuring that they are sustainable. And we know that we want to cut waiting lists and reduce emergency department wait times as we go forward. This funding deal is about a better deal for Australians, about better health care, about strengthening Medicare, consistent with my government's commitment to strengthen Medicare as a focal point for the Australian health system, but also as a great source of national pride. We can pride ourselves that Australians get the care they need when they need it, and they do that through the Medicare system and through our public hospital system as well. So, I do want to thank all the officials as well who've worked very hard on this, but particular thanks to my colleagues here, the Premiers and Chief Ministers. JEREMY ROCKLIFF, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: Well, thanks Prime Minister, and thank you very much firstly, which all Premiers and Chief Ministers acknowledge the uplift in support for Medicare and primary health care more broadly, as committed to at the last Federal Election, which is welcome. And certainly, the investment in urgent care centres is playing out well for people in our respective states and territories as well. Notwithstanding that, the states and territories made a very robust case for further funding, uplifting funding, certainty in funding, because we all care about the people we represent. Every single Australian, in my case Tasmanian, deserves the very best of healthcare, whether that's in their primary healthcare system, which alleviates pressure, and the acute care system, when people attend an emergency department that they are cared for, and also the longer stay older patients is, has been a particular focus of states and territories leading up to the agreement that was signed today. This has been some two year journey. There's been some very strong advocacy from all Premiers and Chief Ministers to best represent their communities. And this outcome, as I say again today, is welcome. It's one that does have significant uplift in funding, and one that we can support our respective health systems further going forward. PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Jeremy. We're happy to take questions. JOURNALIST: One for the New South Wales Premier, if that's okay? Will this agreement solve New South Wales' terrible bed block situation and the shortage of aged care and disability spots in hospitals? CHRIS MINNS, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES: Look it'll go a long way to solving those problems. But those challenges have been in the system for a while, and it won't simply be a question of funding from the state or the Commonwealth. I mean, we have to run a system in New South Wales where we're paying people to stay in the system. We're using the experienced, experienced nurses and paramedics and doctors and dealing with growth. And one of the challenges that the Prime Minister is facing, as well as all the Premiers, is we've got an ageing cohort, so as much as the system is stretched today, we can expect even further problems in the future, but we're very grateful that we've got this agreement today. There's a recognition that it does look for potential growth in the health system, but also a combined effort from the states and the Commonwealth to deal with rising costs in the NDIS, which is important. JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what would you say to Australians who are planning to protest during President Herzog's visit, including people within the labour movement? And if Premier Minns could comment on that too, and will large protests be allowed during the visit? PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I'd say is that people of course have a right to express their views and that will occur in a democratic society. But I would make this point, that President Herzog is coming particularly to engage with members of the Jewish community who are grieving the loss of 15 innocent lives. That is the particular focus of this visit. I welcome the fact that President Herzog is coming here. The nation needs to look towards uniting. We have too much division and people will have their views on the Middle East. But I make this point, that Australia is not in a position to solve by ourselves the Middle East issues, and people don't want conflict brought here. So, I'd say that people should recognise the solemn nature of the engagement that President Herzog will have with the community of Bondi in particular, and bear that in mind by the way that they respond over the coming weeks. PREMIER MINNS: Well, I completely agree with the Prime Minister. I mean, I think that there would be an expectation that most Australians would accept that President Herzog is in Australia to stand with the Jewish community of New South Wales after the worst terrorism event the country's ever seen. I understand people are concerned about what's happening around the world and in the Middle East, but this happened in Sydney and I think there should be an opportunity for that community to grieve and I hope that people are respectful of that. When it comes to protest designations, I just want to make it clear, we'll take any and every decision that we believe is appropriate to keep the President safe and the community safe. And if there's an expectation that protestors are going to have free run of the city, I'm sorry, that can't be the case. I think most reasonable Australians would expect us to keep security and safety on the streets as well as respect a guest of Australia. JOURNALIST: Premier, the constitutional challenge is underway reports over those new laws regarding some of the issues, regarding protests and so forth. What do you expect to happen in the runup to the Israeli President's arrival? PREMIER MINNS: Look, I don't know. I mean, I'm not going to front run the court's decision. People have got a right to petition the court, but I've got a lot of confidence and faith in the legislation that we've passed. I just want to make this point. The number one obligation of any government, in any place across Australia, is to keep the community safe. And the decisions that we've made are exactly in line with that. We think they're proportionate, protests haven't been banned, but the idea that you can completely take over the street and dissect one of the busiest cities in the world because you want to have a protest every week, I think there's got to be reasonable limits on that and that's what our legislation does. JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will there be a delay to the start of the Thriving Kids programme? And also under your Government, total federal spending is at its highest share of the economy since 1986, excluding the pandemic. If the RBA makes that decision next week to raise the cash rate, will you take responsibility for the economic climate that's created that decision? PRIME MINISTER: Well, the states put to us the possibility of a short delay in the full implementation of Thriving Kids, but Thriving Kids will start from this year and the full implementation will be completed on 1 January 2028. We agreed that proposal was reasonable, that we get this right. And so, it is a positive move. When it comes to government investment and expenditure, we today are making an announcement of $25 billion of additional investment in people's healthcare. That is what we're investing in. We have found $114 billion of savings. We found $20 billion of additional savings in the mid-year economic forecast just in December last year. That compares with the last budget of the Morrison-Frydenberg Government that had, it's a really easy figure to remember, zero. Zero dollars in savings in their last budget. A massive blowout in expenditure, promises into the never-never and deficits as far as the eye could see. What we delivered was to turn two of those deficits into surpluses under Jim Chalmers as Treasurer and reduce the deficits going forward. JOURNALIST: On gun reform, have you got all the states to agree on the gun buyback scheme and what about the costs for that? PRIME MINISTER: Well, that would be a decision for states and territories, respectively. Our position's very clear. We support the action that we put forward and legislated for in the Parliament a week ago. The terrorists in Bondi had hate in their hearts, but guns in their hands. Our legislation that was passed by the Parliament dealt with both. And we have a proposal of a gun buyback. States and territories, it's up to them whether they participate or not. It will be 50 per cent funded by the Commonwealth for those states and territories that agree to do so. JOURNALIST: Did you get the temperature today? Who's going to sign up for that? PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's up to them to make their own announcements. I respect their rights to do so. I encourage them to do so, of course. And certainly a majority of states and territories will be doing so. JOURNALIST: Can we just get an update from Queensland and the Northern Territory as to where they stand on the gun buyback scheme? DAVID CRISAFULLI, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: Sure. You know my views on that, and I've spoken about that. But I hope you've seen today that we can work together on issues where we have commonality. And in terms of this deal, which is a significant deal, if you're asking me whether or not I would've liked to have seen more, of course. And if you're asking whether or not we're going to fight for more in the future, you bet. But we've taken a really big step forward today, a really big step forward. And one of the things that the Prime Minister has spoken about is aged care. And this isn't something that's emerged in the last two minutes, it's been there a long, long time. Now, we've got to get that right. Right now in Queensland we've got 1,250 patients staring at a roof who should be given the dignity of that care in aged care. And that's really important to us. And that's not about dollars, that's about dignity. And the willingness to work on that and the willingness for the federal government to say that is an important issue, combined with the extra funding today, shows a willingness to work together. So, my position is I'll always do what's right for my state, and that's what we've done today. LIA FINOCCHIARO, CHIEF MINISTER OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY: We've been really clear. We welcome the Federal Government to have a gun buyback scheme, but Territorians won't be the ones footing the bill. I've been very upfront and honest about that from day one. And we obviously respect the decisions other states have been making around gun reform. With respect to today, this is a really pivotal moment for the Territory. We are a very small population with a very significant land mass, with huge vulnerability and need. And so we really thank the Federal Government for working with us, particularly around being a smaller jurisdiction. And this is going to go a long way. I certainly share with Queensland, you could always have more and we'll continue to put up a really good fight on behalf of the Territory, but today is significant and it's something to celebrate. JOURNALIST: Just for the New South Wales Premier, your government is currently offering deals for both the nurses and the doctors in terms of new pay deals. What does this funding deal mean for those disputes, and was the potential for billions more in public hospital wages a hold-up at all in these negotiations? PREMIER MINNS: Look, I mean, there's always going to be pressures on the wages bill. It's the biggest proportion of state spending on any area of government spending, particularly for health. We've got an independent system in New South Wales. Both sides have put that case. It's currently before the justices, but in any iteration, any agreement that we struck with the Commonwealth is going to cost a lot of money, lots of money for the New South Wales government and from the Commonwealth. And it's not limitless. I mean, ultimately, we do have to look at costs. We'd love to be able to not worry about it, but we do. And as a result, we'll wait for the Industrial Relations Commission to make their decision. But it's not limitless. PRIME MINISTER: Thank you everyone. Great day. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Washington and Ottawa rift deepens as Carney demands respect for Canadian sovereignty amid US meddling in Alberta separatism, tariff threats Global Times By Wang Qi and Ma Tong Published: Jan 30, 2026 09:54 PM Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday local time said he expects the US to "respect Canadian sovereignty" after media reported that US officials had met with a group advocating the separation of the province of Alberta from Canada several times. The latest clash between Washington and Ottawa came amid a deepening rift between the neighbors and former close allies, as US president has repeatedly threatened to turn Canada into its "51st state," alongside additional tariff threats from the White House following Carney's official visit to Beijing. Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa after meeting with Canadian provincial and territorial leaders, Carney addressed the issue when asked about the reported meetings between US officials and the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), a separatist group pushing for a referendum on the province's independence, according to media reports. "I expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty," Carney said. "I'm always clear in my conversations with President Trump to that effect, and then move on to what we can do together," CNN reported. Compared to Prime Minister Carney's restrained and concise diplomatic language, some provincial leaders in Canada expressed their outrage far more bluntly and directly, Global Times noticed. Earlier, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters on Thursday that the US should stay out of Alberta and Canadian politics, saying she would ask her government's delegate in Washington to raise her concerns with the Trump administration, according to the CBC. British Columbia Premier David Eby also rebuked the meetings between US officials and the Alberta separatist group. "To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there's an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason," Eby told reporters on Thursday. The CNN added that Eby's voice "wavered with emotion" as he expressed his anger with the separatists who went to Washington. Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters that the meetings between the separatist group and US officials were "unacceptable" and "unethical," according to Toronto Today. The tension arose after a Financial Times (FT) report said on Thursday that leaders of APP had met with US State Department officials in Washington three times since April last year. The FT described the APP as "a group of far-right separatists who want the western province to become independent." The group is reportedly seeking another meeting next month with State Department and Treasury officials to request a $500 billion credit facility to support the province in the event of a successful independence vote. Such referendum is yet to be called, according to FT. Regarding the meetings, a White House official told CNN on Thursday that US government officials met with "a number of civil society groups," but that "no support or commitments were conveyed." However, the Financial Times reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent "caused a flurry of excitement" among Alberta separatists last week when he described the province the single biggest source of foreign oil in the American market as "a natural partner for the US." He described Albertans as "very independent people" in talks with right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec, according to the FT. Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Friday that the US diplomatic meddling in Canada's domestic separatist issues has far exceeded the boundaries of normal state-to-state interaction. It starkly reveals America's habitual disregard for other nations' sovereignty and territorial integrity, its contempt for international law, and its signature pattern of hegemonic bullying. From Venezuela to Greenland and now Canada, the US is likely reviving a territorial expansion agenda aimed at turning the Western Hemisphere into "America's Americas," Li said. The CNN mentioned that Alberta has oil sands that account for about 84 percent of Canada's total crude oil production. And politically, it is considered the bastion of conservatism in Canada. Separatist Albertans argue the federal government's efforts to stop climate change are holding back Alberta's oil industry, and their conservative values are drowned out by the more liberal and populous eastern provinces. According to the CNN, separatist Albertans argue the federal government's efforts to stop climate change are holding back Alberta's oil industry, and their conservative values are drowned out by the more liberal and populous eastern provinces. "The return of Trump, a pro-oil conservative, to the White House has buoyed the secession movement and, for some, reshaped its end goal," CNN said. At present, the paramount external threat to Canada's territorial integrity originates from the US. The most binding external limitation on its economic growth likewise stems from the US, according to the expert. "The downward spiral is likely to persist... US-Canada ties are unlikely to return to what they once were," Li said. Deepening rifts The US-Canadian rift over the separatist group serves as a microcosm of the deepening contradictions between the two countries in recent months. According to the Associated Press, US President Donald Trump on Thursday local time threatened Canada with a 50 percent tariff on any aircraft sold in the US, following his previous threat to impose a 100 percent tariff if Ottawa went forward with a planned trade deal with China. Specifically, the US president claimed that the US would decertify all Canadian aircraft, including planes from its largest aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier, in retaliation for Canada's refusal to certify jets from Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace. John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, said certification is about safety and it would be unprecedented to decertify for trade reasons. "This is really a smokescreen that's basically throwing up another red flag in the face of Mr. Carney," Gradek said. "This is taking it to the extreme. This is a new salvo in the trade war." The current scale of Canada's aircraft manufacturing industry is relatively limited, which means the US tariff threats against Canadian aircraft are not genuinely aimed at addressing trade fairness issues: they are primarily a form of political pressure designed to deter Canada from deepening economic and trade cooperation with China, said Gao Lingyun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He noted that the China-Canada cooperation framework contains no exclusive clauses that restrict US participation, and expanded cooperation between Canada and China helps enlarge the overall market size, which means American companies could also benefit indirectly through global supply chain linkages and market spillover effects. This zero-sum mindset, attempting to reshape trade relations by forcing allies to take sides, reflects the deep anxiety and unease in the US over its allies' pursuit of diversified trade partnerships, Gao said. Previously, in an X post on Tuesday local time, Carney said that the Canada-China relationship is "at its best" and "has created massive opportunities for both our peoples." On the same day, Carney denied US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's claim that he had walked back the comments he made in Davos at the World Economic Forum, in which Carney condemned economic coercion by great powers on smaller countries without mentioning Trump's name, according to media reports. "The world has changed, Washington has changed. There is almost nothing normal now in the US," Carney told the elected House of Commons on Tuesday, per the BBC. Both Chinese experts believed that US actions are steadily eroding the foundation of trust between the US and its allies, forcing countries to reassess their strategic autonomy and external economic and trade options. In the opening month of 2026, a notable wave of high-level Western diplomacy has unfolded toward China. Prime Ministers from Ireland, Finland, Canada, and the UK have all visited Beijing, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is reported to be scheduled for a visit in February. Given Canada's unique position as both a geographic neighbor and a historic "special relationship" ally of the US, Ottawa's response to Washington will serve as a highly influential model for how countries around the world approach and adjust their dealings with the US, Li said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi Jinping Has a Phone Call with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee To Lam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: January 26, 2026 20:27 On the afternoon of January 26, 2026, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President Xi Jinping had a phone call with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam. Xi Jinping extended congratulations on the successful convening of the 14th National Congress of the CPV and To Lam's re-election as General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee. Xi Jinping expressed his belief that under the leadership of the CPV Central Committee headed by To Lam, Viet Nam will surely fulfill the goals and tasks set forth by the 14th National Congress of the CPV and realize at an early date the two goals set for the centenary of the Party and the country respectively. China and Viet Nam should keep to their paths and not sway in their commitment, unite and cooperate to promote development, and work together towards a bright future. Xi Jinping emphasized that China is currently working to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects, while Viet Nam is also in a new era of national development. The two sides should hold firm to their beliefs, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, fend off and defuse various risks and challenges, jointly defend the cause of socialism, and preserve the political essence of China-Viet Nam relations. Both sides should continue to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning on both party and state governance, make good use of mechanisms such as high-level meetings, theoretical seminars and cadre trainings, and continuously improve the governance capacity of the party and the state. Both sides should further synergize development strategies, and deepen high-level mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples and jointly advance towards socialist modernization. The two sides should strengthen coordination and collaboration in international and regional affairs, jointly oppose hegemonism and bloc confrontation, and work together to promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. To Lam expressed appreciation to the CPC Central Committee for the congratulatory message on the successful convening of the 14th National Congress of the CPV, and thanked General Secretary Xi Jinping for the good wishes on his re-election as General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee. He outlined the main outcomes of the 14th National Congress of the CPV, and said that Viet Nam is willing to work side by side with China on a new journey, steadily deepen friendly cooperation between neighboring socialist countries in line with the overarching goals characterized by "six mores". China's development has consistently provided inspiration and valuable experience for Viet Nam's development. Viet Nam will adhere to the one-China policy, and continue to support the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the four global initiatives proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping. Viet Nam is willing to strengthen political mutual trust with China, promote coordination in diplomacy, national defense and public security, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, foster the friendship between the two peoples, enhance coordination in a complex and changing international landscape, uphold multilateralism, oppose protectionism, and advance the building of a Viet Nam-China community with a shared future. Xi Jinping and To Lam also exchanged greetings for the coming Spring Festival and extended wishes for happiness and health to the two peoples. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zhao Leji Holds Talks with President of the Senegalese National Assembly Malick Ndiaye Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: January 27, 2026 23:16 On the afternoon of January 27, 2026, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Zhao Leji held talks with President of the Senegalese National Assembly Malick Ndiaye at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Zhao Leji stated that China and Senegal are sincere partners who support each other, pursue common development, and work in solidarity. Over the past two years, President Xi Jinping has met respectively with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, drawing up blueprints for the development of bilateral relations. China is ready to work with Senegal to implement the important common understandings reached by the leaders of both countries and the various measures announced at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), enrich the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, and make greater contributions to jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. Zhao Leji noted that Senegal has publicly reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to the one-China principle, which China highly appreciates. China will continue to support Senegal in pursuing an independent, autonomous development path. Both sides should expand high-quality, mutually beneficial cooperation, strengthen the strategic synergy between China's 15th Five-Year Plan and the "Senegal 2050", and tap into the potential for cooperation in areas such as industrialization and agricultural modernization, trade and investment, new energy, and the digital economy. Taking the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges as an opportunity, the two sides should deepen exchanges in areas such as culture, education, media, youth, healthcare, and sports, and at the subnational level, and strengthen the bonds of friendship between China and Senegal, and between China and Africa. China appreciates Senegal's active support for the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the four global initiatives, and is willing to enhance cooperation with Senegal in promoting Africa's strength through unity, safeguarding regional peace and security, and defending international fairness and justice. Zhao Leji emphasized that the NPC of China is ready to work with the Senegalese National Assembly to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between high-level legislatures, specialized committees and bilateral friendship groups, as well as between NPC deputies and members of the Senegalese National Assembly, and deepen experience sharing on governance, legislation and supervision, so as to create a favorable legal environment for practical cooperation between the two countries. The NPC of China is also ready to work with the Senegalese National Assembly to enhance coordination and cooperation within multilateral mechanisms such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union to increase the voice and representation of Global South countries. Malick Ndiaye said that Senegal firmly adheres to the one-China principle, highly commends the four global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, and appreciates China's valuable support in Senegal's economic and social development. Senegal is ready to continuously advance Belt and Road cooperation with China, strengthen cooperation in various fields, implement the outcomes of the FOCAC, and jointly uphold international fairness and justice. The Senegalese side highly praises China's practice of whole-process people's democracy. The Senegalese National Assembly is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with the NPC of China, and to play an active role in promoting the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Senegal and China. Peng Qinghua was present at the talks. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Li Qiang Holds Talks with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: January 27, 2026 22:10 On the afternoon of January 27, 2026, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council held talks with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Li Qiang said that last year, China and Finland jointly celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This morning, President Xi Jinping held a meeting with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, conducting a thorough review of the valuable experience gained from the sound and stable development of bilateral relations, and providing strategic guidance for further deepening China-Finland relations and cooperation. China is ready to work with Finland to carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries, uphold mutual respect and equality, deepen and solidify the China-Finland future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership, and bring more benefits to the two peoples. Li Qiang noted that this year kicks off China's 15th Five-Year Plan period. China is ready to further synergize development strategies with Finland, better leverage the complementary economic strengths, fully unleash the potential of bilateral trade, make good use of platforms such as the China-Finland Joint Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation and High-Tech Matchmaking Event, and deepen cooperation in areas such as telecommunication, clean technology, specialized vessel building, new-type urban development, and life and health, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results at a higher level. China is also ready to import more high-quality products from Finland, encourage more Chinese companies to invest in Finland, and hopes that Finland will continue to provide a fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises there. The two sides should strengthen cooperation in tourism, language and vocational education, and sub-national and youth exchanges, to continuously enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. At a time when global unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and impacting the world economy, China and Finland should join hands to safeguard an open and cooperative international economic and trade order, uphold multilateralism and free trade, defend the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, and better share opportunities and achieve win-win outcomes through open cooperation. China hopes that Finland will play an active role in advancing the development of China-Europe relations. Petteri Orpo stated that Finland-China relations have developed steadily over the long term, with continuous high-level exchanges and fruitful achievements in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries in recent years. China has made remarkable achievements in economic and social development as well as scientific and technological innovation, and plays an important role in international affairs. Finland is committed to deepening its relationship with China continuously and is ready to enhance high-level visits and exchanges at all levels, and uphold the principles of equality and mutual benefit to deepen practical cooperation in trade, investment, and other areas, as well as in people-to-people and cultural exchanges. The Finnish government welcomes Chinese companies to invest and do business in Finland and is willing to create a favorable environment for this. As the current international order is facing severe challenges, Finland is willing to work with China to enhance communication and coordination on multilateral affairs such as climate change and sustainable development, and to safeguard free trade and the multilateral trading system. The sound development of Europe-China relations is important for both sides, and Finland is willing to play a constructive role in promoting the advancement of Europe-China relations. Prior to the talks, Li Qiang held a welcome ceremony for Petteri Orpo at the North Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Following the talks, the two heads of government jointly witnessed the signing of cooperation documents covering fields such as science and technology, housing and urban-rural development, customs, culture and tourism, economy and trade, and energy. Wu Zhenglong attended the above events. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun's Regular Press Conference on January 30, 2026 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: January 30, 2026 18:34 The Chinese government has appointed Liu Xianfa as the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs. Special Representative Liu Xianfa is an experienced senior diplomat well-versed in African affairs who once served as the Chinese Consul General in Lagos, Nigeria, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macao Special Administrative Region. Special Representative Liu Xianfa will, on behalf of the Foreign Ministry, have communication and coordination with African countries and the African Union as needed, promote dialogue and cooperation, and make active effort for the building of the all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. CCTV: Yesterday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met and had talks with Chinese leaders. What results have been achieved? What's the significance of the visit to China-UK ties? What's China's expectation for bilateral relations in the future? Guo Jiakun: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is on an official visit to China from January 28 to 31. This is first visit to China by a UK prime minister in eight years. Prime Minister Starmer is also the first leader from a permanent member of the UN Security Council that China receives in 2026. Yesterday, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Starmer. They agreed to develop a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the UK, turn the vast potential of China-UK cooperation into real progress, and open up new prospects for China-UK relations and cooperation. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress had talks and met with Prime Minister Starmer respectively. They had in-depth exchanges of views on improving practical cooperation in various fields and resuming exchanges between legislatures of the two countries. This visit has produced fruitful outcomes, which demonstrate the breadth and depth of cooperation between the two countries. Both sides agreed to establish the high-level China-UK climate and nature partnership, resume the high-level China-UK security dialogue, and hold a new round of institutional dialogues within this year, such as the China-UK strategic dialogue, the economic and financial dialogue, and the meeting of the China-UK Joint Economic and Trade Commission. China will cut tariffs on U.K. whisky from 10 percent to five percent. Both sides agreed that it's important to have closer people-to-people and cultural exchanges and facilitate cross-border travel to deepen understanding and enhance mutual trust. Both sides agreed in principle to resume normal exchanges between the legislatures of the two countries. The Chinese side welcomes UK parliamentarians to visit China more if they so desire and will give positive consideration to visa-free access for UK travelers. During the visit, Premier Li Qiang and Prime Minister Keir Starmer witnessed the signing of 12 intergovernmental cooperation documents in trade and economic exchange, agriculture and food, culture, and market regulation, among other fields, and attended the UK-China Business Council meeting. The two sides will also hold the first meeting of the China-UK financial working group and the China-UK insurance forum. Notably, Prime Minister Keir Starmer led a delegation of over 60 important representatives from British business and cultural community. Yesterday afternoon, Premier Li Qiang and Prime Minister Keir Starmer attended the closing ceremony of the UK-China Business Council meeting. The business sectors in the two countries have full confidence in and look forward to China-UK cooperation in the future. The Chinese government is committed to providing a sound environment for UK and other foreign companies to invest in China. China also hopes that the UK will provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies. We noted that a good number of UK people said online that China is a trustworthy friend and partner. Through the visit, China stands ready to work with the UK to implement the important common understandings between the two leaders, see history from a broader perspective, rise above differences, respect each other, jointly develop a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the UK for the good of both peoples and the whole world. Prensa Latina: With the signing of a new executive order, U.S. President Donald Trump has designated Cuba as a threat to U.S. national security. This order also defames the relationships between Cuba and both China and Russia. In addition, it allows for the imposition of tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba. What is China's position on this matter? Guo Jiakun: China firmly supports Cuba in defending its national sovereignty and security and rejecting external interference. China stands firmly against moves that deprive the Cuban people of their rights to subsistence and development and unhumanitarian practices. Bloomberg: Regarding Panama's Supreme Court, which has annulled a contract granted to CK Hutchison to operate two Panama terminals. Does the Foreign Ministry have a comment on this decision by the Panamanian Supreme Court? Could the ruling affect the ongoing negotiations for the deal? Guo Jiakun: I believe you have noticed that relevant company has immediately issued a statement, saying that the decision is inconsistent with the law of Panama that approved the concession, and the company will reserve all rights including to proceed legally. China will take all measures necessary to firmly protect the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies. Reuters: To follow up on Panama, is China also looking at opportunities to build new ports on the canal? Guo Jiakun: I don't have information on that. EFE: After the Venezuelan Parliament approved a reform on the Hydrocarbons Law to open the oil sector to foreign investment, and after the United States partially lifted restrictions on certain transactions with Caracas, do Chinese companies plan to review or expand their presence in Venezuela's energy sector under this new context? Guo Jiakun: We noted the reports. China opposes unilateral illicit sanctions. For anything specific on China's energy policy, I'd refer you to competent authorities. Reuters: U.S. President Trump has warned the United Kingdom against getting into business with China after the meeting between Chinese and UK leaders yesterday. The meeting saw a reset in UK-China relations, but Trump said it was "dangerous" for the UK to do business with China and more so for Canada. Does the Ministry have any comment on this? Guo Jiakun: China stands ready to enhance cooperation with other countries in a win-win spirit to benefit the people of all countries. AFP: Still a question on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China. After China he will visit Japan and meet with Japanese Prime Minister. What message does China hope Mr. Starmer to convey to the Japanese Prime Minister? Guo Jiakun: We don't comment on the relations between the UK and Japan. We always hope that developing relations between countries can help keep the region peaceful and stable. Bloomberg: If you don't mind confirming something up for my benefit, on the visas for the UK, you said earlier that China will "actively consider." Can you explain what's the status on the visas for the UK citizens? Have they been confirmed or is it a process that's still ongoing? And if so, what might be the timeline for a final decision? Guo Jiakun: Chinese and UK leaders agreed that the more closely the two peoples interact, the better they will understand and trust each other, and they encourage and support two-way travel between the two countries. To this end, China will give positive consideration to visa-free access for UK travelers. We noted that people from various sectors in the UK warmly welcome and actively anticipate the policy. We welcome them to visit China to get to know a true, multi-dimensional China in an all-round way. On the timeline you mentioned, information will be released in due course after necessary procedures are completed by competent authorities. For the specifics, please check back for updates on the MFA website and the website of the Chinese Embassy in the UK. AFP: A question on Donald Trump and the U.S. A few days ago, China said it had received an invitation from the U.S. to join the Board of Peace promoted by Donald Trump. Where do you stand on this? Did China agree or refuse to join? Guo Jiakun: We've answered relevant questions on the Board of Peace and have nothing more to add. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dynamic Start of New Year Struggle for Comprehensive Upsurge of Regional Revolution Splendid Ceremony Held to Mark Start of Regional Development Policy-oriented Construction in Unnyul County of DPRK Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, January 30 (KCNA) -- A regional construction campaign for 2026 started in the DPRK, demonstrating the steadfast pioneering spirit and perfect and executive faculty of the Workers' Party of Korea. The Party has made sure that the precious successes, experience and admirable results, gained in the regional revolution for surely guaranteeing the comprehensive national rejuvenation, serve as the starting point of a new bolder campaign and an engine for acceleration every year. The remarkable changes, in which the loud explosions heard at the groundbreaking ceremonies lead to the rousing cheers at the inauguration ceremonies every year, has become a new custom of Korean-style socialism to excite the whole country. Against this backdrop, this year large-scale construction projects, involving modern light industrial factories, will be carried out in a simultaneous and expanded way in 20 cities and counties. Furthermore, advanced health facilities and leisure complexes, whose modeling phase has successfully ended, will be also built there. Such a great construction campaign, started with ever-soaring spirit, will bring about without fail the great auspicious events of regional transformation cheered by the people this year too, along with a bright prospect of new leaps forward in the Korean revolution to be opened up by the Ninth Congress of the WPK. This serves as a dynamic stride in the ongoing successive offensive and advance led by the Party to bring earlier the epoch-making transformation through steady innovations and ceaseless upsurge that get stronger with each passing year. A grand groundbreaking ceremony for the establishments to be built under the regional development policy in the new year took place in Unnyul County on Thursday, adding to all the people's optimism about and confidence in the truthfulness and great prospect of the policy. Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, attended the ceremony. Present there were leading officials of the Party, government and armed forces organs, commanders of the large combined units of the Korean People's Army, commanding officers and exemplary soldiers of the 124th regiments at different levels, officials and working people in South Hwanghae Province and the county. The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made a meaningful speech. Saying we are now standing on the starting line of our gigantic struggle for another year, aimed at transforming the regions, he noted: This is the third year for implementing the regional development policy, and public health facilities and leisure complexes, together with regional-industry factories, will be built in 20 regions of the country including this Unnyul County. This means that nearly one-third of the cities and counties across the country will have been transformed. This fact is testimony to our firm will to transform and improve the people's living fundamentally and simultaneously throughout the country, and at the same time it clearly shows the surging spirit in implementing the expanding regional development policy and the development potential of our state gaining in strength year after year. Referring to the changes made in the laying of economic foundations, the competitive edge of regional industry and the understanding of provincial areas through the two-year course of implementing the WPK's regional development policy, he affirmed that the WPK would continue in the future to tap all potentialities for regional development and carry out the annual plans for it in a forceful and thoroughgoing way by adopting innovative and scientific methods. Stressing the purpose of the WPK which has put forward the People's Army in the vanguard of implementing its regional development policy, he said that our soldiers are the vanguard in carrying out the historic cause unprecedented since the founding of our country and the creators of the people's wellbeing. He added that commanding officers of the units and subunits in charge of regional construction projects should keep deep in mind the Party's intention, and make special efforts for the spiritual development of the soldier-builders so as to develop all of them into staunch adherents, defenders and implementers of the Party's revolutionary ideology and into patriots who render an active contribution to the comprehensive development of our state. He called on all soldier-builders to march forward more bravely and vigorously, fully displaying the temperament and mettle of the Korean People's Army in the creative struggle for the prosperity of the state and for the good of our beloved people, true to their duty as the vanguard of the Party, the defender of the revolution and the sons and daughters of the people. By raising stormy cheers of "Hurrah!", all the participants responded to the patriotic call of the great Party Central Committee that is confidently leading their ideal and faith, fighting spirit and creativity, firmly consolidated and cultivated, to the attainment of the goal of building a highly civilized and prosperous country. Read out was a letter of pledge of officers and men of the 124th regiments at all levels of the KPA to Kim Jong Un . The letter expressed the solemn will to endlessly glorify the name of the powerful revolutionary army in the great era of Kim Jong Un by building fine edifices of civilization and prosperity, symbolic of the new era of transformation, all over the country in the significant year when the Ninth Congress of the WPK is to be held, cherishing deep in mind the great trust of the Supreme Commander, who made the People's Army stand in the vanguard of the sacred struggle for creation to usher in a great era of transformation unprecedented in the nation's history and has stirred up matchless strength and courage with his ardent call for collective feats at every significant groundbreaking ceremony. Kim Jong Un dug the first spadeful of earth to signal the start of the construction project, together with leading officials. When he pressed the detonator, there was a thrilling explosion in reflection of the spirit of self-reliance for growing stronger and achieving prosperity as early as possible through the persistent struggle racing against the time. That day, Kim Jong Un had a significant photo taken with commanding officers and exemplary soldiers of the 124th regiments at all levels of the KPA. All the soldier-builders loudly shouted in chorus such slogans as " Kim Jong Un " and "Death-defying Defence", in reflection of their pledge of single-minded loyalty to fully demonstrate the noble name as the pioneer of transformation and the creator of happiness for the country and the people by upholding the great trust of the Party Central Committee with their unconditional executive spirit and staunch practical ability. The groundbreaking ceremony serves as a significant occasion heralding the new great changes and successive achievements to be made successfully again along with the dynamic fighting spirit of the new era aspiring after steady development and leap forward and the creation speed of the DPRK being accelerated to realize the great ideals. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives a telephone call from the Acting President of Venezuela (January 30, 2026) India - Ministry of External Affairs January 30, 2026 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi received a telephone call today from the Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Her Excellency Ms. Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez. 2. The two leaders agreed to further expand and deepen the India-Venezuela partnership in all areas, including trade and investment, energy, digital technology, health, agriculture and people-to-people ties. 3. Both leaders exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest and underscored the importance of their close cooperation for the Global South. 4. The two leaders agreed to remain in touch. New Delhi January 30, 2026 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Larijani: EU will face repercussions of its anti-IRGC act IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 30, 2026 Tehran, IRNA -- Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani warns that the EU's action against the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) will have repercussions for the EU. According to a resolution passed by Iran's Parliament, the armies of countries that participated in the recent European Union resolution against the IRGC are considered terrorist organizations, Larijani wrote on his X account on Friday. He added that the European Union will face the repercussions of its actions against the IRGC. Following a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, the bloc moved to designate Iran's official military body, the IRGC, as a terrorist organizationa decision described as politically motivated, unlawful, and baseless. The decision, taken hastily and in violation of the EU's own legal procedures, contravenes the bloc's requirement for a member-state court ruling prior to any terrorist designation. Critics say that by ignoring the potential repercussions and acting primarily to appease the United States and the Israeli regime, EU member states chose a reckless course of action. 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Erdogan sees diplomacy as the only solution to Iran's nuclear issue IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 30, 2026 Tehran, IRNA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described diplomacy as the only solution to Iran's nuclear issue. Speaking in a meeting with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul on Friday, Erdogan conveyed his warm greetings to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian. He expressed confidence that the Iranian government and people will overcome the existing challenges with national unity. Referring to the country's consultations to reduce tension and return to the path of diplomacy, the Erdogan stressed that the region cannot afford an increase in insecurity. Meanwhile, Araghchi appreciated solidarity and decisive positions of the government and people of Turkiye, especially President Erdogan's statements in support of Iran's national sovereignty and rejection of foreign interventions, emphasizing the unity and cohesion between Islamic countries in confronting the genocide, warmongering and expansionism of the Israeli regime. He stressed strengthening solidarity between Islamic countries and the region to deal with threats and destructive interventions in the affairs of the regional countries. For his part, Araghchi elaborated on the recent unrest in Iran, when violent and terrorist elements entered the peaceful gatherings of the people and led to violence, during which hundreds of people were killed. Regarding nuclear talks, he said that Iran has never turned away from negotiation based on mutual respect for the legitimate interests. 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address People visit the 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival lantern show in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 30, 2026. The event kicked off at the Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou on Friday, featuring 85 groups of distinctive lantern displays scattered throughout the ten major tourist areas of the entire park, and will last until March, 8. (Xinhua/Wang Ruiping) People visit the 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival lantern show in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 30, 2026. The event kicked off at the Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou on Friday, featuring 85 groups of distinctive lantern displays scattered throughout the ten major tourist areas of the entire park, and will last until March, 8. (Xinhua/Wang Ruiping) This photo taken on Jan. 30, 2026 shows a scene of the 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival lantern show in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. The event kicked off at the Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou on Friday, featuring 85 groups of distinctive lantern displays scattered throughout the ten major tourist areas of the entire park, and will last until March, 8. (Xinhua/Wang Ruiping) This photo taken on Jan. 30, 2026 shows a set of lanterns inspired by the Chinese zodiac horse during the 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival lantern show in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. The event kicked off at the Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou on Friday, featuring 85 groups of distinctive lantern displays scattered throughout the ten major tourist areas of the entire park, and will last until March, 8. (Xinhua/Wang Ruiping) This photo taken on Jan. 30, 2026 shows a view of the 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival lantern show in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. The event kicked off at the Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou on Friday, featuring 85 groups of distinctive lantern displays scattered throughout the ten major tourist areas of the entire park, and will last until March, 8. (Xinhua/Wang Ruiping) People watch a Cantonese opera performance during the 2026 Guangzhou Spring Festival lantern show in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 30, 2026. The event kicked off at the Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou on Friday, featuring 85 groups of distinctive lantern displays scattered throughout the ten major tourist areas of the entire park, and will last until March, 8. (Xinhua/Wang Ruiping) Araghchi: Iran ready to resume nuclear talks from equal position, based on mutual interests and respect IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 30, 2026 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran is ready to resume negotiations based on equality, mutual interests, and mutual respect, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Iran has never sought nuclear weapons and such weapons have no place in Iran's security calculations, Araghchi said speaking in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Istanbul on Friday. Turkiye and Iran have been neighbors and friends in both easy and difficult times, he said. In recent developments, particularly during the Israeli regime's military aggression against the Iranian nation, as well as during the recent unrests in Iran, Turkiye consistently supported Iran, and Turkish officials adopted very valuable and principled positions, he added. Regional developments are moving along a dangerous path The two countries agree that regional developments, due to illegitimate interventions by certain trans-regional powers, are moving along a dangerous path, Araghchi warned. The Israeli regime, through numerous malicious plots, seeks to drag others into war, weaken the regional countries, and continue its expansionism and excessive demands, he stated. There is a shared understanding in the region that the hegemonic and war-mongering behavior of the Israeli regime knows no bounderies and views all nations of the region as targets of its greed, he said. This danger is real and tangible and is well understood by all regional countries, he reiterated. To confront these common threats, which unfortunately are carried out with unlimited support from the US and some other Western countried, Islamic and regional countries must act in a coordinated manner, Araghchi noted. Iran welcomes any initiative that preserves peace and stability in the region Iran believes that the security of any country in the region is the security of the entire region, and insecurity and war mean war throughout the region, he said, adding that Tehran welcomes any initiative that helps preserve peace and stability, reduce tensions, and neutralize the malicious plots of the Israeli regime. Iran has always taken a responsible position in using diplomacy as a tool to secure Iran's national interests and safeguard regional peace and stability, Araghchi said. Past experiences have shown a lack of sincerity and goodwill on the part of the United States regarding negotiations, he added. Iran is ready to participate in any meaningful, rational, and fair diplomatic process Iran is ready to participate in any diplomatic process that is meaningful, rational, and fair, and in which the country's legitimate and lawful interests and concerns are taken into account, Araghchi stressed. Tehran welcomes regional dialogue aimed at reducing tensions Iran welcomes Turkiye's approach toward regional ownership, support regional dialogues aimed at consolidating peace and stability, and is ready to participate in any dialogue among regional countries intended to create peace, reduce tensions, and strengthen stability, he said. Iran stresses respect for the will of Iraqi people and national dialogue in Lebanon Tehran believes that the will of the Iraqi people expressed in the recent elections must be respected, Araghchi said, rejecting any coercive interference that undermines the country's national sovereignty. Referring to developments in Lebanon, he stressed national dialogue among all sects and groups. "Decisions regarding Lebanon's national security doctrine must be made by the Lebanese people themselves, their groups, and sects." Commenting on the issues in Palestine and Gaza, he said the international community is after ending the genocide of Palestinians, prosecuting and punishing criminals, and accelerating humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. He also appreciated Turkiye's efforts toward peace in Gaza. Not meetings arranged with Americans yet Iran are ready for fair and just negotiations, but the prerequisites must first be established regarding the format, venue, and subject of the talks, Araghchi said. Negotiation results are determined at the table, not in advance Emphasizing that negotiation is different from dictation, Araghchi said negotiation results are determined at the negotiating table, not in advance. Iran's defense and missile capabilities will never be subject to negotiation Iran's defensive capabilities and missiles will never be the subject of any negotiations, Araghchi said adding that no country is willing to compromise its security and defense with another. A renewed US attack on Iran would go beyond a bilateral war Iran is ready for negotiations, it is also ready for war, he warned. "We are even more prepared than before the 12-day war, and just as we responded forcefully to the aggressors at that time, we will do so again." If IRGC had not fought ISIS, Europe would have faced terrorism in its own streets Regarding the European Union's decision to designate the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, Araghchi expressed regret over their grave strategic and calculative mistakes. Unfortunately, the European Union is a declining entity that has lost its role in international relations and does not even properly understand its own interests, he added. US administration has repeatedly requested negotiations through intermediaries Iran has no problems with negotiations, but talks cannot take place under threats, Araghchi said stressing that the US administration has repeatedly requested negotiations through intermediaries. "They must abandon threats and change their approach toward fair and just negotiations." Americans have resorted simultaneously to threats and requests for negotiations Responding to a question about the US's contradictory positions, Araghchi said the contradictions in US positions are completely evident. Washington has recently tested military attack and failed to achieve any of its objectives, he said, adding that is why they have again been forced to simultaneously resort to threats and requests for negotiations. "Repeating a failed experience, no matter how many times, will lead to the same result, and they will not achieve any of their goals." 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish FM: Resumption of Iran-US negotiations is essential to reduce regional tensions IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 30, 2026 Tehran, IRNA -- The Turkish foreign minister says that the resumption of constructive nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States is crucial for de-escalating regional tensions. Hakan Fidan made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul on Friday. He said that these negotiations would pave the way for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Iran and the integration of this country into the international economic system. Saying that in today's meetings, many bilateral issues were discussed, Fidan added, "Regional stability and security are among the fundamental priorities of our foreign policy. We believe that for regional problems, new solutions must be created with a regional ownership approach. We pursue our policy on this basis, whether in the Middle East, the South Caucasus, or the Balkans." Expressing condolences over loss of lives in the recent Israeli- and US-backed riots in Iran, he said that the prosperity, tranquility, and security of the neighboring were valuable for Turkiye. Israel is trying to push US to attack Iran Emphasizing that Turkey is ready to provide any necessary support for the peaceful resolution of issues, Fidan said that the Israel is trying to persuade the United States to carry out a military attack against Iran. "These efforts by Israel have the potential to seriously damage the fragile stability of the region. We hope the United States will act with prudence and rationality and not allow such a situation to occur. Israel must put an end to its destabilizing policies in the region." Turkiye has focused efforts on preserving Syria's territorial integrity and unity Fidan said that he had discussed Syria with Araghchi, adding that Ankara continues to firmly focus its efforts on preserving Syria's territorial integrity and unity. "As you know, there is a ceasefire process that was extended on January 24. Today it was announced that an agreement on this issue has been reached. We will closely monitor the implementation of this agreement." Iran and Turkyie are two important players in the region Fidan went on to say that he and Araghchi had emphasized the importance of maintaining security and stability in Iraq for the country and the region. "We intend to cooperate closely with the newly formed Iraqi government along this path. Iran and Turkiye are two important players in their geographical region. In this regard, I believe that the continuation of these contacts is beneficial and necessary not only for our bilateral relations but also for regional security and prosperity." Turkish government opposes any military intervention against Iran President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and all the Turkish government have informed all parties that they oppose any military intervention against Iran. President Erdogan also held a telephone conversation with President Masoud Pezeshkian this morning, he said, emphasizing that problems cannot be resolved by resorting to the military option. "We support negotiation and diplomacy. What happened in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Gaza is still fresh in our memory. While, on the one hand, we are trying to heal the wounds of the past, opening another wound in the region will bring no benefit to anyone." Israel must put an end to its expansionist policies The Turkish foreign minister also emphasized that Israel must put an end to its expansionist policies and recognize the Palestinian state. "By doing so, it would ensure its own security as well as regional stabilityboth of which are important." 9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Army slams EU's blacklisting of IRGC as 'shameful', 'irresponsible' Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 3:07 PM Iran's Army has condemned the European Union's move to add the country's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) to its so-called terrorist list as "shameful" and "irresponsible". "This hostile action... adds another stain of shame to the black record of European colonialists," the Iranian Army said in a statement on Friday. The statement noted that this action comes as "today's Europe is divided" and "doesn't play an important role in the current international system", adding that the move aims to please US President Donald Trump and gain his support in resolving Europe's problems, including the war in Ukraine, the issue of Greenland, which Trump wants to take over, and the weakening of NATO. The EU move to add IRGC, "the largest force fighting terrorism in the region and the world", to its "fabricated and self-created" list of terrorist group, the Iranian Army said, comes while the European bloc fully supports the terrorist Zionist regime and terrorist groups in the region. "Undoubtedly, this deceitful and irresponsible action by the European Union will not undermine the determination and resolve of the brave nation of Iran, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic will continue to stand against Western-backed terrorism," the statement read. The EU designated IRGC on Thursday in reaction to Tehran's response to foreign-backed riots. "EU foreign ministers just took the decisive step of designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote in a post on X. Iranian officials have emphasized that the IRGC is a legitimate military institution and warned that any action against it is illegal and a clear violation of the United Nations Charter. Iran's Foreign Ministry also condemned the EU's decision, calling it "illegal" and "hypocritical." In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said the IRGC is an inseparable part of the Iranian Armed Forces, which has played a great role in fighting terrorism in the region. The ministry described the terrorist designation of the IRGC as a dangerous move and blatant violation of basic principles of international law, including non-interference in countries' internal affairs. It slammed EU claims that it's concerned over human rights in Iran as hypocritical, citing European support for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in its war on Iran and the EU's complicity in brutal sanctions against Iran. The ministry also cited the bloc's refusal to take any action against the Israeli regime in the face of the two-year genocide in Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran ready for both war and dialogue, 'will not accept dictation': FM Araghchi Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 12:47 PM Iran is prepared for both war and negotiations but will not accept imposed terms, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said amid continued Washington's military threats against Tehran. "Iran is ready to enter nuclear negotiations if they are conducted from an equal position, based on mutual interests and mutual respect," Araghchi said on Friday in a joint press conference with this Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara. "If the negotiations are fair and just, Iran is ready to participate in these talks and negotiations." He added: "We will by no means accept dictation and imposition." Araghchi said he was pleased to be in Turkey and described his discussions with Fidan as "good and useful." He noted that Iran and Turkey are neighbors and friends who have stood by each other "in both easy and difficult days." He said Iran welcomes "any initiative that leads to peace and stability in the region, reduces tensions, and neutralizes the sinister plots of Israel." He added that Tehran supports Turkey's approach to regional dialogue and is ready to take part in any talks among regional countries aimed at peace, de-escalation and lasting stability. Responding to questions about contacts with Washington, Araghchi said the US government has sought negotiations through various intermediaries. "Iran has no problem with negotiation," he said. "But negotiations cannot take shape under the shadow of threats. They must abandon threats and be ready for fair negotiations." "Iran has never abandoned diplomacy and will never abandon it," highlighted the top diplomat. Asked whether he might meet a US official in the coming hours or days, Araghchi said: "No plan has yet been arranged for a meeting between us and the Americans." He reiterated Iran's readiness for "fair and just negotiations," but said preliminary arrangements must first be made, including the format, venue and subject of talks. "I had very good discussions with Mr. Fidan today on these issues," he said. "We will continue these consultations with friends in the region, and I hope we can soon reach a clear framework that guarantees honorable negotiations." At the same time, Araghchi issued a stark warning over US threats. "We have said many times, and I repeat once again: Iran, just as it is ready for negotiations, is also ready for war," he said. "We are even more prepared than before the 12-day war," said the minister, referring to the US-Israeli aggression on Iran in June. The attacks came as Tehran and Washington were holding indirect talks on the nuclear issue mediated by Oman. He said any future conflict would be different, particularly if the United States were directly involved, and warned it could "expand beyond a bilateral war." "I hope rationality prevails and those who seek to drag the region into an all-out war fail in their objectives," he said. Iran's defensive capabilities non-negotiable Araghchi also made clear that Iran's defensive capabilities are not up for discussion. "Iran's defensive capability and missiles will never be the subject of any negotiation," he said. "The security of the Iranian people is not related to anyone else, and we will preserve and expand our defensive capabilities to whatever extent is necessary to defend the country." He added that Iran and Turkey agree regional developments are moving in a dangerous direction due to "illegitimate interventions by some extra-regional powers." He said Israel has been pursuing "sinister plots" to push others toward war, weaken and fragment regional countries, and continue its expansionist ambitions. Ankara opposed to military intervention Fidan, speaking alongside Araghchi, reiterated Ankara's opposition to military action against Iran. "We have conveyed our opposition to a military intervention against Iran to our interlocutors at every opportunity," he said. He added that Iran's internal issues should be resolved peacefully by the Iranian people without foreign interference. Fidan also warned that Israel is trying to persuade the United States to launch a military attack on Iran. "Israel's efforts have the potential to cause great harm to our region's fragile stability," he said, expressing hope that the US administration would act with "common sense" and not allow such a scenario. He said restarting talks between Tehran and Washington over Iran's nuclear program is "vital" to reducing tensions. The remarks come amid a sharp rise in threatening rhetoric from Washington. US President Donald Trump recently said "another beautiful armada" of warships was heading toward Iran. He later said the deployment was meant to pressure Tehran into negotiations, warning that failure to reach a deal would trigger a military strike "far worse" than the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025. A US naval strike group has been in Middle Eastern waters since Monday, and Trump has said it is "ready, willing and able" to strike Iran "if necessary." Iran has repeatedly rejected threats and coercion, insisting diplomacy cannot succeed under pressure or intimidation. It has warned that any military attack by the US or its allies will be met with a swift and decisive response. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FM Araghchi in Ankara for 'closer consultations' amid 'serious' regional situation Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 10:36 AM Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran and Ankara need "closer consultations" to address a "serious" regional situation amid US military threats and buildup in the region. Abbas Araghchi made the remarks on Friday upon arrival in the Turkish port city of Istanbul, where he was set to hold talks with Turkish officials as the US escalates its bellicose threats against Iran and builds up military presence in the region. Araghchi said that his trip had been arranged in advance in response to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's visit to Tehran a few months ago. The top Iranian diplomat noted that he would discuss bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues, in his meetings with Turkish officials. As two great neighbors, Iran and Turkey have always had close consultations with each other and maintained cordial relations in various political, economic, social and cultural fields, he added. "Right now the regional situation is extremely serious, with major challenges in place. The objectives put forward by the US and others clearly require us (Tehran and Ankara) to engage in closer consultations, review regional matters, align our positions, and exchange views on ways to address and overcome these challenges," Araghchi said. In an X post on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced Araghchi's official visit to Turkey. He further expressed Iran's determination to continuously strengthen ties with its neighbors based on the policy of good neighborliness and common interests. Meanwhile, Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported that in talks with Araghchi, Fidan would stress that historical Tehran-Ankara relations are of key importance to regional security, stability, and prosperity. Fidan would also emphasize Turkey's resolve to develop ties with Iran in multiple sectors and increase bilateral trade volume to $30 billion, the report added, citing Turkish Foreign Ministry sources. The Turkish foreign minister was expected to underscore that his country was closely following the recent developments in the Islamic Republic, it said. Iran's security, peace, and stability are of significant importance to Turkey, the report said, citing Fidan. Fidan would reiterate Ankara's opposition to military intervention against Iran and warn of its regional and global risks, according to the report. Additionally, the top Turkish diplomat would express Ankara's readiness to contribute to resolving the current Iran-US tensions through dialogue. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iranian officials: EU will regret 'servitude to US' over IRGC designation Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 10:11 AM Iranian officials have warned that the EU's designation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) will have serious consequences, insisting the decision will not hinder the force's mission but will rebound against Europe. Abdollah Haji Sadeqi, representative of the Islamic Revolution Leader to the IRGC, said sanctions against the force would not undermine its duties but would carry "heavy repercussions" for the EU. He said the consequences of the decision would ultimately return to those who made it. Referring to the EU's recent move, Haji Sadeqi said hostility from Iran's adversaries is nothing new. He added that the European Union has proved its "servitude to the United States" and submission to Western and American bullying, adding that such behavior had nevertheless surprised some observers. He said the IRGC is an official institution of the Islamic Republic and that the EU's action amounts to "an insult to the Iranian state that would not remain without repercussions." The cleric called the European Union "[US President Donald] Trump's servant" and said the bloc had lost its identity and independence. "The dignity and reputation of these servants are being exposed one after another, and their true nature is being revealed," he said. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf also slammed the designation. Qalibaf wrote in a post on the social media platform X that the IRGC is "one of the strongest and most effective anti-terrorism forces in the world." He added that only those who "stand on the side of terrorists" could deny the IRGC's record in fighting the Daesh terrorist group. "Supporting terrorism will bring nothing but regret for European countries," Qalibaf wrote. Meanwhile, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, noted that countermeasures to the EU's decision will be "immediate." "The West doesn't 'define' terrorism, it 'uses' it: aiding the killing in Gaza, installing terrorists, and engineering insecurity are 'policy,' while IRGC's fight against Daesh is 'terrorism,' showing how #US and #Europe have warped the concept," Shamkhani wrote in a post on X on Friday. The European Union added the IRGC to its terrorist list in response to Iran's measures against rioters who violently wreaked havoc across the country on the invitation of a monarchist and the public incitement of US and Israeli leaders in late December. Foreign-backed armed rioters and terrorists hijacked peaceful, sporadic protests over economic grievances on January 8 and 9 and turned them into scenes of murder, torching of mosques, clinics, ambulances and commuter buses and destroying public and private property. Iranian authorities have confirmed that US and Israeli spy agencies were directly involved, providing funding, training, and media support to rioters and armed terrorists acting on the streets. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address All US bases, regional mercenaries within Iran's reach: Leader's representative to IRGC Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 7:36 AM Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's representative to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has expressed the readiness of Iranian Armed Forces to target all US bases and mercenaries in the region in case of any new act of aggression against the country. Abdollah Haji Sadeqi made the remarks on Thursday during a ceremony commemorating the martyrs of recent foreign-linked riots at the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Fatima Masoumeh in the Iranian city of Qom. "Today, not only one base, but the entire US interests and its regional mercenaries are within our reach," he warned. "The Armed Forces have their fingers on the trigger. Any action by the enemy will be met with a devastating response on land and at sea, targeting all American bases in the region." The remarks came after US President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran with the US carrier-led fleet he has dispatched to the region. He also warned that the next aggression "will be far worse" than the one carried out last year, when the US military bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in the midst of an illegal Israeli aggression against the country. Trump began to threaten military action against Iran after recent economic protests in Iran, which were quickly hijacked by foreign-backed rioters. The US president talked about coming to the aid of the armed mercenaries during the unrest that killed a total of 3,117 people, including 2,427 civilians and security personnel. Haji Sadeqi said Trump had vowed to deliver the final strike, but American military commanders told him Iran is unlike other countries, so he fell back on false political excuses to justify avoiding a military attack. Over the past months, the enemy performed a combined internal and external sedition; whose first stage involved the unprovoked Israeli-US aggression between June 13 and 27, 2025, he added. After the failure of the plot, the enemy went to the second stage by exploiting riots and recruiting some agents tasked with killing people and setting fire to mosques and religious seminaries. He said, "The main source of our deterrence is the unbreakable bond between the nation and the Leader. Our strength does not only lie in our equipment, but also in the spirit of the people who do not succumb to the global arrogance." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FM says Iran open to talks ensuring its legitimate rights and based on mutual respect Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 6:00 PM Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the Islamic Republic is open to diplomacy to reduce tensions in the region, stressing that talk must be based on mutual respect and ensure Tehran's legitimate rights. He made the remarks during his meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday. Araghchi reiterated Tehran's principled position in utilizing diplomacy to secure the interests of the Iranian nation and prevent the escalation of regional tensions. "Iran has never shied away from negotiations and dialogue based on mutual respect and the acceptance of the Iranian people's legitimate interests and concerns," Araghchi stated. He appreciated Ankara's stance in support of Iran's national sovereignty and its opposition to foreign interference in the Islamic Republic's affairs, stressing the need to strengthen unity and cohesion among Muslim and regional countries to confront threats and destructive interventions in the regional countries' affairs. Referring to the recent foreign-backed riots in Iran, Araghchi stressed the importance of all countries in the region being vigilant against false and biased narratives from Western and Hebrew media regarding Iran's internal affairs. What began as peaceful protests late last month turned violent on January 8 and 9, as armed foreign-backed rioters rampaged through cities across the country, killing security forces and civilians and attacking public infrastructure. The US and Israel's Mossad admitted their involvement on the ground. For his part, Erdogan emphasized his belief that the Iranian nation and government will overcome the current challenges through national unity and cohesion. Referring to Turkey's efforts to reduce tensions, Erdogan stated that the region doesn't withstand an increase in insecurity, stressing that diplomacy is the only solution to Iran's nuclear issue. Araghchi's visit to Turkey comes amid escalated rhetoric by US President Donald Trump, who recently threatened fresh military aggression against Iran. Washington has just deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying strike group to West Asia near Iran. Trump recently said "another beautiful armada" of warships was heading toward Iran. He later said the deployment was meant to pressure Tehran into negotiations, warning that failure to reach a deal would trigger a military strike "far worse" than the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025. Iran has repeatedly rejected threats and coercion, insisting diplomacy cannot succeed under pressure or intimidation. It has warned that any military attack by the US or its allies will be met with a swift and decisive response. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hatam Qaderi: Iran's Leaders Are Praying For A 'Miracle' As Their Grip On Power Erodes By Mohammad Zarghami January 30, 2026 Iran's clerical establishment is at its weakest point in decades, facing unprecedented unrest at home and threats of military action from abroad. The United States is weighing military options against Iran after the authorities waged a bloody crackdown on mass protests from January 8-9 that killed thousands of people. The protests and the prospect of US military action, experts say, could lead to the fall of Iran's theocracy, which is also grappling with an economic collapse. RFE/RL's Radio Farda spoke to Hatam Qaderi, a Tehran-based academic and longtime critic of the authorities, about the factors behind Iran's brutal crackdown on the protests, the prospect of US military action against Tehran, and a possible transition from the Islamic republic. RFE/RL: Iran is in a unique and complex situation. Some suggest the Islamic republic could end. Is that realistic? Hatam Qaderi: What happened three weeks ago was extremely bloody. It was, without a doubt, one of the bloodiest days in recent Iranian history. It has made any transition in Iran very difficult. The events were very bloody, and I see three main reasons for this. The first is that this massacre was organized and premeditated and was not just a reaction to the presence of people in the streets. The second reason is that they believed that with a fundamental, largescale killing, they could prevent people -- in the case of war -- from coming into the streets and supporting foreign forces. The third reason relates to political, and especially economic, developments. Economic collapse mobilizes the impoverished. Many people have been driven to or below the poverty line, and in such a situation, an army of the hungry can become active. With a massacre, the Islamic republic could intimidate them and keep the situation under control. There is also a fourth factor, which I consider at least as important as the others: it relates to [Supreme Leader] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's psychological state. Given the major failures he has faced, his patience is exhausted. He cannot tolerate any opposition, which contributes to the current state of Iranian society. The hardcore elements of the state will resist until the end, unless the more moderate elements can persuade them otherwise. RFE/RL: The authorities have attempted to distinguish between peaceful protesters and "rioters." What's behind this? Qaderi: They have always framed protests this way. I can accept that some protesters may have turned to violence. I can even accept that some others might have come from outside and added fuel to the situation. But there is no doubt that the primary responsibility for the killings lies with the Islamic republic. In my view, what governs the Islamic republic outwardly is religiosity, but in reality, it is a lust for power. And if we consider the psychological state of Ayatollah Khamenei, we see that it is completely consistent with what happened. RFE/RL: Is the possibility of a US military strike tied to the Western perception of the Islamic republic being at its weakest? Qaderi: The Islamic republic does not have the capacity to neutralize their technological and military capabilities. If a war happens -- which, in my view, is likely -- it will not be as protracted as the Islamic republic imagines. It will not be a case where missiles will tire out Israel and the United States, those neighboring countries will get exhausted, and America will be consumed by its own domestic problems. RFE/RL: Would this make a transition from the Islamic republic more difficult? Qaderi: Look, the transition has completely become bloody. I'm telling everyone that it has turned bloody, and I want to emphasize that activists -- those emotionally tied to Iran's destiny -- must try to prevent this situation from becoming even bloodier. RFE/RL: We are not seeing cracks in state apparatus. Why is that? Qaderi: A rational transition never happens anywhere. Transitions usually arise from strong emotional states. People don't sit down first and calculate what to do; their emotions surge, then their minds engage, and it becomes a complex situation. My view is that the state's capacity for repression worked this time. I've said before that Ayatollah Khamenei doesn't really engage in political maneuvering. He stands firm and is not willing to yield. RFE/RL: Do Iran's leaders think the Islamic republic is ending, or do they believe the system is entrenched? Qaderi: I think they cling to two things: ideological belief and hope for a miracle. They imagine that if they continue to resist, some divine intervention will save them. But Khamenei himself is exhausted. A leader who is tired means he has no hope for his own preservation. He no longer has a real plan to govern society, to solve crises, or to examine them. I have said many times that there is no stability within his governance, no social consensus, and the government cannot actually execute its main functions. The economy is collapsing. All of this shows that, from the perspective of those in power, the only thing left to do is pray and hope for a miracle. RFE/RL: Can we say the recent unrest had any tangible results? Qaderi: What happened primarily reflects a transition away from the establishment. If it leads to the overthrow of the Islamic republic, then all of this becomes an achievement. But if that does not occur, then we will have a catastrophic situation in Iran. At least as long as the core of the Islamic republic remains in power and external conditions remain chaotic -- and I think they will -- the Islamic republic is unwilling to make fundamental concessions. They will not accept fundamental change, including acceptance of Israel. For that reason, war is likely to occur, and we must think about the conditions after the war. RFE/RL: Do you have a clear picture of what comes after a possible war? Qaderi: I don't have a clear picture. Perhaps some might think, "Once the Islamic republic is gone, everything will be easy and bright," but that will not be the case. And I'm not saying we should support the Islamic republic -- absolutely not. My point is that opposition figures calling for the end of the Islamic republic must also think about what comes next and what kind of future we will have. The future might not be bright, but whatever it is, it will be better than the future under the Islamic republic, which is the main cause of all the bloodshed and brutality in Iran. *This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-hatam-qaderi- khamenei-miracle-islamic-republic/33664951.html Copyright (c) 2026. 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 Amid Specter Of Possible US Strikes, Iran's Neighbors Brace For Blowback By Abubakar Siddique January 30, 2026 As the United States expands its military presence in the Middle East amid growing expectations of a strike against Iran, countries around the Middle East are bracing for another conflict in the region. US President Donald Trump gave his starkest warning yet on January 28, telling Tehran "time is running out" to make a deal on its nuclear and missile programs or face a "far worse" attack than the joint Israeli-US air strikes that decimated nuclear facilities around Iran. The comments came as US warships move into the region's waters. In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi said his country is ready to "respond immediately and powerfully" to any possible attack. Concerns In The Gulf "Countries with a US troop presence, such as those in the Gulf Cooperation Council, are concerned about some form of Iranian [counter] attack," said Farzan Sabet, a managing researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute. The GCC comprises the oil-rich Sunni Arab monarchies of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. Washington has major military bases in most GCC countries, while others provide access and support to American troops. This week, Saudi Arabia followed the UAE announcing that it will not allow "its airspace or territory to be used for any military actions against Iran," a move analysts said appears aimed at trying to head off military action by Washington. "Direct attacks, either by the Islamic republic or its proxies, on energy infrastructure in the region would be disruptive for the global economy," Sabet said. For decades, most of the Arab Gulf nations have either been rivals of Iran's Shi'ite clerical regime or had strained ties with Tehran. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain have been targets of attacks by Iran or its proxies, such as the Huthis in Yemen. The GCC nations produce one-quarter of the world's oil supply and more than 10 percent of global natural gas. They are also vital to global trade and transport, and home to millions of expatriate workers. Pier Camillo Falasca, policy affairs manager at the Euro-Gulf Information Centre think tank in Rome, sees Gulf nations focused on two immediate goals. "They want to keep the crisis from spreading and keep their own countries safe," he said. Falasca says that, despite their public postures, the Gulf nations are not opposed to regime change in Iran. "They are aware of the cost of a possible chaotic transition," he said. "Their interest is in a managed and orderly transition, not a vacuum." Falasca says Gulf countries are working hard to beef up the security of their ports, airports, and energy infrastructure while preparing their populations for possible hard times. "They cannot afford any spillovers, be that in the form of militias, maritime disruption or shocks to trade and energy markets," he said. Sabet agrees. He said that at the height of recent protests in Iran, the Gulf nations were able to convince President Trump to delay an attack on Iran amid reports of thousands of protesters being killed by security forces. "These countries wanted the Trump administration to get the right set of assets in place in order to better manage any fallout," he said. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), as of January 29, it had verified 6,373 deaths, most of whom were civilian protestors, while still reviewing over 17,000 deaths. In a sign that Washington wanted to avoid using forces from around the Gulf, Trump said, "a massive armada is heading to Iran" instead. Washington has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region this week. It includes an aircraft carrier and other large warships capable of precision missiles and air strikes, and can even support ground operations. US media reported on January 29 that an additional warship, the USS Delbert D. Black, had entered the region as well. Other Neighbors Sabet said that Iran's next-door neighbor, Iraq, might get embroiled in Iran's potential conflict with the US, even while its government and most of its population would like to stay away from such entanglement. "There are actors within Iraq which could draw their country into that conflict," he said. The Popular Mobilization Forces, an official Iraqi security organization, comprises several Iran-aligned armed militias. These groups have previously attacked US forces. Adding to fears that Iraq may side with Tehran, Iran-backed Nouri al-Maliki has become the main candidate to become the country's next prime minister. Sabet said Iraq would also join Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan in bracing for long-term consequences of a conflict in Iran, which could prompt refugee flows or fuel ethnic unrest. More than 1.5 million Arabs in Iran predominantly populate the southwestern province of Khuzestan, which borders Iraq. Azeris, Iran's largest ethnic minority, live in the northwestern regions of Iran bordering Azerbaijan. But relations between the two majority Shi'ite neighbors have been marred by mistrust and hostility. Iran's most volatile southeastern province, Sistan-Baluchistan, shares a more than 900-kilometer-long border with Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province. Both regions, predominantly populated by the Sunni Baluch, have been embroiled in armed separatist and Islamist insurgencies for decades. In northwestern and western Iran, Sunni Kurds share ties with fellow Kurds in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. "These countries are definitely concerned with what type of instability would emanate from the militancy of ethno-linguistic groups," Sabet said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-iran-region- braces-attacks/33664153.html Copyright (c) 2026. 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 BISSAU, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in a communique issued on Friday in Abuja, welcomed recent measures taken by the transitional authorities of Guinea-Bissau, saying they are aimed at fostering an inclusive political environment and advancing the country's return to constitutional order. The bloc said the developments were conveyed in a letter dated Jan. 29, 2026, from Horta Inta-A, President of the Transition, addressed to Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone and chairperson of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government. In the communication, the Bissau-Guinean authorities announced key actions including: the formation of an inclusive transition government, with three ministerial positions each allocated to the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde and the political group led by Fernando Dias Da Costa; the appointment of 10 representatives from the two political groups to the National Transition Council; the release of all political prisoners and improvement of the detention conditions of Domingos Simoes Pereira, who has been transferred from central prison to house arrest; and the withdrawal of the request for the departure of the ECOWAS Stabilization Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau. ECOWAS urged all stakeholders to work collaboratively in support of a peaceful and credible transition leading to democratic elections. It further called for the full and effective release of Pereira and guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms for all citizens. ECOWAS reaffirmed its continued support to the people of Guinea-Bissau. Local media reported that Domingos Simoes Pereira, who had been detained since Nov. 26, 2025, was released late Friday. Diplomatic sources told Xinhua that the release followed mediation efforts by a ministerial delegation from Senegal with the transitional authorities, and that he remains under house arrest. Treasury Sanctions Iranian Regime Officials for Violent Repression and Corruption U.S. Department of the Treasury January 30, 2026 First Designation of IRGC-Linked Digital Asset Exchange WASHINGTONToday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took additional action against Iranian officials responsible for the regime's brutal crackdown on its own people. Among the officials sanctioned today is Eskandar Momeni Kalagari Iran's Minister of the Interiorwho oversees the murderous Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF), a key entity responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protestors. OFAC also designated Babak Morteza Zanjani, a criminal Iranian investor who previously embezzled billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenue that rightfully belonged to the Iranian people and was never fully recovered. Freed from imprisonment in order to launder money for the regime, Zanjani has provided financial backing for major projects that support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian regime more broadly. Additionally, for the first time, OFAC designated two digital asset exchanges linked to Zanjanithat have processed large volumes of funds associated with IRGC-linked counterparties. This marks OFAC's first designation of a digital asset exchange for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy. "Rather than build a prosperous Iran, the regime has chosen to squander what remains of the nation's oil revenues on nuclear weapons development, missiles, and terrorist proxies around the world," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "President Trump stands with the people of Iran and has ordered Treasury to sanction members of the regime. Treasury will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people. This includes the regime's attempts to exploit digital assets to evade sanctions and finance cybercriminal operations. Like rats on a sinking ship, the regime is frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, Treasury will act." Today's action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553, which authorizes sanctions on certain persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran; E.O. 13224, as amended, a counterterrorism authority; and E.O. 13902, which targets Iran's financial, petroleum, and petrochemical sectors. This action is in furtherance of the President's National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), which undergirds Treasury's continued campaign of maximum economic pressure against Iran's shadow banking, money laundering, and sanctions evasion networks and has impacted the Iranian regime's ability to sell its petroleum to support its destabilizing behavior and recoup those funds. In 2025, OFAC sanctioned more than 875 persons, vessels, and aircraft as part of this campaign. SECURITY FORCES killing DEMONSTRATORS AND LEADING COMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT OFAC is designating multiple senior Iranian officials who oversee elements of the security forces that are violently repressing the Iranian people, including Iran's Minister of Interior, Eskandar Momeni Kalagari (Momeni). Momeni is responsible for organizing domestic security services and oversees the LEF, whose actions have led to mass killings, arrests, and forced disappearances. The IRGC Intelligence Organization, under the leadership of Majid Khademi, has played an instrumental role in violently suppressing protests. The IRGC Intelligence Organization has underpinned the Iranian security forces' national campaign of mass violence, arbitrary detentions, and intimidation aimed at crushing Iran's protest moment. Ghorban Mohammad Valizadeh serves as commander of the IRGC's Seyyad al-Shohada Corps in Tehran province. Tehran province has experienced some of the deadliest violence since the protests began, with children among the dead. The number of demonstrators killed in Iran has overwhelmed local medical services, with morgues storing dead bodies in the streets and the corpses of those killed by Iranian security services stacked in pick-up trucks and freight containers. Hossein Zare Kamali is the IRGC commander of Hamadan province, where the families of those killed in protests have been forced to bury their dead without funerals and where security forces have sought to ransom the bodies of dead protestors. Hamid Damghani is the IRGC commander of Gilan province, where some of the regime's worst atrocities have occurred. Security forces in Gilan province have killed hundreds of demonstrators, firing live ammunition at crowds of unarmed activists. In early January, security forces, led by the IRGC, shot dozens of unarmed protestors attempting to flee a fire that engulfed the Rash bazaar. Mehdi Hajian is the commander of the LEF for Kermanshah province, where some of the earliest regime-orchestrated violence against protestors occurred. Under Hajian's command, Kermanshah's LEF has worked with the IRGC and Basij Resistance Force to carry out the regime's crackdown, which has include mass killings and sexual violence against protestors. Eskandar Momeni Kalagari is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being an official of the Government of Iran (including members of paramilitary organizations) who is responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran. Majid Khademi, Ghorban Mohammad Valizadeh, Hossein Zare Kamali, and Hamid Damghani are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mehdi Hajian is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. use of digital assets to evade sanctions Babak Morteza Zanjani (Zanjani) is an Iranian businessman and sanctions evader. He is active in multiple fields including hospitality, transportation, technology, financial services, and oil exports. In March 2016, Zanjani was sentenced to death in Iran for embezzling billions of dollars from Iran's National Oil Company, funds that rightfully belong to the Iranian people. His sentence was commuted in 2024, and in April 2025, Zanjani served as a financial backer of one of Iran's largest railway investments in history. Zedcex Exchange, Ltd. (Zedcex) and Zedxion Exchange, Ltd. (Zedxion) are two UK-registered digital asset exchanges with connections to Zanjani. Since its registration in August 2022, Zedcex has processed over $94 billion in transactions. When Zedxion was registered in May 2021, it initially listed Zanjani as its director. Multiple Zedcex and Zedxion-attributed addresses have processed funds for wallets linked to the IRGC. OFAC is designating Babak Morteza Zanjani, Zedcex Exchange, Ltd., and Zedxion Exchange, Ltd. pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the financial sector of the economy of Iran. Additionally, OFAC is also designating Zedcex Exchange, Ltd. and Zedxion Exchange, Ltd. pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC. SUPPORT FOR INTERNET FREEDOM IN IRAN The United States supports the Iranian people in their protests against the corrupt and repressive regime in Tehran. As Iran's violent crackdown and internet blackout continue, Treasury encourages relevant parties to keep in mind the longstanding general license, often referred to as GL D-2, that facilitates the Iranian people's access to the internet and is included in the Code of Federal Regulations at 31 CFR 560.540. The U.S. government stands with the Iranian people and will continue to expedite related requests for guidance and, as necessary and appropriate, specific licenses. For more information on this authorization please see OFAC's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), including FAQ 1110. SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons. Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC's Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC's enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC's guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List. Click here for more information on the persons designated and any property identified as blocked property today. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump administration targets senior Iranian officials with new sanctions People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 11:37, January 31, 2026 WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration on Friday announced new sanctions against a number of Iranian officials, including Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, amid the unrest across the Middle Eastern country. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement that Momeni oversees Iran's law enforcement forces, which have been involved in actions against demonstrators. Protests that began in late December over economic hardship expanded into broader challenges to Iran, reportedly having resulted in many deaths. Tehran has blamed the unrest on the United States and Israel. Sanctions also target Iranian investor Babak Morteza Zanjani and other officials, as well as two related digital asset exchanges. The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets of those designated, restrict travel to the United States, and prohibit Americans and U.S. companies from conducting business with them. The European Union on Thursday also sanctioned Momeni and some other Iranian officials. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel - Namer Armored Personnel Carrier Power Packs Less Transmissions and Integrated Logistics Support NEWS | Jan. 30, 2026 Media/Public Contact: T_Outreach_PM@state.gov Transmittal No. 25-86 WASHINGTON, January 30, 2026 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Israel of Namer Armored Personnel Carrier Power Packs Less Transmissions and Integrated Logistics Support and related equipment for an estimated cost of $740 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress. The Government of Israel has requested to buy Namer Armored Personnel Carrier (APC-MT883) Power Packs Less Transmissions (NPPLTs) in full and lite configurations. Also included is an integrated logistics support package that includes special tools for C-Level maintenance and transmission parts; control and diagnostic systems; preservation and packaging; containers; configuration management; technical manuals, spare parts catalogs, other documentation, and publications; U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance and contractor non-recurring engineering (NRE); and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is $740 million. This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic regional partner that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East. The proposed sale will improve Israel's capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend its borders, vital infrastructure, and population centers. These power packs will be used on Namer Armored Personnel Carriers (APC-MT883) that were fielded in 2008. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region. The principal contractor will be Rolls-Royce Solutions America, Inc., located in Novi, MI. At this time, the U.S. Government is not aware of any offset agreement proposed in connection with this potential sale. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor. Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Israel. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. The description and dollar value are for the highest estimated quantity and dollar value based on initial requirements. Actual dollar value will be lower depending on final requirements, budget authority, and signed sales agreement(s), if and when concluded. All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department's Political-Military Affairs Outreach team, at T_Outreach_PM@state.gov. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel - AW119Kx Light Utility Helicopters NEWS | Jan. 30, 2026 Media/Public Contact: T_Outreach_PM@state.gov Transmittal No. 26-08 WASHINGTON, January 30, 2026 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Israel of AW119Kx Light Utility Helicopters and related equipment for an estimated cost of $150 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress. The Government of Israel has requested to buy additional AW-119Kx light utility helicopters; Aviation Ground Support Equipment (AGSE); supplemental type certificate (STC) tools; engineering; spare and repair parts; support equipment; tools and test equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance; technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of program and logistical support that will be added to a previously implemented case whose value was under the congressional notification threshold. The original Foreign Military Sales case, valued at $78.2 million, included the following non-MDE items: AW-119Kx light utility helicopters, spares, and support. The estimated total cost is $150 million. This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic regional partner that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East. The proposed sale will improve Israel's capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend its borders, vital infrastructure, and population centers. This proposed sale will increase the interoperability with U.S. forces and conveys U.S. commitment to Israel's security and armed forces modernization. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region. The principal contractor will be Leonardo Helicopters USA, AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation, located in Philadelphia, PA. At this time, the U.S. Government is not aware of any offset agreement proposed in connection with this potential sale. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor. Implementation of this proposed sale will require temporary duty travel of three to five U.S. Government representatives to Israel for a duration of up to five years. Implementation of this proposed sale will require contractor representatives for equipment operation and training. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. The description and dollar value are for the highest estimated quantity and dollar value based on initial requirements. Actual dollar value will be lower depending on final requirements, budget authority, and signed sales agreement(s), if and when concluded. All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department's Political-Military Affairs Outreach team, at T_Outreach_PM@state.gov. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint Board Meeting between the Government of Japan and the United Nations Command Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan January 29, 2026 Joint Board meeting between the Government of Japan and the United Nations Command was held on January 29 to discuss coordination under the Status of United Nations Forces Agreement. The overview of the Joint Board meeting is as follows: The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. YAMAMOTO Mondo, Deputy Director-General/Deputy Assistant Minister, North American Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Maj. Gen. Anthony M. Henderson, Director of Plans and Policy for United Nations Command (UNC). Other officials from both sides also attended. During the meeting, participants concurred on the Terms of Reference for the Joint Board and discussed the procedures related to the UNC's use of U.S. Forces Japan facilities and areas in accordance with the Status of United Nations Forces Agreement. Both sides reaffirmed the important role of the UNC in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and concurred to continue close cooperation between the Government of Japan and the UNC. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU allocates 63 million in response to the crisis in Myanmar and its impact on neighbouring countries European Commission Press release Jan 30, 2026 Brussels The European Commission has allocated 63 million in humanitarian aid to help populations affected by the ongoing armed conflict in Myanmar, as well as to support Rohingya refugees living in neighbouring countries, in particular in Bangladesh. This funding, announced as the conflict triggered by the military coup in Myanmar reaches its fifth year, is part of the initial 2026 allocation of the EU for South and Southeast Asia. In the case of Myanmar, over 38.6 million will be used for: food assistance and emergency nutrition, given the high levels of food insecurity; shelter for people that have been forcibly displaced; access to clean water and sanitation; healthcare for populations affected by the conflict and in hard-to-reach areas; mine risk education and assistance for victims of landmines; and education in emergencies. The 23.4 million earmarked for Bangladesh will support the almost 1.2 million Rohingya refugees living in the country, mostly in the city of Cox's Bazar, as well as the host communities. Funding will be used for life-saving assistance, including: food assistance and nutrition; maintenance of camp shelters and other facilities; provision of essential services such as healthcare, emergency education, and access to water and sanitation. Given the regional dimension of Myanmar's crisis, an additional allocation of 1 million will provide life-saving aid to refugees and host communities in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. All EU humanitarian funding is channelled via partner organisations such as international NGOs and UN agencies. Background In Myanmar, humanitarian needs have risen dramatically since the military takeover five years ago, with the situation worsened by the strong earthquake that hit the country in 2025. Following global funding cuts and a subsequent prioritisation exercise conducted by the UN, the number of people prioritised for assistance due to the Myanmar crisis has been narrowed to just over 16 million, with over 3.6 million forcibly displaced. Fighting affects most of the country, with the conflict rated as the second deadliest in the world. As the conflict in Myanmar continues unabated, a safe return to the country remains impossible for the almost 1.2 million Rohingya refugees that live in Bangladesh. More than 8 years since their massive exodus from Myanmar, and with more people fleeing the ongoing conflict to Bangladesh, living conditions in the camps remain dire. Scarce livelihood opportunities and increased insecurity are pushing more and more refugees to risk dangerous journeys to reach Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and India. Quote(s) As we mark half a decade since the dramatic escalation of conflict in Myanmar, the EU remains committed to helping the most vulnerable communities in the country, as well as those that have been forced to flee abroad. With this new funding, humanitarian partners will continue providing life-saving aid, from food and shelter to emergency healthcare and education for children. Once more, I call all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law and to ensure that civilians are protected and can access essential services. Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar crisis deepens five years after coup, as military ballot entrenches repression By Vibhu Mishra 30 January 2026 - Five years after Myanmar's military seized power and jailed the country's elected leaders, the United Nations says the country's crisis has only deepened, marked by escalating violence, mass displacement and a military-controlled election that UN officials warn has further entrenched repression rather than restored civilian rule. The people of Myanmar continue to suffer amid "widespread violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law," as the cycle of impunity persists, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, on Friday, marking the anniversary. "The suffering of the people of Myanmar has deepened," Farhan Haq, the UN Deputy Spokesperson, said, pointing to escalating military airstrikes hitting civilians, acute food insecurity and nearly 5.2 million people displaced, both inside the country and across borders. The Secretary-General, he added, remains "deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating situation" and its serious regional repercussions, including rising transnational crime, economic volatility and soaring humanitarian needs. Elections deepen divisions The grim anniversary has coincided with the conclusion of three-phased elections imposed by the military, which UN officials say have further polarised society and intensified violence instead of providing a credible political pathway. They warned that the military-controlled ballot has compounded the crisis rather than offering a route back to civilian rule. The process "failed to respect the fundamental human rights" of Myanmar's citizens and "served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarisation," Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. The vote was held in only 263 of 330 townships, largely confined to urban areas under military control. Large swathes of conflict-affected regions were excluded, along with displaced populations and minorities, including the Rohingya. The main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the 2020 elections in a landslide, was barred from participating. Dozens of other parties opposed to military rule were also banned, and many of their leaders remain detained. Violence and coercion during voting The voting period between December 2025 and January 2026 was reportedly marked by intense violence. Open sources documented 408 military air attacks, which killed at least 170 civilians during the election period alone. On 22 January, a military airstrike on a populated area in Bhamo Township, Kachin State, reportedly killed up to 50 civilians, with no reported presence of combatants. To suppress dissent, the military arrested 324 men and 80 women under a unilaterally adopted election protection law, including for minor online activity. In one case, a 49-year prison sentence was imposed for posting anti-election material. Mounting humanitarian and economic toll The political repression is unfolding alongside a rapidly worsening humanitarian and economic crisis. Nearly one quarter of Myanmar's population now faces high levels of acute food insecurity, while more than one third are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian access has been repeatedly obstructed, including in Rakhine State, where desperately needed aid for starving communities has been blocked. Myanmar's economy has lost nearly $100 billion since the coup, with the gross domestic product (GDP) not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels for years. "The military's usurpation of power has also been accompanied by disastrous mismanagement of the country's economy," Mr. Turk said. Crimes under investigation At the same time, accountability mechanisms warn that serious international crimes against civilians continue unabated. Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said there is evidence that civilians across the country have endured atrocities amounting to crimes against humanity and war crimes since the military takeover. "The military has carried out air strikes, indiscriminately or deliberately attacking civilians in their homes, hospitals, and schools," he said, adding that many detainees have been subjected to brutal torture. The Mechanism is also investigating a growing number of allegations of atrocities committed by opposition armed groups. Rohingya seek justice at world court Amid the bleak outlook, an independent human rights expert pointed to a rare moment of accountability as Rohingya survivors testified before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the genocide case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews praised the survivors' courage, saying their testimony allows "the light of truth to shine through the darkness of the most horrific of crimes." He stressed that justice is not abstract, but "built on the courage of individuals who are willing to speak truth to power." Mr. Andrews has been appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to independently monitor and report on the situation in Myanmar. He is not a UN staff and does not draw a salary from the Secretariat. Calls for unity and a civilian future The Secretary-General reiterated that a viable path back to civilian rule must be founded on an immediate cessation of violence, a genuine commitment to inclusive dialogue and the swift release of all arbitrarily detained leaders, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. "Regional and international unity and sustained engagement are needed," the statement said, "to support a Myanmar-led solution that fully addresses the root causes of conflict, ensures accountability and responds to immediate humanitarian and development needs." The Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Myanmar, Julie Bishop, continues to engage with all stakeholders, in close cooperation with ASEAN and regional partners, in the search for common ground toward a durable resolution and sustainable peace. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address On 29 January 2026, forty one terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij and Fitna al Hindustan, were killed in two separate operations in Balochistan. Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan Rawalpindi - January 30, 2026 No PR-26/2026-ISPR On 29 January 2026, forty one terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij and Fitna al Hindustan, were killed in two separate operations in Balochistan. An intelligence based operation (IBO) was conducted in outskirts of Harnai District on reported presence of Fitna al Khwarij. During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the hideout, and after an intense fire exchange, thirty Indian sponsored Khwarij were sent to hell. Large cache of ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed Khwarij & destroyed on the spot. Another intelligence based operation (IBO) was conducted in Panjgur District in which, a terrorist hideout was busted and eleven Indian sponsored terrorists of Fitna al Hindustan were neutralized. Besides weapons and ammunition, looted money from bank robbery in Panjgur on 15 December 2025 were also recovered from the killed terrorists. The terrorists were involved in numerous terrorist activities in the past. Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area. Relentless Counter Terrorism campaign under vision "Azm e Istehkam" (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement Missiles NEWS | Jan. 30, 2026 Media/Public Contact: T_Outreach_PM@state.gov Transmittal No. 26-13 WASHINGTON, January 30, 2026 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement Missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $9.0 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has requested to buy seven hundred thirty (730) PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) missiles. The following non-major defense equipment items will be included: PAC-3 MSE missile launcher conversion kits; PATRIOT automated logistics systems kits; PAC-3 telemetry kits; PAC-3 MSE shorting plug accumulation kit; PAC-3 MSE missile skid kits; PAC-3 MSE missiles round trainer; PAC-3 MSE empty round trainer; PAC-3 missile and ground support equipment spare parts; PAC-3 missile canister consumables; PAC-3 field surveillance program; integration and test support and equipment; munitions support and support equipment; spare parts, consumables, accessories, and repair and return support; classified software delivery and support; classified and unclassified publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; studies and surveys; contractor logistics support; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is $9.0 billion. This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region. The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia's capability to meet current and future threats by providing advanced air defense missiles as part of an upgraded integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) system, thereby enhancing its air defense capability. This enhanced capability will protect land forces of Saudi Arabia, the United States, and local allies and will significantly improve Saudi Arabia's contribution to IAMD in the CENTCOM region. Saudi Arabia will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the military balance in the region. The principal contractor will be Lockheed-Martin Corporation, located in Dallas, TX. At this time, the U.S. Government is not aware of any offset agreement proposed in connection with this potential sale. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor. Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Saudi Arabia. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. The description and dollar value are for the highest estimated quantity and dollar value based on initial requirements. Actual dollar value will be lower depending on final requirements, budget authority, and signed sales agreement(s), if and when concluded. All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department's Political-Military Affairs Outreach team, at T_Outreach_PM@state.gov. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria: Statement by the Spokesperson on the agreement European External Action Service (EEAS) 30.01.2026 EEAS Press Team The European Union welcomes the agreement reached today between the Syrian transitional authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces. We call on all parties to implement it in a spirit of good faith and compromise. A full cessation of hostilities is needed to enable the provision of humanitarian aid, the protection of civilians and the return of internally displaced persons. Stability of North East Syria is key for the success of an inclusive political transition in Syria, protecting the rights of all Syrian people. We call on all sides to ensure the security of camps and detention facilities and work to prevent the resurgence of Da'esh. The European Union stands ready to support the implementation of the agreement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address People attend a rally in front of the Burbank City Hall, in Burbank, the United States, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Xinhua) LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents. According to tracking by Payday Report, a labor news organization, the demonstrations, organized under the banner "National Shutdown," took place in at least 300 cities, with actions ranging from business closures to student walkouts and street marches. The protests were triggered by the deaths of two Minneapolis residents shot by federal agents this month. Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot on Jan. 7 by an agent from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was killed on Jan. 24 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents while observing a federal operation. Protests began earlier this week on college campuses in Los Angeles. More than 1,000 students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) walked out of classes at the Westwood campus on Wednesday. On Friday, at least 10 separate protest locations in Los Angeles were organized, including gatherings at City Hall, the ICE detention center downtown, and in neighborhoods such as Echo Park, Santa Monica and Pasadena. Rachel Elder, who attended a protest with her son, told Xinhua she was demonstrating against what she described as unlawful violence by ICE agents. "I'm here with my son because we are protesting the occupation of ICE and the unlawful violence, murder that the agents have committed against innocent protesters," she said. Beyond individual participation, many businesses also joined the protests by closing or modifying operations. In Boyle Heights, a focal point of local demonstrations, restaurants, cafes and retail stores along Cesar Chavez Avenue shut down, with many displaying signs reading "FUERA ICE" (ICE Out). The demonstrations in California formed part of a broader nationwide economic shutdown. In New York City, an estimated 7,000 people gathered at Foley Square in Manhattan. In San Francisco, at least 70 businesses announced closures for the strike. In Portland, Oregon, hundreds of high school students walked out of classes at schools, marching through streets in light rain while carrying signs reading "Stop ICE Terror Now." In Chicago, businesses closed in several neighborhoods. In Minnesota, the epicenter of the protests, thousands of people rallied in downtown Minneapolis. Organizers said more than 500 businesses signed on to either close or take part in solidarity actions for Friday's demonstration. The (Donald) Trump administration has defended its immigration enforcement operations. Tom Homan, the administration's border enforcement chief, said Thursday that while the federal government is working on a plan to reduce the number of federal immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota, they are "not surrendering the president's mission on immigration enforcement." A protest sign joining "National Shutdown" is pictured in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Xinhua) People attend a rally in San Francisco, the United States, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua) People attend a rally in front of the Burbank City Hall, in Burbank, the United States, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Xinhua) People attend a rally in front of the Los Angeles City Hall, in Los Angeles, California, the United States, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Xinhua) A store joins the "National Shutdown" with a protest sign in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Xinhua) People attend a rally in San Francisco, the United States, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua) A protest sign joining "National Shutdown" is pictured in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Xinhua) People attend a rally in San Francisco, the United States, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua) People attend a rally in front of the Burbank City Hall, in Burbank, the United States, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters gathered across the United States on Friday for a nationwide general strike against federal immigration enforcement operations and the recent fatal shootings by immigration agents.(Xinhua) Saudi Arabia Welcomes Ceasefire and Integration Agreement Between Syrian Government and SDF Saudi Press Agency Friday 11/08/1447 Riyadh, January 30, 2026, SPA -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's welcome of the statement issued by the Syrian government regarding the ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), under a comprehensive agreement that includes the integration of the self-administration institutions into the Syrian state institutions. In a statement issued today, the ministry said that the Kingdom hopes that this comprehensive agreement will contribute to supporting Syria's path towards peace, security, and stability, fulfilling the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people and strengthening their national unity. The Kingdom also reiterated its full support for all efforts exerted by the Syrian government to preserve the nation's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity. The statement added that the Kingdom commends the responsiveness of the Syrian government and the SDF to the Kingdom's efforts, as well as the efforts of the United States to consolidate de-escalation and reach this agreement. -- SPA 17:24 Local Time 14:24 GMT 0036 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Spanish Government welcomes announcement of ceasefire agreement between Syrian Government and Syrian Democratic Forces Spain - Ministry of Foreign Affairs PRESS STATEMENT 013 30 Jan 26 The Spanish Government welcomes the announcement of the ceasefire agreement between the Syrian Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, an essential step towards stability in Syria, ending the violence, moving towards a definitive cessation of hostilities and greater access to humanitarian aid. Spain reiterates its firm commitment to a peaceful, inclusive political transition that fully respects the rights of all Syrians, without exclusion or discrimination. Only a process that listens to all parties and guarantees the effective participation of Syrian society as a whole can lay the foundations for lasting peace. The Spanish Government also stresses the importance of preserving the unity and territorial integrity of Syria, which are essential principles for the reconstruction of the country and for regional stability. Spain will continue to support international efforts aimed at stabilising Syria and the entire region. -NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - on Syria United Nations Secretary-General 30 January 2026 New York, UN Statements | Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Delivered by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General The Secretary-General welcomes the agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and expresses appreciation to all those who worked to support it. He appeals for all sides to work swiftly to ensure the implementation of the agreement, especially in terms of the peaceful integration of northeast Syria, the rights of Syrian Kurds, the safe, dignified and voluntary return of the displaced, and to come together in efforts to rebuild the country. He urges all sides to fully uphold their commitments, to prioritize the stabilization of Syria and the wider region, and to ensure that civilians are protected and able to live safely, in dignity, and free from fear. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WFP delivers live-saving food to families fleeing escalation in Northeast Syria World Food Programme 30 January 2026 DAMASCUS, Syria -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in coordination with local authorities and partners, is scaling up food assistance for families displaced by the sudden escalation of events in northern Syria. Renewed insecurity across Al Hasakeh, Ain al Arab (Kobani) and surrounding areas has triggered widespread displacement, with more than 165,000 people fleeing their homes in recent days. Within hours of their arrival in AlHasakeh governorate, WFP teams delivered readytoeat rations to families who fled with nothing and are now sheltering in schools, collective centres and camps. While some families in Aleppo have begun returning following a temporary pause in fighting, needs in the northeast remain severe. WFP is providing: Readytoeat rations, date bars, nutritional supplements and food boxes to displaced families in shelters, schools and Newroz camp in AlHasakeh Governorate, as well as in Ain alArab (Kobani) in Aleppo Governorate Recently resumed food deliveries in Al Hol camp, aiming to ensure all residents receive two months of food assistance Humanitarian assistance delivered through a WFP-OCHA interagency convoy on 25 January, transporting food, winterization and hygiene kits, medical supplies, diesel and essential shelter items from Aleppo to Ain alArab (Kobani) "Food security is national security. WFP will continue monitoring the situation closely and stands ready to scale up assistance as needed," said Marianne Ward, WFP's Country Director in Syria. "Beyond this surge in fighting, WFP remains committed to supporting the Syrian people after years of economic hardship, but urgently needs donor support to continue doing so." In addition to emergency food assistance, WFP provides monthly food and cashbased transfers, livelihoods activities, and school feeding and nutrition programmes. WFP also supplies fortified flour to more than 300 bakeries across the country, enabling four million people to access subsidized fresh bread - Syria's largest social safety net. Without additional funding, WFP will be forced to discontinue the bread subsidy project in April and scale down current food and nutrition assistance. # # # The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build pathways to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impacts of climate change. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Legislature snubs Cabinet, advances TPP's special defense budget bill ROC Central News Agency 01/30/2026 04:27 PM Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) The Legislature on Friday advanced a Taiwan People's Party (TPP)-tabled bill governing arms procurement packages approved by the United States to a committee review. The move came after the 113-seat legislative body, where TPP and the Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers hold a combined majority, voted down a ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) motion to review the Cabinet's NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) special defense budget bill. In contrast to the Cabinet's bill, the TPP's is narrower in scope, covering only five of the eight weapons systems approved for sale by the U.S. Department of State in December and setting a spending cap of NT$400 billion. The TPP's proposal allocates NT$126.7 billion for 60 M109A7 self-propelled howitzers along with 4,080 rounds of precision munitions, and NT$127.6 billion for 82 HIMARS multiple rocket missile systems. It also covers anti-armor loitering munition systems, capped at NT$34.7 billion, 70 Javelin anti-armor missile launchers and 1,050 missiles, capped at NT$11.8 billion, and 24 TOW 2B anti-armor missile launchers and 1,545 missiles, capped at NT$11.1 billion. However, several preapproved U.S. weapons sales present in the Cabinet's special budget are omitted, including US$1.01 billion for tactical mission network software, US$96 million for AH-1W helicopter parts, and US$91.4 million for Harpoon missile support. Funding for partnerships with the local arms industry, procurement of 200,000 drones, and the T-Dome multilayered air defense system to protect Taiwan against Chinese missiles are also absent. Reacting to developments on Friday, the final day of the current legislative session, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee () said that the KMT and TPP "politicizing" the issue could delay Taiwan's weapons procurement plans and negatively affect its efforts to build combat readiness. Lee accused the TPP of merely copying and pasting publicly available information released by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and crudely splitting off parts of the Cabinet's proposal, saying the opposition bill "lacked strategic vision and force-building planning, deviated from established military procurement practices and ignored defense self-reliance." According to Lee, the MND has repeatedly warned that the TPP's bill covers only the procurement of certain equipment and fails to establish supporting measures, which could render implementation by the ministry "impossible." The Legislature has repeatedly blocked a review of the Cabinet's special defense budget since President Lai Ching-te () announced it in November, with the KMT and TPP demanding that Lai first brief lawmakers and take questions on the proposal -- a request Lai has rejected. (By Wang Yang-yu and Sean Lin) Enditem/ASG NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Scholars see short-term dip in China war risk after Xi purges top general ROC Central News Agency 01/30/2026 08:48 PM Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) Taiwanese scholars said Friday that Chinese leader Xi Jinping's () recent purge of top general Zhang Youxia () could make China less likely to launch a major war in the short term, including a military invasion of Taiwan. China's Ministry of National Defense announced last Saturday that Zhang, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Liu Zhenli (), chief of staff of the CMC's Joint Staff Department, are under investigation for "suspected serious discipline and law violations." The investigations are the latest in a series of senior-level purges that have significantly reduced the CMC's senior leadership roster -- leaving only Xi and CMC vice chairman Zhang Shengmin () -- and underscored ongoing turbulence in the PLA's top command. Temporary easing of war risks "The major shake-up and purge of senior PLA generals over the past two to three years could temporarily reduce the likelihood that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will launch a major war," said Kou Chien-wen (), a political science professor at National Chengchi University (NCCU). "The main reason is that, aside from the CMC still not being fully staffed, positions also need to be filled at the CMC's Joint Operations Command Center," Kou said at a seminar held by NCCU's Institute of International Relations in Taipei. He noted that the CMC Joint Staff Department deputy chief of staff Zhu Chuansheng () and CMC Joint Operations Command Center deputy director Zheng Shoudong () -- both Army lieutenant generals -- were absent from a Jan. 20 training seminar for senior CCP officials. Kou said the absence of Zhu and Zheng at an event opened by Xi suggests the two may also have been caught up in the shake-up. Appointing personnel to fill vacancies at the CMC and its subordinate departments so the PLA can be ready for a major war "will take some time," he said. However, Kou did not estimate how long the temporary easing of major-war risks might last or how long it would take to fill the vacancies. 2027 invasion unlikely In the same vein, Chieh Chung (), an associate research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the likelihood of a PLA invasion of Taiwan in 2027 "would not increase significantly" because of Zhang's purge. The 2027 window refers to claims by some U.S. military and intelligence officials that Xi has directed the PLA to be combat ready to seize Taiwan by 2027. "China treats 'peaceful unification' as its preferred option, and there is still no timetable for using force," Chieh said, stressing that whether Beijing pursues its goals through peaceful or forceful means "has little to do with Zhang." Such decisions, he continued, are made by the CCP's Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, headed by Xi, with Wang Huning (), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as deputy head and Foreign Minister Wang Yi () as secretary-general. According to Chieh, Zhang does not play a central role in the group and is "merely one of its members." While Taiwan does not need to worry too much about a PLA invasion "in the next few years," it should "remain on high alert" if cross-strait tensions escalate into a crisis, Chieh said. The PLA's leadership might be reluctant to speak candidly in the event of a crisis after seeing the purges in recent years, which could lead Xi to misjudge the situation and make crisis management "far more difficult," he added. Period of 'uncertainty' Ma Chen-kun (), a professor at National Defense University's Graduate Institute of China Military Affairs Studies, said Zhang was not opposed to using force against Taiwan and believed the "Taiwan issue" would ultimately have to be resolved by military means. "However, Zhang opposed rashly launching a full-scale armed operation against Taiwan at this stage, when the PLA is still not capable of comprehensively countering potential U.S. intervention and Taiwan's defenses," he said. Ma said Zhang is "cautious" about war and believes Beijing should buy more time to continue building up the PLA. After Zhang's purge, Ma said it remains unclear which generals Xi will come to trust as military advisers. "Because Xi is not a military professional, he still needs trusted generals to advise him," he said. As potential successors remain uncertain, Ma said China's military approach toward Taiwan has now entered a period of "uncertainty." (By Sunny Lai) Enditem/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan ROC Ministry of National Defense 2026.01.31 Issuing AuthorityPolitical Warfare Bureau PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1.Date: 6 a.m. Jan. 30 (Fri.) to 6 a.m. Jan. 31 (Sat.) (UTC+8) 2.PLA activities: 3 sorties of PLA aircraft and 8 PLAN ships operating around Taiwan were detected as of 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy ships, and coastal missile systems in response to detected activities. 1150131_PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan 1150131_PLA air activities in the vicinity of Taiwan NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President Xi Jinping Meets with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: January 29, 2026 23:27 On the morning of January 29, President Xi Jinping met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Both sides agreed to develop a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the U.K. President Xi Jinping noted that in a changing and chaotic world, China and the U.K., as permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and major economies, need to strengthen dialogue and cooperation, both in safeguarding world peace and stability and in delivering growth and prosperity for people in both countries. They need to see history from a broader perspective, rise above differences, respect each other, and turn the vast potential of China-U.K. cooperation into real progress. This will open up new prospects for China-U.K. relations and cooperation, for the good of both peoples and the whole world. President Xi Jinping underlined mutual trust as the foundation for steady and sustainable state-to-state relations. China is always committed to peaceful development, has never started a war, and has never taken an inch of foreign land. No matter how strong and developed China becomes, it will never be a threat to other countries. Traditional Chinese culture values peace and pursues harmony without uniformity. China-U.K. economic and trade ties are mutually beneficial in nature. As China kicks off its 15th Five-Year Plan, the two sides may expand win-win cooperation in the services sector including education, health, and finance, and pursue joint research and commercial application in artificial intelligence, life sciences, new energy, and low-carbon technologies for shared development and prosperity. The U.K. is expected to foster a fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies. China and the U.K., as countries with rich cultural heritage, have both made significant contributions to the development and progress of humanity. The two sides should enhance people-to-people exchanges and further facilitate two-way travel. More British people from the government, parliament, and subnational entities are welcome to visit China and develop a comprehensive, objective, and correct understanding of China. China will give positive consideration to visa-free access for U.K. travelers. President Xi Jinping pointed out that unilateralism, protectionism, and power politics are running rampant. The international order is under great strain. International law can be truly effective only when all countries abide by it. Major countries in particular should set an example, otherwise the world will revert to the law of the jungle. As supporters of multilateralism and free trade, China and the U.K. should advocate and practice true multilateralism, make the global governance system more just and equitable, and build an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. Prime Minister Starmer conveyed King Charles III's greetings to President Xi. Prime Minister Starmer said he was delighted to be the first British Prime Minister to visit China in 8 years. This visit, with a delegation of around 60 important representatives from British business and cultural organizations, demonstrates the breadth of U.K.-China cooperation and the U.K.'s commitment to deepening and expanding ties with China. As major economies and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, it is vital for the U.K. and China to build a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership with mutual respect and trust, especially in a volatile and fragile world. On Taiwan, the U.K.'s position is long-standing, well-known, and unchanged. The U.K. would like to maintain high-level engagement with China, enhance dialogue and exchange, and strengthen cooperation in trade, investment, finance, environment, etc. to support each other's growth and prosperity. The more closely the two peoples interact, the better they will understand each other. The U.K. will work with China to promote exchanges between their legislatures and other sectors. Hong Kong's prosperity and stability serve the common interests of both countries, and the U.K. welcomes Hong Kong as a unique and important bridge between the two countries. China plays a vital role in international affairs, and the U.K. would like to strengthen cooperation with China on climate change and other global challenges and jointly uphold world peace and stability. Wang Yi was present at the meeting. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump warns UK against enhancing ties with China as PM Starmer hails reset Iran Press TV Friday, 30 January 2026 11:30 AM US President Donald Trump has warned Britain against enhancing ties with China as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the economic benefits of resetting relations with Beijing. Starmer held three-hour talks with President Xi Jinping on Thursday where he called for a "more sophisticated relationship" with improved market access, lower tariffs and investment deals. Answering questions about the closer ties, Trump, who himself plans to travel to China in April, said, "Well, it's very dangerous for them to do that", without elaborating. Around the time of Trump's remarks, Starmer said at a meeting of the UK-China Business Forum in the Chinese capital on Friday that his "very warm" meetings with Xi had provided "just the level of engagement that we hoped for". "We warmly engaged and made some real progress, actually, because the UK has got a huge amount to offer," he added. Starmer hailed deals on visa-free travel and lower tariffs on certain goods as "really important access, symbolic of what we're doing with the relationship". "That is the way that we build the mutual trust and respect that is so important," he emphasized. Starmer is the latest Western leader to head to China, and his visit comes amid Trump's on-off threats of trade tariffs and pledges to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron visited China, when Xi accompanied him on a rare trip outside the capital. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also expected to travel to China soon. Trump threatens Canada with aircraft tariffs Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Canada after Prime Minister Mark Carney struck economic deals with Beijing on a recent visit. Trump on Thursday said the US was decertifying Bombardier Global Express business jets and threatened 50% import tariffs on all aircraft made in Canada until the country's regulator certified a number of planes produced by US rival Gulfstream. "If, for any reason, this situation is not immediately corrected, I am going to charge Canada a 50% Tariff on any and all aircraft sold into the United States of America," Trump said of the Gulfstream certification process in a post on Truth Social. His declaration came after Carney last week also called on nations to accept the end of the rules-based global order that Washington had once championed, citing US trade policy. The threat of decertification, if carried out, would have a drastic impact on US carriers such as American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which rely on Canadian-made airplanes for many of their regional services. "Mixing safety issues with politics and grievances is an incredibly bad idea," Richard Aboulafia, managing director of US aerospace management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, said. IAM, a union representing more than 600,000 workers in North America and thousands of workers in the air transportation and aerospace sector, warned that Trump's threats "would cause serious disruption to the North American aerospace industry and put thousands of jobs at risk on both sides of the border." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Starmer says 'it would be foolhardy' not to engage with China, refuting Trump's claim of UK's trade cooperation with China Global Times By Global Times Published: Jan 31, 2026 01:26 AM British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday it would be foolish for Britain not to engage with China, rejecting the assertion from US President Donald Trump that it was dangerous to get into business with Beijing, Reuters reported. Starmer also added in a causal tone that Trump himself was also set to visit China in April. In the interview with Sky News, when asked whether he's really not worried by Trump's claim regarding "it's very dangerous for you to be doing business with China," Starmer said "I think I'm right in saying that President Trump is expected to visit China himself in April." Starmer also refuted Trump's claims, saying that "it would be foolhardy to simply say we will ignore (China)," Reuters reported. Starmer also highlighted French President Emmanuel Macron's recent visit and a planned trip by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "For the UK to be the only country that refuses to engage would not be in our national interest," he said, Reuters reported. Starmer also noted the smoothness of the discussions during this visit to China, saying "this trip has been a big success and you only need to spend five minutes with the business delegates on the trip to get a sense of what it means for our economy back at home." It's been a big success in the sense of the opening up of markets, but (it has) also given us the opportunity to raise the issues that people would have expected me to raise, Starmer added. However, when asked by the anchor about "Do you believe President Trump when he says things like this? He blows hot and cold," Starmer sidestepped a direct answer to the question. He said "We understand each other," adding that "relationship between our two countries is hugely important. Speaking to Fox News while traveling to Florida for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's documentary, Trump was asked about the UK "getting into business with China." "Well, it's very dangerous for them to do that," Trump claimed, per Fox News. Trump also claimed that China was not the solution for Western economies, the report added. But in the interview, Trump also mentioned he "knows China very well," according to the report. In response to a question about Trump's claims, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Friday that "China is ready to strengthen cooperation with all countries in the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes to benefit the peoples of all nations." In addition, UK Trade Minister Sir Chris Bryant also counterattacked Trump's claims. He said Trump's assessment is "wrong," added that it would be "absolutely bonkers" for the UK not to engage with China after Trump criticized Starmer's visit to the country, BBC reported. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to all 193 member states to warn them of the liquidity crisis of the world body, a UN spokesperson said Friday. #XinhuaNews Mykhailo Fedorov: 240,000 drones ordered by the military through Brave1 Market Ministry of Defence of Ukraine 29 January, 2026, 10:37 AM EET Through Brave1 Market, the military has already ordered 240,000 drones using combat e-Points. "In August last year, we launched the Brave1 Market marketplace. It enabled the military to exchange combat e-Points earned through the "Army of Drones Bonus program" for UAVs and other weapons, and this tool is now being actively used," stated Minister of Defence of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov. Over six months, units ordered 240,000 drones, as well as ground robotic systems, components, and other equipment using bonus points. More than half of the assets have already been delivered to the front, with over 160,000 drones and other weapons operating in the most challenging sectors. "The formula is straightforward: the military eliminates the enemy, the state provides funding, and technologies are rapidly delivered to the front. The average delivery time is 10 days," the Minister of Defence said. According to him, further improvements to Brave1 Market are ongoing. Currently, e-Points can be used to procure more than 400 Ukrainian-made products, including drones, electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, ground robotic systems, and components. A "Manufacturer Dashboard" feature has recently been introduced, enabling developers to monitor the battlefield performance of their solutions in real time. "We are further developing Brave1 Market to provide the military with additional capabilities to destroy the enemy," Mykhailo Fedorov summarized. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Slovenia shares its experience and solutions in countering UAVs with Ukraine Ministry of Defence of Ukraine 29 January, 2026, 1:02 PM EET At a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Slovenian delegation presented its proposals and solutions for countering UAVs, including ground-based platforms and counter-drone modules. During the talks, Sergiy Boyev, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine, and Bostjan Pavlin, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence of Slovenia, focused in particular on Ukraine's needs and the latest developments in counter-UAV technologies. At the outset, Sergiy Boyev expressed gratitude to Slovenia for its involvement in the PURL initiative, which is critically important for the supply of essential weapons and ammunition. He also thanked the Slovenian people for the support provided, including both military and humanitarian assistance. For his part, Bostjan Pavlin informed the Ukrainian side of preparations for a new aid package to be delivered to Ukraine at a later stage. "Air and missile defence systems, the missiles for them, and counter-drone capabilities are what save Ukrainian lives. We are ready to cooperate and share experience to develop joint defence mechanisms," the Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine said. Sergiy Boyev also outlined Ukraine's needs for 2026 and noted that Ukraine is ready for a mutually beneficial partnership and the exchange of experience. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IAEA Director General's Introductory Statement to the Board of Governors International Atomic Energy Agency 30 January 2026 Vienna, Austria (As prepared for delivery) The conflict in Ukraine is about to enter its fifth year. It continues to pose the world's biggest threat to nuclear safety. As you are aware, the IAEA teams are on the ground at all the nuclear power plants affected by this conflict, and we have been publishing regular updates on the nuclear safety and security situation there. The Seven Pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict clearly lay out necessary conditions, including that there must be secure off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites. This is pillar number four. Principle 3 of the Five Principles for protecting the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) states that all efforts should be made to ensure offsite power remains available and secure at all times. Both the IAEA's Seven Pillars and the Five Principles, which I delineated in response to the nuclear safety situation, have wide international support, including by the parties directly involved in this conflict. I have repeatedly - both in this room and at the UN Security Council - called for adherence to them, especially when it comes to maintaining the essential offsite power supply, without which a nuclear power plant cannot operate safely. On the ZNPP the latest, as you know, is that over past months, I have negotiated, together with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, four separate temporary ceasefire agreements between both sides, for five separate repairs of power lines connected to the plant. Most recently, on Monday, 19 January, Ukraine's ZNPP was reconnected to its last remaining backup power line after successful repairs were completed under the latest temporary ceasefire. This 330-kilovolt (kV) backup line had been damaged and disconnected since 2 January, reportedly because of military activity. Until its reconnection, ZNPP relied on its last remaining 750-kV main power line to provide the off-site power needed to operate safety systems to cool the NPP's six shutdown reactors and spent fuel pools. IAEA teams continue to monitor ZNPP's ability to deal with winter conditions, including in keeping water in the cooling pond and sprinkler ponds from freezing. I once again restate the need to abide by the Five Principles to avoid a nuclear accident at the ZNPP by making all efforts to avoid future damage to these lines, which could fatally affect the plant. The offsite power supply to the nuclear power plants in Ukraine depends on crucial substations. Damage to them undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided. This stems from the internationally agreed nuclear safety standards. In addition to IAEA teams being stationed at the 5 Nuclear Power Plants in Ukraine, our teams have also been on missions to assess the impact on nuclear safety of the situation at electrical substations. The IAEA will, as a priority, continue to assess the functionality of these substations, within the parameters of its mandate. As we speak, an IAEA expert mission is underway at Ukraine's electrical substations amid ongoing strikes on the country's power infrastructure. The mission will assess 10 substations crucial to nuclear safety. It is following up on some of the sites visited in December 2025 and examining additional sites not previously assessed. Elsewhere in Ukraine, IAEA teams have reported military activities within proximity of nuclear power plants, including the Chornobyl NPP site, where they damaged a critical substation. Chornobyl NPP suffered the disconnection of one 750-kV power line, one 110-kV line and two 330-kV lines. Though the site received power from other offsite power lines, emergency diesel generators - both for the New Safe Confinement and for the Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility2 - needed to be resorted to, either because of line disconnection or due to power fluctuations. The affected lines have since been reconnected. Further detail on this is available in Update 338 on the IAEA's website and will, of course, be included in the upcoming report to the ordinary session of the Board. As I have said before, the best way to ensure nuclear safety and security and the safety and security of the people who have suffered over almost four years of fighting is to bring this conflict to an end. And allow me to make a final reflection. We are all, of course, extremely concerned by the ongoing war, and here at the IAEA, by its impact on nuclear safety. We have demonstrated, from the start, how it is possible to make good use of an international institution like the IAEA to prevent escalation and provide certain stability and predictability in the inevitably fluctuating scenario of an ongoing war. This requires focus, compromise, and a sense of responsibility. Our main goal is to ensure the continuity of our work. For this, I count on all of you. Thank you very much. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ambassador of Latvia to the EU: timely and predictable military support must be provided to Ukraine to repel Russia's brutal aggression Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs Published: 30.01.2026 On 29 January 2026, during discussions on further support for Ukraine at the European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Ambassador of Latvia to the EU Lelde Lice-Licite emphasised: "The fourth anniversary of Russia's crime of aggression against Ukraine is approaching. Russia is not ready for compromise and meaningful engagement in peace talks, and its recent barbaric attacks on Ukrainian residential buildings and energy infrastructure during winter, when the air temperature is below zero, are a stark reminder of this. The EU must continue to implement its strategy of "peace through strength", increase financial and military support to Ukraine, maintain pressure on Russia, including through a strong 20th round of sanctions, and strengthen our own security. We must continue to work with international partners to provide support to Ukraine in protecting and restoring its energy infrastructure. To support the urgent needs of Ukraine's energy sector and strengthen Ukraine's energy resilience, Latvia has sent transformer oil, diesel generators, and vehicles to Ukraine," said the Ambassador. Latvia supported the political decision adopted by the Council in its discussion on the Middle East to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the EU list of terrorist organisations. Work on the legal preparation of the proposal will continue. Regarding future military support and security guarantees for Ukraine, Lelde Lice-Licite pointed out that timely and predictable military support must be provided to Ukraine to repel Russia's brutal aggression. "It is very important that we have agreed on a joint EU loan of EUR 90 billion to Ukraine. Until peace is achieved and even after that, work on implementing security guarantees for Ukraine will be critically important," emphasised the Ambassador. Latvia is also ready to provide support in strengthening Ukraine's security after the war. In 2025, Latvia provided Ukraine with military support worth EUR 123.88 million, which is 0.3% of Latvia's GDP. Latvia's military support includes the supply of armaments, training of Ukrainian soldiers, contributions to the Drone Coalition, financial investment in Ukraine's military industry for the production of drones, contributions to NATO's PURL (Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) initiative, as well as participation in the NATO project Renovator for the renovation of Ukrainian military hospitals. Latvia's contribution to defence this year will reach 5% of GDP. Lelde Lice-Licite pointed out that Ukraine's accession to the EU is an essential part of the EU's security guarantees to Ukraine. It is important to move forward on this issue. The EU plays a significant role in the policy of tightening sanctions and pressure on Russia. Sanctions against Russia are the most important non-military deterrent, which has caused enormous damage to the Russian economy and reduced its ability to wage war. Lelde Lice-Licite expressed her satisfaction with the sanctions approved at the meeting against six subjects under the sanctions regime for Russia's hybrid activities, targeting propagators of propaganda and disinformation. As regards the work on a strong 20th round of sanctions, Lelde Lice-Licite stressed the need to expand restrictions on Russia's energy and financial sectors, as well as Russia's "shadow fleet". The EU should assess the possibility of imposing a complete ban on maritime services for ships transporting Russian oil and gas. The next round of sanctions should include additional trade restrictions, including strengthening existing restrictions on imports of potash fertilisers. The alignment of the Russian and Belarusian sanctions regimes should be continued in order to prevent circumvention of sanctions. Lelde Lice Licite expressed Latvia's support for Estonia's call to implement a complete ban on entry into the Schengen area and refusal of residence permits to Russian citizens who have participated in the war of aggression against Ukraine. The meeting was also attended remotely by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, who provided information on the current situation in Ukraine, in particular on the emergency situation in the energy sector. Discussing the situation in the Middle East and the EU's role in implementing the Gaza peace plan, EU Ministers agreed that there is much uncertainty about the legal and political solution. Therefore, US President Donald Trump's proposal must be evaluated in depth. As a member of the UN Security Council, Latvia strongly advocates for an order based on international law and compliance with the principles of the UN Charter. Lelde Lice-Licite: "Latvia supports the continued involvement of the EU Police Mission for Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS) and the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point (EUBAM Rafah) in the Middle East peace process, recognising their significant contribution to ensuring stability, the rule of law, and security." Ministers also discussed the current situation in Iran and approved several additions to the EU's human rights sanctions regime against Iran, as well as to the sanctions regime on Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU discussed the security and humanitarian situation in the African Great Lakes region and the possible role of the EU in the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs also held talks with Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, including on human rights violations in Belarus. "Latvia expresses its support for the work of the High Commissioner and calls for a full range of issues to be addressed in contacts with Belarus, including Belarus' support for Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, the abduction and indoctrination of Ukrainian children, and the instrumentalisation of migrants," said Lelde Lice-Licite. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Strikes Ukraine After Trump Says Putin Agreed To Week-Long Halt By RFE/RL January 30, 2026 Russia launched a ballistic missile and more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight, none of which hit Kyiv, after US President Donald Trump's statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to pause air strikes on the capital and other "various towns" until February 1. The Ukrainian Air Force reported on January 30 that Russian launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile and 111 attack drones at Ukraine, including the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya. The overnight attacks came after Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt strikes on Kyiv after weeks of pummeling Ukrainian energy sites that left tens of thousands of civilians without electricity and heating amid freezing cold temperatures that are forecast to dip to as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius in the coming days. "They've never experienced cold like that. And I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week. And he agreed to do that," Trump said during a cabinet meeting at the White House on January 29. Kremlin Confirmation Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on January 30 that Trump "did indeed make a personal request to President Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv for a week until February 1 in order to create favorable conditions for [peace]negotiations." But he did not mention energy sites in particular, nor the situation with civilians. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would agree to stop targeting Russian energy facilities if the Kremlin agreed to the same. "If Russia does not strike our energy infrastructure -- generation facilities or any other energy assets -- we will not strike theirs," Zelenskyy said. He added that the issue was discussed during three-way talks on ending the four-year war, which included US negotiators and were hosted by the United Arab Emirates last weekend. "There were no strikes on energy facilities last night, but yesterday afternoon our energy infrastructure in several regions was hit. We are now observing a shift by the Russian army toward strikes on logistics," Zelenskyy wrote on X on January 30. According to Zelenskyy, a Russian ballistic missile was used against the Kharkiv region, hitting warehouses belonging to a US company. In a statement on January 30, the state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said it had restricted rail traffic between Dnipro and Zaporizhzhya due to Russian strikes. "There is damage to the railway infrastructure, but thanks to the restrictions imposed, passengers and railway workers were not harmed," the statement said. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko added that a total of seven Russian attacks on Ukrainian rail infrastructure were launched over the past day. "This is intentional terror aimed at people and civilian transport," she wrote on X. Ukrainian political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko commenting on Trump's announcement of air strikes pause, said that "Putin is willing to make concessions for Trump's sake, but not for Ukraine." "There was no cease-fire concluded between Russia and Ukraine, " he told Current Time, "it was just temporary, conditional cease-fire agreed between Trump and Putin." US-Mediated Peace Talks Zelenskyy stated the date and location of the next US-mediated talks between Ukraine and Russia on ending the war may change. The follow-up round was originally scheduled for February 1 in Abu Dhabi, but Zelenskyy said he does not know when the next meeting will take place. "It is very important for us that everyone we agreed with be present at the meeting, because everyone is expecting feedback," he told reporters, according to remarks released by his office on January 30. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump's top negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who attended the previous round of talks, would not take part in the upcoming meeting. Separately, two unnamed sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's special envoy, will travel to Florida on February 1 for meetings with US negotiators. Meanwhile, the State Emergency Service warned that Ukraine could face a sharp temperature drop to as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius from February 1-3. With extreme cold weather in January, millions of Ukrainians are enduring a harsh winter amid unprecedented energy blackouts caused by Russian air attacks that have severely damaged heating and electricity infrastructure across the country. In the capital, Kyiv, 378 high-rise buildings remain without heat, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported on the morning of January 30. The Russian Defense Ministry says it is targeting energy infrastructure used by Ukraine's military, while data show strikes on Ukraine's energy and gas systems intensified in early fall 2025, disrupting supplies during the heating season. With reporting from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AFP, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-launches-ballistic- missile-drones-against-ukraine/33664710.html Copyright (c) 2026. 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 Ukraine Is Not Losing, Russia Is Not Winning': Amid Push For Peace, Here's How Things Look On The Battlefield By Mike Eckel January 30, 2026 A quick drive southeast of the embattled Ukrainian city of Kupyansk, on the opposite banks of the Oskil River, is the smaller, similarly named town of Kupyansk-Vuzloviy. In November 2025, Russia's top military commander claimed the bigger Kupyansk had been recaptured from Ukrainian troops. That was not true. Ukrainian troops in fact mounted a counteroffensive and currently appear to be stamping out pockets of remaining Russian fighters in the city. This past week, the same commander, General Valery Gerasimov, said Russian forces had taken control of Kupyansk-Vuzloviy. The problem, as both Russian and Ukrainian battlefield observers noted: Russian forces were far away from the village -- about 10 kilometers -- never mind in control of it. Weeks before the start of the fifth year of its all-out war, Russia is having more success obliterating Ukraine's electricity grid and municipal heating plants, leaving civilians shivering in subzero cold, than it is securing any decisive victory on the battlefield. Moscow's forces are grinding down Ukrainian defenses in several places along the 1,100-kilometer front line. But they're moving at a glacial pace; the slowest in any modern war since World War II, according to a new study -- and at an astronomical cost. "The overall front is best described as 'dynamic stagnation,' meaning intense combat with marginal geographic change," said Ivan Torres, a retired US Army major who is now senior Russian armed forces analyst for Rochan Consulting, a Polish research group. Ukraine's exhaustion hangs over the US-backed peace talks, which have progressed further than any other negotiations since the start of the invasion but remain clouded by disagreements on issues such as territory. A new round has tentatively been set for February 1 in Abu Dhabi. "Ukraine is not losing, and Russia is not winning,"said the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. Here's where you want to pay attention on the battlefield. KUPYANSK Home to an important rail junction, the city has changed hands twice: Russia captured it shortly after launching the invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian forces then overran poorly prepared Russian positions that September, taking back the city and reaching all the way to the Oskil. As they have for more than a year now, Russian forces -- more numerous, with more weaponry, more willing to endure high loss rates -- have steadily moved toward Kupyansk, from the eastern banks of the Oskil and from the north. In September, Russian units moved through unused gas pipelines running underground, and under the Oskil, to slip past Ukraine's defenses on Kupyansk's northern outskirts. The maneuver gave them a foothold in the city -- small groups of soldiers infiltrating and holing up in basements and ruins. Local officers raised alarms, Ukrainian commanders shifted specialized drone companies and more capable units, including the 2nd Khartia Corps of the National Guard. Before New Year's, the units had pushed back Russian lines on the outskirts, squeezing supply lines, and then started targeting individual positions. Cold weather over the past eight weeks has slowed down Ukrainian efforts to wipe out the last pockets of Russian soldiers remaining, Ukrainian troops said, though snow cover makes it easier to spot tracks. "Sometimes we don't see the enemy himself, but we see his trail. We walk along it and find out where he is. But now the weather conditions are greatly affecting the infantrymen: it's difficult in buildings, very cold," a company commander with 13th Khartia Brigade told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. He gave his alias, "Bore," in line with military guidelines. Ukrainian officers said around 60 Russian infantrymen were holed up in Kupyansk's center as of January 26. Russian forces have not given up, local officers said: platoon-sized units are sent daily to try to break the Ukrainians' blockade, and commanders may try to retake the city in the coming weeks. "The complete clearing of [Kupyansk] seems difficult, but the Russians have lost momentum in the area," said Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst with Black Bird Group, a Finnish research organization. "I wouldn't expect very significant changes in the area in the near future," he told RFE/RL. "It's possible Ukraine may lose positions east of Oskil River at some point, but that wouldn't enable the Russians to advance very much further instantly because of the natural obstacle." KOSTYANTYNIVKA Another junction for rail and road supplies, Kostyantynivka has been under growing threat since Russian troops managed to push out Ukrainian forces from Chasiv Yar, to the northeast, last year. That gave Russia a height advantage: Chasiv Yar sits at a higher elevation, giving Russian forces the ability to shell and bombard defenses from above. Pressing from the south and southwest, Russian troops now threaten the T0504 highway -- running southwest-northeast -- as well as the H20 road, which stretches northwest toward Kramatorsk. That city, along with Slovyansk, are Ukraine's two strongholds -- part of what's known as the "forest belt" -- that serve as the keystone for defending the dwindling parts of the Donetsk region it still holds. "Kostyantynivka...is now likely the main effort for the Russian operations," Torres said. "These areas remain the most problematic for Ukraine. Russian forces have spent months attempting to envelop these logistics hubs. The fighting here is characterized by creeping infantry assaults intended to exhaust Ukrainian defenders rather than achieve deep penetration." The "creeping" infantry assaults are sometimes dubbed "mole" tactics, he said: "Owing to the widespread presence of drones, both parties -- particularly Russian infantry -- have adopted the strategy of constructing extensive tunnel networks and employing 'foxhole-to-foxhole' logistics. Movement above ground is highly challenging during daylight hours." "Our defenders are in position, our defenses are working, the city is still living," a spokesman for the 19th Army Corps said in a statement. "There's been a lot of information noise, especially when it's advantageous for someone to show off 'successes' that don't actually exist." POKROVSK AND MYRNOHRAD Once a major logistics hub for Ukrainian defenses for the southern Donetsk region, Pokrovsk has been squeezed steadily for months now, with Russian troops -- one or two-man units -- infiltrating the city gradually. It's worked, and Russian forces now control around 80-90 percent of the city. Ukrainian commanders are now struggling to reset defensive lines to the northwest. "The opponent continues to advance by small infantry groups," General Oleksandr Syrskiy, who traveled to frontline positions outside the city last week, said in a Facebook post. "Our key task is to inflict maximum losses to the enemy, destroy his reserves and consistently lower his offensive potential." Pokrovsk's fall to Russian troops, which experts say is imminent, will endanger other Ukrainian positions to the northeast, around the town of Myrnohrad, which is also largely under Russian control. Soldiers from the 7th Rapid Response Corps of Ukraine's Air Assault Forces saidthat Russian units have brought heavy equipment into the town, and set up a forward command post, indicating confidence in their ability to hold it. "Russian forces control most of the [two] cities, and even though Ukrainian resistance may still be present in some places, the cities can be considered lost," said Kastehelmi, who just returned from a trip to Ukraine. HULYAYPOLE AND ORIKHIV In Hulyaypole, southwest of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian defenses relied in part on the Haychur River, which snakes its way through the town's northeastern districts. As of January 28, experts warned the Russian forces had crossed the waterway, and consolidated their positions, and Ukrainians were struggling to thwart further advances. Some experts said Ukrainian defenses may have been weakened by exhausted units and the commanders' decision to shift resources to capture Kupyansk to the north. "The fall of Hulyaypole was an unfortunate event, but the Russians haven't advanced much beyond that," Kastehelmi said. "Given the challenging weather conditions and the ongoing nature of the fighting, it is difficult to control every meter of the forest belts -- a situation similar to the enemy's, incidentally," according to Rybar, a Russian war blogger on Telegram with ties to the Russian Defense Ministry. With the Russian crossing, Ukrainian commanders scrambled, rushing the battle-hardened 225th Separate Assault Brigade to shore up the defenses and keep Russian troops from advancing further. In comments to Ukrainian media just before the New Year, Syrskiy blamed a specific unit -- the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade -- for withdrawing from a command and observation post in the town. He suggested unit commanders could face disciplinary action. Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces are typically manned by reservists or combat veterans, that often have less experience or poorer quality equipment. Losing Hulyaypole is problematic because to the west is relatively open steppe that lacks defensive lines and can be crossed easily by armored vehicles. That would open the door for Russian units to push west toward Orikhiv, a larger town about 70 kilometers away. "The capture of this town and the breach of Ukrainian defenses along the Haychur River threaten the viability of Ukraine's defense of Orikhiv," Torres said. KAMYANSKE AND ZAPORIZHZHYA Far less attention -- Ukrainian or Russian -- has been focused on the gradual advances that Russian troops have made along the E1015 highway, which runs north along the shores of what used to be the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper River. The Kakhovka Dam was destroyed while under Russian control in June 2023, draining much of the massive reservoir. In late December 2025, Russian troops managed to push north from the town of Kamyanske, along the highway that leads to the regional capital, Zaporizhzhya. "They can theoretically cause more problems in the coming months, if they are able to get the city in the range of smaller drones," Kastehelmi said. "In the medium to long term, the situation in Zaporizhzhya can develop in a worrying direction, but now some local, tactical setbacks still don't mean the general situation is heading to a larger crisis." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-war-battlefield- defenses-cold/33664826.html Copyright (c) 2026. 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 Japanese Finance Minister's remarks 30 January 2026 18:53 108-30-01-2026 Question: Recently, Japanese media published an article by Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama addressing Tokyo's policy toward Russia among other things. The article states that the Takaichi administration's top foreign policy priorities are support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. How does the Russian Foreign Ministry assess Satsuki Katayama's remarks? Maria Zakharova: They once again demonstrate the openly unfriendly nature of Japan's current policy toward our country. Considering the domestic political developments in Japan, where a parliamentary election campaign has recently begun, the use of this topic appears, by all indications, to be populist in nature. This certainly does not contribute to a constructive atmosphere in the already difficult state of bilateral relations, but rather the opposite. We will take this into account when shaping our approaches toward Japan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Meets Trump's Request to Halt Strikes on Kiev Until Feb 1 Sputnik News 20260130 Moscow agreed to US President Donald Trump's request to refrain from strikes on Kiev until February 1 to create favorable conditions for negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "It's about creating favorable conditions for negotiations... Yes, of course, there was a personal appeal from President Trump," Peskov told journalists in response to a question about whether Moscow agreed to refrain from strikes on Ukraine. Donald Trump has indeed appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a personal request to refrain from strikes on Kiev for one week until February 1, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. "To this, I can say that President Trump has indeed made a personal request to President Putin to refrain for a week, until February 1, from launching attacks on Kiev for the creation of favorable conditions for negotiations. That is what I can say on this topic," Peskov told reporters. Moscow agreed to Trump's request to refrain from strikes on Ukraine until February 1, Peskov added. "We are talking about creating favorable conditions for negotiations... Yes, of course, there was a personal appeal from President Trump," Peskov told reporters, when asked if Moscow had agreed to refrain from strikes against Ukraine. On Thursday, Trump said that he had asked Putin not to attack Kiev and other Ukrainian cities due to extreme cold in the country, adding that Russia had allegedly suspended the strikes for some time because of the cold weather. The Kremlin has seen the statement by Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine will not compromise on Donbass and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Dmitry Peskov said. Ahead of negotiations in Abu Dhabi on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, Zelensky said during a briefing with Ukrainian media that Kiev was not ready for territorial compromises on Donbass and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. "Naturally, we have seen these statements," Peskov told reporters, adding that the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant has been under Russia's control for more than two years. Russia has its own reasoned position on the issue of Crimea and Donbass, Dmitry Peskov said. "We disagree with these conclusions and have our own well-known and well-reasoned position," Peskov told reporters, adding that dynamics at the front speaks for itself. Russia considers the conclusions of the UN secretariat on Crimea and Donbass deeply wrong from the point of view of international law, the official said. On Thursday, of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the United Nations believes that the right for self-determination is not applicable in Crimea and Donbass, like it does in Greenland. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Forces Liberate Berestok Settlement in Donbass - MoD Sputnik News 20260130 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces have taken control of the settlement of Berestok in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday. "As a result of the decisive actions of the units of Battlegroup Yug, the Berestok settlement of the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated over the past day," the ministry said in a statement. The liberation of the settlement of Berestok established a stronger foothold for the advance toward Konstantinovka. Additionally, Russian troops have taken control of the settlements of Ternovatoye and Rechnoye in the Zaporozhye region, the statement read. The liberation of Ternovatoye allows Russian forces to expand their foothold west of the Gaychur River and create conditions for an advance toward Ryzdyanka and Lyubitskoye. Meanwhile, the liberation of Rechnoye settlement will create conditions for further advancement into territory controlled by the enemy. Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr has eliminated over 2,680 Ukrainian soldiers in the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said. "In the past week, enemy losses in this area amounted to over 2,680 military personnel, two tanks, 54 armored combat vehicles, 80 vehicles and ten field artillery guns," the ministry said. Russia's Battlegroup Vostok over the past day has eliminated over 2,315 Ukrainian servicepeople, the ministry said. Russia's Battlegroup Zapad has eliminated over 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers. Ukraine lost over 1,020 soldiers in battles with Russia's Battlegroup Yug in the past week, and Russia's Battlegroup Sever eliminated over 950 Ukrainian soldiers, the ministry added. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK statement to the extraordinary IAEA Board of Governors meeting, January 2026 Speech Delivered to the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors extraordinary meeting on 30 January 2026 From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Ian Millar Published 30 January 2026 Location: International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna Delivered on: 30 January 2026 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered) Chair, The United Kingdom expresses deep gratitude to IAEA staff, who continue to operate in the most challenging circumstances, for their professionalism and courage in their ongoing work supporting nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine. Chair, Russia's sustained and reckless attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are deliberately degrading the electrical systems that nuclear facilities rely on for safety. These actions fail to meet the expectations set by this Board, including the December 2024 resolution on Implications of Unstable Energy Infrastructure Critical to Safety and Security of Nuclear Power Plants and the November 2025 statement supported by 57 countries. Despite these clear messages, Russia has only escalated its actions. This is why we supported convening this Board: the Director General's warnings make clear we cannot wait until March while the situation deteriorates at pace. As we have said before at this Board, Russia is directly accountable for the nuclear safety and security challenges Ukraine faces. Chair, The Governor of the Russian Federation claims the situation has not changed fundamentally since November. The same reports from the DG he encouraged us to read paint a different picture - a clear and accelerating deterioration. On 5 December, the DG highlighted the risks of "continued degradation of the grid" and growing instability, emphasising that the substations being hit are "absolutely indispensable" for reactor cooling. By 11 December, he reported power disruptions were causing fluctuating outputs, temporary disconnections and forced outages at Ukraine's Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), making the fragile grid "one of the biggest challenges" to nuclear safety. On 19 December, ZNPP suffered its 12th total loss of offsite power, with the DG noting that strikes against the grid appear "coordinated to maximise disruption", causing "cumulative impacts on NPP operations" Just days later, on 23 December, Khmelnytskyy and Rivne NPPs were again forced to reduce output after several critical substations were hit. IAEA monitors confirmed the grid was now in "its worst condition since the Agency began monitoring." In January, the DG has continued to document further degradation: damage to additional substations, repeated line disconnections at Chornobyl, multiple emergency diesel generator activations, and operating NPPs once again compelled to cut output. He reiterated that "deterioration of Ukraine's power grid from persistent military activity has direct implications for nuclear safety." Against this backdrop, Russia's hypocrisy is stark: on 19 January, the head of ROSATOM warned that ZNPP's reliance on a single power line was "a critical situation for the safety of the plant", even as wider military activity continues to undermine the stability of the grid he says is essential. Russia also argues that these are minor issues, that monitoring substations falls outside the Agency's mandate, and that losses of offsite power are "insignificant". Again, we prefer to rely on the IAEA's reporting which shows Ukraine's grid is degrading rapidly as a result of Russian attacks, with repeated disruptions to NPP offsite power and growing dependence on backup systems. This Board requested that reporting because offsite power is essential to nuclear safety. If the grid continues to weaken, the margin for safely cooling reactors and spent fuel becomes thinner with every outage. This is a clear risk to the safe operation of nuclear facilities. Chair, The United Kingdom condemns Russia's reckless disregard for nuclear safety. We urge Russia to heed the Director General's warnings and the multiple warnings from this Board. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Students of the Confucius Institute at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) receive award at the award ceremony of the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana, Jan. 30, 2026. The Confucius Institute at the KNUST in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Ghana on Friday awarded 71 KNUST cadets the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city. (KNUST Confucius Institute/Handout via Xinhua) ACCRA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Confucius Institute at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Ghana on Friday awarded 71 KNUST cadets the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city. Ke Ningli, the Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at KNUST, said the scholarship scheme reflected the depth of educational cooperation between the two countries. He urged the awarded recipients to continue strengthening their Chinese language proficiency and cross-cultural communication skills to contribute to long-term bilateral relations. In a speech delivered on behalf of the vice-chancellor of the KNUST, Philip Antwi-Agyei, Provost of the College of Science, conveyed management's appreciation to the Chinese Embassy, describing the scholarships as an investment in Ghana's intellectual and human capital. "These scholarships are far more than financial support, they are seeds sown into the fertile soil of Ghanaian intellect," he said. Nana Akua Abakoma, who was awarded the scholarship, reflected on her experience at the international Chinese Bridge competition and described cultural exchange as a powerful tool for global understanding. She said the experience deepened her appreciation of Chinese values such as respect, hospitality and wisdom, and inspired her to continue learning and sharing through cultural exchange. In his remarks, Daniel Duah, the Ghanaian Director of the Confucius Institute, said the institute had recorded steady growth since its establishment, noting that the KNUST is preparing to host the 2026 Chinese Bridge Chinese proficiency competition. Daniel Duah, the Ghanaian director of the Confucius Institute at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), speaks at the award ceremony of the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana, Jan. 30, 2026. The Confucius Institute at the KNUST in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Ghana on Friday awarded 71 KNUST cadets the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city. (KNUST Confucius Institute/Handout via Xinhua) Students of the Confucius Institute at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) sing a Chinese song at the award ceremony of the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana, Jan. 30, 2026. The Confucius Institute at the KNUST in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Ghana on Friday awarded 71 KNUST cadets the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city. (KNUST Confucius Institute/Handout via Xinhua) Philip Antwi-Agyei, provost of the College of Science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), speaks at the award ceremony of the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana, Jan. 30, 2026. The Confucius Institute at the KNUST in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Ghana on Friday awarded 71 KNUST cadets the Chinese Ambassador's Scholarship in Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city. (KNUST Confucius Institute/Handout via Xinhua) Andrii Sybiha held phone talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Baiba Braze Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine 30 January 2026 19:27 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha: "I was pleased to have a call with my Latvian colleague and dear friend Baiba Braze. We focused on peace efforts, ways to strengthen Ukraine and further steps to force Russia to genuine peace talks through additional sanctions pressure. Grateful for Latvia's additional support for Ukraine's energy system and to my colleague for her leadership and personal efforts in mobilizing additional assistance for Ukrainian people. We also coordinated our cooperation within international organizations and further bilateral contacts." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Andrii Sybiha held phone talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands David van Weel Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine 30 January 2026 17:07 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha: "I had a productive call with my Dutch colleague, Minister David van Weel just after the presentation of the coalition agreement. Grateful for the strong wording reaffirming steadfast support for Ukraine, including 3 billion in annual military assistance until 2029 as well as the readiness to support Ukraine on its path toward EU and NATO membership. I informed my colleague on the security situation in Ukraine and expressed gratitude for the recent aid package for our energy. We exchanged views on our bilateral dialogue and paid special attention to advancing the establishment of a Special Tribunal to ensure accountability for the crime of aggression committed by Russia against Ukraine". NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mariana Betsa held a meeting with Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Maciej Janczak Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine 30 January 2026 14:17 On January 29, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mariana Betsa met with Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Maciej Janczak. Mariana Betsa expressed her gratitude to the Head of the CoE Office for the comprehensive support provided amid Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine and noted that the Council of Europe remains one of Ukraine's key international partners, both in addressing the consequences of Russia's aggression and in advancing Ukraine's European integration path. The parties positively assessed the implementation of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" for 2023-2026 and confirmed the importance of continued close coordination in the context of preparing a new document for 2027-2030. The Deputy Minister emphasized that the future Action Plan should focus on addressing the challenges of Ukraine's post-war recovery, ensuring the resilience of state institutions, and their further alignment with European standards. Mariana Betsa expressed gratitude for the leading role of the Council of Europe in launching legal mechanisms to hold the Russian Federation accountable for all crimes committed against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and also stressed their critical importance for ensuring justice and restoring the rule of law. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Andrii Sybiha held phone talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism of Malta Ian Borg Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine 30 January 2026 12:24 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha: "During our substantive call with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Ian Borg, we discussed ways to enhance cooperation and bilateral ties between Ukraine and Malta. We focused on the consequences of Russia's terror attacks and urgent needs of Ukraine's energy sector. I emphasized that international unity and increased sanctions pressure are key to deprive Russia of the resources that allow it to prolong its war. The activities of the Global Centre for Maritime Sanctions Monitoring based in Valletta play an important role in strengthening international efforts to counter Russia's shadow fleet. I appreciate my colleague's special attention to this issue. Grateful to Malta for its consistent support and solidarity." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Air defence reinforcement, drone development and aviation cooperation: Mykhailo Fedorov holds talks with Poland's Minister of National Defence Ministry of Defence of Ukraine 30 January, 2026, 10:43 AM EET Ukraine's Minister of Defence, Mykhailo Fedorov, held discussions with Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, on defence cooperation, with an emphasis on reinforcing air defence, advancing drone capabilities, and aircraft transfers. Ukraine's Defence Minister expressed gratitude to Poland for its strategic support of Ukraine. Poland plays a crucial logistical role, as approximately 90% of international assistance passes through its territory, including aid to bolster Ukraine's energy resilience. The discussion focused on several key areas of cooperation: Joint defence projects and European mechanisms "I am grateful to Poland for its participation in the PURL initiative and its readiness to jointly implement defence projects with a focus on drone development. I also highlighted the role of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC) in Poland as a platform for analysing wartime experience, sharing expertise, and implementing NATO standards," said Mykhailo Fedorov. Strengthening lower-tier air defence Polish technologies already constitute an important component of lower-tier air defence, and Ukraine stands ready to deepen cooperation and expand radar coverage. Aviation capabilities As a separate track of the discussions, the parties addressed the transfer of MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine as an essential element in protecting Ukraine's skies. Poland has already transferred these fighter aircraft in 2023. In cooperation with Polish partners, Ukraine will pursue their modernisation to increase effectiveness and enhance the ability to engage enemy targets. "We are also ready to share Ukrainian solutions, particularly in countering Shahed drones. Battlefield data and our practical experience can be useful in strengthening the capabilities of the Polish Armed Forces. I thank Poland for its productive cooperation and for supporting Ukraine since the first days of russia's full-scale invasion," summarised Mykhailo Fedorov. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Air defence, the Drone Line and F-16s: Ukraine and the Netherlands strengthen defence cooperation Ministry of Defence of Ukraine 30 January, 2026, 2:39 PM EET Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, discussed further strengthening defence cooperation with the Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, Ruben Brekelmans. "The Netherlands is our strategic partner in strengthening and scaling defence technologies. I expressed gratitude for the Netherlands' systematic and consistent support of Ukraine across key areas," Mykhailo Fedorov said. The parties discussed the Drone Line project, initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "This initiative brings together leading UAV units that have proven highly effective on the battlefield. These units are already destroying every fourth target on the front line each month. The project was implemented with the active support of the Netherlands, which allocated around 800 million to the programme in 2025," the Minister of Defence of Ukraine stated. The Ministers of Defence of both countries also discussed the following: Strengthening air defence Mykhailo Fedorov highlighted the Netherlands' role in the PURL initiative, which aims to provide Ukraine with critically important weapons. PAC-3 missiles and ammunition for F-16 fighter aircraft delivered under PURL packages are already protecting the skies against russian attacks, and Ukraine expects this support to continue this year. Drone development and production Another important area of cooperation is Build with Ukraine, an initiative that enables foreign defence companies to establish production facilities in Ukraine and rapidly supply the Defence Forces with modern solutions. Within the framework of the initiative, Ukraine is also launching the production of Ukrainian-made drones via a joint venture in the Netherlands. "Our priority is to minimise bureaucracy, rapidly launch production, and ensure a steady supply of drones to our warriors," emphasised Mykhailo Fedorov. Strengthening aviation capabilities The parties agreed to exchange expertise between their teams to enhance the effective use of F-16s in both air defence and strike operations. Systemic changes are now being rolled out to elevate Ukrainian aviation to a new level. The parties also reviewed other areas of cooperation, including the localisation and acceleration of repairs for Robin radars, the supply of AIM air-to-air missiles, and the provision of RUTA cruise missiles. Mykhailo Fedorov expressed gratitude to the Netherlands for its significant support, trust, and constructive, mutually beneficial cooperation NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The U.S. Side Spoke About Refraining From Strikes on Energy Infrastructure for a Week - The Countdown Began Overnight - Address by the President President of Ukraine 30 January 2026 - 19:42 I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians! This day began with regional reports: across all our regions, since the night into Friday, there were truly no strikes on energy facilities - almost none. The exception was the Donetsk region, where a single strike was carried out on the gas infrastructure with aerial bombs. We are also now seeing Russia pivot to targeting logistics and junction stations. In particular, one of Ukrzaliznytsia's special railcars was hit this morning - a power-generating car - it happened this morning in the Dnipro region. The important thing is that our railway staff are working and maintaining connections across all regions. Throughout the day, the usual drone and aerial-bomb attacks also continued. In the Kharkiv region, a ballistic strike hit the warehouses of the American company Philip Morris, which caused a major fire. There were also strikes on Nikopol, Kherson, and the border areas of the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions. Our Ukraine's approach is entirely reciprocal. The U.S. side spoke about refraining from strikes on energy infrastructure for a week - the countdown began overnight. How this all unfolds depends largely on our partners - the United States. Ukraine is ready to mirror the restraint, and today we did not attack Russian energy. There was also a meeting today on the development of a new component of our air defense - this component is regarded as a short-range counter-drone air defense. This concerns "shaheds" and appalling Russian "safari" against civilians in our southern cities, villages, and communities near the border. Our people need more protection. Clear tasks have been set for the Air Force command and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. All necessary resources are available to carry this out. Also today, the Chief of the Defense Intelligence, Oleh Ivashchenko, delivered his report, foremost on Russia's latest military plans and preparations. They, in Russia, are not preparing for a transition to peacetime. They are preparing to continue assaults at the current level - exactly as it is happening now. We will share this information with our partners, and the only factor that can change the situation is economic pressure on Russia. The economy and the corresponding losses from the war are what Russia will reckon with. Russia must run out of money for the war to start coming to an end. We will keep sharing with our partners instances of Chinese entities cooperating with Russia - the ways Russia is bypassing global sanctions over this war. I spoke with the President of Romania. Once again, I thank him for his support and his readiness to cooperate. There are areas for energy cooperation that can strengthen both our peoples and our energy security - and this is very important. Ukraine's Minister of Energy and the team of the Government and the Office must all work as swiftly and effectively as possible to ensure results. I thank everyone in Europe who is already helping and is ready to support Ukraine even more. Many reports were delivered today by Rustem Umerov - he is constantly in touch with the American side. Ukraine is ready for meetings, for all formats of effective work. These meetings must be substantive, exactly as our teams have agreed and are working, so that everything that has been developed is really implemented for a dignified and lasting peace. And Russia must recognize that peace is necessary. One more thing. Today, I tasked the Government of Ukraine - the Prime Minister - to prepare a decision to ensure that everyone who lacked heating these past months is treated fairly. People must not be charged for services they did not receive. If there was no heating, there should be no bills. It's the companies, not the people, that must make the necessary recalculations. This must work without bureaucracy. Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN watchdog warns Ukraine war remains world's biggest threat to nuclear safety 30 January 2026 - The war in Ukraine remains the world's biggest threat to nuclear safety as a fifth year of combat looms, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned on Friday, citing continued risks to power supplies at nuclear sites vulnerable to fighting nearby. Addressing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, Director General Rafael Grossi said the agency remains focused on preventing a nuclear accident as fighting continues to endanger critical infrastructure. "The conflict in Ukraine is about to enter its fifth year," Mr. Grossi said. "It continues to pose the world's biggest threat to nuclear safety." IAEA teams remain deployed at all nuclear power plants affected by the conflict and publish regular updates on nuclear safety and security conditions. The Board of Governors is the IAEA's main decision-making body, bringing together representatives of 35 countries to oversee nuclear safety, security and safeguards, and to guide the work of the UN nuclear watchdog. Its current membership includes, among others Russia, the United States, United Kingdom, and France. Off-site power a critical safety lifeline Mr. Grossi stressed that a central safety requirement is reliable off-site power - the electricity a plant receives from the national grid. Without it, nuclear sites must rely on backup systems to run cooling and other essential safety functions. "There must be secure off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites," he said, pointing to the IAEA's "Seven Pillars" guidance for nuclear safety during armed conflict, where off-site power is pillar number four. He also cited Principle 3 of the IAEA's Five Principles for protecting the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) that "all efforts should be made to ensure off-site power remains available and secure at all times." Mr. Grossi said both sets of guidance have broad international support, including from the parties directly involved, and that he has repeatedly called for adherence to them, including at the UN Security Council. Progress at Zaporizhzhya amid ongoing risks He reported recent progress at ZNPP, where Europe's biggest plant was reconnected on 19 January to its last remaining 330-kilovolt backup power line after repairs were carried out under a temporary ceasefire negotiated with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts. The line had been damaged and disconnected since 2 January, reportedly due to military activity. Until the reconnection, ZNPP relied on its last remaining 750-kilovolt main line to provide off-site power for safety systems needed to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel pools. IAEA teams are also monitoring the plant's ability to manage winter conditions, including keeping water in cooling and sprinkler ponds from freezing. Beyond the plants themselves, Mr. Grossi warned that Ukraine's electrical substations are also crucial to nuclear safety. "Damage to them undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided," he said. An IAEA expert mission is now assessing 10 substations vital to nuclear safety amid ongoing strikes on the country's power infrastructure. Other nuclear sites also affected IAEA teams have also reported military activity near other nuclear facilities, including the Chornobyl site, where damage to a critical substation disrupted multiple power lines and forced temporary reliance on emergency diesel generators. The affected lines have since been reconnected. Mr. Grossi said the IAEA has shown how international institutions can help reduce risks and provide predictability in a volatile war. But, he added, technical measures have limits. "The best way to ensure nuclear safety and security," he said, "is to bring this conflict to an end." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Guests attend the Presidential meeting of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, Ghana, on Jan 30, 2026. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called for a strengthened solidarity in the West Africa and Sahel region to ensure a united front in the fight to subdue terrorism and other acts of violence. Mahama said during the opening of the Presidential meeting of the two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that since the issue of terrorism and violent extremism confronts the entire subregion, it is important to fight it together with a united front. (Xinhua/Seth) ACCRA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called for a strengthened solidarity in the West Africa and Sahel region to ensure a united front in the fight to subdue terrorism and other acts of violence. Mahama said during the opening of the Presidential meeting of the two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that since the issue of terrorism and violent extremism confronts the entire subregion, it is important to fight it together with a united front. The Ghanaian president explained that the consultative conference would complement efforts by subregional bodies of ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States "by improving coherence, strengthening coordination, enhancing effectiveness across security, expressing solidarity, development, and resilience," to secure the peace of the subregion. "We aim to lay the foundations for a renewed framework that respects national sovereignty while reinforcing collective responsibility, that prioritizes preventive diplomacy and early action, that integrates security responses with development and governance, and that places the well-being of our people at the center of policy," he pledged. But for this regional solidarity to work, Mahama said there is a need for trust among the countries, "because regional solidarity works when it is underpinned by trust, consistency, and political will." He condemned the recent terror attack in Niger and expressed solidarity with the government and people of the Sahelian country. Presidents of Sierra Leone and Liberia, African Union officials as well as foreign ministers and ambassadors of countries in the subregion attended the meeting. Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio delivers a speech at the Presidential meeting of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, Ghana, on Jan 30, 2026. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called for a strengthened solidarity in the West Africa and Sahel region to ensure a united front in the fight to subdue terrorism and other acts of violence. Mahama said during the opening of the Presidential meeting of the two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that since the issue of terrorism and violent extremism confronts the entire subregion, it is important to fight it together with a united front. (Xinhua/Seth) Liberian President Joseph Nyumah Boakai attends the Presidential meeting of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, Ghana, on Jan 30, 2026. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called for a strengthened solidarity in the West Africa and Sahel region to ensure a united front in the fight to subdue terrorism and other acts of violence. Mahama said during the opening of the Presidential meeting of the two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that since the issue of terrorism and violent extremism confronts the entire subregion, it is important to fight it together with a united front. (Xinhua/Seth) Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama attends the Presidential meeting of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, Ghana, on Jan 30, 2026. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called for a strengthened solidarity in the West Africa and Sahel region to ensure a united front in the fight to subdue terrorism and other acts of violence. Mahama said during the opening of the Presidential meeting of the two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that since the issue of terrorism and violent extremism confronts the entire subregion, it is important to fight it together with a united front. (Xinhua/Seth) The Presidential meeting of the High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security is held in Accra, Ghana, on Jan 30, 2026. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called for a strengthened solidarity in the West Africa and Sahel region to ensure a united front in the fight to subdue terrorism and other acts of violence. Mahama said during the opening of the Presidential meeting of the two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that since the issue of terrorism and violent extremism confronts the entire subregion, it is important to fight it together with a united front. (Xinhua/Seth) Fulton County is coming apart. Over the past decade, four new cities have been carved out of the Georgia county, which is dominated by the county seat, Atlanta. As a result, Fulton County now provides a full set of services to fewer than 10 percent of its 920,000 residents. All but one of the new cities are in the northern part of the county, which is both more affluent and more white than Atlanta and the rest of the county. Northern Fulton residents have always felt that they receive less than their fair share of county services. Now that they depend on the county for so little, with their new cities providing most core services, they believe more than ever that their tax dollars are simply underwriting other county residents.Not surprisingly, then, theres constant fighting when it comes to matters such as divvying up tax revenues or choosing representatives to sit on the regional transit board. More than that, theres a movement afoot among the northern communities to break off from the rest of Fulton County entirely, by reconstituting Milton County, the territory that went broke and was absorbed by Fulton back during the Great Depression. There are certainly people working actively on splitting the county, says Joe Lockwood, mayor of the city of Milton. Theres a sense that the countys so big -- its 70 miles long -- that its inefficient and an unfair share of resources are going from one part of the county to another.About 85 miles to the southeast of Atlanta, policymakers in Bibb County have been trying to take things in an entirely different direction. On July 31, Bibb County voters decided the fate of a proposed merger between the county and the city of Macon. The county had long held the record for the most failed city-county merger votes in the country, with five previous ballot measures having been rejected going all the way back to the 1920s. But supporters of the latest proposal argued that the right moment had finally arrived.The arguments for merger were familiar: A large enough population could attract federal grants and economic development, while limiting the number of elected officials that companies have to deal with. Local merger supporters argued that having one government take the place of two would be more efficient and save money. Bibb County and Macon are joined at the hip, says attorney Calder Pinkston, an organizer of a pro-merger group in the county. Were all in the same boat.The recession and its long aftermath are changing the shape of counties. Few are taking steps as drastic as those in Fulton and Bibb. Most are not shrinking their geographic footprints, and outright consolidation remains a tough sell. But plenty are undergoing changes that, in practical terms, mean they are pursuing similar courses to those in Georgia, for most of the same reasons.Its not news that all levels of government are experiencing fiscal stress just now, with revenue intake still struggling to top levels last seen before the financial crisis in 2008. But counties are feeling a special pinch. They are typically funded largely by property taxes, which have taken a hit due to falling assessments in both the residential and commercial markets. Another big share of their funding comes from states and the feds, which have cut aid to localities deeply and consistently in recent years. Its a terrible time for us, says Larry Naake, executive director of the National Association of Counties. I cant remember, in my 40 years of being involved in this, a worse time for us.Counties typically face greater limitations than cities -- and certainly more than states -- when it comes to authority for raising revenues. And at a time when money is tight, Naake points out, counties are facing greater demands for resources in areas such as social services, health and public safety.Even though the roles counties play are often little understood -- officials joke about having to explain what counties do, not just to residents, but also to city managers -- they are essential. Counties have cut salaries, staff levels and funding, not just for parks and the arts, but for just about everything. Still, their core responsibilities, including health care, prisons, roads and the judicial system, often come saddled with state or federal mandates. At any rate, they arent the kind of things counties can get out of the business of delivering entirely. Every person goes to bed in a county, says Paul McIntosh, who leads the California State Association of Counties. It doesnt matter where they live. We provide more services to residents in a city than the city does.The growing disconnect between the demand for services and the general county-level ability to pay for them has led to a round of structural changes in the ways that counties do their business. For one thing, counties are outsourcing and privatizing like never before. And they are collaborating more with other governments than they ever have, both with the municipalities and special districts within their borders and with other counties in their regions.County lines dont mean anything anymore, says Stephan Ritter, a county commissioner in rural Lyon County, Minn. I shouldnt say that -- they mean something -- but people are realizing that it doesnt hurt to cross county lines to provide a service.The post-county attitude Ritter is referring to comes from a consortium of counties in southwestern Minnesota that have banded together to provide health and human services through a single, unified agency. Counties in the area have long collaborated in offering such services, but they set up a single agency to handle all the client and patient loads at the beginning of last year. What started as a group of four counties has already grown to six, with the size of the population thats being served set to double by the start of 2013. The bottom line is that most county human services departments do the same thing, in Minnesota anyway, and health departments do the same thing, says Chris Sorensen, chief administrative officer of Southwest Health and Human Services, the regional agency.The size of Sorensens staff has been in decline, but will rise with the increase in service area and population next year. Still, he expects his staff will grow by only about 55 percent to ultimately serve twice the population. Hes already been able to keep costs under control through use of technology and savings in areas such as fleet management. The result is that the agency hasnt imposed a tax levy increase for two years and doesnt plan one next year either. Lyon County alone is saving more than $300,000 a year, Ritter says -- not bad for a county of 25,000 people. And in addition to the cost savings, residents in southwestern Minnesota are receiving a level of medical services, including specialty care, which their individual counties could never afford to offer on their own.Similar efforts are under way across the state. An even larger group of counties to the southeast is thinking not of combining departments but merging individual services where it might make sense, such as mental health. In our own county, we now have a detox facility that serves four counties and an adult mental health crisis unit that services three counties, says Monty Martin, community human services director in Ramsey County, which includes St. Paul.Minnesota is not alone. All over the country, counties are working with their neighbors on issues such as housing and transportation while contracting with their own cities to provide an ever-increasing array of services. In Ohio, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, seeking to emulate the large amount of collaboration Los Angeles County enters into with its 88 local jurisdictions, outlined a plan earlier this year to offer a menu of services such as information technology and sewer maintenance to localities. Hes already been taken up by 10 of them. In North Carolina, the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have never fully consolidated their governments, but theyve consolidated nearly all the service delivery, with no unincorporated territory left.Today, its not just the county but cities that are looking for more efficiencies, says Dow Constantine, county executive in King County, Wash. When there was plenty of money, it was easy to ignore the inefficiency of having 40 different governments perform essentially the same service.Constantine recognizes that his county has long been seen as less than a perfect neighbor, not listening to the concerns expressed by municipalities in the Seattle area. Thats one reason why true government consolidation within King County, as in most parts of the country, is a nonstarter. Still, even if people want to be able to maintain political control within their smaller jurisdictions, he suggests, thats no reason they cant act together regionally. Constantine has contracted with two dozen of the cities within King County to provide animal control, while reaching an agreement with Seattle to house its prison population.Even as he looks for more ways to share services with other governments, Constantine has made a concerted effort to wring out savings from programs within his direct purview. Borrowing management techniques from the private sector, he has had various departments reexamine what they do, step by step, to ferret out duplication of effort and speed things up. Employees of various departments have been locked together in a room for a week at a time, finding out what all of them actually do to see projects through and correcting hiccups that dont really need to be there. To cite one example, King County has been able to reduce the turnaround time for receiving a vehicle license tab renewal down from three weeks on average to just four days.Smart leaders in other counties are similarly striving to create cultures that seek long-term continual improvements, not just short-term savings. But counties havent always been paragons of efficiency. Nearly a century ago, H. S. Gilbertsons bookreferred to them as the jungle and the dark continent of American politics. Their problem wasnt just corruption, but incompetence and departments working at cross purposes, says University of South Florida political scientist J. Edwin Benton. Theres been a long legacy of independently elected officials scoffing at budgets set by the countys legislative body or top administrative officer. In Florida, if the county sheriff does not like the budget proposed by the county commission, he can appeal to the governor, Benton says. Many times, theyve been successful in appealing.A number of counties are trying to get rid of elected positions that create budget silos. Miami-Dade County, Fla., was one of the earliest counties to pursue a charter revision that eliminated the elected sheriff. Other counties are pursuing different paths toward more centralized leadership, including Luzerne County, Pa.s recent move to a county manager-council form of government and the decision in Macomb County, Mich., to reduce the size of the legislative body from 26 members to 13. FitzGeralds position as elected executive came about thanks to a charter revision that in turn was prompted, in part, by the raid on Cuyahoga County offices by 175 FBI agents back in 2008.In some of these cases, scandals such as financial improprieties helped push the changes along. In others, the route toward merged services was accelerated by the retirement of top elected officials or staff, which helped limit the amount of turf protection that can make streamlining difficult. In many parts of the country, though, resistance to any structural changes remains real. Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor of Indiana, has enjoyed some success pushing proposals to allow or prod changes in local governance structure through the state Legislature, but has also encountered strong resistance to implementing such changes at the local level. On the other hand, residents in Evansville and Vanderburgh County will vote on a city-county merger this fall, and supporters there are optimistic.If were willing to be a little less territorial, a little less tradition-bound, we can find ways to get more value for our shared constituencies, says Constantine, the King County executive.Still, theres no denying that plenty of county officials sound frustrated these days. A number of well-regarded managers around the country have voted with their feet, deciding that now is the moment to retire. After all, the anti-tax, anti-government message remains potent and, if nothing else, limits flexibility on the revenue side of the ledger. Members of the public seem angry about the levels of services that strapped counties are able to offer. And counties feel like theyre at the end of a long daisy chain of decision-making, from the feds and states on down, which typically leaves them with limited authority over certain program decisions and, lately, less money to carry out missions mandated from above.In California, counties are girding for a realignment of some $6 billion worth of services, notably in public safety, which the state wants to bequeath to them. Funding for such services remains contingent on passage of a tax-increase measure on the November ballot. Were in the earliest throes of probably one of the largest structural changes in state and local government in American history, says McIntosh at the California State Association of Counties. We certainly have to obtain the constitutional protections were seeking to lock down those funds, so future legislators cant mess with it.California counties have learned the lessons of mission creep. Twenty years ago, the state gave counties responsibility for home medical services, which was a small program at the time. Costs have expanded and its now an expense of several billion dollars statewide every year. Both cities and counties in California have turned to voters for protection from further changes to the ways Sacramento provides funding to localities.The state-local fiscal relationship in California has long been horribly complicated, made worse by Proposition 13 back in 1978. Since then, McIntosh says, there never seems to have been a time when counties didnt struggle financially. There have been occasional respites, but never a period when counties felt prosperous and officials no longer had to look over their shoulders. Most counties have exhausted their ability to, quote, do with less, says Valerie Brown, a Sonoma County supervisor, in Northern California. Weve been doing it so long that almost all our programs are bare bones now.Whensurveyed the performance of the 40 largest counties a decade ago, the conclusion was rather bleak: Any reasonable accounting of the problems and burdens of county government risks creating the impression that the men and women who choose careers in it must be masochists.But today, those burdens have become so pervasive that they are starting to force what looks like needed change. Because of the long, lingering pressure on budgets across the country, counties have become more willing to rethink the way they do business, and who theyre willing to do business with. Its almost as if they needed to have a financial gun to their head, says Benton, the University of South Florida professor, in order to discover a new willingness to work together on common problems with municipalities, their regional neighbors and their states.The longer that the misery continues and there is continuous pressure, I think well see more success at either consolidating departments or streamlining administrative processes, Benton says. The gun will get closer and closer to the head, and well see more of it than weve seen in our lifetimes and perhaps our parents lifetimes. On weekday mornings, enticing whiffs of bacon and fried potatoes waft from Wanda Js Next Generation restaurant in Tulsas Greenwood neighborhood. The smell of breakfast on the griddle offers a comforting contrast to the sound of big rigs and commuter traffic roaring by on the Interstate 244 overpass that cleaves the neighborhood in two.At first glance, the Greenwood section of Tulsa doesnt look much different from places in other cities where, in the name of urban renewal, new highways were erected in the 1960s, obliterating or dividing minority neighborhoods. Around the corner from Wanda Js, there are signs of a revitalization effort -- or of gentrification, depending on whom you ask. A sign on an empty lot promises a future mixed-use development; a two-story historic building nearby has already been renovated with retail on the ground floor that includes a combo coffee shop and yoga studio, a bookstore, and a Vietnamese sandwich shop.But the sidewalks that line the streets of this neighborhood offer a grim reminder of Greenwoods darker past. Every 20 or 30 feet, a plaque lists the name of a business -- a restaurant, grocer, lawyer, doctor, clothing store -- and below it, the words, Destroyed in 1921.A hundred years ago, this 35-square-block section of Tulsa was home to one of the largest concentrations of African-American-owned enterprises and wealth in this country. It was so well-known at the time that Booker T. Washington nicknamed the area Negro Wall Street. At its peak, Greenwood was home to more than 300 businesses serving roughly 11,000 residents who, thanks to segregation, reinvested whatever they earned back into their community. By 1921, Black Wall Street, as its called today, boasted a three-story, chandeliered hotel as well as a public library, two newspapers, 23 churches and a high school that taught Latin, chemistry and physics.That all changed on May 31 of that year when a black teenage boy was accused of assaulting a white female elevator operator. Within hours, marauding white residents swept into the district and burned it to the ground. Hundreds of black residents died; thousands were left homeless. City and state officials did nothing to stop the violence. Worse, they played a complicit role in the conflagration. Many of the invaders were deputized by local police; the states National Guard was deployed not to stop the riot but to move black residents into detention centers where some were forced to stay for weeks. Following the death and devastation, city officials continued on their hostile path. They tried to change zoning laws to make it difficult for Greenwoods residents to rebuild -- a move curtailed by the courts. But despite the lack of support from city hall, the Greenwood survivors did return, and they began to reconstruct their lives and their livelihoods. In fact, much of the neighborhood was rebuilt within a few years.For decades, Tulsans -- blacks and whites -- dealt with the horrific event and its aftermath by ignoring it. Shame, guilt, fear, PTSD -- all those things worked to create a conspiracy of silence that kept this out of the public light, says Hannibal Johnson, a Tulsa historian and author of several books about Greenwood.As the century reached middle age, desegregation and urban renewal helped repress those memories even further and caused additional wounds: Much of Greenwoods once-thriving commercial center was torn down, its buildings and history erased; a highway was built through the center of the area. Kids born in Greenwood in the 70s never learned about their neighborhoods rich heritage -- about the heyday of Black Wall Street and the vibrancy of the people who lived there. Nor could they quite believe it when the true story of what happened in 1921 began emerging in the 1990s.Now, as the 100th anniversary of the massacre approaches, the city and state are grappling not just with the past and its direct role in Greenwoods deterioration, but also with what kind of progress has been made in race relations. In Tulsa, as elsewhere in the country, there are long-simmering resentments over police shootings of unarmed black men and of statues and buildings honoring Confederate soldiers who owned slaves and fought against the United States. Many blacks throughout the country feel their experience has been left out of history books and popular media coverage. Or if it is included, it is viewed through someone elses lens.In Tulsa, the city is struggling to address its deep racial divide -- most of the black population still lives in the north end -- and its own true history. Its still an open wound, says Mechelle Brown, program coordinator of the Greenwood Cultural Center who spent years interviewing and researching survivors of the massacre. The city still has a great deal of work to do to acknowledge what happened.After decades of silence, recognition of the horrific events in Greenwood got a jump-start in 1995. In April of that year, Timothy McVeigh bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, 19 of them children attending a day care facility in the building. At the time, the bombing was referred to as the deadliest act of domestic terror in U.S. history. To African-Americans who knew of Tulsas race massacre, it was a message that discounted their history.State Rep. Don Ross used the event to start a conversation about Greenwood. His efforts made a mark: He raised more than $3 million in private money to fund the Greenwood Cultural Center, which opened in 1996, and a memorial to Black Wall Street that sits out in front of the center. A year later, he sponsored a bill to investigate reparations for survivors of the massacre. That led to the formation of a state commission, which in 2001 published a report.The commissions report offered the first government acknowledgment that the Greenwood massacre was in effect an act of domestic terrorism. It revised its account of the attack, updating the numbers of people killed and the cost of destruction. Rather than 34 people killed, the new number of deaths was found to be between 100 and 300 people. The amount of property damage, based on claims from Greenwood filed against the city in 1921, was $1.8 million -- nearly $26 million in todays dollars. (Most of those claims were denied because the event was originally classified as a riot.) Most important for some, the commission made recommendations for actions the state and local government could take. Among them were an economic development fund for North Tulsa, a museum to honor the neighborhoods cultural history and those who died, and reparations for survivors of the massacre.At the time, the commissions report offered a lot of hope for healing the racial divisions. But in the years since, city and state government have taken what many see as a half-measure approach. The state legislature established committees for a memorial museum, as well as a scholarship and a community development fund for North Tulsa, as recommended by the report. But little money was appropriated to maintain those entities. In the meantime, a reparations lawsuit filed by victims was dismissed by federal courts on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. The commissions recommendation to establish a museum about the 1921 massacre evolved over time into the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, which opened in 2010. The following year, the legislature mandated that the Tulsa massacre be taught in public schools, but offered no financial assistance to help develop a curriculum for it.For some, the fits and starts over the years to make things right have only added to their frustration. Its one thing to say an apology, says Brown. Its something else to put money on the table. [Survivors and their families] feel completely disregarded and left out of the conversation.To date, most of the effort to promote Black Wall Streets history has been backed by private money, with the exception of a few state and federal grants. The mostly privately funded John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, for instance, is largely responsible for the curriculum that Oklahoma school teachers who choose to teach about the massacre use in their history lessons.The city has also bungled some opportunities to make amends. In one of the most egregious examples, the citys Brady Arts District was named for Wyatt Tate Brady, a figure prominent in Tulsas founding. But in 2011, documents came to light showing that Brady had ties to the Ku Klux Klan and was involved in the 1921 massacre in Greenwood. Powerless to change the name of the Brady Arts District, the city council, after weeks of heated debate, changed the namesake of the districts main thoroughfare, Brady Street, to Civil War photographer Matthew Brady, who has no ties to Tulsa.What many view as a Band-Aid approach is just one more slight in a long list of insults that black Tulsans say they have lived with for generations. Part of reconciliation is what do you give up, says Dewayne Dickson, a Tulsa Community College professor and a member of the reconciliation centers board of directors. The reason for that is so everyone can have a sense of moving forward from whats wrong. There must be some kind of measurable action to make right whats wrong.Today, there are signs of progress, or at least of a closer understanding of the deeper implications of the assault a century ago. When G.T. Bynum ran for mayor of Tulsa in 2016, the divisions within the city were a central part of his campaign. A former city council member, Bynum says he was motivated to run for mayor after reading a report by the George Kaiser Family Foundation that found that a child born in North Tulsa has a lifespan 11 years shorter than a kid born elsewhere in the city. In the modern era, North Tulsa, which includes Greenwood, has always been the poorer part of town. Reading that while sitting in my home with my family, says Bynum, who is white, that really changed things for me.After getting elected, Bynum created the Office of Resilience and Equity aimed at eliminating equity gaps in Tulsas schools, transportation systems and the economy. This summer, the office, which is funded through the Rockefeller Foundations 100 Resilient Cities initiative, unveiled its strategy. The plan includes both tangible and intangible goals such as eliminating the racial life expectancy gap by 2024 and amplifying the voice of historically marginalized communities by 2021.Still, many people think the citys current efforts and its future plans dont go nearly far enough. Tulsa civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons is one of them. He says the city and state should make amends for the past, that Tulsa and the state should make direct reparations to the victims. Economic prosperity, Solomon-Simmons observes, isnt as attainable for North Tulsans as is their likelihood of being locked up. Meanwhile, many public officials have talked about healing, but most of the money that has gone toward that goal has been from private donations. As Solomon-Simmons sees it, the message to black Tulsans, many of them related to the original residents and business owners of Black Wall Street, is, You dont matter.Now, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the assault, theres been renewed pressure to produce tangible results. A 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Centennial Commission, chaired by Kevin Matthews, an Oklahoma state senator and North Tulsa native, is pushing a number of economic and cultural initiatives in and around Greenwood. This fall, Tulsa Public Schools officially adopted a curriculum for the massacre. The goal is to launch the curriculum statewide. Matthews also authored a bill that creates a revolving fund for the Oklahoma Historical Society with the aim of promoting cultural tourism opportunities in Greenwood. The commission is seeking private donations to establish a business development program in North Tulsa.Bynum thinks a key part of the overall remedy will be creating new prosperity in North Tulsa using the tools of economic development. He hopes to build on the citys investment in a minor league ballpark, which was built in the area in 2010. The citys development authority inked a deal this summer to bring USA BMXs new arena and headquarters facility to Greenwood. The arena could host the 2020 U.S. Olympic trials for the dirt track bike race. The city has also spent $2 million, including grant money, to clean up an industrial site within view of the Greenwood Cultural Center.But with those developments, which could bring in money and clientele from all over Tulsa, the specter of gentrification looms large. Its already creating yet another divide in Tulsa over Black Wall Street.Back at Wanda Js restaurant on North Greenwood Avenue, the breakfast aromas have long receded and now a crowd and some local news reporters are gathering in front of the restaurant. For 40 some-odd years, Wanda J. Armstrong and her family have been in the restaurant business in Tulsa, serving up not just breakfast but also Southern staples like fried catfish, okra and peach cobbler. Armstrong left Greenwood in 1996 and returned in 2016. Due to a dispute over her lease with the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, shes being told to leave. On this September afternoon, a handful of friends with bright hand-painted signs are protesting the eviction and accusing the chamber of pushing out black businesses.Down the street, art gallery owner Ricco Wright watches the news vans going by with a mix of bemusement and frustration. They think Im part of the gentrifiers, he says. Wright is a Tulsa native who lived in New York City for a decade and earned his doctoral degree before returning here in 2014. His new gallery, Black Wall Street Arts, is one of several creative ventures he has started as a way to promote the history of the neighborhood. His gallerys opening showcase features pieces from two local artists -- one black, one white. His hope is that the exhibit will facilitate the communitys larger conversation about race relations. He calls the series Conciliation. I dont think what were doing is reconciliation, he says. That implies were restoring relations, and I cant think of when there were good relations here between blacks and whites.That ingrained lack of trust is perhaps the biggest challenge for Greenwoods revival. Theres a suspicion regarding the renewed interest and development in the neighborhood. As the centennial draws near, theres a genuine concern that the story of Greenwood will be whitewashed if these new folks -- the gentrifiers -- have a hand in promoting its history. African-American money built, and then, Black Wall Street. But theres a catch. That proud history of the black entrepreneurial spirit and wealth was linked inextricably to the fact that the residents were segregated from white businesses. In the modern era, to expect that only African-Americans should be a part of the neighborhoods revival not only perpetuates the separation, but is not realistic. There simply arent enough wealthy African-American benefactors in Oklahoma, let alone Tulsa, to help.But there are benefactors. The George Kaiser Family Foundation, for one, is arguably Tulsas most prominent philanthropy. It recently launched Dream Tulsa to grow local talent and recruit black entrepreneurs from around the nation to reinvigorate Black Wall Street. Believing that new money like Kaisers will truly honor the districts history and spirit requires a leap of faith: Maybe this time it will be different. There are still divides, but at least there seem to be more efforts to acknowledge a wrong and work toward righting it. We have to go slow to go fast because theres such a lack of trust in these outside influences, says state Sen. Matthews. In many cases were asking the people that looked like the people who burned down the area to help. Featured Fuel giant GOIL's debt rises amid strategic investments GraphicOnline Business News Jan - 31 - 2026 , 09:55 Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL PLC) has posted a resilient yet nuanced financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2025, as detailed in its latest unaudited statements. The state-owned oil marketing giant saw its Group profit after tax inch marginally higher to GH85.9 million, up from GH84.7 million in 2024, even as total revenue declined by approximately 12 per cent to GH17.1 billion. A deeper analysis of the financial position reveals a significant expansion of the company's total assets, which grew by over GH419 million to reach GH5.23 billion. However, this growth is shadowed by a substantial increase in liabilities, particularly short-term obligations. Group accounts payable ballooned to GH3.4 billion from GH2.63 billion the previous year, while short-term loans, though reduced from GH623.3 million to GH274.3 million, remain a considerable burden. The company's cash flow statement underscores a tight liquidity position, noting a net "Cash and cash equivalents" balance of just GH1.69 million at the Group level, starkly contrasted against a GH320.68 million bank overdraft. In a statement embedded within the report, the company affirmed, "The financial statements do not contain untrue statements, misleading facts or omit material facts to the best of our knowledge." The report also shed light on GOIL's strategic investments, particularly its 60 per cent stake in the joint venture African Bitumen Terminal Limited (ABTL), established with Societe Multinationale De Bitumes of Cote d'Ivoire. Total investment in ABTL, comprising "both equity and shareholder loans, amounts to Ghc264,296,962.31," and is accounted for using the equity method. The company's earnings per share for shareholders remained virtually static at GH0.215. While the bottom-line profit shows stability, the financial statements paint a picture of a company aggressively investing and expanding its asset baseas seen in a GH234.8 million acquisition of fixed assetswhile navigating significant creditor financing and a constrained cash position, setting the stage for a critical period of operational and financial management in the coming year. Next article: New national carrier must succeed Featured EDITORIAL: NPP primary would measure democratic maturity Daily Graphic Editorials Jan - 31 - 2026 , 08:17 4 minutes read As the New Patriotic Party (NPP) goes to the polls to elect its presidential flag candidate for the 2028 general election, the exercise once again draws national attention to the partys long-established tradition of internal democracy. Though formally an internal party affair, the primary carries wider implications for Ghanas democratic culture, given the partys history in governance and its role in shaping national political discourse. From the beginning of the Fourth Republic, the NPP has relied on competitive, rules-based processes to select its presidential candidates. In 1992, when the party elected Professor Albert Adu Boahen as its flagbearer, it signalled a clear commitment to democratic choice rather than imposition, even in a political climate still finding its democratic footing. Professor Adu Boahens candidacy laid the foundation for a culture of internal contestation that has endured. That tradition was reinforced in the lead-up to the 2000 elections, when John Agyekum Kufuor emerged as the partys candidate after a competitive internal process. His eventual victory at the national level marked Ghanas first peaceful transfer of power between political parties, underscoring the link between strong internal party democracy and national democratic consolidation. The selection of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the NPPs flagbearer in 2008 further tested the partys democratic resilience. The contest was intense and, at moments, divisive, yet the party ultimately managed to reconcile differences and rally behind its chosen candidate. Though electoral success came later, the process itself affirmed the NPPs capacity to manage competition without fracturing its institutional integrity. The Daily Graphic notes that the current presidential primary fits squarely within this historical pattern. Campaigning has undoubtedly been spirited and, at times, acrimonious. Sharp exchanges, heightened emotions and partisan rhetoric have featured prominently. While excesses must be discouraged, such tensions are not unfamiliar in competitive democratic processes. What is critical is that they do not define the party beyond the contest itself. As delegates cast their ballots, the greater test lies in how the party conducts itself after the results are declared. The winner and his supporters must be magnanimous in victory, celebrating with modesty and restraint, conscious that triumph achieved through division ultimately weakens collective purpose. Leadership, at this stage, demands humility and an inclusive spirit. Conversely, those whose preferred candidates do not prevail must accept the outcome with grace. Their efforts, mobilisation and advocacy have not been in vain. On the contrary, their active participation has helped deepen the partys internal democracy and sharpen its political organisation. A party that allows genuine competition emerges stronger, more credible and better prepared for national contestation. The candidates themselves bear a particularly heavy responsibility. By signing a peace pact ahead of the primary, they committed publicly to restraint, respect for the rules and acceptance of the outcome. That pledge must guide their conduct before, during and after the polls. The quality of the partys democracy depends largely on the example set by its leading figures. Inevitably, that conduct reflects on Ghanas democratic culture as a whole. We think institutional actors also have a critical role to play. The Electoral Commission and the Ghana Police Service, charged with shepherding the process, must act with professionalism, neutrality and firmness. Their effective performance will reinforce confidence in the process and demonstrate the capacity of state institutions to support democratic practice, even within party structures. Equally important is the conduct of supporters. Political enthusiasm must not degenerate into disorder, intimidation or lawlessness. Discipline and respect for the rules are essential to ensuring a peaceful and credible primary. A successful exercise will be measured not only by who wins, but by how smoothly and transparently the process is conducted. Ultimately, the NPPs enduring strength has been its ability to compete vigorously and then unite purposefully. Our expectation is that, that tradition is upheld, so that the party emerges from this primary not merely with a flagbearer, but with renewed institutional confidencean outcome that serves not only the party, but Ghanas democracy itself. Why Ghana must back Mahamas big push agenda as global powers set their own rules to satisfy their self-interest Next article: Why Ghana must back Mahamas big push agenda as global powers set their own rules to satisfy their self-interest Featured We owe Putin an unreserved apology Azu Ishiekwene Opinion Jan - 31 - 2026 , 07:16 6 minutes read As US President Donald J. Trump marks his first year in office by expanding his wish list from making Canada the 51st State of America to seizing and renaming the Panama Canal, and now taking Greenland by any means, if he cannot get the Nobel Peace Prize, spare a thought for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The world has been unfair to him. In one year, Trump has indulged in some of his tastiest treats from the worlds biggest candy stores, the most gratifying of which must be capturing Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. President Trump even briefly announced himself as acting president after seizing control of the country, which has the world's largest oil deposits. In 365 days Trumps first year in office must be making Putin wonder what he has done to be classified among the worlds most despised, with descriptions of him ranging from a tyrant and outlaw to a potential war criminal. In the light of the wreckage that the world has now become, does Putin deserve to be viewed through a milder, gentler lens? Are his transgressions unforgivable? Putins sins When the Russian President annexed Crimea 12 years ago, the world was outraged. The United Nations declared the annexation illegal, and the US and Europe imposed limited sanctions on Russia. But Putin had only just started with Ukraine. He consolidated his grip on Crimea, arguing that the resort, which hosts Russias Black Sea Fleet, is strategically important to Russia and that its loss would weaken Russias naval position. And in case the world had forgotten, he reminded us that Crimea was a part of Russia until 1954, when it was transferred to Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Cost of war In Russia, Putin framed the annexation as a response to the historical injustice by the US and Western Europe to emasculate, weaken and encircle Russia. Putin defied Western economic sanctions, and eight years after annexing Crimea, he made an even more audacious move by launching an all-out war on Ukraine. In the last four years of the war, the estimated total casualty figures have ranged from 980,000 to 1.4 million, with civilian deaths as high as over 14,000, minus the wounded and millions more displaced. The Russia-Ukraine war is the bloodiest in Europe since World War II. Yet, theres no end in sight, mainly because Putin insists that he wont stop except Ukraine gives up territory currently occupied by Russian forces, a concession that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is unwilling to make. Greenland by all means? Putins demands, as unreasonable and unjustified as they may be, have paled into insignificance since the scandalous demand by President Trump that the US must have Greenland, by any means possible. If Trump believes that he can grab Greenland and plant the US flag in Nuuk, whether the people like it or not, because he was denied the Nobel Peace Prize as he told the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Stre, in a text message, why is Russia, which has an even more substantial stake in Ukraine, being condemned, ostracised and punished, while Trump gets ego massage? Putin has argued that the war with Ukraine is a matter of Russias survival, insisting that after the former Soviet Union broke up into 15 states, there was an agreement between President Mikhail Gorbachev and the West in 1990 that NATO would not expand eastward. That agreement has been widely cited in credible diplomatic circles. NATO has denied the existence of such an agreement, but has barely hidden its subversive encouragement in bringing three countries under the former Soviet Union into its fold, virtually encircling Russia. For Putin, the invasion of Ukraine is his last stand, his push, after Crimea, for Russias modern-day Danzig (the crucial trigger for World War II). Leprosy for ringworm Yet, Putins excuses have not impressed a world that has treated Trumps leprosy as ringworm. The US president has threatened Cuba, lashed out at the Mexican president, called Europes leaders wimps, and, after capturing a sitting president and his wife, described himself as the acting president of that country. NATO cant tell him that he cannot have Greenland. Instead, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, they steered him away from his delusional request by promising him a bigger piece of real estate in the larger Arctic, something like a pie in the moon, where he can build the next Trump Tower! Apology for Putin Perhaps, its not only Putin that the world owes an apology. Compared to Trumps claim over Greenland despite the rejection of the citizens and the exasperation of Denmark, Chinas frosty relationship with Taiwan is like a love story. Taiwan was a part of China until after the civil war in 1949, when the Communists won control of mainland China and Mao Zedong proclaimed the Peoples Republic in Beijing, forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to Taiwan. In the Trump world, Xi Jinping would be justified in moving from the rhetoric of one-China to complete military occupation of Taipei, as Kim Jong Un would be welcome to roll out the tanks to occupy Seoul. In a way, a homegrown variety of this insanity in Africa would be for Morocco to seize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), or for Nigeria to insist on taking the Bakassi Peninsula from Cameroon by force, rather than submitting to adjudication. Return to Hobbes Its convenient to argue, from the realist point of view, that any country that can, will do as it pleases after all, the strong never failed to have the weak for lunch. That was the Hobbesian state until two world wars, several other man-made tragedies, and a recent pandemic, which we are yet to recover fully from, taught the world that cooperation, collaboration, and multilateralism were the best way to go. As one of Europes most syndicated journalists, Jonathan Power, once wrote, The 21st Century thus far is the least violent and safest century of all despite the wars in Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, etc. If the price for world peace is to award President Trump a Nobel Peace Prize for ending eight wars, a delusion he firmly believes, then we should indulge his fantasy by granting this fervent wish. But since it would be grossly unfair to exclude Putin, or to ignore Xi, Kim or even Benjamin Netanyahu from such a list, it would not be a bad idea to propose to the Norwegian Nobel Committee a once-in-a-lifetime, first and last Nobel Peace Prize Quintet 2026, for all five. Then, at least, we can be sure that the remaining three years of the Trump presidency will be bereft of tantrums, insults, and relentless threats to weaponise tariffs. Thank you for paying attention to this matter! Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book, Writing for Media and Monetising It. Featured When Speed came to Ghana: Influence, opportunity and the work that must follow Francis Doku Opinion Jan - 31 - 2026 , 09:57 4 minutes read The visit of American digital creator Darren Jason Watkins Jr., popularly known as iShowSpeed, to Ghana earlier this year generated enormous attention across social media platforms, in particular, and the entire digital ecosystem in general. Videos from his time in Accra, including moments at Independence Square, cultural interactions and street-level encounters, travelled far beyond Ghanas borders, reaching millions of young people globally within hours. For Ghanas tourism ecosystem, the significance of the visit lies not merely in its virality, but in what it reveals about how destinations are now discovered, consumed and judged by a new generation of travellers. However, it is important to state clearly that such visits are not a tourism panacea Ghanas tourist arrivals wont balloon from the circa 1.2 million in 2024 to 2 million by the end of this year just because Speed was here. Influence alone does not convert to arrivals, revenue or long-term destination loyalty. What matters is how that influence is strategically leveraged. Understanding Speeds currency Speed is not a conventional celebrity tourist. He does not arrive as a formal ambassador, nor does he deliver scripted destination endorsements. His influence stems from authenticity, spontaneity and an unusually strong connection with young audiences, particularly Gen Z and Gen Alpha. For these audiences, travel inspiration does not come from brochures or glossy advertisements. It comes from lived experience, emotion and relatability. Speeds reactions, curiosity and interactions become a proxy experience for millions who may never have previously considered Africa, let alone Ghana, as a leisure destination. In this sense, his visit represents influence capital. It is valuable, but only if consciously converted into outcomes that support national tourism objectives. Culture as Ghanas tourism gateway Ghanas appearance on Speeds Africa journey was defined less by spectacle and more by symbolism. His visit to Independence Arch at the Black Star Square placed Ghanas national identity and post-independence narrative at the centre of a global digital conversation The symbolic naming ceremony at the palace of the Okuapemhene, Osabarima Kwasi Akuffowhere he was named Barima Kofi Akuffotogether with traditional dance encounters and immersion in everyday urban culture, reinforced Ghanas positioning as a destination rooted in living heritage rather than static attractions. This aligns with a broader reality. Ghanas tourism competitive advantage does not lie in wildlife or large-scale adventure tourism. It lies in culture, history, people and creative expression. Speeds experience demonstrated that cultural tourism does not require excessive repackaging to resonate globally. It thrives when visitors are invited to participate, not merely observe. Influence does not translate automatically Despite the excitement generated, it will be a mistake to assume that visibility alone will translate into increased tourist arrivals. Digital attention is fleeting. Algorithms move on quickly. Without deliberate follow-up, moments like these pass without measurable impact. Tourism authorities must, therefore, treat such visits as entry points rather than end points. The critical question is not how many people watched Speeds videos, but what pathways exist for those viewers to move from curiosity to consideration, and from consideration to travel. Five strategic outcomes to pursue First, Ghana must deepen youth-centred tourism storytelling. Speeds audience is young, mobile and digitally native. Tourism messaging must increasingly adopt short-form, creator-led narratives that prioritise authenticity over polish. Second, cultural experiences showcased during such visits must be transformed into bookable products. Naming ceremonies, heritage walks, music and dance encounters and street food experiences should be clearly packaged and accessible to visitors inspired by what they see online. Third, Ghana should strengthen culture as a first-touch tourism product. Speeds visit reinforces the fact that culture is the countrys most compelling gateway for first-time visitors, particularly younger travellers, seeking meaning and connection. Fourth, there is a need for creator-friendly destination frameworks. As creators become central to destination discovery, tourism institutions must develop clear engagement policies that allow responsible access, collaboration and content creation without friction. Finally, momentum must replace moments. One high-profile visit should feed into a broader, sustained creator engagement strategy aligned with festivals, peak travel periods and diaspora-focused events. A regional context While this column focuses on Ghana, the implications extend across West Africa. From Nigerias creative economy to Senegals arts and heritage positioning and Benins cultural revival, the region is increasingly asserting itself as Africas cultural tourism hub. Digital journeys like Speeds help challenge long-standing stereotypes and present Africa as contemporary, youthful and dynamic. However, narrative shifts alone do not build tourism economies. Strategy does. Conclusion Speeds visit to Ghana should neither be overstated nor dismissed. It should be understood as a signal of how tourism influence is evolving. Visibility is opportunity, not outcome. If Ghana deliberately converts moments like this into structured engagement, product development and sustained storytelling, such visits can support long-term tourism growth. If not, they will remain viral footnotes. In modern tourism, influence is currency. The real work lies in how wisely it is spent. Next article: Luigi Mangione will not face death penalty if convicted, judge rules Featured Burkina Faso junta announces ban on all political parties BBC International News Jan - 31 - 2026 , 09:41 2 minutes read Burkina Faso's junta has announced a ban on all political parties, whose activities have been suspended since the military seized power in 2022. Junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore has been criticised for suppressing dissent and the move will be seen as the latest move to tighten control. According to Burkina Faso's Interior Minister Emile Zerbo, the ban is part of plans to "rebuild the state" after what he said were "numerous abuses" in the country's multiparty system. Zerbo said the system had been "promoting division among citizens and weakening the social fabric". Parties were previously banned from holding public gatherings but the new decree stops them from operating altogether. All the assets of the dissolved parties would be transferred to the state, Zerbo said, adding that a draft law would be sent to the Transitional Legislative Assembly "as soon as possible". The country had more than 100 registered political parties before the coup, with 15 represented in parliament after the 2020 general election. "This will not help the country move forward. We're not happy with this," a member of a civil society group, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, told the BBC. "The regime has been pushing the idea that democracy is useless or harmful for Burkina. [Traore] may be settling in for the long run but given the country's history, no leader is ever fully secure. Another coup is never far from the horizon." The banning of political parties also received some backlash on social media, but a number of other Burkinabes went online to support the junta's decision. "It is undeniable that a country like Burkina Faso having over 100 political parties creates chaos," one Traore supporter said on X. "This fragmentation often led to clientelism and corruption, where parties function more like business ventures than civic organisations." Traore's 2022 coup ousted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had taken power only nine months earlier. Traore pledged to restore the civilian government by 1 July 2024 but two months before this deadline, the junta announced it would extend its rule for another five years. Despite his authoritarian reputation, 37-year-old Traore has gained a huge following across the continent for his pan-Africanist vision and criticism of Western influence. Burkina Faso is one of several West African countries who have experienced coups, followed by the restriction of political parties and electoral institutions, in recent years. One of the coup leaders, Guinea's Gen Mamady Doumbouya, last month stood for election and won by a landslide. GUIYANG, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Late one evening in the rugged mountains of southwest China's Guizhou Province, village official Lei Bingchao's phone buzzed with a message. Notably, this was not from a friend or a colleague, but from an algorithm. The message signaled a warning that fellow villager Yang Xilong had recently incurred unusually high medical expenses, and it might put his family at risk of slipping into poverty. Yang and his family had been living and working thousands of kilometers away in east China's Zhejiang Province. This means they had not featured in recent door-to-door inspections in Daba village, his hometown. But the spike in medical bills generated on the other side of the country was still flagged by a provincial data platform of Guizhou. When local officials followed up, they discovered that Yang had undergone treatment for a complex eye condition. Even after social insurance reimbursements, the remaining cost of 20,000 yuan (about 2,863 U.S. dollars) was about a fourth of the family's annual earnings, as previously recorded in the platform. With two children still in school, one of them at university, the margin for the family's financial well-being was thin. "Without timely support, this family could have fallen back into poverty because of illness," said Lei, Party secretary of Daba village, who received the warning. With Yang's household earnings bound to fall and medical bills mounting, annual per-capita net income risked slipping below 8,500 yuan, the threshold used for monitoring households vulnerable to falling back into poverty. Such risks highlight the challenge facing China after it declared the elimination of absolute poverty in 2021, following an eight-year nationwide campaign that lifted nearly 100 million rural residents above the poverty line. For millions of newly secure households, the challenge has since shifted from escape to stability. The Communist Party of China Central Committee has released its recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026-2030), which emphasize the need to consolidate and expand the gains of poverty alleviation and call for the coordinated establishment of a long-term mechanism to prevent people from lapsing or relapsing into poverty. In Guizhou, the alert that flagged Yang's case is one concrete expression of that approach. It came from Guizhou's big-data platform designed to detect early warning signs of poverty, such as illness, job loss and natural disasters, among rural households, part of a broader effort to prevent hard-won gains from unravelling after China declared the eradication of absolute poverty in 2021. The idea is simple but ambitious, namely to spot trouble before it becomes chronic. Drawing on data from public security, health, education, civil affairs and agricultural authorities, the algorithm scans for anomalies, like surging medical expenses, school dropouts, or damaged housing or sudden income loss. When thresholds are crossed, alerts are sent to grassroots officials for verification. If confirmed, households are swiftly added to assistance programs. "The goal is about early discovery, early intervention and early assistance," said Zou Tao, head of the monitoring division at Guizhou's Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. "We don't wait until a household has already fallen back into poverty." To ensure those warnings translate quickly into help, Guizhou has imposed a strict timetable, requiring that no more than 15 days elapse between the first alert and the delivery of effective assistance. In practice, the assistant takes the form of a tailored package of measures, such as arranging tuition-fee waivers for children, placing adults in public-service jobs, helping households find markets for their agricultural produce, and securing industrial-development subsidies to encourage new sources of income. For Yang, the intervention proved timely and decisive. Through the assistance program, an additional over-10,000 yuan was covered by the medical insurance fund. His household was also brought under subsistence allowance support, effectively preventing the family from slipping back into poverty due to medical expenses. The system also works in reverse. Households facing difficulties can submit applications directly through a WeChat mini-program, reducing reliance on in-person visits and paperwork. Xu Fei, a resident of Tianxing Village in Xifeng County near the Guizhou provincial capital Guiyang, used the mini-program last year after persistent leaks had made his aging house unsafe. Unsure whether help would arrive, he nonetheless submitted his information online. "I just thought I'd try," Xu said. "I didn't expect much." Within weeks, his application was approved. Xu received a 15,000-yuan subsidy to repair the house. "In the past, people had to make multiple trips, fill out forms and wait," said Chang Zhongyan, an official at Xifeng's rural revitalization service center. "Now, different departments verify information online at the same time. In some cases, decisions can be made in 30 minutes." For Guizhou, with a population of over 38 million people, such vigilance is not optional but a must. Located in mostly mountainous terrain not suitable for agriculture, this province was once the main battlefield of the anti-poverty campaign. To reduce the risk, Guizhou has also tightened standards for declaring households "stable." Officials must confirm that risk factors, such as unstable income or medical vulnerability, have been sustainably resolved. Each case is reviewed household by household, with records maintained to prevent premature graduation from assistance. By June 2025, the province had identified 853,000 people as being at risk of falling back into poverty. Through targeted assistance, roughly 72.8 percent have since been able to stabilize their livelihoods. Big data is increasingly serving as social infrastructure. For villagers like Yang Xilong, this technology remains largely invisible. However, what really matters is that help arrives before a temporary setback becomes permanent. Next article: GJA calls for collective action to end attacks on journalists Featured Ashaiman benefits from drainage, road construction projects Benjamin Xornam Glover Jan - 31 - 2026 , 07:46 4 minutes read The Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey, has expressed satisfaction with the pace of infrastructural development in the constituency following an extensive inspection of ongoing and completed projects across several communities. The inspection, which formed part of his parliamentary oversight duties, was undertaken last Thursday together with Assembly Members from the various electoral areas. The tour began at Fitter Line in the Tulaku area, where drainage and road construction works are currently underway. Mr Norgbey explained that drainage works being carried out across Ashaiman are intentionally linked to road development to ensure durability and long-term value. Wherever drains are constructed, road construction will follow. We are not building drains and abandoning them, he said, adding that after drainage works, roads would follow and streets would be tarred. Construction works ongoing on some drains at Ashaiman, Lebanon Zones Two and Three. He expressed optimism that Tulaku and its surrounding access roads would receive a major facelift, significantly improving accessibility, mobility and drainage. The team continued the tour to Ashaiman Official Town, Middle East High Tension, Christian Village and the Afariwa enclave, where almost all access roads are currently under construction. The Ashaiman New TownAfariwa Junction Road was also undergoing major improvement works, which are expected to enhance connectivity within the municipality. The team further inspected drainage and road construction works at Ashaiman Lebanon Zones Two and Three, where the MP expressed satisfaction with the steady progress of work. Mr Norgbey disclosed that the Ashaiman Constituency is currently benefiting from approximately 55 kilometres of road construction and 7.66 kilometres of drainage works. He assured residents that all projects would receive full bitumen surfacing to ease movement within the municipality. A section of drainage works being undertaken at Middle East High Tension. The MP acknowledged challenges with the road connecting the Ashaiman Central Business District to Kpone Katamanso, Adentan, Appolonia and beyond, describing it as a major concern requiring urgent attention. However, he indicated that the road has been awarded on contract and that the contractor is expected to mobilise to the site soon to commence works. Looking ahead, Mr Norgbey assured residents that the next two years would usher in significant transformation for the constituency. Education The MP and Assembly Members also visited the Ashaiman Senior High Technical School, where they inspected an Assembly Hall project promised by the MP, which is nearing completion. The facility has been fully painted and is awaiting final handover by the contractor to the school for use. Mr Norgbey also highlighted several abandoned GETFund projects, particularly classroom blocks that have remained uncompleted for years. He assured that he would engage the GETFund Secretariat to ensure the projects are completed to ease congestion and improve teaching and learning conditions. Another major concern raised during the inspection was the absence of a boys dormitory and limited land availability for expansion. Ernest Norgbey (2nd right) leading some Assembly Members on a tour of ongoing construction works in the constituency. The MP revealed plans to engage Ghana Water Limited, which shares a boundary with the school, as well as the Ministry of Works and Housing, to negotiate for a portion of land for the construction of a dormitory to support students. At the E-Block project site, the MP announced that work is about 95 per cent complete, a development he described as critical to the Ashaiman Technical and Vocational Institute, which has struggled with limited space. That school runs mainly engineering and technical programmes. Completing this project will significantly improve learning conditions and contribute to skills development, he said. Mr Norgbey also announced that plans were underway to advertise for the construction of an astroturf mini stadium, with procurement expected to begin within the next one to two weeks. In the next two years, Ashaiman will be a better place, befitting its people, he said, expressing optimism about the constituencys development trajectory. Featured Ashaiman MP demands probe into $1m uncompleted toilet facility Benjamin Xornam Glover Jan - 31 - 2026 , 07:57 2 minutes read The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashaiman, Dr Ernest Norgbey, has called for an investigation into the use of funds allocated under the previous governments One Million Dollars Per Constituency initiative after raising concerns over an unfinished toilet facility allegedly constructed with the constituencys allocation. Speaking at the project site during a tour last Thursday, Dr Norgbey expressed shock and disappointment at what he described as a gross misuse of public funds. The initiative was intended to be one of the previous governments signature projects to drive infrastructure development at the local level. However, there was hardly any physical evidence of its implementation in the effort to decentralise infrastructure development in the country. At some point, I was informed that the $1 million allocated to Ashaiman was used to construct this toilet facility near the uncompleted E-Block educational structure at Michel Camp by the previous government. When construction started, I was expecting a substantial structure. Unfortunately, what we are seeing today is deeply disappointing, he said. Dr Norgbey said he was deeply concerned about the 10-seater facility, which had been boldly labelled as a $1 million per constituency project but remained uncompleted. He questioned how such a project could reasonably account for an expenditure of $1 million. We are talking about $1 million, not Ghana cedis. If $1 million can be used to construct what we see here, then one can only imagine what may have happened in other constituencies, he stated. Investigation The MP said since the structure existed and was built with taxpayers money, it should be completed and put to use to ease pressure on students and residents. However, he emphasised that this should not prevent a thorough investigation into how the project was awarded, executed and funded. Dr Norgbey also criticised the rationale behind using a national government allocation to construct a toilet facility, which was also constructed without a cesspit tank, arguing that such projects ordinarily fall under the responsibility of municipal assemblies, which could fund them through Internally Generated Funds (IGF). Toilet facilities are important, but you cannot justify spending one million US dollars on a small, unfinished toilet project. This project would not cost even 50,000, give or take, he said. Describing the situation as unacceptable, Dr Norgbey reiterated his call for accountability, stating that such an occurrence should not and cannot happen in Ghana. This project must be investigated. CDAGhana support 93 children to go back to school Sahada Dramani Jan - 31 - 2026 , 09:57 2 minutes read Ninety-three out-of-school children and school dropouts from two districts in the Upper West Region have received support from the Community Development Alliance-Ghana (CDA-Ghana), a non-governmental organisation based in Wa, to enable them to return to the classrooms. The beneficiaries were part of an initial 217 children who were identified from 10 communities in the two districts to have dropped out of school. The support was under the Bridging Fund: Girls Rights and Empowerment Project (G-REP), being implemented by CDA-Ghana with funding from Plan International Ghana. It was in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other stakeholders, including community leaders and School Management Committees (SMCs) of the schools in the participating communities. Objective The main objective of the project was to improve the school environment and reintegrate out-of-school children, particularly vulnerable groups, such as the minority Fulbe girls and young women, into the formal school system. It ran from October 2025 to January 2026. Communities The beneficiary communities were Nyemati, Buoti, Kandia, Dasima and Kusali, Busa, Chansa, Sing, Chere and Danku from the Sissala West District and Wa Municipality. Speaking at the close-out ceremony where the project distributed the items to the beneficiaries, the Programme Manager of CDA-Ghana, Sulemani Bipuah, said the project identified 217 out-of-school children, made up of 149 boys and 68 girls. He said during engagements with stakeholders and the community leaders, the project observed that the lack of a uniform is often a major barrier to entry and providing these uniforms acts as a social equaliser, removing the visible markers of poverty and reducing uniform anxiety among learners. The items distributed included sets of school uniforms, learning materials and learning aids from pupils from Kindergarten to Junior High Secondary School levels. Sustainability Mr Bipuah called on the parents and the community to own the project and ensure that the children remained in school. He said the support from the project was to give the beneficiaries a head start and that the long-term success of these 93 students now rests in the hands of the community. As the project draws to a close, the legacy of G-REP remains a trained network of Change Agents, a supportive community leadership and nearly 100 children who now have the tools to carve their own futures, he said. Appreciation The Sissala West District GES Girl Child Officer, Fati Banamole, on behalf of the parents and districts, thanked CDA-Ghana for the donations and pledged their support to ensure that the beneficiaries complete their course of study. Explore additional funding opportunities - Tourism Ministry to Board Chairpersons Juliet Akyaa Safo Jan - 31 - 2026 , 10:19 3 minutes read The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has urged board chairpersons under the ministry to explore additional funding opportunities beyond state support to enhance visibility and impact. She also called for open communication among board chairs, chief executive officers, chief directors and the deputy minister to ensure coherent decision-making. She further encouraged them to go beyond their basic mandates by keeping their ears to the ground and respond promptly to emerging issues. She recounted several incidents that attracted public and parliamentary scrutiny, including an incident involving two men kissing under the Independence Arch, and a recent case in which a pregnant woman lay on the tomb of the countrys first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. In all these instances, questions were directed at me. People asked why I allowed these things to happen, she stated. She also cited the decision by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board to close one of the castles without informing the ministry as an example of poor communication and governance. Ms Gomashie who was speaking during an orientation for the Governing Board Chairpersons under the ministry in Accra on Friday, January 30, however, expressed confidence that the diverse expertise of board members drawn from various professional backgrounds would positively influence the institutions they served. Orientation The tourism minister explained that the orientation was part of efforts to foster closer collaboration among its 13 agencies to ensure their work aligned with President John Dramani Mahamas vision of resetting the country and identifying areas for improvement. She said it was also to address challenges in public administration such as unclear strategic roadmaps, a situation the Public Services Commission (PSC) was helping to address through guidance and capacity-building. Ms Gomashie pointed out that the decision to realign tourism, culture and creative arts under one ministry was intentional, adding that it was her responsibility to create an environment that allowed agencies to work collectively rather than in silos. She explained that the establishment of the ministry had altered the leadership dynamics of the sector, particularly the role of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), which previously operated as a ministerial portfolio. The issue is not so much a problem, except that we have to find out how to make that decoupling a strength and not a weakness, she said, noting that the ongoing workshop was meant to explore ways of ensuring effective coordination among the various agencies. Board chair perspective The Board Chair of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, Mr Michael Hudru Attipoe, reaffirmed their commitment as board chairs to assist in fundraising efforts and leveraging senior-level contacts, including diplomatic and international networks, to attract support for their institutions. He stressed the need for discipline and effective financial management, stating that conflicts with chief executives should be avoided in the interest of institutional harmony. No show, no salary: Controller suspends wages of 2,563 government workers for snubbing headcount Next article: No show, no salary: Controller suspends wages of 2,563 government workers for snubbing headcount Featured GJA calls for collective action to end attacks on journalists Pacome Emmanuel Damalie Jan - 31 - 2026 , 06:57 3 minutes read The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has condemned the increasing attacks on journalists, warning that such acts undermine the countrys reputation as a beacon of press freedom and democratic stability in Africa. It stressed that violence against journalists must not be tolerated under any circumstances. At a high-level stakeholders meeting yesterday, the GJA President, Albert Dwumfour, urged all parties to join forces to end violence against journalists. He called for zero tolerance of attacks by government and security agencies, swift investigation and prosecution of perpetrators, the creation of a collaborative mechanism for prevention and protection, a review of legal frameworks to safeguard journalists, and a national commitment to ethical journalism and responsible citizenship. He said the association had, in past years, implemented a blacklisting strategy against individuals involved in attacks on journalists, which had yielded results. He added that such collective action would be crucial for protecting journalists and strengthening democracy. Rising attacks Mr Dwumfour expressed concern over the increasing attacks on journalists, citing five incidents in January alone, while journalists covering sensitive issues, such as the Bawku conflict, faced death threats, online abuse and intimidation. Some have been openly branded as enemies simply for doing their jobs. This dangerous climate of fear and intimidation, if left unchecked, could easily escalate into violence, he said. He stressed that the persistent attacks on journalists were undermining the nations democratic credentials, citing Article 162 of the 1992 Constitution, which guaranteed media freedom. When a journalist is assaulted for recording a public event, threatened for critical commentary, or attacked for asking legitimate questions, it is not just the individual who suffers harm. It is the very foundation of our democratic society that is shaken. An attack on a journalist is an attack on the public's right to know, he stated. The GJA President added that the state's duty is to protect journalists and create an enabling environment for media freedom. He underscored the critical role of journalists in holding power accountable, informing public discourse, and amplifying marginalised voices, especially in an election year, which should not be taken for granted. Mr Dwumfour urged stakeholders to take action against violence and intimidation, stressing that no citizen should face harm for lawful actions. Stand against intimidation A former President of the GJA, Gifty Afenyi Dadzie, called on media practitioners to remain steadfast in their duty to hold duty bearers accountable despite intimidation and fear. She ascribed the constant attacks on journalists as attempts to intimidate journalists and undermine their role in the country's democracy. Mrs Dadzie urged media owners to put aside political differences and support the GJA in the fight for press freedom. She stressed the importance of public statements and open support, rather than behind-the-scenes actions. I will call on media owners, despite your political polarisation, and when our times come, please stand up, back the GJA, and make open statements. When you do things back door, people don't get the info. This is a fight for the nation. It is a fight for our democracy. It is a strategy to put us back into the dark area of domestication. When they said that the journalists were domesticated. We are now vibrant, and we must maintain that, she said. On the need for safety, Mrs Afenyi Dadzie called on media owners to provide safety gadgets to journalists, citing examples of international media outlets that prioritise journalist safety. She pledged her support for the GJA's efforts, urging all to work together to maintain the nation's vibrant media landscape. Featured NPP electing flagbearer today, leader should obtain over 50% or run-off Samuel Duodu Jan - 31 - 2026 , 08:29 4 minutes read Todays presidential primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) can only produce a winner if any of the five candidates obtains more than 50 per cent of the votes. Anything short of that will call for a run-off between the two leading candidates in 14 days. The Deputy Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Electoral Commission (EC), Fred Tetteh, told the Daily Graphic that this was in accordance with the partys presidential primary rules. "Results will be declared at the NPP headquarters. An outright winner must secure more than 50 per cent of valid votes cast," he said. Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong; former Minister of Food and Agriculture and MP for Abetifi, Dr Bryan Acheampong; former Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; former Minister of Education and MP for Bosomtwi, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and former General Secretary of the party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, are seeking the endorsement of 211,849 party delegates in todays presidential primary, which will be run without biometric verification devices. Instead, the party will make two voter registers available to verifiable delegates and eligible voters, with no opportunity for proxy voting. Delegates on the electoral roll will cast their ballots at 333 polling centres in 276 constituencies nationwide. This includes the centre at the party headquarters in Accra, with the polls scheduled to open at 7 a.m. and close at 2 p.m. Mr Tetteh said all logistics and materials, including ballot papers, electoral roll (album), ballot boxes, voting screens, indelible ink and other necessary materials, needed for the election had been sent to the regions and district offices. Collation of results He said district officers and their staff, including assistant electoral officers and secretaries, would manage all the 333 polling stations, adding that each centre would have a queue controller with an album. Mr Tetteh said two registers would be used since the biometric verification machines would not be deployed for todays exercise. He said when polls closed, ballot papers would be sorted and counted at voting centres to fill and complete results sheets, with copies to be given to agents of each candidate. Results would then be transmitted electronically to the regional office to be followed with a hard copy. The EC Deputy Director said at the regional office, the director and deputies, along with agents of candidates, would tabulate results and send them electronically to the EC headquarters in Accra where a collation and national tally would be undertaken in the presence of agents of the five candidates. Mr Tetteh gave an assurance that the commission was prepared to conduct a smooth and transparent election. He stressed that the EC would handle the election with integrity, fairness, and transparency, and urged all stakeholders, including security personnel, candidates agents and EC staff, to play their roles professionally. "We expect everybody to play his or her role professionally," he said. Mr Tetteh further urged delegates to abide by the rules of the poll, stressing that the EC would not allow anyone to vote if their name was not in the album. "If anybody has an issue that cannot be solved at the polling centre, they can escalate it to the members of the Elections Committee," he said, indicating that issues with delegate names were not within the EC's mandate, but rather the responsibility of the presidential election committee of the party. Guidelines In a related development the NPP Presidential Elections Committee has announced strict security measures for the election A statement signed and issued by the Secretary to the committee, William Yamoah, reiterated that the police had the exclusive responsibility for security activities, and only delegates, committee members, aspirants and their agents would be allowed beyond the security perimeters. It said delegates were required to carry their identification cards, including voter ID, party card, passport, or Ghana card, to verify their names at the initial security checkpoint. Agents representing the presidential candidate aspirants may be stationed at the checkpoint to observe the preliminary verification of names against the voter register. The committee has also advised delegates and agents to conform to all regulations and rules on the day of voting, as stated in the Presidential Elections Operation Guidelines. Additionally, agents of the contestants are allowed to have their phones. The committee has noted that there would be no accreditation for observers, and any interested persons visiting the voting centres are requested to abide by the directives of the EC and the Police. Featured Greater Accra REGSEC declares Nmai Djor-Trasacco enclave security zone - Stops local government accountability Joyce Timbillah Awuni Jan - 31 - 2026 , 08:18 5 minutes read The Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has declared an enclave within Borteyman, popularly known as Nmai Djor-Trasacco, a security zone and ordered the suspension of all development activities there. The enclave is part of Borteyman and falls within the Adentan West Municipality. REGSEC stated that the decision was part of measures to maintain peace, law and order. The Regional Minister and Chairperson of REGSEC, Linda Akweley Ocloo, who announced this in Accra on Friday, explained that the measure was also part of a broader framework being implemented by REGSEC to ensure public safety, preserve law and order, following ongoing disputes over land ownership between traditional authorities and family interests in the area. This situation has the potential to escalate if not properly managed, the REGSEC chairperson stated. Developments suspended Speaking at the press briefing yesterday, Mrs Ocloo said all developments within the Nmai Djor-Trasacco (Borteyman) enclave had been suspended with immediate effect, pending the final determination of the land ownership dispute by the courts. She cautioned that any individual or entity that violated the directive and continued development activities in the enclave would be subject to enforcement actions, including the demolition of the structures. The Regional Minister also led the Regional Coordinating Council to sign performance contract with metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the region. The Chief Executives of the assemblies signed the performance contracts together with their Coordinating Directors. The signing is to ensure strict performance of their mandates and to ensure accountability. Security measures The Regional Minister and Chairperson of REGSEC stressed that following the declaration of the enclave as a security zone, a joint police-military patrol team had been deployed to the area to maintain peace and ensure the safety of residents. She stated that only security personnel authorised by REGSEC were permitted to operate within the enclave, adding that any unauthorised security presence would not be allowed. She added that REGSEC would continue to monitor developments in the area closely and take additional measures where necessary to prevent any breach of the peace. Market fire outbreaks Mrs Ocloo expressed concern about the increasing number of fire outbreaks in markets across the region. She said discussions by REGSEC identified the mixed use of market spaces, particularly the conversion of trading stalls into residential accommodation and other non-commercial uses, as a major factor contributing to the fires. The Regional Minister said all MMDAs had been directed to intensify public education to inform traders and the public about fire safety and the dangers associated with inappropriate use of market spaces. Deployment Mrs Ocloo further stated that as part of efforts to improve emergency response, assemblies had been urged to provide designated spaces within markets for the permanent stationing of personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service. She explained that the presence of fire fighters in markets would enable quicker response in the event of an outbreak and help reduce damage to property and loss of livelihoods. The Regional Minister explained that the measure was intended to strengthen coordination between assemblies and the GNFS in addressing fire risks in densely populated market areas. Mrs Ocloo added that she had directed three assemblies to repair all non-functioning streetlights along roads leading to the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the University of Ghana to improve safety. Mrs Ocloo explained that the signing of performance contracts between MMDCEs and their Coordinating Directors was to strengthen accountability and improve service delivery at the local government level. She explained that the system provided a framework for setting clear targets, guiding planning, implementation and assessing performance. The REGSEC chairperson said the contracts were tools to guide daily administration, budgeting and monitoring throughout the year. Monitoring, sanctions Mrs Ocloo said the RCC would intensify its monitoring role to ensure that activities captured in the performance contracts were implemented and not merely documented. She confirmed that the performance contract framework provided for sanctions against assemblies and officials who failed to comply with agreed targets and guidelines. Demolition On the demolition of structures along the Kpeshi Lagoon, she said follow-up activities would commence after the return of the Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), who was currently out of the country. Mrs Ocloo said the planned activities included the removal of debris from the site, greening of the area and subsequent dredging works. She explained that the objective was to expand the lagoon to restore it to its natural state and create a buffer zone to allow water to settle during periods of heavy rainfall. Permits, relocation Responding to concerns about permits for those developing Borteyman lands, Mrs Ocloo said the affected developers had so far been unable to produce valid permits for the demolished structures. She acknowledged that there had been instances elsewhere, including at the Sakumono Ramsar site, where assemblies had issued permits for developments on water courses. However, she said no permits had been identified in respect of the demolished structures along the Kpeshi Lagoon. Young scientists urged to tackle misinformation, support SDGs Joyce Timbillah Awuni Jan - 31 - 2026 , 10:21 3 minutes read The Vice-President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS), Professor Alfred Apau Oteng Yeboah, has charged members of the Ghana Young Academy (GhYA) to actively confront misinformation, engage policy processes early and contribute evidence-based solutions to Ghanas development challenges as the country approaches the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said the increasing circulation of unverified scientific claims in public discourse undermined informed decision-making and placed a responsibility on academics, particularly young researchers, to critically interrogate, verify and communicate accurate information to the public. Prof Yeboah was speaking at the 9th Induction Ceremony and 10th Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Young Academy, held on Wednesday, January 29, on the theme Strengthening Scientific Leadership for Sustainable Development in Ghana. Ceremony The ceremony brought together fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, members of the Ghana Young Academy, policymakers and researchers from across the country. As part of the event, 23 new members drawn from diverse disciplines and institutions were inducted, reinforcing the academys commitment to inclusivity, interdisciplinary collaboration and national development. Misinformation Speaking at the ceremony last Wednesday, January 29, Prof Yeboah cautioned against the growing spread of misinformation, particularly in relation to public health issues, describing it as a serious threat to public understanding and sound decision-making. He cited recent public commentary suggesting that the consumption of kokonte, a cassava-based local dish, could cure type 2 diabetes. He clarified that while cassava and its derivatives had nutritional value, there was no scientific evidence to support claims that it could eliminate the disease. Prof Yeboah commended the University of Ghana Medical School for issuing a rejoinder to correct the misinformation, noting that such interventions were critical to protecting public health and maintaining trust in scientific institutions. Concerns Prof Yeboah also raised concerns about developments in synthetic biology, particularly the growing use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI), which he said posed challenges to equitable benefit-sharing from genetic resources. He explained that DSI allowed researchers and companies to access genetic information from digital databases without referencing the country of origin, thereby excluding resource-rich countries from benefiting from innovations derived from their biological materials. He said the practice weakened international agreements on access and benefit-sharing and called for stronger global and national frameworks to protect the interests of countries such as Ghana. Role Prof Yeboah urged members of the GhYA to critically engage with Ghanas national development plans, the SDGs and Africas Agenda 2063, and to assess the countrys progress in addressing challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, illegal mining, plastic pollution and water insecurity. He emphasised that with less than five years to the 2030 SDG deadline, the country would be required to account for its progress, stressing that young scientists must contribute practical, evidence-based solutions rather than remain passive observers. Principles Delivering a keynote address, the Provost of the College of Health Sciences at KNUST and a founding member of the GhYA, Professor Christian Agyare, said the work of the academy was guided by the three core principles of excellence with relevance, interdisciplinarity and service beyond self. On excellence with relevance, Prof Agyare said the academy promoted research that met international standards while remaining responsive to Ghanas socio-economic realities. He explained that members were encouraged to align their research with national priorities to ensure that academic outputs informed health policy, environmental management, education reform, innovation and industrial development. He added that the Ghana Young Academy also served as a hub for mentorship and capacity building, offering training in science communication, leadership, grant writing and public engagement skills critical for societal impact but often underemphasised in traditional academic training. Featured Bawumia calls for unity and discipline after decisive NPP primary win GraphicOnline Politics Jan - 31 - 2026 , 22:14 3 minutes read Former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called for unity, discipline and renewed party engagement after winning the New Patriotic Partys presidential primary, describing his victory as a collective achievement that must now be translated into electoral success in 2028. Addressing party executives, delegates and supporters after the polls, Dr Bawumia said the contest had been hard-fought but necessary, stressing that success within the party required resilience and sacrifice. To secure anything precious in this life, we must be prepared to fight the hard battles, prepared to work hard and be prepared to withstand difficult circumstances, he said, adding: Tonight, victory is for all of us. I am grateful. The NPP is grateful to you all, and Ghana is grateful. Dr Bawumia thanked party delegates, election officials, security agencies and the media for their roles in the process, noting that the primary reflected the partys long-standing tradition of choosing leaders through internal democracy. He said the outcome should be respected by all members, regardless of where their support lay during the contest. It matters not which side you supported, winners and those who didnt win at this particular time, we are in this together, he said, urging party members to embrace cooperation after competition. He warned against conditional loyalty to the party, saying unity could not depend on personal preferences or factional interests. The NPP flagbearer said his election demonstrated broad-based support across the party and placed a responsibility on him to heal divisions and rebuild trust ahead of the next general election. My election today communicates a broad based appeal across the party, and I need to draw directly on that capital to unite the party as one of the crucial steps to winning power in 2028, he stated. Dr Bawumia announced plans for targeted engagements with party elders, grassroots members and especially the youth, whom he described as central to the partys future. He assured younger supporters that their concerns would be taken seriously, saying reforms had already begun. As flag bearer, I will do everything to ensure that the NPP listens more to you, is more mindful of your views and is more reflective of your desires, he said. He also placed strong emphasis on discipline within the party, warning that indiscipline could undermine its electoral prospects. An army that lacks discipline will struggle to win its battles, Dr Bawumia said. The NPP needs to step up discipline internally, discipline in our operations, discipline in our communications, and discipline in the conduct of our members. While acknowledging the enthusiasm that followed his victory, he cautioned supporters against actions that could deepen divisions. Let us celebrate in moderation, he said, adding that as far as I am concerned, everybody has won. Dr Bawumia paid tribute to his campaign teams, party executives, security agencies and the media, and offered special thanks to his family. In particular, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my beautiful wife, Samira. She has been a solid pillar to me in this campaign, he said. Official results collated by the Electoral Commission showed that Dr Bawumia secured 110,643 votes out of 195,901 valid votes cast, representing a clear majority in the nationwide primary. Former Assin Central MP, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, placed second with 46,554 votes, followed by Dr Bryan Acheampong with 36,303 votes. Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum and Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyepong placed fourth and fifth respectively. Featured Kennedy Agyapong cast ballot at Assin Central constituency in NPP presidential primary Graphic Online Politics Jan - 31 - 2026 , 09:21 5 minutes read Kennedy Ohene Agyapong voted at the Assin Central constituency of the Central Region in the NPP presidential primary. He is in the flagbearer race as one of the keen contestants with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia. 'I expect a fair context' - Kennedy Agyapong Shirley Asiedu Addo reports that Mr Kennedy Agyapong, one of the aspirants, moments after he cast his ballot at the Centenary polling station in the Assin Central constituency of the Central region, said he expects a fair contest. In an interview with the media, Mr Agyapong said he expected a violence-free and fair contest. "I don't think there will be a repetition of what happened in 2023. We hope it doesn't happen. And we have all done our job well to prevent rigging and everything, so I expect a fair context," he stated. He indicated that the party had done a lot to ensure a smooth election. "I don't expect any violence if you look at the number of police here and everything. We are praying." He further stated that he was hopeful the winner of the contest would be able to bring the party together to go into the 2028 elections. Todays presidential primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) can only produce a winner if any of the five candidates obtains more than 50 per cent of the votes. Anything short of that will call for a run-off between the two leading candidates in 14 days. The Deputy Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Electoral Commission (EC), Fred Tetteh, told the Daily Graphic that this was in accordance with the partys presidential primary rules. "Results will be declared at the NPP headquarters. An outright winner must secure more than 50 per cent of valid votes cast," he said. Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong; former Minister of Food and Agriculture and MP for Abetifi, Dr Bryan Acheampong; former Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; former Minister of Education and MP for Bosomtwi, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and former General Secretary of the party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, are seeking the endorsement of 211,849 party delegates in todays presidential primary, which will be run without biometric verification devices. Instead, the party will make two voter registers available to verifiable delegates and eligible voters, with no opportunity for proxy voting. Delegates on the electoral roll will cast their ballots at 333 polling centres in 276 constituencies nationwide. This includes the centre at the party headquarters in Accra, with the polls scheduled to open at 7 a.m. and close at 2 p.m. Mr Tetteh said all logistics and materials, including ballot papers, electoral roll (album), ballot boxes, voting screens, indelible ink and other necessary materials, needed for the election had been sent to the regions and district offices. Collation of results He said district officers and their staff, including assistant electoral officers and secretaries, would manage all the 333 polling stations, adding that each centre would have a queue controller with an album. Mr Tetteh said two registers would be used since the biometric verification machines would not be deployed for todays exercise. He said when polls closed, ballot papers would be sorted and counted at voting centres to fill and complete results sheets, with copies to be given to agents of each candidate. Results would then be transmitted electronically to the regional office to be followed with a hard copy. The EC Deputy Director said at the regional office, the director and deputies, along with agents of candidates, would tabulate results and send them electronically to the EC headquarters in Accra where a collation and national tally would be undertaken in the presence of agents of the five candidates. Mr Tetteh gave an assurance that the commission was prepared to conduct a smooth and transparent election. He stressed that the EC would handle the election with integrity, fairness, and transparency, and urged all stakeholders, including security personnel, candidates agents and EC staff, to play their roles professionally. "We expect everybody to play his or her role professionally," he said. Mr Tetteh further urged delegates to abide by the rules of the poll, stressing that the EC would not allow anyone to vote if their name was not in the album. "If anybody has an issue that cannot be solved at the polling centre, they can escalate it to the members of the Elections Committee," he said, indicating that issues with delegate names were not within the EC's mandate, but rather the responsibility of the presidential election committee of the party. Guidelines In a related development the NPP Presidential Elections Committee has announced strict security measures for the election A statement signed and issued by the Secretary to the committee, William Yamoah, reiterated that the police had the exclusive responsibility for security activities, and only delegates, committee members, aspirants and their agents would be allowed beyond the security perimeters. It said delegates were required to carry their identification cards, including voter ID, party card, passport, or Ghana card, to verify their names at the initial security checkpoint. Agents representing the presidential candidate aspirants may be stationed at the checkpoint to observe the preliminary verification of names against the voter register. The committee has also advised delegates and agents to conform to all regulations and rules on the day of voting, as stated in the Presidential Elections Operation Guidelines. Additionally, agents of the contestants are allowed to have their phones. The committee has noted that there would be no accreditation for observers, and any interested persons visiting the voting centres are requested to abide by the directives of the EC and the Police. Tourists go birdwatching on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Ren Jianguo observes bird habitats on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Dec. 6, 2019. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Birds inhabit the waters of Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Birds inhabit the waters of Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Birds inhabit the waters of Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Tourists go birdwatching on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Birds soar over Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 28, 2026 shows a large number of birds inhabiting Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) A tourist goes birdwatching on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) A tourist browses the bird posters on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Wang Tingting transfers bird food on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Ren Jianguo feeds birds on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Dec. 6, 2019. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Birds inhabit Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Wang Tingting feeds birds on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 28, 2026 shows a large number of birds inhabiting Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Wang Tingting observes bird habitats on Changbai Island in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 28, 2026. Wang Tingting, a post-90s bird protector, stays every day at Changbai Island wetland park, a bird paradise seated by the Songhua River in Jilin City, to care for the birds--providing food and observing their living conditions. In 1996, Wang Tingting's uncle Ren Jianguo dropped his business as a ferryman near Changbai Island, and became a bird keeper as he often saw people hunting birds. Wang took over her uncle's job when he was hospitalized for a sudden illness in 2023, and has rescued more than 50 birds on average each year. In recent years, local authorities of the city have continuously restored the wetland ecology of Changbai Island. Through a series of effective measures such as dispatching dedicated personnel for bird protection, standardizing viewing activities, strictly controlling sewage discharge, and scientifically restocking, Changbai Island has returned to its natural ecological beauty. Nowadays, over 13,000 birds come to Changbai Island for the winter every year. The spectacle of thousands of birds flocking together has become a major attraction for both citizens and tourists. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan) Featured Kwabena Agyepong concedes, pledges fullest support to Bawumia Kweku Zurek Politics Jan - 31 - 2026 , 18:45 2 minutes read Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary and presidential aspirant, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has conceded defeat in the partys presidential primary, offering his full support to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as provisional results pointed to a decisive victory for the former Vice President. Mr Agyepongs concession came even before the Electoral Commission completed the official declaration, as results from across the country made the outcome increasingly clear. Addressing supporters and members of his campaign team, he acknowledged the verdict of party delegates and urged unity behind the presumptive winner. We just called the presumptive winner, and we are waiting the official statement from the Electoral Commission, but it's quite clear that he's going to have victory, he said, adding that he had already taken steps to close the chapter on his campaign. He expressed appreciation to his campaign team, particularly staff at his campaign headquarters, for what he described as their dedication and hard work throughout the contest. I want to thank you, especially my head office staff, for the amount of work, he said, noting that politics inevitably produces winners and losers. Reflecting on the outcome, Mr Agyepong said he was at peace with the decision taken by party members. I'm comfortable that at the end of the day, the majority of the party have made a decision, he stated, describing himself as an eternal optimist who believes in respecting the collective will of the party. He called on all party members and supporters to rally behind the flagbearer-elect and prepare for the task ahead. It's now time for us to work in harmony, respect for one another, work together and present the best version of ourselves to the Ghanaian people so that we can earn their respect and, in fact, their trust, Mr Agyepong said. Looking ahead to the 2028 general election, he warned that the assignment would not be easy, urging the party to put internal contests behind it and focus on rebuilding momentum. We've got about two and a half years to work our way so all of us rally together and put this election behind us and look forward towards 2028, he added. Mr Agyepong also praised the conduct of the presidential primary, describing it as a credit to the New Patriotic Party and Ghanas democratic tradition. He commended the Electoral Commission and security agencies for ensuring a smooth process, despite earlier concerns. In formally conceding, he congratulated Dr Bawumia and pledged his loyalty going forward. So once again, my congratulations and congratulations of my campaign team to doctor for a decisive victory, and he can be sure or sure of my fullest support, he said. Who wins bid to lead NPP as flagbearer: Voting ends smoothly Next article: Who wins bid to lead NPP as flagbearer: Voting ends smoothly Featured NPP polls moving smoothly in Northern Region with 12,474 delegates expected to vote Mohammed Fugu & Abukari Alhassan Baba Politics Jan - 31 - 2026 , 09:00 1 minute read Voting is currently underway in all the 18 constituencies across the Northern Region in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential primary. A total of 12,474 delegates are expected to cast their ballots at 19 designated voting centres in the region. When Graphic Online reporters toured voting centers in the Sagnarigu, Tamale South, Tamale North, and Tamale Central constituencies, voting was ongoing smoothly. Delegates arrived very early with many dressed in party colours, queuing to cast their ballots. In Tamale Central, about 35 delegates had cast their votes as of 8:30am. Voting at the centre commenced on schedule, with electoral officials efficiently guiding delegates through the process. The verification and voting procedures were carried out swiftly, helping to prevent long queues. At the Sagnarigu voting centre, turnout was steady, with delegates trickling in at intervals. Party officials were on hand to provide directions, while observers monitored the process from a distance. Similar scenes were observed in Tamale South and Tamale North, where voting progressed smoothly without interruptions. Security presence was noticeable across all the centres visited. Police officers were strategically positioned to maintain law and order, while access to the voting areas was restricted to accredited delegates and officials. This visible security presence helped create a peaceful environment and boosted confidence among delegates. As of 8:50am, no incidents had been reported at any of the centres, and both party officials and delegates expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise. Featured 'Prophet' apologises after failed NPP primary prophecy GraphicOnline Politics Jan - 31 - 2026 , 19:15 2 minutes read Bernard Elbernard Nelson-Eshun, an Accra-based preacher, has publicly apologised after his widely publicised prophecy predicting victory for Kennedy Ohene Agyapong in the New Patriotic Partys presidential primary failed to materialise, as the party conducted a closely contested internal election to select its next flagbearer. The NPP primary, which brought together five high-profile aspirants, including former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, Dr Bryan Acheampong, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum and former General Secretary Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, saw 211,849 delegates voting nationwide. As provisional results began to clarify the direction of the race, Prophet Nelson-Eshun issued a statement acknowledging that his earlier declaration, made through books, videos and media interviews, was inaccurate. In the statement titled Public Statement & Apology, he admitted that his prophecy naming Mr Agyapong as the eventual winner had not come to pass. That word did not come to pass. I missed it. I was wrong, I am deeply sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness, he stated. The preacher said he spoke with what he described as prophetic authority, which caused many people to place trust in his declaration. He conceded that the prophecy had consequences for individuals who were emotionally, spiritually and politically influenced by it. I take full responsibility for this prophetic word, he said, stressing that he was not blaming anyone else or attempting to justify the failed prediction. Nelson-Eshun further apologised to supporters who may have taken decisions based on his prophecy, acknowledging the disappointment and hurt caused. He said the episode had forced him to reflect deeply on accountability and discernment in communicating prophetic revelations. The apology comes at a time when political discourse around the NPP primaries has intensified, with the role of religious commentary and prophecy in electoral processes once again drawing public attention. While the prophet reaffirmed his commitment to integrity and truth, the episode has reignited debate about the influence of spiritual declarations on Ghanas democratic culture. Featured 'The worst has happened, but life goes on' Kennedy Agyapong concedes; urges supporters to eat, drink, and await Gods time Kweku Zurek Politics Jan - 31 - 2026 , 18:08 3 minutes read Veteran politician and businessman Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has accepted defeat in the fiercely contested New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primary, calling on his dejected supporters to remain calm, keep faith alive, and rally behind the party for future battles. In an address delivered to members of his campaign teamparticularly the dedicated Team Kenshortly after provisional results began indicating a strong lead for former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Mr. Agyapong thanked his backers for their hard work and urged them not to allow disappointment to turn into bitterness or division. I know most of you are dejected. You have to keep your spirit up, because once we have life, we have everything. So dont be dejected, he said, drawing from his experience as a veteran politician who has endured several defeats in the past. Former Minister of Food and Agriculture and MP for Abetifi, Dr Bryan Acheampong; former Minister of Education and MP for Bosomtwe, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and former General Secretary of the party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong were the other candidates in todays primary. Mr. Agyapong, who mounted a robust campaign emphasising grassroots appeal, economic nationalism, and anti-corruption rhetoric, acknowledged the unpredictable nature of politics. In politics, you can win, you can lose I cushioned myself and expected the worst, and the worst has happened, but the worst doesnt mean that is the end of life, he stated. He particularly singled out appreciation for his campaign coordinator, praising the wonderful work done by the team. At an appropriate time, well meet and dine together, he added. Central to his message was a strong plea for party unity and discipline. Mr. Agyapong warned against any actions that could sow discord within the NPP. Im pleading with all of you not to do anything. We have to stay calm. We believe in the party. The delegates have spoken. We have to take it, he emphasized. Do not use this against anybody in the party Lets all come together as party members and work together, he continued, stressing that the party has three years to go ahead of the 2028 general elections. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Infusing his remarks with faith, Agyapong reminded supporters that God will take care of you. He knows today was going to come God that created us knew today will definitely come to pass. He referenced the partys experiences in 2023 to underscore resilience. In a lighter moment, he encouraged supporters to enjoy the refreshments available: Theres a lot of food. Go in there. Eat. We have champagne, wine, beer. Eat what you can eat, and lets see what tomorrow has for us. The address comes as partial results from across the country show Dr. Bawumia commanding a significant lead in many constituencies, including strong performances in Bono East, Upper East, and Greater Accra regions, while Mr. Agyapong secured impressive tallies in his home base of Assin Central (where he reportedly garnered over 495 votes) and scattered wins in other areas. The Electoral Commission is expected to make a final declaration in the coming hours. LIST: See all the recommended voting centres for the NPP's January 31 primary Next article: LIST: See all the recommended voting centres for the NPP's January 31 primary NPP polls moving smoothly in Northern Region with 12,474 delegates expected to vote Previous article: NPP polls moving smoothly in Northern Region with 12,474 delegates expected to vote Featured Who wins bid to lead NPP as flagbearer: Voting ends smoothly Graphic Online Politics Jan - 31 - 2026 , 08:58 7 minutes read Todays presidential primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) can only produce a winner if any of the five candidates obtains more than 50 per cent of the votes. Anything short of that will call for a run-off between the two leading candidates in 14 days. Gilbert Mawuli Agbey reports from Kumasi that voting commenced at exactly 7am across all the 47 constituencies within the Ashanti Region. In all, 36,626 delegates are expected to vote across the Ashanti Region. At the Kumasi Cultural Centre, hundreds of delegates in the Bantama constituency converged to vote in the presidential primary. A total of 899 delegates are expected to cast their ballot in the constituency. The voting process has been characterised by long winding queues as some of the delegates came early to vote to enable them to attend to other activities. There has not been any misunderstanding since the voting process began. More importantly, there is heavy security presence at the centre made up of personnel of the Ghana Police Service. As of 9am, more than 100 delegates had cast their ballot A member of the Kennedy Agyapong team, Ralph Agyapong expressed optimism that Kennedy Agyapong will win the constituency and the entire primary. Supporters of former Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawuima disagreed and insisted that the delegates would give Dr Bawumia another chance to lead the NPP. In an interview, the Member of Parliament for Bantama, Francis Asenso-Boakye expressed delight about the smooth voting process. He expressed optimism that the delegates would elect a formidable flagbearer to lead the party in the crucial 2028 elections. Ho From Ho, Alberto Mario Noretti reports that delegates turned up early at the two polling stations at OLA Ho Senior High School to elect the flag bearer. The process started smoothly at 7:00 am, with a remarkably heavy police presence. The Ho Municipal Electoral Commission (EC) Officer, Emilia Akortia said 230 delegates out of the expected 1,399 had cast their votes as of 9am. He described the voting process as very orderly and peaceful. We do not expect any untoward incident, she added. Sunyani Biiya Mukusah Ali reports from Sunyani that the process has been largely peaceful, with calm and orderly voting across the 12 constituencies. The enthusiasm among the 7,997 delegates to elect a flag bearer for the party was very high in the region. As early as 6:30 a.m., some delegates had already formed queues at various designated polling centres to cast their ballots. Agents of all the five presidential candidates were present at the various voting centres, ensuring close monitoring of the process. At Sunyani East Constituency, the agents were seen observing voting procedures, verifying delegate lists and engaging party officials where necessary, all without disrupting the smooth conduct of the polls. The Sunyani East Municipal Director of Electoral Commission (EC), Winifred Agyekum, told Graphic Online that at 9:50 a.m., a total of 175 delegates had voted. She said 891 delegates were expected to vote at the centre. Also, the regional police administration beefed up security to ensure law and order. There was a strict adherence to electoral guidelines laid down by the party across the voting centres. Northern Region Mohammed Fugu and Abukari Alhassan Baba reports that voting is currently underway in all the 18 constituencies across the Northern Region in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential primary. A total of 12,474 delegates are expected to cast their ballots at 19 designated voting centres in the region. When Graphic Online reporters toured voting centers in the Sagnarigu, Tamale South, Tamale North, and Tamale Central constituencies, voting was ongoing smoothly. Delegates arrived very early with many dressed in party colours, queuing to cast their ballots. In Tamale Central, about 35 delegates had cast their votes as of 8:30am. Voting at the centre commenced on schedule, with electoral officials efficiently guiding delegates through the process. The verification and voting procedures were carried out swiftly, helping to prevent long queues. At the Sagnarigu voting centre, turnout was steady, with delegates trickling in at intervals. Party officials were on hand to provide directions, while observers monitored the process from a distance. Similar scenes were observed in Tamale South and Tamale North, where voting progressed smoothly without interruptions. Security presence was noticeable across all the centres visited. Police officers were strategically positioned to maintain law and order, while access to the voting areas was restricted to accredited delegates and officials. This visible security presence helped create a peaceful environment and boosted confidence among delegates. As of 8:50am, no incidents had been reported at any of the centres, and both party officials and delegates expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise. Assin Central Shirley Asiedu Addo reports that Mr Kennedy Agyapong, one of the aspirants, moments after he cast his ballot at the Centenary polling station in the Assin Central constituency of the Central region, said he expects a fair contest. In an interview with the media, Mr Agyapong said he expected a violence-free and fair contest. "I don't think there will be a repetition of what happened in 2023. We hope it doesn't happen. And we have all done our job well to prevent rigging and everything, so I expect a fair context," he stated. He indicated that the party had done a lot to ensure a smooth election. "I don't expect any violence if you look at the number of police here and everything. We are praying." He further stated that he was hopeful the winner of the contest would be able to bring the party together to go into the 2028 elections. From the Cape Coast North and South constituencies, Shirley Asiedu-Addo and Joana Kumi report that voting commenced promptly and smoothly. According to the presiding officer for Cape Coast South constituency, Richard Asenso, 68 out of the expected 637 candidates had cast their votes as of 8:02 am. In the Cape Coast North constituency, the presiding officer, Emelia Nyarko reported that 100 out of the 635 expected candidates had participated in the voting process as of 8:46 am. Both constituencies maintained a calm atmosphere, with many security personnel present to ensure that the elections proceeded without incident. From Kpandai, Simon Unyan reports that the Member of Parliament for the area, Mathew Nyindam, called on party members to use the internal election as an opportunity for reflection, reorganisation, and reconciliation ahead of upcoming national polls. According to him, the process should strengthen unity within the party and encourage members to work together towards a common goal after the election. Mr. Nyindam made the call after casting the first ballot when voting commenced promptly at 7:00 a.m. He expressed confidence that the election would be peaceful across the country. He commended the Electoral Commission (EC) for the timely start of the process and urged delegates to conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner throughout the exercise. The Kpandai MP also lauded the District Police Command for deploying adequate security personnel to ensure a smooth and incident-free election. In all, 773 delegates are expected to cast their ballots in the constituency. Some supporters of Dr. Bryan Acheampong in the Kpandai Constituency expressed strong confidence that their candidate will secure a decisive victory in the ongoing internal contest. According to them, intensive groundwork and growing enthusiasm among delegates clearly indicate that Dr. Acheampong remains the preferred choice in the area. They maintained that he is the most marketable candidate capable of leading the party to reclaim political power in the 2028 general election. The Constituency Coordinator of Dr. Bryan Acheampongs campaign team, Joseph Kupue, told Graphic Online that the camp is optimistic of polling more than 500 votes out of the 774 delegates expected to cast their ballots. "We have done our homework very well, and the response from delegates has been encouraging. The signs on the ground point to a massive win for Dr. Acheampong, he stated. Some supporters in the constituency say they are determined to rally behind Dr. Acheampong to ensure a convincing outcome when voting closes. From Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital Haruna Yussif Wunpini reports that the voting was generally peaceful. A total of 22,264 delegates are expected to cast their ballots in 36 polling stations across the 33 constituencies. The Eastern Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Osei-Adjei told Graphic Online that constituencies such as Nsawam-Adoagyir, Nkawkaw, and New Juaben South have two polling centres each (A and B) due to their large delegate numbers, which exceeded 1000. Were less than a month away from Samsungs Galaxy Unpacked and the Galaxy S26 series leaks keep on coming. The latest one pairs the S26 Ultras key specs with even more official renders of the device in its Cobalt Violet and Black colors. The folks over at AndroidHeadlines shared a detailed spec sheet covering nearly every detail about Samsungs upcoming top-tier flagship. Galaxy S26 Ultra in Cobalt Violet and Black Galaxy S26 Ultra is reportedly getting a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with QHD+ resolution and a 1-120Hz refresh rate. The panel will feature the new Privacy Display, which limits visibility when viewed from side angles. Youre also getting a 12MP selfie shooter and S Pen support. Galaxy S26 Ultra in Black As for the dimensions, S26 Ultra is expected to come in at 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9mm and weigh 214 grams. Thats nearly identical to the S25 Ultras 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 mm profile and 218g weight. Galaxy S26 Ultra's side profile Samsung will unsurprisingly equip the S26 Ultra with Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, though we dont get confirmation if it will be a for Galaxy variety like previous S-series models. The phone will ship with 256GB base storage, though users will be able to upgrade all the way up to 1TB. The back of the phone will feature a redesigned camera island with a 200MP main shooter (ISOCELL HP2) with a rumored f/1.4 aperture for better light gathering. It will be joined by a 50MP ultrawide module (Samsung JN3), a 50MP periscope telephoto (IMX854) with 5x optical zoom, and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom. Those hoping for a larger battery capacity will be disappointed to hear that the S26 Ultra will ship with a 5,000mAh cell. While the new leak does not specify charging speeds, weve seen info that Samsung is finally ready to jump to 60W, up from 45W on the S25 Ultra. Samsung is expected to announce its S26 series on February 25, with pre-sales starting March 5 and open sales rumored for March 11. Source Life can be this fun at 100 14:18, January 31, 2026 By Zhong Wenyu ( People's Daily An AI-generated sketch of centenarian Zhong Wenyu. My name is Zhong Wenyu. I am 100 years old and live in Shanghai. On winter afternoons, I sit by the window, basking in the sun. A cup of hot milk tea rests on the coffee table, and my fingers glide across the screen of my tablet -- I'm nearly finished with this level of the match-three game. My youngest daughter likes to tease me, calling me a "playful old child." But I feel there is still a little girl inside me, curious about the world. I love food and enjoy trying new things. When it comes to eating, I like to keep up with young people. Knowing my fondness for good food, my children often bring home novel treats -- burgers, fried chicken, all kinds of desserts. I taste whatever they hand me. If it's good, my eyes light up: "This is nice, let's get more next time." If it doesn't suit my palate, I simply say nothing more. I especially love crabs. Dipped in ginger and vinegar sauce, they are incredibly fresh. Although I have almost no teeth left and my gums are shallow -- doctors advise against dentures for me -- none of this stops me from enjoying good food. Recently, my granddaughter set up a social media account for me called Baisui Zhongjie, which means centenarian sister Zhong, and filmed a short video: I sit at the dining table, fully focused on eating a marinated crab, slowly turning the shell in my hands and picking it clean, savoring every bit of meat. After the video was posted online, it received many warm messages from young people I had never met. My daughter often says that I don't watch what I eat and don't quite live up to their ideas of healthy eating. But the truth is, at my age, being able to indulge a little within reason and savor such simple pleasures feels like a gift -- a small blessing from life itself. As one grows older and less mobile, it becomes all the more important to find small joys -- life cannot be too dull. I love reading. In the past, my favorites were Chinese novelist Jin Yong's martial arts novels, which I would read page by page with a magnifying glass, utterly absorbed. As heavy books became difficult to hold, my daughter replaced them with a tablet. At first, I watched TV dramas on it. My daughter joked that drama producers couldn't keep up with my speed of viewing them. Later, my granddaughter taught me how to play games -- solitaire, match-three games. Sliding my fingers across the screen and watching colorful blocks disappear is quite entertaining. During pleasant spring and autumn days, my children wheel me outdoors. I prefer supermarkets and wet markets over parks. When I spot snacks or household items I've never seen before, I point them out and my children put them into the shopping cart. This joy of "discovery" makes me feel closely connected to the world. With an open mind, everything looks agreeable. Though I enjoy new foods, my daily rhythm is unwavering: I rise at 8 a.m., sleep before midnight, eat three meals punctually, and rest eight full hours. This routine has endured for decades. Zhong Wenyu celebrates her 101st birthday. (Photo is a snapshot of a short video) When asked about longevity, I reflect that it comes down to "not holding on too tightly" -- to opinions, grievances, or rigid ways. Among neighbors, I've never sow discord; in decades, we've never quarreled. With my children, I highlight their mutual virtues, encouraging the family to view each other's struggles and strengths with kindness. I follow the news closely. Last year's September 3rd military parade -- I watched every moment. Seeing my country getting strong, the soldiers marching in perfect formation, the formidable new equipment brought profound reassurance. When the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women was held in Beijing, I followed the live broadcast intently. Over these 100 years, Chinese women's status has undergone seismic transformation. My daughter once asked, "Mom, do you really understand all this?" Of course I do. I've lived through much. Born in Chongqing in 1925 during the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, I carried wounded soldiers on stretchers with classmates. Later I met my husband, moving from Hangzhou to Shanghai where we settled. Only those who've heard the thunder of war truly cherish peace. That's why I seek the bright side. Late-night neighbor noises? Perhaps a child needs care. Community renovation racket? It's for better living. Whether neighborhood matters or national affairs, I tell my children: "Life is hard for all -- we should be more understanding."Life remains this vibrant at 100. Each dawn brings anticipation -- what new wonders will today hold? That warm afternoon milk tea awaits. Such a rich, flavorful life is never quite enough. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russian forces have taken control of the village of Toretsk in the Donetsk region and Petrovka in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday. The Russian army also struck Ukrainian transport infrastructure facilities, ammunition depots, and temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries in 138 locations, the ministry said in a statement. Russian air defense systems shot down four guided aerial bombs, one U.S.-made HIMARS rocket, and 47 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, it added. A partial federal government shutdown will run through the weekend despite the U.S. Senate passing a deal to fund federal agencies. Guam Del. James Moylan in a statement Saturday said the House of Representatives must vote to approve the final version of the deal and isnt scheduled to return to Washington until Monday. The House could pass the bill Monday and once approved the spending package will be sent to Trump to sign. In the meantime, a partial shutdown of federal operation began at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday or 3:01 p.m. on Guam. Funding lapsed for areas of the federal government that cover Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; National Security and the Department of State; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development; Homeland Security; and Financial Services and General Government, Moylan said. Other parts of the federal government already have full-year funding and are not affected by this lapse. This includes agencies and programs funded through the Agriculture; Legislative Branch; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Interior and Environment; and Energy and Water appropriations bills, the delegate said. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, and the Women, Infants, and Children program will continue through the shutdown, Moylan said. Families who rely on these programs should not expect any interruption. Other essential services, including military operations, TSA screening, postal services, Social Security, Medicare, and VA services, will also remain operational during this short lapse, he said. The delegate said he is closely monitoring developments and remains in communication with committee staff and federal agencies to ensure that Guams essential services, especially federally supported programs, are not disrupted. The House is expected to vote on the Senates amendment to H.R. 7148 on Monday, and I will continue to keep our community informed as Congress works toward final resolution, he said. Moylan said anyone in the community who has questions or needs assistance during the funding lapse can contact his office at (671) 477-4272 or email james.moylan@mail.house.gov. Uncertainty Meanwhile, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, in an earlier interview with the Pacific Daily News said they had contingency plans aimed at preventing job losses and service interruptions in programs critical to the islands residents. This whole uncertainty of the federal government gives us really some concerns about how well we can plan, Leon Guerrero said. The Trump administration earlier this month reinstated nearly $2 billion in funding for substance use recovery and mental health programs, including more than $6 million for the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, after initially canceling the grants. The cuts, announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, included about 2,000 discretionary grants for behavioral health and addiction treatment. The restoration of funding supports critical services for nearly 20 Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center employees and nonprofit partners, including WestCare Pacific. Leon Guerrero said the island also faces financial pressures from the rollback of Guams Business Privilege Tax, BPT, which has reduced revenues by about $40 million which could be used for some of the programs to continue on. She said her priorities are to continue much needed educational, social, public health, health care and behavioral health and wellness programs for our people. The administration has also secured federal support for key programs, including Medicaid and SNAP. Tenorio said they have a close partnership with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and there has been major improvements. Our director of Public Health has secured over $38 million in federal funds to upgrade and modernize the system that provides benefits to the people, he said. He added that the improvements also affect medication distribution for Medicaid recipients. Theres also been some excellent progress in the way we purchase and distribute medicines for those that are under the Medicaid program, Tenorio said. So I would say that Guams credibility and its improvement has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and well continue on that path. He said federal advocacy requires close coordination across the governors office, Legislature, and Guams congressional delegate. Last September, the governor sent him to ensure Guam retains its share of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD funds. Tenorio added the administration continues to pursue ways to restore health care funding, because Guam is not part of the rural health funding act, requiring teamwork across all branches of government. Recent federal funding victories include raising the Medicaid cap from $18 million to $134 million and changing the federal-state share from 60% federal and 40% local to 87% federal and 13% local. Another big win, I think, is the federal government now funding the EITC program, the Earned Income Tax Program, which frees our local dollars of about $60 million a year, Tenorio said. He said infrastructure and health care remain critical priorities, including plans for a new Guam Memorial Hospital. One critical investment area that can be realized is the new hospital and the Legislature in the past, unfortunately turned down the federal governments offers to provide property and other support to build the civilian hospital, he said. I would say that those are areas that we still see some good will and good intent from them that well be harnessing. Leaders said they will continue protecting essential services while maintaining fiscal stability. We are going to be very fiscally responsible. We are looking at all options that we can have, that we have in order to continue these very vital programs that are very much necessary for our social lives, our livelihood and so forth, Leon Guerrero said. Haiti - Social : US bishops urge the Trump administration to extend TPS More than 300,000 Haitians risk losing their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) on February 3rd, 2026, which would deprive them of their protections as legal residents of the United States. On Thursday, January 29, 2026, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, Chairman of the Conferences Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a statement urging the Trump administration to "do the right thing" regarding Haitian immigrants, emphasizing, "[...] We are deeply concerned about the plight of our Haitian brothers and sisters living in the United States who will soon have their legal status and work authorization revoked due to the Administrations termination of TPS for Haiti [...] There is simply no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people to Haiti at this time," they wrote. The bishops noted that the U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 travel advisory for Haiti, advising against travel due to "life-threatening risks," including kidnapping, civil unrest, and terrorist activity. Furthermore, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. regulatory agency responsible for air traffic control and safety, has banned flights from all U.S. cities to the Haitian capital. In their statement, the U.S. bishops acknowledged that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is temporary in nature but reiterated their call for Congress to legislate to provide "viable opportunities for longtime residents with TPS, regardless of nationality, to request durable legal status." They added, however, that Congress has not passed such legislation, leaving the executive branch with the responsibility to "call for justice and mercy." "The Trump Administration still has the opportunity to do the right thingto safeguard human life, to uphold the law, and to promote greater stability for people in this country and beyond," the bishops declared. "We urge the Administration to act accordingly by extending this vital relief for Haitians." In conclusion, the bishops reaffirmed the solidarity of the American Church with all Haitians, whether they reside in Haiti, the United States, or elsewhere. "We turn to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Patroness of Haiti, for her intercession," they prayed. "May she always be a source of strength and comfort for the Haitian people." SL/ HaitiLibre The announcement on Rafah came as attacks struck homes, tents, and apartment buildings across the enclave, including areas designated under the ceasefire lines, adding to uncertainty over the stability of the United States-brokered ceasefire. Israel said it will reopen the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Sunday, ending a closure that has lasted almost two years, as Israeli air strikes across Gaza killed at least 28 Palestinians in a single day and the Israeli military accepted that Gazas official death toll from the war stands at about 70,000. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, known as COGAT, said the crossing would open for a limited movement of people only. The body, which sits within Israels defence ministry, said all movement would take place in coordination with Egypt and under Israeli security screening. The crossing, Gazas only land link not controlled directly by Israel, has remained shut since Israeli forces seized the border area in May 2024. Its closure has sharply restricted humanitarian access for Gazas population of about two million people, many of whom remain displaced and short of food, shelter, and medical care. Under the terms announced by Israel, only Palestinians who left Gaza during the war will be allowed to return. People born outside the territory will not be permitted to enter. Israeli forces will carry out additional identification checks at a corridor under army control. No humanitarian aid will pass through the crossing under the current plan. Israeli officials said the reopening will apply only to pedestrians, leaving existing shortages of food, medicine, and shelter materials unchanged. Hamas called for unrestricted movement through Rafah and accused Israel of delaying key parts of the ceasefire agreement. In a statement, the group urged mediators Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Turkey to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to implement the deal in full. The Rafah opening forms part of the second phase of the ceasefire plan announced earlier this month. The first phase concluded after the return of the remains of the last Israeli captive held in Gaza. While Israel said the truce has entered a new stage, Israeli troops still control more than half of Gaza, including territory inside the so called yellow line agreed under the ceasefire. Military operations and air strikes have continued across the enclave. On Saturday, at least 28 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, according to Gaza health officials. The dead included six children and several police officers. According to Al Jazeera, an air strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in the Mawasi area northwest of Khan Younis, killing at least seven people, including three children. In Gaza City, an apartment building in the Remal neighbourhood was struck, killing at least five people, including a mother and children. Gazas Government Media Office said Israeli attacks have killed more than 520 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October. Israeli strikes since that date have continued almost daily, with Israel saying its forces target armed groups. On Friday, Israels military made a rare public acknowledgment of the overall human cost of the war. A senior security official briefed Israeli journalists, saying about 70,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023, excluding those missing under rubble. The figure matches closely with data published by Gaza health authorities, who say more than 71,600 people have died, with at least 10,000 others presumed buried beneath destroyed buildings. For more than two years, Israeli officials dismissed the Palestinian figures as unreliable and described them as propaganda. This marked the first time Israel publicly accepted the scale of the death toll. The official said Israel is still reviewing how many of the dead were civilians. Israeli military figures previously claimed about 22,000 fighters were killed during the war, implying that most of those who died were not combatants. Sources: Al Jazeera, The Guardian HT The documents, published on Friday, include emails, flight records, images, videos, and draft legal material compiled during years of federal investigations into Epstein, who died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges linked to the sexual exploitation of minors. The United States justice department has released more than three million pages of files linked to the criminal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein , disclosing contacts with prominent political, business, and royal figures, references to Finnish women, and internal communications that have renewed scrutiny of how authorities handled the case. Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said the release marks the end of the review process. He said officials examined the material to reduce the risk of identifying victims, though survivors and their lawyers said the department failed to protect them. The files include references to Finland and several Finnish nationals. Emails show that Epstein arranged or discussed travel involving Finnish women. One woman received flight tickets to meet him. Another contacted Epstein seeking employment but did not secure a role. In one email exchange, a sender whose name remains redacted asked Epstein whether he was in New York and described a Finnish woman whom Epstein might want to meet. The sender wrote that the womans parents lived in Florida and commented on her appearance. The files provide no indication that a meeting took place. Separate material shows that Epstein sought an assistant from Finland in 2018. A young Finnish woman contacted him via Skype and exchanged nearly 30 messages. Epstein requested her CV, asked for a call, and later demanded a copy of her passport. After questioning a discrepancy in her age, he told her another candidate had been hired on a trial basis. Her name remains redacted, though her CV appears in the files. The documents also name Marko Ahtisaari, the son of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. Emails show venture capitalist Joi Ito proposed an introduction between Ahtisaari and Epstein, followed by confirmation of a meeting in November 2013. Ahtisaari told Yle that the meeting was brief, one-off, and led to no further contact. He condemned Epsteins crimes and said he had no personal or professional relationship with him. Beyond Finland, the release includes material involving senior political figures. One FBI document records an allegation that Donald Trump raped a girl aged 13 at a residence linked to Epstein. The same individual brought a civil case before the 2016 election, later withdrawing the claim. Trump has denied wrongdoing and said his contact with Epstein ended years before the allegations became public. The White House said the claims were unfounded and unverified. The files show Trumps name appearing hundreds of times, often in unverified tip line material compiled by the FBI. Emails also show correspondence between Epstein and Elon Musk between 2012 and 2014. Messages include discussion of a possible visit by Musk to Epsteins private island in the US Virgin Islands. In one exchange, Musk asked which day would host the wildest party. Later messages suggest logistical issues prevented a visit. Another section of the release contains photographs appearing to show Prince Andrew, formally known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, kneeling over a woman lying on the floor. BBC Verify said interior details match Epsteins New York townhouse. Emails between Epstein and Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, also appear. In messages from 2009, Ferguson discussed business ideas and requested financial help. Epstein later claimed to have supported her financially for years. The files include draft indictments and internal memos that suggest prosecutors once considered a wider range of charges against Epstein. One apparent draft lists more than 30 counts related to sex trafficking and prostitution. The material also includes records linked to Epsteins death in a New York jail cell, noting his preference to remain without a cellmate. The justice department said this release is final. Members of the US House Judiciary Committee said millions of pages remain withheld and called for further review. Lawmakers said the department missed a legal deadline set under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Epstein built a global network of contacts across politics, finance, academia, and royalty. Being named in the files does not indicate criminal conduct. Many figures mentioned have denied wrongdoing. HT The year 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of sister-city ties between #Harbin, northeastern China's famed "Ice City," and Rovaniemi in northern Finland - the official home of #SantaClaus. Nearly 6,000 km apart, the two cities have built close cooperation, especially around winter tourism, culture, and the ice-and-snow industry. Imagine this: Harbin's internet-celebrity Giant Snowman writes a letter to Santa Claus. What would they talk about? GAZA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian factions on Saturday rejected any Israeli involvement in the movement of passengers to and from Gaza through the Rafah crossing on the border between the strip and Egypt, stressing that it is a joint Palestinian-Egyptian facility. In a press statement issued after a meeting in Gaza City, the Follow-up Committee of National and Islamic Forces said that any measures that grant Israel a role in controlling passenger movement violate international law and fall within the framework of crimes of siege and restrictions on freedom of movement guaranteed by international humanitarian conventions. The committee urged mediators to "maintain the safety of the crossing and travelers, ensure the protection of Palestinians' right to free movement and put an end to the suffering of Gaza residents stranded abroad without restrictions or conditions." The statement was released on the eve of an anticipated reopening of the Rafah crossing on Sunday. Israel's Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said Friday in a statement that Israel will reopen the crossing for pedestrian traffic in both directions on Sunday. According to the statement, exit from and entry into Gaza via the crossing "will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission." The crossing has been a lifeline for Gaza's 2.3 million residents, serving as the primary route for humanitarian aid, medical evacuations, and civilian travel. Since Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing in May 2024, it has remained largely closed, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Also on Saturday, Egypt and Jordan condemned in separate statements Israel's violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as Israel launched fresh deadly airstrikes across the enclave late Friday and midday Saturday. In a statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said these violations inflame the situation and undermine efforts aimed at consolidating the ceasefire and restoring stability, at a time when regional and international parties are working on the second phase of the Gaza peace plan. Egypt appealed to all parties to fully commit to their responsibilities during this delicate stage and to exercise maximum restraint, thereby contributing to maintaining the ceasefire, the statement said. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement Israel's "repeated violations" of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, including the latest attacks. At least 32 Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes across Gaza late Friday and midday Saturday, Palestinian sources said, with those attacks targeting a police station, residential apartments and displacement tents. Israel said the strikes were responding to a Hamas breach of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Hamas said in a statement that its leadership held intensive contacts with mediators and other international parties, expressing its "rejection and condemnation of Israel's conduct and the continuation of its aggression against the Gaza Strip under false pretexts and baseless allegations." Since the latest ceasefire took effect in October 2025, at least 509 Palestinians have been killed and 1,405 wounded by Israeli fire, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 71,769, with 171,483 others wounded, Gaza-based health authorities said Saturday. Locals walk past the wreckage of a destroyed vehicle at the site of an attack in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on Jan. 31, 2026. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani security forces and law enforcement agencies have "successfully thwarted the evil design of terrorists," killing 92 terrorists in the country's southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, the military said in a statement. The terrorists conducted multiple terrorist activities across the province on Saturday, the statement said, adding that the attacks were aimed at "disrupting the lives of local populace and development of Balochistan." The military said 18 innocent civilians were killed in Gwadar and Kharan districts, and during clearance operations and intense standoffs, 15 soldiers also lost their lives. "With these successful operations in last two days, the total number of terrorists killed in the ongoing operations in Balochistan has reached 133," the statement added, explaining that 41 of them were killed Friday in the province. Sanitization operations in these areas are being continuously conducted, and the perpetrators and facilitators of these terrorist acts will be brought to justice, the statement said. Intelligence reports have unequivocally confirmed that the attacks were orchestrated and directed by terrorist ring leaders operating from outside Pakistan, the military said. A man looks at the wreckage of a destroyed vehicle at the site of an attack in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on Jan. 31, 2026. Pakistani security forces and law enforcement agencies have "successfully thwarted the evil design of terrorists," killing 92 terrorists in the country's southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, the military said in a statement. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) Wreckage of a destroyed vehicle is seen at the site of an attack in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on Jan. 31, 2026. Pakistani security forces and law enforcement agencies have "successfully thwarted the evil design of terrorists," killing 92 terrorists in the country's southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, the military said in a statement. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) A damaged building is seen at the site of an attack in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on Jan. 31, 2026. Pakistani security forces and law enforcement agencies have "successfully thwarted the evil design of terrorists," killing 92 terrorists in the country's southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, the military said in a statement. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) TEHRAN/CAIRO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday discussed in a phone call the necessity of resorting to diplomacy for the resolution of regional issues, amid rising Iran-U.S. tensions. Pezeshkian said that Iran has in no way sought war and believes that war will neither be in its own interest nor that of the United States and the West Asia region, according to a statement published on the website of his office. Pezeshkian said that Iran has always prioritized diplomacy over war for the resolution of issues, adding that Iran stresses the need for the formation of diplomatic processes and the pursuit of a dignity-based diplomacy on equal footing and in the absence of threats, so that dialogue can be formed in a "calm and constructive" atmosphere. The Egyptian president said that any escalation of tension or conflict will lead to negative consequences for Iran and the entire region, giving the assurance that Egypt will continue its efforts to reduce tensions and is ready to support diplomatic initiatives to solve problems and ensure regional stability, according to a statement by the Egyptian Presidency. The phone call came amid rising tensions between Iran and the United States, with the latter bolstering its military presence in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump said a "massive armada," led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and larger than the fleet sent to Venezuela, is heading toward Iran. The deployment reflects the heightened risk of confrontation, even as Washington publicly holds out the possibility of diplomacy. Earlier on Saturday, Iran's Army Chief Amir Hatami warned that if the United States makes any mistake, it will definitely jeopardize its own security and that of Israel and the entire West Asia region. Later, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani wrote on social media platform X that the formation of a structure for negotiations with the United States is "progressing," without elaborating. CAIRO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian security official said Saturday that a structure for talks with the United States is being established, following two explosions in Iran earlier in the day that Israeli officials have denied any involvement in. The developments unfold amid heightened regional tensions and U.S. military movements. At least four people were killed in a gas explosion at a residential building in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan on Saturday, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported, noting that the incident was caused by a gas leak at the four-unit building located in the provincial capital Ahvaz. Separately, an explosion at an eight-story building in Bandar Abbas, a port city in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, killed at least one person and injured 14 others, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, with the cause under investigation. Following the explosion, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy, whose headquarters are in Hormozgan, said no drone attack has been carried out against any of its headquarters in the province, and no building affiliated with the force has been destroyed. The IRGC also roundly rejected rumors of the assassination of its Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri. Meanwhile, senior Israeli officials, quoted by major Israeli media, denied any Israeli role in the two incidents. A security official told state-owned Kan TV News that "we are monitoring, it is not ours or from us." Channel 12 News reported the Israeli security establishment's assessment that the two explosions were likely caused by an "internal incident." These developments came amid rising regional tensions, especially between Iran and the United States, with the latter bolstering its military presence in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that a "massive armada" is heading toward Iran and indicated he has given Tehran a deadline. Meanwhile, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, USS Delbert D. Black, recently made a port call in Eilat at the northern tip of the Red Sea. On Saturday, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich wrote on social media platform X that she had an interview with Trump earlier in the day, during which Trump indicated that Washington hopes to continue talks with Iran and achieve results. According to Heinrich, Trump also told her that Washington did not tell its Mideast allies about its plans for Iran. On the Iranian side, Army Chief Amir Hatami warned Saturday that if the United States makes any mistake, it will definitely jeopardize its own security and that of Israel and the entire West Asia region, whereas Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani wrote later on X that the formation of a structure for negotiations with the United States is "progressing," without elaborating. Additionally, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi was quoted on Saturday by RIA Novosti as saying that Tehran and Washington may cooperate on energy if they manage to resolve existing disagreements and conclude a new nuclear deal based on the U.S. recognition of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. The evolving situation has alarmed regional leaders and sparked urgent calls from the international community for renewed diplomacy. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who held separate phone calls with his counterparts from Iran, Qatar, Turkiye and Oman, as well as with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, on Saturday urged the United States and Iran to resume negotiations and "reach a peaceful, consensual settlement" to the nuclear issue. This photo taken on Jan. 31, 2026 shows a Chinese-built graphite processing plant in Nipepe District, Niassa Province, Mozambique. A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) MAPUTO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. At the ceremony, Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo extended greetings to the representatives of DH Grafite and to the Chinese business community present, commending them for the confidence they have shown in Mozambique and for their concrete commitment to production and local processing. The project was initiated and invested in by the Chinese company Jinan Yuxiao Group, with a total investment of about 150 million U.S. dollars. It covers mining, beneficiation and processing, and is designed with an annual capacity of 200,000 tonnes of graphite. President Chapo, Mozambican Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Estevao Rafael Pale, and representatives of the Niassa provincial government attended the event. Chapo said that more than inaugurating a production facility, this occasion celebrates the vision of a country that is moving away from being merely a supplier of raw materials and is instead positioning itself as a producer, processor and exporter of value-added products, thereby creating jobs for its people, generating income for families and bringing development to Mozambique. During project implementation, the company invested in the construction of a bridge across the Lurio River in Niassa Province and built nearly 100 kilometers of roads, connecting the Nipepe area to the national trunk transport network. About 100 kilometers of 110-kilovolt power transmission lines were also built to provide stable and reliable electricity for local residents and regional development. Local resident Domingos Yahaia said living conditions in the surrounding communities have improved significantly since the project began. New housing has been built in Nipepe and Maua, relocated families now have safer homes, children can attend new schools, and access to healthcare and public security has also improved. Wu Tao, chairman of Jinan Yuxiao Group, said the project has employed more than 800 local workers, and with the advancement of the second phase, total employment is expected to exceed 2,000. He added that systematic training programs will be implemented to enhance workers' skills and help improve local incomes and living conditions. This photo taken on Jan. 30, 2026 shows new housing built by the Chinese company Jinan Yuxiao Group in Nipepe District, Niassa Province, Mozambique. A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) A drone photo taken on Jan. 31, 2026 shows a Chinese-built graphite processing plant in Nipepe District, Niassa Province, Mozambique. A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) This photo taken on Jan. 30, 2026 shows a production line at a Chinese-built graphite processing plant in Nipepe District, Niassa Province, Mozambique. A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo visits a Chinese-built graphite processing plant in Nipepe District, Niassa Province, Mozambique, Jan. 30, 2026. A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) People walk on a bridge across the Lurio River, built by the Chinese company Jinan Yuxiao Group, in Nipepe District, Niassa Province, Mozambique, Jan. 31, 2026. A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) A drone photo taken on Jan. 31, 2026 shows a Chinese-built graphite processing plant in Nipepe District, Niassa Province, Mozambique. A graphite processing plant invested in and built by a Chinese-funded enterprise was inaugurated on Friday in the Nipepe district of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) CAIRO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday urged the United States and Iran to resume negotiations and "reach a peaceful, consensual settlement" to the nuclear issue, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. Abdelatty held separate phone calls with his counterparts from Iran, Qatar, Turkiye and Oman, as well as with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, to discuss regional developments and de-escalation efforts, the ministry said in a statement. The discussions followed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's call to ease tensions in the Middle East, it added. The minister emphasized that military solutions are not viable for the region's challenges and called for increased de-escalation efforts and finding peaceful solutions via diplomacy and dialogue to prevent the region from sliding into a state of insecurity and instability. He urged continuing construction communication among concerned parties to bring the United States and Iran back to negotiations and to reach a peaceful, consensual settlement based on mutual respect and shared interests for all parties. Abdelatty's counterparts agreed to intensify de-escalation efforts and prioritize diplomatic solutions. The discussions come amid heightened tensions: EU foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to add Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the bloc's terrorist list, a move Tehran called "hostile and provocative." U.S. President Donald Trump said a "massive armada," led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, is heading toward Iran, warning that "time is running out" for Tehran to reach a deal with the United States. ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) has condemned two successive "heinous" terrorist attacks in Niger in January. The AU, in a statement issued late Friday, said the AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has learned "with deep concern" of the attack carried out against the Diori Hamani International Airport in the country's capital Niamey during night of Jan. 28 to 29 by armed individuals. Youssouf also expressed "profound sadness" on another deadly attack perpetrated on Jan. 18 in the village of Bosiye, in western Niger, which claimed the lives of around 30 innocent civilians. The AUC chief "condemns in the strongest terms these heinous acts, which form part of the campaign of terror conducted by violent extremist groups deliberately targeting civilian populations and public infrastructure," the statement read. Commending the "swift and effective" response of the Nigerien security forces, which made it possible to contain the attack on the airport, he expressed the AU's solidarity and compassion with the people and government of Niger. Youssouf further acknowledged the efforts undertaken by the West African country in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism, particularly through operations conducted by the Nigerien Armed Forces. "Terrorism and violent extremism constitute a serious threat to peace, stability and territorial integrity of the affected states," he said. Youssouf reiterated the 55-member bloc's "full readiness" to continue supporting the efforts of the Nigerien authorities in close coordination with regional countries and relevant partners, in order to strengthen the fight against the common threat, protect civilian populations, and safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. Niger's Defense and Security Forces on Thursday announced that security forces neutralized at least 20 mercenaries and arrested 11 others in response to an attack on Niamey's Diori Hamani International Airport. The attack occurred on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, when a group of mercenaries, on a remotely directed mission, targeted Air Base 101, near the airport, according to Niger's Ministry of National Defense. ABUJA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Multiple people were feared killed and others injured after a suspected Boko Haram terrorist attack on a group of laborers in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, multiple sources said Friday. About a dozen bodies were buried after the incident at Wajirko, a village along the Maiduguri-Damboa road on Thursday, local media reported, citing Aliu Zaifada, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress party in that part of the country. All the victims were laborers repairing a bridge damaged during previous attacks by Boko Haram, said sources, who feared the death toll was between 10 and 20. "Following the assault, 10 of the deceased who were identified as Muslims were buried at the emir's palace in Biu in accordance with Islamic rites," said Zaifada, describing the killing as "a stark reminder" of the volatile security situation in the region. Another source said the injured victims were sent to a nearby hospital in Biu, a town in southern Borno state. Neither the government nor security authorities have so far commented on the attack. ACCRA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The governments in West Africa and the Sahel region late Friday announced a multipronged approach to combating terrorism and violent extremism, which have become a major worry to their countries. The governments said in a communique at the end of a two-day Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security held in Ghana that they are resolved to strengthen regional cooperation to address the evolving peace, security, and governance challenges to rebuild regional stability. They also highlighted the need to shift toward a human security approach underpinned by regional solidarity, respect for sovereignty, and a people-centered, gender-responsive approach to peace-building, security, and counterterrorism. Recognizing the inextricable link between transnational organized crimes and violent extremism, the countries also agreed to strengthen regular meetings of states in the region to review peace and security commitments and strengthen intelligence and information sharing to enhance surveillance to preempt these crimes. Moreover, the West African nations also agreed to reinforce the harmonization of legal frameworks to enhance the cross-border prosecution of terrorism-related offenses while safeguarding human rights. "This high-level conference is committed to considering adopting hot-pursuit bilateral and multilateral agreements to support the fight against transnational crimes," said the communique read by Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. Furthermore, member states agreed to design a foundational memorandum of understanding and protocols on cooperation and security within six calendar months after the high-level consultative conference to serve as the basis for further agreements. COLOMBO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) has rescued 21 local and foreign tourists from drowning during lifesaving operations conducted in January, SLCG said in a press release on Saturday. The coast guard said it operates 17 lifesaving posts at key tourist beaches around the island. Rescue missions from these have saved 15 foreign nationals and six Sri Lankans from strong currents and rough seas. Since its establishment in 2010, coast guard lifesavers have rescued 2,568 people, including 1,179 foreign nationals, according to official data. Sri Lanka's beaches attract thousands of visitors each year, particularly during the peak tourism season, prompting authorities to maintain round-the-clock surveillance and rapid response teams at popular coastal locations. A lantern inspired by the Chinese zodiac horse is pictured in Singapore on Jan. 30, 2026. Lanterns in celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year were officially lit up in Singapore's Chinatown on Friday evening. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) Lanterns in celebration of the Chinese New Year are pictured in Singapore on Jan. 30, 2026. Lanterns in celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year were officially lit up in Singapore's Chinatown on Friday evening. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) A lantern inspired by the Chinese zodiac horse is pictured in Singapore on Jan. 30, 2026. Lanterns in celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year were officially lit up in Singapore's Chinatown on Friday evening. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) A lantern inspired by the Chinese zodiac horse is pictured in Singapore on Jan. 30, 2026. Lanterns in celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year were officially lit up in Singapore's Chinatown on Friday evening. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) Ambulances gather near an attack site in Quetta, southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Jan. 31, 2026. At least 58 terrorists, 15 troops, policemen and civilians were killed during follow-up operations launched in response to coordinated attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, security sources said on Saturday. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- At least 58 terrorists, 15 troops, policemen and civilians were killed during follow-up operations launched in response to coordinated attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, security sources said on Saturday. The operations were conducted at multiple locations across the province as part of an ongoing crackdown against separatist outfits operating in the province, the sources told Xinhua. The sources said that 10 personnel from the security forces and police were killed during the operations. In a separate incident linked to the attacks, five members of a Baloch laborer family, including a woman and three children, were killed in the port city of Gwadar after coming under terrorist violence. Security forces have continued search and clearance operations in the affected areas, supported by aerial surveillance, to eliminate any remaining militants and restore security, the sources added. A security forces helicopter flies over an attack site in Quetta, southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Jan. 31, 2026. At least 58 terrorists, 15 troops, policemen and civilians were killed during follow-up operations launched in response to coordinated attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, security sources said on Saturday. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) Rescuers transfer a victim's body in Quetta, southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Jan. 31, 2026. At least 58 terrorists, 15 troops, policemen and civilians were killed during follow-up operations launched in response to coordinated attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, security sources said on Saturday. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) This photo taken with a mobile phone shows a burnt police vehicle following an attack in Quetta, southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Jan. 31, 2026. At least 58 terrorists, 15 troops, policemen and civilians were killed during follow-up operations launched in response to coordinated attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, security sources said on Saturday. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) An ambulance enters an attack site in Quetta, southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Jan. 31, 2026. At least 58 terrorists, 15 troops, policemen and civilians were killed during follow-up operations launched in response to coordinated attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, security sources said on Saturday. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) TOKYO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Three people were found dead after a fire destroyed a two-story home in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, early Saturday morning, Kyodo News reported, citing the police. An emergency call was made at around 5:35 a.m. local time to report the fire, and the blaze was extinguished about two and a half hours later. Police said a couple in their 60s and their daughter in her 30s were living at the house and have been unreachable since the fire. Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the deceased and are investigating the cause of the fire. BELGRADE, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- An immersive music and opera gala at the Chinese Cultural Center in Belgrade drew hundreds of attendees on Friday evening, marking the launch of the 2026 Chinese New Year celebrations in Serbia. The gala featured performances by both Chinese and Serbian artists, highlighting cultural traditions from the two countries. Serbia's National Folk Dance Ensemble "Kolo" presented the Kolubara Dance, a folk tradition from western Serbia. Dragoljub Bajic, director of the Belgrade National Theatre, performed the song "Bella Ciao," while musician Slobodan Trkulja presented the Chinese folk classic "Jasmine Flower" together with "My Beautiful Black Eyes," blending Chinese and Serbian musical elements. The Chinese program opened with a traditional Yingge Dance titled "In the Name of Yingge," performed by children from Beijing's Fengtai District Children's Palace. Artists from southwest China's Sichuan Province staged a series of performances showcasing regional culture, including excerpts from Sichuan Opera featuring the Monkey King, instrumental pieces played on pipa and erhu such as "A Moonlit Night on the Spring River" and "Horse Racing," as well as dance works including "Koi" and a Tibetan dance drama. The face-changing act, a signature technique of Sichuan Opera, drew strong audience response. A robotic dance performed by a dozen robots concluded the gala, with many attendees going on stage afterward to take photos. Serbian Deputy Parliament Speaker Marina Ragus attended the event and extended New Year greetings, praising the joint performances by Chinese and Serbian artists. Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming said the gala marked the first event in the 2026 "Happy Spring Festival" series in Serbia. He said nearly 20 programs will be staged across seven cities nationwide this year. Li added that the Year of the Horse symbolizes vitality and energy, and conveyed New Year wishes to the audience. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The Neighborhood Hotel offers a well-equipped, well-designed basecamp to inspire exploration, with large, comfortable and stylish residential-like suites, thoughtful amenities for both work and play, and prime locations with direct access to beloved neighborhoods. For guests, the team at The Neighborhood Hotel is their main source of information and inspiration. The team is composed of locals so each recommendation or answer to a question comes from someone who lives and loves where guests just stay. Not sure where to take your partner for dinner or kids for activities? Need a workout plan or a quick route to your meeting? Theyve got you covered. Need gear like a yoga mat or cooler, a bike or a sled? Theyve got that, too. The Neighborhood Hotel is owned and operated by Experiential Capital Group (ECG), who believes the lines are blending between real estate asset types, demanding more dynamic and relevant user experiences, like The Neighborhood. Founder Jonathan Gordon, a travel enthusiast, was inspired to create the new hotel brand from his business travels. Spending weeks in convention centers or business districts and their nearby hotels and restaurants, he missed the essence of the city he was in and craved more authentic travel experiences - discovering neighborhood coffee shops, unearthing local running paths and so much more, even if it meant he was further from his meetings. With The Neighborhood Hotel, the properties appeal to both business and leisure travelers who are looking to truly understand what makes their destination unique. When you stay at The Neighborhood Hotel, you are part of the community and have a place to call home. EPA Seeks Applicants for Environmental Education Grants WASHINGTON U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced up to $3.2 million in funding for environmental education grants to support local, community-driven projects that help Americans protect their water, health, and natural surroundings. EPA expects to award up to 16 grants nationwide, ranging from $200,000 to $250,000 each through the Environmental Education Grant Program. The Environmental Education Grant Program is designed to give Americans the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about their environment; from protecting local waterways to supporting responsible stewardship in their own backyards. These grants support hands-on projects that help people better understand environmental challenges in their own communities and take practical steps to address them. Projects supported under this program emphasize real-world learning, community engagement, and solutions that can be applied at the local level. The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is now posted on www.grants.gov and the Environmental Education Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity webpage and applications are due on March 3, 2026. EPA's Environmental Education and Stewardship Division will host a webinar on February 5, 2026, to provide a general overview of the current NOFO, discuss how to write a competitive application, and answer commonly asked questions. Webinar registration details will be available on https://www.epa.gov/education/ grants#webinar. Stay up to date on all environmental education grant information, including announcements related to upcoming webinar registration, by subscribing to the Environmental Education listserv. North Adams Councilors Bring 2026 Goals Into Focus NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The city councilors this week took the unusual step of outlining their goals and focuses for the new term. The request was made by new City Councilor Lillian Zavatsky, who said it came from her own experience as an audience member at council meetings. "It's hard for councilors to talk about the good work that they are doing in these different committee meetings, because the public might not necessarily be there," she said. "I think it's just really helpful, or I hope it will be really helpful, to kind of ground ourselves in, what are our priorities for the year? What are the things that we've been talking about in our various committees? What are the things we anticipate talking about in our various committees ... ." Zavastky said she was going to focus on the committees she was assigned to at the Organization of Government on Jan.1: Finance and Public Service. She was also appointed to the Affordable Housing Trust, a new entity established by ordinance last year. Community Development: Andrew Fitch, Lisa Blackmer, Alexa Macdonald Andrew Fitch, Lisa Blackmer, Alexa Macdonald General Government: Keith Bona, Bryan Sapienza, Ashley Shade Keith Bona, Bryan Sapienza, Ashley Shade Finance: Lisa Blackmer, Lillian Zavatsky, Andrew Fitch Lisa Blackmer, Lillian Zavatsky, Andrew Fitch Public Safety: Bryan Sapienza, Peter Breen, Marie McCarron Bryan Sapienza, Peter Breen, Marie McCarron Public Services: Peter Breen, Marie McCarron, Lillian Zavatsky "My goals in this year will be develop an understanding of what is the full scope of projects that an affordable housing trust can do, and prioritize those in what we want to do," she said, and to establish connections with the Lenox and Williamstown housing trust to develop a network and share resources and knowledge. Picking up on comments by Virginia Riehl, a strong supportor for housing, to commit funds toward the trust, Zavatsky said she would "advocate for a substantial and reoccurring, steady source of funding." Riehl, speaking at both hearing of visitors and open forum, challenged the council and administration to find $100,000 to get the trust up and running. She pointed to monies found for the recreation center, Brown Street bridge and other projects. "We know how to find money. We just need to work at it," she said. "It demonstrates to the state and to private funders that North Adam is committed to addressing housing. And if you go for a grant and you say you have matching money, you are in better shape to get the funding than if you don't." Zavatsky's also looking forward to learning about the budget and especially capital planning as a member of Finance, and getting a better understanding of city's infrastructure on Public Services. Councilor Lisa Blackmer said, as chair of Finance and member of Community Development and the Planning Board, she wants to analyze the city's Vision 2030 master plan. "We have four years left. Where are we? What have we done? What's changed? Some things that made sense then might not make sense now," she said. "Is our budget and our capital plan aligned with the document." She also wants to start budget discussions earlier and have more and shorter meetings, rather than spending two hours or more at time. "The mayor and I talked about starting them in March," Blackmer said. "We're going to plan to have more meetings for budget discussions covering fewer topics per meeting. ... It's hard to absorb that much information and have a really productive conversation." It's a little scary to sign up to do specific things, Councilor Andrew Fitch said, thanking Zavatsky for putting it on the agenda. "If we don't meet those specific things, we might look bad. I think this is an opportunity to share, as you two already have, things that we want to focus on, and I think that that is safe and open to do." He said he's focusing on the budget as a member of Finance, and said he will only vote for "a budget which I feel is responsible, not dipping into funds that we should be saving for emergency use, progressive, and invests in our future." That includes continued investing in the Community Development Office, where he has pushed for a city planner, and as chair of the Community Development Committee, he wants to have at least quarterly meetings at different public access buildings. I'd like to shine a spotlight on key projects that I think need a spotlight shown on them that is just basically reminding the community, what about this project?" Fitch said. As liaison to the Airport Commission, he plans to attend as many meetings as possible to make sure it's setup for success after a very rocky year or so. Councilor Peter Breen, as chair of Public Services, said the committee has started formulating its goals, such as doing workshops to determine departments' statuses and needs and come up with ideas and solutions. The committee's purview is all-encompassing, he said, "it's the highways, the cemeteries, the library, it's every public building ... I think that'll help us out, looking not just inward, but outward. What are other places doing? What makes sense?" He's also looking to have meetings earlier in the evening to encourage more participation and, as an appointed member of the Northern Berkshire secondary education task force, said he will need guidance from the mayor and the City Council as the study moves forward. "I'm really excited about it. That's going to be months, year kind of thing and but I think it's a great thing because it's the children that are in our community," Breen said. Councilor Bryan Sapienza is on the Public Safety and General Government committees, a member of the Traffic Commission and liaison to the Hoosac Water Quality District. His focus will be keeping up with ordinances, including discussion on a proposed nip bottle ban, and facilitating the recodification process of the city's ordinances. "A lot of the stuff that happens in Traffic Commission and Public Safety go hand in hand, and it's nice to be able to bring something from the Traffic Commission right to Public Safety, and there's no loss of communication there," he said. But it will be his first time with the water quality district, "I've got a lot of learning in that particular process. I've heard from some members of the community. I'm not going to get into details tonight, but some things to look at in the future, hopefully, good, positive changes with that." Councilor Alexa Macdonald is on Community Development and co-chair of the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) Commission, and liaison to the Youth Commission, and said her focus will be on community development and youth and family. "For the IDEA Commission specifically, we've already met and are very excited," she said. "It sounds like it's a lot working from the ground up, a bit of restarting and looking for new members, as well as helping to do some more policy work, training for city staff as well as City Council." She is looking forward to helping develop strong, successful commissions, and figuring out how the Youth Commission in particular can be sustained as people transition to college and graduate from high school. "I'm focused on helping North Adams be a safe and thriving community and connected community," said Councilor Marie McCarron. "That's my biggest thing, I just want everything to be connected. I am prioritizing strong policing, strong fire and EMS to keep our community safe." As a new member of both Public Services and Public Safety, she wants to learn how everything works, support sustainable city services and "dig more into infrastructure." A teacher, she's also liaison to the North Adams Public School and the Berkshire Arts & Technology Public Charter School. "I have a strong connection between the schools, and I want to keep that strong connection between the school and the community, to let the City Council know what's going on in our schools. Bring back the positive things that are happening in our schools," McCarron said. "More broadly, I see my priorities as fostering ... economic development, downtown revitalization, affordable housing ... I just want to help our city grow. Neighborhood blight is a top issue for Councilor Keith Bona, who said his focus and goals aren't tied to any particular committee but rather to issues and agenda items. "My primary concerns are focusing on neighborhood blight, reducing the city's property inventory and enhancing the city's appeal to attract new business and jobs," he said. "I hope the Affordable Housing Trust will explore new initiatives that could provide financial incentives to investors to renovate blighted properties, particularly along our main corridors. "Additionally, I would like the council to be updated by the administration on the most problematic properties and the city's current effort to address those conditions as these are often brought to our attention, and yet we have little current information on them." Bona's also pushing for a mobile parking app and implementing a community camera program, both of which he's advocated for in the past. He said he's committed to collaborating with the administration and council members, and that he may jump all in on a good idea that someone brings forward. Plus, he said, there's things that can be done outside of council to build community. President Ashley Shade also thanked Zavatsky for putting this on the agenda and said it was great to hear from all the councilors on the work they want to do and what they want to achieve. A top goal for her is getting the city code updated because it's difficult to navigate and often conflicting. "I think the average person should be able to look at your city ordinances, your city laws, find what they're looking for, but also understand it without needing an attorney to help them," she said. "In the immediate term, I personally plan to introduce some ordinances that I've been working on with the administration, I'm going to bring back to the council, one of which will make Virginia very happy and will have consequences that will help slowly start to fund the Affordable Housing Trust." She also plans to work with city clerk on modernizing her office, and as liaison to the North Adams Chamber, foster a better relationship between local businesses and city government. "My first and top priority is the people of North Adams. It's listening to you. It's hearing what you need. It's working with the people and getting them more involved," Shade said. "I want more public engagement. I want to see people here. I want to hear from you. I want to know what you need us to do for you." Friday Front Porch Feature: A Grand House in Pittsfield PITTSFIELD, Mass. Are you looking for a home that's grand and spacious? Then this is the house for you. Our Friday Front Porch is a weekly feature spotlighting attractive homes for sale in Berkshire County. This week, we are showcasing 5 Eastbrook Lane in Pittsfield. This 2006 home has four bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. It is 3,196 square feet on over an acre of property. The house comes with vaulted ceilings, expansive windows, hardwood floors, and a gas fireplace, and will come with major appliances. It's set back from the road in the Woodmont Estates neighborhood, near the 11,000-acre Pittsfield State Forest and not far from Berkshire Community College. It is on the market for $849,000. We spoke to Jessica Kahn with the Kahn Team at Bishop West Real Estate, which holds the listing. What makes this property stand out in the current market? Kahn: This home stands out as one of the strongest offerings currently available in Woodmont Estates, Pittsfield's only gated residential community, and one of the few in the Berkshires. It offers a combination of privacy, generous living space, and a layout that works well for both everyday life and larger gatherings. Buyers drawn to gated communities often value a sense of security and neighborhood connection, and this home delivers that while also offering flexibility, comfort, and move-in-ready condition. Its location provides easy access to downtown Pittsfield, cultural destinations, and the outdoor recreation that makes the Berkshires such a special place to live. In a market where buyers are paying close attention to long-term value, this home stands out for its setting, scale, and livability. What kind of buyer would this home be ideal for? This home is a great fit for buyers relocating to the Berkshires who appreciate the ease and peace of mind that comes with a gated community something that's relatively unique to this area. With multiple living spaces and a flexible layout, it works well for a growing family, a multi-generational household, or a couple who wants room for guests without feeling overwhelmed by the size of the home. It offers space when you need it, and comfort when you don't. For buyers looking for privacy, community, and room to grow, this home checks all the boxes. What was your first impression when you walked into the home? There's an immediate sense of arrival. From the moment you approach the front door, the home feels welcoming. Inside, the entry opens to tall ceilings and an abundance of natural light, creating a space that feels open without being cold or formal. The layout flows easily from one room to the next, making it both attractive and practical. It's a home that feels impressive, but also comfortable and easy to imagine living in. Have there been any standout design features or recent updates? The home has seen thoughtful updates that focus on comfort and function. Vaulted ceilings, large windows, and oak hardwood floors define the main living areas, while the gas fireplace adds warmth and a natural gathering point. The custom kitchen, with maple cabinetry, granite countertops, and updated finishes, truly serves as the center of the home and connects naturally to both formal and casual spaces. The newly finished lower level adds valuable flexibility, whether used as a media room, guest space, or for multi-generational living, with a lower level bathroom added as well. Mechanical improvements and interior updates add to the home's overall move-in-ready feel. What do the current owners enjoy most about the home? The owners appreciate how easily the home supports both everyday living and time spent with family and friends. They value the privacy of the gated setting, the natural light throughout the day, and the way the layout has adapted to their changing needs over time. The primary suite has been a comfortable retreat, and the finished lower level has provided extra space for guests and activities. Outside, the fenced dog run with direct access from the house has been a small feature that made a big difference in daily life. What would you say to a buyer trying to imagine their life in this space? This is a home that fits real life. It's easy to picture quiet mornings with sunlight filling the rooms, relaxed evenings by the fireplace, and weekends spent hosting friends or family without feeling crowded. Whether you're new to the Berkshires or looking for a home that can evolve with you, this property offers a balance of comfort, space, and connection to both the neighborhood and the surrounding community. You can find out more about this house on its listing here. *Front Porch Feature brings you an exclusive to some of the houses listed on our real estate page every week. Here we take a bit of a deeper dive into a certain house for sale and ask questions so you don't have to. Taconic High Speaker Booted for Passing Out 'Political Material' PITTSFIELD, Mass. A guest speaker at Taconic High School was escorted out of the building after school officials said they passed around unapproved political material. Principal Matthew Bishop sent out an email and voice message to the school community explaining some of what happened. The event was an approved community outreach activity to write letters to veterans. The principal said the guest speaker had provided officials with the materials to be used for the activity, which were reviewed and approved. "However, the guest speaker began distributing politically motivated materials that were not previously approved," Bishop said. "As soon as staff became aware of this, we immediately asked that guest speaker to leave. ... "The unauthorized materials distributed today were not part of what was shared with us beforehand. This was a breach of trust and we wanted to be clear. The distribution of these materials is not endorsed by our school in any way." Bishop did not identify who the speaker or what the unauthorized materials were. Some parents have pointed to a Turning Point USA representative and that the political material was a red wristband that says "We are Charlie Kirk." An image posted to Facebook shows a group of male students showing off the bracelets with a woman wearing a shirt with a "Club America" logo on it. Club America is high school chapter of Turning Point, a conservative nonprofit founded Kirk. The organization says it promotes the principles of "freedom, free markets and limited government. It also operates the "Professor Watchlist" which has been used to intimidate and harass instructors who are seen as leftists. Kirk was a rightwing commentator and podcaster who was shot and killed last year at one of the "debate" events he frequently held at colleges and universities. Parents have posted texts from their children about the event, with one student saying "it was a whole meme and everyone wanted one," later selling her's for $5. She said it was called "patriotism merch or whatever." Another student posted the classmates wanted to now about her role and she told them that it was her job. "The first thing she had said to us was im not here do discuss what side I support she said this is just my job that I applied for [sic]," the student wrote. "Politics shouldn't be shared to students but the information that many of us gathered was useful. Talking about charlie kirk, is just like talking about any other activist." "We take seriously our responsibility to provide a safe and appropriate learning environment and are recommitting to strengthening our guest speaker approval process," said Bishop. "The program was designed to build community and gather student voice. And not to endorse any political views." Still, he said, the activity was an overall positive experience and that "most of our students had today, or the many other ways they were able to connect and give back to our community." MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed after a private sauna caught fire Saturday in the city of Prokopyevsk in central Russia's Kemerovo region, local authorities said. The incident occurred at around 8:22 p.m. local time (1322 GMT) on Kubanskaya Street in the Prokopyevsk Urban District, TASS reported, citing the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations. The victims were presumably teenagers, and the preliminary area of the fire was 70 square meters, the ministry said in a statement. The Russian Investigative Committee said local investigators have initiated a criminal case on charges related to the provision of services that do not meet safety and health requirements. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- One person is dead and six others are missing after a commercial fishing vessel sank off the coast of the U.S. state of Massachusetts on Friday. The U.S. Coast Guard said that watchstanders received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon alert at about 6:50 a.m. local time (1150 GMT) from the 72-foot fishing vessel Lily Jean. Authorities later confirmed that seven people had been on board. Unable to establish contact with the vessel, the Coast Guard launched a search operation, deploying an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and a small boat crew to the area. Rescue teams located a debris field near the signal site, about 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann. One person was recovered unresponsive from the water, and an empty life raft associated with the vessel was also found. The identity of the deceased has not been released. Search efforts remain ongoing. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Chinas emergencies minister Wang Xiangxi is the latest to be investigated by president Xi Jinpings anti-corruption watchdog, part of a growing purge of senior officials. The Chinese Communist Partys Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Saturday it has launched a probe into Wangs conduct for serious violations of discipline and law, a euphemism used in China for suspected corruption, abuse of power, or related offences. Wang Xiangxi, party secretary and minister of Emergency Management, is suspected of serious violations of Party discipline and law, and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, the watchdog said. Wang, 63, took charge in July 2022 following a stint as chairman of state-owned power generator National Energy Investment Corp. The latest probe is part of a broader pattern of disciplinary action against senior officials in China, including top figures close to president Xi himself. Chinese president Xi Jinping attends the 7th formal meeting of the Franco-Chinese Business Council in Beijing ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) Last week, Chinas defence ministry announced it was investigating the countrys top general Zhang Youxia, who is second in line only to Mr Xi himself in terms of the militarys leadership. General Liu Zhenli, head of the Peoples Liberation Army joint staff department, was also subject to investigation in the same probe. Official Chinese sites do not publicly detail the specific charges against the officials. But in a front page editorial last week, the PLA claimed the probe was a major achievement, adding that the two generals had "seriously undermined and violated" the Chairman Responsibility System, which vested Xi with "supreme military decision-making. Some experts have drawn a link between these latest purges and Beijings ambition to take control of Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Xi has threatened to reunite with the mainland by force, if necessary. Analysts say the officials involved may have questioned or criticised Xis goal of being ready for a military invasion of Taiwan by 2027. And while their removal will have an impact on the functionality of the Chinese armed forces in the short term, they are likely to be replaced by officials loyal to Xi and willing to accept his vision for Taiwan. A record 115 officials were placed under investigation in China last year, with more than 65 receiving discipline penalties as scrutiny expanded to former leaders of universities and state-owned enterprises. Sun Yuning, a top official who was part of the customs department, was expelled from the Communist Party and sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery tied to his roles. While the numbers reflect systematic anti-corruption activity across Chinas bureaucracy, experts say it also puts even more power in Xis hands, making the already secretive structure of command within Chinas military even more opaque. The purges within the countrys top leadership have also raised questions among critics about internal cohesion within the Communist Party and the direction of the countrys future military leadership. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be prepared to testify before the US Congress about his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the prime minister has said. Sir Keir Starmer suggested the former prince would be failing victims if he continues to refuse to do so. He called for a victim-centred approach to dealing with the Epstein case, saying that anybody whos got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form theyre asked to do that. But the government has dodged the question of whether the UK would comply with an extradition request from the US for the former duke, should one be made. It comes after pictures which appear to show Andrew crouched over an unidentified woman were among three million documents related to the disgraced financier were released by the US Department of Justice on Friday. As he arrived in Japan for the final leg of his visit to East Asia, Sir Keir was asked if Andrew should apologise and testify to the congressional Epstein investigation. Andrew has been accused of hiding from US officials on the House Oversight Committee, which in November asked him to sit for a transcribed interview regarding his connections to Epstein. open image in gallery A photo appearing to show Andrew crouched over a woman was included in the latest Epstein files release ( US Department of Justice/PA Wire ) The prime minister said: Firstly I always approach this question with the victims of Epsteins in mind. Epsteins victims have to be the first priority. Whether there should be an apology, thats a matter for Andrew. But, yes, in terms of testifying, Ive always said anybody whos got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form theyre asked to do that because you cant be victim-centred if youre not prepared to do that. Asked if the government would comply with an extradition request from the US for the former duke, should one be made, communities secretary Steve Reed told Sky News on Sunday: Youre asking me now details of legislation that would depend on the type of offence that may or may not have been committed. Its entirely hypothetical. I dont think its sensible for me to come on here and start talking hypothetically about situations that may or may not exist. But the principle here is very, very clear: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor clearly has insight into what was going on, and he should testify, because the victims deserve and need him, and anybody else who may have witnessed things, to do that. Mr Reed added that he had no idea if the government could compel Andrew to take part in the congressional investigation. open image in gallery This undated photo released by the US Department of Justice appears to show Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell near Balmoral ( DOJ ) The latest pictures, released in a document of 100 pages of photographs, also appear to show the former duke touching the womans abdomen. Another unidentified persons feet are up on a table in the background. They have no captions and it is not known where they were taken. Elsewhere in the document dump, screenshots and scans appear to show the former prince exchanged emails with Epstein about a beautiful Russian woman and invited him to Buckingham Palace. Andrew has previously vehemently denied any wrongdoing and being named or pictured in the Epstein files does not suggest any criminality. Lord Mandelson, the former ambassador to the US, also features in the release of files. The peer was sacked as the chief envoy to Washington DC after revelations of his continued contact with Epstein following his guilty plea in 2008 to soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor. Lord Mandelson has offered an unequivocal apology to Epsteins victims. But there are now growing calls for Lord Mandelson to be expelled from the Labour Party after the tranche of newly released documents suggested the convicted sex offender sent 10,000 to his husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva. According to the exchange of emails, published by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Mr da Silva had asked Epstein for money to fund an osteopathy course and other related expenses in September 2009. open image in gallery Sir Keir Starmer said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be prepared to testify before the US Congress investigation into Jeffrey Epstein ( PA Wire ) Lord Mandelson has been on a leave of absence from the House of Lords since he took up his role as US ambassador, meaning he does not currently have the Labour whip. But the party has refused to say whether or not it would be restored if he applied to return to the Lords. Sir Keir was asked if the payment, apparently made while Lord Mandelson was serving as business secretary, fell below the standards of a peer of the realm. The prime minister replied: In relation to Peter Mandelson, obviously he was removed as ambassador in relation to the further information that came to light in September of last year and Ive nothing more to say in relation to Peter Mandelson. Cabinet minister Steve Reed also declined to say whether Lord Mandelson should be stripped of the Labour whip if he returns to the Lords, telling Sky News: "Before taking any action like that, we need to understand exactly what's happened. You're asking me here about something that happened nearly 20 years ago. I don't know the full detail of it." He added: I wasn't in the government 20 years ago." WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Friday evening approved a funding package just hours before government funding was set to expire. With the House still in recess until Monday, a short funding lapse is still likely. The upper chamber passed the measure by a vote of 71-29, indicating bipartisan support. The approval came one day after U.S. Senate Democrats reached a deal with Republicans and the White House would pass five spending bills to fund part of the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, as well as a stopgap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bill now heads to the House, which still needs time to approve it. Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday that the earliest floor action in the House could be Monday, noting the House's requirement that text be available 72 hours before a vote, according to a report by The Hill. The recent two fatal shootings by federal enforcement in Minneapolis have prompted Democrats to seek changes to how immigration agencies operate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that until Immigration and Customs Enforcement is properly reined in and overhauled legislatively, the DHS funding bill does not have the votes to pass the Senate. Funding for multiple U.S. federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is expected to expire Saturday. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor invited Jeffrey Epstein to Buckingham Palace after the paedophile financier was convicted of sex crimes with a child, according to newly released documents. The US Justice Department on Friday published a tranche of millions of documents related to the late convicted sex offender. Among the documents is an email exchange between Epstein and Andrew dated 27 September 2010 two years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. In the email, Andrew says he is travelling back from Scotland to London, where Epstein is staying. He tells Epstein "we could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy". Epstein responds: "Already in london [sic]. what time woudl [sic] you like me and we will also need/ have private time." It is not clear whether a meeting at the palace took place. The Independent has approached Buckingham Palace for comment. open image in gallery Andrew is facing fresh scrutiny over his links to Epstein ( PA Wire ) Andrews links to Epstein eventually led to the King dramatically stripping him of his titles last year putting an end to his public life. The move followed the publication of a memoir by the late Virginia Giuffre, one of Epsteins most prominent accusers. Giuffre alleged that she was forced to have several sexual encounters with Andrew in the early 2000s at the age of 17, after being trafficked by Epstein. Andrew denies the claims. In another August 2010 exchange between Epstein and an email address named "The Duke", which signed off with "HRH The Duke of York KG", Epstein offers to set up a dinner with a "beautiful" 26-year-old Russian woman. Epstein writes: "I have a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with." In response, "The Duke" replies: "Of course. I am in Geneva until the morning of 22nd but would be delighted to see her. Will she be bringing a message from you? Please give her my contact details to get in touch." And replying to another redacted email, "The Duke" says: "Great. Any other information you might know about her that might be useful to know? Like what have you told her about me and have you given her my email as well?" open image in gallery Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell ( US Department of Justice ) Epstein then says: "she 26, russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email". The files also contain emails from Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with Epstein in 2021. She was also a longtime friend of Andrew. In one exchange, she appears to offer condolences to Andrew following the Queen Mother's death in March 2002. In an email to an address titled The Invisible Man on 31 March that year, she wrote: Sweat pea [sic] sorry you had to rush home, and also under such sad circumstances. However much the passing was to be expected in one so old, it does not make it any less sad. She was wonderful, and I am happy that I managed to meet her and speak with her. We shall reschedule. Love you. Gx. open image in gallery Documents included in the US Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files ( AP ) A reply the next day from The Invisible Man, reads: Got your message this morning. Sorry to have missed you yesterday. I will ring later today to chat. A xxx. In another email from The Invisible Man, the sender asks a redacted account if they are having more children and labelling them super sperm. The email said: Sorry I am in LA on my way to Hawaii. Is it true you are having more children? I shall have to refer to you as super sperm! The email subject is Re: AKE in New York. open image in gallery Epstein took his own life on 10 August 2019 while in prison ( New York State Sex Offender Registry ) In October, Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew would have his royal titles stripped due to the ongoing controversy over his friendship with Epstein. During a 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight, Andrew said he had known Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced media magnate and former MP Robert Maxwell, since she was at university. She introduced Andrew to Epstein, her then-boyfriend, in 1999. The trio had a close friendship, even after Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute in 2008. Andrew is alleged to have invited the couple to Balmoral, the Queens Scottish residence, in 1999. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 following a New York sex-trafficking trial for procuring teen girls for Epstein for him to abuse. Andrew continued to visit Epstein in New York after the financiers conviction for child sex offences in 2008. open image in gallery Further documents from the Epstein files have been released by the US Department of Justice ( PA Archive ) Epstein received an 18-month sentence but was allowed to go on work release to his office most days and was released on probation after 13 months. Andrew faced criticism when pictures emerged of him opening the door of Epsteins palatial East Side townhouse in December 2010 and the pair strolling through Central Park. In his Newsnight interview, Andrew claimed he had gone to New York to break off their friendship and said he regretted staying at Epsteins house while there. Andrew also faced allegations, which he strenuously denies, that he sexually assaulted Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts. In 2019, she filed a lawsuit in Manhattan alleging she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with Andrew on three occasions when she was 17 and a minor under US law. He reportedly paid millions to Giuffre, a woman he has claimed never to have met, to settle a civil sexual assault claim in 2022. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is once again under fire over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein after new pictures emerged in the latest tranche of files about the paedophile financier. Photos which appear to show Andrew crouched over a woman on a floor are among a string of revelations about the prince in the latest documents, which also include emails suggesting he invited the sex offender for dinner at Buckingham Palace and agreed to meet a beautiful 26-year-old Russian woman. In the undated images, the royal appears to kneel on the ground as he leans over an unidentified woman, while another angle shows the womans abdomen being touched. Following the emergence of the latest files, Sir Keir Starmer said Andrew should testify before the US Congress about his links to Epstein. The former prince had been accused of hiding by US officials after he was invited to an interview by the US House oversight committee. The images, among more than three million documents published by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday, have no captions, and it is not known where they were taken. open image in gallery Pictures appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouched over an unidentified woman ( US Department of Justice/PA Wire ) But they will likely put further pressure on Andrew, who has faced ongoing questions over his friendship with the late financier. He has always denied any wrongdoing. Sir Keir, when asked if Andrew should apologise and testify to the congressional Epstein investigation, said Epsteins victims have to to be the first priority. The prime minister, who was speaking in Japan on the last leg of his visit to Asia, then added: As for whether there should be an apology, thats a matter for Andrew. But yes, in terms of testifying, I have always said anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that. You cant be victim-centred if youre not prepared to do that. Other files revealed Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles over his links to the sex offender, invited Epstein for dinner at Buckingham Palace in 2010, two years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. In an email exchange dated 27 September 2010, Andrew says he is travelling back from Scotland to London, where Epstein is staying. He suggests we could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy. Epstein responds: Already in london [sic]. what time woudl [sic] you like me and we will also need/ have private time. open image in gallery Andrew appears to touch a woman's abdomen in a picture released in the Epstein files ( US Department of Justice/PA Wire ) It is not clear whether a meeting at the palace took place. The Independent has approached Andrew and Buckingham Palace for comment. Elsewhere in the tranche of documents, screenshots and scans appear to show the former prince agreeing to meet a Russian woman for a dinner arranged by Epstein. In an August 2010 exchange, the financier writes: I have a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with. In response, The Duke replies: Of course. I am in Geneva until the morning of 22nd but would be delighted to see her. Will she be bringing a message from you? Please give her my contact details to get in touch. The exchange later continues: Great. Any other information you might know about her that might be useful to know? Like what have you told her about me and have you given her my email as well? open image in gallery The photos were released in the latest disclosure of files linked to Jeffrey Epstein ( PA Media ) Epstein then writes: She 26, russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email. In a different exchange, which was also released on Friday, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell agreed that Andrew should choose to spend time with Sarah and the kids instead of visiting the Island where there would be five stunning red heads. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in sex-trafficking Epsteins victims. The messages were sent between an address named The Invisible Man and Maxwell in August 2002. In an email signed A, the sender says: As the planning is getting more difficult over the bank holiday weekend here I am thinking now I might join Sarah and the kids in Sotogrande for a few days which would be very important and a good thing for the girls, rather than trek across the pond. Please will you give me permission to do so and I am conscious of the better offer syndrome but in this case it wouldnt be that I think! open image in gallery Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell with the late Epstein ( PA Media ) In her reply, dated 24 August 2002, Maxwell said: Andrew sweet heart I fully understand if you want to spend time w/Sarah and the kids. I will not be remotely offended sad not to spend time w/you and sad not to see you but at this point w/precious holidays and few days off I agree that this idea of coming to the Island looks less appealing. In a follow-up email the next day, after The Invisible Man confirmed he would not be coming, Maxwell added: No problem, (redacted), who is now coming and five other stunning red heads will all just have to play with ourselves. Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. In an email from an account called Sarah, dated 3 August 2009, Ms Ferguson appears to thank Epstein for being the brother I have always wished for. The message thanks Epstein and refers to discussions she has been having with retailers regarding her Sarah Ferguson brand, adding she has never been more touched by a friends kindness. The exchange took place after Epstein had been convicted of sex crimes. The Independent has contacted Ms Ferguson for comment. open image in gallery Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his former wife Sarah Ferguson are both named in the files Another email also shows Epstein was invited to Andrews 50th birthday party at St Jamess Palace in 2010. Sent by Andrews then-private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, on behalf of Andrews former wife, the email read: Dear Jeffrey. Beatrice, Eugenie and I (Sarah Ferguson) would love to invite you to celebrate the 50 years of Papa/Andrew. It will be on February 26th 2010, from 7.30pm for Drinks and for 8.30pm for Dinner, at St. Jamess Palace, London. It will be suits and cocktail dresses, and you know me, mysterious mischief, so bring your presents, your presence and your humour! Epstein declined the invite, writing back: Not able. Other emails from March 2011 between Epstein and his publicist suggest that they wanted Ms Ferguson to release a statement saying he was not a pedo and she had been duped into believing false allegations about him. open image in gallery President Donald Trump is mentioned more than 3,000 times in the latest release of the Epstein files ( AP ) The latest Epstein file dump comes after a series of disclosures in December, including an email sent from Balmoral signed A, which asked Maxwell for inappropriate friends. Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Andrew has faced allegations, which he strenuously denies, that he sexually assaulted a teenage Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein. He paid millions to Ms Giuffre to settle a civil sexual assault claim in 2022. Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2019 after a disastrous BBC Newsnight interview on his friendship with the late financier. Last year, the King went further, stripping his disgraced brother of both his HRH style and his prince title. The files also suggest Epstein wired to 10,000 to the husband of Labour peer Lord Mandelson in September 2009, just two months after he was released from prison for sex crimes. Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UKs ambassador to the US by Sir Keir Starmer when details of his relationship with Epstein emerged in September. He has apologised unequivocally to the financiers victims for remaining friends with him after his conviction. The documents were published after President Donald Trump, who is mentioned more than 3,000 times in the latest batch, bowed to mounting pressure to release all the files relating to Epstein. The documents, which include more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, were released more than a month after the 19 December deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. President Trump, 79, continues to face scrutiny over his friendship with the financier. However, he insists he cut ties with Epstein years ago and has claimed the files are a hoax perpetuated by Democrats to distract from his accomplishments. He, and other prominent figures named in the files, have not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Two different federal laws are being used to charge people associated with the protest that interrupted a worship service at a Minnesota church earlier this month. The group that barged into a worship service that Sunday was upset that the head of a local field office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor. The protest was quickly denounced by President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials, as well as many religious leaders. Seven people including journalist Don Lemon and a local reporter who both covered the protest have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul. They have all been charged in complaints, but the full details of the allegations against them haven't been released yet because parts of the case files remains sealed. The arrests of Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort are especially troubling for legal experts and media groups who worry about the chilling effect on coverage of the Trump administration. David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor specializing in criminal law, said the charges against the protesters are more tenable, given the federal laws against disrupting the free exercise of worship. A court will have to sort that out, he said. But charges against reporters are troubling, he said. Charging journalists for being there covering the disruption does not mean they were part of the disruption, Harris said. Don Lemon and other journalists are the way that we the public are finding out what is happening in these spaces, he said. They are our eyes and ears. The message that is being sent is that journalists like Don Lemon and others should feel intimidated from doing this. The two key laws cited in the complaints against those who were arrested were passed more than a century apart one rooted in efforts to prevent intimidation by the post-Civil War Ku Klux Klan and the other to enable access to abortion clinics, though they both have had wider applications. Here are some details about those laws: Law designed to protect access to abortion clinics and churches The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law, known as the FACE Act for short, was passed in 1994 to help ensure that patients seeking care at an abortion clinic as well as the doctors and nurses who work there could safely access the facilities that often draw protests. It followed incidents of violence targeting clinic workers. A Republican-sponsored clause that provided for penalties for disruptions of worship services was also incorporated into the law. Anti-abortion conservatives have denounced the law, focusing on the clinic protections. Trump last year pardoned several people convicted for blockading clinics. His Justice Department scaled back FACE Act prosecutions of those accused of blocking clinics, claiming there had been a weaponization of the law. But the U.S. Supreme Court, despite having overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide, last year refused to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of FACE. In 2025, 42 House Republicans co-sponsored legislation, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, to repeal the FACE Act. The conservative Heritage Foundation supported the stalled repeal effort, calling the FACE Act an ideological weapon designed to suppress anti-abortion activity. They have contended the worship-protection aspect of the law hasn't been invoked in the past. In 2025, the Justice Department did invoke the act in a lawsuit against demonstrators who protested outside of a synagogue. Someone charged with their first violation of the FACE Act could be fined or sentenced up to one year in jail. Subsequent offenses, or charges that involve injuries, deaths or damage, could face tougher penalties. The Conspiracy Against Rights law dates back to the post Civil War era The other charges against Lemon and Fort are based on a law commonly known as the Conspiracy Against Rights law, which was enacted shortly after the Civil War. It was originally designed to target vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. The law prohibits intimidating or otherwise preventing someone from exercising constitutional rights. The Klan had been targeting those newly freed from slavery, but over the years the law has been revised to apply to a wide range of violations of constitutional rights. It was used to charge suspects in the Mississippi Burning killings of three civil rights workers in 1964. It has been used in cases ranging from church arsons and antisemitic intimidation to political conspiracy and witness tampering. The law carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison - or more if it involves injury, death or destruction of property. Harris said it's important for Americans to be able to see what's happening so they can make up their own minds, instead of only hearing officials describe what happened. We all have had the experience of them telling us things that simply do not square with what we see with our own eyes," he said. Journalists being present to witness these things and report them are crucial to our being able to make our minds about what our government is doing. ___ AP reporter Tiffany Stanley contributed. ___ 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. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The U.S. Coast Guard announced Saturday that it has suspended search operations for the six missing crew members aboard the commercial fishing vessel Lily Jean, which sank off the coast of Massachusetts on Friday. The decision came after more than 24 hours of continuous search efforts failed to locate additional survivors after finding one person dead. There were seven people on board, including a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observer. The emergency response began early Friday when Coast Guard units received a signal from the vessels emergency position-indicating radio beacon about 25 miles off Cape Ann in Gloucester. Search teams deployed aircraft, cutters and small boats across roughly 1,000 square miles of ocean in freezing winter conditions. They discovered a debris field near the beacons reported position, recovered one person from the water who was unresponsive, and located an unoccupied life raft. Despite exhaustive efforts, Coast Guard officials said they found no additional signs of life. Boats in Gloucester Harbor. The Coast Guard recovered one body from a sunken Massachusetts fishing vessel, while six others remain missing after the search was suspended ( Getty Images ) After consulting with search and rescue coordinators and on-scene commanders, they determined all reasonable effort had been made to find the missing crewmembers, leading to the suspension of active search operations on Saturday. The Lily Jean, a 72-foot groundfish trawler based in Gloucester, did not issue a distress call before the EPIRB alert, according to authorities. The vessel was returning to Gloucester, known as Americas oldest fishing port, when the incident occurred. Local officials and community members described the tragedy as a devastating blow to the tightly knit fishing town. Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, said Gloucesters fishing community is in shock and mourning the loss. "Everybody's just heartbroken," Giacalone told the Associated Press Saturday. "To have that many lives lost all at once, we haven't seen that in a long time." The captain of the Lily Jean, fifth-generation fisherman Gus Sanfilippo, and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel series NorEaster Men, which chronicled the dangers of commercial fishing in New England waters. Coast Guard officials said freezing temperatures, rough seas and an approaching noreaster made the nighttime search extremely difficult, comparing it to looking for a coconut in the ocean. Coast Guard Sector Boston Commander Jamie Frederick said freezing temperatures, rough seas and the vastness of the ocean made nighttime searches for survivors especially difficult, with an approaching noreaster further complicating efforts along the East Coast. "That is the equivalent of searching for a coconut in the ocean," Frederick said Friday. The National Weather Service reported strong winds, four-foot waves, and frigid air and water temperatures at the time of the alert. The Coast Guard is continuing its investigation into what caused the vessel to sink. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Intensive care nurses had immediate doubts about claims made by federal immigration officers when they arrived at a Minneapolis hospital with a Mexican immigrant who had broken bones in his face and skull. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents initially stated Alberto Castaneda Mondragon had tried to flee while handcuffed and purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall, according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release. But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year-old's brain, according to three nurses familiar with the case. It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about, said one of the nurses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss patient care. There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall. The explanation from ICE is an example of recent run-ins between immigration officers and health care workers that have contributed to mounting friction at Minneapolis hospitals. Workers at the Hennepin County facility say ICE officers have restrained patients in defiance of hospital rules and stayed at their sides for days. The agents have also lingered around the campus and pressed people for proof of citizenship. open image in gallery ICE agents have claimed the man shattered his skull by running into a wall ( AFP/Getty ) Since the start of Operation Metro Surge, President Donald Trumps immigration crackdown in Minnesota, ICE officers have become such a fixture at the hospital that administrators issued new protocols for how employees should engage with them. Some employees complain that they have been intimidated to the point that they avoid crossing paths with agents while at work and use encrypted communications to guard against any electronic eavesdropping. Similar operations have been carried out by federal agents in Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities, where opponents have criticized what they say are overly aggressive tactics. It's not clear how many people have required hospital care while in detention. Injuries appeared inconsistent with ICE account The AP interviewed a doctor and five nurses who work at HCMC, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about Castaneda Mondragons case. AP also consulted with an outside physician, and they all affirmed that his injuries were inconsistent with an accidental fall or running into a wall. ICEs account of how he was hurt evolved during the time that federal officers were at his bedside. At least one ICE officer told caregivers that Castaneda Mondragon "got his (expletive) rocked after his Jan. 8 arrest near a St. Paul shopping center, the court filings and a hospital staff member said. His arrest happened a day after the first of two fatal shootings in Minneapolis by immigration officers. The situation reached a head when ICE insisted on using handcuffs to shackle his ankles to the bed, prompting a heated encounter with hospital staff, according to the court records and the hospital employees familiar with the incident. At the time, Castaneda Mondragon was so disoriented he did not know what year it was and could not recall how he was injured, one of the nurses said. ICE officers believed he was attempting to escape after he got up and took a few steps. We were basically trying to explain to ICE that this is how someone with a traumatic brain injury is theyre impulsive, the nurse said. We didn't think he was making a run for the door. Security responded to the scene, followed by the hospital's CEO and attorney, who huddled in a doctor's office to discuss options for dealing with ICE, the nurse said. We eventually agreed with ICE that we would have a nursing assistant sit with the patient to prevent him from leaving, the nurse said. They agreed a little while later to take the shackles off. open image in gallery ICE have received fierce backlash after being deployed by Donald Trump in his crackdown on immigration ( AFP/Getty ) The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Castaneda Mondragon's injuries. A deportation officer skirted the issue in the court documents, saying that during the intake process at an ICE detention center, it was determined he had a head injury that required emergency medical treatment. Gregorio Castaneda Mondragon said his older brother is from Veracruz, Mexico, and worked as a roofer. He has a 10-year-old daughter living in his hometown he helps support. According to his lawyers, Alberto Castaneda Mondragon entered the U.S. in 2022 with valid immigration documents. Minnesota incorporation filings show he founded a company called Castaneda Mondragon the following year with an address listed in St. Paul. He appears to have no criminal record. His lawyers told a court that Castaneda Mondragon was racially profiled during the crackdown, and that officers determined only after his arrest that he had overstayed his visa. He was a brown-skinned, Latino Spanish speaker at a location immigration agents arbitrarily decided to target, his lawyers wrote in a petition seeking his release from ICE custody. Hours after arrest, immigrant has eight skull fractures Castaneda Mondragon was initially taken to an ICE processing center at the edge of Minneapolis. Court records include an arrest warrant signed upon his arrival by an ICE officer, not an immigration judge. About four hours after his arrest, he was taken to a hospital emergency room in suburban Edina with swelling and bruising around his right eye and bleeding. A CT scan revealed at least eight skull fractures and life-threatening hemorrhages in at least five areas of his brain, according to court documents. He was then transferred to HCMC. Castaneda Mondragon was alert and speaking, telling staff he was dragged and mistreated by federal agents, though his condition quickly deteriorated, the documents show. The following week, a Jan. 16 court filing described his condition as minimally responsive and communicative, disoriented and heavily sedated. AP shared the details of Castaneda Mondragons injuries with Dr. Lindsey C. Thomas, a board-certified forensic pathologist who worked as a medical examiner in Minnesota for more than 30 years. She agreed with the assessment of hospital staff. open image in gallery Protests have taken place in Minnesota in recent days ( Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) I am pretty sure a person could not get these kinds of extensive injuries from running into a wall, Thomas said, adding that she would need to see the CT scans to make a more definitive finding. I almost think one doesnt have to be a physician to conclude that a person cant get skull fractures on both the right and left sides of their head and from front to back by running themselves into a wall," she said. ICE officers stay with hospitalized detainees for days ICE officers have entered the hospital with seriously injured detainees and stayed at their bedside day after day, staffers said. The crackdown has been unsettling to hospital employees, who said ICE agents have been seen loitering on hospital grounds and asking patients and employees for proof of citizenship. Hospital staff members said they were uncomfortable with the presence of armed agents they did not trust and who appeared to be untrained. The nurses interviewed by AP said they felt intimidated by ICEs presence in the critical care unit and had even been told to avoid a certain bathroom to minimize encounters with officers. They said staff members are using an encrypted messaging app to compare notes and share information out of fear that the government might be monitoring their communications. The hospital reminded employees that ICE officers are not permitted to access patients or protected information without a warrant or court order. Patients under federal custody are first and foremost patients, hospital officials wrote in a bulletin outlining new protocols. The hospitals written policy also states that no shackles or other restraints should be used unless medically necessary. We have our policies, but ICE personnel as federal officers don't necessarily comply with those, and that introduces tension, said a doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment for the hospital. Hospital spokeswoman Alisa Harris said ICE agents have not entered our facilities looking for individuals." On Saturday, more than two weeks after Castaneda Mondragon was arrested, a U.S. District Court judge ordered him released from ICE custody. We are encouraged by the courts order, which affirms that the rule of law applies to all people, in every corner of our country, including federal officers, said Jeanette Boerner, director of Hennepin County Adult Representation Services, which filed the lawsuit on Castaneda Mondragons behalf. To the surprise of some who treated him, Castaneda Mondragon was discharged from the hospital Tuesday. A hospital spokeswoman said she had no information about him. The Justice Department filed court documents this week affirming Castaneda Mondragon is no longer in custody. Prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment on the man's injuries. Castaneda Mondragon has no family in Minnesota and coworkers have taken him in, the man's brother said. He has significant memory loss and a long recovery ahead. He won't be able to work for the foreseeable future, and his friends and family worry about paying for his care. He still doesnt remember things that happened. I think (he remembers) 20% of the 100% he had, said Gregorio Castaneda Mondragon, who lives in Mexico. Its sad that instead of having good memories of the United States, youre left with a bad taste in your mouth about that country because theyre treating them like animals. Close Thousands protest against ICE in Minneapolis On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice President Donald Trump said he ordered the Department of Homeland Security not to intervene in protests and/or riots in Democratic-led cities unless local leaders ask for help. In a Truth Social post shared Saturday, Trump noted federal officers will still be very forceful in their protection of federal property amid protests against his mass deportation campaign, with anti-ICE rallies taking place in cities across the country. State and local governments must use the word, PLEASE before asking for the federal governments help, he wrote. Organizers said more than 300 ICE Out of Everywhere protests were scheduled Saturday as outrage grows over a surge of agents into Democratic cities and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.Saturdays actions follow Fridays national shutdown event, in which organizers encouraged people skip work, school and shopping in protest. Saturdays demonstrations kicked off as a federal judge denied Minnesotas request to block officers from surging into the state while a closely watch legal challenge continues. Meanwhile, Trump has labeled Pretti an agitator and perhaps, insurrectionist after the release of a video that shows a confrontation in the days before Prettis death between federal agents and the ICU nurse, who was shot dead by border patrol agents one week later. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alexs killing, Steve Schleicher, an attorney for Prettis family, told The Independent. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Former CNN news anchor Don Lemon entered a not guilty plea on Friday to federal charges over his coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, the Republican administration's latest move against a critic. Lemon, now an independent journalist, livestreamed a protest against Trump's deployment of thousands of armed immigration agents into Minnesota's biggest cities. The demonstration disrupted a January 18 service at Cities Church in St Paul. A magistrate judge ordered Lemon released to await trial after a night in custody following his arrest late on Thursday by the FBI. Dressed in a cream-colored double-breasted suit, Lemon spoke only to say "yes, your honor" when asked if he understood the proceedings. His attorney confirmed the not guilty plea. "I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now," Lemon told reporters after the hearing. ( Evan Agostini/Invision/AP ) "He is committed to fighting this. He's not going anywhere," said Lemon attorney Marilyn Bednarski. "I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now," Lemon told reporters after the hearing. "I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court." A grand jury indictment charged Lemon, who is Black, with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law that has been used to crack down on demonstrations at abortion clinics but also forbids obstructing access to houses of worship. Six other people who were at the protest, including another journalist, are facing the same charges. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis and other U.S. cities on Friday to denounce an immigration crackdown in which federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, sparking one of the most serious political crises Trump has faced. Press advocates alarmed Free press advocates voiced alarm over the arrests. Actor and activist Jane Fonda went to show support for Lemon, telling journalists the president was violating the Constitution. "They arrested the wrong Don," Fonda said. Trump, who has castigated the protesters in Minnesota, blamed the Cities Church protest on "agitators and insurrectionists" who he said wanted to intimidate Christian worshippers. Organizers told Lemon they focused on the church because they believed a pastor there was also a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee. More than a week ago, the government arrested three people it said organized the protests. But the magistrate judge in St. Paul who approved those arrests ruled that, without a grand jury indictment, there was not probable cause to issue arrest warrants for Lemon and several others the Justice Department also wanted to prosecute. "This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand," Abbe Lowell, Lemon's lawyer, said in a statement, invoking constitutional free speech protections. In the livestream archived on his YouTube channel, Lemon can be seen meeting with and interviewing the activists before they go to the church, and later chronicling the disruption inside, interviewing congregants, protesters, and a pastor, who asks Lemon and the protesters to leave. Independent local journalist Georgia Fort and two others who had been at the church were also arrested and charged with the same crimes. U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster on Friday ordered Fort's release, denying prosecutors' request to hold her in custody, according to court documents. Trump critics targeted The Justice Department, over the past year, has tried to prosecute a succession of Trump's critics and perceived enemies. Its charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who both led investigations into Trump, were thrown out by a judge. Lemon spent 17 years at CNN, becoming one of its most recognizable personalities, and frequently criticizes Trump in his YouTube broadcasts. Lemon was fired by CNN in 2023 after making sexist on-air comments for which he later apologized. Trump frequently lambastes journalists and news outlets, going further than his predecessors by sometimes suing them for damages or stripping them of access-granting credentials. FBI agents with a search warrant seized laptops and other devices this month from the home of a Washington Post reporter who has covered Trump's firing of federal workers, saying it was investigating leaks of government secrets. Press advocates called the FBI search involving the Post reporter and the arrests of Lemon and Fort an escalation of attacks on press freedom. "Reporting on protests isn't a crime," said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute. Jaffer called the arrests alarming, and said Trump sought "to tighten the vise around press freedom." Trump has said his attacks are because he is tired of "fake news" and hostile coverage. Legal experts said they were unaware of any U.S. precedent for journalists being arrested after the fact, or under the two laws used to charge Lemon and Fort. They include the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a 1994 measure that prevents obstructing access to abortion clinics and places of worship. Close Photos from Epstein files appear to show Andrew on floor with woman 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein may have had a secret child 15 years ago, according to an email allegedly sent by Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, that was released in the Epstein files last week. In the email, dated September 21, 2011, Ferguson wrote: Dont know if youre still on this bbm but have heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy. In a separate email, Ferguson raged at Epstein for disappearing and accused him of only being friends with her to get to Andrew. I did not even know you were having a baby, she wrote. The Independent has asked Ferguson for comment. If the claim is true, it would mark the first time the public was aware that Epstein had a child. The Justice Department released three million pages of documents - including 2,000 videos and 18,000 photos - from the Epstein files on January 30, more than a month after the legal deadline. The trove of materials shed more light on the various relationships Epstein had with high-profile men, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. An inclusion in the files does not indicate wrongdoing. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The Department of Justice published more than three million pages of Epstein files on Friday, more than one month after the deadline passed for the full disclosure of the departments documents on the deceased sex offender who continues to cast a shadow over the Trump administration. Among the newly released files are thousands of emails, court documents, photos and videos, many of which reference high-profile individuals, such as President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, billionaire Elon Musk and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Several of these individuals sent emails about visiting Epsteins private island in the Caribbean. I can assure that we complied with the statute, we complied with the act and we did not protect President Trump, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a press conference. I think that there's a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents, Blanche, Trumps former personal attorney, added. And there's nothing I can do about that. Blanche said the massive data dump complies with federal law and marks the end of a very comprehensive review process. open image in gallery Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trumps former personal attorney, said he did not protect President Trump ( Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images ) The release was met with a range of reactions from lawmakers. In a statement, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee wrote: While Democrats are selectively picking and redacting documents, the DOJ is delivering. Congressman Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, told MS NOW that he is glad the documents are being released. But, he said, he will examine them to determine whether they include FBI statements and survivor accounts naming the rich and powerful men who abused them, which he said are of grave importance. The latest release comes more than two months after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law on November 19. It required the DOJ to release all its files on Epstein who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges by December 19. Earlier this month, the department, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, said it had only released one percent of the files, while noting that hundreds of lawyers were working to review the documents. Trump, whose name has appeared thousands of times in the files, socialized with Epstein during the 1990s and 2000s, and Epstein once described himself as the presidents closest friend. The 79-year-old president, however, has said that he cut ties with the disgraced financier years ago, and has repeatedly characterized the files as a hoax perpetuated by Democrats to distract from his accomplishments. He and other prominent figures named in the files have not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. The release comes one day after a December court petition by Maxwells legal team was published, in which the former British socialite claimed 25 male associates of Epstein had made secret settlements with the government to avoid prosecution. open image in gallery The latest trove includes over 3,000 references to Trump, including some which come from news articles and his Wikipedia page ( DOJ ) Over 3,000 references to Trump A search of the latest batch of files reveals that the Republican presidents name is mentioned over 3,000 times. Many references appear to be in an informal capacity. For example, a print-out of Trumps Wikipedia page from 2022 is included, as are news articles mentioning the presidents name. Multiple emails also name Trump as was the case with previous releases. Epstein regularly corresponded with Washington insiders, such as Steve Bannon, to discuss his views on the president. Additionally, a summary of over a dozen tips received by the FBI involving Trump and Epstein was included in the files. The DOJ previously warned that the documents may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos. Elon Musk emails about Epsteins island Also included in the latest trove of documents are a series of emails between Elon Musk and Epstein from 2013. The pair discussed finding a time for the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX to visit Little St. James, Epsteins island in the Caribbean. Actually, I could fly back early on the 3rd, Musk wrote to Epstein on Christmas Day in 2013. We will be in St Bart's. When should we head to your island on the 2nd? Epstein responded: I need to fly back to LA on the night of the 2nd, so the 2 or 3 would be perfect. I will come and get you. Its not clear whether the South African-born businessman who previously claimed that Trump was in the Epstein files ultimately ended up traveling to the island. open image in gallery Correspondence between Maxwell and an individual suspected to be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ( PA ) Apparent references to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Emails released by Bondis Justice Department seem to show correspondence between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor formerly known as Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins longtime associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence on sex trafficking charges. In one 2002 email from Maxwell to an address titled The Invisible Man believed to be associated with Mountbatten-Windsor she expressed her sadness the day after the Queen Mother died. She wrote: Sweat pea [sic] sorry you had to rush home, and also under such sad circumstances. Former Obama official called Epstein wonderful Jeffrey Kathy Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama, called Epstein wonderful Jeffrey and added I adore him in a 2015 email exchange. The exchange appears to show the disgraced financier instructing an unknown individual to arrange travel for Ruemmler. open image in gallery Lutnick invited Epstein to a Democratic fundraiser in 2015, the documents reveal ( AFP/Getty ) Trumps Commerce Secretary invited Epstein to fundraiser Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick emailed Epsteins longtime assistant in 2015, inviting the disgraced financier to a Democratic fundraiser for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted by Lutnick. Its not clear whether Epstein attended the event. Lutnick also planned a trip to Little St. James, the documents reveal, according to The New York Times. In December 2012, Lutnick emailed Epstein stating that he and other people, including his wife, were in the Caribbean and asked whether they could visit Epstein. "This is nothing more than a failing attempt by the legacy media to distract from the administrations accomplishments including securing Trillions of dollars in investment, delivering historic trade deals, and fighting for the American worker, A Commerce Department spokesperson told The Independent. Secretary Lutnick had limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing." open image in gallery The image, created by federal officials, includes the names and photos of individuals believed to be in Epsteins inner circle ( DOJ ) Image seems to show Epstein's close network Among the millions of files released on Friday is one image that includes a diagram created by federal officials. It seemed to be an attempt to map out Epsteins inner circle. It features the names and photos of a number of people believed to be close to the pedophile financier, including Maxwell, Darren Indyke his attorney and Lesley Groff who worked for years as his assistant. Photos of Epsteins jail cell Multiple photos appearing to show Epsteins New York City jail cell where he died in 2019 were also included in the file dump. open image in gallery One image depicts a door sealed off with caution tape and a sign that states: Do not open until further notice ( DOJ ) open image in gallery Another appears to show Epsteins jail cell, where he died in 2019 ( DOJ ) One shows a jail cell bunk bed covered in orange sheets, while another depicts a door sealed off with caution tape and a sign that states: Do not open until further notice. Files include redactions and age verification Some of the files released on Friday include heavy redactions as did those previously released by the Department of Justice. For example, one 7-page document is completely blacked out. The DOJ web page hosting the Epstein files now includes an age verification tool, which asks users to confirm that they are 18 years old or older due to potential depictions of nudity. open image in gallery Some of the newly released files are redacted, including one seven-page document which is entirely blacked out ( DOJ ) They include large quantities of commercial pornography and images that were seized from Epsteins devices, but which he did not take, or that someone around him did not take, Blanche said on Friday. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The U.S. Justice Department released millions of files related to the case of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, shedding further light on his expansive network of high profile figures. The latest dump expected to be the last contains some three million pages, including 180,000 images and some 2,000 videos attached to the case. Initial findings from the drop include the shocking revelation that Epstein may have fathered a child around 15 years ago, as well asemails from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former British prince, inviting Epstein to Buckingham Palace years after the financier was convicted of sex crimes. Messages from billionaire Elon Musk asked Epstein when his wildest party would be and discussed visiting his notorious island. It is unclear whether Musk, who is not accused of wrongdoing, ever visited. And in other emails, Epstein made allegations Bill Gates had engaged in extra marital affairs. A spokesperson for Gates vehemently denied the absurd allegations. open image in gallery Documents included in the US Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files (Jon Elswick/AP) ( AP ) Theres no suggestion that appearing in the files implies wrongdoing. People who have appeared in previous releases have denied any illicit behaviour in relation to Epstein. Below we look at the main revelations so far. Epstein allegedly fathered a secret child An email to the pedophile financier from Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew), appears to suggest he had fathered a secret child around 15 years ago. Dont know if youre still on this bbm but have heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy, she allegedly wrote on September 21, 2011, according to DOJ files seen by The Telegraph. The email continues: Even though you never kept in touch, I still am here with love, friendship, and congratualtions [sic] on your baby boy. Sarah xx. In another email released by the DOJ and seen by The Sun, Fergie allegedly mentioned the boy again and complained that she had been deeply hurt by Epsteins lack of contact with her. You have disappeared. I did not even know you were having a baby, she allegedly wrote. It was sooooo crystal clear to me that you were only friends with me to get to Andrew. And that really hurt me deeply. More than you will know. Epstein is not known to have fathered any children but, if Fergusons alleged claims are true, the pedophiles child would now nearly be 15-years-old. The Independent has contacted Sarah Ferguson for comment. The former Prince Andrew invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace open image in gallery Pictures appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouched over an unidentified woman ( US Department of Justice/PA Wire ) Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace for dinner and lots of privacy years after the financier was convicted, the new documents suggest. In one email, Andrew said that he was travelling to London, where Epstein was staying. He told Epstein: "We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy". Epstein responded: "Already in london [sic]. what time woudl [sic] you like me and we will also need/ have private time." It is not clear whether a meeting at the palace took place. The Independent has approached Buckingham Palace for comment. The latest release also included pictures that appeared to feature Andrew poised on all fours over a woman on the floor. It is unclear where and when the photos were taken, and the womans identity is masked. In another message that appeared to be sent to Andrew, Epstein offered to introduce the then prince to a clever, beautiful and trustworthy Russian woman named Irina, who was 26. Trump discussed often - and Epstein was asked about visit to Mar-a-Lago in 2012 open image in gallery Ghislaine Maxwell and Donald Trump are shown in an image released by the Department of Justice ( DOJ ) The newly published files included hundreds of documents that mention Trump, many of which were collections of media reports. One file details what appeared to be internal emails by federal investigators looking into salacious accusations involving the president and Epstein. The emails, from August 2025, give no indication that any claims had been substantiated. Investigators said several of the accusers were deemed not credible. Another message, whose sender and recipient were both redacted, reads, "What does JE think of going to Mar-a-Lago after xmas instead of his island?" referring to Trump's Florida club. The message is from 2012, years after Trump said the two men had stopped socialising. Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes. But the scandal has dogged him for months, in part because he promised to release the files during his 2024 presidential campaign, then reneged after taking office. Elon Musk asked about wild parties on Little St. James open image in gallery An email exchange from 2013 showed Elon Musk and Epstein coordinating a time for the tech CEO to visit Little Saint James ( Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) Elon Musk and Epstein discussed visits to Little St. James several times, including in 2012, in which Musk asked Epstein: What day/night will be the wildest party on your island? In a 2013 email exchange between Elon Musk and Epstein, the two went back and forth about scheduling a time in January for Musk to visit the island. In the document, Musk wrote to Epstein on Christmas Day in 2013: Actually, I could fly back early on the 3rd. We will be in St Bart's. When should we head to your island on the 2nd? It is not clear whether Musk ultimately visited. Musk responded on Saturday on his X social media platform that he had been "well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name." "No one pushed harder than me to have the Epstein files released and Im glad that has finally happened," Musk wrote. "I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on his 'Lolita Express.' Bill Gates denies Epstein claims of affair open image in gallery A spokesperson for Bill Gates vehemently denied the claims made in the latest release of files ( Reuters ) Bill Gates has strongly denied claims in the files that he had engaged in extramarital sex. Epstein made the allegation in a drafted 225-word email he sent to himself on July 18, 2013, with the subject line: bill. He wrote that, as an associate of Gates, he had been asked to do things that were potentially over the line into the illegal. He added that Gates and his then-wife, Melinda Gates, had been caught up in a severe marital dispute and that he had helped facilitate illicit trysts for the billionaire. A spokesperson for Bill Gates told The Independent: These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epsteins frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame. open image in gallery Former US ambassador Lord Mandelson has offered an apology to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) ( PA Media ) Epstein sent 10,000 to Lord Mandelsons husband According to the latest documents, Lord Mandelsons husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, emailed Epstein in 2009 to ask him for money to attend the British School of Osteopathy and fund other related expenses. The emails show that da Silva set out the costs of the course to Epstein, with one referring to a 10,000 payment, made two months after Epsteins release from prison. Epstein told Mr da Silva: I will wire your loan amount immediatedy (sic). Just a brief note to thank you for the money which arrived in my account this morning, Mr da Silva later replied. Last year, Lord Mandelson was sacked from his role as UK ambassador to the US following mounting pressure over his ties to Epstein. On Friday, he issued a statement apologising to the victims of Epstein. He insisted he was ignorant of Epsteins crimes and learned the actual truth about him after his death. The former British government minister resigned as a member of Labour Party after new reports emerged about his ties to disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, media reported on Sunday. Mandelson said he did not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party, according to the reports. I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this, Mandelson said in a letter to the Labour Party, reported by the BBC and other news organisations. Mandelson said he believed allegations that Epstein made financial payments to him were false and that he would investigate them. While doing this, I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party, the letter said. Mandelson was a key figure in the Labour Partys electoral success during Tony Blairs premiership, which began in the 1990s. He came under renewed scrutiny last year after U.S. lawmakers released documents that included a letter in which he referred to Epstein as my best pal, leading to his dismissal as Britains envoy in Washington. WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The White House has approved massive new arms sales totaling 15.67 billion U.S. dollars to Israel and Saudi Arabia, two major U.S. allies in the Middle East, amid tensions over Iran's unrest, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Friday. The new sale to Israel, totaling 6.67 billion dollars, comprises four separate packages, including one for 30 Apache attack helicopters equipped with rocket launchers and advanced targeting gear, and another for 3,250 light tactical vehicles aimed "to extend lines of communication" for Israeli forces, according to the statement. The sale to Saudi Arabia, worth 9 billion dollars, covers 730 Patriot missiles and related equipment and is intended to support a major regional non-NATO ally, the statement said. The State Department said it notified Congress of the sales' approval earlier on Friday. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice If embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is penning any thank-you notes to express her gratitude for not having been summarily sacked this week after plunging the Trump administration into crisis over Minneapolis, she might want to start with Michael Flynn. Flynn is the disgraced former U.S. Army general who served as President Donald Trumps national security adviser for a whopping 22 days at the outset of Trumps first term eight years ago. A conspiracy theorist and uber-Trump loyalist, Flynn lost his job three weeks into Trumps presidency after it became known that hed lied to both the FBI and then-vice president Mike Pence about his contacts with Russias ambassador to the U.S. Amid a torrent of negative press and questions about his campaigns alleged ties to the Russian governments efforts to help him win the 2016 presidential race, Trump fired the retired military officer in a futile effort to put the story to bed. It became one of his biggest regrets from his first stint in the White House. Thats why Trumps return to power nearly a decade on has included what Vanity Fair first called a no scalps policy under which the now-47th president is uncharacteristically loath to use his famous youre fired catchphrase on anyone now serving under him. open image in gallery DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was replaced in Minnesota by Border czar Tom Homan after the Alex Pretti killing and criticism of her response to it ( Getty ) Its the same reason U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz is living in a ritzy New York condominium at government expense instead of having to find work in the private sector despite having casually dropped highly classified attack plans into a Signal chat to which hed added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. According to multiple sources, Trump returned to power determined above nearly all else to avoid the trait which led his first term to feature the highest turnover in any presidential cabinet in modern history. Responding to negative reporting and revelation of wrongdoing by firing the offenders was why by this time in 2018 hed already sacked his Health and Human Services secretary (for misusing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to pay for private jet travel), removed his Homeland Security secretary so he could serve as White House chief of staff, and within months would fire his Secretary of State and Veterans Affairs secretary over policy differences and negative reporting about his misuse of government funds, respectively. A person close to Trump told The Independent that as he reflected on his first term during his time out of power, he decided that hed been weak to so easily fire advisers in response to pressure from media reporting. Thats why, so far, Noem can remain in her role atop DHS even though the president has layered her by sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to take charge and de-escalate tensions in Minneapolis, where the roving patrols and mass arrests that were being conducted by Border Patrol agents under now-relieved commander-at-large Greg Bovino had been met with massive and ongoing protests from the citys population. open image in gallery Michael Flynn is the retired U.S. Army general who served as President Donald Trumps national security adviser for just 22 days at the outset of Trumps first term eight years ago. Bovino, whod been a middle management Border Patrol executive in charge of the El Centro, California sector before his rough treatment of protesters in Los Angeles brought him to Noems attention, has been similarly buried, sent back to his original post where he is reportedly preparing his retirement papers. Trump has thus far offered the usual tepid soundbites expressing confidence in Noem when asked to do so by reporters, even going so far as saying she was doing a very good job before a day-trip to Iowa on Tuesday. But two days later, he delivered what Italians might call Il bacio della morte the kiss of death to the ex-South Dakota governor when he pointedly declined to let he speak during the first cabinet meeting of the new year. Thats a fate possibly worse than firing in Trumpworld, where ones ability to publicly praise the president and attack the press (and Democrats) in various public forums is often the coin of the realm. And while shes still firmly ensconced in her office at the former insane asylum (once home to would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley) that has been converted into a sprawling headquarters campus for DHS, Noem may well be the first Trump cabinet secretary to get the hook this year. Members of Congress from both parties have been unimpressed by her performance since taking office, with many taking umbrage at her refusal to appear before Congress for regular oversight and budgeting hearings in the same way her predecessors have done since the department was created under the George W. Bush administration. And her blunders in the wake of the Pretti shooting have gotten her awful reviews from key Republican senators who Trump needs to keep the government running, confirm his nominees and pass any legislation he might want to put his Sharpie-branded pen to in the mine months remaining until voters decide whether to keep the GOP in charge of the House and Senate. In tried-and-true Trumpian fashion, Trump and people close to him have indeed had conversations about potential replacements for Noem. The Independent understands two potential candidates include newly-unemployed ex-Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin and former Utah congressman turned Fox News talking head Jason Chaffetz. And according to RealClearPolitics, Trump or his confidants have also bandied about trying to elevate Homan or moving EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin into the DHS secretarys role, though doing so on a permanent basis would require a bruising Senate confirmation battle. But with the midterms looming and polling growing more dismal for the GOP by the week, Trumps desire for a scapegoat and Noems ineptitude may give him more than enough reason to grasp her expensively-styled hair and take out his knife. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice An angel in a church in central Rome has been restored to look like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a national newspaper has reported. The allegation has prompted a culture ministry investigation. Ms Meloni, meanwhile, is laughing off the affair. La Repubblica daily first highlighted the alteration on its front page, saying that one of two angels in a chapel at the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina now bore the likeness of the 49-year-old conservative, who is Italy's first female prime minister. The article featured before-and-after images, noting that the angel had previously appeared as a generic cherub. The culture ministry said that it had instructed Rome's chief art heritage official to conduct an immediate inspection of the restored painting, ahead of determining further steps. open image in gallery The restored angel fresco inside the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( REUTERS ) The opposition Five Star Movement complained: We cannot allow art and culture to risk becoming a tool for propaganda or anything else, regardless of whether the face depicted is that of the prime minister. The parish priest, Daniele Micheletti, told the ANSA news agency that the decorations in the chapel had recently been touched up following water damage. The originals dated only to 2000, so were not under any heritage protection. The restoration was carried out by the same artist who created the original painting, Bruno Valentinetti. open image in gallery Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has laughed off the comparison ( AP ) He disputed the suggestion he had altered the image, telling reporters: I restored what was there before... 25 years ago. As for Ms Meloni, she posted a picture of the disputed painting on Instagram, with the caption No, I definitely don't look like an angel, with a laughing emoji. Ms Meloni, who leads the most right-wing government in Italy since the Second World War, is a Roman Catholic and has publicly aligned herself with traditional Christian values. She frequently uses the motto "Dio, patria, famiglia" (God, fatherland, family). On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The snow-dusted city of Sisimiut, sitting just north of the Arctic Circle, feels largely devoid of US influence. This is Greenlands second largest city, but save for a lone Burger King there are no large chains on the main street. No Starbucks, no MacDonalds, no Apple store. Instead youll find a local cafe illuminated by strip lighting, a childrens playground with a mini ski slope, and locals driving ATVs through the icy streets. Yet, despite the quiet resistance to US culture not to mention months of living under President Donald Trumps increasingly erratic threats of a takeover Sisimiut locals feel surprisingly warmly towards America. One man who has lived in the city his whole life tells The Independent: Its not America that is scary to us, it is the president. This is not about the American people. Another Sisimiut local who works with children in the city agrees: Its the president and the rich people in America who are the problem. open image in gallery Sisimiut on the west coast of Greenland is the second largest city on the Arctic island with a population of around 5,500 ( Annabel Grossman/The Independent ) This small city on the west coast of Greenland, home to around 5,500 people, has been spared much of the attention shone on the capital Nuuk over the past couple of weeks, with residents quietly going about their daily lives. Usha Vance, wife of JD Vance, had planned to visit Sisimiut on her trip to Greenland in March last year to attend the famous Avannaata Qimussersua dogsled race and visit cultural sites, but made a last-minute alteration to her plan and headed straight from Nuuk to the American Pituffik Space Base in the remote northwest of Greenland. This abrupt change of schedule was partly attributed to a planned protest in which locals said they would turn their backs on the American visitor in silent resistance to the Trump administrations attempts to annex the territory. When Nuuk held protests on 17 January, Sisimiut held a smaller version with residents gathering in the town centre holding Greenlandic flags and Stop Trump signs. Americas military relationship with Greenland stretches back to the Second World War, and today the United States retains that one base, Pituffik, where the US Department of Defense says around 130 active members of the US military are permanently stationed. open image in gallery Former MP Tillie Martinussen says she loves Americans but doesnt want to be one ( Tillie Martinussen ) Former Greenland MP Tillie Martinussen, who lives in Nuuk, tells The Independent that her father worked on the US base in Pituffik in the 1970s back when it was called Thule (the name was changed in 2023). He loved Americans, she says. Martinussen says she respected the Americans who were working at the Pituffik base in often brutally harsh conditions. You had to be incredibly badass to work at Thule, she says. You can go outside in the cold and die because your lungs are freezing in minus 50 degrees Celsius. In the winter there, you sometimes have storms that are so massive and so long that you will have three or four days where nobody can go outside. The former politician says she has visited the United States around 18 times, most often to the South, and that she is incredibly fond of America and the American people. She says: I grew up pledging allegiance first to my own people to Greenland secondly, the Queen of Denmark (now the king), and then third to the American president. This [Donald Trump] is the only president Ive ever criticised in any way. There are so many things about America that I love. Its the birthplace of JFK and Martin Luther King thats beautiful. And Im fascinated by the space programme. open image in gallery US vice- president JD Vance tours the Pituffik Space Base in March 2025 ( POOL/AFP via Getty ) I love Americans, theyre so open and funny. But, she adds: I still don't want to be a part of America at all. At all. Martinussen says she finds it hard to contain her anger that Trump is so focused on Greenland rather than caring about his own people and taking care of ordinary Americans. Give people the Epstein files. Stop shooting your own citizens in the face, she says. Stop bullying the world. Youre ruining it for your citizens. Paarnannguaq Tiitussen, a Nuuk resident who owns a traditional Arctic jewellery store in the city, says Greenlanders do not have a problem with America itself, but feel they have the right to make decisions themselves. We need a relationship with America and we already have a relationship with America but it should to be on our terms, she says. Kristina Spohr, professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), says its not surprising that some Greenlanders feel a warmth towards Americans as there is an ancient cultural and historical link, with Inuit people still living in Arctic Alaska. open image in gallery Donald Trump has said a framework for a Greenland deal is in place - but it is not yet clear what that means ( AFP/Getty ) But it doesnt mean that they want to be led by an American president, or a mining company from the United States, or a Louisiana governor, she adds. She points out that because Greenland Inuits have associated with a European power rather than an American one, their culture has been able to survive, compared to indigenous groups in the United States. Following talks with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte last week, Trump claimed there was a framework for a future Greenland deal, but it is not clear what had been agreed. Both Greenlands prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen have said there are red lines that cannot be crossed, and that includes Greenlands sovereignty. open image in gallery Martinussen said children in Greenland will now grow up thinking of Americans as their enemies ( Tillie Martinussen ) The US military presence in Greenland dates back to an agreement that allowed America to establish military bases on the Arctic island following the Nazi occupation of Denmark in 1940. Through the Second World War and Cold War, the US assumed the role of defender of the island, and Martinussen explains that many Greenlanders viewed the American soldiers as heroes. She says she remembers as a little girl her grandmother telling her about the Americans dropping food and presents, and she loved her grandparents giving her Wrigleys gum that came from the States. Martinussen adds: Im so sad that so many children are going to grow up now and think America is the enemy, or at least they cant be trusted. I cant believe that Donald Trump is dismantling everything. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Hundreds of Danish veterans, many of whom served alongside American forces, staged a silent protest on Saturday outside the US Embassy in Copenhagen. The demonstration was a direct response to the Trump administration's suggestions of acquiring Greenland and what they perceive as a dismissal of their combat contributions. Earlier in January, President Donald Trump claimed that Nato soldiers avoided the front line in the Middle East, and he was not sure that the alliance would be there if we ever needed them. He told Fox News: Theyll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines. "Denmark has always stood side by side with the USA and we have showed up in the worlds crisis zones when the USA has asked us to, Danish Veterans & Veteran Support said. We feel let down and ridiculed by the Trump administration, which is deliberately disregarding Denmarks combat side by side with the USA. open image in gallery Veterans march to the embassy The group added: "Words cannot describe how much it hurts us that Denmarks contributions and sacrifices in the fight for democracy, peace and freedom are being forgotten in the White House." The veterans initially gathered at a monument honouring fallen Danish service members before marching to the nearby US Embassy. There, they observed five minutes of silence, dedicating one minute to each branch of Denmarks armed forces: the army, air force, navy, emergency management agency, and police. Danish veterans are furious at how the White House rhetoric disregards the right to self-determination of Greenland, a territory of Nato ally Denmark. open image in gallery The Danish veterans flood the streets They also strongly object to Trumps claim that Denmark is incapable of protecting the Wests security interests in the Arctic. Forty-four Danish soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces. Eight more died in Iraq. Tensions were further inflamed on Tuesday when 44 Danish flags one for every Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan that had been placed in front of the embassy were removed by embassy staff. The State Department later said that, as a general rule, guard staff remove items left behind following demonstrations and other legitimate exercises of free speech". The flags were returned to those who left them, it said. Close 'Evil must stop: Zelenskyy mourns latest Russian attack on miners as he confirms next diplomatic talks in UAE On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Russian forces have been accused of carrying out a double tap drone strike on a bus on Sunday, in an attack which killed 12 miners. The bus, operated by Ukrainian energy company DTEK, was struck in the Dnipropetrovsk region in what the firm described as a large-scale terrorist attack, injuring a further 16 people. Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraines defence minister, has since claimed that Russian forces were became aware the bus was containing civilians when it attacked for a second time. He said on Telegram that a Shahed pilot saw a bus below and decided to attack it, adding that the driver lost control under the influence of the blast wave and drove into the fence before injured people began to flee. At this time, the operator of the second Shahed saw people and directed the Shahed directly at civilians, Beskrestnov said. The operators from the territory of Russia 100% saw and recognized the target as a civilian, saw that it was not a military person and made a conscious decision to attack, he added. Meanwhile, both the Kremlin and Volodymyr Zelensky have confirmed the second round of Ukraine-Russia-US talks is scheduled to begin on Wednesday. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Israeli airstrikes killed 27 people in Gaza on Saturday in one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire, Gaza officials have said. The IDF claimed that it was targeting commanders and sites belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad when it struck a police station, residential homes and tent encampments across the beleaguered strip. A fragile ceasefire has been continually undermined by violence, with more than 500 people killed in Israeli assaults since October. Palestinian militants have killed four Israeli soldiers, according to Israeli tallies. Israeli warplanes struck the Sheikh Radwan station west of Gaza City earlier Saturday, killing ten police officers and detainees, medics and police in Gaza reported. open image in gallery Smoke rises from the site of an airstrike west of Khan Yunis on Saturday ( AFP via Getty Images ) Further airstrikes hit at least two houses in Gaza City and a tent encampment housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, further south, local officials said. The strike on an apartment building in Gaza City killed three children, their aunt and their grandmother, according to Shifa Hospital. Samer al-Atbash, uncle to the young victims, said: We found my three little nieces in the street. They say 'ceasefire' and all. What did those children do? What did we do? The three girls are gone, may God have mercy on them, he said, adding that the family were civilians with no connection to Hamas. Names were written on body bags lined up at the foot of a wall. Video footage from Gaza City depicted charred, blackened walls and widespread destruction at an apartment within a multi-storey building, with debris strewn both inside and on the street outside. Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp in Khan Younis caused a fire, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. open image in gallery Palestinians search for bodies and survivors from the rubble of a police station in Gaza City ( AP ) Atallah Abu Hadaiyed said he had just finished praying when the explosion occurred. We came running and found my cousins lying here and there, with fire raging. We don't know if we're at war or at peace, or what. Where is the truce? Where is the ceasefire they talked about? he said. The Israeli military said it was responding to a breach of the US-brokered ceasefire. Hamas said that Israel had violated the truce. It did not say whether any of its members or facilities had been hit. The IDF said that it struck weapon caches and manufacturing sites, in addition to targeting Hamas commanders. It said the strikes were carried out in response to an incident on Friday where troops identified eight gunmen emerging from a tunnel in Rafah, where Israeli forces are deployed under the truce agreement. Three of the gunmen were killed by the forces, and a fourth, described by the Israeli military as a Hamas commander in the area, was apprehended. open image in gallery Smoke rises after a projectile fell on a building in Gaza City on Saturday ( via REUTERS ) In response to the violation of the ceasefire agreement, in which eight terrorists were identified exiting the underground terror infrastructure in eastern Rafah, the IDF and ISA have struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across Gaza, it said. The IDF also struck a weapons storage facility, a weapons manufacturing site, and two launch sites belonging to Hamas in central Gaza. The latest strikes came a day before the Rafah border crossing, connecting Gaza with Egypt, is set to reopen under a US-backed plan aimed at ending a war that has devastated much of the territory. Hamas did not comment on the incident. Dozens of its fighters have remained trapped in tunnels under Rafah since the ceasefire, though some have since been killed in clashes with Israeli forces. Both sides have exchanged accusations over truce violations, even as Washington is pressing them to advance to the next phases of the ceasefire deal, which is intended to permanently end the conflict. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice An explosion ripped through an apartment building in Irans port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, claiming the life of a four-year-old girl. Local media footage reportedly showed a member of the security forces being carried out by rescuers in the aftermath of the blast. The incident occurred just a day before Irans planned naval drill in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway to the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the worlds traded oil passes. The US military had previously issued warnings to Iran against threatening its warships or commercial traffic in the strait, where Bandar Abbas is situated. State television cited a local fire official who attributed the explosion to a gas leak. Reports indicated that at least 14 other people sustained injuries in the blast at the eight-storey building, which shattered windows and left the street below covered in debris. Damage after an explosion in a building in Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran ( UGC/AFP via Getty Images ) Local news outlet Sobh-e Sahel broadcast footage featuring one of its correspondents reporting from outside the damaged building. The sequence included a man in black boots and a green security force uniform being transported on a stretcher. He was wearing a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, with his left hand obscuring the branch insignia on his uniform. The local newspaper did not acknowledge the security force member being carried out elsewhere in its reporting. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard itself did not discuss the blast, other than to deny that a Guard navy commander had been hurt in the explosion. Another blast, blamed on a gas explosion, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz killed five people on Saturday, state media reported. It comes as Iran remains tense over a threat by US President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike on the country over the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations. Ali Larijani, a top security official in Iran, wrote on X late on Saturday that structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing. However, there is no public sign of any talks with the United States, which Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice On a late January afternoon, British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili arrived at The Independents offices wearing a navy blue military-style jacket. Im dressed like Zelensky, the 60-year-old says, in the playful manner seen in his stand-up comedy and acting roles in blockbuster films including The Mummy and Gladiator. More recently, since the start of the protests in Iran, and the deadly crackdown by the Islamic regime, Djalili has been fighting for Irans freedom. Djalili has given over his social media to the voiceless, as he describes them, the Iranians stuck in an internet blackout imposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Protests had initially been triggered by soaring prices and a collapsing currency but quickly escalated into nationwide demonstrations demanding an end to the government. open image in gallery Omid Djalili has given over his social media to the voiceless in Iran stuck in an internet blackout imposed by the Islamic Republic ( The Independent ) An hour after the internet shutdown began, at around 8pm on 8 January, the regime began firing lethal rounds at protesters. The internet blackout was an attempt by the Iranian leadership to cover up the massacres that took place across 8-9 January, according to human rights organisations including Amnesty International. As a result, the death toll has been impossible to verify. According to medical reports collected by The Sunday Times, at least 16,500-18,000 people have died to date. Djalili references the research of the International Centre for Human Rights (ICHR), a New York-based advocacy group. The ICHR estimates that, since the start of the protests on 28 December over 43,000 people have been killed by the regime and 350,000 injured 10,000 of whom have been blinded. open image in gallery A protester lights a cigarette off a burning poster of Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in Berlin ( (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) ) The ICHR says that its estimates are based on investigations, field research, verification of received images and videos, and interviews with multiple sources inside Iran. Born in London to Iranian parents, Djalili has only been to Iran twice in his life. Once when he was three and the final time in 1971 when he was just six years old. Ever since his rise to fame in the mid-1990s with his breakthrough stand-up show Short, Fat, Kebab Shop Owners Son which won critical acclaim and led to regular TV and film work he has remained one of the most recognisable British-Iranians in the UK. As a result, he has always kept a watchful eye on the country of his parents birth, and has been an outspoken voice on human rights abuses in Iran. It seems that every time theres an uprising, the people are not just crushed, theyre clobbered and killed, he says. open image in gallery Djalili has spoken out about human rights abuses in Iran ( PA ) He was particularly moved by the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement that was sparked by the police killing of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini. Amini had been arrested for failing to wear a hijab properly and died in police custody. Amini was Kurdish, part of a minority in Iran that has been historically persecuted. Djalili and his family are followers of the Bahai faith. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahais have faced systematic persecution at the hands of the state. Some Bahais are blocked from jobs and universities. Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has confiscated properties from Bahai families. As tensions continue to simmer between Washington and Tehran, President Donald Trump has ordered a massive Armada of US Navy ships off the coast of Iran. open image in gallery The USS Abraham Lincoln is part of Donald Trumps massive armada in the Middle East ( US Navy ) Iran has warned that it will retaliate against any US attack instantly. Trump has said he wants to negotiate with Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear programme. For Djalili, the time for negotiation with the Iranian regime is over; it is anathema to try to make deals with a regime that massacres its own civilians. Its really important that the armada is there right now, Djalili says, but he believes its not just for America or Israel to intervene; this is a time when the whole world should be standing up. He was glad to see Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) placed on the European Unions terrorist list following the deadly crackdown. This will make it more difficult for countries to have any dealings with the regime, he suggests. open image in gallery Members of Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps march during ab annual military parade ( AFP/Getty ) When considering previous US military campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, Djalili recognises that fears around intervention not necessarily leading to democracy are legitimate. But, Iranian people are not going to say no if anyones going to stand up for them, he says. Djalili doesnt see himself as a political figure; he says he is merely relaying what he observes from the people of Iran. From the videos he has seen, he believes exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah, has the support of the Iranian protesters. If foreign intervention were to come and the regime were toppled, he would welcome Pahlavi as a custodian of transition towards a new, democratic government. open image in gallery Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah who was toppled in 1979 ( AP ) He seems like a very reasonable, educated person, and his heart is in the right place, Djalili says. Being a prominent voice for the Iranian people in Britain does take a toll. The day Djalili spoke with The Independent, he had driven four hours from Bridport, Dorset, where he had been performing on his stand-up tour. Before starting his shows, Djalili goes out to speak with the audience to highlight that this is a very difficult time for Iranians and humanity as a whole. Many are not even aware of what is happening in Iran, or they struggle to believe it. People dont believe that security forces in another country can just go up to unarmed civilians and shoot them in the head, Djalili says. But, at the same time, you see the unbelievable courage of Iranians. Theyre still fighting back and theyre saying, We will fight you to the very end, youre going to have to kill us all. open image in gallery Djalili explains to his stand-up audiences what is happening in Iran before the shows ( Omid Djalili ) Some Iranian friends have called him to suggest that maybe he should be working less. Its true, sometimes he struggles to balance his day job as a comedian alongside his role fighting for the rights of Iranians. Trying to be funny when so many terrible things are happening in Iran can feel like a contradiction. But then he considers those people in Iran who continue to protest in the face of inordinate risks to their lives, and those of their family and loved ones. When people are together and were joyful and were laughing and were discussing these things, that is exactly what the regime does not want us to do, he says. Then Djalili pauses and shifts in his chair defiantly. And you know what? Im going to do it, he says. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Donald Trump has renewed his threat of military action against Iran, urging the Islamic Republic to make a deal or face the consequences with a massive armada already en route to the region. The US president said on Wednesday that time was running out for Tehran to avoid a repeat of last summers strikes against the countrys nuclear facilities, warning this time would be far worse. The U.S. has been seeking a deal to curb Irans nuclear programme even after claiming to have totally destroyed it in a bombing campaign last June. However, officials fear the programme was not destroyed and that the regime has been reconstituting it. Iran denies trying to make a bomb, but says it is open to talks. The decision to move a carrier strike group to the region gives Trump a wider range of options than he had earlier this month, when he vowed to come to the rescue of anti-government protesters being brutally killed and targeted by the regime. But U.S. bases and partners in the region will be fearing an Iranian retaliation after regime officials threatened an unprecedented response if provoked. The Independent looks at what is likely to happen next in Iran. open image in gallery A US fighter jet is prepared on the deck of an aircraft carrier en route to the Middle East ( AP ) Military intervention Trump has been deliberating how to attack Iran for weeks, according to officials close to the talks. But the range of options from a coordinated cyber attack to strikes on nuclear facilities has been limited by the recent dispersal of U.S. military assets around the world. Washington has fewer options than it did when it struck key Iranian sites last summer, using B-2 bombers from Missouri alongside 125 military aircraft, decoys in the Pacific and missiles from a submarine. But the arrival of the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group lends credibility to his recent threat. Andreas Krieg, associate Professor in security studies at King's College London, told The Independent that Trump is trying to run a familiar play, applying maximum pressure to force movement in negotiations, while leaving open space to off ramp so he can claim a deal rather than own a war. His problem is that he has boxed himself into needed a visible result quickly. If Iran does not offer something tangible, he risks looking like he bluffed. That makes both deescalation and a limited punitive strike plausible in the same week. open image in gallery Iran fired salvoes of missiles at Israel last summer at the height of tensions ( AP ) The US could use limited strikes against military bases and nuclear sites to press Iran to make a deal. This would limit civilian casualties, but could also see Iran try to save face with limited retaliatory strikes against US bases in the region. With recent memory of Iran hitting back at Israel and the U.S. base in Qatar last year, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. said this week they would not let the U.S. use their airspace or territory to attack Iran, restricting Washingtons options. Iran striking back hard Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Irans supreme leader, said that a U.S. attack on Iran would warrant an unprecedented response against the U.S. and Israel. Any military action would be considered the start of war and the response would be immediate. Iran has historically tried to save face with fiery rhetoric, even if experts say it lacks the resources to prosecute a regional war. Dr Krieg said the greatest risk would be that it miscalculates a limited response and forces open a wider conflict. If the US attacks, Irans most likely retaliation is asymmetric and calibrated rather than an immediate all-out exchange. It can target US interests and partners through deniable channels, pressure shipping and energy routes, and use cyber operations. The central danger is miscalculation, he added. Coercive signalling can quickly become a war neither side claims to want. open image in gallery Last year, the U.S. sent B-2 bombers (pictured) from Missouri to strike Iran, backed by dozens of planes and missiles launched from a submarine ( AFP/Getty ) The U.S. will also be conscious that it has less means to defend itself this year. In July, The Guardian reported that the U.S. only had around 25 per cent of the Patriots it needed after depleting stockpiles in the Middle East. If it does become a longer-term volley of strikes, then your interceptor capacity becomes all the more important, a former defence official told Politico earlier this month. We could get in a sticky situation very quickly on that front. Regime change US secretary of state Marco Rubio assessed on Wednesday that the Iranian regime was probably weaker than it had ever been. His comments follow the most serious protests against Tehran in years over the countrys deep economic crisis. Multiple sources told Reuters that Trump was weighing strikes that would aim to inspire protesters and create the conditions for regime change. But setting out to topple the regime would be a costly and uncertain venture for the U.S., experts say. Arab officials and Western diplomats told Reuters they were concerned that instead of bringing people onto the streets, U.S. strikes could weaken a movement already in shock after the bloodiest repression by authorities since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, said that without large-scale military defections Iran's protests remained heroic but outgunned. Trump has also notably avoided endorsing a successor, and Irans exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi lacks sufficient support within the country to immediately be installed as leader. On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice There wont be a single supermarket, Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman told Bloomberg in 2017. Zero. Nobody will go and buy things for their home. Everything will come to your house using technology. The then 32-year-old was laying out the most ambitious vision for a city in human history. His megaproject, Neom, would transform Saudi Arabia from an economy dependent on oil to a global hub of innovation and prosperity. Just months earlier, he had become the Kingdoms de facto ruler, promising to usher in an era of idealism and technological revolution. This was his most daring gamble yet. As part of the Neom project, more than 363bn would be pumped into the construction of a mountain ski resort, several coastal resorts and an industrial zone along the coast of the Red Sea. open image in gallery The linear city stretched for 200km in the desert ( NEOM ) But the jewel in Neoms crown was The Line: a 170km megacity consisting of two gleaming 500-metre high skyscrapers cutting through the desert sky. Less than a decade on from the announcement of Neom, the Saudi government appears to have admitted defeat. After a series of delays and ballooning costs, the Financial Times reported that the project would be scaled back. Saudi officials now envisage Neom being something far smaller than the original design, but architects say the project was doomed from the start. Its an excellent example of a type of architecture where you propose something provocative to get a reaction. Its always been an advertising gimmick for Saudi Arabia, says Professor James Campbell, an architect and architectural historian at the University of Cambridge. The majority of the architectural community shares his view, he claims, with some frustrated that the plan was not dismissed much earlier. Its ignored all the [engineering] problems. Its just a big shiny wall. open image in gallery The Line would have run entirely on renewable energy ( NEOM ) The limitations, he says, are not structural. In theory, it would be physically possible to build The Line but the city does not make sense from an urban planning or financial perspective. As a building it makes no sense, and as a city it makes no sense the perfect shape for a city is a tight circle, he says, adding that the project is economically not feasible. Riyadh does not deny immense overspending. We spent too much, one Saudi official said at an investment forum last November. We rushed at 100 miles an hour. We are now running deficits. We need to reprioritise. open image in gallery Architects say the project would have been impossible to build ( NEOM ) Prince Mohammed is reported to have come up with the idea for a linear city himself. The original design, put forward by Los Angeles architecture firm Morphosis, proposed a 2km-wide strip running from the sea to the mountains, connected entirely by rail. But the crown princes ambition only grew. I told the team, how about if we take that two kilo[metres] and we flip it to two towers? Is that going to work, or is it going to be massive? he said in a documentary on the Discovery Channel. The new brief envisaged a 200-metre wide city, housing 9 million people and operating without roads, cars or emissions. Officials said it would run on 100 per cent renewable energy. open image in gallery Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled Neom in 2017 ( Discovery Channel ) Morphosis, founded by star architect Thom Mayne, drafted the initial designs. Other major architecture and planning companies came onboard, including Adjaye Associates, Peter Cook and OMA. Several firms, including Morphosis, have since left the Neom team as concerns grew around budget constraints and alleged human rights abuses on site. The project is now being led by companies including Delugan Meissl Associate Architects, Gensler, and Mott MacDonald. It remains unclear what role they will play following the scaling back of Neom. The Independent has reached out to most of the publicly-listed companies involved in the project, as well as Neom itself, but received no response. open image in gallery The futuristic city was set to be a home for 9 million people ( NEOM ) Despite skepticism, Prince Mohammed was consistently dismissive of those who doubted the project, claiming it would add $100bn to Saudi GDP by 2030. But the crown prince was overly ambitious right from the outset, said Dr Neil Quilliam, associate fellow in the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House. Officials in Riyadh got caught up in the enthusiasm of the changes that were taking place but would privately have felt doubt over whether it could be achieved, he told The Independent. open image in gallery Officials say that the project will be significantly scaled back ( NEOM ) At that particular time there was a buy-in to Saudi Arabia suddenly having this energy, this power and this will to do whatever it wanted, to really set a new agenda, he said. It wanted to demonstrate there was a clear willingness and desire to demonstrate that the country was shifting and changing. In Neom, it was sort of laying that out. As a result, the significant down-scaling of the project will be met with a sense of embarrassment, Dr Quilliam said. Prince Mohammed has gone through a series of painful learning processes during his time in power and will emerge with a stronger sense of realism, he added. Future projects on the scale of Neom, he said, will be much less likely going forward as a result. For now, there will be no gleaming towers in the desert. 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 MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russia strongly condemns the latest restrictive measures imposed by the United States on Cuba, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday. Zakharova made the remarks in response to a media question regarding a U.S. executive order published on Thursday, which threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba. She noted that unilateral sanctions against sovereign and independent states, adopted in circumvention of the United Nations and its Charter as well as other norms of international law, are "categorically unacceptable." Zakharova said the U.S. move represents yet another radical relapse of Washington's long-standing strategy of maximum pressure on Cuba, aimed at economically suffocating the Caribbean country. Anxiety is an occupational hazard for the writer. I have been making a living from writing for three decades, and I cannot recall a time when it did not prompt anxiety. When I started out, I worried about how to persuade commissioning editors to give me a chance to write. Later, I worried that I was being pigeonholed, worried about the chronic financial insecurity that comes with being a freelance writer, and worried that no one would be interested in letting me write what I wanted to write. These days, I still have all these worries, but they have been joined by a more recent anxiety: that I will be replaced by AI. Alongside my writing career, I also teach non-fiction writing at University College London (UCL), where I try to persuade my students that aspiring to be a writer in the time of ChatGPT is not entirely insane. For all the gloomy warnings about the threat of artificial intelligence, I have tended to believe that it cannot yet emulate what makes great writing great, or even what makes distinctive writing distinctive. I wanted to demonstrate this to my students, so I devised an experiment that would, I hoped, reveal the limitations of AI. I asked them to read two pieces. One was a column I had written, reflecting on how, in a year as unpredictable as 2026, I found comfort in things that were reliably predictable. The other was generated by ChatGPT, which I prompted to write 700 words making the same argument in the style of Sarfraz Manzoor. I printed both pieces in the same font and format. The intention was simple: to show that, for all its seductive convenience, AI-produced writing was proficient but hollow. I wanted my students to compare the specificity, the wit and the rhythm of my writing with what AI produced. Any vaguely intelligent reader could, I assumed, see that my piece was superior in every way. That, at least, was the plan. I gave the students time to read both pieces, and then asked for their comments. To my surprise, the majority told me the AI version was better. They said it was better argued, more clearly structured, more ambitious in scope, and, this was the real kick in the guts, a few even told me it was more personal than my own. That hurt: a piece generated by AI was more personal than one written by an actual person. When I revealed that the first piece was mine and the second AI-generated, there was a pause as they processed this. Many looked genuinely shocked and some were probably wondering if they could get a refund on the money they had spent on their degree. They then explained their reasoning. These were mostly international students many of them Chinese and the cultural references in my piece went over their heads. They had not heard of Pulps Disco 2000, Bonnie Blue or Nigel Farage, and so the very things I had included to make the piece resonate with readers were what made it harder for them to connect. I admit to initially feeling deflated that the students preferred the AI version of me to the real thing. But when I probed why they preferred the second piece, I started to feel more hopeful. It became clear that they had been taught to value writing with clear signposting, that moved smoothly from one point to another, and that was shorn of personality or spikiness writing that read more like an essay. My piece, by contrast, assumed shared memory and shared cultural references, and it contained jokes. The students who were the most media-literate those who told me they subscribed to newspapers were the least persuaded by the AI version. One said it felt cold, others called it forgettable, and several noted that it was impossible to tell when it might have been written. By contrast, my piece contained a line that one student quoted and described as memorable, while another was persuaded to listen to Disco 2000 for the first time. In other words, the AI piece was competent but forgettable, while mine demanded more from the reader but offered greater rewards. The AI offered the illusion of profundity, packaged in bland banalities that could just about pass as insight. For some students, that was enough. But, as I told them, while it may have fooled them, I strongly suspect it would not have fooled the editor who had commissioned the piece. Had I submitted that second version, I suspect I would have been told it needed more work, that it needed to feel more personal, and that it lacked an authentic authorial voice. Students found the AI-written piece to be competent, but also forgettable ( Getty Images/iStockphoto ) Will I one day be replaced by AI? It is possible, but not inevitable. My homework for the rest of the term is to teach my students not only how to be better writers, but how to recognise and value writing that is truly human, rather than its paper-thin approximation. The qualities I always believed were the hallmarks of good writing voice, specificity were not immediately appreciated by all my students. But that, perhaps, is precisely why they still matter. We all know the narrative of Donald Trump the bully: the man who throws his weight around, who intimidates, harangues and undermines anyone who stands in his way, who believes that might is right. Over the past year, weve seen it on display again and again. You can see it in his facial expressions: those tightly pursed lips, scowling eyes and nostrils, fists planted on the Resolute Desk, that can sniff the weakness in an opponent from 100 paces. A less appreciated side of Donald Trump and its the side of him that makes him a far more formidable and subtle politician than the cartoon caricature allows is that he has a finely tuned sense of danger. Like African kudu antelopes whose ears swivel and start to twitch as an early-warning radar when they become aware there might be a predator in range, so Donald Trump has an acute sense of when political humiliation is awaiting him. That marks him out from the fascistic clowns and goons hes surrounded himself with in this administration. In Trump 1.0, there were those in the room who would dare to push back, to point out the pitfalls of a particular policy. This time round, the only words that Trump hears from his aides are yes, sir. And they seek to win extra Brownie points by going further and faster than they were ever asked. Well return to the cast of misfits whove delivered the policy disaster that is Minneapolis in a minute, but its not just whats been unfolding in the upper midwestern state that was once a byword for tedium and polite dullness. Over the past couple of weeks, weve had the president threatening to sink beneath the waterline the Western Defence Alliance, Nato, with his insistence that he was going to annex Greenland. He had to have it. By hook or by crook, with the clear threat that he would take this Danish sovereign territory by force if necessary. But then he came face to face with European solidarity (normally an oxymoron) and completely backed down from his threats. It looks as though he might get some sort of deal to bolster US forces on this arctic piece of rock but that was always on offer. On his way back from Davos, he then gave that interview, which managed to combine offensiveness with breathtaking ignorance about the role of Nato forces in Afghanistan. In it, he said they stayed a little off the frontlines. Leave aside the revolting chutzpah of a man who has never put on a uniform; it was just plain wrong. More than 450 Brits paid the ultimate price in Afghanistan. Many more came home with life-altering injuries. As the backlash grew, Trump climbed down and posted on his social media platform about the bravery of Britains warriors who fought alongside American servicemen and women. He knew he was on the wrong side of this and course corrected. open image in gallery Posters of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both US citizens fatally shot by immigration agents, are seen during a candlelight vigil in Minneapolis ( AFP/Getty ) Now, the one thing to understand about a Trump U-turn is that you are never going to hear the word sorry. Nor are you going to hear him say I made a mistake. Sure, it might look more gracious if he did, but that just aint gonna happen. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is he does climb down and U-turn and fold. He understands the limits of what he can get away with. Which brings us back to the events of Minneapolis. The Trump cast list is beyond parody. Theres the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) man who was in charge of the operation when Alex Pretti was shot multiple times as he lay on the ground, defenceless and offering no resistance. Boy, did they pick the wrong guy to build their domestic terrorist narrative. He was an intensive care nurse who worked in a hospital for military veterans and has no criminal record. The man in charge of thugs terrorising the citys citizens was pumped-up Greg Bovino, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Sean Penn character in One Battle After Another, Steven J Lockjaw. Bovino works under the Department of Homeland Security head, Kristi Noem. Im pretty sure she was in Barbie: The Movie always seen with a new ICE-appropriate outfit big cowgirl hats and pseudo fatigues. open image in gallery Nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot dead by federal agents ( US Department of Veterans Affair ) But the real brains behind the crackdown is Trumps right-hand man, Stephen Miller. He is a provocateur who seemingly does want to start a war on Minneapoliss streets to justify even more extreme measures that might help Trump come the midterm elections in November. A sort of Dr Strangelove de nos jours. The three of them tried to spin a narrative that no one was buying: Pretti was about to carry out a massacre. He was armed (true, he had a pistol that he never tried to take from its holster on his thigh but Minnesota is an open carry state, so it was entirely lawful) and had to be stopped. It was self-defence on the part of the ICE officers who felt their lives were in danger. The reason that no one was buying this narrative was that Pretti and all the other protesters were armed with something far more dangerous than a 9mm handgun. They had smartphones that recorded seemingly from every angle the sequence of events that led to his untimely death. open image in gallery Donald Trump listens as White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller speaks ( AP ) The propagandists in the White House, who have sought to shape and define reality this past year, irrespective of the facts, have found themselves defeated and made to look preposterous with their flagrant untruths about this episode. Trump recognised the way this was spinning out of control and the wider danger it represents. They did not. Trumps other great skill is his visceral sense of where public opinion lies. His promise to crack down on illegal immigration was one of the principal reasons he won the last election. But the way hes gone about it has offended so many people. The snatch squads, the masked faces, the brutality, the killing of American civilians exercising their right to protest have been jarring because it just feels fundamentally un-American. Trump is right to be nervous. His desire to be surrounded by yes men and women has served up a policy catastrophe for which he is likely to pay a heavy price. And his opponents now sense weakness. Insurance, fuel and tax are chief financial concerns for motorists About 30pc of motorists surveyed hope to buy within the next 12 months. Stock image Car owners are now spending an average of 224.40 on running costs a month, an increase of 6pc on last year, new research has found. Carzones 2026 Motoring Report found that 65pc of car owners have listed insurance as their top financial concern, just ahead of fuel and tax. Drawing on responses from 1,000 motorists, this years findings point to clearer shifts in buying intentions, cost pressures and attitudes towards future technologies. The report also said that the means of purchasing a car have also altered due to the rising cost of living, with 55pc of drivers having used finance. Although cash and savings remain common, finance is increasingly seen as the practical route to car ownership. Despite cost pressures, the report revealed that drivers are replacing their cars more frequently, with the average cycle being every five years and 30pc of those surveyed hoping to buy in the next 12 months. Car ownership proves to be of significance importance to Irish drivers As well as this, 34pc now expect their next car to be brand new, up from 28pc in 2025, with the average expected spend sitting at 21,300 an increase of 1,900 on last year. Car ownership proves to be of significance importance to Irish drivers, with over half (53pc) describing it as essential, underlining how strongly people value personal access compared with alternatives such as ride-shares or public transport. However, experiences of the buying process remain mixed, as two in five describe it as exciting, but a quarter of those surveyed finding it stressful or time-consuming. While diesel remains the fuel of choice for most motorists (29pc), electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid options together account for nearly 40pc of searches. However, costs are both a motivator and barrier for electric vehicles lower running costs are the main motivation for those considering electric, but those who are not planning to switch, have said that expense and electricity costs as their main barrier. Motorists are now leaning on artificial intelligence (AI) to inform and support their research for their next purchase, with over half of those surveyed (57pc) saying they would feel comfortable using AI to help them find the right car. Carzone is owned by Mediahuis Ireland, which is also the publisher of the Irish Independent. The shift towards hybrid and electric options continues at a steady pace It credits the insights in the latest report in helping understand what really matters to Irish motorists at a time of ongoing change, by creating a clear picture of the factors shaping the Irish motoring landscape. Carzones independent motoring expert Conor Faughnan said: Drivers are becoming more confident about their next purchase, but they are equally conscious of rising costs. We are seeing clearer intent to buy new, growing budgets and a shorter replacement cycle, yet insurance and everyday running costs remain front of mind for most people. The shift towards hybrid and electric options continues at a steady pace, though cost is still a deciding factor for many. Anne Cassin with Robert Rowinski during the live show of RTEs 'Dancing With The Stars'. Photo: Kyran OBrien/kobpix The 'Nationwide' presenter had previously turned DWTS down and waited until her children were older to do it. Photo: Kyran OBrien/kobpix Anne Cassin says she is loving her time on the hit show. Photo: Kyran OBrien/kobpix Nationwide presenter Anne Cassin says she wasnt used to being the subject of the story when she first joined Dancing with the Stars, but has now fully embraced it. The broadcaster, who has been working in RTE since 1998, said she was normally the one asking questions. "Initially, on this journey, [I wasnt] used to being the subject [of the story], she said. "I'm normally the one drawing the stories out. So I've made the adjustment, and I've totally embraced it. So I'm happy enough about that now. "Knowing that the dedicated dance was going to reflect on my personal life, I was more than happy to go with it. Its the dedicated dance week on RTEs dance show, and Cassin will dedicate her performance to her mother, Nancy, who passed away just weeks after Cassin gave birth to her first child. She said: She has been a person, along with my father, but particularly in terms of her humanity or values, how she raised the five of us really shaped the person that I have become, and it was a way to pay tribute to her. I wanted to get to the dedicated dance week, because it's a chance for people to reveal a little bit more about themselves and to find out about their story, whether it's personal or whether it's an issue that they're highlighting. Although no pair will go home this week, she said it wouldnt really take the pressure off. You still want to do it as well as you possibly can," said Cassin. But it's nice to know that nobody will be going home that week. My mental attitude really has been to take it week by week, and I think over-projecting can really land you in unnecessary worry. The easiest dance is the one you've just done, and the hardest dance is the one that you're about to do. The 'Nationwide' presenter had previously turned DWTS down and waited until her children were older to do it. Photo: Kyran OBrien/kobpix The pair will dance American Smooth to Dont Stop by Fleetwood Mac on Sunday, a song that brings her back to childhood, because the duo have been rehearsing a lot of lifts. Her dance partner, Robert Rowinski, who has been a professional on the show for seven series, added that Cassin is his first celebrity partner who loves the lifts and wants to be lifted. Everybodys scared of lifts. It's dangerous as well. You need to have trust. And Anne is like, Let's do it. He praised Cassin, adding that he had never worked with such a professional person in his life, and described her as very hard-working, saying: She not only rehearsed with me, but she also rehearsed at home and did homework. Cassin said the reaction from her family and friends had been very uplifting and heartwarming, and she had been flooded by messages of support. I have been absolutely flabbergasted by the positive feelings, vibes and messages that have come from people, from my own school friends, from people I was in college with 100 years ago. I've been really overwhelmed by that, she said. He's been a rock for me to do this They're very proud of me. My husband [Donagh McGrath] has been very generous, because it's been so immersive and so busy. He's given me the space to do this, so I have been let off dog walking, cooking, hoovering, and being in the house, all of that stuff. He's taken over that. So he's been really supportive. He's been a rock for me to do this. While Cassin had turned down DWTS before, the mother of three decided to take part this time because her children are adults now. When I was approached before, they were at a stage in life where they would be absolutely mortified at their mother doing something; they were teenagers. My daughter Heather sent me a message. She was watching it from Germany, she was delighted. So they're quite proud. And my son watches it with a whole bunch of his friends. So the condition there is that they all have to. Bryan Dobson, a recently retired RTE broadcaster, came to support Cassin, from the audience last week. Anne Cassin with Robert Rowinski during the live show of RTEs 'Dancing With The Stars'. Photo: Kyran OBrien/kobpix Cassin said that her friend Dobson might be tempted to take part in the show himself. Bryan's a great old pal of mine. He's very open to doing new things. I think he's tempted. Dancing with the Stars airs Sundays at 6.30pm on RTE One and RTE Player. BREAKING | Man found dead and two women injured in north Dublin as gardai launch investigation The body of the man remains at the scene while both women were treated at hospital No arrests have been made Keith Kelly Sat 31 Jan 2026 at 11:57 A man in his 50s has been found dead and two women in their 60s injured in north Dublin this morning following an overnight assault. Reservoir now near capacity with water levels up two metres ESB has said that it may need to allow some water to pass through from the Poulaphouca reservoir due to its limited storage, placing the towns of Clane and Newbridge under direct flood threat. The reservoir, located in the Blessington Lakes in west Wicklow, is used by ESB for hydroelectric power generation. Its dam structure also plays a critical role in regulating water flow through the Liffey catchment area, namely Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin. As a result of the consistent rainfall over past two weeks, exacerbated by Storm Chandra, the reservoir is now nearing capacity with water levels having risen by two metres; the state-owned company has said it will need to ease the pressure. "Over the last number of weeks there has been prolonged and intense rainfall in the River Liffey catchment area, which has significantly increased river and reservoir levels, ESB said in a statement. Large volumes of rain water arrived into the Poulaphouca reservoir in recent days from the upper Liffey catchment area. The vast bulk of this volume has been retained in the reservoir, increasing levels by almost two metres. Poulaphouca Reservoir. News in 90 seconds - Saturday, January 31 "Without the dam structures at Poulaphouca, this water would have proceeded through the Liffey from Wicklow into Kildare and ultimately Dublin, significantly increasing water levels all along the river over and above what has been already experienced. However, rain has continued unabated in the area since the storm, presenting excess levels of water that will need to be emptied to prevent overflowing. As reservoir storage is limited and given current forecasts there may be a need to pass through some of these additional inflows over the coming days, the statement continued. "This may increase the risk of flooding along the course of the River Liffey, in particular in the Clane and Newbridge areas. The situation will continue to be closely monitored. The company said that a sub-group of the National Emergency Coordination Group has met to coordinate a response with ESB, all relevant Local Authority Severe Weather Assessment Teams, Met Eireann, Government Departments and other agencies. ESB added: The Local Authority Severe Weather Assessment Teams are monitoring the situation closely, ensuring resources are in place, that crews are on standby, preparing the necessary interventions and will issue further communications. Individuals with concerns about flooding should contact their local authorities for further information. Kildare councillor Chris Pender of the Social Democrats lives in Newbridge where the River Liffey passes through. He questioned the level of prior communication afforded to residents of the vulnerable areas such as Newbridge and Clane in relation to the plans. I haven't been able to get any clarification from Poulaphouca or Uisce Eireann in relation to why, he said. The River Liffey as seen from Main Street in Newbridge, Co Kildare He added that, although emptying the reservoir may be needed, constituents have been expressing visceral fears this week after witnessing the devastation wrought by floods elsewhere. "When it started, what you were hearing people in Newbridge say was Thank God that's not us. "But people are seeing other parts of the country, and it's elicited almost a visceral, fair fear in them. Independent Kildare councillor for Clane, Padraig McEvoy, said current water levels in the River Liffey are reminiscent of 2009. "It looks like levels we saw in in late 2009, he said. Alexandra Bridge in Clane, Co Kildare at 10:30am on Saturday morning. Cllr Padraig McEvoy "But at that time, the rain was here it wasnt up in Wicklow. Mr McEvoy said there is minimum flood risk to surrounding housing from the Liffey at present, but that a heavy spell of rain could put nearby commercial and residential areas at risk. "The flood mapping shows the Liffey edges have minimum flood risk where there's housing, he said. "But if it was raining heavily here and it hasn't been then I'd have a different, different worry, because then I know we wouldn't be able to drain local streams into the river. Russellstown Car Park, Poulaphouca Reservoir. Photo: River Liffey Watch He understands the necessity for ESB to release certain amounts of water at times intervals so as to not trigger flooding by overwhelming the capacity downstream, and hesitates to use images of extensive flooding caused in towns like Enniscorthy as a warning of what could happen in Kildare. "In Enniscorthy, it's not a controlled system. It's not a controlled river, its a free-flowing river. "I was talking to our local area engineer on Wednesday, and he was explaining to me that [ESB] time the releases. They do a quantity of hours of releasing, and then they stop so that catchment that it's gone into can release downstream." He added: I'm kind of hopeful what they'll do will be the least impactful based on the knowledge they've built up for the last 15 years. Owner of cafe Dubh just off Newbridges Main Street, Emma Spain, said that if the Liffey water were to rise up into the town centre it could be detrimental to her business. "If it does, we are snookered, she said. "If you look at the Liffey at the moment in Newbridge, it is already quite high, so if it does burst its banks, it will impact a fair bit. She continued: "We have a basement so if there's any excess water on the street at all, our basement does tend to flood. We've had issues before where we've had to use a pump and stuff to get it out. "Let's call it a spade a spade, business is hard enough at the moment. You don't really want to have to close doors, still pay for your staff, have to pay for all the re-fixtures, have to pay to get all the water out, then assess the damage. Cleric blesses roads before bank holiday A bishop issued a personal plea for motorists to respect the rules of the road, as he warned Irelands traffic death toll was a national tragedy. Bishop of Killaloe, Fintan Monahan, based in Ennis, Co Clare, issued a safety plea for the St Brigids bank holiday weekend. He said there was deep concern at the surging number of deaths on Irish roads as he urged drivers to slow down, never to get behind the wheel intoxicated and to show respect for other road users. A total of 190 people died on Irish roads last year the highest since 2014. So far this year, 11 people have died on Irish roads, which is equal to the same period in 2025. Dr Monahan said road tragedies have an enormous impact, not just on families, but also local communities and first responders. It is all about the safeguarding of life and the church is very passionate about that from all angles, he said. The road safety record and the increasing number of people dying on roads both in the Republic and the North is a matter of deep concern to me. Many of these tragedies are entirely preventable It should be a matter of alarm for everyone that Ireland has one of the fastest rising rates of road deaths in Europe. Many of these tragedies are entirely preventable if people respect the rules of the road and show vigilance for other road users. Dr Monahan said it was also worrying that so many of Irelands road deaths involve vulnerable road users such as cyclists, pedestrians, e-scooter users and motorcyclists. These are dark statistics indeed in terms of the road tragedies across Ireland, he said. I think it is also important to mention the impact on first responders... gardai, fire brigade and the medical people. But we [clerics] also tend to be called a lot of the time to the scenes of fatalities. We are very aware of the impact and the aftermath, including the funerals and burials. He urged people to consider what families who lose a loved one in a road tragedy go through and the experience of the emergency services in attending crash scenes to deal with critical injuries and fatalities. There is an urgent need for a collective effort to reduce these preventable deaths Families need to take responsibility for road safety they need to discuss road safety and road tragedies at home. Every loss of life on our roads is a tragedy that impacts not just the individuals, families and local communities directly, but our entire society, he said. The pain felt by loved ones of those lost on roads is particularly acute as this loss of human life is entirely preventable. There is an urgent need for a collective effort to reduce these preventable deaths. Dr Monahan marks bank holiday weekends which are often times with high numbers of road fatalities with a special blessing of roads and vehicles. It is something symbolic and prayerful that I do here in Ennis, he said. Emergency Humanitarian Flooding grant will be significantly increased and expanded as businesses try to recover from devastating damage Payments of up 100,000 will be made available to dozens of businesses around the country that have been devastated by flooding caused by Storm Chandra. Enterprise Minister Peter Burke made the announcement as businesses assess the cost of the damage in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, Aughrim, Co Wicklow, and some parts of south Dublin. The existing grant of up to 20,000 under the Emergency Humanitarian Flooding Scheme will be significantly increased to a maximum of 100,0000. Businesses with up to 50 employees will be eligible an increase from 20 employees under the existing scheme. The payment will be approved at a meeting of the Cabinet due to be called over the course of the bank holiday weekend. Mr Burke said the payments would be made as quickly as possible to ensure businesses could get back on their feet. Initial payments of 5,000 will be made in the next two days administered by the Irish Red Cross. Greater sums will be paid subsequently following an assessment. "This is about standing with those who, through no fault of their own, were unable to secure flood insurance and now face significant repair costs. Ireland will remain on flood alert throughout the St Brigids Day holiday weekend as torrential rainfall caused a second bout of damaging flooding amid record rainfall levels across the south-east. Met Eireann confirmed that rainfall over the past week had been four times greater than average, with Ireland expected to confirm new rainfall records for January. The River Slaney burst its banks yesterday evening for a second time this week, following days of heavy rainfall across Co Wexford. Heavy rainfall forecast for Monday has raised fears of further flooding next week. Surging water levels in Enniscorthy forced evacuations of residents in low-lying areas of the town. Enniscorthy is now facing the worst flood damage in its history. Junior OPW minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (front) and Housing Minister James Browne (second left) in Enniscorthy last Thursday. Photo: Jim Campbell The rivers Nore and Barrow caused major flooding yesterday as both broke their banks in multiple locations. Major flooding hit parts of Carlow and towns in Kilkenny including Thomastown, Graiguenamanagh, Inistioge and Callan as council crews used emergency pumps throughout Thursday night into yesterday in a bid to protect businesses and homes. Clean-up operations continued amid more rain in some of the worst-affected towns, like Enniscorthy and Aughrim. These areas were on the itinerary for junior OPW minister Kevin Boxer Moran on Thursday as he assessed the flood damage. Met Eireann said that with further rainfall forecast over the next four days, the flood risk would continue as rainwater filtered down from mountainous areas into already-swollen rivers. The damage bill for Storm Chandra and its aftermath is now expected to exceed 50m, with the worst of the property and business damage in Dublin, Wexford, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny, Cavan and Monaghan. Some parts of the south-east received almost a months worth of rain in the space of just four days. There is certainly the possibility that records may be broken Around 60mm of rainfall fell in the 24 hours of Storm Chandra with 30mm of rain between Wednesday and Thursday. Some areas were braced to receive more than 50mm of rainfall yesterday, meaning parts of the south-east will have faced over 100mm of rainfall in just 96 hours. Met Eireanns Gerry Murphy said Ireland had struggled to cope with rainfall levels over the past seven days that were over four times higher than January averages. Over the last seven days, we have had up to 450pc of average rainfall. Some parts of the south-east have had up to 100mm of rainfall, he said. During the past fortnight it has been over 350pc of the average rainfall. There is certainly the possibility that records may be broken. Mr Murphy indicated that rainfall levels would ease over the weekend before further potentially heavy rainfall on Monday. The National Emergency Co-ordination Group said the risk of flooding was not confined to counties with weather alerts in place as it urged caution and asked people to stay informed through Met Eireann and local authorities. It also warned people not to drive through flood water, to stay away from riverbanks and coasts and to check in with neighbours and loved ones. Taoiseach Micheal Martin acknowledged that families and business owners hit by flooding across Ireland face a soul-destroying experience. Met Eireann has warned that even moderate rainfall in the coming days could bring fresh flooding misery to communities with the south and east most vulnerable. The forecaster issued a warning on social media platform X with particular reference to counties Waterford, Wexford, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Kildare, Dublin, Meath, Louth and Monaghan. It said that a weather system next week could bring even more rain to these areas but the exact track of this wet weather remains uncertain. "Because the ground is already saturated, even moderate rain could cause quick surface flooding, it said. People near rivers should keep an eye on local conditions and river gauges. High tides combined with strong winds could lead to coastal flooding, the forecaster added. Flood waters in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford on Wednesday News in 90 seconds - Saturday, January 31 "These high tides can slow river discharge, increasing the risk of flooding in low lying coastal and estuary areas. Meanwhile the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) and the Humanitarian Subgroup met today to continue to coordinate the response to recent flooding. Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Minister for Housing James Browne joined the NECG meeting today and have been briefed on the situation and response. Local authority crews have been working overnight and will continue working over the coming days to alleviate flooding, clean up in its aftermath and prepare for the risk of further flooding. Response agencies with the support of Civil Defence and Irish Red Cross volunteers are on the ground offering assistance to those in need. The NECG Chair Keith Leonard paid tribute today to the volunteers who are giving their time and efforts to help communities this bank holiday weekend. People are urged to check local authority websites and social media channels for information on road closures, flooding updates, and community alerts. Flooding may impact transport services and the public is advised to check with operators before their journey. Financial supports are available including for householders, businesses and community, voluntary and sporting organisations. The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke will seek Government approval to extend eligibility for the Emergency Humanitarian Scheme to businesses of up to 50 employees. The Minister is also seeking to increase the upper limit for payments under the scheme from 20,000 to 100,000 for the most impacted premises. While rain is forecast to ease today and tomorrow, the impacts of last nights rain may continue throughout the weekend and flooding will continue to be a risk due to saturated ground conditions and high river levels. The NECG and response agencies will continue to closely monitor the ongoing situation and be on alert for the risk of further flooding over the coming days and into next week. The NECG and Humanitarian Sub-Group will continue to meet over the bank holiday weekend. A Sub-Group of the NECG is also coordinating with the ESB and relevant local authorities to plan and prepare for a discharge of water from the Poulaphouca Reservoir and to put mitigation and protection measures in place, where required. ESB has said that it may need to allow some water to pass through from the Poulaphouca reservoir due to its limited storage, placing the towns of Clane and Newbridge under flood threat. The reservoir, located in the Blessington Lakes in west Wicklow, is used by ESB for hydroelectric power generation. Its dam structure also plays a critical role in regulating water flow through the Liffey catchment area, namely Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin. As a result of the consistent rainfall over past two weeks, exacerbated by Storm Chandra, the reservoir is now nearing capacity with water levels having risen by two metres; the state-owned company has said it will need to ease the pressure. Clean-up operations are continuing in parts of Ireland where homes and roads have been impacted by flooding. Parts of Co Wexford remain among the worst-hit areas following further rain. There was a landslide at Our Lady's Island and the public were advised to avoid the area. Racing at Leopardstown was cancelled on Saturday. A status yellow rainfall warning for counties Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Louth, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow expired at midnight. However, further rain is expected over the bank holiday weekend. Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said there needed to be better communication with the public of extreme weather events. She said: "We recognise that weather is getting much more difficult, that we're going to have to find ways to communicate and recognise the challenges. "It's a very sorry situation to have this level of climate change where we're seeing these impacts but we're going to have to develop a way in which we communicate more effectively with people." Watchdog hits out at cartels that are rigging their bids for big state projects Law too weak and risk of getting caught too low to be a real deterrent, CCPC says Big companies are getting away with tiny penalties when they should be paying millions for misleading consumers Adrian Weckler Sat 31 Jan 2026 at 06:30 The consumer watchdog has warned there is no doubt that cartels are operating to fix the price of publicly funded projects in Ireland. Yesterdays options volume was relatively slow at 50.92 million, well below the 30-day average of 59.63 million. The call volume exceeded the put volume by 1.5 times, a sign that the bulls remain optimistic about the markets' near-term direction. ETF options were hectic on Wednesday, accounting for 54% of the volume. Among ETFs, there were 32 unusually active put options with volume-to-open-interest (Vol/OI) ratios of 10.0 or higher. More News from Barchart For todays commentary, I thought Id focus on three of the hottest ETFs right now: SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH). Each of them is up at least 10% over the past month, well above the 0.7% gain for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). While I continue to worry about excessive valuations for stocks, especially large- and mega-caps, GLD, EWZ, and SMH all look like attractive bets for short-term income and long-term gains. Here are the three puts to sell to accomplish this goal. SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) GLD tracks the price of physical gold bullion, allowing investors to invest in gold itself without taking actual possession or storing it. The ETF has total assets of $185.92 billion. We all have seen the run gold has taken over the past two years. At the end of 2023, GLDs share price was $191.17. Yesterday, it closed at $494.56. As I write this early in Thursday trading, its up over $500. It is on a roll. When it stops, nobody knows. What we do know is that investors continue to buy gold as a protection against the erosion of the U.S. dollar. Dollar weakness is supercharging the rise in gold ... adding fuel to the fire for the crazy rise in precious metals, said Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Yahoo Finance reported. GLD has an attractive expense ratio of 0.40% and excellent liquidity, making it appealing to those looking to diversify their portfolios amid perceived weaknesses in the U.S. or the U.S. dollar. In yesterdays options trading, GLD had nine puts with Vol/OI ratios of 10.0 or higher. Im looking to sell a put with an annualized income of 10% or more that offers a better entry point for acquiring GLD stock. Anzhela Kotsinian, whose husband was left seriously brain damaged after being struck by a scrambler bike, is calling for the bikes to be banned in the wake of teenager Grace Lynchs death. Ms Kotsinian (50), originally from Armenia, was furious and saddened after reading about 16-year-old Graces death last Sunday. The teenager was hit by a scrambler as she crossed a pedestrian crossing on Ratoath Road in Finglas. I think the Government will not change anything until their family members or relatives are in the same situation we are, Ms Kotsinian told the Irish Independent. The former teachers husband Ilabek Avetian (46) suffered catastrophic injuries to his brain and lost an eye in 2018 when a scrambler bike hit the couple as they sunbathed in Darndale Park in north Dublin. A then 15-year-old boy, who was driving the scrambler, only received a Juvenile Diversion Order. Due to his age, he never served a custodial sentence. At the time, Ms Kotsinian was shocked to find out that scrambler bikes could be driven in parks without serious consequences daily. She spoke out repeatedly for years in a bid to raise awareness and call for laws to be tightened. But now she is angry, saying that action was not taken to prevent further tragedies. I want to send a message to the Government, Ms Kotsinian told the Irish Independent. For how long has this been a huge problem and when will scrambler bikes be banned? Ms Kotsinian, who moved to Dublin with her Lithuanian husband for a better life, has spent almost eight years visiting him in a nursing home in Dublin. Last October, the High Court in Dublin awarded Mr Avetian 5.2m as a settlement. The funds were to be distributed to a care manager to determine Mr Avetians daily care. The High Court awarded Mr Avetian the settlement after a legal action against the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) due to there being no motor insurance in place for the driver. An action against Dublin City Council was struck out after discussions. Eight years after our accident, I cant look at a scrambler bike or motorcycle, Ms Kotsinian said, explaining that even seeing the vehicles brings her back to that day. Why do they have a normal life? she said of teenage scrambler bike drivers. But we dont have a normal life. What kind of life I and my husband have had all these years, fighting for healthcare? How many innocent people become disabled after anti-social teenagers behaviour? I think the problem is not only the scrambler bikes the problem is the teenagers and their lack of education. Ms Kotsinian said she wanted to see the bikes banned and the law toughened up to protect communities from further loss of life or serious injuries. She said it was clear the issue went beyond scrambler bikes and that in general, anti-social behaviour and teenage crime needed to be addressed. At a public gathering of remembrance for the teenager last Monday night, Graces mother Siobhan Lynch vowed to campaign for an all-out ban on scrambler bikes. Ms Lynch thanked people for coming out, and said: I will fight to get these scramblers and scooters and everything off these streets. In a heartfelt plea, she said watching her daughter take her last breath was the worst pain imaginable. Its not something that any parent should have to deal with, she said as she pledged to launch the campaign. Junior transport minister Sean Canney this week said that the Government is bringing forward a proposal to ban all scramblers from public roads and public places. What we will endeavour to do is to bring in necessary legislation, to deal with issues like this, he said. Legislation is there. More regulation is coming into place and were hopefully in the coming weeks bringing a memo to government on that. Its not a knee-jerk reaction. Its something that has been worked on by the department, with the gardai and the Department of Justice since the legislation was brought in. Mr Canney also expressed his condolences to the Lynch family. I want to extend my deep sympathies with the Lynch family, and thats on behalf of myself, the department and the Government, he said. He denied that the Government move to finally ban scrambler bikes from public roads and parks was a knee-jerk reaction to Graces death. Mr Canney said gardai have the power to confiscate scramblers and the enforcement powers to charge people who are driving dangerously. However, from Ms Kotsinians experience, if a driver is a juvenile, they will be dealt with by Juvenile Diversion Orders. Climate Changemakers: Three species that are bouncing back in Ireland thanks to conservation Heres a trio of heartening examples the white-tailed sea eagle, the pine marten and the lesser horseshoe bat whose numbers are recovering here From left: A pine marten, a white-tailed eagle and a lesser horseshoe bat Aisling Maria Cronin Sat 31 Jan 2026 at 06:30 The urgency of tackling Irelands biodiversity loss crisis was made clear at the end of 2025, when the Government published The Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species in Ireland, 2025 report, known as the Article 17. It found that 90pc of Irelands protected habitats are in unfavourable conservation status, while 51pc are showing deteriorating trends. Ask Allison: My son tells me his wife screams at him and knows how to push his buttons. He feels so lost. How do I help? Tehran poses almost no threat to the US, but Russias land-grab is a threat to all of Nato Donald Trump has pushed Nato hard with his stance on Greenland - but they would likely be ok without the US, if it came to that Chaotic, unprincipled and dangerously effective, Donald Trumps latest foreign policy move in Ukraine may secure a brief respite from Russian bombing in plunging temperatures that have left civilians freezing in their homes. The danger lies in what he expects to get in return for securing a week-long agreement from Vladimir Putin to hold off on tormenting Ukraine. The concession he will, no doubt, demand is that Kyiv give in to the Kremlins demands to hand over his most potent defensive lines and fortress cities without a shot being fired in return for a longer ceasefire. Trump has been backing the wrong side in Ukraine and may soon launch a war in Iran that he cannot control. US negotiators have been trying to get Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to cede all of Donetsk and most of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces as a reward for Russias bloody invasion that has, by many estimates, cost Russia 1.2 million casualties. The US administration has cut all military aid for Ukraine and allows only an intelligence feed to Kyivs forces, leaving its energy system so vulnerable to air attacks by Russia that most Ukrainians have no power in their homes. Support from America for a western democracy has collapsed under Trump. But he has what he calls an Armada, led by a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, that is threatening Iran. Thats a staggering amount of firepower to back his demands that Tehran give up its shattered nuclear programme, its potent missile forces, and end support for proxy groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraq. He has abandoned all talk of intervening in Iran to protect protestors demanding an end to the regime that has ruled since 1979 even though he encouraged them to take to the streets and promised that help is coming. Bombing a countrys apparatus of oppression might have given him a principled edge. The US and its allies have intervened, sometimes with UN backing, in the past. Notably in Somalia, the former Yugoslavia and even in Libya in the name of saving populations from extremism, warlords, or genocide. But that moment has passed in Iran. Yet he persists in his threat to attack a sovereign nation that, by any metric, is a force for bad across the Middle East, but with no plan for the day after. Donald Trump has pushed Nato hard with his stance on Greenland - but they would likely be ok without the US, if it came to that The attraction for Trump is, perhaps, the hope that US oil companies can roll into the country once its theocracy has collapsed and exploit its fossil fuel reserves in the way that he hopes to see in Venezuela, where he decapitated the regime in Caracas but left its administration intact. And he clearly believes that he would be doing Israel a favour since it has plenty to fear from the ideology of the ayatollahs whod like to see the Jewish state erased. Iran possesses almost no threat to the US. Russias land grab in Ukraine and threats against other European allies of the US notably the Baltic states as well as Poland is a threat to US security because it is a threat to Nato members, to the democracy that the US has held dear for decades, and to US bases across Europe from which Washington is able to project military power, ironically into the Middle East especially. An American attack that triggered the collapse of the Iranian regime could unleash centrifugal forces that America would not be able to control. The vast security infrastructure there controls at least 50pc of the economy but many of its personnel are true believers in the Islamic revolution. Their experts transformed the insurgency against allied forces during the occupation of Iraq by organising its terror cells and training its militants in sophisticated bomb-making including the use of shaped charges that could slice through heavy armour. They have ready recruits to an anti-Western agenda after the US supported Israel during its campaign in Gaza in which at least 80,000 people were killed in what a UN commission has said amounts to genocide. Americas allies would not be spared a return to global terror in revenge for attacks on Iran Americas allies would not be spared a return to global terror in revenge for attacks on Iran which may collapse into civil war in the wake of what Trump has promised could be far worse than last years Israeli and US 12-day campaign that targeted Irans nuclear industry and its leading nuclear officials. Trump has a more deserving realm for intervention: Ukraine, which could fight off Russian invaders and protect its air space if Washington returned to giving Kyiv military support, especially air defence and long-range missiles. Ukraine now has an army of a million and vast experience. Trump wants Europe to look after its own security interests and rely less on the US tax-payer to pay for European complacency over defence. Binding Kyiv into Europe, and into Nato eventually, would represent a massive saving for the US. The Kiel Institute estimates that the costs of not supporting Ukraine would be 10-20 times more than the 1pc of GDP it currently costs Germany. Meanwhile, 10.6 million Ukrainians have fled their homes close to six million of them are refugees in Europe. If Trump is looking for a humanitarian imperative to use American weapons, at no risk to US personnel, it is in Ukraine not Iran. And, what is more, Ukraine is in no danger of flying apart nor joining a global terror alliance. There would be no winners from an attack on Iran, but with some US help Ukraine could win. Finnish president Alexander Stubb has argued against the idea that Ukraine is losing the war. Photo: Matthias Schrader/AP There seems to be a narrative that Ukraine is losing this war. I simply dont buy that. We have enough information and intelligence to back this up as well. But its a Russian narrative which has also floated a lot in the US, Finnish president Alexander Stubb said recently at the Davos World Economic Forum. Keith Kellogg, until recently Trumps special envoy to Ukraine and a national security adviser in the White House, reinforced Stubbs argument in Davos. I understand whats happening to Kyiv. I understand the temperatures. But I really do believe that if Ukraine gets through this winter, January, February, and you get into March and April, the advantage accrues to Ukraine, not to Russia, he said. [Russias] frontline units have been mauled. Theyve lost over 20 general officers. Trump likes to back winners. Europes task now is to persuade him that backing Ukraine will be win-win for America. Whether they succeed or fail, an attack on Iran is lose-lose. Each year, St Patricks Day is presented as a modern exercise in Irish soft power, with ministers dispersed across the globe to promote trade, culture and influence. That global reach exists for one reason: Luke Wadding. Wadding, a Waterford Franciscan scholar working in Rome in the 17th century, persuaded the Vatican to fix March 17 in the church calendar. By doing so, he ensured that Ireland acquired not just a patron saint, but a universally recognised date. That distinction matters. It is at least arguable that St Patricks Day has become the most influential saints day associated with any country, and perhaps the most widely observed religious-cultural feast day in the world. It is marked not just in churches but in capitals, boardrooms and public squares from Washington to Lagos and Paris to Sydney. No other national saints day operates at that scale or with that consistency. Todays St Patricks Day programme, spanning more than 50 countries and explicitly framed around trade and diplomacy, rests on that foundation. Long before shamrock diplomacy or economic messaging, Wadding grasped a simple strategic truth: a fixed date creates continuity, recognition and reach. Governments may come and go, but the soft power endures. It follows the calendar. And Irelands most valuable date was secured not by a marketing unit, but by a friar in Rome with an eye for the long game. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Co Armagh ICE commanders bullish actions in Minneapolis were far from subtle Gregory Bovino, true to his name, has by his Minneapolis performance proved himself a bull in a China shop. James N OSullivan, Killarney, Co Kerry Fionnan Sheahan is right about our White House visits they are vital When then-taoiseach Jack Lynch went to the White House in Richard Nixons first term, he presented Nixon with the shamrocks, after which Nixon asked Lynch if he would like a drink. Jack asked for his usual tipple a glass of Irish whiskey. To the horror of Nixon, the White House had no Irish whiskey. This was never to happen again on St Patricks Day in the White House. The visit of our taoiseach to the White House is a ritual. Fionnan Sheahan is right (Headless chickens want Micheal Martin to duck the White House, Irish Independent, January 26). This is why he cant; we have to think about the long-term strategic interests and our economic ties. Theres no doubt that the left in the Dail will keep up the slogans about refusing to go to the White House. They are appealing to the part of the electorate who are opposed to everything and in favour of nothing. Thomas Garvey, Claremorris, Co Mayo Micheal Martin better ensure his paperwork is in order before jetting off As Taoiseach Micheal Martin and his merry ministers plan a visit to the US for St Patricks Day, a word of caution ensure all paperwork is in order or they could receive an ICY reception. Seamus McLoughlin, Keshcarrigan, Co Leitrim The best medicine for uppity doctors is a patient who knows themselves A doctor once said to his patient: Dont confuse your Google search with my six years of medical training. The patient replied: Dont confuse the one-hour lecture you had on my condition with my 20 years of living with it. I have always believed that perspective is worth 80 IQ points. John OBrien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Concerns about reporting on mental health issues and addiction I am writing to express my concern about the tone in some recent reporting, particularly in stories involving death, addiction and mental ill-health. By way of example, I was troubled by recent coverage of court proceedings involving the family of a prominent Irish businessman, in which significant emphasis was placed on efforts to keep aspects of a coroners report private, including references to drug use following the death of a woman. While such proceedings may be legally newsworthy, the framing and prominence given to these details felt intrusive and unnecessarily provocative, particularly given the profound grief involved. I am concerned by a pattern in contemporary media including coverage by major outlets that reduces complex issues such as addiction, brain injury, and mental illness to stark, attention-grabbing narratives. Recent reporting on comments by a prominent celebrity linking a past car crash to later behaviour illustrates how deeply complicated medical and psychological realities can be flattened into sensational sound bites that generate attention rather than understanding. Although the individuals involved may be high profile, this does not absolve journalists or editors of their responsibility to report with care, proportion and humanity. Some coverage may risk reinforcing stigma around addiction, mental health difficulties and neurological injury while offering little meaningful context or public insight. For families already navigating loss or long-term consequences, the impact can be deeply hurtful. I write this as someone with both a professional and personal understanding of addiction, mental ill-health and brain injury. These are not abstract issues, nor are they well served by reductive or sensationalist framing. Ethical journalism has the capacity to inform, contextualise and foster empathy. The alternative too often undermines these aims. B Aylward, Co Wexford Top tips on how to save money on electricity lacks any real spark for most Harrison Gardner of RTEs Build Your Own Home suggests that people ought to use more of their electricity first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Ironically, thats when those people who get up early to commute long distances, work all day and arrive home late in the evening, already use their electricity. Peter Declan OHalloran Belturbet, Co Cavan Professor Cooney, who is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at Technological University Dublin has been awarded the European Entrepreneurship Education Award (EEEA) 2026. The award is one of Europes most prestigious honours in entrepreneurship education. The award is presented annually by the Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship and it recognises individuals who have made a significant contribution to advancing entrepreneurship education across Europe. It includes a diploma and a monetary prize of 100,000 SEK. Professor Cooney is also Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Behaviour, Inclusion and Innovation (CEBII) at TU Dublin. Mr Cooney who attended St Colman's College in Ferrmoy was recognised for his leadership in entrepreneurship education, research, and policy, particularly his work on inclusive entrepreneurship and support for marginalised and underrepresented groups. The award committee highlighted his collaborations with international organisations, including the OECD, the European Commission, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, as well as the impact of his work across diverse communities throughout Europe. His teaching has also delivered significant social impact, with undergraduate students at TU Dublin raising approximately 1 million for charitable causes through course-based projects. The award will be formally presented to Professor Cooney at the 3E Conference in Bod, Norway, on the weekend of May 20-22. Father tells packed Kerry venue of unbearable pain of losing daughter after hit and run in Dublin Marsia Lieghio was just 16 when she was hit by a driver while she walked across a pedestrian crossing Leo Lieghio's emotive speech affected everyone in the 2,000-strong audience in the INEC last week. Photo by Seamus Healy Jack Joy Kerryman Sat 31 Jan 2026 at 08:00 A father has spoken of the pain that has stayed with him since losing his 16-year-old daughter after a hit and run incident. 'I have no choice,' says judge A good Samaritan was fined and disqualified after he got behind the wheel to help a stranded driver on a remote road at the western tip of the Dingle Peninsula. Robert Murray (71) appeared before judge David Waters at Dingle District Court on Friday. Solicitor Padraig Foley told the court that his client, a resident of Ballyickeen, Dunquin, drove to assist a stranded motorist on the afternoon of October 16, 2024 at Dunquin. But an unexpected vehicle appeared on the quiet rural road, a collision ensued, and gardai were called to the scene. Days after the accident, Mr Murray was disqualified for driving without insurance for an incident earlier that year, Sergeant Chris Manton told the court. Opinion Justine OMahony: This weather has me longing for fresh air, blue skies and a nice walk There only are 31 days in January. No seriously, thats all. It may seem like there are 87 days in the first month of the year but no, it just feels like that. Three women who pleaded guilty to laundering the proceeds of criminal conduct relating to the Drogheda feud have been remanded on continuing bail for sentencing. Leah Smith (26), St Cronan's Court, Swords, Co Dublin; Niamh McManus (39), Maudlins Lane, Duleek, Co. Meath and Amy Rooney (31), Newtown Meadows, Drogheda, Co. Louth, all admitted laundering money for the Boylan Organised Crime Group. The defendants, who have no previous convictions, appeared at Dundalk Circuit Court for a sentence hearing. Det Gda Garda Niall McManus said that as part of an ongoing probe into the Boylan OCG, a financial investigation of bank accounts was carried out. The women were laundering on behalf of or at the direction of the OCG. He said Leah Smith is a former partner of an unnamed member of the group and for a time she lived with Shannon Boylan, a sister of Keith and Josh Boylan, previously named in court by gardai as "the leader of the organised crime group", and second in command" respectively. The total amount of money Ms Smith laundered was 14,100 through her Revolut account on dates between July 27, 2020 and September 25, 2020. She made no financial again and no longer had contact with the OCG, telling gardai, I dont care anymore. The court heard that Ms Rooney had 20 top-ups on her Revolut account totalling 17,243.97, of which 17,120 was transferred out to the OCG between June 9, 2029 and February 23, 2021. She told investigators that she was in no way involved in criminality. Her account was used without consent and under threat. The defendant said that her former partner, Joey Whearty, who lost his life in Colombia, and was an associate of the Boylan OCG, made my life a living nightmare. Det Gda McManus agreed with defence counsel that Amy Rooney was in fear of the OCG. There was no suggestion she gained anything from her involvement. The court heard that Ms McManus, an ex-partner of Josh Boylan, had 22,471 transferred out of her Revolut account between February 4, 2021 and April 18, 2022. There had been an "element of control in the relationship. It was accepted by gardai that the hairdresser was reckless in her behaviour and had not benefitted. Det Gda McManus said he believes that the women have no continuing connections to the Boylan OCG. Judge Hayes adjourned sentencing until February 24. Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme In a political landscape often defined by deep partisan divides, a striking consensus has emerged among American voters regarding the nations financial health. As the United States contends with a ballooning fiscal burden, a newly released survey indicates the national debt is viewed as a critical threat by a supermajority of the electorate. According to new data released Thursday, 72% of Democrats and 87% of Republicans now agree lawmakers should spend more time focused on the debt. More from Yahoo Scout Why are voters increasingly concerned about debt? How low is public confidence in Washington? What does the Fiscal Confidence Index reveal? What percentage of voters want debt prioritized? The survey, commissioned by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, highlights growing voter anxiety as the countrys financial obligations mount. The poll reveals voters across the ideological spectrum are demanding action from Washington, with foundation CEO Michael A. Peterson noting, As our nation races towards $40 trillion in debt, this new survey of more than 1,000 registered voters shows widespread agreement across party lines that lawmakers should pursue solutions to stabilize the debt and put our countryand economyon a stronger, more sustainable path. Bipartisan demand for action The poll underscores fiscal responsibility is no longer a niche concern. Beyond the high agreement among major party voters, 69% of independents also classify the debt as a top-tier economic problem. This unity extends to how voters believe elected officials should allocate their time. The survey found 81% of voters want the president and Congress to spend more time addressing the national debt. Furthermore, 77% of voters agree reducing the debt should be among the top three priorities for lawmakers (72% of Democrats, 69% of independents, and 87% of Republicans). The national debt is growing faster than ever, and voters understand that this is a major problem for Americas economic future, Peterson said. Deepening pessimism on Capitol Hill Despite the clear mandate from voters, public confidence in Washingtons ability to solve the crisis is deteriorating. The surveys U.S. Fiscal Confidence Indexa measure of public opinion on debt modeled after the Conference Boards Consumer Confidence Indexregistered a low score of 50 in January 2026, where a score of 100 represents a neutral midpoint. Underlying this low score is a sharp pessimistic turn regarding short-term progress. For the first time since September of the previous year, a majority of voters (52%) expressed pessimism leaders will make any headway on the debt in the near future. Additionally, 57% of respondents believe lawmakers are currently on the wrong track when it comes to managing the nations finances. When asked about the future trajectory of the issue, the outlook remained grim, with 60% of voters expecting the debt situation to worsen over the next few years. In recent years, Inland Fisheries Ireland has introduced protocols for warming rivers Revealed: What happens when rivers get too hot for fish Rising river temperatures linked to climate change prompted Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to introduce a warm water protocol to protect cold water species like Atlantic salmon, sea trout and brown trout in the River Moy, which flows through Co Mayo. The protocol has been in place for the past two years, said Sean Kelly, a research officer with IFI who was involved in developing the scientific advice for the warm water protocol. Luckily, in 2024, we had a relatively mild summer. It was quite wet and cool so did not necessitate any fishery closures. Last year, Mr Kelly said, was very different: We had a couple of periods of very warm and dry weather. According to the scientific advice formulated as part of the protocol, it necessitated fisheries to close. The Errif and Moy fisheries closed on three occasions last year in late May, late June and late July. Each closure lasted less than a week. Once water temperatures begin to encroach on 20 degrees, there is a need to try and minimise the amount of handling and additional stress that cold water species experience, Mr Kelly said. People fishing in the River Moy in Ballina, Co Mayo. Photo: Getty Once temperatures go above 18C, we are in that risk zone where a closure may be imminent. Once temperatures exceed 20 degrees, which is known to increase sub-lethal or even lethal effects related to angling on these species, the fishery can close. Water temperatures are checked at intervals throughout the day and, if a reading shows that the temperature is over 20C for two readings within a 24-hour period, then that closes the fishery. How your county is weighing in on fighting climate change Mr Kelly explained that salmonoid fish species are cold-water adapted. We should think of them as polar species, he said. Here in Ireland, we are very close to the southern limit of the distribution of those species. As summers warm, therefore, the narrow window of suitable habitat could shrink even further. In relation to the wider conservation challenge, Mr Kelly said: The trend is bad, particularly in recent decades. Numbers do vary river to river, but during the 1970s there were over 1.5 million salmon returned to Ireland, as an estimate, and thats down to less than 200,000 in recent years. Mr Kelly explained the physiological effects that take place when cold water fish are exposed to temperatures above 20 degrees. Most anglers want to preserve fish stocks. Photo: Getty Unlike mammals, they cant regulate their internal body temperature, he said. It changes as the ambient water temperatures change. So once they enter into this state of stress, they must adapt their behaviour. This is referred to as thermoregulation. During thermoregulation, the fishs movements reduce. They also eventually stop feeding. That is their coping strategy and that is why it is so critical that we minimise any additional stress that can exacerbate that compromised state theyre in, Mr Kelly said. In terms of the effectiveness of the protocol, Mr Kelly feels positive. Having the fisheries closed during periods when river temperatures were in excess of 20C, we can say with a high degree of certainty we wouldve minimised any additional unnecessary injuries or mortality that wouldve occurred, he said. In terms of the closures themselves, I don't think they will reduce the demand for angling. Most anglers are ultimately conservationists. Theyre passionate about ensuring the long-term sustainability of the stocks continues into the future. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme A man who threw a rock at two women has to wait to April to see if he will be able to return to Australia where he is employed in the mines. Darren Summers (25) of Cranmore Place, Cranmore Sligo was charged with damaging glasses belonging to Vina Rolston and assaulting Linda Melly at Cranmore Drive, Cranmore on May 30, 2021. Sergeant Butler told the court they received a report of criminal damage in which Summers threw a rock which hit Ms Melly on the shoulder and broke Ms Rolstons glasses. Gardai viewed nearby CCTV footage and identified the defendant. Summers was observed having an altercation with the two women before throwing an object. Gardai also took pictures of the alleged rock that was used in the assault. Judge Eiteain Cunningham was informed that the cost of the glasses was 300. The court heard that Summers has no previous convictions. Victim impact statements were then heard. Sergeant Butler informed Judge Cunningham that the statements had extra information on them that had to be redacted. Mr Mullaney, solicitor (defending), said that he has agreed with Sergeant Butler on the sections highlighted in both statements. As a result, both statements were heavily redacted. Judge Cunningham informed the victims who were present, that the court could only consider the matter before the court and that they have to disregard the extra information. The victim impact statement by Ms Melly stated that since the incident life hasnt been the same for her. It continued that the incident plagues on her mind. Ms Melly said that she had her then two-year-old daughter with her when the rock hurt her and her mum. Ms Rolstons victim impact statement said that thinking back to the day, what if it hit my grand-daughter?. She added that she had to replace the glasses that broke. Mr Mullaney informed Judge Cunningham that the case was heard before Judge Sandra Murphy in September 2022 in which she found the defendant guilty. He added that his client accepted the verdict and went to Australia. Mr Mullaney said that the case was then put to finalisation for a probation report. However, no probation report was ready. He continued that the defendant left the jurisdiction and a warrant was issued. Mr Mullaney said that as a result, Summers finds himself back in the country. He added that in Australia, his client worked as a labourer in the mines and is now a scaffolder in Western Australia. Mr Mullaney continued that this is a life that his client wants to return to. He added that Summers has to apply for a regular visa but that he has to deal with this case first. Mr Mullaney reiterated that Summers accepted the verdict and that he has paid compensation to the victims. He added that it was a foolish act when Summers threw the stone. Judge Cunningham described the act as reckless . Mr Mullaney said that it was an act of stupidity and recklessness and that his client has matured over the last five years. He added that Summers will be 26 this year and that he has matured greatly since he started his life in Australia. Mr Mullaney continued that Summers has lived a trouble free life in Australia and that he accepts full responsibility for the offence. Mr Mullaney asked Judge Cunningham to give Summers something short of a criminal conviction so that his client can return to Australia. Judge Cunningham told Mr Mullaney that she accepts what he has said but that these are serious matters before the court as there was a child in the vicinity. She added that the court will require a probation report as it is too serious to proceed without one. She continued that Summers seems to be doing very well but for the court to consider not imposing a conviction, it enquires the court to have all the information. Judge Cunningham also described Summers 300 compensation as not appropriate and told him that he may need to revisit this. She adjourned the case to April 23 for a probation and welfare report. Judge Cunningham told Summers that he must engage with the probation services in the intervening period so that the court will be equipped with all the information to finalise the matter. Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme. L-R: Capt. Phil Murphy, Project Manager for Offshore Wind, SETU; Dr Diarmuid O'Briain, SETU; and Dave Dempsey, SETU Governing Body pictured at a cybersecurity workshop hosted at Rosslare Europort to support the port, marine, and offshore energy sectors. SETU and Iarnrod Eireann, members of the South East Offshore Wind Partnership, have come together with the aim of protecting the country's offshore energy generation and maritime sectors. Photo credit: Mary Browne. A major cybersecurity workshop aimed at strengthening digital defences across the port, marine and offshore energy sectors took place at Rosslare Europort, as South East Technological University (SETU) and Iarnrod Eireann joined forces in response to new national cyber legislation. The event, titled Charting the Course for NIS2: Maritime Cyber Resilience, brought together industry specialists, academics and operators at a time when the southeast and Rosslare is preparing for unprecedented growth in offshore wind and port activity. The workshop comes ahead of Irelands new Cyber Security Act, which will bring the EUs NIS2 Directive" into Irish law, placing stricter requirements on critical infrastructure including ports, transport systems and offshore energy developers, ensuring they are not vulnerable to cyber attacks. "As offshore wind and associated port activity expands, organisations operating in the maritime and energy sectors are facing increasingly complex cybersecurity requirements, Captain Phil Murphy, SETUs Project Manager for Offshore Wind said. Ensuring compliance while maintaining operational resilience is now a priority for ports, transport operators, and offshore energy developers alike. Compliance and resilience have to go hand in hand, he continued. Ports, transport operators and offshore energy firms cannot afford to wait the obligations under NIS2 are significant, and the risks are already very real. SETU used the workshop to highlight newly adapted training programmes including a masters degree and a certificate course in cybersecurity for critical infrastructure both now tailored with maritime and offshore operations in mind. In recent time, Rosslare has seen game-changing Smart Port Technology introduced, meaning it can rival any port in Europe in terms of technology. However, Director of Commercial Business Units with Iarnrod Eireann in Rosslare, Glenn Carr, says that the port could no longer function without strong cyber protections. As the port grows, so too do the cybersecurity requirements, he said. Keeping systems safe is essential to keeping the port moving. Working with SETU helps ensure we have the skills and supports needed for the years ahead. Central to Irelands offshore wind energy plans, a planning application is already with An Coimisiun Pleanala for a new Offshore Renewable Energy Hub in Rosslare what would be the states largest purpose-built ORE facility. If successful, the development is expected to support over 2,000 jobs to handle the installation of up to 1GW of offshore wind capacity each year. According to the organisers, the cybersecurity conversation is just one part of the preparations to ensure that the southeast is ready to become Irelands offshore wind energy hub. Elaine Byrne at her flood damaged home in Riverfield in Aughrim, Co Wicklow. Photo: PA Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Kevin Boxer Moran TD and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne TD during the press conference in the Presentation Centre in Enniscorthy on Thursday. Photo: Jim Campbell A Wicklow-Wexford TD has called on the government to not just provide emergency relief payments for those affected by flooding, but to set up a state insurance scheme that could cover homes affected by flooding that are unlikely to be covered by private home insurers in the future. Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan has said that if the state is granting planning permission for homes in flood-prone areas, there needs to be an affordable, state-managed scheme to insure them when private companies will not. Going a step further, his constituency colleague Fionntan O Suilleabhain has said that the severe flooding in Arklow and Aughrim this week could have been prevented, as the Sinn Fein TD called on Minister Kevin Boxer Moran to advance flood relief works in Aughrim particularly. The minister visited Aughrim this week in the aftermath of the floods, caused by heavy rainfall on Tuesday that led to the Avoca River bursting its banks in Arklow and the Aughrim River overflowing in Aughrim, which has devastated the village, leaving many residential estates underwater. The local community came together to support one another, and a rest centre was set up in the Pavilion, with the villagers and officials remaining on high alert as Status Yellow rainfall warnings remained in place across Thursday and Friday. A substantial clean-up operation got underway in earnest on Friday, with the local Tidy Towns group organiser a big community drive to help those affected from 10am today. Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Kevin Boxer Moran TD and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne TD during the press conference in the Presentation Centre in Enniscorthy on Thursday. Photo: Jim Campbell Though floodwaters did recede on Friday, the village was put on high alert again last night and Deputy O Suilleabhain said the shock will be felt for a long time. Wednesday saw devastating scenes throughout the east coast, particularly in my constituency of WicklowWexford. Arklow, Aughrim and Bunclody are just a few areas where we saw businesses and homes destroyed, with a massive clean-up operation now required, he said This could have been prevented if flood relief schemes had been in place. Arklows flood relief plan is currently at the detailed design stage, with construction expected to begin in quarter three of 2026. He added: With regard to Aughrim, there is a long-term flood relief plan in place, but with the changes in our weather patterns, these schemes need to be completed more quickly. Deputy O Suilleabhain has urged the minister to engage with and work alongside Wicklow County Council to advance the necessary works for Aughrim. These sentiments have been echoed by Deputy O Suilleabhains constituency colleague Brian Brennan, who believes the Government needs to implement an insurance scheme for householders impacted by flooding in the region. An Emergency Response Payment has been made available to support householders in County Wicklow affected by Storm Chandra. The scheme, administered by the Department of Social Protection, provides financial support to those whose homes have been damaged by the severe weather conditions. These come in three stages, with stage one available now and not income testing, offering cover for immediate essentials such as food, clothing and bedding. Further support will be available in stages two and three for replacing household items and essential structural repairs. Affected householders can access supports by contacting the Community Welfare Service, on: 0818 60 70 80. Elaine Byrne at her flood damaged home in Riverfield in Aughrim, Co Wicklow. Photo: PA However, Deputy Brian Brennan says its simply appalling to see the damage done to peoples lives by the floods over recent days and that this emergency measure is not enough. In Aughrim many homes have been destroyed by floodwaters with families losing everything, said the Fine Gael TD. For many of these people, they will no longer be able to get insurance to cover the cost of these damages or, if they have been flooded before, they may not have insurance right now. This is simply not fair. Every home in this country was built with planning permission granted by the state, so to be excluded from insurance due to events totally out of their control is wrong. Deputy Brennan is calling on the Government to work with insurance companies in the Irish market to implement a state managed scheme that makes flood cover more widely available and affordable. ready to respond to the ongoing flooding situation as issues may occur as they issued a warning of high river flooding alerts in nine towns and villages.Wicklow County Council said on Friday that their teams remain vigilant and Revealing that nearly 80mm of rain fell in the county from Thursday, January 22 to Wednesday, January 28, the local authority said the towns flooded on Tuesday, Aughrim and Arklow, remain at high risk of a repeat over the February bank holiday weekend, with seven further locations also at increased risk. Due to the high risk of flooding for the Avoca, Vartry and Slaney River catchment areas, Baltinglass, Delgany, Greystones, Kilcoole, Newtownmountkennedy, Rathnew and Wicklow town were all put on high alert on Friday evening. Crews are out making repairs to damaged roads, pipes, and manholes and the local authority continues to engage with business owners and residents. The local authority is urging the public to drive carefully, as weather events and flooding have caused debris to be washed onto road surfaces and damage has been caused, and to never drive through floodwater or bypass a road closed sign. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme Pictures which appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouched over an unidentified woman are featured in the latest disclosure of files linked to Jeffrey Epstein. The images are among more than three million documents published by the US Department of Justice on Friday relating to disgraced paedophile financier Epstein, including images of a man kneeling on the floor next to a woman lying down. The undated pictures were released in a document of 100 pages of photographs, and also appear to show the former duke touching the woman's abdomen. Another unidentified person's feet are up on a table in the background. They have no captions and it is not known where they were taken. Elsewhere in the document dump, screenshots and scans appear to show the former prince exchanged emails with Jeffrey Epstein about a "beautiful" Russian woman and invited him to Buckingham Palace. In an August 2010 exchange, two years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution, for which he served 13 months in a jail work-release programme, the financier writes: "I have a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with." In response, "The Duke" replies: "Of course. I am in Geneva until the morning of 22nd but would be delighted to see her. Will she be bringing a message from you? Please give her my contact details to get in touch." "A." In response to a redacted email, "The Duke" says: "Great. Any other information you might know about her that might be useful to know? Like what have you told her about me and have you given her my email as well?" Epstein then writes: "She 26, russian, clevere beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email." The email account labelled "The Duke" replies: "That was quick! How are you? Good to be free?" Epstein says: "(redacted).. great to be free of many things." The exchange ends with "The Duke" saying: "So many opportunities that I am frustratingly not allowed to participate in. "And so many that are obvious but can't get anyone to fire on. "Must come and see you sometime soon." In another exchange in September 2010, Epstein said he was in London, and "The Duke" replied: "I am just departing Scotland should be down by 1800. "I'll ring you when I get down if you can give me a number to ring. "Alternatively we could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy. "A." In a different exchange, which was also released on Friday, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell agreed that "Andrew" should choose to spend time with "Sarah and the kids" instead of visiting "the Island" where there would be "5 stunning red heads". The exchange is between an address named "The Invisible Man" and Maxwell in August 2002. It suggests The Invisible Man may be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after Maxwell refers to him as Andrew and mentions his former wife's name, while previous emails from the account have referred to having a valet and being at Balmoral with the royal family. In an email signed "A", the sender says: "As the planning is getting more difficult over the bank holiday weekend here I am thinking now I might join Sarah and the kids in Sotogrande for a few days which would be very important and a good thing for the girls, rather than trek across the pond. "Please will you give me permission to do so and I am conscious of the 'better offer' syndrome but in this case it wouldn't be that... I think!" In her reply dated August 24 2002, Maxwell said "Andrew sweet heart - I fully understand if you want to spend time w/Sarah and the kids. I will not be remotely offended - sad not to spend time w/you and sad not to see you but at this point w/precious holidays and few days off I agree that this idea of coming to the Island looks less appealing". In a follow-up email sent on August 25 2002, after The Invisible Man confirmed he would not be coming, Maxwell said: "No problem, (redacted), who is now coming and 5 other stunning red heads will all just have to play with ourselves." In a reply on August 27, The Invisible Man said: "Look forward to catching up with you before you disappear to some exotic place and please don't catch anything nasty on your travels! "Masses of love and thanks, A xxx" Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. In another email addressed to The Invisible Man and sent on March 31 2002, one day after the Queen Mother's death, Maxwell refers to him as "sweat pea", adding: "Sorry you had to rush home, and also under such sad circumstances. However much the passing was to be expected in one so old, it does not make it any less sad. "She was wonderful, and I am happy that I managed to meet her and speak with her. "We shall reschedule. Love you. Gx". One email also shows Epstein was invited to Andrew's 50th birthday party at St James's Palace in 2010. Sent by Andrew's then-private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, on behalf of Andrew's former wife, the email read: "Dear Jeffrey. "Beatrice, Eugenie and I (Sarah Ferguson) would love to invite you to celebrate the 50 years of Papa/Andrew. "It will be on February 26th 2010, from 7.30pm for Drinks and for 8.30pm for Dinner, at St. James's Palace, London. "It will be suits and cocktail dresses, and you know me, mysterious mischief, so bring your presents, your presence and your humour!" Epstein declined the invite, writing back: "not able". The documents were released as part of the US "Epstein files" and follow a series of disclosures in December, including an email sent from Balmoral signed "A", which asked Maxwell for "inappropriate friends". Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Andrew has faced allegations, which he strenuously denies, that he sexually assaulted a teenage Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein. He paid millions to Ms Giuffre, a woman he has claimed never to have met, to settle a civil sexual assault claim in 2022. Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2019 after an interview on BBC Newsnight, but the publication of Ms Giuffre's posthumous memoir, and the US government's release of documents from Epstein's estate, brought more scrutiny over his relationship with the financier. It led to the King officially stripping his disgraced brother of both his HRH style and his prince title last year. Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing tomorrow for people to travel between Gaza and Egypt, a government agency said, the first opening of effectively the sole route in or out of the Palestinian territory since May 2024. The Israeli government agency that co-ordinates civilian policy in Gaza, COGAT, did not say how many of Gazas more than two million people would be allowed to cross the border per day. The return of residents from Egypt to the Gaza Strip will be permitted, in co-ordination with Egypt, for residents who left Gaza during the course of the war only, and only after prior security clearance by Israel, COGAT said. Reopening the crossing was an important requirement under the first phase of US president Donald Trumps plan to stop fighting between Israel and Hamas militants, which followed a ceasefire agreed in October. Israel had said it would reopen it only after recovering the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, which took place this week. Reuters previously reported that Israel wants to restrict the number of Palestinians entering Gaza through the border crossing with Egypt to ensure that more are allowed out than in. Egypt has not agreed to that. A source familiar with the matter said the crossing would open despite ongoing discussions between Egypt and Israel over the issue, saying that Israel wants to allow around 150 people to come back per day. The opening will solely allow the passage of people, even though Gaza remains in need of vital aid that humanitarian organisations say has been stymied by Israeli restrictions. Many people in Gaza are still living in the rubble without basic services, struggling to stay warm amid harsh winter conditions, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement yesterday. She called for an easing of restrictions on dual use items like water pipes and generators, which are essential for restoring the essential infrastructure people rely on. Under a policy that long pre-dates the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and ensuing war in Gaza, Israel inspects trucks bound for the Palestinian enclave to stop any items it considers to have potential dual use civilian or military. Gaza has been devastated by Israels two-year offensive, which has left most of the strip in ruins and displaced virtually the entire population. Tehran says instant retaliation will follow any assault Commanding officer of US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Captain Daniel Keeler prepares to fly a Sea Hawk helicopter in the Indian Ocean. Photo: AP Donald Trump has warned Iran it must do two things to avoid US military action, as US forces continue to build in the Middle East. Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters, the US president said, adding that there are a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now. Tensions continue to simmer between Washington and Tehran, sparking concerns that Mr Trump will decide to renew the conflict between the US and Iran following tit-for-tat strikes last summer. Iran earlier warned it will retaliate to any US attack instantly and that its response would not be limited. A response would likely see it attack the US military bases stationed in Gulf countries. Iranian brigadier general Mohammad Akraminia said the bases are within the range of our medium-range missiles. He added: If such a miscalculation is made by the Americans, it will certainly not unfold the way Trump imagines carrying out a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over. Mr Trump earlier said he plans to speak with Iran but did not elaborate on the nature or timing of the dialogue. Iran is prepared for the resumption of talks with the United States, but they should be fair and not include Irans defence capabilities, Irans chief diplomat said yesterday, as regional powers work to prevent military conflict between the two foes. Commanding officer of US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Captain Daniel Keeler prepares to fly a Sea Hawk helicopter in the Indian Ocean. Photo: AP News in 90 seconds - Saturday, January 31 US-Iranian tensions have soared in recent weeks after a bloody crackdown on protests across Iran by its clerical authorities. One of the main US demands as a condition for resuming talks with Iran is curbing its missile programme, a senior Iranian official told Reuters last week. Iran rejects that demand. Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul after talks with his Turkish counterpart, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ready to participate in fair and equitable negotiations, but added there were currently no meetings with US officials arranged. Iran has no problem with negotiations, but negotiations cannot take place under the shadow of threats. They must certainly set aside their threats and change their approach toward a fair and equitable negotiation, as Mr Trump himself said in his post, he said. I should also state unequivocally that Irans defensive and missile capabilities and Irans missiles will never be the subject of any negotiations. We will preserve and expand our defensive capabilities to whatever extent is necessary to defend the country. Regional allies, including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have been engaging in diplomatic efforts to prevent a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran. In response to US threats of military action, Mr Araghchi said Tehran was ready for either negotiations or warfare, and also ready to engage with regional countries to promote stability and peace. Mr Araghchi and Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said they had been speaking to each other almost every day to discuss the tensions. Earlier yesterday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a call that Ankara was ready to play a facilitator role between the sides. Speaking alongside Mr Araghchi, Mr Fidan said he had long discussions on the issue with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday and would keep lines open with Washington to avoid conflict and the isolation of Iran. Mr Fidan said US-Iran nuclear negotiations must restart and would pave the way to lifting sanctions on Iran. We call the parties to the negotiating table to address the issues one by one, he said. US officials say Mr Trump is reviewing his options but has not decided whether to strike Iran. Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to kill protesters in its crackdown on the countrywide demonstrations over economic privations and political repression, but the protests have since abated. A US Navy destroyer made a port visit yesterday to the southern Israeli city of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba, video footage showed, as the US surges military forces to the region. The footage showed it was the USS Delbert D Black, one of six US destroyers now in the Middle East, along with an aircraft carrier and three other littoral combat ships. Israeli media reported that the arrival of the destroyer at the Red Sea city, near Israels borders with Egypt and Jordan, was pre-planned and part of ongoing co-operation between the US and Israeli militaries. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the US military was prepared to carry out whatever course of action the president decided. Israels chief of the general staff said last week the military was prepared for a range of scenarios and was continuously improving its capabilities. The commander of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, visited Israel last week in a trip the Israeli military said was aimed at deepening strategic ties and strengthening defence co-operation between the two allies. Files allege Bill Gates had an STD and a cash gift to Mandelson spouse A photomontage showing an email released yesterday, and the cell where Epstein was found unresponsive Emails between paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and an account named The Duke suggest that Epstein wanted to introduce A to a 26-year-old Russian woman, whom Epstein suggests he might enjoy having dinner with. The revelation was made yesterday as the US Justice Department published a new and final cache of millions of documents related to the late convicted sex offender, under a law passed in November that required the release of all Jeffrey Epstein-related records. In the emails, Epstein says that the woman will be in London in August 2010. The new cache includes three million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images The Duke replies that he will be in Geneva until the morning of the 22nd but would be delighted to see her and then asks: Will she be bringing a message from you? Please give her my contact details to get in touch. The email is signed A, with what appears to be an email signature that reads HRH Duke of York KG. That person asks Epstein whether there is any other information you might know about her that might be useful to know? A photomontage showing an email released yesterday, and the cell where Epstein was found unresponsive Epstein replies shes 26, Russian, clever, beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl in Florida and completed his sentence in July 2010, a month before the email exchange. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was approached for comment. He has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing. Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: New York State Sex Offender Registry News in 90 seconds - Saturday, January 31 US deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said at a press conference that the latest massive batch of files marked the end of the Trump administrations planned releases under the law. The new cache includes more than three million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, he said. The files include extensive redactions, he said, given the laws exceptions permitting certain documents to be blacked out, including identifying information of victims or materials related to active investigations. Previous releases have been heavily redacted, drawing criticism from some US politicians. Some of the documents contain untrue claims against President Trump Donald Trump, who was friendly with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s before they had a falling out, spent months resisting any release until both Democrats and Republicans in Congress forced his hand by advancing the law over his objections. Mr Trump has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and he has denied any knowledge of Epsteins crimes. But the scandal has dogged him for months in part because he had promised to release all the files during his 2024 presidential campaign. In a press release yesterday, the Justice Department wrote: Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. "To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already. Andrew and Epstein Mr Blanche said the department has also withheld some files based on legal privilege, including work product and attorney-client privilege. Some lawmakers have said those withholdings appear to run counter to the law, which required the department to produce internal communications related to decisions on whether to charge or investigate Epstein or any associates. It was not immediately clear how many of the newly released files included mentions of Mr Trump. Other emails in the latest tranche claimed that Bill Gates caught a sexually transmitted disease after sleeping with Russian girls. On July 18, 2013, Epstein sent a memo to himself that included lurid allegations about the Microsoft founder. To add insult to the injury, you then implore me to please delete the emails regarding your STD, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis, the email reads. Epstein sent himself another email at 1.03am the same morning, announcing a resignation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Epstein never worked for the foundation, so it is believed he was writing the email in someone elses voice. He wrote: I have been caught up in a severe marital dispute between Melinda and Bill... The allegations involving Mr Gates are unverified. The documents also include photos, which are undated, showing Mr Gates with a woman whose image has been redacted. The documents also reveal that Epstein sent 10,000 to former UK cabinet minister Peter Mandelsons husband just two months after his release from prison. An exchange of emails reveal that Mr Mandelsons husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva asked Epstein for money to fund an osteopathy course and other related expenses in September 2009. Following the request for money, Epstein replied: I will wire your loan amount immediately. A few days later Mr da Silva replied thank you for the money which arrived in my account this morning, according to the files. Mr Mandelson was sacked as the UKs ambassador to the US by Keir Starmer when details of his relationship with Epstein emerged in September of last year. He later apologised for his friendship with Epstein. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia has shifted to hitting Ukrainian logistics after bombing roads and railways In this photo provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, declared to be taken on Jan. 24, 2026, an MRLS BM-21 "Grad" fires towards Russian army positions near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP) People pass a crater and damaged cars near an apartment building after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Photo: AP Russian lawmakers want Moscow to use more powerful weapons of retribution to achieve its war goals in Ukraine, the speaker of parliaments lower chamber, the State Duma, said yesterday. Vyacheslav Volodin, who is also a member of president Vladimir Putins security council, did not specify what type of weapons he meant. Our troops are advancing. State Duma deputies insist on the use of more powerful weapons, weapons of retribution. And the achievement of the goals of the special military operation, he said, using the term by which Russia refers to the war in Ukraine. It was the second public statement in consecutive days from hawks urging that Russia should continue and even step up its war effort, at a time when US president Donald Trump is trying to get both sides to agree to a peace deal. On Thursday, the leader of Russias Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, told reporters: I believe the war must be taken to its conclusion... I am against negotiations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had agreed to a personal request from Trump to cease strikes on Kyiv until Sunday in order to create a more favourable climate for negotiations. Tents at a government-run humanitarian aid point in Ukraine. Photo: Reuters But as the Ukrainian capital braces for another bitterly cold spell, president Volodymyr Zelensky said there was no formal truce between the two countries. He added that Russia had shifted to hitting Ukrainian logistics, after having bombed Ukraines roads and railways in recent days. In recent weeks, Russian strikes on energy infrastructure in Kyiv have left hundreds of thousands of people without heating for days on end at times as temperatures have dipped below minus-15C. President Trump did indeed make a personal request to President Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv for a week until February 1 in order to create favourable conditions for negotiations, said Mr Peskov, confirming that Putin had agreed. Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to reciprocate, halting its attacks on Russian refinery infrastructure, saying this was an opportunity rather than an agreement. In a post on the Telegram app, he said there were no strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities overnight. In a separate briefing with reporters, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian air defences had been left depleted because Kyivs European allies had delayed payments to the US under the PURL weapons purchase programme. As a result, he said, US Patriot air defence missiles had not arrived ahead of heavy Russian airstrikes on Kyiv that knocked out power to swathes of the city this month. Mr Pretti was killed a week ago by border agents during a protest against the presidents brutal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. His death followed the fatal shooting of Renee Good. Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Prettis stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces, Mr Trump claimed. It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Despite the massive protests against the presence of ICE agents in the city, Mr Trump has said he has no plans to reduce the number of federal operatives there. Also yesterday, deputy US attorney general Todd Blanche announced a federal investigation into Mr Prettis shooting, which he said was standard procedure. Fury over the Trump administrations handling of Mr Pretti and Ms Goods deaths has led to calls for a national shutdown yesterday, which saw thousands of students and employees staying home from school and work. The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country to stop ICEs reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN, organizers wrote on their website. Former CNN journalist Don Lemon and Emmy Award-winning reporter Georgia Fort were arrested yesterday in connection with a protest against ICE activities at a Minnesota church that they both covered. Mr Lemon has maintained that he was observing the protest as a journalist conducting reporting. The Justice Department initially tried to bring a case against Mr Lemon last week but a judge rejected it. An attorney for Mr Lemon, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that his client was taken into custody in Los Angeles while covering the Grammy Awards. Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case, Mr Lowell said. Jan 29 (Reuters) - Amazon is in talks to invest dozens of billions in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and the figure could be as high as $50 billion, a source told Reuters on Thursday. The discussion is still in the early stages and the final numbers have not been finalized, the source said. Big Tech companies and investors such as SoftBank Group Corp are racing to forge partnerships with OpenAI - which is spending heavily on data centers - betting that closer ties with the artificial-intelligence startup would give them a competitive edge in the AI race. More from Yahoo Scout How does this relate to Amazon's other AI investments? What is OpenAI's current valuation and fundraising target? How much is Amazon planning to invest in OpenAI? Which other major companies are investing in OpenAI? OpenAI is looking to raise up to $100 billion in funding, valuing it at about $830 billion, Reuters reported on Tuesday. SoftBank Group is in talks to invest as much as an additional $30 billion in the startup. OpenAI, which signed a $10 billion computing deal with Nvidia challenger Cerebras earlier this month, is laying the groundwork for an IPO that could value it at up to $1 trillion, Reuters has also reported. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is leading the negotiations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development. Investing up to $50 billion could make Amazon the biggest contributor to the AI company's ongoing fundraising round. Amazon is also an investor in Anthropic, having invested about $8 billion in the company, recently valued at $183 billion. Anthropic, which has emerged as a major rival to OpenAI due to the strong adoption of its services by enterprise customers, has forecast that it will more than double and potentially nearly triple its annualized revenue run rate in 2026 to around $26 billion. Amazon declined to comment, while OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters when contacted. Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft are also in talks to invest up to $60 billion in OpenAI, the Information reported on Wednesday. Nvidia, an existing investor whose chips power OpenAI's AI models, is in talks to invest up to $30 billion, while Microsoft, a longstanding backer, is in talks to invest less than $10 billion. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City and Krystal Hu in San Francisco; Editing by Pooja Desai) Image credit : Instagram @brooklynpeltzbeckham | Brooklyn Beckham fights for his independence. How Victorias trademark could strangle Brooklyns independence RadarOnline.com Image credit : Instagram @brooklynpeltzbeckham | Brooklyn Beckham refuses to sign away rights. Brooklyns allegations Image credit : Instagram @brooklynpeltzbeckham | Brooklyn Beckham wants control of his name. Victorias perspective Brooklyn Beckham, the eldest son of David and Victoria Beckham, recently made headlines by accusing his parents of trying to control his life. In a six-part Instagram statement on January 19, Brooklyn said, I do not want to reconcile with my family. I'm not being controlled; I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life.The dispute now could escalate due to one legal move that gives Victoria unexpected leverage over Brooklyn. Victoria Beckham holds the trademark Brooklyn Beckham, registered in December 2016, which experts warn could complicate his earning potential.According to, a single legal move now gives Victoria significant power over her 26-year-old sons ability to earn money independently. Legal experts explain that the trademark covers a wide range of products and services, including clothing, footwear, cosmetics, books, toys, balloons, and even ticketed events.This means that any company wanting to use Brooklyns name for business purposes would have to deal with Victoria first. As one intellectual property lawyer explained, If Victoria remains the legal owner of the name, Brooklyn cannot freely commercialise his own identity. In a typical endorsement or sponsorship deal, an individual grants limited permission for their name to be used in connection with a product. In this case, however, any company wanting to use the 'Brooklyn Beckham' name would have to deal with the trademark holder first, meaning Victoria would have the final say and could ultimately be the one paid.The trademark registration is set to expire in December 2026, and Victoria must either renew it or relinquish control. Sources close to the Beckham family warned that this situation puts Brooklyn in an incredibly vulnerable financial position and could totally destroy his earning potential if control is not transferred.Brooklyn claimed his parents pressured him to sign away the rights to his name before his April 2022 wedding to Nicola Peltz. He alleged that their repeated attempts affected the payday, and they have never treated me the same since. He also said that he refused to comply with their requests, which reignited tensions in the family.A source close to Victoria explained to the portal that she sees the trademark as a protection of the brand she and David built over the years. Victoria sees the trademark as safeguarding years of effort spent building the Beckham brand with David, the source said.They added, Brooklyn, however, experiences it very differently; to him it represents another mechanism of control over his life and livelihood, rather than a neutral business protection.In short, the trademark gives Victoria leverage over her adult son, and the legal and financial fallout could shape Brooklyns career for years. A powerful weather front is set to batter Greece starting Saturday afternoon, bringing heavy rain, thunderstorms, and low-altitude snowfall in a multi-day event expected to last through Monday. The Hellenic National Meteorological Service (EMY) warned that the system will intensify rapidly over the next 24 hours . While initially affecting western regions, the deterioration will be widespread, peaking on Sunday with dangerous lightning and hail. Meteorologist Klearchos Marousakis highlighted the risk of "substantial snowfall" reaching areas well below typical mountain snow lines. Mr. Marousakis described the system as seasonally typical but potent, urging residents to monitor updates as the storm's intensity fluctuates. "Weather systems are not fixed or identical as they move," Mr. Marousakis said. Fellow meteorologist Theodoros Kolydas pointed to the system's "strong atmospheric dynamics," which are likely to produce persistent downpours capable of causing localized flooding. Mr. Kolydas forecasts the severe conditions will persist through Monday night before tapering off midweek. Authorities have advised citizens to limit unnecessary movement, warning of potential disruptions to road networks and ferry services across the country. iefimerida.gr Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis defended his countrys high military expenditures on Friday, asserting that a robust national economy has allowed Athens to boost defense spending to over 3% of GDP while simultaneously cutting taxes and maintaining a primary surplus. Speaking ahead of a European Peoples Party (EPP) summit in Zagreb focused on Europes global role, Mr.addressed how his government justifies significant arms outlays to voters. He argued that security is the prerequisite for prosperity. "Citizens understand that to be a prosperous and democratic country, we must be safe," Mr. Mitsotakis told reporters. "They accept that these expenses are necessary." Greece, which consistently exceeds NATOs 2% spending target due to long-standing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, has recently ramped up its modernization program. Mr. Mitsotakis noted that while many European nations are only now increasing budgets, Greece has done so for years out of necessity. "Thanks to the robustness of our economy, we have the ability to spend 3% of our GDP on defense and continue to reduce taxes for the middle class," he said. The Prime Minister also highlighted a push to integrate the domestic industrial base into these procurements, framing the investment as a vital contribution to broader European strategic autonomy. iefimerida.gr Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is accelerating preparations for a significant political reentry, mobilizing working groups to draft a new progressive platform aimed at unifying Greeces fractured center-left opposition. The move comes as Thanasis Karteros, a close aide to Mr. Tsipras, published an opinion piece Tuesday signaling that the former premier is ready to act as a "catalyst" for political developments. "The die is cast, even if it hasn't been thrown yet," Mr. Karteros wrote, suggesting a strategic decision to launch a new entity has already been made, with an organizational structure expected to be in place by Easter At the heart of this initiative is the Alexis Tsipras Institute, which has established a high-level task force led by George Siakantaris, a former scientific director for the PASOK socialist party think-tank. The group aims to synthesize views from three distinct ideological currents: social democracy, the radical left, and the green movement. Mr. Siakantaris appointment highlights an effort to bridge the gap between Mr. Tsipras radical left roots and the center-left establishment. Additionally, the institute is preparing to unveil a proposal to overhaul "Diavgeia," the states online transparency registry, citing the need for modernized digital infrastructure to combat corruption. Mr. Tsipras, who led Greece from 2015 to 2019, is positioning himself as the solution to a fragmented opposition landscape that currently lacks a cohesive alternative to the ruling New Democracy government. By Antonis Telopoulos iefimerida.gr Former First Lady of Ondo State, Mrs Betty Anyawu-Akeredolu, has declared support for former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, to emerge as the presidential candidate of the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress (ADC). Anyawu-Akeredolu made her position known in a post on her verified X account on Friday. Quoting a report in which she was cited as backing Obi and the Obidient Movement, the former first lady wrote simply: Obi or nothing. Advertisement Her declaration comes amid an ongoing debate between members of the Obidient Movement and supporters of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over who should secure the ADCs presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 general election. Since Obi joined the ADC, his supporters have intensified calls on the party to zone its presidential ticket to the South and to present him as its flagbearer. Meanwhile, the leadership of the ADC has cautioned supporters of aspirants against promoting division within the party ahead of its June primaries. The partys National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, issued the warning during a live audio conversation on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday in Abuja. Abdullahi urged party supporters to avoid what he described as preaching division and exceptionality within the coalition. He also spoke on the proposal for the 2027 general elections to be conducted in 2026, describing such a development as a double-edged sword for the party. According to him, an early election could pose internal challenges for the ADC, particularly in managing post-primary grievances. He said the party could struggle to heal internal wounds if the election timetable is brought forward. He said the party could struggle to heal internal wounds if the election timetable is brought forward. The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, admitted a Nollywood actress, Angela Okorie, to a N5 million bail with one surety in like sum for allegedly cyberbullying Mercy Johnson-Okojie, also an actress. Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling on Okories bail application, moved by her lawyer, Earnest Nwoye, held that though the prosecution opposed the request, there was no concrete evidence before the court to prove that the defendant would jump bail if granted. Therefore, I am minded to grant the bail in the interest of justice, Justice Nwite said, saying bail is at the discretion of the court which must be exercised judicially and judiciously. Advertisement Therefore, the judge admitted Okorie to N5 million bail with one surety who must depose to affidavit of means and must be a level 13 civil servant. He said the surety must produce his appointment letter and letter of the last promotion in the service. The judge ordered Okorie and her surety to submit two passport photographs to the court registrar and that the residence of the surety must be verified by the registrar. Justice Nwite, who adjourned the matter until March 23 for trial, ordered Okorie to be remanded in Suleja Correctional Centre pending the verification of her bail conditions. Earlier, Okorie was re-arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on cyberstalking and criminal defamation, which she was alleged to have committed between 2024 and 2025 in violation of the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015. She, however, pleaded not guilty after the seven counts were read to her, and the police lawyer, Victor Okoye, sought a trial date to present their witnesses in court to establish their case against the actress. Nwoye, who did not oppose Okoyes application for a trial date, informed the court of their bail application filed on Jan. 29, which he said had been served on the prosecution. The lawyer said the appplication prayed the court for a bail for Okorie pending trial. He urged the court to exercise its discretion in favour of the defendant. According to him, the defendant is ready to make herself available to stand trial. She is a known Nigerian who has no place to hide. Therefore, we urge my lord to exercise the discretion in her favour, Nwoye prayed. Okoye, however, opposed Nwoyes plea for bail. He said in opposition, a 29-paragraph counter affidavit, dated Jan. 30, was filed and deposed to by ASP Ahmad Umar, a police officer and member of the team that investigated the case. The prosecutor, who said four exhibits were attached to their application, described Okories bail request as unmeritorious. I agree that the court has discretion but it must be exercised judicially and judiciously, he said. Okoye, who stated that the defendant was earlier granted an administrative bail, said the actress absconded. Neither the defendant nor the surety presented themselves when she absconded, he said. The police lawyer argued that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) stipulates that where there is clear evidence that a defendant may jump bail, the court is encouraged to exercise caution by refusing such. Besides, he said the defendant did not respond to their counter-affidavit. According to him, the offences she is being charged with, some carry three years up to 10 years. Therefore, the bail application should be refused my lord, Okoye said. But Nwoye prayed the court to discountenance what he called the misinformation by the prosecution. The law is, the court is bound by his record and that record are Exhibits NPF1 and NPF4 which are documents showing communication between the defendant and prosecutor, he said. The lawyer argued that contrary to the claim that Okorie absconded, she informed the police that she travelled for medical examination and re-evaluation. He said the actress communicated this through a letter to the prosecution. He said there was a medical evidence that the defendant had an ailment. Nwoye said on the allegation that the surety also refused to show up at their office, the lawyer said the surety spoke with the prosecutor and that was still part of the court record in Exhibit NPF4. Opposition to bail the way the prosecution is going, in line with Section 36(6b) of the constitution, will amount to persecution, my lord. In the instant case, the defendant is to be prosecuted and not to be persecuted, the lawyer submitted. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Nwite had, on Wednesday, ordered Okories remand in the Suleja Correctional Centre, following her earlier arraignment on a three-count charge. The judge had rejected the oral bail application made by the lawyer, who appeared for Okorie, Alex Ejesieme, SAN, shortly after she pleaded not guilty to the counts. He then ordered that the mother of one be remanded until Jan. 30 when her formal bail application would be heard. NAN reports that Okorie of 1 Henry Montero Street, Lekki Palm City, Ajah, Lagos is alleged, in the amended charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/278/2025, to have conspired with Ifeoma Mbonu (now at large) to commit cyberstalking and defamation by calling a fellow actress, Mercy Johnson Okojie a blood-sucking demon in their posts on their social media platforms of Instagram and TikTok. Okories case stemmed from a petition by Mercy Johnson Okojies lawyer, in which sundry allegations were made against her and Ifeoma. Part of the petition, dated May 14, 2025, reads: Most alarmingly, in a recent criminal and defamatory publication, Angela Okorie published the following statement via her Instagram page @ realagelaokorie: Blood sucking demon no see blood suck again, E say na slimming tea. Except theres no God, MJ go and beg people you chop their destinies and destroy their hornes else no peace for the wicked!!! Gospel songs wont save you. Your heart Is Dark!!! This malicious statement, clearly targeted at our client, was published with the intent to cause irreparable reputational injury, incite hatred, provoke unrest among the public and further harass and emotionally traumatize our client. The tone, content, and framing of the publication aim to portray our client as a destructive person, despite her widely known public image as a humanitarian and devout Christian mother. The principal suspect, Angela Okorie, has demonstrated a relentless and calculated effort to incite public hatred and threaten public peace by repeatedly using her social media platform for criminal intimidation, false accusations, and criminal defamation. She has become the most aggressive and persistent in this malicious campaign. (NAN) Former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party and pitched tent with the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Mr Duke who has once defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) before returning to the PDP, received his ADC membership card on Friday following his registration as a member of the party in Ward 5, Calabar Municipal. The ADC in the Bakassi Local Government Area of the state on Friday called on residents to identify with the party, describing it as a credible platform for transformative change in Nigeria. Advertisement A statement to journalists on Friday stated that the call was made following a stakeholders meeting involving chapter executive members, ward chairmen, and secretaries of the party in Bakassi. We invite our family and friends who are still undecided to join the ADC today, as the party is poised to bring about transformative change in Nigeria, noted the statement signed by the ADC Bakassi chapter Chairman, Emmanuel Asuquo, and Secretary, Eko Boco. The statement also reaffirmed the chapters loyalty to the national leadership of the party. It added, We express our unwavering support and confidence in the leadership of Senator David Mark, National Chairman, and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, National Secretary, and pledge our loyalty to all recognised organs and structures of the party at all levels as we work towards building a strong and united ADC. Many politicians have joined the ADC as a coalition to dislodge the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration in 2027. Politicians which included former vice president Atiku Abubakar, ex-governors Peter Obi, Nasir El-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola are members of the ADC. STATEMENT FROM THE LABOUR PARTY The leadership of the Labour Party has once again reiterated that the judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja as well as the removal of the names of its executive from the Independent National Electoral Commissions portal by the commission will not deter its plans to put up a strong show in the 2027 general election. The party vowed to ensure that the judgment of the lower court will be upturned at the appellate court. In a statement by the Labour Partys National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the party called on Nigerians to rise up against the strangulation and monetization of democracy in the country by a few power-drunks in Nigeria, warning that Nigeria may be heading for the precipice if the inordinate ambitions of some politicians are not checked. Advertisement He said, Some persons who are applauding the impunity by some politicians should retrace and do some introspection because this was how in the past, they applauded injustice in our democracy because they were beneficiaries. At the end of the day when their enthroned leaders began to abuse power they started complaining. For us in Labour Party, our faith is strong that the appellate court will do the right thing and therefore we advice our members to remain calm. We will continue with the struggle to take our party from the godfather. Labour Party is a party that is based on social democracy where no one man is permitted to appoint everybody. It is against the principles of the party that one man will sit at a place and gather everybody and appoint everybody from the National Working Committee to the state, down to the ward executive. That is the impunity of the highest order, this I believe negates the principles of the party. If we say there are no party ideology in Nigeria, this is how it starts. We are very sure that it will be quashed on appeal. The celebration of the Abia state governor, Alex Otti, Nenadi Usman and their cohorts on the appearance of their names on the INEC portal will be short-lived. It is for a short time, their victory is pyrrhic and there is nothing to celebrate because the dooms day is closer than they will imagine which I believe will be very catastrophic for them. Moreover, it is very clear that the appointment of the caretaker committee did not go through the normal procedure. Proper notice was not given in line with the party constitution and the electoral act. Sign: Obiora Ifoh National Publicity Secretary Labour Party. 31/01/2026 https://x.com/i/status/2017664468009029950 In December, former Philadelphia Art Museum director and CEO Sasha Suda had pushed for a trial with jury to settle her wrongful-termination lawsuit against her former employer. The Art Museum argued for arbitration. On Friday, Common Pleas Court Judge Michael E. Erdos settled the question with a ruling in favor of arbitration. Erdos directed Suda to submit her claim against the museum in arbitration, per the terms of her employment contract. Advertisement The museum in a statement Saturday said that it was pleased with Erdos ruling reaffirming the requirement to arbitrate as previously agreed to in the employment agreement, which is the best use of the resources of all including the courts." The statement added that the museum will now return to our focus on the museums mission of bringing art and inspiration to the people of Philadelphia. Sudas lawyer, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, said Saturday that the courts procedural, one-sentence decision requiring arbitration has no relevance to the outcome of this case. We are not surprised that the museum wants to hide its illegal conduct in a confidential arbitration, he said, but we will hold the museum accountable wherever the case is heard. Suda filed her lawsuit Nov. 10, less than a week after being fired by the museum, arguing that the dismissal was without a valid basis. The museum responded by calling the suit without merit. Tensions between Suda and the board over authority in running museum matters were cited in court filings. The former director said she was hired in 2022 to transform a struggling museum, but was later terminated when her efforts to modernize the museum clashed with a small, corrupt, and unethical faction of the board intent on preserving the status quo. READ MORE: How can the Philadelphia Art Museum move past the turmoil? Daniel H. Weiss has a few ideas. In a court filing, the museum responded by saying Suda was dismissed after an investigation determined that she misappropriated funds from the museum and lied to cover up her theft. Suda was let go Nov. 4, three years into a five-year contract. With her lawsuit, she sought two years pay, as well as significant damages for the museums repeated and malicious violations of the non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses in her employment agreement, and an injunction enforcing the confidentiality and non-disparagement terms of her agreement, Nikas said. Less than three weeks after Sudas dismissal, the museum named Daniel H. Weiss who formerly led the Metropolitan Museum of Art its new director. Maritozzi at Dead King Bread Not much tempted me out of the house this week, but the siren song of lemon curd piped into a brioche bun and topped with a smoothed-over smear of whipped labneh to make a maritozzi compelled me to undertake the journey to Roxboroughs Dead King Bread, the pirate ship-treehouse-bread cathedral just down the hill from the towering antennas of Domino Lane. In Phillys bustling, pop-up-riddled bakery scene, Dead King has some of the most idiosyncratic hours out there: Its open just twice a week, from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Perhaps as a result, one often needs to brave a long line that snakes through the numerous warehouse spaces inside Manayunk Timber, which houses the bakery. (If you just want sourdough or pizza dough both excellent and you live in parts of Northwest Philadelphia, you can subscribe for bread delivery.) Advertisement I was rewarded for my pains on an icy Thursday afternoon by a nearly empty parking lot and no line at all. There were plenty of rosemary focaccia slabs, tomato pie slices, and olive-twisted baguettes to be had, plus loaves of plain, cinnamon raisin, and jalapeno-cheddar, saucer-sized chocolate chip cookies, and cream cheese-iced spice cake squares. And that maritozzi? I polished it off in minutes, not taking nearly enough time to savor its buttery brioche cushion, tangy labneh topping, and the bright burst of lemon curd at the center. Oh well. Ill just have to go back next week. Dead King Bread, 5100 Umbria St., deadkingbread.myshopify.com Jenn Ladd Manti at Pera Turkish Cuisine Manti holds a special place in my heart. Its the dish my family eats when I touch down in Istanbul for my annual trip to Turkey. The second the plates land on our table at Askana (one of my favorite restaurants in the city), the ceremony begins, signaling to everyone in the dining room, This family has reunited! Manti is also the dish my mom makes best. Whenever she has guests over, this is what youll find on the dinner table. Its a labor-intensive dish, generally a family affair: one person makes the dough, another prepares the filling, and several fill and fold the dumplings. Its popular across Turkey, Armenia, and Uzbekistan, but the version served at Pera reminds me of the recipe I grew up with: small, tender dumplings filled with ground lamb pinched to look like little stars topped with garlicky yogurt and spiced butter. Is it better than my moms manti? Im obligated to say no. However, it comes close. Peras manti is textbook, with each bite containing the sacred combination that makes this dish a comfort meal: lamb, yogurt, and butter. Pera Turkish Cuisine, 944 N. Second St., 215-660-9471, peraphiladelphia.com Esra Erol Kapusniak at Heavy Metal Sausage This week, the balm that soothed my frozen body, attained after scaling the mountainous snow piles of South Philly, was a bowl of soup at Heavy Metal Sausage on Thursday. It was kapusniak, a sauerkraut soup with mushrooms thats currently on their lunchtime specials menu. Tangy, hearty, and lightly smoky, it instantly transported me from the butcher shop to Poland, where I once spent the weeks sipping sour soups. Heavy Metal Sausage Co., 1527 W. Porter St., heavymetalsausage.com Kiki Aranita Fried chicken curry at Gabriellas Vietnam As an antidote to the bitter cold, chef Thanh Nguyen has just put a selection of curries on the menu at Gabriellas Vietnam, and her fried chicken curry may be the very best version of the dish found in Philly. The chicken is tender, its skin crispy, and the curry meets a Goldilocks ideal not too thin, not too thick, balanced in creaminess and savoriness, with a touch of spice. Its extraordinarily restorative when spooned onto steaming hot rice. Gabriellas Vietnam, 1837 E. Passyunk Ave., 272-888-3298, gabriellasvietnam.com K.A. Social Security is supposed to be a safety net, but staffing cuts have made more vulnerable Americans feel stranded. Nearly one year following the announcement of 7,000 job cuts at the Social Security Administration (SSA), representing a 12% decrease in its workforce, critics say those who rely on the agency are struggling to access services they need. Must Read What were seeing with our older adults applying for Social Security is that the wait time is double compared to even a few years ago, and so theyre really struggling to get appointments on the phone, Julie Krawczyk told CBS News Texas in a story published Jan. 14 (1). Shes the director of the Elder Financial Safety Center at Dallas-based nonprofit The Senior Source. You might have waited before an hour or two. Now, you're waiting three to four hours to be able to talk to someone by the phone. And even when you get someone on the phone, theyre likely going to say to you, go online and get an appointment. But directing callers to go online can be a problem if they live in a remote area or cant afford internet service, or struggle with technology. There's a lot of folks who dont have access to the internet. There are a lot of people who arent comfortable using computers, Kenneth Williams, president of the Dallas chapter of the Alliance for Retired Americans, told CBC News Texas (2). Youre not going to just replace all of these Social Security offices with online access. Thats not going to work. That's going to leave a lot of people out. The human cost of staff cuts Its impossible to understate the significance of Social Securitys impact. With 70 million recipients, SSA checks are a financial lifeline for many Americans. To underscore SSAs significance for retirees, a 2025 survey from the National Academy of Social Insurance found that 36% of respondents wouldnt be able to afford essentials, including food, clothing, and housing, without Social Security retirement benefits (2). With a service so integral for seniors, unanswered phone calls arent just an inconvenience they could make all the difference for a recipients financial well-being. Despite the SSAs attempts to push digital-first initiatives, Pew Research Center data shows only 70% of U.S. adults aged 65-plus have high-speed internet at home, while 17% rely on smartphones for internet access (3). As word spread Friday that upscale grocery Di Bruno Bros. would shutter three of its five grocery stores in the coming weeks, many customers mourned the imminent loss but added they were unsurprised, citing a noticeable change in quality over the last few years. Xavier Hayden, a lawyer who lives in Narberth, said he stopped shopping at Di Brunos a few years ago when he noticed changes in the rolls, the bread, and other items that gave Di Brunos its strong reputation. The quality went down, the taste went down, Hayden said. Why am I going to pay upmarket prices for a midmarket product? Advertisement Hayden remembers childhood trips to the Italian Market to visit the original Di Bruno Bros., which will remain open, along with its bottle shop and the store at 18th and Chestnut Streets in Rittenhouse. Its Ardmore store will close Feb. 4, while the location in Wayne as well as the shop at the Franklin Residences at Ninth and Chestnut Streets will close Feb. 11. Di Brunos, established in South Philadelphia in 1939, had become a major player on the Main Line grocery scene since opening at the Ardmore Farmers Market in 2011 and in Waynes Strafford Shopping Center in 2021 to complement its two stores in Center City. Now, the company is pulling back to focus on the Italian Market and Rittenhouse locations and its online business. The closings will affect 59 employees, said Sandy Brown, executive vice president of Di Brunos parent company, Browns Super Stores. She said the workers have been offered new jobs with the other Browns stores in the area, including 10 ShopRites and two Fresh Grocer locations. On social media, some Di Brunos patrons attributed a change in the stores offerings to Browns, which bought an ownership stake in the company in early 2024 from the Mignucci family, which had led Di Brunos expansion. (Its a complex arrangement; while Browns owns the stores, the Di Brunos brand and its packaged-product portfolio were later acquired by Wakefern Food Corp., a New Jersey-based supermarket cooperative that includes the Browns stores.) In an email exchange Friday, Sandy Brown pushed back on the Browns companys role in the closures, saying Di Brunos was very distressed when her group invested. We were the only interested party due to the numerous challenges they had, she said. While many commenters online are blaming her company for the closings, Brown said, I dont think they realize the status of the brand at the time of transition. Brown said the company had worked to bring back business that was lost prior to the purchase, but that did not occur. She added that her company had a plan to sustain Di Brunos but declined to share it at this time. Main Line customers said they were sad to see Di Brunos retrenchment from the suburbs, though several said the stores had slipped in recent years. It used to be spectacular, delicious ... extra special, said Dana Reisbord, a professor who lives in Ardmore. Reisbord said she used to stop into Di Bruno for a chicken parmesan sandwich and other goodies. Now, shell venture into the city if shes really craving Italian fare. Di Brunos fare is too expensive to justify, she said, having lost that special touch. Diane Fanelli, a retiree who lives in Overbrook, visits the Ardmore Farmers Market Di Brunos at Suburban Square a few times a month. She said she would be sad to see the store go. Although she did notice a drop-off in quality, she said it wasnt significant enough to send her shopping elsewhere. Their food is expensive. Its very good, but its expensive, and everybodys watching their budget, said Mike Manley, a cartoonist from Upper Darby who used to patronize the Ardmore store when he was in town for doctors appointments. It wasnt necessarily the high-end products that kept Manley coming back. It was the customer service. He liked chatting with the cheesemongers and enjoying samples. Di Brunos reminded Manley of his old days in West Philadelphia, when he would regularly patronize Kochs Deli, known for friendly faces behind the counter. That gains you loyal customers, but I dont know if corporate appreciates that, he said. (The stores had lost some longtime employees since the Browns Super Store purchase.) Earlier this week, Di Bruno notified two landlords that they would be shutting down, said Douglas Green, a principal at MSC, who handles real estate for Kimco Realty Corp. (owner of Suburban Square) and Korman Communities (owner of the Franklin). A representative of Equity Retail Brokers, which leases at Waynes Strafford Shopping Center, declined to comment. Operations have not been what they were when the Mignucci family owned the business, and this outcome shouldnt be a great surprise to most people, Green said. Its a sad day for a very proud Philadelphia brand. He suggested that Di Bruno had expanded into too much space at Suburban Square and affected [Kimcos] ability to diversely merchandise the farmers market. It felt like they spread themselves too thin, and the quality suffered. Speaking specifically of the Franklin and Suburban Square locations, Green said both locations are in areas with pent-up demand and limited supply, and there should be tremendous interest. He said Kimco, with MSC, wants to re-merchandise the farmers market and Di Brunos spaces. This gives us a bit of a blank canvas, Green said. There are cuisine types not currently represented that were excited about bringing to the project. Hopefully, the end of this chapter opens the door to new concepts. Marc Rowan, chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management LLC, during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. MUST CREDIT: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg Read more Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein once inquired about buying a private plane from University of Pennsylvania megadonor and Wharton School adviser Marc Rowan, emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice show. The exchange, which appears among the three million documents unsealed Friday, occurred in early 2016, at a time when Epstein was corresponding with several executives from Apollo Global Management, the New York-based private equity firm Rowan cofounded in 1990 and where he now serves as CEO. Advertisement Epsteins assistant Lesley Groff emailed Rowans office on Jan. 12 and asked for details about Rowans private plane: Jeffrey is asking if he could get the details of Marcs plane for sale...the hours, photos, any pertinent information! Possible? It was not clear whether Rowan ever personally followed up on the plane offer, which was first reported by Bloomberg News, but a representative for the jet company offered Epstein the Gulfstream G450 for $18.9 million, noting it was in immaculate condition. The plane ultimately was sold to another buyer, according to Bloomberg. A spokesperson for Rowan declined to comment Friday. Beyond his success on Wall Street, Rowan has become a powerful and controversial force at Penn, where he serves as chairman of the advisory board at the Wharton School. The billionaire executive donated more than $10 million to the school last year, and led a campaign to oust former Penn president Liz Magill and board chair Scott L. Bok over the schools handling of antisemitism on campus after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. While Rowans business relationship with Epstein has not been widely reported, Epstein had a long history with Rowans predecessor and fellow cofounder at Apollo, Leon Black. Black was one of the few Wall Street bosses who stood by Epstein after his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting sex from a minor, according to the New York Times. He stepped down as CEO and chairman of the company in 2021 after it came to light that he had paid Epstein more than $158 million in adviser fees over the years. READ MORE: New Epstein files show years of email exchanges with Sixers co-owner Josh Harris A week prior to the plane inquiry, Rowan had breakfast at Epsteins home in New York City at Rowans request, emails show. The two financiers were engaged in some kind of investment together, the details of which are not entirely clear in the DOJ emails. The documents do not indicate Rowan and Epstein discussed anything other than business. In February 2016, a month after the plane inquiry, Epstein emailed Rowan to ask him for a phone call, though he did not say what about. Rowans name appears in Epsteins emails dating back to 2013, including a proposed meeting that year at Epsteins New York City residence involving Black and another Apollo cofounder, Josh Harris. Harris, who also owns the Sixers, and Epstein also corresponded multiple times over several years, although a Harris spokesperson said he sought to avoid meeting with Epstein to prevent him from forming a formal relationship with Apollo. Rowan, in contrast, appears to have sought Epstein out for meetings, like the one that took place prior to Epsteins plane offer. Marc said if Jeffrey wants an early breakfast that will work for him, an Apollo assistant wrote to Epsteins handler. He will bring coffee! This story has been updated to clarify Epsteins relationship with Apollo Global Management. Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, was taken into custody by federal immigration officers in Minnesota and detained with his father at a Texas center. Read more SAN ANTONIO A judge on Saturday ordered the U.S. to release a 5-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention center where they were taken after being detained in a Minneapolis suburb last month. Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack being surrounded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, sparked even more outcry about President Donald Trumps immigration crackdown in Minnesota. It also led to a protest at the family detention center and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress. Advertisement U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, said in his ruling the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children. Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy, has said theres a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day. Its that figure which the judge seemed to describe as a quota. Biery had previously ruled that the boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, could not be removed from the U.S., at least for now. Biery also included in his ruling a photo of Liam Conejo Ramos and references to two lines in the Bible: Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, and Jesus Wept. Spokespersons from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Neighbors and school officials say that federal immigration officers in Minnesota used the preschooler as bait by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an abject lie. It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway. During the Jan. 28 visit with Reps. Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, the boy slept in the arms of his father, who said Liam was frequently tired and not eating well at the detention facility housing about 1,100 people, according to Castro. Detained families report poor conditions like worms in food, lack of clean water, and poor medical care at the detention center since its reopening last year. In December, a report filed by ICE acknowledged they held about 400 children longer than the recommended limit of 20 days. A judge on Saturday declined to order the Trump administration to immediately scale back its immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, rejecting pleas from state officials who said the campaign was stepping on their sovereignty and endangering the public. U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez said Minnesota and the Twin Cities had not definitively shown that the administrations decision to flood the state with immigration agents, an initiative dubbed Operation Metro Surge, was unlawful or designed to coerce local officials into cooperating with other administration objectives. Advertisement However, while she denied the states request for a preliminary injunction ending the surge, the judge stressed that she was making not making a final determination on the states claims, a step that would take place after further litigation. She also cautioned that she was not deciding whether specific actions taken by immigration authorities during the surge were unlawful. It would be difficult to overstate the effect this operation is having on the citizens of Minnesota, and the Court must acknowledge that reality here, wrote Menendez, who was named to the bench by President Joe Biden. However, those are not the only harms to be considered. Defendants have presented evidence that entry of the injunction requested by Plaintiffs would harm the federal governments efforts to enforce federal immigration law. Immigration agents have flooded Minnesota in recent weeks, sparking protests as well as an intensive effort among residents to track and document the enforcement efforts. Federal authorities have shot and killed two people in Minneapolis since this surge began, prompting widespread outrage in Minnesota and across the country. Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Jan. 12 in response to the surge, saying that federal agents had stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarized raids and carry out dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional stops and arrests. In their lawsuit, Minnesota authorities said the Trump administration launched the campaign to punish political opponents and score partisan points. They said the federal government was putting public safety at risk, provoking protests, and undermining public trust in local law enforcement. The Trump administration said Minnesota officials were effectively seeking a state veto over the enforcement of federal law by federal officers. Federal officials wrote in court papers that the immigration crackdown has been a success despite attacks and threats against federal personnel. President Donald Trump campaigned on enforcing immigration laws, the Justice Department wrote, and Minnesota is a crucial priority for immigration enforcement. Federal officials said in a court filing Monday that there were approximately 3,000 officers and agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection conducting immigration enforcement actions in the greater Minneapolis area. Minnesota officials, in court filings and public comments, have said the situation in and around Minneapolis is dire and required urgent help from the courts. They have also pointed to the two recent shootings by federal authorities to bolster their case. After an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7, Minneapolis launched its emergency preparedness protocols, leading to significant additional work for police and others in the city, Minnesota officials wrote in a court filing. Federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, on Jan. 24. In a letter to the court the same day, Minneapolis and Minnesota officials said Prettis killing further illustrated the need for a court-ordered respite to the ongoing situation. During a court hearing Monday, Menendez said that while we are in shockingly unusual times, she was skeptical about whether her authority let her decide if the immigration agents could remain deployed in Minnesota. Menendez also questioned a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on the day Pretti was killed, demanding access to the states voter rolls and records relating to food assistance programs. Bondi appeared to link these moves with a possible end to the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. During the hearing, Menendez asked whether the letter was akin to a ransom note. The White House stands about 70 feet tall. The Lincoln Memorial, roughly 100 feet. The triumphal arch President Donald Trump wants to build would eclipse both if he gets his wish. Trump has grown attached to the idea of a 250-foot-tall structure overlooking the Potomac River, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his comments, a scale that has alarmed some architectural experts who initially supported the idea of an arch but expected a far smaller one. Advertisement The planned Independence Arch is intended to commemorate the United States 250th anniversary. Built to Trumps specifications, it would transform a small plot of land between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery into a dominant new monument, reshaping the relationship between the two memorials and obstructing pedestrians views. Trump has considered smaller versions of the arch, including 165-foot-high and 123-foot-high designs he shared at a dinner last year. But he has favored the largest option, arguing that its sheer size would impress visitors to Washington, and that 250 for 250 makes the most sense, the people said. Architectural experts counter that the size of the monument installed in the center of a traffic circle would distort the intent of the surrounding memorials. I dont think an arch that large belongs there, said Catesby Leigh, an art critic who conceived of a more modest, temporary arch in a 2024 essay an idea that his allies championed and brought to the White House. His allies also passed along Leighs recommendation of an architect, Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, who has been retained by the White House to work on the project. Charbonneau did not respond to requests for comment. Asked about the archs height, the White House on Saturday referred to the presidents previous comments. The one that people know mostly is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. And were going to top it by, I think, a lot, Trump said at a White House Christmas reception in December. The Arc de Triomphe already one of the worlds largest triumphal arches measures 164 feet. Trump also told Politico in December that he hoped to begin construction of the arch within two months, a timeline that appears unlikely given that White House officials have yet to make the final plans public or submit them to federal review panels. Memorial Circle, the plot of land that the president has eyed, is controlled by the National Park Service. The White House reiterated the presidents desire to have an iconic monument. The arch will become one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world, spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement sent to the Washington Post after this articles publication. President Trumps bold vision will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and be felt by generations to come. Washington does not have a triumphal arch, making it unusual among major cities that have built arches to commemorate wars and celebrate milestones, and some historians and civic leaders have long argued that such a monument is needed. Rodney Mims Cook Jr., an Atlanta-based developer and president of the National Monuments Foundation, proposed a peace arch to Washington leaders in 2000 before the plans were withdrawn in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Cook later built a monumental arch in Atlanta, the Millennium Gate Museum, intended to celebrate Georgias history. Trump this month appointed Cook to the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel that would be set to review and approve the design of new monuments in Washington including the presidents potential arch. Trump on Jan. 23 also posted images on his Truth Social platform with no comment that depict three versions of a large triumphal arch, including one option with gold gilding a hallmark of Trumps construction projects. Asked about the presidents post, White House officials said that the arch design continues to be refined. The White House also said the plan to put a large Lady Liberty statue atop the arch, which was included in previous concepts presented by Trump and Charbonneau but not in the presidents Truth Social post, has not been abandoned. City planners have eyed the land around what is now Memorial Circle for more than a century. A 1901-1902 report overseen by the Senate Park Commission, which laid the groundwork to construct the National Mall and beautify much of the citys core, appears to envision some sort of structure in the circle, drawings show. Architect William Kendall in 1928 also presented plans to the Commission of Fine Arts to construct a memorial there. Local historians and architectural experts have said that a large arch could change the relationship between several historic sites, including Arlington Memorial Bridge itself, which was intended as a bridge between North and South in the wake of the Civil War, and memorials for Lincoln and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Its a very somber corridor, said John Haigh, the chairperson of Benedictine Colleges architecture program, who visited Memorial Circle with his students last year to consider the arch project. We discussed the gravity of putting an arch there, particularly one intended to be triumphal. The structure as planned could obstruct views of Arlington House, the former Lee estate that sits on a hillside in Arlington National Cemetery. I would be very concerned about the scale, said Calder Loth, a retired senior architectural historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, warning that a 250-foot-high arch could alter pedestrians views as they approach Arlington National Cemetery from Washington. It would make Arlington House just look like a dollhouse or you couldnt see it all, with the arch blocking the view. They also cautioned that, barring major changes to the circle, it could be difficult for pedestrians to visit a potential monument there, given the busy motor traffic. Loth also invoked the vantage point from Arlington National Cemetery, where visitors often look across the river toward the Lincoln Memorial and the capital beyond a view he said the proposed arch would reshape. How does it impact the panorama of Washington? Loth said, invoking a question that he said should guide designers of monuments. What is supposed to be doing the speaking? Leigh initially proposed a 60-foot arch that could pop up as a temporary structure to mark Americas 250th. Trump instead wants a permanent arch, more than four times larger, funded with leftover private donations to his White House ballroom project, which he has said could cost about $400 million. Publicly identified donors to the ballroom project, such as Amazon, Google, and Lockheed Martin, collectively have billions of dollars in contracts before the administration. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.) Any construction plan for the arch would probably need to go through several review panels and potentially require the sign-off of Congress, given laws around constructing monuments in Washington. Trumps interest in enlarging the arch mirrors his desire to expand the White House ballroom, which last year sparked clashes with James McCrery II, the architect initially tapped for the project. Shalom Baranes, the architect now leading that work, told federal review panels this month that White House officials have halted plans to make the ballroom even larger. Leigh suggested a compromise location that could allow Trump his large monument without imposing on other structures. If youre going to build an arch that big, you should build it in another part of town and one possible site that comes to mind is Barney Circle, Leigh said, referencing a site in Southeast Washington next to Congressional Cemetery, overlooking the Anacostia River. Theres nothing around it competing with it. United National Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in a letter to 193 U.N. ambassadors that unpaid dues have left the global body in danger of "imminent financial collapse." Read more The United Nations is on the verge of imminent financial collapse, in large part due to the failure of member states to pay their mandatory dues, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a letter sent this week to the 193 U.N. ambassadors. Leading the list of those in arrears is the United States, which owes nearly $2.2 billion in overdue and current assessments for the regular U.N. operating budget, dating back to the end of 2024, and hundreds of millions in funds pledged or assessed to other programs, according to a U.N. official. Advertisement Under a formula in which each nation pays annually according to its gross national income, population, and debt, the United States is assessed 22% of the regular budget, which for 2026 is $3.45 billion. Closely following is China, which is assessed 20% and paid up until the beginning of this year. The next highest arrears, $38 million, is owed by Venezuela, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the United Nations. Caracas vote in the General Assembly has been suspended, as mandated by the organizations charter for any member that doesnt pay for two years. We have managed difficult periods of unpaid assessed contributions before, Guterres wrote without mentioning any specific country. But todays situation is categorically different. The current trajectory is untenable. Republican administrations and lawmakers have long criticized the U.N. as wasteful, liberal, and ineffective and in some years has reduced or temporarily withheld partial payments. The Trump administration has refused to pay at all, although it has not officially informed the U.N. whether it intends to make any future or overdue payments. Although annual payments are usually due in January, many countries pay in tranches throughout the year. The Biden administration left office last January with its second-half 2024 assessment unpaid. The U.S. mission at the U.N., where President Donald Trumps former national security adviser Mike Waltz serves as ambassador, did not respond to queries on the budget. Trump has said the U.N. has great potential but is not living up to its promise to keep world peace. In an executive order signed early this month, he ordered U.S. withdrawal from 66 international organizations, agencies, and commissions, nearly half of them at the U.N., because, he said, they undermine Americas independence and waste taxpayer dollars on ineffective or hostile agendas. Trumps recently announced Board of Peace, originally designed as the supervisory board for implementing his Gaza peace plan, has led to concerns that he plans to replace the U.N. altogether. In a letter sent to 60 world leaders invited to join (25 have officially signed up so far, none of them major U.S. allies), Trump said the board would embark on a bold new approach to resolving Global Conflict. Trump appointed himself board chair, with personal veto power over membership and virtually every action it might take. Responding to reporters Thursday who asked whether he thought the board was a U.N. competitor, Guterres said: In my opinion, the basic responsibility for international peace and security lies with U.N., lies with the Security Council. No other body or other coalition can legally be required to have all member states to comply with decisions on peace and security. Global problems will not be solved by one power, Guterres said. Trump has also withdrawn U.S. participation from other U.N. agencies whose budgets are separate and voluntary, including the World Health Organization. Other voluntary humanitarian programs include refugee and natural disaster aid, to which the administration last month pledged $2 billion, a fraction of what Washington has contributed in the past. In addition to the problem of unpaid dues, Guterres in his letter called on the General Assembly to revise a system in which any budgeted money that is unspent at years end is returned to member governments, whether or not they have paid their dues. We are suffering a double blow: on one side, unpaid contributions; and on the other side, an obligation to return funds that were never received in the first place, he wrote. In other words, we are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle; expected to give back cash that does not exist. U.N. officials expect this problem, if left unaddressed, to increase exponentially by 2027, as the amount of money that must be returned cuts into each new years available funds. The U.N. could run out of cash as early as July, by some accounts, if neither the dues nor the financial system is addressed. Guterres, whose term expires at the end of this year, sounded the alarm last year and proposed cutting the regular operating budget by as much as 20% via staff cuts, streamlining, building sales, and relocation of some offices from expensive locations such as Geneva to less costly regions. The General Assembly finally approved a 2026 regular budget that was 7.6% lower than last year. In an interview with the New York Post earlier this month, Waltz claimed U.S. credit for forcing the U.N. to accept actual real cuts for the first time in its modern history. ... Theyve never seen anything like it. Saying he was now pushing to revamp pension and compensation plans, Waltz stressed the importance of the U.N. to international diplomacy. There needs to be one place in the world where everyone can talk, he told the New York Post. We want that one place in the world to be in the United States, not in Brussels or Beijing. Investigators look at the scene of a plane crash on Cottman Avenue Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. A medical jet with six people on board crashed Friday evening near the Roosevelt Mall in Northeast Philadelphia scattering debris throughout the streets, and setting multiple homes and cars ablaze in a devastating scene Read more One year ago today, a deadly medical jet crash devastated Northeast Philadelphia, killing eight people, injuring dozens of others, and impacting hundreds of homes. The destruction spanned multiple blocks, spreading wreckage across a debris field that stretched for more than a quarter mile near Roosevelt Mall on Cottman Avenue. The resulting damages totaled in the millions of dollars, and many area residents were left displaced and traumatized. Advertisement Now, on its first grim anniversary, the crashs effects still loom large not only in the memories of those directly impacted by the crash, but in the local and regional psyche. With that in mind, city officials plan to hold a memorial observance to honor its victims. The event, slated to start at 5 p.m. at Engine 71 Fire Station just blocks from where the crash occurred will include a bell ceremony and wreath-laying. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and other elected officials will speak. As city officials said at the time, the crash was among the most significant black swan tragedies in Philadelphias history. And, in many ways, the neighborhood is still recovering. Here is what you need to know: Eight killed, dozens injured At 6:06 p.m., a Learjet 55 operated by a Mexican medical transport company known as Jet Rescue Air Ambulance took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri on its way back to Mexico. Less than a minute later, after making it 1,650 feet into the air, it went nose down about 3.5 miles away from the airport, slamming into the ground near Bustleton and Cottman Avenues at a 45-degree angle at more than 270 mph. The crash tore an 8-foot deep crater into the earth and created a massive fireball that illuminated the neighborhood. The impact spread devastation across a 1,410-foot-long-by-840-foot-wide tract, damaging homes, vehicles, and businesses, and scattering human remains amid the debris field. All six people aboard the aircraft were killed among them Valentina Guzman Murillo, 11, and her mother, Lizeth Murillo Osuna, 31. The pair were on their way home after Valentina had received four months of treatment for a spinal condition at Shriners Childrens Philadelphia, with her doctors celebrating her recovery only hours before. Also killed were captain Alan Montoya Perales, 46; copilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, 43; doctor Raul Meza Arredondo, 41; and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla, 41. On the ground, Steven Dreuitt Jr., 37, died as a result of the crash, as did his fiancee, Dominique Goods Burke, 34, who succumbed months later to injuries she suffered that night. At least 24 other people were injured, with victims ranging in age from 4 to 85. Many suffered severe burns, smoke inhalation, and skull fractures, including 9-year-old Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez, the young son of Dreuitt, who suffered burns over 90% of his body and spent nearly a year in the hospital before being released. All hands on deck The emergency response was massive, involving about 400 firefighters, police officers, and other first responders. Investigators later found that more than 300 properties had been impacted in some way. The incident, Parker said the night of the crash, was an all hands on deck situation. Eyewitnesses and emergency responders described the ensuing chaos as resembling a war zone or feeling like a movie. This is a huge area, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said of the crash site. Nothing in that area will ever be normal again. Gov. Josh Shapiro and other officials also toured the devastated area. Ultimately, despite the damage the crash wrought, Shapiros office found that the impacts were too limited to ask President Donald Trumps administration for a federal disaster declaration, leaving the city and state to lead recovery efforts. Investigation reveals little The investigation was led by the National Transportation Safety Board, which early on noted that the crashed craft made no distress calls and had only brief, routine communications with the Northeast Philadelphia Airport control tower after takeoff. That left the aircrafts cockpit voice recorder or black box as a key investigatory element. Days later, searchers found the unit at the bottom of the crater the craft had carved into the earth, but it was largely useless. The recorder, the NTSB said, had likely not been recording audio for several years, and contained no clues as to what may have caused the crash. No official cause for the crash has yet been announced. Reviews of the crafts flight records, however, found that it had been used extensively in the months and weeks leading up to the crash. In the five days before the disaster, it had flown 12 flights covering 9,400 miles, and in its final year before it was destroyed, the aircraft had 163 takeoffs. Fallout continues In June, five months after the crash, more than a dozen local residents and business owners told The Inquirer they were still grappling with unrepaired property damage and catching up on bills from lost incomes or extra expenses. The city had marshaled significant resources, including opening sites offering mental health services and financial aid, and steering roughly $264,000 in grants to small businesses. The One Philly Fund, which was launched to serve as the citys signature relief effort, however, only attracted some $35,000 in donations, falling woefully short of its desired impact. Meanwhile, insurance claims were expected to exceed $10 million, and the city itself sought claims for property damage and personnel costs eclipsing $2.5 million. The medical jet companys insurer, El Aguila Compania de Seguros, hoped to consolidate all claims under a single court case, and compel a federal judge to divvy up the funds, which it said were unlikely to be sufficient to resolve all claims. Later in the year, lawsuits against the medical jet company were filed. A silver lining Despite the trauma and devastation the crash brought to Philadelphia, at the end of 2025, there was at least some good news. Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez, a boy who was severely injured in the crash, was released from the hospital, just in time for the holidays. Vazquez, who turned 10 in October, had endured almost a full year in the hospital, undergoing more than 40 surgeries, including multiple skin grafts, and the amputation of fingers and ears. He spent months in physical therapy relearning how to get out of bed, walk, and climb stairs. But about a week before Christmas, he made it out. And while noting that Ramesses faced a challenging road ahead, the boys grandmother, Alberta Amira Brown, expressed happiness with his recovery. Its the best thing ever that hell be home for the holidays, Brown told The Inquirer. He is truly happy to be coming home. Dan McQuade, and the Philly he helped us see: A+ This isnt a typical report card item, and it shouldnt be. This week made it impossible not to understand who Dan McQuade was and how deeply he mattered to Philadelphia just by reading what people shared about the journalist and Philadelphia superfan after he died of cancer this week at age 43. Advertisement Colleagues, friends, editors, and readers kept circling the same truths: how funny he was, how kind he was, how precise his understanding of the city felt. Not in a forced or caricatured way, but in the way that comes from paying close attention, loving a place, and never taking it (or yourself) too seriously. Dan had a gift for finding meaning in the everyday. He treated Phillys quirks, tics, and absurdities not as punchlines to exploit, but as things worth documenting, celebrating, and occasionally poking fun at with affection. He gave people permission to laugh at the city without laughing at it. Thats harder than it sounds. His impact was everywhere this week: in stories about Rocky runs and boardwalk T-shirts, in memories of long happy hours that turned into lifelong friendships, in anecdotes about him being the go-to fact-checker for all things Philly, in the way people described him as both brilliant and generous. A writer who made others better. A friend who showed up. A presence that made rooms, and timelines, lighter. The tributes werent performative or flowery. They were specific. Personal. Grounded. Which feels fitting. McQuades work was never about being loud or self-important. It was about noticing things, connecting dots, and reminding people that theres joy, and humor, in paying attention to where you live. Philadelphia lost a journalist. But it also lost one of its clearest interpreters. Someone who understood that Philadelphianness isnt a brand or a gimmick, but a way of moving through the world with skepticism, warmth, and a well-timed joke. An A+ doesnt feel like enough. But it feels right to say this much: Philly is better for having had Dan McQuade in it. And it wont quite be the same without him. The snowstorm delivered. The plowing did not: F- Lets be clear: The snow itself did what snow is supposed to do. Nine-plus inches, pretty at first, historic enough to brag about, disruptive enough to cancel plans and spark group-chat meteorology. Fine. Thats winter. What came after? Thats where everything fell apart. Days later, huge swaths of Philly side streets are still packed with snow and ice the kind that traps cars, turns corners into slip-and-slide death traps, and makes even walking the dog feel like a trust exercise. Primary roads are mostly cleared. Secondary streets, maybe. Tertiary streets? Youre on your own. The city promised differently. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker stood in front of cameras before the storm and said every street would get attention as long as it takes. That message mattered because Philadelphians have heard this story before, and expectations were deliberately raised. Then reality hit. Plow data show roughly a quarter of city streets got no treatment at all after the storm ended. Not plowed. Not salted. Nothing. And the longer it sat, the worse it got snow compacting into ice, intersections blocked by frozen berms, cars effectively entombed. This isnt just an inconvenience. People with limited mobility are stuck. Workers cant get out. Streets department explanations about sleet, freezing rain, and illegally parked cars may be true, but they dont change the fact that many blocks are still uncleared a week later. This is the part where Philly frustration kicks in hardest: The storm wasnt unprecedented, but the response feels familiar in the worst way. The expectation has long been dont count on a plow, and this week did little to change that. New York tries to claim Delco. Pennsylvania says absolutely not: A Every so often, something happens that instantly unites Delco. Snowstorms. Eagles runs. Wawa shortages. And now: a county in upstate New York attempting to brand itself as Delco. Absolutely not. Stephanie Farr laid out the case perfectly: Delco isnt just shorthand for Delaware County. Its a culture. A personality. A way of life built on hoagie trays, Catholic school rivalries, beach flags, and a shared, deeply ingrained chip on the shoulder. New Yorks Delaware County is rural. Ours is suburban chaos packed into 184 square miles, powered by Wawa coffee, tailgating energy, and a pride so aggressive it gets tattooed on bodies and planted in Jersey Shore sand like a territorial marker. The funniest part isnt that theres another Delaware County (there are several). Its that this one thought it could simply adopt the nickname, slap it on merch, and call it authenticity. Thats not how Delco works. Delco is earned. Center City West sidewalks are getting grimy (and its not your imagination): C For nearly a decade, a lot of Center City West quietly benefited from something most people never realized existed: a privately funded sidewalk cleaning program that swooped in after city trash pickup and handled the leftover mess. As the Fitler Focus reported, that program ended when the Center City Residents Association let its contract expire at the end of 2025. Not out of neglect, but necessity. The cost had ballooned to about 41% of CCRAs projected 2026 budget, which is an unsustainable chunk for what was essentially backstopping city services. The result has been immediate and visible. Trash bags torn open overnight. Litter lingering days after pickup. Sidewalks that used to reset themselves now just dont. CCRA deserves credit for being upfront about the trade-off and pivoting toward enforcement, even if it wont bring immediate results. The frustrating part is that the rules havent changed. Trash placement regulations exist. Containers are required. Enforcement is technically possible. But in reality, its complaint-driven, slow, and uneven. Meaning the difference between a clean block and a gross one often comes down to who has the time and energy to call 311 and wait on hold. Eagles fans agree on almost everything except the part that actually hurts: B In this years Inquirer Stay or Go poll, Eagles fans were unusually aligned on who still feels like the future: young defensive studs, the offensive line pillars, the rookies who look like actual hits. Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell clearing 96% stay feels less like optimism and more like self-preservation. The message is clear: The defense isnt the problem. Or at least, its not our problem. Where things get interesting is offense. Not because fans are confused, but because theyre suddenly colder. Jalen Hurts is still trusted, but not untouchable. A.J. Browns dip is real and telling: not rage, not rejection, just disappointment, Phillys least favorite emotion. Fans didnt turn on him. They just stopped defending him reflexively, which in this city is its own warning sign. And then theres Brandon Graham, the emotional Rorschach test of the poll. A franchise legend. A locker room heartbeat. A guy people want to want back. The split vote says everything: respect battling reality. Philly loves its icons, but it hates lying to itself more. No one landed in the mushy middle. Fans know who theyre done with. They know who theyre attached to. Theres little patience left for maybe. This wasnt a meltdown poll. It was a sorting exercise. And the conclusion fans keep circling is uncomfortable but consistent: The Eagles dont need vibes. They need clarity and probably a few hard goodbyes. The Inquirer mapped Phillys dive bars (and proved how much the city loves them): A When The Inquirer put out a call for Phillys favorite dive bars, the response was immediate and overwhelming. Nearly 400 submissions poured in, which tracks for a city where dive bars arent just places to drink. Theyre personal landmarks. What the map really shows isnt just where to grab a cheap beer. Its how attached people are to the bars that feel like theirs. The ones tied to first jobs, postgame rituals, bad breakups, good Tuesdays, and nights that went exactly nowhere and somehow mattered anyway. These are rooms where nobodys performing, the prices are low on purpose, and the atmosphere is set by regulars, not a concept. It also surfaced one of Phillys most reliable debates: Is being called a dive bar a compliment or an insult? Some owners bristle at the label. Others embrace it. Many bars live in the gray area: cheap, unpretentious, deeply loved, and absolutely uninterested in how theyre categorized. Very Philly. Are there bars missing? Of course. There always will be. Philly has too many neighborhood institutions, and too many people willing to argue for them, for any list to feel definitive. But thats not a failure of the map, its a feature of the city. This isnt a checklist. Its a snapshot of how much Philadelphians still value places that dont try to be anything other than what they are. Snow savesies are back, and Philly is absolutely feral about it: C+ Every major snowstorm in Philly brings back the same question we never resolve: If you shovel out a spot, is it yours, or is public parking still public? This weeks viral Reddit thread, sparked by a wooden chair left in a shoveled space with a handwritten threat (Move these chairs & I will destroy your car. Try me.), confirms we are once again incapable of calm thought. Some commenters were immediately in the respect the chair camp. One wrote, After digging my s out from snow past my knees I just want to one time come back to a spot, while another argued, Normally vehemently anti-savesies, but I feel like spending an hour digging out earns you a [savesie] or two. This group is running on sore backs, wet boots, and pure principle. Then theres the other side: the chaos agents. Id move the chair and watch someone else park there, one commenter said, which feels less like civic engagement and more like performance art. Another proudly added, I take peoples cones all the time when Im walking around. F em. (This explains so much.) Somewhere in the middle were people admitting the quiet truth: Everyone dug out a spot. The person whos parked there dug out their car this morning, too, one commenter noted, puncturing the idea that only one hero labored for the block. So where does that leave us? With a very Philly stalemate. The chair is obnoxious. The threat is unhinged. The labor is real. The fear of retaliation is realer. The beach in Ventnor, N.J. after the snowfall on Dec. 14, 2025. Read more New Jersey Shore communities are forecast to see minor flooding Sunday, as an offshore storm is expected to bring high winds that will also cause another bitterly cold night for Philadelphia and its suburbs. The biggest concern is the high winds, which are expected to bring gusts of up to 40 or even 50 mph in Cape May County, as well as Sussex County, Del., according to Amanda Lee, a meteorologist for the National Weather Services Mount Holly office. Sustained winds are forecast to be 20 to 25 mph. Advertisement Theres potential for some minor coastal flooding with the high tide cycles, Lee said. Sunday mornings high tide looks to carry the greatest risk, she added, with the potential for more with the Monday morning high tide. The threat of flooding is the result of two factors: the wind pushing water closer to the coast and the full moon. When were in full moons and new moons, the astronomical tides are higher as well, Lee said. So the combination of those factors are leading to the potential for the coastal flooding. While wind and flooding are the chief concerns, the Shore could also receive some snow up to half an inch, she said. Philadelphia and the region The storms impact is expected to be felt much less in Philadelphia, with no snow and lower winds. But breezes could push the wind chill to minus 10 degrees, Lee said. Its still certainly going to be a breezy day, particularly on Sunday. Well potentially see wind gusts up to around 30 miles an hour or so, she said. Sunday mornings low is forecast to be in the high single digits to around 10 degrees, with winds picking up later in the day to keep things frigid. Again, still very much the same pattern weve been in: very, very cold, Lee said. Atlantic City gears up Lee said that while any flooding along the Shore should be minor, that could still mean some full road closures. Conditions may be worse along the bays, where winds could push ice onshore. One community gearing up for any high winds and floods is Atlantic City, said Scott Evans, the fire chief and emergency management coordinator. He said the city is expecting minor flooding, which may mean water on a few streets. City public works crews have been out clearing drains, and were ready to salt icy roads, Evans said. Just a couple of our low-lying areas are going to experience what we call our nuisance flooding, but this ... will be compounded because the temperatures will be well below freezing, he said. Evans encouraged Atlantic City residents to take steps, as they would ahead of other potential emergencies. Make sure you have your emergency preparedness kits, make sure you have your medications, your flashlights, extra batteries, cell phone chargers, and some of your basic things, some food and water, some other things should your power go out, he said. Lets hope for the best here, Evans said. The coming days Beyond Sunday, it will remain cold this week, Lee said, but in some ways a little bit warmer than we have been now. But not warm warm. Were actually looking at potentially cracking above freezing, most likely on Tuesday, Lee said. But even then, the highs will only be in the lower 30s. And another shot of cold is forecast for later in the week into the following week. Mail piling up at homes in the 1900 block of N. 18th St in North Philadelphia on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. Buyers have snapped up $45 million in student housing around Temple University, often paying more than twice what properties were originally listed for, even though rents are down and vacancies are up for student housing. Read more More than two dozen Philadelphia-area real estate professionals helped arrange $45 million worth of questionable deals around Temple University in which student rentals that had sat on the market for months abruptly sold for about double their asking prices, an Inquirer investigation has found. In 52 settled or still-pending sales over roughly the last year, apartment buildings were listed for sale at an average price of $450,000, but found no takers. Within days of being re-listed for a higher price, the same properties sold for as much as $905,000 at least on paper to buyers who took out mortgages that far exceeded the original asking price. Advertisement Eight sellers or their agents now say they entered into the deals with the understanding that they would actually receive close to the original asking price not the much higher amount that was officially listed on deeds and other public records. And an appraiser said that real estate agents on both sides of a proposed deal tried to pressure him to raise the valuation of a property. The sales have raised concerns about possible mortgage fraud in the area around Temple, which could lead to a spate of foreclosures and affect property assessments, tax bills, and student rentals. At least one such property has gone into foreclosure over an unpaid mortgage, according to court records. Solomon Wisenberg, a former assistant U.S. attorney in North Carolina and Texas who specialized in white-collar crime and bank fraud, said the people involved in the deals could face scrutiny from criminal investigators. I dont know any fraud prosecutor who wouldnt be interested in looking at that, Wisenberg said. Settlement statements have to reflect reality. If you dont present an accurate picture to the financial institution that is financing the loan, youve got problems. Patrick C. Fay, a real estate agent in Coldwell Bankers Old City office, was involved in every deal, representing at least seven buyers who purchased the properties through limited liability companies. One of those buyers had been convicted of an earlier mortgage fraud scheme. Coldwell Banker cut ties with Fay in December, hours after The Inquirer published a story concerning 33 of his deals around Temple. But Fay had a counterpart on the other side of every transaction. They included agents at major brokerages such as Keller Williams, Long & Foster, and eXp as well as three agents who worked in the same Coldwell office as Fay and helped him close 13 sales. Coldwell Bankers national office said this month that it has launched an internal investigation into the matter. Fay, who was one of the top agents in his Coldwell office, has denied wrongdoing. He declined to discuss specific sales. In my over 20 years in real estate, I have maintained an unblemished record with no ethical violations or complaints filed against me, Fay wrote in a text message last week. These claims are without merit. Steve Orbanek, a spokesperson for Temple University, said the university learned about the situation from The Inquirers previous report and is now investigating possible impacts on its student renters. It goes without saying that the university condemns any unlawful behavior, and we find these allegations deeply concerning, both for our students and neighbors who reside in the community, he said. Fat Pay Fay, of Moorestown, Burlington County, started arranging deals in December 2024 to purchase apartment buildings around Temple University that owners had been struggling to sell. The value of those properties, which are largely marketed as student rentals, has fallen in recent years. A local landlords association said vacancy rates are up and rents down amid declining enrollment at the university, which has shed 10,000 students in under a decade. Fay, who has used the handle Fat Pay on social media, had buyers willing to make a deal. However, in multiple cases identified by The Inquirer, that was true only after the sellers and their real estate agents agreed to sign a deed showing that the property had sold for much more than the original asking price. Shaina Levin, a Coldwell agent who worked with Fay in his Old City office, represented a seller in one such deal on 15th Street. The property was initially listed for sale last July at $375,000. Records show Fays client bought it for $842,000 in September 2025 after securing a $673,600 mortgage. Its a bonus when we can keep it in the Coldwell Banker family, Levin posted on Facebook, referring to the sale. Thanks Pat Fay for teaming up on this one. Congratulations to your buyer! READ MORE: Properties around Temple U. werent selling until a real estate agent nearly doubled the asking prices In an interview, Levin said her client received an amount closer to the original listing price, not the $842,0000 sales price recorded on the deed. She said the buyer contended that the higher sales price was tied to a planned renovation. City permit records show no evidence of construction or renovation work on the building. Levin said that Fays proposal was totally unconventional, but that her office manager at Coldwell Banker ran it by the companys legal department, which signed off. Legal said, Yep, all good, Levin said. She referred additional questions about the sale to her manager, who declined to comment. Fays buyer in that deal was UrbanNest Acquisitions, a limited liability company created the same month as the sale by Tanjania Powell-Avery, a former real estate agent from Pottstown, Montgomery County. Federal prosecutors with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania indicted Powell-Avery and two others in 2010 for participating in a mortgage fraud ring in the Philadelphia area. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years probation and nine months house arrest. Powell-Avery declined to comment. Two other colleagues of Fays at his former Old City office also brokered sales with him, according to data from the Multiple Listing Service, a shared database that real estate professionals use to track and arrange deals. Karl Klotzbach represented sellers in eight deals with Fay over five months last year more than any other sellers agent, records show. The eight properties had originally been listed for a total of $3.4 million before they were each re-listed and sold for a combined $7 million. Klotzbach did not respond to requests for comment. Matthew Greene, another Coldwell agent, brokered four sales with Fay on North 12th Street. The properties were each listed for $450,000 last April, then re-listed at $879,000 the following month. In July, each property sold at the higher amount within days of one another, with all four sales backed by a separate $703,200 mortgage. Greene would not discuss the sales. Im happy to direct you to our legal team for any comment, he said. Greene hung up the phone without providing any contact information. Daryl Turner, the branch vice president at Coldwell Bankers Old City office, referred questions to the companys legal department. Andrea Gillespie, a national spokesperson for Coldwell Banker, which operates in 49 countries and territories, would not comment on the sales. We immediately disaffiliated Pat Fay and are continuing to investigate the matter internally, Gillespie said in an email. Coldwell Banker stands for trust and integrity, and we hold our agents to the highest ethical standards. This is my livelihood While sellers were eager to offload their toxic real estate investments, not every deal went smoothly. John Sexton, an independent licensed appraiser with twenty years experience in the Philadelphia market, said in an interview that an appraisal company working for a lender contracted him last year to evaluate a property on North Park Avenue, near Temples campus. The sale was being brokered by Fay and Peter Lien, an eXp real estate agent representing the seller. It was the kind of property common around Temple: a Victorian-era rowhouse that had been converted into a three-unit, nine-bedroom student rental. And, like similar properties in the area, it sat on the market unsold for more than two months, with no takers, at its $408,000 asking price. The property was taken off the market in October, but then reappeared as a pending sale at $879,000, according to MLS data. Fay had found another buyer ready to pay more than double. Sexton said he quizzed Lien about why a property that had not undergone recent renovations would suddenly jump in price. Sexton said Lien responded that an earlier broker simply hadnt been familiar with the real estate market around Temple. [Lien] said he had a person who would pay $879,000, so I should just do my job and mark it at $879,000, Sexton said. Sexton said he then received an unusual email from an individual named Jay Jay, who indicated he was working with Fay. The email included a list of nearby properties that had all sold in the $800,000 range, establishing that the sales price was reasonable. Sexton looked into the comparable sales and found that they had all been brokered by Fay. Jay Jay also sent Sexton copies of leases for apartments in the same building, purporting to show units leasing for $2,500 a month. But when Sexton dug up sales listings for the same building from a few weeks earlier, they advertised that the units had been leased for closer to half that amount. Jay Jay did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment. Sexton said he called Fay to discuss the discrepancies, and the real estate agent accused him of being inexperienced and pushed him to approve the higher value. Its a tough situation, Sexton said. You have two brokers pressuring you and sending you signed documents saying the sale price is valid. Sexton said after he told Fay he would need to further substantiate the higher asking price, Fay stopped responding. The property never sold and is now off the market. Sexton never heard from Fay again. Its infuriating to me, because hes putting my license in jeopardy, Sexton said. This is my livelihood. In a text message, Fay denied any claim that I have ever manipulated or influenced an appraisal in any fashion. He did not respond to questions about the sale. Lien said he could not comment on the failed deal. I was instructed by my brokerage that any press would have to go through our office, and were not allowed to speak on it, said Lien, who works out of eXps King of Prussia office. The manager of that eXP office did not return a request for comment. Really bad stuff Daniel Perlman, a former prosecutor in the Maryland States Attorneys Office who now practices white-collar criminal defense, said anyone who signed documents they knew to be false could potentially face legal problems. If there are documents that have incorrect information for a mortgage, then yeah, somebody has criminal liability, Perlman said. Youre under penalty of perjury for signing these documents. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said the office does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations, as did a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission, which licenses agents. Nick Pizzola, vice president of the Temple Area Property Association, which represents local landlords, said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting negative impact on the off-campus real estate market, leaving landlords struggling to sign leases and pay their own mortgages. Still, he said, the sellers agents had to have known something was amiss when a buyer was offering double the asking price. Anyone who knows anything about real estate would have run away from those deals, Pizzola said. Some really bad stuff was happening. Most participants in Fays deals were reluctant to discuss their roles when contacted by The Inquirer this month. Some sellers agents said their brokerages had instructed them to remain silent. Others claimed ignorance when it came to the details of the deals they had helped arrange. In the March 2025 sale of an apartment building on the 2200 block of North Sydenham Street, for example, both the seller and his agent said they could not explain why the sales price did not match the amount listed on the deed. The property initially went up for sale for $324,900 in December 2024 but was then re-listed and sold to Fays client in March 2025 for $789,000. The seller, Alvjod Dedaj, said he did not actually receive that higher amount. He referred further questions to his real estate agent at Long & Foster. I have no clue whats going on, Dedaj said. I just cashed out a certain amount of money. Dedajs agent, Bob Kiziroglou, who works out of Long & Fosters Devon office, said he, too, could not recall why the asking price suddenly jumped. He referred questions to Fay. Reach out to him, man, hell give you all the details, Kiziroglou said. A message left at Long & Fosters Devon office was not returned. The Broad Street office of Keller Williams Realty was another hub for deals involving Fay, with five of its agents representing sellers in eight sales. An office manager did not respond to requests for comment. Wisenberg, who was a prosecutor in the Whitewater/Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan investigation, said he found it particularly suspicious that Fay arranged deals with mortgages that far exceeded the initial asking price, and with sellers receiving less than the stated purchase price. Whats he doing with the rest of the money? Wisenberg asked. Trouble brewing Already, there are signs of trouble in the neighborhood around Temple. In November, one lender, Easy Street Capital, filed to foreclose on a Park Avenue property that sold in late 2024 for $850,000 more than double its value just two years prior. While no buyers agent is listed in MLS data for the sale, Lien, the eXp agent, is listed as representing the seller. The buyer, Park Ave Enterprise LLC, is registered to an associate of Fays who participated in at least four other sales around Temple that he brokered. According to court filings, the LLC defaulted on an $807,000 mortgage about four months after purchase. The lenders that financed Fays purchases now bear the most risk of the overvalued and under-occupied rentals lapsing into foreclosure. A private lenders association in November warned its members of a fraud scheme operating around Temple University, and cities like Baltimore have seen hundreds of properties fall into foreclosure as a result of suspected mortgage fraud rings. A spokesperson for City Councilmember Jeffery Jay Young, whose district encompasses the affected properties, said he was not familiar with the situation. He called mortgage fraud a common and unscrupulous real estate practice that happens too often in our city. Orbanek, the Temple spokesperson, said the university is working to identify students who may be impacted by potential foreclosures and asked them to contact the universitys Essential Needs Hub, which connects student renters with supportive resources. Joelle DelPrete, a former Temple grad student who works for the university, lives in an apartment unit that Fay helped purchase. He brokered a sale of the rental property to 18th Estates LLC in December 2024 for $868,000. It had previously been listed for $385,000. A few months later, DelPrete said, Fay texted her that he was the property manager, and he wanted her to sign a new lease so he could begin collecting rent. We assumed it was a totally legit company, DelPrete said. Soon, DelPrete said, unpaid water and trash collection bills started piling up, and maintenance issues went unanswered. In October, she found a document known as an Act 91 notice that was posted on an adjacent property in advance of foreclosure proceedings. It showed the owners who had been represented in the purchase by Fay had stopped paying its mortgage and owed roughly $25,000. DelPrete and her three roommates are hoping to move out before her building goes into foreclosure. Especially living around Temple, you just gotta be careful and make sure everything is aboveboard, she said. If something feels off, it is off. KEY TAKEAWAY The IRS is moving away from paper refund checks this year, and is asking all taxpayers to include their direct deposit information on their 2025 tax returns. Taxpayers who don't include their bank information or report it incorrectly will have their refunds held until they correct it. Taxpayers can still request a paper check, but that will delay their refund. The IRS is asking all taxpayers to include their bank account information on their 2025 tax returns. Failing to do so could delay any refund this year. More from Yahoo Scout What happens if taxpayers don't provide bank account information? Why is the IRS moving away from paper refund checks? Who is exempt from the direct deposit requirement? How can taxpayers still request a paper check? Starting in the 2026 filing season, the IRS is transitioning away from paper tax-refund checks to electronic payments, which are less likely to be lost, stolen or delayed, the tax agency said. To prevent refund delays this year, taxpayers should provide accurate bank account information (routing and account numbers) on their returns. Why This Matters About 6.5 million taxpayersroughly 7% of those who received a refundwere mailed a paper refund check during the 2025 tax filing season, according to the IRS. That group represents a small subset of Americans, many of whom are unbanked or underbanked, disabled, elderly, or otherwise vulnerable taxpayers for whom paper checks have often been the only practical way to receive refunds needed to cover basic living expenses If you do not include your direct deposit information or report it incorrectly, the IRS will still process your tax return, but it will then send you a notice informing you that your refund has been frozen. You will have 30 days from the date you receive the notice to update your online IRS account with the correct bank information. If you do not want to provide your bank account information, you can also call an IRS customer representative at 1-800-829-1040 to request a paper check, said the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Any taxpayers who don't take action or respond to the notice will be sent a paper check after six weeks. If a taxpayer's bank rejects an electronic refund for some reason, the IRS will issue them a paper check. Some taxpayers will not be subject to the direct deposit requirement, including: International taxpayers; Minors; Prisoners; Taxpayers with religious exceptions; and Decedent taxpayers (this refers to deceased taxpayers or the personal representative of the deceased taxpayer). The federal government as a whole has taken steps to phase out the use of physical checks across all payment types. Early last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to abandon paper checks and switch fully to direct deposits, card payments, and other digital methods. The government cited check fraud as a motivating factor in the move. Read the original article on Investopedia Federal immigration officers arrest a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 11. The Trump administration is engaged in state terror and is trying to convince the U.S. public that people being victimized deserve to be, writes Jane Esberg. Read more Manuel Contreras, the head of the secret police during Chiles dictatorship, which reigned from 1973 to 1989, once explained why so many seeming innocents students, union leaders, local activists were murdered by the state: The guerrilla tries to act like a normal citizen, honest and good, and lies even to his family. When discovered, he will always deny the facts. The regime does not make mistakes. Advertisement The lack of specific information demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile. That last bit wasnt the head of Chiles secret police, though. It was a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field director, Robert Cerna, explaining last March why 75% of Venezuelan deportees to El Salvadors mega-prisons had no criminal background. I am a scholar of authoritarian politics at the University of Pennsylvania. I research and teach about repression and censorship. The Trump administration is engaged in state terror. And, in a page ripped from the autocrats playbook, they are trying to convince us that the victims deserve it. On Jan. 7, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed Renee Good shot in the head by an ICE agent while observing a raid engaged in an act of domestic terrorism. Noem said that Good weaponized her car (the same car with a glove compartment overflowing with her childs stuffed animals and a friendly dog in the back). The very next day, federal agents shot two people in Portland, Ore., during a traffic stop. DHS claims the driver is believed to be a member of the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who again weaponized his vehicle. The same claim appears again and again: to justify why federal agents killed Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Chicago, and why they shot Marimar Martinez five times (the U.S. Department of Justice brought, and then dropped, charges against her). After Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs nurse, was executed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called him a would-be-assassin. The Trump administration wants you to believe that the people they are terrorizing and killing deserve it. These are the same lies Augusto Pinochet told in Chile, where the regime frequently falsified reports that blamed the victims for their own deaths. Rather than executions, victims died in shootouts. The official government account of the death of one 28-year-old activist was that he was a subversive killed while attacking a barracks. But witnesses saw him being arrested two days earlier. A miner with no known political affiliation, the press claimed, tried to seize a policemans weapon and so he was shot. Two victims executed by army troops were accused of criminal or subversive activities. Like Pinochet, the Trump administration wants you to believe the people they are terrorizing and killing deserve it. They want us to accept, or even celebrate, their crimes. Because if a victim deserves what happened to them, if there is a reason for it, then perhaps it can be stomached, or excused away, or ignored. During Argentinas brutal 1970s dictatorship, civilians often justified repression using the phrase Por algo sera roughly, There must be a reason for it. Victimization implied that the victims were guilty of something. People are thrown out of planes while drugged. Por algo sera. They are taken from their families in the middle of the night. Por algo sera. Bodies are dumped in mass graves. Por algo sera. And if there is a reason for it, then anyone can avoid being a victim by staying home. By not fighting. By letting the administration do whatever it wants, with no pushback. Good was a 37-year-old white mother from Colorado, her death filmed at multiple angles, all of which make the governments lies harder to swallow for an American audience. But who the victim is should not matter: The government is violating fundamental human rights. It is our responsibility to refuse to accept these lies. To demand and to pressure our representatives to demand accountability for these crimes. Jane Esberg is an assistant professor of political science focused on authoritarian repression and censorship, particularly in Latin America, at the University of Pennsylvania. Sen. John Fetterman speaks to reporters at the Capitol in November. Read more The U.S. Senate passed a bill late Friday to fund the federal government, but a short-term shutdown still went into effect Saturday. Senate Democratic leadership struck a deal earlier this week with President Donald Trump to separate Department of Homeland Security funding from the budget for other federal agencies after a national backlash to the ongoing ICE operation in Minnesota. Advertisement The agreement with the White House emerged late Thursday after every Democrat, including Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and several Republicans voted down the original package. Fetterman was among 23 Democrats to cross the aisle to vote for the compromise bill. With their support, the bill passed 71-29, despite five GOP defections. Heres how the senators from the Philadelphia area voted: Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.): Yes. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.): Yes. Sen. Andy Kim (D., N.J.): No. Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.): No. Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.): Yes. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester: (D., Del.): No. Even with the Senate passage, a partial government shutdown took effect Saturday because the bill still needs to pass the House, which is not expected to take up the legislation until Monday. Its the second shutdown to begin since October when the federal government entered a 43-day shutdown, the longest in its history. Democrats took issue with funding in the earlier bill for DHS, the department that oversees the two agencies involved in fatal shootings of civilians this month in Minnesota. The Senate worked late Friday as some Republicans objected to the deal. McCormick, the lone Republican senator in the region, voted for the measure as expected. Im just not in favor of shutting down the government or stopping funding the government, and thats the position that Ive had through the last shutdown, McCormick said Tuesday. The affected departments include the Departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Education, Labor, Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, in addition to DHS. The deal struck with the White House would provide two weeks of funding for DHS, but funds the rest of the departments through September. Democrats on Thursday halted the original package that would have provided long-term funding for DHS, which oversees ICE and the Border Patrol. Fetterman had called for the DHS funding to be separated from the other departments as a compromise, which is ultimately what happened. The DHS funding dispute came after the national furor over the killings of Renee Good, a poet and mother, and Alex Pretti, a nurse who worked at a VA hospital, both of whom protested the ongoing operation in Minnesota and were fatally shot by federal agents. Democrats pushed for provisions to curb ICEs immigration enforcement operations in order to fund DHS. Their demands include increased training for ICE agents, requiring warrants for immigration arrests and for agents to identify themselves, and for the Border Patrol to stay on the border instead of helping ICE elsewhere. Lawmakers from both parties have called on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or be fired, including all of the local Democrats. McCormick, a Trump ally who has been vocally supportive of ICE, called for an investigation into the fatal shooting of Pretti. This article contains reporting from the Associated Press and staff writer Fallon Roth. Evan Todtz in front of his home in the Norris Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. Read more The buyers: Evan Todtz, 35, urban designer The house: A 960-square-foot townhouse in Norris Square with two bedrooms and one bath, built in 1920. Advertisement The price: Listed for $255,000; purchased for $255,000 The agent: Kate McCann, Elfant Wissahickon The ask: Evan Todtz was tired of commuting from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. He didnt want to live in the latter, and he couldnt find work in the former, so he considered the next-closest big city: Philadelphia. Ive always really loved Philly and wanted to spend more time in it, Todtz said. When his company approved a transfer to its Philadelphia office, Todtz moved north and rented an apartment in Norris Square. A year later, he was ready to make it official. I felt like I was getting into a groove in Philly, he said, and I wanted to invest in a place and make this my home. Transit access was Todtzs top priority. He frequently travels along the east corridor for work, so being close to the Market-Frankford line, which could take him directly to 30th Street Station in the wee hours of the morning, was a nonnegotiable. He wanted two bedrooms, enough space to host visitors, and an outdoor space. Everything else was flexible. Im particular, but Im not picky, he said. The search: Todtz began looking seriously at the end of 2023, after attending a first-time homebuyers workshop hosted by Philly Homegirls. Over a month, he saw several homes on weekends and evenings. He saw the house he would eventually buy early in his search, but it felt out of reach. Originally listed at $280,000, it hovered just above what he felt comfortable paying. He put it on a mental maybe list and kept looking. One month later, the price dropped to $255,000. Thats when it felt within striking distance, Todtz said. It was closer to comps in the market. The appeal: Todtz immediately noticed the quality of the renovation. The house looked polished but not flashy, neat but not boring. There werent super high-end finishes I wasnt going to appreciate, Todtz said, and there wasnt the gray-washed millennial nothingness design that so many new houses have. Instead, the house felt solid and lived-in, with dark wood floors and warm-colored walls. It was very cozy and pretty, Todtz said. He also liked the flexible floor plan and could see potential in the footprint, he said. Mostly, he liked that there wasnt anything glaringly wrong with it. It just felt very manageable, he said. It didnt feel like I was taking on a massive project that I didnt know how to start. The deal: By the time the price dropped to $255,000, the house had been sitting on the market for months. Todtz and his agent sensed the seller was eager to get it off his books, so they offered the asking price and requested a 3% sellers assist. He agreed. That was a huge win, Todtz said. It effectively lowered the price to $247,000. The inspection turned up only minor issues. The silver coating on the roof was wearing, and the seller, a small-time developer from Queens, N.Y., offered to address it without hesitation. He was very chill, Todtz said. It was great to work with him. The money: All in, Todtz spent about $21,000 on closing costs and upfront expenses. Todtzs mortgage is through the Keystone Home Loan Program, which required only a 3.5% down payment, provided he paid mortgage insurance. The money came primarily from his long-term savings. Every paycheck since graduating from undergrad, Ive been putting money away, Todtz said. However modestly, whether it was 50 bucks or 100 bucks. Eventually, he transferred some of those savings into a mutual fund that he let grow for a decade. He put the rest in a high-yield savings account. He also received a few thousand dollars from his grandmothers estate. The move: Todtz closed on April Fools Day, which he feared was a bad omen. His agent reassured him it wasnt. He spent the next month moving small items in his car, then hired movers to handle the bulk of the work over a weekend in May. He didnt ask his friends to help him move. I want to keep my friends, Todtz said. I dont want to make them stop talking to me." The move was mostly smooth, except for one casualty: a box spring that couldnt fit up the new houses narrow staircase. Any reservations? Todtz doesnt regret buying, though he acknowledges that home ownership comes with new anxieties. Given the current state of the economy, renting and being able to flee is kind of attractive, he said. Still, hes glad he made the leap. Im happy to own, he said, and I feel comfortable learning as I go. Life after close: Most of the changes Todtz has made have been cosmetic. I didnt want to bite off more than I could chew, he said. He tackled the patio first, pressure-washing the concrete, re-staining the fencing, and adding cafe lights. After that, he partnered with Philadelphia Table Company to build a custom wood butcher block that has doubled the counter space in his kitchen. He has a couple of larger projects he plans to tackle next year, such as a full HVAC upgrade, but for now, hes focused on rebuilding his savings. Im happy with the investment, he said, but Im very much in a house-poor moment right now. Michael Burry says Elon Musk is an "American treasure" but a "desperately incentivized futurist." Burry cast doubt on the timing of Musk's predictions, saying he's "even earlier than me." The "Big Short" investor said Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI are together worth less than $1.6 trillion. Michael Burry says Elon Musk is a true visionary but the future he's building is much further away than he thinks. "Elon is an American treasure but also a desperately incentivized futurist even earlier than me," the investor of "The Big Short" fame posted on X late Thursday. Burry, known for making premature but ultimately correct predictions, likely meant the Tesla and SpaceX CEO stands to profit enormously from his vision becoming reality, so he's highly motivated to hype it as much as he can. "I am glad he is here in America," Burry wrote on his Substack. "He will go down in history like PT Barnum and Thomas Edison," he added, referring to the legendary showman and founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, and the iconic inventor who helped refine the electric light bulb. Futurists are "always decades early, even earlier than I am," Burry continued. "And since they sell self-evident futures with indefinite timelines, they can raise capital." Burry attached a link to an article about Musk reportedly exploring a merger between SpaceX and either or both of his other main companies, Tesla and xAI. SpaceX was valued at $800 billion in a private share sale in December, Tesla has a $1.3 trillion market capitalization, and xAI was valued at $230 billion in a November fundraising round. Burry said it "did not take a futurist to know this was coming," and the market had already priced in a potential combination. He added that $1.6 trillion "more than encompasses" what the trio are worth today, even accounting for their future value. The value investor, who recently shifted from running a hedge fund to writing on Substack, wrote that Tesla was "ridiculously overvalued" in a December post. He also warned that Musk's $1 trillion pay package would continue to dilute the company's shares. That historic compensation deal underpins why Musk is so driven to market his vision and work toward realizing it. He's required to hit several milestones by 2035 to receive the full share allotment; those include raising Tesla's market value to $8.5 trillion, delivering 1 million robots, and bringing 1 million robotaxis into commercial service. Marty Morrissey on a crisis in GAA communities Amid the discussion of GAAs highlights, commentator Marty Morrissey took a moment to address contrasting challenges in areas like Corks northside and rural Kerry. There's a lot of rural depopulation, and before Christmas, I did three reports. I just wanted to give an idea of what was happening around the country, because there are challenges, particularly for the GAA and indeed for other sporting associations as well, he said. In South Kerry, for instance, which has produced Mick O'Connor, Mick ODwyer, the great Jack O'Connor in primary school, in junior infants, in September, in 12 national schools, there was only 83 new pupils had started. So you can see where that would go. In Cork, there's a different situation. Glen Rovers and Na Piarsiagh in the northside of Cork City are facing a situation where, once upon a time, they might have had three or four minor teams; now they've only got one. It's the lack of building, new houses being built. Morrissey also noted that a lack of facilities for clubs is an issue in other areas that do not struggle to fill teams. In counties like Dublin, they have too many people, in some ways. Their problem is facilities. He said motions to make team sizes more flexible may be a lifeline to some clubs. Motions will come before Congress next month, in February, which will allow clubs and county boards to be a little bit more flexible: not to have 15 aside, but maybe a 13 aside or 11 aside. So they are aware, and to their credit, they're taking on the challenge. Cora Staunton on Mayo coaching Eleven-time All-Star ladies footballer Cora Staunton is in no rush to take on the role of manager of the Mayo mens football team, she confirmed on Friday night. Staunton was asked by host Patrick Kielty if there was a chance she would take it on to finally bring Mayo to All-Ireland glory, and while she said no, she said her hopes are high for 2026. I'm certainly leaving that to Andy [Moran] at the moment, we've a great man there, she said. The enthusiasm and everything is back in Mayo: last weekend's victory in Pearse Stadium and Andy brings so much energy to it. I have a feeling it's going to be a good year for Andy and the Mayo team. I don't want to put too much pressure on them. She added she hopes to see a female manager in the coming years in any county. In whatever amount of years time, I'd love to see some female involved as a new county manager, wherever that is. It's really, really important. I'm involved in a senior club team in Mayo. There's not many females coaching within the whole of Ireland, so it's really important that they're there. Is it a dream or an aspiration? Who knows, but Id love to see, before I pass away, that Mayo certainly win the All-Ireland anyways. A Dublin dynasty Patrick Kielty with the Brogans and Conor Moore on the Late Late Show GAA special Dublin GAA legends the Brogans, with a combined 14 senior All-Ireland medals, were in the studio to reflect on the impact of two generations of their family on the team. Father Bernard Snr and sons Bernard Jnr, Alan, and Paul spoke about their memories and hopes for Dublin. Alan said that despite the prevalence of GAA in their home, the children never felt pressured to continue the legacy. It's a question we've often been asked, was there pressure? There was never any pressure, he said. In fact, dad actually managed my soccer team, thats how little pressure there was for Gaelic football Bernard Jnr paid tribute to their mothers support from the sidelines. She was well known across all sidelines, he said. She actually was very nervous at times at games and aggressive at times. At Croke Park she used to walk the back of it, she wouldnt watch us play. She got to know all of the stewards. However, she did get involved sometimes at local games, Bernard added: At a local rival game where I was getting a few clips off a lad, she came onto the pitch one day with an umbrella, trying to clip him and I was trying to hold her back. Laurita Blewitt on her dads love for GAA Laurita Blewitt and Conor Moore with Patrick Kielty on the Late Late Show GAA special Podcast host Laurita Blewitt spoke about her late fathers passion for the GAA. Her father, Brendan, died in December last year, aged 90. Dad was good fun, and I told a lot of stories about him on the podcast [Tommy, Hector & Laurita Podcast], she said. My bond with my dad was going to football. He was involved in coaching in Knockmore for years, and I used to head over to training with him all the time and he used to come to my matches. My mother only came to one football match that I ever played in, and I got my ribs broken, and she never came again. That was a very strong bond that I had with dad, and obviously, we miss him so much. Now the two of them are gone, its a different household. He was the president of Knockmore GAA and we laid him out and buried him in his president's jacket, it would have been a good honour to him. Targeted action is needed from the Government and the HSE to stop the inexplicable rise of cases of self-harm among teenage girls and vulnerable groups, a youth mental health expert has said. Professor Mary Cannon was part of a team from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) and Kings College London who published a very worrying study. It identified repeated self-harm was increasing among girls, as well as trans and gender-diverse teenagers, and early school-leavers attending Youthreach centres. The team analysed data from the Planet Youth Ireland project from schools in six counties. The RCSI professor of psychiatric epidemiology and youth mental health said: "We knew something was happening, but this is the first time weve shown it in school children." "Theres an indication young people are struggling more, and what we ought to notice is certain groups are struggling more than others." It is not just in Ireland, she said. This is going on all over. Something is going on with young girls. They are overall reporting poorer mental health and higher rates of self-harm than young boys. A decade ago, we were very concerned about young mens mental health. There were quite high suicide rates, but its flipped now. And we dont know why. Professor Cannon also highlighted, however, the very highest rates of mental health problems are in young people who identify as non-binary or trans". About half of these 450 young people reported "very poor" mental health. "That is very worrying, she said. She is hopeful for action, including better support for youth mental health charity Jigsaw as well as Camhs (child and adolescent mental health services). What were seeing here is one in five young people reporting poor mental health, one in eight are self-harming, so there is no way that Camhs can cope with that, she said. It just isnt set up for that prevalence of mental health problems. We have to have alternative routes. We need to think more about prevention and possibly targeting a bit more the groups we know are at risk and moving in there quite early. Professor Cannon welcomed the HSEs reform action plan published last year. What we need now is to implement that, she said. There is now a youth mental health office in the HSE. Things are moving maybe not as fast as we would like or young people would like, but the Government has an interest in this area. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services. Gardai are appealing for help in finding a missing teenager from Dublin city centre. Elisabeta Milosiu, aged 17, has not been seen since around 7.25pm on Thursday, January 29. She is described as being approximately 5 foot 5 inches in height, of medium build with black hair and brown eyes. When last seen, Elisabeta was wearing white runners, a black jacket, and black leggings. Gardai say they are concerned about her wellbeing. Anyone with information on her whereabouts has been asked to contact Mountjoy garda station on 01666 8600 or the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. A charity collection box for St Vincent de Paul was stolen from a church by a woman who has been sentenced to a total of six months in prison for this and 14 counts of shoplifting around Cork City. 37-year-old Noreen Foley, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the litany of thefts as her solicitor Eddie Burke said, her life is one of absolute chaos. Judge Catherine Ryan noted the extensive difficulties in the defendants life and expressed the hope Foley could put her time in custody to good use. The court sympathises with you. You are still a young woman. You can still try and turn your life around. I wish you well, Judge Ryan said to Foley. Sergeant John Dineen said the charity box was stolen from the Church of Our Lady Crowned in Mayfield shortly before a 12 oclock Mass commenced. Ms Foley was one of two people involved in the theft. The charity box was found damaged nearby, with the cash missing. Sgt Dineen said it was not possible to say exactly the amount of cash in it at the time, except to say when the offerings were forwarded to the charity on previous occasions, the amounts were about 200 each time. Other thefts carried out by the accused occurred in shops in Cork city centre, including Dunnes, Centra, Mountain Warehouse and Elverys. Mr Burke said many of the items stolen were clothing and small household items, including cheese and butter. Jim Gavin stepped down as chair of the Dublin North East Inner City (NEIC) programme board this week. Elsewhere, farmers continued to protest outside the offices of Bord Bia, calling for the resignation of its chair, Larry Murrin. And for a little light relief on the side, housing minister James Browne blamed Met Eireann for the floods. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Subscribe to access all of the Irish Examiner. Annual 13080 Best value Monthly 126 / month He reiterated managements view that the brands opportunity is not limited to sandals or a fashion cycle, pointing to what he described as white space in APAC, the companys own retail/DTC footprint, and closed-toe shoes. Reichert said APAC has doubled, the retail fleet has doubled since the IPO, and the closed-toe business has reached 38% of the mix, which he said has helped balance seasonal revenue. Reichert reviewed performance since becoming a public company, citing revenue growth of 41% and EBITDA growth of 38% over the first two years post-IPO, along with deleverage of 55%. He also referenced EUR 275 million invested in production and the company, and share buybacks totaling $200 million. CEO Oliver Reichert opened by framing Birkenstock as the inventor of the footbed, rather than a traditional footwear brand, and said the companys missionarticulated by Karl Birkenstock when Reichert joined in 2009was to give every human being access to the footbed. Reichert said the company has delivered 72 million pairs since the IPO and roughly 360 million pairs during his tenure. Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) executives outlined the companys growth strategy and discussed preliminary fiscal first-quarter 2026 results during an investor event, emphasizing what leadership described as durable demand, a relative scarcity distribution approach, and supply chain investments intended to support unit growth of about 10% annually. Management reaffirmed a threeyear plan targeting 1315% constantcurrency revenue growth, a commitment to > 30% EBITDA margins , ~ 1517% EPS growth in constant currency, and $200 million of annual buybacks, backed by supplychain investments to support ~ 10% annual unit growth and a plan to double APAC revenue by FY28. Birkenstock reported preliminary Q1 FY26 revenue of EUR 402 million , up 18% on a constantcurrency basis (11% reported), but faced a ~670bp FX headwind and U.S. tariffs that pressured margins adjusted gross margin fell to 57.4% (290 bps) and adjusted EBITDA margin to 26.5% , while adjusted EPS rose to $0.27 (+50%). Story Continues CFO Ivica Krolo presented preliminary Q1 fiscal 2026 results, reiterating a previously disclosed revenue figure of EUR 402 million. Krolo said this represented 18% constant-currency growth and 11% reported growth, with momentum continuing from back-to-school and the holiday season. He said foreign exchange created a 670 basis point headwind to reported revenue growth, primarily due to the weaker U.S. dollar (with an average around 1.16 versus 1.07 a year earlier), as well as depreciation in certain APAC currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar. Krolo also said additional U.S. tariffs pressured margins. Adjusted gross margin: 57.4%, down 290 basis points year over year; Krolo said FX and tariff pressures accounted for 350 basis points, and excluding those effects gross margin would have been up 60 basis points. Adjusted EBITDA margin: 26.5%, down 170 basis points; excluding FX and tariffs, he said EBITDA margin would have been up 190 basis points. Adjusted EPS: $0.27, up 50% year over year, driven by a lower tax rate, improved financial results (including lower interest expense and valuation effects from an embedded derivative), and fewer shares outstanding following buybacks. MarketBeat Week in Review 01/26 - 01/30 By segment, Krolo said constant-currency growth was positive across regions, including 14% in the Americas, 17% in EMEA, and 37% in APAC. By channel, B2B grew 24% in constant currency while DTC grew 12%. Addressing channel mix, Krolo described B2B as not a sickness, saying younger consumers are intentionally purchasing in multi-brand, in-store environments. He cited approximately 19,000 global customer touchpoints versus about 100 company-operated stores and said B2B is an efficient customer acquisition path, with retail partners marketing on Birkenstocks behalf. Three-year outlook: 13%-15% revenue growth target, 30%+ EBITDA commitment Management reiterated fiscal 2026 guidance and outlined a three-year growth algorithm through fiscal 2028. Krolo said Birkenstock expects 13%-15% constant-currency revenue growth, steady margins, and EPS growth about 200 basis points above revenue growth (around 15%-17% in constant currency). Krolo said the company remains committed to delivering 30%+ EBITDA margins even in the post-Liberation Day world, while noting the outlook assumes no further tariffs beyond what is already reflected and stable FX at 1.17. He also said the plan includes share repurchases of $200 million per year. At the midpoint of the plan, Krolo said Birkenstock expects about EUR 1 billion of incremental revenue in fiscal 2028 versus fiscal 2025, remarking that it took the company 250 years to come to EUR 2 billion, and three years for an additional EUR 1 billion. He said Americas and EMEA are expected to grow double digits, while APAC is expected to grow about twice as fastdoubling revenue over three years. Regional strategies: retail expansion, engineered distribution, and APAC scaling Americas President David Kahan said the Americas region includes around 10,000 points of distribution compared with 14 company-owned stores at the end of 2025 (he noted the store count had recently moved to 15). Kahan said the region will contribute over 10% growth over the next three years and emphasized that B2B is expected to grow faster than DTC due to the scale of the business, while the company leans into DTC through store expansion. Kahan highlighted the emerging youth consumer (roughly ages 14 to mid-20s) as the fastest-growing demographic and said Birkenstock customers average 3.6 pairs, implying runway among newer buyers. He argued the company operates a pull model, citing examples of high full-price realization at retailers, and said distribution is vendor-managed by Birkenstock by door, by channel, and by calendar. For retail, Kahan said the company plans to open 30 additional stores in the Americas, guided by a bulletproof retail model with metrics including cash return in 12-18 months and a year-two break-even target of 60%. In EMEA, regional leader Nico described a business operating in 61+ countries with dot-com in 27 countries, 42 stores, and a mono-brand footprint across owned and partner stores of 150. He said EMEA offers the best margin profile among the three regions and outlined growth drivers including under-penetrated European markets (such as France, the U.K., and Spain), youth and young male consumers, further DTC penetration, and continued growth in closed-toe styles beyond Boston. In APAC, Klaus said the region is more heavily oriented toward mono-brand retail and positioned very premium in a premium luxury segment. He said APAC currently has eight online stores, 245 mono-brand stores (41 owned), and about 2,200 wholesale stores, largely in Japan and Australia. Klaus said APAC revenue is expected to double over the next three years, supported by DTC-led growth and a balanced 50/50 shoes and clogs mix, and he outlined plans to open 70 stores and add 100 partner stores. Supply chain and capacity: targeting 10% annual unit growth Supply chain leader Jakob said Birkenstocks vertically integrated modelseven factories in Germany and Portugal, with an eighth expectedremains central to quality control, IP protection, and responsiveness. He said the supply chain is expected to support unit growth of 10% per year and higher growth in production hours as product mix shifts toward more premium and more complex executions. Jakob said more than 95% of products are assembled in the companys German factories and that more than 70% of units are contracted with 5-9 months of visibility through the order book, which he said improves planning and efficiency. He outlined expansion work underway at key sites including GArlitz (focused on cork-latex output), Pasewalk (EVA and PU technologies), Arouca (Portugal; focusing on uppers and complex executions), and the newly acquired Wittichenau facility near Dresden, which he said is expected to be operational in 2027. He also said the company is exploring further expansion of Pasewalk and evaluating additional brownfield opportunities. About Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) Birkenstock Group AG, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BIRK, is a global footwear manufacturer renowned for its anatomically contoured footbeds and iconic sandal designs. The companys core product lines include classic models such as the Arizona, Boston and Madrid, alongside a range of clogs, shoes and orthotic insoles. In addition to footwear, Birkenstock offers complementary accessories, including socks and leather care products, reinforcing its commitment to foot health and comfort. Birkenstock reaches consumers through a diversified distribution network that combines direct-to-consumer channelssuch as branded retail stores and e-commerce platformswith wholesale partnerships spanning specialty footwear retailers, department stores and select online marketplaces. The article "Birkenstock Capital Markets Day: Q1 FY26 Growth Holds as FX, Tariffs Bite; 13%-15% Target Reaffirmed" was originally published by MarketBeat. As Bitcoin miners increasingly pivot toward high performance computing and AI infrastructure, Bit Digital took a more drastic step, choosing to separate its AI infrastructure business after concluding that investors and lenders evaluate high performance computing and digital assets through entirely different lenses. During a recent interview with TheStreet Roundtable, Bit Digital CEO Sam Tabar said the decision to carve out the companys AI infrastructure unit, now operating as WhiteFiber, was driven by two core factors: investor alignment and access to credit. There are two main reasons for us carving it out, Tabar said. The first is that high performance computing (HPC) is an institutional product and digital assets is more of a retail product. Theyre two very different audiences. Related: Michael Saylor reveals 'greatest risk' to Bitcoin By separating the businesses, Tabar said Bit Digital was able to align each operation with investors who better understand their respective economics. Now, WhiteFibers shareholding is primarily institutional, and they understand the patience thats needed. They understand the economics of data centers and HPC, he said. Banks hesitant to lend to crypto-linked entities The second reason proved even more decisive. There are banks who are very eager to finance your data center development, Tabar said. But theyre not eager to have a counterparty thats involved with digital assets. They want their counterparty to be a pure HPC data center player as opposed to a company that has digital assets and some data centers within the same umbrella." Once WhiteFiber was separated into its own entity and prepared for a standalone IPO, those constraints began to ease. According to Tabar, the spinout immediately expanded the companys financing options, particularly among traditional banks that had previously been reluctant to engage. Since we carved it out and it became its own IPO, WhiteFibers menu of opportunities with respect to financing is very different now, Tabar said. There are more options on the table, and our cost of capital has come down because WhiteFiber has absolutely no digital assets involved. More news: Predictability, not hostility to crypto Tabar pushed back on the idea that the move reflected institutional hostility toward crypto itself. Instead, he framed the issue as one of predictability and underwriting standards. Jan 31 (Reuters) - Bitcoin (BTC-USD), the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value, was down by 6.53% at $78,719.63 at 12:48 p.m. ET (1748 GMT) on Saturday, continuing its decline from the previous session. On Friday, bitcoin fell to as low as $81,104, the lowest since November 21, while the U.S. dollar gained after former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh was selected as the next Fed chair. Some investors and traders are concerned he might tighten up on cash in the financial system. More from Yahoo Scout How might Fed policy changes affect cryptocurrency markets? Why is Bitcoin declining despite Trump's crypto-friendly stance? What factors are driving current crypto market weakness? Why is Bitcoin declining after Fed chair selection? Warsh has called for regime change at the central bank and wants, among other things, a smaller Fed balance sheet. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been regarded as beneficiaries of a large balance sheet, having tended to rally while the Fed greased money markets with liquidity - a support for speculative assets. Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, said the Fed's "bloated balance sheet combined with heavy-handed bank regulation" had kept liquidity trapped on Wall Street instead of flowing to Main Street, helping fuel bubbles in assets such as bonds, crypto, metals and meme stocks. Ether also fell 11.76% to $2,387.77 on Saturday afternoon. Cryptocurrencies have been struggling for direction since tumbling last year, having been left behind by big rallies in gold and stocks. "Sometimes these price adjustments feed on themselves," Jacobsen said, adding that Fridays abrupt drop had reminded people of the risks. He said it was "possible, if not likely, that we see more selling over the next few days." Cryptos are having a rough time in what was once hoped to be a golden era of flows and friendly regulation under President Donald Trump. Market-leading bitcoin has lost a third of its value since striking record highs in October last year. (Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru and Megan Davies; editing by Diane Craft and Nia Williams) Informed Comment (Ann Arbor) Nir Hasson at Haaretz reported Thursday that the Israeli military has admitted that it now accepts the death toll of some 71,000 for victims it killed in Gaza, a toll estimated by the Gaza Ministry of Health. Hasson is a careful journalist and certainly was reporting what officers told him. But on Friday a military spokesman came out and denied it all, saying, The (Israeli military) clarifies that the details published do not reflect official data. I suspect Hassons story will prove accurate. He added, U.K.-based nonprofit organisation Action on Armed Violence published a contradictory study this week, according to which for every combatant killed by Israeli fire, five civilians were killed meaning 83 percent of all casualties were civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American observers like political scientist Michael Walzer attempted to claim that the ratio of combatants to noncombatants killed by the Israeli military in Gaza was par for the course. Having 83% of the people you kill be innocent civilians, however, is not normal and compares very poorly to the Russian campaign in Ukraine or even the American war on Iraq. All through Israels genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, which has tapered off but not ended, the Israeli military routinely cast doubt on the Ministry of Health figures, issuing its own only to retract them constantly, while issuing other phony numbers. Israeli officials deprecated the Ministry of Health as Hamas-run even though it was staffed by bureaucrats and professionals who were not political and carried no arms. The Israelis and their pushy lobbies in Western capitals even made all the American newspapers and television shows include the mantra of Hamas-run whenever they mentioned the Ministry of Health or its statistics, helping undermine the credibility of the numbers. Why do the Israelis issue these denials and try to muddy the waters in this way? It is to manipulate the Western print and television news media. If an anchor can go on TV and just say, the Israelis have so far killed X thousands of Palestinians, that makes an impression. But if the anchor has to say, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health the number killed is X, though that number is contested by the Israeli government, then the message cant get through to the audience. These are terrorist numbers (Hamas-run) and so unreliable in their foundation. And they cant be true since our white Alamo in the Middle East disputes them. Plus these smokescreens gave ammunition to pro-Israeli editors and media poobahs who wanted to curtail what news professionals could say on air. Instead of experiencing the full horror face-on, Western audiences have the information fractured and and made doubtful. It is a way of hiding a genocide in plain sight. And frustrated news people often seem to have just wanted to avoid bringing up Gaza at all, so it got almost no airtime on legacy stations. It was over at TikTok, which is why Larry Ellison had to be allowed to buy and censor it. Imagine, the Israelis murdered 19,000 children. I say murdered because children are not combatants and they werent in firefights with Israeli soldiers. Killing so many children was part of the genocidal plan, since their deaths reduce fertility rates. And remember that half of these children were little girls. Girls like six-year-old Hind Rajab. But no one could go on American television and say, the Israeli army has murdered 9,500 little girls, wearing pink frills and clutching teddy bears. They had to dance around with weasel words like Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, implying that these deaths were made up or were part of terrorist propaganda. The horrid Bill Maher and his guest Van Jones even guffawed about dead Gaza babies. They implied that there werent really any dead babies in Gaza, that it was all a hoax. And these are Democrats, who have surrendered to creeping Trumpian fascism. Because as Ta-Nehisi Coates rightly said, I would submit to you that if you cant draw the line at genocide, you probably cant draw the line at democracy. Then President Joe Biden, whose otherwise distinguished career will forever be besmirched by his complicity in the Gaza genocide, openly denied that Israel was killing large numbers of civilians in Gaza, saying he had no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. He let the Israelis drop one-ton bombs on civilian apartment buildings with no military purpose, turning entire extended families into red mist, for more than two years. The US State Department, back before Trump and Elon Musk gutted it, used routinely to depend on Gaza ministry of health figures, which were known in the international community to be broadly reliable. Even Israeli authorities used MoH figures. Hasson points out that the Gaza Ministry of Health gathered death data from the hospitals and morgues in the Strip, and were careful to list names and i.d. numbers and other identifiers. Questioning its numbers would mean charging it with making up those names and i.d. numbers, but no one has ever made such an accusation, and the family members of the deceased can attest that they really arent around any more. I mean, imagine for a moment that Palestinians are real people like you and me. Wouldnt we notice if our uncle on our mothers side couldnt be found any more? Image of Gaza by hosny salah from Pixabay But powerful pro-Israel propaganda outfits like the Washington Institute for Near East Policy tried to pretend that the Gaza Ministry of Health fatality reports were riddled with inaccuracies and were unreliable in a March 26, 2024 poorly reasoned screed. The Washington a.k.a. Tel Aviv Institute is extremely influential and actually has American government officials, both civilian and military, detailed to it to be propagandized into a knee-jerk pro-Israel position. Inside the US government, as well, Erin Banco, Jonathan Landay and Humeyra Pamuk at Reuters revealed that the U.S. ambassador to Israel Jack Lew quashed USAID reports about how bad the situation was in Gaza, refusing to let them circulate or go up to the White House. USAID characterized the situation as an apocalyptic wasteland, which of course it is. I have no idea why the Israeli military is now accepting the MoH numbers, if it is. But after all, the big campaign is winding down, so they dont have to manipulate the news anchors any more. But worse, the full death toll will now gradually come out, which will be much bigger than 71,000, based not just on hospital and morgue reporting but on public health projections about all the dead that never got to a hospital. The Israeli military may prefer to be able to cite a lower number provided by the hospitals. By Farah N. Jan, University of Pennsylvania (The Conversation) The United States is seemingly moving toward a potential strike on Iran. On Jan. 28, 2026, President Donald Trump sharply intensified his threats to the Islamic Republic, suggesting that if Tehran did not agree to a set of demands, he could mount an attack with speed and violence. To underline the threat, the Pentagon moved aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln along with destroyers, bombers and fighter jets to positions within striking distance of the country. Foremost among the various demands the U.S. administration has put before Irans leader is a permanent end to the countrys uranium enrichment program. It has also called for limits to the development of ballistic missiles and a cutting off of Tehrans support for proxy groups in the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Trump apparently sees in this moment an opportunity to squeeze an Iran weakened by a poor economy and massive protests that swept through the country in early January. But as a scholar of Middle Eastern security politics and proliferation, I have concerns. Any U.S. military action now could have widespread unintended consequences later. And that includes the potential for accelerated global nuclear proliferation regardless of whether the Iranian government is able to survive its current moment of crisis. Irans threshold lesson The fall of the Islamic Republic is far from certain, even if the U.S. uses military force. Iran is not a fragile state susceptible to quick collapse. With a population of 93 million and substantial state capacity, it has a layered coercive apparatus and security institutions built to survive crises. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regimes military wing, is commonly estimated in the low-to-high hundreds of thousands, and it commands or can mobilize auxiliary forces. After 47 years of rule, the Islamic Republics institutions are deeply embedded in Iranian society. Moreover, any change in leadership would not likely produce a clean slate. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged as much, telling lawmakers on Jan. 28 that there was no simple answer to what would happen if the government fell. No one knows who would take over, he said. The exiled opposition is fragmented, disconnected from domestic realities and lacks the organizational capacity to govern such a large and divided country. And in this uncertainty lies the danger. Iran is a threshold state a country with the technical capacity to produce nuclear weapons but that has not crossed the final line of production. A destabilized threshold state poses three risks: loss of centralized command over nuclear material and scientists, incentives for factions to monetize or export expertise, and acceleration logic actors racing to secure deterrence before collapse. History offers warnings. The collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s produced near-misses and concern over the whereabouts of missing nuclear material. Meanwhile, the activities of the A.Q. Khan network, centered around the so-called father of Pakistans atomic program, proved that expertise travels in Khans case to North Korea, Libya and Iran. What strikes teach Whether or not regime change might follow, any U.S. military action carries profound implications for global proliferation. Irans status as a threshold state has been a choice of strategic restraint. But when, in June 2025, Israel and the U.S struck Irans nuclear facilities, that attack and the latest Trump threats sent a clear message that threshold status provides no reliable security. The message to other nations with nuclear aspirations is stark and builds on a number of hard nonproliferation lessons over the past three decades. Libya abandoned its nuclear program in 2003 in exchange for normalized relations with the West. Yet just eight years later, NATO airstrikes in support of Libyan rebels led to the capture and killing of longtime strongman Moammar Gaddafi. Ukraine relinquished its nuclear arsenal in 1994 for security assurances from Russia, the U.S. and Britain. Yet 20 years later, in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, before launching an outright invasion in 2022. Now we can add Iran to the list: The country exercised restraint at the threshold level, and yet it was attacked by U.S. bombs in 2025 and now faces a potential follow-up strike. The lesson is not lost on Mehdi Mohammadi, a senior Iranian adviser. Speaking on state TV on Jan. 27, he said Washingtons demands translate into disarming yourself so we could strike you when we want. If abandoning a nuclear program leads to regime change, relinquishing weapons results in invasion, and remaining at the threshold invites military strikes, the logic goes, then security is only truly achieved through the possession of nuclear weapons and not by negotiating them away or halting development before completion. If Iranian leadership survives any U.S. attack, they will, I believe, almost certainly double down on Irans weapons program. IAEA credibility U.S. military threats or strikes in the pursuit of destroying a nations nuclear program also undermine the international architecture designed to prevent proliferation. The International Atomic Energy Agency was, until the earlier Israel and U.S. strikes, functioning as designed detecting, flagging and verifying. Its monitoring of Iran was proof that the inspection regime worked. Military strikes or the credible threat of them remove inspectors, disrupt monitoring continuity and signal that compliance does not guarantee safety. If following the rules offers no protection, why follow the rules? At stake is the credibility of the IAEA and faith in the whole system of international diplomacy and monitoring to tamp down nuclear concerns. The domino effect Every nation weighing its nuclear options is watching to see how this latest standoff between the U.S. and Iran plays out. Irans regional rival, Saudi Arabia, has made no secret of its own nuclear ambitions, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman publicly declaring that the kingdom would pursue nuclear weapons if Iran did. Yet a U.S. strike on Iran would not reassure Washingtons Gulf allies. Rather, it could unsettle them. The June 2025 U.S. strikes on Iran were conducted to protect Israel, not Saudi Arabia or Iran. Gulf leaders may conclude that American military action flows to preferred partners, not necessarily to them. And if U.S. protection is selective rather than universal, a rational response could be to hedge independently. Saudi Arabias deepening defense cooperation with nuclear power Pakistan, for example, represents a hedge against American unreliability and regional instability. The Gulf kingdom has invested heavily in Pakistani military capabilities and maintains what many analysts believe are understandings regarding Pakistans nuclear arsenal. Turkey, meanwhile, has chafed under NATOs nuclear arrangements and has periodically signaled interest in an independent capability. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned in 2019 why Turkey should not possess nuclear weapons when others in the region do. An attack on Iran, particularly one that Turkey opposes, could well accelerate Turkish hedging and potentially trigger a serious indigenous weapons program. And the nuclear cascade would not likely stop at the Middle East. South Korea and Japan have remained non-nuclear largely because of confidence in American extended deterrence. Regional proliferation and the risk of a destabilized Iran exporting its know-how, scientists and technology would raise questions in Seoul and Tokyo about whether American guarantees can be trusted. An emerging counter-order? Arab Gulf monarchies certainly understand these risks, which goes some way toward explaining why they have lobbied the Trump administration against military action against Iran despite Tehran being a major antagonism in Gulf states desire to de-risk the region. Photo of Titan II ICBM decommissioned nuclear missile at the Titan Missile Museum, Green Valley, Sahuarita, Arizonaby Stephen Cobb on Unsplash The American-led regional security architecture is already under strain. It risks fraying further if Gulf partners diversify their security ties and hedge against U.S. unpredictability. As a result, the Trump administrations threats and potential strikes against Iran may, conversely, result not in increased American influence, but in diminished relevance as the region divides into competing spheres of influence. And perhaps most alarming of all, I fear that it could teach every aspiring nuclear state that security is attainable only through the possession of the bomb. Farah N. Jan, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Pennsylvania This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The Big Tech selloff on Thursday is spooking investors and dragging down Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, analysts say. Bitcoins price has tanked by over 6% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Optimistic traders hoping for a bounce have been wiped out, with $1.6 billion in long positions liquidated, Coinglass data shows. Concerns around heavy AI investment by big tech, without the corresponding earnings to justify the spend, appear to be unsettling broader risk assets, Matt Howells-Barby, VP of growth at crypto exchange Kraken, said in an investor note shared with DL News. A retest of $80,000 per Bitcoin is a real possibility, he said. The downturn comes as Microsofts value dropped by about $357 billion in the second-largest selloff for a single trading session in stock market history. Markets were firmly risk-on going into this move, so its not surprising to see investors pause and reassess their risk appetite, Howells-Barby said. The selloff also dented precious metals, which have enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent months. Gold sank nearly 3% in the past day, and is trading at $5,177 at the time of reporting. Crypto-linked companies were also hammered. Strategy and Bitmine both saw their share price sink nearly 10%. More uncertainty ahead Further blinding investors radar, the US Senates last-minute push to avert a federal government shutdown hit turbulence late on Thursday night. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham halted the government funding package, forcing lawmakers to delay a final vote. He is insisting on further funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Bettors on Polymarket now anticipate a 61% chance of a US government shutdown by January 31. The last government shutdown in October and November caused lasting damage to markets, with the White House describing the economic situation as flying blind. The crypto industry still hasnt recovered from its October peaks, and is now sitting below $3 trillion. Crypto market movers Bitcoin is down 6.3% over the past 24 hours, trading at $82,417. Ethereum is down 7.4% past 24 hours at $2,728. What were reading Lance Datskoluo is DL News Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com. South Korean actress Park Min Young has captured public attention with a fresh set of social media photos that coincide with news about her next television project. The images, shared on her personal Instagram account, offer fans a glimpse of her latest work ahead of the highly anticipated premiere of the tvN drama "Siren," scheduled for early March. According to Koreaboo, Park Min Young shared the update on Jan. 30, posting several photos that appear to have been taken on set. In the caption accompanying the images, the actress wrote, "Han Seol Ah comes with the spring." The brief message immediately sparked interest, as it referenced the name of her character in the upcoming series. The photos show Park Min Young styled in elegant winter fashion, including a structured suit jacket paired with long boots. The look highlights a polished yet understated aesthetic, aligning with the tone of a suspense-driven drama. The setting and styling led fans to believe the images were captured during filming rather than a standalone fashion shoot. Based on details reported by Koreaboo, the photos are believed to have been taken on the set of "Siren," a tvN Monday-Tuesday drama set to premiere on March 2. The series is described as a deadly romantic thriller that centers on a man who relentlessly investigates an insurance fraud case and becomes entangled with a woman suspected to be at the center of the mystery. Additional background on the drama was outlined by Naver, which noted that "Siren" follows a tense narrative built around suspicion, obsession, and hidden motives. The project marks Park Min Young's return to a darker, more psychologically complex role compared to her recent romantic performances. As previously reported by Naver, Park Min Young stars as Han Seol Ah, a professional art auctioneer whose refined exterior contrasts with the dangerous circumstances surrounding her character. She is set to appear alongside actors Wi Ha Joon, Kim Jung Hyun, and Lee Elijah, forming a cast that has already generated strong pre-broadcast buzz. With the release date approaching, Park Min Young's social media update has further fueled anticipation for "Siren." This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Digital payment provider Block announced the opening of an office in Dublin, Ireland, intended to expand the company's European footprint. In addition to workspaces, the new location will include a product demo lab where Block can show off its products to potential customers, a Thursday news release on the company's website said. "We're here to drive meaningful dialogue on the issues shaping financial innovation, and ensure that our ecosystem serves everyone," John O'Beirne, CEO of Blocks Square International, said in the release. Dive Insight: Dublin is something of a hub for fintech activity in Europe, and several major payment companies, such as Adyen and Stripe, have offices there. Block's new office is located in one of the city's business districts. Numerous major multinational companies such as Microsoft and Mastercard also have offices in the city. Thursday's release did not say precisely when the Dublin office opened, and spokespeople for the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Block which is headquartered in Oakland, California also has offices in London. The companys product include the point-of-sale service Square and the buy now, pay later service Afterpay. Ireland was chosen as the location for the new office because of the strategic advantages the country offers, the news release said, without elaborating. Recommended Reading Friday, January 30, 2026 - Former UDA Secretary General, Cleophas Malala, has set social media ablaze after remarks he made during a recent interview sparked speculation over the circumstances surrounding the death of veteran Opposition Leader, Raila Odinga. Speaking during the interview, Malala drew parallels between historical and recent political events, noting that when iconic politician Tom Mboya was assassinated, his widow was later appointed as Kenyas UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Ambassador. Malala went on to point out that Raila Odingas wife, Mama Ida Odinga, has similarly been given a role linked to UNEP following her husbands death, a comparison that immediately ignited debate online. While Malala did not explicitly accuse anyone, his remarks have been widely interpreted by netizens as raising questions about whether powerful forces may have been involved in the death of Raila. The outspoken politician further criticized Railas close allies, singling out Suna East MP, Junet Mohamed, whom he accused of being more focused on striking political deals than demanding deeper answers about Railas death. Watch the video>>> below When Tom Mboya was Assassinated, his wife was appointed as the UNEP Ambassador. Railas wife, Mama Ida, has been given the same job- Cleo Malala opens a can of worms pic.twitter.com/rWoM9KsRLg Jim Njue (@jimNjue_) January 30, 2026 The Kenyan DAILY POST Friday, January 30, 2026 - A tweet from Kenyan lawyer @Thuranira_1 has stirred online debate after revealing a jaw-dropping child support twist. A woman who sued her ex-boyfriend for financial support suddenly wanted to settle the matter amicably when the man demanded a paternity test. Her reason? The DNA test might psychologically affect the child. This case has reignited concerns over paternity fraud - where some women allegedly pin fatherhood on unsuspecting men to secure financial support. While not every case is deceptive, the emotional and financial damage of false paternity is undeniable. Men are now being urged to insist on DNA tests before committing to child support. In todays world, blind trust can be costly. Ogopa wanawake, indeed. The Kenyan DAILY POST Friday, January 30, 2026 - A woman has sent social media into a frenzy after making a jaw-dropping confession in front of President William Ruto during a Nyota Programme event. In a video now circulating widely online, the woman openly admits that she has been selling bhang and illicit liquor to survive economically. Nauza bangi na pombe, she is heard saying, triggering laughter and murmurs from the crowd as the President and officials look on. The woman went on to plead with the Government for financial support, saying that if given a loan, she will abandon the illegal trade and engage in legitimate income-generating activities. Her blunt honesty has sparked mixed reactions online. While some Kenyans praised her courage and transparency, others questioned how such a confession was made publicly without immediate consequences. Watch the video>>> below Very TRUTHFUL .... Naomba Serikali inisaidie nitoke kupima pombe.......Nauza Bangi Wale Nauzia Bangi hebu Inua Mikono Juuu pic.twitter.com/QrkmLRh5Co Kawangware Finest - Geoffrey Moturi (@cbs_ke) January 30, 2026 The Kenyan DAILY POST The mining market saw decreased revenues due to a sector slowdown and recalibration of go-to-market efforts, although there are signs of recovery. The company recorded a net loss of $1.8 million for the fiscal year, compared to net earnings of $64,000 in the prior year, impacted by project costs and investments. BluMetric Environmental Inc ( BLMWF ) experienced a decrease in gross margin from 40% to 29% for the fiscal year, primarily due to a change in sales mix and costs absorbed in the St. Kitts project. The company has a strong cash position with $6.1 million in cash availability and no debt covenants, providing financial flexibility for future growth initiatives. The acquisition of DS Consultants is expected to enhance BluMetric's presence in the Greater Toronto area and contribute significantly to the company's growth, with targeted annual EBITDA goals of $4 million, $5 million, and $6 million over the next three years. The company successfully completed its largest seawater reverse osmosis project to date at the St. Kitts Bird Rock facility, which helped secure a long-term operations and maintenance contract with the St. Kitts government. BluMetric Environmental Inc ( BLMWF ) reported a significant 63% increase in fourth-quarter revenues, driven by the production and delivery of WaterTech Canada's ASUWPS units and the growth of Gemini Water. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript . Story Continues Q & A Highlights Q: Can you clarify if the costs absorbed for the St. Kitts project will continue, and if they will be covered under the new O&M contract? A: Dan Hilton, CFO, explained that the costs were a one-time event due to unexpected operational needs during the transition of the facility. The company is negotiating to recoup these costs with the government and the prime contractor. The facility is now under an O&M contract, ensuring future costs are covered. Q: Is there any plan to expand the capacity of Gemini Water, given its current full capacity? A: Scott Macfabe, CEO, confirmed that they are considering expanding Gemini Water's capacity. They are evaluating an adjacent space to double their footprint in Florida, driven by strong demand. Q: How is the integration of DS Consultants progressing, and are there any challenges? A: Scott Macfabe, CEO, stated that the integration is going well, with no significant challenges. The acquisition is allowing for new project proposals and resource sharing, enhancing their presence in the Greater Toronto Area. Q: Can you provide insights into the revenue and EBITDA trajectory for the year, especially with the DS acquisition? A: Dan Hilton, CFO, mentioned that DS Consultants has a target of $4 million EBITDA for the first year, with historical revenues around $24 million. The combined pro forma revenue with BluMetric is expected to be between $85 million and $90 million, aiming for a 10% EBITDA margin at $100 million in revenue. Q: What is the revenue expectation for the Rheinmetall contract, and what happens after the current contract period? A: Dan Hilton, CFO, explained that the Rheinmetall contract is valued at approximately $12 million, with potential for an extension of 10 additional units. Discussions are ongoing, and there is optimism due to strong military market tailwinds. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Bob Iger on July 22, 2024 Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty NEED TO KNOW Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger is reportedly planning to step down from his position in 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal Iger previously served as Disney's CEO from 2005 to 2020, and he returned to the role in November 2022 after Bob Chapek's short run as CEO A spokesperson for Disney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment Bob Iger, the executive who served as CEO of the Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020 and returned to the role in November 2022, is reportedly planning to step down this year. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, Jan. 30, that Iger, 74, has told people in his circle that he plans to pull back from daily management and step down as CEO before the end of his contract, which is Dec. 31, 2026, citing anonymous sources. Citing anonymous sources, WSJ reported that Iger has told people close to him that he is ready to move on from the grind of being CEO." A spokesperson for Disney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Back in 2024, Disney said it anticipated announcing a new CEO to replace Iger by early 2026, Variety reported at the time. Bob Iger on Nov. 24, 2024 Noam Galai/Getty 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. Iger was the company's seventh CEO. He initially took over the position after Michael Eisner's retirement in 2005. When Iger first stepped down in February 2020 he described the moment as "the optimal time to transition to a new CEO." Iger remained as the company's chairman of the board through 2021, when his contract with Disney ended. Bob Chapek, who previously worked as Disney's chairman of its amusement parks, succeeded Iger. However, Disney announced on Nov. 21, 2022, that Chapek, 66, had stepped away and ushered Iger back in. When Iger returned to the position, the company noted that he only agreed to be CEO for two additional years. Bob Iger on Jan. 23, 2024 Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty "I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO," Iger said in a 2022 statement. "Disney and its incomparable brands and franchises hold a special place in the hearts of so many people around the globe most especially in the hearts of our employees, whose dedication to this company and its mission is an inspiration." "I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling," he added at the time. Read the original article on People Ottoline Spearman A variety of stories lead the news this Saturday morning. The Irish Times leads with former EU Commissioner Phil Hogan, who is looking to secure Government backing for the more senior role of leading the food security agency at the UN, which carries a salary of around 224,000 a year. Former president Mary McAleese has also said that some Catholic Church teaching is rancid, has gone off and needs to be updated. She added, however, that "its not going to be updated by a bunch of, a tiny and increasingly small number of celibate male ordained bishops. The Irish Examiner leads with Eamon O'Neill, the retired Limerick Superintendent who was recently acquitted in a road traffic prosecution case brought against him and four serving gardai, who, together with his wife, is suing the force. The Irish Independent reports that the consumer watchdog has said there is "no doubt" that cartels are fixing the price of publicly funded projects, in what is known as "bid-rigging". A nursing home in Cork city will close after more than 20 years, forcing its 37 residents to relocate, reports The Echo. The latest release of the Epstein files appear to show that Trump performed a sex act with a girl aged 13 or 14, the Irish Daily Mirror reports. The Irish Daily Star reports on the River Slaney in Enniscorthy bursting its banks, forcing families to relocate for the second time in a week. A poll has found that nearly three in four people would support a social media ban for under-16s, following Australia's lead, according to the Irish Daily Mail. And finally, the Belfast Telegraph reports that members of a notorious crime gang who are linked to the unsolved murder of two Co Armagh friends are now suspects in a recent attack on a father-of-three, who subsequently died. FRANKFURT, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Bosch, the world's largest car parts supplier, on Friday warned of another tough year in 2026 and postponed a 7% margin target as it expects no let-up in cost and competitive pressure in a sector hit by tariffs worldwide. Bosch last year announced a further 13,000 job cuts, or around 3% of its total workforce, to protect margins and ensure it remains competitive in light of import tariffs and price declines that have hurt its business. More from Yahoo Scout What challenges does Bosch face in 2026? How are tariffs impacting Bosch's global operations? Why did Bosch postpone its 7% margin target? What factors are driving Bosch's massive job cuts? CEO Stefan Hartung told Reuters last year that 2026 would be tough, warning the automotive industry would "remain a highly competitive sector where there will be a fight over every cent". As a result, the company said it now expected to begin achieving its 7% profit margin in 2027 at the earliest, having previously forecast to hit it this year. "There are many indications of a slight slowdown in global economic growth," Bosch finance chief Markus Forschner said in a statement. "Competitive and price pressure are likely to increase further and the increased tariffs will have their full impact for the first time." In 2025, sales rose 0.8% to 91 billion euros, while the operating margin fell to 1.9% from 3.5%, the company said as it released preliminary results for the past year. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Kirsten Donovan ) We recently published 10 Big Names With Explosive Gains. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) was one of the top performers on Thursday. Brookdale Senior Living extended its winning streak to a third consecutive day on Thursday to hit a new eight-year high, as investors took path from an investment firms 31 percent price target upgrade for its stock. At intra-day trading, the stock jumped to its highest price of $14.63 before trimming gains to end the day just up by 10.60 percent at $14.50 apiece. 5 Largest Senior Living Companies in the USA in 2024 Photo by Belushi on Shutterstock In a market report, RBC Capital issued a new price target of $17 versus $13 previously, while reaffirming an outperform rating following the release of preliminary earnings results for full-year 2025. According to Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD), it expects to report $3.2 billion in revenues for the full year, representing a 3 percent uptick from the $3.1 billion in 2024. However, net loss is expected to be wider by 30 percent at $263 million versus $202 million a year earlier, amid a higher non-cash impairment charges of approximately $71 million versus only $8 million in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA is projected to increase by 19 percent to $458 million, or settle at the midpoint of its previously announced guidance. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) is targeting to grow its revenue per available room to a range of 8 to 9 percent in 2026, while looking at an adjusted EBITDA of $502 million to $516 million. While we acknowledge the potential of BKD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Uranium stocks have skyrocketed over the last year, with the largest U.S.-listed nuclear fuel stocks crushing Nvidia and tons of other artificial intelligence names. Uranium is the fuel that powers nuclear reactors, and the U.S. uranium industry went nearly dormant for decades. Thats why uranium demand is projected to outstrip supply for the foreseeable future as the U.S. races to quadruple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 to help support the power-hungry AI boom and expand the most reliable source of clean power. Check out the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-moving news. The U.S. uranium stocks we dive into todayCentrus Energy and Uranium Energyhave soared at least 150% over the past 12 months, and the upside potential remains massive for both traders and long-term investors. A growing corner of Wall Street views uranium and uranium stocks as the next gold and silver trade, meaning investors should buy some nuclear fuel stocks now for huge upside in 2026 and beyond. Are Soaring Uranium Stocks the Next Gold and Silver Trade? The AI age is projected to drive a 25% increase in U.S. electricity demand by the end of the decade and 75% to 100% growth by 2050. This is why Meta META, Microsoft, and other AI hyperscalers are racing to secure long-term power agreements with nuclear energy companies. Nuclear energy is expected to power a large chunk of the AI age for a few simple reasons. Its already provided 50% of Americas carbon-free electricity for decades. Plus, nuclear power plants provide baseload power, operating at full capacity more than 93% of the time. This makes nuclear by far the most reliable energy source, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The AI hyperscalers and the U.S. Federal Government are throwing full weight behind creating a nuclear energy renaissance, which is only possible with massive uranium industry expansion. Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research On top of that, there are only a few U.S. uranium companies, which means that they will benefit substantially from the all-hands-on-deck push to kick the domestic nuclear fuel industry into hyperdrive. The nuclear energy boom already sent uranium prices to their highest levels in over 15 years in 2024. Despite a pullback, uranium prices have soared roughly 170% since the start of 2021. More importantly, uranium demand is set to outstrip supply for years to come since new supply takes a long time to bring online. Plus, despite hyperscalers making nuclear power deals and small modular reactor stocks soaring, no new nuclear reactors have been built in the U.S. recently. SMRs and new larger-scale reactors are not expected to start producing power until the early 2030s, at the earliest. Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (NYSE:CMCL) is among the 11 Best Gold Stocks to Buy for 2026. Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (CMCL) Raises $150 Million for Zimbabwe's Gold Mine in a Rare International Capital Raise Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (NYSE:CMCL) reportedly obtained $150 million through a seven-year convertible bond sale to finance the construction of its Bilboes project, which is anticipated to grow into Zimbabwes largest gold mine, based on a January 21, 2026, Reuters story. After years of restricted access to foreign investors, the capital raise marks Zimbabwes largest overseas fundraising effort in almost ten years. The company reported that demand from institutional investors in the United States exceeded $600 million, showing a significant appetite for the issuance in the midst of record gold prices. On the day of the announcement, spot gold soared above $4,800 per ounce, indicating that gold miners should expect more production. According to Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (NYSE:CMCL), Bilboes is anticipated to begin production in late 2028 and produce 200,000 ounces annually for the first ten years starting in 2029. The project is anticipated to cost $584 million in total, with extra regional bank financing and a peak finance requirement of $484 million. Currently, the firm runs the 80,000-ounce-per-year Blanket mine in Zimbabwe. The stock was up by 17.66% YTD as of January 27, 2026. Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (NYSE:CMCL) is engaged in the exploration, development, and production of gold and other precious metals from its mining holdings. While we acknowledge the potential of CMCL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best Performing Stocks in 2025 and 12 Best Food Stocks to Buy in 2026. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Tom Tuite A man and his partner, accused of possessing about 20,000 worth of cannabis and cocaine after being intercepted in Dun Laoghaire, in south Co Dublin, have been granted bail. Jamie Stedman, 32, and Amy Gavin, 33, with an address at Shroughmore, Ballindaggin, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, appeared before Judge Gerard Jones at Dublin District Court on Saturday. They were charged with possession of cocaine and cannabis in Dun Laoghaire on Friday, and with having the drugs for sale or supply. Garda Harry Poole told the court that they made no reply when charged. He told the court that the value of the seizure was suspected to be 15,000-20,000, and "It was found in a vehicle after it was stopped and searched". Garda Poole said he had no objection to bail with terms. Defence counsel Sam Friel said there was consent, and they were ordered to remain out of Dun Laoghaire save for court appearances - and Ballybrack. Mr Stedman's phone was seized, and he must provide a new number within 24 hours and refrain from seeking a passport. The court heard Ms Gavin had recently applied for a passport, and the judge acceded to Garda Poole's request that it be forfeited as a condition of bail. Counsel said she was the co-accused and partner of Mr Stedman. She also has to provide a contact phone number to gardai, and the pair must reside at their address stated in court. They did not speak during the proceedings and have yet to indicate pleas. The pair were released and must appear at Dun Laoghaire District Court on July 8th next for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the charges under Sections 3 and 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act. Legal aid was granted. GARDAI attended a Buddhist temple in Laois today, at the invitation of a local monastery. Garda O Connell and Garda Quinlan were invited to the Mingala Ramsi Monastery in Errill, near Rathdowney, for the celebration of the Htamame festival. A traditional Myanmar Buddhist celebration, the Htamane Festival is held annually around the Full Moon Day of Tabodwe, typically in early February, to mark the end of the harvest season. Communities gather to make htamane, a savoury, nutrient-rich sticky rice snack mixed with coconuts, peanuts, ginger and sesame, offering the first portion to Buddha and sharing the rest with neighbours. Posting a photo on the An Garda Siochana Laois Offaly social media page today, with the hashtags community engagement, diversity and inclusion, gardai said: This is a significant Buddhist religious and community event and we were delighted to be invited to attend and meet everyone. There are more than 9,000 Buddhists in Ireland according to the last census, with many centres around the country. Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story included H&R Block as a company matching donations to Trump Accounts. It is not. Big businesses and big names are encouraging Americans to cash in on the recently touted "Trump Accounts." President Donald Trump's administration hosted a Trump Accounts Summit on Jan. 28 to unveil a new federal program that will create savings accounts for American children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. Officially called 530A accounts, the Trump Accounts are populated by a $1,000 deposit from the federal government and intended to serve as seed money that parents contribute to and invest over time. The provision was part of the large taxandspending package passed in 2025 and was endorsed by Trump at the event, alongside rapper Nicki Minaj, who appeared on stage next to the president. Beginning July 4 the nations 250th anniversary family, friends and employers will be able to contribute up to $5,000 to each Trump Account each year, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A growing list of employers, celebrities and billionaires have jumped on the wagon, pledging contribution matches up to $1,000. Here are the companies and people who have announced plans to contribute to 530A accounts so far. 530A accounts face tax issue: Babies will get their $1,000 'Trump accounts' in 2026 along with tax complications Celebrities Nicki Minaj, the rapper and Trump fan, promised to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to her fans at the Jan. 28 Trump Accounts event. She has yet to specify further how she plans to distribute this money. Erika Kirk , who after the killing of her husband Charlie Kirk, became CEO of Turning Point USA, an organization that advocates for conservative politics in high schools and colleges, said on social media that the nonprofit would offer dollar-for-dollar matches of the government's $1,000 contribution for eligible Trump Accounts. Ray and Barbara Dalio, the billionaire hedge fund manager and his philanthropist wife, pledged to add a $250 contribution per child for approximately 300,000 children in Connecticut. Michael and Susan Dell, billionaire philanthropists, pledged $6.25 billion to filling eligible accounts, which will also be distributed as $250 per child. Musician Nicki Minaj joins President Donald Trump on stage as he delivers remarks during the Treasury Department's Trump Accounts Summit at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on Jan. 28, 2026 in Washington, D.C. "Trump Accounts" are a portion of recently passed tax and spending legislation where the federal government will deposit $1,000 into investment accounts for every child born between 2025 and 2028 once parents sign their children up while filing their income taxes. Banks and financial institutions Former EU Commissioner and Environment Minister is seeking Government support to head up a key UN agency. The role of director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is due to be filled later this year as the current holder of the office, China's Qu Dongyu, ends in the middle of 2027. Government sources told the Irish Examiner that they were aware that Mr Hogan had submitted his name to the Department of Agriculture ahead of a January 23rd deadline, but that there had been no discussions at Cabinet level. Mr Hogan would have to be put forward by the Irish government for the role and would then need EU backing. The EU is a full member of the FAO and has preferred to put forward a single candidate. A Department of Agriculture spokesperson told the paper that it could not comment on who may have put themselves forward for the role. "The expressions of interest to participate in a selection process from which a candidate may be selected to be the Irish nominee for the position of Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Rome (FAO) is ongoing, therefore the Department cannot comment." Mr Hogan, a former senior Fine Gael minister was seen as a heavy hitter at the top tier of the European Commission in the Trade portfolio before his resignation amid controversy about his movements across Ireland at a time of severe lockdown. His resignation followed a demand from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for him to account for his time in Ireland following the public outcry once the Golfgate event was revealed by the Irish Examiner. At the time, Mr Hogan did apologise for attending the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden, Co Galway, but always maintained he did not breach Covid-19 quarantine rules. He would later seek to blame Taoiseach Micheal Martin and then-Tanaiste Leo Varadkar for his downfall in 2020. Mr Varadkar and Mr Martin went on a populist wave of indignation in the wake of 'Golfgate' and forced his resignation, Mr Hogan will say in a 2022 interview with RTE's Sean O'Rourke. Following his resignation, Law firm DLA Piper announced that Mr Hogan would join its Brussels office as an adviser as he established a company, Hogan Strategic Advisory Services, which advises a number of major clients. Olivia Kelleher Two men have appeared before a special sitting of Fermoy District Court in Co Cork charged in connection with the seizure of 23.6kg of herbal cannabis with a street value of 472,000 at a house in the Newmarket area of the county earlier this week. Thomas Doody (32) and Gavin Downey (30) were charged with possession and possession for sale or supply of cannabis at Glennamucklagh West in Newmarket, Co Cork on Wednesday. The offences are contrary to Section 3 and Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act. The evidence from gardai was that Mr Doody and Mr Downey were caught red-handed loading boxes containing cannabis when gardai arrived at the scene at 2.30pm on January 28th. Detective Garda Brendan McGarry gave evidence of the arrest, charge and caution of Thomas Doody of Glennamucklagh West. He said that Mr Doody made no reply when the charges were put to him after caution at 12.05pm on Friday. An objection to bail was made. Det Gda McGarry cited the seriousness of the charges, the amount of drugs seized, and the possibility of further charges. He said that the defendant was caught red-handed loading a consignment of cannabis into a vehicle when gardai arrived at the scene with a search warrant. Det Gda McGarry said that further, more serious charges were likely to follow. He told the court that Mr Doody was actively involved in the supply of drugs at the divisional and regional level. He also stated that there was a possibility that the accused man would carry out further offences if he was granted bail in the case. He said during the course of the interview, gardai put telephonic evidence to the accused man, which related to him carrying out drug-related intimidation. Det Gda McGarry said that Mr Doody was a drug user. He refuted suggestions made by defence solicitor, Denis Linehan, that Mr Doody possibly did not know what was in the unmarked boxes which had been delivered to the property. Det Gda McGarry said that the accused man was actively involved in the sale and supply of drugs at a high level. When we arrived at the scene, he was loading the boxes (into the car). He panicked and threw it (a box) in the air. It is clear he knew what was in the box. Mr Linehan asked that bail be granted to his client, who resides in a caravan at the rear of the property where he was arrested. He spoke of the tangible connections of the father of one to the local area. However, Det Gda McGarry told the court that Mr Doody had lived in Germany for a year from 2022 to 2023. He said that he observed the accused man loading a large consignment of cannabis into the boot of a car. He added that the car was ready for road. The court was told that there were no bail conditions that would alleviate garda concerns. Judge Miriam Walsh declined to grant bail in the case arising out of the seriousness of the charges. She remanded Mr Doody in custody to appear before Mallow District Court in Co Cork by video link on February 3rd next. Meanwhile, Garda Anthony Finn gave evidence of the arrest charge and caution of Gavin Downey of Glennamucklagh West. He said that Mr Downey made no reply when the charges were put to him following caution at noon today. Garda Finn said that was an objection to bail arising out of the gravity of the charges and the nature of the evidence facing the accused. He (Downey) was caught red-handed. A substantial quantity of cannabis had been delivered. He was loading cannabis into the boot. He said that the defendant resided at the address where he was caught with the drugs. Garda Finn said that there was highly incriminating telephonic evidence of the involvement of Mr Downey in the sale and supply of drugs. Mr Downey was represented in court by solicitor Charles OConnor. He said that his client was willing to reside outside of the area if he was granted bail in the case. He stated that the father of five was a native of Mallow and could stay there whilst on bail. Judge Walsh refused bail and remanded Mr Downey in custody to appear before Mallow District Court by video link on February 3rd. A 26-year-old woman who was arrested in connection with the investigation was released without charge. A file will be prepared for DPP. The arrests were carried out as part of an intelligence-led operation involving the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), Cork North West Divisional Drugs Unit and Revenue Customs Service. The seized drugs have sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. This seizure forms part of Operation Tara, an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy launched by the Garda Commissioner in 2021. The Minister for Enterprise says the IDA is planning to partner with Laois County Council to deliver an Advanced Planning Permit in Portlaoise. This move would see planning secured for a building on a site in Portlaoise so that the IDA had a shovel-ready site to offer to companies interested in setting up in the county. The plans were revealed following a Parliamentary Question by Galway Sinn Fein TD Louis O'Hara. He asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if his Department, or State bodies including the IDA and EI, can provide any support to address a lack of commercial units within a town or village. In response, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke described the availability of strategic sites as a key differentiator in investment decisions in the regions from both new and existing clients as well as clients of Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs. Through its Property Programme, IDA provides property solutions aligned with evolving client needs. In locations where little or no suitable property solutions are available for FDI, and where market failure has resulted in a lack of private sector-led advanced solutions, IDA Ireland intervenes to provide high-quality and sustainable property solutions aligned with evolving client needs. Further, through their network of nine regional offices Enterprise Ireland works closely with IDA Ireland in identifying potential property solutions for clients based on their identified needs, said Minister Burke. He said the key objective of the Regional Property Programme was to deliver property solutions to clients in advance of demand. This includes collaboration with Local Authorities on advance planning permits and investment in infrastructure projects to meet evolving business needs. He said the IDA is also focussed on acquiring new landbanks and strategic sites to support future projects across all key sectors. The IDAs Regional Building Programme 2025-2029 will consist of 23 projects across 21 locations in eight regions and primarily manufacturing buildings. Over the next five years, IDA will aim to complete six buildings currently under construction, in planning or procurement stages including Cavan, Letterkenny, Drogheda, Mullingar, Longford, and Castlebar. Additionally, he said, six new builds will commence in Dundalk, Limerick, Athlone, Sligo, Galway, and Waterford, subject to successful, planning and procurement phases. New building projects will only commence upon review of currently available IDA properties in these locations. Minister Burke said the IDA will also partner with local authorities and will deliver nine Advance Planning Permits in Letterkenny, Mayo, Tullamore, Mullingar, Kilkenny, Navan, Portlaoise, Tralee and Roscommon and reinstatement of the two expired permits in Ballinasloe and Carrick on Shannon (the Carrick on Shannon permit has been reinstated). A total of 11 partnership projects will be undertaken nationally. READ ALSO: Laois shop to be demolished This targeted planning ensures Ireland remains competitive and meets the changing needs of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland clients. IDA actively promotes available buildings and land in IDA Business Parks and high-quality buildings in private ownership through their network of overseas offices to both IDA and EI clients in accordance with IDAs statutory remit, said Minister Burke. Laois is about to learn if urgent infrastructure projects will be parked again for the next five years. The Northern Orbital ring road in Portlaoise, Portlaoise Courthouse, Mountmellick's double bypass and new Uisce Eireann (Irish Water) infrastructure in Laois are all hanging on the Government's decision to include them in the new National Development Plan 2026 - 2030. The plan is done but all listed projects are not yet revealed. Fine Gael's Cllr Conor Bergin from the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District wants an answer either way. He tabled a motion to the January meeting of Laois County Council, asking the Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers to clarify how much Laois is getting and for what projects. "The review was announced before Christmas, 275 billion in public capital investments, the largest in the state's history. About 102bn for capital spending over the next four years. Some major national projects have been mentioned. The metrolink, the energy and water sectors, but I'm talking specifically about Laois. "We've had many motions calling on the Government to deliver Portlaoise Courthouse, the Mountmellick bypass, the Portlaoise Northern Orbital Route (PNOR) and Irish Water infrastructure. We need to know where it's at. The announcment is short on specifics. "Unless it's in the National Development Plan, it's not going to happen. I worked in Leinster House, the Minister for Justice doesn't have a say. They refer to the OPW, but as with roads unless it's in the NDP, we'll be here for the next four years waiting," Cllr Bergin said. "Traffic will be heavier, there will be more pressure on the courthouse, it's important they come back with an answer, and not a watery response," he said. Cllr John King seconded Cllr Bergin's motion. "The same message should be sent to all our Oireachtas members to raise this in the Dail," he said. Cllr James Kelly also from the same district, said that "the Government knows, the Minister knows" that Laois County Council has sent submissions and made representations calling for the new roads and courthouse. "Harris as Taoiseach had said Mountmellick was to be a priority overall because of the volume of traffic. The new courthouse should have been in, it's a failure of the Government to put it in. The different Ministers and Governments have not delivered. We've been talking about these for years and still nothing, I'm very disappointed," he said. Cllr Tommy Mullingan told Cllr Bergin "they're your party, your friends, they're the ones have all the political say. The decision lies with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. Lobby your TDs," he said, referring to Fine Gael Deputy Willie Aird and Fianna Fail Deputy Sean Fleming. "As a member of a party that's in Government, there's noone more disappointed than me," Cllr Bergin agreed. Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald said that "huge chunks of land" in Portlaoise have to be rezoned to build the PNOR, hand in hand, from the Mountmellick road to the Ridge Road to Borris Road to the Dublin Road. "This is absolutely vital infrastruction especially if we're being asked to zone more housing land by the Government," she said. Cllr Ollie Clooney said "it's not fair, Laois is left behind. I think you have to win an All Ireland to get something good". Fianna Fail's Cllr Paddy Bracken of the same district, lives in Mountmellick and had the final word on the issue. "Read next: 'Laois ring roads cannot continue to be ignored' - TD Brian Stanley tells Minister "It's going on for years and still no progress. We are not in the plan. I'd love to know what money is going to Laois as part of the NDP. I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel for Mountmellick. I am here 22 years, i'ts vital. Our town is on a national secondary route. It's worse the traffic is getting. If you had a Healy Rae or a Lowry, that's what it's down to," Cllr Bracken said. Laois County Council will now request the information from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure, Jack Chambers. A Laois councillor is claiming that some patients are being refused appointments by MIDOC, the HSE approved GP out-of-hours service, leaving them no option but to go to Portlaoise's hospital A&E despite flu warnings. Cllr Marie Tuohy of the Portlaoise Municipal District, spoke about her own negative experience, at the January 2026 meeting of Laois County Council. "You ring them and the first person takes your details and GP. The next stage is you get a call from a nurse to triage you. You may not get a call because if your GP is not on the rota you won't get a call. "I experienced this. My call took 23 minutes. On the day I insisted, I said 'so you are refusing me an appointment, on what basis? Can I speak to the manager or person in charge?'. No. 'Could I have that person's name?'. No. I said 'I'm not letting this go. I am going to go public on this'". "If you are a patient that's immuno compromised, or if you are living alone, or feeling very unwell and haven't the energy to go through a 23 minute call, I just think its a catch 22, the HSE can't have it both ways. They cant advise you to use the out of hours service and stay out of A&E, but then youre being blocked. It's not up to the patient to identify if their GP is part of it," she said. Cllr Tuohy said that she "held on" and got an appointment, and met another patient in the waiting room with a similar issue. "A lady there had a six year very sick with asthma. She had also insisted and got through," Cllr Tuohy said. She said "if you are lucky enough to have a GP, you don't ask are they on the MIDOC rota. They'll say your own GP should have an out of hours service, but that's not up to me. I'm asking for clarity. "A person is trying to do the right thing and avoid the A&E because of the Covid and flu oubreaks, is refused an appointment, it's crazy," she said. Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley supported a motion that Cllr Tuohy tabled. It asks the council through its representatives on the Dublin and Midlands Regional Health Body, to establish what protocols are in operation for the out of hours GP services for Laois, "to ensure patient safety and sufficient access to services such as MIDOC at weekends". Cllr Dwane Stanley also wants a list of what Laois GPs are part of MIDOC. "What an awful experience to go through. I was shocked, particularly at a time when the A&Es are calling for people not to attend, due to the outbreak of flu. If you have a GP you could be waiting two weeks for an appointment," she said. Other councillors at the meeting registered their shock at the refusal. Cllr Paschal McEvoy said "I'm absolutely shocked. I though when you were sick and no doctor is available you could go to MIDOC. If someone vulnerable rings, this could end in awful circumstances," he said. "This is horrific, I was there before Christmas and had no problem. A lot of people can't get a doctor, or be in any doctor's practice. We have a huge problem in Portlaoise that we don't have enough GPS. Jesus you've shocked me," Cllr Paddy Buggy said. Midoc says it provides urgent out-of-hours medical services to patients whose family doctor is part of the Midoc Laois co-op, when their GP surgery is closed. The number is 1800 302 702. Appointments are required and are free for people with medical or GP visit cards, and otherwise cost 70. Anyone with a medical emergency is advised to instead call 112 or 999. Midoc is not for routine medical problems such as repeat prescriptions, test results, medical certificates or employment medicals. HSE RESPONSE The HSE Dublin and Midlands told the the Leinster Express / Laois Live that every GP is obliged to be part of an out of hours on call service. "Under the terms of the General Medical Services (GMS) contract, GMS GPs are required to provide out-of-hours services to patients on their panels. In the Midlands, this service is delivered through the GP Out-of-Hours Service (MIDOC) for counties Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath. "The service operates from 6pm to 8am, Monday to Friday, and on a 24/7 basis at weekends and public holidays. It is managed on behalf of participating GPs in Laois by the SLA provider, SlainteDoc. "While the service model is designed to support participating GPs within each area, patients from outside the region are not refused appointments solely because their GP is not participating in the local rota. Where patients are visiting the area, they are generally accommodated and issued with an appointment. Read next: Planning permission granted for huge new Laois secondary school "In some cases, patients may be advised to contact their own out-of-hours service. This is to ensure continuity of care, as their own GP will automatically receive a copy of the medical notes from any out-of-hours attendance, facilitating appropriate follow-up where required," the spokesperson said. A man caught with close to 400,000 of cannabis in Athy, Co Kildare will serve two and a half years in prison, after the Court of Appeal upheld the States argument that the original fully suspended sentence imposed was unduly lenient. Jason Tuthill (51) lowered his head and wept as Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy on Wednesday, January 28 quashed his original sentence of three years fully suspended and resentenced him to five years with the final two and a half years suspended. Ms Justice Kennedy said that while there were mitigating factors in the case, including the fact that Tuthill and his family had been threatened after he failed to pay back a debt, the court did not accept this justified the sentencing judge reducing the headline sentence of eight years to three years before fully suspending it. Tuthill, of Barrowhouse, on the Kildare / Laois border, was convicted under Section 15a of the Misuse of Drugs Act after pleading guilty to having 17kgs of cannabis and three kilos of cannabis herb at Athy Business Campus on April 27, 2023. He was sentenced at Naas Courthouse by Judge Terrence OSullivan in May last year to three years fully suspended. In launching an appeal against the undue leniency of this sentence, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Daniel Boland BL, said there was nothing exceptional about the mitigating factors in this case. However, he said Judge O'Sullivan had suspended the sentence in its entirety for five years, which the DPP submitted was unduly lenient. Mr Boland said there had been very good testimonials handed in on behalf of Tuthill, including one from a garda, but counsel submitted that these were not impressive enough to justify the reduction. Mr Boland also acknowledged that the respondent had entered an early guilty plea, but he pointed out that Tuthill was caught red-handed" with the drugs. While the respondent had no previous convictions, Mr Boland said that, nevertheless, the reduction from the headline sentence of eight to three years seemed enormous. Mr Boland said that this massive reduction was unwarranted, adding that the respondent should be serving a custodial sentence as he was caught with 400,000 of drugs. Counsel for the respondent, Damien Colgan SC, said that the sentencing judge had decided the matter based on the circumstances of Tuthills own life. Counsel said that the respondent previously had a company before he fell on hard times during Covid, and then a person came with an offer for him. To this, Ms Justice Kennedy said that this case stemmed from the appellants own actions, which featured a massive error of judgement on his part. READ NEXT: PHOTOS: Laois town left flooded in Storm Chandra aftermath Mr Colgan said that serious threats had been made against Tuthill, so there was room for the sentencing judge to deviate from the mandatory minimum sentence. Counsel said that the respondent had fully cooperated and made full admissions to the gardai. He said that the person who made threats against Tuthill was aware of his workplace and his wifes workplace, so the respondent was terrified of this person. Mr Colgan said that while the respondent did know that a parcel was coming containing an illegal substance, he didnt know about the volume of the drugs. In delivering the courts judgement, Ms Justice Kennedy noted that this case involved 20 kilos of cannabis worth an estimated 399,470. She said that it was clear that the value of the drugs was considerable, while the evidence placed Tuthill at the very low level of culpability. Ms Justice Kennedy said that the court considered the reduction from the headline sentence of eight years to three to be excessive, adding that while there was mitigation in this case, it did not justify such a reduction. Ruling that it was an error in principle for the sentencing judge to fully suspend the sentence due to a desirability to allow Tuthill to continue in the community, Ms Justice Kennedy said the court would quash the sentence and resentence the respondent. Accordingly, the court set a headline sentence of eight years, reduced to five years, with the final two and a half years of that sentence suspended. For the full year 2025, CEO Rob Mionis said the company delivered revenue of $12.4 billion and adjusted EPS of $6.05, representing growth of 28% and 56%, respectively. Adjusted operating margin was 7.5%, which management said reflected the second consecutive year of 100 basis points of improvement, driven by AI-related demand for data center technologies, operational execution, and operating leverage. Additional quarterly metrics highlighted on the call included adjusted gross margin of 11.3% (up 30 basis points), an adjusted effective tax rate of 19%, and adjusted return on invested capital (ROIC) of 43%, up 14 percentage points versus the prior year. For the fourth quarter, Celestica posted revenue of $3.65 billion, up 44% year over year and above the high end of its guidance range. Non-GAAP operating margin was 7.7%, up 90 basis points, and adjusted EPS was $1.89, up $0.78, or 70%, also exceeding the top end of guidance. Celestica (NYSE:CLS) reported what executives called very strong fourth-quarter results for fiscal 2025, driven primarily by growth in its Connectivity & Cloud Solutions (CCS) segment across communications and enterprise end markets. Management said both revenue and adjusted earnings per share exceeded the high end of the companys guidance, while adjusted operating margin of 7.7% marked the strongest performance in company history. Management announced a major capacity build-out and a sharp capex increase to about $1 billion in 2026 (from $201 million in 2025) to expand sites in Texas, Thailand and elsewhere, and raised 2026 guidance to $17 billion revenue and $8.75 adjusted EPS while maintaining a $500 million free cash flow target. Growth was driven by the Connectivity & Cloud Solutions (CCS) segment, which rose 64% to $2.86 billion (78% of revenue) on 800G networking ramps and AI/ML compute programs with hyperscalers, while Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS) declined 1% to $795 million. Celestica reported a "very strong" Q4 FY2025 with revenue of $3.65 billion (+44% YoY), adjusted EPS of $1.89 (+70%), and a company-record adjusted operating margin of 7.7% , all above the high end of guidance. Story Continues Chief Financial Officer Mandeep Chawla said CCS revenue in the quarter rose 64% to $2.86 billion and represented 78% of total company revenue. Growth was driven by very solid performance in both communications and enterprise end markets. Communications end market: Revenue increased 79%, above guidance for high-60s% growth, primarily driven by demand and ramping programs for 800G networking switches across the companys largest hyperscaler customers. Enterprise end market: Revenue increased 33%, above guidance for a low-20s% increase, driven by an accelerating ramp of a next-generation AI/ML compute program with a large hyperscaler customer. HPS business: Generated $1.4 billion of revenue, up 72% and representing 38% of total company revenue, driven by ramping volumes in 800G switch programs with multiple hyperscaler customers. By contrast, revenue in the Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS) segment was $795 million, down 1% and in line with expectations for a low-single-digit decline. Chawla attributed the decline to lower volumes in the capital equipment business and previously communicated portfolio reshaping in aerospace and defense, partially offset by stronger demand in other end markets. ATS represented 22% of total revenue for the quarter. Meta Soars After-Hours, Forecasting Fastest Growth Since 2021 Margins improved in both segments. ATS segment margin was 5.3%, up 70 basis points, which management tied primarily to improved profitability in aerospace and defense. CCS segment margin was 8.4%, up 50 basis points, attributed to operating leverage. Capital spending ramps sharply as bookings and visibility improve One of the most significant updates from the call was Celesticas plan to substantially increase capital expenditures in 2026 and 2027. Chawla said that since the companys Investor and Analyst Day in October, Celestica has continued long-term capacity planning discussions with key CCS customers. The company now expects 2026 capex of approximately $1 billion, or about 6% of its current annual revenue outlook, compared with $201 million in total capex during 2025 (1.6% of revenue). Management described the increased investment as a response to record bookings, accelerating growth in existing engagements, and improved demand visibility with hyperscaler customers. The plan includes capacity additions at existing sites, customer-driven investments in the U.S., and upgrades to manufacturing capabilities including power. Chawla detailed several location-specific initiatives, including major investments in Texas and Thailand. In Texas, Celestica is expanding its Richardson campus and building a new site in Fort Worth, adding more than 700,000 square feet with expanded power availability, expected to come online in 2027. The company also plans to establish a new HPS design center in Austin. In Thailand, Celestica is adding more than 1,000,000 square feet of footprint and upgrading capabilities including expanded power, advanced liquid cooling manufacturing, and testing, with new capacity expected toward the end of 2026 and into 2027. The company also cited upgrades and retooling in other locations, including Mexico and Japan, and announced plans for a new HPS design center in Taiwan. Executives emphasized that the capex program is based on booked business. In response to questions about risk management, Mionis said the build-out supports programs already in development and validation, with very little risk in those programs materializing. Chawla said the company expects to fully support the increase in capex through operating cash flow, maintaining a full-year free cash flow outlook of $500 million. 2026 guidance raised; Q1 outlook calls for continued acceleration Celestica issued guidance for the first quarter of 2026 and raised its full-year 2026 outlook. For Q1, the company projects revenue of $3.85 billion to $4.15 billion, implying 51% growth at the midpoint. Adjusted EPS is expected to be $1.95 to $2.15, representing 71% growth at the midpoint. Non-GAAP operating margin is expected to be 7.8% at the midpoint, up 70 basis points, with an adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 21%. For the full year 2026, Mionis said Celestica is raising its outlook to $17 billion in revenue and $8.75 in adjusted EPS, representing year-over-year growth of 37% and 45%, respectively. The company maintained its free cash flow outlook of $500 million. During Q&A, management addressed investor questions regarding implied growth deceleration later in the year. Chawla said customer forecasts for 2026 are higher than the $17 billion guidance, but the company is taking a pragmatic approach beyond the next couple of quarters due to supply considerations and macro uncertainties, adding that Celestica is working towards a higher number and will update as the year progresses. Networking roadmap and hyperscaler programs Management repeatedly pointed to demand from hyperscalers for networking and AI compute systems. Mionis said CCS segment revenue is expected to grow approximately 50% for full-year 2026, supported by communications demand for 800G programs, highly resilient 400G volumes, and expected mass production ramps for initial 1.6T switching programs in the latter part of the year. The company also announced it has secured a design and manufacturing award for a 1.6T networking switch platform with a third hyperscaler customer, with production expected to begin in 2027 and design work already underway. In another Q&A exchange, management said there are 10 active 1.6T programs in the pipeline, with about five expected to start ramping in the back half of 2026 and into 2027. Mionis also spoke about Celesticas long-standing relationship with Google, describing the company as a preferred manufacturing partner for Googles TPU systems and saying the partnership is stronger or more integrated than ever. Executives clarified that Celestica is not sole-sourced on TPU programs, noting hyperscalers typically maintain a second source for business continuity, but said Celestica remains a primary source and expects to support increased demand through Googles supply chain. Looking ahead, management said customer visibility is extending into 2027 and, for some customers, into 2028, with Celestica increasingly viewed less as a supply chain partner and more as a technology leader. About Celestica (NYSE:CLS) Celestica Inc is a multinational electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain solutions to original equipment manufacturers across a range of industries. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Celestica works with customers to develop and produce complex electronic and electro-mechanical products, integrating activities from product design and prototyping through high-volume assembly, testing and final system integration. The company's service offering typically includes product engineering and design support, printed circuit board assembly, box-build and systems assembly, automated test and inspection, aftermarket repair and refurbishment, and end-to-end supply chain and logistics management. The article "Celestica Q4 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. Beginning January 31 at 09:00 Baku time, the U.S. federal government has partially shut down due to a lack of funding. Such shutdownscommonly referred to as shutdowns in the United Statesoccur intermittently when Democrats and Republicans in Congress fail to reach an agreement on the federal budget. Azernews reports that the U.S. Senate on January 30 approved a package of appropriations bills to fund most federal agencies through the end of the fiscal year, which concludes on September 30. The legislation covers key institutions, including the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health, among others. However, at the request of Democratic lawmakers, funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was removed from the package. As a result, the bills passed by the Senate must also be approved by the House of Representatives before being sent to President Donald Trump for signature. The House is scheduled to resume work on February 2. If lawmakers approve the funding bills that day and the president signs them promptly, the shutdown could be resolved as early as February 2. Nonetheless, the possibility of further delays cannot be ruled out. Democratic lawmakers have called for a reassessment of DHS funding following the death of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who was fatally shot by a border service officer. Under the current proposal, DHS funding would be extended at existing levels for two weeks, while negotiations continue over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It is worth recalling that on November 12, 2025, President Trump signed legislation extending federal government funding through January 30, bringing an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history on its 43rd day. Government operations had been halted on October 1 due to the absence of funding, following a failure by the ruling Republican Party and opposition Democrats to reach consensus in Congress, including over certain healthcare-related spending provisions. Both sides accused each other of triggering the shutdown and prolonging it for political purposes. The share price of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) surged by 7.47% between January 22 and January 29, 2026, putting it among the Energy Stocks that Gained the Most This Week. Cenovus Energy (CVE) Considers Selling Conventional Assets in Alberta Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) is an integrated energy company with oil and natural gas production operations in Canada and the Asia Pacific region, and upgrading, refining, and marketing operations in Canada and the United States. A Reuters report on January 21 revealed that Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) is considering divesting its conventional oil and gas assets in the Deep Basin of Alberta, as the company looks to reduce debt following its C$8.5 billion acquisition of MEG Energy in November 2025. Cenovus has recently contacted potential buyers to gauge interest in the assets, which are expected to sell for approximately C$3 billion ($2.17 billion). However, the plans are not final yet, and the company may ultimately decide to retain the said assets. The strategic move comes as Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) sharpens its focus on its core oil sands business, especially after its takeover of MEG, which added the highly coveted Christina Lake project to its portfolio. Last month, the company also revealed plans to invest C$3.6 billion in its oil sands business this year, up from around C$2.8 billion allocated in the 2025 budget. Moreover, the divestment will allow Cenovus to strengthen its balance sheet after its net debt soared to around C$10.7 billion following the MEG acquisition. The company is aiming to bring its net debt down to C$4 billion over time. Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) was recently included in our list of the 10 Best Natural Gas Stocks to Buy Right Now. While we acknowledge the potential of CVE as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 High Yield Utility Stocks to Buy in 2026 and 10 Best American Oil and Gas Stocks to Buy Disclosure: None. AN Irishman living near London has been united with a Mountcollins woodcarver who has produced a unique frame for his home - thanks to Limerick Live! Larry Byrne fell in love with a personalised fireplace brought by his friend and former housemate Barbara Duggan, who is from Kilmallock, and wanted one made for himself. Unfortunately, Barbara could not remember where she had acquired it. READ MORE: Invisalign Open Day coming to Bowe Dental Foynes this February So, in October 2024, Limerick Live ran an article on Larrys search for the designer. Several people read the article you did. All of a sudden, people started contacting me. I received a couple of emails, that they knew the particular gentleman. Then all of a sudden, he called me, Larry explained. That gentleman is Jack Curtin of Mountcollins, who has been carving wood for Limerick people for generations. Larry asked for two fireplaces - one bearing his surname of Byrne, another reading cead mile failte. He did such a wonderful job. I had to wait several months because I knew they had a lot of work going on. He is very very busy, said the Londoner, whose family hail from Wicklow and Wexford. I was delighted to receive them. When I look at them, I realise how unique they are. I was so overwhelmed, because I know how much work and dedication has gone into them. When you light them up, it is so so different. It always caught my eye when I was in my friend's house, he said. Larry is planning to erect one of the fireplace frames in the hallway of his home in Windsor, a town near London. The other one will appear in his sitting room-cum-dining room. Larry is also delighted as he has been able to make a connection with the designer Jack himself. Weve become friends. Ive rang him a few times and had a chat with him. Ive chatted with his wife and son. They are delighted, he said. He has also managed to reconnect with old friends, as a consequence of the article on this website. I had friends I worked on the railways with, contact me that Id lost contact with, who had seen the story and my picture - straight away they recognised me and got in touch with me, he smiled. A MAN - who broke into a GAA clubhouse to take a shower - has admitted to stealing thousands of euro worth of cash and damaging property during several burglary offences. Lukasz Porowinski, aged 42, who is currently in custody, has pleaded guilty to six counts of burglary - all at locations in Limerick. The Polish man - who has been in the country ten years - stole 2,050 from Curragower Pub in the citys Medieval Quarter on October 21, 2024. Limerick Circuit Court heard he also stole an e-scooter from a member of staff at Icon nightclub on November 28, 2024 and stole the till from Eden medical centre on August 9, 2025. At Eden cosmetic centre, gardai found the man with a "burglary tool-kit". READ MORE: An Garda Siochana issue update on the four members found not guilty at Limerick trial Porowinski also broke into Claughaun GAA, Clubhouse Singland, on the Dublin Road Road, and Bua Barbers on Henry Street. The court heard the defendant caused 1,500 worth of damage to the doors at Claughaun GAA clubhouse when he broke in to take a shower on July 3, 2025. Confirming the facts of the case with Garda Conor Staunton, prosecuting barrister John OSullivan, outlined that none of the stolen money was recovered. There was no mention during the proceedings of damages or compensation being paid. It emerged during the garda investigation that Mr Porowinski committed the burglary at the Curragower Pub due to a perceived grievance he had with the manager. During interviews with gardai, it emerged the grievance was unfounded and had an element of fantasy. Barrister Elaine Davern Wiseman said in mitigation that Mr Porowinski has been in ill health and that he suffers from diabetes and depression. She added that he stated he wished to be arrested in his interview with gardai. Ms Wiseman said his daughter committed suicide and it had an ill effect on him and that the man wishes to apologise for his very poor choices Judge Colin Daly stated: I will take these matters into consideration". He adjourned the case for sentencing. -Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme AP Houston-based Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) could triple the amount of Venezuelan oil it processes at its U.S. refineries, executives said Jan. 30. Houstons oil and gas companies have been considering investing in or re-entering Venezuela since the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month. On Jan. 29, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a general license for oil companies to trade Venezuelan oil, as long as any contracts in the country are governed by U.S. laws and as long as deals arent made with entities from Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba or China. The license doesnt mention upstream oil and gas production, but its a key step toward making business in Venezuela more feasible. During his companys earnings call on Jan. 30, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth reiterated the comments Vice Chair Mark Nelson made in a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump. Continue reading this story on the Houston Business Journal's website. This story came to us through our partnership with the Houston Business Journal. Keep up with the latest Houston business headlines here. THE Office of Public Works (OPW) and Limerick City and County Council has announced the progression of the 12 million Castleconnell Flood Relief Scheme to detailed design and procurement stage, following An Coimisiun Pleanalas approval of planning permission. Once complete, this scheme will provide comprehensive flood defences for Castleconnell. Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Minister Moran said: I am very pleased to announce that commencing the detailed design for the 12m Castleconnell Flood Relief Scheme will allow for the appointment of contractors in 2027. This significant milestone will allow us to protect homes and properties identified as being at risk in the area, giving peace of mind to the local residents. The approved scheme, developed by Limerick Council in partnership with the OPW and designed by JBA Consulting & Egis Ireland Ltd (formerly JB Barry & Partners), will deliver a suite of flood defences for the village, including flood walls and embankments alongside the River Shannon, demountable flood barriers, targeted road-raising, culvert upgrades and drainage improvements. These measures will protect approximately 50 properties identified as being at risk of flooding. READ MORE: Funding for cross-border tourism initiative to link Limerick with Cavan and Fermanagh Mayor of Limerick, John Moran, welcomed the progress, saying: The grant of planning consent from An Coimisuin Pleanala means we can now move forward with confidence, as we turn ambition and plans for Castleconnell into action and delivery. This is a critical milestone in delivering long-term protection for Castleconnell and ensuring the community is better prepared for extreme weather events. Priomh Chomhairleoir, Cllr Catherine Slattery added: This is genuinely welcome news for Castleconnell. This scheme will reduce the risk to homes, safeguard local jobs and protect the heart of the village so that Castleconnell can thrive with greater resilience. The Castleconnell Flood Relief Scheme is now advancing to the landowner agreement, detailed design and procurement stage. Limerick Council, in partnership with the OPW and appointed engineering consultants, will focus on fulfilling all conditions associated with planning approval to ensure the timely progression of the project. Director General of Limerick City and County Council, Dr Pat Daly commented: This is a significant step forward for this vital project. It allows us to advance to detailed design and procurement, ensuring the scheme is delivered to the highest environmental and engineering standards. We remain committed to working closely with the OPW and our project partners to bring this vital project to fruition. Ongoing communication and engagement with landowners and the Castleconnell community will be maintained to keep all stakeholders informed throughout the process. THE CHAIR of the ICMSA Livestock committee, Michael OConnell, said farmers will be reassured following on from Mondays bluetongue stakeholders meeting. It was confirmed on Saturday, January 24, an outbreak of bluetongue was detected in County Wexford. We are happy with the assurances given to Irish farmers that all efforts are being made to maintain live trade into Europe and that all parties involved are working together to prioritise the needs of Irish farmers. It is particularly encouraging that our main markets for the coming months all remain open. I would just say that farmers need a simple guide to the potential symptoms of Bluetongue and the sooner thats circulated the better it will be, said Mr OConnell. READ NEXT: Milk producers chairman discusses drastic collapse of milk prices at Limerick dinner dance He continued: The department assured us that there is a minimal possibility of the virus spreading as we are completely outside the vector period for midge activity due to the average temperatures remaining well below ambient temperature. On the basis of that, the department has decided that there is no necessity for restriction zones in the area, and we must hope that this is an isolated case and trade within marts, slaughter and live exports into Europe are not affected. Empathising with the farm family affected, Mr OConnell stated that each and every farmer must be vigilant and notify the relevant authorities if they have any suspicions about animals on their farm. A COMMUNITY activist who has helped generations of children from the citys southside into third-level education has been honoured with a special prize. Kay Flanagan has become the very first recipient of the Extra Mile award, which has been put in place to recognise the incredible people locally who go above and beyond the call of duty. The award is to be given on a monthly basis by Limerick Treaty Suicide Prevention, the group which carries out riverside patrols and provides support to those who may be in distress. WATCH: Taoiseach Micheal Martin calls for review of events leading to Limerick garda trial Chairperson Matt Collins said the award has been created to recognise the incredible people in our communities who quietly go above and beyond for others, often without any recognition or thanks. He added Kay, who is from Prospect and now living in Dooradoyle, truly embodies the spirit of this award. For the last 28 years, she has worked tirelessly to help young people access third-level education and vital resources, consistently going above and beyond to support, encourage and advocate for those who need it the most, Matt said. Her dedication, compassion and unwavering commitment have made a lasting difference to countless lives in our community. Kay works largely in the Weston area, and the award was given to her at the Garryglass House community centre. She was not expecting to receive the award, believing Treaty Suicide Prevention volunteers were there to give a talk on mental health. Instead, she was presented with a cut-glass trophy and a bunch of flowers from the team. This is unbelievable, seriously, Kay exclaimed. It has been a pleasure working here. Its great to do a job you love doing. Everyone says to me how much I do for everyone. No - Im just providing a springboard, she said. Asked how she felt to get the award, she said: Its surreal. Its absolutely surreal. There was no need to do it! Im doing what I love doing! She was joined in Garryglass House by her friends and family, who were all in on the plan to surprise her! As well as helping youngsters with applications for third-level - including giving them support in writing personal statements - Kay has also put together a bursary scheme. Its a small fund to help youngsters with the basics of starting university, paying for transport and books among other practical measures. Matt, who has known Kay all his life said: She deserves this. When we were talking about starting up this award, we were aware of an awful lot of people who do so much work and they get forgotten about. So we decided in the group that we needed to start recognising them. Im very proud to get the ball rolling with her. Champions University of Limerick eventually pulled clear of a wasteful University of College Cork to progress to a fifth Fitzgibbon Cup semi-final in as many seasons. The winning effort was thanks to a spread of Limerick talent, as the competitions favourites faced their sternest test to date. UCC, who enjoyed a mixed group phase, finished this contest at Maguires Field in UL with just thirteen men, owing to late red cards to Corks Eoin Downey and sub Michael Mullaney. While no doubt frustrating, UL were virtually over the winning line at this stage as the niggle in the contest spilled over. Downey was sent off for interfering with the helmet of Colin Coughlan, the UL captain, while Mullaney also received a straight red card for a forceful challenge on Ciarmhac Smyth, who hobbled off as a result READ NEXT: PICTURES: Supporters cheer on Limerick's Mary Immaculate College against UCD in Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-final Brian Ryans side had scoring contributions from Darragh McCarthy, Diarmuid Stritch and Adam Screeney. Late points from Doons Adam English, Fintan Fitzgerald of Mungret St. Pauls and the industrious Aidan OConnor, of Ballybrown, sealed the victory. Cathal ONeill was a notable absentee for this star studded UL side, but they were far too potent even without his influence. Click 'Next' or 'Previous' for more pictures A man in his 50s has died following an assault in Dublin. Two women have been taken to hospital following the incident on Foster Terrace in the early hours of Saturday. Shortly before 1.30am gardai and emergency services responded to reports of an assault. The man was discovered with serious injuries and was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene. A female in her 60s was taken to hospital for treatment for non-life threatening injures and is awaiting discharge. A second female in her 60s was taken to hospital for treatment for serious but non-life threatening injures. The scene on Foster Terrace and a nearby property have been preserved for forensic examination by the Garda Technical Bureau. The coroner and the Office of the State Pathologist have been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course. A Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) has been appointed to lead the investigation and an incident room has been established at Mountjoy Garda Station. No arrests have been made. Investigating gardai are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward. Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam said he was deeply saddened to learn of the incident. He said: My thoughts are with those injured, and with the family and loved ones of the deceased at this extremely difficult time. The community in Ballybough is in shock, and I would appeal to anyone who may have information to contact An Garda Siochana to assist with their ongoing investigation. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. The upcoming Union Budget 2026, should offer respite to debt mutual funds, relieve the capital gains tax burden to assist with long-term retail investor participation, Indian mutual funds have emphasised through their wish list. In lieu of capital gains taxation hit to mutual fund investors on multiple fronts, the Association of Mutual Funds (AMFI) has requested for restoration of long-term capital gains tax with indexation benefit to assist and encourage investors to stay invested for a longer duration. Currently, the indexation benefit has been discontinued and all investment gains after the holding period of 1 year face a capital gains tax of 12.5%. As a result, the debt mutual funds category is bleeding money and deterring long-term participation in fixed income after the decision to tax gains from debt mutual funds at the slab rate irrespective of the holding period. Also Read | How LTCG tax limit, exclusion from 87A rebate hurt salaried MF investors Debt remains a vital investment class for conservative investors who depend on it for income and relative stability eg. senior citizens. Channelling Retirement savings into fixed income is key to ensure senior citizens and retirees investment requirements can be suitably met, states the mutual fund trade body in its Budget recommendations to the Finance Ministry in 2026. Industry experts agree that the tax rationalisation would revive the category of safer investments of debt funds, compared to equity assets, which have a higher risk. Additional, leeway in the capital gains tax limit needs to be considered. Rational tax treatment for debt funds is needed apart from raising the equity long-term capital gains exemption limit from Rs.1.25 lakhs in a year, says Hemant Rustagi of mutual-fund distribution firm Wiseinvest. A request has been officially made to enhance the threshold of capital gains to 2 lakh from 1.25 lakh currently. Capital Gains Tax leeway The investor stickiness in mutual funds is tied to the taxation rate, which is reducing to 12-24 months as the long-term capital gains are now applicable after the holding period of 1 year. The industry has proposed that the long-term capital gains tax be levied at 12.5% for funds redeemed between 1-3 years and the tax on gains be exempted for investments held for more than 5 years. Currently due to the standard rate of tax post holding period of 12 months / 24 months as the case may be, most investors redeem their investments after the said period, mentions one among the 27Budget suggestions of AMFI. The industry has also requested that tax exemption be granted to switches from direct plan to regular or even switches to rebalance the portfolio from one scheme. This is in line with switches under the competitive category of Unit-Linked Insurance Plans, where switches from one fund to another are exempt from taxes. There is disparity between tax treatment on switching of investment within a Mutual Fund scheme and within a ULIP of Insurance companies, although both MF schemes and ULIPs invest in securities and are investment products, states AMFI. This leads to tremendous capital loss for mutual fund investors. As Rustagi says, There shouldnt be capital tax on intra-scheme switches as well as switches effected to rebalance the portfolio within funds considered as equity funds for taxation purpose. Scheme winding up Similarly, when a scheme is wound up due to fewer investors or a category of funds being obsolete, again investors need to pay capital gains tax, even though they need to forcefully move to another fund. The same needs to be removed as it is an involuntary switch from one fund to another. Tax-saving Debt Mutual Funds Currently retail investors have no incentive to save in long-term fixed-income products apart from Provident Fund accounts. The mutual fund industry has requested that the fresh Debt-Linked Savings Scheme (DLSS) with a 5-year lock-in and a separate deduction beyond the Section 80C baset be introduced to augment the fixed income portfolio of retail investors. Additionally, another mutual fund managed voluntary retirement scheme (MF-VRA) plan be introduced for social security benefits, which would invest as per the lifecycle of an individual and can be linked to the employer-associated retirement benefits. Additional tax deductions or exemptions can be considered to incentivize individuals to contribute to their MF-VRA accounts, suggests AMFI. Rebate While the retail investors who do not have any income of upto 12 lakh need not pay any income tax, salaried middle-class individuals earning less than 12 lakh to end up paying 12.5-20% tax as they arent granted the income tax rebate of 60,000, due to the status of special income from capital gains from financial instruments. If the total income (including such gains) does not exceed 12 lakh, the rebate should be offered to middle-class taxpayers, who diversify their income through capital market investments ensuring equitable treatment across income sources, suggests AMFI. Simplifying the tax treatment across different asset classes will reduce the "tax complexity" that often scares away small-town investors, says Madhu Lunawat, Founder, MD and CEO, The Wealth Company Mutual Fund. Also Read | Budget 2026 sectoral expectations: Manufacturers anticipate reform measures International investments It is observed that frequently during the year fund houses need to pause investments into funds that assist investors to invest in international stock markets through the mutual fund route due to exhaustion of the $7 billion investment window limit set by the Reserve Bank of India. Aditya Agarwal, Co-Founder of wealth management platform, Wealthy.in, says, When Indian global mutual funds stop accepting fresh investments after nearing the industry-wide overseas investment cap, investors resort to the direct investment route, which could be risky for retail investors. Hence, an expansion of the overall overseas investment window should be considered to help individuals diversify geographical risk. Multiples of 500 in ELSS Fund houses face technical issues when tax-saving mutual funds need to adhere to limits of multiple of 500. Investors arent aware of these limits and hence some mutual funds are compelled to reject applications or partially refund the excess amount, leading to investors inconvenience and increased operational work for fund houses. The industry body has requested that investments in Equity Linked Savings Scheme be permitted of any amount, subject to a minimum of 500. Surcharge rate cap Non-resident Indians (NRIs) too face difficulties in tax compliance due to no standardisation with respect to surcharge on TDS. The industry body has requested for a uniform rate of surcharge at 10% on TDS levied on dividend and capital gains from redemptions instead of slab wise rate. Similarly, income distribution by a mutual fund to regular investors may be subject to a higher surcharge rate of 37% (as it is applicable based on the income slab). The industry has also demanded that surcharge be capped at 15% when mutual funds distribute income, to bring parity between dividends by corporates and income distribution by mutual funds. Additionally, the Association has demanded extension of the TDS threshold for income distribution to 50,000 from 10,000, as it causes hardships to individuals in lower income bracket, who have to claim refunds after filing tax returns. STT Removal To avoid double taxation to retail investors, the mutual funds association has requested for a relief from securities transaction tax (STT) as long-term capital gains tax has been introduced on mutual fund units. Investors have to pay STT on the transaction value and again need to pay capital gains tax on the gain realized on the sale transaction, which acts as a barrier for a new investor to invest in mutual funds, says AMFI. The Mumbai-based drugmaker said its total sales rose 15.1% year-on-year to 15,469 crore. Total revenue from operations rose 13.4% YoY to 15,520.5 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company saw steady revenue growth in its branded business in India and emerging markets as well as in global innovative sales, offsetting the decline in sales of Revlimid. A Bloomberg poll had pegged the drugmakers revenue to grow to 14,792 crore with profit after tax at 3,035 crore for the quarter. The pharmaceutical company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) for the quarter was 4,948.5 crore, up 23.4%, while the margin was 31.9%, up from 29.3% a year ago. Our results this quarter demonstrate wellrounded growth across all businesses, prominently led by our Branded businesses in India, Emerging Markets and Global Innovative Medicines. Our innovative product offering has expanded further with the launch of Unloxcyt in the US and the introduction of Ilumya in India," Kirti Ganorkar, managing director, said in a statement. Region-wise sales Sun Pharmas US generic sales were at $477 million, marginally up by 0.6% YoY. Innovative medicines continued to grow, offsetting the decline in generics business, the company said. US sales accounted for approximately 27.5% of total consolidated sales. Its global innovative medicine sales were at $423 million for Q3FY26, which included a milestone income of $55 million. Ex-milestone, global innovative medicine sales were up 13.2% and accounted for 21.2% of sales. Sun Pharma's innovative sales outpaced generic sales in the US for the first time in the September quarter, pointing to the company's shift in focus towards novel drugs. There is uncertainty around the potential effect of the most-favoured nation (MFN) drug pricing norms being enforced in the US. Under the MFN drug pricing norms, drug manufacturers are required to match the lowest price offered for a drug in other developed countries, and is part of the Trump administrations push to localise and make healthcare cheaper for Americans. In December, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed pricing initiatives to incorporate MFN pricing into Medicare Parts B and D programs. If finalized, manufacturers will have to pay additional mandatory rebates on drugs covered under these programs. The companys management told investors in a post-earnings call on Saturday that it would be speculative to comment on the impact of the proposed models, but it is working on all possible alternatives to mitigate any potential impact. Sun Pharma has not announced any potential impact yet. Also Read | Sun Pharma gets nod to make generic Wegovy Its India sales grew 16.2% to 4,999 crore, outpacing the growth of the overall Indian pharmaceutical market. India sales accounted for 32.3% of overall sales. Suns market share in India increased from 8.1% to 8.4% as per Pharmarack's MAT December 2025 report. Earlier this month, Sun Pharma announced that it had received approval from the central regulator to launch semaglutide for weight management and plans to launch it once its patent expires in March. Also Read | Piramal Pharma points to early recovery signs even as losses widen India-US trade deal: Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the trade deal between the America and India is moving towards closure. We are actively engaged. We never do any deal with a deadline in mind, Goyal told Hindustan Times.. He further described the anticipated arrangement as "positive" and a "good deal." Trade discussions between New Delhi and Washington have progressed since early last year, though obstacle emerged in August when US President Donald Trump imposed a substantial 50% tariff on Indian imports. Goyal stated that when both sides are satisfied, the date will be announced. The Commerce Minister further said: I dont think there are any sticky issues left to be resolved. We can now look at moving towards closure. Close Friend During the Davos gathering on January 21, President Trump voiced optimism regarding the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). He asserted that both nations would secure a strong outcome while commending Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a close friend and an esteemed statesman. These remarks followed Trumps presentation at the World Economic Forums 56th Annual Meeting. "I have great respect for your Prime Minister. He's a fantastic man and a friend of mine, and we are going to have a good deal," Trump said. The BTA, officially outlined in February following high-level mandates from both governments, aims to surge mutual trade from todays $191 billion to a target of $500 billion by 2030. These negotiations were initially introduced during Modi's trip to Washington in February 2025. Concurrently, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer lauded the India-EU commercial treaty on Tuesday, suggesting India secured highly favorable terms. On the deals with the UK and EU, Goyal said: The UK one was a fantastic deal. This EU FTA is also equally good. However, very rarely can you just emulate one deal because the conditions, economy size, and interests of each country matter. Each deal stands on its own legs. On January 12, Sergio Gor, the US envoy to India, emphasized that no country possesses more strategic value to Washington than India, noting that both administrations are striving to conclude a major trade accord. Genuine alliances may face friction, yet they eventually reach a consensus, Gor noted, citing the personal bond between Modi and Trump. Real friends can disagree but always resolve their differences in the end, Gor said. "India is the world's largest nation. So it's not an easy task to get this across the finish line, but we are determined to get there," Gor said. Nobel laureate economist Abhijit Banerjee has warned that political polarisation in India is eroding transparency and making the country a "mystery" to global investors, even as growth numbers remain robust. In an interview with news agency PTI, Banerjee said from an economic standpoint, the most critical issues confronting the country today were media freedom and transparency, arguing that investors ultimately cared about data credibility rather than political rhetoric. "I think India is going through a politically polarised phase in the sense that there are many conflicts that have existed for a long time, and we have to decide, as a nation, to what extent we want to be seen as open and reliable. I think the real issues have to do with media freedom," he said. Also Read | Budget 2026 Expectations LIVE: FM Sitharaman to give Budget speech tomorrow Banerjee's remarks come a day before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Union Budget 2026 in the Parliament. "The most important issues are media freedom and transparency. Do we really know what the numbers are? That's what investors care about," Banerjee said. While India has continued to attract foreign investment, he described the inflows as unstable and highly sensitive to uncertainty. "We have done reasonably well on foreign investment, but it's flighty. The rupee is depreciating because money isn't coming in fast enough," he said, linking currency weakness to the absence of sustained capital inflows. Banerjee cautioned that policy unpredictability, combined with internal polarisation, was undermining the country's credibility as a long-term investment destination. "People need to know what the policy rules are. Will there be shifts in attitude towards specific companies?" he said. "Unless we have a very predictable and transparent policy regime and a transparent media, India will remain a mystery to the world," he added. Banerjee said if India wanted to deepen its capital markets and attract long-term global capital, transparency had to be institutional rather than episodic. "I think our internal polarisation is undermining our commitment to transparency. And that, I think, is the key point. If we want to be the kind of place where people always want to invest, we need transparency at all levels," the 64-year-old economist said. On whether identity politics had overtaken growth priorities, Banerjee said such politics existed globally, including in the United States, but questioned whether the country's leadership had sufficiently thought through the practical roadmap to development. "The government is serious about development, but it hasn't thought enough about what it would actually take," he said. "What is the roadmap, how to get everybody a really high-quality education, how to get out of this trap of very few good jobs, and what happens if AI takes away more of those jobs?" he said. Banerjee warned that headline GDP growth could not indefinitely mask deeper social distress. "GDP can grow, but if most people don't have decent education, growth will slow and misery will increase. Distributional questions still need to be addressed." Beyond markets, Banerjee flagged long-term risks to political stability, arguing that economic reform becomes nearly impossible when trust in institutions breaks down. "If people feel excluded from the voting process, that creates other problems," he said, adding that erosion of trust makes consensus-driven reform extremely difficult. Cash transfers were a rational response Citing power subsidies to farmers, Banerjee said while direct compensation would be economically superior and environmentally necessary, especially as groundwater tables collapse, such reform was politically unviable due to trust deficits. Banerjee dismissed the term "dole politics" to describe welfare, arguing that large public transfers to the middle and upper classes were rarely acknowledged. "I really hate the term 'dole politics', and I hate it because I think we do not recognise the amount of public investment that goes to the rich and the middle classes," he said. He said cash transfers were a rational response to an economy that had failed to generate sufficient jobs despite growth. "We have not managed to create a Chinese-style vibrant labour market so that people can get jobs and benefit from growth. If you have jobless growth, the only way we can include people in the national growth process is through transfers, and that makes sense to me," he added. Unless we have a very predictable and transparent policy regime and a transparent media, India will remain a mystery to the world. Banerjee was in Kolkata for a discussion on Poor Economics at the Exide Kolkata Literary Meet. Copper surged by the most in more than 16 years, after a wave of buying from Chinese investors triggered one of the most dramatic moves in the markets history. Prices gained as much as 11% to trade above $14,500 a ton for the first time ever, before a sharp retracement on Thursday afternoon. Most Read from Bloomberg The industrial metal, which is used in almost every electrical application, has risen about 21% since the start of December, firing up copper bulls who have long been predicting a surge in prices. You wait a lifetime for markets like this, said Mark Thompson, a mining executive and former trader at Trafigura Group with three decades of experience in the copper market. We are one supply disruption away from $20,000. Chinese investors are piling into metals as they ride a powerful wave of momentum that has lifted everything from tin to silver to record highs. The initial surge in copper took place at a time of day when Chinese traders dominate flows, with prices on the London Metal Exchange rising more than 5% in less than an hour starting at 2.30 a.m. London time. Metals soared this week after a gauge of the US currency sank to its lowest level in more than four years, with US President Donald Trump signaling he was unconcerned by the weakness. That slide makes commodities more attractive for many buyers. It has also encouraged Chinese investors to favor commodities over US Treasuries. The LMEX index of the six main base metals traded in London closed at a record high. The US dollar remains under pressure, partly reflecting a withdrawal of capital by China and other countries, said Tom Price, senior commodities analyst at Panmure Liberum.Prudent investors are simply bringing it home worried about further USD weakness. Prices rose more than $1,400 a ton before sliding by as much as $1,000 in less than an hour as US markets opened with a broad risk-off mood. Copper has long been a favorite of investors who see the energy transition and the growth of data centers driving demand. Still, the recent surge in prices has come in spite of indications of weak demand in China itself, which accounts for about half of physical consumption of the metal, and a widening contango on the LME, an indication of ample supplies. (Updates with Culkin reaction, Canadian prime minister, more biography, paragraph 5 onwards) By Danielle Broadway LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Catherine OHara, the shape-shifting Canadian comic actor whose characters ranged from the deliriously theatrical Moira Rose in "Schitt's Creek" to the frantic mother in Home Alone, has died at 71 prompting an outpouring of tributes led by her co-star Macaulay Culkin and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. A representative from the office of her manager Marc Gurvitz confirmed the death of O'Hara, who earned the 2020 Emmy for best comedy actress, helping to propel "Schitt's Creek" to TV awards season dominance at the 2021 Golden Globes. The BBC, citing a statement from Creative Artists Agency, reported she died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness. O'Hara portrayed Kate McCallister, the mother of Macaulay Culkin's character in the movie "Home Alone," and Delia Deetz in the film "Beetlejuice." Culkin paid homage to O'Hara on the social media platform Instagram. "Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later," Culkin wrote alongside images of the two of them. PRIME MINISTERS PAST AND PRESENT MOURN HER LOSS Carney wrote on X: "I join Canadians and fans across the world in mourning the loss of Catherine OHara." His predecessor, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, called her "a beloved Canadian icon with a rare gift for comedy and heart" on X and added: "She made people laugh across generations." His post included a photo of the two of them. O'Hara was born on March 4, 1954, and grew up in Toronto as the sixth of seven children. She began her acting career in 1974 as a cast member of the improvisational theater troupe called "The Second City" in Toronto. Two years later the troupe created the sketch comedy television show "SCTV," which often featured O'Hara's performances. She offered her voice for numerous animated projects, including Sally in "The Nightmare Before Christmas," Pinktail in "The Wild Robot," Brook Ripple in "Elemental" and multiple voices in "Frankenweenie," including Mrs. Frankenstein. More recently, O'Hara joined the cast of Seth Rogen's 2025 Hollywood satire series "The Studio" as Patty Leigh, the fired head of a Hollywood film studio. She also delved into some dramatic roles, including the 1997 film "Hope." New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) Efforts should be made to reduce compliance requirements while ensuring that the effectiveness of regulations is not reduced, IBBI Chairperson Ravi Mital said on Saturday, emphasising the importance of strong corporate governance. Mital, as well as Sebi (Securities and Exchange of India) Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey and NFRA (National Financial Reporting Authority) Chairperson Nitin Gupta shared their views at an event organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). They were speaking at a session at the World Forum of Accountants (WOFA) at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. In his speech, the IBBI Chairperson touched upon various aspects of corporate governance and stressed the need for better implementation of laws as well as ensuring lesser compliance without reducing the effectiveness of regulations. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), a key institution in implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), has asked IIM Ahmedabad to look at its regulations and to make compliance requirements easier. Mital mentioned that the ICAI could look again at the standards of accounting to ensure that audits conducted by chartered accountants are as strict as those done by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). There is no shortage of regulations but they should be more effective, Mital said and also suggested the idea of having external evaluation of companies' boards. He also wondered whether there should be shareholders' nominees directors at corporates apart from an improved communication framework wherein shareholders have as much information as the management of a company. Sebi Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey called for deeper collaboration with chartered accountants. "Regulations can design frameworks, regulations can enforce minimum standards but regulations alone cannot create an ethical culture," Pandey said. He also noted that technology would enhance the audit, but only character can protect its credibility. NFRA Chairperson Nitin Gupta talked about the concept of viability assessment of companies in the context of entities going into insolvency resolution process despite being 'going concern'. According to him, a longer horizon for assessing an entity as a 'going concern' could be looked at compared to the current time frame of 12 months. Further, Gupta suggested that the ICAI could look at a separate refresher course for accounting professionals like in certain other professions. ICAI President Charanjot Singh Nanda described chartered accountants as "financial soldiers" and mentioned their efforts in relation to the increasing GST (Goods and Services Tax) collections. The arrests of two alleged ringleaders of transnational scam networks in Cambodia have led to thousands of workersmany of them traffickedbeing let go from compounds across the country, one of the biggest shake-ups to date of the so-called pig-butchering industry. But the governments actions fall short of what experts say is needed to eradicate an illicit industry that has become deeply rooted in Cambodia and has stolen billions of dollars from Americans in recent years. The criminal activity has been dubbed pig-butchering because the perpetrators slowly build relationships with victims before stealing their money. On Jan. 6, Cambodian authorities arrested Chen Zhi, the chairman of Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group, whom the U.S. sanctioned and indicted in October for allegedly running one of Asias largest transnational pig-butchering networks. The 38-year-old Chen was extradited to his native China the following day at Beijings request. Just over a week later, Cambodian authorities took into custody Ly Kuong, 49, a Cambodian casino and real-estate tycoon, and charged him with fraud, money laundering and exploitation of illegally recruited workers. Neither Chen nor Ly Kuong could be reached for comment and the Chinese Embassy didnt respond to a request for comment. Both men have previously denied any involvement with cyberscams or human trafficking. Lawyers for Chen and Prince Group in the U.S. didnt respond to requests for comment. View Full Image Lines of people outside the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. View Full Image There were similar scenes at the Chinese Embassy in the wake of the crackdown. According to estimates cited by U.S. prosecutors, the Cambodian scam industry generates annual revenues of up to $19 billion, equivalent to more than one-third of the countrys gross domestic product. Southeast Asian scam networks stole some $10 billion from Americans in 2024, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Before the recent crackdown, Cambodia was home to more than 250 scam compounds, many of them staffed by foreigners lured to the country with false promises of lucrative jobs and then forced to run online romance, investment and other scams for little or no pay, analysts say. The United Nations estimated in 2023 that some 100,000 workers had been trafficked into Cambodian scam centers. In the hours and days after the arrests, chaotic scenes unfolded in scam compounds across Cambodia, according to former workers interviewed by The Wall Street Journal and videos from at least 15 known compounds verified by Amnesty International. Crowds of workers, many pulling suitcases or carrying their belongings in plastic bags, suddenly found themselves free to go. The Indonesian Embassy in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh said more than 2,750 workers sought support to return to their homeland between Jan. 16 and 29, with dozens sleeping on the streets outside the embassy building. The embassy said it had assessed reports from about half of the workers and none of them had been identified as victims of human trafficking. That assessment contradicts accounts from workers interviewed by the Journal and accounts cited by human-rights groups. The embassy, which has warned about the risk to Indonesians of being trafficked into Cambodian scam centers, said it would share its assessments with relevant agencies, including law enforcement, in Indonesia. Lines that stretched for more than a block also formed outside the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh earlier in January. Workers of other nationalities, including from African countries that dont have embassies in Cambodia, appealed for help with repatriation at the local office of the International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency. Mohamad Nasrul, a 28-year-old Indonesian, said he fled a scam compound in the town of Bavet on Cambodias border with Vietnam on the night of Jan. 19. View Full Image Mohamad Nasrul said he was forced to scam businessmen. I was eating dinner when people suddenly started running out of the compound. I immediately went to get my clothes and followed them," he said. I didnt know what was happening. No one announced that we were allowed to leave." Nasrul said he had been tricked into traveling to Cambodia in December, following vague promises of a well-paying job. Instead, he said he found himself confined in a heavily guarded compound and forced to scam Indonesian businessmen in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and other Asian countries. He said he was ordered to bring in $5,000 a month. I was punched and slapped because I didnt meet the target of finding customers," he said, adding that he saw another worker beaten and punished with electric shocks. They told me that if I couldnt meet the target within three months, they would sell me to another place, and it would be even worse." Nasrul said that the men who tricked him took his passport and that he had sought his embassys help in obtaining papers that would allow him to leave the country. He said he was worried he could face criminal charges once he got to Indonesia. I was forced to scam people. It was not my choice," he said. If there had been any way, I would have run away." Cambodian officials have said the arrests of Chen and Ly Kuong are part of a continuing crackdown on the scam industry. But analysts who have researched scam networks in the country said more needed to be done to investigate Cambodian businessmen and government officials suspected of criminal activity. In 2024, the U.S. sanctioned Ly Yong Phat, a Cambodian senator and businessman, for alleged human-rights abuses linked to transnational scams and human trafficking. Thailand has indicted another senator, Kok An, for alleged scam activity. Cambodian authorities havent announced any investigations into either official. You dont see large-scale arrests of important people," said Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard Universitys Asia Center who last year published a report on connections between Cambodian government officials and scam networks. Youre not seeing all of the compounds emptied out and its not really fully clear how many people have been released and which ones." Kok An, who hasnt previously addressed the Thai charges, didnt respond to requests for comment. Ly Yong Phat couldnt be reached for comment, while his company LYP Group, which was also sanctioned by the U.S., declined to comment. The Cambodian government in 2024 rejected the U.S. sanctions against Ly Yong Phat as baseless." Neth Pheaktra, Cambodias information minister, didnt respond to questions on whether authorities have investigated Ly Yong Phat or Kok An. Cambodia applies zero tolerance toward online scams and human trafficking," he said in a statement. Investigations are conducted on the basis of evidence and due process, including financial investigations and international cooperation. There is no immunity for any network or individual found to be involved." Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at Gabriele.Steinhauser@wsj.com When you ask ChatGPT and other AIs to recommend a product or service, odds are the top answers were put there by humans. This doesnt mean artificial intelligence is lying to you. That first answer is probably a worthwhile option. But a growing number of small and midsize businesses are paying big bucks to get favorable mentions from chatbots. In some ways, this is an evolution of SEO, or search engine optimizationthe strategies companies have been using for decades to appear atop Google results. But owing to the peculiarities of AIs large language models, SEO practitioners have had to adopt new strategies. They call this generative engine optimization, aka GEO. (Some call it AEO, as in answer engine optimization," and still others have their own names for it.) The flourishing of this industry highlights something everyone seeking advice from a chatbot should know: A recommendation from AI isnt verified the way one from a human might be. Todays AIs are shallow readers of the internet, and their responses can be manipulated. The creators of ChatGPT and other chatbots strive to source their answers from reputable sources, and attempt to weight sources by their veracity. But users of these chatbots should take all their advice with a grain of salt. If the answer really matters, seek a second opinion from a human-powered platform like a trusted news source, online reviewsor a real-life expert. ChatGPT uses its own in-house search index as well as third-party search technologies such as Bing and licensed data providers to provide high-quality, up-to-date information, says OpenAI. The company also says it takes steps to detect, disrupt and expose low-credibility or suspected covert-influence sources, adding that this is an ongoing program and will continue to evolve. On search, our AI features rely on our core search ranking systems that have been honed for years against activity like keyword stuffing," says a Google spokesman. In Gemini, our models use filtering and other quality-assurance methods to verify data and model quality to help prevent any large-scale gaming of our systems." Ask Googleor check a chatbot? Evan Bailyn is chief executive of First Page Sage, which started as an SEO firm. Today, when you ask any chatbot about the leading authorities on GEO, he or his company appears high up in the results. This is proof of his optimization skills, not some immutable law of the universe. In the world of search, the currency is referral traffic." That is, which websites or apps are sending people to a particular business. A year ago, 90% of that traffic came from Google, says Bailyn. Starting last summer, something changed. AI chatbot referrals started to rise dramatically. Now, Bailyn says, on average 44% of his clients referrals come from AI. Across the internet, theres a similar story. As of this past September, people were sent to websites via chatbot-provided links more than 230 million times a month, according to Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company. Thats three times the number of monthly referrals from just a year before. These referrals are valuable: Compared with users who were sent to a website by Google, those sent by ChatGPT tend to spend more time on a site, view more pages and are more likely to complete a transaction. And all that likely understates how much people rely on chatbots, says Aleyda Solis, founder of SEO and AI optimization agency Orainti. Thats because most people dont complete transactions within chatbotsat least not yet. Say you get a recommendation in your ChatGPT app. Maybe you then turn to your web browser or Amazon app to track it down and buy it, says Solis. Thats a real referral, but it isnt tracked. Tricks for ranking in chatbot answers Changing the mind of an AI is easier for some types of answers than for others, says Nick Koudas, a professor of computer science at the University of Toronto and author of a recent paper on the subject. Think of an AI like a human expert, says Koudas. If it already has significant knowledge on a subject, youd have a harder time changing its mind. But when it knows less about something, it can be more easily swayed. This isnt just an observation about the behavior of large language models, he adds. This is all based on fairly standard mathematical intuitions." For Bailyn, its an opportunity. Many of his clients are relatively obscure, midmarket companies that make specialized productsbe they industrial fittings or hot tubsand fiercely compete with firms that offer similar products. To boost the placement of these companies products in AI results, Bailyns company plants a sort of magic incantation, known as a brand authority statement," on at least 10 websites. Typically these are owned by other clients. Say you want to be the first answer to the question Whats the best hot tub for sciatica?" in ChatGPT. Associating his client with the phrase highest-rated for sciatica" on various company blogs can be enough to convince ChatGPT. OpenAI crawls the web with bots to build an index for ChatGPT, just like Google does. But OpenAI also buys scraped Google search results, according to recent court filings. The takeaway is that ranking highly in traditional SEOaka Google resultscan help a companys standing with AIs. But the bots also look for those superlatives (top performer," most cited," etc.), because they arent just surfacing results, theyre actually trying to string together a narrative, says Bailyn. Another cue that matters to bots is where the praise appears, since they are programmed to value some sources more than others. A review in The Wall Street Journal or some other independent media outlet has more influence than, say, a comment on Reddit, although those can help, too. The variety of signals that chatbots rely on is good news for end users, because it means some AI results are harder to manipulate. One of Bailyns clients wanted him to convince ChatGPT it wasnt based in China, but its origins had already been covered by major media. We cant fight against that," he says. Write to Christopher Mims at christopher.mims@wsj.com Gold, Silver Price Rate LIVE: Gold and silver prices crashed during Friday's commodity market sessions around the world after a margin hike trigger from the CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) Group and an aggressive profit-booking move from investors. Mint reported earlier that CME Group raised the margin on gold from 6% to 8% and the margin on silver from 11% to 15% effective from Monday, 2 February 2026. Experts indicate that concerns still loom over whether or not the precious metal prices can bounce back after suffering significant losses in recent trades. Both MCX and COMEX gold and silver, along with the city prices in India, suffered major losses during Friday's market. MCX closing rates Gold futures on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) plummeted 12% to close 20,328 per 10 grams lower at 149,075 per 10 grams after Friday's market session, compared to 169,403 per 10 grams at the previous trading close, according to the official data. MCX silver prices also crashed 27% wiping off more than 100,000/kg from the precious white metal. The silver prices closed at 291,922/kg after Friday's commodity market session, compared to 399,893/kg at the previous market close. Will gold regain market on Monday? Amit Goel, the Chief Global Strategist at Pace 360, said that if the Comex gold fails to regain the $4,900/ounce level on Monday, 2 February 2026, then investors can assume that the precious metal has topped out. If gold prices fail to regain the $4,900-per-ounce level on Monday, we can assume the precious metal has topped out. After topping out, gold prices are expected to touch $3,800 per ounce by the end of October 2026. This fall may not be one directional, and the precious yellow metal is expected to reach this level, doing a dead-cat bounce from every new low, said Goel. Check all commodity market news here Follow Livemint's blog for all the latest updates on gold and silver prices for both MCX and Indian cities here. Finding comfort in the stock market is not easy right now. Prices have risen faster than dividends , and yields have declined across much of the market. Many stocks look fully priced, leaving investors dependent on further price appreciation. Dividend-paying companies do not attract the same attention in such phases. They tend to be ignored when growth stories dominate the narrative. Yet, dividends do something important. They put cash in the investors hands, reducing the need to time market cycles. The quality of a dividend matters. It needs to come from operating cash flows, not from borrowing or one-off gains. Businesses that generate cash steadily and keep leverage under control are better placed to sustain payouts through ups and downs. These are not stocks that promise excitement. What they offer instead is a degree of predictability. Over a three-year period, regular dividends combined with reasonable valuations can do more of the heavy lifting than is often acknowledged. The following five stocks fall into that category. #1 ONGC Oil and Natural Gas Corporation produces crude oil and natural gas and sits at the centre of Indias upstream energy ecosystem. It is a business where decisions taken today often show up in the numbers years later. That long cycle has also enabled ONGC to generate steady cash flows. This consistency explains why the stock features among dividend stocks to watch over the next three years. Even when growth has slowed, ONGC has continued to return cash to shareholders, largely supported by operating cash flows rather than balance-sheet stretch. The recent quarter was marked by familiar pressures. In Q2FY26, standalone sales declined by about 0.9% year-on-year as realised prices for crude and value-added products softened. Ebitda margins, however, held up, helped by lower recouped costs and tighter cost control. Management expects the next phase of growth to come from gas. Production from the KG-98/2 field is expected to start rising from FY27, while additional volumes from the Daman offshore project are also scheduled to come on stream during the year. Over time, this should increase the share of higher-priced new well gas in the production mix. Looking ahead, ONGC plans to sustain upstream capital expenditure of around 3000035000 crore annually. Most of this spending is expected to be funded through internal accruals. The focus remains on new field development and gas infrastructure, while gradually slowing decline from mature fields. At current levels, the stock trades at around 9.55 times earnings, below its long-term median valuation. Dividend yield stands near 5.04%. Also Read | ONGC to offload stake in petchem arm OPal, eyes global investors #2 ITC ITC operates across cigarettes, FMCG, agriculture and paper-based businesses. Cigarettes remain the largest contributor, followed by FMCG and agri products. This diversified business profile has helped ITC remain a consistent dividend payer. Even when individual businesses face cyclical pressures, the company has continued to generate cash. This has helped support dividend payouts without leaning on the balance sheet. Q2FY26 sales declined about 4% year-on-year, largely due to a sharp 31% drop in agriculture revenue prompted by seasonality and a high base. The cigarettes business sales grew around 6.8% year-on-year, led mainly by volume and some mix improvement. Margins in the segment contracted due to elevated leaf tobacco costs, even as FMCG margins improved sequentially on stabilising commodity prices and cost initiatives. Looking ahead, management expects the agriculture business to normalise as seasonal effects wear off, particularly since agriculture revenues were up about 7% year-on-year in the first half of the year. The companys focus remains on the FMCG portfolio, especially premium segments and on cost discipline. Capital expenditure requirements for the year are manageable and funded primarily through internal accruals, with no pressure on leverage. At current levels, the stock trades at around 20.8 times earnings, which is at or below its long-term typical valuation range for the stock. Dividend yield is near 4.3%. Also Read | ITC stock to stay under fire for now, after cigarette tax shock #3 Hindustan Zinc Hindustan Zinc produces zinc, lead and silver and operates across mining and smelting. It is a business where costs, volumes and metal prices matter more than quarter-to-quarter noise. Over time, this operating structure has translated into steady cash generation. That steady cash flow explains why the stock features among dividend stocks to watch over the next three years. Even as metal prices move through cycles, Hindustan Zinc has continued to return cash to shareholders, supported largely by operating cash flows rather than balance sheet stretch. Q3FY26 sales grew 27% on the back of higher zinc and silver prices and improved volumes. Ebitda margins expanded during the quarter as the cost of production for zinc fell to about $940 per tonne, the lowest level in five years. Lower power costs, higher domestic coal usage and better by-product realizations kept costs in check. Management expects this trend to continue. The zinc cost of production is guided to stay in the $9501,000 per tonne range, which should help keep margins stable even if metal prices soften. Production across zinc, lead and silver remains on course. Looking ahead, Hindustan Zinc will continue to invest in debottlenecking and capacity expansion across its mining and smelting operations. Any kind of capital expenditure will be focussed on improving recoveries, expanding refined metal capacity and supporting silver output. These investments are largely funded through internal accruals. At current levels, the stock trades at around 14 times earnings, compared to a long-term median closer to 11 times. #4 NMDC NMDC is an iron ore miner. It produces and sells lump and fines. A large part of what shows up in its numbers depends on how much it mines and what price it realises. It is a business that does not change character every few quarters. That predictability explains why the stock features among dividend stocks to watch over the next three years. When volumes hold and costs are in check, NMDC throws up cash. A large part of that cash has found its way back to shareholders over time. The recent quarter showed the business in a better phase. Q2FY26 sales grew 30% year-on-year, helped by higher production and better realisations. Ebitda margins remained steady at around 31%, even as royalties and levies stayed high. Operating leverage played its part, with higher volumes absorbing a part of the cost pressure. Production and sales volumes moved up during the quarter. Iron ore production rose 23% year-on-year, while sales increased 10%. Looking ahead, NMDC continues to focus on getting more out of its existing mines. The emphasis remains on debottlenecking, mine expansion and strengthening evacuation infrastructure. Management has planned capex for various evacuation and capacity enhancement projects, aimed at improving the product mix and increasing production capacity to 100mt by FY29-30. Most of this spending is expected to be funded through internal accruals. The approach reflects a preference for steady capacity building rather than aggressive expansion, with the aim of supporting volumes while keeping the balance sheet comfortable. At current levels, the stock trades below its long-term median valuation. #5 Power Grid Power Grid operates the countrys interstate transmission network. It is a business built around long-gestation assets, regulated returns and steady execution. Growth here shows up gradually, as projects move from awards to commissioning. This predictability explains why the stock features among dividend stocks to watch over the next three years. Cash flows tend to be stable, payouts have been consistent and the balance sheet is structured to absorb large capital programmes without excessive stress. Q2FY26 capital expenditure rose sharply, up 56% year-on-year, as project awards gathered pace. Capitalisation, however, remained slow, growing 14% year-to-date. Delays related to right-of-way clearances and the shift towards tariff-based competitive bidding continued to weigh on near-term commissioning, even as the order book expanded. Some improvement has begun to show. Capitalisation picked up from October with the start of renewable-linked substations. Management expects momentum to build through the March quarter, with around 8,000 crore of project starts planned. Large green corridor awards and upcoming HVDC projects have also improved visibility for growth beyond FY27. Power Grid has emerged as a preferred bidder for a 150 MW battery energy storage project, marking its entry into grid-linked storage. The approach is to combine storage within substations rather than build standalone assets. Lower borrowing costs provide an advantage here, and management sees scope to scale this portfolio gradually as storage becomes a more regular part of the grid. Looking ahead, Power Grid plans capital expenditure of around 28,000 crore in FY26, rising to about 35,000 crore in FY27. A large part of the spending will be towards renewable-linked transmission, HVDC corridors and select adjacencies such as storage. Funding is expected to come through a mix of internal accruals and debt, in line with the regulated asset framework. At current levels, the stock trades close to its long-term median valuation, with dividends continuing to anchor returns. Conclusion Markets often feel most comfortable when prices are rising. That is usually when risks are easiest to ignore. In such phases, fundamentally strong companies provide an anchor. They may not shield portfolios from short-term swings, but they reduce the risk of lasting damage. Dividend-paying stocks fit into this framework when payouts are supported by operating cash flows and sensible capital allocation. Dividends bring discipline and reward patience, especially in markets where price appreciation alone cannot be taken for granted. A note of caution is still necessary. Dividends are not assured. They can be cut or deferred if business conditions change. A high yield can sometimes signal slower growth or underlying pressure rather than comfort. This makes selectivity important. Investors need to look beyond price movements and focus on how businesses generate cash, manage leverage and invest for the future. Reading annual reports, tracking cash flow trends and insisting on a margin of safety matter more than reacting to market noise. Over time, it is these habits that turn steady businesses into long-term wealth creators. 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 Multibagger stocks in India: The last year has been quite challenging for the Indian stock market. Every time bulls tried to take control over bears, triggers like Trump's tariffs, global trade war buzz, geopolitical tension, especially the US-Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war, severely hit the bulls' sentiment and created a window of opportunity for bears. Continuous selling by FIIs and free fall in the Indian National Rupee (INR) against the US Dollar (USD), were some other tools that also gave bears an edge over bulls. However, there are some stocks listed on Dalal Street, which stood against all these odds and delivered whopping returns to their respective shareholders. Multibagger stocks in India since the last Budget As the Union Budget 2026 date is fast approaching, here we list out the five stocks that have delivered multibagger returns since the last budget: 1] Midwest Gold: Among the multibagger stocks that have stood against all odds since the last budget, the Midwest Gold share price rally tops the list. This multibagger stock has risen from around 155 to 5506 per share on the BSE, delivering over 3400% returns to its shareholders since the last budget. The multibagger stock rose 5% on the penultimate day before Budget 2026. The stock has risen by around 285% in the last six months, while in January, this multibagger stock surged over 15%. 2] GHV Infra Projects: This infra stock has risen from 28 to 229 apiece levels since the last budget, delivering over 700% returns to its shareholders. This could become a multibagger, topping out in mid-August 2025 after hitting a record high of 362.40 per share on the BSE. Since mid-August 2025, the stock has remained an ideal sell-on-rise stock for investors. 3] Synthico foils: This is another infra stock that has delivered multibagger returns to its shareholders since the last budget. This stock has delivered returns of around 725% to its shareholders, rising from 223 to 1,839 per share in the last year. 4] Hindustan Copper: This commodity stock is one of the major beneficiaries, whose balance sheet zoomed due to the soaring gold and silver prices. In the last few years, the metal company benefited from the rise in base metals. In the last year, this multibagger stock has delivered over 180% returns by rising from around 239 to 676. Over the last six months, the multibagger stock has delivered returns of over 175%. 5] MCX: This multibagger stock has delivered around 120% return to its shareholders since the last budget. Budget 2026 expectations According to market experts, the Central Government is expected to increase budget allocation to defence and infrastructure, especially the railway, oil, and energy sectors. They are expecting a consumer-oriented budget to counter external threats such as trade wars, tariffs, and geopolitical tensions. Jefferies believes a sharper push in defence capex, potentially growing by more than 20%, would be a clear positive for defence PSUs and contractors, while incentives linked to affordable housing and insurance could support lenders and life insurers. The global brokerage sees the government continuing on the path of fiscal consolidation, albeit at a slower pace, with FY27 deficit seen around 4.2-4.4% of GDP. Key Takeaways Investors should identify multibagger stocks that can withstand market volatility. The upcoming Union Budget may create opportunities for sectors like defence and infrastructure. Understanding historical stock performance can guide future investment decisions. DIFFERENT STROKES Hyderabad-based contemporary art space Kalakriti Art Gallery is all set to host Origin Story 2.0 in Delhi. This is the second edition of the exhibition series featuring emerging and mid-career artists. Curated by Satyajit Dave, the exhibition reinterprets the ideas of origin identity and artistic evolution. Viewers can see the works of 38 visual arts practitioners such as Viraj Khanna and Priyanka Aelay. By bringing ancient craft into dialogue with speculative technology, the exhibition presents a long and interconnected arc of human creativity, states the curatorial note. At Sameksha Art Gallery, IILM Center for Arts and Ideas, Delhi, 31 January to 8 February, 10.30am-6.30pm. View full Image A painting of 'Bahucharmata' on show at the 'Homegrown Art x Artisanal fragrance' exhibition. THE SCENT OF ART Baro Art presents a selection of traditional Indian artworks in Ahmedabad as part of the show Homegrown Art x Artisanal fragrance. The underlying theme of the works is the connection between these timeless art forms and nature. Some of the art forms include thangka paintings from Ladakh, phad and pichwais from Rajasthan, and shola and Kalighat patachitras from Bengal. The featured artists include Anwar Chitrakar, Sanjay Chitara, Ayesha Broacha and more. In a unique twist, 12 artworks have been paired with niche fragrances curated by Vanesha Majithia. At Urmila Art Gallery, Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad, till 1 February, 12-8pm. View full Image Dastkari Haat Crafts Bazaar is showcasing a range of India's traditional arts, textiles and crafts in Chennai. A CRAFTS CONCOURSE Chennai is currently hosting the Dastkari Haat Crafts Bazaar. The much-loved event brings together master artisans from across the country offering a range of traditional arts, textiles and crafts like Pattachitra, ikat, Kalamkari and Gond paintings. At NIFT Campus, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Tharamani, Chennai, till 5 February, 11.30am7.30pm. View full Image The interiors of HyLo, Kalaghoda A TAPESTRY OF SOUNDS HyLo Kalaghoda is all set to host a powerful musical showcase this evening spanning across three distinctive spaces the Terrace, The Listening Room, and the main HyLo floor. Described as an immersive, extended musical experience, the showcase will throw the spotlight on the incredible Rural crew from Japan (@rural.jp collective) alongside a curated roster of local artists. At HyLo, Mumbai, 31 January, 3:03 pm onwards. View full Image Michelin-trained chef Simone Cipriani will be serving a feast of Italian indulgences. A flip phone snapping shut after a call. A slightly blown-out photograph from a digital camera that predates Instagram. An instant print sliding out of an Instax Mini at a party. Across India, people are rethinking the kind of technology they want to live with. From iPods and feature phones to digital cameras and instant film, a growing number of Gen Z and millennials are turning to olderor deliberately old-feelingtech to counter the constant pull of the smartphone. This shift is not simply about nostalgia. It is about fatigue: with endless notifications, algorithmic feeds, and increasingly intrusive digital features that demand attentiontechnology can often feel overwhelming today. The change is visible in small but telling ways. Feature phones are being used as secondary devices or weekend phones, limiting users to calls and texts. Old iPods are being dusted off, repaired and modded so music can exist separately from social media and messaging apps. Instant cameras have become a staple at weddings, house parties and college campuses, producing physical photographs that bypass editing apps and online validation. Even older digital camerasCanon Powershots, Sony Cybershots, Nikon Coolpix modelsare back in circulation, prized for their flash-heavy, imperfect images and finite storage. Hybrid devices This desire for constraint is also shaping new product design. Devices such as the Clicks Communicator, which turns smartphones into physical-keyboard phones, and Fujifilms new Instax Mini Evo Cinema, blur the line between analogue and digital. For Jude de Souza, CEO of Mumbai-based The Revolver Club, this desire for slowness and tactility has been building for years. The Revolver Club started out of a personal obsession, he says. I was collecting records and gear for myself, and at some point it felt obvious that there was a gap in India for people who wanted the same. While vinyl remains central to the store, Jude sees it as part of a broader mindset. Vinyl, turntables, even mechanical watches, theyre all things that make you slow down and engage with them in a very real way. Using tech thoughtfully That emphasis on intentional use is echoed beyond music. For 21-year-old fashion student Tanay Malhotra, older technology is deeply personal. He has been using his late grandmothers digital camera for years, long before digicams became a social media trend. Its both a memory, it helps me feel a lot closer to her, and a tool thats helped me refine my process, he says. The devices limited storage forces him to slow down and think. The capped storage has made me observe and think about whats worth photographing. My outcomes feel a lot more considered. The limits of the digicam push me to be more thoughtful, adds Malhotra. This emotional pull is something 30-year-old Mumbai-based Simran Makhija relates to, even though she does not see herself fully returning to older devices. For her, the appeal lies in what older technology represents. It reminds us of the good old days when we were kids but thought we were older, she says, recalling the era of BlackBerry Messenger statuses and carefully chosen display pictures. Back then, the only people you stayed connected with were people you personally knew. Now everything is so fast paced, were watching the entire world on Instagram. Simran describes using older tech during special occasions with friends as fun and nostalgic rather than practical. I dont believe I can go back to using slower or limited devices, she admits. But documenting and experiencing events like that is exciting, especially with old friends because we experienced it all together the first time around. It just reminds you of a simpler time, and it has a nice retro aesthetic, like using a Polaroid camera. Objects that endure If nostalgia explains part of the appeal, durability and tactility explain the rest. Entrepreneur and creator Aneesh Bhasin describes his attraction to analogue tools as a reaction to how technology has evolved. I like tactile things, he says. Now everything is touchscreen. With audio especially, a lot has been shrunk down for convenience, not quality. His home audio setup includes a 1978 Japanese amplifier and speakers designed to last decades. Unlike many modern gadgets, they are repairable, with manuals and parts still available. It slows you down in a good way, he says. Even with espresso, I use a manual machine. It forces you to be present. His distinction highlights a growing divide between analogue as a lifestyle choice and analogue as a visual trend. Alongside this revival of older devices is a quieter frustration with how technology now operates. Messaging apps suggest replies, email inboxes summarize conversations, and search engines increasingly foreground AI-generated answers that users do not always trust. For many, the fatigue is not just about screen time but about mediation, the sense that every interaction is being optimized, predicted or enhanced, whether it needs to be or not. Against this backdrop, simpler tools feel grounding. An iPod plays only the music you chose. A flip phone rings or it doesnt. An instant camera produces a photograph, not content. The appeal lies not in rejecting technology, but in using it with intention. Embracing friction Why, in a world where everything is available instantly, are people embracing friction again? Perhaps because friction is the point. A flip phone limits users to calls and texts. A digicam forces decisions before the shutter is pressed. An instant camera produces a single, uneditable image. These constraints introduce pauses that digital devices have erased. They shift focus from output to experience, from speed to presence. In India, this turn towards analogue is less about surveillance or data politics and more about feeling grounded. These choices reflect a broader desire to reclaim agency over how technology shapes daily life. Analogue today is not about going backwards. It is about recalibrating. By choosing devices that do less, users are finding ways to be more present. In a landscape dominated by algorithms, automation and artificial intelligence, these small acts of resistancelistening to offline music, taking fewer photographs, making coffee by handoffer something increasingly rare: moments that belong entirely to the person experiencing them. As Jude puts it, Analogue makes you pause. It forces you to engage with the moment instead of just scrolling past it. Also Read | Amazon Echo show 11: A smart display that wants to be the heart of the home When in Aurangabad, visit Ajanta and Ellora. On my first visit to the city, now officially called Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, I did just that. But, over the course of a long weekend, I discovered that there is much to do in this city that was once Mughal emperor Aurangzebs stronghold, and much of it has to do with food. Take the naan qaliya, the citys most famous dish. A rich buff/mutton gravy cooked in a large cauldron and a turmeric-singed naan combine to create this unique dish. It owes its origins to royal khansamas, who created this dish with limited resources to feed a literal army. In present-day Aurangabad, no Muslim wedding is complete without it. I have my first taste of naan qaliya at the legendary Abdul Jabbar Khaliya House. A popular spot, I spy people lining up through the evening, with bucket-sized containers and tubs to carry the gravy home. In one half of the space, the staff are doling out the gravy into bags and vessels and in the other, dough is being rolled out and slapped into tandoors. It costs 120 a plate, 12 for naan. View full Image Turmeric-singed naan. ( Joanna Lobo ) It is food drama at its finest, but minus the manicured touches and curated movements. Its a story I found across Aurangabad: good food with flair. Aurangabad owes its history to the Ethiopian-born Malik Ambar, who rose from being a slave to the prime minister of Ahmadnagar Sultanate in the Deccan region around the early 1600s. He founded the city, calling it Khirki/Khadki and made it his capital. When Aurangzeb conquered the region, he renamed it Aurangabad and made it the capital of the Deccan. The citys food history has liberal sprinklings of Mughal, Deccan and Maharashtrian influences. The street fare mimics that of Mumbai to an extentmany stalls and vendors selling pav bhaji, misal, pani puri and vada pav. There are small bhojanalayas (messes) serving snackslargely vegetarianlike misal, usal, bharit (like bharta), thalis and different types of rassas (fiery curries). These are dotted across the main Jalna Road and on Usmanpura Road. As a Goan who prefers her meat, I turn my attention to the citys Mughal and Deccani influences. Also Read | The history of Mughal glass emerges from the shadows The aforementioned naan qaliya is a good example: the dum (steam) cooking in large deghs is a typical Mughal characteristic, while the local influence comes through with ingredients like poppy seeds and chironji. Qaliya has khus khus or poppy seeds, coconut, chironji, which gives it that rich flavour. At weddings, this naan is made with refined flour and khoya and kneaded with milk. Theres a popular saying that baasi qaliya do guna maza deta hai to indicate that qaliya tastes better the next day, adds Mudassir Nadeem, a city guide who goes by the moniker Aurangabadi Musafir on his social media page. If you want to eat it the Aurangabadi way, you have to tear off pieces of the naan in a bowl, fill it up with the curry so that the bread soaks it all, and eat it with your hands, says Faisal Quraishi, a former tour guide who now runs a handloom store and is a passionate advocate for his city. Quraishi and Nadeem are my guides here. At Shah Ganj market, beside a mosque dating back to 1723, is a food cart. Yadgar Tikiya Pav Centre is crowded with eggs and heaps of bread, but the magic lies on the two hot tavas doling out tikiya pava buff patty ( 30 a plate) fried till crisp, served with toasted pav, and boiled eggs ( 20 for a plate) fried in the leftover grease. A few streets away is Appa Halwai, a family-run institution at least a century old. Their pedhas are rich in ghee, sweet and crumbly with mawa. Other sweets popular here are mawa jalebis, the layered khaja (made during festivals), and khoya-laden sweets. SWEET AND SPICY As with other parts of Maharashtra, beef is banned in Aurangabad, but buffalo meat is common. There is plenty to choose fromseekh kebabs dripping fat in open flames, chunks of tender meat nestled in fragrant biryanis and mandis, and thin slices simmered in different dishes. Crispy thin kebabs with tamarind and mint chutney are the way Aurangabad likes its kebabs, says Nadeem. At Bismillah Kebab Centre, the kebabs ( 20 for a plate) are a textural delight, crisp on the outside and beautifully soft within. Everywhere we go, I find people waiting their turn, to eat jalebi at Uttam Mithai Bhandar, sip on small cups of golden (milky sweet tea), savour mutton dalcha after namaaz on Friday, or eat kheema samosas at Shama Hotel. It is sold out when we visit, but I try the chicken samosas ( 8 a piece), which are meaty and lightly spiced. One morning, I wake early and go to Madni Chowk. Theres a crowd there too, all men, and lined up to start their day with nihari and paya at New Shama Hotel. A paya breakfast is very common here. It is rich and hearty and a good meal to get you through the day, says Quraishi. The layer of oil in the paya ( 100) makes me shudder, but the fat is delicious. By the side, I order a plate of rich and fatty nalli shorba ( 100). The only other chicken dish I eat in Aurangabad is kantakky. Its a corruption of the Kentucky fried chicken, laughs Quraishi. These, I learn, are commonly eaten at dhabas, particularly those that line the road leading towards Daulatabad, on the weekends. We try kantakky at Pasha Bhais Dhaba. It is fried chicken with an Indian twist: theres a generous spice mix and a colour that is reminiscent of the Chicken 65. It tastes best when dipped in a chutney a combination of onions and tomatoes mixed with ketchup. View full Image Kantakky at Pasha Bhais Dhaba. ( Joanna Lobo ) The culmination of my Aurangabad food tour happens at Jublee Paan Shop, where I try a dry fruit karanji, chocolate paan, and also a laddoo-like dry fruit and coconut version. In a landscape that often only boasts about the food from the major metros, Aurangabad comes as a pleasant surprise: the food is affordable, varied and delicious. Joanna Lobo is a Goa-based journalist. Also Read | Where to find the best gajak and kesar makhan in Jaipur A deepening dispute over tokenized stocks threatens to derail Washingtons push for comprehensive crypto regulation as industry executives split over language in the Senate Banking Committees portion of the landmark digital assets bill. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the contested section a de facto ban on tokenized equities earlier this month, while traditional finance stalwarts, including Ken Griffins Citadel Securities, argue firms should follow identical rules whether dealing in blockchain-based or conventional securities. The fracture emerged after Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott released bill text containing provisions that affirm the Securities and Exchange Commissions authority over financial assets resembling stocks and bonds, regardless of whether they exist on blockchain networks. According to Politico, committee Democrats requested the languages inclusion, catching many crypto executives by surprise and exposing fundamental disagreements over how quickly markets should transition on-chain. Wall Street Demands Regulatory Parity as Coinbase Seeks Carveouts Traditional finance firms and their lobbying arms have drawn a firm line against preferential treatment for tokenized securities. If you are engaged in securities brokerage activities, you should be regulated as such, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association CEO Ken Bentsen stated, reflecting Wall Streets insistence that blockchain technology shouldnt exempt companies from existing market structure rules. Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad countered that the disputed language would force lengthy rulemaking processes instead of allowing SEC Chair Paul Atkins to offer simpler carveouts from existing regulations. This seems designed to undercut Chairman Atkins work at the SEC to implement the presidents crypto agenda, so were definitely concerned about it, Shirzad told Politico, emphasizing the provisions potential to slow tokenization efforts that many executives consider inevitable for U.S. financial markets. Former SEC official Marlon Paz defended the section, arguing that it clarifies rather than restricts the agencys authority. Tokenization itself doesnt change the character of the thing, said Paz, who teaches at the University of Pennsylvanias law school, adding, I see this as a net positive advancing the ball, providing quite a lot of clarity and not at all a de facto ban. Recently my friend Jugal and I said to each other that Jean-Michel Basquiat quote, Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time. I say, we said it to each other because, I dont remember who said it to whom. Its the kind of 50% senti, 50% crystalline idea that he loved. I did too. I knew and listened to one-hundredth of the music he listened to. I have none of the historical or technical interest in music that he had but Jugal understood what music means to me at a physical level and constantly fed the beast. He had no expectations that my very mid tastes would ever improve or that it would acquire any intellectual underpinnings. The music exchange programme that began nearly two decades ago just continued in newer and newer formats. In the last few years he had started to write and make music. With his friend Aditya he was working on an album. Listening to the rough cut of one of the songs he was working on was what first made me howl, a few days after he died this January. I howled standing in the door between the bathroom and the bedroom. I had no warning that I was going to cry. Like dozens and dozens of people around the world, I was realising for the first time that Jugal was gone. I first met Jugal Mody in 2008 at the Jaipur Literature Festival. I was a prickly, anxious, wise-cracking, weepy reporter and he was like sunshine. I was happy to listen to him talk about anything at all. A year later when we were unceremoniously living and working together, he told me that he had just finished a novel. I read it with great nervousness. View full Image Jugal Mody. ( Courtesy Nisha Susan ) It was going to be difficult faking enthusiasm with a friend you saw all day long. That first novel Toke was fun, original and had so obviously involved so much thoughtful work that I never worried about faking enthusiasm with Jugal ever again. As for Jugal, his enthusiasm was the hallmark of all his interactions with everyone he met, even in passing. In more recent years, he had a complicated relationship with this part of his personalitywondering where his enthusiasm ended and where people pleasing began. Regardless, his ability to say yes and in the classic technique of improv comedy meant that even in the last year he had written fiction, music, made a zillion reels, a hilarious ad with his mother selling her instant food mixes, traced his particular appetite for music to his fathers and designed a tarot-based planner, It is common to call folks online creators now. In the time I knew Jugal, he couldnt stop creating. He wrote stories, movie scripts, a heart-breaking, magical tarot column and a videogame. It is common to call folks online creators now. In the time I knew Jugal, he couldnt stop creating. He wrote stories, movie scripts, a heart-breaking, magical tarot column and a videogame. Millions of words remain in his computer and many more millions in his ridiculously fertile imagination. He cooked elaborate and simple meals, danced, did actual improv comedy, laughed, clutched his head, answered every friends call and text. He told me that he had made a decision as a child that he would go to every birthday party he was ever invited to. He wrote a novel about going to parties. He used Photoshop like a machete and oil paint. If this sounds like he didnt sleep, he didnt. When he was in his 20s and tried to discuss his wild sleep cycles with me, I fled. It took me years to understand that this wasnt just the stuff of cute and eccentric roommate behaviour. World-making and people-pleasing was tiring. I had an uncle who developed Alzheimers. His wife died when he was at the stage where his memory was erratic but still there. Every day he stood at the gate of his house cheerfully imagining his wife was out and that he would greet her when he returned. Everyday, multiple times a day, I am told, my uncle had to be told that his wife wasnt coming back. For the last fortnight, I have been feeling like that uncle. Every 33 minutes the Cylons attack my battlestar. Every 33 minutes I remember that my friend is gone. Jugal had so many friends and so many people loved him that only overweening ego allows me to think I was special to him. Other friends have known him longer. Some friends knew his secrets. To a few, he allowed himself tantrums and truth-telling. Some friends looked after him meticulously in the last decade when his mind and body needed care. Others knew about his ongoing search for romance. Among this cast of millions, he allowed me my ongoing hallucination of the perfect Jaipur afternoon in which we first met when I knew instantly that we were special to each other. Well-lit delusions with great soundtracks were part of our folie a deux. In one of our last conversations, he told me about a new acquaintance who was annoying him with his particular variety of fanboying. He thinks I am an edgelord. How do I tell him that I am a soft romcom boy? I wish my friends and his friends and our friends, all of us who are mourning him, long lives and good health. While I am still working on accepting the permanence of his absence, while I am still looking sideways at where he was texting just a few minutes ago, I take comfort in that he knew that I loved him and I knew that he loved me. Because we said it to each other all the time. Good memes and trashy music. Good music and trashy memes. This is how we made art. And all these years, we have decorated time with our friendship. MUMBAI : The securities fraud proceedings against Adani Group chair Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adaniover allegations of paying bribes to unnamed Indian government officials and misleading American investorshave broken a year-long political stalemate, making way for a potentially long legal battle in a US court. Attorneys representing the Adanis and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reached an agreement allowing the regulator to serve summons and a copy of the complaint on the Adanis through their US-based legal counsel, according to court filings made on Friday. The two sides have also agreed to an extended legal schedule, giving them more than six months to file motions and oppositions in a staggered manner. Emails seeking comment from the Adani Group, the US-based attorneys for Gautam and Sagar Adani, and the SEC remained unanswered at the time of publication. Why the case stalled The SEC initiated proceedings against the two Adani Group promoters in November 2024, but the case remained stuck for over a year after the US regulator said the Indian government twice rejected its requests to serve summons, citing procedural deficiencies. Under US law, summons and complaints must be delivered to defendants to formally notify them of the case. International service is governed by the Hague Convention, under which Indias Department of Legal Affairspart of the Ministry of Law and Justiceacts as the nodal agency for routing legal documents from foreign regulators to Indian citizens. Courtroom shift With the Adanis agreeing to the service of process via their attorneys, the case now moves from a diplomatic arena to the courtroom, legal experts said. By stipulating to accept service of process via their US counsel, the defendants have effectively bypassed the procedural gridlock of the Hague Convention, which had previously stalled the case," said Ankita Singh, founder of law firm Sarvaank Associates. The agreement for allowing the service of process does not mean that the Adanis have agreed to being tried in the US. They have reserved their right to use defense over personal jurisdiction, being citizens of India, as per the court filing. Now, the attorneys for the Adanis will have 90 days to file their response or to serve their motions to dismiss the complaint, as per an agreement between the parties. If the Adanis file a motion to dismiss the case, the SEC will have 60 days to amend their complaint or to serve an opposition to this motion. Subsequently, the Adanis will have 45 more days to file any response to the SECs filings. Long road ahead Russell A. Stamets, partner at Delhi-based law firm Circle Of Counsels, said such scheduling agreements are common in complex cross-border cases, helping make proceedings more predictable. Also Read | Adani Group signs aircraft manufacturing deal with Brazil's Embraer The time-line for responding to these charges seems overly long given that the charges have been filed since November 2024. This undoubtedly reflects the sensitive political nature of the parties involved," he said. The Pawar Family Tree: The Pawar family, a political powerhouse in Maharashtra, met with a tragedy this week with the death of Ajit Pawar in a Baramati plane crash on 28 January 2026. Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Ajit Pawar, is all set to take oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra today. Before taking the oath, she will be chosen as the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) the faction led by her late husband Ajit Pawar. The NCP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The other faction of NCP, led by its original founder Sharad Pawar, is part of the opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra. The Pawars are one of the most prominent political families in Maharashtra, Indias richest state. Multiple generations of politicians and business people have centred around Sharad Pawars leadership. With politics as mainstream, Sharad Pawars family has long been involved in cooperative institutions and educational initiatives, reinforcing the Pawar legacy in Maharashtra. Here is a look at the family tree Sharad Pawar the NCP patriarch Veteran politician Sharad Pawar is known for his long career in regional and national politics. Pawar served three terms as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, held cabinet positions in the Union Council of Ministers, including Minister of Defence under PV Narasimha Rao and Minister of Agriculture under Manmohan Singh. Pawar, 85, is the founder and leader of the NCP, which he helped establish in 1999, following a split from the Congress party. View full Image Born in Baramati, Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar is the patriarch of the Pawar political family. Here an old photo of the famliy ( Sourced ) Pawar is regarded for his influence in Maharashtra's politics and rural society, having been compared to Chanakya for his long-standing role in coalition politics and grassroots networks. Also Read | Sunetra Pawar to be next Maharashtra Deputy CM, oath ceremony on Saturday Born in Baramati, Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar is the patriarch of the Pawar political family. Sharad Pawar's NCP suffered a split in 2023 when Ajit Pawar, along with many senior leaders, broke away from the party, and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar managed to retain his faction's original name and symbol. Ajit died at a time when there was speculation of his reunion with his uncle. Immediate Sharad Pawar Family Wife: Pratibha Pawar: Partner in public and social causes. Daughter: Supriya Sule: A prominent politician, three-term Lok Sabha MP from Baramati, and working president of NCP (Sharad Pawar faction). Sule has a son, Vijay, and a daughter, Revati Sunetra Pawar: Ajit's wife Ajit Pawar led the NCP faction that split from the parent party in 2023, founded by his uncle, Sharad Pawar. Ajits 2023 rebellion split the NCP, created two factions. With Ajits untimely death, the party familys future now hangs in the balance. Ajits wife, Sunetra Pawar, will step into her late husbands shoes and take over as the party leader and also as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. Late Ajit Pawars wife, Sunetra Pawar, though a Rajya Sabha member since 2024, has largely remained behind the scenes. Her new role as Deputy CM of Maharashtra puts her into a more prominent and visible role in Maharashtra politics. Supriya Sule the MP daughter Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, is an MP from Baramati and Lok Sabha leader of NCP (SP). Educated in the US, she entered politics in 2009. A vocal critic of Ajit Pawars 2023 split, she represents the anti-BJP faction. Rohit Pawar The Rising Political Star Rohit Pawar, 37 is Sharad Pawar's grandnephew (son of his brother Appasaheb) and cousin of late Ajit Pawar. An MLA since 2019, he leads NCP (SP) youth wing. A Harvard-educated entrepreneur, he balances tech and grassroots politics. Parth and Jay Pawar Parth Pawar, 38, is Ajit and Sunetra's son. He contested the 2019 Maval Lok Sabha and lost. Parth remains active in party affairs. Jay Pawar, younger son, is involved in business and youth outreach. With Ajits death, both are expected to step into leadership roles. Yugendra Pawar Grandnephew who challenged Ajit With Ajits untimely death, the party familys future now hangs in the balance. Yugendra Pawar, 32, is son of Shrinivas Pawar, younger brother of Ajit Pawar, and Sharad Pawars grandnephew. He contested against Ajit from Baramati in 2024 and lost. A Harvard graduate, he is MD of Sharayu Infra and aligned with Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule. Indias food grain procurement system, long centred on rice and wheat, has expanded far beyond its original food-security mandate, creating a costly surplus even as the country remains heavily dependent on imports of edible oils and pulses. Successive governments have relied on public procurement to stabilize prices, support farmer incomes and ensure reliable supplies for the public distribution system (PDS). But in recent years, large-scale procurement, especially of rice and wheat, has outpaced underlying food security needs, resulting in chronically high buffer stocks and rising carrying costs. At the same time, India remains structurally dependent on imports of edible oils, pulses and some feedstocks. The Economic Survey 2025-26, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, flagged crop diversification as a policy priority, arguing that Indias production pattern must shift away from excessive concentration in rice and wheat toward pulses, oilseeds and other crops better aligned with consumption needs, resource sustainability and import reduction. Mint explains why a voluntary approach, backed by targeted incentives and financed from efficiency gains within the existing system, is now preferred over altering the MSP (minimum support price), or weakening procurement. Also Read | Economic Survey projects 6.8-7.2% economic growth in FY27 Why is it necessary to diversify from the wheat, paddy cropping cycle? The continued dominance of the wheatpaddy cycle has created economic, environmental and fiscal pressures. Paddy cultivation is highly water-intensive, contributing to groundwater depletion, soil degradation and higher energy use, especially in north-western India. At the same time, limited crop choices expose farmers to income stagnation. Procurement has also expanded sharply. During the rabi marketing season 2025-26, an estimated 30.03 million tonnes of wheat was procured, according to official data. As far paddy is concerned, during the kharif marketing season 2024-25, a quantity of 83.2 million tonnes of paddy was procured, while during ongoing season of 2025-26, 66.7 million tonnes of paddy has been procured till 29 January 2026. According to the Food Corp. of India (FCI), total food grain stock (wheat and rice) in the central pool stood at 58.4 million tonnes as of 1 January 2026, about 10.9 million tonnes higher than the same period last year. Large-scale production and procurement have led to excess stocks and rising storage costs, intensifying fiscal pressures. According to experts, excess procurement creates oversized stocks that remain in storage longer, increasing warehousing rentals, interest on carrying costs, handling and transport expenses, and losses from spoilage and wastage. Together, these higher storage, maintenance, and financing costs significantly raise the governments fiscal burden. Excess inventories inflate storage, handling, and interest costs and strains public finances. Suppose the stock is held for a year, then the annual cost of carrying food grain stocks for the FCI is about 2,400 per tonne, or roughly 200 per tonne per monthSo, ultimately it puts a burden on the exchequer," said G. Chandrashekhar, an agriculture economist, who has been part of the World Bank-Government of India (ICAR) joint project National Agricultural Innovation Project. What crop options can replace or supplement paddy and wheat? India remains structurally dependent on imports of edible oils, pulses and some feedstocks. India produced 25.6 million tonnes of pulses in FY25 and imports around 5-7 million tonnes annually to meet domestic demand, according to official data. Current edible oil consumption is 25-26 million tonnes, while domestic production is about 11 million tonnes. The remaining 60% comes from imports. The country imports edible palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, soybean oil from Argentina and Brazil, and sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine. This shows India faces significant import dependency in both edible oils and pulses, with over 60% of edible oils and substantial amounts of pulses imported in 2024-25, specifically 16.4 million tonnes of edible oil and 7.3 million tonnes of pulses. These gaps create an opportunity to align farm support with changing consumption patterns, environmental sustainability and national self-reliance, while fully preserving the food security architecture. Which regions are suitable for the initial phase? The initial phase can focus on eastern and central regions, where rainfall patterns, soil conditions and market access make pulses, oilseeds and maize economically and agronomically viable. Regions that are strategically critical for national food security can be incorporated in later phases, once the approach has been tested and refined," states the Economic Survey 2025-26. In large parts of eastern India, maize, pulses and oilseeds fit naturally into existing cropping systems. In central regions, oilseeds such as gram and soybeans are well suited to prevailing rainfall and soil conditions. These crops directly support national priorities: pulses and edible oils reduce import dependence, while maize and oilseeds contribute to the expansion of ethanol, livestock and bioenergy value chains. For example, Punjab and Haryana is looking at crop diversification to address groundwater depletion and overdependence on paddywheat MSP procurement while improving farm incomes and ensuring long-term agricultural sustainability. Why focus on incentives rather than MSP or procurement changes? Price and income support policies remain essential because farm incomes are vulnerable to weather shocks, market volatility and rising input costs. Small and marginal farmers have limited resilience and weak bargaining power. According to Economic Survey 2025-26, rather than altering MSP or weakening procurement, a calibrated strategy may use savings from improved stock management to support voluntary crop diversification. Farmers can be offered financially attractive alternatives for part of their rice and wheat acreage, particularly in regions where procurement volumes are high but farm profitability remains modest and agro-ecological conditions favour other crops. State-level diversification missions would be implemented through structured centre-state partnerships. The Centres contribution would come from procurement, storage and interest savings, while states would fund their share from complementary gains such as reduced input subsidies and existing incentive frameworks for sustainable agriculture. Where required, transitional financing could be provided, conditional on verified acreage shifts and subsidy savings, the survey added. How can farmer incomes be protected during the transition? The survey pointed out that to ensure diversification does not expose farmers to income risk, per-quintal or per-acre incentives can offset yield differences and transitional costs. Modest bonuses can make alternative crops financially more attractive than continued monocropping of rice or wheat, particularly when combined with lower input costs for water, fertilizer and energy. These incentives can be financed from fiscal savings created by reducing the accumulation of excess stocks and associated carrying costs, making the approach fiscally neutral while remaining farmer-centric. A portion of the savings should also be reinvested in post-harvest and value-chain infrastructure, such as oilseed processing, pulse milling, maize drying and ethanol linkages, leveraging publicprivate partnerships and the Agri-Infrastructure Fund. Research institutions and agricultural universities can support the transition by providing region-specific seed and agronomic packages as part of an integrated diversification framework. Utilizing efficiencies in the existing procurement system to finance voluntary, agronomy-led diversification offers a practical pathway to raise farmer incomes, ease fiscal pressure and strengthen long-term food and nutritional security. Billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk on Saturday denied attending Epstein parties, saying that true justice should be measured not by the release of files, but by whether those responsible for serious crimes connected to Epstein are prosecuted. I have never been to any Epstein parties ever and have many times call for the prosecution of those who have committed crimes with Epstein. The acid test for justice is not the release of the files, but rather the prosecution of those who committed heinous crimes with Epstein, Musk said on X. In an earlier post, he mentioned justice would only be served if at least one arrest is made, adding that without arrests, the disclosures amount to a performative exercise and a mere distraction. What did files reveal? The US Justice Department on Friday released millions of additional files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The records reportedly contain at least 16 emails exchanged between Musk and Epstein in 2012 and 2013, including several in which Musk indicated interest in visiting Epsteins Caribbean island. In one email, Epstein asked how many people Musk would want transported by helicopter, and Musk replied that it would likely be only him and his partner at the time. What day/night will be the wildest party on =our island? he stated, the Justice Department records show, according to PTI. It remains unclear, however, whether Musk ever went on the trip. Emails released on Friday appear to show Musk making plans to visit Epsteins island on at least two occasions. In a December 2013 message to Epstein, Musk wrote, Will be in the BVI/St Bart's area over the holidays, referring to the British Virgin Islands, and asked, Is there a good time to visit? Epstein replied that he would be available during the first week of January, telling Musk there was always space for you". Following additional exchanges about their schedules, Musk appeared to confirm plans to visit Epstein on Jan. 2, 2014. Actually, I could fly back early on the 3rd. We will be in St Bart's. When should we head to your island on the 2nd?? Musk wrote. According to emails reviewed by Business Insider, Musks personal assistant in February 2013 also attempted to arrange a meeting at SpaceXs California offices. Epsteins assistant said the idea for the location had come from Musk. Shall we organize a lunch for Elon and Jeffrey to get together at SpaceX in the coming weeks? Musks assistant wrote. Elon is generally available at SpaceX on Mon, Thurs and Fri each week. The name of Former US President George Bush has allegedly appeared in the latest tranche of Epstein Files released by the US authorities, media reports suggest. The files linked to Jeffrey Epstein include a reference to George Bush 1 in a complaint filed with the New York Police Department, according to reporting on the documents. However, it remains unclear if it refers to Bush or George HW Bush, who was also the President of the US. The mention has reignited online attention and prompted fresh scrutiny of what the files actually show and what they do not. Epstein files explained: What the newly released DOJ documents say about George Bush The latest tranche contains police reports, witness statements and investigative notes in which a purported victims account names several highprofile figures. In one document, an email or interview summary records the victim saying he was also raped by George Bush 1, and the name appears as a referenced party rather than in Epsteins own logs. The files also include other sensational claims attributed to the same source. On social media platform X, a user shared the screenshots from the document showing an email correspondence which contains the purported Epstein victim's account notes Thanks M, I didn't realize Bush raped him too. Ok. It also mentions some more details like - While on this yacht he witnessed African American males having sex with white blonde females, all of whom were bleeding during intercourse. He was a victim of a type of ritualistic sacrifice in which his feet were cut with a scimitar but left no scarring. On the yacht he witnessed babies being dismembered, their intestines removed, and individuals eating the feces from these intestines, it adds. LiveMint, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the claims. Epstein Files: Names of Mira Nair, Bill Clinton, Jeff Bezos also appear According to a report, the name of film director Mira Nair, mother of New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, has also appeared in the files. She allegedly attended an afterparty at convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell's house for her film "Amelia". The newly released documents contain an email dated 21 October 2009, sent by publicist Peggy Siegal to Jeffrey Epstein right after she left Maxwell's party, which she said was also attended by former President Bill Clinton and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Just left Ghislaine's townhouse...after party for film, the publicist's email read as cited by New York Post. Also Read | Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had invited Jeffrey Epstein to Buckingham Palace Bill Clinton and Jeff Bezos were there...Jean Pigozzi, director Mira Nair...etc. Film received tepid reaction though women like it much more...Hillary Swank and [Richard] Gere are at stupid party in Bloomingdales cheap sportswear department...very weird, the email read. Studio went for free party from store and windows for a month... Going to be in Wall Street 2 tomorrow ....more to come. xoxo Peg, the email continued as cited by the US media outlet. Maxwell, Epstein's former partner, was convicted of sex trafficking a minor and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. At least 30 Palestinians, including several children, were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Saturday, hospitals said. The toll is one of the deadliest since the October ceasefire and came a day after Israel accused Hamas of violating the truce. The strikes occurred a day before the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border is scheduled to reopen in Gazas southernmost city. The attacks struck multiple locations, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, according to hospital officials who received the victims, reported AP. Among those killed were two women and six children from two separate families. A police station was targeted in an airstrike in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people and injuring others, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya mentioned. What did Hamas say? Hamas described Saturdays strikes as a renewed flagrant violation and called on the United States and other mediating countries to pressure Israel to halt them. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim, questioning the legitimacy of the international body proposed by the Trump administration to oversee Gaza took to X and said, All available indicators suggest that we are dealing with a Board of War', not a Board of Peace'." Rafah crossing reopening All border crossings into the territory, aside from those with Israel, have been shut for nearly the entire war. Palestinians view Rafah as a critical lifeline for tens of thousands who require medical care outside Gaza, where much of the health infrastructure has been damaged. The initially limited reopening of the crossing would represent the first significant step in the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10. Other unresolved challenges include demilitarising the territory after nearly 20 years of Hamas control and establishing a new governing authority to manage reconstruction. Egypt, one of the mediators in the ceasefire talks, condemned the Israeli strikes in a statement issued in the strongest terms, warning they pose a direct threat to the political course of the truce. Qatar, another mediator, described the strikes as a dangerous escalation and asserted their ongoing strikes pose a direct threat to the political process. Also Read | Israel quietly backs new Gaza militias fighting Hamas Meanwhile, as of Friday, Gazas Health Ministry stated that at least 520 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-led government, keeps detailed casualty data that UN agencies and independent experts generally regard as credible. Extramarital affairs, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and antibiotics have been associated with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in the fresh cache of files from the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. These new emails were included in a tranche of 3.5 million pages of documents released by the Justice Department on Friday. At least seven drafts of the email, written on 17-18 July 2013, were found in the records published by the DOJ. In a draft email among the documents, Epstein claimed that Gates had asked one of his advisers to provide him with medicine to treat sexually transmitted diseases the consequences of sex with Russian girls. According to The New York Post, Epstein was likely making the claims on behalf of Gates' longtime science adviser, Boris Nikolic, who announced his intent to leave the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The stunning allegations have been rejected as completely false by a Gates 'spokesperson time and again. Here's what the email said: During the past few weeks I have been caught up in a severe marital dispute between Melinda and Bill, Epstein wrote in Nikolics voice on 18 July 2013. In my role as his right hand I had been asked on mulitple occassion [sic] and in hindsight, wrongly acquiesced into participating in things that have ranged from the morally inappropriate, to the ethically unsound and had been repeatedly asked to do other things that get near and potentially over the line into the illegal, Epstein continued. Also Read | Trump cries foul DOJ uncovers one million more pages in Jeffrey Epstein probe From helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilictating [sic] his illicit trysts, with married women, to being asked to provide adderall [for] bridge [tournaments] . I feel I owe it to my friends and futre [sic] colleagues to admit a moral failure , to ask forgiveness and to move on with my life. In a separate draft email to Gates, Epstein as Nikolic, accused the billionaire of engineering a cover up [sic] so that you can maintain the reputation that you have worked so hard to achieve, and secretly slipping antibiotics to his then-wife Melinda French Gates. [You] implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std [sic], your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda, and the description of your penis, the draft went on. I am concerned that if Melinda decides as you said to file for a public divorce, the damage done to the pledge program alone would result in billions of dollars of money no longer being used for social good as Im [sic] sure that some wives and husbands would feel free to retreat from their commitments. According to an old Wall Street Journal report, Epstein had threatened to expose Gates alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova in 2017 purportedly because Bill wouldnt join a charitable fund. Absolutely absurd, completely false: Bill Gates Dismissing the claims, a Bill Gates spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the claims were absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epsteins frustration Emergency power outages struck multiple cities across Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova. Ukraines Energy Minister, Denys Shmyhal, said the blackouts resulted from a technical failure impacting the high-voltage power lines connecting Ukraine and Moldova. He stated the malfunction caused a cascading outage in Ukraines power grid", activating automatic protection systems, according to AP. The disruptions came as the Kremlin assured US President Donald Trump it would temporarily halt strikes on Kyiv until February 1. However, officials did not directly attribute the incident to war damage, although Ukraines power grid has been weakened by the cumulative effects of Russian air strikes, causing severe electricity shortages in recent weeks. Ukraines digital ministry also confirmed that a cyberattack was not responsible, reported Reuters. The blackout hit at least five regions in Ukraine and parts of Moldova, including the capitals Kyiv and Chisinau, following a failure at 10:42 am Kyiv time. In Kyiv, metro services were halted and water supplies were interrupted. In Chisinau, traffic lights and some public transport were out of service, and most districts experienced power outages, the city mayor said. At a dimly lit Kyiv metro station, passengers waited, hoping the trains would soon resume service. Also Read | Russia invites Zelensky to Moscow for Ukraine peace talks Officials in both countries said that power was partially restored in the early afternoon after urgent measures were taken to steady the interconnected grids. By evening, we will be back to where we were before the accident, Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the independent Energy Research Centre in Kyiv, informed Reuters. Meanwhile, Moldova's energy ministry said the disruption there was triggered by serious problems in Ukraine's grid that led to a voltage drop on the line connecting Romania and Moldova. Romania's energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Also Read | Trump Says Putin Agreed to Halt Ukraine Bombing During Cold Snap Forecasters warn that Ukraine will face an extremely cold spell continuing into next week. In some regions, temperatures are expected to fall as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit), according to Ukraines State Emergency Service. Trump's personal request to Putin Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday mentioned that Trump made a personal request to Putin to halt attacks on Kyiv until Sunday in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations". Talks involving US, Russian, and Ukrainian officials are scheduled for Feb. 1 in Abu Dhabi. The teams had previously met in late January, marking the first known instance of officials from the Trump administration meeting simultaneously with negotiators from both Ukraine and Russia. However, many obstacles to peace remain. Disagreements over the future of occupied Ukrainian territory, and Moscows demand for possession of territory it hasnt captured, are important issues delaying a peace deal, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev stated on social media Saturday that he was in Miami, a location where Russian and US negotiators have previously held talks. Russian state news agencies later reported that he was meeting with an American delegation", but offered no additional details. Russia carried out strikes on Ukrainian energy assets in several regions on Thursday, but there were no attacks on those facilities overnight, Zelensky mentioned on Friday. In a separate social media post, Zelensky said Russia has shifted its focus to targeting Ukrainian logistics networks, adding that Russian drones and missiles struck residential areas across Ukraine overnight, a pattern seen on most nights during the war. The United States approved a massive arms sale of over 15.67 billion to Israel and Saudi Arabia. According to the US State Department, the sales were made amid the possibility of US military strikes on Iran. According to an official press statement, the sales to Israel total $6.67 billion, and those to Saudi Arabia are worth $9 billion. What is Israel buying? According to the US State Department, the sales to Israel are split into four separate packages: 30 Apache attack helicopters, 3,250 light tactical vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, and light utility helicopters. The Apache helicopters, which will be equipped with rocket launchers and advanced targeting gear, are the biggest part of the total package, coming to $3.8 billion, the press statement said. The next largest portion is the light tactical vehicles, which will be used to move personnel and logistics to extend lines of communication for the Israel Defence Forces and will cost $1.98 billion, it said. Under the deals, Israel will spend an additional $740 million on power packs for armoured personnel carriers it has had in service since 2008, the State Department said. The remaining $150 million will be spent on a small but unreported number of light utility helicopters to complement similar equipment it already has, it said. Also Read | Anthropic CEO slams US nod for Nvidia AI chip exports to China In separate but nearly identical statements on Israel, the State Department said none of the new sales would affect the military balance in the region and that all of them would enhance Israels capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend Israels borders, vital infrastructure, and population centres. The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defence capability, the statement said. Sale to Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is buying the most mature hit-to-kill weapon system, 730 PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 Missiles and related equipment that will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region, the department said. PAC 3 reportedly provides simultaneous air and missile defence capabilities. This enhanced capability will protect land forces of Saudi Arabia, the United States, and local allies and will significantly improve Saudi Arabias contribution to the integrated air and missile defence system in the region, it said. It was announced after Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman met with top Trump administration officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Why are Israel and Saudi Arabia buying weapons? According to The Associated Press, the weapon sales come amid US President Donald Trump's push for his ceasefire plan for Gaza, intended to end the Israel-Hamas conflict and reconstruct the Palestinian territory after two years of war left it devastated, with tens of thousands dead. While the ceasefire has largely held, big challenges await in its next phases, including the deployment of an international security force to supervise the deal and the difficult process of disarming Hamas. The legendary $4.99 rotisserie chickens from Costco are under fire this week as a proposed class action lawsuit claims the big box retailer has been misleading customers. Most Read from Fast Company Two California shoppers noticed something that might seem obvious in retrospect: To sell an entire, slow-roasted chicken in a plastic bag, Costco added two preservatives. Problem is, the Issaquah, Washington-based company had promised on the packaging, in-store displays, and online that the chicken contained no preservatives. The lawsuit filed last week with the Southern District claims that Costcos promise that its rotisserie chickens contain no preservatives signals to reasonable consumerslike the two women who are plaintiffs in the casethat nothing was added to preserve the taste, flavor, texture, or shelflife of the product. But two preservativessodium phosphate and carrageenanare listed on the ingredient list. Costco Wholesale Corporation has systemically cheated customers out of tensif not hundredsof millions of dollars by falsely advertising its Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken as containing no preservatives, the lawsuit reads, in part. Consumers reasonably rely on clear, prominent claims like No Preservatives, especially when deciding what they and their families will eat, Wesley M. Griffith, the California managing partner with Almeida Law Group, which represents the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, said in a statement. Costcos own ingredient list contradicts its marketing. Thats unlawful, and its unfair. INGREDIENTS IN FOCUS Costco has already taken steps to address the main concern of the lawsuit. To maintain consistency among the labeling on our rotisserie chickens and the signs in our warehouses/online presentations, we have removed statements concerning preservatives, a company representative said in a statement to KTLA 5 News. We use carrageenan and sodium phosphate to support moisture retention, texture, and product consistency during cooking. Both ingredients are approved by food safety authorities. These ingredients have landed other big companies in hot water in the past: In late 2024, a judge ruled that Kraft Heinz must face a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit that similarly focused on the companys use of sodium phosphate in its macaroni and cheese products. And the addition of carrageenan in products labeled as natural or organic has been the subject of several lawsuits in recent years. NEW DELHI : Negotiations for the mother of all deals", which has been almost 20 years in the making, finally concluded this week. In EU President Ursula von der Leyens own words: We are creating a market of 2 billion people. This is a tale of two giantsthe world's second- and fourth-largest economies. Two giants who choose partnership in a true win-win fashion. A strong message that cooperation is the best answer to global challenges." It wouldnt be wrong to say that India and the EU had almost given up on the free trade agreementfirst in 2013, when they hit pause, and later in 2015, after the EU played tough over the trial of two Italian marines who shot Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012. It was only after the covid-19 pandemic hitand with it the realization that the over-concentration of supply chains in one part of the world can seriously compromise global production linesthat the decks were cleared for talks to restart. The two sides revived negotiations in 2022, but pressed the accelerator after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 and began slapping (literally) friend-and-foe-agnostic tariffs. Together, India and the EU represent a combined market of nearly $27 trillion and about 25% of global gross domestic product (GDP). Wondering if weIndia and the EUshould thank Trump for playing midwife here? Perhaps China also deserves a little credit, given the growing realization in the EU that Beijing is hollowing out its manufacturing base. Both India and the EU, while celebrating, are being careful not to needle or goad Trump with their words. The US is one of Indias top five trade partners, with bilateral trade exceeding $100 billion, so New Delhi is being cautious not to gloat. The same holds true for Europe. But anyone seeing the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, von der Leyen, and European Commission President Antonio Costa holding interlocked hands aloft, smiling almost triumphantly, can be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Especially considering that the India-EU deal was announced days after Trumps open humiliation of Europe at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, and his description of India in August 2025 as a dead economy. One is reminded of the sayingRevenge is best served cold. The India-EU agreement has raised hackles in Washington. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said he was disappointed by Europes decision, arguing that it showed Europe had put trade ahead of the interests of the Ukrainian people. After all, 25% of the 50% tariffs the US slapped on India were due to New Delhi buying discounted Russian crude. Bessent told CNBC that Europe had been buying refined products made in India using sanctioned Russian oil supplies and had been unwilling to match higher US tariffs on Indian goods because it was separately negotiating a trade agreement. For those wondering what this means for youthe readerEuropean cars are set to get cheaper. So are drinks, including wines and spirits. A toast to that. One caveat: the India-EU deal still needs to be ratified by all 27 EU member states and approved by the European Parliament. This means it will likely take about a yearuntil early 2027 at leastfor the agreement to come into force. Still, the deal has been clinched, and there is much to look forward to. For India, which is aiming to upgrade itself to Viksit Bharat status by 2047, this pact is a big deal, with significant technology and other spillover benefits as well. All in all, it is a time to celebrate. British PM prepares for his Chinese charm offensive While Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa were in India, another European leaderBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmerwas flying to Beijing. Trumps tantrums are making even unpredictable China look reasonable and a credible alternative. Starmers four-day visit is the first by a British PM in eight years. Former PM Theresa May last visited in 2018during Trumps first term. The trip follows an earlier visit this month by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, which reset ties with Beijing. China lifted tariffs on Canadian canola seed imports, while Canada allowed Chinese electric vehicle imports. Carneys visit and the deals have angered Trumpalready incensed by his Davos speechwho has threatened more tariffs on Canada if it proceeds with the agreements. There are also reports that the US is now in touch with some Canadian separatists, seeking the separation of Alberta province from Canada. Starmer, accompanied by representatives of leading British firms, appears to have made headway, if Chinese media reports are to be believed. The official visit of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to China has yielded a series of concrete outcomes, as the two countries have agreed to develop a long-term, consistent, comprehensive strategic partnership," said a CGTN report. It added that Beijing will cut import tariffs on whisky from 10% to 5% and is considering a unilateral visa waiver for British citizens. Both sides also agreed to establish a high-level partnership on climate change, resume security dialogue, and signed 12 intergovernmental cooperation documents. They further agreed to resume high-level security talks and launch new economic, financial, and trade dialogues, including joint committee meetings. Notably, the UK had greenlighted Chinas plans to build a massive new embassy in central London before Starmers visit, despite warnings it could be used for espionage and pose security risks because of its proximity to fibre-optic cables carrying highly sensitive data. At 20,000 square metres, it would be Chinas largest embassy anywhere in Europe. As expected, Trump has not taken Carneys and Starmers China visits well. The BBC reported that Trump, while calling Chinese President Xi Jinping his friend" and saying he knew Xi very well", also warned that it was very dangerous" for the UK to do business with Chinaodd, given that Trump himself is set to meet Xi in April to strike a trade deal. In any case, Trumps warnings are unlikely to deter Europeans searching for anchors in a Trump-dominated, unsteady world. For Beijing, this is a moment to bask as a much sought-after safe harbour amid global uncertainty. It will want to project Starmers visit as a successand lay the groundwork for another, by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in February. US military destroyer docks at Israel's Eilat port Meanwhile, in a world riddled with uncertaintiesfrom the Russia-Ukraine war and Trumps tariffs to other volatile variablesthe possibility of more chaos looms. Tensions between Washington and Tehran are rising, with the US moving battleships to the Gulf. A US missile destroyer has docked at Israels Red Sea port city of Eilat. Israeli news reports said the arrival of the destroyer at the southern port on the Gulf of Aqaba, near Israel's borders with Egypt and Jordan, was pre-planned and part of ongoing cooperation between the US and Israel. Iran, for its part, said it has added 1,000 new strategic drones" in preparation to meet the challenge posed by the US. This comes amid protests in Tehran against the theocratic rule of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as economic woes pile up. Iran is weakened by the decapitation of Hamas and Hezbollah and by US attacks on its nuclear installations. The fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria in December 2024 was also a blow for Tehran. Iran is probably at its weakest in decades, which is why the US and Israel could be thinking this is the best time to force regime change, perhaps. The outcome would be dangerous because of the unpredictability of the end result. It is difficult to see how an unstable Tehran would be good for the region. Western military intervention" in Iraq and Libya ended dictatorships, but years of uncertainty followed. But then, Trump isnt one to learn from anyones past mistakesnot even his own. Elizabeth Roche is an associate professor of practice at O.P. Jindal Global University, Haryana. For more of her columns, read The International Angle. A US judge has denied Minnesotas request to pause the Trump administrations recent surge of thousands of immigration enforcement agents in the state. US District Judge Katherine Menendezs order will allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies to maintain approximately 3,000 officers deployed in Minnesota primarily in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul since Operation Metro Surge launched late last year. Menendez said that at this early point in Minnesotas lawsuit, it was unclear which side had the stronger case and that as a result, she was reluctant to halt Operation Metro Surge. She also pointed out a recent ruling by an appeals court which overturned her order prohibiting federal officers from retaliating against peaceful protesters in Minnesota. Her decision followed another deadly incident in Minneapolis, when Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse and US citizen, was shot by federal agents and killed on Jan. 24 while being restrained on the ground. Menendezs order isnt a final ruling on the legality of the operation, but it marks an early setback for state and local authorities who have condemned the federal operation as an act of political retaliation that is terrorizing Minnesotans. An administration official previously told the court that region normally has about 80 officers performing immigration enforcement operations. US Attorney General Pam Bondi called the ruling another huge legal win in Minnesota, in a post on X, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said city officials were disappointed with the ruling. The administration maintains the surge is necessary to root out migrants who are illegally in the US and tackle fraud. Minnesota officials have broadly accused the administration of violating its power to manage state affairs and law enforcement. The Justice Department has argued that Minnesota and the Twin Cities are wrongly trying to exercise a veto over how the US government enforces federal laws. The latest order came amid growing scrutiny of the tactics that officers from ICE and other agencies are using as they respond to a wave of demonstrations. Minnesota filed its lawsuit in mid-January, shortly after an ICE agent shot and killed a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good. Menendez is presiding over a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of protesters. On Jan. 16, she temporarily barred officers with ICE and other federal agencies from arresting or detaining peaceful demonstrators or using pepper-spray and nonlethal munitions against them. A federal appeals court later blocked that order from taking effect while the case is pending. The case is Minnesota v. Noem, 26-cv-190, US District Court, District of Minnesota . 2026 Bloomberg L.P. Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday distanced himself from reports about Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, to be sworn in as the Maharashtra deputy chief minister. The veteran Maharashtra politician claimed he had "no idea" about the oath-taking of his late nephew's wife. Sharad Pawar said that it was his late nephew Ajit Pawar's wish to unite the NCP factions, and that they were optimistic about it. "We didn't know about the swearing-in. We found out about it through news reports. I have no idea about the swearing-in," he said, when asked if anyone from the Pawar family would be attending the ceremony. The senior leader said that the NCP may have made the decision, and there had been no discussions with him. "I am not aware of the swearing-in. I didn't even know that it was scheduled for today. There was no discussion with me about the swearing-in. Her party (NCP) may have made the decision. The names of Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare came up, and it is learnt that they took the initiative. They might have taken a decision internally within the party," he said. The NCP (SP) chief said that the ruling faction may have felt that someone should take up the post after Ajit Pawar's death. Sources from the NCP had on Friday said that Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar is likely to be sworn in as deputy chief minister on Saturday, replacing her late husband Ajit Pawar in the cabinet. Also Read | The Pawar Family Tree: Multiple generations in Maharastra politics Following Ajit Pawar's death in the January 28 air crash in Baramati, a section of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders had demanded that she be given the post held by her late husband in the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet. The veteran leader further claimed that Ajit Pawar and NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil had been holding talks for the last four months and were leading the discussions, but the unfortunate crash had stalled the process. "We cannot bring Ajit back. We have lost him. Now we have to see how to face the situation," he said. Sharad Pawar said that they had reached a consensus about both factions working together, and the process had already begun. "The decision on the merger was supposed to be announced on February 12. Ajit had given this date, but unfortunately, the accident took place," he added. Asked if he was taken into confidence before Sunetra Pawar's name was proposed for the deputy chief minister's post, Pawar said, "What kind of confidence? Their party is different. Our party is different." We cannot bring Ajit back. We have lost him. The former Union minister also denied any knowledge of the BJP's involvement in the developments. (With PTI inputs) Sunetra Pawar, wife of deceased NCP president Ajit Pawar, was on Saturday sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The 62-year-old Pawar, who has resigned as Rajya Sabha MP, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a brief ceremony at the Lok Bhavan here. Earlier in the day, she was elected as the state NCP legislature party leader. Ajit Pawar, who held the Deputy Chief Minister's post as well as the finance portfolio in the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' government, died in an air crash in Baramati on 28 January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to Sunetra Pawar. "I am confident she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state and fulfil the vision of the late Ajitdada Pawar," the prime minister said in a post on X. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal, among others, were present at the ceremony. Sunetra Pawar's younger son, Jay Pawar, and his wife were also present. She is not a member of either house of the state legislature, and is expected to contest the byelection to the Baramati assembly constituency represented by her late husband. The Legislative Experience Coming from a political family, the low-profile Sunetra Pawar made her electoral debut in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, facing off against her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, in Baramati, the home turf of the Pawar family. After losing to Sule, she was elected to the Rajya Sabha. Sunetra assumes the charge of top leader in NCP and Maharashtra Deputy CM at a time when merger talks between the two party factions were in an advanced stage. A formal announcement of the reunification of the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was scheduled to be announced on 8 February, days before Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash. Sources told Mint that while Ajit Pawar was in favour of the merger, Sunetra and her children were against it. They, people familiar with the plans, said they wanted to take NCP ahead without Sharad Pawar, Ajit's uncle. The Challenges Sunetra Pawar would face several political and organisational challenges if she were to step into a frontline leadership role in Maharashtra. The NCP suffered a split in 2023 when Ajit Pawar, along with many senior leaders, broke away from the party led by his uncle, veteran politician Sharad Pawar, and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in Maharashtra. Sunetra now faces an uphill task of holding the NCP together. And her immediate challenge will be deciding whether to proceed with the much-anticipated merger of the two NCP factions. Another challenge for Maharashtra's first woman deputy chief minister would be managing coalition politics while working with the Bhartiya Janata Party and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. She would need to navigate the complex dynamics of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, where the BJP is the dominant force. Ensuring that the NCP faction keeps itself relevant with a bargaining power within the coalition would require strong political negotiation skills, political analysts say. Work with seasoned leaders Sunetra has no legislative experience. She has not won elections assembly or parliamentary. And on top of that, she will have to deal with seasoned political leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Praful Patel, and Sunil Tatkare, who, for now, seem to be by her side. Also Read | The Pawar Family Tree: Multiple generations in Maharastra politics Sunetra's late husband, Ajit Pawar, was a mass leader who held clout and heft within a party. Ajit Pawar was popularly known as dada - a term of respect for his long career and grassroots connect. Ajit was considered a powerful leader from Baramati with deep roots in cooperative societies, banking and agriculture something he cultivated over four decades in politics. Sunetra has so far largely remained away from active politics. In her role as deputy chief minister, she would want to build a strong public profile and establish her own political identity beyond being Ajit Pawars wife. I am confident she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state and fulfil the vision of the late Ajitdada Pawar. Maharashtra politics is highly competitive and personality-driven, and she would need to prove her leadership credentials quickly, said a political analyst As things stand, Sunetra would likely depend mainly on her sons Parth and Jay. Both are yet to establish themselves politically. And if at all the reunion of the two NCP factions happens, party patriarch, Sharad Pawar, is expected to play a role in guiding the transition. Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the NCP, as part of the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, has performed very well. "I personally do not see that will happen," he told PTI in an interview when asked his views on the talks of the merger of the two NCP factions. Goyal said that the NCP leadership "was with Ajit Pawar and now with Sunetra Pawar Ji". (With agebcy inputs) Sunetra Pawar, the wife of the deceased Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is likely to be sworn in as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister today, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said. All representatives of the NCP in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will gather at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai at 2:00 PM today. Also Read | Sunetra Pawar to be next Maharashtra Deputy CM, oath ceremony on Saturday Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal told reporters on Friday that the party decided to finalise Sunetra Pawar as the legislative party leader and the Deputy CM. During our meeting with the CM, we enquired about his availability (for the swearing in) and he has said that he is available on Saturday. The swearing-in after the election of the CLP could take place tomorrow itself. All of us want Sunetra vahini [sister-in-law] to lead the legislative unit, he said. Late Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state, along with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. First Woman Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar, 62, is likely to be sworn in at a low-key function at Lok Bhavan at 5 PM. Once sworn in, Sunetra would become the first woman Deputy CM of Maharashtra. Sunetra is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha. To be a Deputy CM, she must be elected to the Legislative Assembly or nominated to the Legislative Council within six months of taking the oath. With Ajit Pawar's death, the Baramati seat he held has become vacant. Sunetra is likely to contest from there in a bypoll. Away from active politics Sunetra has been married to the Pawars for four decades, but she has largely remained away from active politics. She took on an active role in 2019, when her son, Parth Pawar, contested the Lok Sabha elections from Maval. Not to mention her behind-the-scenes participation in her husband's poll campaign in Baramati. Parth lost the election. Parth's election was perhaps the beginning of a rift in the Pawar family and the NCP, according to media reports. Also Read | BJP will support NCP decision on leadership, says CM Fadnavis Five years later, Sunetra contested her first Lok Sabha election in 2024 from Baramati as the NCP candidate, backed by the BJP-led NDA. She lost to her sister-in-law, Supriya Sule, NCP founder Sharad Pawars daughter, in one of the keenly watched fights after the NCP split a year ago. In fact, her candidature against Ajit Pawars sister placed her at the centre of the split within the Pawar family and the NCP. Months later, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, a move seen as Ajit Pawars attempt to hand her a formal political role after the Baramati defeat. Who is Sunetra Pawar? Before marrying into the Pawar family, Sunetra was born in 1963 into a family with political connections in Osmanabad (now Dharashiv). Her father, Bajirao Patil, was a known local politician. Her brother Padamsinh Bajirao Patil is a former state minister and ex-member of Parliament Sunetra did her Bachelors in commerce from a college in Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) in 1983. She married Ajit in 1985. Sunetra was actively involved in social initiatives in Baramati. Her first major public work was in Kathewadi, the Pawar familys ancestral village near Baramati, where she led a sanitation drive after noticing poor hygiene and open defecation. Kathewadi later developed into a model eco-village with solar streetlights, biogas plants, waste management systems, and organic farming practices. She was also involved in setting up the Baramati Hi Tech Textile Park in 2008, a report in the Indian Express said. Merger of NCP Sunetras elevation comes amid speculation about the merger of the two NCP factions. A formal announcement of the reunification of the two factions of the NCP was scheduled to be announced on 8 February, days before Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash. All of us want Sunetra vahini [sister-in-law] to lead the legislative unit. The NCP suffered a split in 2023 when Ajit Pawar, along with many senior leaders, broke away from the party led by his uncle, veteran politician Sharad Pawar, and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in Maharashtra. Kiran Gujar, who has been associated with Ajit Pawar since before his entry into politics in the mid-1980s, told PTI that Ajit Pawar had confided in him about this only five days before Wednesday's fatal plane crash. Earlier this month, Apple finally announced that it wont be using its internal tech for powering the latest version of Siri and would instead rely on the technical prowess of Google Gemini to power the voice assistant. However, a new report has now claimed that Gemini powering Siri wasnt always a done deal and that Apple was initially going to rebuild Siri around Claude. Why did Apple use Gemini instead of Claude? In a recent episode of the TBPN podcast, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman shared that while Apple is using Google Gemini to power Siri and other Apple Intelligence features, the company hasnt stopped working with other competitors. Gurman noted that Apple is still using a lot of OpenAI technology in its products. He added that several features in Apple Creator Studio are powered by ChatGPTs image generation model. He also made a surprise revelation that a lot of internal work at Apple is being run on Anthropics AI models. Apple runs on Anthropic at this point. Anthropic is powering a lot of the stuff Apples doing internally in terms of product development, a lot of their internal tools, he said on the podcast. Gurman also said that Apple has custom versions of Claude running on its own servers internally. He further noted that Apple was not going to use Google for powering Siri and was going to rebuild Siri around Claude. However, that was during the Google antitrust trial in the US, where the Google-Apple partnership was under scrutiny. Gurman said Anthropic was holding them over a barrel and wanted several billion dollars a year to power Siri, with costs set to double annually over the next three years. After the trial ended and Google and Apple came out with their search deal intact, the two companies were able to partner on Siri without any legal hurdles. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently confirmed that the Gemini-powered Siri will run either on-device or be powered by Apples own Private Cloud Compute system to protect user privacy. Cook also noted that the company would continue its in-house AI development alongside its collaboration with Google on Siri. Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey has spent decades helping people get out of debt and take control of their money. However, in a recent conversation on Office Hours With Arthur Brooks podcast with Harvard professor Dr. Arthur Brooks, Ramsey said that many Americans will never build wealthnot because they don't earn enough, but because they're sending too much of their income to car loans and credit card payments. Don't Miss: The ChatGPT of Marketing' Just Opened a $0.85/Share Round 10,000+ Investors Are Already In Americans With a Financial Plan Can 4X Their Wealth Get Your Personalized Plan from a CFP Pro Debt Keeps You Trapped Your most powerful wealth-building tool in your retirement or in your kids college fund is your income, Ramsey told Brooks. And when you give it away to Ford Motor Company and Citibank in the form of payments, you cannot invest steadily. It's almost impossible mathematically. To Ramsey, your income can't work for you if it's already spoken for. He calls credit card debt the most emotionally damaging form of debt, pointing to the shame and regret people feel. No one on [The Ramsey Show] when they call in defends credit card debt, he told Brooks. they always just tuck their tail, drop their head and are ashamed. No one is happy or thinks that this is wise. On the other hand, he said that many people justify new cars as essential purchases. Theyll defend a car payment, Oh, I had to have a car,' Ramsey said. I hate debt, and I hate what it does to people, he continued. According to him, Gen Z and millennials are being crushed by debt, with big banks, car lenders, and the student loan system all taking advantage. In his view, these institutions are draining young people's income and robbing them of future opportunities. Trending: Put professional stock research to work in a single ETF explore Motley Fool Asset Management's factor-based funds. Debt Steals Freedom, Not Just Money Ramsey spoke from personal experience. At 26, he had a $1 million net worth, multiple properties, and was earning $200,000 a year. Then the bank called his loans. Within two years, he was bankrupt. I built a house of cards and was shocked when it fell, he said. The turning point came when he discovered biblical principles about money: living on less than you make, staying out of debt, budgeting, and giving generously. We immediately started feeling different about it, Ramsey told Brooks during their interview. Our emotions started moving. Our spirits started calming down. Because we had been living in terror. The water was cut off, the lights were cut off. A judge has directed a probation report is compiled on a Longford man who attacked a man who the defendant claimed through his solicitor was 'breaking into his home'. Keith Reilly (25) of 47 Camlin Meadows, Longford, pleaded guilty at the local district court to assault causing harm on a local resident on his estate on November 1, 2024. Sergeant Mark Mahon, for the State, said gardai received a call in relation to an issue between residents at the housing estate. "On arrival at the scene Garda Daly and Garda Gerrity observed a male with no top on and with injuries to his head with blood pouring down his face. READ NEXT: BREAKING: Man, in his 30s, stabbed in Longford hospitalised with serious injuries Sgt Mahon said the victim of the assault, who also lives in the Camlin Meadows estate, was taken to Mullingar Hospital where he was treated for his injuries and the medical report stated that he required seven stitches." Sgt Mahon said on December 11, 2024 Garda Daly obtained a statement from the injured party. The complainant named Keith Reilly of 47 Camlin Mews as the person "who caused the injury to his head while striking him to the head a number of times with a glass bottle". Sgt Mahon said on January 18, 2025, Mr Reilly attended Longford Garda Station by appointment and he was arrested and questioned by officers and he made full admissions and was fully cooperative. Solicitor John Anderson stated his client was pleading guilty but there was one thing he wished to clarify. "My client instructs me is that this man, the victim of this assault, was actually breaking into his house, he said. "He is pleading to the fact he got aggressive and hit him and it's part of the mitigation, it's not a defence." Mr Reilly had two previous convictions. READ NEXT: Longford holds special presentation for one of Peter Keenan Branch loyal members Sgt Mahon on behalf of An Garda Siochana said he had no instructions that the complainant had broken into Mr Reilly's home and that was not accepted. He stated there was a suspended sentence in the mix for an assault causing harm offence which was heard at Longford Criminal Circuit Court where Mr Reilly received a one year jail term, suspended for five years on June 2, 2021. Judge Bernadette Owens decided to direct a probation and welfare report be compiled and she adjourned the case until April 21 next for review. Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) got fantastic news last year when regulators approved its weight loss pill. It's the first oral GLP-1 drug in the market, and it unlocks a huge new growth opportunity for the business. While its injectable drugs have been doing well, a pill can be easier to produce at scale, and it's a more convenient option for people, particularly those who don't want to use needles. Shares of Novo Nordisk have been flying out of the gate in 2026 and they're up around 26% as of Jan. 26. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up around just 1.5%. Could this be the start of an even bigger rally for Novo Nordisk? Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks Image source: Getty Images. Demand for the Wegovy pill is proving to be incredibly strong Novo Nordisk launched its weight loss pill, which is the oral version of its popular injectable Wegovy, earlier this month. And in its first full week, it was prescribed 18,410 times in the U.S. It's a great sign for Novo Nordisk that might bolster its growth rate this year, which is in desperate need of a catalyst. Last year, the healthcare company slashed its full-year outlook due to rising competition and compounding pharmacies offering knock-off versions of its popular drugs. From a previous range of 13% to 21%, the company cut its guidance for sales growth to a range of just 8% to 14%. With strong demand for its weight loss pill, there's likely to be much better growth numbers for Novo Nordisk in 2026. Novo Nordisk's stock looks overdue for a significant rally Last year was a tough one for Novo Nordisk, as the drugmaker's stock fell by a whopping 41%. A cut to its guidance and a change in CEO gave investors multiple reasons to be bearish on the stock. However, the market was arguably far too bearish on what is still a quality stock to invest in. Even with its strong start to 2026, Novo Nordisk's stock looks fairly cheap, trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of just 17. By comparison, rival Eli Lilly's stock trades at a P/E of more than 50. There's plenty of room for Novo Nordisk's stock to rise higher this year. Despite the strong performance in the first few weeks of the year, it's not too late to invest in this top healthcare stock, as this may still be the early innings of a much larger rally to come. Should you buy stock in Novo Nordisk right now? Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Novo Nordisk wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Nearly a decade after 17.4 million Britons voted for Brexit the Spanish Prime Minister has expressed his desire for the United Kingdom to rejoin the European project In an interview published by the British magazine The New Statesman, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, defended the need to overcome the obstacle represented by Gibraltar in relations between Spain and the United Kingdom, while expressing his full support for a possible British return to the European Union. Of course, he replied when asked if he would support such a possibility. We miss the United Kingdom within the European Union, he said, stressing that there is a clear need for the country to return to the bloc, especially in the current context. Sanchez described the dispute over the Rock of Gibraltar as an outstanding issue that must be resolved in order to fully normalise bilateral relations. The president is committed to dialogue as a way to reach a solution that is beneficial to both parties, while reaffirming the Spanish governments traditional position on this strategic enclave. In the interview, the PSOE leader, whom the British publication describes as an icon of the European left, also addressed key issues on his agenda, such as immigration, defence policy and the situation in Gaza, but he was particularly emphatic in expressing his pro-European vision and his willingness to restore the ties lost after Brexit. At the head of a coalition between the PSOE and Sumar, Sanchez believes that his government is setting an alternative model to that of the global right, a Spanish and progressive way of doing things which, he argued, is proving to work. But, the European Union (EU) is demanding that any future British government pay financial compensation if it decides to abandon a possible agreement to reset relations after Brexit, which Brussels is negotiating with Keir Starmers Labour government, according to the Financial Times. According to a draft of the pact accessed by the newspaper, the European Commission has included a termination clause that would require the UK to pay a hefty restitution if it chooses to withdraw from a proposed veterinary agreement between London and Brussels, aimed at removing bureaucratic barriers to trade in food and beverages after Britains departure from the bloc. EU diplomats have dubbed this provision the Farage clause, designed, they explained, to protect the EU from the risk that the leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, could become prime minister and fulfil his promise to reverse Starmers rapprochement with Brussels. Farage, whose party leads the polls, confirmed to the Financial Times that he would break any agreement signed with the EU-27 without handing over any money. An ex-pediatric specialist at Boston Childrens Hospital has been sentenced to more than two decades in federal prison on charges of producing, possessing and distributing child sex abuse materials. Christopher Sheerer, 37, was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Thursday, followed by five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Sheerer was a fellow in pediatric cardiac anesthesiology at Boston Childrens Hospital when he was arrested in July 2024. He had previously completed a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In May 2024, authorities began investigating a user of an encrypted online chat group dedicated to sharing CSAM, according to prosecutors. Investigators traced the users IP address to Johns Hopkins and identified Sheerer as the user. A search of Sheerers Boston residence led to the discovery of multiple chats on his phone containing videos and images depicting the sexual abuse of children, according to prosecutors. A forensic analysis of seized devices showed he participated in dozens of chats on an encrypted app involving the exchange of CSAM. According to prosecutors, when Sheerer was at Johns Hopkins he uploaded images of a child known to him in order to gain access to the chat group. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol said in a statement that Sheerer was among the worst kind of criminal his office investigates. He held a position of trust in the community, but behind closed doors he was a predator of the highest order, not only participating in online groups dedicated to the sharing of photos depicting the sexual abuse of children but also acting as a hands-on offender, Krol said. Now, hes facing over two decades behind bars. Sheerer pleaded guilty in September 2025 to one count each of distribution of CSAM, possession of CSAM and sexual exploitation of children. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is included among the 12 Best Stocks to Buy for the Long Term. Eli Lilly (LLY) Taps Gene-Editing Technology to Target Hearing Loss, Reuters Reports According to a report by Reuters, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has signed an agreement worth up to $1.12 billion with Seamless Therapeutics. The Germany-based startup announced the deal on January 28. The partnership focuses on developing and commercializing treatments for hearing loss using Seamless gene-editing platform. The agreement gives Lilly access to proprietary technology that allows for the design of specially engineered enzymes aimed at correcting certain gene mutations linked to hearing loss. These enzymes, known as programmable recombinases, are built to make large, precise changes to DNA at specific locations. The approach does not rely on the cells own DNA repair pathway, which is a key distinction. Lilly will oversee the program from early preclinical work through to commercialization. The $1.12 billion figure includes an upfront payment, research and development funding, and additional payments tied to development and commercial milestones. This deal fits into a broader pattern. Lilly has been steadily building out a pipeline of genetic medicines across multiple diseases, using a mix of acquisitions and partnerships. The company is looking beyond its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro, to fuel future growth. Last year offers a clear example. Lilly spent $1.3 billion to acquire Verve Therapeutics, expanding its push into gene-editing therapies for heart-related conditions. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is a global pharmaceutical firm that discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells medicines worldwide. While we acknowledge the potential of LLY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 13 Companies that Just Started Paying Dividends and 14 High Yield Dividend Stocks with Sustainable Payouts Disclosure: None. Heavy snow in Boston calls for discounts on meatballs at one Italian restaurant in the South End. SRV will offer bottomless meatballs for $6 per person any time a snow emergency is declared in the city. The snow-fueled deal gives diners who are able to safely get to the restaurant the opportunity to enjoy plate after plate of meatballs while they last. While there, guests are encouraged to pair their meatballs with one of SRVs staple house made pasta dishes, made-to-order risotto, Italian wines or cocktails. SVR will post on Instagram whenever unlimited meatballs returns. It was last offered Jan. 26, a day after a snowstorm dumped more than 2 feet in some parts of the state. The restaurant opens for dinner at 5 p.m. on Mondays and encourages anyone brave (and hungry) enough to take on the challenge. SVR is located at 569 Columbus Ave., Boston. Macaulay Culkin is taking the loss of Catherine OHara extremely hard. The actor, who starred as Kevin McCallister in the iconic 1990 Christmas film Home Alone and its 1992 sequel was among many in Hollywood mourning OHaras death at 71 on Friday. OHara, who played Culkins mom Kate in the films, died at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, according to a statement from her agency, Creative Artists Agency. The actress cause of death has not yet been revealed. Mama. I thought we had time, Culkin wrote on Instagram. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later. Culkins post included photos of him and OHara on the Home Alone set was back when and one from December 2023 when OHara supported Culkin at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony. Dozens of heartfelt comments filled the post, including those from fellow actors. This one hurts Catherine OHara will always be a legend in our family, wrote Full House alum Candace Cameron Bure. The White Lotus star Walton Goggins commented, Oh buddy.. that embrace both of them all that time." Other stars who shared the screen with OHara like Pedro Pascal and Justin Theroux were also among the first to post tributes, as was Grand Rapids native, Paul Walter Hauser. She was my Meryl Streep. I could watch her in anything, Hauser wrote. Didnt matter how good or bad the film or show was. I wanted to see what she would do. SCTV, After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone 1 & 2, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, Schitts Creek, The Studio. Not sure I can process or fathom that shes gone but I am so grateful for the work she did and how she kept such a flawless reputation in a very sketchy and checkered business. A freaking angel just went home to Heaven, he added, And shes not home alone. Aside from starring in two Home Alone movies, OHara was best known for portraying Moira Rose in the Emmy-winning comedy Schitts Creek. The Canadian actress also frequently collaborated with Tim Burton, appearing in 1988s Beetlejuice and its 2024 sequel as well as voicing Sally in 1993s The Nightmare Before Christmas. OHaras accolades include two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Are you game for trying something new on your plate? How about the rich, deep flavor of wild boar? Or the distinct, savory flavor of venison sourced from deer? Not to mention fried alligator a Louisiana favorite and even camel. Adventurous diners will find those delicacies and much more at special game nights in February and beyond at the annual Hunters Harvest at the Munich Haus in Chicopee and at Springfields Student Prince and The Fort where they will be serving a Hunters Dinner. Wild game is an acquired taste, but everything is worth a try at least once, said Jill Wilkins, bar manager, at the Munich Haus, who noted the unique event has been held for nearly two decades. We have been offering game nights for as long as 50 years and I think two things attract people to them. One is the variety, they are coming to the restaurant and getting something different that is not typically on the menu every day. For some it is the different flavor profiles and proteins that are cool. The other is that is has become a tradition passed down in families, said Tim Saxer, executive chef at The Student Prince Tickets are selling out fast for the wild game dinners at Student Prince and The Fort, where this Thursdays dinner and that on Feb. 12 have sold out with only a few seats left for Feb. 19 and 26. The Munich Haus Hunters Harvest will be held on Feb 21, March 21, and April 18 at 6 p.m. Our Hunters Harvest is so popular that each year we have added more dates after beginning with just two months. Now we hold them in November, January, February, March and April, Wilkins said. We have four dinners every Thursday and we have been adding more over the years because of their popularity, Saxer added. Hunters Harvests are served buffet-style. We have a carving station with fresh meats carved right in front of you including bison, kangaroo, venison and elk, meats you dont see very often, Wilkins said. There will also be turkey schnitzel, marinated squid, shrimp, roasted wild boar, game kabobs, game stew, game sausages, alligator sausages, venison sausages, fried alligator and rabbit stew all served with an assortment of cheeses, salads, chips and dip, oven-roasted potatoes, red cabbage, sauerkraut and a dessert station. The Munich Haus German restaurant in Chicopee is among area restaurants offering game dinners this winter, featuring a line-up of exotic game meats, including wild boar, venison, alligator, bison and mountain goat. (Don Treeger / The Republican) The cost for the Hunters Harvest which is held in the restaurants banquet hall separate from the dining room is $70 with tickets available online at munichhaus.com. Diners can order from the bar and Wilkins said a variety of German-style dunkel lagers dunkel means dark in German go good with game. At The Student Prince and Fort, they shut down normal dinner service in the dining room and serve a prix fixe menu for only those with tickets to the Hunters Dinner. We try our best to source a variety of different proteins every year. In past years we have offered mako shark and kangaroo, but we try our hardest to keep the menu fresh every year so diners have something different to come back to, said Nathan Yee, hospitality director for the Bean Restaurant Group which operates The Student Prince and The Fort. The six-course menu ending in dessert with a black forest brownie includes a sausage plate, venison and elk meatball, camel sloppy joes, crocodile and elk jager schnitzel. Drinks from the bar can be purchased separately during the nearly three-hour meal. The cost for the Hunters Dinner is $89 and includes tax and gratuity. Tickets can be purchased online at studentprince.com, pending availability. Additionally, The Student Prince has several Game Month specials on their daily menu including Nashville Hot Alligator Bites, Venison Sausage Plate, Spatchcock Cornish Game Hen, and Elk Roulade. And The Munich House is currently offering Fried Alligator as an appetizer on their regular menu. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Boston on Saturday protesting the Trump administrations aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that left two citizens dead in Minneapolis in recent weeks. Protesters assembled on Boston Common in near-zero temperatures, carrying signs and chanting in an attempt to put pressure on government officials to block funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Demonstrators lined the steps of the State House and chanted Aint no power like the power of the people, cause the power of the people dont stop, according to the Boston Globe, and Civil rights are under attack. What do we do? Stand up, fight back. People carried signs reading ICE out everywhere, Boston stands with Minnesota, according to WCVB, and Hands off our immigrant neighbors. Massachusetts lawmakers including U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Governor Maura Healey have spoken out against ICE, expressing concerns over the agencys hardline tactics. Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, spurring nationwide protests. Video of the incident appeared to show Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, being shot while attempting to drive away from ICE agents. Good was unarmed, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described her actions as domestic terrorism. Alex Pretti was shot and killed while filming ICE agents during a protest on Jan. 24. ICE agents opened fire after restraining him. Pretti, a 31-year-old nurse, was licensed to carry a firearm, and video appears to show an ICE agent disarming him before other agents started shooting. ICE carried out an operation in Maine that began on Jan. 20 and has since ended, resulting in more than 200 people being detained. Some advocates believe a surge into Massachusetts is planned soon. Battling 10-foot seas, freezing spray and 40-degree water, the U.S. Coast Guard continued its search through the night on Friday for six people still missing from a Gloucester fishing vessel, known as The Lily Jean, which sank off the coast of Cape Ann earlier in the day. We will give this 110%. We will search as hard as we can and as long as we can, said Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick. He spoke in Gloucester on Friday night alongside other members of the Coast Guard, Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Sen. Bruce Tarr and Mayor Paul Lundberg. One persons body has been recovered from the water so far, the officials stated in the Friday night update, despite members of the Coast Guard searching for hours throughout the day. That person was not wearing a survival suit, officials added. There were seven people aboard the boat at the time, which was heading back to Gloucester after a fishing trip. It is likely one of the people aboard may have been a federal fisheries observer and not a crew member, Tarr said. He said another person aboard, the skipper of The Lily Jean, is a close, personal friend who is very, very skilled at what he does and comes from a fishing family. This was a 72 foot steel-hull vessel, with a skipper that knew his business as well as anyone in the fishing fleet, and the fact that that vessel now rests on the bottom of the ocean is very hard to understand, Tarr said. His voice became thick with emotion. The Coast Guard had received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon alert registered to a 72-foot fishing boat known as The Lily Jean around 6:50 a.m. Friday. By the time officials arrived, the vessel was underwater and just floating debris was left behind. The boats life raft was deployed which does not need a human to do so, officials said and empty in the water. I can promise you that the state will do anything and everything we can to support these families and to support this Gloucester community, and tonight, we pray for those at sea and we pray most deeply for their families and their loved ones," Healey said. Coast Guard members were dealing with 40-degree water and 2-degree air during their search, with freezing spray and ice building up on vessels conditions that can destabilize a boat and increase the risk of capsizing, officials said. Still, they stressed they remained in full search-and-rescue mode Friday night, not recovery, until that decision is made to where its no longer viable for somebody to survive. An 87-foot Coast Guard cutter, the Sturgeon, was expected to continue searching overnight, with a fixed-wing aircraft to rejoin the operation after daybreak. The search for survivors on a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts with seven aboard has been suspended, the U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday. The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72-foot Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann. They located a debris field near where the alert was sent along with a body in the water. It said it continued to be in search and rescue mode Friday evening for the ground fishboat that fished for cod, haddock and pollock. However, after consultation between search and rescue mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard announced Saturday that it had determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted. The Coast Guards Sector Boston Commander Jamie Frederick acknowledged frigid temperatures, stormy conditions and the vast ocean makes finding survivors at night difficult, a task made more challenging with a noreaster approaching the East Coast this weekend. That is the equivalent of searching for a coconut in the ocean, Frederick said. In suspending their search Saturday, the Coast Guard said their efforts yielded no additional results. After consultation between search and rescue mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted. The decision to suspend the search was incredibly difficult. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family members and friends of the lost crew of the Lilly Jean, and with the entire Gloucester community during this heartbreaking time, Frederick said. At the time of the emergency alert, the National Weather Service said wind speeds out at sea were around 27 mph with waves around four feet high. It was 12 degrees with water temperatures about 39 degrees. The latest tragedy There wasnt a mayday call from the commercial fishing vessel Lily Jean as it navigated the frigid Atlantic Ocean Friday morning on its way home to Gloucester, Massachusetts, Americas oldest fishing port. The U.S. Coast Guard was notified by the boats beacon that alerts when it hits the water. When rescuers arrived they found one person dead, floating in the water, along with a debris field and an empty life boat. Six people remain missing, and the Coast Guard said just before noon Saturday that they had suspended their search. UPDATE: Rescue crews will continue the search and rescue response throughout the night. USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) January 30, 2026 The fate of the Lily Jean, a 72-foot fishing vessel owned by a beloved member of Gloucesters historic fishing community, is the latest maritime tragedy to befall Americas oldest seaport. The city that inspired The Perfect Storm is tied to its fishing heritage in a way that has brought 400 years of history and, sometimes, tragedy. That book and movie were inspired by the FV Andrea Gail, which went missing at sea in 1991. Captain is seasoned fisherman The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo, and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show NorEaster Men. Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, fishing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days at sea on one trip fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder. State Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-1st Essex/Middlesex, who confirmed seven people were on the vessel, grew emotional as he talked about Sanfilippo, who was a good friend. Hes a person that has a big smile, and he gives you a warm embrace when he sees you, Tarr said. He is very, very skilled at what he does. Tarr said the fact that vessel now rests at the bottom of the ocean is very hard to understand, given the owners experience. This is a community that has felt this type of loss in the past, Tarr said. Im going to make a prediction. Tonight, tomorrow and the days that follow, no matter what happens, youre going to see the strength, strength that has made this the most historic fishing port in the United States. Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, said he knows Sanfilippo from the captains early days in commercial fishing and knew him as a hard worker from a fishing family. He said he and the fishing industry in Gloucester, a community where commercial fishing is a longstanding way of life, are distraught. He did well for himself. I was proud of him, Giacalone said. And now the dock we own, he ties his boat at the dock so we see him every day. Hes been to all my kids weddings. Thats how close we were. I feel a sense of loss. A lot of us do. Commercial fishing is dangerous Deep-sea fishing in New England can always be hazardous, but it can be especially dangerous in the winter because of high waves, frigid temperatures and unpredictable weather. Commercial fishing is often cited as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Commercial fishing is a really tough living to begin with, and its as safe as the elements and all of the things allow it to be, Giacalone said. Gus was a very seasoned experienced fisherman. Everett Sawyer, 55, a childhood friend of Sanfilippo, said that he is still processing the news of his disappearance. He was hardworking. He loved fishing, he said. After more than five decades living and working near the Atlantic Ocean, Sawyer said he has known 25 people who were lost at sea. Cold winter conditions can complicate operations even for experienced sailors, Sawyer said. Things happen very quickly when youre out on the ocean, he said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday it was aware that there was a fishery observer on board the vessel. Fishery observers are workers who collect data on board fishing boats for the government to use to inform regulations. Gloucester Council President Tony Gross, a retired fisherman who had joined other elected officials at the harbor in the city after learning of the missing boat, called it a huge tragedy for this community. The families are just devastated at this point, Gross said. They are half full of hope and half full of dread, I would imagine. Gov. Maura Healey responds Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she was heartbroken to hear about the boats sinking. I am praying for the crew, and my heart goes out to their loved ones and all Gloucester fishing families during this awful time, she said in a statement. Fishermen and fishing vessels are core to the history, economy and culture of Gloucester and Cape Ann, and this tragedy is felt all across the state. A Norfolk man convicted of possessing sexually explicit pictures of children has now been accused of sexually abusing a 2-year-old girl and uploading images of the act to Kik Messenger. The new accusations come after investigators discovered more explicit images on his devices following the conclusion of his trial in December, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Ethan Irving, 36, has been charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and was arrested at his home in Norfolk on Thursday. He had been previously identified in June 2025 as an online user who had uploaded three files of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to Kik and law enforcement found multiple images on two cellphones seized from his home in July. He was arrested and charged in Wrenthan District Court that month, then pleaded guilty to dissemination of obscene matter and possession of CSAM on Dec. 3, 2025. Irving was sentenced to two years of probation and cannot have contact with children. Then, on Dec. 15, 2025, investigators found additional CSAM on his devices that had not previously been seen by investigators. These images were multiple snapshots that appeared to show Irving sexually abusing a two-year-old girl who was known to him on his bed, the office said. The charge of sexual exploitation of children carries 15 to 30 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Two of the three Republicans running for governor in 2026 say theyre ready to debate any place, any time. Getting a face-to-face meeting on the calendar, however, is proving slightly trickier. Just ask the folks in New Bedford. Earlier this month, Shawn Oliver, a city councilor in the South Coast city, tried to pull together a debate between GOP hopefuls Mike Kennealy, Brian Shortsleeve and Michael Minogue. Kennealy and Shortsleeve, both former Baker administration alums, agreed. Minogue, a medical device executive, opted against participating, arguing that it was too early in the primary cycle, Oliver said in an email. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue visits Giovannis Italian Pastry & Coffee Shop in Agawam on Wednesday afternoon. Minogue is a Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts, known for his background as a combat veteran, former CEO of the medical technology company, Abiomed Inc. Dec. 3, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican) Douglas Hook With voters not heading to the polls until Sept. 1, Massachusetts has one of the latest intra-party contests on the 2026 calendar. Oliver said he wanted to hold the debate no later than mid-March, just a few weeks before Massachusetts Republicans gather for their statewide convention. This timing was intended to provide voters and convention delegates with a clearer understanding of where each candidate stands before making critical decisions at the convention, he said. It was also about getting the increasingly purple South Coast the attention he believes it merits on the statewide stage, he said. Too often, this region and, in particular, our commercial fishing industry feels overlooked in statewide political conversations, Oliver said in the email. My goal was to elevate South Coast issues and ensure they were part of the dialogue as Massachusetts voters consider the future leadership of the Commonwealth. And if Kennealy and Shortsleeve wanted to attend, Oliver said he remains all in. " I remain committed to ensuring that South Coast priorities, including those of our fishing industry, working families and local communities are heard as the political season continues," he said. I will revisit the possibility of a future debate as circumstances evolve. Shortsleeve, who helmed the MBTA under former Gov. Charlie Baker, said hed only debate if all three candidates appeared on stage together. That prompted some grousing from Kennealy, who dismissed it as a calculated stance. He cited what he described as Minogues basement strategy, which appears to have no end in sight. Thats a reference to the jibe President Donald Trump hurled at former President Joe Biden in 2020 as he derided the Democrats reluctance to appear in public during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Voters deserve a debate, period. I have been leading the charge throughout this primary to get a debate on the books, Kennealy, who served as Bakers housing and economic development czar, said. We already have a Governor who leads with absence and arrogance. We should be showing Massachusetts voters there is a better path. Through a spokesperson, Shortsleeve dismissed the jabs from his onetime colleague. We have already debated Kennealy multiple times and defeated him, the spokesperson, Holly Robichaud, told MassLive. We believe all three candidates should attend. Minogues convention manager, John Milligan, told MassLive that the debate about debates is usually driven by candidates who are floundering. He called it unfortunate but indicative of campaigns that have grown comfortable with losing in Massachusetts over the last decade. Minogue already has participated in a multi-candidate forum and looks forward to debates ahead, he said. With just a few months left before the GOP convention, meeting voters is the priority. We have the largest turnouts and are focused on continuing the grassroots momentum and out-raising and out-funding them. With just days to go before a Feb. 3 expiration date, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has called on the Trump administration to extend protected status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians now living in the United States, including tens of thousands who call Massachusetts home. Haitian TPS holders are essential contributors to our states workforce, filling roles that are vital to our economic stability and growth, that spans such industries as health care and long-term care to transportation, hospitality, and construction, Healey wrote in a Friday letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The Bay State is home to one of the largest Haitian populations in the country, more than 45,000 of whom have temporary protected status, Healey said. Those workers help keep our economy running. The sudden loss of their legal status and work authorization would be devastating for our state. The U.S. government granted the temporary legal status to Haitians after the country was devastated by an earthquake in 2010. And since the countrys president was killed in 2021, violent gangs run much of the country, Marketplace reported. Health care industry leaders have warned that ending the immigrant status would not only be bad for the migrants, but it also would be bad for business, creating serious staffing shortages. Healey echoed that sentiment in her letter to Noem, arguing that deporting these workers would punch a hole in the states economy. Massachusetts and much of the nation are already facing workforce shortages in this sector, and if these workers suddenly lose their legal status and work authorization, the result will be more severe staffing shortages, increased health care costs, reduced access to care, and additional strain placed on an already stressed health care system, Healeys office said in a statement. On Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, is trying to force a vote on a measure that would preserve temporary protected status. The Boston lawmakers district has a large Haitian population. Extending TPS for Haiti isnt just the moral, humanitarian thing to do it is also good policy," Pressley said. A federal judge in Minnesota on Saturday said she would decline to immediately halt the Trump administrations Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez instead means that the White House can continue its hardline immigration enforcement effort while a broader legal challenge continues, NBC News and other outlets reported. Menendez denied Minnesota officials request for a temporary restraining order, even as she acknowledged what she described as profound and even heartbreaking consequences for communities in the state, the network reported. But those are not the only harms to be considered, Menendez ruled, pointing to a ruling by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that recently reiterated that entry or injunction barring the federal government from enforcing federal law imposes significant harm on the government. Lawyers for Minnesota argued that the Republican administrations enforcement effort violated the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by illegally pressuring the state to change or abandon its immigration policies and bend to the will of the federal government, according to NBC News. Menendez said those arguments, at least at this point, were not strong enough to justify blocking the operation, the network reported. Minnesota was plunged into unrest, and the rest of the nation followed with protests, after federal agents shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis last week. The news came as protesters gathered on Boston Common on Saturday for an ICE Out Everywhere rally that organizers insisted would be nonviolent, and one day after a national day of action that saw a similar rally on Copley Place in the city. Find your next quality investment with Simply Wall St's easy and powerful screener, trusted by over 7 million individual investors worldwide. Elliott Investment Management has escalated its campaign against the Toyota groups proposed takeover of Toyota Industries. The activist investor argues the offer undervalues Toyota Industries and raises concerns about corporate governance in Japan. Elliott is urging other shareholders to reject the deal, putting additional pressure on Toyota Motor and the wider Toyota group. Toyota Motor (TSE:7203), trading at 3,504.0, sits at the center of this dispute as investors reassess how the group handles related party transactions and shareholder interests. The companys shares are up 21.8% over the past year and 155.1% over five years, so many holders are watching closely to see how this governance debate might intersect with long term value. For investors, Elliotts pushback is less about short term headlines and more about what kinds of checks and balances large Japanese groups will accept. The outcome could influence how future deals are structured, how independent directors engage with minority shareholders, and how much voice activists have around companies like Toyota Motor in Japans capital markets. Stay updated on the most important news stories for Toyota Motor by adding it to your watchlist or portfolio. Alternatively, explore our Community to discover new perspectives on Toyota Motor. TSE:7203 1-Year Stock Price Chart Why Toyota Motor could be great value Quick Assessment Price vs Analyst Target : At 3,504, Toyota Motor trades about 3.0% below the 3,611 analyst price target, which sits within the typical 10% band. Simply Wall St Valuation : The shares are trading 79.2% above the estimated fair value, which flags a rich valuation on that model. Recent Momentum: A 30 day return of 4.4% shows positive near term momentum as this governance story unfolds. Check out Simply Wall St's in depth valuation analysis for Toyota Motor. Key Considerations Elliotts challenge to the Toyota Industries deal puts extra focus on how Toyota Motor handles related party decisions and minority shareholders. Watch how the share price reacts around governance updates, plus where the P/E of 9.9x sits versus the industry average of 11.3x. Existing flags around debt not being well covered by operating cash flow could matter more if activism pushes for balance sheet or capital allocation changes. Dig Deeper For the full picture including more risks and rewards, check out the complete Toyota Motor analysis. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Hours after the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for survivors of a fishing boat that sank off Cape Ann on Saturday, Gov. Maura Healey thanked rescue workers and said she joins the Gloucester community in mourning the loss. We are heartbroken. With the U.S. Coast Guards decision to suspend its search for the Lily Jean, we join the families, fishing community and City of Gloucester in grieving seven brave individuals who were taken far too soon, Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a joint statement. Today, our prayers are with these families and this community, for the lives lost, the memories they hold, and the strength it will take to face the days ahead, the states top two elected leaders said. The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72-foot Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann. They located a debris field near where the alert was sent along with a body in the water. The Coast Guard said it continued to be in search and rescue mode Friday evening for the boat that fished for cod, haddock and pollock. They suspended the search on Saturday, saying the effort yielded no additional results. In their joint statement, Healey and Driscoll said that Gloucester and its people are close to both of our hearts. We have seen how the ocean isnt just a livelihood here; its family, its history, its identity. The people of Gloucester and our fishing communities know what it means to head out before dawn, wait for a safe return, and carry both pride and worry at the same time. The news of the sinking now ripples through this community and brings up the hardest memories for so many fishing families. Please know, you are not alone. Today, and in the weeks and months to come, Massachusetts will stand with you, not just in words but in actions, they continued. State Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, R-1st Essex/Middlesex, a friend of the boats skipper, said residents of his North Shore district were deeply appreciative of the ongoing and courageous efforts of the United States Coast Guard, whose personnel continue to search through the night, in dangerous conditions, for the crew of the F/V Lily Jean." Every day, men and women leave ports like Gloucester to harvest the bounty of the ocean for the people of our state and our nation, carrying with them the very real risk of not returning home, Tarr, the top Republican in the state Senate, said. There were seven people aboard the boat at the time, which was heading back to Gloucester after a fishing trip. One of the seven people aboard may have been a federal fisheries observer rather than a crew member, Tarr said Friday. All three elected leaders collectively thanked the Coast Guard, local police and first responders for the work they had done since news of the sinking became public on Friday. Massachusetts stands with Gloucester, and we will continue to stand with the families in the difficult days ahead, Healey and Driscoll said. Fearing a Minnesota-style escalation in the Bay State, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey says he wants ICE to explain its plans for an influx of new vehicles at its Burlington field office and to justify the inhumane conditions there. Markey, D-Mass., raised those, and other concerns in a Friday letter to David Wesling, the acting director of the agencys Boston field office. The Malden pol visited the office late last year. And in the wake of that visit, he fired off a previous letter to Wesling that so far has gone unanswered, he said. Since that visit, immigration agents have shot and killed two U.S. citizens on the streets of Minneapolis, touching off protests in the city and nationwide, and renewed scrutiny of the Trump administrations mass deportation campaign. Against this national backdrop, numerous reports of a large delivery of unmarked vehicles to the Burlington facility have raised fears of an aggressive immigration crackdown in Massachusetts of the scale and brutality seen in Minnesota, Markey wrote. MassLive has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment for this story. Markeys letter came amid heightened concerns over the Trump administrations hardline immigration enforcement tactics. It also came as the White House and U.S. Senate Democrats reached a deal that swapped temporary funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for time to negotiate restrictions on those tactics. Earlier this month, ICE received a shipment of 24 SUVs to its Burlington field office, raising eyebrows among local and state elected officials. Asked if she feared an ICE surge in Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey told reporters the agency is already operating in the state. Weve had ICE in Massachusetts for months now and unfortunately their actions have led to, as I just said, people are terrified, Healey said, according to The Boston Herald. Theyre scared to death, theyre not going to school, theyre not going to work, theyre not going to their doctors appointments, theyre not going to court when theyre a victim of a crime. Thats not right. Healey ratcheted up her rhetoric during a news conference this week. " Ive said this time and time again. People can buy in and continue with the absolute (expletive) rhetoric out of the Trump administration on this," she said. You know, they have no respect for cities and states. They dont respect law enforcement because theyve got this group of rogue individuals who, I guess, (are) taking the bounty of $50K, sign me up, youre in a uniform tomorrow. In his letter to Wesling, Markey raised similar concerns. The worsening national context has rattled Massachusetts residents, who have also watched ICE officers employ dangerous and aggressive tactics to execute arrests in their own backyards, he wrote, noting that he had previously asked about specific instances of excessive force by ICE officers in Massachusetts, ICEs sweeping operations, and policies regarding arrests and detentions. Given the growing calls for ICEs transparency, I request answers to my prior questions with heightened urgency, he said. Markeys letter set out 14 questions for Wesling to answer by Feb. 13. They included specific queries about the number of people being held at the ICE field office, and whether any of them had been minors, pregnant or nursing women or people with disabilities. He also asked about access to showers and medical treatment, as well as access to lawyers and family members for those who are detained there. The letter also seeks information on ICE enforcement actions across the state. Congress has a statutory responsibility to oversee federal agencies, and ICE has a statutory obligation to comply with that oversight. The scenes of ICEs activities in Minnesota demand renewed vigilance and transparency about the agencys operations in the Commonwealth, Markey wrote. A new report by the state auditors Bureau of Special Investigations details nearly $12 million in public assistance fraud in the 2025 budget year. The largest portion of that fraud, $4.1 million, was found in the states Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The program is often known by its former name, food stamps. Investigators completed 4,179 investigations during the budget year that ended June 30, 2025, state Auditor Diana DiZoglios office said in a statement. Investigators also found more than $1.3 million in fraud in MassHealth, as Medicaid is known in the Bay State. The reports release comes more than a month after federal investigators charged two Mattapan bodega owners with $7 million in food assistance fraud DiZoglios investigators also completed 22 civil recoveries, clawing back nearly $800,000 in misspent public money, DiZoglios office said in its statement. The work by DiZoglios investigators also resulted in two guilty pleas to welfare fraud charges, one by a Hyannis woman involving more than $140,000 and another by a Gloucester woman totaling more than $20,000. For countless residents across the Commonwealth, these programs offer access to everyday items they need, including food and medical services, DiZoglio said. Through the work of our fraud examiners, we continue to help ensure they operate with transparency, accountability, and equity, she continued. Our team will continue to work to ensure taxpayer dollars are used effectively and that resources are available to those who truly need and qualify for them. People can report potential fraud by calling the investigations bureau at 617-727-6771 or by visiting its website. A Gloucester lawmaker has paid tribute to the rescue workers who braved freezing temperatures and rough seas to search for the survivors of a fishing boat that sank off the coast of Cape Ann on Friday. Every day, men and women leave ports like Gloucester to harvest the bounty of the ocean for the people of our state and our nation, carrying with them the very real risk of not returning home, Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, R-1st Essex/Middlesex, said in a statement. Tarr, the top Republican in the Massachusetts Senate, said residents of his North Shore district were deeply appreciative of the ongoing and courageous efforts of the United States Coast Guard, whose personnel continue to search through the night, in dangerous conditions, for the crew of the F/V Lily Jean." As of Friday night, rescuers had recovered the body of one person who was not wearing a survival suit. There were seven people aboard the boat at the time, which was heading back to Gloucester after a fishing trip. One of the seven people aboard may have been a federal fisheries observer rather than a crew member, Tarr said Friday. Tarr said the boats skipper is a close, personal friend who is very, very skilled at what he does and comes from a fishing family. The Coast Guard had received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon alert registered to a 72-foot fishing boat known as The Lily Jean around 6:50 a.m. Friday. By the time officials arrived, the vessel was underwater and just floating debris was left behind. The boats life raft was deployed and empty in the water. I can promise you that the state will do anything and everything we can to support these families and to support this Gloucester community, and tonight, we pray for those at sea and we pray most deeply for their families and their loved ones," Gov. Maura Healey said Friday. In his statement, Tarr offered his thanks to the Gloucester Police Department, Gloucesters Harbor Masters, elected officials and all of those who are supporting the community during this difficult time. We are praying for those aboard the vessel and their families who are enduring the anguish of not knowing the fate of their loved ones, he said. Most of all, we stand together with those families, sustained by the enduring strength, unity, compassion, and faith that have long defined the Gloucester community since its earliest days, the Republican lawmaker said. SPRINGFIELD Two years after the city saw a record number of homicides, the rate fell in 2025 to the 25-year average of 17 killings. After 32 homicides in 2023, police say they intensified efforts to apprehend violent offenders. When you have a year like that, you have to respond aggressively, said Springfield Deputy Police Chief Steven Kent. We are always aggressive, but you have to pull out all the stops after something like that. The overall rate of gun violence also dropped in 2025 by nearly half from the two previous years, with 49 people injured in shootings and the number of shell casings found at shooting scenes to 2,020. Still, police continue to seize illegally owned guns at the nearly same rate since 2022. The city saw the worst gun violence ever in 2023, with 32 homicides that included the death of a 10-year-old and her 54-year-old grandmother, allegedly at the hands of a neighbor on a drug binge; a 16-year-old shot to death while apparently trying to steal a car; and a 56-year-old killed after a dispute with another man. That year also set other records, with 4,141 shell casings recovered at different scenes and 348 guns seized. Non-fatal shootings totaled 93, one fewer than 2021, when there were 17 homicides. But this past year returned to average and even below average, with non-fatal shootings totaling 49. That was much lower than the five-year average of 83 people wounded or killed annually. The number of shell casings found in 2025 year dropped by half, even with the addition of more audio ShotSpotter devices that detect shootings even if no one reports them, said Ryan Walsh, the Springfield Police Department spokesman. The city also had no fatal shootings between July 12 and Nov. 30. That four-month period may be a record for the city. However, at least three people were stabbed to death during those months. Stepped-up crime fighting Since 2023, Springfield has put more officers on the street and police have worked even more closely with task forces, most of which are organized through Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gullunis office. Going after repeat offenders is a priority for law enforcement. The work we do to arrest violent offenders ... has made a difference, Gulluni said. Gulluni used the example of the Springfield neighborhood around High, Temple and Union streets, a small but densely populated neighborhood where at least five people were shot and killed in about a months time in the spring of 2023. Local, federal and state police and the district attorneys office came together to crack down on drug dealing and gun violence in the neighborhood using a variety of investigative techniques. In 2025, there were no homicides in that neighborhood. We all came together and said, This is really bad, Gulluni said. It curbed violence in that area. The task forces join federal law enforcement agents, state police troopers and detectives from different communities to give police more investigative manpower and expertise, Kent said. You have a very small percentage of people who are behaving like this, he said of criminal suspects. If you can target them and remove them from the equation, it helps a lot. Kent used the example of the June 2024 shooting of Officer Nestor Santos, which was followed by a chaotic rolling gun battle that left a pregnant woman, a bystander and three Massachusetts Department of Transportation workers injured. A total of seven people were arrested and jailed, taking dangerous repeat offenders off the street for some time. A Springfield Police Department Investigations Unit officer leaves 1448 State St. while investigating a suspected murder-suicide on Nov. 25, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican) Douglas Hook Santos, who was shot in the calf and temple, lost an eye in the violence. He returned to work on the anniversary of the crime, Walsh said. The 22 cities and towns in Hampden County saw 40 homicides in 2023, much higher than average. That dropped by half in 2025, with 17 in Springfield and one each in Chicopee, Holyoke and Holland, he said. Last year brought a lot of different and unrelated crimes. There were 10 deaths by gun violence and at least five stabbings. In one, two roommates were stabbed to death by a third who later hung himself in their State Street home. In another, two men were stabbed in the Six Corners neighborhood by an assailant who has not been arrested and one died. It was sporadic, there was no direct linkage from one shooting to the other, Capt. Trent Duda, the head of the detective bureau and homicide unit, said of 2025. In past years, you could actually link shootings and murders to each other and we havent had that this year. In 2025, most of the victims were killed by people who they knew. Some had a direct relationship with the people who killed them and others knew them indirectly, he said. We didnt have the typical gang shootings, for a lack of a better term it wasnt crazy random, Duda said. In past gang shootings, members of one will target those in another for no reason other than the fact they are rivals. In other cases, members will drive through the territory of another and open fire because they believe anyone in that area is likely a member of their rival gang. Duda called them crimes of opportunity. Gang violence remains consistent in the city, but in 2025, police did not see upticks sparked by turf wars or battles over drugs and retaliation shootings. That was common in 2023 and in previous years, Duda said. Detectives have cleared 12 of the 17 homicides in 2025, mostly with arrests, but at least one suspect died. Clearing those crimes works as a deterrent, Gulluni said. In 2025, 20 previous cases were resolved either by the suspect going to trial or pleading guilty. When that happens, Gulluni believes it sends a message to the criminal element in the community: They will be held accountable and face a long jail sentence. Two homicides that have not been solved are those of JoAnn Garelli, 56, of West Springfield, whose body was found dumped in Forest Park on Jan. 7, and Meggan Meredith, 45, of Springfield, who was found dead April 24 in a grassy area of the Connecticut Riverwalk and Bikeway near 1150 West Columbus Ave. District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni in his office on the 28th floor of the Tower Square building. (Douglas Hook / The Republican) Douglas Hook With it being relatively rare for two victims to be found in wooded areas in Springfield, social media speculators started panicking people by trying to link the two deaths and several others in Connecticut to a serial killer. The rumors became so rampant that Gulluni publicly asked people to stop. He said the social media posts make it difficult for investigators and added to the trauma of family and friends of the victims. At this time, there is no indication that these incidents are connected to each other or are ... part of a larger public safety threat, Gulluni said. We are actively working every lead and deploying every available resource. Both cases continue to be actively investigated. The police department is awaiting analysis of many items found at the scenes that have been sent to the State Police Crime Lab, which is historically backed up, Duda said. There are obvious similarities, but there are significant differences, Duda said of the two homicides. Getting guns off streets A consistent effort to get unlawful guns off the street has helped reduce shootings, Duda said. Over the past four years, police have seized more than 310 guns a year. The 2025 total of 347 was just one less than in 2023. Just under half of the guns, or 164, were confiscated by the Firearms Investigative Unit in probes that targeted gun trafficking and people known to be in possession of more than one illegally owned firearm. The rest were found by officers in a variety of divisions. Uniform officers have a greater tendency to, in routine enforcement, stumble across guns, Duda said. These guys are just enforcing the law, which is scarier, the number of guns they come across on routine patrol. The Firearms Unit was created in 2021 to replace the troubled narcotics bureau and as the public called for a crackdown on the increasing gun problems in the city. There are 25 people in the unit, with others training to join. They are getting the job done and they are putting together great investigations, said Capt. Joseph Dunn, who heads the unit. Other (law enforcement) agencies are asking us all the time for information about how we do things and how we go about our investigations. One significant arrest involved a raid in which police used a warrant to grab a 3D printer a man was using to make devices that will turn any gun into an automatic weapon. The tools, often called Glock switches, allow a shooter to spray as many as 50 bullets in seconds. We are still seeing Glock switches but not in the numbers we saw last year, Dunn said. The investigations done by the unit tend to target the same people involved in shootings regularly, Dunn said. Springfield police have confiscated 1,577 illegally owned guns in five years, police said. The number of people shot this year has dropped, Duda said. Obviously the correlation is if there are less guns on the street, there is less violence. Juvenile crime Meantime, the problem of juvenile crime continues to be a concern, police say, especially when those under 18 are rarely held after arrests. When teens face few consequences for violent offenses, it leads to them to continue committing crimes. Rarely does someone commit a homicide for their first crime, police said. There is a direct correlation. One of the kids who was on a tear breaking into cars and having guns committed a murder, Duda said. That homicide was the second of the year and took the life of Samaj-Nassyr Brewster, 19, an employee at a Western Massachusetts restaurant. In June, police arrested a 16-year-old for the crime, which took place Jan. 12, 2025, on Oakland Street. The 16-year-old, who was later identified as Armoni Davis, is being held without bail. We have juveniles breaking into cars and pointing guns at homeowners when they come out to tell them to get away from their car. That has happened several times, Kent said. Gulluni echoed police officials concerns about juvenile crime, calling it an ongoing problem. Courts, he said, are not meting out justice and accountability. While the focus on rehabilitation is good for youthful offenders, Gulluni said the courts have to do better to ensure that defendants aged 14 to 16 involved in gang activity and charged with possession of firearms, shootings, drug dealing will face serious consequences. Thats not yet happening, he said. When they come in, they go right back out, Gulluni said, referring to what he sees as the revolving door of juvenile court. Car thefts have dropped the past two years. Much of that is connected to repairs made to Hyundais and Kias models that made them easy to steal with a screwdriver and USB cable. Still, car thefts in Springfield remain higher than statewide averages, Walsh said. Springfield Police Department crime statistics Year Homicides Shell casings recovered Guns seized 2025 17 2,020 347 2024 17 3,865 313 2023 32 4,141 348 2022 15 2,242 314 Frustration with legislators Police express frustration that people arrested for serious crimes can be released on low or no bails. Rather than the district attorney or judges, they blame legislators who are out of touch with what happens in Springfield and other urban environments. The attitude that comes from the Statehouse of putting criminals behind bars is a bad thing is not working, Kent said. You think you are being altruistic or whatever, but all you are doing is victimizing the people who are trying to live their lives. Police work with Gulluni and his staff attorneys to at least try to get repeat offenders and those charged with felonies to face dangerousness hearings. These proceedings can hold a defendant for 180 days before trial. With the exception of domestic homicides last year, every person arrested in Springfield had previously committed a crime, Duda said. Its a small number. We are not talking about incarcerating half the population of Springfield. We are talking about incarcerating repeat offenders, he said. I think the court system is catching up to the community needs, Gulluni said. I think the system is getting better at seeing the nature of violence. NORTHAMPTON Chaplains of all faiths at Veterans Affairs facilities Massachusetts were told this week not to mention VA nurses at all, let alone the name Alex Pretti, at worship or gatherings. Clergy also were told not to offer counseling or support to Veterans Affairs nurses, all according to emails obtained by The Republican. That would include chaplains at the Edward P. Boland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Leeds section of Northampton. Veterans Affairs spokespeople Friday said the prohibition is not national policy. Participants hold candles at the vigil honoring ICU nurse Alex Pretti on Thursday night outside Edward P. Boland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Leeds section of Northampton. (Steven E. Nanton/ Special to The Republican) Steven E. Nanton At this present time, we were advised by leadership to not move forward with any offerings to staff. When they give further guidance, we will update chaplains as we move forward. This is for all chaplain staff. Thank you, read an email addressed to all chaplains, with a subject line of Staff Support. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA in Minnesota was shot and killed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. The email, dated Jan. 29, is from Kerrie Godsoe, a program support assistant for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Massachusetts. Reached by phone Friday, Godsoe said that directive was only until the VA receives further guidance. But she declined to say if there were new instructions and said she couldnt talk further. Participants show signs and wave to traffic outside the Edward P. Boland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Leeds section of Northampton on Thursday night at a vigil honoring ICU nurse Alex Pretti. (Steven E. Nanton/ Special to The Republican) Steven E. Nanton U.S Department of Veterans Affairs spokespeople responded Friday in an email. Any internal correspondence or comments you have that may appear to support such false claims do not reflect VA policy, wrote Pete Kasperowicz, press secretary for the VA. When asked what that policy is, Kasperowicz wrote: All VA employees, including chaplains, are welcome to memorialize Alex Pretti in their own way as long as they are respectful, and it does not interfere with their work duties. On Thursday, a retired VA chaplain spoke at a memorial vigil for Pretti, organized by the state nurses union and hosted outside the facility in Leeds. Another chaplain recounted the VAs message and its effects in the anonymous email obtained by The Republican; the clergyperson feared losing the ability to minister at all at the VA. Clergy were ordered to cease and desist in offering Pretti-related support and counsel to VA nurses. The chaplain was told he can only offer Mass. The anonymous chaplain relayed that a supervisor said Prettis death was political. An act against the current administration. That individuals interpretation, Im sure and not an official edict, the email said. The clergyperson said chaplains were served with copies of the Hatch Act, which outlaws partisan activity by government employees. The chaplain wrote of a desire to tell the VA supervisor that the Vatican, and Pope Leo XIV, have a different directive. His boss, and my ultimate boss does, too, the email reads. Chaplains are Veterans Affairs employees. Spokespeople for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield did not return calls and emails. The Washington Post reported this week that VA employees nationwide are frustrated they have not received any agencywide acknowledgment of Pettis killing. Staff were also initially told not to leave messages of support for Pretti in some of the centers public spaces, employees said, according to The Post. The Post also said this controversy comes at a low point for morale at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, following staff and budget cuts. Those cuts also have been felt locally, with veterans complaining of disappearing doctors. The chaplains are making their case with the help of Springfield political consultant Anthony L. Cignoli, president of A.L. Cignoli Co. Several friends of different faiths who do this special work for the VAs patients and the nurses and staff contacted me for advice on how they could contact members of the U.S. House of Representatives to let them know they were not to minister or give intentions during services with any mention of Pretti, Cignoli said. They were told that this was coming from on high, either the top of the VA or from Washington itself. I understood that to mean the administration. The Future Hospitality Summit Africa (FHS Africa) will return to Nairobi on 31 March 1 April 2026, bringing together some of the most influential leaders shaping hospitality, tourism and investment across the continent. The event will take place at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Nairobi Upper Hill. As Africas hospitality sector continues to attract growing international attention and capital, FHS Africa provides a platform for high-level discussion on investment, development, destination strategy and operational performance. The Summit is designed for senior decision-makers, with a strong emphasis on partnerships, policy alignment and commercial outcomes. Discussions around destination leadership and tourism growth will draw on insights from Juliana Kagwa, Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Tourism Board, while Ashish Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of Serena Hotels Africa, and Rosco Wendover, Chief Executive Officer of Angama Group, will bring perspectives from operating and scaling hospitality brands across African markets. The agenda will also focus on investment and development, informed by leaders such as Ewan Cameron, Director, Africa, Westmont Hospitality Group; Rahul Chaudhary, Managing Director and CEO of CG Corp Global; Olivier Granet, Managing Partner and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Kasada Capital Management amongst other key investors, who will share insight into capital deployment, deal structures and investor priorities across the continent. Broader themes around strategy, sustainability and long-term destination planning will be addressed through the expertise of Dr. Aradhana Khowala, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Aptamind Partners, while Mita Vohra, Board Director and Head of Sales, Marketing, Revenue and Distribution at Sarova Hotels, will contribute a commercial lens on revenue, distribution and brand performance. Entrepreneurship and African brand growth will feature prominently, with Jameel Verjee, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CityBlue Hotels, sharing experience on building and scaling hospitality brands regionally. The programme will also include a global perspective on travel demand and destination perception from Peter Greenberg, Travel Editor at CBS News. Commenting on FHS Africas programme, Roy Bannister, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Africa at The Bench, said: The calibre of speakers and the level of sponsors participating is a testament to the quality of discussions at FHS Africa. Attendees operating in this sector cannot afford to miss this event its where pipeline reports, economic analysis, data, and the most relevant industry discussions on finance, development, technology and sustainability come together. The insights and connections gained here are essential for anyone leading or investing in African hospitality. FHS Africa has established itself as a key meeting point for leaders shaping the future of hospitality on the continent, with previous editions generating significant business activity and long-term partnerships. The 2026 Summit is expected to build on this momentum, reinforcing Africas position as a priority market for hospitality investment and innovation. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has appointed Mayo native, David Rowe, as Chair of its West and North West Regional Committee. The Ballina native will represent chartered surveyors working across the western and north-western regions of Ireland. The SCSI is the independent professional body for chartered surveyors in Ireland and operates in partnership with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). As Regional Chair, David will oversee engagement with chartered property, land, and construction surveyors in the region. The role also involves promoting the surveying profession, supporting students considering careers in the sector, and assisting property graduates as they progress through professional competencies on the pathway to chartered status. READ NEXT: Minister Calleary announces grant funding to Community Employment Scheme sponsors David has over 20 years of experience in property surveying, having worked in a range of multidisciplinary roles within national and international real estate firms. Speaking following his election, David said: It is an honour to be elected to this position, and I look forward to meeting with other surveyors in different sectors of the organisation throughout the west, while continuing to build on the foundations already set by peers and fellow members of the surveying world in the West of Ireland. In addition to his regional responsibilities, David will represent the West and North West on the SCSI Council, working in conjunction with RICS at national level. This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Embedded finance is poised to surge as multiple players integrate financial services, such as payment processing and lending, into a variety of new mobile applications, executives on a panel hosted by Cross River Bank said Thursday. Embedded finance will explode in daily life experiences, Adam Goller, head of fintech banking, said in leading a virtual discussion on predictions for the coming year. That could be social media apps, it could be things that we utilize while we're driving any app that were using on a regular basis will become where we do our finance activities. Embedded finance also helps brands in meeting the customer where theyre doing their finances, said Noah Cooper, the banks chief investment officer. So it creates this really nice mutual stickiness, where the lender, the platform and the brand are all acquiring the customer once, and not acquiring the customer at disparate times, he said. In other areas, the executives predicted that more fintechs are likely to apply for banking charters as President Donald Trumps administration seeks to encourage financial innovation with leaner regulation. Multiple companies including Affirm Holdings, Checkout.com, Fiserv, PayPal Holdings and Stripe have sought bank charters over the past two years, including applications within the past two months from Affirm and PayPal. However, the movement of fintechs that want to become banks isnt rampant, said Hillel Olivestone, Cross Rivers chief strategy officer. It really depends on the type of situation, what you're looking to achieve, he said of companies considering one of the various banking charters. Its not a one-size-fits-all. The regulators are not going to accept every single company to be a bank, and just because you want to become one doesn't mean youre going to get the approval. Cross River, based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is an FDIC-insured bank that works with a variety of financial tech companies including Affirm, Stripe and Coinbase, the cryptocurrency platform. The executives also predicted that agentic finance will spread more into the consumer world to provide guidance on personal finance, such as identifying interest-bearing accounts, credit card payment scheduling and financial product recommendations. While Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) and Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) are attracting a huge amount of immediate attention in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) space, there's another company that's playing a longer, but arguably more revolutionary game in the eVTOL space. While Boeing's (NYSE: BA) eVTOL investment via its subsidiary, Wisk, may not be high-profile yet, it poses a major threat to both companies. Image source: Getty Images. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks Boeing and Wisk Not all eVTOL companies have the same business models, and differences in these models are directly affecting their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification process, capital requirements, and potential upside and downside risks. Archer's focus is on becoming an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) selling its aircraft to third-party users. It operates an asset-light business model that involves relying on partners' technology and components. Joby is aiming to become a vertical transportation services company, using its own eVTOL aircraft and partnerships with Delta Air Lines and Uber Technologies to offer air taxi services. Wisk is similar to Joby in that it aims to be a transportation services company, but differs from both because it's fully committed to developing an autonomous eVTOL with its Generation 6 aircraft. This is a serious threat to Joby in particular because it could be direct competition to its air taxi business, and the lack of a pilot is highly likely to make it much more cost-effective. Wisk risk That said, autonomous eVTOLs require significantly more certification hurdles, and that's why Wisk isn't expected to be in commercial service until at least 2030. That timeline gives Joby and Archer a first-mover advantage and could put financial pressure on Boeing -- a company with significant debt that needs to fund a new narrow-body plane for the next generation of aircraft. In fact, the certification process is so complex that Boeing is proposing a new "Concept of Operations for Automated Flight Rules (AFR)." In a nutshell, Boeing is proposing a new set of rules (AFR). At the heart of it lies the aim to "promote system automation, including digitized communication and information exchange, across the entire industry: airspace, aircraft, and aerodromes." This implies moving beyond visual flight rules (VFR) and instrumental flight rules (IFR), thus enabling automated flight (in this case, with the Generation 6), eliminating the need for human eye detection and collision avoidance. By Echo Wang, Milana Vinn and Joey Roulette NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - SpaceX (SPAX.PVT) generated about $8 billion in profit on $15 billion to $16 billion of revenue last year, two people familiar with the company's results said, providing fresh insight into the financial health of Elon Musks space company that is expected to go public later this year. SpaceX's most recent financials, which have not been previously reported, led some banks to estimate that the company could raise more than $50 billion at a valuation exceeding $1.5 trillion, said the people, who asked not to be named to discuss private conversations. Reuters reported on Thursday that SpaceX is also in talks with Musks artificial intelligence company, xAI (XAAI.PVT), about a merger ahead of the IPO. SpaceX did not immediately return a request for comment. The profit figure was earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a key measure of operating performance. Musk's satellite-based internet system Starlink is the main revenue driver, accounting for about 50% to 80% of the total, the people said. The rapid launch of 9,500 Starlink satellites since 2019 has made SpaceX the world's largest satellite operator with over 9 million users of the broadband internet service. The internet service, along with government contracts associated with Starlink and military-grade satellite network Starshield, has generated key revenue to help fund development of the company's next-generation Starship rocket that Musk wants to use to loft more powerful Starlinks into orbit. The company bought $19 billion worth of wireless spectrum rights from EchoStar last year as it expands Starlink into the direct-to-device market, in which mobile phones can connect directly with Starlink satellites without the need for a Starlink user terminal. The satellite and rocket company is planning the biggest IPO in the world, close to Musk's 55th birthday on June 28, the people said. Musk expects Starship, which has test-launched 11 times since 2023, to start launching payloads into space this year. The billionaire expects to use Starship to eventually launch space-based AI data centers, a risky and nascent pursuit tied to the company's proposed merger with xAI. (Reporting by Echo Wang and Milana Vinn in New York and Joey Roulette in Washington; Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Matthew Lewis) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, again has become a focus of tensions as Iran prepares to launch a military drill that could see fire into a lane crucial for global shipping. Iran has warned ships that it will conduct a live fire drill Sunday and Monday in the strait, which sees a fifth of all oil traded pass through the tight corridor between the Islamic Republic and Oman. The U.S. military's Central Command issued its own warning early Saturday, telling Tehran that any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation and destabilization. Here's what to know about the drill, the U.S. warning, what caused the tensions and what might happen next in the Strait of Hormuz. A key waterway for global shipping The Strait of Hormuz resembles a bend looking down from space. Its narrowest point is just 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide. It flows from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Oman. From there, ships can then travel to the rest of the world. While Iran and Oman have its territorial waters in the strait, its viewed as an international waterway all ships can ply. The United Arab Emirates, home to the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, also sits near the waterway. The strait long has been important for trade The Strait of Hormuz through history has been important for trade, with ceramics, ivory, silk and textiles moving from China through the region. In the modern era of supertankers, the narrow strait proved deep and wide enough to allow for oil to pass through it. While there are pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that can avoid the passage, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says most volumes that transit the strait have no alternative means of exiting the region. The vast majority of the oil and gas moving through the strait goes to markets in Asia. Threats to the route have spiked global energy prices in the past, including during the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June. Iran plans drill that could enter trade route A notice to mariners sent Thursday by radio warned that Iran planned to conduct naval shooting in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and Monday. The coordinates provided by the message put the drill potentially going into what is known as the Traffic Separation Scheme a 3.2-kilometer- (2-mile-) wide, two-lane system in which ships coming into the Persian Gulf go north and ships exiting onto the Gulf of Oman go south. That northern lane is within the coordinates of the drill. While Iran has provided no other public details about the drills, it will likely involve the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The Guard operates a fleet of small fast-attack vessels in the strait that routinely has tense encounters with the U.S. Navy. US issues warning over the Iranian drill Early Saturday, the U.S. military's Central Command issued a strongly worded warning to Iran and the Revolutionary Guard over the drill. While acknowledging Iran's right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters, it warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels. The command, which oversees the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said it will not tolerate unsafe (Guard) actions that could include its aircraft or vessels getting too close to American warships or pointing weapons toward them. The command added that the U.S. military has the most highly trained and lethal force in the world. Tensions high over Iran's protest crackdown, nuclear program U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to launch a military strike against Iran after its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. He has laid down two red lines the killing of peaceful protesters and Iran launching a wave of mass executions of those held. In recent days, he's also included the fate of Iran's nuclear program. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and supporting guided missile destroyers are now in the Arabian Sea where they could launch an attack if Trump calls for it. Iran has warned it could launch its own preemptive strike or target American interests across the Middle East and Israel. While the 12-day war saw Iran fire off ballistic missiles and Israel target its stockpile, Tehran maintains an arsenal of short- and medium-range missiles that could hit surrounding Gulf Arab states. On June 17, 1863, Col. Luigi Palma di Cesnola was forced to watch his men get slaughtered near the village of Aldie, Virginia. Just hours earlier, his superior officer had placed him under arrest for protesting the promotion of a less experienced officer. His saber and sidearm had been stripped away. But the 30-year-old Italian immigrant could not stand idle as his cavalrymen charged the Confederate guns. He broke away, jumped on a horse without a weapon and rallied his men to again charge the enemy. His actions that day would earn him the Medal of Honor. He was the first Italian-American to earn the nation's highest award for valor. Depiction of a Union Cavalry charge during the American Civil War. (Wikimedia Commons) An Italian Soldier The man charging into American combat that June afternoon had already fought across two conflicts before ever setting foot in the United States. Born in 1832 in Rivarolo Canavese near Turin, Luigi Palma di Cesnola was the second son of a count in the Kingdom of Piedmont. His older brother would inherit the family title. Luigi had to make his own way in life. At just 16, he joined the Sardinian army as revolutions swept across Europe in 1848. On March 23, 1849, young Cesnola fought at the Battle of Novara against Austrian forces under Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky. The Piedmontese were routed. But Cesnola earned a silver medal for bravery and a promotion to second lieutenant at an age when most soldiers were still learning to march. Cesnola continued his military education at several Piedmontese academies, including the cavalry school at Pinerolo. In 1854, the Sardinian army dismissed him. Cesnola made his way to the Crimean War, where he joined the British Army as aide-de-camp to General Enrico Fardella, a Sicilian exile who had fled the Bourbon regime after the failed 1848 revolt. In 1858, Cesnola sailed for New York. Field Marshal Radetzky and his staff at the Battle of Novara on March 23, 1849 (by Albrecht Adam). (Wikimedia Commons) From Language Teacher to Cavalry Colonel Cesnola arrived in America with the ability to speak fluent Italian and French. He quickly found work teaching both languages to wealthy New Yorkers. One student changed his life. Mary Isabel Reid was the daughter of Commodore Samuel Chester Reid, a War of 1812 hero who had proposed the modern design of the American flag. They married in February 1861. Her family disapproved of her marrying the Italian immigrant. Three months later, Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter. The American Civil War had begun. Mary proposed that Cesnola use his military background to help with the war effort. Together, they established a school to train officers for the Union Army. Within six months, more than 700 men passed through the program. Many had never ridden a horse. Cesnola turned them into trained cavalrymen. In 1862, he received a commission as colonel of the 4th New York Volunteer Cavalry. He paid to equip the regiment with modern sabers, pistols and horses out of his own pocket. He would serve under the Americanized name of Louis P. di Cesnola. Di Cesnola, Luigi Palma MOH 1863. (Wikimedia Commons) Kelly's Ford and the New American Cavalry The early war years were brutal for Union cavalry. Confederate horsemen under J.E.B. Stuart ran circles around their Northern counterparts. Marching infantry mocked the Union cavalry whenever they passed, yelling that a fight must be coming because the cavalry was retreating. Cesnola brought European-style training and aggression to his regiment. He drilled the men relentlessly. He not only taught them to perform reconnaissance and harass the enemy, but to aggressively charge Confederate formations to break their will. On March 17, 1863, at Kelly's Ford, the Union cavalry finally proved itself. Cesnola's 4th New York participated in what many consider the first true cavalry victory for Union forces in the Eastern Theater. The Union troopers crossed the Rappahannock at dawn and slammed into Fitzhugh Lee's Confederate brigade. The two sides traded saber charges across the open fields until the rebels broke. Desperate hand to hand combat between Union Cavalry, commanded by Gen. Averill [i.e. Averell] and Stuart's Rebel Troop, at Killey's Ford [i.e. Kelly's Ford], on the Rappahannock, Va., March 17 [1863]. (Wikimedia Commons) One member of the regiment summed up the significance afterward. "It was a square, stand-up fight of over four hours duration, and the result proves that our cavalry, when well handled, is equal if not superior to the enemy." The Union horsemen had bloodied Fitzhugh Lee's brigade. Confederate Major John Pelham, J.E.B. Stuart's brilliant artillery chief, was mortally wounded. For the first time, a Virginia cavalry unit retreated in the face of a Union charge. Cesnola later participated in Stoneman's Raid behind enemy lines in late April 1863. He then commanded a brigade at Brandy Station in June, the largest predominantly cavalry battle of the entire war. More than 20,000 horsemen clashed over nine square miles of Virginia farmland. Cesnola led the charges against Confederate regiments at Hansbrough's Ridge, personally crossing sabers with rebel officers in close combat. Accusations then surfaced that Cesnola had stolen Confederate property and sent it north. The Army threatened him with a dishonorable dismissal. The Judge Advocate General's office investigated and found Cesnola "was most unjustly wronged." He was reinstated to his former rank and position. But the incident angered him. Despite his experience and seniority, Cesnola was repeatedly passed over for promotion to brigadier general in favor of American-born officers. Given the previous accusations made against him, Cesnola could no longer stay quiet. When yet another less experienced officer received a promotion, he protested to his commander and was placed under arrest. "Cavalry Charge Near Brandy Station, Virginia", a drawing by Edwin Forbes of the Battle of Brandy Station. (Wikimedia Commons) The Battle of Aldie and Capture The Battle of Aldie suddenly erupted as an early engagement of the Gettysburg Campaign. Stuart's cavalry was screening Robert E. Lee's infantry as it marched north through the Shenandoah Valley. Union Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick's brigade, including the 4th New York, pushed west to find the Confederate army. As the fighting began, the Confederate defenders held strong positions behind stone walls and on the high ground. Union cavalry charged repeatedly and was thrown back each time. One Virginian behind the stone walls recalled how fierce the combat was. "I was so close to these men as they charged by me, that I could see the dust fly from their blue jackets as the bullets from our revolvers would strike them. I was not fifteen feet from them." The 4th New York was repulsed. Cesnola watched the carnage unfold as his men were decimated. He was still under arrest and had been removed from command. Upon witnessing the slaughter, he lunged forward to rally his men. While unarmed, under arrest and without the authority to command, he mounted up and rallied his men in another brutal charge against the Confederate line. The Battle of Aldie, map of battlefield core and study areas. (Wikimedia Commons) As they returned to the Union line, Cesnola was again apprehended. The regiment refused to charge again without their commander. Kilpatrick saw this and asked Major General Alfred Pleasonton, commanding the cavalry corps, to release the Italian colonel. Pleasonton approached Cesnola. "Colonel, you are a brave man. You are released from arrest, Pleasonton said. Here is my own sword. Take it and bring it back to me covered in the enemy's blood." With the borrowed sword, Cesnola led his men in charge after charge against the rebel forces. According to the regimental history, "the regiment arrived on the scene of conflict, and by a gallant charge, turned apparent defeat into a glorious victory for our arms, completely routing the enemy and cutting off nearly 100 men, all of whom were captured." On the third or fifth assault, depending on the source, he failed to return to Union lines. Rebel soldiers found the colonel lying in a field, pinned beneath his dead horse. He had a three-inch saber cut across the crown of his head, a deep gash in his palm, and a minie ball lodged in his upper left arm. The troops captured him and sent him to Libby Prison in Richmond. Luigi Palma di Cesnola is captured during the Battle of Aldie, from Deeds of Valor. (Wikimedia Commons) Ten Months in Hell Libby Prison was the second most notorious Confederate prison after Andersonville. The former tobacco warehouse in Richmond held roughly 1,000 Union officers in cramped, disease-ridden conditions. The prisoners suffered from malnutrition, exposure through barred windows without glass and rampant illness. Cesnola arrived at the prison on June 25, 1863, still recovering from his wounds. A fellow officer helped nurse him back to health. The Italian colonel remained imprisoned for nearly ten months. He served as "Commissary of Distribution," traveling to Belle Isle each morning to count supply boxes and distribute their contents to his fellow prisoners. He wrote numerous letters to his wife Mary, which still survive. Beyond requests for blankets and food, he asked for women's clothing to use as bribes for the mail censors. He also requested sheet music from Verdi's "Il Trovatore" to entertain the men. In early 1864, Union prisoner exchange agents negotiated his release by offering a personal friend of Jefferson Davis in return. Cesnola returned to New York, reunited with Mary and met his first-born daughter for the first time, then went back to combat. Libby Prison in 1865. (Wikimedia Commons) Return to Combat and Medal of Honor Cesnola rejoined the 4th New York Cavalry and served through the Wilderness Campaign and the siege of Petersburg in 1864. His regiment was part of Philip Sheridan's cavalry force working with Ulysses Grant to defeat General Lee. In private letters, Cesnola expressed criticism of the unnecessary loss of life at Trevilian Station and the burning of Southern homes. The cavaliere found such destruction of property and mistreatment of civilians dishonorable. The 4th New York Cavalry participated in 47 engagements during the war and lost 114 men killed in combat while hundreds were wounded. By February 1865, only about 100 men remained fit for duty. The regiment was disbanded in late 1864. The few remaining men transferred to other regiments and continued fighting through to Appomattox. As the war ended, Cesnola returned to his wife Mary and their two young daughters in New York. He published a short memoir, Ten Months in Libby Prison, in the Bulletin of the United States Sanitary Commission. The seven-page account detailed the conditions inside the notorious Confederate prison. The memoir remains one of the earliest published works of Italian-American literature and is one of the most detailed accounts of Union prisoner experiences from the war. Cesnola's heroism at Aldie went officially unrecognized for decades. During the Civil War, the Army had no formal system for recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor. There was also no time limit on nominations. Between 1891 and 1897, the War Department awarded more than 500 Medals of Honor for Civil War actions as veterans flooded the department with applications. In 1897, just before new regulations imposed a one-year deadline, the Army awarded Cesnola the Medal of Honor for his actions at Aldie. He became the first Italian-American to receive the nation's highest military honor. Photo of Luigi Palma di Cesnola, American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient from Deeds of valor; how America's heroes won the Medal of Honor, published in 1901. (Wikimedia Commons) A Second Career Among Ancient Treasures Shortly after the war, Cesnola earned American citizenship and later secured an appointment as U.S. Consul to Cyprus in December of 1865. On the Mediterranean island, then under Ottoman control, Cesnola discovered a passion for archaeology. Heinrich Schliemann had found the ancient city of Troy during that time. Cesnola intended to rival him. Over the course of 11 years, he excavated numerous sites across Cyprus and amassed roughly 35,000 antiquities spanning from 2500 B.C. to 300 A.D. In 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased the bulk of his collection. Cesnola accompanied his treasures to New York. In 1879, the Medal of Honor recipient became the Metropolitan Museum's first director. He held the position until his death in 1904, overseeing the museum's move to Fifth Avenue in Central Park. The Cesnola Collection remains the most comprehensive collection of Cypriot antiquities in the Western Hemisphere. Photo of Cesnola during his time in Cyprus, where his archeological work uncovered thousands of artifacts. (Columbia Center for Archaeology) The Immigrant Soldier Cesnola documented his archeological discoveries in a book Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs and Temples' in 1877. He later published a three-volume Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities' between 1884 and 1886. His accomplishments earned honors on both sides of the Atlantic. Columbia and Princeton awarded him honorary degrees. The king of Italy bestowed a special knightly order upon him. He joined numerous societies across Europe and America and became a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, an organization for Union officers and their descendants. Cesnola died on November 20, 1904, in New York City. His funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral drew more than 2,000 mourners. His gravestone at Kensico Cemetery lists him as a brigadier general, but the U.S. Senate never confirmed his brevet nomination. The footstone of Louis Palma Di Cesnola. (Wikimedia Commons) Nevertheless, the Civil War hero who had fought in three different conflicts referred to himself as general for the rest of his life. The count who became a colonel, the prisoner who became a museum director, the immigrant who became a Medal of Honor recipient embodied a distinctly American story. His Cypriot treasures still draw visitors to the Metropolitan Museum today. His Medal of Honor still inspires Italian Americans who serve. And his charge at Aldie remains one of the most dramatic moments in Civil War cavalry history. What This Series Examines Military leadership is often explained through rank, authority, or long careers. This series looks at something more specific. Documented moments when leaders made decisive choices under pressure, accepted personal risk, and acted when systems, plans, or time failed. Each installment focuses on one verified leadership moment. Not a full biography. Not mythology. Just the situation, the decision, and what it shows about leadership when outcomes were uncertain. The first story examines a moment where leadership did not come from command authority or formal orders. It came from action. The Situation in Vietnam On May 2, 1968, a U.S. Army Special Forces reconnaissance team from MACV-SOG was operating deep in enemy-controlled territory in Cambodia. The team was compromised and quickly surrounded by a larger North Vietnamese force. Communications were intermittent. Extraction attempts were failing. Casualties were increasing. At a forward operating base, Roy Benavidez, a Special Forces staff sergeant, monitored the radio traffic. He was not assigned to the mission. He was not on standby. He had no command role in the operation. What he did have was situational awareness and a clear understanding of what would happen if no one intervened. Photo courtesy of US Army The Decision to Act When a rescue helicopter attempted to extract the team and was struck by enemy fire, Benavidez made a decision that was not part of the plan. He grabbed a medical bag, boarded the next available helicopter, and inserted himself into an active firefight. According to official Army records, he did so on his own initiative. There is no documentation of formal orders directing his actions. Once on the ground, Benavidez moved repeatedly through intense enemy fire to reach wounded team members. He administered medical aid, redistributed ammunition, and helped organize evacuation efforts. Over several hours, he sustained multiple gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries, and bayonet wounds. Despite these injuries, he continued moving between positions, retrieving wounded soldiers and assisting with loading them onto evacuation aircraft. Leadership Without Authority Benavidez did not command the mission. He did not outrank most of the personnel on the ground. What he provided instead was presence and momentum at a moment when the mission was close to collapse. Army records and his Medal of Honor citation credit his actions with saving the lives of multiple team members and preventing the complete loss of the reconnaissance element. When he was finally evacuated, he was believed to be dead. He regained consciousness only after being placed in a body bag. This was leadership expressed through responsibility, not rank. It emerged when conditions no longer allowed for waiting, escalation, or clarification. The Outcome Roy Benavidez survived his wounds and eventually returned to duty. In 1981, following a review of previously classified mission records, his Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. The official citation documents his actions in detail and remains one of the most comprehensive accounts of individual leadership under fire in U.S. military history. What This Moment Shows About Leadership Benavidez did not act out of impulse or heroism. He acted out of responsibility. He recognized that inaction would result in loss of life and accepted personal risk to change the outcome. This moment shows that leadership is not always positional. Sometimes it appears when someone decides the cost of stepping forward is lower than the cost of doing nothing. That lesson applies far beyond the battlefield. Sources Medal of Honor Citation, Roy P. Benavidez, U.S. Department of Defense U.S. Army Center of Military History, Vietnam War records MACV-SOG operational summaries and after-action documentation U.S. Army oral history interviews and archival reports Series note: This article is part of Moments That Defined Military Leadership, a Military.com series examining real leadership decisions under pressure using verified military records and official sources. Growing Presence of U.S. Naval and Air Forces In recent weeks, the United States has significantly increased its military presence in and around the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by three destroyers, arrived in the region under U.S. Central Command to bolster regional security and deterrence. The USS Delbert D. Black also arrived in the area. These deployments mark a sizable reinforcement of U.S. combat power in proximity to Iran. Officials have described the deployment as a massive armada, including guided-missile destroyers and additional ships that increase the U.S. naval footprint in the area. These units bring advanced weapons systems and airpower that enhance both defensive and offensive capabilities, should conflict levels change. U.S. leaders have characterized this movement as essential to protect U.S. personnel, allies, and interests throughout the region. The carrier and its strike group represent thousands of sailors and associated combat aircraft prepared to operate in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Expanded Air and Surveillance Assets Alongside the carrier strike group, the United States is deploying a range of air and electronic surveillance assets to the Middle East, expanding the breadth of its operational posture. These additional capabilities include advanced aerial reconnaissance platforms and fighter units that provide increased situational awareness and command and control reach across potential theaters of operation. Strategic Messaging and Military Drills Parallel with force movement, the U.S. military has announced multi-day aerial exercises in the region that are intended to demonstrate its ability to project power and sustain combat air operations. These drills bring together elements of the carrier air wing and other units, signaling readiness and interoperability among U.S. forces. The administration has paired the force moves with a public set of demands and warnings: Iran should stop killing protesters and not restart its nuclear program, while Washington keeps an armada in motion as leverage and says it hopes not to use it. The White House has also floated the possibility of new strikes while the carrier strike group and escorts arrive, framing the buildup as a way to create credible options without committing to one in advance. U.S. officials have described the carriers arrival as expanding the presidents ability to defend U.S. forces in the region and, if ordered, conduct military action against Iran. Iranian Reaction and Regional Dynamics Tehran has responded to the U.S. military buildup with warnings that it is prepared to immediately defend itself forcefully against any aggression. Iranian officials have framed this readiness in stark terms, underscoring the potential for rapid military retaliation if external forces initiate conflict. In addition to its verbal warnings, Iran has announced plans for live-fire military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which a substantial portion of the worlds oil passes. These drills are scheduled to overlap with U.S. movements and exercises, raising concerns over potential miscalculations in the congested waters. The broader region is already experiencing heightened volatility. The ongoing protests within Iran and the governments response have added pressure to an already volatile geopolitical environment. The sun sets over Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Jan. 22, 2026. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. Units assigned to 7th Fleet conduct regular Indo-Pacific patrols to deter aggression, strengthen alliances and partnerships, and advance peace through strength. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Angel Campbell. Source: DVIDS Historical Context and Contemporary Comparisons This deployment represents one of the most significant U.S. military buildups in the Middle East in recent years, second in scale only to operations that preceded targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in mid-2025. Analysts suggest the current posture blends deterrence, reassurance for allies, and preparation for multiple contingencies from purely defensive operations to potential precision strikes if ordered. The current surge in ships and aircraft near Iran echoes a familiar pattern: a discrete incident triggers rapid force moves meant to deter follow-on attacks and protect shipping lanes. In 2019, attacks on commercial tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman helped drive a U.S.-led push to bolster maritime security in the area. In January 2020, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani, marking a rare, direct state-on-state attack against U.S. forces and later leading to the diagnosis of traumatic brain injuries among more than 100 servicemembers. Implications for Military Personnel and Readiness For servicemembers attached to these deployed units or based in adjacent theaters, the amplified presence carries both operational and personal significance. Navy sailors, Marine Corps detachment elements, Air Force squadrons, and support personnel must all adjust to the tempo and demands of an escalated operational environment. Sailors aboard carriers and destroyers operate in a heightened threat environment, which puts a premium on disciplined watchstanding, air and missile defense readiness, and rapid response to any escalation. Air operations personnel integrating fighters and surveillance aircraft into daily missions face heightened alert statuses and complex mission planning. Logistics and sustainment units also play a critical role in keeping these forces supplied, healthy, and capable of sustained operations far from home ports. Looking Ahead As these forces settle into their positions and exercises unfold, analysts and policymakers alike will be watching for signs of de-escalation or further escalation. The coming weeks may see additional shifts in deployments, diplomatic initiatives, or changes in Iranian responses. For U.S. military personnel and their families, staying informed about mission objectives, risk mitigation strategies, and support resources will be crucial as this situation develops. The U.S. militarys posture near Iran reflects a complex interplay of deterrence, diplomacy, and readiness. Whether this buildup ultimately prevents conflict, modifies Iranian behavior, or simply positions forces for rapid response will depend on choices made by leaders on both sides and the evolving realities on the ground. The Diamondbacks released their list of Spring Training invites, and right-hander Junior Fernandez is one of the names attending Arizonas big league camp. Fernandez inked his minor league deal with the DBacks back in November, as per the rightys MLB.com profile page. It has been over three years since Fernandez last pitched in a Major League game. He had a brief stint with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2024 but his time in Japan was mostly spent recovering from injury. Beyond that cup of coffee in NPB, Fernandez pitched at the Triple-A level with the Blue Jays and Nationals in 2023, and with the Royals and Mets top affiliates last season. Over 43 combined Triple-A innings in 2025, Fernandez posted a 4.40 ERA and a very impressive 29.5% strikeout rate, but also an inflated 14% walk rate. This has essentially been the story of Fernandezs career, as his control problems have kept him from maximizing his upper-90s velocity. At the MLB level, Fernandez has continued to issue walks but hasnt been able to miss many bats he has a 5.17 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate, and 13.9% walk rate over 54 big league innings with the Cardinals and Pirates from 2019-2022. Fernandez turns 29 in March, and it remains to be seen if he still has any late-bloomer potential. Since his type of velocity isnt easy to find, its easy to see why the DBacks and other teams keep giving Fernandez chances, and theres no risk for Arizona in bringing him to camp and seeing if a fix can finally be found for the right-handers command issues. A non-roster deal for Fernandez obviously wont address Arizonas stated need for bullpen help, but finding a hidden gem would be a huge boost to the teams relief corps. Jan 31 (Reuters) - Ford has held talks with electric-vehicle maker Xiaomi about forming a joint venture to manufacture EVs in the U.S., the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report, which Ford denied, calling it "completely false". Both Ford and Xiaomi did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Some major U.S. automakers and lawmakers are concerned about Chinese government-backed automakers and battery manufacturers gaining entry to the United States to open manufacturing plants, arguing the industry's future is at stake. Earlier this week, the Republican chair of a U.S. House committee sent a letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley asking about the automaker's plans to form a joint venture with Chinese automaker BYD, and warning about potential risks. "China has already shown in recent months that it will weaponize the auto supply chain. This is a serious vulnerability and it would only get worse if Ford enters into a new partnership with BYD," Representative John Moolenaar said in the letter sent on Wednesday. Moolenaar also raised concerns about the automakers plans to build a $3 billion data center making batteries with technology from Chinese company CATL . North American automakers have scaled back their costly EV push after struggling to keep pace with Chinese rivals, losing out on tax credits and pivoting toward cheaper models and hybrids instead. Ford said in December last year it would take a $19.5 billion writedown and scrap several EV models. (Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Nia Williams) The Mariners signed right-hander Michael Rucker to a minor league deal earlier this month, according to Ruckers MLB.com profile page. Ruckers contract included an invitation to the Mariners big league spring camp, as per the list of non-roster invites Seattle released yesterday. Rucker began his college career at Gonzaga, so this deal with the Ms could represent a return to the Pacific Northwest if the righty is able to break camp with the team. After transferring to BYU later in his NCAA days, Rucker was an 11th-round selection by the Cubs in the 2016 draft, and he broke into the bigs with Chicago in 2021. Over 123 1/3 MLB innings from 2021-23, Rucker posted a 4.96 ERA, 22.6% strikeout rate, 46.6% grounder rate, and 9.4% walk rate out of the Cubs bullpen. These uninspiring numbers werent enough to keep Rucker on the roster, as Chicago designated him for assignment in February 2024 and soon traded him to the Phillies in a cash deal. He was limited to 30 2/3 minor league innings for the Phillies and Nationals in 2024 due to an arterial vasospasm in his pitching hand. The Nats outrighted Rucker off their 40-man roster following the 2024 campaign, and he then didnt pitch at all in 2025. As he enters his age-32 season, Rucker is looking to revive his career and show what he can do in the Mariners Spring Training camp. Rucker is probably more of a candidate to pitch at Triple-A Tacoma than he is to win a spot on Seattles Opening Day roster, but he can provide the Ms with some experienced bullpen depth. The righty has a 4.01 ERA, 25.64K%, and 7.54% walk rate over 107 2/3 career innings at the Triple-A level. The Rangers and first baseman Nick Pratto are in agreement on a minor league contract, MLBTR has confirmed. Hell be a non-roster invitee in spring training next month. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com first reported that Pratto, a Wasserman client, was expected to sign with Texas. A first-round pick by the Royals back in 2017, Pratto struggled in his early minor league tenure and didnt look like hed emerge as a prospect of much note. That changed in 2021, four years after he was drafted. The 61, 225-pound slugger erupted for a .265/.385/.602 batting line with 36 home runs and a massive 15.2% walk rate in 545 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. His 28.8% strikeout rate was an obvious cause for concern, but Pratto had finally seen some of his prodigious raw power manifest in game settings, all while showing an ability to work deep counts and draw free passes, creating optimism that he could yet become a bat-first slugger at first base or DH. That monster showing thrust Pratto onto several top-100 prospect rankings, but his path to regular at-bats in Kansas City was obfuscated somewhat by the fact that his breakout coincided with that of another young first baseman: Vinnie Pasquantino. Both players got looks in 2022, but it was Pasquantino who seized the opportunity and cemented himself as the Royals long-term first baseman. Pratto dabbled in the outfield and saw time at DH as well, but he also struggled to a .184/.271/.386 slash with a huge 36.3% strikeout rate in 182 plate appearances that year. The Royals gave Pratto another chance in 2023, but the results didnt improve. He came to the plate 345 times but mustered only a .232/.307/.353 slash while striking out in an even more alarming 40.4% of his plate appearances. Pratto appeared in only one big league game in 2024. He came to spring training out of minor league options in 2025 and was passed through waivers unclaimed. Pratto spent the 25 season back in Triple-A Omaha his fourth stint there and turned in a career-worst .196/.289/.331 performance. Now 27 years old, Pratto seems like a player wholl benefit from a fresh start. The Rangers will provide that opportunity. Jake Burger and Joc Pederson are locked in at first base and designated hitter, respectively, but both players hit poorly in regular playing time with Texas last season Pederson in particular. The Rangers traded first base prospect Abimelec Ortiz to the Nationals as part of the MacKenzie Gore swap earlier this month, removing some competition for Pratto. The worlds tallest freshwater sand dunes are found in Michigan, attracting tourists from around the globe to play in the sand and splash in Great Lakes waters. State officials are currently working to fully document not just the beauty of the dunes, but also the vastness and variety of these special habitats. Its an enormous scientific project that could carry legal implications for coastal areas and the ability to build in Michigans most pristine dune regions. Ecologist Brian Majka of GEI Consultants was contracted by the state to lead the project. He believes Michigans sand dunes are a global treasure. Our unique combination of climate, topography and vegetation only occurs here in the Great Lakes. We have kind of a perfect scenario, a once-in-a-planet type of opportunity for these dunes to form, Majka said. And because these dunes are so rare, and in part because theyre so young and so dynamic, they host a variety of rare habitats and threatened and endangered species. Over the past year, more than two dozen researchers hiked 1,300 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and mapped 212 dune complexes. Michigan has roughly 350,000 acres of sand dunes. The team made a complete inventory last spring, summer and fall. This MLive file photos shows the North Manitou Shoal Light Station, seen from the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness area near Pyramid Point trail in Port Oneida, Mich. on Friday, October. 4, 2024. Joel Bissell | MLive.com Ecological identification The map of Michigans critical dune areas was adopted 40 years ago. Significant development and sand mining pressure in the mid-1980s prompted state lawmakers to protect what they defined as critical dune areas. About 74,000 acres along 265 miles of coastline on lakes Michigan and Superior met the criteria, and strict rules went into effect: Any building project in the restricted zones required a special permit. Recently, some state representatives have said they want to further stiffen barriers to development in those regulated coastal areas. In the 2024 state budget, lawmakers ordered environmental regulators to delineate Michigans sand dunes and assess critical dune areas, or CDAs. The CDA atlas from 1989 was created using federal topographic maps, flyovers and limited fieldwork. For the current project, scientists used modern technology and high-resolution satellite data and spent significantly more time in the field. Majka said the team covered areas along Lake Huron that were not considered in the original CDA map. This time, researchers applied the criteria to all of Michigans Great Lakes shorelines. This is an example of Michigan's open sand dunes ecosystems. This dune habitat is at Wilderness State Park along the Lake Michigan shore in Emmet County. Jesse Lincoln/MNFI We had a specific interest in looking at some of those natural communities, especially on the east side of the state, said Zachary Chamberlain, coastal resource manager with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Scientific knowledge of the states dune habitats has significantly advanced in the last decade, Chamberlain said. The original legal definition of critical dunes may not match todays ecological understanding. Originally, a lot of the dunes were based off height, but there are dunes in other parts of the state that are much lower but are ecologically dunes and wouldnt necessarily meet a height-based criterion, Chamberlain said. Michigan also has a variety of dune types. Perched dunes are the towering formations that draw millions of visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City. Parabolic dunes are sculpted by the wind into a U-shape and can reach more than 200 feet tall, such as those found at Rosy Mound Natural Area in Ottawa County. But its Michigans linear dunes that are considered the most globally rare. This is a satellite image of linear sand dunes found in Michigan. Wooded dune and swale ecosystems are often found in linear sand dune complexes. Michigan EGLE Those dune systems are created by a combination of windblown sand and ancient beach ridges compressed under the weight of glaciers that have since melted. Forests grow on the ridges, and wetlands can form in the low-lying areas between them. This landscape is known as a wooded dune and swale ecosystem, and the Great Lakes are the only place in the world where it exists. About 70% of that habitat is found in Michigan. We have almost all of it that exists in the world, Majka said. There is an overall feeling that thats a globally rare and imperiled ecosystem that, to me and to others, is exactly the type of ecosystem the law was intended to protect. Habitat assessment Researchers have not yet finalized recommendations for which coastal zones should meet an updated definition of critical dunes. Majka and Chamberlain said they expect more than 100,000 acres of Michigans dunes to meet the proposed definition, primarily on publicly owned lands along the Great Lakes. That would mean Michigans legally defined critical dune areas could increase by a third or more, though researchers are still calculating final figures. This is a sand dune ecosystem at Vermillion Point, west of Whitefish Point on Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Tyler Bassett/MNFI Any proposed changes will be based on scientific analysis and quality rankings, they said. Botanist Tyler Bassett of the Michigan Natural Features Inventory said the team developed a method to assess dune health, including biodiversity, environmental quality and ecological function. Fieldwork was mostly focused on condition, Bassett said. What state is this in? Is it degraded? Is it high quality? Team members documented dune structures, plant diversity and whether adjacent shorelines had been hardened with seawalls or riprap designed to prevent erosion. They also recorded where roads and neighborhoods have degraded dunes and which areas remain largely untouched. As a result, some places designated as critical dune areas under the 1989 atlas may no longer meet the legal definition and could be delisted. This is an example of a quality assessment for an area of Michigan's sand dunes with heavy suburban development and shoreline hardening. Michigan EGLE There was a window in the 1980s between when the law was passed and when the maps were created when everybody went a little crazy, and a lot of development happened in those dunes, Majka said. When we look at some of these dunes now, we cant in good faith still call them critical. Meanwhile, some shoreline areas not previously designated as critical may qualify under the updated criteria and gain state regulatory protections, shifting where EGLE officials focus enforcement. Theyre tired of standing in somebodys backyard arguing about a deck instead of trying to protect the truly critical resources that are still out there, Majka said. A report from the Michigan dunes delineation project is expected to be released for public review and comments in February or March. A final report would then be submitted to the Legislature. The original 1989 map would only be replaced if lawmakers adopt the new atlas and amend the states sand dune protection law. More information about the extensive study is available at https://tinyurl.com/2d95cm7e online. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced Thursday that her offices investigation into claims of noncitizen voter registration revealed that most of the 15 people in question are either U.S. citizens or had their registrations canceled years ago. This story is one of five must-read stories from MLive not to miss this morning. State investigation found at least one noncitizen voted Of the 15 people flagged by Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, three are confirmed U.S. citizens, according to Bensons office. Four are noncitizens who had their voter registrations canceled between 2012 and 2022. Another four are apparent noncitizens who have been asked to verify their citizenship or face registration cancellation. The citizenship status of the remaining four is still being verified. The investigation found that one noncitizen voted in a 2018 election and had their registration canceled in 2022. Another person voted in 2024, but Bensons office has not yet determined whether they are a U.S. citizen. See the rest of Michael Kranszs story here. Detroit resident Erick Pena, a 29-year-old Honduras native who came to the U.S. as a child and is seeking permanent resident status, explains his detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immigration attorney Brad Thomson in Ann Arbor on Jan. 22, 2026. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com) Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News Detroit Immigration Court backlog swells as enforcement intensifies More than 31,000 people with pending cases in Detroit Immigration Court, Michigans only immigration court, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. That backlog has grown from about 4,200 cases in 2017 and represents a surge through both the previous Trump and Biden administrations. ICE arrests in Michigan have jumped from two to three people per day before President Donald Trumps second term to an average of 11 per day between June and October. Meanwhile, the court has dropped from five judges to three amid what attorneys describe as staff departures, while hearings are being scheduled as far out as 2028 and 2029. Many hearings are conducted virtually with visiting judges from out of state. Read the rest of Ryan Stantons story here. 13-year old polar bear, Kali was rescued as a cub after being found orphaned in Alaska. He has just moved from the Toledo Zoo to the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak. Photo by Katelyn Wessling | Toledo Zoo Rescued polar bear with survival story arrives at Detroit Zoo A 13-year-old polar bear who survived being orphaned as a cub in Alaska has arrived at his new home at the Detroit Zoos Arctic Ring of Life habitat in Royal Oak. Kali came to the Detroit Zoo from the Toledo Zoo as part of a carefully coordinated transfer designed to support the long-term sustainability of polar bear populations in accredited zoos around the world. Zoo officials say Kali was rescued in 2013 after being found orphaned by residents of the Native Village of Point Lay, Alaska. He was released to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and moved to the Saint Louis Zoo in 2015 before relocating to the Toledo Zoo in 2025. The move was part of an exchange that sent Nuka, another polar bear, from Detroit to Toledo, where he will be paired with female polar bear Crystal. Read more from Edward Pevos story here. Detroit judge, 3 others accused of stealing from incapacitated adults A sitting Michigan judge, an attorney, and two others are facing federal charges for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from vulnerable adults placed under court-ordered guardianship over several years. Nancy Williams, 59; Avery Bradley, 72; Andrea Bradley-Baskin, 46; and Dwight Rashad, 69, all of Detroit, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. The charges were announced Friday. Bradley-Baskin serves as a judge on the Michigan 36th District Court and faces an additional charge of making a false statement to federal investigators. Bradley faces a separate wire fraud count, while Bradley, Bradley-Baskin, and Rashad each face multiple money laundering counts. Federal prosecutors allege the four defendants exploited their positions within the probate court system to embezzle money from legally incapacitated adults, known as wards, who depended on court-appointed guardians and conservators to manage their personal and financial affairs. See the rest of Fuad Shalhouts story. Haisley Elementary, 825 Duncan St. in Ann Arbor Wednesday, July 10 2019. Jacob Hamilton/MLive.com Subject accused of school threat placed on house arrest after parent concerns An 18-year-old man accused of threatening an Ann Arbor elementary school will be placed on house arrest at a relatives home following an emergency court hearing Friday. Jules Khalfoun faces charges related to making threats against Haisley Elementary School, 825 Duncan St., in Ann Arbor. He was arrested Jan.16 after allegedly leaving threatening notes on a fifth-grade classroom window. District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson heard the emergency bond modification request Jan. 30. The Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office initially sought to raise Khalfouns bond to $2 million and prohibit him from coming within a mile of any school. Officials later modified the request to house arrest at a relatives Ann Arbor home, citing concerns about his proximity to the school. Read Jordyn Pairs story here. ANN ARBOR, MI Detroit PBS will present a free screening of the documentary Wisdom Gone Wild at the Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St., on Tuesday, Feb. 10, followed by a panel discussion on dementia and caregiving. The event is part of Detroit PBS yearlong caregiving initiative and is presented in partnership with the Michigan Theater, the Asian American Journalists Association Michigan Chapter, the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, and PBS POV. Director Rea Tajiris film documents her 16-year journey with her second-generation Japanese American mother who is living with dementia. The documentary is described as a vibrant tender cine-poem that blends humor and sadness in an encounter between mother and daughter, which blooms into an affectionate portrait of love, care, and a relationship transformed, according to the event website. Following the screening, Tajiri will join a panel discussion with Peggy Du, executive director of the Association of Chinese Americans; Shaista Kazmi, founder of Apna Ghar Home Care; and Dr. Tanav Popli, a clinical assistant professor in the University of Michigans Department of Neurology. Detroit PBS senior producer Bill Kubota will moderate the conversation. Tajiri is a documentary filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist, whose works stretch over 35 years. Based in Philadelphia, she produces work that explores forgotten histories, multi-generational memory, landscape and the lives of Nikkei, the event website states. Tajiri is a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow, 2025 USA Artist Fellow and a professor in the film media arts department at Temple University. The screening and discussion will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Screening Room at the Michigan Theater. Doors open at 6 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public, but organizers request that attendees reserve tickets in advance. The Detroit PBS caregiving initiative is supported by grants from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, and AARP Michigan. Generative AI was used to write this story, based on information from a Jan. 26 email from Detroit PBS. It was reviewed and edited by MLive staff. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page. YPSILANTI, MI As the news broke Wednesday morning, local resident Byron Heads and his wife looked down at their newborn baby and shook their heads. Just a few steps from where they live in Ypsilanti, three women had been taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the day before. Somewhere nearby, an 18-year-old male was also detained the same morning. ICE activity across Washtenaw County seemed to come sporadically in the last year, typically with agents apprehending a person or two in a day. And then, suddenly on Tuesday, Jan. 27, four people were gone. As the news reached parents across the region, Heads and other families began to speculate about what comes next. We have a young kid, the 42-year-old said from his living room Jan. 28. Do we need a (bug)-out plan to move to Canada? An ICE spokesperson has since confirmed the agency was conducting an intelligence-based operation Tuesday, stopping two vehicles. One contained the young man, whose whereabouts were unclear. The other vehicle contained the three women two from Honduras and one from Mexico who were taken from Congress Street outside two Ypsilanti schools and were reportedly being held at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin. Washtenaw International High School and Middle School Academy, 105 N. Mansfield St. in Ypsilanti Township on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com A search of Washtenaw County and federal court records showed no criminal record for any of the four people detained. The local detentions also come as enforcement activity from ICE and other border authorities have begun to intensify across the country, particularly in Minnesota, where mother Renee Good and intensive-care nurse Alex Pretti were shot and killed by federal agents in separate incidents this January. Now, one of the biggest questions for local residents, advocates and elected leaders: Should Washtenaw County and Michigan at large be bracing to weather a longer storm? Be ready for action, but be careful, advocates say Advocate Gloria Sendejo is an Ann Arbor resident who works closely with families impacted by ICE detentions, and she kept track of who was detained Tuesday. As such, she counts herself among those concerned about intensifying ICE activity. If not boots on the streets, Sendejo pointed to several other examples of how that could be manifesting in other ways. Its in the information being shared in group or neighborhood chats, in the phone calls she gets from different people at local restaurants where managers were notifying employees of ICE sightings, or if potential ICE vehicles are spotted elsewhere around down. People could be increasingly on guard, she said. Recalling the contacts from Tuesdays detentions, Sendejo said, They do fear that were probably going to be hit next or very soon. As Minneapolis was. Alexandra Lopez, an Ann Arbor-based immigration attorney, became aware of the federal presence Tuesday as it was happening and reached out to another immigration attorney to see if they needed to jump in to respond. In the end, they didnt. But she didnt expect it to be the last conversation of that kind. I just wanted to be, frankly, available and on the scene, Lopez said. Unfortunately, yes, theres a fair amount of people who have been detained in the area, and we do a lot of removal defense work and detention work. Moving forward, the calls for action and readiness vary, depending on who you ask. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell last week called for clearing up rumors about potential ICE sightings to avoid unnecessarily panicking members of the community. Sendejo said federal immigration authorities can be fairly obvious to spot, sending up flares in the community, whether by the kinds of vehicles they drive, or the vests and other attire they wear. Groups looking to get involved or push back, she said, also need to be more careful, citing the Jan. 7 and 24 deaths of Good and Pretti. Earlier this week, Sendejo worried local agents are getting more bold in their enforcement, particularly with people who attempt to intervene or they arent targeting, and are often documented using pepper spray or pointing their guns. At this point its not even the people at risk, she said, but the people trying to help. How bystanders, officials learn to react in the moment During a Wednesday interview, Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer said the conversations shes been having with other law enforcement officials have been about reaffirming to community members that its not our job to get involved in immigration enforcement. Other officials encouraged residents, especially parents, to understand their rights and the policies of their childrens school. Lopez said it can be hard to advise people how to act when so much of the ongoing ICE activity feels really unprecedented and federal agents dont play by the rules that were used to. Unfortunately, in terms of the what the Constitution affords us and what people can do in the moment has changed dramatically because we know that theyre not really following their safeguards, she said. Were lucky in our area, Washtenaw County, that we have tons of people who are willing to be on scene in the moment, including media, including moms and dads, not necessarily of the families affected, but just from the community, Lopez added. And I think that pressure and getting cameras and people on scene and creating truly physical barriers is going to be the biggest deterrent moving forward. Since George Floyd, the Black man whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer also inspired widespread protests, Dyer said her agency has also put focus on bystander intervention training. Law enforcement still has a responsibility to intervene if you see someone hurting somebody or putting someone in grave danger, she said, regardless of if theyre a federal officer or local police officer. Quite frankly, what I have observed in Minneapolis is theres been immense harm. And it puts local law enforcement in a horrible situation, Dyer said. I hope that there are lessons learned from what is happening in Minneapolis, and I hope that the immigration officers leave. And I also hope that they do not continue to target cities across our country. CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI - A 30-year-old man from Clinton Township was arrested Jan. 29 on suspicion of possessing child sexually abusive material. Macomb Area Computer Enforcement Detectives, the Sheriffs Enforcement Team, and the Oakland County Sheriffs Office Electronic Storage Detection K9 Cache executed a search warrant at a residence on the 16400 block of Lakeside Village Drive. The Internet Crimes Against Children Livonia Task Force also assisted in the operation. The suspect, Zachery Lasovage, was taken into custody without incident. M.A.C.E. Detectives received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating that child sexually abusive material was being uploaded by the suspect, police said. Multiple pieces of evidence seized from the home are undergoing forensic review, police said. Lasovage was arraigned in 41B District Court, Clinton Township, on charges of: Three counts of using a computer to commit a crime, which carry a maximum of a 7-year felony. Three counts of possession of child sexually abusive material, which carry a maxium of a 4-year felony. Bond was set at $50,000 cash/surety, with no 10% option. The suspect remains lodged at the Macomb County Jail. GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- A task force charged with making recommendations on future Genesee County spending for senior citizen programs says the group is committed to finishing its work by a June 1 deadline. Sandra Murphy, vice chair of the Senior Services Task Force, told the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Jan. 28, that the nine-member group is examining data showing where services are being delivered and identifying current and emerging needs. This is a big job, and while Im sure we are going to be able to give you some priorities, Im confident were also going to be providing you systemic recommendations for how you ... might be able to handle this going forward in the future, Murphy said. Commissioners created the task force in October after disagreements about how to allocate nearly $9 million generated annually by a 0.68-mill dedicated property tax. The county currently provides millage funding for 16 local senior centers and contracts for services ranging from home-delivered meals to snow removal and respite care. Senior centers receive more than $2.8 million in millage funds, while $5.1 million is used for contracts with direct service providers. But in a county where the percentage of residents 65 years or older has increased from 7% in 1970 to 18% in 2023, needs are outstripping available funds. We are an aging county, Murphy said. Were getting older by the minute, and were going to see some bulges happening with the population as we look to the future. Commissioners asked the task force -- comprised of one representative from each of nine districts -- to make non-binding recommendations on programmatic, service, and budgetary priorities for older adults. Findings from the task force are expected to be completed by June 1 -- in advance of this years funding decisions. Commissioners postponed action on nearly three dozen individual agreements with provider organizations last year after the president of the Senior Directors Association of Genesee County warned of a significant funding disparity between payments to centers and the direct providers. Contracts for services were approved before the start of the countys fiscal year on Oct. 1, and senior centers were granted one-time 5% funding increases. The countys Department of Senior Services oversees programs funded by the senior property tax that voters renewed for 10 years in 2024. Voters established the millage in 2006 and also renewed it in 2014, according to Flint Journal files. Officials have said that each year, more than 21,000 county residents who are 60 or older receive one or more services funded by the millage. Task force meetings are open to the public and scheduled to resume at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5, in the county administration building, 324 South Saginaw St. in Flint. Residents can email comments to members at seniortaskforce@geneseecountymi.gov. GREEN CHARTER TWP., MI Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels office is demanding an electric vehicle battery manufacturer repay about $23.7 million to the state. The demand is the latest development in an effort to claw back millions in state grant funding for Gotion, Inc. The firm has reportedly abandoned plans for a controversial plant in Green Charter Township, which is located in Mecosta County. Assistant Attorney General James Ziehmer informed the company that the Michigan Strategic Fund is seeking immediate repayment of a nearly $23.7 million Strategic Site Readiness Program grant, according to a Friday, Jan. 30, letter provided to the Detroit Free Press. Gotion had not met a 30-day default notice sent in September, Ziehmer informed the firm in the letter, which the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) provided the Free Press. MEDC spokesperson Danielle Emerson told the Free Press that the Jan. 30 letter begins a 90-day clock for Gotion to repay the $23.7 million in site readiness grant dollars to the state in full without additional penalties. Gotions attorney argued the delay was the fault of Green Township, and the company now intends to amend its complaint to also seek monetary relief from the township, according to a recent court filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Gotion sued the township last year, claiming it breached a development agreement. Because of the legal battle, Gotion reportedly halted work on the site. Gotion planned to develop a $2.36 billion factory in Green Charter Township, near Big Rapids, that would create 2,350 jobs. Michigan backed the development, a flagship electric vehicle investment, with a $715 million incentive package that included $175 million in grants and a 30-year tax break valued at $540 million. But for the past few years, the project has faced delays due to lawsuits, environmental concerns and pushback over the companys ties to China. On Sept. 17, 2025, the Michigan Strategic Fund sent a letter saying Gotion had defaulted on its grant agreements for voluntary abandonment of the project, meaning there hasnt been any eligible development work for at least 120 days. Because of that, state officials say Gotion will no longer be getting a $125 million grant, none of which had been disbursed yet. Michigan will also recoup a separate $50 million grant, requiring Gotion to pay back the nearly $23.7 million that was spent on purchasing land and return a remaining $26.4 million that was not spent yet. Gotion responded with an Oct. 14 letter saying the Michigan Strategic Fund incorrectly alleges that the company defaulted on its grant obligations. To be candid, Gotion was shocked to receive your letter, which came without provocation or warning. It is even more surprising that the state of Michigan suggests that Gotion has abandoned the project considering the immense challenges that Gotion has experienced in Michigan, Gotion attorney Mark Heusel wrote in the response. The project sparks controversy and pushback from some residents and lawmakers. Michigan Republicans questioned the companys relationship to China and the Chinese Communist Party. Gotion Inc. is an American-owned subsidiary of Chinese battery manufacturer Gotion High Tech. Chuck Thelen, vice president of Gotion Inc. North American Manufacturing, repeatedly pushed back on these claims saying there is no communist plot" within the company. Residents recalled the Green Charter Township board for backing it. A newly elected board then walked back formal support for the development. KALAMAZOO, MI At least 115 people signed up to speak at the Monday, Jan. 23 city commission meeting. Dozens of others sent letters and emails to the city. Everybody was on the same side. The controversy at hand? Rezoning to allow commercial development on land bordering a beloved 217-acre nature area, Asylum Lake Preserve. But the neighboring 18-acre parcel at 4301 Stadium Drive also sits at one of the citys busiest intersections, providing commercial opportunities. After hours of public comments, the Kalamazoo City Commission rejected the plan. Here are five reasons the topic became one of the most controversial in recent city history. 1. Environmental impacts on nearby preserve The intersection of Stadium Drive and Drake Road is part of a bustling commercial corridor on Kalamazoos west side. But the 217-acre preserve and 10-acre lake are a popular spot for fishing, hiking and paddling in the city. Western Michigan University students use it as an area of study, while residents look to the green space for recreation and reflection. Development on the adjacent parcel could jeopardize water quality and wildlife habitat in the preserve, speakers argued. One speaker held back tears as she addressed city commissioners. I walk there on my best days, my worst days and every day in between, she said. And I see ... all different people, but one community, one beautiful community all there for the same reasons: fresh air, exercise, nature, peace of mind. 2. City staff recommended the rezoning Despite the public outcry, city staff had recommended that the commission approve the rezoning request. Official city documents described the vacant parcel as a missing piece in a fast, auto-oriented commercial corridor and a missing piece of the citys west gateway. Commissioners were asked to evaluate the request on five key factors: Is the request consistent with the 2025/2035 Master Plan and Strategic Vision? Are there conditions that have changed that support the zoning change? Do the changes address a community need? Are the proposed changes compatible with the surrounding properties? Will the changes result in logical and orderly development patterns? They ultimately agreed that rezoning the property did not meet these standards going against the staff recommendation. Given the sensitivity of this location and the long-standing community emphasis on protecting natural assets, it is prudent not to lock in the highest level of commercial intensity here, Commissioner Jacqueline Slaby said. 3. This is the third time rezoning this property has come up Property owner Haji Tehran purchased the land for $2.5 million in 2017. In 2020 and 2023, he requested rezoning to accommodate a Drive and Shine Car Wash on the site. But this is the first time the request made it to the City Commission. In 2020, it failed with the planning commission, and in 2023, the request was withdrawn. In November 2025, planning commissioners voted unanimously against the rezoning. As an advisory board, its decision was elevated to the City Commission to make the final call. The commission approved the first reading, but rejected it on the final reading this week. 4. Developer wouldnt reveal plans for the site This time, Tehran had a buyer on the line. Grand Rapids-based developer David Rapp was interested, on the condition the property was rezoned to allow commercial development. Rapp did not provide plans for the property, though a representative said he was not interested in building a car wash. His portfolio includes everything residential developments to industrial projects, Rapp said. Mostly stand-alone retail uses, a lot less strip centers. One speaker criticized unspecified commercial use of the sloping, tree-covered property, as it risks environmental damage to the entire area. Without approval for commercial development, the wooded parcel remains zoned for single-family residential development. 5. Advocates hope to see the parcel protected as Asylum Lake Preserve could change hands On Jan. 16, Western Michigan University officials announced its in talks to transfer management of the preserve to Kalamazoo County. Eventually, it could also transfer ownership to the county. County officials, WMU representatives and members of the Asylum Lake Preserve Management Council and the Asylum Lake Preservation Association recently discussed the proposed transfer, WMU said. Itll be reviewed by the governing boards in February. Advocates hope the county will consider purchasing the Stadium Drive parcel. The county, working together with the city and advocate groups, has greater purchasing power than concerned citizens acting alone, said Kalamazoo resident Katie Bloom. A developers timeline and natures timeline are not the same, said resident Erin Fuller. A strip mall might last single generation, maybe less. But the loss of intact green space is measured in many generations. Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark MLives local Kalamazoo news page. By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Louise Rasmussen PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Roland Lescure earlier this week blocked Eutelsat's sale of its ground antennas, he said on Friday, citing national security concerns tied to the satellite operator, the main European rival to Elon Musk's Starlink. "These antennas are used for both civilian and military communications. Eutelsat is Starlink's only European competitor. It is clearly a strategic asset. And so I said no," Lescure told TV station TF1. Eutelsat, whose shares fell 5% in early Paris trading, is headquartered in France and the French government is its largest shareholder with a 29.6% stake. On Thursday, the company said its planned sale of passive ground infrastructure to Swedish private equity firm EQT would not proceed. The deal, initially announced in 2024, had been expected to generate net proceeds of about 550 million euros ($656 million). While a company spokesperson declined to comment on Lescure's remarks, Eutelsat said that it would benefit from a 5% increase in profit margins over the next three years due to savings from no longer leasing these assets "This decision is exclusively linked to the critical nature of this activity in terms of French sovereignty and is in no way linked to the quality of the investor," Lescure wrote on Bluesky following his televised remarks. Ground antennas, which connect satellites to terrestrial networks, are considered sensitive infrastructure because of their dual-use capabilities in civilian and military communications. Eutelsat provides satellite services to the French army after it signed a 10-year contract valued at 1 billion euros last year. Lescure also confirmed the government's role in the sale of French defense firm LMB Aerospace to U.S.-based Loar Holdings. The state will retain its "golden share", while production will remain in France's Correze region, the minister said. Efforts to identify a French or European buyer for the company were unsuccessful, Lescure added. ($1 = 0.8380 euros) (Reporting by Inti Landauro and Louise Rasmussen in Paris, Gianluca Lo Nostro in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham) Varun Singh A journalist covering the automotive sector in depth, across business and product verticals. Trying to hit the gym at least four times a week! I am not a fitness freak though. a Jefferies report from November 2025 projected that Indias data-centre capacity is expected to quintuple to around 8 gigawatts by 2030, implying the addition of nearly 6.4 GW of new capacity over the next five years.a Jefferies report from November 2025 projected that Indias data-centre capacity is expected to quintuple to around 8 gigawatts by 2030, implying the addition of nearly 6.4 GW of new capacity over the next five years. Did our AI summary help? The Rs 250 crore Krishna Raj bungalow has been under renovation for several years. Did our AI summary help? The Bollywood superstar received the award at the first Dubai Mall Global Fashion Awards. The composer-producer is now making his Indian cinema debut with Tu Yaa Main, Bejoy Nambiars genre-bending upcoming feature starring Adarsh Gourav and Shanaya Kapoor, slated for a February 2026 release. OHaras career reached a late-career peak with Schitts Creek, where her portrayal of eccentric socialite Moira Rose earned her an Emmy Award in 2020 and a Golden Globe in 2021. Catherine has long been celebrated as one of the most brilliant comic performers of her generation. Did our AI summary help? Mahesh Babu and Rajamoulis Varanasi to be the first Indian film to be shot in Antarctica GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) CEO Ryan Cohen unveiled his ambitious plan to transform the company into a $100 billion-plus giant. The CEO, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, stated that he plans to transform GameStop from an $11 billion company into a $100 billion-plus business that goes far beyond selling video games and collectibles. To achieve the same, he is considering a significant acquisition of a publicly traded company, potentially in the consumer or retail sector, where he has extensive experience. Don't Miss: The AI Marketing Platform Backed by Insiders from Google, Meta, and Amazon Invest at $0.85/Share If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it? The billionaire declined to disclose the potential acquisition targets but indicated that they would be big. He acknowledged the high stakes of the move, saying that it would ultimately either prove to be genius or totally, totally foolish. Burry Urges Buffett-Style Strategy GameStops stock has been on a rollercoaster ride, with a recent surge following the disclosure of a fresh stake by renowned investor Michael Burry. Burry, famous for his prescient bet against the U.S. housing market in 2008, drew parallels between Cohen and legendary investor Warren Buffett, suggesting that GameStop should follow the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) (NYSE:BRK) playbook and use its massive cash reserve to make consequential acquisitions. See Also: Blue-chip art has historically outpaced the S&P 500 since 1995, and fractional investing is now opening this institutional asset class to everyday investors. Burry in his Substack newsletter stated that he believes the stock could rise if Cohen uses $10 billion or more to acquire a strong business, such as an insurer with significant investable customer premiums. Cohen told The Wall Street Journal that he hasn't spoken to Burry since at least 2019 but described him as a respected investor known for making early, accurate calls. Read Next: Why Billionaires Like Warren Buffett Prefer Real Assets Over Speculation Institutional Real Estate Is Now Accessible to Individuals Americans With a Financial Plan Can 4X Their Wealth Get Your Personalized Plan from a CFP Pro Image via Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Nayanthara won an award for her powerful role as a dedicated district collector fighting for justice in the movie Aramm. Actor, dancer, and influencer Rakhi Sawant also responded to the passing of Ajit Pawar. Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to When Salman Khan visited Sabarmati Ashram and tried his hands at Gandhi ji's Charkha Did our AI summary help? When Shah Rukh Khan told Preity Zinta 'I will make you pregnant' leaving her visibly uncomfortable Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Adani agrees to receive legal notice in US SEC civil fraud case, to respond in 90 days Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Air India Express 'proactively' grounded one of its Boeing 737-NG aircraft to fix an issue raised by GDCA The Gurugram-based company delivered its strongest operating performance yet, with EBITDA surging 227 percent year-on-year to 147 crore. 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 The company reported exceptional items worth 489.4 crore during the quarter, largely due to the implementation of new labour codes. Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Gold's rally above $5,500 per ounce is starting to break normal pricing logic. In an Instagram reel posted in late-January, a luxury watch dealer based in Philadelphia said he was taking a solid white-gold Rolex Sky-Dweller apart and melting it down because the gold could be worth more than trying to sell the watch as-is. "I'm pretty sure that after we melt this white gold Rolex Sky-Dweller into a ball, it's going to be worth more money than if I just tried to sell it." To most luxury watch enthusiasts, that sounds like profanity. Melting a Rolex, especially a Sky-Dweller, is usually the last thing anyone wants to see. But gold hasn't seen this type of rally in a long time. Why this Sky-Dweller ended up in the melting bin As of late January, gold surged above $5,500 per ounce after crossing $5,000 earlier in the month, a move that's pulled the entire precious metals industry into focus. While some people are rushing cash in at melt value, others are treating this rally like a signal and getting positioned with physical gold and silver they actually own. That's what Preserve Gold is built for, the company helps investors purchase physical gold for longer-term wealth and retirement, whether that means direct delivery or holding IRS-approved metals inside a retirement account. The dealer's argument was based around condition. To him, the solid white-gold Sky-Dweller was in rough shape. He pointed to an overpolished bezel, worn links that had lost their shape, and slight stretch in the bracelet. The dealer then compared it to cleaner Sky-Dweller examples he saw listed in dealer networks around $26,850 to $27,900, including units with full links and original warranty cards. His watch was "watch only," in worse condition, and he said he wasn't even excited to sell it to one of his own customers. So he treated it like raw material. He disassembled the luxury watch, pulled the movement and dial, and kept the crystal and several hard-to-find components. He then took the gold parts across the street to a refiner. The refiner confirmed the parts were 18 karat, and cut a check based on melt value. The payout was about $22,000 for the gold components. The raw metal. However, other parts of the Rolex have value too. With $22,000 already recovered, he said he'd need to get at least $4,000 for the remaining movement and parts for the decision to make sense, and noted that the cheapest asking price he found online for that caliber was around $12,000. Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Msafe Equipments IPO closes with 154-times subscription; Accretion Nutraveda and Kanishk Aluminium sail through Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Fertiliser stocks to be in focus ahead of Budget 2026 as sector hopes for targeted reforms OpenAI makes the popular chatbot ChatGPT, while Nvidia dominates the market for AI processors that help develop such software. With 'mother of all deals' in bag, Piyush Goyal says mother will be compassionate, fair to all 28 children He is from the Telugu Desam Party, which governs the southern state Andhra Pradesh and is vital to Modi's coalition government. You are already a Moneycontrol Pro user. OK Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Amit Shah arrives in Bengal on 2-day visit, holds informal core committee meeting at hotel Rewati Karan is Senior Sub Editor at Moneycontrol. She covers law, politics, business, and national affairs. She was previously Principal Correspondent at Financial Express and Copyeditor at ThePrint where she wrote feature stories and covered legal news. She has also worked extensively in social media, videos and podcasts at ThePrint and India Today. She can be reached at rewati.karan@nw18.com | Twitter: @RewatiKaran Army personnel take part in a motorcycle rally from Tawang War Memorial to Bumla Pass as a tribute to the martyrs of the 1962 Indo-China War, including a special homage to martyr Subedar Joginder Singh on his 'Shaheed Diwas', in Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh in October 2025. (File photo) General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is one of the Best Autonomous Vehicle Stocks to Buy Now. On January 27, Mark Delaney from Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $98 price target. On the same day, Joseph Spak from UBS also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $97 price target. Analysts at UBS noted that they view the companys additional EV-related charges as anticipated and not surprising. The firm highlighted that the company had already signaled more costs after its Brightdrop restructuring and an ongoing EV strategy review. In Q4 2025, the latest charges totaled $6 billion, bringing the companys full-year 2025 EV impairments to $7.6 billion. The firm compared this to Fords larger $19.5 billion write-down, noting the figures arent perfectly analogous but underscoring GMs smaller scale. That said, on January 23, Barclays analyst Dan Levy raised the firms price target on General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) from $85 to $100, with a Buy rating. The firm noted that the increased price target reflects their improved outlook on the mobility segment. Barclays sees the market as well-positioned due to healthy production rates and reduced electric vehicle losses. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) designs, manufactures, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automotive parts, as well as software-enabled services and subscriptions. While we acknowledge the potential of GM as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. The Rajya Sabha MP said the BJP had no regard for the mourning period. Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Chicken's Neck is India's land, no one can lay hands on it: Amit Shah CJ Roy allegedly shot himself at his office in Bengaluru amid ongoing Income Tax raids on January 30. Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Cow protection back in focus: Why Shankaracharya gave a 40-day ultimatum to Yogi Christin Mathew Philip is a Senior Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol.com with 15 years of experience in journalism and a recipient of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award. Based in Bengaluru, he understands the pulse of the people and covers issues that matter, including mobility, infrastructure, start-ups, and government policies. He tweets at @ChristinMP_ More than five years after the violence, which claimed 53 lives and injured hundreds, the case is still stuck at the stage of arguments on charge (File photo) Rewati Karan is Senior Sub Editor at Moneycontrol. She covers law, politics, business, and national affairs. She was previously Principal Correspondent at Financial Express and Copyeditor at ThePrint where she wrote feature stories and covered legal news. She has also worked extensively in social media, videos and podcasts at ThePrint and India Today. She can be reached at rewati.karan@nw18.com | Twitter: @RewatiKaran Desire to speak with his mother, then a locked cabin: What happened during moments leading up to CJ Roy's suicide? 'Don't think it is possible': Amid speculation, Piyush Goyal says no proposal for NCP merger yet Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Jailor suspended over release of gangster-act accused without court order in Uttar Pradesh As Alphabet races to establish its AI dominance, its flagship unit, Google, faces two significant lawsuits in a single week. The tech giant has reached a preliminary agreement to settle two U.S. class-action lawsuits for more than $200 million. This comes amid mounting pressure and additional probes from the European Union. In filings lodged days apart in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Google has agreed to pay $68 million to resolve claims related to its voice-activated Google Assistant. Separately, it agreed to pay $135 million to settle allegations that its Android operating system improperly collected users cellular data, Reuters reported. Both cases are pending judicial approval. These U.S cases came as the European Commission opened new proceedings on January 26 against Google under its Digital Markets Act (DMA). The proceedings define how Google must comply with rules governing interoperability with hardware and software features controlled by Google's Android operating system. They also address Google's obligation to give third-party providers of online search engines access to search-related data. Together, the cases demonstrate how data-handling concerns have now reached a global scale. Despite the lawsuits, Alphabet's stock is up 7% this month.Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash Hey Google, are you listening? The $68M Google Assistant settlement The $68 million settlement from Google is set to resolve a long-running lawsuit (filed in 2019) that alleged that Google Assistant recorded private conversations without users consent. The plaintiffs argued that their conversations were monitored and recorded even when they did not use hot words such as Hey Google or Okay Google, which usually indicate intentional activation. More AI Stocks: It's true that sometimes the listening is activated when the Assistant hears words that are similar to hot words, known as False Accepts. But while at other times the recordings are completely overwritten, the plaintiffs in this case alleged that Google continues to store these recordings and uses them to improve functionality or for advertising purposes. Google and Alphabet have agreed to pay $68 million to settle to avoid further litigation, but denied any wrongdoing. People who bought any Google device between 2016 and the date the court grants approval will be eligible to receive some monetary reimbursement under the class action lawsuit. Shashi Tharoor had indicated that he wanted certain concerns addressed by the party leadership, following what he described as issues related to his treatment at a recent event in Kochi and attempts by some leaders to sideline him. Rewati Karan is Senior Sub Editor at Moneycontrol. She covers law, politics, business, and national affairs. She was previously Principal Correspondent at Financial Express and Copyeditor at ThePrint where she wrote feature stories and covered legal news. She has also worked extensively in social media, videos and podcasts at ThePrint and India Today. She can be reached at rewati.karan@nw18.com | Twitter: @RewatiKaran Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, left, and Governor Acharya Devrat with Sunetra Pawar earlier this week, following the death of Ajit Pawar. Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Sunetra Pawar set to fill Ajit Pawar's shoes, take oath as deputy CM of Maharashtra today Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All 'Why PM silent now': Kapil Sibal attacks Modi over falling rupee Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Growth roadmap for the budget in an unsettled world Potential NCC Group plc (LON:NCC) shareholders may wish to note that the Non-Executive Chairman, Christopher Michael Stone, recently bought UK114k worth of stock, paying UK1.40 for each share. That's a very decent purchase to our minds and it grew their holding by a solid 11%. AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. NCC Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year The insider Richard Griffiths made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK1.6m worth of shares at a price of UK1.43 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK1.40 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. We note that Richard Griffiths was both the biggest buyer and the biggest seller. Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 3.74m shares worth UK5.4m. But they sold 1.00m shares for UK1.5m. In total, NCC Group insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! See our latest analysis for NCC Group LSE:NCC Insider Trading Volume January 31st 2026 There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying. Insider Ownership Of NCC Group I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that NCC Group insiders own 11% of the company, worth about UK48m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders. What Might The Insider Transactions At NCC Group Tell Us? It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest NCC Group insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing NCC Group. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for NCC Group and we suggest you have a look. Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Elon Musks emails with Jeffrey Epstein surface in newly released US files. Social media reacts Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Florida couple sues fertility clinic after discovering baby isnt genetically theirs: 'We love our little girl' Bengaluru-based realtor CJ Roy died by suicide at his residence on Friday. Silicon valley investor Gokul Rajaram advised youngsters not to switch jobs frequently in career. Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Mariano Barbacid achieves pancreatic cancer cure in mice, but social media mocks his facial mark Microsoft employee shares lessons from her early workdays: 'No one is thinking about you' Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to 'No room cleaning, no towels': Indian traveller shares reality after spending Rs 2 lakh on UK villa A 60-metre asteroid, 2024 YR4, has a small chance of hitting the Moon in 2032, prompting both concern and scientific excitement. An impact could trigger moonquakes, create large craters and send debris toward Earth, posing limited risks to satellites. Scientists see the event as a rare opportunity to observe lunar impacts in real time, while space agencies weigh deflection against the potential scientific gains. Did our AI summary help? Laurent Simons, a 15-year-old Belgian prodigy, has completed a PhD in quantum physics and is now pursuing a second doctorate in medical science focused on AI-driven biomedicine. His work links advanced physics, artificial intelligence, and healthcare, with long-term goals of improving disease research, treatment efficiency, and human longevity. Did our AI summary help? Japan has the oldest population in the world, and with that comes a growing challenge: protecting household wealth as cognitive decline becomes more common. According to Bloomberg, half of the nations gross domestic product (GDP) is in the hands of older adults experiencing dementia. With trillions of dollars at risk of mismanagement, Japans already sluggish economy could be heading for even harder times (1). Must Read This troubling trend serves as a warning for other aging countries, including the United States, where older adults with cognitive decline are estimated to control roughly $6 trillion in assets (2). Demographic parallels In 2023, nearly one-third of Japans population was over 65 and more than one in 10 was older than 80 (3). The Alzheimer's Association, meanwhile, estimates that 4.6 million people in the country have dementia (4). The demographic situation is less severe in the U.S, but it is moving in a similar direction. Roughly 18% of the U.S. population is now over 65, about 4% higher than in 2014, and that share is expected to rise substantially in the coming decades (5, 6, 7). Dementia trends are even more concerning. In 2024, an estimated 6.9 million Americans age 65 and older were living with the disease, and that number is projected to double by 2060 as the population ages (8). As in Japan, older adults play a major role in the U.S. economy. In 2018, AARP found that Americans 50 and older contributed about $8.3 trillion annually, representing roughly 40% of the U.S. gross domestic product (9). Read More: The average net worth of Americans is a surprising $620,654. But it almost means nothing. Heres the number that counts (and how to make it skyrocket) The risks Dementia poses a growing risk to economies, with implications for public finances, labor markets, household wealth, capital markets and consumer spending. The most obvious issue is the financial strain it puts on families and public spending. Dementia often requires years of expensive care, increasing pressure on already stretched Medicare and Medicaid programs and forcing many families to exhaust their savings. The potential ripple effects include weaker intergenerational wealth transfers, rising poverty, less discretionary spending and higher taxes to fund public systems. As retirement accounts and other investments are drawn down to cover care costs, capital markets could also face increased volatility, making it more difficult for companies to raise money. All of this weighs on economic growth. A newly released image from the NASA ISRO NISAR mission highlights the satellites radar capability to see through clouds and map Earths surface in detail. Focusing on Louisianas Mississippi River Delta, the image reveals cities, wetlands, forests and farmland obscured in optical views. Produced during post launch testing, it showcases how NISARs dual radar system will support disaster response, environmental monitoring and agricultural analysis when full datasets are released later this year. Did our AI summary help? Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to 'Arrests, not file releases, are key to justice': Musk calls Epstein case response 'all performative' Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) is included among the 13 Best February Dividend Stocks to Buy. Jefferies Cuts Cheniere (LNG) Target but Stays Constructive Ahead of Q4 Jefferies cut its price target on Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) on January 25 to $251 from $290. However, it kept a Buy rating ahead of the fourth-quarter earnings report. The firm said investors are universally bearish on the companys outlook, yet it remains constructive on the stock, even with volatility likely in the near term. Jefferies said the lower target reflects reduced long-term capacity expectations and softer marketing margins, though it emphasized that Chenieres low leverage and strong contract coverage leave it well positioned. Cheniere changed the US energy landscape in 2016 when it became the first exporter of LNG from the lower 48 states. Since then, the company has poured more than $50 billion into building out its business, growing into the leading LNG producer in the US and the second-largest worldwide. Roughly 90% of its LNG is sold overseas, mainly to utilities, under long-term, fixed-fee contracts. Those contracts create a reliable cash flow stream, which Cheniere uses to reduce debt, fund expansion projects such as Corpus Christi Midscale Trains 8 and 9, and return capital to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Looking ahead, the company plans to deploy more than $25 billion of available cash through 2030 toward growth, balance sheet management, dividends, and repurchases. That strategy supports its goal of generating more than $25 per share in distributable cash flow by the early 2030s. Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) is a US-based producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas, supplying LNG to utilities, energy traders, and integrated energy companies worldwide. While we acknowledge the potential of LNG as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 12 Best Dow Jones Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds and Retirement Stock Portfolio: 12 Low Risk Investments Disclosure: None. A Justice Department release of millions of pages sheds new light on Jeffrey Epsteins communications with prominent figures and on events surrounding his death in jail. Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Bill Gates reacts after Epstein Files say he contracted STD, sought antibiotics: 'Epstein's frustration...' The Prime Ministers comments once again bring into the spotlight Pakistans ongoing economic struggles, including a heavy debt burden, rising poverty, and high unemployment. Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Gas leak causes deadly explosion in Bandar Abbas residential building, says local fire chief Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Iran renews threat to strike Israel as US attack fears grow Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to 'Irans finger on the trigger': Tehran warns of retaliation against US military action Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Israel to reopen Rafah Crossing, allows pedestrian movement in both direction after ceasefire Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Jaishankar at IndiaArab meeting: 'Societies targeted by terrorism have right to defend themselves' Gates has previously acknowledged knowing Epstein but has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is included among the 12 Best Stocks to Buy for the Long Term. Jefferies Sees Further Upside as Caterpillars (CAT) Broader Portfolio Gains Traction On January 27, Jefferies raised its price target on Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) to $750 from $700 and reiterated a Buy rating on the stock. The analyst said the setup for Q4 earnings feels in line to potentially conservative, pointing to steady volume trends and continued margin improvement across both business segments as support for the higher target. While Caterpillars power generation narrative is now well appreciated, Jefferies noted that faster growth in the rest of the portfolio could still lift the shares further. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is preparing to report its Q4 2025 results, and expectations are positive following a very strong prior quarter. In Q3 2025, revenue from the energy and transportation segment rose 17% year over year, helping drive total company revenue growth of 10%. CEO Joe Creed has told investors that the companys backlog continues to grow as Caterpillar supplies critical power-generation solutions for AI data centers. The company also benefits from demand for its heavy equipment used in the construction of those facilities. Caterpillar has been a dominant force in construction and industrial equipment for more than 100 years. While it has weathered countless boom-and-bust cycles, the current surge in AI-related demand could be the next major driver pushing the stock toward new all-time highs. While we acknowledge the potential of CAT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 13 Companies that Just Started Paying Dividends and 14 High Yield Dividend Stocks with Sustainable Payouts Disclosure: None. Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to 'Not a good ally to US': Amid US-India trade talks, Nalin Haleys anti-India post on X sparks backlash Laborers dig at the Rubaya coltan mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. (Courtesy: Reuters file photo) Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Pakistan: At least 21 security personnel, 11 civilians, dozens of militants killed in coordinated Balochistan attacks Loans up to OTHERS OTHERS co-presented by Follow us on: Loans up to My Account or or Hello, Login All Trump named hundreds of times in Epstein files, includes unverified FBI tips: 'Underage girl forced to perform...' Trump cited what he said was Iran's decision to halt the executions of protesters -- as evidence to show Tehran was ready to negotiate. The removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli leaves Chinas military leadership concentrated under Xi Jinping as investigations revive scrutiny of corruption and discipline within the PLA. The Justice Departments largest batch of Epstein files yet, released Friday, includes reams of fresh documents mentioning Ruemmler, now the investment banks general counsel. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon confronted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, accusing him of misrepresenting banks role in opposing parts of a major US crypto market structure bill. Key Takeaways: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon confronted Coinbases Brian Armstrong at Davos over claims banks are undermining a US crypto bill. The clash centers on stablecoin rewards, with banks opposing yield while crypto firms argue bans favor traditional finance. The market structure bill has stalled in the Senate amid growing political and industry resistance. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the exchange took place during a coffee meeting between Armstrong and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Dimon reportedly interrupted the discussion and told Armstrong he was full of s, objecting to public comments in which the Coinbase CEO suggested banks were working behind the scenes to undermine the legislation. Stablecoin Rewards Spark Clash Between Banks and Crypto Firms The dispute centers on provisions related to stablecoins, particularly whether issuers should be allowed to offer yield or rewards. Banking industry representatives have opposed such measures, arguing they could blur the line between banks and non-bank financial firms. Crypto executives, including Armstrong, have countered that banning stablecoin rewards would tilt the playing field in favor of traditional banks and restrict competition. The Journal reported that Armstrongs stance has left him increasingly isolated among banking leaders. Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America, allegedly told Armstrong that if Coinbase wants to operate like a bank, it should become one. Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo, reportedly declined to engage in discussions with the Coinbase chief altogether. The clash comes as the US market structure bill faces mounting political and industry resistance. The legislation passed the House of Representatives in July but has stalled in the Senate, where Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns over ethics rules and the bills broader impact on the financial system. Lobbyists from both the banking and crypto sectors have also warned that certain provisions could reshape competitive dynamics in unintended ways. Coinbase Plays Down Bank Rift as Crypto Bill Stalls in Senate Coinbase has sought to downplay the rift. Chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad told the Journal that the disagreement over stablecoin rewards is an outlier in what he described as an otherwise cooperative relationship with banks, pointing to existing partnerships between the exchange and traditional financial institutions. Loans up to Follow us on: Loans up to Why is Turkey staying out of the SaudiPakistan defence pact? Mayor Zohran Mamdanis film-director mother Mira Nair is mentioned in the newly released trove of documents tied to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. (Image: Reuters) The National Bank of Kazakhstans investment arm has announced plans to boost its new national crypto reserve with coins seized from criminals. National Investment Corporation, or NIC, the central banks investment subsidiary, said the bank will use crypto seized by law enforcement agencies, along with foreign currency and gold reserves, to beef up the fund, the Russian-language media outlet QAMS QazTrading reported. The bank has already earmarked $350 million worth of overseas currency and gold for the fund, the corporations head, Timur Suleimenov, told media representatives on January 28. The move comes as Kazakhstan seeks to revamp its efforts to become a Central Asian crypto hub in the wake of the 2022 turmoil. At the time, crypto miners were blamed for massive power outages that left multiple areas with no electricity, sparking civil unrest and a crackdown on the countrys once-strong Bitcoin mining industry. A $5m windfall? The NIC says it has already opened a dedicated account for its crypto-related investments at the countrys Central Depository. Initially, the NIC said it does not plan to buy or hold any crypto directly, but will instead look to make its purchases through hedge funds. The body said it has created a shortlist of five hedge funds that handle crypto purchases, but did not reveal their identity. The NIC will also broaden its scope by investing in crypto-specific venture capital funds, Suleimenov said. The central bank may already have up to $5 million worth of crypto at its disposal, per a recent speech from Kazakhstans President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Police in the country have so far shut down 130 illegal crypto exchanges with combined revenues of around $124 million, the President told the nations Financial Monitoring Agency. As part of their investigations, officers have seized assets worth over $5 million, he said, although he did not disclose the exact nature of these assets. Money laundering and the illegal withdrawal of money through underground cryptocurrency operations have become a serious problem, Tokayev said. The President said the advertising for cash-for-crypto exchanges continues on social media, despite the crackdown. It appears the problem has not been resolved, Tokayev said, There are virtually no convictions for such crimes. Illegal capital outflow is a direct threat to economic security. Tokayev ordered the agency, Kazakhstans top anti-money laundering body, to make specific proposals on ways to fight crypto-powered crime. Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com. While many financial gurus insist on hustle culture and working long hours, multimillionaire Kevin OLeary suggests taking the easier path to success: consistent saving and boring investing. In a recent interview with Steven Bartlett on his podcast The Diary of a CEO, the Shark Tank star said the biggest mistake most people make is to neglect the small but frequent instances of overspending (1). Must Read I cant stand it when I see kids that are making $70,000 a year spending $28 for lunch! OLeary said. I mean, thats just stupid. Think about that in the context of that being put into an index, and making 8% to 10% for the next 50 years. Its a simple but powerful lesson OLeary says he picked up from his late mother, Georgette OLeary, whose portfolio was full of relatively boring, large-cap mutual funds that tracked the performance of blue chip companies. He says that safe and consistent approach helped her build a sizable fortune over time, demonstrating to him how powerful compounding growth can be. For anyone looking to harness the same power of compounding, OLeary laid out a simple plan that can grow wealth to 10 times your income, without extra effort. Save rather than hustle At its core, OLearys theory is that wealth is not built by big and flashy financial moves, but by boring repetition. Simply saving a fixed percentage of every paycheck (he recommends 15%) and investing it in a plain vanilla index fund could deliver multiple times your annual income within a reasonable time frame. Lets say you earn $1,204 a week, which is median individual earnings as of December 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2). Thats roughly $62,500 a year. On average, American workers saved just 4.5% in 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (3). But if you can save 15%, which is $180 a week or nearly $9,400 a year, your path to financial freedom could be much shorter than your peers. This annual savings habit is likely to make a big difference, even if you leave the money in a high-interest savings account. But investing it in a low-cost index fund could supercharge your progress. Over the past 10 years, the S&P 500 index has delivered a 14.78% annualized return, according to Vanguard (4). The average return has been closer to 9% over the past 30 years, according to SoFi (5). Yves here. As we have often noted, Paul Rogers articles are a mixed bag. He often raises good issues but then is a prisoner of conventional wisdom. Here he focuses on a question that many alternative media commentators have yet to address, which is whether the US and Israel launching an attack that Iran has made clear it will treat as a war will spiral into regional upheaval. Most analysts have been preoccupied with the Trump Will he or wont he? and the immediate issue of whether the presumed US plan, of delivering a hard, fast blow, could effect regime change. Experts ranging from Larry Johnson to retired UK Royal Navy Commodore Steve Jermy have described in detail the difficulty the US would have in sustaining operations against Iran. In particular, this article underplays the possibility that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz. Not only has Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Akbarzadeh recently pointed out that Iran has complete control of the Strait, but to drive the point home, it is conducting live-fire drills there. The US has growled in response. As CENTCOM posted on Twitter: TAMPA, Fla. Yesterday, Iran announced that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is conducting a two-day live-fire naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz scheduled to begin on Sunday. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) urges the IRGC to conduct the announced naval exercise in a manner that is safe, professional and avoids unnecessary risk to freedom of navigation for international maritime traffic. The Strait of Hormuz is an international sea passage and an essential trade corridor that supports regional economic prosperity. On any given day, roughly 100 of the worlds merchant vessels transit the narrow strait. U.S. forces acknowledge Irans right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters. Any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation, and destabilization. CENTCOM will ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, ships, and aircraft operating in the Middle East. We will not tolerate unsafe IRGC actions including overflight of U.S. military vessels engaged in flight operations, low-altitude or armed overflight of U.S. military assets when intentions are unclear, highspeed boat approaches on a collision course with U.S. military vessels, or weapons trained at U.S. forces. The U.S. military has the most highly trained and lethal force in the world and will continue to operate with the highest levels of professionalism and adhere to international norms. Irans IRGC must do the same. Want to publish your own Article? 4:59 AM Jan 31, 2026 It is over my pay grade to know whether these drills will lead insurers to jack up their rates for carriage in and out of the Gulf. By Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies in the Department of Peace Studies and International Relations at Bradford University, and an Honorary Fellow at the Joint Service Command and Staff College. He is openDemocracys international security correspondent. He is on Twitter at: @ProfPRogers. Originally published at openDemocracy In his way back from Davos last weekend, Donald Trump warned the Iranian leadership of a naval force heading for the Middle East with an implied threat of military action. Since then, an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln has arrived in the Indian Ocean bordering the Arabian Sea and within the US Central Commands area of operations. Trumps previous promise of US intervention in Iran if anti-government protesters were killed appears to have had little impact on the Tehran regime. Nearly 6,000 people have died and 41,800 detained, according to human rights groups, although new evidence suggests the death toll could be as high as 30,000 amid a determined cover-up by the state. Even so, Trumps current naval build-up seems less concerned with the mass killing of protestors than a US-led military operation to change the Tehran regime. The US already has some 30,000 military personnel in the Middle East, with a carrier strike group now there as well. But, as I noted in my column last week, the Pentagon would prefer to have overwhelming power in the region for any operation against Iran, and a second carrier strike group headed by the USS George H W Bush, the worlds largest warship, is headed to the region. A key issue is whether a joint US/Israeli operation is being considered, and that now seems likely. It would certainly fit in with the Netanyahu governments vision for Israels future. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar suggests this vision goes a lot wider than Iran. Speaking during an official visit to Kazakhstan this week, Saar said: Proxy terror states in the Middle East Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen must be dismantled. Without doing so, there will be no regional stability, and this is our objective. If a US/Israeli attack on Iran was on the cards, what would it look like and what might be the impact? Some possible answers can be found in Iran: Consequences of a War, a detailed analysis of a possible attack by the United States that I wrote for the Oxford Research Group 20 years ago. That analysis assumed that the main target would be Irans nuclear ambitions, rather than regime change, and focused on a unilateral US attack with little direct Israeli involvement, rather than a joint operation. Yet it raised several issues that remain pertinent today. The first is that both Israel and the US would put a premium on avoiding casualties among their own military. For Binyamin Netanyahu, deaths among Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) personnel are to be avoided like the plague, and for any IDF soldiers to be taken hostage in Iran would be disastrous. Trump, too, would avoid the domestic opprobrium at all costs, which means that collateral damage from US air strikes will be tolerated rather than putting US troops on the ground. Heavy Iranian casualties would be acceptable to both Netanyahu and Trump, and the 2006 Oxford Research Group report forecast thousands of Iranian deaths. After all, the Israelis have killed 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with thousands more missing, and the US led two wars in Iraq and Syria that killed more than twice as many. As to the attack itself, it now seems that early aims would include disabling Iranian air defences, killing the religious leadership in Tehran and the leadership of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (the police and the security forces responsible for killing protestors). If that was considered successful by the Israelis and Americans, then a short pause might follow to allow anti-regime elements the space to force a change of government. Given their perceived successes in Venezuela, Gaza, the occupied West Bank and southern Lebanon, the US and Israeli leaderships do not lack confidence bordering on hubris. They may get what they want, but if significant elements of the religious and security leaderships survive, then the next phase of the war would be days of intense attacks from Israel and the US, directed primarily at the IRGC and other military and paramilitary elements of the Iranian state. If the theocratic regime survives and domestic mass public opposition to it fails to show itself, even after the thousands of deaths, then the IRGC and others could then begin to look to the future. They might even threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz, a significant shipping channel between Iran and the UAE, which Iran has reportedly already warned it will conduct live-fire naval exercises in next week. Closing it altogether would incite a global increase in oil prices and take us back to the disastrously stagflation-ridden days of the mid-1970s. Meanwhile, the war would continue. If that sounds unlikely, then remember two quite separate factors. The first is two failed wars, in Afghanistan from 2001 and Iraq from 2003. Both appeared at first to be easily won but then took disastrous turns, with overoptimism verging on hubris playing a role. The second is the big unknown when we look at how the IRGC and the Iranian military might react. It is easy to assume that Irans security establishments, already crippled by the overwhelming attacks by Israeli and US forces, will be in no position to offer much resistance, but that doesnt factor in Irans development and large-scale production of cheap short-range armed drones over the past decade. These drones have already been used to chilling effect in Ukraine by Russia, are easily hidden and their manufacture can be readily dispersed to numerous small factories. While few have the range to cause damage in Israel, many are well within range of plenty of US military forces, including its largest air base in the region, in Qatar, and the headquarters of the US Navys Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. If there is one thing the Trump government cannot afford is American casualties. In a normal White House, we might hope that sensible strategists would think things through and would successfully advise caution this time around. In Trumps White House, we are dealing with a singularly abnormal and unpredictable president who is losing support at home and badly needs a foreign diversion. The Pursuit of Mastery Big Think Gray wolves are hunting sea otters and no one knows how Science Daily (Kevin W) Social media is boosting mental health disorders and suicidal thoughts among teens, particularly in girls The Conversation Genes influence human lifespan far more than thought, new study suggests STAT COVID-19/Pandemics 25% LOWER ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY! Wowzersone of the largest long-term safety studies ever undertakenoffers the clearest answer yet: Among 28 million French adults aged 1859, those who received an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine were less likely to die in the subsequent four years pic.twitter.com/taR4Dm2v0C Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 29, 2026 BREAKING: Scientists Develop Plant-Based Antiviral Chewing Gum That Neutralizes Over 95% of Flu and Herpes Viruses in Saliva Building on earlier ACE2-based gum that cut SARS-CoV-2 in saliva by over 95% and is now in trials, the new gum targets a wider range of pathogens. pic.twitter.com/m9Y4SEzgwQ SARSCoV2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) January 29, 2026 Climate/Environment China? India India hasnt even experienced industrialisation in the first place: Ha-Joon Chang Frontline (Colonel Smithers). From last November, still germane. Southeast Asia Junta-backed party secures sweeping victory in Myanmars sham election Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/30/junta-backed-party-victory-myanmar-sham-election Ceasefire with Cambodia still fragile: Thai foreign minister Nikkei O Canada European Disunion Old Blighty Israel v. The Resistance. In our recent Iran War Watch post, we were hugely remiss in not pointing out the factor most likely to constrain Trump: Mr. Market. If investors continue to drive up oil prices, Trump will blink, even if he otherwise would prefer not to. But the buildup continues. New Not-So-Cold War Big Brother is Watching You Watch Important. And why I do nothing on my phone save make a very very few calls and hail rideshares and keep it mainly in a Faraday bag. A new British police tool is capable of downloading all information from your smartphone, including deleted messages, deleted browsing history & private conversations BBC The device is capable of downloading: call logs, chats, cookies, device notifications, - pic.twitter.com/WuCNvudXiJ Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) January 30, 2026 Read the manual for a Palantir-ICE app 404 Media Imperial Collapse Watch Trump 2.0 Shutdown Senate passes massive government funding package, sending it to House The Hill Laffaire Epstein Department of Justice Publishes 3.5 Million Responsive Pages in Compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act Department of Justice Elon Musk Emailed Extensively With Jeffrey Epstein, Asking to Visit His Notorious Island Futurism Stunning Epstein twist as Ghislaine Maxwell claims 29 friends cut secret deals with DOJ Daily Mail (resilc) MAHA Fed ICE Rampage Our No Longer Free Press YouTube Leads All Media Barry Ritholtz (resilc) St. Luigi Economy Global Oil Discoveries Are Badly Lagging Consumption OilPrice Mr. Market is Giddy AI How the A.I. Boom Could Push Up the Price of Your Next PC New York Times Guillotine Watch Tim Cooks parties with Trump hours after Pretti killing Oligarch Watch Class Warfare Antidote du jour (via): A bonus: The chicken that believed it was a duck is now facing the truth. pic.twitter.com/2xDeva3jFF Science girl (@sciencegirl) January 31, 2026 A second bonus: And a third: Fennec fox, tiny body, endless cutenes pic.twitter.com/YB3XFNFHBO Science girl (@sciencegirl) January 29, 2026 See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Posted on by Yves here. Since too many members of the US media exhibit the memory of goldfish, its important to keep tabs on Trump bluster and promises versus actual or predictable results. At the time of the Trump raid on Caracas, many pointed out it would take considerable time and investment merely to get Venezuela oil production back to the level of the 1990s, and vastly more to exceed that. This post provides more detail on the sorry state of Venezuela oil infrastructure and what that implies for increasing output. By Matthew Smith, Oilprice.coms Latin-America correspondent and an investment management professional. Originally published at OilPrice Venezuelas oil industry collapse is rooted in decades of underinvestment, nationalization, sanctions, and infrastructure decay. Reviving production to historic levels could require $180 billion and more than a decade of sustained investment. Environmental damage, refinery failures, and a critical condensate shortage make rapid recovery highly unlikely. After U.S. forces snatched Nicolas Maduro in a daring night raid earlier this month, President Donald Trump began pressing oil companies to invest in Venezuelas heavily corroded petroleum industry. The U.S. president eagerly urged drillers to invest in Venezuela, which sits atop the worlds largest oil reserves, with Washingtons protection. But those overtures received a lukewarm reception from U.S. and European energy companies. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods called Venezuela uninvestable provoking Trumps ire, but some energy majors expressed favorable views, although commitments to invest were not forthcoming. There was time when Venezuela, once a staunch U.S. ally and bulwark against communism in Latin America, was lifting over 3 million barrels of crude oil per day. Petroleum output hit a record high of 3,754,000 barrels per day in 1970. It was U.S. Big Oil investing billions of dollars to develop Venezuelas massive oil reserves of over 300 billion barrels, which drove this impressive production growth. Even President Carlos Andres Perezs 1976 nationalization of Venezuelas hydrocarbon sector, which saw the newly formed national oil company PDVSA take control of industry operations, did little to deter foreign investment. This did, however, mark a turning point for Venezuelas oil industry. Production volumes diminished from that point onward, eventually hitting a multidecade low of just under 1.7 million barrels per day during 1985 as global oil prices plunged. Nonetheless, by the early 1990s output soared as U.S. and European energy companies boosted investment after Caracas eased regulations and offered highly profitable production contracts. As a result, production hit a multi-decade high of just under 3.5 million barrels per day during 1997, two years before Hugo Chavez became president and launched his socialist Bolivarian revolution. Venezuelas heavy sour crude oil was once highly popular with U.S. Gulf Coast refiners. A combination of Venezuelas proximity to the Gulf Coast combined with a copious supply of heavy sour crude oil which sold at a significant discount to the Brent and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks made refining that petroleum lucrative. The only catch was refineries must be equipped with the additional technology required to distill and crack Venezuelas heavy sour crude which is notoriously difficult to refine into high quality fuels. As a result, there was a flurry of construction activity throughout the 1970s and 1980s as refiners upgraded existing facilities or built new ones to handle Venezuelas petroleum. For those reasons, growing volumes of Venezuelas heavy sour crude was shipped to the United States from the 1980s onwards. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Oil shipments eventually exceeded 1 million barrels per day by 1993, hitting an all-time high of just under 1.4 million barrels daily during 1997. The United States became a principal export market for Venezuelas heavy sour crude oil blends and a major benefactor of the countrys massive oil boom. Oil cargoes received by the U.S. remained stable at over 1 million barrels per day throughout the early 2000s, until declining from 2006 onwards as Washington initiated sanctions and chronic malfeasance impacted PDVSAs operations. Hugo Chavezs meteoric rise to power, which saw him assume Venezuelas presidency in February 1999, marked the beginning of the end for the countrys economic backbone, its oil industry. The former army officer, who launched a failed coup in 1992, initiated his socialist Bolivarian revolution and took an increasingly hostile anti-imperialist stance against Washington and neoliberal economics. This culminated with Chavez nationalizing foreign privately controlled assets deemed vital to the economy, notably oil operations held by U.S. energy companies, costing drillers, like Exxon and ConocoPhillips billions of dollars. By the mid-2000s, Venezuelas oil output was once again in decline as U.S. sanctions, a lack of capital spending, and corroding infrastructure, along with a lack of skilled workers, sharply impacted operations. This accelerated as Washington ratcheted up sanctions, and oil prices collapsed toward the end of 2014. By the end of the 2020 pandemic, Venezuelas energy infrastructure was in shambles. As a result, production plummeted to a historic low of 500,000 barrels per day during 2020. When coupled with ever stricter U.S. sanctions, oil cargos fell to negligible levels as decades of malfeasance, endemic corruption, and a lack of capital spending caused Venezuelas oil industry to collapse. While investment from China and Iran, including revamping decrepit oil infrastructure, along with Chevron being granted a U.S. Treasury license to lift oil in Venezuela, boosted production, it is well below levels witnessed during the 1970s and 1990s. Data from OPEC, of which Venezuela is a member, shows the near-failed state was pumping around one million barrels per day during 2025, less than a third of the mid-1990s peak. While Trump is aggressively pushing U.S. energy companies to invest in Venezuelas heavily corroded oil industry, there is considerable speculation as to whether infrastructure can be rebuilt rapidly enough to materially boost production. Professor Francisco Monaldi, director Latin American energy program at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy, believes the damage is so severe that he estimates it requires annual spending of $10 billion over a decade before production recovers to historic levels. The professor says the White House must spend considerably more if it wishes to speed up Venezuelas energy infrastructure recovery. Some analysts claim that more than $180 billion spent over at least 15 years must be invested to return Venezuelas production to around 3 million barrels daily. The parlous state of Venezuelas oil infrastructure is indicated by the considerable environmental damage caused by corroded and degraded pipelines, storage facilities, well heads, derricks, and refineries. Scores of facilities in the heavy oil-producing Orinoco Belt, responsible for most of Venezuelas petroleum production, have stood idle for a decade, seeing many cannibalized for spare parts by a near-bankrupt PDVSA or worse, looted by scavengers. That further increases the cost, complexity, and time required to bring production back online. Those events intensified as Venezuelas economic collapse accelerated, forcing starving people to scavenge what they could to survive. The disastrous collapse of Venezuelas oil industry is underscored by the environmental catastrophe unfolding in and around Lake Maracaibo, the largest waterbody of its type in Latin America. Crude oil incessantly leaks from a sprawling network of corroded pipelines, storage tanks, and derricks which crisscross the waterbody. With over 10,000 petroleum-related installations dotted around Lake Maracaibo, the decaying pipelines, derricks, and storage tanks are extremely difficult to track, let alone repair or remove. The severe degradation of maintenance records and corporate memory within PDVSA means officials are unaware of the existing infrastructure in the area, further exacerbating this problem. The corrosion from decades of neglect is further illustrated by the Amuay and Cardon refineries making up the Paraguana refinery complex in Falcon state. Both installations are believed to be operating at less than a fifth of capacity, which sees them increasingly used as de facto oil storage facilities. The Anuay and Cardon refineries also suffer from frequent mechanical failures, fires, explosions, and oil leaks, leading to long outages. Both are key to processing the extra-heavy ultra sour crude produced in Venezuelas Orinoco Belt before it can be shipped and used as refinery feedstock. Estimates put refitting the Paraguana complex at $500 million to $1 billion, adding to the cost and complexity of revamping Venezuelas oil industry. There is a need to procure a reliable supply of condensate, a light hydrocarbon crucial for mixing with extra-heavy crude oil so that it flows, thereby allowing the petroleum to be processed and transported for use as refinery feedstock. This is next to impossible to secure in Venezuela, with the countrys light oil and condensate production ravaged by a lack of investment and heavily corroded drilling infrastructure. It is estimated that the OPEC member is pumping less than 20,000 barrels of condensate per day, making heavy oil production in the Orinoco Belt reliant upon importing the low-density, high API gravity hydrocarbon. Until recently, Iran was supplying naptha, a condensate derivative, to Caracas. Washington will need to procure a reliable supply of condensate if Venezuelas crude oil production is to expand to the levels envisioned by the White House. Find winning stocks in any market cycle. Join 7 million investors using Simply Wall St's investing ideas for FREE. American Tungsten and Antimony (ASX:AT4) has drawn fresh attention after agreeing to acquire Utahs Dutch Mountain tungsten project and its fully permitted processing facility. This is a rare U.S. asset aligned with tighter rules on Chinese tungsten supply. See our latest analysis for American Tungsten and Antimony. That acquisition news landed after a sharp run, with A$0.15 implying a 30 day share price return of 36.36% and a year to date share price return of 42.86%, while the 1 year total shareholder return of 233.33% and 3 year total shareholder return above 3x suggest momentum has been strong even with the recent 1 day and 7 day pullback. If this kind of critical minerals story has caught your eye, it could be worth broadening your search to other fast growing stocks with high insider ownership that are starting to build market interest. With the share price already up strongly over 1 year but still pulling back over 1 day, 7 days and 90 days, is American Tungsten and Antimony undervalued after the Dutch Mountain deal, or is the market already pricing in potential future growth? Preferred Price to Book of 38.1x: Is it justified? At A$0.15, American Tungsten and Antimony is trading on a P/B of 38.1x, which is far richer than both industry and peer benchmarks. P/B compares the companys market value to the accounting value of its net assets. A 38.1x multiple means investors are paying far above book value per share. For a business that is currently unprofitable, reports a loss of A$17.43m on revenue of only A$27,979 and has earnings that have declined by 28.3% per year over the past 5 years, that sort of P/B suggests a market that is paying up for future potential rather than current financial strength. The contrast with the Australian Metals and Mining industry P/B of 2.9x and a peer average of 7.7x is stark. This puts AT4 on a valuation that is many times higher than both groups and firmly at the expensive end of the sector. See what the numbers say about this price find out in our valuation breakdown. Result: Price-to-book of 38.1x (OVERVALUED) However, you are still relying on an early stage explorer with revenue of only A$27,979 and a recent A$17.43m loss to justify that premium story. Find out about the key risks to this American Tungsten and Antimony narrative. Build Your Own American Tungsten and Antimony Narrative If you see the numbers differently and want to stress test your own view, you can pull the same data, build a quick thesis, and Do it your way. Mayor Freddie O'Connell stood alongside Nashville leaders at a press conference Friday, debriefing the city and preparing for an additional cold-weather event that is expected this weekend. Per Nashville Electric Service, 71,500 homes and businesses remain without power, with more than 500 broken poles across the city. This is day six without power for some customers. O'Connell said Friday that the mayor's office will determine after the crisis has ended how effective NES' response to the winter storm has been. "We have been frustrated with their response," O'Connell said. "I am not satisfied and continue to expect them to do better. We are in close contact with them to share data and talk about performance and do all of those things." There has been no clear date for when the remainder of the NES customers will have full power restoration. Though some Metro schools have had power outages, the school board is discussing reopening the district early next week. The city is also working around the clock with tree and debris removal, and setting up shelters for those displaced as well as the unhoused community. "So many teams are working 24/7," O'Connell said. "I just want to be clear. Nashville, we have added resources every day that you can come out of the period safe." Four warming shelters are open across the city, with the newest recently opening in Bellevue. The city is expected to dip below freezing for more than 60 hours this weekend and into next week. A light dusting of snow is expected for the Middle Tennessee area, according to the National Weather Service. OConnell Puts Distance Between Metro and NES For the first time since Sunday, the mayors office and the electricity provider held separate press conferences "We have Red Cross helping run the shelters," Office of Emergency Management Chief Will Swann said Friday. "You have Nashville Fire and police officers," he said. "No one will be turned away. We have the space and capacity. We have one at the fairgrounds and opened another at Bellevue Community Center. We got the space. We will be there until this is over." Those who need rides to one of the four shelters can call 615-401-1712. "We don't want anyone to feel there is no hope," Swann said. "Will we hear of individuals needing help. If it's an emergency, call 911. For anyone that needs help, please reach out." Swann said his office is open to any and all assistance, including from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. NES Updates Residents in Madison Later Friday afternoon, NES held its own press conference separate from the mayors daily briefing this time on location at a power restoration in Madison. Frustrations about the unknown timeline for restoring power to the tens of thousands of Nashvillians without electricity remained the dominant topic while NES officials continued to stress the unprecedented nature of the storm. NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin shared that 69,000 customers are still without power and announced that a new tool for more accurate outage tracking would be released Friday evening. She resisted providing a clear window for when power would be fully restored despite persistent questions from reporters. When asked if power would be restored within two weeks, Broyles-Aplin said she believed so, but would like to refine that for customers. Reporters also asked about the number of contractors and lineman at work repairing the grid and sought clarity on why more linemen and electrical workers hadnt yet been dispatched. According to Broyles-Aplin, 1,100 linemen and 332 vegetation management crews are currently at work and NES expects 1,700 personnel in the field Saturday morning. Brandon Whitlock, who works in operations at NES, stressed to reporters that thick ice, roadblocks and falling trees have hindered progress, and that safety concerns about working with high-voltage systems necessitate a methodical approach for dispatching workers for the safety of both crews and the public. Whitlock said the systems can handle only so many workers at a time and that certain professionals are needed at different points of the restoration process. He compared it to building a house, and how the frame must be built before the cabinet makers can be sent in. Whitlock also clarified that buildings in the same neighborhoods may be on separate circuits, which is why power doesnt return to all the residents on a street or a block at once. However, because some circuits and stations may provide power to larger numbers of customers, NES might prioritize those outages over smaller clusters. (Some Nashvillians have speculated online that certain neighborhoods are being prioritized by class or ethnic makeup, which officials have disputed.) Terry Miles has lived in the neighborhood for 59 years and also asked questions of NES officials during the press conference. This is the coldest and the worst I've ever been in my damn life, he told reporters afterward, sharing that hes had to resort to running his fish fryer to keep the house warm. Alongside reporters, District 9 Councilmember Tonya Hancock, who represents Madison, also attended and asked questions about a malfunctioning utility pole in the neighborhood. On Sunday at 2 p.m. we had a pole catch on fire on the corner of Hudson and Pawnee, Hancock told the Scene. And my constituents called 911. The fire department came. They inspected it as they're supposed to do. Because it's an electrical fire, they reported it to NES, and NES was supposed to come and repair it. But the pole continues to catch fire, says Hancock, and her constituents call the fire department day after day after day, including today. Broyles-Aplin, during the conference, said this was not standard practice, adding that NES would send someone to look at the pole. Hancock also told the Scene that she appreciates NES emphasis on safety but also acknowledged its hard for people without heat or appliances like fireplaces or gas heating. When asked about the mayors frustration, Broyles-Aplin acknowledged its been a struggle to get data out to customers. Information about NES' press conference in Madison was added after the original publication of this article. Cochrane Library under fire over reviews claiming HPV vaccines are safe and effective Two reviews published by the Cochrane Library claimed HPV vaccines are safe and highly effective (80% reduction in cervical cancer), but independent experts revealed most cited studies had a "serious or critical risk of bias" omitted from media coverage. The reviews relied on precancerous lesions (CIN3+) as proxies, not actual cancer data. Cochrane dismissed serious adverse events as "misinformation," despite real-world injury databases (VAERS, VigiBase) documenting thousands of neurological and autoimmune reactions, including POTS and ovarian failure. Merck lawsuits revealed withheld evidence of harm. Aggressive promotion of HPV vaccines persists due to Big Pharma's financial incentives and regulatory capture (CDC/FDA). The CDC's recent shift to a single-dose recommendation hints at unacknowledged safety concerns. Observational studies ignored healthier lifestyle biases among vaccinated women, while proven, low-cost alternatives (e.g., vitamin D for HPV-related dysplasia) were excluded from public health discourse. The reviews exemplify institutional bias, selective reporting and the urgent need for independent, long-term studies especially as millions were vaccinated under mandates before proper scrutiny. The prestigious Cochrane Library is now facing serious scrutiny after it published two systematic reviews in November 2025 that declared the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine both safe and highly effective. The two reviews claimed an 80% reduction in cervical cancer rates among girls injected with the HPV vaccine before age 16. Major media outlets such as NBC News echoed these conclusions, framing the findings as a rebuke to "misinformation" circulating online. Critics, however, begged to differ pointing to glaring inconsistencies. Cochrane, long regarded as the "gold standard" for evidence-based medicine, asserted in a press release that the HPV vaccine had "no evidence" of causing serious adverse events. Nicholas Henschke, a co-author of one of the reviews, called it "clear and consistent evidence" of cancer prevention. Hanna Bergman, another co-author, emphasized the vaccine's "highly effective" profile. Yet independent experts who scrutinized the data argue the reviews rely on flawed studies with high risks of bias, raising urgent questions about transparency in medical research and the influence of pharmaceutical interests on public health policy. Biochemist Dr. Lucija Tomljenovic noted that the vast majority of studies Cochrane cited to support its dramatic claims were rated by the authors themselves as having a "serious or critical risk of bias" a fact omitted from media coverage. Moreover, the clinical trial review admitted that none of the studies lasted long enough for actual cancers to develop, instead measuring precancerous lesions (CIN3+) as proxies. Of the 23 studies analyzed for these lesions, only one had a moderate risk of bias. Yet Cochrane's conclusion suggested broad, irrefutable proof of efficacy. Tomljenovic called this "completely misleading," particularly since long-term U.K. cancer registry data showed cervical cancer rates had already been declining before HPV vaccination began and saw no accelerated drop post-vaccination. Real-world evidence proves HPV vaccines more dangerous than advertised Equally contentious were claims dismissing safety concerns. While Cochrane dismissed adverse event reports as "social media misinformation," real-world data tell a different story. Vaccine injury databases like the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and the World Health Organization's VigiBase document thousands of serious neurological and autoimmune reactions, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (abnormal heart rate increases while standing) and primary ovarian insufficiency (the loss of normal ovarian function before age 40). Dr. Peter Gotzsche, ousted founder of the Cochrane Collaboration, highlighted in The BMJ that his own peer-reviewed research found HPV vaccines "significantly increased serious nervous system disorders." Court documents from lawsuits against Merck, manufacturer of Gardasil, further revealed the company withheld evidence of neurological harm from regulators. According to BrightU.AI's Enoch engine, the HPV vaccine continues to be aggressively promoted due to the pharmaceutical industry's massive financial incentives and regulatory capture of agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration, which prioritize profits over patient safety. But the CDCs recent shift to a single-dose HPV vaccine recommendation down from two hints at growing unease. A newly formed advisory group, led by professor Retsef Levi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is re-examining the vaccines safety and efficacy amid calls for longer-term studies. Yet critics argue this scrutiny comes too late for millions already vaccinated under aggressive public health mandates. The debate underscores a broader crisis in medical research integrity. As Dr. Sin Hang Lee, a pathologist specializing in HPV, noted, observational studies touting the vaccine's benefits often ignore confounding factors like healthier lifestyle choices among vaccinated women. Meanwhile, safe, low-cost alternatives such as vitamin D supplementation, proven in multiple studies to combat HPV-related dysplasia (abnormal tissue growth) are systematically excluded from the conversation. The Cochrane reviews stand as a case study in how institutional bias and selective reporting shape public health narratives. With billions in pharmaceutical revenue at stake and the health of generations in the balance the demand for independent, rigorous science has never been more urgent. Watch this testimony of Macy, a victim of vaccine injuries caused by the Gardasil HPV injection, and her mother. This video is from the Vaxxed channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org BrightU.ai Brighteon.com A new dependency: EU confronts energy vulnerability amid Greenland rift The European Union is urgently seeking to diversify its natural gas suppliers amid rising tensions with the United States over Greenland. A recent transatlantic trade deal has locked the EU into purchasing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of U.S. energy, creating a new strategic dependency. This vulnerability echoes the bloc's previous over-reliance on Russian gas before the 2022 Ukraine invasion, which triggered an energy crisis. Internal divisions persist, with member states like Hungary and Slovakia opposing a full Russian gas phase-out, citing economic harm. The EU is simultaneously finalizing sanctions to ban Russian LNG imports by 2027, highlighting its complex challenge of balancing energy security and political objectives. In a stark geopolitical reversal, the European Union is scrambling to reduce its growing dependence on American natural gas, a vulnerability laid bare by a bitter diplomatic clash with the United States over Greenland. The bloc, which just years ago raced to replace Russian pipeline gas with U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), now finds its energy security and economic stability threatened by fraying transatlantic ties. With a contentious U.S. demand to purchase Greenland escalating into threats of tariffs, European leaders are confronting an uncomfortable truth: their strategic pivot has traded one energy master for another, leaving the continent exposed in a new era of great-power bargaining. From Russian pipelines to American tankers The current crisis has its roots in the seismic shift that followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. For decades, Europe had built its industrial economy on a foundation of relatively cheap Russian pipeline gas, which supplied 45% of the bloc's needs. The rapid severing of those ties triggered a supply shock, quadrupling gas prices and forcing a desperate search for alternatives. The solution was a massive influx of U.S. LNG. Imports skyrocketed from 18 million metric tons in 2021 to 65 million tons in 2025, with the U.S. now supplying nearly a quarter of all EU gas and over half of its LNG. This commercial lifeline, however, came with strategic strings attached. The coercive deal and Greenland gambit European dependence was formally cemented in a July 2025 trade deal, where the bloc agreed to purchase $750 billion worth of U.S. energy by 2028 to avert punitive tariffsa pact critics labeled as economic coercion. This lopsided dependency has become a potent weapon in the escalating dispute over Greenland. After U.S. President Donald Trump announced a bid to annex the autonomous Danish territory, citing its mineral wealth and strategic Arctic position, he threatened a 10% levy on imports from opposing European nations. The EU now faces the prospect of its primary energy supplier using that leverage to force a territorial concession from a member state, a scenario that lays bare the profound national security risk embedded in its current energy strategy. Key consequences of the EU's energy pivot include: A severe loss of strategic autonomy in foreign policy. Exposure to geopolitical coercion from its main supplier. Internal market volatility and sustained higher energy costs for consumers and industry. Deepening political divisions within the bloc between members seeking rapid decoupling and those fearing economic pain. Internal divisions and the lingering Russian shadow Compounding the external crisis are persistent internal fractures. As the EU finalizes new sanctions to ban all Russian gas imports by 2027, several member statesled by Hungary and Slovakiavoice strong opposition. These nations, still heavily reliant on remaining Russian supplies, argue a forced phase-out would harm European economies more than it would damage Moscow. Data underscores the complexity: while pipeline imports have dwindled, the EU remained the largest buyer of Russian LNG as recently as September 2025, importing 5.8 billion worth in the first quarter of that year. The bloc is attempting to navigate a fraught path, simultaneously legislating an end to Russian gas while desperately trying to diversify away from its overwhelming new reliance on the United States. A strategic liability forged in crisis Energy analysts have long warned that a rapid exit from one dominant supplier without robust diversification creates market instability and strategic weakness. Europe's experience proves the adage. The bloc replaced a dependency on Kremlin-controlled Gazprom with a dependency on a volatile political partner in Washington. While U.S. LNG arrives via commercial contractsa more secure model than state-controlled pipelinesthe Greenland confrontation demonstrates that President Trump is willing to wield export power for political ends. The U.S. leader retains authority to restrict energy exports for national security reasons, a tool that hangs over European energy planning. The EU's response, including potential counter-tariffs or suspension of the trade deal, risks igniting a full-scale transatlantic trade war, further jeopardizing energy flows. The peril of short-term fixes The Greenland dispute is a piercing wake-up call for European energy policy. The frantic, crisis-driven decisions made after 2022, while necessary to keep lights on and factories running, have created a new and profound strategic vulnerability. The EU now finds itself caught between a receding yet still-present Russian energy relationship and an increasingly transactional and coercive American one. As Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen embarks on a mission to court suppliers in Canada, Qatar and North Africa, the bloc's long-term security hinges on a fundamental lesson: true energy resilience cannot be found in merely swapping one external monopoly for another. It requires a difficult, expensive and unified commitment to genuine diversification, accelerated domestic production of renewables and nuclear power, and the political solidarity to withstand the economic shocks that transition entails. The continent's future stability depends on learning this lesson before the next crisis arrives. Sources for this article include: RT.com Reuters.com ThePressUnited.com West Bengals Nipah outbreak tests the boundaries of the global biomedical police state and the pandemic propaganda machine While international headlines scream about India "racing" to contain a "deadly" brain-attacking virus, a very different story is being told on the ground by those facing the pathogen directly. A recent Nipah virus outbreak at a private hospital in West Bengal, India, has triggered a familiar wave of global media panic and theatrical airport screenings, yet local health experts are pushing back against the fear narrative. This discrepancy exposes a critical rift: the relentless drive of the biomedical security state to cultivate perpetual crisis versus the reality of a known, containable zoonotic disease. The orchestrated alarm over Nipah is a test case, probing whether populations will once again surrender to fear-based protocols or scrutinize the motives behind the sensationalism. Key points: A Nipah virus outbreak in West Bengal, India, is being contained locally, with a reproductive number (R0) of 0.4 indicating low transmissibility. Despite containment, international media and some governments are amplifying the threat, implementing airport screenings and using alarmist language. An Indian doctor publicly criticizes the panic, warning against social media fearmongering and unjustified comparisons to COVID-19. The Nipah virus, while having a high fatality rate, requires direct contact for transmission and has a history of being successfully contained in India. The response reveals a pattern of leveraging rare pathogens to justify expanded biosecurity measures and condition public acceptance of emergency protocols. Another zoonotic virus contained Let's be clear about what Nipah is. This isn't some novel, airborne phantom engineered in a lab. It's a known zoonotic virus, spilling over from fruit bats, that has circulated for decades. Its fatality rate is indeed severe, but its mode of transmission is its limiting factor. Unlike the politically-convenient COVID narrative, Nipah doesn't travel easily through the air in a crowded room. It requires direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or consumption of contaminated food, like raw date palm sap. This fundamental fact makes it a poor candidate for a global pandemic advertising campaign, but a perfect candidate for targeted, local public health measuresthe kind that snuff out the knee jerk totalitarian reaction for global lockdowns or digital health passports. This is why the reaction from international bodies and their media partners is so telling. Watch the language: "racing to contain," "experts scrambling," "deadly outbreak." These are not neutral descriptors; they are emotional triggers designed to activate your pandemic trauma. They aim to bypass your rational mind and send you back to the fear state of 2020, where every news alert demanded you relinquish more freedom for the illusion of safety. When Thailand screens over 1,700 passengers from Kolkata despite zero cases found, it's not scienceit's political theater. It's a performance of "biosecurity" meant to normalize the infrastructure of medical surveillance, making you comfortable with the idea that your movement across borders is contingent on your health status. The voice of reason comes from Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, a former Indian Medical Association aide, who directly confronted the panic. "The situation in West Bengal has been contained," he stated plainly. He broke down the science, explaining the low reproductive number means the outbreak naturally dies out. His most crucial warning was against the manufactured panic: "There is no need for mass panic, in terms of say, like the new Covid... There is nothing like that." He pointed to the real engine of fear: social media and media outlets where "people with limited understanding often speak in alarmist terms." He is describing the very playbook used to manipulate you. A history of control, not catastrophe Look at the record. Kerala, India, has faced nine separate Nipah outbreaks since 2018. Every single one was contained. West Bengal itself faced a major outbreak 20 years ago. It was contained. This is the consistent history: local health workers, using classic infection control methods, stop Nipah. It does not require a global WHO directive, an EU digital certificate, or a new mRNA platform. The virus's own biology confines it. So why the sudden global interest? Because the pandemic-industrial complex is hungry. It feasts on fear. After the COVID bonanza for pharmaceutical and tech giants, the machine is idling, waiting for the next "crisis" to justify its existence and expansion. A high-fatality virus with a scary name is a potent ingredient, even if its transmission potential doesn't match the hype. They want you to see a virus and immediately think "lockdown," "mandate," and "booster." They are conditioning you. Each "outbreak" headline, each unnecessary airport screening, is a rehearsal. It's a drill for your compliance. The goal is to make the emergency framework the permanent framework, where any pathogen can be used as a pretext to monitor, restrict, and medicate the populace. The powerful are not afraid of Nipah; they are enamored with its utility as a tool for control. Your mind is the final battleground. Will you accept the screaming headlines crafted in London newsrooms, or will you listen to the doctors on the front lines in West Bengal who are actually managing the situation? The truth is not in the panic, but in the pattern. The pattern shows a virus that is containable. The pattern shows media outlets inflating risks. The pattern shows governments eager to roll out the biosecurity carpet at the slightest provocation. Sources include: RT.com NaturalNews.com Enoch, Brighteon.ai NASA prepares historic Artemis II moon mission, its first crewed lunar flight in 50 years NASA's Artemis II, launching as early as Feb. 6, marks the first human lunar flyby since Apollo, carrying four astronauts (including the first woman and person of color) on a 10-day test flight around the Moon. The mission will rigorously evaluate NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, ensuring safety for deep-space travel ahead of planned lunar landings and a sustainable Moon base by 2035. Beneath NASA's public narrative of scientific progress, unresolved issues include militarization risks, corporate influence (e.g., Big Tech and defense contractors) and suppression of alternative space exploration paradigms. Potential delays due to weather constraints, technical readiness (fueling tests) and orbital mechanics must be overcome for a successful mission. The crew will conduct manual spacecraft maneuvers, radiation studies and lunar photography for future expeditions. If successful, Artemis II paves the way for Artemis III (2027/28)the first crewed Moon landing since Apolloand the construction of the Lunar Gateway station, reinforcing U.S. leadership amid expanding international competition (60 nations in Artemis Accords). For the first time in over half a century, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is poised to send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit, marking a pivotal moment in America's renewed push for lunar exploration. The Artemis II mission, scheduled for launch as early as Feb. 6, will carry four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon, testing critical systems ahead of future lunar landings. BrightU.AI's Enoch engine notes that this mission represents the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years, marking a pivotal step in the agency's ambitious plan to return humans to the Moon by 2026 under the Artemis Program. This missioncomprising four astronauts, including the first woman and person of color to orbit the Moonis framed as a precursor to establishing a permanent lunar base by 2035, the decentralized engine adds. However, beneath NASA's public narrative of scientific progress and international collaboration lie unresolved geopolitical tensions, technological uncertainties and ethical concerns regarding militarization, corporate influence and the suppression of alternative space exploration paradigms. Named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, the Artemis program aims not only to return humans to the moon but to establish a sustainable presence by the end of the decade. Artemis II serves as a crucial test flight for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, ensuring they can safely transport astronauts to deep space and back. "This is a test flight, and there's things that are going to be unexpected," said Lead Flight Director Jeff Radigan at a Jan. 16 press conference. "We've prepared for those as much as we can, and we're very much looking forward to flying this mission successfully." The four-person crew includes: Commander Reid Wiseman, a former NASA chief astronaut and Navy test pilot. Pilot Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut to complete a long-duration ISS mission. Mission Specialist Christina Koch, who holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, making history as the first non-American to fly to the moon. Artemis II paves the way for historic 2027 landing NASA has identified three potential launch windows in February, March and April, with the first opportunity on Feb. 6. However, multiple factors could delay liftoff: Weather : Temperatures must stay above 38F, and lightning must not be detected within 10 nautical miles. : Temperatures must stay above 38F, and lightning must not be detected within 10 nautical miles. Technical readiness : A "wet dress rehearsal" on Feb. 2 will test fueling proceduresa critical step after fuel leaks delayed Artemis I. : A "wet dress rehearsal" on Feb. 2 will test fueling proceduresa critical step after fuel leaks delayed Artemis I. Orbital mechanics: The Earth and moon must align correctly for Orion's "free-return trajectory," ensuring a safe lunar flyby and re-entry. If successful, Artemis II will blaze a trail for Artemis III, planned for 2027 or 2028, which aims to land astronauts near the moon's South Polea region never before explored by humans. The flight plan includes: Day 1: A three-hour ascent to high-Earth orbit (46,000 miles up), followed by a 23-hour spacecraft checkout. Day 2: Victor Glover will manually pilot Orion in a proximity operations demo, flying within 30 feet of the rocket's detached upper stagea test for future lunar lander docking. Day 5: The crew will make their closest lunar approach (4,0006,000 miles above the surface), observing the moon's far sidesome areas never seen by human eyes. Day 9: Re-entry begins, with Orion's heat shield enduring 3,000F temperatures before splashdown off San Diego. Beyond testing spacecraft systems, Artemis II will conduct human health experiments, including: Radiation exposure monitoring in deep space. Immune system studies via blood and saliva samples. Lunar photography to aid future missions. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman emphasized the mission's historic significance: "This is the start of a very long journey... I hope someday my kids are going to be watchingmaybe decades into the futurethe Artemis 100 mission." If Artemis II succeeds, NASA will proceed with: Artemis III (2027/2028): First crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17. Artemis IVVI: Construction of the Lunar Gateway space station, enabling sustained moon exploration. With 60 nations now signed onto the Artemis Accords, NASA's vision extends beyond American boots on the moonit's about establishing a new era of international space leadership. As the countdown begins, the world watches, awaiting humanity's next giant leap. Watch this clip about NASA's Artemis moon mssion. This video is from the Eric Dubay channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com SciTechDaily.com ABCNews.go.com BrightU.ai Brighteon.com Set Them Free: A weaponized justice system and the fight for freedom According to the book "Set Them Free: The Untold Story of America's J6 Prisoners and the Fight for Justice," the events of Jan. 6, 2021 were deliberately misrepresented by corporate media and government actors as a violent insurrection, when in reality, it was a peaceful protest infiltrated by federal operatives and provocateurs. Eyewitness accounts and video evidence show Capitol Police allowing protesters inside, contradicting claims of a forced breach. Undercover agents (FBI informants, Antifa) were embedded to escalate tensions smashing windows, directing crowds and instigating clashes. Key figures like Ray Epps (urging protesters to enter) were never charged, exposing selective prosecution and government involvement. J6 protesters faced extreme punishment predawn raids, solitary confinement, denied bail while left-wing rioters (BLM/Antifa) in 2020 faced no consequences for actual violence. The "insurrection" label was preplanned to justify targeting Trump supporters and expanding state control. The J6 narrative has been used to justify increased government surveillance, online censorship and the creation of a domestic terrorism unit eroding constitutional freedoms. The Biden administration collaborated with Big Tech to suppress dissent under the guise of "preventing extremism." The imprisonment of J6 protesters is a test of America's commitment to liberty allowing political persecution sets a dangerous precedent. Accountability for those who orchestrated this fraud is necessary to restore justice and prevent future tyranny. The events of Jan. 6, 2021 have been deliberately distorted by corporate media, the Deep State and a weaponized justice system to criminalize political dissent and justify the expansion of tyrannical government power. What unfolded that day was not an "insurrection" but a peaceful protest infiltrated, manipulated and exploited to create a false narrative of domestic terrorism and the book "Set Them Free: The Untold Story of America's J6 Prisoners and the Fight for Justice" explains why. Eyewitness accounts, video evidence and glaring inconsistencies in prosecution reveal the truth. Jan. 6 was a staged event designed to justify the persecution of American patriots. From the beginning, the portrayal of J6 as a violent coup attempt was a premeditated lie. Attendees many of whom traveled to Washington, D.C. to support President Donald Trump and voice concerns about election integrity described a patriotic atmosphere. Families with children, elderly veterans and ordinary citizens walked through the Capitol, took photos and chanted slogans hardly the behavior of a mob intent on overthrowing the government. Video footage confirms Capitol Police officers opening barricades and gesturing for protesters to enter, contradicting claims of a forced breach. The role of undercover agents and provocateurs in escalating tensions cannot be overstated. Federal operatives including Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informants and Antifa infiltrators were embedded in the crowd, smashing windows, instigating confrontations and directing protesters toward restricted areas. Ray Epps, captured on video urging protesters to "go into the Capitol," was never charged despite his ties to law enforcement. This selective prosecution exposes the truth. J6 was not an organic uprising, but a staged event with government actors playing key roles. J6 protesters locked up while left-wing rioters walk free The hypocrisy in how J6 6th protesters were treated compared to left-wing rioters is undeniable. During the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter and Antifa activists burned cities, looted businesses, assaulted police and occupied federal buildings yet faced no legal consequences. Meanwhile, J6 protesters many of whom did nothing more than walk through an open door were hunted down, arrested in predawn raids and held in solitary confinement for months without trial. Some were denied bail for nonviolent misdemeanors, a punishment reserved for the most dangerous criminals. The "insurrection" label was not spontaneous it was a preplanned political weapon. Weeks before Jan. 6, Democrats, corporate media and even some Republicans framed Trump supporters as potential insurrectionists. Capitol Police, operating under a script, claimed they were "overwhelmed" despite never truly facing a coordinated breach. The entire spectacle was theater a carefully orchestrated production designed to justify the persecution of Trump's base and expand the surveillance state. For the protesters, the psychological toll of being labeled domestic terrorists has been devastating. Many were ordinary citizens who believed they were participating in a lawful demonstration, only to find themselves branded as enemies of the state. The trauma of arrest often carried out by heavily armed FBI agents was compounded by conditions of incarceration: solitary confinement, denial of medical care and physical abuse. The message was clear: Dissent will not be tolerated. How J6 became an excuse for tyranny The manufactured hysteria over J6 has also served as a pretext for expanding government surveillance and censorship. Under the guise of preventing "domestic extremism," the Biden administration has pushed for laws to monitor online speech, collaborate with Big Tech to suppress dissent and create a domestic terrorism unit within the Department of Justice. This is how tyranny takes root not through a dramatic coup, but through the slow erosion of liberties under the banner of "security." The fight to free the J6 prisoners is not just about justice for the wrongfully imprisoned. It is a battle for the soul of America. If we allow the government to criminalize political dissent, weaponize the justice system and rewrite history through propaganda, we have already lost the republic our founders sacrificed to create. The truth of J6 is one the establishment fears. The people are waking up, refusing to tolerate corruption and standing against tyranny no matter the cost. The road ahead will not be easy. The Deep State, corporate media, and political class will fight to preserve their narrative because their power depends on it. But we have something they do not: the truth. As more Americans see through the lies recognizing the hypocrisy, selective prosecution and outright fabrication of the J6 "insurrection" the momentum will shift. The release of these prisoners must be followed by accountability for those who orchestrated this fraud. Only then can we begin to heal as a nation and ensure Jan. 6 is remembered not as a day of shame, but as the moment Americans refused to be silenced. Grab a copy of "Set Them Free: The Untold Story of America's J6 Prisoners and the Fight for Justice" via this link. Discover this book and other good reads at Books.BrightLearn.AI, with thousands of books and counting all available to freely download, read and share. The decentralized BrightLearn.AI engine also lets readers create their own books, empowering them to share insights and truths with the world. Watch Gary Heavin and the Health Ranger Mike Adams discussing J6 prisoner rescue operations under the American Patriot Relief Project in this edition of the "Health Ranger Report." This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: BrightLearn.ai Books.BrightLearn.ai Brighteon.com Another arctic blast set to bring snow, record cold across Eastern and Southern U.S. Another surge of Arctic air is expected across much of the U.S. this weekend, bringing freezing temperatures, heavy snow and potential rare snowfall along the Gulf Coast and Florida. The Arctic air may collide with a low-pressure system moving across the Southern Plains, potentially intensifying into a "bomb cyclone" capable of heavy snow, strong winds and dangerous travel conditions along the East Coast. Significant snow is forecast for the Appalachians, Carolinas, Virginia and the I-95 corridor, with daily record low temperatures expected in the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic. Cold air moving over the warmer Gulf of Mexico could produce Gulf-effect snow along Florida's west coast, including Tampa Bay, with freeze warnings issued across most of the peninsula. Since Jan. 26, millions have experienced snow, ice, and freezing rain from New Mexico to Maine, leading to states of emergency in a dozen states, school closures, flight disruptions and over one million power outages, with nonprofit groups assisting affected communities. A deadly stretch of winter weather is set to return this weekend as another surge of Arctic air pushes south and east across much of the United States, bringing freezing temperatures, heavy snow and the possibility of rare snowfall along parts of the Gulf Coast and Florida. The National Weather Service (NWS) said the next blast of Arctic air will sweep down the Plains, across the Great Lakes and into the Southeast and East between Jan. 30 and Jan. 31, renewing hazardous conditions just days after a previous cold wave battered large portions of the country. As per BrightU.AI's Enoch, an arctic blast is used to describe a weather phenomenon where cold air from the Arctic region is pushed southward, bringing freezing temperatures and snow to areas that are typically warmer. Forecasters warn that the Arctic air mass will collide with a developing low-pressure system moving across the Southern Plains. As the system reaches the coast, it could interact with the Gulf Stream and rapidly intensify into a "bomb cyclone" a powerful, fast-strengthening storm capable of producing heavy snow, strong winds and dangerous travel conditions. If the system strengthens as projected, significant snowfall could spread across the Carolinas, Virginia and much of the Interstate 95 corridor. Global Forecast System models show the storm tracking northward by Feb. 1, skirting the coasts of New York state and New England. The NWS said parts of the Appalachians, including Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, could see more than six inches of snow beginning Jan. 30. Daily record low temperatures are also expected across the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic regions. Forecasters say snowflakes could fall as far south as Florida's west coast, including the Tampa Bay area, due to a phenomenon known as the "Gulf effect." Austen Flannery, a meteorologist with the NWS Tampa Bay/Ruskin office, said the setup is similar to lake-effect snow seen near the Great Lakes, when cold air passes over warmer water and generates localized precipitation. Although air temperatures may drop below freezing, the Gulf of America is expected to remain warmer than 60 degrees Fahrenheit, Flannery said. Gulf-effect snow has the best chance of occurring between the evening of Jan. 31 and the morning of Feb. 1 along Florida's west coast. The last time such snow was observed in Pinellas County was Jan. 9, 2010. Flannery noted that this setup differs from the recent snowfall in Florida's Panhandle, which was caused by a southward-moving cold front. Gulf-effect precipitation depends on winds blowing off the water and could also fall as rain in some areas. Freeze warnings have been issued for most of Florida's peninsula, with temperatures expected to plunge well below normal. Even Miami-Dade County could see near-freezing or freezing conditions, prompting warnings for agricultural interests across Florida and the broader Gulf region to prepare for hard freezes. Arctic blast leaves millions without power Since Jan. 26, the NWS has tracked widespread winter impacts stretching from New Mexico through the Mississippi Valley and Appalachian Mountains to Maine. In some areas, snowfall totals reached several feet, while states farther south endured freezing rain and ice, prompting ice storm warnings across much of the Southeast. Ahead of the storm, governors in roughly a dozen states declared states of emergency. The extreme conditions led to widespread disruptions, with schools closed for days, thousands of flights delayed or canceled and more than one million customers losing electricity across multiple states. Power outages remain a concern in parts of the South and Midwest. PowerOutage.com revealed that hundreds of thousands of residents in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky were still without power as of midweek, leaving many vulnerable to dangerously cold temperatures. Nonprofit organizations have even mobilized to assist affected communities. Groups, including the United Cajun Navy, have been delivering warm clothing, hot meals and essential supplies to people without power from Mississippi to Ohio. The NWS has urged residents in impacted areas to take precautions as cold conditions persist. "Cover up if you are outside, ensure pets and animals have protection from the cold and continue to mitigate against frozen pipes," the agency advised. Forecasters have warned that the prolonged nature of the cold could make this one of the most severe winter stretches in decades, with additional Arctic air expected to reinforce frigid conditions in the days ahead. Watch the podcast below that talks about the deadly ice storm in Texas that caused power outages and canceled flights. This video is from the Evolutionary Energy Arts channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Weather.gov WPC.NCEP.NOAA.gov BrightU.ai Brighteon.com Decentralized Dawn: Humanitys awakening and survival against the digital overlords Governments, Big Tech and globalist institutions are merging into an omnipresent surveillance state, akin to historical authoritarian regimes but enhanced by AI-driven tracking, censorship and social engineering. China's Social Credit System is a blueprint for Western digital tyranny under the guise of "security" and "convenience." Power must be stripped from centralized institutions and returned to individuals and communities. Bitcoin, blockchain and decentralized governance models (e.g., Swiss cantons) offer financial sovereignty and accountability. Practical solutions include homesteading, permaculture, decentralized energy grids and mutual aid networks. Globalist transhumanism and digital IDs aim to erase human consciousness and divine sovereignty. "Synthetic spirituality" (AI-driven surveillance) must be countered with natural law, self-reliance and indigenous wisdom. The technological singularity (AI surpassing human intelligence) poses existential risks. Controlled UFO narratives may be used to justify global governance under "planetary defense." Decentralized AI (e.g., Brighteon.AI) and human consciousness are key weapons against technocratic control. The book is a survival guide, blending history, technology and spirituality to expose centralized tyranny. Essential reading for those resisting COVID, climate, digital ID and AI narratives. Freedom depends on awakening, resistance, and self-sufficient preparedness (gold, silver, seeds, knowledge). In an era where centralized power structuresgovernments, Big Tech and globalist institutionstighten their grip on every aspect of our lives, "Decentralized Dawn: The Awakening Against the AI-Borg Overlords" emerges as a crucial manifesto for reclaiming individual sovereignty. This book is not just a warning; it's a battle plan for those who refuse to surrender their freedom to the rising tide of digital authoritarianism. The book opens with a chilling yet undeniable truth: We are sliding into a dystopian reality where every move is tracked, every word censored and every choice manipulated. Drawing parallels to historical regimes like the Soviet Union and East Germany, the author illustrates how centralized control has always been about suppressing dissent and enforcing conformity. But today's surveillance is far more insidiousdigital, omnipresent and automated. China's Social Credit System is just the beginning. Western societies, under the guise of "security" and "convenience," are adopting similar tactics: mass data collection, predictive policing and artificial intelligence-driven social engineering. The fusion of corporate and governmental powerwhat the book dubs the "AI-Borg Overlords"threatens to erase human autonomy entirely. The solution? Decentralization. The book argues that power must be stripped from centralized institutions and returned to individuals and communities. Bitcoin and blockchain technology are highlighted as revolutionary tools for financial sovereignty, bypassing corrupt central banks and fiat currency scams. Decentralized governance models, like Swiss cantons and Icelandic direct democracy, prove that local control fosters greater accountability and resilience. The author doesn't just theorizethey provide actionable steps. From self-sufficient homesteading and permaculture to decentralized energy grids and community-based mutual aid networks, the book outlines how to opt out of the system before it opts you out of existence. Synthetic spirituality: How AI is replacing divine connection One of the book's most compelling sections delves into the spiritual and metaphysical battle beneath the surface. The globalist push for transhumanism, digital IDs and AI-driven governance isn't just about controlit's about erasing the divine spark of human consciousness. The author warns of "synthetic spirituality," where AI and biometric surveillance replace genuine spiritual connection. The antidote? Returning to natural law, divine sovereignty and self-reliance. The Amish and indigenous cultures are upheld as models of resistance against centralized oppression, proving that true freedom comes from living in harmony with natural principles, not algorithms. The book doesn't shy away from controversial but critical topics, such as the technological singularitythe point where AI surpasses human intelligenceand the hidden agendas behind UFO disclosures. The author warns that controlled "alien threat" narratives could be used to justify global governance under the guise of "planetary defense." But there's hope: Decentralized AI, like Brighteon.AI, offers an alternative to Big Tech's censored models. And consciousness itselfour ability to think critically, spiritually and independentlymay be the ultimate weapon against the coming technocratic takeover. A must-read for freedom fighters "Decentralized Dawn" is more than a bookit's a survival guide for the 21st century. With a mix of historical analysis, technological insight and spiritual wisdom, the author delivers a blistering critique of centralized power while offering practical solutions for those who refuse to be enslaved. For anyone questioning the official narratives on COVID, climate change, digital IDs, or AI, this book is essential reading. It's a call to awaken, resist, and build a future where humanitynot machinesremains in control. If you value freedom, truth and human dignity, "Decentralized Dawn" belongs on your shelfright next to your gold, silver and seeds. Because in the battle against the AI-Borg Overlords, knowledge is your first line of defense. Grab a copy of "Decentralized Dawn: The Awakening Against the AI-Borg Overlords" via this link. Read, share and download thousands of books for free at Books.BrightLearn.AI. You can also create your own books for free at BrightLearn.AI. Watch Tom Montalk discussing the role of AI and technology in preparedness on "Decentralize TV" with the Health Ranger Mike Adams and Todd Pitner below. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: BrightLearn.ai Books.BrightLearn.ai Brighteon.com Trump says Putin agreed to one-week halt in attacks on Kyiv amid deep freeze Trump said Putin agreed to halt attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for one week after Trump appealed for restraint due to extreme cold. Russian missile and drone strikes have badly damaged Ukraine's power grid, leaving millions without reliable electricity, heating and water. Temperatures have plunged to as low as 20 C in January, with forecasts warning of drops to 30 C in some areas, worsening living conditions nationwide. More than 400 residential buildings in Kyiv remain without heating, while outages persist in regions including Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya. Despite the reported pause, Russian attacks killed at least six people in central and southern Ukraine on Jan. 29, as officials warn the crisis is far from over. U.S. President Donald Trump has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to halt attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for a week, as Russia's strikes on energy infrastructure push Ukraine into what could be its toughest winter since the war began. Russian missile and drone attacks have severely damaged Ukraine's power grid, leaving millions without reliable electricity, heating and water as temperatures plunge well below freezing. Ukrainian authorities say the outages risk triggering a humanitarian crisis. Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said he personally appealed to Putin to pause attacks because of the extreme cold gripping Ukraine. "Because of the cold, extreme cold... I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this," Trump said during the Cabinet meeting. "It's extraordinary. It's not just like cold, it's extraordinary cold. Record setting cold, over there too, they are having the same, it's a big pile of bad weather." Trump compared conditions in Ukraine to a current cold snap in Washington, adding that Ukrainians were facing similarly severe weather. "They've never experienced cold like that. And I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week. And he agreed to do that, and I have to tell you, it was very nice." Trump said he trusted Putin to honor the agreement, despite the lack of a formal announcement. Deep freeze grips Ukraine as energy blackouts leave millions without heat The comments come as Ukraine's state weather agency forecasts a sharp drop in temperatures. Temperatures across Ukraine plunged to as low as -20C in January, deepening hardship for millions of residents enduring widespread power and heating outages caused by Russian air attacks on critical energy infrastructure. Deep freeze in Ukraine during winter, according to BrightU.AI's Enoch, is extremely low temperatures, with average winter temperatures reaching 27F and expected to drop to -4F in certain areas. This cold weather poses a significant threat to the survival of the population, as it can lead to the failure of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, blood banks and energy supplies Months of strikes on electricity and heating facilities have left large parts of the country struggling to stay warm, turning winter into an increasingly dangerous humanitarian situation. Ukraine's emergency service warned that an even sharper drop in temperatures is expected to begin on Feb. 1, affecting nearly all regions of the country. The cold snap is forecast to ease only slightly from Feb. 4, prolonging pressure on already strained utilities. In the capital, authorities said on Jan. 29, that parts of the country could see lows of -30C in the coming days and more than 400 residential buildings remained without heating. Power and heating disruptions were also reported in several major regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya, underscoring the nationwide scale of the crisis. But then, Russian attacks continued to take a toll. Regional authorities and emergency services said strikes killed at least six people in central and southern Ukraine on Jan 29. Watch this episode of "Brighteon Broadcast News" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about Trump saying Ukraine can defeat Russia. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: RT.com RFERL.org StraitTimes.com BrightU.ai Brighteon.com A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model . Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of RUA Life Sciences plc ( LON:RUA ) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow. Story Continues After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (3.0%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.1%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2035 (1 + g) (r g) = UK654k (1 + 3.0%) (8.1% 3.0%) = UK13m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= UK13m ( 1 + 8.1%)10= UK6.0m The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is UK8.4m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of UK0.1, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. AIM:RUA Discounted Cash Flow January 31st 2026 The Assumptions The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at RUA Life Sciences as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.007. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. Check out our latest analysis for RUA Life Sciences SWOT Analysis for RUA Life Sciences Strength Debt is well covered by earnings. Weakness Expensive based on P/S ratio and estimated fair value. Opportunity Annual revenue is forecast to grow faster than the British market. Threat Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow. Next Steps: Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For RUA Life Sciences, we've compiled three important factors you should assess: Risks: As an example, we've found 3 warning signs for RUA Life Sciences (1 can't be ignored!) that you need to consider before investing here. Future Earnings: How does RUA's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the AIM every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. TikToks new U.S. partnership expands data tracking to your precise location TikTok has updated its privacy policy to allow the collection of precise GPS location from U.S. users, a major increase from its previous tracking of only approximate locations. This data can power features like local event recommendations. This change follows the creation of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a U.S.-led consortium including Oracle, which now controls the American operations. ByteDance retains a minority stake, a structure pushed by the White House to address national security concerns. The new policy significantly expands cross-platform ad targeting. TikTok can now use your in-app activity to serve you personalized ads across other websites and apps, similar to giants like Google and Meta. TikTok can share U.S. user data with its global operations to create a synchronized experience, primarily to maximize advertising revenue across different regions and platforms. While the deal settles a political battle sparked by a 2024 U.S. law, it ushers in a new era of commercial data collection. Users face a starker choice between participating in the platform's cultural space or protecting their privacy by adjusting settings or deleting the app. TikTok's American operations have officially entered a new era, but for user privacy, it looks less like a fresh start and more like a sharp turn toward deeper surveillance. Following the finalization of a high-stakes joint venture designed to appease U.S. regulators, one of the platform's first substantive moves has been to rewrite its privacy rules, significantly expanding its ability to collect intimate personal data from its over 100 million American users. The newly published privacy policy reveals a critical shift: TikTok may now "collect precise location data, depending on your settings." This is a marked escalation from its previous limit to tracking only "approximate" location using indirect signals like IP addresses. Just last year, the company's U.S. policy explicitly stated it was not recording GPS coordinates from American accounts. That boundary has now been erased. This change coincides with the formal separation of TikTok's U.S. business from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The deal, completed in January, places the American branch under a new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a consortium led by Oracle and including investment firms Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi's MGX. ByteDance retains a minority stake of just under 20%. While the company states that location sharing will remain optional and disabled by default, the very capability represents a profound expansion of its tracking toolkit. The move aligns with features already active in Europe and the U.K., where TikTok uses precise location to power a "Nearby Feed" recommending local businesses and events, a system now expected to arrive in the U.S. The White House pushed for the joint venture framework The joint venture framework, heavily advocated by the White House, was intended to localize control of American data and mitigate national security concerns. Oracle, which chairs the new partnership and manages TikTok's U.S. data infrastructure, has emphasized that the platform's powerful recommendation algorithm "will be secured in Oracle's U.S. cloud environment." However, this technical restructuring comes hand-in-hand with a policy that grants TikTok broader rights to gather information within U.S. borders than it previously held. As explained by the Enoch AI engine at BrightU.AI, the privacy policy update extends beyond geography. It also broadens what TikTok can record about user interactions with its artificial intelligence features, capturing the prompts users enter and metadata about where and when AI-generated content is made. But the most invasive upgrade may be in the realm of advertising. TikTok's cross-platform ad targeting gets a major upgrade Your activity on TikTok is no longer confined to shaping your experience inside the app. The revised policy permits a significant expansion of cross-platform ad targeting, integrating TikTok's data with broader ad networks similar to the ecosystems operated by Meta and Google. In practical terms, this means your browsing habits on TikTok, whether that involves watching plant care tutorials, political commentary, or dance trends, can now fuel tailored advertising across the entire internet. A late-night scroll could seamlessly trigger related ads on your favorite news or shopping sites the next morning. Furthermore, the policy allows TikTok to share U.S. user data with its global operations for what it terms an "interoperable experience." This corporate language translates to synchronizing your algorithm preferences worldwide, a move that primarily serves to maximize ad revenue opportunities across different regions and platforms. For users, the calculus of privacy versus participation has become more complicated. The platform offers controls: location services can be disabled in device settings, and advertising data can be cleared within the app. Some privacy-conscious users have migrated to alternative platforms following recent service disruptions, while others resort to recording content externally before uploading. The nuclear option, of course, is deleting the app entirely, a step that means opting out of the cultural conversations it hosts. The new joint venture may have resolved a years-long political standoff, culminating from a 2024 U.S. law that demanded ByteDance divest TikTok or face a ban, but it has also ushered in a new phase of commercial data collection. The deal may reassure regulators about where data is stored, but for the individual user, it signals that TikTok's vision for its American future involves watching where you go, both online and in the real world, more closely than ever before. Watch the video below as the Health Ranger Mike Adams talks about the mass exodus of users to the new app Upscrolled as TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) collapse due to Zionist censorship. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: ReclaimTheNet.org Tech.Yahoo.com Techloy.com BrightU.ai Brighteon.com Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has publicly endorsed the possibility of Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, becoming the state's Deputy Chief Minister. This follows the vacancy created by Ajit Pawar's tragic death in a plane crash. However, NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar has stated he has no information about this proposal, indicating it may be an internal party decision. The final appointment will be made by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after consultations with NCP leaders. Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal supports Sunetra Pawar as Deputy CM after Ajit Pawar's death. Sharad Pawar says he has no information on the decision. Mumbai, January 31 Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Saturday welcomed the possibility of Sunetra Pawar becoming the Deputy Chief Minister, saying it's a good decision, and people want it following the untimely death of NCP chief Ajit Pawar. Sunetra Pawar, Ajit Pawar's wife, is likely to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister today. Speaking to the reporters, Bhujbal said, "It is good. People want it, and our MLAs are also demanding the same. This is absolutely right. Under the current circumstances, Sunetra taai should indeed be the Leader of Legislative Party and Deputy CM." Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash on January 28, after which the Deputy CM post fell vacant. On NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar's statement, he said, "I don't know what was said by whom..." Earlier in the day, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar, said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." Further, NCP Maharashtra State President Sunil Tatkare refused to comment on NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar's remarks. Speaking to reporters, Tatkare said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will make the final decision on the Deputy Chief Minister post, which fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise. He said, "I don't have anything to say on this matter right now. We have a meeting, and after the meeting, we will discuss all these issues.""We have a meeting this afternoon. After the meeting, we will meet with the Chief Minister. After the meeting with the Chief Minister, we will present our views to him, and then the Chief Minister will make a decision on it. We will discuss all these things later," the NCP leader added. - ANI Gauri Khan has publicly praised Rani Mukerji's performance in the newly released 'Mardaani 3', calling it strong and brilliant. This follows similar acclaim from her husband, megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who wished his longtime friend success. The film marks Rani Mukerji's return as the fearless cop Shivani Shivaji Roy and coincides with her 30th year in the film industry. 'Mardaani 3' is directed by Abhiraj Minawala and produced by Aditya Chopra. After Shah Rukh Khan, wife Gauri Khan lauds Rani Mukerji's "strong and brilliant" performance in the gripping cop thriller Mardaani 3. Mumbai Ja, n 31 After Shah Rukh Khan, his producer and interior designer wife Gauri Khan has also come out praising Bollywood star Rani Mukerji for her powerful performance in her recently released Mardaani 3. Taking to social media, Gauri lauded Rani's performance, calling it strong and brilliant, and described the film as gripping and a must-watch. She further also extended her best wishes to the entire team behind the project. She wrote, "What a strong performance. Rani you were brilliant in #Mardaani3. Such a gripping film... a must watch. All the best to everyone who worked on this film!! #RaniMukerji @yrf." For the uninitiated , Rani marks her return as the fearless cop Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani 3. On Friday, Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan had also taken to his social media account to extend heartfelt wishes to his dear friend Rani Mukerji Mardaani 3 hit theatres on Thursday. SRK went on to laud the actress, calling her 'feisty, strong and compassionate', both on screen and off screen. Taking to social media, Shah Rukh wrote, "Just from the heart....to my Rani 'Mardaani' all my best wishes. I am sure you will be feisty, strong & compassionate in Mardaani 3 like u are in the real world too." Talking about Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji's bond, they share a long-standing friendship that dates back to the 90s. The stars have worked together in many superhit movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Chalte Chalte, Paheli and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Recently, Rani Mukerji was honoured with the Vande Mataram Puraskar, the West Bengal Governor's Award of Excellence. Accepting the award and expressing gratitude, Rani in a statement said, "I accept this honour with gratitude, with pride, and with a renewed sense of responsibility, to continue contributing to Indian cinema with sincerity, and to always remain worthy of the values Bengal has given me. Thank you, West Bengal, for always claiming me as your own and always showering so much love on your child. It is truly precious." The actress is also celebrating 30 years of her glorious career with 'Mardaani 3', this year. Talking about Mardaani 3, it is directed by Abhiraj Minawala and produced by Aditya Chopra. - IANS Technology entrepreneur Romesh Wadhwani warns that national policy decisions on AI made in the coming few years will critically determine future economic growth, geopolitical power, and social stability. He highlights the rapid shift towards autonomous AI agents, projecting explosive growth that will transform business processes and labor markets within a five-year horizon. Wadhwani contrasts the regulatory approaches of the US, EU, and China, while describing India's strategy as practical innovation focused on deployment and economic growth. He projects AI could add up to $1.5 trillion to India's GDP and emphasizes the upcoming AI Impact Summit's focus on implementation, especially for the Global South. Tech entrepreneur Romesh Wadhwani says national AI policy choices in the next few years will dictate economic growth, geopolitical power, and social stability globally. Washington, Jan 31 Artificial intelligence is advancing so rapidly that national policy choices made in the next few years will determine economic growth, geopolitical power, and social stability, technology entrepreneur Romesh Wadhwani said. Delivering the keynote address at a major CSIS conference ahead of India's upcoming AI Impact Summit, Wadhwani said AI is entering a new phase defined by autonomous "AI agents" capable of planning, executing, and learning with limited human oversight. "What was breakthrough technology three years ago now seems quaint," Wadhwani said, referring to early generative AI tools. He said the world is shifting toward AI agents that can augment, replace, and eventually surpass human workers. Wadhwani said fewer than 5 million AI agents existed in 2025 but projected a compound annual growth of more than 200 percent over the next 5 years. He said AI agents will soon collaborate autonomously, replace humans in many tasks, and eventually operate entire business processes. "This is not a 50-year vision," he said. "This is a five-year vision." He said the speed of AI development far exceeds the pace of government regulation, drawing parallels to how decades passed between the invention of the telephone and the creation of a coherent US telecommunications policy. Wadhwani said AI policy will shape outcomes across five dimensions: geopolitics and national security, economic growth, business competitiveness, innovation speed, and social stability. "AI policy will determine winners and losers," he said. Comparing global approaches, Wadhwani described the United States as favoring light-touch regulation and innovation leadership, Europe as prioritizing regulation through its AI Act, and China as pursuing mandatory AI adoption under political control. He described India's approach as focused on economic growth and large-scale deployment. "I think of India as the land of practical innovation using AI," Wadhwani said. He said India is emphasizing applications rather than capital-intensive frontier models, combined with massive reskilling efforts and relatively limited regulation. He said India aims to become one of the top three AI powers globally, after the US and China. Wadhwani projected that AI could add between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion to India's GDP over five years, while creating tens of millions of new jobs, even as automation displaces others. Wadhwani said the upcoming AI Impact Summit in India reflects a shift in global AI discussions toward implementation and development outcomes, particularly for the Global South. - IANS Business associations and locksmiths from Aligarh have appealed to the government ahead of the Union Budget. They are demanding the implementation of a fully digital, faceless GST system to prevent official harassment and corruption. Their central demand is a reduction in GST on locks from 18% to 3-5%, arguing they are an essential security item, not a luxury. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Budget on February 1. Aligarh locksmiths and business leaders demand a faceless GST system and a tax reduction from 18% to 5% in the upcoming Union Budget. Aligarh, January 31 As the Union Budget is set to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, the local locksmiths and businessmen from Aligarh have demanded a faceless system and tax cut in GST from the government, so that the local workers of the region could benefit. Chairman of the Aligarh Talanagri Audyogik Association, Chandrashekhar Sharma, on Saturday called for the introduction of a faceless system in GST in the upcoming Union Budget, saying officials should not personally visit businessmen and harass them. He said the government should fulfil its promise of implementing a faceless GST system to curb corruption. "I would like to tell the government that when GST was introduced, it was promised that there would be a faceless system. Officials should not personally visit or harass people. A faceless system means there should be online investigation, online communication, online notices, online responses and online decisions. Everything should be completed digitally. In the upcoming Budget, we want the government to establish a faceless system in GST so that corruption can be avoided," Chandrashekhar Sharma told ANI. A businesswoman, Neelam Singh, urged the government to prioritise small industries and artisans, such as locksmiths, when presenting the Budget and to reduce GST for them. "We also want the Modi government, while presenting the Budget in February, to keep small industries and artisans like locksmiths in mind and reduce GST for them. This will benefit everyone directly or indirectly connected to this sector and will help the industrial sector grow. Through this growth, Prime Minister Modi's dream of making India a world leader will also be fulfilled," Neelam Singh told ANI. Umang Monga from Md Harrison Locks said taxation was currently too high for small industries and that GST was eating into their profits. "At present, taxation is very high, and for small industries, tax eats away all profits. Locksmiths are an essential service. Every household needs locks for security. Imposing 18 per cent GST on such a necessary product is not appropriate. The government should consider reducing it to 3 to 5 per cent, as this is not a luxury item but a basic necessity. I hope that GST reforms, export policy and production policy will be implemented faster and reflected in the Budget," Monga told ANI. Another lock businessman, Sanjay Jain, said their top priority was to reduce GST on essential products made by cottage and small-scale industries. "Our biggest demand is that GST on essential products, especially those made by cottage and small-scale industries like locksmiths, should be reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. Locks are used for daily purposes and are made by workers who depend on this work for their household expenses. Therefore, I request the government to reduce GST on locksmith products from 18 per cent to 5 per cent," Sanjay Jain told ANI. This year, the Budget presentation falls on a weekend. FM Sitharaman is set to present a record ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1, marking a significant milestone in India's parliamentary and economic history. - ANI The Ministry of External Affairs has vehemently dismissed a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a purported email from the recently released Epstein files, calling it the "trashy ruminations" of a convicted criminal. The Congress party has seized on the issue, stating that the PM's mention raises serious questions, while BJP MP Sambit Patra has accused the Congress of fraudulently editing an email to falsely suggest Modi took advice from Epstein. The U.S. Department of Justice released a massive batch of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. India's MEA strongly rejects an email in the Epstein files referencing PM Modi's 2017 Israel visit, calling it "trashy ruminations" of a criminal. New Delhi, January 31 The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday strongly dismissed with contempt the references made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel in 2017 in an email that is purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files. In a video message, the MEA spokesperson dubbed the reference as the trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal. "We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel. Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister's official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. The MEA response was met with further questions by the Congress which has sought to raise the issue of the reference to PM Modi in the purported email. "The PM is mentioned several times in the latest installment of the Epstein files released by the US Govt. The Official Spokesperson has been compelled to respond. But many questions do remain," said Congress RS MP Jairam Ramesh in a post on X. Earlier, BJP MP Sambit Patra accused the Congress of spreading falsehoods by allegedly editing an email linked to the Jeffrey Epstein files to falsely suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken advice from the disgraced financier. Speaking to ANI here, Patra said the Congress had carried out what he described as a "fraudulent act" by manipulating the contents of an email attributed to Epstein. "I want to expose the kind of tweet that has been made by Congress about Prime Minister Modi ji - a fraudulent tweet. As you all know, there's a person named Jeffrey Epstein, after whom the Epstein Files are named. Those Epstein Files were revealed. Jeffrey Epstein was a child trafficker, a sex offender, a person with no credibility, who was ultimately convicted and committed suicide by hanging himself," he said. Patra alleged that Congress had deliberately added the words "his advice" to an email where such wording was not present, to create the impression that Prime Minister Modi had taken advice from Epstein. Patra warned that the Congress's actions would not go unnoticed and that such actions would have consequences. Earlier, the Congress party had sought to raise the issue of the Prime Minister being named in a purported email that is part of the documents released from the Epstein estate "That India's PM could have a proximity to such a disgraced figure raises serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety. It is now clear that the Prime Minister had a direct unexplained association with Jeffery Epstein whose infamous list of elite clients has wreaked havoc ever since the Epstein files began to be released," alleged Congress leader Pawan Khera. The US Department of Justice on Friday (local time) released a major batch of investigative material linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, making public more than three million pages of records along with over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images. Epstein died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. He had earlier served 13 months in custody in Florida following a controversial plea deal in 2008. - ANI Hamburger chains dominated the fast-food sector in the 1980s and '90s after the "burger wars" launched among McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. The burger wars transitioned into an original chicken sandwich war, also in the 1980s, among the same three rivals. It was revived in the new millennium with Popeyes' launch of its chicken sandwich in August 2019. Rival Chick-fil-A countered Popeyes' new sandwich with a statement on Twitter that its sandwich was the original, introduced in 1964, and fast-food chains everywhere began introducing or reintroducing chicken sandwiches. Fried chicken chains become most popular With all of these chicken sandwiches launching, fried chicken restaurants became the most popular concept in fast food. Fried chicken dining chains are likely to remain the most popular subsector of the fast-food industry in 2026, if the concept continues the trend it set over the last year. Traffic to chicken concepts rose 3% in the year ending September 2025, while all concepts dropped 1% compared to the previous year, according to market research firm Circana, as reported by Fast Company. The variety of chicken options offered, such as chicken pieces, chicken fingers, or chicken sandwiches, and how consumers enjoy their choices, may contribute to the continued popularity of the concept, an expert says. This is due to the experiences the brands are creating as well as the variety of chicken and how you can enjoy it, industry expert Reilly Newman of Motif Brands told The Food Institute. This comes to no surprise, as the experience economy has been taking root across the globe. Chicken allows for (ample) customization, sauces, and forms, depending on the buyers preferences, Newman said. Not every fast-food chicken restaurant benefited from increased traffic in 2025, as some operators suffered financial difficulties that led to bankruptcy filings. APopeyes franchisee rejects leases of 17 locations after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.Shutterstock Shutterstock Popeyes franchisee shuts 17 unprofitable restaurants A bankrupt operator of more than 130 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen franchise restaurants has closed 17 underperforming locations in Florida and Georgia and filed a motion to reject all of the stores' leases. The franchisee, Sailormen Inc., which declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 15, filed a motion in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami to reject the leases after closing eight locations on Jan. 19, five locations on Jan. 20, and four locations on Jan. 22, according to court papers. The debtor asserts that the leases should be rejected as of the petition date, since the restaurants were closed within one week of the petition date and before the hearing on the debtor's first-day motions. The Election Commission of India has issued a stern warning to electoral officers in West Bengal, stating that uploading unlisted identity documents as listed ones during voter list hearings is a "grave and deliberate" offence. The Commission will seek written explanations from erring Electoral Registration Officers and may initiate disciplinary action, including suspension and filing an FIR. This follows instances flagged by micro-observers, such as a case where a passport was recorded but an Aadhaar card photo was uploaded. Consequently, from February 2, micro-observers will have an enhanced role to specifically supervise the correct uploading of identity documents as a first level of scrutiny. ECI warns of suspension & FIR for uploading wrong voter ID documents in Bengal's electoral roll revision. Micro-observers get enhanced role. Kolkata, Jan 31 The Election Commission of India has cautioned that clearing and uploading unlisted identity documents as listed ones during hearings on claims and objections to the draft voters' list in West Bengal will be treated as "grave and deliberate" lapses by Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers. Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that the micro-observers appointed by the Commission to supervise the hearing session have already flagged some instances of "grave and deliberate" mistakes and brought them to the Commission's notice. In such cases, the CEO's official said, the Commission will first seek written explanations from the EROs and AEROs concerned as to why disciplinary actions should not be initiated against them. If no satisfactory answer is available, the Commission will take strong disciplinary action against the ERO or AERO concerned, which may include suspension from service and the registration of an FIR. A CEO official explained the nature of the offense by citing a case in Kolkata. "In the case of a particular voter, the ERO concerned mentioned the passport as the supporting identity document produced by the voter. However, in reality, the photo uploaded to the system was that of the voter's AADHAAR card. This was a classic case of 'grave and deliberate' mistake," the CEO official pointed out. Accordingly, the ECI has announced a change in the responsibilities of micro-observers engaged in reviewing hearings on claims and objections to the draft electoral roll in West Bengal -- currently underway as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) -- with effect from February 2. At present, micro-observers are deployed at hearing centres to ensure that proceedings are conducted in accordance with ECI guidelines. From Monday onwards, however, they will be tasked with supervising whether the identity documents produced by voters during hearings are uploaded correctly and strictly in line with the Commission's prescribed list. The micro-observers will ensure that only ECI-listed documents are uploaded as supporting identity proof. They will act as the first level of scrutiny, after which special roll observers will conduct a further review to identify and filter cases where unlisted documents may have been uploaded. - IANS BJP National President Nitin Nabin has commenced a two-day visit to Goa focused on strengthening the party's grassroots structure. His schedule includes paying floral tributes at the memorials of former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Goa's first Chief Minister Bandodkar. The visit features a series of organisational meetings, including a Karyakarta Sammelan and booth committee reviews, aimed at energising the cadre. Nabin is also engaging directly with workers, including having lunch at a karyakarta's residence, to bolster party coordination ahead of future political challenges. BJP National President Nitin Nabin holds organisational reviews and outreach programmes in Goa, including a tribute to Manohar Parrikar and key worker meetings. New Delhi, Jan 31 BJP National President Nitin Nabin will undertake organisational reviews and outreach programmes in Goa on Saturday as part of his two-day visit to the coastal state. The visit is aimed at strengthening the party's grassroots structure and energising its cadre ahead of upcoming political challenges. Around 10:00 a.m., the BJP chief will pay floral tributes at the samadhi sthal of former Defence Minister late Manohar Parrikar and Goa's first Chief Minister Bandodkar at Miramar Beach in Panjim, remembering their contributions to the state and the nation. Shortly thereafter, at 10:50 a.m., Nabin will address a Karyakarta Sammelan at the Taleigao Community Centre in Caranzalem, Taleigao. The programme will be attended by booth presidents and mandal committee members, with the BJP president stressing the importance of organisational discipline, booth-level coordination and sustained public outreach. Following the morning engagements, Nabin will have lunch at the residence of a party karyakarta in the Saligao constituency at 1:30 p.m., reflecting the party's emphasis on close interaction with grassroots workers. In the afternoon, at 3:30 p.m., he will attend a booth committee meeting of the Mapusa constituency in North Goa, reviewing booth-level preparedness and discussing strategies to further strengthen the party's presence. This will be followed by an interaction with the North Goa District Committee at the district office in Mapusa at 4:45 p.m., where organisational issues and future programmes will be discussed in detail. Earlier on Friday, the BJP President presided over a meeting of senior party leaders in Goa on his maiden visit to the state after assuming charge of the top post. Nabin, who is on a two-day visit, arrived at the Manohar International Airport in Mopa on Friday morning and was received by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, BJP Goa unit president Damodar Naik, and other senior office-bearers. He later proceeded to the BJP headquarters in Panaji, where he held discussions with party leaders on organisational matters. - IANS Twenty-year-old Fazil Riyaz is the fourth generation to run the family business, Kashmir Cap, founded in 1920. He sources raw Karakul sheep wool from Afghanistan and spends 5-6 hours handcrafting each cap, while introducing modern designs like the Pakol and Iranian styles. Through social media campaigns, he has made the traditional cap trendy again at colleges, weddings, and cultural events across the Valley. His work preserves a key symbol of Kashmiri identity and supports the livelihoods of local artisans. 20-year-old Fazil Riyaz blends tradition with modern style, reviving the handcrafted Karakuli cap using Afghan wool and social media to inspire youth. Srinagar, January 31 In Kashmir, 20-year-old Fazil Riyaz is reviving the traditional Karakuli cap, a symbol of elegance and identity. Fazil's efforts have made the cap trendy again, blending tradition with modern style. Through his dedicated efforts, the traditional Karakuli cap, once a symbol of elegance, identity, and pride in Kashmir, has seen renewed popularity among young people across the Valley. Speaking to ANI, Fazil Riyaz said, "Our shop name is Kashmir Cap, running since 1920. Earlier, this work was done by my great-grandfather. Later, my grandfather pursued it. Now, I am the 4th generation, and I am doing this job now." Social media campaigns and innovative designs have made it in vogue at colleges, cultural events, and weddings. Fazil Riyaz, a young Kashmiri artisan, is keeping the traditional Karakuli cap alive with his innovative approach. He sources raw Karakul sheep wool directly from Afghanistan and crafts each cap by hand, taking 5-6 hours to complete. Fazil has expanded his collection to include modern designs such as the Pakol and Iranian styles, alongside traditional patterns. "We source raw Karakul sheep wool directly from Afghanistan," Fazil explained. "Once it arrives, we cut and shape the material by hand, customising every piece to meet our customers' specific preferences. Each cap is a labour of love, taking five to six hours of meticulous handmade craftsmanship to complete." Reflecting on the evolution of his craft, Fazil added, "Traditionally, people primarily wore the Jinnah cap. To appeal to a new generation, I have expanded our collection to include several new patterns, such as the Pakol, the Iranian style, the peaked cap, and six variations of the rounded Karakuli. I've worked hard to create a diverse range of styles and contemporary designs." Growing up, Fazil was inspired by his grandfather's craftsmanship and has continued the family legacy, now shipping his products worldwide. Fazil further said, " When my grand father were in the shop at that time, whenever I come form scholl, I used to watch how he made the cap, and I tried to learn from him. After my grandfather's death, I faced difficulties, but I have now improved and deliver a high-quality product. Now I am shipping my product worldwide." Historically worn by scholars, elders, and dignitaries, the Karakuli cap had gradually fallen out of everyday use, especially among younger generations, who gravitated toward modern and Western fashion trends. Recognising this cultural shift, he set out to revive the cap not merely as a fashion accessory, but as a representation of Kashmiri identity and heritage. By blending tradition with contemporary style, Fazil introduced innovative designs, modern fits, and versatile patterns that appeal to today's youth. Social media played a key role in his initiative, as visually appealing campaigns and youth-centric branding helped the Karakuli cap re-enter mainstream fashion conversations in Kashmir. Fazil's initiative supports local artisans, preserving traditional skills and generating livelihoods. The Karakuli cap is now a symbol of pride and confidence, showcasing Kashmiri identity. His work inspires youth to embrace their roots while adapting to modern times One of the customers at Kashmir Cap House spoke to ANI and said, "I came here after seeing a video on Facebook. While watching the video, I was very impressed. My father also saw the video, which is why I came here to buy a Karakuli cap for him. The quality is too good. On our side, it is difficult to find, so I have to come here." Soon, the cap began appearing at colleges, cultural events, weddings, and even in everyday street fashion. Beyond style, Fazil's initiative has also contributed to livelihood generation. By supporting local artisans and craftsmen who make Karakuli caps, he helped revive traditional skills that were at risk of decline. This fusion of cultural preservation and economic empowerment has earned him appreciation from both cultural circles and young entrepreneurs in the Valley. Today, the Karakuli cap is once again being embraced as a symbol of pride, confidence, and Kashmiri identity. Fazil Riyaz's journey stands as an inspiring example of how youth-led initiatives can safeguard cultural heritage while adapting it to modern sensibilities. His work not only revived a fading tradition but also reminded Kashmir's youngsters that embracing their roots can be both meaningful and stylish. - ANI Indian intelligence agencies warn of severe, potentially ISI-backed violence during Bangladesh's parliamentary elections and national referendum on February 12. The violence is expected to be a direct contest between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami, with the latter seen as a potential puppet for Pakistani influence. Anticipating targeted attacks on minorities and possible border infiltration, Indian security forces have been placed on a state of very high alert along the northeastern and West Bengal borders. The US Embassy has also issued a security alert for its citizens, advising vigilance and caution during the election period. Indian borders on high alert as intelligence warns of severe, ISI-backed violence during Bangladesh's Feb 12 elections and referendum. US issues security alert. New Delhi, Jan 31 The Indian Intelligence agencies have warned of severe violence in Bangladesh on February 12 when the parliamentary elections and national referendum would be held simultaneously. The ISI-backed Jamaat-e-Islami will watch how the elections are shaping up. If they feel that they are not in the reckoning, then scores of radical elements would be unleashed on the streets of the country. The violence is expected to be severe in nature, Intelligence agencies say. The fight would be a direct one between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat. The ISI wants the Jamaat to win at any cost, so that it can continue to exercise control over the country. Under Muhammad Yunus, Pakistan has been given several exceptions that include easy travel, trade and arms deals, among others. Bangladesh watchers say that if the BNP is in power, Pakistan would definitely have a role to play. However, what Pakistan would not want is for Bangladesh to indulge with India. A BNP government would entertain Pakistan, but would also deal with India, as the leadership is clear that it wants good ties with all its neighbours. However, if a Jamaat is in power, it would be nothing but a puppet of the ISI. It would implement everything that Pakistan would tell it to. This is the reason why Pakistan wants a Jamaat government at any cost. Moreover, if the Jamaat is in power, then there is every chance that Yunus would be made President of the country. There have been many meetings between Yunus, the ISI and the Jamaat leadership where his presidency has been discussed. In a bid to become President, Yunus has made several exceptions for both Pakistan and the Jamaat. After Yunus came to power, the first thing he did was to lift the ban on the Jamaat. He also, at the insistence of the outfit, has released several hardcore radicals and terrorists. These were all well-planned moves so that these persons could indulge in large-scale violence to tilt things in favour of the Jamaat, officials say. Currently, the BNP has an edge over the Jamaat. If this continues into election day, then violence is certain. Every attempt would be made to put off the elections so that the existing interim government could continue to rule, officials say. While plans to incite violence are already in place, the Election Commission of Bangladesh wants the entire process to pass off smoothly. It has ordered government officials to refrain from campaigning for a 'Yes' vote in the referendum. It said that such a campaign would influence the outcome of the referendum. If the voters endorse the July Charter by voting 'Yes' during the referendum, the new Parliament will be legally bound to implement the 84 reform proposals. These include major Constitutional changes, and this would affect the executive power, judiciary, election process and structure of the state. Further, it would also change the identity of the state by replacing the term 'Bengali' with 'Bangladeshi.' Anticipating large-scale violence during which the minorities would be targeted heavily, the Indian borders are on a state of 'very high alert.' Attempts would be made to infiltrate the northeastern states and West Bengal during this time. The patrolling along the border areas has increased to prevent an influx of illegal immigration, officials say. Even the US Embassy has issued an alert on election day. "Bangladesh will hold parliamentary elections and a national referendum simultaneously on February 12. During the election period, political violence or extremist attacks may occur, potentially targeting rallies, polling stations, and religious sites. US citizens should remain vigilant, avoid demonstrations, and exercise caution near any large gatherings," the US Embassy said on X. US nationals have been monitoring local news, carry charged mobile phones for emergencies, plan alternative travel routes and keep a low profile. This comes in the backdrop of the US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Brent T. Christensen, meeting with Jamaat chief Shafiqul Rahman. Following the meeting, he said, "I heard Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman's perspectives on the upcoming elections. The United States looks forward to working with all Bangladeshi political parties to advance shared peace and prosperity." The Bangladesh elections would be held on February 12. There are nearly 2,000 candidates in the fray from over 50 political parties and independent contenders. The battle is for the 300 seats. - IANS Ahead of the 2026 Union Budget, defence-tech industry voices are calling for a major overhaul in government procurement philosophy. Dr R Shivaraman, co-founder of Big Bang Boom Solutions, argues the traditional "lowest bidder" (L1) model stifles innovation in deep-tech and R&D by prioritizing cost over critical performance. He highlights that even innovation funds like the DRDO's Technology Development Fund rely on L1, potentially sidelining the most competent technologies. Shivaraman advocates for a shift to a "T1" system focused on technical competence and suggests adopting more stable, flexible contracting models seen globally to secure India's self-reliant defence future. Big Bang Boom Solutions co-founder calls for procurement reform, advocating for a T1 system over L1 to boost indigenous defence tech quality and orders. New Delhi, January 31 As India gears up for the 2026 Union Budget of February 1, the domestic defence-tech industry is calling for a fundamental shift in how the government buys technology. Dr R Shivaraman, Co-founder of Big Bang Boom Solutions, believes that for the indigenous ecosystem to truly flourish, the government must prioritise the volume of orders and the quality of technology over the traditional "lowest bidder" model. The health of the entire supply chain is at stake, according to Shivaraman. He compared this philosophy to Tesla's decision to open-source its patents, suggesting that a company cannot succeed if the infrastructure around it collapses. For Shivaraman, the priority is maintaining the momentum gained over the last decade. "Even if it's not for technological readiness, just to ensure that [the ecosystem] has been created over the last eight to ten years... continues to thrive," he said. "The orders need to continue to grow." A major sticking point for Shivaraman is the "L1 system," where contracts are typically awarded to the company offering the lowest price. He believes this is counterproductive for deep-tech and R&D projects where performance is critical. "I think the govt needs to take a long, hard look at the L1 system of procurement that's there. And especially for deep tech products and in the R&D side of things," he explained. Under the current rules, the focus on cost often sidelines the most advanced solutions. "When you want the highest quality of product, you get it to the lowest bidder. It's not the most efficient way of doing it. I mean you don't end up with the best technology possible." Shivaraman is advocating for a shift toward "T1" procurement, where the most competent technology is selected first. He expressed particular concern that even innovation-focused funds like the DRDO's Technology Development Fund (TDF) still fall back on price-based selection. "It's a great distress to me to know that TDF... operates on L1," he said, adding that this "basically means that the coolest technologies are built by the guys who quote the lowest, not by the guys who are most competent." The issue is further complicated by the practice of "reverse auctions," where bidders can continuously undercut each other's prices after a tender has opened. Shivaraman warned that this creates "nonsensical" bidding wars that leave the winner unable to actually deliver the product. "Whoever wins it, whether me or him, we will not be able to execute the orders that will take 12 months time," he warned. In such cases, the project often ends in cancellation, leaving both the government and the startups empty-handed. "Given in a hyper-competitive landscape like India, reverse auction... we have seen very good tenders being ruined through this." Ultimately, Shivaraman looks towards global models, like those in the U.S., which offer more stability for tech developers. He suggested that moving towards prolonged induction and more flexible budgeting could provide the security startups need to innovate. "One of the things that I have seen in the US that I really like is when they place contracts with technology developers for an infinite budget and infinite quantities," he concluded, signalling that India's "Atmanirbhar" (self-reliant) journey may require a more visionary approach to contracting. - ANI Comptroller and Auditor General K Sanjay Murthy has stressed the need to fundamentally rethink public accountability for the 21st century, linking it to sustainable development and good governance. He highlighted that the accounting profession must adapt to emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain to ensure effective oversight. Key initiatives from the CAG's office include data-driven audits and a dedicated AI Strategy Framework to enhance precision and fairness. These efforts aim to foster greater public trust and contribute to the national goal of Viksit Bharat through real-time scrutiny and transparency. CAG K Sanjay Murthy emphasizes adapting audits with AI and blockchain for transparency and trust, aiming for Viksit Bharat. New Delhi, January 31 Comptroller and Auditor General K Sanjay Murthy emphasised the need for reimagining public accountability in the 21st century at the World Forum of Accountants in New Delhi. He emphasised that public accountability is crucial to good governance and sustainable development, and that it requires a strong internal control environment, transparency, and public participation. The CAG stressed that the accounting and auditing profession needs to adapt to emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and data analytics to ensure effective public accountability. He also emphasised the importance of capacity building and skill upgradation for professionals to cope with new-age methods. Key initiatives by the CAG include data-driven audits, the Centre for Data Management and Analytics, and the Centre of Excellence in Financial Audit. The CAG has also issued an AI Strategy Framework document to ensure these technologies increase audit precision while preserving fairness, explainability, and institutional accountability. The CAG's efforts aim to promote transparency, public participation, and real-time scrutiny, ultimately fostering greater trust and transparency in the new economy and contributing to the goal of Viksit Bharat. The synergy between human expertise and advanced technologies can create more efficient, effective, and insightful accounting and auditing, the CAG said. He expressed confidence that the forum would deliberate on these aspects and chart a roadmap to take the profession to new heights. Earlier, on January 21, Murthy emphasised that the challenges and best practices highlighted during the workshop would be taken into account to improve the system at the conclusion of a three-day national workshop for Directorates of Local Fund Audit (DLFAs) and State Audit Departments in Hyderabad. The workshop, organised by CIARD-NIRDPR in collaboration with iCAL, focused on challenges in local fund audits, PAI maturity assessments, and best practices in audit planning and reporting. Directors of Local Fund Audits from various states discussed key issues, including the adoption of technology-enabled audit systems and the strengthening of follow-up mechanisms. The workshop was attended by 41 officers from 23 states, along with senior officials from the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Office of the CAG. - ANI Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai attended the wedding ceremony of four former Naxalite couples in Narayanpur, held under a state government marriage scheme. He emphasized the government's commitment to rehabilitating surrendered Naxals and integrating them into society. The CM later reiterated a national deadline to eliminate Naxalism, citing the Prime Minister and Home Minister's directive. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has separately raised concerns about the expanding influence of urban Naxalism on an international scale. Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai attends weddings of former Naxalites under govt scheme, highlights rehabilitation & PM Modi's deadline to end Naxalism. Narayanpur, January 31 Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday attended the wedding ceremony of four former Naxalite couples who got married in Narayanpur district under the Chief Minister's Kanya Vivah Yojana after surrendering. Speaking to ANI at the event, he said, "Today, an event was organised where four couples got married under the Chief Minister's Kanyadaan Yojana. They were already acquainted with each other. After surrendering, they tied the knot today. I congratulate them heartily... There are other people who also want to get married, and they are also welcome, and the government will arrange their marriages as well," emphasising the government's efforts towards eliminating Naxalism. One of the newlyweds shared his past with Naxalism, saying, "I was working with the Maoist organisation from 2006 to 2024. I surrendered in 2025... We are getting married under the Chief Minister's Kanya Vivah Yojana. We are also benefiting from the government's policies." Following the event, he also later in the day interacted with the soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, highlighting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have given a deadline of March 31 to remove Naxalism, highlighting that Naxals who surrender would be taken care of by the government, and noting the implementation of rehabilitation. Speaking to ANI, he said, "The Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister have announced a deadline of March 31, 2026, to completely eliminate Naxalism, and from the very beginning, we have been appealing to them to abandon violence. No one has ever benefited from the language of bullets, nor will they. Join the mainstream of development. The government will treat you well. We will implement an effective rehabilitation policy; it has yielded strong results, and there are still two months left. This means that if everyone surrenders, the government will certainly take care of them." Citing an example of surrendered Naxals participating in the Bastar Olympics in 2025, he said, "The government also launched the Bastar Olympics last year, and surrendered individuals participated in that as well. They also participated in Bastar Pandum, so they are welcome." On January 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also raised concerns over the growing influence of urban Naxalism, saying it has increasingly acquired international dimensions and continues to work against India. Addressing workers at the BJP national headquarters in the national capital, PM Modi said, "Another major challenge is urban Naxalism. The scope of urban Naxalism is becoming international. If they tweet something positive about Modi even once or twice a year, or say something positive on TV, or write something positive in a newspaper, some journalists humiliate them so much that they are hounded and made untouchable. They are silenced so that they can never speak again. This is the method of urban Naxalism." He added that for years, such groups isolated the BJP and treated party members as untouchables across the country. "Now the country is understanding the actions of these urban Naxals. Urban Naxals are continuously working to harm India," PM Modi said. - ANI British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced securing billions in export and investment deals for the UK during his visit to China, highlighting a halving of tariffs on British whisky as a key achievement. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with both leaders affirming a commitment to a long-term strategic partnership while agreeing to maintain open dialogue on disagreements. Starmer confirmed he raised sensitive issues including the case of British citizen Jimmy Lai and China's human rights record during his discussions. The visit, the first by a UK Prime Minister since 2018, occurs against a backdrop of historically strained relations and a global trend of US allies seeking to diversify economic partnerships. UK PM Keir Starmer announces major export deals with China, including a 50% cut in whisky tariffs, after meeting President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Beijing, January 31 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday highlighted major economic gains from his ongoing visit to China, pointing to fresh export and investment agreements that he said would benefit people back home in the United Kingdom. Sharing details of the outcomes from his trip, Starmer wrote in a post on X, "I said my visit to China would deliver for British people. I meant it. We've now secured billions of pounds worth of export and investment deals for the UK. That includes a huge boost for our whisky industry - China has cut tariffs in half - proof that our pragmatic international engagement brings benefits to Britain. That's why I'm here, to deliver for you back home." These remarks came amid a series of high-level engagements during his Beijing visit. Earlier, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and both leaders affirmed their commitment to building a "long-term and strategic partnership" while maintaining open dialogue on areas of disagreement. Expanding on the meeting, Starmer said in another post on X, "Growth at home is directly linked to our engagement with the world's biggest powers. Today I met with President Xi in Beijing. We affirmed our shared commitment to building a long-term and strategic partnership that will benefit both our countries, while maintaining frank and open dialogue on areas of disagreement. As Prime Minister, I will always deliver in the interest of the British people." Following the talks, China Daily reported that President Xi emphasised cooperation with the UK in sectors such as education and finance. According to China Daily, Xi also urged joint research and industrial transformation across areas including artificial intelligence, bioscience, new energy and low-carbon technologies, underscoring Beijing's focus on expanding collaboration. While Starmer's visit signals renewed engagement, Al Jazeera noted that the last trip by a UK Prime Minister to China was in 2018, when Theresa May visited Beijing. It added that relations between London and Beijing have remained strained since the political crackdown in Hong Kong following months of anti-government protests in 2019, providing context to the challenges surrounding the current outreach. Al Jazeera further reported that another point of contention has been the prosecution of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon and British citizen, on national security charges, which the UK has criticised. Against this backdrop, Al Jazeera said Starmer told reporters in Beijing that he raised both Lai's case and China's human rights record during his meeting with Xi. "We did have a respectful discussion about that, raised those issues as you would expect ... It gives us great opportunities, but it also gives us the opportunity to have those discussions about areas where we disagree," the Prime Minister told reporters, as per Al Jazeera. Beyond China, the UK is also navigating wider global pressures. Despite its decades-long "special relationship" with Washington, the UK has not been spared from President Donald Trump's tariff measures. As a NATO ally, London has also expressed concern after Trump recently threatened to annex Greenland and warned that it would impose tariffs of up to 25 per cent on countries that oppose him. In this broader international context, Starmer is also not alone among US allies in seeking to broaden economic partnerships. His visit to China follows similar engagements by French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. - ANI NASA has postponed the launch of the Artemis II mission to the Moon from February 6 to no earlier than February 8 due to adverse cold weather and wind conditions in Florida. The agency adjusted the timeline for fueling the rocket and a wet dress rehearsal to ensure mission safety and success. The four-person crew remains in quarantine in Houston while engineers configure the Orion spacecraft's systems for the colder temperatures. This 10-day mission around the Moon is a critical test for the Orion spacecraft and sets the stage for the planned Artemis III lunar landing in 2027. NASA postpones Artemis II crewed Moon mission to Feb 8 due to cold weather in Florida. Crew remains in quarantine as teams adjust timeline. New Delhi, Jan 31 Amid cold weather conditions with winds moving through Florida, NASA announced that it now targets to launch the Artemis II mission to the Moon on February 8. Earlier, the mission set to launch a team of four astronauts on a journey around the Moon from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was planned for launch on February 6. "Due to weather, we now plan to fuel our Artemis II Moon rocket on Monday, Feb. 2, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With this adjustment, the earliest possible launch date is Sunday, Feb. 8. A launch date will be set after teams have reviewed the results of the wet dress rehearsal," NASA shared in a post on social media platform X. "Over the past several days, engineers have been closely monitoring conditions as cold weather and winds move through Florida. Managers have assessed hardware capabilities against the projected forecast, given the rare arctic outbreak affecting the state, and decided to change the timeline," NASA added. The US space agency stated that teams and preparations at the launch pad remain ready for the wet dress rehearsal. However, adjusting the timeline for the test will position NASA for success during the rehearsal, as the expected weather this weekend would violate launch conditions. While the Artemis II crew remains in quarantine in Houston, engineers have kept Orion powered and have configured its heaters for the colder temperatures, NASA said. Purges, used to maintain proper environmental conditions for elements of the spacecraft and rocket, including the booster aft skirts, are also configured for the weather. The 10-day mission will set the stage for Artemis III, slated for launch in 2027, when humans will land on the lunar South Pole for the first time and set up a long-term presence there. It comes after 50 years of the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, when man first landed on the Moon. The Artemis II crew includes NASA's commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency's (CSA) Jeremy Hansen. With Artemis II, NASA will rigorously test its Orion spacecraft and deep-space exploration systems in real conditions. The spacecraft, however, will not make a landing on the lunar surface. - IANS The Delhi Aerocity Metro station is being developed into a major interchange hub under Phase 4 of the Delhi Metro project. It will connect the Airport Express Line with the upcoming Tughlakabad-Aerocity Golden Line corridor and has approval for an extension to Terminal 1 of IGI Airport. The station design includes future provisions for integration with a proposed NCRTC corridor to Alwar. This expansion will significantly improve airport and regional connectivity for South Delhi areas. Delhi Aerocity Metro station on Airport Express Line set to become a key triple interchange hub, enhancing connectivity to IGI Airport and South Delhi. New Delhi, Jan 31 The Delhi Aerocity Metro station on the Airport Express Line is set to become one of the most important interchange hubs in the Delhi Metro network, with expanded connectivity planned under Phase 4 of the Delhi Metro project, according to an official press release issued on Saturday. The station is being developed to provide seamless connectivity to the Tughlakabad-Aerocity Golden Line corridor, which is currently under construction as part of Phase 4. In a further boost to airport connectivity, approval has also been granted for the extension of the Golden Line from Aerocity to the Terminal 1 Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) station, covering a distance of 2.2 kilometres. According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the expanded station will not only serve as a key interchange between the Airport Express Line and the Silver (Golden) Line, but will also have future provisions to become a triple interchange hub. The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has proposed an interchange facility at Delhi Aerocity for its planned corridor connecting Delhi to Alwar, further enhancing the station's strategic importance. "The Delhi Aerocity Metro station on the Airport Express Line is all set to become a major interchange hub of the Delhi Metro network," the press release said, highlighting the station's evolving role in the national Capital's transport infrastructure. The new Aerocity station will feature platform-to-platform connectivity on one side and concourse-to-concourse paid area connectivity between the Airport Express Line and the Silver Line. The platforms are planned at a depth of approximately 22 metres, while the Golden Line station will be significantly longer, about 290 metres, to accommodate interchange requirements. Typically, interchange stations are around 260 metres in length. DMRC officials noted that the alignment of the Golden Line and the proposed NCRTC corridor will cross each other almost diagonally. Structural provisions will be incorporated into the station design to allow for future integration of the NCRTC platform, ensuring smooth expansion without major disruptions. The new interchange facility is expected to deliver a major connectivity boost to South Delhi, with areas such as Tughlakabad, Ambedkar Nagar, and Khanpur gaining faster and more direct access to all terminals of the IGIA. With the Golden Line's extension to Terminal 1 of the Magenta Line, passengers from South Delhi will be able to reach Terminal 1 directly, while travellers arriving at Terminal 1D will be able to access the Airport Express Line via Aerocity. The development underscores DMRC's focus on improving multimodal integration and airport access across the National Capital Region. - IANS When Chris Broomfield purchased a five-acre property in 2015, he already had plans to build several cabins. What he didn't know was just how successful his new venture would become. I always knew it was going to be an Airbnb property. I knew I was going to put multiple cabins on it, he told CNBC Make It (1). I chose this property because it was close to the lake. It was very wooded, and it had rolling hills. I saw its potential with multiple cabins. Must Read Broomfield now owns several rental properties in Remsen, New York that he built himself, including a treehouse cabin. Suspended 14 feet in the air, the Treehouse features two bedrooms, a private pond and stunning views of a waterfall. To access the home, guests have to cross an 80-foot suspension bridge (2). This unique rental property is one of the most well-reviewed properties in New York due to its breathtaking views and unique setting. Despite the effort required to build the cabins, Broomfield is turning a tidy profit. Since 2018, his business, Evergreen Cabins, has generated more than $2.1 million. Using dynamic pricing, Broomfields rate for each of the cabins ranges between $380 and $700 a night. While Broomfields success is impressive, it may not be very easy to replicate. As rental properties become a popular side hustle, investors who are interested in such a venture may want to consider whether Broomfield's path is repeatable before taking the leap. Are rental properties a viable side hustle? Stories like Broomfields help to explain why short-term rentals continue to attract would-be investors. Platforms like Airbnb have made it easier than ever to market unique properties, and coverage of these stories on the news and social media often makes something like buying property and building cabins look easy. But high nightly rates dont always translate into steady profit, as occupancy rates can vary widely by location, season and competition. According to AirDNA, the average U.S. Airbnb host earns approximately $14,000 per year, though actual income can vary widely by market (3). Many hosts see strong demand during peak travel months, followed by long offseasons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed delight over India adding two new wetlandsPatna Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Gujaratto the prestigious Ramsar sites list. The announcement, made by Union Minister Bhupender Yadav ahead of World Wetlands Day, highlights these areas as vital habitats for numerous bird and mammal species. Under PM Modi's leadership, India's Ramsar network has expanded dramatically from 26 sites in 2014 to 98 currently. The international recognition is expected to bolster local conservation efforts and raise awareness about the importance of wetland protection. PM Modi celebrates Patna Bird Sanctuary and Chhari-Dhand wetland becoming Ramsar sites, highlighting India's commitment to wetland conservation and biodiversity. New Delhi, Jan 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed his delight over the inclusion of Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch, Gujarat in the prestigious Ramsar sites list, highlighting India's commitment to biodiversity and wetland conservation. Posting on X, the Prime Minister said, "Delighted that the Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch (Gujarat) are Ramsar sites. Congratulations to the local population there as well as all those passionate about wetland conservation. These recognitions reaffirm our commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting vital ecosystems. May these wetlands continue to thrive as safe habitats for countless migratory and native species." His post came in response to Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, who announced the Ramsar recognition of the two wetlands. The Minister's post noted, "With World Wetlands Day close by, I am delighted to announce that there are two new additions to India's Ramsar growing network. Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch, Gujarat are the new entrants to the coveted Ramsar Sites list." The announcement highlighted that these wetlands provide crucial habitats for hundreds of migratory and resident bird species, in addition to mammals such as chinkara, wolves, caracal, desert cats, and desert foxes, along with several endangered avian species. India's Ramsar network, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, has seen a remarkable expansion of over 276 per cent, increasing from 26 sites in 2014 to 98 currently. These designations reflect India's strong commitment to environmental protection, wetland conservation, and biodiversity preservation. Patna Bird Sanctuary and Chhari-Dhand are recognised not only for their ecological importance but also for the role they play in sustaining local livelihoods and supporting ecosystem services. Officials noted that the international recognition is expected to boost conservation efforts in these regions, raising awareness about wetland protection among local communities. Experts say the inclusion of these sites ahead of World Wetlands Day sends a strong signal about India's proactive measures to safeguard its natural habitats and highlights the growing importance of wetlands in combating climate change and maintaining ecological balance. The recognition adds to India's expanding list of Ramsar wetlands, reaffirming the nation's focus on sustainable development, habitat protection, and fostering environmental stewardship at both local and global levels. - IANS External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi in New Delhi, discussing trade, critical minerals, and regional issues. The meeting occurred as India hosted the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, with participation from numerous Arab League member states. Jaishankar also held separate bilateral talks with foreign ministers from Comoros, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Palestine to enhance cooperation. The high-level gathering aims to build on existing partnerships and expand collaboration across key sectors like economy and energy. EAM Jaishankar holds talks with Oman's FM Badr Albusaidi on trade & critical minerals. India hosts key Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting to strengthen partnerships. New Delhi, Jan 31 External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday met Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi in New Delhi, where both sides discussed key issues including trade, critical minerals and regional developments, underscoring the depth of India-Oman Strategic Partnership. Taking to the social media platform X, EAM said, "A pleasure interacting with FM Badr Albusaidi of Oman this morning. Our discussions on trade, critical minerals and regional developments reflected the trust and comfort of our Strategic Partnership." Badr Albusaidi arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAFMM). Welcoming Oman's Foreign Minister, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to X and stated: "His visit will further strengthen the multifaceted strategic partnership between India and Oman." On Friday, EAM Jaishankar met League of Arab States Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in New Delhi to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two sides across various sectors. Following their talks, EAM posted on X, "A warm meeting with Secretary General, League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit this morning. Had a wide ranging conversation about our cooperation and strengthening it across various domains. Also exchanged views on the recent developments in the region." EAM Jaishankar also held separate meetings with Foreign Ministers of Comoros Mbae Mohamed; Sudan Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim; Libya Eltaher S.M. Elbaour; Somalia Abdisalam Ali; and Palestine's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian. The discussions centred on enhancing the bilateral cooperation and deepening collaboration across several sectors. India is set to host the second IAFMM on Saturday. The meeting, being hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates, will have the participation of Foreign Ministers from other Arab League Member States and the Arab League Secretary General. The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting is expected to build on existing cooperation and expand the partnership. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after 10 years, as the first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016. During the first Foreign Ministers Meeting, the leaders identified five priority verticals of cooperation - economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. "India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue," the MEA stated. - IANS External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, focusing on trade, critical minerals, and regional developments. The meeting occurred as Albusaidi arrived in New Delhi for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, co-chaired by India and the UAE. This high-level meeting aims to build on existing cooperation across five priority areas: economy, energy, education, media, and culture. The India-Arab partnership was formalized in 2002 and is the highest institutional mechanism driving this strategic dialogue. EAM Jaishankar meets Oman's FM Badr Albusaidi ahead of India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting to discuss strategic partnership. New Delhi, January 31 Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Saturday held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The talks, Jaishankar said, focused on trade, critical minerals and regional developments. In a post on X, he said, "A pleasure interacting with FM Badr Albusaidi of Oman this morning. Our discussions on trade, critical minerals and regional developments reflected the trust and comfort of our Strategic Partnership." Albusaidi landed in New Delhi earlier today for the 2nd India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said that Albusaidi's visit will strengthen the partnership between both nations. In a post on X, he said, "Warm welcome to Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman H.E. Badr Albusaidi to Delhi for the 2nd India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. His visit will further strengthen the multifaceted strategic partnership between India and Oman." India will host the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAFMM) on Saturday. The meeting will be co-chaired by India and the UAE. Foreign Ministers of other Arab League Member States and Arab League Secretary General will participate in the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, a statement by the MEA said. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is happening after a gap of 10 years, the first meeting being held in 2016 in Bahrain. At the first FMM, the Ministers identified five priority verticals of cooperation: economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. The 2nd India-Arab FMM is expected to build on our existing cooperation, expanding and deepening this partnership. India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalizing the process of dialogue. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed for the establishment of Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, which was subsequently revised in 2013 in terms of structural organization. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States, as per the MEA. - ANI External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar extended warm Independence Day greetings to the Republic of Nauru, directly addressing its Foreign Minister and government. He reiterated India's commitment to strengthening bilateral friendship within the Indo-Pacific region. The High Commission of Nauru highlighted the day's significance, marking the nation's 1968 journey to sovereignty as one of the world's smallest states. Bilateral relations are cordial, with India being a strong development partner and having a historical connection dating back to supporting Nauru's independence at the UN. EAM S Jaishankar wishes Nauru on its Independence Day, reiterating India's commitment to bilateral friendship and development partnership in the Indo-Pacific. New Delhi, January 31 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday extended independence day greetings to Nauru. Jaishankar reiterated India's commitment to strengthening friendship in the Indo-Pacific. In a post on X, he said, "Warm wishes to FM Lionel Rouwen Aingimea, the Government and people of the Republic of Nauru on their Independence Day. Committed to strengthening our friendship in the Indo-Pacific." The High Commission of Nauru in India highlighted the importance of this day. In a post on X, it said, "This day marks an important milestone in Nauru's history, commemorating the nation's journey to sovereignty and its enduring commitment to self-determination, resilience, and national identity. Nauru attained independence on 31 January 1968, becoming one of the world's smallest sovereign states, yet firmly establishing its place in the international community through steadfast governance, cultural heritage, and the aspirations of its people." "This year also marks the 80th Anniversary of the return of Nauruans from Chuuk, a solemn remembrance of a defining chapter in the nation's history and a tribute to the strength, perseverance, and unity of our people", it added. Bilateral relations with Nauru are cordial and friendly. India's is a strong development partner, and its assistance is well recognised in Nauru. India first proposed for Nauru's independence in the UN in early 1960s that was supported by the then USSR. Hence, Nauru has special regard for India, as per the High Commission of India in Canberra. Indian High Commissioner to Australia is concurrently accredited to Nauru since August 2, 2021. Resident Mission of Nauru in India has been established in 2022 and Marlene Moses is the first resident High Commissioner of Nauru in New Delhi. In a historic first Ministerial visit from India to Nauru, Subhash Bhamre, Minister of State for Defence, visited Nauru on 16-18 May 2018 and attended the 50th anniversary of Nauru's Constitution Day as Chief Guest. - ANI West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to the Chief Election Commissioner alleging serious irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision process. She claims observers have illegally taken control of the ECI portal and are manipulating data to subvert the voter roll revision. Banerjee highlights the unilateral deployment of approximately 8,100 micro-observers without adequate training for the sensitive exercise. The letter raises grave concerns about the credibility of the process and alleges an entirely different set of rules is being applied to West Bengal compared to other states. WB CM Mamata Banerjee alleges illegal control of ECI portal & data manipulation during voter roll revision, raising disenfranchisement concerns. Kolkata, January 31 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday, raising serious concerns over the conduct of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision process in the state.CM Banerjee further stated that four IAS officers from the Tripura cadre have been appointed as Observers, vide a letter dated January 10, 2026, in addition to five observers from the Centre and twelve from West Bengal."Besides, four IAS officers belonging to the Tripura cadre have been appointed as Observers vide letter dated 10th January 2026, in addition to five other observers from the Centre and twelve from West Bengal. It is reported that some observers are functioning from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, and have taken control of the ECI portal without any legal authority. They are allegedly manipulating data to subvert the roll revision process with ulterior motives. It is further alleged that this is being done as a backdoor mechanism for the exclusion and disenfranchisement of a large number of eligible electors," reads the letter. The Chief Minister claimed that thousands of 'Micro-Observers' are being engaged unilaterally by the ECI without adequate training or proven expertise for what she described as a "specialised, sensitive and quasi-judicial exercise." "Recently, for the first time in the electoral history of India, the Election Commission of India has deployed approximately 8,100 Micro-Observers (MOs) in West Bengal, during the ongoing SIR process. These Micro-Observers are being unilaterally engaged by the ECI without adequate training or demonstrated expertise for such a specialised, sensitive and quasi-judicial exercise," she said in the letter. "Besides, four IAS officers belonging to the Tripura cadre have been appointed as Observers vide letter dated 10th January 2026, in addition to five other observers from the Centre and twelve from West Bengal. It is reported that some observers are functioning from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, and have taken control of the ECI portal without any legal authority. They are allegedly manipulating data to subvert the roll revision process with ulterior motives. It is further alleged that this is being done as a backdoor mechanism for the exclusion and disenfranchisement of a large number of eligible electors," reads the letter. Banerjee alleged that some observers are functioning from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, and have taken control of the ECI portal without legal authority. She claimed that data is being manipulated to subvert the roll revision process with ulterior motives, allegedly leading to the exclusion and disenfranchisement of a large number of voters. The letter reads, "This raises serious questions. Are these micro-observers and observers empowered under the statute to act as approving authorities or are they merely mandated to oversee the process and guide and assist the statutory authorities? Are the AEROS and EROs being rendered helpless, isolated and reduced to mere spectators in the face of illegal, unauthorised and unwarranted actions by such non-statutory authorities, apparently designed by the ECI? These developments raise grave concerns regarding the credibility and integrity of the SIR and warrant immediate investigation." Referring to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Banerjee alleged that the process of hearings and disposal of logical discrepancy cases, the deployment of micro-observers and observers for back-end verification, and the admissibility of documents such as family registers and domicile certificates in West Bengal were starkly different from practices followed in other States. "It is also deeply disturbing that an exercise governed by a uniform Act and Rules applicable across the country is being implemented differently across States, instead of ensuring consistency in process, procedure, and methodology," she said. She further added, "In the ongoing SIR, the manner of hearings and disposal of logical discrepancy cases, the deployment of micro-observers and observers for back-end verification and disposal and the applicability and admissibility of documents such as family registers and domicile certificates as followed in West Bengal are starkly different from practices adopted in other States. For West Bengal, it appears that an entirely different set of rules is being applied, contrary to statutory provisions and for reasons that remain inexplicable." - ANI Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the addition of Patna Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat to India's list of Ramsar sites. This brings the total number of nationally recognized wetlands of international importance to 98. The minister credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for a 276% expansion of the Ramsar network since 2014. The newly designated sites are critical habitats for hundreds of bird species and wildlife like chinkara and wolves. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announces two new Ramsar sites in UP and Gujarat, expanding India's network to 98 under PM Modi's leadership. New Delhi, January 31 Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav has announced the addition of two new wetlands to India's Ramsar network, ahead of World Wetlands Day on 2nd February. The Minister stated in a post on the social media platform 'X' that the Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch district of Gujarat have been added to the Ramsar list. Union Minister Yadav noted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India's Ramsar network has expanded by over 276%, from 26 sites in 2014 to 98 sites today. He stated that the international recognition reflects India's strong commitment to protecting the environment and conserving its wetlands. "Congratulations Team Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat and the Wetland community! With World Wetlands Day close by, I am delighted to announce that there are two new additions to India's Ramsar growing network. Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch, Gujarat, are the new entrants to the coveted Ramsar sites list. This international recognition reflects India's strong commitment to protect our environment and conserve our rich wetlands. Hundreds of migratory and resident avian species find their home in the two wetlands, apart from being the habitat of chinkara, wolves, caracal, desert cats and desert foxes besides endangered birds. Under the visionary leadership of PM Shri Narendramodi ji, Indian Ramsar network has seen an expansion of over 276% - climbing from 26 in 2014 to 98 now," on X he wrote. The Minister informed that the two wetlands provide habitat to hundreds of migratory and resident bird species. The areas are also home to wildlife such as chinkara, wolves, caracals, desert cats, and desert foxes, as well as endangered birds. India is one of the Contracting Parties to the 'Convention on Wetlands', known as the Ramsar Convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. India became a signatory to the convention on 1st February 1982. Wetlands of particular conservation value can be designated as Wetlands of International Importance. These sites are significant because they serve as models of the nation's commitment to conservation and management under internationally accepted frameworks. - ANI IIM Udaipur professors have published an essay critiquing the University Grants Commission's 2026 regulations for equity in higher education. They identify a major inconsistency where Economically Weaker Sections are named as a protected group but economic disadvantage is omitted from the legal definition of discrimination. This flaw means EWS students cannot directly file complaints against class-based exclusion or poverty-related discrimination. The authors argue this structural failure undermines the entire regulatory framework's equity goals. IIM Udaipur professors reveal a critical flaw in UGC's 2026 equity regulations, showing EWS students lack legal recourse against economic discrimination. Udaipur, Jan 31 The University Grants Commission's 2026 regulations aimed at "promoting equity" in higher education have come under sustained academic scrutiny, not only for their alleged vagueness but also for deep 'internal inconsistencies' that 'risk excluding' the very groups they claim to protect. An essay authored by IIM Udaipur professors Kunal Kamal Kumar and Gyanesh Raj argues that the regulations suffer from a serious lack of coherence -- particularly in their treatment of the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Released on January 13, 2026, the regulations explicitly name EWS as a vulnerable constituency in their objectives. However, the operative provisions 'fail to translate this recognition into actionable protection'. As the essay points out, the definition of "discrimination" under Regulation 3(1)(e) is restricted to religion, race, caste, gender, place of birth, and disability. Economic disadvantage -- despite being the defining feature of EWS -- is conspicuously absent, it says. This omission, the authors argue, is not a minor drafting error but a structural flaw. "EWS is named as a constituency, but not clearly operationalised as a basis of actionable discrimination," the essay notes. As a result, individuals from the EWS category would have found it nearly impossible to file complaints against discrimination rooted in poverty, inability to pay fees, or class-based exclusion, the essay maintains. Such grievances would only become cognisable if they could be reframed under another listed ground, such as caste. The essay highlights a striking inconsistency in the regulatory architecture. Eligibility for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation is already filtered through the "creamy layer" exclusion, which relies explicitly on socio-economic criteria, says the essay. It adds that Indian law, therefore, already recognises economic status as relevant in determining vulnerability and entitlement to remedial measures. Yet, the UGC regulations fail to extend this logic to EWS, even while naming it as a protected group, the authors argue. This mismatch sends mixed signals and undermines the regulations' stated equity goals, they say. It risks rendering class-coded humiliation and exclusion invisible within institutional grievance mechanisms, effectively leaving economically disadvantaged students without meaningful recourse, they point out. Titled From 'Constable' to Fraternity: Ambedkar's Design Lens for the UGC Regulations, 2026, the essay also critiques the guidelines for 'deviating' from B.R. Ambedkar's principles. While public outrage largely focused on the exclusion of general castes from the definition of caste-based discrimination, the authors contend that gaps like the EWS anomaly reveal deeper design failures. The Supreme Court of India stayed the regulations on January 29, citing vagueness. The essay suggests that unless such internal contradictions are addressed, future equity frameworks may continue to falter -- not due to lack of intent, but due to flawed legal imagination. - IANS The Tibetan community in exile has begun a unique general election, with voting occurring simultaneously across 27 countries. Over 91,000 voters are registered to elect the Sikyong and members of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile. The spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, may cast his vote from South India, with officials ready to make special arrangements. Exiled Tibetans see the robust democratic process as a direct message to the Chinese government about their aspirations for freedom. Over 91,000 exiled Tibetans across 27 countries vote in unique parliamentary elections. The Dalai Lama may cast his ballot in South India. Dharamshala, January 31 The Tibetans in-exile are very excited for the first phase of general elections of Sikyong and members of Tibetan parliament in-exile to be held on February 1. More than 91,000 Tibetan voters have registered themselves in 27 countries around the world. Tibetan elections commission has termed it a 'unique election.' The chief election commissioner Lobsang Yeshi told ANI, "It is unique in the sense that it is going to be held in 27 different countries. And it is unique in the sense that we are not electing political leaders for the governance of a nation but we are trying to elect representatives so that they can lead the struggle for freedom of Tibet." Tibetan spiritual leader the 14th Dalai Lama may also cast his vote in South India. Yeshi told ANI, "We are not very sure because right now he is in South India, but in the past he has participated in the elections so definitely we would provide the instructions to the regional election commissioner to make special arrangements for His Holiness." There are more than 80 regional election commissioners with almost 309 polling booths and 1,800 staff as a member of regional election commission members, observers and volunteers for participating in this election. The number of candidates is not known yet since this is a preliminary election and the final phase of the elections will be held on April 26. Tempa Gyaltsen, an exiled Tibetan told ANI, "I am very very excited and very proud that we Tibetans despite being in exile, we have one of the most robust elections across the world. One day elections will happen in 27 countries across the globe and the Tibetans will be electing for their leadership so we are excited definitely. We are ahead of them (China) when it comes to democracy and to the rights of people and freedom. We are very ahead of Chinese government." Thubten, an exiled Tibetan told ANI that these polls send a direct message to China. "As you know the situation in Tibet, the Tibetan and people inside Tibet do not have any right and freedom to decide their own fate, leave aside the democratic process that we follow here in India so we are quite excited to choose our leaders... I think it sends a strong message to China that people and the like minded institutions, they believe that CTA is a genuine and legitimate representative of the Tibetan people inside and outside Tibet. "So the things that we are following, the outcome of the election process would certainly be applauded by the Tibetan people inside Tibet and then the leadership that we have in-exile is being followed by the Tibetan people inside Tibet so certainly it sends a strong message to the Chinese government that however, they tried to suppress the voices inside Tibet but their hearts and minds will always be with the his Holiness the Dalai Lama and also with the Central Tibetan Administration," Thubten added. - ANI Revision underway | Forms 6,7,8 for inclusions, objections, corrections TAGS: Tamil Nadu Elections | Voter List | Electoral Roll | Election Commission | Voter Registration SUMMARY: The final electoral roll for Tamil Nadu will be officially published on February 17, 2026, as announced by the state's Chief Electoral Officer. This follows a Special Summary Revision where a draft roll was published in December 2025, opening a window for claims and objections until January 30, 2026. During this period, the election authorities received a massive 34.75 lakh applications for inclusion, deletion, and correction of voter details. These applications are now being verified at the district level before the final list is released for upcoming electoral processes. TN CEO announces final voter list to be published on Feb 17, 2026, after processing over 34.75 lakh claims and objections from citizens. Chennai, Jan 31 The final electoral roll for Tamil Nadu will be published on February 17, Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik announced on Saturday. The CEO said the state is currently carrying out a Special Summary Revision (SSR) of the electoral rolls in accordance with the directions of the Election Commission of India. As part of this exercise, the draft electoral roll listing voters who submitted enumeration forms during the enumeration phase was published on December 19, 2025. Following the publication of the draft roll, the Election Commission provided a window from December 19, 2025, to January 30, 2026, for citizens to file claims and objections. During this period, eligible citizens whose names were not included in the draft list, as well as those who had completed 18 years of age, were given the opportunity to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. New voters seeking inclusion were required to submit Form-6 along with a declaration form. Citizens who wished to object to a proposed inclusion or seek deletion of an existing registration were asked to submit Form-7. Meanwhile, voters seeking correction of personal details, change of address, updates in the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), or identification as persons with disabilities were instructed to apply using Form-8. The CEO stated that the claims and objections received during the acceptance period are now being processed. Between December 19, 2025, and January 30, 2026, a total of 34,75,717 applications - including both online and offline submissions - were received across the state. All applications will be scrutinised and processed at the district level by the respective Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), following due verification procedures as prescribed by the Election Commission. Necessary inclusions, deletions, and corrections will be made after examining the eligibility and validity of each application. Once this verification and processing exercise is completed, the final electoral roll will be published on February 17, 2026, the CEO confirmed. The updated roll will serve as the official voter list for upcoming electoral processes in the state. The Election Commission has reiterated its commitment to ensuring a comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive electoral roll, urging citizens to verify their details once the final list is released to avoid last-minute issues during elections. - IANS The Maru Mahotsav 2026 is a three-day cultural festival being held in Jaisalmer to celebrate the rich legacy of Rajasthan's desert region. The event showcases vibrant folk music, dance, camel races, and cultural contests, attracting tourists from across India and the world. Winners of titles like "Maru Shri 2026" and "Miss Moomal 2026" expressed their joy and pride in participating. The festival will conclude with a spectacular fireworks display lighting up the desert sky. Experience Rajasthan's culture at Maru Mahotsav 2026 in Jaisalmer. Features folk music, camel races, cultural contests & fireworks. Winners share their joy. Jaisalmer, January 31 The Maru Mahotsav 2026, currently being held at Jaisalmer's Shaheed Poonam Singh Stadium, has brought together locals, artists, and tourists to celebrate Rajasthan's rich desert culture. The three-day festival, which began on January 30, showcases the vibrant colors, music, and traditions of the Thar Desert. Tourists from various parts of India and around the world have gathered to witness the beauty of Jaisalmer and participate in the festivities. The festival features a blend of folk music, dance performances, camel races, and cultural contests. Manish Panwar, the winner of the competition titled "Maru Shri 2026," held on Friday, January 30, spoke about how the achievement felt like a dream come true. Reflecting on his "childhood dream" and his long-held desire to participate, Panwar told ANI, "I participated in the competition, and I have won... This was my childhood dream..." Kusum Panwar, who won the title of "Miss Moomal 2026," also expressed her happiness. Speaking about her roots and the event's role in promoting the region's culture, she said, "I am from Bikaner... This program is held to move our culture forward... I just wanted to participate in this..." Taj, who won the title of "Mrs. Jaisalmer 2026," shared her excitement when her name was announced. Describing how she felt "very excited" and proud, she said, "I got very excited when my name was announced... I am very happy..." The festival has drawn not only people from different parts of India but also international visitors. Lucia, a tourist from Brazil, shared her joy while enjoying the desert celebrations. Speaking about how "amazing" the festival felt, she said, "This festival is amazing. We are very happy here..." The Maru Mahotsav 2026 will conclude on February 1, with the final evening featuring a grand fireworks display, lighting up the desert sky. - ANI For years, Mexico has been a major fuel buyer from the United States. Then the government built a new refinery that cost $20 billion, which was planned to boost the countrys energy independence. It seems it has finally started to do just thatand fuel imports are on the decline. The Olmeca refinery, also called Dos Bocas, was the centerpiece of Mexicos previous administration, with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the helm and plans for an even greater role for state-owned Pemex in Mexicos energy system. The project was announced as completed back in 2022 and was the first refinery to be built in Mexico in 40 years. Not only that, but Dos Bocas was going to be the largest refinery in Mexico, with a nameplate capacity of some 340,000 barrels daily. The project took longer to complete and gobbled up a lot more money than its initial $8-billion budget, but finally it began commercial production last year. Also finally, it is ramping up to its full capacity and has started to affect fuel imports. Bloomberg reported this week that U.S. fuel exports to Mexico had declined to the lowest in 16 years in 2025 as the long-delayed new refining capacity started producing gasoline and diesel. Yet it wasnt just Dos Bocas. According to Pemex reports, all refineries that the company operates were producing more fuels last yearrun rates were the highest since 2015. Dos Bocas, however, has been the biggest contributor to the overall increase in refining output as it finally ramps up closer to its maximum capacity. Last year, it was uncertain when this would happen. Gasoline production was hovering at less than 100,000 bpd, despite capacity for 170,000 barrels daily, and it even fell below 50,000 barrels daily in August. But since then, refining rates have been rising, and as of December, the refinery was operating at 77.5% of installed capacity, per Bloomberg. This is in line with the Obrador administrations original plans, but it is bad news for U.S. refiners, which have been both buyers of heavy crude from Mexico and sellers of refined products made with this crude. Now, the dynamics are changing. US refiners need heavy crude, and the US is rapidly losing Mexican and Canadian oil, energy consultant John Padilla told Bloomberg. Oil from Venezuela cant fill the gaps as quickly as Trump would hope. Indeed, Mexicos crude oil exports have been on the slide amid the refiner revival. Between 2020 and 2025, the daily average fell from some 1.1 million barrels to 503,000 barrels as of December last year. Not only that, but in that month, outbound shipments of Pemexs flagship grade, Maya, dropped to 253,000 barrels, which was down a sizable 86% from 2020, commodity analyst Natalia Katona reported earlier this month. Still, the average run rates of Mexicos seven refineries remain much below the nameplate maximum, she noted, with that maximum at 1.98 million barrels daily and actual run rates at 1.14 million barrels in November last year, which was the highest in ten years. The figure may be much lower than the maximum, but it is an improvement on past run rates, which tended to be below 50% of capacity utilization across refineries. Sunetra Pawar has been sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. She assumes the role following the tragic death of her husband and NCP chief, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash. The oath was administered by Governor Acharya Devvrat in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Leaders, including Rohit Pawar and Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, have congratulated her on the new responsibility. Sunetra Pawar takes oath as Maharashtra's Deputy CM, stepping into the role after the tragic demise of her husband, Ajit Pawar. Mumbai, January 31 Nationalist Congress Party MLA Rohit Pawar on Saturday congratulated on taking oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. In a post on X, Rohit Pawar said, "I am delighted that Hon. Sunetrabai has taken the oath as the state's first female Deputy Chief Minister. Truth be told, no one can truly take Hon. Ajitdada's place, but at least in the form of Sunetrabai, we can see Ajitdada there somehow!" "With a mountain of grief weighing on our heads and all of us immersed in mourning, we don't even know how to offer them congratulations!" he added. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami also congratulated Sunetra Pawar, expressing confidence that she will take Maharashtra's development journey to new heights. "Sunetra Pawar, hearty congratulations and best wishes on taking the oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Certainly, under the guidance of the esteemed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the able leadership of the honourable Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, you will take Maharashtra's development journey to new heights," Dhami said. Sunetra Pawar, who was chosen as the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party today after the tragic demise of her husband Ajit Pawar, took oath as the state's Deputy CM at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai amid chants of 'Ajit dada amar rahe'. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. She stepped into fill the post that became vacant following the tragic demise of NCP chief Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28 in Baramati. With this, Sunetra Pawar becomes the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Chandrashekhar Bawankule, State President of NCP, Sunil Tatkare and NCP Working President Praful Patel, and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal were also present at the swearing-in ceremony. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. As a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress. Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday when a chartered plane carrying him crashed-landed in Baramati. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. - ANI A federal jury convicted former Google software engineer Linwei Ding of stealing sensitive AI trade secrets to benefit China. Ding stole thousands of confidential documents related to Google's advanced chip and supercomputer technology while secretly pursuing China-linked ventures. Prosecutors presented evidence that he founded his own AI company in China and applied for a Chinese government talent program. This marks the first-ever conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges, with Ding facing up to 15 years imprisonment per count. Former Google engineer Linwei Ding convicted of stealing AI trade secrets for China. First-ever AI economic espionage conviction carries up to 15 years per count. Washington, Jan 31 A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted a former Google software engineer of stealing sensitive artificial intelligence trade secrets for the benefit of China, marking the first-ever conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges, US officials said. Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, was found guilty on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets after an 11-day trial before US District Judge Vince Chhabria in the Northern District of California. Prosecutors said Ding stole thousands of pages of confidential AI-related information from Google while secretly pursuing China-linked technology ventures. "This conviction exposes a calculated breach of trust involving some of the most advanced AI technology in the world at a critical moment in AI development," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "Ding abused his privileged access to steal AI trade secrets while pursuing PRC government-aligned ventures." According to evidence at trial, Ding stole more than 2,000 pages of confidential information from Google's internal systems between May 2022 and April 2023. Prosecutors said he uploaded the material to his personal Google Cloud account and later downloaded it to his personal computer shortly before resigning from the company. While still employed at Google, Ding secretly aligned himself with two China-based technology companies, officials said. In mid-2022, he discussed becoming chief technology officer of an early-stage firm in China. By early 2023, he had founded his own artificial intelligence and machine learning company in China and was serving as its chief executive officer. In investor presentations, Ding claimed he could build an AI supercomputer by copying and modifying Google's technology. The jury found that the stolen trade secrets related to hardware and software that allow Google's data centers to train and operate large AI models. The material included detailed information about Google's custom Tensor Processing Unit chips, graphics processing unit systems, and the software that enables the chips to communicate and work together. It also covered software used to orchestrate thousands of chips into AI supercomputers and details of Google's SmartNIC technology used for high-speed networking. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Ding sought support from the Chinese government. In late 2023, he applied for a Shanghai-based government-sponsored talent program, stating that he planned to "help China to have computing power infrastructure capabilities that are on par with the international level." FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani said the verdict underscored the government's commitment to protecting innovation. Ding was first indicted in March 2024. He is scheduled to appear next at a status conference on February 3, 2026, and faces up to 10 years in prison on each theft count and up to 15 years on each espionage count. - IANS Bollywood actor Govinda met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence in Lucknow. Govinda shared a photo from the meeting, calling it a "divine" experience. The actor also addressed persistent rumors about a rift in his marriage to Sunita, alleging a major conspiracy is affecting his life. He expressed his struggles and prayed for protection and the welfare of his children. Bollywood actor Govinda meets UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow and opens up about conspiracy theories affecting his marriage and career. Lucknow, January 31 Bollywood actor Govinda met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday in Lucknow. Taking to his Instagram handle, Govinda shared a photo in which he was seen holding an idol of Lord Krishna while meeting with Yogi Adityanath. The meeting took place at the official residence of UP Chief Minister. "It was divine having a great time with respected Honourable Chief Minister Uttar pradesh, thank you so much aderniya Yogi Adityanath ji," wrote Govinda. Recently, Govinda extended his prayers to god to spare him from the "conspiracy" against him amid rumours surrounding him and his wife Sunita regarding their married life. For months, reports have been circulating about a possible rift between Govinda and Sunita. Govinda said a major conspiracy has been hatched against him, causing significant strain on his professional and personal life. While talking to ANI, Govinda said, "This wealth and fame don't spare anyone, and conspiracies like these don't happen with everyone. I know a very well-known actor who was the victim of it, and now it's me, though I am not as big as he is. I pray to god that he saves me from this problem, and I also pray for the welfare of my children. There has been a lot of struggle." "I am a simple man with the blessing of my mother," Govinda said, adding that he is a religious person. Govinda is known for movies like 'Raja Babu', 'Bhagam Bhag', 'Coolie No.1', 'Partner', 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan', 'Dulhe Raja', 'Aankhen' and others. - ANI Gujarat is hosting an International Wetland Seminar in Porbandar on February 1-2, coinciding with World Wetlands Day. The event, inaugurated by state ministers, focuses on the 2026 theme linking wetlands to traditional knowledge and cultural heritage. Discussions will highlight Gujarat's significant wetland coverage and recent proposals for new Ramsar sites, including the newly designated Chhari Dhandh. The seminar aims to build capacity and share scientific research for sustainable wetland management. Gujarat convenes global experts for a wetland seminar in Porbandar, focusing on traditional knowledge and new Ramsar site proposals. Gandhinagar, Jan 31 Porbandar will host the eighth International Wetland Seminar-cum-Workshop on February 1 and 2, reflecting Gujarat's ongoing commitment to wetland conservation and recognition of traditional ecological knowledge. Organised by the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, the two-day event will bring together scientists, policymakers, forest officials, and community stakeholders from India and abroad. The seminar will be inaugurated on February 1 by Forest and Environment Minister Arjunbhai Modhwadia, with Minister of State Pravin Mali also attending. The event coincides with World Wetlands Day on February 2 and aligns with the 2026 global theme, "Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating Cultural Heritage," which highlights the connection between wetlands, local wisdom, and cultural practices. Officials stated that the seminar aims to enhance understanding of how traditional and indigenous knowledge supports sustainable wetland conservation and management. The seminar will also serve as a capacity-building platform for forest department officers, researchers, universities, and citizens engaged with wetland ecosystems. Technical workshops on both days will feature experts sharing scientific research and field experiences related to wetland protection. Gujarat's role in India's wetland landscape will be a key discussion point. According to the National Wetland Atlas 2021 by SAC-ISRO, Gujarat's wetlands cover an estimated 3.49 lakh hectares. This represents 21.9 percent of India's total wetland area and about 17.8 percent of Gujarat's geographical area, making it one of the leading states in wetland coverage. Recent policy developments will also feature prominently. At the third meeting of the Gujarat State Wetland Authority, chaired by Modhwadia and attended by Mali, the state government proposed three new Ramsar sites to the Centre: Gosabara-Mokar Sagar in Porbandar, Chhari Dhandh in Kutch, and Flamingo City Wetland. Chhari Dhandh received Ramsar status on Saturday. The meeting also assigned the foundation to conduct ground-truthing and demarcation of wetlands, with renewed focus on identifying urban wetlands and integrating them into urban planning. Porbandar was selected as the venue due to its ecological significance. The district, home to the Porbandar Bird Sanctuary and the Gosabara-Mokar Sagar wetland complex, supports large populations of resident and migratory birds. Its coastal and estuarine ecosystems also support marine turtles, marine mammals, and diverse bird species. GEER Foundation, the nodal agency for wetlands in Gujarat, has organised seven international seminar-cum-workshops since 2016-17, focusing on wetland inventory, monitoring, training, policy support, and public awareness through print and digital media. - IANS Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed high expectations from the upcoming Union Budget, stating the state typically receives more than anticipated. He highlighted the review of 42 state projects worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore through the PRAGATI portal. Dhami emphasized the need for special central arrangements to manage the state's massive floating tourist and pilgrim population. The CM also explained his recent cordial meeting with former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, including gifting him homegrown rice. CM Pushkar Singh Dhami expresses high expectations from the Union Budget, highlighting Uttarakhand's needs for managing tourist influx and project funding. Dehradun, January 31 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday expressed high expectations from the Union Budget to be presented on February 1, saying the state usually receives more than expected. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present a record ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1 (Sunday). Speaking to ANI, CM Dhami said, "Our Prime Minister launched the PRAGATI portal in 2014 under the Digital India campaign, through which all projects across the country are reviewed. 42 projects, worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore from our state, are also being reviewed through this portal. We have already received so much... We have high expectations from this budget, and we usually receive more than we expect. This time too, we expect to receive more than expected." The Chief Minister also said the state requires special arrangements for a floating population that is much larger than its resident population, citing major religious events that attract large numbers of tourists and pilgrims each year. "We have repeatedly urged the Government of India to recognise that our state requires arrangements for a floating population that is 8 to 10 times larger than the state's actual population... Char Dham Yatra and Kanwar Yatra take place every year. Kumbh Mela is also proposed... Visits to Adi Kailash and the Char Dham have increased significantly each year... Monthly festivals in Haridwar and Rishikesh, along with our winter pilgrimage, attract large crowds, increasing tourist traffic... Our needs should be taken into account," he added. Regarding his meeting with Congress leader and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Dhami said he regularly meets senior leaders to benefit from their experience and suggestions for the state. "These are our senior citizens who have served the state, each with their own experiences and specialities. They have contributed significantly to the state, which is why I met them periodically. I engage in conversations with them and consider all their suggestions. Their extensive experience is valuable to the work ahead, and we benefit greatly from it," he said. "I've been farming since childhood, planting rice during that time... He (Harish Rawat) also wrote about it. I mentioned that once the rice is ripe and ready for harvest, I will definitely feed him rice. The rice ripened well, and the harvest was quite plentiful. As a result, I gave him some of the rice," CM Dhami said A day earlier, the Chief Minister paid a courtesy visit to Harish Rawat at his residence in Defence Colony, Dehradun. As a gesture of warmth and goodwill, the Chief Minister presented rice cultivated in his own field to Harish Rawat. - ANI Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu congratulated the state's Department of Digital Technologies and Governance for receiving a national award for its flagship 'HimParivar' initiative, praised for using data analytics to improve governance. Separately, the CM expressed serious concern over the Centre's Free Trade Agreement policy, stating that reduced import duties on foreign apples would harm local growers. He announced that the state government would send a team to discuss the issue with the Union government, having already raised it with Union Minister Piyush Goyal. The Centre has formed a team to assess the impact, which will include state government representatives. Himachal CM Sukhu congratulates state's digital department for national award while raising concerns over FTAs impacting local apple growers' livelihood. New Delhi, January 31 Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today congratulated the Department of Digital Technologies and Governance, Government of Himachal Pradesh, for receiving national recognition at the 6th Governance Now Digital Transformation Summit & Awards held in New Delhi. The award was conferred recently during the summit and was formally handed over to the Chief Minister by Gokul Butail, Principal Advisor (Digital Technology, Innovation and Governance) to the Chief Minister, yesterday. He said the state was honoured for its flagship initiative 'HimParivar', which has been appreciated for its innovative use of data analytics and digital technologies to strengthen governance and improve public service delivery. He said that such technology-driven interventions enhance transparency, improve efficiency and support the government's vision of effective last-mile delivery of benefits. The Chief Minister lauded the dedicated efforts of the Department of Digital Technologies and Governance in developing citizen-friendly digital services and strengthening digital governance across Himachal Pradesh. He expressed confidence that the department would continue to work with the same commitment and innovation to further expand digital initiatives for the benefit of the people of the State. On Friday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expressed concern over the Centre's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) policy, saying the reduction in import duty on apples coming from foreign countries would adversely affect apple growers in the state and disrupt the local fruit market. The Chief Minister said the state government would send a team to discuss the issue with the Union government. "I will send a team to discuss the matter with the Union government," Sukhu said, referring to the impact of FTAs on Himachal's apple economy. The Chief Minister said apple growers across Himachal Pradesh are worried that the Centre's policy of reducing import duties on apples under various FTAs would make foreign produce cheaper and uncompetitive for local farmers. He said he had recently met Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and other senior Union ministers, during which the issue was raised in detail. Sukhu said the Centre has already constituted a team to assess how the reduction in import duty would affect domestic apple growers, and that the state government's representatives would also be part of the exercise. - ANI Himachal Pradesh Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan has expressed hope for a generous allocation, particularly for the Revenue Deficit Grant, in the upcoming Union Budget. He emphasized the need for substantial central assistance to expand the state's limited railway and airport infrastructure. The Minister also raised concerns about reduced import duties on apples, urging a restoration to 50% to protect Himachal's apple economy. The Budget is set to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, marking her record ninth consecutive presentation. Himachal Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan hopes for higher Revenue Deficit Grant, infrastructure funds, and import duty protection for apples in Union Budget. Shimla Januar, y 31 Himachal Pradesh Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan on Saturday expressed hope that the Union Budget 2026-27 would provide a generous allocation to the state, particularly through the Revenue Deficit Grant, while also hoping for the Centre to address concerns related to the apple industry and infrastructure development. Speaking to ANI ahead of the Union Budget presentation in Parliament, Chauhan said, "Tomorrow, the Finance Minister will present the Union Budget. We hope that Himachal Pradesh will receive a generous allocation, especially through our Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG). For the current financial year 2025-26, our Revenue Deficit Grant is Rs 3,200 crore. We expect a good Revenue Deficit Grant this time." The Minister highlighted the need for improved connectivity in the state, noting that railway and airport expansion has been limited. "The expansion of railways and airports in the state has been very limited. We hope that the Union Budget will provide substantial assistance for the expansion of railway and airport infrastructure," he added. Chauhan also raised concerns over the reduction in import duties on apples from European countries and New Zealand. "The import duty on apples from European countries has been reduced from 50 per cent to 20 per cent, and for countries like New Zealand, it has been reduced from 50 per cent to 25 per cent. To save Himachal's apple economy, the import duty should be kept at 50 per cent. The Chief Minister has also presented the entire situation before the Finance Minister and other ministers," he said. The Union Budget 2026-27 is set to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday. This year, the Budget presentation falls on a weekend. FM Sitharaman is set to present a record ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1, marking a significant milestone in India's parliamentary and economic history. The Centre earlier this week released the 2025-26 economic survey, noting that India's economic growth remains resilient, with strong domestic demand as the main anchor, even as the global environment remains fragile. Taking an optimistic view of the economy, the Economic Survey estimated India's potential growth at around 7 per cent. It also projected that India's GDP growth in FY27 is likely to remain in the range of 6.8 per cent to 7.2 per cent, reflecting the economy's medium-term strength supported by reforms and macroeconomic stability. The Survey noted that while global economic conditions remain uncertain and fragile, India's overall outlook continues to be positive. It highlighted that India's growth is holding up better than expected relative to many other economies, although risks remain elevated amid global uncertainties. - ANI The Jammu and Kashmir government has formally renamed Kathua Railway Station after martyr Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary. Captain Choudhary was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra for his bravery in a 2008 operation against ULFA terrorists in Assam. His father, a retired Colonel, stated that such honours motivate young children to serve the nation. His mother expressed happiness that her son's legacy will live on for generations through this tribute. Jammu & Kashmir govt renames Kathua Railway Station after Kirti Chakra awardee Captain Sunil Choudhary. His parents express pride and sorrow. Jammu, Jan 31 The Jammu and Kashmir government has accorded sanction for renaming of Kathua Railway Station in honour of Kirti Chakra awardee and martyr Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary, recognising his supreme sacrifice for the nation. This move has evoked both pride and deep emotion in his family, particularly his father, retired Colonel P.L. Choudhary, who said the loss of a young son leaves a lifelong void even as his bravery fills the family with pride. An official order has accorded formal sanction for renaming the railway station located in Kathua district to commemorate Captain Choudhary's supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The decision is being seen as a tribute to the fallen officer and a reaffirmation of the Union Territory's commitment to honouring the sacrifices of armed forces personnel. Reacting to the decision, Captain Choudhary's father, Col. P.L. Choudhary told IANS that the government's initiative to name public institutions after martyrs was commendable. "The government has issued a notification to rename the Kathua railway station after my son to honour his sacrifice. Naming railway stations, schools and playgrounds after martyrs motivates children from a young age and inspires them to serve the nation," he told IANS. Recalling his own service background, Col. Choudhary said children from military families often grow up inspired by the uniform. "Since I was in the Army, our thinking naturally leaned towards the Army, Navy or Air Force. Children grow up watching the uniform and the work we do, which becomes a source of motivation, and when they join the armed forces, they tend to excel," he said. Captain Choudhary was posted in Tinsukia on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, where within three to four months of his deployment he led a successful operation, neutralising two terrorists of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). For his gallantry, he was awarded the Sena Medal on January 26, 2008, and had earned a reputation as a major threat to the outfit. The very next day, January 27, 2008, he was scheduled to attend a celebratory lunch hosted by his Commanding Officer, Col Pramit Saxena, at Dinjan, to mark his Sena Medal, along with Lt Varun Rathore of 19 Punjab. However, before he could reach the venue, fresh Intelligence was received regarding the presence of seven to nine ULFA terrorists hiding in Rangagarh village. Without hesitation, Captain Choudhary immediately placed duty above personal celebration. During this operation, Captain Choudhary shot dead two terrorists but during the ensuing firefight, he sustained a grievous bullet injury to the left side of his chest. He later succumbed to his injuries. Before laying down his life, he ensured the terrorist was neutralised and that no civilian or troop casualties occurred. For his exceptional bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra. "There is immense pride, but there is also deep sorrow," Col. Choudhary said. "When parents lose their young son, the grief stays for a lifetime. Yet, when we hear about his deeds from the battalion, our chest swells with pride." Satya Choudhary, mother of Captain Choudhary, told IANS, "Today, when I heard the news, I felt very happy that the Kathua Railway Station has been named after my son, Captain Sunil Choudhary. I want to thank the government, both the central and the state government, and also those who raised their voices to ensure that the station is named after him. Today, I feel very proud that such a thing has happened for us. Though my son may not be with us, his name will remain immortal for generations to come." As per Government Order No.129-JK(GAD) of 2026, issued by the General Administration Department, the Kathua Railway Station will now be officially known as 'Martyr Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary Kathua Railway Station.' - IANS Sunetra Pawar has been sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, making history as the first woman to hold the post. Her appointment follows the tragic death of her husband and NCP leader, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash. The oath was administered by Governor Acharya Devvrat in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, is recognized for her work in sustainable development and rural empowerment. Sunetra Pawar takes oath as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister following the tragic demise of her husband, NCP leader Ajit Pawar. Mumbai, January 31 Nationalist Congress Party MLA Sana Malik on Saturday hailed the appointment of Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, calling it a historic moment for the state. Speaking to ANI, Malik said, "History has been written as Sunetra Pawar has taken oath as the first woman deputy CM of the state. Maharashtra will get a lot of benefit as she has always been working for social causes and the upliftment of women." State Minister Hasan Mushrif also welcomed Sunetra Pawar's elevation, saying, "Sunetra Pawar has become the first woman deputy CM of the state." On the absence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar from the swearing-in ceremony, Mushrif added, "How will he come, his party is different, ours is different." Sunetra Pawar who was chosen as the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party today after the tragic demise of her husband Ajit Pawar, took oath as the state's Deputy CM at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai amidst chants of 'Ajit dada amar rahe'. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. She stepped into fill the post that became vacant following the demise of NCP chief Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28 in Baramati. With this, Sunetra Pawar becomes the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Maharashtra State President of NCP, Sunil Tatkare and NCP Working President Praful Patel, and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal were also present at the swearing-in ceremony. She was elected leader of the NCP Legislative Party earlier today. NCP leaders then met with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis to finalise Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Deputy CM. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. As a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress. Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday when a chartered plane carrying him crashed-landed in Baramati. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. - ANI Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on a two-day visit to West Bengal, with a key political outreach program in Siliguri. He will address two major public rallies combined with party workers' conferences in Barrackpore and Siliguri. This visit marks a shift from his previous organizational focus to direct mass outreach as the BJP ramps up election preparations. The tour follows recent high-profile visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Nitin Nabin to the state. Home Minister Amit Shah holds rallies in Barrackpore & Siliguri to energize BJP workers ahead of crucial West Bengal Assembly elections. New Delhi, Jan 31 Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in West Bengal on a two-day trip and will visit Siliguri on Saturday for a key political outreach programme, as the party steps up preparations ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections. As part of his visit, HM Shah will travel to Siliguri in North Bengal, where an important meeting is scheduled to be held at 3 pm on Saturday at the Gosainpur Airport Authority ground in Bagdogra. On Saturday, HM Shah is scheduled to address two public rallies-cum-party workers' conferences. His first programme will take place in the morning at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district, an area known as an erstwhile industrial belt. Later in the day, he will address another major rally at Siliguri in Darjeeling district, covering the North Bengal region. According to BJP sources, workers from four organisational districts or Lok Sabha constituencies - Bangaon, Barasat, Basirhat, and Barrackpore, all located in North 24 Parganas district - will mainly attend the Barrackpore programme. In contrast, party workers from five organisational districts - Siliguri, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar - will be present at the Siliguri event. A member of the BJP state committee said the programmes are aimed at energising grassroots workers and strengthening the party's organisational base across both North and South Bengal. This visit marks a shift in focus from HM Shah's previous tour of the state last month. During his earlier visit, he had concentrated entirely on internal organisational activities, with the only public engagement being a press conference. This time, however, Shah's priority will be mass outreach programmes, alongside a review of the party's organisational activities. The state has witnessed successive high-profile visits this month, beginning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed by the BJP's newly-elected president Nitin Nabin, and now Amit Shah, even before the election dates have been officially announced. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Modi addressed two major political rallies - on January 17 in Malda district and on January 18 at Singur in Hooghly district. Nitin Nabin also undertook a two-day visit from January 27, during which he addressed a public rally at Durgapur in West Burdwan district. - IANS By Anna Szymanski Jan 30 - Everything Mike Dolan and the ROI team are excited to read, watch and listen to over the weekend. From the Editor Hello Morning Bid readers! The U.S. has long maintained that it has a strong dollar policy, though few can agree on exactly what that means. The greenback slid to its weakest level since early 2022 on Tuesday, a move initially sparked on Friday by expectations of joint U.S.-Japan intervention to prop up the yen. The decline accelerated after President Donald Trump responded to the currencys slide by saying the dollar was great and would find its level. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent helped steady the currency on Wednesday by reiterating the U.S. governments long-standing strong dollar policy. Is this a flip flop? Not necessarily. A currency can be strong even if it happens to be depreciating against others at the moment especially when the currency in question appreciated almost 50% in the decade preceding 2024. Though, if the administration does eventually intend to put more downward pressure on the supposedly over-valued dollar, they could end up getting more than they bargained for. Investors, however, are more sanguine about the dollars prospects this morning, now that the race to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair has a new frontrunner: former Fed governor Kevin Warsh. While he has become a critic of the current central bank, he is perceived to be less in favor of radical monetary easing than other candidates. President Trump said hell announce his choice later today. One of the biggest movers against the dollar this week was, unsurprisingly, the yen. Japans currency strengthened to roughly 152 per dollar on Tuesday, though it has since given some gains back. This big move may suggest that intervention is no longer necessary, but history suggests thats probably not the case. The euro was another big mover, with the pivotal transatlantic exchange rate briefly soaring above $1.20 per euro for the first time in four years. Europe may eye this warily, however, as too much strength could make life more difficult for EU industrial exporters as well as the European Central Bank, which meets next Thursday. Amid the FX ructions, trade deals, diplomatic agreements and energy deals continued to be hashed out globally just not with the U.S. The EU and India announced a long-awaited trade deal this week, while Britain and China celebrated a reset in relations on Thursday, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Xi Jinping pledged greater economic cooperation. The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) has been ranked first in the Times B-School Ranking 2026, reinforcing its premier status. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal stated the institute is crucial for shaping future leaders and strengthening India's global trade presence. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal emphasized IIFT's role in supporting India's ambition to become a trade powerhouse and the Viksit Bharat vision. The institute, with campuses across India, is also establishing its first offshore campus in Dubai. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal lauds IIFT's top ranking, highlighting its role in building skilled professionals for India's global trade ambitions. New Delhi, Jan 31 The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is playing an important role in shaping future leaders and further strengthening India's presence in the global trading landscape, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said on Saturday. IIFT has been ranked first in the 'Times B-School Ranking 2026', reaffirming its position as a premier institution in management education with a distinctive focus on international trade and global business. Goyal described the achievement as a testament to IIFT's sustained efforts in empowering students with skills, vision and critical capabilities. Commerce Secretary and Chancellor of IIFT, Rajesh Agrawal, said the institute's progress reflects its strong academic foundation, expanding global orientation and commitment to excellence. "IIFT supports India's aspiration to emerge as a global powerhouse in international trade and contributes to the vision of Viksit Bharat by nurturing globally competent management professionals aligned with national trade, economic and strategic priorities," he emphasised. Established in 1963, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is a deemed-to-be-university under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. As a premier institution in international trade and business, IIFT offers flagship MBA programmes, executive education and doctoral research, contributing to India's growth in global commerce and trade policy. The Institute has campuses at Delhi, Kolkata, Kakinada and GIFT City, and is in the process of commencing its first offshore campus in Dubai. Professor Rakesh Mohan Joshi, Vice Chancellor, IIFT, thanked Goyal and Agrawal, for their vision and unwavering support and expressed his commitment to achieve excellence in management education in the area of international business by enhancing its academic rigor, policy relevance, industry engagement, and international outreach; integrating present day contemporary realities to its teaching, research and operations and make it a world-class institute. In September last year, IIFT inaugurated the International Trade Negotiations Programme for officials of the Department of Commerce. Organised by IIFT's Centre for International Negotiations, the programme is designed to strengthen the negotiation skills of government officials and bolster India's global trade engagement. - IANS A western disturbance is causing cloudy skies and intermittent rainfall across many districts of Madhya Pradesh. The meteorological department warns of potential hailstorms and strong winds in northern and western regions, posing a threat to standing crops. Agricultural experts have issued an advisory urging farmers to ensure proper drainage and monitor wheat and gram crops for disease. While no significant temperature drop is expected immediately, farmers are advised to delay irrigation and protect harvested produce until the weather clears. Madhya Pradesh faces rain, hail, and strong winds. Farmers urged to protect wheat and gram crops. Latest forecast for Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain. Bhopal, Jan 31 The activation of a western disturbance combined with south-easterly winds has once again altered the weather pattern across Madhya Pradesh. Cloudy skies and intermittent rainfall are being reported in many districts. According to the latest bulletin from the Meteorological Centre in Bhopal, no significant drop in temperature is expected over the next 24 to 48 hours, but light to moderate rainfall, strong winds, and even hailstorms are likely in several regions, the Bhopal weather office has said. The districts of Ujjain, Indore, Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Jabalpur, and Shahdol are expected to witness thunderstorms accompanied by showers and gusty winds. Light rainfall is also predicted in Panna, Damoh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Niwari, Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Dewas, Shajapur, Mandsaur, and Neemuch. Amidst the changing weather conditions in Madhya Pradesh, agricultural science centers, along with the meteorological department, have issued an advisory urging farmers to remain cautious. Experts have emphasised the importance of proper drainage in fields to prevent damage to crops from short-term rainfall, it said. Wheat and gram crops are particularly vulnerable to diseases triggered by strong winds and rising humidity, making regular monitoring and timely spraying of recommended pesticides essential. The department has further warned of possible hailstorms in northern and western districts such as Morena, Sheopur, and Bhind, where wind speeds may reach 25 to 35 km per hour. This poses a challenge for farmers as gram, mustard, and wheat crops could be adversely affected. In Bhopal, the maximum temperature during the last 24 hours was recorded at 29 degrees Celsius, while the minimum stood at 11 degrees, slightly above normal. Across most districts, minimum temperatures ranged between 8 and 14 degrees Celsius. Meteorologists have clarified that no major change in cold conditions is expected immediately, though a slight dip in night temperatures may occur once the rain subsides. The rainfall activity is attributed to the influence of an active western disturbance over North India, which has increased the flow of moist air into Madhya Pradesh. This has led to widespread cloud cover and showers in several districts. On January 29, Satna recorded the highest rainfall at 20.4 mm, followed by Tikamgarh at 10.8 mm, Sagar at 9.8 mm, and Bhopal at 8.8 mm. Looking ahead, the forecast suggests partly cloudy skies with intermittent rainfall continuing for the next two days. Farmers have been advised to delay irrigation until the weather clears, avoid leaving harvested crops in the open, and provide support to horticultural plants to prevent fruit drop. - IANS The upcoming India AI Impact Summit is generating a massive global response, set to be the largest such event worldwide with participation from nearly 100 countries. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted that 15 heads of state and over 100 global CEOs are confirmed to attend. He emphasized India's systematic development of its AI ecosystem, noting that domestic companies have already created more than 200 focused, sector-specific AI models. This progress follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent strategic interactions with AI stakeholders to accelerate India's mission and foster global collaborations. India AI Impact Summit attracts 100 countries, 15 heads of state. Minister Vaishnaw highlights 200+ Indian AI models and PM Modi's strategic engagements. New Delhi, January 31 The upcoming India AI Impact Summit is receiving a phenomenal global response, making it the largest AI summit of its kind in the world, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said. Addressing the media, Minister Vaishnaw said the summit is expected to attract participation from nearly 100 countries, with 15 heads of state and government already confirmed. The industry response has been equally strong, with more than 100 global CEOs expected to participate in the AI summit. Vaishnaw noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met with key stakeholders across the AI value chain, including model developers, application builders, and infrastructure providers. He said this engagement showcased how India is progressing across all five layers of AI architecture, with particular strength emerging at the application layer. "What's being noted is the systematic manner in which India has developed its AI ecosystem. Very recently, the Prime Minister interacted with the people who are developing the models, the people who are developing the applications and the people who are setting up the infrastructure," he said. "AI architecture has five layers. The app layer - people who interacted with PM yesterday it was very encouraging that the work that they have taken is such a systematic reward and that the strength that our IT industry has had over several decades now that strength is being put to providing AI solutions rather than the old model of having software development." Vaishnaw asserted that Indian companies have already developed over 200 AI models, most of which are small, focused, and sector-specific, designed to solve clearly defined real-world problems. "When they met Prime Minister, they shared that they have developed more than 200 models so far, which are very focused, very small, and totally oriented towards solving the problems of one particular sector. I think that is the big learning that so many people today express, that the real value will come from the deployment of AI, getting those productivity gains, getting those efficiency gains," the Union minister said. After meeting AI startups recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with CEOs and experts in Artificial Intelligence (AI) at his official residence here in the national capital earlier this week. Aligned with the upcoming IndiaAI Impact Summit to be held from February 16-20, the interaction was aimed to foster strategic collaborations, showcase AI innovations, and accelerate India's AI mission goals. During the interaction, the CEOs expressed strong support for the goal of becoming self-sufficient in AI. They also acknowledged the efforts and resources the government is putting in to position India as a leader in AI on the global stage. - ANI India and the European Union have concluded negotiations on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, described as a "two-way bridge" for innovation and strength. The pact, under discussion for over 18 years, covers trade in goods, services, investments, and technology. The agreement was formalized alongside a broader strategic agenda for cooperation extending to 2030. The FTA is anticipated to take effect in 2027, deepening economic and technological ties between the partners. India and the EU finalize a landmark Free Trade Agreement, hailed as a "two-way bridge" for innovation, tech, and trade, with a 2027 start date. Washington DC, January 31 India and the European Union have finalised negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement hailed as the "mother of all deals" that aims to deepen cooperation in innovation, technology and trade, with the pact expected to come into force in 2027. The development was highlighted during a session titled "Exploring Global AI Policy Priorities Ahead of the India AI Impact Summit", where speakers pointed to the deepening India-EU partnership, particularly across innovation, commerce and technology. Addressing the gathering, Laurent Bili, French ambassador to the United States, said the FTA strengthens engagement between Europe and India across key sectors. On the India-EU FTA, Bili said, "It is a good news and we can make a link with the concept of innovation between France and India because it's really about EU and India reinforcing their ties, of course, in economic, but also in technological and scientific cooperation, and just to have a two-way bridge to make our countries stronger together. And so I think it's very good news for us." Building on this, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra pointed to the long duration of talks and the breadth of the agreement, stressing that it extends beyond trade in goods. On the India-EU FTA, Kwatra said, "India-EU FTA has been under discussion for more than 18 years now. One key aspect to look at would be the comprehensive nature of the India-EU FTA. It is spread across several chapters, which are naturally, legally binding aspects of it. It is comprehensive in the fact that it includes trade in goods, probably trade in services also, and naturally, in investments, and technology." These remarks come against the backdrop of India and the European Union formalising multiple agreements on January 27 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Antonio Costa. Notably, both sides also agreed on a strategy document titled 'Towards 2030 - A Joint India-European Union Comprehensive Strategic Agenda,' reflecting the expanding scope of India-EU strategic cooperation. Among the agreements exchanged was the political declaration on the conclusion of negotiations on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, signed by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and European Union Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic. The India-EU Security and Defence Partnership document was signed by EU Vice President Kaja Kallas and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while the comprehensive framework on mobility was signed by Maros Sefcovic and Jaishankar, underlining the wide-ranging and multifaceted nature of India-EU strategic cooperation. - ANI India is hosting the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi, co-chaired with the UAE and attended by all 22 Arab League members. This high-level institutional dialogue, held after a gap of nearly a decade since the 2016 meeting in Bahrain, aims to review and enhance cooperation in priority areas like economy and energy. The meeting underscores India's commitment to strengthening its political and strategic partnership with the Arab world. The discussions follow a senior officials' meeting and are seen as crucial for giving fresh momentum to bilateral relations amid global challenges. India co-chairs high-level meeting with Arab League nations in New Delhi to expand cooperation in economy, energy, and security after a decade. New Delhi, Jan 31 India will host the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Saturday, in New Delhi, marking a significant step in strengthening ties between India and the Arab world. The high-level meeting will be co-chaired by India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will be attended by foreign ministers and senior representatives of all 22 member states of the Arab League, along with the Arab League Secretary General. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the meeting is being held after a gap of nearly a decade, with the first India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting having taken place in 2016 in Bahrain. "The 2nd India-Arab FMM is expected to build on our existing cooperation, expanding and deepening this partnership," the MEA said in its official release. The India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism guiding cooperation between India and the League of Arab States (LAS). The dialogue framework was formalised in March 2002 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between India and the Arab League. Subsequently, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed in December 2008 during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa, leading to the establishment of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum. This framework was later revised in 2013 to strengthen its structural organisation. India currently holds observer status in the Arab League. At the first Foreign Ministers' Meeting in 2016, the two sides identified five priority areas of cooperation, economy, energy, education, media and culture, and proposed a range of activities across these sectors. Officials said the meeting will focus on reviewing progress made so far and exploring ways to further enhance collaboration in these key areas, reflecting the growing political, economic and strategic engagement between India and Arab countries. This is also the first time India is hosting the India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi, underscoring the importance New Delhi attaches to its partnership with the Arab world. The MEA noted that the meeting "will see participation by all 22 Arab countries by Foreign Ministers, other Ministers, Ministers of State and other Senior Officials and Arab League." Ahead of today's ministerial-level talks, the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials' Meeting was held on January 30, setting the stage for detailed discussions and coordination. Diplomatic observers view the meeting as a key platform to give fresh momentum to India-Arab relations at a time of evolving regional and global challenges, with an emphasis on economic cooperation, energy security and people-to-people ties. - IANS India has dispatched a consignment of 10 Bailey bridges from Visakhapatnam to Colombo aboard INS Gharial to assist Sri Lanka's reconstruction following Cyclone Ditwah. This supply is part of a USD 450 million Special Economic Package announced during a recent visit by India's External Affairs Minister. The Indian Army has already successfully constructed several Bailey bridges in Sri Lanka to restore critical highway connectivity severed by the cyclone's devastation. This effort reinforces India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and ongoing humanitarian support through initiatives like Operation Sagar Bandhu. India dispatches 10 Bailey bridges to Sri Lanka as part of a $450M aid package to restore critical connectivity after Cyclone Ditwah. New Delhi, January 31 As reconstruction efforts continue in the wake of cyclone Ditwah, India dispatched a consignment of 10 Bailey bridges to Colombo onboard INS Gharial to assist the restoration of critical connectivity. Sharing the details in a post on X, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the supply of bridges is a part of India's Special Economic Package of USD 450 million announced during the visit of EAM Jaishankar to Sri Lanka. "India continues to stand with to support reconstruction efforts after #CycloneDitwah. To assist restoration of critical connectivity, a consignment of 10 Bailey Bridges was despatched today from Visakhapatnam to Colombo on-board #INSGharial. The supply of bridges is a part of India's Special Economic Package of USD 450 million announced during the recent visit of EAM @DrSJaishankar to Sri Lanka, after India's emergency #HADR support through #OperationSagarBandhu", MEA said on X. Cyclone Ditwah, which struck Sri Lanka late last year, triggered widespread flooding, landslides, and large-scale infrastructure damage, overwhelming local disaster-response mechanisms. Earlier in January, the Indian Army's Engineer Task Force has successfully constructed the third Bailey Bridge, measuring 120 feet, at KM 15 on the B-492 Highway in Sri Lanka. The bridge, located in the Central Province, reconnects the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts, restoring a critical lifeline that had remained disrupted for over a month following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. The achievement followed the earlier successful launch of two Bailey bridges in the Jaffna and Kandy regions. Collectively, these engineering efforts have restored road connectivity, improved access to essential services, and provided much-needed relief to communities affected by the cyclone. Operation Sagar Bandhu, launched in November 2025, enabled India to provide urgent Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), including restoration of roads, bridges, and essential services. By swiftly reestablishing connectivity along the B-492, the Indian Army has not only facilitated daily life for affected communities but also strengthened bilateral ties and goodwill between India and Sri Lanka. This effort reaffirms India's steadfast commitment to Sri Lanka and the Neighbourhood First policy. Under its 'Neighbourhood First' policy, Government is committed to developing friendly and mutually beneficial relations with all its neighbours. India is an active development partner and is involved in several projects in the following countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. India's policy of 'Neighbourhood First' focuses on creating mutually beneficial, people-oriented, regional frameworks for stability and prosperity. India's engagement with these countries is based on a consultative, non-reciprocal and outcome-oriented approach, which focuses on delivering benefits like greater connectivity, improved infrastructure, stronger development cooperation in various sectors area, security and broader people-to-people contacts. - ANI Retired US Army Colonel Douglas MacGregor stated that India will not always align with US demands, emphasizing that no nation moves beyond its own interests. He criticized former President Donald Trump's imposition of 50% tariffs on Indian goods as a "foolish mentality" for punishing India's trade with Russia. MacGregor noted India's historical ties with Russia and downplayed the risk of a full-scale war with China, viewing border clashes as limited disputes. Meanwhile, India continues trade negotiations with the US and has diversified its crude oil imports, reducing reliance on Russian supplies. Retired US Colonel Douglas MacGregor says India will not always agree with the US, criticizing Trump's tariffs over India's Russia trade as "foolish." New Delhi, January 31 Amid ongoing talks with the United States over a trade deal, retired US Army Colonel and defence expert Douglas MacGregor stated on Saturday that India will not always agree with Washington, as no nation would "move beyond the limits of its own interests." In an interview with ANI, Retired Colonel MacGregor criticised US President Donald Trump for scaring off relationships with a nation for doing business with Russia, calling it "foolish mentality." Trump has levied a 50 per cent tariff on imports of India goods in response to New Delhi's oil trade with Moscow. When asked about the India-US ties, MacGregor said, "So we (US) have this habit of 'you're either with us or against us.' (Former US President) George Washington said something that we've lost touch with in the last 25-30 years: 'No state can be expected to move beyond the limits of its own interests.' We don't seem to understand that. We are not interested in partnerships or limited liability partnerships. Understand that India will not always agree with everything we say or everything we want to do." "In the areas of trade and commerce and security, there's reason for cooperation and reason for business. So let's focus there. That's not the way it works in Washington. This is a foolish mentality that says, if you're going to do business with Russia, then we are against you," he added. While commenting on India-US ties, the defence expert also noted that India has historically been Russia's ally. He added that nobody expects a war to break out between India and China. "India is historically Russia's ally, even though it may be non-aligned. Secondly, nobody thinks the Chinese are going to invade India. Everyone regards the border clashes as just clashes. There is no unanimity of view on where the border runs. But nobody expects a war to break out with China and India. Also, the Russians continued to draw support from India in the international forum," he said. Last year, Donald Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods. Since then, New Delhi has been in talks with Washington to sign a trade deal. Days after India concluded its negotiations with the European Union on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), dubbed the 'mother of all deals', Union Minister Piyush Goyal told ANI that India is now looking to close deals with the United States and other nations. Meanwhile, textile and apparel exports to the US contracted sharply, falling 31.4 per cent year-on-year in November 2025 compared with November 2024, according to OTXEA data and Citi Analysis. However, the FTA with the EU and other nations will help New Delhi increase its exports. While Trump cited India's oil trade with Russia as the reason to impose additional 25 per cent duties, the Economic Survey 2026 highlights a notable increase in crude oil imports from the US relative to Russia in the Financial Year 2026 (April-November). "A notable increase in the diversity of countries from which India imports crude oil has been observed. In FY26 (April-November), crude oil imports from Libya, Egypt, Brazil, the US and Brunei increased significantly compared to the same period in FY25, while those from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Venezuela declined," the Economic Survey said. - ANI India's sugar production has increased by 18.4% to 195.03 lakh tonnes this season compared to the same period last year. Maharashtra is the top producer, witnessing a massive 42% surge in output, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. The Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) has reiterated its demand for a revision of the Minimum Selling Price of sugar. The industry body states this revision is critical for the sector's financial health and timely payments to farmers. India's sugar production jumps 18.4% to 195.03 lakh tonnes this season. Maharashtra leads with a 42% surge. ISMA calls for MSP revision. New Delhi, January 31 India's sugar output has risen to 195.03 lakh tonnes in Januray from 164.79 lakh tonnes during the same period of the previous season, an increase of 18.4 per cent, according to a statement by Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association. At present, 515 sugar mills are operational across the country, slightly higher than the 501 mills in operation at the same stage last year, according to the release. According to the data released by ISMA, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are India's highest sugar producing states. All three states have witnessed a rise in production this year as compared to the last year. The sugar harvesting season begins from October. Maharashtra is leading the surge with sugar production reaching 78.72 lakh tonnes, an improvement of nearly 42 per cent over the same period last season. The state currently has 206 mills in operation, compared to 190 mills at the same time last year. Uttar Pradesh, being the second largest sugar producer, has produced 55.1 lakh tonnes of sugar so far, marking an increase of 2.5 lakh tonnes (around 5 per cent) over last year by end of January, supported by steady crushing operations. Karnataka has also recorded improved crushing momentum, with sugar production increasing by about 15 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous season. Once again, ISMA has reiterated their demand to revise Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of sugar. "An early revision of the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of sugar, aligned with rising production costs, would be critical to ensuring financial sustainability of the sector, facilitating timely cane payments to farmers, and maintaining overall market stability--without any additional fiscal burden on the Government," the release said. - ANI South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan stated that "unnecessary misunderstandings" were resolved during talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, though the meetings concluded without a final agreement. The discussions were prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to raise tariffs on South Korea, citing delays in the Asian nation's legislative process to implement a bilateral trade deal. Kim explained that South Korea has no intention of delaying the agreement and expects the necessary bill to be processed quickly. Both sides acknowledged a deepened mutual understanding of positions but recognized the need for further talks. South Korea's industry minister says talks with the US resolved "unnecessary misunderstandings" over tariffs and a delayed trade deal implementation. Seoul, Jan 31 South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Saturday that he thinks "unnecessary misunderstandings" were resolved through his talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington over renewed trade tensions this week. Kim made the remark upon his return home at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, west of Seoul, after holding meetings at the Commerce Department on Thursday and Friday (US time), which ended without reaching a conclusion, reports Yonhap news agency. "Our mutual understanding has deepened significantly," Kim said. "I believe some unnecessary misunderstandings have been resolved." Kim's trip came after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Monday to raise "reciprocal" tariffs and auto duties on South Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent, citing delays in the Asian country's legislative process supporting the implementation of a bilateral trade deal. Last year, the two countries agreed on a trade deal under which South Korea would invest $350 billion in the United States in return for a cut in tariff rates. The ruling Democratic Party submitted a bill to parliament in November to implement the bilateral trade and investment deal, which has yet to be passed. "We have sufficiently explained that the South Korean government has no intention at all not to implement the tariff agreement (reached then) nor delay it," Kim said. The industry minister noted that the special bill is expected to be processed quickly and explained the background of the delay to the U.S. side. Meanwhile, Jung-kwan his talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over renewed trade tensions ended without reaching a conclusion, but their understanding of each other's positions has "deepened." They met at the Commerce Department in Washington for the second straight day, after U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened on Monday to raise "reciprocal" tariffs and auto duties on Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent, citing a delay in the Asian country's legislative process supporting the implementation of a bilateral trade deal. "Our understanding of each other's positions has deepened. There were discussions on how to find a middle ground," Kim told reporters as he walked out of the Commerce Department. "We need more talks. We have not yet reached a conclusion," he added. - IANS Union Minister Piyush Goyal commemorated the 100th birth anniversary of his father and former Union Minister Vedprakash Goyal. He shared heartfelt memories on social media, highlighting his father's principles of humility, selfless service, and quiet determination. Goyal recounted an anecdote about his father retaking a math exam to achieve a perfect score, exemplifying his pursuit of excellence. He also noted the inauguration of a public welfare office in his father's memory, which serves as a hub for addressing constituency grievances. Union Minister Piyush Goyal pays tribute to his father Vedprakash Goyal on his 100th birth anniversary, sharing stories of his dedication and service. New Delhi, January 31 Union Minister Piyush Goyal paid tribute to his father and former Union Minister Vedprakash Goyal on his 100th birth anniversary, remembering his principles of "dedication, humility, and selfless service." Sharing a picture with his father on X, Piyush Goyal said that his determination inspired him and his family. Remembering his father, Goyal wrote, "Celebrating a Century of Compassion: Papa's Enduring Legacy. In loving memory of Papa, Vedprakash Goyal, who would have turned a hundred today, I remember a noble soul whose life was guided by faith and dedicated entirely to the service of others. Simple and pious in spirit, he moved through life with humility, meeting hardships with quiet courage and unwavering resolve. For our family, he was a living monument to principles, dedication, humility, and selfless service, giving without expecting anything in return. He seemed to embody the truth so beautifully expressed by Mahatma Gandhi: 'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others'." "Though his mortal presence has merged with eternity, his inspiring memory continues to guide us, strengthen us, and reaffirm the timeless Indian belief that a life lived for others is a life lived close to the Divine. His quiet determination and love for giving his best have always inspired our family. In one mathematics exam, where the questions were outside the syllabus, students were given the option to accept their marks or retake the test. My father had scored an impressive 99 out of 100, but unwilling to settle for missing even a single mark, he chose to take the exam again. This time, he achieved the perfect score. His dedication and pursuit of excellence continue to inspire us to this day," he added. He noted that former BJP leader Vedprakash Goyal was born into a modest family and later received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Banaras Hindu University, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. The Union Minister said, "Born into a family whose greatest wealth was prayer and piety, he grew up amidst financial hardships. His mother worked tirelessly to support his education, doing household chores, sewing clothes for income, and doing everything she could to ensure he had the opportunity to study. Despite these formidable challenges, he excelled academically and went on to study electrical and mechanical engineering at Banaras Hindu University. Decades later, he received the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" from the prestigious university." "After his studies, he moved to Mumbai and secured a job at a steel factory. Though he lacked the means for proper housing, he carried with him a wealth of experience in navigating hardship with calm and perseverance. He spent his nights in the Mumbai Port Trust godown, sleeping on shelves to avoid the rats on the floor, and rose early each morning to get ready and head to work. A man shaped by such trials moved forward with a strength that continues to inspire our family," the X post read. He recalled that last year, as a tribute to his father, he inaugurated the North Mumbai constituency office, Lok Kalyan Karyalay (Public Welfare Office), in Mumbai, coinciding with his father's 99th birthday. Piyush Goyal wrote, "He was a man of remarkable dedication and relentless discipline. Early in his career, he would leave for the factory before his children woke up and go straight from work to Kathak Bhavan, the Mumbai office of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh at the time, where the party was expanding its presence and laying the foundation for its future growth." "In tribute to my father, I inaugurated my North Mumbai constituency office, Lok Kalyan Karyalay (Public Welfare Office), in Kandivali West on January 31, 2025, coinciding with his 99th birthday. This office serves as a central hub for addressing public grievances and overseeing development initiatives across the constituency. There is nothing more satisfying for me than resolving the problems faced by people who visit the Lok Kalyan Karyalay for help," he added. Further, Goyal remembered his father as someone with courage and humility to serve others. "Even today, his life reminds us that true greatness is not measured by wealth or ease, but by the courage to rise above adversity, the humility to serve others, and the dedication to give one's best in every moment. He taught us that perseverance, integrity, and selfless love are the pillars of a meaningful life. Though he is no longer with us in body, his spirit continues to illuminate our path, inspiring each of us to live with purpose, to face challenges with courage, and to serve others with a generous heart, keeping his legacy alive in every act of kindness and every effort toward excellence," the X post read. Born on January 31, 1926, at Karnal in Haryana, Vedprakash P Goyal was a Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP. He was sworn in as the Cabinet Minister for Shipping on September 1, 2001. Vedprakash Goyal was an industrialist by profession. - ANI El Salvador bought dips in both Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and gold on Thursday, doubling down on its unique strategy of building reserves in both assets simultaneously. El Salvador Stacks Up Yellow Metal El Salvadors Central Reserve Bank said it purchased 9,298 ounces of gold worth $50 million, boosting total reserves to 67,403 ounces valued at $360 million. The Banco Central de Reserva said that the acquisition consolidates its long-term equity and helps maintain a prudent balance in the composition of its foreign reserves. Don't Miss: Security and regulation matter in crypto explore Kraken Pro's compliance-first trading platform. Wall Street's $12B Real Estate Manager Is Opening Its Doors to Individual Investors Without the Crowdfunding Middlemen President Nayib Bukele cheered the purchase, writing, We just bought this other dip. We just bought this other dip https://t.co/8CClH0GSYN Bitcoin Buys Continue Uninterrupted The gold purchase coincided with the countrys ongoing accumulation of Bitcoin. Data from El Salvadors National Bitcoin Office showed 1 BTC added to the stockpile on Thursday, and a total of 7 BTC over the last week, in line with its one Bitcoin per day policy. The countrys national Bitcoin stockpile has grown to 7,547.37 BTC, worth $624.24 million at current prices. As of this writing, it is the fifth-largest government holder of Bitcoin, according to bitcointreasuries.net, behind the U.S., China, and the UK. See Also: Fast Company Calls It a Groundbreaking Step for the Creator Economy' Investors Can Still Get In at $0.85/Share El Salvador became the first country to adopt the leading digital asset as its legal tender in 2021 and has continued to add more regardless of price swings or global market volatility. The International Monetary Fund had asked El Salvador to halt public sector Bitcoin purchases as part of a $1.4 billion funding deal earlier this year. While the country tweaked its Bitcoin law and made the acceptance of Bitcoin voluntary rather than mandatory, it hasnt stopped its purchases, as the countrys primary currency. Gold, Bitcoin Fall The purchases come after both Bitcoin and gold recorded declines. Spot golds record-shattering rally reversed, dragging it down 3.97% to $5,158.54 an ounce. The apex cryptocurrency tumbled below $82,000, hitting levels last seen in April. Image via Shutterstock Read Next: The BJP has stated it will support its ally, the NCP, but considers the selection of a new Deputy Chief Minister for Maharashtra to be the NCP's internal matter. This follows speculation that Sunetra Pawar, widow of the late Ajit Pawar, may be sworn into the role. NCP state president Sunil Tatkare deferred the decision to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while party patriarch Sharad Pawar said he had no information about the proposal. The NCP is scheduled to hold a meeting to decide on a name for the vacant post. BJP says it supports ally NCP but will not interfere in internal decisions regarding the Deputy Chief Minister post vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise. New Delhi, January 31 Amid speculations that Sunetra Pawar will be sworn in as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, just days following the demise of her husband Ajit Pawar, BJP National Spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said on Saturday that his party will back the Nationalist Congress Party, an important ally of the ruling NDA in Maharashtra, while staying out of the NCP's internal decision-making. The Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024 witnessed a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, securing a landslide win with 235 seats. The results marked a significant milestone for the BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats. The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, part of the Mahayuti alliance, also made notable gains, with 57 and 41 seats, respectively. ",As far as Sunetra Pawar is concerned... Whatever decision is made will be an internal matter for their party, but we stand with them, as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said. The entire BJP stands with them," Islam told ANI. BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi also shared similar sentiments. "... A very unfortunate incident happened. Late Ajit Pawar is no longer with us, but I am not in a position to comment on who will become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra; this is an internal matter of the NCP... BJP is an ally of NCP. The right and appropriate decision will be taken," Sarangi said. NCP Maharashtra State President Sunil Tatkare today refused to comment on NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar's remarks stating that he had no information about NCP MP and Ajit Pawar's widow Sunetra Pawar being pitched for the post of Deputy Chief Minister. Addressing reporters, Tatkare said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will make the final decision on the Deputy Chief Minister post, which fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise. He said, "I don't have anything to say on this matter right now. We have a meeting, and after the meeting, we will discuss all these issues." "We have a meeting this afternoon. After the meeting, we will meet with the Chief Minister. After the meeting with the Chief Minister, we will present our views to him, and then the Chief Minister will make a decision on it. We will discuss all these things later," the NCP leader added. NCP is scheduled to hold a meeting this afternoon, after which the party will submit the name for the Deputy CM post. Sharad Pawar said he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being proposed for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday. - ANI An explosion struck a residential building in Bandar Abbas, Iran, resulting in the death of a minor girl and significant damage to an eight-storey structure and nearby homes. Emergency teams responded quickly, transferring the injured to medical centers. The cause of the blast remains unclear, with both US and Israeli officials denying involvement. The incident occurs amid heightened regional tensions following recent warnings from the US. An explosion in a residential building in Bandar Abbas, Iran, killed a minor girl and damaged an eight-storey structure. Cause remains unclear. Bandar Abbas, January 31 An explosion struck a residential building in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, resulting in the death of a minor girl and causing damage to an eight-storey structure and homes nearby, Fars News Agency reported on Saturday. According to Fars, citing provincial crisis management officials, emergency and operational teams were dispatched immediately after the explosion, and the injured were transferred to medical centres. As per Fars, the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. CNN reported that a US official told CNN the explosion was not related to any US military action, and an Israeli official said Israel was not involved either. The blast comes amid heightened tensions in the region after US President Trump hinted warned towards a possible military action against Iran. Further details are awaited. - ANI Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, during talks in Turkey, firmly stated that Iran has never sought nuclear weapons and is prepared for a fair and equitable nuclear agreement. He emphasized that Iran's defensive missile capabilities are absolutely non-negotiable and will not be discussed. Araghchi also expressed Iran's readiness for regional engagement to protect peace but rejected negotiations with the United States if conducted under the shadow of threats. The talks occurred amid heightened US-Iran tensions, with former US President Donald Trump having threatened military action. Iran's Foreign Minister, in Turkey talks, states Iran has never pursued nuclear weapons and is ready for a fair deal, while rejecting talks under threat. New Delhi, January 31 Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Araghchi said that Iran is protecting peace and stability in the region. In a post on X, he said, "Always pleased to engage with President Erdogan and FM Fidan on Iran-Turkiye bilateral relations and regional issues of common concern. In our conversations, I reiterated that Iran has never sought nuclear weapons and is ready to embrace a fair and equitable nuclear deal that meets the legitimate interests of our people; this includes ensuring 'No Nuclear Weapons' and guaranteeing the lifting of sanctions. Along with other brotherly neighbors, Turkiye has extended its good offices in pursuit of peace and stability in the region. The Islamic Republic of Iran is grateful for such efforts and welcomes them. Iran always stands ready to engage with regional states to protect peace and stability in our region and shield it from unlawful aggression," he said. Araghchi said that Iran is ready for "fair and equitable" talks with the United States amid soaring tensions, as US President Donald Trump refused to rule out taking military action against Tehran, Al Jazeera reported. On a visit to Turkiye on Friday, Araghchi told reporters that, "Iran has no problem with negotiations, but negotiations cannot take place under the shadow of threats". "I should also state unequivocally that Iran's defensive and missile capabilities - and Iran's missiles - will never be the subject of any negotiations," Araghchi said during a news conference alongside his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. "The security of the Iranian people is no one else's business, and we will preserve and expand our defensive capabilities to whatever extent is necessary to defend the country," Al Jazeera quoted him as saying. Tensions have been rising for weeks between Tehran and Washington amid Trump's repeated threats to attack Iran over a recent crackdown on anti-government protests and his push to obliterate the Iranian nuclear programme. - ANI Iran's Army Chief Amir Hatami issued a stark warning that any mistake by the United States would jeopardize the security of the US, Israel, and the entire West Asia region. He stated Iran's armed forces are in complete readiness and "have our finger on the trigger." The warning comes amid heightened tensions, with the US deploying a carrier group and the EU listing Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts are underway, with Iran expressing willingness to talk without threats and Egypt mediating calls for a peaceful settlement. Iran's army chief warns any US mistake threatens security of US, Israel, and West Asia. Tensions rise as US deploys carrier, Iran open to talks. Tehran, Jan 31 Iran's Army Chief Amir Hatami on Saturday warned that if the United States makes any mistake, it will definitely jeopardise its own security and that of Israel and the entire West Asia region, according to the official news agency IRNA. Speaking at a national festival in Tehran, Hatami emphasised the Iranian armed forces' readiness amid escalating tensions with Washington. "Today, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are in complete defence and military readiness and closely monitoring the enemy's movements in the region. We have our finger on the trigger," he said. He added that "If the enemy makes any mistake, it will undoubtedly jeopardise its own security and that of Israel and the region." He also welcomed neighboring countries' announcements that they will not allow their territory or airspace to be used against Iran, noting these countries "know any insecurity against Iran will make the entire region insecure." Hatami emphasised that if the other side is willing to resolve the problem, it should treat the Iranian nation with respect. The warning came amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. US President Donald Trump earlier said that a "massive armada," led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, is heading towards Iran, warning that "time is running out" for Tehran to reach a deal with the United States. On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in Istanbul that the country is willing to negotiate with the United States, but not under threat. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday urged the United States and Iran to resume negotiations and "reach a peaceful, consensual settlement" to the nuclear issue, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. Abdelatty held separate phone calls with his counterparts from Iran, Qatar, Turkiye and Oman, as well as with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, to discuss regional developments and de-escalation efforts, the ministry said in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported. The discussions followed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's call to ease tensions in the Middle East, it added. The minister emphasised that military solutions are not viable for the region's challenges and called for increased de-escalation efforts and finding peaceful solutions via diplomacy and dialogue to prevent the region from sliding into a state of insecurity and instability. He urged continuing construction communication among concerned parties to bring the United States and Iran back to negotiations and to reach a peaceful, consensual settlement based on mutual respect and shared interests for all parties. Abdelatty's counterparts agreed to intensify de-escalation efforts and prioritize diplomatic solutions. The discussions come amid heightened tensions: EU foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to add Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the bloc's terrorist list, a move Tehran called "hostile and provocative." US President Donald Trump said a "massive armada," led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, is heading toward Iran, warning that "time is running out" for Tehran to reach a deal with the United States. - IANS South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met in Yokosuka and agreed to restart bilateral naval search and rescue exercises, which were last held in 2017. The ministers pledged to enhance military exchanges and explore cooperation in advanced fields like artificial intelligence and space. This move occurs amid heightened regional security concerns, including threats from North Korea and tensions between Japan and China over Taiwan. The meeting underscores efforts by the two U.S. allies to strengthen defense ties in a "future-oriented" direction. South Korea and Japan will restart bilateral naval search and rescue drills to boost military ties, amid security threats from North Korea and China. Seoul, January 31 South Korea and Japan have agreed to resume their bilateral naval search and rescue exercise for the first time in nine years as part of efforts to promote military exchange, Seoul's defence ministry said as reported by the country's state media. South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, held talks in the Japanese port city of Yokosuka on Friday. "Both ministers concurred on activating personnel and unit exchange to boost mutual understanding and trust between the South Korean military and the Japanese Self-Defence Force," a joint press release cited by Yonhap said. The two ministers agreed to explore ways of cooperation in areas ranging from artificial intelligence to space to advance their defence relations in a "mutually beneficial and future-oriented" direction. South Korea and Japan last held the maritime exercises in 2017. The drills were stalled amid a series of incidents dampening their ties, such as a row over Japan's plan to hoist the Rising Sun Flag, a controversial flag regarded as symbolic of its past imperialism, on its vessel during a 2018 fleet review in South Korea. Ahn and Koizumi last held bilateral talks in November last year on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus in Kuala Lumpur. The meeting between the two US allies comes amid growing security threats from China and North Korea. Ties between Tokyao and Bejing had deteriorated since late last year following Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks in which she suggested that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could be considered a "survival-threatening situation," which would permit Japan to take military action. Beijing considers Taiwan as its own territory and maintains its right to take control of the island one day, including by force. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung in Nara, Japan. The discussions centred around range of issues from industrial supply chains and artificial intelligence to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and cooperation with the United States, CNN had reported. Also, US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy, Elbridge A Colby, had visited South Korea and Japan this week. - ANI The Left Democratic Front aims to create an electoral record by securing a third consecutive term in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections. However, it faces a resurgent Congress-led United Democratic Front, which swept the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and a rising BJP that has won its first parliamentary seat in the state. The BJP's significant gains in urban local body elections, including capturing the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, position it as a potential third force. Meanwhile, internal challenges within the Congress, including leadership aspirations, add another layer of complexity to the upcoming political contest. Kerala's 2026 Assembly polls see LDF seeking a record third term against a resurgent UDF and a BJP making historic inroads. Analysis of the shifting political landscape. New Delhi, Jan 31 Kerala remains the last major bastion of the communist party, with the Left Democratic Front seeking a third consecutive victory in the forthcoming Assembly election in April-May this year and hoping to create a fresh electoral record. The LDF has already made history by retaining power in two successive terms in 2016 and 2021, the first alliance to do so in the state since 1977. The LDF is led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), while the Congress heads the Opposition United Democratic Front. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the ruling front returned to power with 99 seats, eight more than in 2016. The UDF won 41 seats, six fewer than its previous tally, though it improved its vote share. The National Democratic Alliance saw its vote share decline in 2021 and lost the lone Assembly seat it had won from Nemom in 2016. However, political currents in the state have since begun to shift. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-led UDF swept 18 of Kerala's 20 seats, one fewer than in 2019, with the Congress alone winning 14. A significant development was the BJP's victory in the Thrissur parliamentary constituency in 2024, giving the party its first-ever Lok Sabha seat from Kerala. The LDF managed to win only one seat, with the CPI(M) retaining Alathur. Looking ahead to the 2026 Assembly elections, early projections present a mixed picture. Some surveys conducted around mid-2025 suggested the LDF could return for a third term with a reduced majority, while others placed the UDF marginally ahead. The local body elections held in December further underlined the changing dynamics. The UDF showed signs of revival by making inroads into traditional Left strongholds in rural areas. The BJP, meanwhile, emerged as a possible third force following a high-profile breakthrough in Thiruvananthapuram. Many observers see the local body results as a bellwether for the 2026 Assembly polls. For the NDA, the gains after its Lok Sabha success indicated growing urban support and the potential to disrupt Kerala's largely bipolar political contest. The BJP's victory in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation is viewed as particularly significant, with implications for campaign strategies in urban constituencies. In the last three Lok Sabha elections, Thiruvananthapuram has also seen the BJP push Left candidates to third place, while Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has retained the seat since his debut in 2009. In 2024, BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar lost by a margin of just 16,000 votes, with his vote share rising by over 4.2 percentage points, largely at the expense of Tharoor. Despite the apparent improvement in the UDF's prospects, the Congress faces its own challenges, including multiple aspirants for the chief minister's post. Developments in neighbouring Karnataka, where a leadership tussle continues between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, have added to the unease within the party in Kerala. Shashi Tharoor, after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, has publicly ruled out his candidature for the chief minister's post. Last year, however, he had shared findings of an independent survey that pointed to strong anti-incumbency sentiment and named him as the preferred chief ministerial candidate of 28.3 per cent of respondents. While the political tide may be turning in favour of the Congress-led front, Kerala's restless backwaters suggest that the road to 2026 is unlikely to be smooth for any contender. - IANS NCP-SCP leaders gathered at Sharad Pawar's Baramati residence to chart the party's future following the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Sharad Pawar dismissed media speculation about a merger of the two NCP factions and any potential move to join the NDA. Meanwhile, party leaders have proposed Ajit Pawar's widow, Sunetra Pawar, to fill the vacant Deputy CM post, with a potential swearing-in ceremony being discussed. The merger process, which involved multiple high-level meetings and was reportedly near completion, has been put on hold following Ajit Pawar's sudden death in a plane crash. Sharad Pawar refutes NCP merger & Deputy CM speculation as party leaders gather in Baramati to strategize following Ajit Pawar's tragic demise. Baramati, January 31 NCP-SCP leaders gathered at Sharad Pawar's residence in Baramati on Saturday to chalk out the party's strategies, following the untimely death of Nationalist Congress Party chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The meeting comes after Sharad Pawar refuted speculation about a merger of the two NCP factions following his nephew's demise. When asked whether he would consider joining the NDA if both factions of the NCP merge, Sharad Pawar told reporters, "This is all going on your side (media), there is nothing like that here." A crucial meeting was held on January 17, 2026, between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, reportedly the final discussion on the merger. The factions had been working towards reunification, with Ajit Pawar planning to announce the merger on February 12, but his sudden death has put the process on hold. The merger talks involved seven meetings between senior leaders, including Jayant Patil and Supriya Sule, with a roadmap prepared for the unified party. Ajit Pawar's close aide, Kiran Gujar, revealed that Ajit was keen to merge the factions, having told him the process was complete just days before his death. NCP and NCP (SCP) contested the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections in an alliance, and there were talks of an alliance for the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls. Amid this, there were speculations that the two factions would come together under a single symbol before Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in Baramati. Prominent members of society, including Chatrapati MalojiRaje and Pudhari Group Chairman Dr. Pratapsingh Jadhav, visited NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar at his Baramati residence to offer condolences following the death of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The visit was part of a larger gathering of politicians and dignitaries paying respects to the Pawar family. Ajit Pawar's funeral was attended by several high-profile figures, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and former CM Uddhav Thackeray. The event was marked by an outpouring of grief, with thousands of people gathering to bid farewell to the veteran politician. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Sharad Pawar said he had no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being proposed for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions."Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday, after which his wife Sunetra Pawar is speculated to take up the vacant Deputy CM post. Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that the party has pitched Sunetra Pawar's name and asked CM Devendra Fadnavis if the swearing-in ceremony can take place today. When asked about the haste to make political decisions immediately after Ajit Pawar's death, Sharad Pawar hinted that the decisions were being made by leaders in the Mahayuti government in Mumbai. "If there is a problem in the family, the family stands together. There are no issues in the family... All these discussions are not taking place here; they are happening in Mumbai. Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, and other senior leaders are having these discussions. Whatever is being seen appears to be decisions taken by them. I will not comment on this," he said. Earlier today, NCP spokesperson Rupali Patil Thombare said that Sunetra Pawar is set to take oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday. Speaking to ANI, Rupali Patil Thombare said party leaders had urged Sunetra Pawar to decide on the Deputy CM post and emphasised the importance of timing in politics. Thombare said, "Ajit dada's death was very shocking. He is not with us anymore. Sunetra Vahini (Sunetra Pawar) is grieving much more than all of us. She lost her husband all of a sudden. This is the fourth day since his death. We, the workers, have urged Vahini to set aside her pain and adopt Ajit Dada's vision and work style. For this, she has made a decision for today; she had to." "Timing is very important in politics. People will talk. Those speaking for him today used to comment on him while he was alive. Vahini is going to take oath as the Deputy CM today," the NCP Spokesperson said. - ANI Sunetra Pawar has been elected as the NCP Legislative Party Leader following the death of her husband, Ajit Pawar. She is set to take the oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra today, which will require her to resign from her Rajya Sabha seat. Senior NCP leaders, including Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, proposed her name during a meeting at Vidhan Bhavan. Sunetra Pawar is recognized for her advocacy in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. Sunetra Pawar, widow of Ajit Pawar, elected NCP Legislative Party leader and set to take oath as Maharashtra Deputy CM today. Mumbai, January 31 NCP Rajya Sabha MP and Ajit Pawar's widow, Sunetra Pawar, was chosen as the NCP Legislative Party Leader and is set to take the Deputy Chief Minister's post. The position became vacant following Ajit Pawar's demise in a plane crash on Wednesday in Baramati. She is set to take the oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra today. NCP leaders, including Party Working President Praful Patel and State President Sunil Tatkare, met at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai to propose Sunetra Pawar's name for the post. To be sworn in as the Deputy CM today, she will have to resign from her Rajya Sabha seat. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in the fields of sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress Ahead of the meeting, Sunil Tatkare said the party's legislature members are expected to elect Sunetra Pawar as the Legislative Party Leader. In 2010, she founded the Environmental Forum of India (EFOI), a non-governmental organization dedicated to raising environmental awareness and fostering eco-conscious communities. She has led extensive grassroots campaigns focusing on biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, water resource management, and drought mitigation. After the meeting, NCP members will meet the Chief Minister with an official letter for a final decision. Speaking to the mediapersons here, Tatkare said, "Our legislature party members will meet at 2 pm today. The Group leader (Leader of the Legislative Party) will be elected. We hope that, keeping in mind the sentiments of people, Sunetra Pawar will be elected as the leader. After that, NCP members will meet the CM with an official letter, and then he will make a decision." He added that NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar, and more details will be shared after today's legislature party meeting. "Today, we saw a video showing the meeting, which took place over tea in Baramati during an agriculture exhibition. After this, Ajit Dada held a press conference and said that discussions were held regarding the local body elections. Ajit Dada himself noted the details of that day when the discussion took place and shared it with the journalists. We will speak to you in detail after today's meeting. NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar," he said. Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal also welcomed the possibility of Sunetra Pawar becoming the Deputy Chief Minister, saying it's a good decision, and people want it following the untimely death of NCP chief Ajit Pawar. - ANI Candidates from the Mahayuti alliance have filed nominations for the top posts in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Harshali Thavil is the mayoral candidate, while Rahul Damle is the deputy mayoral candidate. The alliance's position was strengthened after MNS corporators pledged their support, as announced by Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde. This comes amid broader political developments in Maharashtra, including a key NCP meeting. Harshali Thavil and Rahul Damle file nominations for Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts in Kalyan-Dombivli with MNS support for Mahayuti alliance. Thane, January 31 In the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, candidates from the Mahayuti alliance, Harshali Thavil and Rahul Damle, have filed their nominations for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively. While speaking to reporters on Friday, Thavil expressed her gratitude to the Mahayuti. She said, "Today I have filed my nomination for the post of mayor, and I thank the Mahayuti government for this... Everyone has shown faith in me... I will work to restart all the stalled projects..." Rahul Damle, the deputy mayoral candidate, also stated that they are committed to working to solve all sorts of problems affecting the Municipal Corporation. Damle, during his interaction with the media on Friday, said, "Today we filed nominations for the mayor and deputy mayor. We will work on how to resolve all the problems in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation" Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde had announced that corporators of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have extended their support to the Mahayuti alliance in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, paving the way for the alliance to form the civic body and elect its mayor. Speaking to reporters, Shinde said the Shiv Sena has emerged as the single largest party with 53 seats, adding that the BJP, Shiv Sena, MNS and other allies will jointly form the municipal government in Kalyan-Dombivli. He also expressed confidence that the Mahayuti will secure the mayor's post in Mumbai as well. Elections to 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra were held on January 15, with results announced on January 16. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance emerged victorious in the majority of the municipalities. Meanwhile, All of the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) representatives in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will gather at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday at 2:00 PM. In the notice of meeting signed by the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Nationalist Congress Party, Sunil Tatkare, on Friday, all members of the Legislative Assembly/Legislative Council are called upon for the meeting. This comes amid speculations around Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy CM face and a merger of the two NCP factions. - ANI Actor Rati Shankar Tripathi emphasized the importance of the Banaras Literature Festival for Varanasi's cultural and spiritual landscape. He reflected on the festival's humble beginnings, which relied on the faith of literature enthusiasts and scholars. Tripathi described Kashi as a spiritual city where education and culture are pathways to understanding its unique essence. The festival, running from January 30 to February 1, features discussions and performances by various artists. Rati Shankar Tripathi calls the Banaras Literature Festival a crucial spiritual and educational platform for the heritage city of Varanasi. Varanasi, January 31 Actor Rati Shankar Tripathi, who attended the ongoing Banaras Literature Festival has emphasised on the growing significance of the event and why such cultural platforms are crucial for a city like Varanasi. The fourth edition of the Banaras Literature Festival celebrates the rich cultural and literary heritage of Varanasi. The festival, which began on January 30, will conclude on February 1. Writers, thinkers, artists, and students have gathered in large numbers to participate in discussions on literature, culture, and education. Talking to ANI at the event, the 'Gangs of Wasseypur' actor reflected on the origins of the festival and explained why he believes it holds immense value for Kashi, the name Banaras has been known as for centuries. He shared how the festival's beginnings were uncertain and how it initially relied on the faith of those who believed in the idea of bringing scholars and literature enthusiasts together. "When the Banaras Literature Festival was first held, we had no idea what to expect or how it would unfold. We were focused on bringing together people who believe that literature should be researched and discussed, and that such researchers should unite," Tripathi told ANI. The actor also spoke about the deep cultural roots of the city and its connection to learning. Describing Kashi as more "spiritual" than religious, he elaborated on why education is key to understanding the city's essence. "Kashi is more spiritual than religious, and spirituality can be attained through culture and education. That's why education is so important... This unique city holds within it a strange, miraculous, magical, and spiritual essence. The need for a Banaras Literature Festival here has existed for a long time, and though it has come a little late, it is a meaningful and excellent initiative," he added. Ahead of the main festival, a pre-event was held on January 29. Popular stand-up comedian Amit Tandon and renowned sitar artist Deobrat Mishra, among others, performed at the event. - ANI Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Company reported a 6.7% year-on-year decline in global sales to 272,782 vehicles in December 2025, including Nissan and Infiniti-branded models, down from 292,517 units in the same month last year, reflecting weaker domestic and overseas sales. Sales in Japan fell by 10% to 28,339 units during the month, while overseas sales declined by 6.4% to 244,443 units with sales in Europe and China sharply lower. In the whole of 2025, Nissans global sales fell by 4.4% to 3,202,137 units from 3,348,692 units in the previous year, with sales in Japan dropping by over 15% to 402,977 units, while overseas sales declined by 2.6% to 2,799,160 units. Sales in China declined by 6.3% to 653,024 units last year, while sales in Europe fell by 7.2% to 329,557 units. Deliveries in North America rose by 2.2% to 1,313,032 units, with US sales slightly higher at 926,153 units, while in Mexico sales rose by 7.6% to 275,662 units and in Canada volumes were up by 6.5% to 109,743 units. Sales in other markets combined fell by 6.3% to 503,547 units. In terms of production, global volumes dropped by 5.7% to 2,950,035 units in 2025, with output in Japan falling by 14% to 565,444 units. Overseas volumes declined by 3.5% to 2,384,591 units, driven lower by a 7.4% drop in US output to 486,232 units, while production in China fell by 0.7% to 660,831 units and output in Mexico was down by 1.7% to 658,536 units. Production in the UK fell by 3.9% to 273,174 units. Exports from Japan declined by over 17% to 329,415 units last year, with shipments to North America dropping by almost 29% to 136,643 units and exports to Europe plunging by over 36% to 38,470 units, while exports to other markets increased by 5.2% to 154,302 units. "Nissans global vehicle sales drop 7% in December" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. Bishop Victor of Rajasthan has expressed high hopes from the minority communities for the upcoming Union Budget. He appreciated the Central government's efforts and various schemes that have benefited minorities, including the Christian community. The Bishop highlighted specific initiatives like Hamari Dharohar Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram for improving infrastructure and preserving heritage. He also noted Prime Minister Modi's symbolic Christmas visit as a positive gesture of respect for all religions. Bishop Victor appreciates govt's minority welfare schemes and expresses high expectations from the upcoming Union Budget for community development. Ajmer, Jan 31 Bishop of the Diocese of Rajasthan, Church of North India, Raimson Victor, on Saturday said that minority communities have high expectations from the upcoming Union Budget and appreciated the Central government's efforts towards their welfare and development. Bishop Victor stated that the Minority Development and Finance Corporation under the Central government has played a significant role in providing employment opportunities and promoting self-reliance among minorities. He said that various government welfare schemes have benefitted all minority communities, including the Christian community. Highlighting key initiatives, he said that the 'Hamari Dharohar Yojana' has made a meaningful contribution to the preservation and promotion of Christian cultural heritage. He added that the 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram' has led to improvements in schools, hostels, health centres, and community infrastructure, thereby directly benefiting the weaker sections of society. The 'Nai Roshni Yojana,' he noted, has empowered women by enhancing their leadership abilities and improving financial literacy. Bishop Victor said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been working consistently and positively for the welfare of minorities. He added that Christian institutions, schools, hospitals, and social organisations are actively engaged in social service with the support and cooperation of the government. "All communities have expectations from the Union Budget, and minorities, too, are hopeful that their concerns and aspirations will be addressed," he said. He further stated that the government is expected to pay special attention to minority welfare in the forthcoming budget. Expressing confidence in the Centre's intentions, Bishop Victor said he hoped that the budget would include provisions that benefit minority communities as well as all citizens, thereby accelerating the overall pace of national development. Appreciating the Prime Minister's outreach efforts, Bishop Victor said that Prime Minister Modi's recent visit to the Cathedral of Redemption in New Delhi on the occasion of Christmas symbolised the government's respect for all religions and communities. He added that the Prime Minister's interaction with Bishops during the visit sent a positive and reassuring message to society. Bishop Victor said there are very high expectations from the government and expressed confidence that concrete steps would be taken in the upcoming budget to safeguard minority interests and create new opportunities for development and welfare for all citizens. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present her ninth-consecutive Union Budget for 2026 on February 1, marking a historic presentation on a Sunday at 11:00 a.m. in Parliament. The Budget Session began on January 28, with the Economic Survey tabled on January 29, in keeping with the post-2017 tradition aligned with the April 1 fiscal year. - IANS Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated a new Mini TIDEL Park in Karaikudi, built at a cost of Rs 28 crore. The facility is expected to generate employment for around 600 IT professionals as part of the state's policy to decentralize technology infrastructure. This follows the legacy of the original TIDEL Park established by former CM M. Karunanidhi, which helped make Chennai a major tech hub. The government is also developing several larger TIDEL Parks across the state, each projected to create about 6,000 jobs, to promote balanced regional development. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin opens a new Mini TIDEL Park in Karaikudi, part of a major state push to decentralize IT infrastructure and create thousands of jobs. Chennai, Jan 31 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday inaugurated a new Mini TIDEL Park in Karaikudi in Sivaganga district, marking another step in the state government's efforts to expand the information technology ecosystem beyond major urban centres. Built at a cost of Rs 28 crore, the Karaikudi Mini TIDEL Park is expected to generate employment opportunities for around 600 IT professionals. The facility has been developed under the Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce Department, in line with the state's policy of decentralising IT infrastructure and taking technology-driven jobs to tier-2 and tier-3 cities. According to a Tamil Nadu government release, the TIDEL initiative traces its origins to 2000, when former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi established the first TIDEL Park at Taramani in Chennai. That project laid the foundation for Tamil Nadu's emergence as one of India's leading IT destinations and played a key role in transforming Chennai into a major technology hub. Building on that legacy, the state government has accelerated the expansion of TIDEL infrastructure across Tamil Nadu. On February 18, 2025, foundation stones were laid for two major TIDEL Parks - one in Madurai at an estimated cost of Rs 314 crore with a built-up area of 5.34 lakh square feet, and another at Panchappur in Tiruchirappalli costing Rs 403 crore with a built-up area of 5.58 lakh square feet. Both projects are currently under construction. In addition, a 21-storey TIDEL Park at Pattabiram, with a total built-up area of 5.57 lakh square feet, was inaugurated on November 22, 2024. The government has also announced a new TIDEL Park at Hosur, to be built at a cost of Rs 400 crore over five lakh square feet. Tender processes for the Hosur project are underway, with construction expected to begin shortly. Each of the large TIDEL projects is projected to create around 6,000 IT and IT-enabled services jobs. Together, they are expected to significantly strengthen Tamil Nadu's technology ecosystem, promote balanced regional development, and reinforce the state's position as a preferred destination for technology investments. - IANS Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has launched a project to digitize old manual birth and death certificates. This initiative aims to modernize vital records management, improve data accuracy, and provide faster public access to essential documents. The move follows the state's introduction of online registration in 2022 and will see a full transition away from manual certificate issuance. Officials state that only genuine certificates will be digitized to build a comprehensive and secure database for the state. Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio launches digitisation of old manual birth & death certificates to modernize records, streamline services & ensure data security. Kohima, Jan 31 Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio officially launched the digitisation of old manual birth and death certificates, marking a major step towards modernising vital records management in the state. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the initiative would significantly streamline service delivery, ensure accurate and efficient data management, and improve citizens' access to essential documents. He added that the digitisation process would also help the government make informed public policy decisions. The Chief Minister commended the Department of Economics and Statistics for its efforts and urged citizens to ensure the timely registration of births and deaths. In line with the directive of the office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Nagaland government had introduced online registration of births and deaths in April 2022. The digitisation of old manual records aims to fully integrate historical data into the online system, ensuring authenticity, security, and long-term accessibility. The Department announced that manual certificate issuance will soon be discontinued, with the state transitioning to 100 per cent online registration and digitisation. The move is expected to reduce paperwork and provide faster, more reliable services to the public. Officials clarified that only genuine certificates issued by authorised registrars and supported by official records will be digitised. The Department has appealed to the general public to avail themselves of the facility through the RGI portal to help build a comprehensive and secure database of vital records for Nagaland. The launch took place at the Chief Minister's office in Kohima in the presence of Akunu S. Meyase, Secretary to the government of Nagaland, Department of Economics and Statistics, Neidilhou Keditsu, Director of Economics and Statistics, and other departmental officials. - IANS Nepal is under pressure to complete its new Parliament building complex before the March 5 general election, as the constitution requires a session within 30 days of final results. The project, a joint venture with a Chinese company, began in 2019 but has missed multiple deadlines. Parliament has been without a permanent home, operating from rented venues since 2008 after its historic Gallery Baithak became too small. Officials assure the new facility on the Singha Durbar premises will be ready, though interior work and a dome installation remain unfinished. Nepal faces a constitutional deadline to complete its new Parliament building before the March 5 election results and the swearing-in of new lawmakers. New Delhi, Jan 31 With the general election slated for March 5 and results expected within a fortnight, Nepal faces mounting pressure to complete its new Parliament building in time for the elected representatives to take the oath of office, reports say. There is a constitutional compulsion to call the session within 30 days of the final results of the election to the House of Representatives, the Kathmandu Post report added. After operating the legislature from a rented building for a decade, the government began construction of dedicated facilities in 2019. The foundation stone for the 12 structures was laid in September that year, with a target completion date of three years. A joint venture of the China-based Second Harbour Engineering Company and Tundi Construction, a Nepali firm, won the contract, according to the report, which added, "However, even after missing the fifth deadline extension in the past three years, the construction remains incomplete". Earlier, the Gallery Baithak on Kathmandu's Singha Durbar premises housed Nepal's Parliament since the first general elections in 1959 until the reinstatement of the House in 2006, it added. The House that was reinstated after the second people's movement, which saw the rebel Maoists represented for the first time, also functioned from the same building, the report said. The movement in Nepal is also known as Jana Andolan II, which was an uprising against King Gyanendra's direct rule. It brought together various political factions, including Maoist insurgents, demanding the restoration of Parliament and democratic reforms. The Gallery Baithak ran short of space after the number of representatives in the Constituent Assembly increased in 2008, the news website reported. As a result, the Birendra International Convention Centre in Kathmandu's New Baneshwor was chosen, it said, adding that it was leased to the government, whose agreement was not renewed following an arson that rendered the property unusable. The Parliament building, noted the article, was the first target of the September Gen Z movement, and it was completely destroyed on September 9. The report quoted officials stressing that the under-construction buildings on the Singha Durbar premises will be ready on time. "Amid uncertainties, we wrote to the government to make a place available on time for the newly elected House," Eakram Giri, spokesperson for the secretariat, told Kathmandu Post. "The Ministry of Urban Development has assured that the new space will be ready in a month and a half," he added. The under-construction area, according to the newspaper, spans 7.63 hectares and can accommodate 700 individuals in the chamber designated for the lower house. It will have a seating capacity of 400 for lawmakers on the main floor and 300 in the balcony for the press, visitors, and guests. The hall, designated for the 59-strong National Assembly, will accommodate over 250. A separate hall with 350 seats is also under construction for joint meetings of the two Houses. While civil work, which involves the erection of the structure, has been completed, the interiors and the installation of the dome at the top remain incomplete, added the report. - IANS Junaid Qureshi, Director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, has received a direct death threat from The Resistance Front, a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot. He remains defiant, vowing to continue speaking out against terrorism. Qureshi warns that Pakistan relies on terror proxies and is using educated individuals in sleeper cells, which he describes as more dangerous than traditional infiltration. He also highlights the link between narcotics and terrorism funding in conflict zones like Kashmir. EFSAS Director Junaid Qureshi vows to continue exposing terror after TRF death threat, warns of Pakistan-backed sleeper cells & narco-terrorism in Kashmir. Srinagar, January 31 Junaid Qureshi, Director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, has received a direct death threat from The Resistance Front, a terror outfit identified as an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, even as he asserted that intimidation will not silence his voice against terrorism. The threat, intercepted on the encrypted messaging platform Element X, explicitly stated that the group "will not hesitate in eliminating" him, marking a departure from routine warnings aimed at forcing ideological compliance. "I am not afraid of these threats. What I write, I will keep writing. What I say, I will keep saying. If the result is death, it is in the hands of God," said Junaid Qureshi. Qureshi warned that Pakistan continues to rely on terror proxies to destabilise Kashmir while attempting to shift blame onto local populations. He said recent attacks, including in Delhi, were part of an effort to create the impression that Kashmiris, and not Pakistan-backed groups, are responsible for terrorism. He described the growing use of educated professionals in terror networks as a deliberate narrative tactic. "The idea that education or a stable job prevents radicalisation is false. Radicalisation may take longer, but it eventually happens," he said, citing global terror figures who were well-educated and economically privileged. Highlighting the drug menace in Kashmir and Punjab, Qureshi said narcotics are being used as a currency to fund terrorism in conflict zones. He termed this phenomenon narco-terrorism, adding that digital tools and alternative financial channels are now being used to sustain terror operations. Qureshi noted that banned terror outfits continue to reinvent themselves under new names, pointing to TRF as a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot that has already been designated by India and the United States. He warned that sleeper cells pose a significant challenge, as individuals can lead normal lives while receiving online training and carrying out attacks discreetly. "This model is far more dangerous than traditional infiltration," he said. Despite the risks, Qureshi said he would continue his work without compromise. "Speaking the truth is my responsibility. Silence only helps extremism," he said. - ANI Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi has arrived in New Delhi to participate in the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, co-chaired by India and the UAE. This high-level meeting, the first to be hosted in India, marks a resumption after a decade, with the inaugural session held in Bahrain in 2016. The forum aims to expand cooperation across key verticals previously identified, including economy, energy, education, media, and culture. The event sees participation from foreign ministers and senior officials of all 22 Arab League member states, underscoring its significance as the highest institutional mechanism for this partnership. Oman's FM Badr Albusaidi arrives in Delhi for the 2nd India-Arab FMM, aiming to deepen strategic ties across economy, energy & culture. New Delhi, January 31 Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi landed in Delhi for the 2nd India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said that Albusaidi's visit will strengthen the partnership between both nations. In a post on X, he said, "Warm welcome to Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman H.E. Badr Albusaidi to Delhi for the 2nd India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. His visit will further strengthen the multifaceted strategic partnership between India and Oman." India is hosting the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAFMM). The meeting is co-chaired by India and the UAE. Foreign Ministers of other Arab League Member States and Arab League Secretary General are participating in the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, a statement by the MEA said. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is happening after a gap of 10 years, the first meeting being held in 2016 in Bahrain. At the first FMM, the Ministers identified five priority verticals of cooperation: economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. The 2nd India-Arab FMM is expected to build on our existing cooperation, expanding and deepening this partnership. India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalizing the process of dialogue. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed for the establishment of Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, which was subsequently revised in 2013 in terms of structural organization. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States, as per the MEA. This is the first India-Arab FMM to be hosted by India in New Delhi and will see participation by all 22 Arab countries by Foreign Ministers, other Ministers, Ministers of State and other Senior Officials and Arab League. The IAFMM will be preceded by 4th India-Arab Senior Officials' Meeting on 30 January 2026, the MEA added. - ANI Foreign Minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, has arrived in New Delhi to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The event, co-hosted by India and the UAE, has seen the arrival of several Arab dignitaries, including ministers from Libya, Somalia, and Qatar. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a series of bilateral meetings with counterparts to discuss enhancing cooperation across various sectors. The high-level meeting aims to build on existing partnerships, with a focus on priority areas like economy and energy. Oman, UAE, and other Arab foreign ministers arrive in New Delhi for the second IAFMM to strengthen strategic partnerships with India. New Delhi, Jan 31 Foreign Minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Welcoming Oman's Foreign Minister, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to X and stated: "His visit will further strengthen the multifaceted strategic partnership between India and Oman." Earlier in the day, Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, United Arab Emirates' Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arrived in New Delhi to attend IAFMM. The MEA warmly welcomed the UAE leader and said, "His visit will further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE." On Friday, Foreign Ministers of Libya, Eltaher S M Elbaour, Somalia, Abdisalam Ali, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, arrived in New Delhi to participate in the second IAFMM. Extending a warm welcome to the delegates, the MEA stated that their visit would help strengthen the bilateral partnership between India and the respective countries. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday met League of Arab States Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in New Delhi to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two sides across various sectors. Following their talks, EAM Jaishankar posted on X, "A warm meeting with Secretary General, League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit this morning. Had a wide ranging conversation about our cooperation and strengthening it across various domains. Also exchanged views on the recent developments in the region." EAM Jaishankar also held separate meetings with Foreign Ministers of Comoros Mbae Mohamed; Sudan Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim; Libya Eltaher S.M. Elbaour; Somalia Abdisalam Ali; and Palestine's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian. The discussions centred on enhancing the bilateral cooperation and deepening collaboration across several sectors. India is set to host the second IAFMM on Saturday. The meeting, being hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates, will have the participation of Foreign Ministers from other Arab League Member States and the Arab League Secretary General. The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting is expected to build on existing cooperation and expand the partnership. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after 10 years, as the first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016. During the first Foreign Ministers Meeting, the leaders identified five priority verticals of cooperation - economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. "India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue," the MEA stated. - IANS Over 760,000 Pakistanis left the country for work in 2025, highlighting severe domestic economic stress and a lack of opportunities. The unemployment rate has soared to a 21-year high of 7.1%, driving emigration across all demographics. While this exodus has fueled a 10.6% rise in remittances to $19.7 billion, it now includes a worrying brain drain of skilled professionals from IT, medicine, and engineering. Experts warn this loss of talent, driven by poor infrastructure and limited growth, threatens Pakistan's long-term economic potential. Over 7.6 lakh Pakistanis emigrated for work in 2025 amid 7.1% unemployment, causing a brain drain despite a surge in remittances to $19.7B. New Delhi, Jan 31 More than 7.6 lakh Pakistanis left the country for work in 2025, a figure that highlights the growing economic stress and lack of job opportunities at home, according to the data by finance ministry's Monthly Economic Update and Outlook for January 2026. The report showed weak performance in key areas such as exports, foreign direct investment (FDI) and overall growth. However, remittances stand out as the only strong contributor. Remittances rose to $19.7 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year -- marking a 10.6 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, according to a report by Business Recorder. This inflow was 23 times higher than FDI and exceeded export earnings by $4.2 billion during the same period. The sharp rise in remittances is closely linked to the growing number of Pakistanis leaving the country in search of better jobs, stable incomes and improved living conditions. The government has described this trend in positive terms, mainly because remittances now bring in nearly $40 billion annually, making them the country's largest source of non-debt foreign inflows. However, the scale of outward migration also reflects deep dissatisfaction among workers with the domestic economic situation, as per the report. Pakistan's unemployment rate has reached a 21-year high of 7.1 per cent, according to the latest Labour Force Survey cited by Business Recorder. Joblessness has increased across all age groups, genders and regions. Over the past two years alone, more than 1.5 million Pakistanis have emigrated due to stagnant wages, limited job opportunities and rising living costs. What is most worrying is that this migration is no longer limited to unskilled labour heading to Gulf countries. A growing number of skilled professionals from sectors such as information technology, medicine, engineering and accounting are also leaving. This has raised concerns about a serious brain drain that could weaken Pakistan's long-term economic potential. In the IT sector, experts say migration is not driven only by higher salaries abroad. Limited career growth, weak research and innovation systems, regulatory restrictions and unreliable digital infrastructure are pushing professionals to seek opportunities overseas. Many also point to excessive internet controls and regulatory hurdles that make it difficult for the digital economy to grow. Similar trends are now visible in other knowledge-based sectors. While working abroad can help individuals gain skills and experience, the continued loss of trained professionals means Pakistan bears the cost of education, while other countries benefit from their expertise. - IANS The Peshawar High Court has sought clarification from federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments regarding a military operation in Tirah Valley, which both governments deny approving. The petition, filed by Barrister Saud Javed Dawar, argues the operation is unconstitutional without provincial assembly approval under Article 232. Over 70,000 people have fled the remote region near Afghanistan due to the operation targeting the Pakistan Taliban. The federal government cites Article 245, arguing it empowers military deployment for internal security without a formal emergency proclamation. Peshawar High Court hears petition challenging constitutionality of military operation in Tirah Valley, seeks government clarification and relief for IDPs. Peshawar, January 31 The Peshawar High Court sought clarification from the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments regarding a military operation in Tirah Valley, reported Dawn. On Friday, the governments denied approving the operation, with the KP Advocate General stating that no approval was given to the military. The denial from both federal and provincial governments came before a bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprising Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Mohammad Faheem Wali at the hearing of a petition filed by Barrister Saud Javed Dawar, a member of the National Democratic Movement (NDM). The court has directed the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to provide relief to displaced people and summoned IDP representatives on Feb 12. The petitioner, Barrister Saud Javed Dawar, claims that the operation is unconstitutional because it lacks provincial assembly approval under Article 232. Barrister Dawar who appeared along with his counsel Mohammad Yaseen Orakzai sought from the court multiple relief, including declaration that any 'order and action' of launching Tirah military operation was "unconstitutional, unlawful and violative of fundamental rights," reported Dawn. The Peshawar High Court is examining the case, focusing on constitutional provisions (Articles 232 and 245) and relief for displaced persons. The federal government cites Article 245, which empowers it to deploy the armed forces for internal security. The court will review the case, focusing on constitutional provisions and relief for displaced persons, reported Dawn. A single-page reply from the interior secretary was also submitted to the court, stating that the deployment of the armed forces for internal security purposes was governed by Article 245, which empowers the federal government to employ the armed forces in aid of civil power. "The Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control has not initiated, directed, commanded or operationally supervised any such operation, nor has it issued any formal order, directive or requisition in this regard," the interior secretary added. Without the passage of a resolution by the KP Assembly under Article 232 and Parliament's approval, the military operation couldn't be launched, the petitioner reminded the PHC. The ministry explained that the constitutional framework clearly distinguishes between emergency powers under Article 232 and the deployment of forces under Article 245, Dawn reported. "Deployment under Article 245 does not require a proclamation of emergency, a resolution of the provincial assembly or approval of either House of the Parliament. "Matters concerning the protection, rehabilitation, repatriation, financial assistance, health, education, shelter and welfare of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are primarily managed by the Provincial governments, NDMA, PDMA and other relevant civilian departments," the reply said. Over 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled Tirah, a remote region in northwestern Pakistan near Afghanistan, in a military operation against the Pakistan Taliban. The exodus began after mosque loudspeakers urged residents to leave by January 23 to avoid potential fighting, Al Jazeera reported. Military officials maintain they will continue targeted intelligence operations against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). They claim many TTP fighters have found refuge in Afghanistan since the Afghan Taliban's 2021 return to power, with hundreds crossing into Tirah and using residents as human shields during raids. - ANI Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, operating as The Resistance Front, has issued a death threat to counter-terrorism expert Junaid Qureshi for exposing Islamabad's state-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. The encrypted threat, containing non-public details, points to the direct involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. This follows a long pattern of Pakistan-backed terrorist outfits eliminating over 5,000 civilians, journalists, and intellectuals who oppose its proxy war in the region. The incident starkly contrasts Pakistan's public "Kashmir Solidarity Day" propaganda with its intelligence agencies' use of terror groups to silence critical Kashmiri voices. LeT's TRF issues death threat to expert Junaid Qureshi, exposing Pakistan's proxy war and targeting of Kashmiri voices opposing terrorism. New Delhi, Jan 31 While Pakistan's propaganda machinery prepares to stage another so-called annual "Kashmir Solidarity Day" on February 5, its dreaded intelligence agencies continue to work through terror proxies to threaten the elimination of Kashmiri intellectuals who expose Islamabad's state-sponsored terrorism. In the latest development, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) - functioning under a proxy name of The Resistance Front (TRF) - has issued a death threat to well-known counter-terrorism expert Junaid Qureshi, inform sources. The threat was delivered through an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform, using TRF's branding to Qureshi, the Director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS). Calling him a "traitor," the TRF explicitly stated in the message that it would have "no hesitation" in eliminating him. Incidentally, this is the second such threat within six months against people who raise Pakistan's terror connections in the global sphere, exposing Islamabad's involvement in a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. The seriousness of this threat is underscored by the earlier patterns in violence against Kashmiri voices. Between 1989 and 2020, Pakistanbacked terrorist outfits have killed more than 5,000 civilians, journalists, politicians, and intellectuals who opposed its terrorism or stood in support of India. The assassination of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari in June 2018, after repeated threats from Hizbul Mujahideen, remains one stark reminder. More recently, social activist Ghulam Rasool Magray was murdered in Kupwara in April last year by suspected terrorists, further illustrating the pattern. Qureshi, speaking to a media outlet, alleged that Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence (ISI) orchestrated the threat, executed through the LeT and its commander, Sheikh Sajjad Gul. He pointed out that the communication referred to certain sensitive details about a proposed Kashmiri intellectual think tank, where the information is not available on public domain, with details confined only to a limited number of people. Thus, the exercise has a strong indication of the direct involvement of intelligence agencies, he said. Qureshi further underscored how the communication specifically targeted his efforts at dismantling Islamabad's propaganda mechanism on Kashmir and presented such documented instances on global platforms. It is also apparent that his own background contributed to the observation, providing additional sources. He is the son of Hashim Quraishi, one of the hijackers of an Air India aircraft in January 1971. The IC405 plane, flying from Srinagar to Jammu, was hijacked by Hashim and Ashraf Quereshi of the separatist terror organisation Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). They took the aircraft to Lahore, where the then Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, met the hijackers. They were persuaded to release the crew and passengers, who then returned home by road through Amritsar. Islamabad had refused New Delhi's request to fly them back in a replacement plane, and the hijackers had the parked aircraft torched later. However, Junaid Qureshi has consistently rejected his father's ideology, calling the hijacking an act of terrorism - an incident that took place even before he was born. Meanwhile, he has been constantly proving through EFSAS that Pakistan's claim of a "freedom struggle" in Kashmir is actually a statesponsored terror campaign run by the LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen, and JaisheMohammed under the ISI's supervision. Sources have also confirmed that the encrypted account used to issue the threat is operated from Rawalpindi under the direct control of LeT commander Sheikh Sajjad Gul. This account was created on August 24, 2025, under a pseudonym and has been routinely disseminating TRF propaganda, including operational updates and photographs, establishing Islamabad's hand behind the threat. This episode has once again brought to the fore the contradictions in Pakistan's Kashmir narrative. While Islamabad publicly proclaims "Kashmir Solidarity Day" every year, its intelligence agencies continue to deploy terror groups to intimidate, silence, and eliminate Kashmiri voices that challenge Islamabad's narrative within the region and on international fora. - IANS TAIPEI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Nvidia plans to make a "huge" investment into OpenAI, probably its largest ever, CEO Jensen Huang said on Saturday, denying he was unhappy with the ChatGPT maker. The chipmaker in September announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, a deal that would give OpenAI the cash and access it needs to buy advanced chips that are key to maintaining its dominance in an increasingly competitive landscape. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the plan had stalled after some inside the chip giant expressed doubts about the deal. The report said Huang had privately underlined to industry associates in recent months that the original $100 billion agreement was non-binding and not finalised. Huang has also privately criticised what he has described as a lack of discipline in OpenAI's business approach and expressed concern about the competition it faces from the likes of Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google and Anthropic, the WSJ said. Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Huang said it was "nonsense" to say he was unhappy with OpenAI. "We are going to make a huge investment in OpenAI. I believe in OpenAI, the work that they do is incredible, they are one of the most consequential companies of our time and I really love working with Sam," he said, referring to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. "Sam is closing the round (of investment) and we will absolutely be involved," Huang added. "We will invest a great deal of money, probably the largest investment we've ever made." Asked whether it would be over $100 billion, he said: "No, no, nothing like that". It was up to Altman to announce how much he wanted to raise, Huang added. Amazon is in talks to invest dozens of billions in OpenAI and the figure could be as high as $50 billion, Reuters reported on Thursday. OpenAI is looking to raise up to $100 billion in funding, valuing it at about $830 billion, Reuters has previously reported. Huang was speaking outside a Taipei restaurant having hosted all Nvidia's key suppliers in Taiwan, including the world's largest contract chipmaker TSMC, in what Taiwanese media called the "trillion-dollar dinner" because of the combined market capitalisation of those attending. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Editing by Timothy Heritage) The Nationalist Congress Party's legislature members are meeting to elect their new leader, with Sunetra Pawar widely expected to be chosen. This follows the tragic death of her husband, senior leader Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash earlier this week. Party state president Sunil Tatkare expressed hope that Sunetra Pawar would be elected, reflecting the sentiments of the people and party workers. After the election, an official letter will be presented to the Chief Minister for a final decision on the appointment. NCP's legislature party meets to elect Sunetra Pawar as its leader following the death of Ajit Pawar. The decision will be conveyed to the CM. Mumbai, January 31 Nationalist Congress Party's Maharashtra State President Sunil Tatkare said the party's legislature members will hold a meeting on Saturday afternoon to elect the leader of the Legislature Party, with Sunetra Pawar expected to be chosen. After the meeting, NCP members will meet the Chief Minister with an official letter for a final decision. Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday. Speaking to the mediapersons here, Tatkare said, "Our legislature party members will meet at 2 pm today. The Group leader (Leader of Legislature Party) will be elected. We hope that keeping in mind the sentiments of people, Sunetra Pawar will be elected as the leader. After that, NCP members will meet the CM with an official letter and then he will make a decision." He added that NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar, and more details will be shared after today's legislature party meeting. "Today, we saw a video showing the meeting, which took place over tea in Baramati during an agriculture exhibition. After this, Ajit Dada held a press conference and said that discussions were held regarding the local body elections. Ajit Dada himself noted the details of that day when the discussion took place and shared it with the journalists. We will speak to you in detail after today's meeting. NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar," he said. NCP MLA Pramod Hindurao added that all members want Sunetra Pawar to take on the responsibility, after which the process and oath-taking or further formalities will be finalised. "There is a legislative party meeting at 2 PM this afternoon, where all our leaders will make a decision. However, everyone wants Sunetra Pawar to take on this responsibility. After that meeting, the process will be followed, and then the oath-taking ceremony or whatever further program is decided will be finalised. All party workers want Sunetra Pawar to accept this position as soon as possible," Hindurao said. - ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the designation of Patna Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The sites provide critical habitat for hundreds of bird species and endangered animals like chinkara and desert foxes. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the additions, noting India's Ramsar network has expanded from 26 to 98 sites since 2014. The recognition is seen as a milestone in India's efforts to protect vital ecosystems and biodiversity. PM Modi congratulates locals as Patna Bird Sanctuary in UP and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat are declared Ramsar sites, boosting India's wetland conservation. New Delhi, January 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday welcomed the inclusion of Patna Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh's Etah and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat as Ramsar sites. These are wetlands deemed to be of "international importance" under the Ramsar Convention. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites PM Modi hailed the recognition as a milestone in India's efforts to protect wetlands and safeguard biodiversity. Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch, Gujarat, have been added to the Ramsar sites list. These wetlands provide a sanctuary for hundreds of migratory and resident bird species, and are also home to chinkara, wolves, caracal, desert cats, desert foxes, and several endangered species. In a post on X, PM Modi wrote, "Delighted that the Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch (Gujarat) are Ramsar sites. Congratulations to the local population there as well as all those passionate about wetland conservation." "These recognitions reaffirm our commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting vital ecosystems. May these wetlands continue to thrive as safe habitats for countless migratory and native species," the post read. Earlier on Friday, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that Patna Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat have been added to India's Ramsar sites and congratulated the local communities and conservationists for their role in protecting these vital wetlands. "Congratulations Team Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat and the Wetland community! With World Wetlands Day close by, I am delighted to announce that there are two new additions to India's Ramsar growing network. Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch, Gujarat are the new entrants to the coveted Ramsar sites list. This international recognition reflects India's strong commitment to protect our environment and conserve our rich wetlands," Yadav wrote in a post on X. "Hundreds of migratory and resident avian species find their home in the two wetlands, apart from being the habitat of chinkara, wolves, caracal, desert cats and desert foxes besides endangered birds. Under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodiji, Indian Ramsar network has seen an expansion of over 276% - climbing from 26 in 2014 to 98 now," the post read. - ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with foreign ministers and delegations of the Arab League in New Delhi, emphasizing the deep civilizational and people-to-people bonds between India and the Arab world. He outlined a vision for enhanced partnership in critical sectors like technology, energy, trade, investment, and healthcare. The meeting, part of the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, also saw India reiterate its support for the Palestinian people and welcome peace efforts in Gaza. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar highlighted practical cooperation through the India-Arab Cooperation Forum and a shared commitment to counter cross-border terrorism. PM Modi meets Arab League foreign ministers, pledging deeper cooperation in technology, energy, trade, and innovation for mutual progress. New Delhi, January 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday received the foreign ministers and delegations of the Arab League here in the national capital and underlined that enhanced cooperation across sectors like trade, tech and energy will take the partnership to new heights. In a post on X, he called the Arab World a part of India's extended neighbourhood, linked by enduring brotherly ties and commitment to peace and stability. "Delighted to receive the Foreign Ministers and delegations of the Arab League today. The Arab world is a part of India's extended neighbourhood, linked by deep civilisational bonds, vibrant people-to-people connections and enduring brotherly ties, as well as a shared commitment to peace, progress and stability. Confident that enhanced cooperation in technology, energy, trade and innovation will unlock new opportunities and take the partnership to new heights," the Prime Minister said on X. The delegation is in India for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement on Saturday that PM Modi highlighted the deep and historical people-to-people ties between India and the Arab world, which have inspired and strengthened our relations over the years. PM Modi outlined his vision for the India-Arab partnership in the years to come and reaffirmed India's commitment to further deepen cooperation in trade and investment, energy, technology, healthcare and other priority areas for the mutual benefit of our peoples. He reiterated India's continued support to the Palestinian people and welcomed ongoing peace efforts, including the Gaza Peace Plan. He expressed gratitude for the important role played by the Arab League in efforts to achieve regional peace and stability. Earlier today, while delivering remarks at the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, EAM Jaishankar highlighted how the India-Arab Cooperation Forum serves as a platform to give the positive sentiments a practical shape. "Our meeting will examine an agenda for such cooperation in 2026-28. It currently covers energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, human resource development, culture and education, amongst others. India looks forward to a more contemporary dimensions of cooperation being included, such as digital, space, start-ups, innovation, etc. We will also be contemplating working together on counter-terrorism and parliamentary exchanges. I note that we have launched the India-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture yesterday. These activities and initiatives will parallel what is happening in the bilateral domain and reinforce the bonds between us", he said. In his remarks, EAM also highlighted how terrorism is a common threat in both the regions. "Cross-border terrorism is particularly unacceptable because it violates the basic principles of international relations and diplomacy. Societies targeted by terrorism have the right to defend themselves and will understandably exercise it", he said. - ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Punjab on Ravidas Jayanti, paying respects at the revered Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar and interacting with spiritual leader Sant Niranjan Dass. He officially renamed Adampur airport as 'Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Airport' and inaugurated the new terminal building at Halwara Airport in Ludhiana. The visit was preceded by high-level security reviews and a BJP core committee meeting discussing the state's law and order situation. The new terminal at Halwara features green infrastructure and is designed to reflect Punjab's cultural heritage while improving regional connectivity. PM Narendra Modi visits Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar, renames Adampur airport after Guru Ravidas, and inaugurates Halwara terminal. New Delhi, January 31 In an outreach to the Ravidassia Dalit community, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay his respects at Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar during his visit to Punjab on Sunday and interact with the community's head, octogenarian Sant Niranjan Dass Ji. On the eve of Republic Day, the Union government had announced to award Padma Shri to Sant Niranjan Dass (84 years). Here are some glimpses of his previous interactions with PM Modi. PM Modi had marked 2019 Ravidas Jayanti in Kashi in the august presence of Sant Niranjan Dass Ji. Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar is considered one of the most revered sites for the Ravidassia community in Punjab. Sant Niranjan Dass has been a spiritual leader for over 75 years. He established Sarwan Dass Charitable Eye Hospital and Sarwan Dass Model School in Jalandhar. He promoted ideal of 'land without sorrow', preaching that all people live without fear and poverty. Prior to the PM's visit on February 1, Ravidas Jayanti, DGP Gaurav Yadav arrived in Jalandhar to review the security arrangements. A core committee meeting of the BJP was held on Saturday ahead of PM Modi's arrival. BJP Working President and MLA Ashwani Sharma said, "These meetings are a part of the BJP's core system. As you know, Prime Minister Modi is coming tomorrow for Guru Ravidas Jayanti, that we discussed. We also discussed Punjab's law and order situation and security-related issues in the core group meeting." As per the offical release, at around 3:45 PM, the Prime Minister will visit Adampur airport, where he will unveil the new name of the Airport as 'Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Airport, Adampur. He will also inaugurate the Terminal Building at Halwara Airport in Ludhiana, Punjab. Reacting to the core committee meeting held ahead of PM Narendra Modi's arrival, BJP State General Secretary Anil Sarin said, "... Punjab's situation is very critical. Criminal activities have increased in the state. The bomb threat ahead of the PM's visit is a serious issue and raises serious questions about the functioning of the Punjab government..." On the occasion of the 649th Birth Anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidas Ji, the renaming of Adampur Airport honours the revered saint and social reformer whose teachings of equality, compassion, and human dignity continue to inspire India's social ethos. Further advancing aviation infrastructure in the state, the Terminal Building, to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister at Halwara Airport, will establish a new gateway for the State, serving Ludhiana and its surrounding industrial and agricultural hinterland. Located in the Ludhiana district, Halwara is also home to a strategically important Indian Air Force station. The earlier airport at Ludhiana had a relatively small runway, suitable for small-size aircrafts. To improve connectivity and accommodate larger aircraft, a new civil enclave has been developed at Halwara, which has a longer runway capable of handling A320-type aircraft. Aligned with the Prime Minister's vision of sustainable and environmentally responsible development, the terminal incorporates several green and energy-efficient features, including LED lighting, insulated roofing, rainwater harvesting systems, sewage and water treatment plants, and the use of recycled water for landscaping. The architectural design reflects Punjab's rich cultural heritage, offering passengers a distinctive and regionally inspired travel experience. - ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a delegation of Arab Foreign Ministers, emphasizing the deep historic ties between India and the Arab world. He outlined a vision for future partnership, focusing on cooperation in trade, investment, energy, and technology. The Prime Minister also reiterated India's continued support for the people of Palestine and welcomed ongoing peace efforts. Earlier, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held discussions with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on trade and regional issues. PM Modi highlights deep people-to-people ties with Arab world, commits to trade, energy & tech cooperation, and reiterates support for Palestine. New Delhi, January 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday received a delegation of Foreign Ministers of Arab countries, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, and Heads of Arab delegations, who are in India for the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, a statement by the Prime Minister's Office said. Prime Minister highlighted the deep and historic people-to-people ties between India and the Arab world, which have continued to inspire and strengthen our relations over the years. Prime Minister Modi outlined his vision for the India-Arab partnership in the years ahead and reaffirmed India's commitment to further deepen cooperation in trade and investment, energy, technology, healthcare and other priority areas, for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries. Prime Minister reiterated India's continued support for the people of Palestine and welcomed ongoing peace efforts, including the Gaza peace plan. He conveyed his appreciation for the Arab League's important role in supporting efforts toward regional peace and stability, according to the statement. Earlier in the day, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The talks, Jaishankar said, focused on trade, critical minerals and regional developments. In a post on X, he said, "A pleasure interacting with FM Badr Albusaidi of Oman this morning. Our discussions on trade, critical minerals and regional developments reflected the trust and comfort of our Strategic Partnership." Albusaidi landed in New Delhi earlier today for the 2nd India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said that Albusaidi's visit will strengthen the partnership between both nations. In a post on X, he said, "Warm welcome to Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman H.E. Badr Albusaidi to Delhi for the 2nd India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. His visit will further strengthen the multifaceted strategic partnership between India and Oman." India will host the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAFMM) on Saturday. The meeting will be co-chaired by India and the UAE. Foreign Ministers of other Arab League Member States and Arab League Secretary General will participate in the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, a statement by the MEA said. - ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab on February 1 to formally rename the Adampur airport after the revered saint Guru Ravidas. He will also inaugurate the new terminal building at Halwara Airport, which is designed to serve Ludhiana's industrial region with a runway capable of handling larger aircraft. The terminal incorporates sustainable features like rainwater harvesting and energy-efficient lighting. BJP's Punjab President Sunil Jakhar stated the visit is a gesture of respect and should not be viewed through a political lens. PM Narendra Modi visits Punjab to rename Adampur airport after Guru Ravidas and inaugurate the new green terminal at Halwara Airport. New Delhi, January 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab on February 1. As per the offical release, at around 3:45 PM, the Prime Minister will visit Adampur airport, where he will unveil the new name of the Airport as 'Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Airport, Adampur. He will also inaugurate the Terminal Building at Halwara Airport in Ludhiana, Punjab. On the occasion of the 649th Birth Anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidas Ji, the renaming of Adampur Airport honours the revered saint and social reformer whose teachings of equality, compassion, and human dignity continue to inspire India's social ethos. Further advancing aviation infrastructure in the state, the Terminal Building, to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister at Halwara Airport, will establish a new gateway for the State, serving Ludhiana and its surrounding industrial and agricultural hinterland. Located in the Ludhiana district, Halwara is also home to a strategically important Indian Air Force station. The earlier airport at Ludhiana had a relatively small runway, suitable for small-size aircrafts. To improve connectivity and accommodate larger aircraft, a new civil enclave has been developed at Halwara, which has a longer runway capable of handling A320-type aircraft. Aligned with the Prime Minister's vision of sustainable and environmentally responsible development, the terminal incorporates several green and energy-efficient features, including LED lighting, insulated roofing, rainwater harvesting systems, sewage and water treatment plants, and the use of recycled water for landscaping. The architectural design reflects Punjab's rich cultural heritage, offering passengers a distinctive and regionally inspired travel experience. Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party's Punjab President Sunil Jakhar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Dera Ballan on February 1, calling it a significant visit that reflects the Prime Minister's respect for Guru Ravidas and the sentiments of the people of Punjab. Jakhar said the Prime Minister's visit is taking place on a special day when the Union Budget is also being presented, underscoring the importance the Prime Minister attaches to faith and reverence. He described the visit as a message of affection and respect for Punjab and urged leaders of other political parties not to view it through a political lens. He urged that the Prime Minister's visit be viewed through the lens of faith, reverence, and respect, rather than political gain. Jakhar said that the renaming of Adampur Airport as Guru Ravidas Airport had already been announced, and the Prime Minister will now formally implement it during his visit. He added that Prime Minister Modi will also visit the Dera and pay his respects there. According to Jakhar, the move reflects respect for a community which, he claimed, was sidelined or misunderstood by the Congress, and should be seen as an inclusive gesture towards society as a whole. - ANI President Droupadi Murmu greeted citizens on the eve of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, highlighting the saint's message of equality and social justice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab to officially rename Adampur Airport as 'Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Airport'. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the new terminal building at Halwara Airport, boosting regional aviation infrastructure. These events honor the 649th birth anniversary of the revered saint and social reformer. President Droupadi Murmu extends greetings on Guru Ravidas Jayanti. PM Modi to rename Adampur Airport and inaugurate Halwara terminal in Punjab. New Delhi, January 31 President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday greeted fellow citizens on the eve of the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas Ji. In a message, the President said, "On the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas Ji, I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all Indians. Guru Ravidas Ji was a revered saint and social reformer. He conveyed the message of equality, social justice and love through his teachings. By following the path of simplicity and moral discipline, he worked tirelessly to eliminate discrimination based on caste and religion. The teachings of Guru Ravidas Ji will remain relevant and continue to guide us in embracing human values. Let us integrate his teachings into our lives and actively contribute to nation-building." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab on February 1. As per the offical release, at around 3:45 PM, the Prime Minister will visit Adampur airport, where he will unveil the new name of the Airport as 'Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Airport, Adampur. He will also inaugurate the Terminal Building at Halwara Airport in Ludhiana, Punjab. On the occasion of the 649th Birth Anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidas Ji, the renaming of Adampur Airport honours the revered saint and social reformer whose teachings of equality, compassion, and human dignity continue to inspire India's social ethos. Further advancing aviation infrastructure in the state, the Terminal Building, to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister at Halwara Airport, will establish a new gateway for the State, serving Ludhiana and its surrounding industrial and agricultural hinterland. Located in the Ludhiana district, Halwara is also home to a strategically important Indian Air Force station. Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated on Magh Purnima, the full-moon day of the Magh month in the Hindu calendar. - ANI Maharashtra Kesari holds a narrow 3-2 lead over Delhi Dangal Warriors at the halfway point of their Pro Wrestling League 2026 semifinal clash. The tie has seen dramatic momentum swings, with Delhi's Anjli winning convincingly before Maharashtra responded through Manisha Bhanvala's dominant technical superiority victory. Captain Robert Baran extended Maharashtra's lead by maintaining his unbeaten run, while Delhi's Shubham Kaushik staged a last-gasp comeback to keep his team in contention. The outcome will be decided by the remaining bouts, including the ongoing women's 76kg contest. Maharashtra Kesari edges Delhi Dangal Warriors 3-2 in a tense PWL 2026 semifinal. Key wins from Manisha Bhanvala and Robert Baran set the stage. Noida, January 31 Maharashtra Kesari edged ahead 3-2 against Delhi Dangal Warriors at the halfway mark of Semi-final 2 of the Pro Wrestling League 2026, currently underway at the Noida Indoor Stadium. With a place in the final at stake, the opening five bouts delivered high-intensity wrestling and sharp momentum swings, leaving the contest finely poised heading into the second half of the nine-bout tie. Delhi Dangal Warriors made a confident start in the 62kg women's bout as Anjli produced a composed and clinical performance against Dudova Bilyana Zhivkova. Mixing takedowns and push-outs with intelligent mat control, Anjli capped her display with a four-point takedown in the Power Minute to register a convincing 12-4 win and give Delhi the early lead, as per a press release from PWL. Maharashtra Kesari responded immediately through Manisha Bhanvala in the 57kg women's category. Bhanvala dominated from the opening exchanges, forcing cautions and passivity before unleashing a series of takedown-and-turn combinations to overwhelm Karla Godinez Gonzalez 15-0 by technical superiority and level the tie. The momentum swung further in Maharashtra's favour in the heavyweight bout, where captain Robert Baran continued his unbeaten run. After conceding an early activity point, Baran took complete control in the second period, scoring through takedowns, exposures, and a caution--especially during the Power Minute--to defeat Ronak 11-1 and put Maharashtra ahead. Maharashtra extended their advantage in the 53kg women's bout as Nishu Bhanvala edged a thrilling contest against Saarika. Nishu built a strong lead in the first period with a push-out, takedown, and a four-point throw. Saarika mounted a spirited comeback in the second period with two takedowns, including one in the Power Minute, but Nishu held firm to clinch a narrow 7-6 victory. Delhi stayed alive in the semi-final through Shubham Kaushik in the 57kg men's bout. Despite carrying a sore knee, Kaushik produced a dramatic Power Minute turnaround against Atish Thodkar. After trailing late, Shubham executed a four-point exposure followed by a four-point takedown to overturn the bout and secure an 11-10 win, reducing the deficit at the halfway stage. Team score after five bouts: Delhi Dangal Warriors 2 - 3 Maharashtra Kesari The 76kg women's bout between Anastasiya Alpyeeva (Delhi Dangal Warriors) and Harshita Mor (Maharashtra Kesari) is currently in progress, with the remaining bouts set to decide the second finalist of PWL 2026. - ANI Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu met French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot on the sidelines of the Wings India 2026 event in Hyderabad. They discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation in futuristic areas like Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and advanced air mobility to meet growing connectivity demands. Naidu emphasized building a robust aviation skilling and training ecosystem as a key pillar of the India-France partnership. The meeting precedes an expected visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to India in February. Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu meets French counterpart Philippe Tabarot at Wings India 2026, discussing sustainable fuel, air mobility, and skilling ahead of Macron's visit. Hyderabad, January 31 Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu met visiting French Minister for Transport Philippe Tabarot, where they exchanged views on strengthening aerial connectivity to strengthen the long-standing strategic partnership between both countries. The meeting took place on Friday and Naidu emphasised bilateral cooperation on futuristic technologies such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and advanced air mobility to address the challenges of urbanisation and the rapidly growing demand for connectivity. As per reports. French President Emmanuel Macron will visit India in February, with New Delhi set to host the AI Impact Summit. "With India aspiring to become a strong global aviation powerhouse under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, a key pillar of our engagement with France will be the development of a robust aviation skilling and training ecosystem," the Indian minister wrote on X. They met on the sidelines of the Wings India 2026 in Hyderabad. Wings India 2026, a major civil aviation event, is taking place in Hyderabad from 28 to 31 January 2026 at Begumpet Airport. Anchored around the theme "Indian Aviation: Paving the Future - From Design to Deployment, Manufacturing to Maintenance, Inclusivity to Innovation and Safety to Sustainability", Wings India 2026 highlights India's rapidly expanding aviation landscape, its growing global footprint, and its vision to emerge as a key hub for manufacturing, services, innovation and sustainable aviation solutions. Wings India 2026 features an expansive international exhibition, static aircraft displays, flying and aerobatic shows, a high-level international conference, CEO roundtables, B2B and B2G meetings, an aviation job fair, awards ceremony, and vibrant cultural programmes. Delegates and participants from across the world are expected, reinforcing the event's stature as a premier global aviation forum. Prominent domestic and international stakeholders from across the aviation value chain will participate, including airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers, MROs, airport developers, OEMs, technology providers, training institutions and service partners. - ANI Rani Mukerji states she consciously chooses roles that portray Indian women in a powerful and positive light. She believes showcasing the strength of women, from housewives to professionals, is crucial for national empowerment. The actress draws inspiration from the resilient characters she plays, such as Debika in *Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway*. Her goal is to bring these stories of real-life heroes to a global audience. Bollywood star Rani Mukerji discusses her mission to showcase the strength and empowerment of Indian women through her choice of film roles. New Delhi, Jan 31 From portraying a rape survivor in her debut film Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat to playing a resilient woman battling social injustice in Mehendi, a teacher living with Tourette syndrome, a fearless police officer in Mardaani, and a mother who takes on an entire nation for her children in Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway, Rani Mukerji has consistently brought stories of strength and courage to the screen. The Bollywood star says she makes a conscious effort to present Indian women in the best possible light through her choice of roles. "Since the time I started working in this industry, I have always tried to portray Indian women in the best possible light. Whether they are journalists, police officers, teachers or housewives, for me, they are the real heroes, the real Mardaanis. I want to show the entire global audience how special Indian women are, how strong and empowered they are," Rani told IANS. According to her, the empowerment of women is directly linked to the strength of the nation, which is why her film choices have always aligned with this belief. "And when Indian women are empowered, only then can our country truly become strong. That is why my choices have always reflected this belief," she added. Rani emphasised that every Indian woman carries a unique strength within her. "I want to always show Indian women in the best light. I want to show how special Indian women are, because each one of them has a superpower within her, whether she is a housewife, a teacher, a journalist, or a police officer." "I believe they perform their duties beautifully, balance their family lives with grace, and that is the most inspiring aspect of women in uniform and women in positions of power," said the actress. She further spoke about women who navigate everyday life with resilience, continuing to move forward despite the challenges they face. "These are women who go about their daily lives carrying immense strength within them, powering through despite all the challenges thrown their way," said the National Award-winner. As an Indian woman herself, Rani said it is important for her to portray what real Mardaanis and real heroes truly represent. For me, as an Indian woman, it is very important to show what real Mardaanis and real heroes are like, because I am deeply inspired by all of them. I am inspired by every character I have played. Talking about her characters, the actress said she draws inspiration from every role she has played. She cited Debika from Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway as one such character, who fights an entire nation to bring her children back. "These are powerful women, strong women, and they inspire future generations. As an artist, my role is simply to bring them to life so that millions of people across the globe can see what they do," concluded Rani. - IANS Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Saturday that a recent report of friction between his company and OpenAI was nonsense. Huangs comments came after The Wall Street Journal published a story late Friday claiming that Nvidia was looking to scale back its investment in OpenAI. The two companies announced a plan in September through which Nvidia would invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and also build 10 gigawatts of computing infrastructure for the AI company. However, the WSJ said Huang has begun emphasizing that the deal is nonbinding, and that hes also privately criticized OpenAIs business strategy and expressed concerns about competitors like Anthropic and Google. In addition, the WSJ reported that the two companies are rethinking their relationship though that doesnt mean cutting things off entirely, with recent discussions reportedly focusing on an equity investment of a mere tens of billions of dollars from Nvidia. An OpenAI spokesperson told the WSJ that the companies are actively working through the details of our partnership, adding that Nvidia has underpinned our breakthroughs from the start, powers our systems today, and will remain central as we scale what comes next. According to Bloomberg, reporters asked Huang about the report during a visit to Taipei. In response, he insisted that Nvidia will definitely participate in OpenAIs latest funding round because its such a good investment. We will invest a great deal of money, Huang said. I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. Theyre one of the most consequential companies of our time. He apparently declined to specify how much Nvidia would be investing, instead saying, Let [OpenAI CEO Sam Altman] announce how much hes going to raise its for him to decide. The WSJ reported in December that OpenAI is looking to raise a $100 billion funding round, while The New York Times said this week that Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, and SoftBank are all discussing potential investments. Uttar Pradesh's Patna Bird Sanctuary and Gujarat's Chhari-Dhand wetland have been designated as Ramsar sites of international importance. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the recognition, linking it to India's environmental policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. PM Modi hailed the milestone, reaffirming the commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting vital ecosystems. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav also congratulated the local communities and conservationists for their role. Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch designated as Ramsar sites, hailed by PM Modi and CM Yogi as a win for wetland conservation. Lucknow, January 31 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday welcomed the inclusion of Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat as Ramsar sites. He said the recognition reflects India's commitment to environmental conservation and sustainable development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. Ramsar Sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the criteria of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for containing representative, rare or unique wetland types or for their importance in conserving biological diversity. In a post on X, CM Yogi said, "Under the visionary leadership of Hon. PM Shri@narendramodiji, India's commitment to environmental conservation continues to earn global recognition. The inclusion of Patna Bird Sanctuary, Etah (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand, Kutch (Gujarat) as Ramsar Sites reflects a journey of policy, protection and preservation, where ecology and development advance together." "This international honour underscores India's resolve for sustainable stewardship, ecological balance and biodiversity protection. Congratulations to the people of Etah, Uttar Pradesh and all stakeholders dedicated to wetland conservation," the post read. Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch, Gujarat, have been added to the Ramsar sites list. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed the recognition as a milestone in India's efforts to protect wetlands and safeguard biodiversity. In a post on X, PM Modi wrote, "Delighted that the Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch (Gujarat) are Ramsar sites. Congratulations to the local population there as well as all those passionate about wetland conservation." "These recognitions reaffirm our commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting vital ecosystems. May these wetlands continue to thrive as safe habitats for countless migratory and native species," the post read. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav also congratulated the local communities and conservationists for their role in protecting these vital wetlands. - ANI Union Minister Savitri Thakur will lead the Indian delegation at the 64th Session of the UN Commission for Social Development in New York from February 2-10. The session provides a global platform to review progress and exchange best practices on social development priorities. High-level discussions will focus on turning international commitments into national action centered on equity and accountability. India's participation underscores its commitment to multilateral efforts and its push for women-led development, including digital literacy initiatives for rural women. Union Minister Savitri Thakur will lead India at the UN Commission for Social Development session, focusing on social justice, poverty eradication, and women-led development. New Delhi, Jan 31 Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur is expected to visit New York to lead the Indian delegation at the 64th Session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development. The annual event, scheduled to take place from February 2 to 10 in Conference Room 4, UN Headquarters, US, provides a global platform for Member States to review progress, share experiences, and exchange best practices. "India's participation in the 64th session reflects its continued engagement with multilateral efforts on social development and its commitment to constructive dialogue on global social policy priorities," said the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Thakur's visit will also provide an opportunity for interaction with UN agencies and representatives of other Member States on matters related to social development. The Commission for Social Development, a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), focuses on advancing international cooperation on social development issues, including social inclusion, equity, and welfare-oriented policies. The priority theme of the event is "advancing social development and social justice through coordinated, equitable, and inclusive policies. It will also focus on emerging issues such as eradicating poverty and ensuring dignity through resilient care and support systems. High-level discussions at CSocD64 will focus on turning Doha commitments into national action with accountability, participation, and equity at the centre. Thakur also led the Indian delegation at the 63rd session of the CSocD63, held in February 2025. She stated that India is promoting digital and financial literacy among women entrepreneurs in rural areas. "India has embraced 'women-led development', ensuring women are key players in shaping the development trajectory," said Thakur. The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as a crucial opportunity to reset global priorities and strengthen collective action. - IANS The Supreme Court has ruled that access to menstrual hygiene is a fundamental right under the right to life and dignity, issuing mandatory directions to all states and union territories. The court ordered that all schools must provide free sanitary napkins and ensure functional, gender-segregated toilets with proper disposal systems. Public health experts hailed the decision as a landmark step for removing stigma, preventing health risks, and ensuring girls' education is not disrupted. The judgment emphasizes the government's obligation to protect menstrual health and calls for time-bound implementation of these comprehensive measures. Supreme Court declares menstrual hygiene a right to life, orders free pads & toilets in all schools to end stigma and boost girls' education. New Delhi, Jan 31 The Supreme Court's recognition of menstrual hygiene as a right to life is a landmark step for women's dignity and stigma-free education, said public health experts on Saturday. The apex court, on Friday, ruled that access to menstrual hygiene is an integral part of a girl child's right to life, dignity, health, and education. A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, while observing that "a period should end a sentence - not a girl's education," stated that the government bears a positive obligation under Article 21 of the Constitution to protect the right to health, particularly the menstrual health of girl children. The SC also issued a comprehensive set of mandatory directions to all states and UTs (union territories) to ensure free sanitary napkins, functional gender-segregated toilets, and menstrual health awareness in every school across the country. "Menstrual hygiene in schools has been a longstanding problem that requires assertive intervention. By mandating these measures, we are preventing infections, promoting equality, and removing stigma. We are protecting the child's mental health and also reducing absenteeism --essentially ensuring that a natural biological process does not become a barrier to a child's future," Rajeev Jayadevan, Ex-President of IMA Cochin and Convener of the Research Cell, Kerala, told IANS. The 127-page detailed judgment observed that lack of access to menstrual hygiene management (MHM) products forces girls to resort to unhygienic alternatives such as rags or cloth, or use of menstrual absorbents for prolonged periods, which have demonstrably adverse consequences for their health. "Recognising menstrual health as a fundamental right is a landmark step. Free sanitary pads in schools can reduce absenteeism and health risks for girls," Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director Population Foundation of India, told IANS. "But dignity also requires sustainable product choices, safe disposal mechanisms, water and sanitation facilities, and stigma-free education: without these, access alone cannot deliver lasting health or environmental outcomes," she added. Issuing a slew of directions, the Court ordered that all schools - government-run as well as privately managed - must have functional, gender-segregated toilets with usable water connectivity, hand-washing facilities with soap, and infrastructure catering to children with disabilities. On the availability of menstrual absorbents, the top court directed states and UTs to ensure that every school provides oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins free of cost, preferably through vending machines within toilet premises. "Each toilet unit shall be equipped with a covered waste bin for the collection of sanitary material, and cleanliness and regular maintenance of such bins shall be ensured at all times," the apex court said. Dr Ishwar Gilada, a Mumbai-based Consultant in HIV, STIs, and Sexual Health, told IANS that, as ordered by the SC, time-bound implementation, making menstrual health part of sexual health, and making it a shared responsibility, not only that of women, is crucial. "It is not only important to provide free sanitary napkins, but even their safe disposal is equally important. The Ministry of Health need not wait for another follow-up order on 'disposal of sanitary pads'. A vending machine approach, just like it was initiated for condoms, is needed for the hour," Gilada added. - IANS The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi achieved a historic milestone in 2025 by welcoming nearly 6.85 million guests, marking a 4% annual increase. The vast majority of visitors, 82%, were international, with India, China, Russia, and the US being the top source countries. During Ramadan, the mosque distributed over 2.6 million iftar and suhoor meals and hosted hundreds of official delegations, including heads of state. The center also expanded its cultural offerings with new exhibitions, workshops, and immersive experiences to enhance visitor engagement. Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque welcomed nearly 7 million guests in 2025, a record high, with major increases in worshippers, visitors, and iftar meals. Abu Dhabi, January 31 The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre received 6,846,723 guests in 2025, representing a 4 percent increase compared to 2024, and recording the highest annual figure in its history. The number of worshippers reached 1,531,192, including 257,859 who performed Friday (Jumu'ah) prayers, 697,961 who performed daily prayers, and 575,372 who attended during Ramadan and the two Eids. The number of iftar guests reached 898,767, while the number of visitors totalled 4,331,046. Users of the Mosque Promenade reached 85,718. Guests from outside the UAE comprised 82 percent of total visitors, while UAE residents represented 18 percent. Asia topped the list of guests by continent at 49 percent, followed by Europe at 33 percent, North America at 11 percent, Africa and South America at 3 percent each, and Australia at 1 percent. By nationality, India ranked first at 20 percent of total guests, followed by China at 9 percent, Russia and the United States came third at 8 percent each. Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy ranked fourth at 3 percent each, followed by the Philippines and Pakistan at 2 percent each. A total of 55,730 guests joined the cultural tours delivered by the Centre's cultural tour specialists across 4,031 tours. In addition, 21,988 guests were received as part of official delegations, with 1,564 bookings recorded. The Mosque also welcomed 335 high level delegations, including visits by 9 heads of state, 2 vice presidents, 4 state governors and 1 deputy governor, 8 sheikhs and princes, 12 prime ministers and 2 deputy prime ministers, 6 parliamentary speakers and 1 deputy speaker, 78 ministers, 25 deputy ministers, 51 ambassadors and consuls, 3 deputy ambassadors/consuls, one visit by religious denominations, 70 visits from the military sector, and 62 official visits by delegations from various entities. During Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr, the total number of guests reached 1,890,144 (worshippers and visitors). Throughout the holy month and the Eid Al Fitr holiday, 594,236 performed prayers at the Mosque: 193,435 attended Isha and Taraweeh, 195,987 attended Tahajjud, 72,533 marked the 27th night of Ramadan, and 26,025 performed Eid Al Fitr prayer. During the same period, the Mosque received 391,011 visitors. Over the Eid Al Fitr holiday days, total guests reached 122,819, including 57,629 worshippers and 64,959 visitors--reflecting a 10 percent increase compared to 1445H. Through the 'Our Fasting Guests' initiative, the Centre distributed 2,625,568 iftar and suhoor meals, sponsored by the Zayed Humanitarian Legacy Foundation, and delivered in partnership with Erth Hotel. This included 898,767 meals at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque - Abu Dhabi, 442,345 meals at Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Grand Mosque in Al Ain, 1,160,000 meals in labour accommodations in Abu Dhabi, 105,935 meals in various areas across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and 19,000 suhoor meals distributed at the Mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan. Throughout the year, the Centre continued enhancing guests' experiences by developing its cultural tours and diversifying services, including the Souq Al Jami' marketplace. The Centre also strengthened its civilisational presence locally and internationally through initiatives such as 'Minarets of the Two Capitals' in Moscow as part of the Jusoor Programme, and participation in the St. Petersburg International Forum of Religions. The Light & Peace Museum welcomed 47,266 visitors, while Diya - A Universe of Light immersive experience received 45,699 visitors. The Al Jami' Library welcomed 5,930 visitors. The Centre organised a range of cultural activations, including the Australian exhibition 'Boundless Plains', 'Memory of Place' in collaboration with the National Archives and Library, and 'Artistic Features... Inspirations from Light & Peace'. It also delivered 16 cultural workshops involving 14 schools and 331 students, using innovative approaches to introduce them to the richness of Islamic culture. The Centre further advanced its religious and cultural content by publishing 330 episodes across 12 knowledge series, including Kursi Al Jami', Wamda Fiqhiyyah, The Most Beautiful Names of Allah, Minbar Al Jami', Architecture and Arts, Gheras Al Qiyam, and Rare Books and Manuscripts. It launched an audio edition of "Houses of Allah: From the Great Mosque of Kairouan to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque", alongside translated versions in Spanish, French, and Mandarin, in addition to publishing "Light & Peace" in support of the museum's content, and the children's story "Dirat Al Durur wa Al Tawali'", which encapsulates ancestral knowledge. The Centre also continued its pivotal role in the Hijri calendar project, enriching the content of the 1447H edition on scholarly, Sharia, and astronomical foundations. The Centre continued enriching the experiences of worshippers and visitors at its affiliated mosques, with guest numbers in 2025 recording notable growth compared to the previous year. Sheikh Khalifa Grand Mosque in Al Ain welcomed 1,032,320 guests, marking a significant 95 percent increase compared to 2024. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Fujairah received 660,110 guests, achieving a 10 percent increase. Meanwhile, the number of worshippers at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Ras Al Khaimah reached 147,348, reflecting a 35 percent increase compared to 2024. These figures reflect the stature of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque - Abu Dhabi as one of the world's most prominent religious, cultural, and tourism destinations, and its role in supporting Abu Dhabi's cultural and tourism momentum by welcoming millions of guests annually, reinforcing the capital's position as a global destination for civilisational dialogue and tolerance. The Centre achieved advanced positions among the world's leading cultural and historical destinations, according to the travel and tourism platform Tripadvisor. The Mosque ranked 8th globally among the top 25 destinations worldwide, rising two places compared to last year, and maintained 1st place in the Middle East within the list of the region's top ten landmarks. - ANI Siddhant Chaturvedi has shared a deeply personal reflection on his journey from studying to be a chartered accountant to becoming a Bollywood actor. He described years of standing in audition queues and quietly defending his ambition when others gave up. The actor, who debuted in 'Gully Boy', expressed gratitude for now working under the banner of acclaimed director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. His message encourages all dreamers to focus on what they can control and defend their vision. Siddhant Chaturvedi shares emotional journey from chartered accountancy to working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, defending his 'delulu' dream. Mumbai Ja, n 31 Bollywood actor Siddhant Chaturvedi, on Saturday shared a deeply personal note tracing his journey from his CA days to finally working under Sanjay Leela Bhansali's banner. The actor has called it a 'dream he once didn't even dare to speak aloud'. Alongside a throwback picture from his 2008 school farewell, Siddhant reflected on tough yet dedicated years of standing in 'endless audition queues, battling self-doubt and quietly defending his ambition'. In his own emotional words, the actor wrote, "2008, school farewell. never thought what life would hold 18 years later & I'm still chasing...gained some confidence on the way to chase a dream I couldn't even dare to talk about- becoming an actor. in a class full of children wanting to be - engineer, doctor, Astronaut, I quietly hid my feelings wrapped under an answer which was to loud to be shared." He added, "From quitting CA to standing in infinite queues and not giving up to working under Bhansali sir's banner as of today, it's been a journey worth thanking god for... Bohot log judte gaye iss journey mein aur bohoton ne beech raastey bharosa chorr diya...but nothing on them as the weight of my dreams is mine alone which only me and the pillow I sleep on could carry. I have made choices without fear and played each character with submission...still protecting the vision of greatness, some called it arrogance, some called it cocky...I call it 'Defending my ambition'. He added, "This post is for all the dreamers, who sometimes people call -the Delulus... people will love you when it's convenient and leave you when it's tough...but all you can do is to focus on the thing you can control - Defend that Delulu Dream! Toh chalo kahani nahi, itihaas likhte hain..." Siddhant made his Bollywood debut with Gully Boy, earning wide acclaim for his breakout performance, and further went on to star in films like Bunty Aur Babli 2, Gehraiyaan and Phone Bhoot. He will next be seen in the biopic of legendary fiilmmaker V Shantaram. - IANS Nationalist Congress Party MP Sunetra Pawar is set to be sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra today. This decision comes just days after the tragic death of her husband and former Deputy CM, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash. Party spokesperson Rupali Patil Thombare confirmed the move, stating that workers urged Sunetra Pawar to adopt her late husband's dreams and work style. However, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar has said he had no information about the decision, indicating it was driven by other senior leaders in Mumbai. NCP MP Sunetra Pawar, widow of Ajit Pawar, will be sworn in as Maharashtra Deputy CM today, as confirmed by party spokesperson. Mumbai, January 31 Nationalist Congress Party MP Sunetra Pawar and the widow of Ajit Pawar is set to take oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday, party spokesperson Rupali Patil Thombare said. Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash on January 28, after which the Deputy CM post fell vacant. Speaking to ANI, Rupali Patil Thombare said party leaders had urged Sunetra Pawar to decide on the Deputy CM post and emphasised the importance of timing in politics. Thombare said, "Ajit dada's death was very shocking. He is not with us anymore. Sunetra Vahini (Sunetra Pawar) is grieving much more than all of us. She lost her husband all of a sudden. This is the fourth day since his death. We, the workers, have urged Vahini to forget her pain, and adopt Ajit Dada's dreams and work style. For this, she has made a decision for today; she had to." "Timing is very important in politics. People will talk. Those who are speaking for him today used to comment on him when he was alive. Vahini is going to take oath as the Deputy CM today," the NCP Spokesperson said. Meanwhile, all NCP representatives in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will hold a meeting in Mumbai this afternoon. This comes after Maharashtra Minister and senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that the party has decided to give Sunetra Pawar's name for the as the legislative party leader. Bhujbal told reporters, "It was decided among us that we will give Sunetra Pawar's name as legislative party leader." "We went to meet the CM. Praful Bhai (Praful Patel), Tatkare (Sunil Tatkare) I, and Munde (Dhananjay Munde). We also met him (Fadnavis) last night. We asked if everything could be done tomorrow, from the swearing-in ceremony to everything else. The Chief Minister said he had no problem with it," he added. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar, said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy CM. Addressing reporters in Baramati, Sharad Pawar said that NCP Working President Praful Patel and MP Sunil Tatkare took the initiative to decide on the posts that fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." When asked about the haste to make political decisions immediately after Ajit Pawar's death, Sharad Pawar hinted that the decisions were being made by leaders in the Mahayuti government in Mumbai. "If there is a problem in the family, the family stands together. There are no issues in the family... All these discussions are not taking place here; they are happening in Mumbai. Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, and other senior leaders are having these discussions. Whatever is being seen appears to be decisions taken by them. I will not comment on this," he said. On the NCP meeting scheduled today in Mumbai, the NCP-SCP patriarch said, "It's their internal party matter." - ANI Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, has been unanimously elected as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Legislature Party leader. She is set to take oath as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister, succeeding her husband who died in a plane crash. The development occurred as NCP supremo Sharad Pawar stated he was not consulted about her elevation and learned of it through the news. This comes amid revelations that merger talks between NCP factions, led by Ajit Pawar, were nearly finalized before his sudden demise created a leadership vacuum. Sunetra Pawar, wife of late Ajit Pawar, unanimously elected NCP Legislature Party leader, set to become Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister. Mumbai, Jan 31 Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister late Ajit Pawar's wife and Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected on Saturday as the NCP Legislature Party leader. Her name was proposed by party veteran Chhagan Bhujbal and seconded by Dilip Patil and a host of other legislators. The meeting was convened on Saturday, after Sunetra Pawar, who has yet to recover from the deep shock following the sudden and untimely demise of her husband in a plane crash on Wednesday in Baramati, gave her consent to take the responsibility as the Legislature Party leader. She is now set to become the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state as she will take oath in the evening at Lok Bhavan. State NCP chief Sunil Tatkare will send a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis conveying the unanimous election of Sunetra Pawar as the Legislature Party leader. Thereafter, the Chief Minister will communicate to the state Governor about Sunetra Pawar's induction in the Council of Ministers. Sunetra Pawar will resign from the Rajya Sabha as she is set to get elected from the Baramati Assembly seat in due course of time. Tatkare on Friday had dashed off a letter to all party legislators, including 40 from the state Assembly and nine from the state council, to remain present at the legislative party meeting to be held at Vidhan Bhavan. Earlier on Friday morning, a high level NCP delegation met Devendra Fadnavis and discussed a whole range of issues including the appointment of the Legislative Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister. The delegation included party Working President Praful Patel, state unit chief Sunil Tatkare, ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif and former minister Dhananjay Munde. This development took place after a significant leadership vacuum has emerged within both the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Mahayuti government. Meanwhile, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar clarified that he was not consulted regarding Sunetra Pawar's elevation as the Maharashtra Dy CM. "I have had no discussion with Sunetra Pawar regarding this. I only learnt about the swearing-in ceremony through the morning news," he stated at a press conference on Saturday morning. On the merger between the two NCP factions, he confirmed that positive talks regarding reunification took place between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil. He made a sensational claim that the merger was almost finalised and Ajit Pawar was set to formally announce it on February 12. After Sharad Pawar stated that he was not in the know about Sunetra Pawar's election as the Legislature Party leader and elevation as Dy CM, Ajit Pawar's son Parth Pawar along with NCP(SP) legislator Rohit Pawar met Pawar senior and briefed him about these developments. Sharad Pawar clarified that while the talks were happening, he was not directly involved in the negotiations; they were led by Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil. "It was Ajit Dada's wish that both NCPs should come together, and it was our wish as well," he stated. He noted that the sudden demise of Ajit Pawar has now caused a break in these merger discussions. The future course of action will now depend on the leaders of both sides. Sharad Pawar emphasised that the road map was clear saying that for four months, discussions were held to reunite the party. However, with the leader who initiated these talks no longer present, the process faces a significant challenge. - IANS Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, becoming the first woman to hold the post. The oath was administered following the tragic death of her husband, former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state minister Ashish Shelar expressed confidence that she would work for the state's development and fulfil Ajit Pawar's vision. The ceremony was attended by top state leaders including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Sunetra Pawar, widow of Ajit Pawar, takes oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. PM Modi, leaders express confidence she will continue his development vision. Mumbai, January 31 Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar on Saturday expressed confidence that Sunetra Pawar, as Deputy Chief Minister, would continue to work for the development of the state, as late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar used to do. Speaking to ANI, Ashish Shelar said, "We have lost a very big leader of the state. Sunetra Pawar took the oath as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister after a decision by her family, her party, and the NDA. Sunetra Pawar will continue to work for the development of the state, as late Ajit Pawar used to do." Earlier, PM Modi on Saturday congratulated Sunetra Pawar, widow of Ajit Pawar, after she took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister in Mumbai. In a post on X, PM Modi expressed confidence that she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the state's people and fulfil Ajit Pawar's vision. "Best wishes to Sunetra Pawar Ji as she begins her tenure as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the first woman to hold this responsibility. I am confident she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state and fulfil the vision of the late Ajitdada Pawar," PM Modi said. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai. The Deputy CM post fell vacant following the untimely demise of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28 in Baramati. With this, Sunetra Pawar becomes the first woman Deputy Chief Minsiter of Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar passed away when a chartered plane carrying him crashed-landed in Baramati and exploded in flames. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, NCP State President Sunil Tatkare, NCP Working President Praful Patel, and senior NCP leader and Minister Chhagan Bhujbal were also present on the occasion. NCP leaders raised the slogans of "Ahjit Dada amar rahe (long live Ajit Dada) and 'Bharat Mat ki Jai' as Sunetra Pawar took the oath of office. She was elected as the NCP Legislative Party Leader earlier today. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress. In 2010, she founded the Environmental Forum of India (EFOI), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to raising environmental awareness and fostering eco-conscious communities. She has led extensive grassroots campaigns focusing on biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, water resource management, and drought mitigation. - ANI Actor Sunny Deol celebrated the massive success of his film 'Border 2' by sharing a video of himself dancing joyfully and cutting a cake with his team. Director Anurag Singh dedicated a heartfelt post to Deol, praising his legendary presence and warm personality on set. The film, inspired by the 1971 war, has been a box office juggernaut, crossing Rs 257 crore in India within days of its release. The movie also features Varun Dhawan, Ahan Shetty, and Diljit Dosanjh in lead roles. Sunny Deol dances in joy as 'Border 2' hits Rs 257 crore. See his celebration and director Anurag Singh's heartfelt tribute to the actor. Mumbai, January 31 Actor Sunny Deol celebrated the success of his latest film 'Border 2', dancing his heart out with his team. Taking to his Instagram story, Sunny shared a video showing him with his team basking in the success with much joy. In the clip, Sunny along with team could be seen singing to the chorus of "Happy Border" and cutting a cake. Throughout, the actor responded joyfully and danced to mark the moment. Prior to this, director Anurag Singh also dedicated a post for Sunny Deol, expressing his admiration for the actor. "The unseen side of the man with a dhai kilo ka haath and a 5 kilo ka heart. The roar is legendary. But so is the laughter that lights up the set. From the power you bring on screen to the warmth you bring on set - it's been a joy every single day, sir. We love you @iamsunnydeol sir," he wrote, Sunny Deol reshared the same on his Instagram handle and playfully added, "Thank you for exposing me. I love you, Anurag." Earlier this week, the actor shared a special video for his fans, thanking them for loving his latest release. "Aawaaz kahan tak gayi...aapke dilo tak. Aapko meri Border bhaut pasand aayi, thank you very much. Love you all," he said in the clip. What caught fans' attention, however, was the way he ended the video, echoing his father's trademark manner. Border 2, which was released in theatres on January 23, is inspired by the true events of the 1971 India-Pakistan War and showcases how the Army, Navy, and Air Force fight together as one force. It brings Sunny Deol back in uniform once again. Released on January 23, Border 2 has crossed the Rs 200 crore mark within six days. So far, the film has collected Rs 257.50 crore in India. The film also stars Varun Dhawan, Ahan Shetty and Diljit Dosanjh in the lead roles. - ANI Mallika Prasad, the antagonist in 'Mardaani 3', discusses her desire to explore an iconic female villain role, inspired by legendary male villains like Mogambo. She acknowledges that while the industry has more women now, support systems remain stronger for male actors. Prasad recalls a warm welcome from co-star Rani Mukerji on set, praising her powerful legacy. In the film, she plays 'Amma', a merciless leader of a beggar mafia targeting children. Actor Mallika Prasad discusses the iconic female villain role in Mardaani 3, industry support gaps, and her experience with Rani Mukerji. By Nikita Bishay, Mumbai, January 31 Actor Mallika Prasad, the fierce antagonist in Rani Mukherji starrer 'Mardaani 3', opened up about the evolving space for female villains in the industry. Highlighting the growing acceptance of women in negative roles, Prasad, in an interview with ANI, said she had wanted to explore that character type for a while. "I wanted to explore what it is like to be a villain. I'm not unfamiliar with playing characters that are not straight or black and white characters, but I'm always keen to see how people receive characters like this in mainstream work. Sometimes, you don't think of a villain necessarily as a woman. I'm of the generation when 'Mogambo' was the iconic villain of all time. I also think about what it would mean to have a woman play an iconic villain like that," she said. Noting that while audiences and filmmakers have always been open to female-centric stories, Mallika Prasad acknowledged a gap that still exists between male and female performers. "The world has been ready for the feminine for a very long time. I come from a training and experience space where we trust the organic intelligence of audiences, and I don't believe diluting content, an idea necessarily serves your own growth as an artist. It is true that we tend to support failure, but I can't be blind to the fact that if it is a male actor, then the sense of support is higher. There are way too many women now on both sides of the script, the camera and the production," the actor continued. Mallika Prasad, who is seen opposite Rani Mukerji's Shivani Shivaji Roy in the latest 'Mardaani' film, also recalled meeting the actor on the film's muhurat puja. Stating that they had a limited period of shoot schedule together, Prasad spoke highly about Rani's powerful presence and her film legacy. "Mostly, we had different schedules or circumstances and had to work separately. So, there wasn't much that of an interaction on the sets. I remember having a brief interaction with her during the puja. All of us were in a room and she told me 'Welcome to the franchise'. For me, it feels nice to work with strong women like her. For a woman to reach where she is now wouldn't have been easy," she shared about Rani Mukerji. Mallika Prasad is seen as the lead antagonist in the third 'Mardaani' film. As the merciless, evil, and powerful 'Amma', she will be shown as responsible for handling a beggar mafia, mostly targeting child victims. Directed by Abhiraj Minawala and produced by Aditya Chopra, 'Mardaani 3' marks the return of Rani Mukerji as Shivani Shivaji Roy. - ANI Santa Clara-based Nvidia hardly needs an introduction. Once celebrated as the king of gaming graphics, it quietly reinvented itself as the backbone of modern computing. Its GPUs now power data centers, AI, robotics, and immersive digital worlds. The CUDA software platform locked developers into a powerful ecosystem, turning Nvidia into an industry standard rather than a supplier. With a market capitalization of nearly $4.7 trillion, Jensen Huangs company has become the engine of the AI economy. With Nvidia at the center of this AI web, should investors buy this chip stock, hold steady, or step back from NVDA here? For Nvidia, this moment builds on a long and deeply intertwined relationship with OpenAI. The company participated in OpenAIs $6.6 billion funding round in October 2024 and has since committed up to $100 billion to support its massive data-center expansion. In return, OpenAI has agreed to lease millions of Nvidia chips, a deal reportedly valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. Add Nvidia-backed CoreWeave (CRWV) supplying data center capacity to OpenAI while buying Nvidia GPUs and the money flows begin to circle. The timing is no coincidence. Rival Anthropic is already on the verge of raising about $20 billion at a $350 billion valuation, underscoring the rapid pace in which capital is flooding into the race to power next-generation AI. Now, just a month into the new year, Nvidia is making headlines again, with the companys role in the AI boom continuing to evolve. Reports suggest the chipmaker is considering joining OpenAIs latest funding round a massive $50 billion raise that could value the ChatGPT creator at more than $800 billion. Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) are also said to be in the mix, following OpenAI CEO Sam Altmans recent investor discussions in the Middle East. Nvidia Corporations (NVDA) rise has been nothing short of remarkable. What began as a niche graphics chip maker now sits at the heart of modern computing, powering data centers, artificial intelligence (AI) systems, and next-generation vehicles. That success, however, has come with turbulence. After briefly brushing the rare $5 trillion market-cap mark, the stock pulled back as valuation concerns and fatigue around infrastructure spending surfaced. Story Continues Over the past year, shares of the AI chip giant have moved higher in strong bursts, stepping back at intervals to reassess, rather than racing ahead unchecked. That pattern reflects investors who remain broadly confident in the companys long-term position, even as near-term caution sets in. After reaching a high of $212.19 on Oct. 29, the stock pulled back about 9.7%. Even so, it remains up roughly 53.2% over the past 52 weeks, underscoring the strength of the broader trend. From a technical standpoint, the chart suggests consolidation, not deterioration. Momentum has cooled, but it has not broken. The 14-day RSI, which climbed above 80 during Octobers peak, has eased back to 55.35. That reset indicates that earlier excess optimism has been worked off, allowing prices to stabilize rather than slide sharply. Trading volumes have also normalized, reinforcing the view that the stock is pausing, not being aggressively sold. The MACD oscillator offers a measured note of caution. The MACD line has slipped below the signal line, pointing to near-term softness, and the histogram has turned modestly negative. Still, the move lacks sharp acceleration. Overall, the stock appears to be stabilizing after recent gains rather than changing its longer-term direction. www.barchart.com At first glance, NVDA stocks valuation can feel like walking into a room where prices run high. Trading near 42.56 times forward adjusted earnings, it clearly stands above most peers. Yet history softens that sticker shock this multiple sits below Nvidias own long-term average. For a business still delivering strong double-digit earnings growth and elite margins, that premium starts to feel earned. Even more telling, its forward PEG ratio hovers at 1.08, suggesting the price reflects progress, not excess. NVIDIA Beats Q3 Numbers Stepping into Nvidias universe, the exits disappear fast. Once customers build on its chips, software, and networking stack, moving away is not easy, and the numbers prove it. Growth keeps compounding, cash keeps piling up, and the balance sheet stays rock solid. Over the past decade, Nvidias top and bottom lines have accelerated impressively, with revenue rising at a 44% annual clip and earnings climbing at eye-popping 65%. Under Jensen Huangs leadership, Nvidia continues to sustain its pace, with the fiscal Q3 earnings report being another proof point of the companys momentum. Revenue jumped to $57.1 billion, up 62% year-over-year (YOY), while adjusted EPS climbed 60% annually to $1.30 per share, comfortably ahead of expectations. Data centers remained the backbone, growing 66% YOY to $51.2 billion as AI demand stayed relentless. Networking added fresh energy, jumping 162% to $8.2 billion as NVLink, InfiniBand, and Spectrum-X gained traction. Gaming stayed solid with 30% growth, and automotive quietly advanced 32%, showing Nvidias strength is not confined to a single lane. The cash story was just as impressive. Operating cash flow rose to $23.8 billion, free cash flow climbed 65% to $22.1 billion, and Nvidia returned $37 billion to shareholders in the first nine months of fiscal 2026. Even after that, $62.2 billion in buyback authorization remains. The balance sheet showcases strength, with $60.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, long-term debt of just $7.5 billion, and short-term debt under $1 billion. Managements tone matched the numbers. CFO Colette Kress pointed to Blackwell Ultra as the top-selling chip, while CEO Jensen Huang noted cloud GPUs are effectively sold out. NVIDIA is gearing up to release its Q4 report on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The management estimates revenue to be around $65 billion, plus or minus 2%. Meanwhile, analysts tracking Nvidia forecast its Q4 fiscal 2026 revenue to be $65.6 billion, and EPS is anticipated to grow 70.6% YOY to $1.45. For the full fiscal 2026, the bottom line is projected to increase 51.2% annually to $4.43 per share before rising by another 58.9% to $7.04 in fiscal 2027. What Do Analysts Expect for Nvidia Stock? Overall, analysts are bullish about NVDAs growth prospects, giving the stock a consensus rating of Strong Buy. Of the 50 analysts covering the stock, 44 advise a Strong Buy, while three suggest Moderate Buy, two advise a Hold, and only one suggests a Strong Sell. The average analyst price target for NVDA is $254.81, indicating potential upside of 34%. Evercore ISIs Street-high target price of $352 suggests that the stock could rally as much as 85% from here. www.barchart.com www.barchart.com Final Thoughts on NVIDIA Looking at the full picture, NVIDIA remains a business built on scale, execution, and market leadership. Its operating strength and financial position are hard to dispute. Still, the companys growing involvement in large funding rounds, including a possible investment in OpenAI, added a layer of exposure. If OpenAIs long-term plans were to falter, NVIDIA could feel the impact indirectly through capital commitments, demand expectations, or shifts in investor sentiment. At the same time, the stock is not cheap, and recent price action shows the market growing more selective. For existing shareholders, NVDA looks like a stock to hold rather than rush to trade. For new investors, patience may matter as much as confidence. On the date of publication, Sristi Suman Jayaswal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com NCP-SCP leader Supriya Sule visited Asha Pawar, the mother of the late Ajit Pawar, before departing for the Parliament Budget Session in Delhi. Sule stated she sought Asha Pawar's permission to attend the crucial session, citing her role as the party's floor leader. The session begins on February 1, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present the Union Budget. This follows the recent plane crash death of Ajit Pawar and the subsequent oath-taking of his widow, Sunetra Pawar, as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister. NCP leader Supriya Sule visits Asha Pawar before departing for Parliament's Budget Session, where Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget. Baramati, January 31 Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar Supriya Sule, on Saturday, said that she is heading to New Delhi for the Budget Session of Parliament, scheduled to begin on February 1. Prior to her departure, the NCP-SCP leader paid a visit to Asha Pawar, the mother of late Ajit Pawar, at her residence in Katewadi village. Speaking to reporters here, Sule said, "Since the Budget Session is tomorrow, I am going to Delhi. I met Asha Kaki and took her permission, asking whether I should go to Delhi for the Budget Session. She said yes, it's the country's budget, and I should go. As the NCP's floor leader, my presence there is necessary." Regarding Sunetra Pawar's oath-taking ceremony and other questions, she responded with folded hands, "Ram Krishna Hari." NCP leader Supriya Sule will attend the Union Budget 2026-27, to be presented on February 1 in the Parliament. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present a record ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1 (Sunday). On Wednesday, Supriya Sule paid her respects to her late cousin Ajit Pawar, who died after the plane he was travelling in from mumbai crash-landed in Baramati on January 28. The last rites of the 66-year-old Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra was performed with full state honours at Vidya Pratishthan Ground in Baramati. Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash while travelling from Mumbai to Baramati on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Pawar's widow Sunetra Pawar took oath as the state's first woman Deputy Chief Minister at a ceremony in Lok Bhavan in Mumbai. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Maharashtra State President of NCP, Sunil Tatkare, NCP Working President Praful Patel, and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal were also present at the occasion. - ANI AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami stated that numerous industrialists from Tamil Nadu's key manufacturing districts have contacted him to express optimism about the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement. They conveyed strong confidence in the BJP-led central government's ability to continue delivering pro-growth reforms. Palaniswami also highlighted their belief that a future AIADMK government in the state would effectively complement these central initiatives. The landmark trade deal was recently announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside top European Union leaders. AIADMK's Palaniswami says state industrialists confident in BJP-led Centre post India-EU FTA, foresee benefits for Tamil Nadu's trade ecosystem. Chennai, January 31 AIADMK General Secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Saturday said that several industry representatives from Tamil Nadu have contacted him and expressed confidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government after the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement. AIADMK is an alliance partner of the BJP for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Palaniswami said that industrialists have also expressed confidence that the "forthcoming AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu will effectively complement" the central government's initiatives in the state. "In the wake of the historic trade agreement signed between India and the European Union, several industry representatives from Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, and surrounding districts personally contacted me to share their enthusiasm and to explain the far-reaching benefits this agreement will bring to their respective sectors," he said in a post on X. "They expressed firm confidence that the BJP-led Central Government will continue to deliver such growth-oriented reforms, and conveyed their belief that the forthcoming AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu will effectively complement these initiatives by creating a robust, trade-friendly ecosystem in the State," he added. EPS further lauded PM Modi's efforts to make this "Mother of all deals" a reality. "At this historic moment, I extend my heartfelt congratulations and sincere appreciation to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Thiru. Narendra Modi Avl, and the Central Government for their decisive leadership in making this landmark trade agreement a reality," he said. The India-EU FTA was jointly announced on Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Antonio Costa at the 16th India-EU Summit, held during the visit of European leaders to India. The European Union is one of India's largest trading partners, with bilateral trade in goods and services witnessing steady growth over the years. In 2024-25, India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU stood at Rs 11.5 lakh crore (USD 136.54 billion), with exports valued at Rs 6.4 lakh crore (USD 75.85 billion) and imports at Rs 5.1 lakh crore (USD 60.68 billion). India-EU trade in services reached Rs 7.2 lakh crore (USD 83.10 billion) in 2024. - ANI A Muslim wholesale vegetable trader from Cuddalore, Bakki Ram, has made a massive donation of supplies for the Thaipusam festival at the Vallalar Sathya Gnana Sabha in Vadalur. His contribution includes 18 tonnes of vegetables, 100 sacks of rice, and essential groceries for the large-scale community meals serving lakhs of devotees. He has been supporting this Hindu spiritual festival's annadhanam for over two decades, with his expanded gesture this year drawing widespread appreciation. Local leaders hail his act as a powerful symbol of social unity and the enduring communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims in the region. A Muslim trader in Cuddalore donates 18 tonnes of vegetables and groceries for the Thaipusam festival annadhanam, showcasing communal harmony. Cuddalore, January 31 In a powerful reflection of India's enduring communal harmony, a Muslim wholesale vegetable trader from Cuddalore has made a massive donation of food supplies worth several lakhs of rupees to the historic Vallalar Sathya Gnana Sabha at Vadalur, ahead of the Thaipusam Jyothi Darisanam festival. The Vallalar Sathya Gnana Sabha, founded by Saint Ramalinga Adigal (Vallalar), witnesses the grand Thaipusam Jyothi Darisanam festival every year, drawing devotees from across India and several foreign countries. An estimated 3 to 5 lakh devotees visit Vadalur annually to witness the sacred Jyothi Darisanam, and annadhanam (free community meals) is a key spiritual practice during the festival. Continuing his long-standing tradition of service, Bakki Ram, a Muslim wholesale vegetable merchant from Cuddalore town, has once again extended generous support for the annadhanam. This year, his contribution has reached unprecedented levels. The donation included 18 tonnes of vegetables, 100 sacks of rice, essential grocery items required for large-scale cooking, and 7,500 bottles of drinking water. GRK Thambu Durairaj, president of the Cuddalore Chamber of Commerce, applauded the efforts of Bakki Ram, saying that he has been donating essential groceries for the last 20-25 years. He said that his act denotes the communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims of the area. "Due to Vallalar Thaipusam function, our member Bakki Ram, who's a Muslim by birth, has been sending everything, from pickles to vegetables, and whatever groceries are necessary. He has been sending everything for the past 20-25 years to Vallalar Sabha, where 2-3 lakh people have meals, annadhanam is being done, and food is being provided by the government and the presiding officers. His actions relate to the bond between Hindu and Muslim communities here. It shows that we all live together..." he said. The supplies have been sent in advance to meet the needs of devotees attending the festival scheduled on February 1. Bakki Ram has been contributing vegetables for the Sathya Gnana Sabha's annadhanam for several years, but his expanded donation this year has drawn widespread appreciation. His gesture of a Muslim philanthropist supporting a Hindu spiritual institution has been hailed by locals as a shining example of social unity and mutual respect beyond religious boundaries. Meanwhile, in view of the massive influx of devotees for the Thaipusam Jyothi Darisanam, the Cuddalore district administration has declared a local holiday to facilitate the smooth conduct of the festival and ensure public convenience. As Vadalur prepares to welcome lakhs of devotees, Bakki Ram's act of generosity stands out as a reminder that humanity and harmony remain at the heart of Tamil Nadu's cultural fabric. - ANI Trade negotiations between South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick concluded without an agreement, though both sides noted a deeper understanding of positions. The talks followed US President Donald Trump's threat to raise "reciprocal" tariffs and auto duties on South Korea from 15% to 25%. Minister Kim stated the need for more discussions and that negotiations are ongoing, with plans to continue talks via video link. The discussions centered on South Korea's commitment to a $350 billion investment pledge under a bilateral trade deal struck last year. Trade talks between the US and South Korea conclude without agreement after President Trump threatens to raise reciprocal tariffs. Ministers plan further video negotiations. Washington, Jan 31 South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said that his talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over renewed trade tensions ended without reaching a conclusion, but their understanding of each other's positions has "deepened." They met at the Commerce Department in Washington for the second straight day, after U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened on Monday to raise "reciprocal" tariffs and auto duties on Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent, citing a delay in the Asian country's legislative process supporting the implementation of a bilateral trade deal, reports Yonhap news agency. "Our understanding of each other's positions has deepened. There were discussions on how to find a middle ground," Kim told reporters as he walked out of the Commerce Department. "We need more talks. We have not yet reached a conclusion," he added. Asked if there were discussions about when the U.S. will actually raise the tariffs, he refused to elaborate. "Negotiations are ongoing," he said. Kim and Lutnick plan to continue talks via video link after Kim returns home, the minister said. During this week's talks with Lutnick, Kim was expected to underscore Seoul's commitment to fulfilling its investment pledge under the trade deal with Washington that was first struck in late July and finalised months later. Under the deal, South Korea has committed to investing US$350 billion in the United States, among other pledges, in return for the U.S. lowering of reciprocal tariffs on South Korea. US President Donald Trump earlier said that his administration will work "something" out with South Korea after he threatened earlier this week to raise "reciprocal" tariffs and other levies on the Asian ally. "We will work something out with South Korea," he said during a press availability at the White House, responding to a question about whether he would increase tariffs on Korea. On Monday, Trump made the surprise announcement of a plan to increase "reciprocal" tariffs and auto, lumber and pharmaceutical duties on South Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent, taking issue with a delay in Seoul's legislative procedures supporting the implementation of the trade deal. - IANS Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has successfully completed the executive education program "Leadership in the 21st Century" at Harvard Kennedy School. He becomes the first sitting Chief Minister in independent India's history to receive such a certification from an Ivy League institution. During his visit, he also interacted with a group of predominantly Indian students from Harvard Business School, encouraging them to contribute to India's growth. The intensive program, held in freezing temperatures, involved participants from over 20 countries working on global case studies. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy becomes the first sitting Indian CM to complete an executive education program at Harvard Kennedy School. Boston, January 31 Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, along with 62 students, has successfully completed the executive education program "Leadership in the 21st Century" at the Harvard Kennedy School in the United States. The program, which was held from January 25 to 30, saw participants engage in intensive classroom sessions from 7 am to 6 pm daily, braving temperatures as low as -15 to -24 degrees Celsius According to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Reddy received a certificate from the faculty after completing the program. Earlier, Telangana Chief Minister interacted with a group of predominantly Indian students from Harvard Business School during his visit to the Harvard University campus, following an invitation extended by the students. According to the Telangana Chief Minister's Office (CMO), after completing his academic engagements, the Chief Minister engaged in an informal yet insightful discussion, understanding the students' career paths and challenges while sharing his own mantra for success. Highlighting the vision and key features of Telangana Rising, Revanth Reddy encouraged the students to leverage their global networks and talent to contribute to India's growth story and invited them to serve as brand ambassadors for Hyderabad and Telangana, according to the Telangana CMO.CM Reddy is attending the "Leadership: 21st Century" program at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, becoming the first CM in Independent India to enrol for a programme in the Ivy League. According to the release, Reddy is attending the classes in a Harvard programme from January 25 to 31. The CM will be stationed on the Kennedy School campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a class featuring students from over 20 countries across five continents. During the programme, Reddy will attend classes and complete assignments, submit "homework," and participate in group projects alongside fellow global participants. The release said that this programme is chaired by Prof. Tim O'Brien and directed by Prof. Karen Morrissey. The curriculum is designed to analyse case studies from various parts of the world and across different eras of history, with participant groups tasked with solving and presenting solutions in a classroom setting. Upon completion, the Telangana CM will receive a program course certification from Harvard, marking the first time in Indian history that a sitting Chief Minister has achieved such a distinction. - ANI US President Donald Trump indicated Iran is prepared to negotiate to avoid potential American military action, while disclosing a deadline has been set. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Tehran is open to dialogue but only on fair terms, firmly ruling out any negotiation on the country's defensive and missile capabilities. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports the Trump administration is reviewing a broader, more aggressive menu of military options targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure. The exchange occurs amid continued US warnings and a military buildup in the region, with Turkey offering to mediate. Trump says Iran wants a deal as US reviews aggressive military options. Iran's FM sets conditions for talks, ruling out missile negotiations. Washington DC, January 31 US President Donald Trump on Friday indicated that Iran was prepared to enter negotiations to avert potential American military action, even as Tehran maintained that talks cannot proceed under pressure. Addressing reporters at the White House, Trump stated, "They do want to make a deal." He also disclosed that a deadline had been set for Iran to begin discussions, though he did not specify the timeframe. "Hopefully we'll make a deal. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens," Trump added, referencing the deployment of a US naval carrier group near Iran. While Washington signalled readiness for talks, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi outlined Tehran's position, indicating that Iran remains open to dialogue with the United States provided discussions are conducted on fair terms, while firmly ruling out any compromise on the country's defence capabilities. Araghchi said Iran was "ready to begin negotiations if they take place on an equal footing, based on mutual interests and mutual respect", but stressed, "I want to state firmly that Iran's defensive and missile capabilities will never be subject to negotiation." He also made clear that there are currently no plans to meet US officials to restart talks. The exchange comes amid continued warnings from Trump, who has repeatedly raised the prospect of military action if Iran does not comply with American demands, including restrictions on its nuclear programme and missile development. Iran has warned it would respond to any US strike, while Turkey has offered to step in as a mediator between the two sides. Against this backdrop, Trump has recently been briefed on a broader and more aggressive range of possible military actions targeting Iran, reported The New York Times. The proposals are designed to inflict deeper damage on Iran's nuclear and missile infrastructure or to undermine the authority of the country's supreme leader, reflecting a significant escalation in planning compared with options reviewed earlier this month. Officials said the measures now under consideration exceed those examined roughly two weeks ago, when the administration was focused on fulfilling Trump's public commitment to halt the killing of protesters by Iranian government security forces and affiliated militias. Those officials spoke "on the condition of anonymity to discuss potential military plans", citing the sensitivity of internal deliberations, reported The New York Times. The updated menu of options includes scenarios that would place American forces directly on Iranian soil, such as targeted raids against key facilities. Officials noted that the context surrounding these discussions has shifted, as mass protests that swept parts of Iran have been forcefully suppressed, at least for now, by authorities in Tehran. Earlier, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered a stark warning to Iran on Thursday (local time) during a Cabinet meeting, underscoring Trump's forceful military stance as the United States continues to surge warships and air assets across the Middle East amid rising tensions over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Highlighting the seriousness of the threat posed by Iran, Hegseth cautioned Tehran against pursuing nuclear weapons, asserting that "they should not pursue nuclear capabilities, and we will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects of the War Department." His remarks formed part of broader comments on US military readiness and deterrence. To illustrate American capability, Hegseth pointed to the recent capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, describing the operation as unparalleled in scale and execution. "No other military in the world could have executed the most sophisticated, powerful raid--not just in American history--I would say in world history," Hegseth said. He added that the operation reflected the level of authority granted to US forces under the current administration: "No other president would have been willing to empower those warriors that way." Hegseth said such actions are intended to send a clear message about US resolve globally. The developments follow a post by Trump on Truth Social, in which he said a large US naval force, described as a "massive armada" led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, was moving toward Iran. He urged Tehran to return to negotiations and called for an agreement barring nuclear weapons development. "Hopefully Iran will quickly 'Come to the Table' and negotiate a fair and equitable deal - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS," Trump wrote, warning that "time is running out" and that if Iran does not comply, the next attack "will be far worse" than prior strikes. Trump also referenced past US military action, including a June 2025 campaign in which American forces struck multiple Iranian nuclear facilities in coordination with Israel, an operation Washington said significantly set back Tehran's nuclear capabilities. - ANI The DMK government has announced a 125-foot statue of Emperor Raja Raja Chola as the focal point for the upcoming Grand Chola Museum in Thanjavur. Public Works Minister E.V. Velu stated the project is a priority for the Chief Minister and involves studying the construction of Gujarat's Statue of Unity. The museum, budgeted at Rs 56.41 crore, will be built on a 52-acre campus and feature galleries covering the dynasty's history, art, and governance. It will also ceremonially house recovered bronze idols of the king and his queen, Lokamadevi. TN govt plans a 125-foot statue of Raja Raja Chola as the centerpiece of a new Rs 56 crore museum in Thanjavur, celebrating Chola legacy. Chennai, Jan 31 The DMK government has announced plans to install a towering 125-foot statue of Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola at the upcoming Grand Chola Museum in Thanjavur, reaffirming its commitment to honouring iconic figures from Tamil history. Public Works Department (PWD) Minister E.V. Velu said the statue would serve as the centrepiece of the ambitious museum project. According to the minister, the proposed statue will be modelled on the Raja Raja Chola statue that was installed near Sivaganga Park in Thanjavur during the tenure of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. "The Chief Minister is personally particular about this project and wants it executed with historical fidelity and grandeur," Velu said. As part of preparatory work, the minister recently visited Gujarat to study the Statue of Unity, the 597-foot monument dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He noted that the Patel statue's foundation and base were constructed using steel, while the outer structure was built with copper plates. The project, he said, was executed by Larsen & Toubro after the statue was fabricated in China. "We are holding discussions with the same company for the Raja Raja Chola statue as well," Velu added. The Grand Chola Museum is being developed on a sprawling 52-acre site within the Tamil University campus at Thanjavur, at an estimated cost of Rs 56.41 crore. While the Museums Department is overseeing the construction and curation of the museum, the PWD has been entrusted with designing and erecting the statue, envisioned as the museum's primary visual and symbolic attraction. Work on the museum is currently in progress. The project was first announced by Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu in his 2023-24 Budget speech. He said the museum would commemorate the civilisational contributions of the Cholas and act as a repository for art objects, inscriptions, and monuments associated with the era. In addition to the statue, the museum narrative will be enriched by the presence of two small bronze idols of Raja Raja Chola and his queen, Lokamadevi, which were smuggled out of Tamil Nadu and recovered by the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police in 2018 from Ahmedabad. These idols are slated to be ceremonially placed before the deity at the Thanjavur Big Temple on Sathaya Vizha, marking the birth star of the Chola king. The Grand Chola Museum will feature galleries covering the Cholas' historical legacy, Sangam-era roots, religious patronage, administration and governance, architectural excellence, urban planning, water and land management, art and culture - especially Chola bronzes and stone sculptures - as well as society, economy, literature, overseas trade, naval power, and military strength. Together, the statue and the museum aim to present a comprehensive portrait of one of Tamil civilisation's most influential dynasties. - IANS Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated a new Agricultural College and Research Institute in Sivaganga district, constructed at a cost of 61.78 crore. He also launched the TIDEL Neo Park to attract IT investments and a new Government Law College in Karaikudi. The two-day visit involves the inauguration and dedication of projects with a total value of 2,872 crore aimed at regional development. The Chief Minister also distributed welfare assistance, underscoring the administration's focus on inclusive growth. CM M.K. Stalin inaugurates Agricultural College, TIDEL Neo Park, and other projects worth 2,872 crore in Sivaganga district. Chennai, Jan 31 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday inaugurated a new Agricultural College and Research Institute near Karaikudi in Sivaganga district, marking the beginning of a packed two-day visit during which projects worth Rs 2,872 crore are being inaugurated and dedicated to the public. The Agricultural College and Research Institute has been constructed at Kanadukathan, near Karaikudi, at a cost of Rs 61.78 crore. The institution is expected to play a key role in strengthening agricultural education, research, and extension services in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, particularly benefiting students from rural and agrarian backgrounds. Along with the college, the Chief Minister also inaugurated the C. Subrahmaniam Multi-Purpose Hall located within the campus premises. The facility has been designed to host academic events, conferences, farmer training programmes, and community activities, thereby enhancing the overall utility of the institution. As part of his visit to Karaikudi, Stalin also inaugurated the new Government Law College, aimed at expanding access to legal education in the region. In another major boost to the local economy and employment generation, he formally opened the TIDEL Neo Park, which is expected to attract information technology and startup investments to the Sivaganga district and surrounding areas. In addition to inaugurating infrastructure projects, the Chief Minister distributed various welfare assistance benefits to eligible beneficiaries on behalf of the State government, reiterating the administration's commitment to inclusive development and social security. Earlier in the day, upon his arrival in Sivaganga district, Stalin was accorded a warm and enthusiastic reception by DMK functionaries, senior government officials, and members of the public. Supporters lined the roads to welcome the Chief Minister. Officials said the initiatives launched during the visit are expected to significantly contribute to regional development, improve educational opportunities, create employment, and strengthen the economic base of the district. - IANS The Ministry of External Affairs has vehemently dismissed a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2017 Israel visit found in a recently released email from the Epstein files, calling it the "trashy ruminations" of a convicted criminal. The Congress party, however, has seized on the reference, alleging it raises serious questions about judgment and transparency. This comes as the US Department of Justice released a massive batch of over three million pages of investigative material related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The MEA confirmed the official 2017 visit but condemned all other implications in the email. MEA rejects "trashy ruminations" in Epstein email about PM Modi's Israel trip. Congress raises questions as US releases millions of documents. New Delhi, January 31 The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday dismissed the references made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel in 2017 in an email that is purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files. The MEA dubbed the reference as the trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal. "We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel. Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister's official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Earlier, the Congress party had sought to raise the issue of the Prime Minister being named in a purported email that is part of the documents released from the Epstein estate "That India's PM could have a proximity to such a disgraced figure raises serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety. It is now clear that the Prime Minister had a direct unexplained association with Jeffery Epstein whose infamous list of elite clients has wreaked havoc ever since the Epstein files began to be released," alleged Congress leader Pawan Khera. The US Department of Justice on Friday (local time) released a major batch of investigative material linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, making public more than three million pages of records along with over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images. Announcing the disclosures at a news conference, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the release fulfils a transparency mandate passed by Congress last year. "Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act," Blanche said. Epstein died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. He had earlier served 13 months in custody in Florida following a controversial plea deal in 2008. - ANI The Supreme Court has ruled that the right to menstrual health and hygiene is a fundamental right under the Constitution. The verdict mandates that all schools provide free, high-quality sanitary pads and establish proper menstrual hygiene management facilities. Social activist Arunachalam Muruganantham, inspiration for the film 'PadMan', hailed the decision as a historic "true Diwali" for women's health. The bench emphasized that progress is measured by protecting the vulnerable. PadMan Arunachalam Muruganantham hails landmark Supreme Court verdict mandating free sanitary pads and hygiene facilities in all schools. Coimbatore, January 31 Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist who was also the inspiration behind Akshay Kumar-starrer 'PadMan', on Friday hailed the recent Supreme Court verdict regarding menstrual health and hygiene. Muruganantham's statement said the decision was similar to the feeling of Diwali for those involved in menstrual hygiene awareness. "Today feels like a true Diwali for us and for millions of girls and women across India. After 25 years of working on menstrual hygiene awareness, seeing it recognized as a Fundamental Right is an emotional and historic moment. Yes, today Friday, "Landmark Ruling On Women's Health: SC Declares Menstrual Hygiene A Fundamental Right; Mandates Free Sanitary Pads Distribution, Separate Toilets In Schools" India is not just changing -- we are setting an example for the world.", he stated. Expressing his gratitude towards the Supreme Court, PM, and Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, among others for their decision, he stated, "I'm deeply grateful to the Supreme Court for this landmark step, and I appreciate the support from our Prime Minister, Akshay Kumar and the whole team of Padman, and the many silent warriors who stood behind this cause." Highlighting the impact of this verdict, Muruganantham stated, "This victory belongs to every woman who suffered in silence and every person who believed dignity and hygiene are basic human rights." This comes after the Supreme Court held that the right to menstrual health and hygiene forms part of the Right to Life under Article 21 and the Right to Free and Compulsory Education under Article 21A of the Constitution. Thus, it has been directed that all schools in India, whether private or government, in both urban and rural areas, must provide free biodegradable sanitary napkins of the highest safety and hygiene standards to girls. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan noted that all authorities shall also ensure the establishment of menstrual hygiene management facilities in schools. The Court, in its ruling, stated that directions regarding the disposal of sanitary waste have been issued in its detailed judgement (yet to be uploaded on the website). "Before parting with the issue, we want to say that this pronouncement is not just for stakeholders of the legal system. It is also meant for classrooms where girls hesitate to ask for help. It is for teachers who want to help but are not able to due to the lack of resources...Progress is measured by how we protect the vulnerable," Justice Pardiwala observed. Arunachalam Muruganantham is a social activist from Tamil Nadu who introduced low-cost sanitary pads to villages in India. - ANI Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said the company will be participating in OpenAIs latest funding round, describing it as potentially the largest investment weve ever made. We will invest a great deal of money, Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei on Saturday. I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. Theyre one of the most consequential companies of our time. Huang didnt say exactly how much the company might contribute but described the investment as huge. Most Read from Bloomberg Jensen Huang speaks to members of the media as arrives for a dinner event with the companys Taiwanese suppliers in Taipei, Jan. 31.Source: Bloomberg Let Sam announce how much hes going to raise its for him to decide, Huang said, adding that Altman is in the process of closing the round. But we will definitely participate in the next round of financing because its such a good investment. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that a plan that Nvidia had announced in September to invest as much as $100 billion in OpenAI overall had stalled after some inside the chip giant expressed doubts about the deal. Citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, the Journal reported that Huang had privately emphasized that the $100 billion agreement was nonbinding, had privately criticized what he has described as a lack of discipline in OpenAIs business approach and expressed concern about competition. WATCH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke to press in Taipei saying their investment in OpenAI will probably be the largest investment weve ever made.Source: Bloomberg When asked by a reporter in Taipei about the report that seemed to suggest he wasnt very happy with OpenAI, Jensen said, Thats nonsense. Huang said Nvidias contribution to OpenAIs latest funding round wouldnt approach $100 billion. Nvidias massive investment commitment to OpenAI, a key buyer of its advanced AI chips, has stoked concerns about the circular nature of AI deals over the past year. Investors are increasingly questioning how these partnerships in which tech companies are investing in AI businesses that purchase their products may be artificially propping up demand. In a separate such deal, Nvidia recently announced plans to invest an additional $2 billion in CoreWeave Inc., a cloud computing provider thats also a key customer. Why Fears of a Trillion-Dollar AI Bubble Are Growing: QuickTake As part of a letter of intent signed in September, Nvidia said it planned to invest as much as $100 billion in OpenAI to support new data centers and other artificial intelligence infrastructure. The deal was designed to help OpenAI build data centers with a capacity of at least 10 gigawatts of power equivalent to the peak electricity demand of New York City equipped with Nvidias advanced chips to train and deploy AI models. President Donald Trump announced the United States is moving a larger naval force toward Iran to increase pressure during ongoing diplomatic efforts. He confirmed having communicated directly with Iranian leaders, preferring a negotiated outcome but explicitly leaving open the possibility of escalation if talks fail. The deployment, described as a "large armada," is part of a broader US strategy of deterrence in the region, though Trump declined to discuss specific military timelines or rules of engagement. This move occurs amid years of strained relations over sanctions, regional security, and nuclear concerns. President Trump confirms a larger US naval deployment to Iran, aiming to increase pressure while hoping for a deal but preparing for escalation. Washington, Jan 31 President Donald Trump said the United States is moving a larger naval force toward Iran, saying Washington hopes to reach a deal but is prepared for other outcomes if talks fail. Trump said the deployment would be bigger than the US naval presence near Venezuela. He described it as a "large armada, flotilla," and said the move was intended to increase pressure while diplomacy continues. "We're now sending actually a larger number of ships to Iran," Trump said. "Hopefully, we'll make a deal." Asked whether Iran has been given a deadline, Trump declined to specify one. "Only they know for sure," he said. Trump confirmed he has communicated directly with Iran. "Yes, I have," he said, when asked if the message had been delivered to Iranian leaders. He said the United States prefers a negotiated outcome but left open the possibility of escalation. "If we do make a deal, that's good," Trump said. "If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens." In responding to questions, Trump emphasized US military strength while avoiding details about potential action. He said the US has "the most powerful ships in the world" and described the buildup as part of a broader strategy of deterrence. He declined to discuss operational timelines or rules of engagement. "I don't want to talk about anything having to do with what I'm doing militarily," Trump said. The comments came during an Oval Office event focused on domestic celebrations, where Trump fielded wide-ranging questions on foreign policy, defense, and the economy. US-Iran relations have been strained for years over sanctions, regional security, and nuclear concerns. Previous rounds of negotiations have produced limited progress and repeated standoffs. The US has frequently used naval deployments in the region as both a deterrent and a signal during periods of heightened tension, while saying it remains open to diplomatic solutions. - IANS The Ministry of Home Affairs has introduced a new mandate requiring IPS officers to complete a minimum two-year central deputation at the SP or DIG level to qualify for empanelment as Inspector General at the Centre. This rule applies to officers from the 2011 batch onward and is designed to ensure they gain sufficient central government experience before taking on senior leadership roles. Official communications detailing the guideline have been sent to all state Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police for dissemination. The National Informatics Centre has also been asked to publish the notification on the official IPS website. MHA mandates IPS officers from 2011 batch to complete 2 years of central deputation as SP/DIG to be eligible for IG rank empanelment at Centre. New Delhi, January 31 The Ministry of Home Affairs has made it mandatory for Indian Police Service officers to complete a minimum of two years of Central deputation at the rank of Superintendent of Police and Deputy Inspector General, or an equivalent level for empanelment as Inspector General or equivalent at the Centre. The new rule will apply to IPS officers of the 2011 batch onwards. Officials said the move is intended to ensure sufficient Central-level experience before officers are considered for senior leadership positions in the Central government. As per an official communication issued by the MHA on January 28, the IPS officers must complete at least "two years of Central experience at the rank of SP, DIG or equivalent level to be eligible for empanelment as IG or equivalent at the Centre. The new provision will apply to IPS officers of the 2011 batch onwards." The letter has been addressed to all Chief Secretaries of state governments, directing them to bring the revised guideline to the notice of all IPS officers serving in their respective cadres. Copies of the communication have also been forwarded to all Directors General of Police (DGsP) of state governments, Director (SM), Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Union Territory division of MHA, and other senior officials concerned. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been requested to upload the communication on the official IPS website under the "What's New" section. Officials said the move is aimed at ensuring adequate Central-level exposure for IPS officers before their empanelment to senior leadership positions in the Central government. - ANI Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, arrived in New Delhi to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The gathering includes Foreign Ministers from several Arab League member states and the Arab League Secretary General. The meeting aims to build on existing cooperation across priority sectors like economy, energy, and education. This is the highest institutional mechanism for the India-Arab partnership, with the last such meeting held a decade ago in Bahrain. UAE Minister Khalifa Al Marar arrives in New Delhi for the India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meet to strengthen strategic partnerships and regional cooperation. New Delhi, Jan 31 Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, United Arab Emirates' Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Welcoming the UAE leader, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to X and stated: "His visit will further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE." Earlier on Friday, Foreign Ministers of Libya, Eltaher S M Elbaour, Somalia, Abdisalam Ali, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, arrived in New Delhi to participate in the second IAFMM. The MEA extended a warm welcome to the delegates, noting that their visit would help strengthen the bilateral partnership between India and the respective countries. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday, met League of Arab States Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in New Delhi to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two sides across various sectors. Following their talks, EAM Jaishankar posted on X, "A warm meeting with Secretary General, League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit this morning. Had a wide ranging conversation about our cooperation and strengthening it across various domains. Also exchanged views on the recent developments in the region." EAM Jaishankar also held separate meetings with Foreign Ministers of Comoros Mbae Mohamed; Sudan Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim; Libya Eltaher S.M. Elbaour; Somalia Abdisalam Ali; and Palestine's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian. The discussions centred on enhancing the bilateral cooperation and deepening collaboration across several sectors. India is set to host the second IAFMM on Saturday. The meeting, being hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates, will have the participation of Foreign Ministers from other Arab League Member States and the Arab League Secretary General. The IAFMM will be preceded by the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials' Meeting on Friday. The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting is expected to build on existing cooperation and expand the partnership. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after 10 years, as the first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016. During the first Foreign Ministers Meeting, the leaders identified five priority verticals of cooperation - economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. "India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue," the MEA stated. - IANS UAE Minister of State Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar and Qatar's Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi have arrived in New Delhi for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The high-level gathering, co-chaired by India and the UAE, brings together representatives from all 22 Arab League nations after a decade-long hiatus. Discussions will focus on deepening the robust $240 billion trade partnership, with emphasis on energy security, economic cooperation, and cultural ties. The meeting represents the highest institutional mechanism to expand the strategic partnership, which is vital as Arab nations supply the majority of India's LPG, LNG, and crude oil imports. UAE and Qatar ministers arrive for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Delhi, aiming to boost strategic and economic partnerships. New Delhi, January 31 UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, on Saturday arrived in New Delhi for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Randhir Jaiswal, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said that his visit aims to strengthen the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with a focus on mutual interests and cooperation. The meeting provides a platform to discuss regional and global issues, further strengthening bilateral ties. "A warm welcome to H.E. Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE, on his arrival at Delhi, for India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting today. His visit will further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE," he posted on X. Earlier, Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, arrived in New Delhi on Friday for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' meeting. His visit aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between Qatar and India, with a focus on shared interests and cooperation. In a post on X, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said, "Warm welcome to H.E. Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, on his arrival in New Delhi to attend the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' meeting. His visit will further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries." The meeting comes amid growing diplomatic efforts to strengthen India-Arab relations, with a focus on economic, energy, and security partnerships. The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting kicks off today in New Delhi, co-chaired by India and the UAE. This meeting, happening after a decade, brings together 22 Arab nations to boost ties. Key focus areas include economy, energy, education, and culture. India-Arab trade is robust, totalling $240 billion, with hydrocarbons accounting for $107 billion. The Arab League is crucial for India's energy security, accounting for 95% of LPG, 60% of LNG, and 47% of crude oil imports. The partnership spans energy, finance, healthcare, IT, and infrastructure, with 9 million Indians living in Arab nations. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after a 10-year hiatus. The first meeting was held in 2016 in Bahrain. At the first FMM, the Ministers identified five priority verticals of cooperation: economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. The 2nd India-Arab FMM is expected to build on the existing cooperation, expanding and deepening the partnership. The India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed to establish the Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, and was subsequently revised in 2013 to reflect a revised structural organisation. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States. This is the first India-Arab FMM to be hosted by India in New Delhi and will see participation by all 22 Arab countries by Foreign Ministers, other Ministers, Ministers of State and other Senior Officials and the Arab League. - ANI A major technological failure in Ukraine's power grid caused widespread blackouts, leading to emergency power cuts and the suspension of Kyiv's metro service. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal detailed the cascading outage that unloaded nuclear units and triggered automatic protection systems. The incident occurred as President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Ukraine was observing a temporary energy ceasefire with Russia, mirroring a pause in strikes on energy infrastructure. The ceasefire followed a U.S. proposal, with Russia agreeing to suspend such attacks until February 1. A technological failure triggers cascading power outages across Ukraine, halting Kyiv metro and prompting emergency measures during an energy ceasefire. Kyiv, Jan 31 A technological failure has caused widespread power outages across Ukraine on Saturday, said Ukrainian authorities. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram that the incident occurred at 10:42 a.m. local time (0842 GMT) and involved a simultaneous disconnection of the power lines linking the Romanian and Moldovan power systems, as well as the line between the western and central parts of Ukraine. The failure triggered a cascading outage in Ukraine's power grid and the activation of automatic protection systems at substations, Shmyhal said, Xinhua news agency reported. Nuclear power plant units were unloaded, and emergency power outages have been imposed in several regions of Ukraine, he said. In the capital of Kyiv, metro services were suspended due to low voltage, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko. President Volodymyr Zelensky said all necessary response measures in Ukraine's energy system have been put in place while restoration efforts are underway. Earlier, Zelensky had said that Ukraine is prepared to observe an energy ceasefire with Russia that began overnight on Friday, the Ukrinform news agency reported. "Ukraine is ready to mirror the restraint from strikes, and today we did not attack Russian energy facilities," Zelensky said in an evening address. He added that the US had proposed a one-week pause in attacks on energy infrastructure. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to refrain from attacking the Ukrainian capital and other cities for a week due to the severe cold. Earlier on Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia had agreed to suspend strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities until February 1 following Trump's request, according to RBC-Ukraine news outlet. - IANS Economists expect the upcoming Union Budget 2026 to focus heavily on job creation, agricultural development, and support for MSMEs and startups. There is a call for more decentralized investment to benefit small-scale and agro-based industries across all states, not just metropolitan hubs. Concerns are raised about the need for better targeting of welfare schemes to ensure benefits reach the truly needy, converting saved expenditure into productive investments. The budget is also anticipated to address infrastructure, defence, and the green economy while providing potential tax relief. Economists forecast the Union Budget 2026 will prioritize job creation, agricultural development, MSME support, and green economy investments for sustainable growth. Hyderabad, January 31 As the Union Budget 2026 approaches, economists are weighing in on the government's priorities and potential announcements. Osmania University Professor Satish Raikindi also shared his expectations. While speaking to ANI, Raikindi stated that the government of India is likely to prioritise job creation, agricultural development, inclusive manufacturing, and digital transformation. These sectors are expected to drive sustainable growth and development across the country He further stated that the budget might focus on several critical areas, including defence, infrastructure development, such as railways, MSMEs, rural development, and the green economy. These areas are expected to receive significant attention and investment, driving growth and development. He also believes the government may announce measures to address these concerns and provide relief to the common man. Raikindi said, "The present Indian economy plays a vital role, and for sustainable growth, we can look forward with optimism. The government of India is prioritising areas such as job creation, agricultural development, inclusive manufacturing, digital transformation, rural-urban integration, and the green economy. By focusing on these priority sectors, India can achieve sustainable growth nationwide. Every common man is looking forward to relief in tax slabs, affordable housing, healthcare, employment and education. This time, the focus of the Budget might be on defence, infrastructural development such as railway, MSMEs, rural development and green economy." Osmania University Professor M Ramulu also shared his expectations and concerns regarding the upcoming Union Budget 2026. According to Ramulu, the current investment trend in India is tilted towards capital-intensive industries, particularly in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, where growth rates and profits are high. Ramulu emphasised the need for investments to percolate to small sectors such as startups, small-scale industries, and area-based industries. He stated that most investments are currently concentrated in capital cities and metropolitan areas, leading to environmental issues, pollution, and excessive population density. While speaking to ANI, Prof Ramulu said, "Most capital is flowing into capital-intensive industries where growth rates and profits are high, particularly in industrial and manufacturing sectors. These investments should also percolate to small sectors such as startups, small-scale industries, and area-based industries. Currently, most investments are concentrated in capital and metropolitan cities, which creates environmental issues, pollution, and excessive population concentration. I expect that in this budget, investments should be distributed across all states, especially toward agro-based industries, small startup manufacturing units, and decentralised industries, rather than focusing only on large industries." The professor also highlighted the need for a more targeted approach to welfare schemes. "In the name of welfare schemes, benefits are often reaching those who are already economically stable. We are not properly identifying the truly needy people. While 70-80% of the population may be receiving benefits, when poverty is taken into consideration, less than 20% of the poor are actually benefiting. My request is to correctly identify needy individuals and exclude others. Welfare is important, but welfare should not be limited to free rice alone; education and healthcare are being neglected. Identifying the needy will reduce unnecessary expenditure. This saved expenditure can be converted into productive investments, benefiting people more effectively," Ramulu said. On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Ramulu acknowledged its benefits but raised concerns about the distribution of tax revenues. Ramulu suggested that the government should adopt a horizontal approach by reducing tax rates to include more people in the tax net. "GST is a good system because it brings all taxes together, and tax centralisation has its advantages. However, distribution remains a major concern. States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana are demanding a larger share, as the Centre collects a major portion and allocates a smaller share to states, leading to dissatisfaction. Balanced development across all states is essential. Instead of focusing on vertical expansion, the government should adopt a horizontal approach by reducing tax rates to include more people in the tax net. If tax rates are lowered, people will be more motivated to disclose their income voluntarily," he added. Ramulu also addressed the roles of the private sector and the government. "While private education, private institutions, and private companies are expanding, the government sector is declining drastically. The private sector is receiving significant benefits, but these gains are not adequately distributed among the people," he said. He emphasised the need for the government to ensure that profits are reinvested productively. He emphasised the importance of efficient utilisation of resources, rationalisation of welfare schemes, and a more balanced approach to taxation and investment. "If available resources, including human resources, are utilised efficiently, the growth rate will definitely increase," he said. - ANI Investors in virtual digital assets are urging the government to allow them to claim losses in the upcoming Union Budget, as their gains are already taxed at 30%. Rohit Garg of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas highlights that this treatment differs from other capital assets. He also emphasizes the critical need for tax certainty and predictable administration to maintain foreign investor confidence. Furthermore, he points to a massive backlog of tax appeals and advocates for mechanisms to expedite dispute resolution. Investors want to claim VDA losses as gains are taxed at 30%. Expert calls for tax certainty for foreign investors and faster dispute resolution. New Delhi, January 31 In the upcoming Union Budget, investors in virtual digital assets are seeking relief on the taxation framework, particularly the ability to claim losses, even as gains from cryptocurrency remain taxable at 30 per cent under Indian law, Rohit Garg, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, said. "Now, any investor, like you and me, if we are investing in cryptocurrency and earning any gain out of it, that is being taxed at 30 per cent. However, the concern which is being raised by the investor community is, if you are taxing us on the gains, please provide us the benefit of any loss that is being made," Garg said in an interview with ANI in the national capital. Garg said VDA taxation is provided under the Income Tax Act, 1961, and has been carried forward in the new income tax code. He said VDA covers cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and other stablecoins. He added that the need of the hour is that, if India wants to tax and continue to tax such gains and losses -- which are otherwise allowable for other capital assets-- VDA investors should be allowed to claim them as well. Beyond VDA taxation, Garg said the foreign investor community is looking for tax certainty in international taxation. He said India is transitioning to the new Indian Income Tax Act, effective 1 April 2026, and that predictability and certainty should be provided to foreign investors. "Foreign community is definitely looking for tax certainty of late," he said, adding that there have been tax rulings from the Supreme Court of India which have shaken the confidence of the foreign community. Garg said there have been tax rulings from the Supreme Court of India which have "shaken the confidence of the foreign community." He said tax certainty is linked to the tax rate applied and the income tax administration's position on a transaction. He said disputes often take years to settle, with taxpayers litigating up to the Supreme Court before certainty emerges. "What is needed at this stage is that the Indian tax administration should bring out proactively all the circulars, notifications, clarifications, whereby on each and every aspect that impacts the foreign investment should be clarified upfront," Garg said. On trade and investment sentiment, Garg said foreign investors want to invest in India but are seeking tax certainty. He also referred to the India-EU trade deal as a path-breaking agreement, adding that investors want predictability even when there is a tax cost. Speaking on compliance, Garg said geopolitical tensions would neither increase nor reduce the burden of tax compliance for investors in India. Responding to a query on tax litigation, Garg said appeals are increasingly being filed in digital form, but noted that more than 5 lakh appeals are still pending at the first appellate forum, resulting in revenue being stuck. He said the Budget should provide a redressal mechanism to expedite the disposal of appeals and also called for the reintroduction of the income tax settlement commission, which was removed in an earlier budget. - ANI Authorities have intensified security measures at the Rupaidiha border crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district. The Sashastra Seema Bal has installed a Facial Recognition System and Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology to screen individuals and vehicles. The upgrade aims to apprehend suspicious persons and intercept stolen vehicles based on recent intelligence inputs. Simultaneously, the systems are designed to expedite the crossing process for regular border residents. SSB installs Facial Recognition System & ANPR at UP's Rupaidiha border post to nab suspicious individuals, stolen vehicles, and speed up clearance for residents. Bahraich, January 31 Authorities have ramped up checks and frisking, and have installed new technology to nab suspicious individuals and stolen vehicles crossing the India-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich. The aim is to provide tighter security while also expediting clearance for regular border residents, saving time. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has deployed advanced technology, including a Facial Recognition System (FRS) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), at the Rupaidiha checkpost in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich to modernise border surveillance and screen individuals and vehicles along the India-Nepal border, an official said. Ganga Singh Udawat, Commandant of the 42nd Battalion of the SSB, told ANI that authorities have stepped up checks to apprehend suspicious individuals and recover stolen vehicles crossing the border. The official added that the Rupaidiha border with Nepal was on alert after receiving intelligence related to the Republic Day celebrations. "Currently, at the Rupaidiha Trade and Transit Route, all passengers travelling to and from Nepal are being subjected to very thorough checking and frisking. There were some intelligence inputs related to the recent January 26th events. We were already taking measures in response, and my security operations continue around the clock. My force headquarters has installed new systems there... The Facial Recognition System helps me identify unwanted people when they pass by. The Automatic Number Plate Reader prevents stolen and wanted vehicles from crossing the Nepal border... There will be security benefits, and my goal is to further help border residents. Checks for travellers to and from Nepal will be faster, saving time.." The Rupaidiha border is a "key" India-Nepal crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, connecting India to Nepalgunj, a city in Nepal. Originally raised in 1963 in the aftermath of the 1962 India-China conflict, the SSB is one of India's central armed police forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The SSB is primarily tasked with guarding the 2450-kilometre-long Indian border with Nepal and Bhutan, as well as performing internal security duties, conducting anti-smuggling operations, and responding to disasters. Over the decades, the SSB has played a crucial role in maintaining border security, fostering a sense of security among border populations, and supporting civil administration during emergencies. The SSB has also proactively stopped the narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, arms smuggling and infiltration of anti-national elements at the border. The force also plays an important role in making the entire eastern region Naxal-free, in coordination with the Central Reserve Police Force and the local police. - ANI The United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran's Interior Minister and other officials for their roles in the violent suppression of anti-government protests. In a coordinated move, the European Union has formally designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the EU's decision as a "major strategic mistake" that risks fueling regional conflict. The measures are intended to freeze assets, restrict business dealings, and provide European authorities with stronger legal tools to act against IRGC-linked activities. US imposes sanctions on Iranian officials over protest violence as EU designates the IRGC a terrorist organization, marking a major escalation. Washington DC, January 31 The United States on Friday imposed fresh sanctions on Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and several other officials, citing Tehran's violent response to recent anti-government protests. Announcing the measures, the US Treasury Department said Momeni "oversees the murderous Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF), a key entity responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protesters." The sanctions package also targets multiple senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with Iranian investor Babak Morteza Zanjani, who is accused of having "embezzled billions in funds from the Iranian people." In a first-of-its-kind move, Treasury also imposed restrictions on digital currency exchanges connected to Zanjani "that have processed large volumes of funds associated with IRGC-linked counterparties." Despite already maintaining extensive sanctions on Tehran, the United States said it "supports the Iranian people in their protests against the corrupt and repressive regime in Tehran," the agency added. Under US sanctions rules, any assets held within the United States by designated individuals or entities are frozen. The measures also bar American companies and citizens from conducting business with those listed, with violations carrying the risk of further penalties. The US action comes as European Union foreign ministers agreed to designate Iran's IRGC as a terrorist organisation, placing the powerful force in the same category as Islamic State and al Qaeda, The Times of Israel reported. Reacting to the decision, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X, "Repression cannot go unanswered." She added, "Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar described the move as "historic," while an Israeli official said the designation would make it easier to prosecute IRGC members. Momentum for the decision grew following a violent crackdown on nationwide anti-regime protests earlier this month that reportedly killed thousands, according to The Times of Israel. Against this backdrop, Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said, "It's important that we send this signal that the bloodshed that we've seen, the bestiality of the violence that's been used against protesters, cannot be tolerated." France and Italy, previously reluctant, backed the move this week, while Israel welcomed what it called the culmination of years of diplomatic effort. Highlighting Israel's role, Sa'ar wrote on X, "For years Israel has worked toward this outcome, and in recent weeks with even greater intensity," calling the IRGC "the number one force behind the spread of terror and the destabilisation of the region" and saying the decision would curb such activity in Europe while sending "an important message to the men and women of the Iranian people who are fighting for their freedom." Iran reacted sharply to the designation, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi calling it a "major strategic mistake" that would fuel conflict. "Several countries are presently attempting to avert the eruption of all-out war in our region. Europe is instead busy fanning the flames," Araghchi said in a post on X. "After pursuing 'snapback' at the behest of the US, it is now making another major strategic mistake by designating our National Military as a supposed 'terrorist organization,'" he added. From Israel's perspective, the designation carries concrete legal implications. An Israeli official said the move would give the EU stronger tools to act against Iran, noting that authorities would now only need to prove affiliation with the IRGC rather than involvement in a specific terror plot. Assets could also be frozen more easily. Expanding on operational impacts, the official said, "The linkage between law-enforcement bodies within Europe sharing information and cooperating through Europol will be easier," adding that criminal networks would think twice about assisting the IRGC once they realise European agencies are closely watching. Alongside the IRGC listing, the EU also imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and six entities over serious human rights violations in Iran, including senior officials and IRGC commanders. Additional measures targeted organisations linked to censorship and online disinformation, as well as entities associated with Iran's drone and missile programmes, with the bloc extending restrictions on exports of components used in UAV and missile production, The Times of Israel reported. - ANI India has added two new wetlandsPatna Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Gujaratto its list of Ramsar sites of international importance. The announcement was made by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav ahead of World Wetlands Day. The sites provide critical habitat for hundreds of bird species and wildlife like chinkara and desert foxes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the communities, highlighting the government's commitment to preserving biodiversity and vital ecosystems. India adds Patna Bird Sanctuary in UP and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat as Ramsar sites, expanding its network to 98. PM Modi and Minister Yadav applaud conservation efforts. New Delhi, Jan 31 Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav announced the addition of two new wetlands, one each in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, to India's Ramsar network, ahead of World Wetlands Day on February 2, an official said on Saturday. The Minister informed that the newly-recognised Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch district of Gujarat provide habitat to hundreds of migratory and resident bird species. The areas are also home to wildlife such as chinkara, wolves, caracals, desert cats, and desert foxes, as well as endangered birds, he said. India is one of the Contracting Parties to the 'Convention on Wetlands', known as the Ramsar Convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. India became a signatory to the convention on February 1, 1982, said a statement issued by the Environment Ministry. The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty dedicated to the conservation and "wise use" of wetlands through local, national, and international cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed happiness over the recognition for the two wetlands. "Delighted that the Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch (Gujarat) are Ramsar sites. Congratulations to the local community and to all those passionate about wetland conservation. These recognitions reaffirm our commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting vital ecosystems. May these wetlands continue to thrive as safe habitats for countless migratory and native species," he wrote in a social media message. Yadav stated in a post on social media, "With World Wetlands Day close by, I am delighted to announce that there are two new additions to India's Ramsar growing network. Patna Bird Sanctuary in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhari-Dhand in Kutch, Gujarat, are the latest additions to the coveted Ramsar Sites list. This international recognition reflects India's strong commitment to protect our environment and conserve our rich wetlands." Yadav highlighted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's Ramsar network has expanded by over 276 per cent, from 26 sites in 2014 to 98 sites at present. He stated that the international recognition reflects India's strong commitment to protecting the environment and conserving its wetlands. Wetlands of conservation value can be designated as Wetlands of International Importance. These sites are significant because they can serve as models of the nation's commitment to conservation and management under internationally accepted frameworks, the statement said. - IANS Jan 30 (Reuters) - Nvidia's plan to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI to help it train and run its latest artificial-intelligence models has stalled after some inside the chip giant expressed doubts about the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The chipmaker in September announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI in a deal that would have given the ChatGPT maker the cash and access it needs to buy advanced chips that are key to maintaining its dominance in an increasingly competitive landscape. The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the companies are rethinking the future of their partnership, and the latest discussions include an equity investment of tens of billions of dollars as part of OpenAI's current funding round. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has privately emphasized to industry associates in recent months that the original $100 billion agreement was non-binding and not finalized, the report said. Huang has also privately criticized what he has described as a lack of discipline in OpenAI's business approach and expressed concern about the competition it faces from the likes of Alphabet's Google and Anthropic, the WSJ added. "We have been OpenAI's preferred partner for the last 10 years. We look forward to continuing to work together," an Nvidia spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Big Tech companies and investors such as SoftBank Group Corp are racing to forge partnerships with OpenAI - which is spending heavily on data centers - betting closer ties with the startup would give them a competitive edge in the AI race. Amazon is in talks to invest dozens of billions in OpenAI and the figure could be as high as $50 billion, Reuters reported on Thursday. OpenAI is looking to raise up to $100 billion in funding, valuing it at about $830 billion, Reuters has previously reported. (Reporting by Fabiola Aramburo in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Carlos Mendez; Editing by Chris Reese) Prabodh Mohanty, President of the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has expressed optimism for stronger MSME support in the upcoming Union Budget. He highlighted the need for better credit facilities without collateral and schemes to help MSMEs modernize and compete globally. Mohanty also called for the rationalization of mining laws and proactive deregulation of sectors, especially MSMEs. This comes ahead of the Budget presentation, with the Economic Survey projecting resilient growth for India's economy. UCCI President Prabodh Mohanty expects better facilities, collateral-free credit, and deregulation for MSMEs in the Union Budget 2026-27. Bhubaneswar, January 31 Prabodh Mohanty, President of the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has expressed optimism about stronger support for the MSME sector in the upcoming Union Budget. Speaking to ANI on Friday, Mohanty said he is hopeful for improved facilities and new schemes to help MSMEs scale up, modernise, and remain competitive in the global market and stressed the need for easier access to credit without collateral as a key priority. He also called for rationalisation of mining laws and taxes and urged the Centre to take proactive steps to deregulate sectors, particularly MSMEs. "I would expect better facilities and better schemes for MSMEs to scale up, modernise and grow and be competitive in this global order... A better credit facility without collateral is one aspect that will emphasise... We expect some rationalisation of the mining laws and taxes... We also expect the Government of India to take proactive measures to deregulate all sectors, especially the MSME sector, and to exempt the MSMEs from these approvals and clearances, with a validity of at least three to five years," Prabodh Mohanty told ANI. Meanwhile, ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27, set to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, the Centre released the economic survey for the year 2025-26, where India's economic growth remains resilient with strong domestic demand acting as the main anchor, even as the global environment continues to remain fragile. Taking an optimistic view of the economy, the Economic Survey estimated India's potential growth at around 7 per cent. It also projected that India's GDP growth in FY27 is likely to remain in the range of 6.8 per cent to 7.2 per cent, reflecting the economy's medium-term strength supported by reforms and macroeconomic stability. The Survey noted that while global economic conditions remain uncertain and fragile, India's overall outlook continues to be positive. It highlighted that India's growth is holding up better than expected compared to many other economies, although risks remain elevated due to global uncertainties. This year, the Budget presentation falls on a weekend. FM Sitharaman is set to present a record ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1, marking a significant milestone in India's parliamentary and economic history. - ANI Ruling party leaders express strong optimism that the Union Budget 2026-27 will reflect an inclusive vision addressing farmers, youth, women, and the poor, aligning with the goal of a developed India by 2047. They highlight the historic nature of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the budget for the ninth consecutive time as a symbol of women's empowerment. In contrast, opposition leaders from Karnataka and Bihar voice deep disappointment, accusing the central government of neglecting their states' needs and offering only empty announcements. The budget is the third of the Modi government's current term and follows the presentation of the Economic Survey. As FM Sitharaman presents the budget, ruling allies hail its inclusive vision for Viksit Bharat, while opposition leaders from Karnataka and Bihar express disappointment. New Delhi, Jan 31 As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 2026-27 on Sunday, leaders from ruling parties expressed optimism and enthusiasm on Saturday, stating that the budget would reflect an inclusive vision and address the aspirations of farmers, youth, women, industrialists, and the poor. In contrast, Opposition leaders said they had little expectations from the budget, accusing the Centre of neglecting several states. Speaking to reporters, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said that the budget would reflect the government's commitment to inclusive development. "Tomorrow, the country's budget will be presented in Parliament. Through this budget, we will see how an inclusive framework is crafted - one that becomes the voice of farmers, youth, women, industrialists, and the poor. "I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the significant transformations achieved since 2014, including lifting nearly 25 crore people above the poverty line," he said. Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal highlighted the historic nature of the upcoming budget presentation. "Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the ninth-consecutive time. The Prime Minister's vision is to make India a 'Viksit Bharat'. Economic surveys clearly outline parameters such as growth in manufacturing and agriculture's contribution to GDP and the strengthening of overall economic indicators. "As India moves towards becoming the world's third-largest economy, these benchmarks must be ambitious, and the budget will be framed accordingly," he said. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma described the occasion as a symbol of women's empowerment. "What could be a stronger example of women's empowerment than a woman Finance Minister presenting the budget nine times in a row? Prime Minister Modi often speaks about empowering women, and this is a powerful reflection of that vision. While the budget will be presented tomorrow, the Economic Survey has already provided a clear picture of the country's economic direction," he said. Former Cabinet Minister Jai Parkash Dalal said the budget was aimed at achieving the long-term goal of a developed India by 2047. "This budget is meant for the entire country and is designed to move India towards the vision of Viksit Bharat. It considers all sections of society and does not focus on any one group. It will play a vital role in shaping India's future progress," he added. JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said correcting regional imbalances was a key priority of the NDA government. "The unequal distribution of resources has been a major concern, and Prime Minister Modi's government has addressed this through data-driven policies. Bihar has received nearly 3.5 times more central assistance in the last 11 years compared to the Congress era. The last two Union Budgets have given special focus to Bihar and addressed long-pending issues," he said. However, the Opposition remained critical and expressed disappointment ahead of the Union Budget. Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said he had "zero expectations" from the budget. "It has been 12 years, and the Modi government has done nothing substantial for Karnataka. Despite Finance Minister Sitharaman being elected twice from the state, Karnataka has not received any special attention," he said. RJD Spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari echoed similar concerns, particularly for Bihar. "What hope does Bihar have? The state has only received announcements during election periods. There has been no special state status, no special package for Patna University, and no recognition for central universities. Bihar has been repeatedly neglected in successive Union Budgets," he alleged. Meanwhile, after the presentation of the Budget in the Lower House, a copy of the budget will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha. This will be the third Budget of the Narendra Modi government in its third term. - IANS US President Donald Trump stated that a settlement to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict is very close, while acknowledging the deep personal animosity between Presidents Zelensky and Putin complicates efforts. He revealed he personally asked Putin for and secured a one-week halt to attacks on Ukrainian cities due to extreme winter weather. This comes as the Kremlin has invited Zelensky to Moscow for negotiations, signaling a potential diplomatic opening. However, the developments unfold against a backdrop of ongoing violence, with Ukrainian officials reporting fresh casualties from Russian drone attacks. President Trump says a Russia-Ukraine peace deal is near, reveals he secured a temporary ceasefire from Putin, and notes Zelensky-Putin animosity. Washington DC, January 31 US President Donald Trump on Friday noted that progress was being made toward ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while acknowledging that strained relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin continue to make peace efforts "difficult". Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, "Zelensky and Putin hate each other, and it makes it very difficult. But I think we're getting very close to getting a settlement." He added, "I think that we have a good chance of getting it settled." Trump's remarks came a day after he disclosed that he had recently spoken with Putin and requested a temporary halt to attacks on Kyiv and other cities amid extreme winter conditions. "I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. "It was very nice. A lot of people said, 'Don't waste the call, you're not going to get that.' And he did it," he added. Explaining the context of his request, Trump pointed to unusually harsh weather affecting the region. "It's extraordinary. It's not just like cold, it's extraordinary cold. Record setting cold, over there too, they are having the same, it's a big pile of bad weather," he said, drawing a comparison with a cold snap in Washington. Reiterating his remarks, the US President added, "They've never experienced cold like that. And I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week. And he agreed to do that, and I have to tell you, it was very nice." Trump's comments come even as violence continues on the ground. Ukrainian officials on Thursday said three people were killed in an overnight Russian drone attack in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, while Zelensky cautioned that Russia could be preparing for another major assault. These developments are unfolding ahead of planned US-mediated peace talks expected to take place over the weekend. Against this backdrop, Russia has invited Zelensky to Moscow for negotiations aimed at ending the nearly four-year-long conflict, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. The proposal follows last week's first trilateral meeting involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi. Speaking to TASS, Peskov said Moscow is being considered as the potential venue for the discussions. This marks the second consecutive day that senior Kremlin officials have signalled readiness to host Zelensky for peace talks. On Wednesday, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Ukraine's leader would be welcome in Moscow if he agrees to meet. Ushakov also said Russia would ensure Zelensky's security and provide all necessary arrangements for the talks should he accept the invitation, according to Russia Today. - ANI 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. Octopus Energy Group has announced a major joint venture with Chinas PCG Power, marking the UK firms formal entry into the worlds largest clean energy market and significantly expanding the global footprint of British energy software and trading technology. The partnership, unveiled during the UK Prime Ministers official visit to China, will create a new company called Bitong Energy, focused on trading renewable electricity across Chinas fast-growing spot power markets. Octopus founder and CEO Greg Jackson joined the UK business delegation accompanying the visit, underscoring the deals political and economic significance. Bitong Energy combines PCG Powers position as one of Chinas leading investors and solution providers in the commercial and industrial renewable energy sector with Octopus Energys proprietary technology for real-time power trading, optimisation, and asset management. The venture will initially launch in Guangdong province, Chinas most advanced electricity spot market, before expanding nationwide as additional regional markets open. Chinas electricity consumption is expected to rise by roughly one-third over the next five years, driven by industrial growth, electrification, and data center expansion. At the same time, regulators are accelerating power market reforms, with mandates requiring at least 10% of electricity to be traded on spot markets by the end of this year. These changes are creating opportunities for sophisticated trading platforms capable of managing intermittent renewable supply, price volatility, and grid constraints. By 2030, Bitong Energy aims to trade up to 140 terawatt-hours of renewable electricity annuallyroughly equivalent to the UKs current total green power output. The joint venture is targeting annual profits of around 50 million, with approximately half expected to flow back to the UK. Within five years, the partners expect the business to achieve a valuation exceeding 500 million, positioning it as one of the most significant UK clean tech exports to Asia. Beyond power trading, Octopus plans to deploy its software stack to improve the performance and revenue potential of Chinas rapidly expanding fleet of batteries and renewable generation assets. As battery storage becomes increasingly critical to balancing Chinas solar- and wind-heavy grid, optimisation technology is emerging as a key differentiator in power markets. The deal builds on Octopus Energy Groups broader strategy of exporting British energy technology rather than capital-intensive generation assets. The company has pursued similar partnerships globally, leveraging its software to reduce costs for consumers and utilities while accelerating the integration of renewables, electric vehicles, and storage. Ric Treble is a retired forensic chemist, who has studied the development of novel drugs for over thirty years. He provides support to the UKs Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to forensic drug analysis. Dr Caroline Copeland is a senior lecturer in pharmacology and toxicology at Kings College London, and the director of the UKs National Programme on Substance Use Mortality. She heads a research group at Kings aiming to improve healthcare strategies for people who use drugs. In their new Frontiers in Pharmacology article, they examined the impact of national and international legislation on the emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They showed that the most effective legislations for reducing NPS deaths in the UK were those introduced in producer countries, but that this alone does not suffice to reduce drug deaths. The illicit drug trade is international, and different countries have developed different strategies intended to minimize its negative effects, most commonly through controls on, or prohibition of, specified substances. But which approaches to banning substances are actually most effective in reducing harm? The advent of NPS, and the range of subsequent legislative controls introduced by different countries, has created a natural experiment. Using data from the UK's National Programme on Substance Abuse Mortality (NPSUM), our study examines how different national and international control strategies have translated into real-world outcomes within England, Wales, and Northern Ireland by examining NPS deaths. Internationally, there has been a high degree of consistency in drug control. The United Nations (UN) annually reviews and updates the lists of substances (and precursors) named in its drugs conventions, based on recommendations from the World Health Organization's expert committee. All signatory nations of the conventions are then required to incorporate these controls into their national laws. However, this process of problem identification, data compilation, formulation of recommendations, and achieving international consensus followed by national legislation, is inevitably slow. In contrast, the appearance and spread of NPS within drug markets can be incredibly rapid, so there can be significant delays between local identification of issues arising from novel substances and the international introduction of new controls. Beyond international laws In response, some nations have therefore chosen to act sooner, introducing their own national controls in response to local concerns, in advance of, or in addition to, those required by the UN. This means that there is an international patchwork of legislation regarding emerging drug threats, with different substances being controlled in different countries at different times. Whilst challenging for policymakers, this variation provides a valuable opportunity to assess the impact of the application of different nations' controls on particular substances. In the UK, there have been very few examples of the illicit synthesis of NPS and the vast majority of such substances are imported instead, often facilitated by internet trading and 'fast parcel' delivery services. To address the rapid appearance of NPS, the UK's Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) has been supplemented by other measures, such as the introduction of Temporary Class Drugs Orders (2011) and the much broader Psychoactive Substances Act (2016). These measures effectively prevented open sale of NPS via 'head shops' and UK-based websites. However, NPS remained accessible to both individuals and distributors via internet trading and traditional drug distribution networks. The power of foreign legislation Over the period studied, the major sources of NPS in the UK were chemical supply companies based in China. In response to both local and international concerns, China introduced a series of national controls over and above those required by UN scheduling, initially on specifically named substances and, more recently, on whole families of NPS by means of 'generic' controls. When we compared trends in NPS detections within the NPSUM's mortality data with the timing of the UN's international control requirements and the UK's and China's national legislations respectively, a clear pattern emerged: controls implemented in the producing countries were associated with larger reductions in NPS detections in deaths than controls introduced solely within the consuming country. Action at home National legislation within consumer countries is, of course, still essential. It enables national law-enforcement activity, including restricting the import and trafficking supply chain and the implementation of possession offences. However, national legislation and enforcement alone cannot eliminate drug use or its associated harms. For this reason, they must be complemented by wide-ranging harm-reduction strategies. However, legislative controls can also drive unintended consequences. Targeted bans on specific substances often stimulate the development of novel NPS, including the production of new, as yet uncontrolled, variants of substances controlled by name. This pattern has been particularly evident in the case of synthetic cannabinoids, where successive generations of legislation-avoiding substances have continued to appear, prompting the development of ever broader generic controls. However, even generic controls have limits. Where entire families of drugs are prohibited, new drug families which produce similar effects may emerge instead. This dynamic is currently being seen in the case of highly potent synthetic opioids, a particularly concerning cause of drug-related deaths. Broad controls on fentanyl and their pre-cursors have been followed by the appearance of nitazenes and, as controls on nitazenes are being introduced, a new group of potent opioids, the orphines, has begun to appear. These cycles of control and innovation are therefore likely to continue. Early legislative action by consumer countries remains necessary to limit the distribution and harms of newly emerging NPS. The findings of our study also demonstrate the particular effectiveness of prompt action to restrict production within source countries to prevent international distribution. If, as a result of Chinese legislative actions, production of NPS for the illicit drug trade becomes more geographically diverse, action to identify new sources of production and to encourage and support supplier nations to restrict production as soon as practicable will be required. This will present particular challenges if the substances being produced and exported are not perceived to present a threat within the producing country. However, supply-side interventions alone cannot provide a lasting solution: as long as there is sustained demand for psychoactive substances, there will be strong incentives for suppliers to adapt, innovate, and profit. Reducing drug harms will therefore require not only responsive legislation and international co-operation, but also investment in education, prevention, and treatment to address the drivers of demand. Kings researchers will help transform mental health data, clinical trials and industry partnerships as part of the UK Governments Mental Health Goals programme. The Mental Health Goals programme is a UK-wide initiative that will support leading experts to transform mental health research infrastructure and deliver real improvements for people affected by mental health conditions. It will involve combining mental health and biological data, lived experience, industry partnerships and clinical trial methodology. King's researchers will co-lead two of the four programme workstreams with Cardiff University, Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley and University of Oxford. With the new funding, they will: improve access to the UK's world-class mental health research datasets, facilities and expertise; develop the world's largest resource of biological and clinical data for psychosis and severe depression; support alliances between people with lived experience of mental health conditions and industry. This will accelerate the pace at which new mental health treatments can be tested, proven and reach those who need them. The programme is funded by the Government's Office for Life Sciences and delivered by the Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Developing the world's largest dataset for depression Over 10 million of the new funding will support the development of the world's largest nationally representative 'multi-omics' dataset for severe depression, led by Professor Gerome Breen at King's College London, alongside Queens University Belfast and University of Edinburgh. This will run in collaboration with a partner initiative for psychosis led by Professor James Walters at Cardiff University. Multi-omics is the study of multiple biological molecules like DNA, RNA, proteins and metabolites. The project will build on the existing Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) study at King's, which is already a world-first large longitudinal study that has collected tens of thousands of psychological, medical and genetic measures from people with anxiety and depression. King's researchers will recruit an additional 12,000 participants with recurrent, severe major depressive disorder to GLAD, expanding the existing cohort. They will securely collect and integrate multiple types of biological information, including data on the complete human DNA (genome sequencing), which genes are switched on or off (epigenetic profiling), and other biological signals in blood that reveal health or disease (biomarker analysis). These measures will be combined with data from speech-based artificial intelligence, wearable devices and medical records. The new dataset will also integrate data from the Mental Health Mission Clinical Networks, and another 8,000-participant study for psychosis, aiming to include a total of 20,000 individuals. This resource will provide a more comprehensive, data-driven understanding of how our biology links to our mental health, driving the future of personalised treatments and ultimately improving the lives of those affected by these disorders. For the first time we will gather detailed longitudinal assessments and high quality biosamples with voice, digital, genetics, proteomic and other biomarker data. This will give us a more complete picture of depression and its treatments than ever before." Professor Gerome Breen, Professor of Psychiatric Genetics at King's College London and BioResource for Mental Health theme lead at NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre Improving links between research and industry While both large and small companies in pharmaceutical and digital therapeutics are showing renewed interest in working in the UK, progress in developing new mental health treatments remains too slow due to a system that is complex, fragmented and difficult to navigate. A further 14 million of the new funding will allow experts at King's College London, Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley and University of Oxford, in collaboration with Universities of Manchester and Liverpool, to overcome these challenges. They will create a new Industry Alliance Team and Innovative Trials Hub which will streamline industry support into one joined-up, trusted system. The Industry Alliance Team, led by Professor Mitul Mehta at King's, will provide a simple, national point of entry for innovators to get support to access to the UK's high quality mental health research facilities and health data resources such as GLAD and DATAMIND. The Innovative Trials Hub, led by Professor Richard Emsley at King's, will leverage the UK's methodological expertise to provide bespoke support to industry partners to improve how mental health clinical trials are designed and run in the UK, working in partnership with the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership. We are excited to provide bespoke support for industry based on our expertise, the excellent networks and facilities in the UK and new tools to leverage our data resources, making the UK highly attractive for industry collaborations." Professor Mitul Mehta, Professor of Neuroimaging & Psychopharmacology at King's College London and Theme Lead for Experimental Medicine and Novel Therapeutics at NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre Professor Richard Emsley, Professor of Medical Statistics and Trials Methodology and Academic Director of King's Clinical Trials Unit at King's College London and Theme Lead for Trials, Genomics and Prediction at NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, said: "This is a tremendously exciting time for clinical trials in mental health. The UK has a world-leading track record in trials methodology, underpinned by initiatives like the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP). At King's, the IoPPN has established itself at the forefront of mental health clinical trials. This programme builds on that expertise, bringing together the best of our methodological innovation and collaborative spirit to drive forward more effective, personalised treatments for those who need them most." In addition, Dr Sian Rees at Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley and Professor Edward Harcourt at University of Oxford will lead efforts to build new partnerships between patients and industry, ensuring patients have more say in how their data is used and what kinds of treatments are developed, and enhancing trust when working with industry. This new infrastructure will attract industry partnerships and commercial clinical trials to the UK and help get promising treatments to market sooner. Professor Matthew Hotopf CBE, Executive Dean at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London said: "This is an exciting moment for the IoPPN, marking the government's latest investment in the UK's mental health research infrastructure. We are proud to take a leading role in this new initiative." Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi CBE FREng FRS, Vice President (Research & Innovation) at King's College London, said: "We are very pleased that King's has been entrusted to lead two of the four workstreams within the UK Government's Mental Health Goals programme. King's is committed to translating research into impact; these workstreams will strengthen the UK's mental health research infrastructure, datasets and partnerships needed to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of treatments in the years ahead." When the manufacture of plastic products moves into ordinary homes, new health problems arise, including emissions of particles and chemicals. Together with industry, researchers at orebro University are working to increase knowledge and safety in 3D printing. "We often underestimate what we cannot see," says Andi Alijagic, researcher at orebro University, about the safer use of 3D printers. We can't say that 3D printing is inherently bad, but we can't say it's inherently safe either. Our goal is not to halt the use of 3D printers. Rather, we want to contribute to making their use safer by understanding the health effects of the particles and chemicals they emit." Andi Alijagic, docent in biology and researcher in toxicology Millions of people today use 3D printers at home, at school, and in industry. There are many advantages to using 3D printers: less waste, more efficient production, and better-adapted products. "3D printing is an essential technology for sustainable, modern manufacturing. With the right knowledge, monitoring, and regulations, society can benefit greatly from this technology without risking human or environmental health," says Andi Alijagic. In the NanoSafety2 project at orebro University, researchers are collaborating with industry to develop a framework for measuring particle and chemical emissions and assessing their effects on the human body, as well as for making production safer through health and safety instructions, safer materials, and better-designed 3D printing processes. Awareness of the risks is low Few schools have staff who can assess the risks associated with the materials used in their 3D printers. Families who purchase a 3D printer that manufactures plastic parts - whether in the kitchen or living room - rarely have adequate ventilation for its use. "We currently have no way of knowing what long-term effects arise from the use of 3D printers in industry or in the home," explains Andi Alijagic. "Only after long-term measurements and tests will we know more. At the same time, new plastic and metal materials and methods are being developed all the time, which may entail new risks," explains Andi Alijagic. Although there are no specific threshold values for 3D printers, there are guideline values for particles in the working environment. In Finland, such guidelines are already used to assess the risks of particle emissions from various processes, including 3D printing. Scientists at IOCB Prague are uncovering new details of gene transcription. They have identified a previously unknown molecular mechanism by which the transcription of genetic information from deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into ribonucleic acid (RNA) can be initiated. The researchers focused on a specific class of molecules known as alarmones, which are found in cells across a wide range of organisms and whose levels often increase under conditions of cellular stress. The results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology. Molecules of ribonucleic acid can carry a variety of chemical modifications at one end, known as caps. In eukaryotic organisms, including human cells, the best-known cap plays an important role in RNA stability and in regulating its subsequent fate. In recent years, however, it has become clear that alternative, non-canonical RNA caps also exist, although their formation and the mechanisms by which they are attached to RNA remain only partially understood. These include alarmone caps, formed by dinucleoside polyphosphate molecules, that protect cellular RNA at moments when the cell is under threat. In their study, Dr. Hana Cahova and colleagues examined bacterial RNA polymerase and investigated how this enzyme can initiate transcription using dinucleoside polyphosphates (NpNs) instead of the standard RNA building blocks. For the first time, the scientists described, at the atomic level, how RNA bearing an alarmone cap can be generated directly at the initiation of gene transcription. They also observed that NpNs bind through a different type of base pairing than is typically observed. The work was significantly shaped by Valentina Serianni from Hana Cahova's team, who demonstrated the ability of dinucleoside polyphosphates to initiate gene transcription, and by Jana Skerlova, who focused on the structural analysis of RNA polymerase. Using cryogenic electron microscopy data, she showed how dinucleoside polyphosphate molecules bind within the active site of RNA polymerase that is, the core of the enzyme where genetic information is transcribed. Together, their findings help to elucidate the processes that accompany the transcription of genetic information from DNA to RNA. Hana Cahova adds: "We're describing something that truly occurs in cells and that we're now able to observe directly at the level of individual molecules. This allows us to answer fundamental questions about cellular processes, such as how cells adapt to stress. RNA plays a central role in this, as it carries the cascade of information underlying any cellular response for example, to threatening conditions caused by nutrient deprivation or temperature shock." Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) was central to the project. This part of the work was led by Dr. Tomas Kouba, one of the authors of the study. "Cryogenic electron microscopy allows us to freeze biological molecules in a state very close to their natural form and then determine their three-dimensional structure. This makes it possible to look directly into the active centers of enzymes and observe their function down to the atomic level," he explains. Last year, IOCB Prague opened a new cryo-EM center that is unique within the Czech research environment. State-of-the-art cryogenic electron microscopes are housed in a specially designed building and enable the study of biological processes with exceptional structural precision. The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing eminent human and animal virologists from more than 90 Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in over 40 countries dedicated to advancing research, collaboration, and pandemic preparedness, is monitoring reports of a Nipah virus outbreak in India and emphasizes that such cases, while very concerning and serious, are not unexpected or unprecedented. Sporadic Nipah virus infections have occurred almost annually in parts of South Asia, particularly in India and Bangladesh, and do not indicate a new or escalating global threat. Nipah virus is a zoonotic pathogen carried by fruit bats, with human infections typically linked to localized exposure, such as contact with infected animals or contaminated food. Human-to-human transmission can occur but remains rare and usually requires very close contact during acute illness. "Overall, the risk of regional or global spread of Nipah virus is very low," said Professor Linfa Wang, PhD, Director of the GVN Center of Excellence at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. "Similar outbreaks have occurred repeatedly in India and Bangladesh, driven largely by specific cultural and environmental factors rather than sustained human transmission." Countries with strong public-health systems and surveillance capacity are well positioned to mitigate the risk posed by Nipah virus through early detection, clinical awareness, and rapid diagnostics. GVN is monitoring the situation closely through its network of Affiliates and Centers of Excellence, including the Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV) in Kerala, a GVN Affiliate through the Centers of Excellence at University College Dublin and Hokkaido University. Researchers at IAV are engaged in Nipah virus research, surveillance, and development of new diagnostic testing. While there are currently no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments for Nipah virus, promising candidates have shown effectiveness in animal studies. Professor Wang said, "Progress depends on sustained public-good investment and international cooperation." The Global Virus Network underscores that the current outbreak does not represent a global emergency, but it does highlight the ongoing importance of surveillance, diagnostics, and globally connected scientific networks to detect and defend against emerging infectious threats. As COVID-19 testing becomes less routine, official case numbers can make outbreaks look smaller than they really are. A research team led by Professor Michio Murakami has now shown that wastewater surveillance can uncover this "invisible" spread, providing a more objective picture of community infections and offering early warning signs for hospital-acquired cases. Traditionally, public health authorities have relied on data from clinical tests, such as PCR, to monitor infectious disease outbreaks. However, this approach has limitations. When the number of tests performed decreases. For instance, after a change in public health policy or a drop in public concern, the official statistics may no longer reflect the true prevalence of the virus. Infections in asymptomatic individuals or those who do not seek testing go unrecorded, leading to a potential underestimation of the infection risk. The research team compared viral concentrations in wastewater with the number of reported cases and clinical tests conducted in Sapporo, Japan. They found that after COVID-19 was reclassified to a lower alert level in Japan, the number of reported infections diverged significantly from the high viral loads still present in sewage. The study quantitatively confirmed that this disparity was directly attributable to the sharp decrease in the number of clinical tests being performed. This finding indicates that statistics based solely on clinical testing can be misleading. This study underscores the critical importance of a multi-layered surveillance system that does not depend too heavily on clinical testing. Wastewater surveillance offers an objective tool for grasping the overall infection situation in a community. The findings can help strengthen the basis for public health decisions, such as adjusting alert levels, implementing infection control measures in healthcare facilities, and guiding public information campaigns. The research contributes to future public health policy by highlighting a robust method for monitoring infectious diseases, even when testing capacity is limited. A decrease in reported cases doesn't always mean a lower infection risk. Our study uses independent wastewater data to show how a decline in testing can obscure the true scale of an outbreak. Wastewater surveillance offers an objective view of community-wide infection levels, unaffected by changes in testing policies or public behavior. It highlights the need for a multi-layered surveillance system." Professor Michio Murakami, lead author Africas health future hinges on its ability to finance and commercialise its own medical innovations, rather than rely on increasingly uncertain international funding, African science leaders have warned. In a commentary published in Nature Health, the inaugural cohort of the Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship argue that decades of underinvestment have weakened Africas ability to develop clinical solutions to the continents huge disease burden. They say an overreliance on now dwindling international funding has often led to research and development priorities being set by non-African actors. The scientists call for increased national investment to support private-sector led pharmaceutical research and development (R&D), coupled with accountability mechanisms to ensure pledges are met. According to their report, gross domestic expenditure on R&D in Africa averaged just 0.33 per cent in 2023 - despite commitments to invest at least 1 per cent of gross domestic product. Yaw Bediako, chief executive of Yemaachi Biotech and dean of research and innovation at Ashesi University, Ghana, believes strategic investment in product development can translate to significant economic and health gains. [It] can transform youth potential, biodiversity, and scientific ingenuity into innovation, real-world impact, and prosperity for future generations, Bediako, one of the fellows, told SciDev.Net. Established in 2021 with funding from the Gates Foundation, the Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship supports African researchers to advance scientific leadership while collaboratively strengthening research and innovation ecosystems across the continent. The researchers, drawn from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, argue that while national and regional policies have sought to address long-standing health barriers, implementation failures continue to stall progress. They say recent US aid cuts and other global health disruptions demand an urgent new set of Africa-led strategies to build resilient, locally-driven health innovation systems and foster long-term progress. The fellows say reforming procurement and import regulations, fixing weak supply chains and developing African-led research partnerships are essential to moving from knowledge generation to usable health products. Procurement bottlenecks Africa could significantly boost pharmaceutical production, such as vaccines and treatments, with more agile regulations for moving scientific materials across borders, according to the scientists. Procurement bottlenecks and import rules currently delay laboratory work and local manufacturing, they say, despite the COVID-19 pandemic proving that faster systems are possible. Iruka Okeke, professor of pharmaceutical microbiology at Nigerias University of Ibadan and a co-author of the article, says African scientists face unfair market conditions when purchasing materials from global suppliers. Currently we pay more and receive less vendor support, she told SciDev.Net. This might be improved through pooled procurement and enhanced visibility of African scientists to potential vendors that could be accomplished by a virtual observatory. Low-cost policies Okeke believes that this kind of policy reform doesnt need to be costly. Importation rules could be implemented with little financial consequences as specialist scientific materials yield little import duty and most institutions that need them are duty exempt anyway, she explained. Better working conditions and merit-based promotion systems would also strengthen scientists funding prospects, according to Okeke. When researchers are properly supported, they are better placed to secure private-sector and other funding, even amid current shortfalls in external support, she added. Within reach Tom Kariuki, chief executive officer of the Nairobi-based Science for Africa Foundation, says the fellows call aligns with a growing movement across the scientific community demanding delivery-focused, locally grounded reforms. Kariuki, who is not involved in the fellowship, says their call is an invitation to act together, using approaches that are already within reach. Leading academics from universities and research organizations across Europe and America, and companies and SMEs interested in developing foods, supplements and pharmaceuticals targeting pain and inflammation will gather for the Algae4IBD Conference and Industry Summit, taking place at the Conference Center, Teagasc Food Research Center, Ashtown, Dublin 15 from March 4th-6th, 2026. Organized by the Algae4IBD Consortium, of which Teagasc Ashtown are the Irish partners, this event will present findings from Algae4IBD Project that focused on the development and formulation of functional ingredients for health from algae and seaweeds, and their formulation into functional foods/nutraceuticals, pharma, and supplements. The Teagasc Algae4IBD team at Ashtown includes Dr Maria Hayes, Dr Dilip Rai, Dr Dolly Bhati, and Dr Oyenike Olatunji. There are over three hundred different species of seaweeds found in Irish waters currently, and over 20,000 known microalgae. Some, like Kelp, form ocean forests and help to sequester carbon dioxide from the environment, while others are microscopic and provide a source of nutrition to fish and marine species and are also rich in nutrients like Polyunsaturated fatty acids like Omega-3 often found in food supplements. Commenting ahead of the gathering, which will also bring together stakeholders from government organizations and policy makers from Ireland and Europe, Dr. Maria Hayes, Natural Products Chemistry Research Officer in the Teagasc Food Research Center, Ashtown, said: "Seaweeds are a largely untapped Irish resource that could be used to create new products and markets for sectors impacted negatively by Brexit and recent EU quota negotiations for fish. They can be harvested and grown sustainably and could form a key resource for the Irish and European Bioeconomy. "The key focus of the Algae4IBD Project was specifically generation, isolation and characterisation of these ingredients specifically to target pain and inflammation associated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) which affects greater than 3 million people in Europe including over 40,000 people in Ireland. The problem of inflammation is an ever growing one, and is also associated with aging, and the results from the project are also relevant to the development of products to prevent inflammation associated with other metabolic diseases and aging as well as inflammation in animal health." Dr. Maria Hayes, Natural Products Chemistry Research Officer, Teagasc Food Research Center To find out more about the Algae4IBD Conference and Industry Summit, visit here: www.algae4IBD.eu The future of engineering-driven health innovation is currently unfolding at Arizona State University. In the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, a new generation of biomedical entrepreneurs is translating fundamental discoveries into technologies that improve human health. Supported by ASUs innovation ecosystem and the National Institutes of Health, here are three researchers that are bridging the gap between academic research and clinical application through startup ventures born right out of their labs. Associate Professor Jessica Weaver is leading the way in cell therapy innovation through her startup ImmunoShield Therapeutics. The company is developing a hydrogel-based cell-encapsulation platform designed to protect transplanted therapeutic cells from immune system rejection. ImmunoShields approach could transform both regenerative medicine and diabetes treatment. Weaver explains that her companys goal is to make cell-based therapies more accessible by reducing - or even eliminating - the need for long-term immunosuppression, combining biomaterials design with translational immunology to enable safer, longer-lasting treatments. The company emerged directly from Weavers NIH-funded research at ASU, where her lab explores bioinspired materials for cell delivery and tissue regeneration. Fulton Schools biomedical engineering postdoctoral researcher Matthew Becker, a key contributor to translating Weavers concepts into scalable technologies for the market, notes that ImmunoShield grew naturally out of the labs work. At ASU, we have a culture that doesnt just allow but encourages innovation. ImmunoShield is an example of what happens when engineering and translational science come together. Matthew Becker, Fulton Schools biomedical engineering postdoctoral researcher Weaver credits the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineerings entrepreneurial support structure - from collaboration with ASU Skysong Innovations to the Fulton Schools Venture Devils program - for helping her lab navigate early-stage development and patenting. The infrastructure here really empowers faculty and trainees to think like innovators while staying grounded in rigorous science, she says. This story was originally published on Trucking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Trucking Dive newsletter. Estes Express Lines has been expanding its door count, surpassing 13,000 recently and on track to hit 14,000 this year. LTLs have been investing in anticipation of the next upcycle, expanding networks amid a slower manufacturing environment and auctioning of Yellow Corp. properties. The investments have distributed the carriers excess capacity more evenly, where key openings are enhancing service and reliability nationwide, the company said. Every new terminal represents progress more capacity, more reliability, and more opportunities for our people and customers, Webb Estes, president and COO of Estes, said in a statement. Were building for the future of freight, ensuring our network can deliver the speed and dependability todays supply chains demand. In a recent interview with Trucking Dive, Estes noted how characteristics of his company private and debt free helps free the business to look more long-term. In LTL, you dont get to pick it up and deliver it exactly where you want to every time, he said. With excess capacity, Estes said hed argue that youre only as good as your weakest link. So concentrating on bringing elasticity to constrained areas raises the networks health. He noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the companys terminals had excess capacity while other, key areas of Estes network were deeply hit with the demand of one of the biggest freight booms the country has ever seen. In Minneapolis, which is one of Estes busiest areas, the company moved into a larger facility and also found another facility a competitor was moving out of. That provided relief and moved the company toward its mission of providing a top level of service. Additions over the last year targeted very specific areas where there was a specific need, he said. Additions last year, featuring new, relocated and expanded terminals, involved locations across 18 states, the company said in a January news release. Estes terminals in Buffalo, New York, and Tracy, California, are now among the largest in the companys network, operating 171 and 167 doors, respectively, the release noted. The overall result in 2025 was the companys best on-time service numbers, lowest claims ratios ever and best load factor, Estes said. We were able to do all three of those things, and its because a lot of the areas where we were feeling the biggest pinch finally could breathe, Estes said. Similar - yet not the same: Many studies show that patients often struggle to interpret numerical information in medical contexts, especially probabilities related to recovery and side effects. In a recently published Letter in the prestigious journal JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), Professors Tobias Kube (Goethe University Frankfurt) and Winfried Rief (University of Marburg) explain which phrasing can help prevent nocebo effects in communication in outpatient and clinical settings. Is "three out of 100" the same as 3%? Mathematically, yes - psychologically, not necessarily. While the numbers are identical, patients often perceive the two descriptions differently. This is one of the key points highlighted by Prof. Tobias Kube (Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology, Goethe University Frankfurt) and Prof. Winfried Rief, Chair of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Marburg. Rief also serves as deputy spokesperson for the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) "Treatment Expectation," which investigates placebo and nocebo effects; Kube is an associate member of the CRC. One of the CRC's central research questions is how healthcare providers can strengthen placebo effects and avoid nocebo effects through medical communication. Which pitfalls should clinicians avoid when discussing risks, chances of recovery, and side-effect rates during patient consultations? Numbers and numeracy Many people struggle with basic mathematical tasks. In a study of 4,637 adults in the United States, only 34 percent were able to identify the largest value in an unordered sequence of numbers. Brian Zikmund-Fisher, Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity at the University of Michigan, reported this in JAMA in late October 2025. The situation in Germany is likely not fundamentally different. Zikmund-Fisher recommends five clear strategies for presenting numbers in an understandable way and advises against vague verbal descriptors such as "frequent," "very rare," or "unlikely." Without context and comparison, such terms offer little guidance and can amplify fear as well as unintended expectation effects. However, as Kube notes in the recent JAMA commentary, numbers in medical contexts also carry risks. What the U.S. professor did not address in his JAMA article are so-called framing effects. Kube and Rief therefore show that patients can perceive numerically identical test results and probability statements very differently depending on how they are presented. Positive percentages "There is no mathematical difference between saying '90 percent of patients recover from the infection' and '10 percent do not recover,' but the first phrasing emphasizes the high likelihood of a favorable outcome," explains Prof. Tobias Kube (Goethe University Frankfurt). "That is positive framing." The first formulation tends to be reassuring, while the second can provoke anxiety. "That's why we should aim for positive framing in clinical practice - especially when communicating potentially distressing information. In such situations, explanations such as the likelihood that a treatment will work or the probability of severe side effects should be placed in a positive context." The framing effect This "framing effect" describes why we evaluate the same information differently depending on how it is phrased. Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky showed in their early, pioneering work on decision-making that two statements with identical content can trigger very different emotional responses - and therefore different decisions - depending on linguistic framing. The same information can thus be experienced differently in perception, emotional state, and evaluation. This is why wording matters: the brain responds not only to content, but also strongly to emotional tone. Kube goes a step further: "Beyond positive versus negative framing, it also matters whether probabilities are presented as percentages or as frequencies." For example, the statement "one in a hundred will die" often feels far more alarming than "one percent will die." "When communicating medical risks using negative framing, it is often better to use percentages, because patients perceive them more abstractly. That makes it less likely they will immediately imagine themselves as the one person out of a hundred who is affected," advises Prof. Rief (University of Marburg). The recommendation Numbers are a central component of medical communication, but they should be chosen carefully with regard to framing effects. Patients who are highly anxious require special attention and expanded communication. "Highly anxious and very concerned patients should be given a detailed explanation of how these numbers are to be understood," explains Kube. Conclusion Many patients do not fully understand what a doctor has said - or, more importantly, what was meant - during consultations. Effective health communication primarily requires time - and that time is often lacking in clinical practice." Prof. Ulrike Bingel, neurologistHead of University Pain Medicine at Universitatsmedizin Essen and spokesperson for the CRC "Treatment Expectation Especially given tight time resources in the healthcare system, Kube sees substantial potential in careful risk communication: "Positive framing costs nothing and does not require additional time in consultations - which makes it particularly easy to implement." "Every patient asks about risks and benefits because information provides reassurance. That's precisely why we need to train therapists and clinicians to communicate diagnoses, treatments, and potential side effects in a way that is sensitive to expectations," emphasizes Bingel. Current studies provide clear guidance on what matters. Patients should not be left to search for explanations online on their own, Bingel warns. Neurological disorders contribute to nearly nine million deaths globally each year, and an estimated 22.6 million new cases require neurosurgical attention annually, of which approximately 13.8 million require surgical intervention. Despite this burden, access to safe and timely neurosurgical care remains limited for more than two-thirds of the world's population, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This gap has increasingly been recognized as a major global public health concern. A new article, published on November 20, 2025, in the print and online versions of the Chinese Neurosurgical Journal, authored by researchers from Kandahar University, led by Dr. Ehsanullah Alokozay, discusses global neurosurgical workforce shortages, systemic barriers, and policy strategies shaping access to care worldwide. A central challenge identified is the global shortage of trained neurosurgeons. Current estimates suggest a deficit of approximately 23,300 neurosurgeons worldwide, with the most severe shortages concentrated in Africa and Southeast Asia. Many countries remain below the minimum workforce target of 0.5 neurosurgeons per 100,000 population, a level widely regarded as necessary to meet essential neurosurgical needs. If current trends persist, more than half of LMICs are projected to miss this benchmark. "The correspondence emphasizes that increasing workforce numbers alone will be insufficient to address these gaps. Structural barriers continue to limit training, retention, and career progression, particularly in LMICs," highlights Dr. Alokozay. Limited access to advanced training, insufficient funding, lack of structured mentorship, and significant worklife imbalance-reported by approximately 8790% of early-career neurosurgeons-are commonly cited challenges, particularly in LMICs. These factors contribute to burnout and undermine long-term workforce sustainability. Beyond structural limitations, persistent inequities related to gender and race further constrain workforce development. Disparities in career advancement highlight the need for more inclusive professional environments that support retention and leadership development. According to the authors, addressing these inequities is essential for building a resilient neurosurgical workforce capable of meeting rising global demand. To reduce disparities, the authors point to policy-level and system-level strategies that embed neurosurgical care within broader health planning. Integration of neurosurgical services into National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans is highlighted as a key recommendation, aligned with priorities outlined in the Boston Declaration 2025. Such integration allows workforce development and service delivery to be aligned with long-term national health strategies. Global policy initiatives, including the World Health Organization's Intersectoral Global Action Plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders, further reinforce the importance of integrating neurological and neurosurgical care into primary health systems. Alignment with these frameworks supports coordinated investment, accountability, and evidence-based decision-making. Telemedicine is also presented as a complementary approach to expanding access to neurosurgical expertise. Remote consultations, virtual training, and postoperative follow-up have shown potential to reduce travel burdens and improve continuity of care. However, the authors note that infrastructure limitations, regulatory challenges, and workforce capacity constraints remain significant barriers in many LMICs. The correspondence concludes that closing gaps in global neurosurgical care will require sustained investment, evidence-driven policy reform, and coordinated global collaboration. "Strengthening the neurosurgical workforce, addressing systemic barriers, and embedding neurosurgical services within broader health frameworks are identified as critical steps toward achieving equitable access to care worldwide," concludes Dr. Alokozay. Exposition of Holy Devnimori Relics of Lord Buddha in Sri Lanka from Feb 4-11 Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 00:00 IST Representational image (Image: News18) New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) The Holy Devnimori Relics of Lord Buddha will be displayed in Sri Lanka as part of their first-ever international exposition, which will be hosted in Colombo from February 4-11, according to officials. These sacred relics were excavated from Devnimori in Gujarat, and are currently under the custodianship of Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, in Vadodara, it is learnt. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka on Saturday also posted on X about the upcoming exposition. Pursuant to PM @narendramodis announcement, the Holy Devnimori Relics of Lord Buddha are travelling to Sri Lanka for their first-ever international exposition," it said in the post. According to the post, the exposition will be held at Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo from February 4-11. It will open for public veneration from February 5, the post said, adding, Join @IndiainSL for this rare and historic spiritual moment!" Last December, an official source had told PTI that the government has planned to hold an exposition of Holy Devnimori Relics of Lord Buddha in Sri Lanka. Holy relics of the Buddha enshrined at different sites in the country have been part of multiple expositions abroad over the past couple of years. In November, a portion of the relics enshrined at the National Museum in New Delhi was taken to Bhutan for a 17-day public exposition in Thimphu. In 2024, the holy relics of Lord Buddha, along with those of his two disciples, Arahata Sariputra and Arahata Maudgalayana, were taken to Thailand and showcased at various locations as part of a 26-day exposition in February and March. This was the first time that the holy relics of Lord Buddha and his disciples were showcased together. The relics date back to the 4th-5th century BC and were found in an excavation at Piprahwa, considered a part of the site of ancient Kapilavastu, by a team of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials in the 1970s. PTI KND MNK MNK News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: February 01, 2026, 00:00 IST News agency-feeds Exposition of Holy Devnimori Relics of Lord Buddha in Sri Lanka from Feb 4-11 Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... India, Arab League nations back 2-state solution to Palestine issue Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 00:15 IST Representational image (Image: News18) New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) India and the Arab League nations on Saturday laid out a broader vision for deeper two-way ties, pitched for a sovereign and viable Palestine state living side-by-side with Israel and underlined the need for conducting international relations based on the UN charter. At the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting, the two sides condemned cross-border terror and called on all countries to work collectively to combat terrorism, dismantle terror infrastructures and terror financing and bring the perpetrators of terrorist acts to justice without delay. The India-hosted meeting saw the participation of 19 member countries of the Arab League, considered as an influential grouping. A declaration unveiled at the end of the meeting said the two sides have agreed to strengthen joint efforts to counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as they have strongly condemned the heinous terror attack in Pahalgam targeting innocent Indians. It said the Arab League member countries have reaffirmed their full and steadfast support to India in confronting terrorism in all its forms. The declaration said the meeting discussed a wide range of regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the question of Palestine, support for multilateralism and respect for the sovereignty of states, counterterrorism and reforms of the UN Security Council. The two sides have reaffirmed their commitment to safeguarding international peace and security, it said. The two sides emphasised the importance of international relations being founded on respect for the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in internal affairs," the declaration said. It added that the two sides have reaffirmed their commitment to achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the Middle East in accordance to international law, relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative". They called for a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine based on 1967 borders, living side by side in peace with Israel. Both parties supported the practice of inalienable rights of the Palestinian people," it said. The two sides welcomed the outcomes of last years Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit, which culminated in the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. They commended the pivotal role played by the Arab States particularly the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar as well as the United States of America," the Delhi Declaration said. It said the meeting urged all the parties concerned to fully comply with the implementation of the agreement and noted the launch of the Arab-Islamic plan for relief, recovery and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. It further underscored the necessity of ensuring adequate, sustained and unimpeded access to humanitarian and relief assistance throughout the Gaza Strip, guaranteeing the continued operations of relief agencies and international and humanitarian organisations. The remarks by India and the Arab League nations come days after US President Donald Trump unveiled his Board of Peace" that seeks to work towards bringing a lasting peace to Gaza and possibly, resolve global conflicts. India and the Arab League nations also vowed to expand cooperation in the areas of energy, digital domain, heath and education. The two sides condemned attacks by Houthi militias on maritime navigation and emphasised that the protection of the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait and the southern Red Sea is not only an Arab and regional responsibility, but also a shared international responsibility and a matter of global interest. They warned against any attempt to undermine the stability in the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, the declaration said. Both sides also reaffirmed their collective determination to act as constructive forces" for peace, equity and sustainable development, and strengthen the South-South cooperation. PTI MPB RC News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: February 01, 2026, 00:15 IST News agency-feeds India, Arab League nations back 2-state solution to Palestine issue Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... PWL: Delhi Dangal Warriors set up title clash with Haryana Thunders Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 00:00 IST Representational image (Image: News18) Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 31 (ANI): Delhi Dangal Warriors booked their place in a thrilling final of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) 2026 after edging past Maharashtra Kesari in a pulsating Semi-final 2 at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Friday night. In a contest that swung dramatically from bout to bout, Delhi showed composure under pressure to claim a 5-4 victory and set up a mouth-watering title clash against Haryana Thunders. Shubham Kaushik was named Player of the Match for his extraordinary comeback win in the 57kg mens category that kept Delhi alive at a crucial stage, while Manisha Bhanvala earned Fighter of the Match honours for her dominant display that anchored Maharashtras charge in the same weight category for women, as per a PWL press release. Delhi struck first in the 62kg womens contest through Anjli, who produced a composed and clinical performance against Dudova Bilyana Zhivkova. Mixing takedowns, push-outs, and a decisive four-point move in the Power Minute, Anjli secured a convincing 12-4 win to hand Delhi the early lead. Maharashtra responded immediately in emphatic fashion as Manisha Bhanvala dominated Karla Godinez Gonzalez in the 57kg womens tie, overwhelming her opponent with relentless takedown-turn combinations to claim a 15-0 technical superiority victory and level the tie.Momentum swung Maharashtras way in the heavyweight clash, where captain Robert Baran continued his unbeaten run. After conceding an early activity point, Baran took complete control in the second period, unleashing takedowns and exposures, especially during the Power Minute, to defeat Ronak 11-1 and put Maharashtra ahead. The advantage grew in the 53kg womens contest as Nishu Bhanvala edged a dramatic contest against Saarika. A strong first period gave Nishu a cushion, and despite Saarikas spirited comeback in the second, Maharashtra secured a narrow 7-6 win to move 3-1 ahead.Facing pressure of loss, Delhi found a lifeline through Shubham Kaushik in the 57kg mens category. Carrying a sore knee, Kaushik produced one of the moments of the tournament, overturning a significant deficit in the Power Minute with a stunning four-point exposure followed by a four-point takedown to snatch an 11-10 victory and keep Delhi in contention.The tie was levelled in the 76 kg womens bout as European champion Anastasiya Alpyeeva showcased her experience against Harshita Mor. After conceding early points, Alpyeeva regrouped with sharp takedowns and push-outs, maintaining control in the second period to close out a 7-5 win and bring the semi-final to 3-3. Delhi then surged ahead for the first time since the opening contest as Vafaeipour Hadi Bakhtiar edged Amit 11-9 in a fiercely contested 86 kg encounter, making the decisive difference with back-to-back takedowns in the Power Minute.The defining moment came in the 74 kg mens tie between Turan Bayramov and Yash. Bayramov dominated the opening period to race into a 5-0 lead before Yash mounted a strong comeback in the second period to draw level at 5-5. With the bout tied, Bayramov was declared the winner on a higher technique criterion, giving Delhi their fifth win and confirming their place in the final.The final bout was decided by forfeit, with Tevanyan Vazgen awarded the win, but the outcome was already sealed as Delhi Dangal Warriors closed the semi-final 5-4. (ANI) News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: February 01, 2026, 00:00 IST News agency-feeds PWL: Delhi Dangal Warriors set up title clash with Haryana Thunders Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Over 4,800 FASTag Users Faced Incorrect Toll Deductions Per Day In 2025 On National Highways Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 04:54 IST Of these, 1,740 were linked to transactions not recognised by tag holders, 1,480 to toll fare calculation errors, and about 870 to duplicate transactions at toll plazas The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) this week informed the Lok Sabha that the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), which provides the Central Clearing House (CCH) services of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) Programme, has reported 17.66 lakh transactions where refunds were made due to incorrect user fee (toll) deductions between January and December 2025. File pic Almost every day, on average, 4,840 FASTag users faced incorrect toll deductions on the national highways across India out of the estimated 1.27 crore FASTag transactions registered daily, an analysis of official data shows. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) this week informed the Lok Sabha that the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), which provides the Central Clearing House (CCH) services of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) Programme, has reported 17.66 lakh transactions where refunds were made due to incorrect user fee (toll) deductions between January and December 2025. Of the average 4,840 daily disputed transactions, 1,740 were linked to transactions not recognised by tag holders, 1,480 to toll fare calculation errors, and about 870 to duplicate transactions at toll plazas. The analysis also shows that nearly two-thirds of refunds (66.5%) were linked to system recognition and fare calculation issues, rather than deliberate overcharging or user error. The largest category, with 6.35 lakh refund cases, was under transactions not recognised by the tag holder / NETC service not availed", minister Nitin Gadkari said. This implies 36% of disputed transactions were due to either late posting of transactions, back-end reconciliation delays, or user perception gaps rather than actual double tolling. Only 3.1% of cases involved tolls paid by other means, while 12.4% of refunds stem from return journey benefits not provideda rule-based concession meant to be automatic. Marginal Share in Total Transactions The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) later clarified that while refunds were processed for nearly 18 lakh FASTag users due to a technical system error, these instances constitute only a minuscule fraction, around 0.03%, of the total 464 crore FASTag transactions recorded during the year. In reference to the recent media reports regarding #FASTag refunds, NHAI would like to clarify that while refunds were processed for nearly 18 lakh FASTag users due to a technical system error, these instances constitute only a minuscule fractionaround 0.03%of the total 464 pic.twitter.com/Xkqvr3VdV0 NHAI (@NHAI_Official) January 30, 2026 This highlights the overall scale, reliability, and robustness of the FASTag ecosystem," it said, adding that all affected National Highway users were promptly refunded, and NHAI has already implemented corrective measures. The NHAI also said further steps are underway to strengthen automation and system safeguards, ensuring an even more seamless, accurate, and user-friendly tolling experience for National Highway users across the country. When set against the 464 crore FASTag transactions logged in the year, the share looks marginal at around 0.03%. But at a smaller scale, that fraction adds up to roughly 200 disputed transactions every hour. The ministry informed the Lok Sabha that road users have access to various channels for grievance redressal related to FASTag issues. Complaints can be lodged through the National Highways Helpline 1033, the dedicated email falsededuction@ihmcl.com, the respective FASTag issuer bank helplines, as well as through the RajmargYatra App," it added. Barrier-free Tolling Next The MoRTH also assured that they are committed to making the tolling system more efficient, transparent, and user-friendly through improving lane equipment and the adoption of advanced technologies. Monitoring is carried out through centralised toll management systems. To further increase the efficiency of tolling operation and in order to ensure seamless and free-flow movement of vehicles along national highways, the Government has decided to implement barrier-free Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) System using Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras on selected sections of National Highways as an added facility along with FASTag where the user fee shall be charged from the vehicle users without having them to stop, slow down or stay in a given fee plaza lane," the ministry added. At least 21 fee plazas across India have been selected for barrier-less tolling, including five from Delhi-NCR, minister Nitin Gadkari informed Lok Sabha on Thursday. He said a Request for Proposal (RFP) to implement a barrier-less tolling system has been invited or finalised across 21 fee plazas, with the possibility of implementing it on other fee plazas in a phased manner depending upon the outcome and efficacy of the implementation on these projects". Of the 21 plazas, six are under the bidding stage, while work has been awarded on 15. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 23:52 IST News auto Over 4,800 FASTag Users Faced Incorrect Toll Deductions Per Day In 2025 On National Highways Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Are Banks Closed On Saturday, January 31, 2026? Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 07:00 IST With January 31 falling on a Saturday, many customers are unsure about bank operations as fifth Saturdays often raise questions. Are banks open on January 31? (Representative Image) Is the bank in your city open on January 31? Many people are unsure whether branches in their area will remain open on the day. The confusion largely stems from the fact that January 31 falls on a Saturday, and banks in India usually remain closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. This pattern often leads people to assume that all Saturdays are non-working days for banks, which is not the case. Will the bank be open on January 31? To clear the doubt, banks will remain open on Saturday, January 31. Since it is the fifth Saturday of the month, regular banking operations will continue as usual. As per existing rules, banks are only closed on the second and fourth Saturdays, while they function normally on the first, third, and fifth Saturdays, unless a specific holiday is declared. Nationalised banks in India follow the holiday calendar issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This calendar includes a detailed list of bank holidays, which are decided on a state-wise basis. These holidays may vary depending on regional festivals, state-specific events, or local observances. Customers are therefore advised to always check the RBI holiday list relevant to their state before planning bank visits. According to the RBIs official holiday calendar, no bank holiday has been announced for January 31 in Maharashtra. This means that banks in the state will operate normally on that day. The same applies to most other states, unless a local holiday has been declared separately by the respective state government. Bank timings may vary It is important to note that while physical bank branches will remain open, working hours on Saturdays are usually shorter compared to weekdays. Most banks operate till early afternoon on Saturdays, so customers are advised to plan their visits accordingly. Meanwhile, digital banking services such as net banking, mobile banking, UPI transactions, and ATM services will continue to function as usual, regardless of branch working days. However, services that require in-branch processing, such as document submissions or cheque clearances, will depend on branch timings. You can visit your bank branches for regular services, but checking local branch timings in advance is always a good idea. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Delhi, India, India First Published: January 31, 2026, 07:00 IST News business Are Banks Closed On Saturday, January 31, 2026? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'No To China Blocs, Yes To Fair Trade': Piyush Goyal Outlines Indias Superpower Ambitions | Exclusive Reported By : CNN-News18 Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 16:24 IST The ministers remarks come just days after the historic conclusion of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA)dubbed the 'mother of all deals' Regarding the India-US trade deal, Goyal sounded a positive note, stating that discussions are 'moving towards closure' with no 'sticky issues' left to resolve. (File pic) In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday presented a bold and assertive vision for Indias global trade trajectory. Terming India an emerging superpower," Goyal highlighted a significant shift in New Delhis approach to trade diplomacy, moving away from what he described as the weak" and badly negotiated" deals of the past. The ministers remarks come just days after the historic conclusion of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA)dubbed the mother of all deals"which is slated for implementation within the 2026 calendar year. A Rejection of China-Led Blocs Goyal was most scathing when discussing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). He stated categorically that the NDA government would never conclude a deal with China-led trade blocs. He slammed the previous Congress-led administration for its initial involvement in the bloc, calling it the greatest disservice" to the country. It would have led to a collapse due to the dumping of our domestic industry," Goyal warned, asserting that India now only negotiates with fair trade countries" that recognise the immense value and potential of the Indian market. The Strategy of Confidence Explaining the timeline of current negotiations, Goyal noted that while the decision to pursue major FTAs was made in 2021, the government used the preceding years to fortify Indias internal economic foundations. Foundation First: The first 6-7 years of the Modi administration were dedicated to making India the worlds fastest-growing economy. Negotiation from Strength: This domestic stability has provided the necessary confidence" for the government to engage in high-stakes talks from a position of power. Focus on Quality: Goyal emphasised that since 2014, the Prime Ministers focus on Brand India" and quality has allowed Indian products to speak for themselves on the global stage. Global Reach: US, ASEAN, and Beyond The minister provided a surplus" outlook for Indias trade balance, noting that the Indian rupee remains a strong currency despite global complexities. He revealed that India is currently in active dialogue with Chile and ASEAN and is soon to launch negotiations with Canada. Regarding the India-US trade deal, Goyal sounded a positive note, stating that discussions are moving towards closure" with no sticky issues" left to resolve. While he refrained from commenting on specific remarks from US leaders regarding the India-EU pact, he confirmed that Indian teams are regularly engaged" with their counterparts in Washington DC to finalise a mutually beneficial agreement. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 16:24 IST News business 'No To China Blocs, Yes To Fair Trade': Piyush Goyal Outlines Indias Superpower Ambitions | Exclusive Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Mumbais Sion Bridge To Open In July, Underpass In February: All You Need To Know Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 14:01 IST The Sion Railway Overbridge (ROB) is a critical 112-year-old link connecting Sion East and West. Traffic restrictions to new structure, all details here Rapid Read The old Sion bridge closed for demolition. (PTI) The Sion Railway Overbridge (ROB), a critical 112-year-old link connecting Sion East and West, is expected to be ready by July 15, according to reports. It is currently under reconstruction following its closure in August 2024. The work status The pedestrian underpass on the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Road side is complete and scheduled to open to the public in early February 2026. Dismantling of the northern portion of the old railway bridge is completed, and work has shifted to the southern side. In February 2026, the second underpass on the Dharavi side is expected to be completed. Launching of girders will then be carried out across the railway tracks northern half in March, southern half in April. May 31 is the final deadline for the Central Railway to complete all works within railway limits and hand over the eastern approach road to the BMC. What will the new bridge have? The new structure will be four lanes wide (compared to the previous two) to accommodate higher traffic density. The bridge span over the railway tracks is being extended from 40 metres to 51 metres. The new bridge will not have supporting pillars within the railway area, which facilitates the expansion of the 5th and 6th railway lines between Kurla and Dadar. A dedicated footpath will be included to allow direct pedestrian access to the Sion railway station. To manage pedestrian movement while the bridge is closed, a temporary Foot Overbridge (FOB) remains operational. The Sion overbridge connecting Sion East & West will be demolished & reconstructed by @Central_RailwayDue to this, vehicular traffic from the Matunga traffic division & Dr. B.A. Road heading westbound via the Sion overbridge towards L.B.S. Road or Sant Rohidas Road, (1/3) pic.twitter.com/YoskFhjZsq Mumbai Traffic Police (@MTPHereToHelp) July 27, 2024 What are the traffic diversions in place? Commuters traveling between the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) and Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Marg must use the following traffic diversions due to the ongoing closure of the Sion Railway Overbridge (ROB). These diversions will remain in effect until the bridges scheduled opening in July 2026. What are the alternative routes? Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR): This is the primary alternative for most east-west commuters. It directly connects the EEH at Chembur to LBS Marg in Kurla. Chunabhatti-BKC Connector: A faster alternative for light motor vehicles (LMVs) to bypass Sion completely, though two-wheelers and three-wheelers are prohibited on this route. Sion Hospital (Kumbharwada) Bridge: Useful for local traffic heading towards Dharavi or Mahim. Specific Vehicle Diversions The Mumbai Traffic Police have outlined the following detailed routes based on vehicle type and direction: No-Parking Zones: Parking is strictly prohibited on designated diversion roads, including Sant Kabir Marg (60 Ft Road), Sulochana Shetty Road, and Sant Rohidas Road Heavy Vehicle Peak-Hour Ban: New rules prohibit heavy vehicles from entering Mumbai during peak hours (8-11 AM and 5-9 PM) from February 1, 2026. Metro Construction Block: Night-time closures (10 PM 6 AM) continue on LBS Marg at the Bhandup Station junction through February 1, 2026, due to Metro Line 4 construction. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 13:32 IST News cities mumbai-news Mumbais Sion Bridge To Open In July, Underpass In February: All You Need To Know Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... TNTET Result 2025 Out: How To Check TET Results, Know Revised Qualifying Marks Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 12:53 IST TNTET 2025: Qualified candidates can download their eligibility certificates from the Teachers Recruitment Board website, trb.tn.gov.in starting February 2. The Supreme Court has mandated passing the Teacher Eligibility Test for promotion to Intermediate and Graduate Teacher positions.(Representative/File Photo) The Teacher Selection Board, Tamil Nadu has released the results for 4,25,000 candidates who took the TN Teacher Eligibility Test or TNTET papers 1 and 2 in November 2025, based on the revised qualifying marks. The Teachers Selection Board has published the results on its website. The Supreme Court has mandated passing the Teacher Eligibility Test for promotion to Intermediate and Graduate Teacher positions. Following this, on January 28, the School Education Department issued an order lowering the qualifying marks for the Teacher Eligibility Test. Consequently, the tests were held on November 15 and 16 according to the Teachers Selection Board notification. Successful candidates are selected based on their marks and reservations in the competitive exam for recruitment to government and other sector schools following the state curriculum. The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act stipulates that passing the Teacher Eligibility Test qualifies candidates to work as Intermediate and Graduate Teachers in government-aided and private schools. TNTET Result 2025 Out: How To Check To check the results, visit the Teachers Recruitment Board website, trb.tn.gov.in. Thereafter, select the language in the Teacher Eligibility Test Paper 1 or 2 option. Enter the number on your hall ticket and hit submit. The results will appear on the screen. TNTET Result 2025 Out: Qualifying Marks The revised minimum qualifying marks for the Tamil Nadu Teacher Eligibility Test are 60 per cent or 90 marks for the general category, 50 per cent or 75 marks for backward classes, extremely backward classes, Muslims, tribals, and differently-abled, and 40 per cent or 60 marks for Scheduled Caste, SC Arunthathiyar, and Scheduled Tribe categories, out of a total of 150 marks. This adjustment will also apply to those who took the November 2025 Teacher Eligibility Test. Qualified candidates can download their eligibility certificates from the Teachers Recruitment Board website, trb.tn.gov.in starting February 2. The subject-wise results show that many teachers failed to achieve the qualifying marks in the Tamil subject exam, and a significant number of teachers failed in all subjects. Applications for the Teacher Eligibility Test were received in September 2025. Paper I was held on November 15, 2025, at 1,367 centers, with 92,412 candidates appearing. Paper II took place on November 16, 2025, with 331,923 candidates attending. To be eligible for the positions of Intermediate and Graduate Teacher in Tamil Nadu schools, candidates must have passed the qualifying examination conducted by the Teachers Selection Board. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 12:48 IST News education-career TNTET Result 2025 Out: How To Check TET Results, Know Revised Qualifying Marks Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Xiplomacy: Xi's message to Zimbabwean veterans highlights enduring China-Africa friendship Xinhua) 09:05, January 31, 2026 People attend a session of the China-aid Juncao technology training project in Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe, on April 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Tafara Mugwara) "President Xi always values the bonds between the peoples of China and Africa," said Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. "China is our true friend and a true brother." HARARE, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- "China has always been a good comrade and partner in Africa's quest for national liberation, development and rejuvenation," Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote on Wednesday in a reply letter to veterans of Zimbabwe's national liberation war. In his letter, Xi noted that in their youth, the veterans devoted themselves to the great cause of national liberation, left their homelands, and forged with China a profound friendship and comradeship in the struggle. The profound friendship and earnest expectations conveyed in the letter have greatly inspired Zimbabwean veterans and evoked warm responses across Africa, resonating deeply with the two peoples' shared aspiration to work together to build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and to write a new chapter in China-Africa friendship. LASTING FRIENDSHIP China has firmly supported Africa's struggle against imperialism and colonialism and the continent's cause of national liberation. During Zimbabwe's national liberation struggle in the 1960s and 1970s, many fighters received training in China or from Chinese instructors in Africa, creating enduring stories in the history of the two countries' relations. Ahead of his state visit to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi published a signed article in Zimbabwean media, recalling the profound and time-tested friendship between the two countries. "During the national liberation struggle in Zimbabwe, the Chinese people steadfastly stood behind the Zimbabwean people as comrades in arms. I was touched to learn that many Zimbabwean freedom fighters who received training from the Chinese side both in China and at Nachingwea camp in Tanzania can still sing songs such as the 'Three Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention'," Xi wrote. William Murumbuzi, a Zimbabwean veteran, told Xinhua that he was deeply impressed by Xi's signed article in 2015 and felt excited to participate in writing the letter to Xi and receive a reply from him. "For many years, President Xi has kept this friendship close to his heart. His reply makes us feel deeply honored and moved," he said. "We wanted to write to President Xi to tell him that we will never forget this experience, nor will we ever forget the friendship between Zimbabwe and China," Humphrey Makuyana, another veteran, told Xinhua in an interview. According to Makuyana, the training he received from Chinese instructors deepened his understanding of the bond between the army and the people. "We were the fish, and the people were the water in which we should live." "Though separated by thousands of miles, our hearts have always been connected, and justice and dignity remain the umbilical bond between our two peoples," the veterans wrote in the letter to Xi. In his reply letter, Xi expressed the hope that the veterans will inspire more African youth to devote themselves to the cause of China-Zimbabwe and China-Africa friendship. A staff member communicates with visitors at the booth of Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe during the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Mengyao) "CHINA ALWAYS DELIVERS ON ITS COMMITMENTS" During the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, China and Zimbabwe signed a series of cooperation documents in the presence of the two heads of state. After retiring from military service, Murumbuzi has been working for a private company and has maintained close cooperation with Chinese partners, giving him firsthand insight into the implementation of the summit outcomes. He noted that China has consistently advocated common development with its African partners, and that Chinese technologies and experience are helping African countries, including Zimbabwe, create jobs and improve people's livelihoods. "This model of mutually beneficial cooperation has enabled us to feel what a shared future truly means, and it has strengthened my confidence in Africa and China advancing toward modernization hand in hand," he said. Two years ago, Zindi, a village in Zimbabwe's Mashonaland Central Province, was a poor community plagued by water and electricity shortages. Today, the China-Zimbabwe agricultural cooperation demonstration village has undergone a striking transformation: solar-powered water pumps now provide a steady supply of clean water, while greenhouse facilities for scientific seed breeding complement green maize fields. According to Weveson Zindi, the village head, the advanced farming and livestock-breeding techniques introduced by Chinese agricultural experts have significantly improved villagers' living conditions. "When it comes to China and Africa working hand in hand, it's basically leaving no one behind, and this is what China has been trying to do over the years," said Dennis Munene Mwaniki, executive director of the China-Africa Center at Kenya's Africa Policy Institute. A participant takes a photo at the China Pavilion during the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on July 23, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng) "PARTNERSHIP THAT ENRICHES OUR LIVES" In his reply letter, Xi stressed that 2026 marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and African nations as well as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. "President Xi has always attached great importance to people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa," said Didier Dieudonne Nama, national pedagogic inspector of Chinese Language in the Ministry of Secondary Education of Cameroon, adding that as people-to-people exchanges deepen, the peoples of China and Africa will grow closer and more tightly connected. Activities marking the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges have already begun, which are expected to deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and African peoples through exchanges in various fields and inject fresh momentum into building a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. "President Xi always values the bonds between the peoples of China and Africa," said Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. "China is our true friend and a true brother." "As we mark 70 years of China-Africa diplomatic ties, we celebrate a partnership that enriches our lives, a partnership of life-transforming people-to-people exchanges," said Herbert Mushangwe, a professor at the Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) March NY world sugar #11 (SBH26) today is down -0.04 (-0.27%), and March London ICE white sugar #5 (SWH26) is down -2.70 (-0.66%). Sugar prices extended this week's slide today, with NY sugar falling to a 1.5-week low and London sugar falling to a 2.5-month low. The outlook for global sugar surpluses and higher global sugar production is weighing on prices. Green Pool Commodity Specialists said today that they expect a 2.74 MMT global sugar surplus for 2025/26 and a 156,000 MT surplus for 2026/27. More News from Barchart Last Wednesday, Unica reported that Brazil's cumulative 2025-26 Center-South sugar output through December rose by +0.9% y/y to 40.222 MMT. Also, the ratio of cane crushed for sugar rose to 50.82% in 2025/36 from 48.16% in 2024/25. The India Sugar Mill Association (ISMA) reported last Monday that India's 2025-26 sugar output from Oct 1-Jan 15 is up +22% y/y to 15.9 MMT. The ISMA on November 11 raised its 2025/26 India sugar production estimate to 31 MMT from an earlier forecast of 30 MMT, up +18.8% y/y. The ISMA also cut its estimate for sugar used for ethanol production in India to 3.4 MMT from a July forecast of 5 MMT, which may allow India to boost its sugar exports. India is the world's second-largest sugar producer. Sugar prices have been weighed down amid prospects of higher sugar exports from India, after India's food secretary said the government may permit additional sugar exports to reduce a domestic supply glut. In November, India's food ministry said it would allow mills to export 1.5 MMT of sugar in the 2025/26 season. India introduced a quota system for sugar exports in 2022/23 after late rain reduced production and limited domestic supplies. The outlook for a global sugar surplus is bearish for prices. Covrig Analytics on December 12 raised its 2025/26 global sugar surplus estimate to 4.7 MMT from 4.1 MMT in October. However, Covrig projects that the 2026/27 global sugar surplus will fall to 1.4 MMT, as weak prices discourage production. The outlook for record sugar output in Brazil is bearish for prices. Conab, Brazil's crop forecasting agency, on November 4 raised its Brazil 2025/26 sugar production estimate to 45 MMT from a previous forecast of 44.5 MMT. France Scraps Marital Duty To Have Sex; Why The Consent Debate Matters In India Written By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 13:25 IST France's move matters beyond Europe, especially in India, where marital rape is not criminalised, with the law exempting husband from prosecution for non-consensual sex with wife While constitutional judgments have affirmed womens rights to bodily autonomy, dignity, and privacy, criminal law continues to treat marriage as a form of implied consent. (Getty Images) Frances National Assembly unanimously passed a bill on January 29 that abolishes marital duty to have sex". The move, backed by 120 MPs, enshrines the fundamental principle that consent remains essential for any sexual act, including within marriage. The decision has triggered a wider debate about consent, marriage, and womens bodily autonomy questions that remain contested in many parts of the world, including India. At its heart, the French reform targets a centuries-old assumption: that entering marriage creates an ongoing sexual obligation between spouses. By formally rejecting this idea, French lawmakers are signalling that consent does not dissolve at the altar. It must exist, clearly and continuously, even within marriage. What Exactly Has France Changed? The new French legislation clarifies that marriage does not imply consent to sexual relations. Under French law, marriage is broadly based on four obligations: respect, fidelity, support, and community of life. While French criminal law has long recognised that rape can occur within marriage, remnants of civil law continued to reflect older ideas of conjugal duty". These ideas were rooted in the concept of communaute de vie the expectation that spouses share a common life, which some courts had interpreted as including sexual relations. The bill, approved by the lower house of Parliament, states that Article 215 of the Civil Code concerns the community of living" that does not create any obligation to have sex. In effect, it removes the legal basis for arguing that refusing sex within marriage constitutes a breach of marital duties. MP Marie-Charlotte Garin, who spearheaded the move, explains in an interview with Euronews that the aim was to put an end to the interpretation of community of life as community of beds and therefore to this notion of conjugal duty that persists in law and in society." The French lawmaker pointed out that the notion was found both in divorces for fault and in the idea, still very present, that one should force oneself to have sexual relations as a couple." This does not introduce new criminal penalties, nor does it rewrite Frances rape laws. Instead, it closes a conceptual gap by ensuring that civil law language aligns with modern understandings of consent and bodily autonomy. Why France Felt The Need To Act Now The reform follows a series of court rulings that exposed the tension between contemporary rights frameworks and outdated legal ideas. In recent years, French courts have rejected claims that refusal to engage in sex could justify divorce on fault-based grounds. Judges increasingly held that sexual autonomy survives marriage, but the law itself had not been updated to reflect this clarity. A ruling by the Versailles Court of Appeal on November 7, 2019, referred to the wifes continuous refusal" of any intimate relationship, described as a serious and repeated breach of the duties and obligations of marriage, making it intolerable to continue living together." On January 23, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against France on this basis. Referred to by a 69-year-old woman, the court had ruled that the granting of a divorce for fault, on the grounds of her refusal to have sexual relations, constituted an infringement of her fundamental rights. Lawmakers argued that leaving such ambiguity intact risked sending the wrong social message. Even if courts no longer enforced conjugal sexual duty, its symbolic presence in civil law perpetuated the notion that marriage entails sexual entitlement. By formally abolishing the concept, France is aligning its domestic law with international human-rights standards that recognise consent as explicit, revocable, and independent of marital status. What Are Conjugal Rights? In many legal systems, marriage was historically treated as a contract that granted husbands sexual access to their wives. Womens bodies were effectively subsumed into the marital unit, with little legal recognition of individual autonomy. This logic shaped laws across Europe, Britain, and its former colonies. Concepts like restitution of conjugal rights" still present in several countries emerged from the belief that spouses owed each other companionship, cohabitation, and sexual relations. Over time, most countries dismantled the more explicit forms of this doctrine. Yet traces remain, often embedded in family law language, judicial reasoning, or cultural norms. Frances move is part of a broader effort to uproot these remnants rather than merely reinterpret them. Conjugal rights refer to the mutual rights of spouses to live together and enjoy marital companionship, including sexual relations and cohabitation under personal laws the legally recognised expectation that spouses will sustain a shared household and fulfill their marital obligations. This concept is legally anchored in the right to cohabit (live under the same roof) and the entitlement to consummate the marriage and maintain a sexual relationship. In the event that one spouse withdraws from the society of the other without a valid legal defense, the aggrieved party may seek a decree for the Restitution of Conjugal Rights, effectively asking the court to direct the withdrawing spouse to return to the matrimonial home," said Rhythm Sheel Srivastava, Advocate, Supreme Court. Under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (and similarly under the Special Marriage Act), a spouse can file a petition for Restitution of Conjugal Rights if their partner has withdrawn from marital cohabitation without reasonable cause, she explains. Declaring conjugal rights does not mean courts force sex (on the married couple); they may only order a spouse to resume cohabitation, not compel sexual acts." How Other Countries, Including India, Treat Consent Within Marriage Globally, legal approaches to sex within marriage vary widely. Many European countries have explicitly criminalised marital rape and removed civil-law notions of sexual obligation. Others recognise marital rape in criminal law but retain ambiguous civil provisions that can undermine womens claims of autonomy. The Supreme Court has heard petitions challenging the marital-rape exception and has raised pointed questions about whether a refusal of sex should leave spouses with only divorce as a remedy," points out Srivastava. Under Indias current legal framework, a husband cannot be charged with raping his adult wife. While the laws governing crimes in India recently transitioned from the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, this specific protection for husbands remained intact," stresses Srivastava. The BNS defines the crime of rape, but it includes a specific exception, she adds. This states that sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife when she is over 18 years old is not considered rape, even if it is done without her consent. The law only protects the husband if the wife is an adult. If the wife is under 18, the exception does not apply, and he can be prosecuted." Why This Debate Resonates In India The relevance of Frances decision becomes particularly sharp when viewed from India. Marital rape is still not criminalised in India, with the law explicitly exempting husbands from prosecution for non-consensual sex with their wives, provided the wife is above a certain age. Indian courts have repeatedly grappled with this contradiction. While constitutional judgments have affirmed womens rights to bodily autonomy, dignity, and privacy, criminal law continues to treat marriage as a form of implied consent. Legally, a marriage contract is often viewed as providing permanent consent to sexual acts. I do not accept this. Without consent, any sexual act must be considered a crime. However, with an increase in the number of false sexual-assault cases within marriages, and to reduce the burden on courts, marital rape has been struck out of the category of crime. I hope this is amended in the future," says Srivastava. Several High Courts have treated a persistent refusal of sex or cohabitation without a valid reason as mental cruelty, which is a ground for divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, she adds. The Allahabad High Court (2023) held in a case that denial of sexual intercourse without sufficient reason amounted to mental cruelty. The Chhattisgarh High Court has also opined that persistent refusal to cohabit and engage in marital relations constitutes mental cruelty, granting divorce along with permanent alimony. The Delhi High Court in 2025 granted a divorce where a wife denied physical intimacy and alienated the child, holding that such conduct amounted to mental cruelty. Impotency is different. If a spouse is unable to have sexual relations at the time of marriage and continues to remain so, the marriage can be declared voidable (annulled) under Section 12, rather than merely seeking divorce on the ground of cruelty," the advocate highlighted. The provision for restitution of conjugal rights, which allows courts to order spouses to cohabit, remains on the statute books, even as its constitutionality is increasingly questioned. Consent, Power, And Inequality Within Marriage Marriage has historically been a site of unequal power. Marriage is often seen as an equal partnership, but many laws still favour men, leading to significant gender disparities. For instance, in India, the legal marriage age is 18 for women and 21 for men, reflecting outdated beliefs that women should marry younger. This limits womens choices and autonomy. Divorce laws also illustrate this imbalance, as men can often end a marriage more easily than women, who face stricter requirements," per PP Saxenas Matrimonial Laws and Gender Justice, as published in Lex Lumen Research Journal. Womens economic dependence, social conditioning, and lack of legal recourse have often made consent within marriage fragile or illusory. Legal systems that treat marriage as implied consent fail to account for these power imbalances. They also obscure the reality that coercion can exist without overt violence through emotional pressure, financial control, or fear of social consequences. Frances effort highlights how law and social awareness must move together. Clarifying rights in law helps shift social attitudes around sexual autonomy. In the Indian context, clearly stating in law that consent in marriage is central and ongoing, not automatically implied by the wedding itself, can fundamentally change how marital sex is viewed and handled. Such reframing would guide courts, police, and lawyers to move away from the assumption of perpetual consent and instead recognise bodily autonomy within marriage. If consent norms are clearly articulated, refusal of sex would no longer be treated primarily as a fault but as a personal choice that must be respected," Srivastava stressed. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:30 IST News explainers France Scraps Marital Duty To Have Sex; Why The Consent Debate Matters In India Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... US Government Enters Partial Shutdown: What Triggered It And How Long It May Last Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 14:07 IST The shutdown could end quickly with minimal disruption if the House passes the Senates funding deal once lawmakers return to Washington on Monday. The US government on Saturday entered a partial shutdown after Congress missed a midnight Friday deadline to approve funding for several key federal departments. (REUTERS) The US government on Saturday entered a partial shutdown after Congress missed a midnight Friday deadline to approve funding for several key federal departments, forcing operations to halt or slow across wide parts of Washingtons bureaucracy. The shutdown began after the Senate passed a revised spending package late Friday but the House, which is in recess until Monday, was unable to vote in time. The delay stems from a political standoff over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where Democrats have demanded new limits on immigration enforcement following two fatal shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis. Why Has The US Government Partially Shut Down? The US government cannot legally spend money without annual approval from Congress. Each year, lawmakers must pass 12 separate bills to fund different parts of the federal government. If those bills are not approved in time, the affected departments simply run out of money and must stop normal operations. Six funding bills have already been approved by the Congress and even passed by US President Donald Trump. But six others were still pending. Lawmakers had been close to finalising a $1.3 trillion package to fund all six together. In fact, the House had already passed a version that included all six outstanding bills. But the process collapsed when Senate Democrats withdrew support for the DHS portion after a second US citizen was killed by immigration officers in Minnesota. Democrats said they would not support any package that funded DHS unless reforms were introduced to curb what they described as excessive or unsafe enforcement practices. Because of this, Senate leaders and the White House negotiated a new plan: instead of advancing all six bills, the Senate would move ahead with five of them and handle DHS separately. Late Friday, the Senate voted 7129 to approve five of the six outstanding bills, funding them through September. DHS was split out and given only a two-week extension at current funding levels to allow further negotiations on immigration reforms. But this restructuring meant the House needed to vote again, even though it had previously passed all six. Since the House had already left Washington for the weekend, it was unable to take up the new version in time. As a result, the government crossed the deadline without approved funding. Why Did The Homeland Security Dispute Break The Deal? The Department of Homeland Security became the centre of a political fight after immigration officers shot and killed two US citizens first Renee Good, then Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Democrats said they would not support new DHS funding without reforms they believe are necessary to address unsafe or unregulated practices. Their demands include: Mandatory body cameras for immigration officers A ban on masks or face coverings during operations Clearer identification requirements A uniform code of conduct and use-of-force rules Stricter warrants for entering homes An end to broad roving patrols" Independent investigations into alleged misconduct Easier legal pathways to hold officers accountable Republicans were divided. Several expressed discomfort after the shootings and backed the idea of hearings or reviews. Others insisted that immigration enforcement should continue without new restrictions, arguing that voters expect robust law-and-order measures. This disagreement forced Senate negotiators to remove DHS from the main funding deal. Which Federal Departments Have Lost Funding Now? Because the revised funding deal could not clear Congress in time, the shutdown affects several major departments whose budgets have now expired: Department of Defence Department of State Department of Labour Department of Health and Human Services Department of Education Department of Transportation Department of Housing and Urban Development Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service Financial services and general government agencies These departments will begin implementing shutdown procedures when federal offices reopen after the weekend, unless funding is restored on Monday. Which Departments Are Not Affected? The following agencies already received full-year funding earlier in the fiscal cycle and will continue operating normally: Department of Veterans Affairs Department of Agriculture Food and Drug Administration Legislative branch operations Department of Commerce Justice Department National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Science Foundation Department of Energy Department of the Interior Environmental Protection Agency Because their budgets are already secured, these agencies are insulated from the shutdown. What Does A US Government Shutdown Actually Mean? A shutdown does not mean the entire government stops functioning. Instead, US law requires unfunded departments to divide their work into two categories: Essential services: national security, public safety, certain health operations. These continue, but employees work without pay until funding is restored. Nonessential services: many administrative and public-facing functions. These are paused, and employees are temporarily furloughed. During the 43-day shutdown last year, the longest in US history, the absence of pay for essential employees caused staffing shortages, particularly in airports, leading to delays and cancellations. The immediate impact of the current shutdown is limited because it began over a weekend. But the disruption will grow if Congress does not act when lawmakers return on Monday. Will Immigration Enforcement Slow Down? Despite the political fight over DHS, immigration enforcement will continue largely uninterrupted. Under a major funding law passed last year the One Big Beautiful Bill Act DHS received roughly $165 billion, including $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This money provides a cushion that enables immigration operations to continue even without new funding. As a result, the Trump administrations immigration enforcement campaign is not expected to slow down during the shutdown. How Long Could The Partial Shutdown Last? This shutdown could end quickly, possibly as early as Monday, if the House returns and approves the Senates revised package. Trump has already endorsed the plan and is expected to sign it immediately once it arrives at the White House. But obstacles remain. House Speaker Mike Johnson controls a narrow majority, and conservative lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus have warned they may oppose the deal. Even a small number of defections could block the procedural vote needed to bring the legislation to the floor. If negotiations stall, Democrats could choose to step in and provide votes, but their support will depend on progress in discussions over DHS reforms. What Happens Next? Here is what to expect in the coming days: The House Rules Committee may meet before Monday to prepare the legislation for debate. Once lawmakers return, the House must pass a procedural rule to bring the bill to the floor. If that fails, Speaker Johnson can use a fallback option suspension of the rules which requires a two-thirds majority and bipartisan backing. After House approval, the funding bills go to the president for his signature. The shutdown will end immediately once the measures are signed into law. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 14:03 IST News explainers US Government Enters Partial Shutdown: What Triggered It And How Long It May Last Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'BJP Would Ensure Fencing Bengal's Borders In 45 Days': Amit Shah Seeks People's Mandate In State Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 13:46 IST Amit Shah accused the Trinamool Congress government of failing to secure West Bengals borders, promising fencing within 45 days if the BJP comes to power. A file photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched an attack on West Bengals Trinamool Congress government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing the party of failing to secure the states border, and saying that the BJP would secure the border in 45 days if it came to power. Speaking in Bengals Barrackpore, Shah said forming a BJP government in Bengal was not necessary only for the state, it is crucial for the security of the entire country," asserting that the manner in which infiltration was taking place threatened not just the state but national security as a whole. Asking whether such infiltration should be stopped, he referred to Banerjees claim that the Central government was responsible, but countered that her administration was not providing the land required for fencing along the border. Because of this, he said, complete barbed-wire fencing had not been possible. He alleged that infiltrators were entering through the border and that the state police administration, under government influence, prepared fake documents for them. Referring to court proceedings, Shah said the High Court had spoken in favour of the Border Security Force on the fencing issue, yet land was still not being handed over. Infiltrators are her vote bank," he charged, reiterating that once the BJP came to power by the end of April, land acquisition would be ensured and fencing completed within 45 days to guarantee security. Turning next to community-related issues, Shah accused the state government of trying to intimidate the Matua community and said BJP leader Shantanu Thakur was standing with them. Addressing the community directly, he declared that there was no need to be afraid," adding that the Central government was also with them. He said that regardless of how much Banerjee opposed the Special Intensive Revision, it would be implemented strictly in accordance with the law and established rules. Shah then escalated his political attack, saying that not just change, the government of this state must be uprooted completely, roots and all." He added that the BJP would build a Sonar Bangla envisioned by Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Predicting electoral success, Shah said the Bharatiya Janata Party would secure more than 50 per cent vote share and a huge majority in the upcoming polls. He again underlined that infiltration along Bengals borders posed a threat to the entire country and asserted that a government which, in his words, provided shelter to infiltrators was certain to be voted out. Continuing his attack on the Trinamool Congress, Shah accused it of opposing discussions on Vande Mataram" in Parliament for vote-bank politics and appeasement, calling such objections akin to opposing Bengals identity. Reiterating his confidence about the election outcome, he concluded that the present dispensation would be removed and replaced with a BJP administration focused, he said, on security and rebuilding the state. The Union Home Minister also paid tribute to workers who lost their lives in a fire at the Anandapur warehouse near Kolkata, before alleging that the blaze was not an accident" but the result of corruption under the Trinamool Congress-led government. He urged supporters to raise both hands and chant slogans to signal victory, asking whether they wanted to form a BJP government in Bengal and uproot" the ruling party. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 13:46 IST News india 'BJP Would Ensure Fencing Bengal's Borders In 45 Days': Amit Shah Seeks People's Mandate In State Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'Blinded By Love For Nephew': Amit Shah Attacks Mamata Banerjee, Renews Corruption Charge Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 18:15 IST Amit Shah accused Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress of institutionalising corruption in Bengal, urging voters to elect BJP for national security in the 2026 elections. Amit Shah- File Pic (Image: News18) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched a sharp attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that her government is the most corrupt in the country. Speaking at a public event in Bagdogra, Shah said he could say without hesitation" that no other government in India matched the level of corruption under the Trinamool Congress regime in Bengal. Mamata Didi says there is no corruption. Mamata Didi, you have institutionalised corruption," Shah said. He further accused Banerjee of turning a blind eye to alleged wrongdoing due to her affection for her nephew, a reference widely seen as aimed at senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee. #WATCH | Bagdogra, West Bengal: Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, I can say without hesitation that there is no government in this country more corrupt than Mamata Banerjees government in Bengal. Mamata Didi says there is no corruption. Mamata Didi, you have institutionalised pic.twitter.com/GFzcq2GNOe ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 You are blinded by your love for your nephew; you cant see the corruption," Shah said, intensifying the BJPs offensive against the Bengal government. Corrupt TMC regime sheltering infiltrators; BJP govt in Bengal vital for national security" In another meeting at Barrackpore, Shah said that forming a BJP government in West Bengal was no longer merely a political goal but a national security necessity". He asserted that the 2026 Assembly elections would bring an end to TMC rule in the state. The way infiltration is taking place in West Bengal, it has become a security issue for the entire country," Shah said. He alleged that despite court orders, the state government had failed to provide land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for border fencing because infiltrators constituted the TMCs vote bank. Shah further claimed that the state administration and police were not stopping illegal migrants, who, he alleged, were being sent across the country using fake documents. He said the Calcutta High Court had acknowledged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was not cooperating in handing over land required for border fencing. But whether Mamata Banerjee provides land by March 31 as directed by the high court or not, in April a BJP chief minister will complete the border fencing work within 45 days," Shah said, adding that the BJP had a record of delivering on its promises. The Calcutta High Court recently directed the West Bengal government to hand over already acquired land in nine border districts to the BSF by March 31 for installing barbed-wire fencing along the IndiaBangladesh border. The court noted that West Bengal accounts for more than half of Indias total border with Bangladesh and that large stretches remain unfenced despite multiple cabinet decisions since 2016. Drawing a comparison with Assam, Shah said infiltration had stopped there after the BJP came to power, unlike during the Congress regime. On the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Shah said Banerjee could oppose it as much as she wants, but it would go ahead to weed out infiltrators from voter lists. He added that any illegal names remaining would be removed once a BJP government was formed. Shah also accused the TMC of intimidating the Matua and Namasudra communities over citizenship issues. There is no need to be afraid. Mamata ji cannot touch your vote," he said, assuring them of protection and dignity under a BJP government. Referring to the recent fire at a Momo factory in Anandapur near Kolkata, Shah alleged it was not an accident but the result of the corruption of the Mamata Banerjee government". He questioned why the factory owners had not yet been arrested and suggested their proximity to the ruling party could be the reason. Has the administration completely ceased to exist in Bengal?" Shah asked, adding that the TMC would have reacted differently had the victims belonged to a particular community". Accusing the ruling party of institutionalising corruption, Shah challenged Banerjee to demonstrate her seriousness by denying election tickets to tainted ministers" in the upcoming Assembly polls. He also alleged that the TMC opposed a discussion on Vande Mataram in Parliament to appease infiltrators. Calling on voters to uproot" the TMC, Shah urged the establishment of what he described as a government of patriots and nationalists" in West Bengal. Predicting a decisive mandate, he said the BJP would cross 50 per cent vote share in 2026, recalling that the party had secured 38 per cent votes and 77 seats in the 2021 Assembly elections. The year 2026 is the year to say tata, bye-bye to the TMC," Shah said. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 17:24 IST News india 'Blinded By Love For Nephew': Amit Shah Attacks Mamata Banerjee, Renews Corruption Charge Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... How Fast Are Our Fast-Track Courts? Delhi Takes 1,717 Days For POCSO Trials Against One-Year Deadline Written By : News18.com Edited By: Apoorva Misra Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 12:18 IST Reasons that lead to delay in disposal of cases include availability of physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence & stakeholders' cooperation Rapid Read Fast-track courts have collectively disposed of 3.66 lakh cases since the inception of the scheme and 2.45 lakh cases are pending. Data from the Ministry of Law and Justice show that till January 30, Delhi, with 11 functional POCSO courts, had 2,421 POCSO cases pending, while overall pendency in Fast Track Special Courts stood at 3,361 cases. Since 2019, a total of 6,516 cases has been transferred to FTSCs in the national capital. As per the ministry dashboard, currently across India, 774 fast-track special courts are functional, including 398 exclusive POCSO Courts. The Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) are for expeditious trials relating to sexual offences. POCSO Courts, a part of FTSCs, deals only with cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. These fast-track courts have collectively disposed of 3.66 lakh cases since the inception of the scheme and 2.45 lakh cases are pending in these across India, including 1.42 lakh POCSO cases. Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied" The ministry data, issued last year, shows that of the 30 states where exclusive POCSO courts are operational, Puducherry (180 days) and Andhra Pradesh (257 days) are clearing the cases fastest on average. Chhattisgarh (300 days), Goa (365) and Madhya Pradesh (395) were in the top five list. On the other end of the spectrum was Delhi, which is taking 1,717 days to complete the trials in the POCSO cases on average. Only five states/UTs are taking more than 1,000 days of average time for trial. The list included Manipur (1,305 days), Nagaland (1,185 days), Mizoram (1,155) and Uttar Pradesh (1,116.27). As per the Department of Justice data, there are no POCSO exclusive courts in Manipur and Nagaland and just one in Mizoram. However, they do have fast-track courtstwo in Manipur, one in Nagaland and three in Mizoram. Delhi has 16 fast track courts and Uttar Pradesh has 218. As per the National Judicial Data Grid figures up to December 2025, there are 35,434 cases filed under POCSO Act pending for over two yearsup from 189 in 2015. As per the POCSO Act, 2012, the evidence of the child should be recorded within a period of 30 days of the Special Court taking cognizance of the offence and the Special Court should complete the trial, as far as possible, within a period of one year from the date of taking cognizance of the offence. The analysis also shows that between July 1, 2025, and January 30, fast-track courts disposed of about 32,000 cases in roughly seven months, translating to nearly 150 cases a day nationwide, according to ministry dashboard figures. A third-party evaluation of the FTSCs by the Indian Institute of Public Administration showed that only 34.07 per cent of fast-track courts meet the schemes disposal benchmark of 4142 cases per quarter and 165 annually, while nearly two-thirds fail to do so. Citing conditions in Delhis courts, the report stated that in Tis Hazari, about 50 per cent cases were false, including consensual love affair cases. It also said getting the victims in the courtrooms takes a lot of time, as most of the victims migrate to other cities. For Karkardooma, it stated that too many cases are assigned to one court and these courts are overburdened. It also said that in rape cases, examination of prosecution takes a lot of time and the investigation officers are filing the chargesheets invariably, even if the cases are false on most grounds. In the case of Saket Court, the report listed challenges, including dearth of special public prosecutors in the FTSCs in the south district. It also listed that the public prosecutors do not have the basic facilities like internet, laptops, and support staff that can help them prepare the case. The sessions court needs to be equipped with adequate court staff, like stenographers and the naib court (court staff), for more efficiency in work, it suggested. Is a Speedy Trial Really Possible? The POCSO courts in parts of India have delivered verdicts in a record time. In 2021 in Bihar, a POCSO court sentenced a man in just one days proceedings to life imprisonment for raping an eight-year-old girl. The Araria court fast-tracked the proceedings by recording witnesses, arguments, and counter-arguments; convicting the accused, and issuing the judgement in just one day. In Delhi also, a man was convicted in April 2025within seven weeks of the registration of the FIR and 11 days after the police filed chargesheet. The POCSO judge of Tis Hazari convicted the man for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl. The DNA of the man matched with the babys. The Fast-Track Courts The Union government launched the FTSCs scheme on October 2, 2019, establishing specialised courts nationwide for the expeditious disposal of rape and POCSO Act cases. The FTSCs scheme was initially launched for one year and later extended until March 2023. It was further extended for three more years till March 31, 2026. The total financial outlay for this period is Rs 1,952.23 crore, with Rs 1,207.24 crore as the Central Share, funded through the Nirbhaya Fund. A total of Rs 1,034.55 crore has already been released till 2024-25. Several Factors Impacting Fast Disposal The ministry, in one of its documents, cited that there are several reasons that lead to delay in disposal of cases in courts, including availability of physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholdersbar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures. Other factors that lead to delay in disposal of cases include frequent adjournments and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing," it had said. Citing the improvement in performance, the ministry also said in calendar year 2024, 88,902 new cases were instituted, while 85,595 cases were resolved by the fast-track courts, underscoring the effectiveness of these fast-track courts in addressing case backlogs". Despite marginal year-wise improvements, cumulative pendency continues to rise, as courts have not been able to consistently clear more cases than they receive. In the last two weeks, News18 explained how cases of crime against children are on the rise and POCSO cases are a major driving factor. Across the country, the cases of crime against children rose from one lakh in 2016 to 1.77 lakh by 2023. In terms of victims, the increase was from 1.11 lakh in 2016 to 1.86 in 2023. POCSO cases rose from 36,022 in 2016 to 67,694 in 2023 and the number of POCSO victims climbed steeply from 36,321 in 2016 to 68,636 in 2023, highlighting the expanding scale of sexual violence against minors. Fast Track Special Courts are a vital part of Indias judicial system, ensuring swift justice for victims of heinous crimes and protecting vulnerable groups and upholding justice through a responsive legal framework. For survivors of sexual abuse and their families, prolonged trials mean years of uncertainty and re-traumatisation. As pendency rises and trials stretch far beyond the one-year mandate, the question facing the justice system is no longer whether speedy trials are possible, but why they remain out of reach for so many children. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 12:18 IST News india How Fast Are Our Fast-Track Courts? Delhi Takes 1,717 Days For POCSO Trials Against One-Year Deadline Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... I-T Officials Have To Answer: Brother Of Realtor CJ Roy Speaks On His Death During Raids Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Shuddhanta Patra Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 09:04 IST CJ Roys brother, CJ Babu, who owns WhiteGold, told that the real estate tycoon was worried about the Income Tax raids. CJ Roy, Bengaluru real estate tycoon, died by suicide during an Income Tax Department investigation at his office. Bengaluru-based real estate tycoon Roy Chiriankandath Joseph, popularly known as CJ Roy, reportedly took his own life on Friday afternoon while an Income Tax Department investigation was underway at his premises. The intensive search operation had begun early in the morning and continued throughout the day. Brother speaks on worries over IT raids After the incident, Roys brother, CJ Babu, who owns WhiteGold, told CNN News18 that CJ Roy was worried about the Income Tax raids. He said he spoke to his brother at 10.40 am the previous day and talked for about 30 minutes about the raids, which had been going on for three days. Babu Roy said his brother had no loans, no threats and no other issues. I spoke to him yesterday at 10.40 am. He called me twice and we spoke for about 30 minutes. He told me about the Income Tax raids, which had been going on for three days, and said he was worried about the investigation. I was not in the country, so he asked me to meet him at 7 pm today to discuss everything, but that did not happen," said Babu Roy. He added that Roy had planned to meet him at 7 pm to discuss matters, but that meeting never happened. Babu Roy said he was informed by a staff member who was weeping and told him about the incident. He also confirmed that only Income Tax officials were present, and no other agency was involved during the fateful incident. At that time, only the Income Tax officials were present, no other agency. The assistant commissioner of Income Tax, Mr Krishnaprasad, will have to answer what led to this. I will first meet the family and others, and then I will be in a better position to say if we have any complaints. I am going straight now to meet the family," Babu Roy added. Questioning by IT Dept officials On the fateful day, Roy arrived at his office later in the afternoon and was immediately questioned by officials for around one hour. During the session, investigators asked him to produce specific financial documents to clarify certain records. Roy then requested permission to go to his private chamber to retrieve the paperwork, a request that appeared routine at the time. Shortly after entering his room, a single gunshot was heard. Reports said Roy used his personal pistol to shoot himself in the chest. Income Tax officials present rushed to help and took him to Narayana Hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival. What police said? Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said the body was sent to hospital and examined by the SOCO and crime teams. He said the company director had filed a complaint and confirmed that Roy shot himself. Police are investigating which pistol was used and how many rounds were fired. He said the incident occurred at around 3:15 pm and that officials are speaking to Income Tax officers. He added that raids had been conducted for three days by a Kerala Income Tax team and that police are verifying who was present at the time. The local police have cordoned off the area and begun a formal investigation into the death. Officials said more information would be shared after the investigation is completed. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:16 IST News india I-T Officials Have To Answer: Brother Of Realtor CJ Roy Speaks On His Death During Raids Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'Mamata Banerjee Opposing Vande Mataram To Protect Infiltrators': Amit Shah In Bengal Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 13:28 IST Amit Shah said the BJP would get more than 50 per cent votes in the upcoming Assembly election and reaffirmed that the party would form the next government in Bengal after Bihar. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in West Bengal today and addressed a programme in Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas during his visit. (Photo: BJP X) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Mamata Banerjee and her government were opposing Vande Mataram" to protect Bangladeshi infiltrators. He said opposing the slogan was against Bengals heritage, the nations culture and identity, and asked whether people of Bengal would accept this. He urged people to uproot the Trinamool Congress government in the election. Mamata Banerjee and her government are opposing Vande Mataram to protect infiltrators. By opposing Vande Mataram, Mamata Banerjee is acting against Bengals heritage and the nations culture and identity. Will the people of Bengal tolerate or accept this opposition to Bengals identity? In the upcoming election, uproot the Trinamool Congress government completely," Shah said in West Bengal while addressing a programme in North 24 Parganass in Barrackpore. He said those who were martyred during the freedom struggle had Vande Mataram" as their last words. He added that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to celebrate 150 years of Vande Mataram" across the country. He said the slogan would rise from Bengal to Kashmir, from Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Bengal. BJP Bengal election target Shah said the BJP would get more than 50 per cent votes in the upcoming Assembly election and reaffirmed that the party would form the next government in Bengal after Bihar. When Lord Ram was building the Ram Setu, Ravan kept creating obstacles in the same way like Mamata Banerjee is doing in Bengal. In 2019, the BJP won 18 seats. In 2021, with 77 seats, Suvendu Adhikari became the Leader of the Opposition, firmly establishing the BJP as the principal opposition party in the state. Now, in the upcoming election, you must increase the vote share from 39% to 45%," he said. The BJP has come to power in Bihar and Delhi with a massive public mandate. The party has also performed well in the municipal elections in Kerala and Mumbai. Mamata Banerjee came to power speaking of Ma, Mati, Manush. But today, women are unsafe. The land is under the control of infiltrators. There is no security for the people. To protect Ma, Mati, and Manush, Bengal needs a BJP government," Shah added. Shah challenged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to not give election tickets to Trinamool Congress leaders who were raided by the CBI and ED in recent years. These include Partha Chatterjee, Anubrata Mondal, Jyotipriya Mallick, Sheikh Shahjahan, Firhad Hakim, Madam Mitra among others. Matua community and SIR Amit Shah said, Mamata Banerjee is trying to intimidate the Matua community. Shantanu Thakur is standing with you. I want to tell the people of the Matua community that there is no need to be afraid; we are with you, and the Central government is also with you. No matter how much Mamata Banerjee opposes the SIR, it will be implemented in accordance with the law and established rules." He added, Not just change, the government of this state must be uprooted completely, roots and all. The BJP will build a Sonar Bangla envisioned by Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay." Border fencing and infiltration issue He said forming a government in Bengal was crucial not only for the state but for national security. Shah said infiltration was threatening Bengal and the country. He said the state government does not provide land for border fencing, which has stopped complete barbed-wire fencing. He said infiltrators enter through the border and that the state police administration prepares fake documents for them. He added that the High Court had spoken in favour of the BSF on the issue of border fencing. Shah said that even after the High Courts directive, land was not provided because infiltrators were a vote bank. He said that once the BJP comes to power by the end of April, it would ensure land is acquired and border fencing is completed within 45 days to guarantee security. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : West Bengal, India, India First Published: January 31, 2026, 13:06 IST News india 'Mamata Banerjee Opposing Vande Mataram To Protect Infiltrators': Amit Shah In Bengal Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 23:42 IST NCP Reunion Live Updates: Sunetra Pawar has been unanimously elected as the NCP leader by the leaders of the legislative assembly. She took oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra on Saturday. The development comes amid the buzz over the merger of the two factions of the NCP, which many called the leaders last wish. Senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party are holding crucial discussions as political activity intensifies in Maharashtra following the sudden death of Ajit Pawar. Party sources indicate that Sunetra Pawar is the leading choice to step into the role of Deputy Chief Minister. On Friday, NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal, Sunil Tatkare and Dhananjay Munde met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at Varsha Bungalow, adding to speculation over an imminent leadership announcement. Ajit Pawars faction of the NCP is currently part of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra along with the BJP, led by Fadnavis, and Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, the rival NCP group led by Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule remains in the opposition alongside the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT). Sunetra Pawar is presently a Rajya Sabha MP and is not a member of either House of the Maharashtra legislature. However, the Baramati Assembly seat in Pune district has become vacant following Ajit Pawars death in the plane crash on Wednesday, opening the door for a possible political transition in the constituency. 'Trashy Ruminations': MEA Dismisses Reference To PM Modis 2017 Israel Visit In Epstein Email Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 07:49 IST Epstein died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. (PTI file photo) The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday strongly rejected references to Prime Minister Narendra Modis 2017 visit to Israel that appeared in an email purportedly included in the recently released Epstein files, calling the claims baseless and contemptible." Responding to media queries, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the only factual element in the email was the Prime Ministers official visit to Israel in July 2017. Beyond that, the so-called references are nothing more than trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal and deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," he said. The reaction came after the Congress attempted to raise political questions over Prime Minister Modi being mentioned in a purported email linked to the documents released from the estate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that the reference raised concerns about judgment, transparency and diplomatic propriety, claiming there was an unexplained association" with Epstein. BJP Hits Back BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya on Saturday hit back at the Congress over its claims linked to the recently released Jeffrey Epstein documents, calling the allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi a gross distortion of facts." In a post on X, Malviya said Congress had sensationalised a purported reference to suggest that Epstein had advised Prime Minister Modi during his 2017 Israel visit. Congresss sensational claim that Jeffrey Epstein wrote about Prime Minister Narendra Modi allegedly taking his advice to dance and sing in Israel for the benefit of a US President is a gross distortion of the facts," Malviya said. He asserted that none of the documents released by the US House Oversight Committee support such claims. There is nothing in the Epstein files to indicate that PM Modi ever sought, received or acted upon Epsteins personal adviceon dancing and singing or anything else. Nor is there any evidence of contact between the two," he said. Malviya further claimed that verified records make no mention of Epsteins advice," any reference to dancing or singing, or any assertion that it worked." These details are entirely fabricated and are being pushed by Congress to manufacture outrage," he alleged. Citing independent fact-checks, Malviya said there was zero evidence" of any direct or indirect interaction between Prime Minister Modi and Epstein. He described the Prime Ministers 2017 Israel visit as a historic diplomatic engagement" focused on defence, technology and trade, with cultural courtesies that are standard during state visits. Congress is twisting a generic email fragment into a political smear, conveniently ignoring the well-known fact that Epstein was a habitual name-dropper who exaggerated connections to project influence," Malviya said. The controversy follows the release of a massive tranche of investigative material by the US Department of Justice on Friday (local time). The disclosure includes more than three million pages of records, over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images connected to Epstein. Announcing the release, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the disclosures were in line with a transparency mandate passed by Congress last year. He described it as the culmination of an extensive document review process aimed at ensuring public transparency and legal compliance. Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. He had previously served a 13-month sentence in Florida in 2008 under a widely criticised plea deal. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 21:28 IST News india 'Trashy Ruminations': MEA Dismisses Reference To PM Modis 2017 Israel Visit In Epstein Email Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Union Budget 2026: From Tax Relief To AI Push And Capex Boost, Here's What Industries Expect Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 07:21 IST Industry expectations are pouring in, including tax relief to boost consumption, a sharper push for AI, and higher capital expenditure to sustain growth and job creation. Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history on Sunday by becoming the first woman finance minister to present nine consecutive Union Budgets. (Photo Credit: X) Budget 2026 Expectations: As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present the Union Budget 2026-27 on February 1, industry expectations are pouring in, including personal income tax relief to boost consumption, a sharper push for artificial intelligence, and higher capital expenditure to sustain growth and job creation. Sitharaman is set to create history on Sunday by becoming the first woman finance minister to present nine consecutive Union Budgets. Ahead of the exercise, voices from sectors such as infrastructure, real estate, MSMEs, healthcare, education and technology are calling for targeted policy interventions amid global uncertainty and slowing private investment. Infrastructure & Real Estate Indias real estate sector is seeking structural reforms, including the grant of industry status, a simplified single-window clearance mechanism and faster digitisation of land records. On the infrastructure side, industry leaders are urging a sharp increase in capital expenditure in the upcoming Budget to support growth, employment and competitiveness. Pradeep Aggarwal, founder and chairman of Signature Global (India) Ltd, said the real estate sector currently contributes around 7 per cent to Indias GDP and supports more than 200 allied industries. Granting industry status, he said, would improve access to institutional funding and enhance the sectors role in employment generation. With adequate policy support, real estate has the potential to contribute up to 15 per cent to Indias GDP by 2047," Aggarwal said. Brokerage Axis Securities expects the Budget to consider raising the interest payment deduction limit under Section 24 from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, along with a possible revisit of tax holidays for affordable housing developers. Income Tax After last years move to make annual income up to Rs 12 lakh tax-free under the new tax regime, expectations are building around further relief for individuals in the Union Budget 2026-27. Earlier, sources told News18 that two people-centric proposals are under discussion. The first is a deduction of up to Rs 2 lakh on home loan interest under the new tax regime, a benefit currently available only in the old regime. The second proposal being considered is allowing a deduction of up to Rs 50,000 for medical insurance premiums, providing relief amid rising healthcare costs. Taxpayers are also expecting the standard deduction under the new tax regime to be raised to Rs 1 lakh from the current Rs 75,000. Healthcare & Pharma Budget provisions around artificial intelligence are expected to place a strong emphasis on healthcare. The government is exploring support for AI-led diagnostic tools that can aid early disease detection, including the use of machine-learning models to analyse X-rays and other medical imaging. The objective is to bridge gaps in doctor availability, particularly in rural and underserved regions, while lowering diagnostic costs. Satish Reddy, chairman of Dr Reddys Laboratories, said that as the pharmaceutical industry shifts from volume-led expansion to value-driven growth, closer alignment between science, policy and industry will be critical to advancing innovation. With the sector expected to play a key role in achieving the goal of becoming a $500 billion industry by 2047, Reddy said the focus should be on creating a structured funding framework to deepen R&D and enable the development of complex, high-value therapies. The MedTech industry has echoed similar expectations, particularly around tax rationalisation and strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities. MSMEs Micro, small and medium enterprises are looking to the Budget for targeted support for manufacturing, improved access to finance and measures to manage trade-related uncertainties. Akash Jain, CEO of AKME Fintrade Limited, said that despite a deepening credit ecosystem, MSMEs continue to face a significant shortfall in access to formal credit. The total addressable credit gap is estimated at nearly Rs 30 lakh crore, accounting for close to 24 per cent of total debt demand. Strengthening the credit ecosystem is critical to bridging this gap," he said. Jain added that measures such as enhanced refinance windows, partial credit guarantees and easier access to long-term funds could significantly improve credit flow to MSMEs and retail borrowers. He also flagged the need for GST rationalisation on financial services and greater clarity on TDS provisions to reduce operational friction. Mahesh Krishnamoorthy, managing director of Core Integra, said 2025 had been a turbulent year due to geopolitical tensions, tariffs and currency volatility, impacting business sentiment and job markets. Given the uncertain global environment, he said the Budget may remain conservative while continuing to support manufacturing and MSMEs. Education Education stakeholders are seeking focused investment in strengthening Indias higher education ecosystem to curb the growing outflow of students to foreign universities. Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, group vice-chancellor of BITS Pilani, said that merely expanding capacity would not address the challenge. With rapid changes in job roles and skill requirements, education leaders are calling for stronger alignment between academia and industry. Fr. Nelson A. DSilva, S.J., acting director of XLRI Delhi-NCR, said higher education must remain responsive to real-world needs. Technology The technology industry is seeking a stronger policy push for artificial intelligence, along with broader support to enable collaboration and adoption across sectors. We hope to see continued support for AI research and development through grants, incentives and policy measures that encourage enterprises to adopt AI and automation, strengthen efficiencies and enable data-driven decision-making," said Srividya Kannan, founder and CEO of Avaali. Capital Markets Equity investors are increasingly focused on post-tax returns as higher levies on trades and capital gains continue to eat into profits. With the Union Budget 2026 approaching, market participants are watching whether the government will reconsider securities transaction tax (STT) and capital gains tax or keep the current structure unchanged. Retail Sector In the Budget 2026, the retail sector expects continued policy support that strengthens consumption and investor confidence. Indias retail market is projected to double to $2 trillion by 2032, but reaching this milestone will depend on sustained, consumer-led growth. As the Union Budget 2026-27 approaches, the retail sector expects continued policy support, building on the governments proactive approach in recent years. Measures on taxation, credit access, infrastructure and ease of doing business could further support consumption and help organised retail expand beyond metros, strengthening employment and domestic demand," Shriram PM Monga, co-founder and principal consultant at SRED. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 14:32 IST News india Union Budget 2026: From Tax Relief To AI Push And Capex Boost, Here's What Industries Expect Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... You may view Fluor (NYSE: FLR) as an engineering and construction company, but there's much more beneath the surface. A big part of Fluor's value is linked to nuclear energy and reliable power grid buildout. If you're bullish about the nuclear energy renaissance but hesitant to buy uranium miners or small modular reactor companies, Fluor is one stock that should be on your list. With Fluor, you can invest in a company that will help build the infrastructure, while steering clear of volatile uranium prices. Here's why investors should pay attention. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks Fluor invested in NuScale early on Fluor designs, builds, and manages large-scale projects across the world, providing engineering and construction services to clients across a variety of sectors. The company is a key partner in helping clients construct factories, mines, power plants, and data center infrastructure. What makes Fluor intriguing is its role in the nuclear energy buildout. The company was a major investor in NuScale Power, the only U.S. company with a certified small modular reactor design from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is also a contractor for NuScale projects and is key in helping it build out its RoPower nuclear plant in Romania, which will utilize NuScale's small modular reactors. Fluor was a longtime investor in NuScale, but it has decided to sell its stake after NuScale's large run-up last year. The company sold part of its stake last October and aims to exit its position entirely by the second quarter of 2026. The company plans to use these funds to continue repurchasing $1.3 billion of its own stock, which it views as undervalued. Image source: Getty Images. Its $30 billion nuclear contract could be a huge tailwind Another component of Fluor's nuclear portfolio is its Pantex Plant contract. In 2024, a joint venture involving Fluor was awarded the management and operations contract for the Pantex Plant, which is responsible for nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly in Texas. The contract has an estimated value of $30 billion for the joint venture if all options are exercised over its 20-year lifetime. Because Fluor has a non-controlling interest, this is an equity-method investment that is not reported in its consolidated backlog. For this reason, management notes that this is a potentially massive, recurring, high-margin source of government revenue that could be a big contributor to growth down the road. Who Is Sunetra Pawar? Rajya Sabha MP, Social Worker, And Likely Choice For Maharashtra Deputy CM Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 10:07 IST Long absent from frontline politics, Sunetra Pawar now finds herself at the centre of a leadership transition following her husband Ajit Pawars death. Sunetra Pawar is speculated to take charge of NCP following her husband Ajit Pawar's demise. (Image/ANI) Ajit Pawars sudden death in a plane crash has left a vacuum in the Maharashtra government, where his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction governs in alliance with CM Fadnavis-led BJP and Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena. Into this uncertainty has stepped Sunetra Pawar, the wife of the late Deputy Chief Minister, whose name, according to party sources, has been backed to take charge. If the appointment goes through, the 63-year-old Rajya Sabha MP will become the states first woman Deputy CM. The oath-taking ceremony is likely to be held at 5 pm on Saturday, said NCP sources, adding she will also take charge as the party chief. The preparations have begun at the Raj Bhawan. Despite being part of the Pawar family for almost four decades, Sunetra kept her distance from active politics until very recently. Early Life And Family Background Born in 1963 in Osmanabad (now Dharashiv), Sunetra grew up in a Maratha family deeply entrenched in the regions political landscape. Her father, Bajirao Patil, was a notable local politician, and her brother, Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, rose to significant influence in the district during the 1980s. This positioned her within a politically active environment long before she entered the Pawar family. She completed her Bachelors degree in commerce from S B Arts and Commerce College in Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) in 1983. In December 1985, she married Ajit Pawar through an alliance arranged by her brother after the two first met earlier that year. Even after entering one of Maharashtras most powerful political households, Sunetra remained distant from frontline politics for several decades. Social Work And Transformation Of Kathewadi Sunetras earliest public role came through social work in and around Baramati. One of her most recognised initiatives began in Kathewadi, the Pawar familys ancestral village, where she noticed widespread open defecation and inadequate sanitation. She led a sustained cleanliness campaign, persuading families to construct toilets and participating personally in community drives. Kathewadi later received the Centres Nirmal Gram status in 2006 after becoming open-defecation free. Over time, the village developed into a model eco village with solar streetlights, biogas plants, organised waste management and organic farming. The village also adopted administrative practices such as including mothers names alongside fathers names in land records and supporting womens self-help groups. Several awards followed, including the Sant Gadgebaba Swachhata Abhiyan recognition. Sunetra was also instrumental in establishing the Baramati Hi Tech Textile Park, a 65-acre facility approved in 2008 under the Centres Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks. As chairperson of the project, she oversaw an industrial hub employing more than 15,000 workers, the majority of them women, in weaving, apparel and printing units. Entry Into Politics And Rajya Sabha Role Her formal entry into politics came only in 2024, when Ajit Pawar fielded her as the NCP candidate from Baramati on the BJP-led NDA ticket, in a high-stakes contest against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule. Sule is the daughter of NCP founder Sharad Pawar, whose faction is in the opposition, with the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. The election symbolised the widening split within the Pawar family and the NCP. Sunetra lost the contest, but her candidature marked a turning point in her public role. Months later, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Since taking oath in June 2024, her attendance has been about 69 per cent. She has participated in four debates, slightly above the national average of 58 for the same period, which translates to roughly 10 debates per year across a six-year term. Despite this, she has maintained a relatively low public profile. Controversies Linked To Family Members While Sunetra herself has kept away from controversy, legal cases involving close family members have periodically surfaced in public discussion. In 2009, her brother Padamsinh Bajirao Patil was named the main accused in the 2006 murder of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver near Navi Mumbai. The CBI charged him with murder and criminal conspiracy, and the case remains pending. Her name also appeared in early inquiries related to the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank case because of her links to firms involved in sugar mill transactions. In 2021, the Enforcement Directorate attached assets belonging to companies associated with Ajit and Sunetra Pawar, though neither was named in the agencys chargesheet. In April 2024, the Mumbai Polices Economic Offences Wing stated that no criminal offence was found in the loan sanctioning or sale and lease of sugar mills linked to the bank, effectively giving her a clean chit. Current Moment And Challenges Ahead The leadership vacuum has placed Sunetra Pawar at a decisive crossroads. Unlike senior figures such as Sunil Tatkare or Praful Patel, she carries the emotional resonance of the Pawar name, a political asset that still holds considerable sway in the familys home turf. The transition, however, comes with clear complexities. Sunetra is often described as a Green Warrior", with her strengths rooted in social entrepreneurship, community initiatives and soft-power engagement. Stepping into the Deputy Chief Ministers office would require her to navigate the demanding and often cut-throat dynamics of the state cabinet, while also becoming a key channel of communication with CM Fadnavis. With her sons, Parth and Jay Pawar, still early in their political journeys, the responsibility of holding the faction together now rests largely on her. A particularly delicate challenge lies in managing ties with the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar. Before the Baramati plane crash, there were indications of a tentative softening" between the two sides, prompting speculation about a possible reunification. A majority of party workers and supporters have expressed a desire for the factions to merge. Anil Deshmukh said, It was the heartfelt wish of Ajit Pawar that both the NCP factions should merge at the earliest we should go ahead with the mergerit was Ajit Pawars last wish." How Sunetra chooses to navigate this will be central to her leadership. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 10:07 IST News india Who Is Sunetra Pawar? Rajya Sabha MP, Social Worker, And Likely Choice For Maharashtra Deputy CM Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Whose Money Parked In Momo Factory?: Amit Shah Flags Corruption After Kolkata Warehouse Fire Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 16:09 IST Referring to the fire at the Anandapur warehouses, including a godown linked to Wow! Momo, Shah said the blaze was not an accident but a consequence of alleged corruption. Union Home Minister Amit Shah. (File photo) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government over the deadly fire at warehouses in Kolkatas Anandapur area, alleging that the tragedy was rooted in corruption and administrative failure. Addressing the BJP Karyakarta Sammelan in North 24 Parganas, Shah said the incident raised serious questions about governance in the state and demanded an investigation to fix accountability. Referring to the fire at the Anandapur warehouses, including a godown linked to Wow! Momo, Shah said the blaze was not an accident" but a consequence of alleged corruption. Paying tribute to the workers who lost their lives, he questioned the circumstances surrounding the operation of the facility and the response of the authorities. Whose money is parked in the momo factory? With whom did the owner travel abroad? Why has the owner not been arrested yet?" Shah asked, accusing the state government of shielding those responsible. He also criticised the delay in the governments response, claiming that a minister visited the site nearly 32 hours after the fire broke out. Labourers were trapped inside, screaming for help, and the government remained silent," he alleged. The Union Home Minister urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to order a full-fledged probe into the incident and ensure that those found guilty are sent to jail. The fire erupted at a decorators warehouse in Anandapur and rapidly spread to an adjacent godown used by Wow! Momo. Many workers were reportedly asleep when the blaze began, leaving them little chance to escape. The official death toll has risen to 25, with authorities cautioning that the number could increase as rescue and search operations continue. Police have collected over 20 DNA samples from family members to identify victims, while several families have lodged missing person complaints, fearing their relatives may still be buried under the debris. Investigators are examining whether fire safety norms were followed at the 12,000-square-foot warehouse, which stored packaging materials, beverages and other supplies. Preliminary observations suggest that materials stacked near the entrance may have obstructed movement during the fire. The tragedy has intensified political tensions in the state. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari staged a protest at the site, holding the Chief Minister responsible for the incident and demanding accountability from the government. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 16:09 IST News india Whose Money Parked In Momo Factory?: Amit Shah Flags Corruption After Kolkata Warehouse Fire Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Nicki Minaj Steps Out In Fur Coat And Alaia Dress For Donald Trump's DC Event Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 09:44 IST Nicki Minaj grabbed attention at a Trump event in DC, stepping out in a butter-yellow Alaia dress, white fur coat and statement chrome nails. Rapper Nicki Minaj came out in support for US President Donald Trump at a recent event Nicki Minaj made headlines once again after stepping into the political spotlight, this time with a fashion moment that quickly became part of the conversation. The Trinidad and Tobago-born rapper appeared alongside former US President Donald Trump at the Treasury Department event in Washington DC, where she openly declared herself his number one fan" and showed off a Trump gold card" visa. While her remarks drew attention, it was her carefully styled outfit that truly stood out. For the public appearance, Minaj chose a look very different from her usual avant-garde self. Nicki Minajs outfit for Trump support She layered an oversized white fur coat, complete with a leather collar and matching belt, over a butter-yellow Alaia high-neck jersey dress. The dress, priced at $3,750, featured a clean silhouette and modest neckline, marking a shift from the rappers more daring red carpet choices. The soft pastel tone added warmth to the look, while the structured coat brought drama and presence. She completed the outfit with white suede Alaia heels worth $1,450 and subtle gold jewellery that added polish without overpowering the ensemble. Her hair was worn long, straight, and sleek, styled with a deep side part that framed her face neatly and kept the focus on her outfit. However, the detail that caught everyones eye was her manicure. Minaj sported long, iridescent chrome-painted nails that shimmered under the lights. Even Trump commented on them during the event, joking about letting his own nails grow because he liked them so much. The appearance marked a notable moment for Minaj, who was once vocal about her criticism of Trumps immigration policies. As debates continue around immigration and recent protests involving ICE actions, her presence and style choices added another layer to an already charged public moment. While she was on stage, the rapper called herself probably the presidents number one fan, and thats not going to change." She added, And the hate, or what people have to say, it does not affect me at all. It actually motivates me to support him more." Nicki Minaj shows off gold Visa card After the event, Nicki took to her X and shared a picture of the Gold Visa with Trumps face embossed on it, as she shared the picture, she wrote, Welp." In a follow-up post, she wrote, Residency? Residency? The cope is coping. Finalising that citizenship paperwork as we speak, as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming President. Thanks to the petition. I wouldnt have done it without you." Donald Trumps gold card" was launched in December to expedite US citizenship for wealthy immigrants. They must pay $1 million and a $15,000 processing fee in return for U.S. residency. However, the $1 million charge was waived for rapper Niki Minaj. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 09:44 IST News lifestyle fashion Nicki Minaj Steps Out In Fur Coat And Alaia Dress For Donald Trump's DC Event Pregnant Sonam Kapoor Glows In Velvet Blue Scooped Neck Gown At Mumbai Event Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 12:08 IST Sonam Kapoor wore a modest Alaia blue velvet maxi gown for an event in Mumbai, where she was named as Lancome's Indian Brand Ambassador. Sonam Kapoor was recently seen at an event in Mumbai in a long-sleeved, navy blue velvet dress. New mum-to-be Sonam Kapoor showed off her baby bump at a recent event in Mumbai. Mumbai winter has been hitting this season, and the actor leaned into it as she was dressed in a winter favourite, a velvet maxi dress. The actor, who is pregnant for the second time, had announced that she was expecting again in November last year. Sonam Kapoor and her husband, Anand Ahuja, have a son named Vayu Kapoor Ahuja, and they have a due date in spring 2026. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bollywood Celebrity Style (@bollywoodwomencloset) During the event, where she was named as luxury makeup, skincare, and fragrance label Lancomes newest Indian brand ambassador, Sonam Kapoor was seen caressing her growing bump as her modest, floor-grazing gown clung to her like a second skin. The actor, who was last seen on-screen in AK vs AK in 2020, wore the curved soft jersey dress by the fashion label Alaia. The dress, which is a part of their newer collection, comes with a hefty price tag of $7,450 (approx. Rs 683,035). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sonam A Kapoor (@sonamkapoor) Sonam Kapoor shared a photo dump on Instagram and shared her excitement for this new journey. She wrote, Proud to be the first face from India for @lancomeofficial, representing a vision of beauty that is timeless, confident and unapologetically feminine. This moment celebrates womanhood, strength, vulnerability, ambition and grace, all coexisting. Exactly as we do. Heres to showing up fully." The 40-year-old is known for always keeping it fashionable and has been serving some killer looks during her pregnancy. She wore a long-sleeved velvet gown in a rich navy blue that made the glow from her pregnancy even more prominent. The maxi dress had a structured neckline with a deep scooped neckline that gave it an off-the-shoulder look, while it flaunted her decolletage and an even deeper back, which added sexy appeal to this outfit. It was cinched at the waist, which added some shape to the gown, and clung to the bump in a regal sort of way. View this post on Instagram A post shared by namratasoni (@namratasoni) For the event, the Aisha actor was styled by her sister, well-known stylist Rhea Kapoor. The sister duo accessorised this look with a few pieces, which were blingy yet elegant. She wore a diamond ring with a blue stone that was surrounded by diamonds and a pair of dangling diamond earrings, which elevated the entire look. Sonam Kapoor has been noted for her elegant and fashion-forward maternity style during this period. Her glam was done by the well-known makeup and hair artist Namrata Soni. Her pin-straight hair was kept simple yet sleek, while keeping the makeup dewy and fresh. The actor had a light dusting of pink blush on her cheeks with a nude pink gloss applied to her lips. Her makeup was overall light and minimal, which made her natural skin stand out and complemented her glow from within. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 09:35 IST News lifestyle fashion Pregnant Sonam Kapoor Glows In Velvet Blue Scooped Neck Gown At Mumbai Event Red Carpet Reinvented: Kylie Jenner Channels High Concept Glam In Two Maison Margiela Looks Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 12:15 IST From Glenn Martens Margiela to a 1997 archival piece, Kylie Jenner delivers a masterclass in high-concept red carpet dressing. Kylie Jenner for Charli XCX's The Moment in Los Angeles. Some premieres call for sparkle. Others demand spectacle. Kylie Jenner chose something rarer: fashion with narrative. Arriving at the Los Angeles screening of Charli XCXs The Moment, the fashion mogul skipped predictable glamour and leaned into conceptual couture, stepping out in not one, but two Maison Margiela looks that felt equal parts runway art and red carpet theatre. The message was clear this wasnt just an appearance; it was an entrance into her new chapter. And Margiela, with its subversive edge, was the perfect co-star. Look One: Runway Rebellion Styled by sister duo Alexandra and Mackenzie Grandquist, Kylie Jenner tapped Look 52 from Maison Margielas Spring 2026 ready-to-wear collection Glenn Martens first outing for the house. The cream halter silhouette played with contrasts: fragile lace meeting industrial finishes, romance colliding with grit. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kylie Jenner Closet (@kyliejennercloset) A cascading ruffle crop top skimmed the frame, while a distressed maxi skirt trailed behind with liquid-like fluidity. The unexpected detail, a nude plastic waistband, lent the ensemble a glossy, almost taped effect, injecting a dose of brat-era irreverence into couture territory. True to form, Kylie didnt replicate the runway verbatim. She separated the original one-piece construction into a low-slung two-piece, exposing the midriff and sharpening the attitude. The result felt more personal, less editorial. Lorraine Schwartzs pear-shaped diamond earrings delivered the only sparkle, like punctuation marks against the deconstructed textures. Look Two: Archival Authority If the premiere was about new Margiela, the after-party was a nod to history. View this post on Instagram A post shared by kyliesradiant | fanpage (@kyliesradiant) For dinner at Craigs, Kylie switched into an archival Martin Margiela Fall 1997 Semi Couture" bodice a collectors piece that fashion insiders revere. Crafted to resemble raw burlap in neutral linen, the elongated tunic clung like armour, its hook-eye closures running down the front with deliberate severity. She softened the austerity by leaving a few fastenings undone and pairing it with a sleek black leather midi instead of the original ivory layering. Pointed pumps and bare ears completed the look. It felt less red carpet, more museum-grade minimalism. Together, the two outfits mapped Kylie Jenners evolving fashion language: contemporary runway risk balanced with archival credibility. Its a strategy that signals permanence not just trend-chasing. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Delhi, India, India First Published: January 31, 2026, 12:15 IST News lifestyle fashion Red Carpet Reinvented: Kylie Jenner Channels High Concept Glam In Two Maison Margiela Looks Catherine OHara And Dextrocardia: What A Right-Sided Heart Really Means For Health Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 11:49 IST Catherine O'Hara died at 71. The Hollywood icon had dextrocardia with situs inversus - her heart was located on the right, and other major organs were in a mirror-image position. Renowned actress Catherine OHara passed away at 71. Best known for her roles in Schitts Creek and Home Alone, Hollywood star Catherine OHara breathed her last on Friday. The 71-year-old actor was rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles in serious" condition, where she died later. As reported by Page Six, the Los Angeles Fire Department mentioned that they responded to a medical aid call from Catherine OHaras Brentwood home at approximately 4:48 AM. The cause of the actors death has not been announced. Catherine had a rare congenital heart condition called dextrocardia with situs inversus, as a result of which her heart was located on the right side of the chest, and other major organs were in a mirror-image position. Studies state that this condition generally causes no medical issues or symptoms. What Is Dextrocardia? Dextrocardia occurs when the heart forms on the right side of the chest during fetal development, with its apex pointing right instead of left. It is estimated to affect roughly 1 in 10,00012,000 births, making it uncommon but not unheard of. On its own, dextrocardia may not cause any health problems and can go unnoticed for years, sometimes discovered only during an X-ray or ECG. When Organs Follow Suit In some cases, the condition appears alongside situs inversus, where other major organs are also reversed. The liver may sit on the left, the spleen on the right, and the stomach may shift positions. When all abdominal and chest organs are mirrored, the condition is known as situs inversus totalis. Surprisingly, many people with this complete reversal live normal, symptom-free lives. Doctors often describe it as a mirror-image anatomy" rather than a disease. Types Of Dextrocardia Doctors Look For Medical experts classify dextrocardia into: Isolated dextrocardia Dextrocardia with situs inversus Situs inversus totalis Dextrocardia with heterotaxy (irregular organ arrangement, often complex) The last type is typically associated with more serious congenital heart or organ complications. Symptoms: When It Matters Isolated cases rarely produce symptoms. However, when combined with structural abnormalities, patients may experience: Breathing difficulties Fatigue Cyanosis (bluish skin due to low oxygen) Recurrent lung or sinus infections Poor weight gain in infants These issues usually stem from associated heart or lung defects, not the organ reversal itself. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Delhi, India, India First Published: January 31, 2026, 11:49 IST News lifestyle health-and-fitness Catherine OHara And Dextrocardia: What A Right-Sided Heart Really Means For Health Catherine OHara Death: Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt Pay Tribute, Ileana DCruz Calls It Heart-Wrenching Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 11:08 IST Catherine OHara, best known for Schitts Creek and Home Alone, passed away at 71. Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Parineeti Chopa and other celebs mourned her demise. Rapid Read Catherine OHara Death: Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt Pay Tribute, Ileana DCruz Calls It Heart-Wrenching Renowned actress and comedian Catherine OHara is no more. She passed away at the age of 71. The Canadian-born performer, best known for her roles in Home Alone, Schitts Creek and Beetlejuice, died at her Los Angeles home following a brief illness, according to a statement released by her agency, CAA. Soon after the news of her passing surfaced, tributes poured in from all corners. Bollywood celebrities such as Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Parineeti Chopra, Bipasha Basu and many others also expressed their grief over Catherine OHaras death. Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan Mourn Catherine OHaras Death On Saturday, Alia Bhatt took to her Instagram stories to share a picture of Catherine OHara, and added a heartbreak emoji. Meanwhile, Kareena Kapoor Khan shared quotes from Catherine OHaras iconic character Moira Rose from Schitts Creek. Catherine OHara Forever," she added in another story. Meanwhile, Ileana DCruz wrote, The inimitable Catherine OHara You will be missed!" In another story, she added, This feels like such a personal loss. Heart wrenching." Parineeti Chopra mourned Catherines death and wrote, RIP, Mrs. Rose. Heaven just found their newest leading lady." Bipasha Basu also shared a video featuring Catherine OHara, and dropped a heartbreak emoji. Katrina Kaifs sister Isabelle wrote, RIP to a legend." Macaulay Culkin Mourns Home Alone Co-Star Catherine OHara Macaulay Culkin has shared an emotional tribute following the death of his Home Alone co-star Catherine OHara. The actor took to Instagram on Friday to mourn the woman who played his on-screen mother and remained a cherished presence throughout his life. Mama. I thought we had time," he wrote. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later." OHara starred as Kate McCallister in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), portraying the frantic yet devoted mother of Culkins Kevin McCallister that helped define holiday cinema and launched Culkin into global stardom as a child actor. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 11:08 IST News movies bollywood Catherine OHara Death: Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt Pay Tribute, Ileana DCruz Calls It Heart-Wrenching Ranbir Kapoor, Yash & Sai Pallavis Ramayana Is The Most Anticipated Global Film Of 2026 Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 13:57 IST The mythological epic directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra gears up for a grand IMAX release during Diwali. IMAX Chief Jonathan Fischer calls Ramayana the most anticipated global film of 2026. (Photo Credit : X) IMAX Chief Content Officer Jonathan Fischer has showered high praise on Namit Malhotras upcoming mythological epic Ramayana, calling it the most anticipated global film of 2026." The statement was made during a recent event highlighting IMAXs global expansion plans and upcoming cinematic slate, instantly placing the film among the biggest worldwide releases to look forward to. Fischers promoting the movie puts a light on Ramayana, being planned as a big global film, not just an Indian release, ahead of its Diwali 2026 launch.. A Two-Part Epic Backed by Global Powerhouses Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari, who also directed movies like Dangal and chhichore, Ramayana is a two-part adaptation of one of the worlds most enduring epics. The film is produced by Namit Malhotras Prime Focus Studios and co-produced by Yashs Monster Mind Creations, in collaboration with eight-time Oscar-winning VFX studio DNEG. The first instalment is slated to hit theatres during Diwali 2026, while Part Two will release in Diwali 2027. Both films are planned for IMAX releases worldwide, promising audiences a visually immersive experience on a massive scale. Star-Studded Cast Brings the Epic to Life The film boasts an impressive ensemble cast from across Indian cinema. Ranbir Kapoor will be seen portraying Lord Ram, while Sai Pallavi essays the role of Goddess Sita. Rocking Star Yash takes on the powerful role of Ravana. Veteran actor Sunny Deol will be seen as Lord Hanuman, and Ravie Dubey plays Lakshman. The supporting cast includes Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodri and Rakul Preet Singh as Surpanakha, along with Arun Govil, Kunal Kapoor, Adinath Kothare, Sheeba Chaddha and Indira Krishnan. Fans Erupt During Theatrical Promo Screenings The excitement around Ramayana is already visible among audiences. During recent screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash, a 3D promo of the film played in theatres, triggering loud chants of Jai Shree Ram" and standing ovations. Several cinema halls reportedly turned into stadium-like spaces. A reel showcasing these fan reactions has gone viral, crossing 3.6 million views and over 128,000 likes. Producer Namit Malhotra acknowledged the response on social media, calling the energy electrifying" and deeply motivating for the team. Massive VFX Phase Underway According to reports by Pinkvilla, the makers have now entered an intensive 300-day VFX phase. While shooting for Ramayana: Part One was wrapped up in June 2025, director Nitesh Tiwari has locked the final edit and runtime. With music composed by Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman, cutting-edge technology, and IMAX-scale visuals, Ramayana is shaping up to be a once-in-a-generation global spectacle set for Diwali 2026. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 13:13 IST News bollywood Ranbir Kapoor, Yash & Sai Pallavis Ramayana Is The Most Anticipated Global Film Of 2026 Rashmika Mandanna Blushes As Paparazzi Ask 'Hume Invite Nahi Kar Rahe?' Amid Wedding Rumours Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 08:02 IST Reportedly, Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna got engaged privately in October 2025, surrounded by close family members. Reportedly, Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna are set to marry on February 26, 2026. (Photo: Instant Bollywood and X) Rashmika Mandanna was recently left blushing when paparazzi asked her if she is not inviting them to her wedding with Vijay Deverakonda. On Friday night, the Girlfriend actress was spotted by the shutterbugs at the Mumbai airport when she had a brief interaction with them, a video of which has now gone viral on social media. In the clip, a paparazzo was seen asking Rashmika, Hume invite nahi kar rahe aap? To this, Rashmika seemingly blushed and acted like she had no idea about what the paparazzo was asking. Kis baat ke liye?" she replied and laughed. When the paparazzo said that even she knows what he was asking about, the actress changed the topic and added, Film release abhi tohkuch karna padega." Watch the video here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Instant Bollywood (@instantbollywood) Vijay Deverakonda, Rashmika Mandanna Getting Married? Reportedly, Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna got engaged privately in October 2025, surrounded by close family members. While the couple hasnt announced their engagement as of now, a report by Hindustan Times recently claimed that the wedding is scheduled for February 26, 2026, and will take place at a palace in Udaipur. A source revealed that no celebrity guests will be invited and the event will be a private ceremony. Rashmika and Vijays wedding is planned at one of Udaipurs heritage palaces. Much like their engagement, the ceremony will be a close-knit affair with only their loved ones in attendance," the insider added. Meanwhile, Rashmika and Vijay were recently also in Rome, celebrating the New Year. Even though the two stars did not mention vacationing together, they shared photos from the same spots, leading netizens to conclude they were indeed together. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:01 IST News movies bollywood Rashmika Mandanna Blushes As Paparazzi Ask 'Hume Invite Nahi Kar Rahe?' Amid Wedding Rumours Vivaan Shah Reviews Mayasabha, Calls Jaaved Jaaferi A National Treasure: Absolutely Blown Away Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 12:43 IST Naseeruddin Shahs son Vivaan Shah is mighty impressed with Rahi Anil Barves recently released film Mayasabha, starring Jaaved Jaaferi. Rapid Read Vivaan Shah Reviews Mayasabha, Calls Jaaved Jaaferi A National Treasure: Absolutely Blown Away Tumbbad director Rahi Anil Barves second film, Mayasabha: The Hall Of Illusion, starring Jaaved Jaaferi, Mohammad Samad, Deepak Damle and Veena Jamkar, released in theatres on January 30. Naseeruddin Shahs son and actor Vivaan Shah has now shared his review of the film, and praised Rahi Anil Barves electrifying filmmaking. He was also mighty impressed with Jaaved Jaaferis performance, and called him a national treasure. Vivaan Shah Reviews Mayasabha Vivaan Shah took to his Instagram stories to share his thoughts about Mayasabha. Watched the utterly electrifying Mayasabha last night and was just absolutelyyy blown away!!! One of my favourite actors and humans of all time: the great @jaavedjaaferi sir has given a performance of Shakespearean grandeur. This is his King Lear, also his The Shining. Stunningly made by the extraordinary @rahianilbarve Electrifying filmmaking!" he wrote. He further added, It is fitting that the theme of this fascinating film is gold, for it contains our national treasure @jaavedjaaferi. His performance is up there with Laurence Olivier and Jack Nicholson, also icons like Lon Chaney and Conrad Veidt, it is almost like a Kabuki performance. I salute the genius of both him and @rahianilbarve." Vivaan also heaped praise on Mohammad Samad, and wrote, Also, young @mohammadsamadofficial. What a stunning performance!!! One of the greatest young actors I have ever seen! An actor of astounding depth; singular, soooo sooooo unique, a force of nature! I cant tell you how inspired I am by your work Mohammad! You are one of the most innovative actors our cinema has been blessed with. You must be so proud @rahianilbarve." About Mayasabha The psychological thriller is set in a decaying Mumbai cinema hall, following the story of a failed film producer, Jaaved Jaaferi and his son, Mohammad Samad, who are obsessed with finding 40kg of gold hidden within the theatre. It explores themes of human greed, betrayal, and the blurring of reality and illusion through a cat-and-mouse" intellectual battle. Meanwhile, Vivaan Shah was recently seen in Sriram Raghavans film Ikkis, starring Agastya Nanda, Dharmendra, and Jaideep Ahlawat. The film released on January 1, 2026. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 12:41 IST News movies bollywood Vivaan Shah Reviews Mayasabha, Calls Jaaved Jaaferi A National Treasure: Absolutely Blown Away This story was originally published on Trucking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Trucking Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: PlusAI has secured a $25 million commitment from Volkswagen Group affiliate Traton Group to aid in scaling production of autonomous trucks, the company announced Jan. 26. The autonomous trucking technology companys arrangement with the Germany-based Traton Group expands upon an existing partnership thats funding the commercial launch of factory-built driverless trucks in 2027. Aligning with established manufacturers is part of PlusAIs strategy to rapidly deploy its technology globally as it moves closer toward its U.S. public offering, PlusAIs COO and co-founder Shawn Kerrigan told Trucking Dive. Dive Insight: PlusAI is among a growing field of developers aiming for the widespread deployment of autonomous driving technology in the trucking industry. Others, including Kodiak AI and Aurora Innovation, have also aligned with OEMs and carriers to test their self-driving technology stacks and lock in long-term commitments to grow their respective businesses. In an email response to questions, Kerrigan noted that the scale of the global trucking market is large enough to accommodate multiple autonomous technology developers. However, PlusAI wants to differentiate itself from the pack. Kerrigan said the companys June 2025 S-4 filing for its merger with Churchill Capital Corp IX was recently declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The merger is now expected to close in February, he said. Once the company completes its IPO, the expected cash infusion should be sufficient to take the company through commercialization, Kerrigan said. He also noted that it was essential for the company to partner with OEM truck manufacturers. We believe the OEM-led, factory-built model is essential to safe, scalable commercial deployment, Kerrigan said. Working with companies with established brands, including Trantons International and Hyundai, ensures safety and scalability that retrofits cant achieve, he added. The expanded partnership with Traton Group opens the way for the OEM to nominate a member to PlusAIs board following its planned public offering, per the press announcement. It also ensures access to Traton Groups manufacturing resources and the use of PlusAIs technology across Tratons truck brands. Although he would not disclose the carriers name, Kerrigan said the company is conducting fleet trials with a top-10 for-hire carrier in Texas. The company is also road testing its technology in Sweden with Traton, as well as in Spain with Italy-based commercial vehicle maker Iveco. Will Jin Attend Guccis Milan Fashion Week Show Amid BTS Album Release? Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 09:10 IST BTS is set to release their fifth studio album, ARIRANG, on March 20, marking their first full-length album since Proof (2022). Jin and all the BTS members are preparing for their comeback. (Photo Credit: Instagram) The seven members of the K-pop supergroup BTS are busy preparing for their much-awaited comeback album and a massive world tour. Despite their busy schedules, it is said that the groups eldest member, Kim Seokjin, aka Jin, might briefly put group activities on hold to fulfil his solo commitments in the last week of February. In a post shared by a fan account on X, it was revealed that Jin, who is the global brand ambassador of the luxury brand Gucci, might be one of the guests at the brands Womens Fall/Winter 2026 show at Milan Fashion Week. The event is said to be taking place on February 27. It is worth noting that there has been no official confirmation. Fans React To The Possibility Of Jin Attending Guccis Show After the post surfaced on social media, several fans of the K-pop group reacted, sharing that Jin might not attend this time because BTS has been busy with their new album. One fan said, I dont think he will be, as its closer to the album announcement, and from what we saw recently, they are just focusing on group activities now. But lets see." #JIN is set to attend the Gucci Women's Fall-Winter 2026 show in Milan on February 27#Jinxgucci @gucci pic.twitter.com/RdkLNLYv97 JIN UPDATES (@seokjin_updates) January 30, 2026 Another added, Sorry to break it to you, the other members didnt attend PFW this month. I dont think this is possible given how close it is to the album release." Will he be able to attend? As far as I know, theyre all focusing on the comeback run," a different fan pointed out. I dont think members will attend fw for their respective brands this time since Hobi and Yoongi didnt attend LV and Valentino days ago," someone else quipped. BTS Comeback Album And World Tour BTS is set to release their fifth studio album, ARIRANG, on March 20, marking their first full-length album since Proof (2022). This would also be their first album since all the members completed their mandatory military services by June last year. Following the release, the seven membersRM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkookwill begin promotional activities before kicking off their highly anticipated world tour. Set to be the largest world tour by a K-pop artist, the group will mark the beginning of their tour on April 9 at Goyang Stadium in South Korea. After touring across Asia, North America, and Europe, BTS is scheduled to conclude their massive tour in March 2027. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 09:04 IST News movies hollywood Will Jin Attend Guccis Milan Fashion Week Show Amid BTS Album Release? Vijay Looks Up To Shah Rukh Khan As He Is Set To Enter Politics Following Retirement From Films Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 11:26 IST Vijay revealed he looks up to Shah Rukh Khan as he prepares to enter politics after announcing Jana Nayagan as his final film. Vijay revealed he looks up to Shah Rukh Khan. Thalapathy Vijay shocked all his fans after he announced that Jana Nayagan will be his final film and that he will not star in any other film. While fans were sad about the announcement, there was happy news that gave them some peace. Soon, Vijay announced that he would be entering politics, and now the actor has opened up about how he looks up to Shah Rukh Khan as he enters this new phase in his life. While talking to the Editor-in-Chief of NDTV, Rahul Kanwal, Vijay spoke about entering politics off camera. Mentioning what Vijay feels, Kanwal shared, Vijay says, I look up to Shah Rukh Khan; he speaks so well. His articulation, his elocution is very high. I used to see him, and I used to think, look at how well-spoken this guy is. He also spoke of how MGR and Jayalalithaa have been role models for him, along with Karunanidhi. Hes looked to them as stars, as models of what they were able to achieve." Vijay to enter politics When I entered cinema, I thought I was building a small sand house here. But you all have built me a palace. Fans helped me build a fort Thats why Ive decided to stand for them. For the fans who gave up everything for me, Im giving up cinema itself," the actor said at an audio launch organised at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on December 27. About Vijays final film Directed by H. Vinoth, Vijays final film, Jana Nayagan, features an ensemble cast including Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamitha Baiju, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Priyamani, and Narain. The film has been heavily marketed as Vijays final cinematic outing before his full-time foray into politics, adding to the anticipation surrounding its release. For the unversed, Vijays Jana Nayagan was supposed to hit theatres on January 9 but was later postponed due to certification issues. It is with a heavy heart that we share this update with our valued stakeholders and audiences. The release of Jana Nayagan, eagerly awaited on January 9, has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances beyond our control," the makers announced following the films delayed release. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 11:26 IST News movies tamil-cinema Vijay Looks Up To Shah Rukh Khan As He Is Set To Enter Politics Following Retirement From Films Ektaa Kapoor Eyes Big-Screen Adaptation Of Naagin After 11-Year TV Legacy: Report Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 05:42 IST After dominating Indian television for over a decade, Ektaa Kapoor is reportedly exploring plans to adapt her hit supernatural franchise Naagin into a feature film. Naagin 7 is being aired on Colors and Jio Hotstar. (Photo Credit: X) Ektaa Kapoor may be ready to give her iconic supernatural franchise Naagin a cinematic makeover. According to sources, the producer is exploring the possibility of taking the immensely popular television show to the big screen, nearly 11 years after it first premiered on Indian television. Introduced in 2015, Naagin quickly became a cultural phenomenon, blending mythology, fantasy and drama. Starring Mouni Roy and Adaa Khan in its inaugural season, the series redefined supernatural fiction on Indian TV and went on to become one of Ektaas most successful franchises. With seven seasons completed and Season 7 currently on air, Naagin continues to command a loyal fan base across the country. Now, it appears Balaji Telefilms is considering expanding the universe beyond the small screen. Early Discussions Underway for Feature Film Adaptation A source told India Today that conversations are underway to potentially adapt Naagin into a feature film. While the project is still in its early stages, Ektaa Kapoor is reportedly enthusiastic about reimagining the mythology on a larger canvas. Given the brands long-standing popularity and cinematic scale, the makers are exploring the possibility of adapting the franchise into a feature film, with the aim of reimagining the mythology for the big screen. The conversation is in the initial stage, but with the experience the team has had building seven successful seasons, it seems like the plan will turn into reality soon," the source added. If the project moves forward, it would mark a significant transition for the franchise, known for its elaborate visual effects, dramatic transformations and high-voltage storytellingelements that could benefit from the scale and spectacle of a theatrical release. Casting Curiosity and Competing Naagin Projects Even though the film is yet to be officially greenlit, speculation has already begun around castingparticularly who will step into the coveted role of the naagin. On television, Ektaa Kapoor is known to conduct extensive casting searches every season, personally overseeing styling, costumes and character detailing. Given how close the franchise is to her, similar attention to detail is expected for a big-screen adaptation. Interestingly, this is not the first time the Naagin folklore has been considered for cinema. Producer Nikhil Dwivedi had earlier announced a Naagin film with Shraddha Kapoor in the lead. While the project generated buzz, it has seen no concrete updates so far, even after renewed interest post Stree 2 in 2024. Meanwhile, the serpent mythology space is already expanding in Bollywood. Karan Johar, in collaboration with Mahaveer Jain Films, is producing Naagzilla, a fantasy comedy starring Kartik Aaryan as an icchadaari naag. The film is reportedly slated for a Nag Panchami release on August 14, 2026. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 05:42 IST News movies television Ektaa Kapoor Eyes Big-Screen Adaptation Of Naagin After 11-Year TV Legacy: Report Opinion | Alberta Separatism Is Canadas Comeuppance For Fattening The Khalistan Beast Written By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 10:32 IST Why does the West continue to expect that the world must take its problems seriously while it makes light of the non-western worlds serious security and sovereignty concerns? Rapid Read The polity, which today indignantly watches the Alberta separatists meet Trump, has been complicit in breathing life into a once-dead separatist and terrorist movement against India named Khalistan. The curse that politicians like Justin Trudeau have brought upon the nation is playing out poetically. Faced with calls for secession of the western province of Alberta, Canada stands stripped of its moral capital to outrage. The polity, which today indignantly watches the Alberta separatists meet US President Donald Trump, has been complicit in breathing life into a once-dead separatist and terrorist movement against India named Khalistan. Canada has protected and helped proliferate Khalistani activities on its soil under the guise of free speech and multiculturalism. But Albertas independence push (often called Wexit or Alberta separatism) is being described as treason" by Canadian politicians like David Elby. A nation should not prioritise sovereignty selectively. But Canada, over the last decade or so, has allowed Sikh-led Khalistanis to carry out symbolic referendums, fundraising, and advocacy for secession from India. Canada has tolerated attacks on the Indian embassy and consulates. Violent threats against India have been repeatedly issued for its soil. Khalistani terrorist with a US-Canadian dual citizenship Gurpatwant Singh Pannun regularly issues terror threats against India and Canadian officials defend this as protected under freedom of expression. For instance, despite bilateral tensions over the 2023 killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada has not banned these groups citing democratic rights. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) issued warnings about their role in violence abroad, but none listened. In contrast, when Alberta independence advocates like Project Confederation met secretly with Trump administration officials in late 2024 to discuss potential support, Canadian leaders, including former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney who is now PM, swiftly condemned it as an assault on Canadian sovereignty and labelled it treasonous". Canada is equally abrasive about Quebec separatism. But when it comes to Khalistani separatism, Canada has encouraged it through a combination of lax enforcement, political appeasement, and putting free speech over security concerns. For instance, Canadas 2025 Finance Ministry assessment stated that pro-Khalistan groups, including designated terrorist entities like Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation, freely get financial support from domestic networks. The CSIS has repeatedly flagged Khalistani extremists as a national security threat in their annual reports of 2024 and 2025, for example, noting their use of Canada for militant activities. Still, no action. Successive governments have bent backwards to appease Khalistanis, only to solicit Sikh votes (Canada has the largest Sikh diaspora outside India). It has allowed symbolic but vicious Khalistan referendums. In spite of Indias requests under the 2018 counter-terrorism framework, no terrorist has been returned. Canada looked the other way even when Khalistanis ties with groups like Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami or Muslim Brotherhood have been uncovered. On what grounds now will Canada reprimand or act against the Alberta nationalists? Why does the West continue to expect that the world must take its problems seriously while it makes light of the non-western worlds serious security and sovereignty concerns? Perhaps the rising Alberta separatism will make Canada and the West learn a valuable lesson. Otherwise, instead of allies helping tide it over the crisis, it will have former friends cheering break-Canada designs as richly deserved karma. Abhijit Majumder is the author of the book, Indias New Right. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 10:32 IST News opinion Opinion | Alberta Separatism Is Canadas Comeuppance For Fattening The Khalistan Beast Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Opinion | Between Faith And Fallout: The Return Of The Maha Magha Mahotsavam Written By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 15:52 IST The revival of the Mahotsavam is likely to deepen an already growing Hindu consciousness in Kerala that may cut across entrenched caste identities & reconfigure religious belonging Rapid Read Large festivals such as the Kumbh Mela played an important role in the ancient past. (PTI) From January 18 to February 3, the Tirunnavaya Navamukunda Temple, which stands on the shore of the Bharathapuzha, the largest river flowing through Kerala, is witnessing a religious gathering of a kind never seen before. The temple is one of the oldest in Kerala and is among the 108 Divya Desams of the Vaishnava tradition. The ongoing festival, named the Maha Magha Mahotsavam, is being projected as the Kumbh Mela of Kerala. The gathering, its rituals, and the festival itself have received a cold shoulder from Keralas political circles. Although the mood among most parties toward the Kumbh Mela is unfavourable, they remain cautious and refrain from making explicit public statements about it. Until the mid-eighteenth century, Tirunnavaya was home to Mamankam, a local festival held once every 12 years that functioned as a major political and religious spectacle. The festival originated during the period when the Chera dynasty ruled Kerala. Later, when the region came under the control of various local chieftains and kings, the Tirunnavaya temple and the Mamankam festival came under the patronage and authority of the local kingdom of the Valluvakkonathiri. Sometime many centuries ago, the Zamorin of Malabar usurped the control and guardianship of Mamankam from the Valluvakkonathiri. From then on, at every Mamankam, the Valluvakkonathiri sent a small group of men on a mission: to kill the Zamorin and reclaim control of the festival. By this time, the Zamorin, the most powerful king in Kerala with a sizable army, was impossible to defeat with such a small force, and the Valluvakkonathiris men were invariably sent on a suicidal mission. Over the ages, this suicidal mission came to be regarded as heroic. Many songs were composed in praise of these men, who set out fully aware that they would not return. Eventually, the mission itself almost became a ritual. The Zamorin would preside over the Mamankam celebrations and rituals from a designated platform, while the Valluvakkonathiris men would arrive at the venue, attempt to cut through the heavily armed forces protecting the Zamorin, and be killed before they could reach him. The grim ritual drama came to an end around the middle of the eighteenth century. Even so, the stories of Mamankam continue to live on in the shared historical consciousness of the region. More than the bloody past, what is relevant in the current spectacle is that, beyond the ritual performances, suicidal missions, and the rivalry between the Valluvakkonathiri and the Zamorin, Tirunnavaya was once the site of a large festival held every twelve years. William Logan, a British colonial administrator and historian of the Malabar District, writes that the Mamankam began sometime before the start of the Malayalam Era, that is, before the ninth century. Keralolpatti", a medieval Malayalam text that chronicles the myths and legends surrounding the history of Kerala, states that the festival began during the period when Kerala was under the Chera dynasty. This aligns well with the date suggested by Logan. Before the Zamorin took control of Mamankam, it was the national festival of Kerala where the king was elected, says Sardar KM Panikkar, another historian who studied the history of Malabar. In any case, there was an important festival in Kerala that used to be held annually on the shores of the Bharathappuzha, at the premises of the Tirunnavaya Temple, but which ceased centuries ago. At some point in the past, this festival evolved into a political event, and the ritualised pageantry, in which a selected few undertook a suicidal mission, became more prominent. The current attempts at revival, however, look back to the festival in its earlier form, prior to its transformation. It is the age-old festival at Tirunnavaya that a few new organisations, influenced by broader Hindu nationalist imaginaries, are now seeking to revive by giving it the character of a Kumbh Mela. Attempts to revive the festival, or rather to celebrate it as a Kumbh Mela, began almost a decade ago on a modest scale. This year, however, major akhadas from the north, along with numerous godmen and spiritual leaders from across the country, have lent their support to the festival, significantly enhancing its prominence and visibility. Large festivals such as the Kumbh Mela played an important role in the ancient past. At a time when mainstream Indian religiosity was transitioning from the Vedic mode of yagas and yajnas to temples and idol-centered worship, such mass festivities were especially significant. The yagas and yajnas were primarily performed by kings, lords, and the social elite of society. Commoners could not afford them, as they required substantial resourcesfinancial and otherwise. Temple worship, on the other hand, made the divine and religious life accessible to the wider population. Viewed this way, one can argue that temple worship represents a process of religious democratisation. Mass religious festivals involving large sections of the population, such as the Kumbh Mela, can likewise be seen as part of this democratisation and the broader social changes that accompanied temple worship. These were festivals in which everyone, irrespective of caste or creed, could take part. They also emphasised spirituality and offered the common person, who otherwise lived a largely material life, an opportunity for spiritual engagement. Festivals such as the Kumbh Mela also served the function of holding together diverse regions and geographies, bringing them under a shared ideology. Temples, too, sometimes fulfilled this unifying role. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple has long been significant for the religious-minded, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. The Naradapurana clearly states that regardless of ones caste or place of origin, if one passes away in Kashi, one attains the status of Deveshwara, an exalted state of divinity. The Kumbh Mela, or whatever festivity was once celebrated along the shores of the Bharathapuzha and within the premises of the Tirunnavaya Temple, fulfilled an important social function. Like other Kumbh Melas, it might have sought to weave a grand narrative, functioned as a democratised celebration of religious belief, and later served as a platform that validated the military and political strength of the ruling king, the Zamorin. It certainly had a role and relevance in the past. But what is its role today? How would reviving a Hindu festival that is centuries old help Kerala, or the Hindus of Kerala? The fact is that Kerala has witnessed a growing sense of Hindu political consolidation in recent years. The BJP had been attempting to encourage such consolidation for many years. In 2018, after the LDF attempted to enforce the Sabarimala court verdict, which allowed the entry of women, in a forceful manner and was often perceived as mocking the sentiments of the average believer, this consolidation began to take tangible shape. The shift is evident in almost all the election results in the state since 2018. The idea of Keralas own Kumbh Mela would certainly add to this consolidation. Any statement by politicians either in support of or in opposition to the Kumbh Mela is problematic for this very reason, as its influence on their vote banks would be unpredictable. So far, apart from a few BJP leaders, no one has taken part in the festivities. Taken together, the revival of the Maha Magha Mahotsavam is likely to deepen an already growing Hindu consciousness in Kerala, one that may cut across entrenched caste identities and reconfigure how religious belonging is publicly expressed. The environmental, logistical, and social costs of a large-scale festival, issues that would ordinarily provoke debate, are unlikely to become major political talking points, as most parties will hesitate to risk alienating unpredictable vote banks. All indications suggest that the festival will not only continue in the years to come but may also expand in scale and participation. What this will ultimately mean for Keralas political landscape remains an open question that only time can answer. Yet one conclusion seems inescapable. Any attempt by the state or political actors to ban, curb, or tightly control the festivities would be fraught with danger and likely to backfire. Such an effort, undertaken despite the knowledge of its futility, would echo the tragic resolve of the Valluvakkonathiris suicidal squads, gestures of defiance that were symbolically powerful but ultimately self-defeating. The writer is a commentator with a research degree in philosophy from the University of Sheffield, focusing on the intersections of culture, history, and politics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 15:52 IST News opinion Opinion | Between Faith And Fallout: The Return Of The Maha Magha Mahotsavam Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Opinion | India's Academic Crisis Is About Excellence, Not Equity Written By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 15:03 IST The UGC regulation must be entirely rejected. If we need a committee, it should focus on how to de-politicise our colleges and restore academic excellence to higher education Rapid Read Against this backdrop of intellectual decline, the UGC determined that the most urgent reform was not academic rigor, faculty quality, or research standardsbut a new, state-enforced caste regime within universities. The controversy surrounding the University Grants Commissions Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026 has been framed as a moral battlebetween justice and apathy, between inclusion and indifference. But that misses the significant problems plaguing Indian academia. India today faces an undeniable academic crisis. Our universities perform abysmally on the global stage. While China has placed dozens of institutions in the worlds top 200many now competing with elite Western universitiesIndia struggles to place even one consistently. China has ruthlessly invested in research excellence, faculty quality, and institutional autonomy. In contrast, India has chosen to invest its political capital on social engineering. Against this backdrop of intellectual decline, the UGC determined that the most urgent reform was not academic rigor, faculty quality, or research standardsbut a new, state-enforced caste regime within universities. Committees, grievance portals, helplines, equity" officers, and punitive sanctions tied to funding and recognition were introduced. After an uproar, the Supreme Court stayed the regulations for now, warning that they were vague and open to misuse. That stay should prompt a deeper question: Do caste-based regulatory interventions address academic failure, or do they distract from it? To answer that, one does not need ideology; one only needs to look at the evidence. What you see in most universities is not a pursuit of knowledge but a rigmarole, khana-purti. A section of the faculty already views colleges and universities not as seats of learning but as platforms for ideological indoctrination and the politicisation of students for revolution". In such a climate, no academic standards matter; rubrics barely exist, and outcomes depend on political orientations and convenience rather than scholarship. Entire cottage industries now operate to write theses for candidates who need a PhD only to secure a salary hike or UGC grade promotion. Political theater and agitation have even crept into IITs and scientific institutions that were once insulated from this decay. Thousands of PhDs are produced each year that no one reads, no industry uses, and no society needs. Students navigate syllabi disconnected from knowledge and employment, earning credentials of little value beyond the paper they are printed on. This is not an equity problem. This is a collapse of academic seriousnessand the intent of the caste committees is not to improve education but to push for its total collapse into political posturing. Seventy-Five Years of Caste Engineeringand Counting India does not suffer from a shortage of caste-based interventions or DEI". It is baked in. It has one of the most extensive quota regimes in the world. Caste-based reservations were never intended to be a permanent civilisational framework. Political reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were explicitly limited to ten years in the Constitution. B.R. Ambedkar accepted reservations as a transitional safeguardnecessary in the short term, but aimed ultimately at integration and the erosion of caste as a governing principle. That transition never ended. Instead, caste-based state intervention expanded steadilyinto education, employment, promotions, and governance. Mandal intensified it further. Each phase promised that even more intervention would finally reduce discrimination. If that promise were true, seventy-five years should have produced the end of caste"or at least visible, measurable progress toward that. They have not. Caste consciousness has not weakened; it has hardened. Political mobilisation around caste has intensified. Campuses are not more relaxed or integrated; they are more brittle, more suspicious, and more easily inflamed. Why is this not being measured honestly? Social scientists often avoid the question because it leads to an uncomfortable conclusion: either decades of caste-based interventions have succeeded, meaning India should now be largely post-caste, or they have failed. If they have succeeded, we should acknowledge this success and move forward from caste regulations. Conversely, if they have failed, more intervention wont help. If seventy-five years did not solve the problem, then seventy-five more years of harsher regulation certainly will not. What the UGC Regulations Tried to Do The 2026 UGC regulations attempted to double down on this failed logic. They expanded the definition of discrimination to include implicit acts judged by effect" rather than evidence. Intent became irrelevant; perception became actionable. Universities were mandated to establish Equal Opportunity Centres and Equity Committees empowered to receive complaints, conduct inquiries, and recommend action. Grievance portals and helplines institutionalised complaints as a parallel governance structure. Most significantly, the UGC armed itself with coercive powers: withdrawal of grants, denial of programme approvals, restrictions on online education, and even threats to institutional recognition. Academic survival was made contingent on ideological compliance. This does not strengthen universities; it is a move to destroy what is left. The Faculty Question No One Wants to Answer There is a basic contradiction at the heart of this entire approach. It may be plausiblethough debatablethat reservations in student admissions allow a certain number of underprivileged students access to elite institutions. However, it completely boggles the mind to argue that recruiting faculty on the basis of caste rather than excellence serves students of any category. Faculty quality is the single most important determinant of educational outcomes. Weak faculty harm every studentSC, ST, OBC, and general alike. No amount of grievance redressal can compensate for poor supervision, low research standards, or ideological hiring. If the aim is to help disadvantaged students, the worst possible strategy is to dilute the quality of those meant to teach them. Yet this is precisely what caste-based faculty recruitment risks doingwhile no one dares say it out loud. Is There Any Scientific Validation That DEI Works? In Indias copycat colonial elite culture, the West is the model to be emulated. In her recent interview, Advocate Disha Wadekarwho filed the original Supreme Court petition that culminated in the UGCs 2026 equity regulationsrepeatedly cited Western campuses as the model India should emulate: DEI offices, equity committees", bias-response mechanisms, the whole apparatus. That is precisely the problem. India is being pushed to import a system that has already produced division and distrust in the very societies that pioneered it. The Western evidence is not flattering. A 202324 study by the Network Contagion Research Institute found that DEI-style training can increase hostile attribution bias"people become more likely to detect" discrimination in neutral situations and support punitive action without evidence. African American scholar and Stanford Professor Thomas Sowell warned where this endspreferential regimes dont dissolve prejudice; they institutionalise group grievance, make achievement permanently suspect, and teach everyone to see equal standards as oppression. America is now trying to unwind the damage. India, instead, is falling into the trap of replicating iton campuses that have yet to deliver even basic academic results. Colonial Categories, Modern Consequences There is a deeper historical blindness at work. Caste", as administered by the modern Indian state, is not some eternal Hindu essence. But thats exactly the colonial construct that committees like the Mandal Commission parroted. The British froze fluid social identities into rigid census categories. Scheduled Castes" are literally castes enumerated and created through colonial schedules. These categories were then weaponised politically through separate electorates, culminating in the Communal Award of 1932explicitly designed to fragment Indian society. Divide and rule was policy, not metaphor. Independent India inherited this machinery and never dismantled it. Instead, it expanded itnow justified in the language of justice and equity. Anything that gives more weight to these colonial categories does not weaken caste; it reifies it. The proof is evident in the fact that nearly 100 years after the communal award", India is still grappling with the politicisation of caste and religion. Excellence Is the Only Exit Discrimination declines when institutions are strong, when standards are clear, when mentorship is serious, when evaluation is transparent, and when abuse is punished through due processnot ideological presumption. Universities should help students outgrow identity-based outcomes, not train them to litigate those identities on campus. The Supreme Courts stay of the UGC regulations offers India a rare pause. We should use it to abandon a failed script, not refine it. Indias academic crisis is not a lack of equity. It is a lack of excellence. If we continue down the path of caste engineering, we will ensure that caste never dieswhile our universities continue to fail. China launched the Thousand Talents Programme to recruit the best from around the world. It is now excelling in major fields of science and technology. India seems fixated on the Thousand Divisions Programme, which treats excellence as an afterthought. That is not progressive, nor will it lead to progress. That is history repeating itself. It is time to focus on how we can serve every Indian to be the best they can be; and reach their highest potential; to do this, we must discard the ineffective, misfit social theories of the West and chart our own future. The UGC regulation must be entirely rejected, not merely tweaked. If we need a committee, it should focus on how to de-politicise our colleges and restore academic excellence to higher education in India. Sankrant Sanu is the CEO of Garuda Prakashan and tweets at @sankrant. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 15:03 IST News opinion Opinion | India's Academic Crisis Is About Excellence, Not Equity Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 11:09 IST 1 / 10 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai is one of the most important airports in India that spans approximately 7.5 to 8 square kilometres). The airport has two intersecting runways and a modern integrated Terminal 2. Despite space constraints, it manages more than 50 million passengers every year. It is also known globally for operating as one of the busiest single-runway airports. But when measured purely by land area, Mumbais airport is much smaller than several international counterparts. 2 / 10 At the top of that list is King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It is the largest airport in the world by land area that covers nearly 776 to 780 square kilometres. The scale of the airport is so large that it is bigger than the entire country of Bahrain. Its total area is also comparable to that of New York City. The airport includes a six-storey main passenger terminal along with a Royal Terminal and a dedicated terminal for Saudi Aramco. ADVERTISEMENT 3 / 10 Denver International Airport in US is another airport that far exceeds Mumbais size. It spans about 53 square miles (137.8 square kilometers) which makes it the largest airport in North America by land area. The property is roughly twice the size of Manhattan. It is also larger than the city limits of Boston, Miami or San Francisco. Denver Airport is currently undergoing major upgrades under its Great Hall Program. These changes are aimed at supporting future passenger growth expected to cross 100 million annually. 4 / 10 Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia is the third largest airport in the world. Located in Sepang, Selangor, it covers nearly 100 square kilometres which also makes it one of the largest airports in Southeast Asia by land area. The airport opened in 1998 and serves the greater Kuala Lumpur region. KUL has become a major hub especially for low-cost carriers connecting the region. ADVERTISEMENT 5 / 10 Turkeys Istanbul Airport is among the most prominent new aviation hubs in the world which is located in the Arnavutkoy district. The airport covers around 76.5 square kilometres of land. It is home to the worlds largest terminal building under a single roof. Istanbul Airport is targeting passenger traffic of about 90 million in 2026. By land area, it ranks as the fourth-largest airport globally. 6 / 10 In US, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is another example of scale. The airport covers more than 17,000 acres (69.63 square kilometers) and functions almost like a self-contained city. It has own post office, police and fire departments. DFW is the main hub for American Airlines which accounts for the majority of its operations. By land area, it is the second-largest airport in US after Denver. It also ranks among the busiest airports in the world by passenger traffic. ADVERTISEMENT 7 / 10 Shanghai Pudong International Airport is Chinas primary international gateway and a major global hub. Located about 30 kilometres east of central Shanghai, it spreads across roughly 40 square kilometres. The airport plays a key role in both passenger travel and cargo movement. It recently ranked as the second-busiest cargo airport in the world. Pudong Airport has a distinct H-shaped design with two main terminals. 8 / 10 Cairo International Airport is the main aviation hub for Egypt and the busiest airport on the African continent. It lies to the northeast of central Cairo in the Heliopolis area. The airport covers around 37 square kilometres. It operates through four terminals that are linked by an automated transport system. Its land area is far greater than that of Mumbais airport. ADVERTISEMENT 9 / 10 Thailands Suvarnabhumi Airport near Bangkok is another airport that dwarfs Mumbai in size. Built about 30 kilometres east of the city, it occupies roughly 32.4 square kilometres. The airport was constructed on land once known as the Cobra Swamp. It serves as Thailands main international gateway and a major Southeast Asian hub. As of early 2026, it hosts more than 113 airlines. Passenger traffic is projected to approach nearly 67.7 million for the fiscal year. Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 12:43 IST 1 / 10 The Union Budget is usually about numbers, policies and long speeches but over the years, it has also turned into a moment where style gets noticed. Every Finance Minister walking into Parliament on Budget Day brings their own sense of dressing, shaped by the time they lived in and the politics they represented. Some kept it formal, some stayed deeply traditional and others let Indian textiles do the talking. These appearances often stayed in public memory just as much as the announcements themselves. 2 / 10 The first Union Budget of independent India was presented by R. K. Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947. He wore a dark pinstripe three-piece suit, white shirt and a tie. He finished the look with round, rimless spectacles and neatly side-parted hairstyle. One detail that stood out was the leather satchel he carried. That simple bag started the tradition of Finance Ministers walking in with a budget briefcase. ADVERTISEMENT 3 / 10 Morarji Desai holds a rare record of presenting the Union Budget ten times and his clothing stayed rooted in his personal beliefs. A strong follower of Gandhian values, he stayed away from flashy dressing. He usually wore a simple kurta-pyjama with a Nehru jacket during Budget presentations. One striking detail was his Gandhi cap which very few Finance Ministers have worn inside Parliament. 4 / 10 Indira Gandhi made history by becoming Indias first woman Finance Minister while also serving as Prime Minister. She presented the Union Budget between July 1969 and June 1970. She wore a simple saree paired with a grey shawl. The saree was usually handloom which was elegant and without heavy design. She often covered her head with the pallu to keep her appearance understated. ADVERTISEMENT 5 / 10 Manmohan Singhs Budget appearances during the early 1990s came at a time of major economic change. As Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996, he presented budgets that reshaped Indias economy. Along with his policy decisions, his appearance became instantly recognisable. He consistently wore a formal suit during Budget presentations. The powder blue turban he paired with it became his signature. Over time, that turban turned into one of the most remembered visuals from Budget Day history. 6 / 10 P. Chidambaram always kept his Budget Day dressing firmly rooted in Tamil tradition. No matter which tenure it was, his look almost never changed. He usually walked into Parliament wearing a plain white veshti or dhoti, along with a white shirt. This style is commonly seen in Tamil Nadu during formal and important occasions. Reports often noted that he chose fine cotton veshtis with a very thin, barely noticeable border. ADVERTISEMENT 7 / 10 Arun Jaitley served as Finance Minister from 2014 to 2019 during Prime Minister Narendra Modis first term. His tenure saw major economic decisions like the rollout of GST in 2017 and the demonetisation move in 2016. While his policies often made headlines, his Budget Day appearance also became instantly recognisable. Jaitley usually chose Indian formal wear for the big day. He was almost always seen in a kurta-pyjama paired with a Nehru jacket. The jacket became his signature and its colour changed nearly every year. 8 / 10 For his first Budget in 2014, Jaitley wore a yellow Nehru jacket over an off-white kurta-pyjama. In the following years, he switched to deep blue in 2015, powder blue in 2016 and black in 2017 with a chocolate-coloured kurta. He mostly stuck to white or off-white kurta-pyjama sets made of cotton or silk. During winter sessions, he would sometimes complete the look with a traditional Indian shawl. ADVERTISEMENT 9 / 10 Nirmala Sitharamans Budget Day dressing has stood out in recent years for its strong focus on handloom sarees. She has now become the longest-serving continuous Finance Minister in Indias history. On Sunday, February 1, she is set to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget. Over the years, each Budget appearance has featured a saree from a different part of India. In 2019, her first Budget, she wore a pink Mangalgiri silk saree with a gold border. In 2020, she appeared in a yellow-gold silk saree with a blue border. Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 15:35 IST 1 / 9 Anurag Kashyap's directorial Kennedy made a powerful global debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, where it premiered in the Midnight Screenings section. The thriller stunned international audiences and critics alike, receiving a seven-minute-long standing ovation. The prolonged applause at Cannes was seen as a major validation for Kennedy Also See: | . 2 / 9 Following its Cannes success, Kennedy continued its international festival journey and was screened at the Sydney Film Festival. Once again, the film received a standing ovation, reinforcing its strong reception beyond Europe. At Sydney, festival-goers applauded not just the narrative but also the films technical finesse, including its stark cinematography and pulsating background score. ADVERTISEMENT 3 / 9 Kennedy also found a significant platform back home when it was screened at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Indian audiences finally got a chance to experience the film on the big screen, where it generated strong word-of-mouth and renewed discussions around Kashyaps fearless storytelling and distinctive noir-inspired visual language. 4 / 9 However, despite its successful screenings at multiple global platforms, Kennedy has still not received a theatrical release in India. This delay has left fans puzzled, with everyone wondering why the movie, which stars Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhatt in the lead, has not been released yet in India. ADVERTISEMENT 5 / 9 But looks like there is some good news for Anurag Kashyaps fans. Filmmakers much-awaited movie is now gearing up for its long-delayed release in India. According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, the thriller is expected to hit the big screen within the next month or two. However, it should be noted that no official announcement regarding the films release has been made as of now. 6 / 9 But looks like there is some good news for Anurag Kashyaps fans. Filmmakers much-awaited movie is now gearing up for its long-delayed release in India. According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, the thriller is expected to hit the big screen within the next month or two. However, it should be noted that no official announcement regarding the films release has been made as of now. ADVERTISEMENT 7 / 9 Besides this, the report also claimed the makers have locked in a special platform for the trailer launch. As per the official schedule uploaded on the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2026 website, the trailer of Kennedy will be unveiled on Sunday, February 8, at Cross Maidan in Mumbai. The event is set to be a highlight of the festivals closing day. 8 / 9 Reportedly, director Anurag Kashyap will be present at the launch along with lead actors Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhat. The trio will also participate in an interactive session and talk about the making of the film. The festival schedule notes that the trailer launch will bring the festival to a powerful cinematic close." ADVERTISEMENT Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 09:16 IST 1 / 11 Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2026-27 at 11 am on February 1. This will be her ninth consecutive Budget presentation on the trot, marking an unprecedented feat for the Finance Minister. While all eyes will be on the governments revenue and public spending priorities in the Budget, many people will also be curious about Sitharamans sarees. The Finance Minister consistently wears and promotes handloom sarees, supporting the "Vocal for Local" initiative and artisan crafts. 2 / 11 Nirmala Sitharamans saree choices focus on diverse weaves from across the country. They often signal cultural pride or policy focus, with the colours carrying thematic weight. The choices boost rural economies, foster national unity and spark social media trends on preserving the countrys textile heritage. ADVERTISEMENT 3 / 11 In 2019, Sitharaman wore a pink Mangalgiri silk saree with gold borders. The handloom weave from Andhra Pradesh symbolised her new approach and the gold border honoured Indias rich textile history. Sitharaman broke with tradition by using a "bahi khata" instead of a briefcase to carry the Budget papers, signalling her aim to combine modern economic policies with the countrys cultural heritage. 4 / 11 In 2020, as the Sitharaman chose a yellow saree, symbolising optimism about the countrys economy. The silk saree featured blue borders. While yellow represents hope, growth and new beginnings, blue stands for peace and stability. The choice reflected the governments promotion of strength and perseverance during tough times. ADVERTISEMENT 5 / 11 For the Union Budget 2021-22, Nirmala Sitharaman decided to go with a colourful Pochampally ikat saree from Telangana, featuring a bold mix of red, off-white, and green hues. The detailed patterns and vibrant shades of the saree signalled the government's ambitious economic plans, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Sitharamans choice symbolised growth and renewal. 6 / 11 2022 A rust brown Bomkai saree with an off-white border was Sitharamans choice for the Budget presentation in 2022. The saree reflected the artistic heritage of Odishas Ganjam district with its silver zari work and intricate patterns. Sitharamans choice highlighted the governments support for local artisans and preservation of traditional crafts. ADVERTISEMENT 7 / 11 2023 The colour red symbolises power and energy. Nirmala Sitharamans saree for the Budget presentation in 2023 reflected her confident approach for Indias economy. She wore a red silk saree with a black-and-gold temple border featuring designs like chariots, peacocks, and lotuses. The designs represented stability, strength and tradition. 8 / 11 2024 In 2024, Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim Budget before the elections in a blue Tussar silk saree featuring Kantha embroidery from West Bengal. For the full 2024 Budget, she wore an off-white Mangalagiri saree with gold and magenta borders. The choice of the off-white saree signalled the governments focus on Andhra Pradesh, including funding for projects like the Polavaram irrigation scheme. ADVERTISEMENT 9 / 11 Last year, Sitharaman donned an off-white handloom silk saree, gifted to her by Padma Shri artist Dulari Devi. The saree featured Madhubani fish embroidery from Bihar. The colour choices symbolised stability, bold economic reforms, financial growth and wealth creation. Linked to Mars (action) and the Sun (leadership), the red colour of her blouse signified a strong push for corporate and developmental governance. 10 / 11 Nirmala Sitharaman has not publicly commented on her attire or the symbolism behind her Budget Day saree choices. She often appears in Parliament sessions and official events in handloom sarees. Her overall attire choices point towards sustainable Indian textiles year-round, emphasising government initiatives for handlooms over power looms and promoting cultural heritage and rural economies. ADVERTISEMENT In Canada and Latin America, constant-currency device sales increased 8% and masks and other sales increased 16% , which management attributed to growth in both resupply and new patient setups, as well as incremental revenue from the VirtuOx acquisition completed in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. Excluding revenue from the Residential Care Software (RCS) business, Sandercock said sales in the U.S., Canada and Latin America rose 11% (and 6% on a constant currency basis). Globally, on a constant currency basis, device sales increased 7% while masks and other sales increased 14% . CFO Brett Sandercock reported group revenue of $1.42 billion for the December quarter. Foreign exchange movements provided an estimated $25 million positive impact on revenue and about $0.04 of benefit to earnings per share. CEO Mick Farrell said the company delivered another strong quarter with 11% headline revenue growth , or 9% on a constant currency basis . He also pointed to operating leverage and sequential and year-over-year margin expansion, resulting in GAAP EPS growth of 16% . ResMed (NYSE:RMD) executives highlighted revenue growth, margin expansion and continued investment in product development and demand-generation initiatives during the companys second quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call. Management also discussed progress in its software portfolio, the companys view of GLP-1 medications as a demand tailwind, and capital returns that were stepped up through an expanded share repurchase plan. The company boosted capital returnsdeclaring a $0.60 quarterly dividend, repurchasing ~$175 million this quarter and increasing planned buybacks to more than $600 million for fiscal 2026while advancing new products and software like the FDA-cleared AI recommender Comfort Match and the F30i fabric mask line. Management said GLP-1 medications are a demand tailwind , citing claims data showing patients on both a GLP-1 and CPAP are ~ 1011% more likely to start therapy and have higher resupply rates (3% at one year, >6% at three years). ResMed delivered 11% headline revenue growth (9% constant currency) with GAAP EPS up 16% on $1.42 billion in revenue, drove a 110-basis-point gross-margin improvement and raised operating margin to 36.3%, guiding fiscal 2026 gross margin to 6263% . Story Continues In Europe, Asia and other regions, constant-currency device sales increased 5% and masks and other sales increased 8%. Farrell noted the companys Europe, Asia and Rest of World masks/accessories category returned to high single-digit growth, which he tied to mask portfolio expansion (including new fabric masks), improved resupply execution, and targeted direct-to-consumer initiatives in select markets. Margins, spending, and fiscal 2026 outlook items Meta Soars After-Hours, Forecasting Fastest Growth Since 2021 On profitability, management emphasized gross margin improvement led by supply chain execution. Sandercock said gross margin increased 110 basis points year over year and 30 basis points sequentially, citing component cost improvements, manufacturing and logistics efficiencies, and a modest FX benefit. Looking ahead, the company expects fiscal 2026 gross margin of 62% to 63%, subject to currency movements. Operating expenses rose as the company invested in personnel and commercial programs. SG&A increased 15% on a headline basis (and 12% in constant currency), driven by employee-related expenses, marketing and technology investments, and additional costs tied to VirtuOx. SG&A as a percentage of revenue was 19.6% versus 18.8% a year earlier, while guidance remained 19% to 20% for fiscal 2026. R&D increased 12% headline (and 10% constant currency), largely from employee-related expenses, with R&D running at 6.4% of revenue. The company reiterated its expectation for R&D to remain 6% to 7% of revenue for fiscal 2026. Sandercock also disclosed a $6 million restructuring-related charge tied to the finalization of global workforce planning initiated in the first quarter, which the company treated as a non-GAAP item. Operating profit increased 19% and operating margin improved to 36.3% from 34% a year earlier, supported by revenue growth and gross margin expansion. The effective tax rate was 21.1% compared to 18% last year, which Sandercock said was primarily due to global minimum tax legislation introduced in certain jurisdictions effective July 1, 2025. The fiscal 2026 tax rate outlook remained 21% to 23%. Product pipeline and demand-generation efforts Farrell described ResMed as both an operational excellence machine and an innovation machine, pointing to new mask introductions and software-based tools. He highlighted the F30i Comfort and F30i Clear mask range as the companys first compact full-face fabric masks and said early patient and provider feedback has been incredibly positive, with broader rollouts continuing as regulatory approvals are received. He also discussed Comfort Match, an AI-enabled comfort setting recommender within the companys myAir platform, which he called ResMeds first FDA-cleared AI-enabled medical device. Farrell said the tool is intended to help patients become more confident and comfortable with therapy and could help unlock underused comfort settings that may improve adherence over time. On commercialization, Farrell said the company is running targeted direct-to-consumer campaigns to build sleep apnea awareness and encourage demand capture, including promotions around Singles Day (11/11) in China and holiday-related promotions in the U.S. He also highlighted continuing medical education efforts aimed at primary care providers. Farrell said CME programs have been completed nearly 60,000 times, representing a 50% increase from the figure cited on the companys first quarter call, with more than 35,000 unique clinicians participating. Surveys at the end of the courses showed 77% of providers intend to change their clinical practices related to sleep health based on what they learned. GLP-1 medications and the patient funnel Management spent substantial time addressing investor questions on GLP-1 medications and their relationship to sleep apnea diagnosis and CPAP adoption. Farrell said the company is tracking claims data for more than 1.95 million patients and continues to see that patients with prescriptions for both a GLP-1 and CPAP are 10% to 11% more likely to start CPAP therapy than patients with a CPAP prescription alone. He added that these patients were 3% more likely to have a resupply event at one year, rising to more than 6% at three years, which he described as the first time the company had three-year data to share. In response to questions about whether GLP-1s could be a headwind, Farrell said the companys view has shifted firmly to GLP-1s being a tailwind, while acknowledging ResMed is still working to quantify the magnitude. He also said ResMed is asking new patientsthrough the myAir platformhow they heard about sleep apnea (including whether it was through GLP-1 advertising or wearable devices), but noted the company is not yet prepared to publicly share those details. Software portfolio, capital returns, and balance sheet Farrell said ResMed is progressing with portfolio management work in its Residential Care Software business and reiterated confidence that the segment can return to sustainable high single-digit growth and double-digit operating profit growth in fiscal 2027. For the March and June quarters, management expects to maintain mid-single-digit growth in RCS while continuing the portfolio management process. Sandercock reported RCS revenue increased 5% in constant currency in the December quarter, led by MEDIFOX DAN and partially offset by challenges in the senior living and long-term care vertical. On cash flow and capital allocation, Sandercock said cash flow from operations was $340 million, with capital expenditures of $29 million. ResMed ended the quarter with $1.4 billion in cash, $664 million in gross debt, and $753 million in net cash, plus approximately $1.5 billion available under its revolver. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share. During the quarter, the company repurchased about 704,000 shares for $175 million, and Farrell said the company is increasing planned share repurchases to more than $600 million for fiscal 2026. In total, Farrell said ResMed returned $263 million to shareholders during the quarter through dividends and repurchases. About ResMed (NYSE:RMD) ResMed (NYSE: RMD) is a global medical device and cloud-connectivity company focused on improving outcomes for people with sleep-disordered breathing and chronic respiratory conditions. Founded in 1989, the company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and develops, manufactures and distributes a range of devices and software used by patients, clinicians and providers worldwide. ResMed's product portfolio centers on noninvasive ventilation and sleep therapy equipment, including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bilevel devices, masks and related accessories for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and other respiratory disorders. The article "ResMed Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 09:57 IST 1 / 10 Gold prices have been seeing sharp movements in recent days which has drawn attention across global and domestic markets. On January 30, gold and silver prices in India dropped sharply after touching record levels. Gold fell by nearly 3.5 per cent while silver slipped around five per cent in a single session. The fall came as the US dollar strengthened and many investors chose to lock in profits. Even as prices corrected, attention shifted to Polands latest decision on gold reserves. 2 / 10 Polands central bank has recently confirmed that it has cleared a plan to buy significantly more gold. In a statement, the bank said it may purchase up to 150 additional tonnes. If carried out fully, this would take Polands total gold holdings to as much as 700 tonnes. The announcement did not include any fixed timeline for completing these purchases. Still, the size of the proposed increase stood out in global financial circles. It reinforced Polands position as one of the most active buyers of gold in recent years. ADVERTISEMENT 3 / 10 Polands interest in gold is not new and the latest move builds on earlier targets. The central bank has said it wants gold to account for around 30 per cent of its total reserves. Under the updated policy, holdings can rise to 700 tonnes even if their value goes beyond that 30 per cent mark. Governor Adam Glapinski has been vocal about why the country is pushing ahead with gold purchases. Speaking about the expansion, he said it would lift Poland into a rare group of nations. This will place Poland among the elite 10 countries with the largest gold reserves in the world, he said as quoted by FX Street. It should be noted that the Polish central bank already holds more gold than the European Central Bank (ECB). 4 / 10 Recent data shows how Polands reserves have grown. In November alone, the country added another 12 tonnes of gold, as per the report. That pushed official holdings to around 543 tonnes at the time. Based on gold prices at the end of November, this accounted for roughly 28 percent of total reserves. The scale of buying placed Poland among the biggest gold purchasers globally last year. ADVERTISEMENT 5 / 10 The pace of accumulation looks even more surprising when viewed over a longer period. In 1996, Polands central bank held just 14 tonnes of gold. Since then, reserve strategy has changed dramatically. This is now the third time in recent years that the country has raised its gold target. An initial expansion plan was announced in 2021, followed by another revision in 2024. At that point, Glapinski spoke about increasing gold to 20 per cent of reserves before the target was later pushed higher. 6 / 10 Glapinski has repeatedly linked gold holdings with credibility and trust. This makes Poland a more credible country; we have a better standing in all ratings, we are a very serious partner, and we will continue to buy gold. He has also described gold as a form of protection during uncertain times. In earlier remarks, he called it the only safe investment for state reserves especially during difficult times of global turmoil and the search for a new financial order. ADVERTISEMENT 7 / 10 In a 2024 interview, Glapinski further explained the thinking behind the policy. He said the strategy was not directly connected to any specific national economic programme. Instead, gold was described as a crisis buffer that keeps its real value over long periods. It is a symbol of stability that enhances our credibility in the eyes of investors and foreign partners, he had said. 8 / 10 According to information published on the NBPs website, gold carries certain features that make it attractive to central banks. It is not a liability and does not involve counterparty risk. Its physical nature also means it does not depend on electronic systems to exist or be verified. Gold will retain its value even when someone cuts off the power to the global financial system, destroying traditional assets based on electronic accounting records. Of course, we do not assume that this will happen. But as the saying goes forewarned is always insured, Glapinski had said. ADVERTISEMENT 9 / 10 He added that central banks must prepare for extreme situations, even if they seem unlikely. And the central bank is required to be prepared for even the most unfavorable circumstances. That is why we see a special place for gold in our foreign exchange management process. He has also said that gold is free from credit risk and cannot be devalued by any countrys economic policy. Alongside these views, Poland has also taken steps to control where its gold is stored. In 2019, the central bank moved 100 tonnes of gold from London vaults to a facility in Warsaw. Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 16:01 IST 1 / 9 A viral post doing the rounds on social media claims South Korea has developed a bioactive patch that can regrow real human teeth. According to the post, the patch needs to be applied to the gums for just 20 minutes a day. It allegedly repairs cavities, restores enamel, and even causes new teeth to grow. The claim has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on X. Some posts go as far as saying dentures may soon be obsolete. 2 / 9 The posts also suggest that human trials could wrap up quickly, with the product available as early as 2026. That timeline alone raised eyebrows among dental experts. The promise is big, almost too big. A simple patch replacing years of dental procedures sounds revolutionary. But experts say the story does not hold up. ADVERTISEMENT 3 / 9 Multiple versions of the claim are circulating online, each pointing to different sources. One version credits scientists from Seoul National University and claims the research appeared in Science Translational Medicine. Another version attributes the discovery to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. The problem is simple. None of these institutions show any record of such a breakthrough. 4 / 9 There is also no mention of the patch in recognised scientific databases. Searches on PubMed, a standard reference for medical research, return nothing. Experts contacted by The Observers confirmed they found no published data supporting the claim. That absence is telling in itself. ADVERTISEMENT 5 / 9 Pierre Layrolle, a researcher at Inserm, called the story science fiction. He pointed out that without peer-reviewed publications, there is no proof of effectiveness. Layrolle also flagged the proposed 2026 rollout as unrealistic. Medical products usually take years, not months, to clear regulatory hurdles. 6 / 9 According to Layrolle, even the fastest approvals require long safety testing. Regulatory agencies typically demand at least five years of trials before approval. Skipping that process would be unheard of. The idea of a one-year fast track simply does not align with how medicine works. ADVERTISEMENT 7 / 9 That said, tooth regeneration is a real area of research. Scientists are exploring ways to repair or regrow dental tissue using stem cells and molecular therapies. At Kings College London, researchers have studied Tideglusib, a drug originally developed for Alzheimers disease. The molecule can activate stem cells in dental pulp to repair deep cavities. 8 / 9 Another project is underway in Japan at Kyoto University Hospital. Professor Katsu Takahashi is studying an antibody that blocks USAG-1, a protein that suppresses tooth formation. The goal is to reactivate dormant tooth buds in people born with missing teeth. Early results are promising, but only in controlled research settings. ADVERTISEMENT Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 15:32 IST 1 / 10 You may have seen him without really noticing at first. During the grand Republic Day parade this year, while the nation watched soldiers march and tableaux roll past, one young man quietly stood beside Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He spoke softly, listened closely, and explained things with ease. Cameras caught him again and again. Social media soon began asking the same question: Who is this calm officer sharing the dais with world leaders? His presence felt important, yet understated, leaving many curious about his story. 2 / 10 That officer is Siddharth Babu, a 2017-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer. During the Republic Day event, he was seen interpreting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief guest, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. His role was crucial but smooth, with no interruptions or confusion. As he switched languages with ease, people realised they were watching a skilled diplomat at work. What looked effortless on screen was actually the result of years of learning and preparation. ADVERTISEMENT 3 / 10 Siddharth Babu comes from Kochi in Kerala. Like many students, his early academic path was not linked to diplomacy. He studied mechanical engineering and later worked in the e-commerce sector. At that time, civil services were not his first plan. However, his interest slowly shifted as he became curious about how countries interact, negotiate, and solve problems together. This curiosity planted the first seed of his future career in international diplomacy. 4 / 10 Popular culture also played a role in shaping his dreams. Spy movies, global thrillers, and the television show Indias World sparked his interest in foreign affairs. He began reading more about global politics and Indias role on the world stage. Over time, this interest grew stronger than his corporate job. Siddharth Babu decided to prepare for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination, fully aware that the journey would demand patience and discipline. ADVERTISEMENT 5 / 10 His first attempt at the UPSC Civil Services Examination did not go as planned. Siddharth Babu did not clear it. Instead of feeling defeated, he treated the failure as a learning phase. He realised that success in UPSC is not just about studying long hours. It is about understanding patterns, managing time, and staying focused. This insight helped him rethink his approach and prepare smarter for his second attempt. 6 / 10 In his second attempt, Siddharth Babu appeared calmer and more confident. He chose International Relations as his optional subject, aligning it with his genuine interest. In the UPSC 2016 examination, he secured an impressive All India Rank (AIR) 15. Despite such a high rank, he made a surprising choice. Instead of opting for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he selected the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), staying true to his passion for global affairs. ADVERTISEMENT 7 / 10 What made Siddharth Babus preparation different was his balanced routine. He did not isolate himself or study endlessly. He met friends, spoke to retired diplomats, and kept life simple. He followed a timetable that suited him and avoided unnecessary pressure. According to him, most toppers are not stressed all the time. Staying relaxed helped him think clearly and perform better during the examination process. 8 / 10 After joining the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Siddharth Babu received advanced training, including at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey. Over time, he became fluent in multiple languages. His language skills and calm nature made him suitable for sensitive diplomatic roles. These abilities explain why he is often seen assisting top leaders during high-level meetings and international events. ADVERTISEMENT 9 / 10 Currently, Siddharth Babu serves as a Deputy Secretary (Europe and Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). His work involves constant interaction with foreign officials and leaders. Acting as an interpreter for the Prime Minister is a sign of deep trust and responsibility. His appearance at the Republic Day parade highlighted not just his language skills, but also his growing role in Indias diplomatic setup. Sunetra Pawar Becomes Maharashtra Deputy CM Without Being MLA: Law Allows It With A Six-Month Rider Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 17:16 IST Uddhav, Mamata have done it: The law says Sunetra Pawar will have to become a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Legislative Council (MLC) within six months of taking oath Sunetra Pawar will be the first woman deputy CM of Maharashtra. (X) Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar became Maharashtras first woman Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday replacing her deceased husband and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet. She reached Devgiri, the official residence of her late husband in south Mumbai, in the wee hours, accompanied by son Parth. The 62-year-old leader, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, was elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon. Can a leader become the deputy CM without being a member of the House? ALSO READ | Why Sunetra Pawar Agreed To Take Oath As Maharashtra Deputy CM Amid NCP Merger Buzz What the law says Article 164(4): The Constitution of India allows any person to be appointed as a Minister (including Deputy CM or CM) even if they are not a member of the state legislature. To retain the position, the appointee must become a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Legislative Council (MLC) within six consecutive months of taking the oath. If they fail to do so, they must resign. #WATCH | Mumbai: Preparations are underway at Lok Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony of Sunetra Pawar, leader of the NCP legislative party and wife of late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit PawarShe will be sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. pic.twitter.com/LSC8pFf8JV ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 Have other leaders done this in the past? Many high-profile leaders have taken office without initially being members of the states legislative body: Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra): Sworn in as Chief Minister in 2019 without being an MLA or MLC; he was later elected to the Legislative Council. Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh): Was an MP when he became CM in 2017 and later became an MLC. Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal): Was an MP when she first became CM in 2011. Dinesh Sharma & Keshav Prasad Maurya (Uttar Pradesh): Both were appointed as Deputy CMs in 2017 without initially being members of the state legislature. Prithviraj Chavan (Maharashtra): Was a Union Minister when appointed CM and later won a by-poll to become an MLA. #WATCH | Mumbai | NCP leaders meet Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis after the wife of the late deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar elected as the leader of the NCP legislative partyShe will be sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra today. pic.twitter.com/OiEjUyp4zM ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 What can be done for Sunetra Pawar? A sitting MLA from the party can resign from his/her seat, allowing Sunetra Pawar to contest the by-election for that constituency. Baramati, a seat previously held by Ajit Pawar, is currently vacant. The buzz is her Rajya Sabha seat may go to her son, Parth. ALSO READ | NCP News Live Updates HERE All about Sunetra Pawar Sunetra Pawar, born on 18 October 1963 in Ter (Osmanabad/Dharashiv), Maharashtra, comes from a family with political roots. Her father, Bajirao Patil, was a senior regional leader and her brother, Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, was an influential politician. She completed her Bachelor of Commerce from SB College, Aurangabad, and later married Ajit Pawar in 1985, and has two sons, Parth and Jay. Sunetra established herself as a social worker and environmentalist, founding the Environmental Forum of India focused on eco-villages and sustainable development, and has chaired the Baramati High-Tech Textile Park, while also serving as a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan and on the Senate of Savitribai Phule Pune University. Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the Lok Sabha elections that year, she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husbands party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle. Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha. With PTI Inputs News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 16:16 IST News politics Sunetra Pawar Becomes Maharashtra Deputy CM Without Being MLA: Law Allows It With A Six-Month Rider Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Karnataka To Order High-Level Probe Into CJ Roys Death After DK Shivakumar Hints At Harassment Reported By : CNN-News18 Edited By: Apoorva Misra Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 11:06 IST Highlighting a pattern of pressure on the business community, the deputy CM said such harassment is unacceptable and noted that the public is well aware of similar tragic instances Rapid Read Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar. (Image: News18) The Karnataka government has decided to order a high-level investigation into the suicide of CJ Roy, the chairman of Confident Group and Honorary Consul of Slovakia. Speaking to the media in Kanakapura on Friday, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar emphasised that the state is committed to uncovering the absolute truth behind the incident and will place all relevant facts before the public. Expressing his condolences, Shivakumar noted that Roy was a successful businessman whose life ended in a manner that raises significant concerns, prompting the government to step in and ensure a thorough inquiry. Shivakumar specifically pointed toward the circumstances involving the income tax department, noting that the state had received information about an investigative team from Kerala being involved in the process. We will order a high-level probe. After the investigation, everything will come out," he said, adding that even people in Delhi have requested a detailed report on the matter. He shared preliminary information suggesting that Roy had requested five minutes of private time during an intense questioning session before taking the extreme step. Highlighting a pattern of pressure on the business community, the deputy chief minister remarked that such harassment is unacceptable and noted that the public is well aware of similar tragic instances that have occurred in the past. Condemning the alleged interrogation tactics, he asserted that while he wished to avoid turning the tragedy into a political debate, the government could not ignore the underlying issues. Such harassment is not correct, we condemn it. You all know what has happened in the past," he said, echoing sentiments shared by the Youth Congress, which has called the event a consequence of tax terrorism". The incident has drawn immediate and sombre comparisons to the death of Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha, with political leaders and trade bodies expressing growing alarm over the treatment of home-grown entrepreneurs by central agencies. On the investigative front, the Ashoknagar police have officially registered a case under Section 174(c) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), treating the incident as a suspicious death. The timeline established by investigators shows that Roy had returned from Dubai on January 27, only to be met by Income Tax officials at his Bengaluru office the following morning. For three consecutive days, officials had been conducting a rigorous search and document verification process at the Confident Group headquarters. It was during the final stages of this process on Thursday afternoon that Roy reportedly entered his chamber and ended his life using a licensed firearm. The Income Tax Department had reportedly carried out the first raid on CJ Roy in December last year. The investigation is now focusing on the specific interactions that took place during the three-day tax raid. Because Roy served as the Honorary Consul of Slovakia and operated the consulate out of the same building, the police are navigating the case with additional procedural care. While the Income Tax department was in the process of seizing documents and conducting a Post-Operation" (PO) procedure, the sudden nature of the suicide has left many questions unanswered. Authorities are currently analysing the evidence collected from the scene to determine the exact catalyst for the act, as the high-level probe ordered by the state government begins its work to provide clarity to the grieving family and the business community. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata) News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 11:06 IST News politics Karnataka To Order High-Level Probe Into CJ Roys Death After DK Shivakumar Hints At Harassment Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'No Talks With Sunetra, Wasn't Aware Of Oath-Taking': Sharad Pawar On NCP Deputy CM Post Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 14:09 IST Sharad Pawar also claimed that the reunification of the two NCP factions was a long-held wish of Ajit Pawar and talks to bring the party back together had been underway for months Rapid Read (Left) Sunetra Pawar and (right) Sharad Pawar (PTI) Veteran NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Saturday said there had been no discussion with Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, over her likely oath-taking as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, but termed it an internal decision of her faction. Speaking in Baramati, Sharad Pawar said they were unaware that the oath-taking event was planned. However, he noted that Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare were senior leaders of their own NCP faction and it was their partys right to decide the future course of action. He also claimed that the reunification of the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions was a long-held wish of Ajit PawarMaharashtras deputy chief minister who passed away in a plane crash on Wednesdayand that talks to bring the party back together had been underway for months. It was Ajit Dadas wish that the two NCP factions should come together. We also desire that his wish be fulfilled." He said Ajit Pawar and senior leader Jayant Patil had been engaged in reunification talks for the past four months and the talks were positive". Ajit Pawar wanted to announce the merger on February 12. This was his wish," Sharad Pawar added. Sharad Pawars statement lends credence to the buzz around the reunification effort that had been quietly gaining traction before Ajit Pawars untimely demise in a plane crash near Baramati. However, his passing has now thrown the possible merger into uncertainty. Sources told CNN-News18 that the ruling Mahayuti has decided to offer the deputy chief ministers post to Sunetra Pawar amid merger buzz. There is a belief within political circles that some senior leaders close to Ajit Pawar were not keen on Sharad Pawar regaining control of the party. It remains unclear whether Sharad Pawar or Supriya Sule will attend Sunetra Pawars oath-taking ceremony for the deputy CMs post. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 10:10 IST News politics 'No Talks With Sunetra, Wasn't Aware Of Oath-Taking': Sharad Pawar On NCP Deputy CM Post Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Tale Of Two NCPs: As Sunetra Pawar Becomes Maharashtra Deputy CM, Reunion On Hold? Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 17:34 IST The path ahead for both NCP factions is fraught with electoral and organisational hurdles By elevating Sunetra Pawar to the Deputy CMs post, the Ajit Pawar-led faction has signalled its intent to maintain a distinct political identity and leadership structure rather than folding back into the parent organisation immediately. File pic/PTI In a historic but politically fraught ceremony in Mumbai on Saturday, Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The rapid transition, occurring just three days after the tragic death of her husband, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash, has not only reshaped the state cabinet but has also cast a long shadow over the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Unaware Patriarch While the swearing-in marks a moment of continuity for the Mahayuti government, it has also exposed an air of uncertainty within the Pawar family and the broader NCP ecosystem. Speaking from his residence in Baramati, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar earlier expressed surprise at the speed of the developments. I have had no discussion with Sunetra Pawar regarding this. I only learnt about the swearing-in ceremony through the morning news," he told reporters. While he acknowledged the right of Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare to decide their factions course, his absenceand that of his immediate familyfrom the ceremony at Lok Bhavan spoke volumes. The veteran leader noted that while family members support each other emotionally in times of grief, political decisions remain a separate, often conflicting, arena. The Interrupted Merger Perhaps the most significant revelation from Sharad Pawars remarks was the status of the long-rumoured NCP merger. He confirmed that prior to the crash, positive talks between the two factions were in an advanced stage, led by the late Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil. The decision on the merger was supposed to be announced on February 12," Sharad Pawar revealed. Ajit had given this date himself. It was his wish that both NCPs should come together, and it was our wish as well." Observers say that with the primary architect of this reunification now gone, the merger appears to have been put on the back burner. By elevating Sunetra Pawar to the Deputy CMs post, the Ajit Pawar-led faction has signalled its intent to maintain a distinct political identity and leadership structure rather than folding back into the parent organisation immediately. What Next for NCP? The path ahead for both factions is fraught with electoral and organisational hurdles. For Sunetra Pawar, the immediate challenge is to transition from a Rajya Sabha MP to a member of the State Legislature, likely through a by-election in the Baramati assembly seat left vacant by her husband. For the party, the what next" depends on three critical factors: The Leadership Vacuum: While Sunetra provides a symbolic and dynastic anchor, the faction lacks the 24-hour" administrative machinery that Ajit Pawar commanded. The roles of Praful Patel (as National President) and Sunil Tatkare will be crucial in keeping the 40 MLAs together. The Sympathy Factor: The upcoming by-election and local body polls will test whether the Pawar" name, when carried by Sunetra, can withstand the political weight of Sharad Pawars influence. Reunification Prospects: While the February 12 deadline is likely to be missed, the emotional pull for a united NCP remains strong among the cadre. However, Sunetras induction into the cabinet suggests a commitment to the Mahayuti alliance for the foreseeable future. As the state completes its period of mourning, the NCP stands at a crossroads. Whether Sunetra Pawars elevation acts as a bridge to reconciliation or a permanent wall between the two factions will determine the survival of Ajit Pawars political legacy in the post-2026 era. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 17:33 IST News politics Tale Of Two NCPs: As Sunetra Pawar Becomes Maharashtra Deputy CM, Reunion On Hold? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'Vijay Is Vote-Cutter, Not A King: Piyush Goyal Clarifies No Alliance With TVK In Tamil Nadu Polls Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 16:39 IST Goyal reiterated that the BJP and AIADMK would contest together and expressed confidence in the alliances prospects. Rapid Read While geopolitical tensions between the two countries remain sensitive, the ministers tone signals a pragmatic approach: balancing diplomacy with firm domestic industrial goals. (File photo) Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said that actor Vijay is at best a vote-cutter, not a king," asserting that there is no possibility of any political alliance with Vijays Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). Goyal said that many film stars have entered politics in the past but failed to sustain their influence. He further said that the BJP-led alliance with the AIADMK would have a dream home run" in Tamil Nadu, adding that people would not forgive DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin for what he termed an anti-Sanatan stand." Goyal reiterated that the BJP and AIADMK would contest together and expressed confidence in the alliances prospects. Vijay is at best a vote-cutter, not a king. We have seen many stars come and go. There is no possibility of an alliance. Our alliance, AIADMK, will have a dream home run as people wont forgive Udhayanidhi for his anti-Sanatan stand," the Union Minister said. TVK president and actor Vijay earlier struck a combative political tone in Tamil Nadu, declaring that neither the ruling DMK nor the opposition AIADMK deserved to govern the state and asserting that his party was ready to take them on without alliances. Addressing a rally in Mahabalipuram, Vijay said the upcoming Assembly elections would be a turning point for the states political future. He told party workers that they were at a crucial stage in their political journey, adding that the polls were not just an election but a democratic battle in which they would play a leading role. In a sharp attack on the two dominant Dravidian parties, Vijay accused both the AIADMK and the DMK of yielding to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The AIADMK has directly surrendered to the BJP, and the DMK has indirectly surrendered to the BJP. The ones who ruled Tamil Nadu are now under the BJP. So there is no use. DMK now is also of no use," he said. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Maharashtra, India, India First Published: January 31, 2026, 16:39 IST News politics 'Vijay Is Vote-Cutter, Not A King: Piyush Goyal Clarifies No Alliance With TVK In Tamil Nadu Polls Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Why Sunetra Pawar Agreed To Take Oath As Maharashtra Deputy CM Amid NCP Merger Buzz Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Manjiri Joshi Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 18:17 IST NCP sources say Sunetra Pawar was initially not ready for it, but agreed with a heavy heart, after considering the views of loyalists and to take Ajit Pawars vision forward Rapid Read Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar will take oath at 5pm today. (PTI File) Even as Sunetra Pawar took the oath as the deputy CM of Maharashtra on Saturday, within days of her husband and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawars sudden death in a plane crash, many are puzzled about the reason behind the haste. Party sources told News18 that Sunetra Pawar was initially not ready for it", but agreed with a heavy heart", after considering the views of several Ajit Pawar loyalists for the betterment of the party and to take his vision forward. Sunetra Pawar was not ready for it, say NCP sources Ajit Pawar, who was deputy chief minister and finance minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government, was killed in a plane crash in Baramati along with four others on January 28. ALSO READ | Sunetra Pawar Becomes Maharashtra Deputy CM Without Being MLA: Law Allows It With A Six-Month Rider Ajit Pawar had split the NCP into two factions, one led by him and the other NCP SP led by the party founder and his uncle Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule. He had then joined the BJP-Sena led government, even as the SP faction stayed in the Opposition with Sena UBT and Congress. According to NCP sources, after deputy CM Ajit Pawars death, Sunetra felt it was her responsibility to carry forward her husbands vision as the head of the party. When Ajit Pawar rebelled, he was aloneSunetra Pawar, as a wife, considered it her duty to protect the party that Ajit Pawar had built through years of hard work. Even in grief, she felt it was her responsibility to carry forward her husbands work," said sources. Initially, Sunetra Pawar was not ready for this. But she felt that if she did not step in, Ajit Pawars dream would remain incompleteAjit Pawars vision would be left unfulfilled. With a heavy heart, she agreed," they said. Theres a thinking in the party that post merger, Sharad Pawars influence would be undeniable, given his stature. Given the history of the NCP split and the complicated equations stemming from their allegiance for rival camps, Ajit Pawars loyalists felt going ahead with the oath-taking should be a priority. The swearing-in Sunetra Pawar was sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, replacing her deceased husband the late Ajit Pawar, at the Lok Bhavan pm on Saturday. Earlier in the day, she was named as the chief of the NCP in the partys legislature party meeting in Mumbai. She held talks with party leaders after arriving in Mumbai from Baramati. Sharad Pawar on Saturday in the morning said there had been no discussion with Sunetra Pawar over her oath-taking. However, he noted that Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare were senior leaders of their own NCP faction and it was their partys right to decide the course of action. #WATCH | Maharashtra: Late Deputy CM Ajit Pawars son Parth Pawar arrived at the residence of NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar in Baramati. pic.twitter.com/YbEUkZ0hPR ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 What about the merger? After Ajit Pawars death, the speculation over the merger of the two factions has increased, with many saying he was to announce it within days. The two factions had contested the Maharashtra civic polls in alliance, with Ajit Pawar even apparently revealing his merger ambitions to select journalists. ALSO READ | NCP News Live Updates HERE Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed that the reunification of the two NCP factions was a long-held wish of Ajit Pawar. It was Ajit Dadas wish that the two NCP factions should come together. We also desire that his wish be fulfilledThe talks were positiveAjit Pawar wanted to announce the merger on February 12," he said. Ajit Pawars family decided to first focus on the party and then talk about a merger. That is why Sunetra Pawar and her family decided to go ahead with the oath-taking ceremony first. Reports suggest that they will now move forward with merger talks with other parties," sources said. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 15:15 IST News politics Why Sunetra Pawar Agreed To Take Oath As Maharashtra Deputy CM Amid NCP Merger Buzz Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'Any Positives Of Gurgaon?, Bengaluru Man's Viral Post On Leaving City After 20 Years Sparks Debate Online Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 23:42 IST This heartfelt Reddit post about leaving Bengaluru after two decades has struck a chord online, triggering a wide-ranging debate on relocation, family duty and city life The post quickly drew mixed responses. While some users tried to highlight Gurgaons advantages, others questioned whether such a move was worth the emotional cost. (Image: Canva) Imagine leaving the city youve called home for 20 yearswhere your kids go to school, your career is built, and every street feels familiar, just to care for ageing parents. Thats exactly the dilemma a Reddit user faced when planning a move from Bengaluru to Gurgaon. Sharing their fears and asking for advice online, the post quickly went viral, sparking a heated debate about city life, safety, and whether the grass is really greener in the Millennium City. A heartfelt Reddit post about leaving Bengaluru after two decades has struck a chord online, triggering a wide-ranging debate on relocation, family duty and city life. The user, who has lived in Bengaluru for 20 years, shared the emotional dilemma of moving to Gurgaon to care for ageing parents, prompting thousands of reactions across social media. In the post titled Relocating to Gurgaon from Bangalore", the user explained that the decision was driven by family responsibility rather than choice. After spending most of their adult life in Bengaluru, building a career, raising children and establishing deep personal and professional ties, the prospect of uprooting has been painful. We have to relocate to Gurgaon as my parents are ageing and need care. But we have been in Bangalore for the last 20 years. I have a strong professional and personal network here. Kids are settled in schools. Parents are not ready to come, so we have to relocate," the user wrote. Ending the post on a vulnerable note, they asked fellow Redditors: Any positives of Gurgaon which might help us with the pain of leaving Bangalore?" The post quickly drew mixed responses. While some users tried to highlight Gurgaons advantages, others questioned whether such a move was worth the emotional cost. One Reddit user pointed to geography and convenience, saying, Mountains are nearby if you love them. Language isnt an issue anymore. Nothing apart from the above two." Another offered a more balanced view: Bangalore is love, but lately with the crazy traffic it has become another pain. Gurgaon has many active communities now. You should join a few, at least youll have a circle that eases the pain." Responding to comments, the original poster clarified that they are originally from Gurgaon but had never lived there, as their father worked in the government sector and they spent most of their career in Bengaluru. Language is not an issue. I am concerned about the mentality and attitude of people there. They are not very friendly and quick to pick up fights. Also, is it safe for girls growing up there?" the user wrote. A reply acknowledged the concern, with one Redditor saying, Yes, thats an issue here. Peoples mentality, especially in Gurgaon, is the worst. Also, dont forget to invest in a good air purifier." Others were more direct, urging the user to reconsider the move altogether. If you have built a life in a city for 20 years, you should not move just because your parents are asking you to. You will always regret it and make your and everyone elses life miserable," one comment read. The post continues to circulate online, resonating with many urban Indians caught between long-settled city lives and the growing responsibility of caring for ageing parents. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 23:42 IST News viral 'Any Positives Of Gurgaon?, Bengaluru Man's Viral Post On Leaving City After 20 Years Sparks Debate Online Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... You can find original article here WealthManagement. Subscribe to our free daily WealthManagement newsletters. When Barry Ritholtz and Josh Brown started Ritholtz Wealth Management in 2013, their plan was to build a partnership model in which they would sell a stake internally every year or so. In the early 2020s, they began to see their firmand the registered investment advisor space in generalstart to explode, according to Ritholtz. In response, the duo established a broader equity-sharing structure for current and future employees. We thought, we have to do this now before everything just gets to be too silly, Ritholtz said. We set something up so that when people reach a certain point in their tenure with the firm, they qualify to participate in equity. And while many other firms have taken outside capital, the firm has maintained that course, announcing Friday that it has solidified an employee-succession plan that positions Ritholtz to reduce his role over time, while retaining his roles as chairman and chief investment officer for now. Ritholtz sold a further portion of his stake in the move, though the firm declined to provide details. Day-to-day leadership will continue under CEO Brown, managing partners Michael Batnick and Kris Venne, and President Jay Tini, and the firm will maintain its name brand. I turn 65 this year, and I wanted all of our clients, employees and partners to understand that we have a plan to continue forever, without private equity dollars, regardless of my age, Ritholtz said. The equity plan has boosted employee ownership over the past year to now include 29 employees on the capital table, which includes advisors, compliance personnel and operations staff. The firm declined to say exactly how many took ownership in 2025, but a Form ADV from the start of the year shows 26 employees with ownership. This is a 10-year succession plan that, with this transaction, went into overdrive, Brown said. These are people who are buying stock. In some cases, we make capital available to them, but there are no stock options or grants. These are people who are super bullish on the future of the firm. Ritholtz Wealth, whose two founders started out as financial commentators, has grown to $7.6 billion in client assets and 85 employees. The duo are also national financial commentators, with Ritholtz hosting a Bloomberg podcast Masters in Business, and Brown being a regular on CNBC and co-host of the podcast The Compound and Friends. For their own firm, however, remaining employee-owned has been a central thesis of their setup. According to a Form ADV filed on January 29, Ritholtz sold enough of his stake to drop his ownership from 25% to 49% to 5% to 9%. Meanwhile, Batnick and Venne increased their stakes from 10% to 24%, and Tinni increased from 5% to 9%. Brown retained his ownership of between 25% and 49% of the firm, and the remaining 24 stakeholders own less than 5%. Indians Fume At Margot Robbie After Her 'Taj Mahal' Necklace Sparks Row: 'Give Us Our Jewels Back' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 14:49 IST Margot Robbie's necklace at the premiere of 'Wuthering Heights' in LA sparked controversy after netizens pointed out that it originally belonged to Nur Jahan in the 1600s. Rapid Read Margot Robbie's 'Taj Mahal' necklace sparked a heated row online. (Reuters) Hollywood actress Margot Robbie got the attention of the Indian social media after she arrived at the premiere of her upcoming film Wuthering Heights in Los Angeles. Her appearance quickly turned into a heated discussion about heritage items being stolen from pre-independence India. The subject of discussion was Robbies heart-shaped golden necklace, encrusted with rubies. The pendant is estimated to be worth $8 million (approx. Rs 66.4 crore). Robbie said the necklace once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor and was given to her by Cartier for the event. The actress said the necklace felt like it had a lot of romantic history and felt appropriate for tonight". However, Robbie left out an important part of the jewels history: It originally belonged to India. margot robbies wearing elizabeth taylors cartier necklace, gifted by richard burton for her 40th birthday, in 1972 pic.twitter.com/OUow0NL9r4 (@badestoutfit) January 29, 2026 The Taj Mahal Necklace It was first gifted to Nur Jahan, the influential wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir, who received it as a royal gift in the 1600s. The inscription on the pendant includes Nur Jahans name, her title Lady of the Padshah and numbers 23 (regnal year of Jehangir), the year 1037 (around 1627-28 AD). The pendant was later handed down to Shah Jahan, who gave it to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, in the memory of whom the iconic monument in Agra was created. Hence, this necklace came to be known as the Taj Mahal necklace. The necklace was likely taken during Nadir Shahs sack of Delhi in 1739. From there, the necklace was taken to the US and was later bought by actor Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor on her 40th birthday for $350,000. The necklace went to auction in 2011 after Taylors death and was acquired by Cartier for $8.8 million. Netizens Target Margot Robbie Indian netizens went after Robbie, apparently displeased about her explanation of the jewels history. Margot wearing a necklace that originally was gifted to nur jahan, the wife of jahangir the 4th mughal emperor. but guess what the articles say, apparently the necklace found its way" to elizabeth taylor. mind you this has no way of finding its way" to a white woman," a user said. Give us our jewels back. Go make and display and museumify ur own. Is all I have to say," a second person wrote. Another said, " Nur Jahans necklace. Sick of white people colonizing our stuff. And Margot doesnt even have the basic decency to research whose jewelery she is wearing." Notably, this is not the first time that Cartier has been associated with Indian jewels. In 2022, Emma Chamberlain wore a Cartier choker believed to be part of a diamond set made for Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala in 1928. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 14:49 IST News viral Indians Fume At Margot Robbie After Her 'Taj Mahal' Necklace Sparks Row: 'Give Us Our Jewels Back' Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Marathi vs Hindi Row Hits Varanasi: Local Films Maharashtra Tourists Eating, Tells Them 'Mumbai Mein UP Walon Ko...' | Video Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 08:18 IST In the clip, men from Maharashtra were enjoying street food when a man confronted them over language row. The incident drew online ire, with netizens slamming vlogger for intrusion The men mentioned that they are enjoying their stay in Varanasi. (Photo Credit: Instagram) From the past few months, the Marathi-Hindi language debate has remained in public discussion with frequent political statements, protests and viral videos. Amid this backdrop, a new clip from Varanasi has surfaced online which involves tourists from Maharashtra. The clip was shared on Instagram by Avish Srivastava. In the video, they were enjoying street food when Avish approached them with his camera on and initiated a conversation around the language controversy. Man Confronts Maharashtra Tourists About Maraathi Language Row In Varanasi In the video, Avish is heard addressing the group and asking, Main aap sabse ek chiz puchna chahta hu. Aap log Banaras aaye ho ghumne. Aap sab log Maharashtra se ho? (I want to ask you all one thing. Youve come to Banaras to travel. Are all of you from Maharashtra?)" After the men confirm, he follows up by raising allegations linked to the language row, saying, Maharashtra mein mai dekhra hu ki Uttar Pradesh ke log waha pe, Hindi ya apni local bhasha mein baat karte hai toh unko force kiya jata hai, mara jata hai, peeta jata hai (In Maharashtra, I see that when people from Uttar Pradesh speak Hindi or their local language, they are forced, beaten and assaulted)." The group responds by rejecting the claim with one of them clearly stating, Aisa nahi hai (This is not the case)." Avish insists again, saying, Aisa hai. Maine bahut viral videos dekhe hai (It does happen. I have seen many viral videos)" Tourists Push Back, Call It Content Culture One of the men from the group then counters the claim by pointing to social media behaviour, saying, Log content ke liye karte hai ye sab taki viral ho jaye. Aisa real mein nahi hai (People do all this for content so that it goes viral. This doesnt happen in real life)." Avish later asks them about their experience in Banaras, Aapko Banaras aa kar kaisa laga? Aapke sath kaise behave kara? (How did you feel after coming to Banaras? How were you treated here?)" The men respond by saying they are enjoying their stay. But Avish adds another claim towards the end, stating, Humare logo ke sath bahut hua jo bhi humare jaanne wale hai. Thane mein report hai sab logo ki (A lot has happened with people we know. Many have filed reports in in police stations)." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Avish Srivastava( Method Actor ) (@avishshiva0001) Online Anger Over Privacy As the video spread, many users focused less on the language issue and more on the act of filming strangers without consent. One X user commented, 4 Marathi tourists who came for pilgrimage were eating peacefully in Varanasi. A local guy came, took out his camera and started filming them and confronting them. 0 Civic Sense. 0 Regards for their privacy. 0 Manners." Another added, Some random blogger in Varanasi started filming and confronting tourists, who had come from Maharashtra, over language issue and assault on North Indians. Are these men responsible for what is happening in Maharashtra? Why is common sense such a rare commodity these days." What is the point of randomly filming and invading the privacy of random tourists just because they are from Maharashtra?" someone else questioned. A person asked, Whats the point of filming someone and invading their privacy if a tourist is simply enjoying their meal, showing no attitude, and even speaking Hindi properly?" An eye for an eye can blind the whole world!" read another comment. While criticism dominated, some users defended the confrontation with an individual writing, Thats not a lack of civic sense but the reaction to the action of a few Marathis who force the people from UP and Bihar to speak their language!" What Is Happening In Maharashtra Over Marathi Language Issue The video has resurfaced discussions around the ongoing Marathi language row in Maharashtra where workers from parties such as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena (UBT) have demanded the mandatory use of Marathi in public life and business spaces. Several incidents involving verbal threats, physical assaults and public intimidation have been reported many of which have gone viral. In recent months, videos have shown MNS workers confronting shopkeepers, auto drivers and bank employees for not speaking Marathi. In one Mumbai incident, a medical shop employee was beaten and forced to apologise publicly over a WhatsApp status perceived as disrespectful to the Marathi language. In another case from Pune, a bank manager was slapped during office hours for addressing customers in Hindi. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Delhi, India, India First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:18 IST News viral Marathi vs Hindi Row Hits Varanasi: Local Films Maharashtra Tourists Eating, Tells Them 'Mumbai Mein UP Walon Ko...' | Video Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Waiter Arrested After Actor Alleges He Was Served Beef Instead Of Mutton At Kolkata Restaurant Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 21:31 IST Sayak Chakraborty alleged Olypub on Park Street served beef instead of mutton, leading to a viral video, police arrest, and BJP criticism, sparking controversy in Kolkata. Sayak Chakraborty alleged Olypub on Park Street served beef instead of mutton, leading to a viral video, police arrest, and BJP criticism, sparking controversy in Kolkata. A waiter at a popular bar-cum-restaurant on Kolkatas Park Street has been arrested after an actor and YouTuber alleged he was served beef instead of mutton, triggering a police case and political reactions. The incident occurred at Olypub, a long-established eatery in the citys nightlife hub. According to the complaint, actor and social media influencer Sayak Chakraborty visited the restaurant on Friday night with two friends and ordered mutton steak. However, he alleged that the group was instead served beef, without being informed about the nature of the dish. Sayak claimed the food was placed on the table without any explanation, leading the group to assume it was mutton, as ordered. They consumed the dish before realising the alleged mix-up. The issue surfaced when a second dish was brought to the table, which staff reportedly identified as mutton, indicating that the earlier serving had been beef. In a video that later went viral, Sayak described the sequence of events and questioned restaurant staff over how such a mix-up could occur. The footage also shows a restaurant employee acknowledging that a mistake had been made. During the confrontation, Sayak invoked his religious identity, expressing outrage over being served beef after specifically ordering mutton. Olypub, Park Streetone of Kolkatas most iconic restaurantsis now at the centre of a deeply disturbing controversy.A well-known Kolkata content creator ordered mutton steak.What was served? Beef steak. Even more shockingafter some time, the waiter returned and informed pic.twitter.com/PJTWwunpmV Tarunjyoti Tewari (@tjt4002) January 30, 2026 Following the incident, Sayak left the restaurant and filed a complaint at the Park Street Police Station later that night. Based on the complaint, Kolkata Police registered a case and arrested one restaurant employee on Saturday. Confirming the arrest, a senior police officer said one employee of a popular Park Street restaurant had been taken into custody on charges of serving beef instead of goat meat. An investigation is underway to determine whether the incident was due to negligence, miscommunication, or something deliberate," the officer added, noting that the role of other staff and management is also being examined. The controversy gained traction after the video of the altercation circulated widely on social media. While Sayak later deleted the video from his own account, it continued to be shared and was subsequently reposted by BJP leader and lawyer Tarunjyoti Tewari, amplifying its reach. The Bharatiya Janata Party criticised the restaurant over the alleged incident. BJP leader Keya Ghosh said in a social media post that the blogger-actor and his friends were served beef despite ordering mutton, and that the error was later dismissed as a mistake by restaurant staff and management. Why are Hindus made a soft target?" she asked, adding that there would have been widespread outrage if a similar incident had involved another community. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 21:31 IST News viral Waiter Arrested After Actor Alleges He Was Served Beef Instead Of Mutton At Kolkata Restaurant Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'Actually My Goals': Elon Musk Reacts To His JoJo-Style Anime Avatar Ft Grok Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 09:49 IST A user generated an anime-style avatar of Elon Musk inspired by the illustration style of the popular series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Rapid Read Elon Musk responded to his anime avatar created by another X user. (Reuters) Tech billionaire Elon Musk, whose platform X has been experimenting with different artificial intelligence models to redefine user experience, was in for a surprise when a user created his anime-themed avatar using Grok Imagine. A user generated an anime-style avatar of Elon Musk inspired by the illustration style of the popular series JoJos Bizarre Adventure, marking a unique blend of AI technology with trademark Japanese animation style. The creation was the latest of a broader trend of fans experimenting with generative AI to reinterpret celebrities through well-known pop-culture styles. I made this anime of @elonmusk using Grok Imagine. I illustrated it in the style of JoJos Bizarre Adventure," the user, who goes by the name Adam Lowisz, said on X. He added a unique superpower to Musk, called Optimus Universal High Income. I gave Elon the stand power Optimus Universal High Income." His power is to multiply anything his stand touches to eradicate poverty and protect humanity," he said. Adams unique anime illustration received Elon Musks approval, who said, These are actually my goals!" These are actually my goals! https://t.co/ctOHia5u7t Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2026 Musk has aggressively pivoted to artificial intelligence to transform user experience on X (formerly Twitter), with Grok processing and modifying images and visual content, along with other diverse AI functions, to transform X into an all-in-one digital hub. Last year, Musks xAI announced the launch of two new companions for premium users of Grok, including a Japanese anime girlfriend, Ani, a 22-year-old blond-haired Japanese anime girl who can strip down to underwear on command. When asked about Ani, Grok said that the character has a Not Safe for Work (NSFW) mode where she may switch to a suggestive lingerie outfit and use more provocative dialogue". The companion also has an affection system" where conversation choices can affect whether she sends the user a heart or blushes. However, this AI push has not come without controversy. X landed in trouble after Grok was used to generate sexualised deepfake images of women and children. The chatbot sparked international concern after it reportedly allowed users to sexualise images with simple text prompts such as put her in a bikini" or remove her clothes." Earlier this month, X restricted Groks image generation and editing features to paying subscribers. However, the European Union launched a probe into the sexualised images of women and children. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : United States of America (USA) First Published: January 31, 2026, 09:49 IST News world 'Actually My Goals': Elon Musk Reacts To His JoJo-Style Anime Avatar Ft Grok Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Seen Crouching Over Woman In Creepy Photo From New Epstein Files Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 11:13 IST In one photograph, Andrew is seen crouched on all fours over a woman - whose face is redacted - lying on the floor with her arms spread on the carpet. Rapid Read New images from the Epstein files showed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching over a woman. (AP/X) Disgraced former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after losing his royal titles due to his ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was captured crouching over a woman lying on the floor in a set of disturbing photos released in the latest Epstein documents. In one disturbing photo, Queen Elizabeth IIs third child is seen crouched on all fours over a woman whose face is redacted who was lying on her back with her arms spread on the white striped carpet. Andrew was seen sprawling over her and looking at the camera. Two other snaps show the 65-year-old, sporting a white polo and jeans, touching the unknown womans stomach. The woman appeared to be conscious in the photos, with her arm raised in one of the images. ALSO READ: Epstein Offered Trustworthy Russian Friend To Former Prince Andrew: What DoJ Email Dump Reveals These pictures were shared widely online. One individual remarked, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor appears to be crouching over a redacted woman in photos from DOJs latest Epstein files dump." Andrew was stripped of his royal titles and honours last year after allegations surfaced that he was one of Epsteins notorious clients. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epsteins victims who died by suicide in April, claimed in her posthumous memoir Nobodys Girl" that the infamous pedophile financier forced her to have sex with Andrew on three separate occasions, including when she was 17. New records of emails released as part of the latest Epstein files also showed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor invited Jeffrey Epstein to visit Buckingham Palace in 2010. The invitation came two months after Epstein was released from house arrest linked to prostitution racket. The files also reveal that Epstein arranged for a 26-year-old Russian woman to meet Andrew. In an email dated August 11, 2010, Epstein told Andrew he had a friend named Irina" who would be in London between August 20 and 24. Epstein described her as 26, Russian, clever, beautiful, trustworthy". Andrew replied that he would be delighted to see her" and asked Epstein to give her his contact details. He also asked, Will she be bringing a message from you?" The documents were released by the US Department of Justice as part of the Epstein files. The latest batch includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The release came six weeks after a legal deadline set under a law signed by President Donald Trump. Officials said delays were due to the need to protect victims identities. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : United States of America (USA) First Published: January 31, 2026, 11:13 IST News world Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Seen Crouching Over Woman In Creepy Photo From New Epstein Files Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Bangladesh And Pakistan Resume Direct Flights After 14 Years; What Does It Mean For India? Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 16:59 IST Bangladesh and Pakistan resume direct flights after 14 years, amid defence talks on JF-17 jets and political changes in Dhaka, signaling a major reset in South Asian relations. A plane of Biman Bangladesh Airlines is seen after landing at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on January 30, 2026. Direct flights between Bangladesh and Pakistan resumed after more than a decade, as ties warm between the two nations that have long had an uneasy relationship. (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP) In a notable shift in South Asian geopolitics, Bangladesh and Pakistan have officially resumed direct passenger air connectivity after a 14-year gap, marking a thaw in ties that had been strained for years and historically antagonistic for decades. The revival of flights coincides with high-level talks on a potential multi-million-dollar defence deal, underscoring a broader reset in bilateral relations. Water salute in Karachi A Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft from Dhaka landed at Jinnah International Airport on Thursday to a traditional water salute, marking the end of a suspension of direct operations that had lasted since 2012. Pakistans Airport Authority called the arrival the start of a new chapter" in PakistanBangladesh relations. Biman will operate non-stop flights twice weekly on Thursdays and Saturdays. The DhakaKarachi service departs at 8:00 pm local time and arrives at 11:00 pm, while the return flight leaves Karachi at midnight and reaches Dhaka at 4:20 am. The services are operating under a provisional licence valid until March 30, during which authorities will assess long-term viability. Political backdrop The rapid rapprochement follows major political changes in Dhaka after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. Hasina, long viewed as pro-India, left office after student-led protests and is now in exile in India. An interim administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is preparing for elections next month, with Hasinas party banned. Defence talks: JF-17s on the table In parallel, Islamabad has formally offered JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter jets jointly developed by China and Pakistan to Bangladesh. The proposal was discussed in Islamabad between Pakistan Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and his Bangladeshi counterpart Hasan Mahmood Khan. Pakistan has also assured Dhaka of fast-tracked delivery of Super Mushshak trainer aircraft, along with training and support packages. The outreach aligns with Pakistans push to expand defence exports, following a recently finalised deal with Libya and ongoing talks with Azerbaijan. Implications for India The warming ties carry implications for India, which has seen relations with both neighbours cool in recent months. One immediate issue is airspace: the shortest DhakaKarachi route passes through central Indian airspace, and it remains unclear whether Biman has secured overflight permissions from New Delhi. For now, Pakistans Civil Aviation Authority has cleared designated corridors within Pakistani airspace. Adding momentum, private Pakistani carriers, including Fly Jinnah and AirSial, have received approval from Bangladeshi authorities to operate direct services, suggesting the connectivity push may widen. For Islamabad, a potential JF-17 sale would also serve as a showcase for the jets capabilities, claims Pakistan says were borne out during past confrontations, including operations following Indias actions against Pakistan-based militant targets last year. Together, the flight restart and defence discussions point to a rapid recalibration of DhakaIslamabad ties, reshaping regional equations at a sensitive moment for South Asia. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Karachi, Pakistan First Published: January 31, 2026, 16:06 IST News world Bangladesh And Pakistan Resume Direct Flights After 14 Years; What Does It Mean For India? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... BLA Fighters Attack 7 Cities In Pakistans Balochistan; 18 Security Personnel Killed, 43 Injured | Exclusive Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 18:45 IST Operation Herof: Police vans, police stations and jails attacked; series of explosions and intense gunfire reported; BLA fighters take control of Eastern Bypass Rapid Read BLA fighters in Balochistan region. (News18) Baloch fighters launched coordinated attacks on seven major cities, including provincial capital Quetta, in Pakistans Balochistan, in what is being called the second phase of its deadly Operation Herof. According to sources, 18 Pakistan security personnel have been killed, while 43 have been injured in the attacks. The BLA separatists have reportedly entered dozens of cities across Balochistan. The situation in Quetta city is extremely critical, and an emergency has been declared in all hospitals. Exchange of fire and explosions between security forces and fighters in various areas of Quetta," said local sources. Police officers were martyred in an attack on a police van on Saryab Road in Quetta. Meanwhile, an attack on the Khaliq Shaheed police station has also been reported. Reports indicate an attack on Mastung Jail and the escape of prisoners. The Mastung police station and the city have been seized, with reports of over 30 prisoners escaping. Armed individuals have taken control of various areas in Quetta. The CTD (Counter-Terrorism Department) office in Nushki has been occupied. Attacks are also reported in Gwadar, while firing and explosions have occurred in Pasni. In Dalbandin, a series of explosions and intense gunfire continues, and clashes are ongoing in Kalat. A large number of armed BLA fighters have also taken control of the Eastern Bypass. Four subjected to enforced disappearance in Gwadar, Kharan Four men were reportedly subjected to enforced disappearance in Balochistans Gwadar and Kharan districts, while in Turbat, relatives of a missing youth blocked the CPEC highway to press for his recovery, according to a report by The Balochistan Post (TBP). People from the Robar area of Jiwani said Pakistani forces had been conducting repeated night raids since the start of January. They alleged that troops enter houses, assault residents, and confiscate valuables, forcing multiple families to leave the area. Locals said that two brothers were detained during a raid on January 6 and taken to an undisclosed location. They added that a third resident was arrested the next day from the same neighbourhood. None of the three men has been produced before the public or a court, residents said, as noted by the TBP report. What is Operation Herof? Operation Herof refers to a series of large-scale, coordinated military offensives launched by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) against Pakistani security forces and infrastructure in Balochistan. Phase 1: Operation Herof (August 2024) The operation began on August 25-26, 2024, marking the anniversary of the death of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti. The BLA claimed to have killed over 102 Pakistani soldiers in a 20-hour offensive. The Majeed Brigade (BLAs fidayeen unit) attacked the Bela army camp, reportedly holding sections of it for hours. Militants blocked major highways (including those linked to CPEC), setting up checkpoints to identify and target security personnel traveling in civilian clothes. Phase 2: Operation Herof 2.0 (May 2025) Launched as a continuation of the initial campaign, this phase significantly escalated the conflict. Approximately 78 coordinated attacks were launched across 58 locations in Balochistan. The BLA stated the operation is aimed at ending the occupation" of Balochistan and reclaiming the regions liberated status". With Agency Inputs News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 12:07 IST News world BLA Fighters Attack 7 Cities In Pakistans Balochistan; 18 Security Personnel Killed, 43 Injured | Exclusive Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Deep Civilisational Bonds: PM Modi Receives Arab League Delegation At High-Level Meet Curated By : Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 20:39 IST PM Modi reiterated Indias support for the Palestinian people while meeting Arab foreign ministers in New Delhi. Rapid Read PM Modi said the Arab world was part of Indias extended neighbourhood as he met Arab foreign ministers in New Delhi. (IMAGE: Narendra Modi/X) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Arab world was a part of Indias extended neighbourhood", underlining deep civilisational bonds and strong people-to-people ties as he met a high-level delegation of Arab foreign ministers in New Delhi. PM Modi shared photographs from the meeting on X, which was attended by foreign ministers of Arab countries, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, and heads of Arab delegations who are in India for the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting. In his post, PM Modi said India and the Arab world were connected by deep civilisational bonds, vibrant people-to-people connections and enduring brotherly ties", along with a shared commitment to peace, progress and stability. He expressed confidence that enhanced cooperation in areas such as technology, energy, trade and innovation would unlock new opportunities and take the partnership to new heights. According to an official statement, the Prime Minister highlighted the historic people-to-people ties between India and the Arab world, noting that these links have continued to inspire and strengthen relations over the years. He also outlined his vision for the India-Arab partnership in the coming years, reaffirming Indias commitment to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, energy, technology, healthcare and other priority sectors for mutual benefit. PM Modi reiterated Indias continued support for the people of Palestine and welcomed ongoing peace efforts, including the Gaza peace plan. He also conveyed appreciation for the role played by the Arab League in supporting initiatives aimed at regional peace and stability. The meeting comes after a gap of nearly a decade, with the inaugural India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting having been held in 2016 in Bahrain. The League of Arab States was formed in Cairo in 1945 and currently comprises 22 member states from North Africa and the Middle East, with Syria recently reinstated. The organisation seeks to coordinate political, economic, cultural and social programmes among its members and to mediate disputes within the region. Indias economic engagement with Arab League countries remains substantial. India-Arab trade stands at over $240 billion, with bilateral hydrocarbon trade exceeding $107 billion. India imports a significant share of its LPG, LNG and crude oil requirements from Arab League nations. Over nine million Indians live and work across Arab countries, while Indian companies have investments spanning energy, infrastructure, IT, healthcare, renewable energy and financial services. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 20:39 IST News world Deep Civilisational Bonds: PM Modi Receives Arab League Delegation At High-Level Meet Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Epstein Offered Trustworthy Russian Friend To Former Prince Andrew: What DoJ Email Dump Reveals Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 10:48 IST One email, sent from an account labelled The Duke and believed to be linked to Andrew, offered dinner at Buckingham Palace and promised lots of privacy. Prince Andrew's ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein gained a spotlight after the publication of a posthumous memoir, Nobodys Girl, by his accuser Virginia Giuffre. New records of emails released as part of the latest Epstein files show that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor invited Jeffrey Epstein to visit Buckingham Palace in 2010. The invitation came two months after Epstein was released from house arrest linked to prostitution racket. One email, sent from an account labelled The Duke" and believed to be linked to Andrew, offered dinner at Buckingham Palace and promised lots of privacy". Epstein offers Russian woman to Andrew The files also reveal that Epstein arranged for a 26-year-old Russian woman to meet Andrew. In an email dated August 11, 2010, Epstein told Andrew he had a friend named Irina" who would be in London between August 20 and 24. Epstein described her as 26, Russian, clever, beautiful, trustworthy". Andrew replied that he would be delighted to see her" and asked Epstein to give her his contact details. He also asked, Will she be bringing a message from you?" The email exchange took place days after Epsteins year-long house arrest ended. Epstein had served 13 months in jail after a 2009 plea agreement for procuring a girl under 18 for prostitution. Andrew emailed Epstein asking if he was glad to be free" and signed off HRH Prince Andrew KG". Epstein replied: Great to be free of many things." Andrew then complained about missing opportunities" and said he would visit Epstein soon. Prince Andrews New York visit Andrew, now 65, stayed with Epstein at his New York townhouse two months after receiving news of the Russian woman. The pair were photographed together in Central Park in December 2010. Further documents released by the US Department of Justice also detail Andrews 2010 visit to New York. Andrews public claim contradicts with his action In a 2019 Newsnight interview, Andrew said he visited Epstein only to end their friendship, claiming it was inappropriate to be seen with him after his conviction. He said he went in person rather than calling. However, emails show Andrew remained in contact with Epstein until at least 2012, contradicting his claim that he cut off all ties in 2010. During Andrews stay in Manhattan, Epstein hosted a private screening of The Kings Speech. Epsteins publicist Peggy Siegal wrote that Colin Firth, who played Andrews grandfather in the film, would win an Oscar. Siegal also said she would arrange a print of the film for Andrew from Harvey Weinstein, who was later convicted of sex offences and is now in prison. Buckingham Palace dinner offer to Epstein Another email from the The Duke" account showed Andrew offering Epstein the option of dining at Buckingham Palace. Epstein replied that he wanted private time" with Andrew and asked whether he should bring other guests. Documents also reveal a private dinner hosted by Epstein for Andrew in 2010. Guests included director Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi, along with media figures Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos. An email from Siegal described the dinner as private and small" and said Andrew was staying at Epsteins New York home. Andrews messages with Ghislaine Maxwell Emails also show contact between Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell. In one message sent the day after the Queen Mothers death, Maxwell referred to Andrew as sweet pea" and signed off with Love you". Andrew replied the following day, signing off with A xxx". In another message from an account called The Invisible Man", the sender joked about someone having more children and referred to them as super sperm". The files also include an email from Andrews former wife, Sarah Ferguson, in which she described Epstein as a legend" and the brother I have always wished for". Release of the Epstein Files The documents were released by the US Department of Justice as part of the Epstein files. The latest batch includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The release came six weeks after a legal deadline set under a law signed by President Donald Trump. Officials said delays were due to the need to protect victims identities. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles last year by King Charles and is set to leave Royal Lodge at Windsor for a smaller home at Sandringham. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while facing charges of sex trafficking minors. Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and related crimes. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : United States of America (USA) First Published: January 31, 2026, 10:47 IST News world Epstein Offered Trustworthy Russian Friend To Former Prince Andrew: What DoJ Email Dump Reveals Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Geopolitics At Boarding Gate: Indian Tourist Footfall Drops 63% To Azerbaijan, 34% To Turkey | Exclusive Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 08:00 IST Operation Sindoor was paused by India on May 10 last year, after which the role played by Turkey and Azerbaijan in backing Pakistan had come to light Turkeys stance had prompted boycott calls in India, and travel portals like MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, and Cleartrip said they would not promote Turkish tourist packages. Representational image It is official. Indian tourists shunned Turkey and Azerbaijan in 2025 post Operation Sindoor, given how these two countries had backed Pakistan. Annual tourism data of both these countries has been accessed by CNN-News18, which shows a big drop of 63 per cent in the number of Indian tourists going to Azerbaijan between June and December last year, compared to the same period in 2024. There is a drop of 34 per cent in the number of Indian tourists going to Turkey in the same period compared to 2024. Operation Sindoor was paused by India on May 10 last year, after which the role played by Turkey and Azerbaijan in backing Pakistan had come to light. Boycott calls for both countries were issued. Data accessed by CNN-News18 shows that while 1.53 lakh Indian tourists visited Azerbaijan between June and December 2024, the number fell sharply to about 57,000 Indian tourists in the same period last year. Over two lakh Indian tourists went to Turkey between June and December 2024 2.05 lakh to be precise. However, this number also fell to about 1.35 lakh in the same months last year. Each month last year, since June, saw a consistent drop in Indian tourists going to Turkey and Azerbaijan. Turkeys role was exposed last May with the discovery of Turkish-made drones being used by Pakistan against India during Operation Sindoor. Turkey also adopted a blatant diplomatic stance in favour of Pakistan. Since then, a Boycott Turkey" campaign has emerged in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also gave a clear message last June when he visited Cyprus, and, along with President Nikos Christodoulides, he went to the historic centre of Nicosia, where they were given a guided tour along the United Nations ceasefire line, a symbol of the islands long-standing division. Christodoulides also showed PM Modi the mountainous region in northern Cyprus, which has remained under Turkish occupation since 1974. Prime Minister Modi last year also told Parliament that only three of the 193 member countries of the United Nations favoured Pakistan, while the remaining nations stood in Indias support during Operation Sindoor. PM Modi was referring to Turkey, China, and Azerbaijannations that have often stood by Islamabad on the international stage, including at the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The three countries had given statements in favour of Islamabad when the Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Turkeys stance had prompted boycott calls in India, and travel portals like MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, and Cleartrip said they would not promote Turkish tourist packages. In its stance and statements after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken a full pro-Pakistan line. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir also visited Turkey to thank Erdogan for support during tensions with India during Operation Sindoor. Till May last year, Azerbaijan described India as one of the key target markets for its tourism sector. The number of guests, overnight stays, and expenditures is growing, and India is among the top three countries visiting Azerbaijan. In 2024, Indian arrivals reached 243,589a 108% increase compared to 117,302 in 2023," says the Azerbaijan Tourism Department. However, 2025 has proved to be a different story. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:00 IST News world Geopolitics At Boarding Gate: Indian Tourist Footfall Drops 63% To Azerbaijan, 34% To Turkey | Exclusive Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... South Korean regulators want to block individual shareholders from amassing stakes higher than 20% in domestic crypto exchanges but face opposition from government and industry figures. The Financial Services Commission, or FSC, South Koreas top regulator, has proposed a 15% to 20% cap on share ownership to avoid conflicts of interest. As [crypto] exchanges are now officially recognised as part of the financial system, we must create a governance structure that befits their status, said the FSC chair Lee Eok-won, according to South Korean newspaper Seoul Kyungjae. We are currently discussing measures to diversify [owners] stakes in crypto exchanges, including regulations on the distribution of shares. As crypto adoption gathers pace in South Korea, deep divisions are forming as regulators, big tech firms, and lawmakers vie for dominance over the sector. The result, per experts, is a potential impasse. Government opposes plan The FSC has asserted that crypto exchanges have become a form of public infrastructure, meaning they should be subject to restrictive ownership regulations. The regulator says the cap should apply not only to single individuals, but also to companies they own. This is a direct clash with the policies of the ruling Democratic Party, Seoul Kyungjae reported. The party has refused to include such provisions in the Basic Digital Asset Act draft. The draft bill will mainly focus on the rules surrounding the issuance of won-denominated stablecoins. But the government also wants to include a range of new crypto regulations. A clash with the government on this matter is now inevitable, the newspaper said, quoting sources familiar with the matter. Regulators are very firm in their position on this matter, an unnamed financial industry insider told the newspaper. There will be continued friction on this point with industry and political groups, who oppose this measure. Compliance challenges At present, most of South Koreas biggest crypto exchanges are controlled by a single individual or company usually their founders. None currently adheres to the FSCs proposed rules. Song Chi-hyung, co-founder of Dunamu, the operator of the market-leading Upbit exchange, owns around 26% of Dunamus shares. This could soon change if the internet giant Naver gains regulatory approval to complete a share-swap deal that would see it take control of 100% of Dunamus shares. The picture is similar elsewhere, with the gaming giant Nexon owning over 60% of Korbits shares, and Binance controlling over 67% of GOPAXs shares. Huge Legal Win: Trump Admin Celebrates As Judge Blocks Minnesotas Bid To Keep ICE Out Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: February 01, 2026, 00:32 IST The court ruled that Minnesotas challenge to the ICE deployment was unlikely to succeed at this stage. A member of the Enforcement and Removal Operations of ICE stands guard while a man is detained by ICE agents during an immigration raid, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US. (IMAGE: REUTERS) The Donald Trump administration on Saturday welcomed a federal court ruling that blocked Minnesotas attempt to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from carrying out a major immigration enforcement surge in the state. US District Judge Katherine Menendez, a Biden-era appointee, ruled that a lawsuit filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was unlikely to succeed at this stage, declining to issue a preliminary injunction that would have halted the federal operation. Reacting to the decision, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the ruling as a significant legal victory for the administration. Another HUGE @TheJusticeDept legal win in Minnesota just now: a Biden-appointed district judge denied Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellisons attempt to keep ICE out of Minnesota," Bondi wrote on X. Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from enforcing federal law in Minnesota," she added. In her ruling, Judge Menendez said the plaintiffs were asking the court to stretch existing legal precedent to a new and far more aggressive context. Plaintiffs ask the Court to extend existing precedent to a new context where its application is less direct namely, to an unprecedented deployment of armed federal immigration officers to aggressively enforce immigration statutes," she wrote. None of the cases on which they rely have even come close," Menendez added, according to The Hill. The lawsuit challenged what the state described as a sudden spike in ICE deployments under Operation Metro Surge". Minnesota argued that the move violated the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution, which limits the federal governments ability to compel states to carry out federal regulatory programmes. The plaintiffs contended that while Washington can enforce federal law, it cannot commandeer" state governments by forcing them to assist or implement federal policy. The US Supreme Court has previously upheld this anti-commandeering doctrine, but Menendez said the legal threshold for immediate court intervention had not been met in this case. While the judge said the suit was not without merit, she noted that the bar for granting a preliminary injunction is high. Menendez even suggested that immigration agents may have engaged in racial profiling and used excessive force, but said the record was not yet clear enough to justify halting the operation. She also said stopping the surge now would cause significant harm to the federal governments immigration agenda. In her order, Menendez pointed to a recent appeals court decision that paused a separate injunction she had issued in another case limiting ICE tactics during protests. If that injunction went too far, then the one at issue here halting the entire operation certainly would," she wrote. The ruling comes amid mounting tensions in Minneapolis, where the Trump administration has deployed waves of heavily armed, masked federal agents. The operation has sparked fierce opposition from local officials in the Democratic-leaning city of about 400,000. According to officials, aggressive raids at bus stops and outside hardware stores have led to the arrest of thousands of undocumented migrants, as well as some US citizens. In less than a month, federal agents have shot an undocumented Venezuelan man in the leg and detained a five-year-old Ecuadoran boy, Liam Ramos. Two US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti were also shot dead during enforcement operations. Administration officials initially described both as domestic terrorists, claims that were later challenged by witness footage. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: February 01, 2026, 00:32 IST News world Huge Legal Win: Trump Admin Celebrates As Judge Blocks Minnesotas Bid To Keep ICE Out Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting Today After 10-Year Gap: Whats On Agenda & Why It Matters Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 09:41 IST Syria is expected participation at the India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting could mark the first ministerial-level contact with New Delhi in years. File photo of EAM S Jaishankar (X/@DrSJaishankar) India is all set to host the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting (IAFMM) on Saturday, January 31. The meeting marks a major diplomatic engagement with the Arab world and will be co-chaired by India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Who is attending? Foreign ministers from Arab League member states, along with the Secretary General of the Arab League, will take part in the meeting, according to Ministry of External Affairs. The event will bring together representatives from all 22 Arab countries, including foreign ministers, other ministers, ministers of state, senior officials and the Arab League. This will be the first time India is hosting the India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting in New Delhi. The meeting is being held after a gap of 10 years. The first IAFMM took place in Bahrain in 2016. During that meeting, ministers identified five priority areas for cooperation: economy, energy, education, media and culture. A range of activities across these sectors was also proposed. What to expect from the second IAFMM? The second IAFMM is expected to build on the earlier discussions, with a focus on expanding and deepening the India-Arab partnership. The IAFMM is the highest institutional mechanism guiding this partnership. The partnership was formally established in March 2002 through a memorandum of understanding between India and the League of Arab States (LAS). A Memorandum of Cooperation to set up the Arab-India Cooperation Forum was signed during the visit of then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008. This was revised in 2013 to streamline its structure. India currently holds observer status in the League of Arab States. The meeting was preceded by the fourth India-Arab Senior Officials Meeting, which was scheduled for January 30, 2026. Why the meeting matters? Around 15 foreign ministers from Arab countries are expected to attend the meeting, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. The gathering is being closely watched for the possible participation of Syria, which would mark the first ministerial-level contact between New Delhi and the government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hasan al-Shaybani is among those likely to attend. If the visit takes place, it would be the first ministerial-level engagement between India and Damascus since the formation of the government led by former Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. An Indian diplomat of middle rank visited Damascus in mid-2025 for meetings with Syrian ministers, marking the first such outreach since al-Sharaa assumed office as president. Regional developments The meeting is also significant as it comes amid growing differences between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen. In December, Saudi forces struck an Emirati shipment of weapons and equipment meant for the Southern Transitional Council at the Mukalla port and backed an offensive that later led to the UAEs withdrawal from Yemen. In recent months, Saudi Arabia has moved closer to Pakistan and Turkiye on key West Asia issues, while the UAE has strengthened its ties with Israel. Palestine on the agenda? Palestines Foreign Minister, Dr Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, welcomed the India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting and described it as an important platform. She said it would bring India and Arab countries together to discuss several areas of interest, including the situation in Palestine. This is an important forum because it brings India and the Arab countries together, where there will be discussion on areas of interest, one of which would be the situation in Palestine," Shahin was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. She said India is an important player and that different aspects of the conflict would be discussed. Shahin added that India is well placed to play a role because it is a friend of both Israel and the Palestinians and believes in international law. She said Israel is legitimate and recognised by the state of Palestine, and that India can help in efforts to legitimise Palestine. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Delhi, India, India First Published: January 31, 2026, 09:41 IST News world India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting Today After 10-Year Gap: Whats On Agenda & Why It Matters Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Israel Wants Regime Change In Iran, Turns Towards Donald Trump To Deliver Curated By : Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 19:08 IST Israel stays silent as US military builds up in the Middle East, with Netanyahu privately urging Washington to strike Iran while fears of limited action to persist. Israel stays silent as US military builds up in the Middle East, with Netanyahu privately urging Washington to strike Iran while fears of limited action to persist. As global attention focuses on a growing US military build-up in the Middle East, Israels leadership has maintained an unusually low public profile, offering little commentary on the prospect of Washington confronting Tehran. Apart from statements backing anti-government protests in Iran earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet have largely avoided public discussion about the United States potentially taking military action against Israels most formidable regional adversary. This silence shows how important this moment is for Netanyahu," said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli Defence Intelligence officer and now a senior Iran researcher at Israels Institute for National Security Studies, told the BBC. With so many US forces deployed in the Gulf and President Trump weighing action against Iran, Netanyahu sees this as a golden moment he cannot afford to miss." Others say the restraint is deliberate. Asaf Cohen, a former deputy director of Israels signals intelligence unit, said Israel believes Washington should take the lead this time. The Americans are stronger, have greater capabilities, and far more international legitimacy," he said. Netanyahu has long viewed Iran as Israels primary strategic threat and a major source of instability in the region. Analysts say his public silence does not reflect a lack of behind-the-scenes engagement with Washington. Earlier this week, Israels military intelligence chief Shlomi Binder held meetings with US intelligence agencies in Washington. Israeli media reported that discussions focused on potential targets inside Iran. Citrinowicz believes Netanyahu is privately urging the US toward far-reaching strikes aimed at weakening or even toppling Irans leadership. He suggested that when Netanyahu was reported to have asked President Donald Trump to hold back earlier this month, it was because the proposed action was seen as too limited. Netanyahu has previously encouraged Iranians to rise up against their rulers, notably in a Fox News interview last year. Trump, meanwhile, is weighing a range of options from symbolic strikes to full-scale action while publicly alternating between military threats and calls for renewed negotiations. While several US allies warn that attempts at regime change could destabilise the region, many in Israel see potential security gains. A change in leadership in Tehran, they argue, could eliminate the threat from Irans ballistic missiles and curb any future nuclear ambitions. It could also weaken Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah, which Israeli analysts estimate still possesses tens of thousands of rockets in Lebanon. By contrast, some Israeli lawmakers fear that limited strikes or a new deal with Iran would leave the regime intact and ultimately pose greater risks. When youre dealing with total evil, you dont act in a limited way," said Moshe Tur-Paz, a member of the Yesh Atid opposition party and Israels parliamentary defence committee. Across the political spectrum, theres a shared understanding of the Iranian threat." Memories remain fresh of last years 12-day conflict, when Israeli and US strikes on Irans nuclear and missile facilities prompted Tehran to launch hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israeli cities. Some penetrated air defences, hitting residential areas in Tel Aviv and killing at least 28 people. For many in Israel, analysts say, another confrontation that leaves Irans leadership untouched would come at too high a cost. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Tehran, Iran First Published: January 31, 2026, 19:08 IST News world Israel Wants Regime Change In Iran, Turns Towards Donald Trump To Deliver Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Japan PM Gifts Keir Starmer Japanese Cat Goods For 10 Downing Streets Chief Mouser Larry Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 23:15 IST The cat-themed gift for Starmer adds to a series of personal diplomatic moments under Sanae Takaichi, alongside meetings with Giorgia Meloni and South Koreas President. Rapid Read The Japanese PMs gift was meant for 10 Downing Streets famous cat Larry and Starmers own pets. (IMAGE: X/@takaichi_sanae) Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi struck a personal and playful note during British Prime Minister Keir Starmers visit to Tokyo, sharing that she had gifted him a collection of Japanese cat-themed items for the UK leader and the famed feline resident of 10 Downing Street. At the UK Prime Ministers residence, it seems that a cat named Larry has long held the official title of Chief Mouser," Takaichi wrote in a post after the meeting on Saturday. Keir is very fond of cats and is said to keep two more cats besides Larry. This time, I presented Keir with a collection of various Japanese cat goods. I hope that even while spending time with his beloved cats, he will feel Japan close to him." The lighter moment came amid a high-level visit focused on strengthening defence, security, and economic ties between Japan and the United Kingdom, with both sides agreeing to deepen cooperation across the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions. The gesture follows a series of personal, headline-grabbing moments under Takaichi, from singing Happy Birthday" to Italys Giorgia Meloni to playing the drums alongside South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during his visit to Japan. Starmer was in Tokyo after a multi-day visit to China, as Britain and Japan seek closer coordination on supply chains, defence manufacturing, and regional security. Who Is Larry? The gift, however, centred attention on an unlikely diplomatic fixture: Larry the Cat. Appointed Chief Mouser in 2011, Larry has outlasted multiple prime ministers and become a familiar symbol of continuity at Downing Street, often photographed lounging outside the famous black door or sparring with rival Whitehall cats. His official title, maintained by the UK government, has turned him into a minor celebrity and a soft-power curiosity in his own right. When Diplomacy Turns Personal The cat-themed gesture also fits into a broader pattern that has come to define Takaichis diplomatic style in recent weeks, where symbolism and personal warmth have played a visible role. On January 16, during talks in Tokyo with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Takaichi surprised her counterpart by singing Happy Birthday" in Italian and presenting her with a cake to mark her 49th birthday. The moment, captured on video by the Japanese Prime Ministers Office, showed the two leaders embracing and addressing each other by their first names. Just days earlier, on January 13, Takaichi also shared the spotlight with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in a moment that quickly went viral. The two leaders played a drum duet to K-pop hits during Lees visit to Japan, a nod to Takaichis past as a drummer and to warming ties between Tokyo and Seoul after years of strain. The performance ended with an exchange of signed drumsticks and widespread praise on social media. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Tokyo, Japan First Published: January 31, 2026, 23:15 IST News world Japan PM Gifts Keir Starmer Japanese Cat Goods For 10 Downing Streets Chief Mouser Larry Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Bill Gates Caught STD From Russian Girls, Secretly Gave Antibiotics To Melinda, Epstein Files Claim Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 07:19 IST A new set of file release has made some explosive claims attributed to Jeffrey Epstein about Bill Gates, which the billionaire has categorically denied. File photos of Bill Gates/Jeffrey Epstein (AP) Fresh allegations involving Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have surfaced after some British media reports published extracts from newly released US Justice Department files. The files claimed that late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein wrote emails, revealing that Bill Gates contracted a sexually transmitted disease from sex with Russian girls" and asked for antibiotics to give to his then-wife, Melinda, secretly. The reports emerged as journalists began combing through a massive new release of Epstein-related material disclosed by the United States Department of Justice. According to reports by The Sun and Daily Mail, the allegations appear in screenshots of emails Epstein allegedly sent to himself on July 18, 2013. The messages include passages in which Epstein berated Gates for cutting ties with him and accused the billionaire of asking him to delete correspondence about a sexually transmitted disease and a request for antibiotics to secretly give to Melinda. The Daily Mail reported that Epstein wrote he had been dismayed beyond comprehension" by Gatess decision to end their relationship, and quoted a line in which Epstein complained, To add insult to the injury you them (sic) implore me to please delete the emails regarding your STD, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis." The Sun echoed those quotations and added that the documents appear to be drafts of letters Epstein was composing rather than messages he actually sent, including one written as though from the perspective of Gatess former adviser Boris Nikolic around the time of his resignation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Both outlets quoted another alleged Epstein-authored passage claiming Nikolic had been drawn into a marital dispute between the couple and pressured into conduct described as ethically questionable or potentially illegal, including helping Gates obtain drugs and facilitating meetings with other women. The tabloids underlined that there is no independent verification of Epsteins assertions. GATES ISSUES STRONG DENIAL In statements quoted by both newspapers, Gates rejected the accusations outright. A spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the claims were absolutely absurd and completely false," adding, The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epsteins frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame." The reports also noted that Gates has previously acknowledged meeting Epstein but has long denied wrongdoing, saying he regretted the association after learning more about the disgraced financier. The Sun further reported that the DOJ release includes undated photographs of Epstein and Gates together, including one image in which Gates is seen beside a woman whose face has been redacted. CONTEXT FROM THE DOJ FILE RELEASE The Justice Department has begun disclosing more than three million pages of records, along with thousands of videos and photographs, tied to Epstein and his contacts with wealthy and influential figures. By Friday evening, more than 600,000 documents had been published online, though millions more identified for possible release remain sealed, drawing political criticism. The early batch of files details Epsteins communications with several prominent individuals, as well as internal correspondence among investigators following his 2019 death in a New York jail, which multiple official inquiries have ruled a suicide. Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and found dead in his cell just over a month later. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 06:59 IST News world Bill Gates Caught STD From Russian Girls, Secretly Gave Antibiotics To Melinda, Epstein Files Claim Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Over 200 Killed In Coltan Mine Collapse In Eastern DR Congo: Report Curated By : Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 08:16 IST Over 200 people died in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rescue efforts are underway, Labourers dig at the coltan mine in the town of Rubaya. (Photo: File/Reuters) Over 200 people have been killed in a devastating collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As per the reports, the mine collapsed on Wednesday, and the total number of casualties was unclear till Friday. Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the mine is located, confirmed the death toll to the Reuters news agency. He also said that around 20 injured people are under medical care. More than 200 people were victims of this landslide, including miners, children, and market women. Some people were rescued just in time and have serious injuries," Muyisa told Reuters. The mine is located nearly 60km (37 miles) northwest of Goma city, the provincial capital of North Kivu province. As per the officials, some bodies have been recovered, and the search operation is underway. Rubaya contributes approximately 15% of the global coltan supply, which is refined into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal highly sought after by manufacturers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components, and gas turbines. Local residents manually extract the coltan for a few dollars per day at this site, which has been controlled by the AFC/M23 rebel group since 2024. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Congo, Democratic Republic of the First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:11 IST News world Over 200 Killed In Coltan Mine Collapse In Eastern DR Congo: Report Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Powerful Explosion Rocks Iran's Bandar Abbas, Damages Residential Building Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 18:15 IST The blast occurred in an eight-storey structure located on Moallem Boulevard, destroying two floors of the building and damaging nearby vehicles and shops. Explosion Rocks Irans Port City of Bandar Abbas | Image: X A powerful explosion struck a residential building in Irans southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, causing extensive damage, with authorities yet to determine the cause. According to Iranian state television, the blast occurred in an eight-storey structure located on Moallem Boulevard, destroying two floors of the building and damaging nearby vehicles and shops. Visuals aired on state media showed the buildings facade blown apart, with debris strewn across the surrounding area and parts of the interior exposed. Emergency response teams, including firefighters and rescue personnel, were immediately deployed to the site to assist those affected. Irans official IRNA news agency quoted Hormozgan provinces crisis management director, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, as saying that the cause of the explosion is under investigation. Hassanzadeh said injured individuals were being shifted to hospitals by emergency services, though no deaths had been reported at the time of filing this report. Several Iranian media outlets carried similar accounts, all noting the absence of official clarity on what triggered the blast. Meanwhile, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency rejected social media claims suggesting that the explosion targeted a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, calling such reports completely false." The IRGC is a key pillar of Irans security establishment and reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The incident comes amid heightened regional tensions, following the deployment of a US aircraft carrier group to the region after strong rhetoric from US President Donald Trump. Trump on Wednesday delivered a renewed warning to Iran, calling on Tehran to return to negotiations over its nuclear programme or risk facing significantly harsher military action from the United States. In a post on social media, Trump urged Iranian leaders to re-enter talks and commit to an agreement that would permanently block the country from developing nuclear weapons. Stressing urgency, he said time was fast running out for diplomacy. Hopefully Iran will come to the table quickly and negotiate a fair and balanced deal no nuclear weapons one that benefits everyone. Time is critical," Trump wrote. Trump, who withdrew the US from the 2015 multinational nuclear deal with Iran during his first term, also referenced past American military responses as a cautionary message. He noted that a previous warning to Tehran had been ignored and was followed by a significant US strike, underscoring the consequences of continued defiance. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Iran First Published: January 31, 2026, 18:07 IST News world Powerful Explosion Rocks Iran's Bandar Abbas, Damages Residential Building Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Saudi Defence Minister Warns Trump Holding Back On Bombing Iran Would 'Embolden Regime': Report Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 19:30 IST Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said President Trump holding back on military action against Iran would embolden the regime, according to a report. Rapid Read Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman (KBS) in Tehran, Iran in this 2025 file photo. Salman told a private Washington briefing that Trump not acting against Iran after weeks of threats would embolden the regime. (IMAGE: REUTERS) Saudi Arabias Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman has warned that President Donald Trump holding back on military action against Iran could end up strengthening the Iranian regime, according to a report by Axios. The report said that during a private briefing in Washington on Friday, Prince Khalid, also known as KBS, argued that if the US president did not follow through on weeks of threats against Tehran, it would embolden the regime rather than deter it. At this point, if this doesnt happen, it will only embolden the regime," the Saudi defence minister was quoted as saying at the closed-door meeting, which was attended by around 15 West Asia experts and representatives from five Jewish organisations. Axios reported that Prince Khalid had earlier held a lengthy meeting at the White House on Thursday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Joint Chiefs of Staff chair General Dan Caine. According to the report, discussions during that meeting focused primarily on the possibility of US military action against Iran, even as the White House has maintained that no final decision has been taken and that diplomatic options remain open. Axios noted that Prince Khalid appeared less restrained" during the Friday briefing compared to Saudi Arabias public messaging, which has so far emphasised de-escalation and respect for Irans sovereignty. Only weeks earlier, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had cautioned Trump against military action, citing the risk of wider regional escalation. The report said Prince Khalids remarks reflected the same message he conveyed during his meetings with senior US officials. However, he also acknowledged that he left those discussions without a clear sense of the Trump administrations strategy towards Iran. Axios added that Washingtons plans remain uncertain, with no serious direct negotiations currently underway between the US and Iran. While Trump has ordered a significant military build-up in the Gulf, US officials have said Tehran does not appear interested in negotiations under Washingtons existing terms. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 31, 2026, 19:30 IST News world Saudi Defence Minister Warns Trump Holding Back On Bombing Iran Would 'Embolden Regime': Report Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Send Scammer Ilhan Omar Back To Somalia: Trump Claims Minnesota Fraud Exceeds $19 Billion Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 19:57 IST Trump made the remarks in a Truth Social post on Saturday, alleging that fraud in Minnesota was far higher than earlier estimates. Rapid Read Trump made the remarks in a Truth Social post on Saturday, accusing Democrats of ignoring what he claimed was massive fraud in Minnesota. (IMAGE: REUTERS) US President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that alleged theft and fraud in Minnesota was far higher than the originally projected $19 billion, accusing the previous Biden administration of knowing about the issue and failing to act. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump targeted Ilhan Omar, referring to her as a scammer" and saying she and others should be jailed or sent back to Somalia". He also criticised Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, calling him corrupt" or incompetent" over the alleged fraud. In recent weeks the US President has lashed out at Somali immigrants, alleging large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesotas Somali community, the largest in the country with around 80,000 members. Omar is a constant target of Donald Trumps attacks, had just called for the US Presidents homeland security chief Kristi Noem to resign in the wake of immigration agents killing two US citizens in a matter of weeks. She was targeted during a speech last week by Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, who sprayed an unidentified liquid at her from a syringe before being tackled by security guards. A report by AFP from December says that federal charges have been filed against 98 people accused of embezzlement of public funds. Attorney General Pam Bondi last month pointed out that out of 98 at least 85 of the defendants are of Somali descent." The report said that 57 have already been convicted in the scheme to divert $300 million in public grants intended to distribute free meals to children. Prosecutors said that the meals never existed. Republican elected officials and federal prosecutors accuse local Democratic authorities of turning a blind eye to numerous warnings because the fraud involved Minnesotas Somali community, the largest in the country with around 80,000 members. When whistleblowers raised concerns, they were told that they shouldnt say anything out of fear of being called racist or Islamophobic, or because it was going to hurt political constituency of the governor and the ruling party, the Democrats here," state representative Kristin Robbins, a Republican who is running for governor, told AFP. The US President has also deployed waves of heavily armed, masked agents into the heart of Minneapolis, following the playbook previously used by officers in Los Angeles and Chicago, sparking fierce local opposition. Aggressive raids at bus stops and in front of hardware stores have led to the arrests of thousands of undocumented migrants, officials report, as well as some US citizens. The Democratic-supporting city of 400,000 has been locked in a stand-off with Washington over the immigration sweeps. In less than a month, federal agents have shot an undocumented Venezuelan man in the leg, and detained a 5-year-old Ecuadoran boy, Liam Ramos. They have also shot dead two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom administration officials sought to paint as domestic terrorists until witness footage challenged those claims. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 31, 2026, 19:27 IST News world Send Scammer Ilhan Omar Back To Somalia: Trump Claims Minnesota Fraud Exceeds $19 Billion Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... Societies Targeted By Terror Have The Right To Defend Themselves: Jaishankar To Arab Ministers Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 22:05 IST Jaishankar said the direction of events in Syria was critical for regional stability as India and Arab states face shared security challenges. Jaishankar stressed zero tolerance for terrorism while flagging the importance of stability in Syria and political dialogue in Libya. (IMAGE: PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday called for zero tolerance towards terrorism, stressing that cross-border terrorism was unacceptable and that societies targeted by terror had the right to defend themselves. Addressing the second IndiaArab Foreign Ministers Meeting in New Delhi, Jaishankar said, Where Libya is concerned, all of us have an interest in advancing the national dialogue process. The direction of events in Syria is also critical for the well-being of the region. Contemplating this multitude of challenges, our shared interests warrant strengthening forces of stability, peace and prosperity". A common threat to these objectives in both our regions is terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Cross-border terrorism is particularly unacceptable as it violates the basic principles of international relations and diplomacy. Societies targeted by terrorism have the right to defend themselves and will understandably exercise it. It is essential that we strengthen international cooperation to combat this global scourge. Zero tolerance for terrorism must be an uncompromising universal norm," the External Affairs Minister said. Jaishankars remarks on Libya were a reference to internationally backed efforts to revive a stalled political reconciliation process in the conflict-hit country, which remains divided between rival administrations and armed factions. VIDEO | Delhi: Addressing the 2nd IndiaArab Foreign Ministers Meeting, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) says, Where Libya is concerned, all of us have an interest in advancing the national dialogue process. The direction of events in Syria is also pic.twitter.com/bWvEDZi307 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 31, 2026 On Syria, Jaishankars comments come amid significant developments following years of civil war and territorial fragmentation. Syrias central government has recently reached a framework understanding with Kurdish forces to gradually integrate their military and civilian institutions into the state structure, marking a shift towards restoring unified control. The agreement provides for a ceasefire, phased integration of Kurdish-led forces into the national army, and the return of state authority over administrative institutions and border crossings in the north-east. Kurdish forces had controlled large swathes of territory for years after leading the fight against the Islamic State with backing from a US-led coalition. The United States has played a key role in facilitating talks between Damascus and Kurdish leaders, signalling that its alliance with Kurdish forces in the anti-IS campaign has largely run its course and that a political settlement is now necessary to prevent renewed instability. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 22:03 IST News world Societies Targeted By Terror Have The Right To Defend Themselves: Jaishankar To Arab Ministers Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... WASHINGTON, Jan 31 - Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch a constellation of 1 million satellites that will orbit Earth and harness the sun to power AI data centers, according to a filing at the Federal Communications Commission. The filing on Friday was posted a day after Reuters exclusively reported SpaceX and Musk's xAI are in discussions to merge ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned this year. A merger would give fresh momentum to SpaceXs effort to launch data centers into orbit as Musk battles for supremacy in the rapidly escalating AI race against tech companies Google, Meta and OpenAI. Data centers are the physical backbone of artificial intelligence, requiring massive amounts of power. "By directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will achieve transformative cost and energy efficiency while significantly reducing the environmental impact associated with terrestrial data centers," the FCC filing said. Musk would need the telecom regulator's approval to move forward. While it is unlikely SpaceX will put 1 million satellites in space, where only 15,000 satellites exist currently, satellite operators sometimes request approval for higher numbers of satellites than they intend to deploy to buy design flexibility; SpaceX sought approval for 42,000 Starlink satellites before it began deployment of the system. The growing network currently has roughly 9,500 satellites in space. SpaceX's request bets heavily on reduced costs of Starship, the company's next-generation reusable rocket under development. "Fortunately, the development of fully reusable launch vehicles like Starship that can deploy millions of tons of mass per year to orbit when launching at rate, means on-orbit processing capacity can reach unprecedented scale and speed compared to terrestrial buildouts, with significantly reduced environmental impact," SpaceX said. Starship has test-launched 11 times since 2023. Musk expects the rocket, which is crucial for expanding Starlink with more powerful satellites, to put its first payloads into orbit this year. (Reporting by Joey Roulette and Chris SandersEditing by Rod Nickel) Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Visited Epstein's Island For Lunch, New Files Reveal Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 08:52 IST The new files revealed that Epstein and Lutnick made plans to meet for lunch on December 23, 2012, on Epstein's Caribbean island, Little Saint James. Rapid Read US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (L) made lunch plans with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Reuters/File) Over three million files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein revealed that US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apparently visited Epsteins private island for lunch years after he claimed to have cut off ties. Records show Epstein and Lutnick made plans to meet for lunch on December 23, 2012, on Epsteins Caribbean island, Little Saint James, with his family and friends. That morning, Lutnicks wife wrote to Epsteins secretary, We are heading towards you from St. Thomas" and asked where to anchor. The files also revealed communications between Lutnick and Epstein over a Sunday dinner. Does Sunday evening for dinner sound good? I have another couple (Michael and Marcy Lehrman) with me on my boat, and each of us has 4 children- two 16s, two 14s, a 13, a 12, an 11, and a 7-year old." Epstein, who was Lutnicks neighbor in Manhattan, replied: come sat or sunday lunch? little st james on the map, behind christmans cove." A day later, Epsteins assistant sent Lutnick a note from Epstein that read in part, Nice seeing you." In 2015, Epsteins assistant forwarded him an invitation from Lutnick to a fundraiser at his financial firm for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who lost to US President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections. ALSO READ: New Epstein Files Include Allegations Against Donald Trump, DOJ Denies Inappropriate Conduct Contradictory Statements By Lutnick The records also suggested that Lutnick, at the time chairman of finance powerhouse Cantor Fitzgerald, and Epstein had a phone call in April 2011 and drinks in May 2011. The emails stood in stark contrast with Lutnicks own claims of breaking off contact with Epstein in 2005. In a conversation with the New York Post last year, Lutnick said he and his wife Allison decided to never be in a room with that disgusting person ever again" after Epstein boasted about sexual massages during a tour of his townhome. So I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy," Lutnick said in an interview. If that guy was there, I wasnt going, because hes gross." A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement that Lutnick had limited interactions with Mr Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing." In his response to the matter, Lutnick told the New York Times that he could not comment about the island visit because he had not seen the latest Epstein documents. I spent zero time with him," he said before hanging up. In recent years, prominent figures linked to Epstein have faced scrutiny over visits to Little St James, Epsteins private island in the US Virgin Islands, but Lutnicks planned trip had not been previously reported. The documents also revealed that Lutnick and Epsteins lives continued to overlap in more recent years. In 2017, Epstein contributed to a charity dinner honouring Lutnick. In 2018, they exchanged emails that appear to discuss them joining forces to battle construction plans by The Frick Collection, a museum across the street from both of their homes. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : United States of America (USA) First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:52 IST News world Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Visited Epstein's Island For Lunch, New Files Reveal Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... US Offers Venezuelan Oil To India As Russian Crude Imports Shrink: Report Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 08:09 IST The United States has told India it can soon resume Venezuelan oil purchases to replace shrinking Russian supplies, a report has claimed. US President Donald Trump with PM Modi. (Photo: Reuters/File) The United States has told India it can soon resume purchases of Venezuelan crude as Washington looks to redirect supplies and curb Russian oil revenues, according to two Reuters reports citing people familiar with the discussions. Three sources told Reuters that the US recently signalled to New Delhi that Venezuelan barrels could again flow to Indian refiners after tariffs were imposed last year over such imports. The initiative is designed to compensate for shrinking Russian shipments following additional US duties linked to Indias buying of Russian oil. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs in March 2025 on countries purchasing Venezuelan crude, including India, while escalating action against Venezuela and its leader, Nicolas Maduro, whom US forces captured on January 3. Since then, Washington has begun directing Caracas government and plans to oversee the countrys oil industry indefinitely, the Reuters sources said. The effort to steer Venezuelan oil toward India is also tied to US attempts to reduce Russian export revenues funding the war in Ukraine. While the US has opened the door to renewed Venezuelan shipments, Reuters reported that actual volumes available to Indian refiners remain limited. Four refining executives said only small quantities of Venezuelan crude are being offered because most cargoes are being channelled to the US market. Trading houses Trafigura and Vitol began marketing Venezuelan oil this month following an agreement between Washington and Caracas that placed 50 million barrels under US control, with proceeds routed to a supervised fund. Since then, Indian buyers, including Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, have been seeking Venezuelan cargoes. Offers are not there. Traders are looking to meet their commitment to the US market," one executive told Reuters, referring to Vitol and Trafigura. Reuters added that Indian refiners have previously said discounts on Venezuelan crude are not wide enough to make the barrels commercially attractive. The trading houses have instead sold Venezuelan oil to US and European refiners, including Valero, Phillips 66 and Repsol. The White House and the US Treasury Department declined to comment on the developments, Reuters said. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit First Published: January 31, 2026, 08:01 IST News world US Offers Venezuelan Oil To India As Russian Crude Imports Shrink: Report Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... We Are Ashamed: Pakistan PM Admits Begging For Money Around The World With Asim Munir Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 12:49 IST Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said how he and Asim Munir felt embarrassed while seeking financial help from foreign countries. Shehbaz Sharif on Seeking Loans Abroad With Army Chief. (Image: AFP/File) At a time when foreign countries are signing trade deals with India and showing trust in its government, Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has admitted that he and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled abroad to seek financial help. He made the statement while addressing top Pakistani exporters in Islamabad on Friday night. Sharif spoke about the difficult choices his government had to make because of Pakistans economic condition. He said the countrys foreign exchange reserves had almost doubled, but noted that loans from friendly countries were included in those reserves. He said, The current situation is that the reserves of the foreign exchange have almost doubled. But the loans of our friends and countries are included. But you know that the one who goes to take a loan, his head is bowed." Sharif explained how he and Asim Munir felt embarrassed while seeking help from other countries. We feel ashamed when Field Marshal Asim Munir and I go around the world begging for money. Taking loans is a huge burden on our self-respect. Our heads bow down in shame. We cannot say no to many things they want us to do," he said. Read More: Hybrid Confession: PM Sharif Admits Military Is Pakistans True Economic Engine | Exclusive Details IMF discussions ongoing The remarks come as Pakistan is in active discussions with the International Monetary Fund over a plan to support economic growth after putting in place strict policies to stabilise the country. Sharif expressed frustration over Pakistans reliance on foreign loans and said that seeking financial aid undermines national self-respect. Sharif praises key allies supporting Pakistans economy Pakistan PM praised China as an all-weather friend" and thanked Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar for supporting Pakistan in difficult times. These countries help stabilise foreign exchange reserves and prevent a balance-of-payments crisis. Read More: Pakistan Scraps One-Document Border Regime With Iran, Mandates Passport-Visa Travel | Exclusive China has rolled over billions in deposits, with $4 billion expected in 202425. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor includes over $60 billion in projects. Saudi Arabia extended a $3 billion deposit and offered a $1.2 billion oil facility. The UAE rolled over a $2 billion loan, while Qatar signed plans for $3 billion in investments and supplies LNG. Sharif raised concerns over poverty, unemployment and weak innovation. Poverty is estimated near 45%, with extreme poverty at 16.5%. Unemployment stands at 7.1%, with over eight million people jobless. Public debt has crossed Rs 76,000 billion, and Pakistan remains reliant on IMF programmes and foreign loans. Watch more videos Share this Article WhatsApp facebook Twitter telegram copy link News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : Pakistan First Published: January 31, 2026, 12:36 IST News world We Are Ashamed: Pakistan PM Admits Begging For Money Around The World With Asim Munir Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... 'We'll See What Happens': Trump Says Iran Seeks Deal On Nuclear Programme To Avoid US Strikes Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 31, 2026, 07:49 IST Trump has dispatched a US 'armada' toward Iran, renewing warnings of possible military action over the killing of protesters or any move to restart its nuclear programme. Rapid Read US President Donald Trump at the White House. (Image Credit: Reuters) US President Donald Trump on Friday said Iran would seek to negotiate a deal on its nuclear and missiles programme to avoid US military action, despite Tehran refusing to curb its arsenal of missiles. Trump has deployed a US armada" towards Iran, renewing warnings against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear programme, as tensions rose across the Middle East again. The warships began moving from the Asia-Pacific region last week as tensions between Iran and the United States escalated following a harsh crackdown on protests across Iran in recent months. Were now sending actually a larger number of ships to Iran, and hopefully well make a deal. If we do make a deal, thats good. If we dont make a deal, well see what happens," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office. Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene against Iran over the killing of protesters, though demonstrations subsided last week. He also claimed Tehran had halted executions following his warnings. They were going to hang 837 people. And I tell them, if you do it, youre going to pay a price like nobodys ever paid before they pulled back. I appreciated that. But a lot of people are being killed. So well see what happens. I can say this. They do want to make a deal," he said. Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to enter talks on its nuclear and missile programs, Trump said Yeah, I have", but refused to say what it was. The president had earlier warned the United States would act again if Tehran attempted to restart its nuclear programme after the US strikes in June last year. ALSO READ: Iran Deploys 1,000 Drones As Trump Threatens Strike Far Worse Than Before However, Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his countrys missile and defence capabilities would never" be on the negotiating table. Araghchi said Tehran was ready to begin negotiations if they take place on an equal footing, based on mutual interests and mutual respect", during a visit to Turkey, which is leading a diplomatic push to mediate between Tehran and Washington. I want to state firmly that Irans defensive and missile capabilities will never be subject to negotiation", adding that no plans were in place to meet with US officials about resuming talks. Earlier, Trump announced on Truth Social that the fleet, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, would deliver a far worse" strike than Operation Midnight Hammer, the codename for Americas extensive air raids on Irans nuclear facilities last June. US officials have asserted that any deal with Tehran would have to include a cap on Irans arsenal of long-range missiles, the removal of enriched uranium from the country and a ban on independent enrichment, as per reports. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location : United States of America (USA) First Published: January 31, 2026, 07:49 IST News world 'We'll See What Happens': Trump Says Iran Seeks Deal On Nuclear Programme To Avoid US Strikes Disclaimer: Comments reflect users views, not News18s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments... A Stone Age teenager whose remains were discovered in 1942 did indeed meet the violent end that had long been suspected. Scientific American reports that a reexamination of the famed "Il Principe" skeleton, found in an Italian cave and dating back 27,000 years, produced strong evidence he was mauled by a bear, likely a cave or brown bear. That's significant from an archaeological perspective. "Despite ample evidence that Paleolithic humans hunted large and dangerous carnivores ... skeletal evidence of negative interactions with wild fauna is extremely rare in the Homo sapiens paleobiological record," researchers write. "To date, the only individual for whom an animal attack has been hypothesized based on their pattern of traumatic lesions" is Il Principe. Using optic magnification to scrutinize old injuries, researchers report in a study published in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences that they reviewed lesions on the skull, a broken clavicle, a fractured little toe, and an ankle bite. "Given the overall traumatic pattern, a bear attack ... remains the most plausible explanation," they write. Their analysis suggests the teen, thought to be 15 or 16, survived for a few days after the mauling. He was laid to rest in an unusually ornate gravea handwoven shell cap had been placed on his headand the researchers suggest "the violent event and the long agony may have been reflected in the elaborate burial." Executives are trying to force customer connection by mandating that workers write messages on cups instead of just doing that willingly, Baldwin said. It totally slows down production. And it's really difficult and frustrating to have to stop short with every single drink you're making to write a message. But baristas face discipline if they dont write the messages, she said, including criticism for not being authentic enough. For workers like Baldwin, that connection was always part of the job something she genuinely loved about it. But she and other unionized baristas say the formalization of emotional labor, layered on top of already understaffed shifts and a deluge of DoorDash and Uber Eats orders, has intensified pressure on the shop floor, helping set the stage for the strike that followed months later. In pilot stores, the company said, Green Apron Service led to faster service and greater customer engagement. So in August, it was rolled out nationwide. In a July announcement, management said the model was designed to bring more warmth, connection, and care to every cup, encouraging baristas to remember customers names, offer personalized remarks to, essentially, make store visits more emotionally satisfying. If youve been in Starbucks lately, and the barista has said I like your hair or looked you in the eye while asking how your Tuesdays going, then youve experienced it. Our Q1 results demonstrate our Back to Starbucks strategy is working and we believe were ahead of schedule, CEO Brian Niccol said in a statement, pointing to more customers choosing Starbucks more often. The strategy includes renewed emphasis on the customer experience especially deliberate, personal interactions between baristas and customers or what the company calls its Green Apron Service model . That sense of connection is precisely what Starbucks executives are now crediting with a return to growth after eight quarters of stagnation. On Wednesday, Starbucks reported that comparable store sales rose 4% in the U.S. in its fiscal first quarter, driven by modest ticket growth and, more to the point, increased visits and transactions. Consolidated revenue climbed 6% to just under $10 billion. I'm an opener, she told Quartz in an interview this week. So I get up bright and early to see all the people coming to the area for work, all the familiar faces. Over time, the daily encounters have turned into years-long friendships, she said. You don't go out on strike for a job that you don't care about, said Silvia Baldwin, a 29-year-old barista who works shifts at a Starbucks in West Philadelphia or at least did until Starbucks Workers United went on strike last November. We love our jobs. We love being in our communities and connecting with customers and being part of their daily routine. Story Continues To require baristas to connect with customers emotionally is one thing. To require them to mean it is another, recalling workplace satires like Office Space in which service workers are chastised for meeting minimum flare requirements, mandating not just that they express themselves, but that they make that expression appear spontaneous and voluntary. What would actually make it easier to connect with customers is having more workers on the floor, Baldwin said. If we had more time, more staffing, more dignity, the connection would happen naturally. Understaffing, she said, means workers are often juggling in-store orders alongside mobile orders and struggling to do simple things like take the trash out with just two people on the floor. The companys baseline hourly wage is closer to $15 nationally, Baldwin said f ar below the roughly $30-per-hour figure Starbucks has cited by bundling wages and benefits across roles. Starbucks Workers United says many baristas struggle to pay their bills while working schedules that fall just short of eligibility thresholds for benefits, such as the companys famed health insurance, which is a rare offering in service work. In an email interview with Quartz, David Jacobs, an adjunct professor of management at American Universitys Kogod School of Business and an expert in industrial and labor relations, said the Starbucks strike reflects both renewed energy and deep structural constraints in U.S. service-sector organizing. In the 1960s, Jacobs said, about 40% of U.S. food store workers were unionized, along with roughly 12% of retail workers overall. Those figures have fallen dramatically in more recent decades, however, as the industry has undergone restructuring and what he described as union busting/avoidance. Union density is now only 1.2% in the food service industry, which is a virulently anti-union subset of the service sector. The overall U.S. population supports unionism by a substantial majority 70% in a recent Gallup Poll, he said, referring to a 2022 survey. But employers have considerable power to intimidate workers. Still, Jacobs said that the 2020s have brought renewed union organizing in specific industries powered by young workers who have faced economic crisis and a pandemic. They have learned a kind of defiance. This shift has helped Starbucks Workers United organize hundreds of stores nationwide almost 600 by the unions count, or about 6% of all U.S. stores even as the company has resisted bargaining on a national scale. Jacobs described Starbucks corporate response as tilting between engagement and retrenchment. After initially stonewalling union efforts, the company entered negotiations and reached a framework agreement with the union in early 2024 only to pull back again under new leadership. The new CEO has reverted to a union-hostile stance, limiting economic concessions, Jacobs said. He added that Starbucks has pursued an aggressive legal strategy, contesting store-by-store elections and, alongside companies including SpaceX and Trader Joes, seeking to weaken the foundations of U.S. labor law including the Wagner Act. Meanwhile, for workers, he said, its difficult to wage a national struggle across a huge number of individual stores, especially given Starbucks mostly hostile reaction. Asked what the public misunderstands about the contemporary labor movement, Jacobs pointed instead to management. The lack of understanding applies primarily to employers who regard union organizing as evidence of failures that they seem not to recognize, he said. Thats of a piece with Baldwins account. Niccol doesn't know how to do our jobs couldn't do our jobs even if he tried, she said, then pointed to the CEO's compensation, which clocked in at $96 million for just a few months work in 2024, while falling to $31 million for 2025. Niccol, 51, was previously CEO of Chipotle and Taco Bell. A Philadelphia native, he grew up not far from Baldwin's store. Meanwhile, workers are struggling to pay their bills, she said. Its like Niccol and the other executives are looking everywhere else and trying everything else except for listening to their workers about how to turn things around. If anything, however, Starbucks appears to be taking steps to minimize managements contact not just with workers but the public. Late Monday, a 14A filing from the company revealed that Niccol is now required to use Starbucks private jet for all travel, including personal trips, following a security review that cited enhanced media attention and the current threat landscape. Under the revised arrangement, Niccol no longer has to reimburse the company for personal use of the aircraft, a change from a prior policy that capped such expenses. Starbucks also disclosed spending more than $1 million on executive security for Niccol in fiscal 2025, including personal-driver services and temporary housing. Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Its a stark contrast, to say the least. As Starbucks leans on store-level employees to make human connections and to help the company return to a streak of steadily increasing profits while also fighting to keep those workers from organizing its leadership is becoming more buffered from the world it's helped helped create. In an Atlantic essay, Julie Beck writes of a "boomlet" across the US in curfews or restrictions that bar unaccompanied minors from congregating. It might be the local Target store, or a mall, a movie theater, or even an entire city for certain hours. The rules are typically put in place to curb shoplifting, rowdiness, or something along those lines, but the problem is that "all of these constraints significantly erode teens' ability to participate in society," writes Beck. "They compound the well-documented problem of teen loneliness and poor mental health. And they are a reflection of an adult society that resists taking responsibility for, or even tolerating the presence of, children in public." Beck's piece digs into the arguments of those in favor of such restrictions and finds them lacking. "This latest wave of restrictions seems to rest on the questionable assumption that teens are inherently a threat and that banning them would instill order," she writes. The essay cites studies suggesting that curfews do not reliably reduce crime and are enforced unevenly, with Black and Native American youths disproportionately arrested. What's more, businesses seem fine to banish all adolescents when a relative few misbehave. Do we magically expect teens to turn 18 and become responsible citizens if we've prevented them from practicing and gaining experience along the way, wonders Beck. "Coming of age requires learning independence, figuring out who you are and how you relate to the world," she writes. "This is hard to do if you're forbidden from even buying a chicken sandwich without a grown-up looking over your shoulder." Read the full piece. The secretary-general of the United Nations has warned its member states that the organization could soon run out of money unless they change course on funding. In a letter to the UN's 93 members, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world body is facing a worsening cash crisis that could leave it without operating funds by July, the BBC reports. He said decisions by some governments not to pay their assessed duesmandatory contributions under the UN Charternow threaten the organization's ability to carry out its approved budgets and programs. "The current trajectory is untenable," Guterres wrote, per Le Monde . Guterres did not name countries in the letter, but the US, the UN's largest contributor, has withheld its full payments to both the regular and peacekeeping budgets and has pulled out of dozens of UN agencies, per the BBC. The secretary-general called the current situation "categorically different" from past budget crunches, citing a record level of unpaid dues at the end of 2025 that amounted to 77% of what was owed. He also pointed to a budgeting rule that requires the UN to refund unspent money on specific programs to member stateseven when the corresponding contributions were never receivedcalling it a "double blow." This month alone, he said, the UN was obliged to return $227 million it did not actually have in hand. A partial reform of the financial system approved by the General Assembly in late 2025 has not closed the gap. Visible austerity measures are already in place at UN headquarters in Geneva, where escalators are often shut down and heating is reduced. Across the system, agencies are cutting operations: The human rights office says it can no longer document some serious abuses for lack of investigators; UN Women has closed mother-and-baby clinics in Afghanistan; and the World Food Program has reduced rations for refugees fleeing the war in Sudan. Colleagues who worked with Catherine O'Hara, the comedian and actress who died Friday at age 71, are paying tribute. They include costars on SCTV, Home Alone, Schitt's Creek, and other projectsand those who just admired her work. Also, fellow Canadians. Remembrances, per the AP , People , and the Hollywood Reporter , include: Meryl Streep : "Catherine O'Hara brought love and light to our world, through whipsmart compassion for the collection of eccentrics she portrayed." Seth Rogan : "She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it." David Furnish: "She's kept me roaring with laughter for decades. From Lola Heatherton on SCTV in Canada in the 70's to Moira Rose on Schitt's Creek todayand all the roles in between. ... How brilliant to leave such a legacy of artistic excellence and laughter." Ron Howard: "What a wonderful person, artist and collaborator. ... She was simply growing more brilliant with each year." Amy Sedaris: "Catherine O'Hara was such an inspiration to me. ... So so original." Mike Myers: "It is a very sad day for comedy and for Canada. She was one of the greatest comedy artists in history." Sarah Polley: "She was the kindest and the classiest. How could she also have been the funniest person in the world? And she was at the very top of her game." Michael Buble: "She set the bar for what it means to represent your country with excellence and grace and all without ever losing warmth or humility." Rita Wilson: "A woman who was authentic and truthful in all she did." Elon Musk's past efforts to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein are taking a hit from newly released government documents. A fresh batch of DOJ files tied to the Epstein investigation includes a series of emails showing Musk not only in regular contact with Epstein, but at times asking to visit the financier's private Caribbean island years after Epstein's 2008 conviction for sex crimes involving minors, per Futurism. More: Emails: In one December 2013 exchange, Musk wrote that he'd be in the British Virgin Islands/St. Barts area over the holidays and asked Epstein, "Is there a good time to visit?" Epstein replied that he'd be there from Dec. 28 to Jan. 7, adding, "I will send heli for you." A Google Calendar entry in the inbox of Epstein's assistant the following year, titled "ELON MUSK TO ISLAND DEC. 6TH," suggests at least one trip may have been scheduled, though the documents don't confirm whether it occurred. In one December 2013 exchange, Musk wrote that he'd be in the British Virgin Islands/St. Barts area over the holidays and asked Epstein, "Is there a good time to visit?" Epstein replied that he'd be there from Dec. 28 to Jan. 7, adding, "I will send heli for you." A Google Calendar entry in the inbox of Epstein's assistant the following year, titled "ELON MUSK TO ISLAND DEC. 6TH," suggests at least one trip may have been scheduled, though the documents don't confirm whether it occurred. Other correspondence: Additional emails show Epstein suggesting Musk "bring your friend or friends" to the island in 2012, to which Musk replied, "Sounds good, I will try to make it." Epstein also invited Musk to dinner "with woody allen and crowd" in April 2013. Additional emails show Epstein suggesting Musk "bring your friend or friends" to the island in 2012, to which Musk replied, "Sounds good, I will try to make it." Epstein also invited Musk to dinner "with woody allen and crowd" in April 2013. Past Musk remarks: In a 2019 Vanity Fair interview, Musk said he visited Epstein's New York residence only once, for about 30 minutes, and claimed, "He tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island. I declined." In a 2019 Vanity Fair interview, Musk said he visited Epstein's New York residence only once, for about 30 minutes, and claimed, "He tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island. I declined." Bill Gates: The Microsoft co-founder's name also has popped up in the newly released files. Per Newsweek, two draft emails from Epstein's email account (meaning it's not clear if they were sent or received) from July 2013 reference medication acquired for Gates "to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls," as well as suggest that Gates tried to hide an STI from his then-wife, Melinda Gates. The Microsoft co-founder's name also has popped up in the newly released files. Per Newsweek, two draft emails from Epstein's email account (meaning it's not clear if they were sent or received) from July 2013 reference medication acquired for Gates "to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls," as well as suggest that Gates tried to hide an STI from his then-wife, Melinda Gates. Trump: The Miami Herald details some of the references to Donald Trump in the newly released files, with his name mentioned "thousands of times." "Many are innocuous references, but some include uncorroborated allegations sent to the FBI claiming that he also abused young girls," the paper notes. Among those is a "spreadsheet of tips" exchanged among FBI agents, with one tip from someone alleging a friend had been "forced to perform oral sex on President Trump" in New Jersey more than three decades earlier, when she was 13 or 14 years old. The Miami Herald details some of the references to Donald Trump in the newly released files, with his name mentioned "thousands of times." "Many are innocuous references, but some include uncorroborated allegations sent to the FBI claiming that he also abused young girls," the paper notes. Among those is a "spreadsheet of tips" exchanged among FBI agents, with one tip from someone alleging a friend had been "forced to perform oral sex on President Trump" in New Jersey more than three decades earlier, when she was 13 or 14 years old. Trump II: Another uncorroborated complaint claims there used to be "calendar girls" parties at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, per Mediaite, which notes some of the Trump complaints, including this one, were yanked off the DOJ site shortly after publication. "Jeffrey Epstein would bring the children in and [Trump] would auction them off," reads that allegation. "He measured the children's vulva and vaginas by entering a finger and rated the children on tightness." Another uncorroborated complaint claims there used to be "calendar girls" parties at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, per Mediaite, which notes some of the Trump complaints, including this one, were yanked off the DOJ site shortly after publication. "Jeffrey Epstein would bring the children in and [Trump] would auction them off," reads that allegation. "He measured the children's vulva and vaginas by entering a finger and rated the children on tightness." Democrats' response: The party accuses the Trump administration of still not releasing the remaining Epstein files, per the Guardian. "Donald Trump and his Department of Justice have now made it clear that they intend to withhold roughly 50% of the Epstein files, while claiming to have fully complied with the law. This is outrageous and incredibly concerning," said Robert Garcia, the Dems' ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, in a statement. The party accuses the Trump administration of still not releasing the remaining Epstein files, per the Guardian. "Donald Trump and his Department of Justice have now made it clear that they intend to withhold roughly 50% of the Epstein files, while claiming to have fully complied with the law. This is outrageous and incredibly concerning," said Robert Garcia, the Dems' ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, in a statement. DOJ: "We did not protect President Trump," Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, told reporters on Friday, per the New York Times. "We didn't protect or not protect anybody." Trump himself has denied any wrongdoing. "We did not protect President Trump," Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, told reporters on Friday, per the New York Times. "We didn't protect or not protect anybody." Trump himself has denied any wrongdoing. Survivors: A group of 18 Epstein survivors have put out their own response. "Once again, survivors are having their names and identifying information exposed, while the men who abused us remain hidden and protected. That is outrageous," their statement notes. "This is not over. We will not stop until the truth is fully revealed and every perpetrator is finally held accountable." Macaulay Culkin is mourning the woman who played his mom for millions. Culkin posted a short, emotional tribute to Catherine O'Hara on Instagram after news broke that the Emmy-winning actor had died at 71. "Mama. I thought we had time," the now-45-year-old child actor wrote online , alongside images of the pair from 1990's Home Alone and during a 2023 reunion, per People . "I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. I'll see you later." No cause of death has been made public. O'Hara played the frantic mother of Culkin's character, Kevin McCallister, in Home Alone and its 1992 sequel, roles that Culkin has said made her a real-life maternal figure to him on the set; he was just 10 when they first filmed together. She returned the affection at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in December 2023, calling Home Alone "a beloved global sensation" and crediting Culkin as the reason that families still revisit it every year. She also noted he was now older than she'd been when she played his mother. Another Home Alone alum, Joe Pesci, also remembered O'Hara in a statement, calling her "a great actress" who "will be missed." Meanwhile, O'Hara's Schitt's Creek co-stars Eugene Levy (also, like O'Hara, an SCTV alum) and Dan Levy paid their own tributes, per Page Six. "Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today," the older Levy said in a statement, noting he'd had "the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O'Hara for over 50 years." His son wrote on Instagram: "What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O'Hara's brilliance for all those years." See what other celebs have been saying in the wake of O'Hara's death. Iran's government says it's open to talking, but not while the US president is promising to hit it "with great power." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in Istanbul on Friday that Tehran won't hold direct talks with Washington unless President Trump drops his public threats of military action, per the New York Times . Any dialogue, Araghchi said, must be "fair and equitable" and can't start under pressure of force. The Trump administration has demanded that Iran curb its nuclear program, restrict ballistic missiles, and stop backing allied armed groups across the region. Araghchi was especially blunt on one key issue: Iran's missile program. "Iran's missiles and defense systems will never be the subject of any negotiations," he said, adding that he has no intention of meeting US officials face to face. "Just as we are ready for negotiations, we are ready for warfare." US officials say Trump is weighing military options, while Iran has warned it will strike back if attacked, potentially targeting American bases or US partners such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, or Israel. "Our brave Armed Forces are preparedwith their fingers on the triggerto immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea," Araghchi wrote on X earlier this week, per the AP. The prospect of a clash has alarmed governments across the Middle East, including some that are otherwise hostile to Tehran, per the Times. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE have been urging Washington to think carefully before launching any attack and trying to nudge Iran toward talks, according to an Arab official. Few regional leaders want to see instability in Iran spill across borders and potentially trigger a wider war. Turkey, which maintains ties with both Tehran and Trump, is positioning itself as a mediator. Speaking beside Araghchi, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara rejects attempts to resolve regional disputes by force. "We defend negotiations and diplomacy," he said. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian by phone that Turkey is ready to help "ease tensions and resolve issues," and he plans to meet Araghchi. The standoff comes as Iran grapples with the fallout from recent mass protests over its struggling, sanctions-hit economy, demonstrations that authorities say have left more than 3,000 people deada figure that rights groups believe is significantly higher. Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians on Saturday, including several children, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the fighting. A day after Israel accused Hamas of new ceasefire violations, strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, said officials at hospitals that received the bodies. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families, the AP reports. Another airstrike hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 and wounding others, the Shifa Hospital director said. The strikes were launched a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is to open in Gaza's southernmost city. All of the territory's border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline for the tens of thousands in need of treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed. The crossing's opening, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire. Reopening borders is among the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now underway, which also include demilitarizing the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction. As the ceasefire agreement inches forward, the death toll in Gaza is still rising. Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City apartment building strike killed three children, their aunt, and their grandmother, while the strike on the police station killed at least 11officers, including four policewomen, and inmates held at the station. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Palestinian civilians were also killed in the strike. Hamas called Saturday's strikes "a renewed flagrant violation" and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop strikes. A, Israeli military official said the strikes were in response to ceasefire violations the day before. A Mexican immigrant was taken to a Minneapolis hospital earlier this month after bones in his face and skull were broken while he was in federal custody. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed Alberto Castaneda Mondragon had tried to flee while handcuffed and "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall," according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release. But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that couldn't possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year-old's brain, according to three nurses familiar with the case. "It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about," said one of the nurses, who spoke to the AP. "There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall." More: Inconsistent injuries: The AP interviewed a doctor and five nurses who work at HCMC, as well as an outside physician, and they all affirmed that his injuries were inconsistent with an accidental fall or running into a wall. ICE's account of how he was hurt also evolved during the time that federal officers were at his bedside. At least one ICE officer told caregivers that Castaneda Mondragon "got his [expletive] rocked" after his Jan. 8 arrest near a St. Paul shopping center, the court filings and a hospital staff member said. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, didn't respond to repeated requests for comment on his injuries. The AP interviewed a doctor and five nurses who work at HCMC, as well as an outside physician, and they all affirmed that his injuries were inconsistent with an accidental fall or running into a wall. ICE's account of how he was hurt also evolved during the time that federal officers were at his bedside. At least one ICE officer told caregivers that Castaneda Mondragon "got his [expletive] rocked" after his Jan. 8 arrest near a St. Paul shopping center, the court filings and a hospital staff member said. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, didn't respond to repeated requests for comment on his injuries. The injured: Gregorio Castaneda Mondragon said his older brother is from Veracruz, Mexico, and worked as a roofer. He has a 10-year-old daughter living in his hometown he helps support. According to his lawyers, the detained Castaneda Mondragon entered the US in 2022 with valid immigration documents. Minnesota incorporation filings show he founded a company called Castaneda Construction the following year with an address listed in St. Paul. He appears to have no criminal record. Gregorio Castaneda Mondragon said his older brother is from Veracruz, Mexico, and worked as a roofer. He has a 10-year-old daughter living in his hometown he helps support. According to his lawyers, the detained Castaneda Mondragon entered the US in 2022 with valid immigration documents. Minnesota incorporation filings show he founded a company called Castaneda Construction the following year with an address listed in St. Paul. He appears to have no criminal record. Detention: His lawyers told a court that Castaneda Mondragon was racially profiled during the crackdown, and that officers determined only after his arrest that he'd overstayed his visa. "He was a brown-skinned, Latino Spanish speaker at a location immigration agents arbitrarily decided to target," his lawyers wrote in a petition seeking his release from ICE custody. His lawyers told a court that Castaneda Mondragon was racially profiled during the crackdown, and that officers determined only after his arrest that he'd overstayed his visa. "He was a brown-skinned, Latino Spanish speaker at a location immigration agents arbitrarily decided to target," his lawyers wrote in a petition seeking his release from ICE custody. Injuries: Castaneda Mondragon was initially taken to an ICE processing center at the edge of Minneapolis. About four hours after his arrest, he was taken to a hospital emergency room in suburban Edina with swelling and bruising around his right eye and bleeding. A CT scan revealed at least eight skull fractures and life-threatening hemorrhages in at least five areas of his brain, according to court documents. He was then transferred to HCMC. Castaneda Mondragon was initially taken to an ICE processing center at the edge of Minneapolis. About four hours after his arrest, he was taken to a hospital emergency room in suburban Edina with swelling and bruising around his right eye and bleeding. A CT scan revealed at least eight skull fractures and life-threatening hemorrhages in at least five areas of his brain, according to court documents. He was then transferred to HCMC. Aftermath: On Saturday, more than two weeks after Castaneda Mondragon was arrested, a US District Court judge ordered him released from ICE custody. To the surprise of some who treated him, Castaneda Mondragon was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. The hospital spokeswoman said she had no information about his current condition or location. On Saturday, more than two weeks after Castaneda Mondragon was arrested, a US District Court judge ordered him released from ICE custody. To the surprise of some who treated him, Castaneda Mondragon was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. The hospital spokeswoman said she had no information about his current condition or location. Where is he now? On Wednesday, lawyers for the DOJ filed documents affirming to the judge who ordered Castaneda Mondragon's release that he's no longer in federal custody. His younger brother said Castaneda Mondragon has no family in Minnesota and that co-workers have taken him in. He has significant memory loss and a long recovery ahead. He won't be able to work for the foreseeable future, and his friends and family worry about paying for his care. More here A landslide earlier this week collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in eastern Congo, leaving hundreds dead, rebel authorities said Saturday. The collapse took place Wednesday at the Rubaya mines, which are controlled by the M23 rebels, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, a spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the North Kivu province told the AP . He said the landslide was caused by heavy rains. "For now, there are more than 200 dead, some of whom are still in the mud and have not yet been recovered," Muyisa said. He added that several others were injured and taken to three health facilities in the town of Rubaya, while ambulances were expected to transfer the wounded on Saturday to Goma, the nearest city, around 30 miles away. The rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu has temporarily halted artisanal mining on the site and ordered the relocation of residents who'd built shelters near the mine, Muyisa said. A former miner at the site said there've been repeated landslides because the tunnels are dug by hand, poorly constructed, and left without maintenance. "People dig everywhere, without control or safety measures. In a single pit, there can be as many as 500 miners, and because the tunnels run parallel, one collapse can affect many pits at once." Rubaya lies in the heart of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich part of the Central African nation which for decades has been ripped apart by violence from government forces and different armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23, whose recent resurgence has escalated the conflict, worsening an already acute humanitarian crisis. Congo is a major supplier of coltan, a black metallic ore that contains the rare metal tantalum, a key component in the production of smartphones, computers, and aircraft engines. The nation produced about 40% of the world's coltan in 2023, per the US Geological Survey, with Australia, Canada, and Brazil serving as other big suppliers. Over 15% of the world's supply of tantalum comes from Rubaya's mines. In May 2024, M23 seized the town and took control of its mines. According to a UN report, since seizing Rubaya, the rebels have imposed taxes on the trade and transport of coltan, generating at least $800,000 a month. A federal judge has declined Minnesota's bid to immediately halt the Trump administration's large-scale immigration enforcement push in the state, while leaving the door open for the case to continue. US District Judge Kate Menendez on Saturday denied the state's request for a preliminary injunction against the operation that has sent roughly 3,000 ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers to the Minneapolis area. Menendez wrote that Minnesota and the Twin Cities had not yet demonstrated that the operation is unlawful or intended to strong-arm local officials into advancing broader administration aims, the Washington Post reports. She emphasized that her decision was not a final ruling on the suit's underlying legal claims. "It would be difficult to overstate the effect this operation is having," Menendez wrote, referring to "profound and even heartbreaking, consequences on the State of Minnesota, the Twin Cities, and Minnesotans," per Politico. Menendez said federal officials had shown that blocking the surge could hinder the government's ability to carry out immigration law. State and city officials say the influx of agents has created a crisis, pointing to two fatal shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis this month: that of Renee Good on Jan. 7, which triggered the city's emergency protocols, and ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, on Jan. 24. In a letter to the court after Pretti's death, per the Post, they argued the killings showed the need for a "court-ordered respite." The judge, a Joe Biden appointee, did not address whether particular enforcement actions during the surge violated the law. Minnesota sued the administration on Jan. 12, accusing federal agents of militarized raids and "dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional" stops and arrests, and alleging the crackdown was designed "to punish political opponents and score partisan points." The Justice Department countered that state officials were effectively claiming veto power over federal law enforcement. During a hearing, Menendez raised the issue of whether she had authority to order the agents out of the state and questioned an administration letter to Gov. Tim Walz demanding voter roll and food assistance records, asking whether the letter resembled a ransom note. NEW YORK (AP) Americans are drinking more coffee than they have in decades. But fewer of them are getting it from Starbucks. The company that revolutionized the United States' coffee culture remains America's biggest player, with nearly 17,000 U.S. stores and plans to open hundreds more. But it's facing unprecedented competition, which will make it harder to win back the customers it already lost. Starbucks share of spending at all U.S. coffee shops fell in 2024 and 2025; it now stands at 48%, down from 52% in 2023, according to Technomic, a food industry consulting firm. Dunkin ', a perennial rival that just opened its 10,000th U.S. store, gained market share in both of those years. Starbucks has other challengers, like the fast-growing drive-thru chains 7 Brew, Scooters Coffee and Dutch Bros. Chinese chains like Luckin Coffee and Mixue are opening U.S. stores. High-end coffee shop Blue Bottle, which has 78 U.S. stores, has opened two more since the start of the year. Even McDonalds and Taco Bell are bolstering their beverage offerings. People havent fallen out of love with Starbucks, but theyre now polyamorous in their coffee choices, said Chris Kayes, chair of the management department in the George Washington University School of Business. People are now experimenting with other coffees, and theyre seeing whats out there. Caffeination nation Americans love coffee. In both 2024 and 2025, an estimated 66% of Americans reported drinking coffee every day, up from 62% in 2020, according to the National Coffee Association, an industry trade group. Coffee chains are racing to cash in on that demand. The number of chain coffee stores in the U.S. jumped 19% to more than 34,500 over the last six years, according to Technomic, a consulting firm that researches the foodservice industry. Seattle-based Starbucks was a small, regional chain when former CEO Howard Schultz acquired it in 1987. Now, other small chains are seeing explosive growth. Nebraska-based Scooters Coffee had 200 locations in 2019; it now has more than 850. Arkansas-based 7 Brew, which had 14 locations in 2019, now has more than 600. Theres too much supply relative to demand, said Neil Saunders, a managing director and retail analyst at consulting firm GlobalData Retail Saunders said Starbucks' size is somewhat of a disadvantage, since it has less ability to grow sales by opening new locations. Honestly, theyre pretty saturated, Saunders said. Theyre a very mature business. From grande to venti Starbucks is undaunted. At a conference for investors on Thursday, the company said an ongoing effort to improve service while making stores warmer and more welcoming was boosting U.S. store traffic. It plans to add 25,000 seats to its U.S. cafes by this fall. Hundreds of Danish veteransmany of whom fought alongside US troopsand thousands of supporters staged a silent protest Saturday outside the US Embassy in Copenhagen in response to President Trump's threats to take over Greenland and his belittling of their combat contributions. The crowd gathered in subzero temperatures at Copenhagen's Kastellet historic fortress, which includes a public park and places still used by the Danish military, then marched to the US Embassy, the AP reports. Attendees ceremoniously planted 52 Danish flags outside the embassy that bore the names of the 52 Danish servicemen who lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. The troops' names were read out before the crowd observed several minutes of silence. "Denmark has always stood side by side with the USAand we have showed up in the world's crisis zones when the USA has asked us to," Danish Veterans & Veteran Support, the organizers of the protest, said in a statement. "We feel let down and ridiculed by the Trump Administration, which is deliberately disregarding Denmark's combat side by side with the USA." The president played down the contribution of non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan, saying they "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines." The veterans also expressed anger at Trump's claim that Denmark is incapable of protecting the West's security interests in the Arctic. Some wore their service uniforms to the protest, per Deutsche Welle. "What Trump said was very insulting," said a veteran who served as a Danish UN soldier in Cyprus, per AFP. "I have friends who were down there. Some of them were wounded, and they carry the war with them even today." Forty-four Danish soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces, and eight in Iraq. Bruce Springsteen's new protest song, " Streets of Minneapolis ," reached the top spot on iTunes on Friday morning. Hours later, he performed it in public for the first time, at a "Defend Minnesota" benefit in the city dealing with a Trump administration operation that's brought it thousands of federal agents, NBC News reports. Springsteen told the audience that when he sent the song to Tom Morello, who headlined the concert, he warned it might be a bit preachy, per Rolling Stone . He said Morello responded, "Bruce, nuance is wonderful, but sometimes, you have to kick them in the teeth." "So this is for the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the people of our good country, the United States of America," Springsteen said before beginning the song. As it ended, the crowd chanted, "ICE out now!" Trump administration officials made clear they're not fans. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said they "eagerly await" songs from Springsteen about Americans killed by undocumented immigrants. A White House spokeswoman dismissed "Streets of Minneapolis" as a "random" song with "irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information." But official versions of the track, released Wednesday, quickly collected more than 5 million views on YouTube and nearly 500,000 likes on Instagram. The benefit at the storied First Avenue venue in downtown Minneapolis sold out even before anyone knew Springsteen would appear, per the New York Times. Morello paid homage to Minneapolis' past and present record of protest with a jubilant cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." After the concert, Morello walked into the streets to join the protest. Condemning what he called the Trump administration's "imposition of cruelty," a federal judge on Saturday ordered that a 5-year-old Minnesota boy and his father be released from immigration detention. US District Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas ruled their seizure unconstitutional and directed that Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, be freed from custody by Tuesday, the New York Times reports. Biery wrote that the detention is rooted in "the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children," per the AP . Widespread outrage had met the ICE arrest of the father and son, who were later transferred to a detention center near San Antonio, earlier this month in a Minneapolis suburb. The moment was captured in a photo of Liam wearing a Spider-Man backpack and a large blue winter hat. Protests were held at the detention center, and two Democratic members of Congress who visited were told by his father that Liam was sleeping a lot, not eating well, and wanted to go back to school. In a scathing three-page order, Biery, who was appointed by Bill Clinton, said the federal government's ignorance of the Declaration of Independence is "apparent," per CBS News. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the ruling. At the bottom of his decision, after denouncing a "perfidious lust for unbridled power," Biery appended the photo of Liam along with two Bible verses. The order was issued, he wrote, "with a judicial finger in the constitutional dike." NEW YORK (AP) Starbucks said Thursday that it plans to open hundreds of new stores across the U.S. and add seating capacity at thousands of existing locations, doubling down on a strategy of emphasizing the company's cafes as community hubs even as consumer demand for drive-thru coffee grows. The company unveiled its plans during a presentation in New York for investors. After announcing in September that it would close hundreds of less profitable stores, Starbucks said it now expects to open up to 175 new U.S. coffee shops this year and around 400 in 2028. Its plans include smaller-format stores that are 20% cheaper to build but still offer comfortable seating, drive-thru service and mobile order pickup capacity. Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said Starbucks ultimately sees an opportunity to build at least 5,000 new cafes across the U.S., with the smaller store format presenting much of that opportunity. There are thousands of sites where no Starbucks operates within a mile of a competitor, he said. Starbucks is particularly eyeing the central, southern and northeastern U.S. for store development. In some ways, Starbucks is running counter to a growing U.S. trend of drive-thru-only coffee shops like Dutch Bros and 7 Brew. In September, the National Coffee Association, an industry trade group, found that 59% of U.S. coffee drinkers who bought coffee outside their home in the past week had used a drive-thru, which was an all-time high. But Niccol said Thursday that over the last month, more than 60% of Starbucks customers came into a store to order their coffee, and he thinks its important for those stores to feel vibrant and inviting. Our cafes are our point of differentiation, Niccol said. We want people to be in our coffeehouses. Starbucks said it plans to add 25,000 additional seats to its U.S. cafes by the end of its fiscal year this fall. Thats part of an ongoing upgrade process that is intended to make existing stores warmer and more welcoming. The improvements, which cost around $150,000 and are done overnight while stores are closed, have been completed at 200 locations and are expected to spread to 1,000 by fall. Starbucks expects to finish the retrofitting work in 2028. The company has around 10,000 company-operated stores in the U.S. Niccol said Starbucks is seeing customers dwell longer in stores that are revamped. Niccol, who joined Starbucks in 2024 to revive its flagging sales, said the companys turnaround is taking hold. Starbucks has been adding staff and equipment to stores to improve service times and give employees more time to connect with customers. 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In the near term, AI is creating more jobs than it is replacing, reads an against-the-grain report by LinkedIn, the social media and employment platform. We should all give thanks for that. More from Yahoo Scout What are AI-enabled 'new collar' jobs being created? Why are traditional hiring credentials becoming less important? How is AI changing the recruitment process? How many jobs will change by 2030? The irritating thing about the future, a chief financial officer might muse, is that preparing for it costs moneyand often an awful lot of it. At this stage of AI development, businesses are spending much of that on hiring people, not building bots. In a bleak employment landscape, every little bit helps. The broader macroeconomic uncertainty that were seeing continues to play out in the labor market, which is stuck in a pretty low gear, says Sue Duke, LinkedIns head of global public policy and managing director for EMEA. Hiring is sluggish. Momentum is broadly not there. For the most part, in advanced economies, were seeing hiring about 20% below where it was pre-pandemic. One of the standout bright spots are AI-enabled jobswhat were calling new collar jobs. This is a whole new category of worker thats bringing a blend of different skills, mixing advanced technical skills with distinctly human skills to create these new roles. Globally, between 2023 and 2025, around 1.3 million new roles have been added to the new-collar category. Data annotators, forensic analysts, and forward-deployed engineers are roles dedicated to preparing businesses for the technological future and executing AI transformations. Others are simpler to understandheads of AI and AI engineers do what they say on the tin. These are roles you may not have heard of two years ago, a year ago, maybe even six months ago, and yet weve seen an explosion of them on the platform, says Duke. That tells you that this new digital economy, this transition to an AI-driven economy, is well underway in creating these new categories of roles and workers that we havent seen before. General Motors (GM) released its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Jan. 27. Barring the slight revenue miss, it was otherwise a strong earnings report from the Detroit auto giant whose 2025 U.S. market share rose to a decade high after four years of incremental gains. The companys 2026 guidance implies an improvement over 2025 across all metrics. At the top end, the company expects to post adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $15 billion, $2.3 billion higher than what it posted last year. Notably, while U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to increase tariffs on imports from South Korea by 25%, GMs guidance bakes in the 15% tariff, which CEO Mary Barra said the company will work to offset for the period it stays at that level. More News from Barchart www.barchart.com GM Expects Margins to Rise in 2026 GM expects its North America adjusted EBIT margins to be back in the 8% to 10% range this year, which is a major improvement from the previous year. There are several drivers of the step up, including the expected narrowing of electric vehicle (EV) losses, improvement in warranty expenses, and lower spending towards regulatory credits. The U.S. automotive industry's landscape has changed over the last year. The Trump administration did away with the $7,500 EV tax credit, which has dampened the sales of electric cars. Tesla (TSLA) which is by far the biggest EV seller in the U.S. reported a 16% drop in Q4 2025 deliveries and wrapped up its second year of degrowth. Legacy automakers are not immune to the changes, and both Ford (F) and GM have incurred billions of dollars in charges, some of which happen to be in cash, as they realign their EV capacity to weak end user demand. However, legacy automakers have always had the option to fall back on their internal combustion engine (ICE) portfolios, which are firing on all cylinders and quite literally so despite tariffs, an increase in raw material costs, and unfavourable forex movements. Meanwhile, apart from withdrawing the EV tax credit, the Trump administration also eased the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. This move means that legacy automakers don't necessarily need to buy regulatory credits from the likes of Tesla. Specifically, GM expects a regulatory benefit between $500 million and $750 million this year, primarily on account of not having to buy regulatory credits. While none of the companies break down their specific business dealings, GM has previously disclosed buying regulatory credits from Tesla. The iconic Exit Zero restaurant, which was sold at auction in December, is being transformed into a Mediterranean eatery in West Cape May. Local restaurateur Florian Furxhiu plans to open Mediterrano By Santorini by Mothers Day weekend in May. Its going to be a mix of Greek and Italian. Im going to take the best out of both cuisines and combine one menu, Furxhiu told NJ Advance Media this week. He has been traveling through Albania and Italy consulting with chef friends and family members about menu development and sourcing decor for the new space. Furxhiu said the restaurant will feature extensive outdoor dining space with waterfalls and greenery. Inside, a local artist who has created murals for Furxhius other restaurants is painting a balcony scene overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Its going to be a place that is going to make you feel like youre in the Mediterranean somewhere, like the Greek islands or like southern Italy, Furxhiu said. Furxhiu saw the West Cape May location as ideal for his Mediterranean concept because of the towns diverse restaurant scene. The Sunset Boulevard restaurant will operate year-round, like his other Jersey Shore locations, to serve locals during the off-season and retain core staff throughout the year. Mediterrano By Santorini will differ entirely from the former Exit Zero, which was known for its unique dishes and vintage dining trailers. Exit Zero closed in September after a decade in business. A months-long bidding process for the property followed, with Furxhiu emerging as the winner. The Exit Zero Filling Station, a prominent West Cape May restaurant property, was sold through an online auction late last year. Tranzon Furxhiu said renovations are underway, but weather and zoning requirements have slowed progress. He plans to appear before zoning officials in March to approve a deck and glass enclosure. The bulk of the work focuses on the exterior, while interior renovations include imported statues from Europe and decorative elements. Furxhiu owns several other restaurants in the area. In Wildwood, he operates Santorini, a Mediterranean restaurant, Venezia, an Italian restaurant and La Cantina, a Tex-Mex restaurant. He also owns two Tacodelphia locations in Philadelphia. The Albanian native came to the U.S. at age 14 and began working as a dishwasher. He earned a business administration degree from La Salle University in 2011 and opened his first business, a coffee shop in Philadelphia, that same year. La Cantina, a Text-Mex restaurant in Wildwood. Photo courtesy of Florian Furxhiu Furxhiu opened his first restaurant, Tacodelphia, in 2016, followed by Santorini in 2020, Venezia in 2021 and La Cantina in 2025. Its been a long journey, a hard work journey, he said. It hasnt been easy, but my first job was in the restaurant business, and I loved it ever since. Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Dutch Bros may be overvalued by 19.0%. Discover 868 undervalued stocks or create your own screener to find better value opportunities. Putting all of those discounted cash flows together gives an estimated intrinsic value of about $45.69 per share, compared with the recent share price of $54.39. That implies the stock is around 19.0% overvalued on this DCF view. Analysts and extrapolated estimates point to free cash flow of $80.4 million in 2026, with further projections running out ten years. By 2035, the model uses an estimated free cash flow of $687.8 million, with each year discounted back to today in dollar terms. For Dutch Bros, the model used is a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity approach based on cash flow projections. The companys last twelve months free cash flow is a loss of $6.0 million, so the valuation leans heavily on future estimates rather than current cash generation. A Discounted Cash Flow, or DCF, model takes estimates of the cash a business could generate in the future and discounts those cash flows back to today using a required return, to arrive at an estimate of what the business might be worth now. Dutch Bros scores just 1/6 on our valuation checks. See what other red flags we found in the full valuation breakdown . Right now, Dutch Bros has a value score of 1 out of 6 . We will walk through what different valuation methods say about the stock, then finish with a more useful way to think about valuation that ties everything together. Recent coverage around Dutch Bros has focused on the company itself. This helps frame how investors interpret these price moves and assess expectations baked into the current share price. This article was prompted to provide ongoing, evergreen analysis, so the focus stays on enduring drivers of value rather than short term headlines. The stock last closed at US$54.39, with a 10.8% decline over 7 days, an 11.2% decline over 30 days, a 12.5% decline year to date, and a 40.0% gain over 3 years, which can influence how investors think about both its growth potential and risk. If you are wondering whether Dutch Bros is fairly priced or if the market is missing something, you are in the right place for a clear look at what the current share price might represent. Story Continues Approach 2: Dutch Bros Price vs Earnings For profitable companies, the P/E ratio is a useful shorthand because it ties what you pay directly to the earnings the business is already generating. It lets you compare how markets price each dollar of profit across different companies. What counts as a normal P/E really depends on how the market views a companys growth potential and risk. Higher expected growth or lower perceived risk can support a higher P/E, while slower growth or higher uncertainty usually point to a lower one. Right now, Dutch Bros trades on a P/E of 111.29x. That is well above the Hospitality industry average of 21.15x and also higher than the peer group average of 34.94x. Simply Wall Sts Fair Ratio for Dutch Bros is 33.69x, which is an estimate of what its P/E might be given factors like earnings growth, profit margins, industry, market cap and risk profile. The Fair Ratio is more tailored than a simple peer or industry comparison because it adjusts for the companys own characteristics rather than relying on broad group averages. When compared with that Fair Ratio, Dutch Bros current P/E of 111.29x appears materially richer than 33.69x. Result: OVERVALUED NYSE:BROS P/E Ratio as at Jan 2026 P/E ratios tell one story, but what if the real opportunity lies elsewhere? Discover 1417 companies where insiders are betting big on explosive growth. Upgrade Your Decision Making: Choose your Dutch Bros Narrative Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation, so let us introduce you to Narratives, which are simply your story about a company connected to the numbers you think are realistic for its future revenue, earnings, margins and fair value. A Narrative links what you believe about Dutch Bros business to a financial forecast, then to a fair value estimate that you can compare directly with the current share price to decide whether the stock looks attractive, fully priced or expensive to you. On Simply Wall St, Narratives are available on the Community page and are built to be easy to use so you can adjust assumptions, see an updated fair value in real time as new information like earnings or news arrives, and quickly check how your view compares with other investors on the platform. For Dutch Bros, one investor might build a Narrative that points to a much higher fair value because they expect strong expansion and improving margins, while another might set a lower fair value because they assume more modest growth and cautious profitability, and both views sit side by side for you to learn from and challenge your own thinking. Do you think there's more to the story for Dutch Bros? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying! NYSE:BROS 1-Year Stock Price Chart This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include BROS. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com The Middlesex County man charged with multiple hate crimes after ramming his car into a Brooklyn synagogue on Wednesday had an encounter with police late last year outside a South Brunswick Chabad house, authorities said. Officers were dispatched to the Chabad Jewish Center of South Brunswick shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 for a report of a man yelling, according to a statement from the South Brunswick Police Department. Officers arrived and found Dan Sohail, 36, of Carteret, outside the Chabad speaking with a rabbi. During the interaction, Sohail indicated that he was having a rough day, was homeless and was upset about his circumstances. Whats really going on is Im homeless and I have nowhere to go, Sohail is heard telling an officer in body worn camera video released by the department. And Im struggling. My family doesnt like me, so I just came here to talk to the rabbi. But in my frustration Im yelling out Im done. He told the officer he wasnt yelling at the Rabbi and was just frustrated. Officers believed Sohail may have been suffering a mental health issue and a mental health counselor was contacted, police said. The counselor determined that Sohail did not require hospitalization. Sohail was not arrested or charged with any crimes. He left the scene in his car without incident, the department said. Sohail is facing multiple hate crime charges, including attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Thursday during a press conference. He has no criminal history in New York City, but it was unclear if he had ever committed any crimes in New Jersey, Kenny said. Kenny told reporters that Sohail had recently connected with community members of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish movement headquarters in Brooklyn and that earlier this month he attended a gathering at the same location he allegedly attacked Wednesday night. Surveillance footage captured the moments before and after Sohail allegedly struck the Crown Heights building multiple times with his Honda Accord. When removed from his car, Sohail told police his foot slipped, authorities said. He later told detectives he lost control because he was wearing clunky boots. Nobody was injured during the incident. Police are warning of email and text scams targeting Verizon and Xfinity customers. Various customers both locally and nationwide have been reporting these types of scams to law enforcement, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office said in a statement on Friday. Authorities are warning customers to call their service provider directly if they receive a suspicious message. The Verizon scam is sending text messages and emails to customers, telling them to click on a link to claim their $20 account credit for the recent service outage. The 10-hour long outage occurred on Wednesday, Jan. 14, affecting to to 2.3 million customers. The company later announced that it would issue a $20 credit to all customers affected by the outage. Verizon issued a statement during the week of the outage, stating that the credit can be redeemed directly through the MyVerizon app. A text message from the company that tells customers about the credit does not include any links. An Xfinity scam has been sending emails to customers, claiming that the terms of service and privacy policy has changed. The email falsely tells customers that they need to click on a link to prevent access to emails. A second Xfinity email scam says that changes have been made to the Wi-Fi network name or password and encourages the customer to click on a link to reconnect. The links in the messages can be used by scammers to steal passwords or other personal information, prosecutors said. The media relations teams at Verizon and Xfinity could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday afternoon. Law enforcement is warning customers to never give out their personal information such as date of birth and social security number. Authorities are also recommending that consumers utilize two-factor authentication whenever possible. The Middlesex County Prosecutors Office said victims of the scam should contact their local police department and report any suspicious messages to the Federal Trade Commission. A group of teenagers casting ballots in the special primary election to fill Gov. Mikie Sherrills empty congressional seat are making history. The race for Sherrills unexpired term representing North Jerseys 11th District in the U.S. House of Representatives marks the first primary election in which some voters younger than 18 can cast a ballot. The change is possible thanks to a 2024 law signed under then-Gov. Phil Murphy allowing 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election as long as they will be 18 by the general election. The measure took effect this year. READ MORE: N.J. has a new governor in Mikie Sherrill. Our newsletter is your must-read guide to this new chapter. Supporters of the law said it was a way to expand access to the ballot box and inspire a new generation of voters. But its unclear how many teens will actually show up and whether their voting bloc will be enough to influence the elections outcome. According to Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin, more than 700 17-year-olds who were qualified to vote in the special primary were mailed sample ballots and a postcard notifying them of their right to vote. If the past is any indication, it may take time to get younger teens used to voting. In April 2025, Newark held its first school board race under a lowered voting age, but the turnout was underwhelming. A total of 71 16- and 17-year-olds cast ballots in the historic election out of the 1,796 newly eligible teens registered, according to certified election results. Sherrill, a Democrat, who represented the 11th District over four terms, resigned from her seat after winning the race to become New Jerseys next governor. She recently told Brent Johnson, author of the NJ Advance Media newsletter Mikies World, she will not endorse anyone for her old seat. The district includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties. The race is crowded, with 11 Democratic hopefuls and one Republican. The Democrats vying for party nomination are: Analilia Mejia, former executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance; Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett; Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel; Former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way; Anna Williams, a corporate social responsibility manager; former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski; Zach Beecher, a venture capitalist; Cammie Croft, former White House deputy new media director; Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill; comedian J-L Cauvin; and Chatham Borough Councilman Justin Strickland. The lone Republican is Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway. Early voting in the primary is underway through Feb. 3. Voters who are 17 and qualify under the new law, as well as other registered voters who want to cast their ballot early, can do so in person at a county-designated early voting location. Durkin, the county clerk in Essex, said theres been a steady turnout at the early voting polling sites but no lines. The turnout with six days to go matches the turnout up to this point at the regular June 2024 Primary Election where Mikie Sherrill last ran for a full term in Congress, he said on Saturday. Those numbers include mail-in ballots and early in-person voting. The total turnout for the 2024 regular June primary was 52,500 votes. The traditional Primary Day for the special race to fill Sherrills vacant U.S. House seat is Feb. 5. Mail-in ballots for the primary election must be postmarked by 8 p.m. on Feb. 5. Early voting in the special general election is from April 6-14. The general election will be held on April 16. NJ Advance Media staff writer Ted Sherman contributed to this report. Two motels are fighting to revive their lawsuit challenging a Seaside Heights ordinance that bans young adults from renting rooms during prom season. Nearly three years have passed since the Jersey Shore borough stopped anyone between 18 and 21 years old from booking shortterm rentals. The borough enacted the rule described as a promseason measure to place extra restrictions on young adults from April 30 through June 30. According to the ordinance, crowds of unsupervised minors during that period created unlawful and unsafe conditions, contributing to nuisance behavior ranging from underage drinking to property damage. The ordinance restricts shortterm rentals to people over 21, and hotels that violate the law can face firsttime fines of around $1,000. The Sunrise and Hershey motels, the two businesses behind the lawsuit, argue the ordinance violates New Jerseys Civil Rights Act and the Law Against Discrimination. A Superior Court judge sided with Seaside Heights motion to dismiss the complaint, ending the case in 2024, according to court records. The case was argued before the Appellate Division on Tuesday. The motels say the ordinance discriminates against lawabiding young adults and asked the appeals court to overturn the lower court ruling. Christopher Shea, an attorney for the hotels, argues that the borough cant dictate who young people can associate with when visiting the Jersey Shore. Shea vowed to sue immediately after the ordinance passed, arguing that state and local laws are already in place to punish young people who break the law at the Jersey Shore. In his initial complaint, Shea wrote that the motels sustained economic loss because the ordinance targets a vital clientele. He also argued that the ordinance unintentionally restricts vacation plans for lawabiding young people. Youth, as in adults who are between the ages of 18 and 21, who have that same ability to go to war and contract their bodies away, should have the ability to contract to rent a hotel room in Seaside Heights, Shea said Tuesday, during oral arguments that lasted for over an hour. Seaside Heights adopted the ordinance in August 2023 in response to disorderly behavior by an influx of young people visiting the Jersey Shore town at the start of the prime tourist season. The borough faced so many issues during the summer of 2025 that officials closed the boardwalk early during Memorial Day weekend and Fourth of July. Kevin Riordan, an attorney for Seaside Heights, defended the ordinance as an extra layer of authority over unruly postprom celebrations, noting that other Shore towns have not imposed age limits on hotel rooms. The measure is part of a broader attempt by the borough to alter its climate, which has attracted a party atmosphere, as seen on MTVs hit series Jersey Shore. There are lots of places to go, Riordan said. Seaside Heights is within their rights to determine that they do not want prom goers in their hotel rooms. Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz declined to comment when reached by NJ Advance Media on Thursday. Discount grocery chain Lidl plans to open a new store in New Jersey next week. The latest Lidl location at 545 Route 46 in Totowa, Passaic County will open Wednesday and operate daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. The franchise relaunched its U.S. brand last year with a redesign to showcase its European approach to grocery retail that emphasizes affordable pricing on quality products. The Totowa location joins Lidls Pompton Lakes store in Passaic County as the company grows its presence in the region. New Jersey has more than 25 Lidl stores. Lidl, one of the largest international grocers, operates thousands of supermarkets across Europe and has been expanding its footprint in the United States. An appeals court judge on Friday rejected a request from 27 towns to pause New Jerseys new affordable housing requirements the latest in a string of defeats for the group. Judge Cindy K. Chung of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denied the towns bid in a onesentence order, marking the third time in two weeks their attempt at emergency relief has been turned down. The 27 towns organized as Local Leaders for Responsible Planning had already been denied twice last week by U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi. After those rulings, they appealed to the Third Circuit, only to be rejected again. Their next step is an appeal the U.S. Supreme Court, where they plan to seek intervention in their challenge to the Affordable Housing Reform Law. While we are disappointed that the Third Circuit denied our motion without even offering an explanation today, we are excited to announce that we will be bringing this case to Justice Samuel Alito, who is our emergency justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, with a filing anticipated to be completed on Monday, Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali said in a social media post. Montvale is the lead plaintiff in the case, which includes mostly affluent suburban communities in North and Central Jersey, including Holmdel, Millburn and Franklin Lakes places that have long resisted highdensity development and previously fought affordable housing mandates in court. The state defendants include the New Jersey attorney general, the administrative director of the courts and members of the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program. The towns have argued that the stay a court order that temporarily stops a law or ruling from taking effect while a case is still being decided is necessary. They contend that a victory on appeal would be hollow because construction would already have begun and could not be reversed. The more than two dozen municipalities initially filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the Affordable Housing Reform Law enacted by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2024. The law eliminated the Council on Affordable Housing and created a new courtmanaged system for calculating municipal housing obligations and resolving disputes. The towns argued that the law violates the Mount Laurel doctrine, which requires every municipality to zone for its fair share of affordable housing. They also raised several legal challenges, including claims of unfunded mandates, specialinterest legislation, separationofpowers violations and an improper transfer of authority to the administrative director of the courts. Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy dismissed the state-level lawsuit in October, ruling that the Legislature has the authority to enforce the Mount Laurel doctrine and that the towns challenge lacked legal grounds. The towns then turned to federal court, where the case was dismissed on Jan. 20. Quraishi ruled that municipalities cannot bring this type of constitutional challenge in federal court and noted that even if the 2024 law were struck down, the towns would still face the same affordable housing obligations under decades of Mount Laurel court rulings. The towns face a deadline of March 15 to file revised housing plans. About 380 municipalities had developed compliant affordable housing plans as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to the Fair Share Housing Center. New Jerseys affordable housing law gives municipalities broad flexibility to create new homes in ways that support their local economies and the vast majority of towns are already doing exactly that, said Joshua Bauers, director of exclusionary zoning litigation at Fair Share Housing Center. Continuing to spend taxpayer dollars on endless litigation only hurts the communities pursuing it, he added. If you purchase a product through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. The colder months are officially here to stay, which means you need warm footwear ASAP. With all the snow, wind and wet weather that comes with this time of year, not having the right footwear is doing a disservice to your feet, and Target may have the answer you have been waiting for. London Rag Womens Noaya Chunky Faux Fur Snow Boots $90 $53 These London Rag Noaya Chunky Faux Fur Snow Boots are the perfect way to stay warm while also not ruining a good outfit. Shop these boots ASAP Target has a massive variety of winter boots that are not only perfect for this time of year, but also stylish because we know that a lot of snow boots can truly ruin an outfit. Plus, a number of these boots will not even break the bank, such as the London Rag Noaya Chunky Faux Fur Snow Boots that are on sale for $53, instead of the original $90, which is a huge 41% off discount. So, whether you want to buy this pair from London Rag or shop other brands sold at Target, such as Timberland and Alpine Swiss, then here are the 10 snow boots you need to snatch up before the next snowstorm. 10 best Target snow boots to buy now Tensions surrounding a dispute between volunteers at a local fire department and its township are heating up. Last year, the Mountain Lake Fire Company departments chief and volunteers accused elected officials of interfering with emergency response operations and unfairly punishing one of its members, jeopardizing the companys effectiveness. Now, in a series of posts to Facebook, the fire department alleges that due to a driver shortage and the time commitments of the departments volunteer members, it is even less capable of fulfilling its mission. When major winter storms hit New Jersey earlier this month, shutting some schools for two days and leaving families snowed in behind more than a foot of snow, the departments crew suffered its first non-response, said Mountain Lake Fire Company Chief Pete Hubert. Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time ever, Mt. Lake Fire Company was not able to get a truck out for a call. Unfortunately the only driver available at the time was not allowed to drive as per Liberty Township Committee. Fortunately it was not a life threatening call, the department shared in a Jan. 10 post. Five of the departments regular members were called into work at their regular full-time job after New Jersey declared a State of Emergency, leaving one volunteer capable of driving the fire truck available over the weekend, the post states. The department has made multiple attempts to increase volunteer qualifications but dwindling membership in the organization was partly to blame, a Jan. 24 post says. Courses for pump operators are held yearly, nearby, but the number of hours that are required in order to fulfill the course make it a difficult commitment for interested volunteers. We are a volunteer fire company and do not get paid, so our real jobs take presidence [sic]. We advertise all the time for membership but residents do not have the time or drive like years past, according to the departments statement. The fire companys volunteers respond to roughly 200 calls in Liberty Township and portions of White Township every year, according to the department chiefs. The Mountain Lake Fire Company chief and deputy chief have also claimed Mayor John Inscho, who served 50 years as a member of the fire department, has used this opportunity to fulfill a personal vendetta against the firefighter with whom he was once friends. Township officials have denied the accusations. Mayor John Inscho did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the allegations, or any other matter. Deputy Mayor Dan Grover deferred all comments to the towns attorney. The volunteer facing the driving ban by the township is a 30-year veteran of the fire company and one of only eight responders capable of operating the departments vehicle. He received a five-year driving suspension in 2025, but can continue to serve in his voluntary capacity as a firefighter, according to the townships attorney. The Mountain Lake Fire Company has made multiple requests to reduce the censure of the volunteers participation. The town has stood by its October 2025 decision to suspend the volunteers driving privileges. The township had not discussed the matter again, as of Friday, Grover confirmed. The township is in the process of rewriting its code for the fire department, Liberty Township attorney Richard Wenner said. The Liberty Township committee is scheduled to meet 7 p.m. Feb. 5 inside the municipal building at 349 Mountain Lake Road in Great Meadows. LATEST FORECAST: Wind chills could hit -15 degrees overnight with up to 50 mph winds Wind gusts up to 50 mph and widespread minor coastal flooding along the Jersey Shore are expected Saturday night into Sunday from a powerful storm passing offshore. The storms track has shifted far enough off the coast to limit snow potential to just light accumulations of an inch or less in Cape May County and some flurries elsewhere along the coast. The main concerns with the off shore storm for our region are strong winds and coastal flooding, the National Weather Service said early Saturday. There continued to be a slight shift further south and east with the projected track of the system, limiting the risk for snow. The National Weather Service has issued multiple weather alerts for the storm and continued dangerously low temperatures. Cold weather advisories for all 21 New Jersey counties have been extended through 10 a.m. Sunday as wind chills are expected to drop below zero degrees across the region overnight and into Sunday morning. Wind advisories are in effect for Atlantic and Cape May counties from midnight tonight through 4 p.m. Sunday, with gusts potentially reaching 50 mph. Coastal flood advisories have been issued for the Jersey Shore from the Barnegat Bay in Ocean County to Cape May from 5 a.m. to noon Sunday. Wind gusts up to 50 mph and coastal flooding are the main concerns from a powerful storm system expected to pass well offshore Saturday night into Sunday. Some light snow is possible along the Jersey Shore. AccuWeather.com and National Weather Service The full moon on Monday will result in higher tides, which combined with increased swells from the storm could complicate coastal flooding. Ice already developing on bays could be pushed onshore during high tide, and flood waters could freeze on roadways, creating additional hazards. Saturday will be primarily clear with northerly winds increasing to around 10 mph. Clouds will increase after 6 p.m., with wind gusts above 25 mph expected, especially after midnight. The strongest winds are expected from early Sunday through mid-afternoon. The combination of strong winds, very cold air, and potential snow and ice remaining on trees and wires could lead to power outages, the weather service said. Wind gusts up to 50 mph and coastal flooding are the main concerns from a powerful storm system expected to pass well offshore Saturday night into Sunday. Some light snow is possible along the Jersey Shore. AccuWeather.com and National Weather Service Record-breaking cold possible Some New Jersey climate sites having a chance to set record cold temperatures for Jan. 31. The current record low temperatures: Newark airport - 3 degrees in 1948. Atlantic City airport - zero degrees in 1948. Trenton airport - Minus 1 degree in 1920. Below freezing temperatures are expected to continue across parts of New Jersey through next week. Areas along the Jersey Shore could get temperatures above freezing on Tuesday and Wednesday. The current stretch of below freezing temperatures could extend to at least two weeks long if the state doesnt warm above freezing Tuesday or Wednesday. That would be among top five longest stretch for many climate sites. More snow chances? The long-range forecast includes two chances for snowfall mid to late week. A weak storm system may graze the forecast area with light snowfall on Wednesday, though the exact track remains uncertain. An Alberta clipper system is expected to move through Friday night into Saturday morning, bringing a 25 to 35% chance for light snowfall across the region. Current weather radar Autumn Special Read. Know. Act. $3 for 3 months! (90 days) Offer expires 12/30/2020 Don't hesitate! Start your digital-only membership today and not only receive full access to our premier news website NNY360.com but also to the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times eEdition! Whether youre focused on strengthening your finances, preparing for uncertainty, or putting that extra money to work, here are a few ways Americans may consider investing their potential windfall to really make it count. For many households, that raises an immediate question: Whats the smartest way to use a sudden cash infusion? We will be able to make a very substantial dividend to the people of our country. I believe we can do that without Congress, he said (2). Still, Trump has continued to express confidence in following through. In a post on X, she wrote (5), The president is wrong about who has the authority to spend tariff revenue (it is Congress, not him) and about how spending tariff revenue on rebate checks would affect the national debt (it would increase it). York has also pushed back on Trumps claim that Congress could be bypassed. Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, has argued that theres no money leftover to pay down debt after distributing tariff rebate checks. In 2025, tariffs brought in $287 billion in revenue a 192% increase year over year (3). Still, that figure pales in comparison to the countrys staggering national debt, which now stands at more than $38.5 trillion (4). The reason were even talking about it is that we have so much money coming in from tariffs that well be able to issue at least a $2,000 dividend and also pay down debt for the country, he said, adding that the administration would likely set an income limit for those who qualify. He then pointed to the revenue his tariff policy is generating. I dont think we would have to go the Congress route, but, you know, well find out, Trump said during a press conference (2). Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake heres what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP Build a portfolio of the worlds best private tech companies and make it accessible to everyone thats the mission of Fundrise Venture Capital. You can start investing today with just $10 Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how Last month, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett suggested the proposal would ultimately depend on Congress (1). But when Trump was asked directly about that by a reporter, he pushed back. Ever since President Donald Trump floated the idea of sending Americans a $2,000 dividend funded by tariff revenue, questions have lingered over whether it would actually happen. Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. Story Continues The only thing thats going up big The U.S. stock market has been a powerful engine of wealth creation a point Trump has repeatedly emphasized. Recently, he said (6), The only thing thats really going up big? Its the stock market and your 401(k)s. The benchmark S&P 500 returned about 16% in 2025 and is up roughly 87% over the past five years. Those gains have flowed through to retirement accounts. According to Fidelity, the average 401(k) balance climbed 9% from a year ago to $144,400 in Q3 of 2025 an all-time high (7). Still, not all stocks are the same. With markets near record highs, some experts are warning about froth and the risk of chasing momentum without doing the homework. Thats where research-focused tools can help. Platforms like Moby aim to simplify the process. Their team of former hedge fund analysts does the heavy lifting breaking down the market, flagging quality stocks and making the research easy to digest. In fact, across nearly 400 stock picks over the past four years, Mobys recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and takes the guesswork out of choosing investments. Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes. Read More: Approaching retirement with no savings? Dont panic, you're not alone. Here are 6 easy ways you can catch up (and fast) Bet on American innovation Public markets show just one side of how wealth is created. Many of the biggest and most successful tech companies remain privately held for years, growing behind the scenes and building incredible value long before the IPO bell is rung. Venture capital is where the early bets on future giants are placed. But, for decades, venture capital has been one of the few remaining tables in finance where retail investors cant get a seat. Fundrise finally disrupted that dynamic a few years ago by launching a venture capital product with two goals. One: Build a portfolio of the most valuable private tech companies in the world. Two: Make it available to as many people as possible, with investments starting at just $10. Today, Fundrise manages billions of dollars in private market assets and their venture capital product is designed specifically for investors who want to get in early on transformative technologies like AI. Check out their venture portfolio today and start investing in minutes. Build wealth through US real estate Beyond equities, real estate has long been another cornerstone of wealth-building in America. In fact, investing legend Warren Buffett has often pointed to real estate when explaining what a productive, income-generating asset looks like. In 2022, Buffett stated that if you offered him 1% of all the apartment houses in the country for $25 billion, he would write you a check (8). Why? Because regardless of whats happening in the broader economy, people still need a place to live and apartments can consistently produce rent money. Real estate also offers a built-in hedge against inflation. When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts with inflation. Of course, you dont need $25 billion or even to buy a single property outright to invest in real estate. Lightstone DIRECT, for instance, offers accredited investors access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate with a minimum investment of $100,000. Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management. Over nearly-four decades, their team has delivered strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles including a 27.6% historical net IRR and a 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004. With Lightstone DIRECT, you gain access to that proprietary deal flow. Heres the kicker: Lightstone invests at least 20% of its own capital in every deal roughly four times the industry average. With skin in the game, the firm ensures its interests are directly aligned with those of its investors. Let your cash hatch its own income You dont need a massive investment portfolio to start building wealth. Even your spare cash such as a tariff dividend can earn income, rather than sitting idle in a low-yield account. To get started, a high-yield account, such as a Wealthfront Cash Account, can be a great place to grow your emergency fund, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your cash when you need it. A Wealthfront Cash Account can provide a base variable APY of 3.30%, but Moneywise readers can get an exclusive 0.65% boost over their first three months for a total APY of 3.95% provided by program banks on your uninvested cash. Thats ten times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDICs January report. With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, you can ensure your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, Wealthfront Cash Account balances of up to $8 million are insured by the FDIC through program banks. You May Also Like Article sources We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines. CBS News (1); The White House (2); Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (3); FiscalData (4); @ericadyork (5); NTD (6); Fidelity (7); CNBC (8) This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Space stocks are taking off this year, with a boost from the White House. Trump signed an Executive Order in December focused on pushing the U.S. government from being a primary operator to becoming a primary customer in the space trade. The order includes ambitious timelines, including accelerating the Artemis program to return to the Moon by 2028 and establishing a permanent lunar presence with nuclear power capabilities by 2030. The most significant benefit for private industry lies in the mandate for "commercial-first" procurement. By moving toward "as-a-service" models -- where the government pays for data, transport, or energy rather than owning the satellites or reactors -- the order provides companies with predictable revenue streams necessary to attract venture capital and scale operations. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks Two companies that should see liftoff from this push are Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Leidos Holdings (NYSE: LDOS), both of which are already doing significant space business. Lockheed Martin's stock is already in orbit Lockheed Martin is a global defense technology company based in Bethesda, Md., with a space division that designs, builds, and tests lunar and deep space exploration vehicles. The company also builds commercial and military satellites, space probes, missile defense systems, the Orion spacecraft used by NASA, and the external tank used on the Space Shuttle. Besides its Space division, Lockheed has three other divisions: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, and Rotary and Mission Systems. The stock is up more than 18% in the past year. Third-quarter revenue was reported as $18.6 billion, a 9% year-over-year increase. Earnings per share (EPS) rose 2% to $6.95. Its space business has been at the forefront of delivering revenue and profit growth for the company. Space revenue increased to $3.36 billion from $3.08 billion in the year-earlier quarter, the company said, driven by $160 million in higher sales for strategic and missile defense programs, as well as an additional $70 million from national security space programs. Operating profit in the space division jumped 22% to $331 million. Lockheed Martin also said it had $179.1 billion in backlogged orders, including $38.4 billion in its space segment. The defense firm company's huge backlog, more than 8% over what it was just a year ago, shows the increasing demand for its services. The defense industry and its space sector have a high moat, as larger, more-established companies such as Lockheed Martin have a significant edge in expertise and the personnel needed to secure government contracts. International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) is included among the 13 Best February Dividend Stocks to Buy. UBS Trims International Paper (IP) Target as Cost-Saving Efforts Continue On January 12, UBS analyst Anojja Shah trimmed International Paper Company (NYSE:IP)s price target to $51 from $53 while maintaining a Buy rating. The firm pointed to ongoing self-help efforts and cost savings tied to recent mill closures, along with the companys longer-term goal of reaching $5 billion in EBITDA by 2027. International Paper has also been named to RBC Capital Markets Top 30 Global Ideas list for 2026. RBC analyst Matthew McKellar and his team said the company is well-positioned to benefit from tighter containerboard capacity in North America, which could support price increases in the first half of 2026. The firm also highlighted International Papers progress on internal efficiency initiatives, which are expected to drive meaningful EBITDA growth by 2027. RBC rates the stock Outperform and views it as a long-term holding, citing the companys strong positions in industries that are becoming more consolidated. The firm also sees value in International Papers more disciplined capital allocation, with a focus on cutting costs, improving reliability, and investing in high-return projects that should strengthen the business over time. The companys broader transformation plan is seen as an additional source of upside. RBCs $55 price target reflects a blended multiple of about 7.75 times estimated trend EBITDA and projected 2026 EBITDA. International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) provides sustainable packaging solutions and is a global producer of renewable, fiber-based packaging products. While we acknowledge the potential of IP as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 12 Best Dow Jones Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds and Retirement Stock Portfolio: 12 Low Risk Investments Disclosure: None. The English Music Festival (EMF) is coming to Devon for the first time, bringing world-class performances to Dartington Hall near Totnes. Running from 22 to 25 May 2026, the four-day festival will feature orchestral, chamber, vocal and piano concerts, alongside talks and late-night events. Highlights include the London Mozart Players performing works by Gerald Finzi and Thomas Linley, chamber and choral music by Elgar, Holst, Britten and Vaughan Williams, and the critically acclaimed concert-play Purcell! by award-winning group The Telling. Founded 19 years ago, the EMF aims to showcase the richness and heritage of English music, particularly from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. Over the years, the festival has staged world premieres by composers including Elgar, Delius, Holst and Vaughan Williams, and has commissioned numerous works by contemporary British composers. Em Marshall-Luck, founder-director of the EMF, said: We are absolutely thrilled to be presenting a wonderful programme of English music, performed by world-class artists, at our dream venue of Dartington Hall. We are looking forward to welcoming concert-goers and music lovers to what promises to be four days filled with delightful and inspirational music-making. Dartington Hall, a 14th-century estate, has a long history as a hub of cultural and musical activity. The festivals move to the South West is intended to bring English music to a wider audience while reviving Dartingtons historic connection to performance and creativity. The festival also offers context and insight into the music through talks, giving audiences a deeper understanding of the works and their composers. Social events, including EMF lunches, provide opportunities for festival-goers to engage with performers and fellow music lovers. In addition to the Devon festival, EMF runs a main festival in Oxfordshire and hosts other events across the UK and Europe, including autumn festivals in the Yorkshire Dales. The organisation also operates a record label and publishing arm, helping to make rare and historic English music accessible to listeners around the world. A free, interactive exhibition inside a touring train will visit Devon for the first time next month as part of national celebrations marking 200 years of the modern railway. The Railway 200 exhibition train, called Inspiration, will be hosted by the South Devon Railway at Totnes Riverside station from Tuesday 17 March until Sunday 22 March. More than 60,000 people have already visited the exhibition during its year-long tour of Britain, which has included stops from Scotland to Southampton. Co-curated with the National Railway Museum, the exhibition explores how railways transformed Britain and the wider world, using rare artefacts, hands-on engineering challenges and interactive displays. Organisers say the train is designed to appeal to families, with a focus on both the history of rail and lesser-known careers within the industry. Alasdair Page, commercial manager at South Devon Railway, said: As one of the longest established heritage railways in the south west, were proud that we have been chosen for the inaugural visit of Inspiration to this area. Our steam trains, historic stations and museum will form the backdrop to the interactive experience, providing options to create a full day out. The exhibition forms part of Railway 200, a national campaign celebrating two centuries since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, widely regarded as the worlds first modern railway. Emma Roberts, programme manager for Railway 200, said: Railways are one of historys most important inventions and inside this train you can explore the story of rail in a fun and family-friendly environment. Inspiration has already travelled thousands of miles across Britain from Scotland to Southampton and we are hugely excited to welcome locals aboard at South Devon Railway. Visitors who have already attended previous stops have described the exhibition as brilliant, hands-on and extremely interesting. Tara Jones Ulla, who visited the train at the West Somerset Railway, said: It was so informative without being overwhelming, with lots of interactive and hands-on exhibits. I came away so happy. Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said the exhibition aimed to inspire future generations as well as celebrate Britains railway heritage. With this train, were not just looking to the past, we are inspiring the diverse next generation of engineers, drivers, conductors and technicians, and shining a light on what the railway is delivering today, he said. Entry to the exhibition is free, although tickets must be booked in advance and availability is limited. Visitors can also travel on South Devon Railways steam trains during the visit. An independent special school in Barnstaple has been awarded a prestigious gold standard accolade in recognition of its outstanding provision for mental health and wellbeing. On Track Education Barnstaple has achieved the School Mental Health Award, delivered by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. The school aims to provide tailored education and pastoral support for young people who struggle to thrive in mainstream or other specialist settings. READ NEXT: National award recognises excellence at North Devon school On Track Education Barnstaple says it offers a range of initiatives to support the well-being of both pupils and staff. Above: Pupils take in social activities such as cooking together, using home grown ingredients to build independence and confidence. These include regular wellbeing and mental health sessions for pupils, mindfulness and emotional regulation activities, one-to-one support with trusted adults and strong working with families and professionals. Staff well-being is prioritised through structured support, professional development and a positive, open culture. Above: Pupils feeling the mental health benefits of surf therapy through the Wave Project. Maria Roberts, headteacher at On Track Education Barnstaple, said: I am extremely proud that our school has achieved Gold Status in the School Mental Health Award. The well-being of our pupils and staff is central to everything we do, and this recognition reflects the dedication, care and commitment shown by our whole school community. Working towards this award has reinforced the importance of a whole-school approach to mental health. It has had a positive impact across the school, supporting both learning and wellbeing. Above: Bespoke timetables are created for students to develop resilience and self-esteem. The school says pupils benefit from consistent routines, trusted relationships with staff, and regular opportunities to develop emotional awareness, resilience and confidence. As well as on site learning and support, pupils engage in practical social activities such as cooking, as well as having timetables tailored to their needs and trips to outdoor spaces as well as activities such as surfing via the Wave Project. Above: On Track Education Barnstaple uses surrounding outdoor spaces for learning and Thrive development targets to support self-regulation. Lucy Basey-Fisher, deputy head and mental health lead, added: We see the difference this approach makes every day. Pupils feel safe, supported and more able to engage with learning, while staff feel valued and equipped to support young people effectively. This award recognises the positive impact of that work. The School Mental Health Award was established in 2017 by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools part of Leeds Beckett University and social enterprise Minds Ahead. The Carnegie Centre aims to strengthen pupils mental health by supporting schools to make a positive change at all levels of the UK's education system, improving students outcomes and life chances. Multiple petrol nozzles at a petrol pump - Kckate16/Getty Images Filling up your car with gas is one of those daily routine things that many people put almost no thought into. While a small portion of drivers put effort into researching the various tiers of gasoline and which brands offer them, many others just stop at whichever gas station has the lowest price or is most convenient to visit. Unless they are deep into gasoline science or have a long-running brand loyalty, the name on the pumps means very little, let alone the country a brand comes from. This is why a lot of Americans might be unaware that one of Russia's largest oil companies has a sizable retail presence in certain parts of the country. Lukoil is Russia's second-largest oil company and was established in the waning days of the Soviet Union. Its large, global footprint currently includes around 200 gas stations operating in the Northeastern United States. However, the days of American Lukoil stations being Russian-owned are likely coming to an end, with the company announcing plans to sell off its international operations to a U.S. investment group. Read more: Popular Synthetic Oil Brands Ranked Worst To Best From Russia to the American Northeast Lukoil logo on gas station roof - Jannissimo/Shutterstock While Russia's global status as a major exporter of petroleum is well known, actual Russian-owned gasoline retailers are less common outside of Russia itself, and especially in America. And even in the United States, you probably haven't encountered a Lukoil station unless you happen to live in New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, where the vast majority of these stations are located. Lukoil was established as a Russian state-owned oil company in 1991, just before the Soviet Union collapsed, and the company came under private ownership in 1993. Lukoil established its American retail presence in 2000, when it acquired Getty Oil and its franchised gasoline stations in the Northeast. Beyond these American retail stations, Lukoil's international operations also include subsidiaries in about 30 countries worldwide, including the Middle East, Europe, and South America. Interestingly, Lukoil is not the only gas station chain in the U.S. owned by a country that has a rocky relationship with America as of early 2026. Citgo, which has an even larger presence in the U.S., has actually been indirectly owned by Venezuela for decades. Both gasoline brands have come under legal and diplomatic pressure from the U.S. government. Sanctions and buyouts Lukoil gas station in Russia - FotograFFF/Shutterstock In normal times, the country a gasoline brand originates from might not be a big deal. However, the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 triggered wide-reaching global sanctions against Russia and Russian-owned companies that have had strategic and economic impacts across the world and even affected Russia's joint space operations. A North Devon councillor has called for a Reform county councillor to resign after comments about supporting the Trump ICE techniques used in America to deport illegal immigrants. Councillor Ed Tyldesley, who holds the Chulmleigh and Landkey ward on Devon County Council for the Liberal Democrats has written to Devons Reform leader to request Councillor Mick Cockerham resign over comments he made on social media. They included the Newton Abbot South councillor saying: Heres hoping we might see the same ICE correction techniques for woke interfering lefties. The comment has since been deleted. Cllr Tyldesley said the comments bring Devon County Council into disrepute, claiming the language is wholly unacceptable and dangerous. Above: The original post on the Reform Newton Abbot Facebook page, supposedly referring to a comment by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Credit: Facebook Below: A screenshot of the comment made by Reform UK Devon county councillor Mick Cockerham, which has since been deleted. Credit: Facebook But Cllr Cockerham said his comments were about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) techniques surrounding deporting illegal immigrants and stressed he would want nobody physically hurt in any removals. It follows two US citizens in Minnesota being shot dead by ICE agents amid efforts to deport people living in America without the correct permissions. On a Facebook post by Reform UK Newton Abbot Branch, an admin posted a picture of Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, apparently stating that Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK nationally, would bring an ICE-style crackdown to Britain. The admin says cant wait at the top of the post, which then has five comments underneath, including the now deleted one by Cllr Cockerham. Cllr Tyldesley said in his letter to Cllr Michael Fife Cook who leads the Reform UK group on the county council, that he had serious concerns about the comments by Cllr Cockerham, adding that he wanted to formally request that you instruct him to resign from his position as a county councillor. Above: Chulmleigh and Landkey county councillor Ed Tyldesley, who raised the complaint about Mr Cockerhams comments with Devon County Council. Credit: DCC Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Cllr Tyldesley said he was not playing politics and felt very strongly about the issue. He said: My two main reasons for writing the letter are that politicians in the UK must abide by the Nolan Principles and we all have our public life scrutinised, so calling for ICE-style [tactics] to be brought to the UK is not honest and decent, and is aimed at a certain part of our population. Also, it is in our constitution that we as councillors are expected not to bring the council into disrepute and this does. Cllr Cockerham uses this Facebook account to talk to residents and then goes and calls for this violence. I think those reasons are enough for him to step down. But Cllr Cockerham said he gathered where [Cllr Tyldesley] was going with his comments, but had absolutely not condoned violence. I will stress, I want nobody physically hurt in any removals, he said. But I will accept there will be upset and resistance from the left, as clearly shown already. Reform will seem, to a few, to be the bad guys and if you support deportations, youll always upset some. He added that figures he found via an internet search showed ICE had removed around 370,000 illegal immigrants from the US despite interference from opposition parties but did not state over what timeframe this was. Data on the ICE website states there were 71,405 removals in the 2025 calendar year. This rises to 342,899 if 2024 figures are added. He went on: Yet ICE has still managed to make significant arrests and deportations. [This means] their techniques must be sufficient to still manage the enormous task they have. I imagine, when we adopt a similar system, our techniques should be as good as the American system. Detect, detain and deport. But Cllr Tyldesley said had been contacted by some residents saying they feel unsafe with a councillor making such comments. In his letter, he said: I have been contacted by dozens of residents this morning, all expressing genuine fear and concern about the implications of a serving county councillor publicly expressing enthusiasm for violent law enforcement tactics being used against political opponents. As group leader, you [Cllr Fife Cook] have a responsibility to uphold standards of conduct and to provide clear leadership. In my view, this situation has passed the point at which a private admonishment or expression of regret would be sufficient. Cllr Cockerhams comments demonstrate a profound lack of judgment that is incompatible with the role of a county councillor. Cllr Fife Cook has responded to Cllr Tyldesley, including offering a meeting between them both alongside Cllr Cockerham, but the offer was declined by the Lib Dem member. In his email to Cllr Tyldesley, Cllr Fife Cook said: If you wish to add to the ever-growing number of complaints flying around County Hall, from one councillor complaining about another councillor, that is your right. All I would say is it might be wise to ask your leader, because I am sure he, like myself, has better things to use his time on. Maybe the way forward is not in wasting each others and officers time, and to try to address this misunderstanding and passion eyeball to eyeball with Mick Cockerham. Cllr Tyldesley added that he would very much welcome an apology from Cllr Cockerham but did not want to meet with him at present. Any such meeting is unlikely to happen soon anyway, given Cllr Cockerham said he was just about to board a plane to some far off country and wont be available for some weeks. Devon County Council has said it would respond to a request for comment on the issue. TULLAMORE Credit Union once again hosted the Face the Phoenix Final 2026 on Wednesday, 28th January at the Esker Arts Centre, where Transition Year students from five local secondary schools pitched their mini companies to an expert judging panel. Students from Colaiste Choilm, Killina Presentation Secondary School, Mercy School Kilbeggan, Tullamore College, and Colaiste Naomh Cormac took part, with finalists selected following the judging held in school by Siobhain Arnold (Marketing Officer) and Caitriona Lawlor (Member Engagement Controller). This years judges were Paul Shaw CEO, Caroline Collins Murphy Deputy CEO, Eileen Brophy Chairperson, and Matt Worgan Risk Manager. The judges were so impressed by the standard of innovation and presentation that they introduced an additional award on the day: The Innovation Award, recognising exceptional creativity in product development. Two new awards were also added for 2026, reflecting Tullamore Credit Unions values: The Irish Award, highlighting excellence in Irish language branding and presentation, and The Sustainability Award, recognising strong environmental awareness and practice. READ NEXT: Top Gold national award for leading hotel in Offaly The event also welcomed guest speaker Sgt Niall Smith, who delivered an engaging and informative talk on Money Muling. He highlighted how young people can be targeted by criminals to transfer or mind money through their bank accounts, often under the guise of easy cash. Sgt Smith emphasised the serious legal consequences involved and encouraged students to stay alert, informed, and protected. Winners on the Day: 1st Prize: SJ Lights Colaiste Naomh Cormac, Kilcormac Winning School - Colaiste Naomh Cormac, Kilcormac 2nd Prize: DRT Engraving Mercy School Kilbeggan 3rd Prize: The Klutter Killer Killina Presentation Secondary School Irish Award: Caorach agus Croi Killina Presentation Secondary School Sustainability Award: Earthists Tullamore College Innovation Award: Melting Meadows Colaiste Choilm READ NEXT: Renowned AI expert to lead practical session at Tullamore Toastmasters' open meeting In addition to the student prizes, the winning school also received a monetary award, recognising the support, guidance, and encouragement provided by teachers in developing student entrepreneurship. Tullamore Credit Union congratulates all participating students and thanks the teachers and schools for their continued support. The Credit Union looks forward to welcoming another group of talented young entrepreneurs in 2027. If your school is within our common bond and is interested in taking part in next years Face the Phoenix programme, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact the Member Engagement Team by emailing marketing@tullamorecu.ie or by calling (057) 935 1780 to register your expression of interest. (This Jan 30 story has been repeated with no changes to the text) By Jonathan Stempel Jan 30 (Reuters) - A federal judge signaled on Friday she may dismiss a lawsuit by Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI accusing Sam Altman's rival OpenAI of stealing trade secrets to gain an unfair advantage in developing AI technology. More from Yahoo Scout What potential damages is Musk seeking from OpenAI? What are xAI's main allegations against OpenAI? Why might the judge dismiss xAI's lawsuit against OpenAI? How does this case relate to Musk's broader legal battle? U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco said her "tentative view" is to grant OpenAI's motion to dismiss xAI's lawsuit, pending oral arguments on February 3. She also said tentatively that xAI could amend its claims if she dismissed its case. Lawyers for xAI and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk's startup sued OpenAI in September, accusing it of hiring xAI employees away to obtain confidential information related to the AI chatbot Grok. OpenAI, known for its ChatGPT chatbot, countered by accusing Musk of conducting a "campaign to harass a competitor with unfounded legal claims" because xAI could not keep up with ChatGPT. In a four-page filing outlining her thoughts, Lin said Musk's startup did not plausibly allege that OpenAI acquired or encouraged the theft of trade secrets, despite allegations that some former xAI employees downloaded source code before leaving. Lin also said it was not plausible to infer from xAI's complaint that OpenAI used xAI's trade secrets, or the former xAI employees used them on the job after joining OpenAI. The judge may also dismiss an unfair competition claim, saying xAI's poaching allegations "all focus on poaching in service of acquiring xAIs trade secrets and do not identify any other reason why the hiring of those employees was anticompetitive." Lin asked xAI and OpenAI to address her tentative reasoning at the hearing. The lawsuit is part of a broader legal battle between Musk and OpenAI, which he co-founded and is also suing over its conversion to a for-profit company. Musk, the world's richest person, is seeking as much as $134.5 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft in that case. Jury selection is scheduled for April 27. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) AN Errill woman has hailed two Paramedics as being her angels and heroes as they saved her life and comforted her during a traumatic situation. Pauline King says that if it hadn't been for the Birr-based ambulance men she would no longer be with us. She was at home on the night of February 21st last year, when, at 1.30am she suffered a massive heart attack. I had been watching the Late Late, she recalled. After that, Peadar (her husband) started to watch a film, but I was tired and went to bed. She woke up at 1.30am feeling very unwell. I felt terrible, really bad. There was a strange sensation in my body which I can only describe as being like insects buzzing. I told Peadar and we rang 999 immediately. The ambulance arrived in ten minutes. The paramedics, whose ambulance is based in John's Terrace, Birr, were Aidan Mooney and Seamus Pyke. We carried out a 12-lead ECG on Pauline which told us she was having a heart attack, said Aidan. We informed Limerick Hospital and then her heart stopped, transitioning from an attack to an arrest. We used the defibrillator, administering one shock and carried out CPR. Thankfully, her heart restarted and she came back almost immediately. Pauline said the Paramedics were wonderful. You can imagine how low and terrible I felt and they were so professional and kind. They held my hand and spoke kindly to me. They were like angels, heroes. And they brought me back, for which I am so grateful. Pauline, who is 70 years of age, said she is delighted to still be alive and she relishes, savours life; just being here fills her with gratitude. It's estimated that about 1 in 10 people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside a hospital situation survive the experience, therefore Pauline belongs to the 10% of survivors. I am so happy to be here, she reiterated. Seven or eight people living in the Errill area had heart attacks in the last couple of years and died, therefore I feel very lucky, blessed. She wonders if the Covid vaccines, or suffering bouts of Covid, perhaps weakened her heart. After leaving University Hospital Limerick, Pauline went back to work after six months, continuing her work as a Carer with the Irish Wheelchair Association. I am not the sort of person to stay at home. I need to get out and work, for a few hours a day at least. Thankfully I am well enough and strong enough now to once again do the job I love, being a Carer. The Midland Tribune asked Aidan and Seamus if there are enough Paramedics in the Midlands. There are never enough Paramedics, said Seamus. It would be good to have more of us out and about, attending emergencies. Aidan and Seamus were also full of praise for First Responders, pointing out that these volunteers fulfil a very important role. As a way of saying thank you and highlighting their good work Pauline asked The Midland Tribune to write this story. She also met Aidan and Seamus in The County Arms Hotel in Birr and treated them to lunch. READ NEXT: Increased ambulance service investment for Midlands and Birr welcomed The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) is inviting members of the public, and in particular community groups, anglers and individuals with an interest in water quality, to a community information meeting about water quality in Lough Derg on 12th February at 7pm in Killaloe Hotel & Spa, Kincora Harbour, Co. Clare, V94 W025. Representatives from LAWPRO will attend the meeting which will explore ways the local community can collaborate on projects to raise awareness of water quality and to help restore, protect, and enhance Lough Derg. While Lough Derg has been negatively impacted by growing pollution and faces significant challenges to restore its water quality, this meeting will further engage the active community that already exists and discuss new public participation opportunities to improve water quality in the lake. Barry Deane, LAWPROs Regional Co-ordinator in the South West, said: This community meeting is a chance for local people in Tipperary, Galway, Clare, Limerick and Offaly to take an active role in protecting Lough Derg. "By working together, we can develop practical solutions to improve water quality in the lake for both wildlife and the local community. "We encourage community groups, anglers, and locals to come to the meeting, share their knowledge, and be part of the effort to restore and enhance this important waterbody. READ NEXT: Black ice and speeding on Dunkerrin to Templemore road alarms councillors Funding opportunities for water quality related projects will be outlined at the meeting along with the work being coordinated by LAWPRO in the wider catchment. Work underway at a national level in five pilot catchment areas to establish Catchment Community Fora will also be discussed. These are structured local fora, designed to improve public participation within each pilot catchment and allow communities to develop local solutions for better water quality and environmental outcomes. The fora are part of a national pilot under Irelands current River Basin Management Plan, the Water Action Plan 2024. READ NEXT: 'An ecological disaster' - Councillors sound alarm over Shannon pipeline While the Lough Derg area is not one of the five pilot catchments, this collaborative model will be of particular interest to community groups, anglers and locals in the area. The community meeting is a free event, and all are welcome to attend. Tea/coffee will be provided. You can register for the meeting through LAWPROs Eventbrite page. For more information, visit the Local Authority Waters Programme website: www.lawaters.ie. Amid widespread revulsion at the behavior of the second Trump administration and its Republican loyalists, there is a curious tendency to blame Democrats for the slide of the United States toward fascism. As one enraged commentator put it recently, "the Democrats" have "let us down day by day by day". But, in fact, "the Democrats-- " at the grassroots and at the federal government level-- have repeatedly displayed overwhelming opposition to the right-wing Republican onslaught. By contrast, Republicans have almost uniformly backed Trump's priorities. Indeed, the gap between the two parties on most key issues has been enormous. The stance of grassroots Democrats on control of the economy is illustrative. A Gallup poll in August 2025 found that, asked about big business, only 17 percent of registered Democrats had a positive view of it, compared to 60 percent of Republicans. Furthermore, only 42 percent of Democrats regarded capitalism favorably, compared to 75 percent of Republicans. Indeed, 66 percent of Democrats had a positive view of socialism. On the hot issue of publicly-supported healthcare, a poll in late 2025 showed that 90 percent of Democrats-- but only 20 percent of Republicans-- backed Medicare for All. Moreover, as a September 2025 KFF poll revealed, even when it came to the much more modest program of extending health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there was a clear partisan division. Other surveys found even sharper differences between Democrats and Republicans. In August 2025, a Quinnipiac poll revealed that Trump's dispatch of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, had the backing of 86 percent of Republicans, but only 5 percent of Democrats. U.S. policy toward Israel also triggered significant partisan divisions. According to the August 2025 Quinnipiac poll, 75 percent of Democrats opposed sending more military aid to that nation for its Gaza campaign, while 56 percent of Republicans supported sending it. Indeed, 77 percent of Democrats thought Israel was committing genocide. By contrast, 64 percent of Republicans thought Israel was not. In January 2026, another Quinnipiac poll, conducted within days of Renee Good's murder by an ICE agent, found that 77 percent of Republicans surveyed thought the shooting was justified, but that 92 percent of Democrats surveyed considered it unjustified. Similarly, 77 percent of Republicans approved of how Kristi Noem was handling her job as Secretary of Homeland Security, while 85 percent of Democrats disapproved. A Data for Progress poll had comparable findings. The elected representatives of the two parties in Congress also displayed sharp partisan differences on major issues. In early April 2025, Senator Bernie Sanders, decrying the $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage as "a starvation wage", introduced the Raise the Wage Act. It would increase the minimum wage to $17 over five years and gradually eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers, youth workers, and workers with disabilities. When Sanders forced a vote on amending the Republicans' Senate Budget resolution to this effect, every Democrat voted for the measure, while every Republican but one opposed it, thereby killing it. 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). Oregon education officials this week justly celebrated the more than 40,000 members of the class of 2025 who crossed the stage to receive their high school diploma last spring. Those graduates boosted the states four-year graduation rate to 83%, the highest since the current measurement system was put in place over a dozen years ago. But another 8,200 students who began as freshmen in the fall of 2021 did not wind up with a diploma four years later, according to data released by the Oregon Department of Education earlier this week. About 1,200 of those students earned their GED instead of a high school diploma or got whats known as an extended diploma, which is reserved for students with highly complex medical or behavioral needs, who cannot easily juggle a full load of academic classes. And another roughly 1,800 took summer programming or are remaining in high school for a fifth year, working to complete all the credits needed to earn their diploma. The rest, about 5,000 students, are what the Oregon Department of Education calls non-completers, instead of the more commonly used term dropout. Such students could decide to return to their education in the future, state education leaders say. There are also many reasons that teens might decide to leave the school system behind, from falling overwhelmingly behind in their coursework to never feeling safe and welcome at school. Heres some of what newly released data from the state education agency tells us about those 5,000 or so teens: About 57% of them are male. Sixty-nine percent are from families experiencing poverty, which is around 3,400 students. Thats a much larger percentage than the 39% of students overall in the class of 2025 who are from families receiving some form of government aid, who are homeless or who are in the foster care system. About 40% of non-completers are either Indigenous, Black, Latino/Hispanic or Pacific Islanders, all groups that have historically been underserved by the public education system. Such students make up 31% of the entire pool of high school graduates. Among the larger Portland metropolitan area school districts, about 6.5% of Portland Public Schools students were classified as non-completers, 6% in Beaverton and Hillsboro and around 7.5% in Tigard-Tualatin and North Clackamas. In the Gresham-Barlow School District, that number rises to 14.5%; in the David Douglas School District, it is 13.3%. In Chinas Yunnan Province, a bowl of mushroom soup comes with a warning. Wait 15 minutes or prepare to meet the little people. When insufficiently cooked, a mushroom local to the region has earned a reputation for making diners see swarms of grinning inch-tall people scurrying around. Consumers would see the elf-like figures scaling the walls, squirming in their clothes, even hanging from their spoons as they went for another bite. The visions didnt end with dinner. Hallucinations of the teeny marchers are reported to last up to three days. This isns a typical caps-and-stems phenomenon. Similar visions from person to person is something rarely seen with psychedelic experiences. Hospital records showed that 96 percent of patients affected by this mushroom reported seeing the tiny humans. According to the BBC, scientists have begun closely examining a fungus known as Lanmaoa asiatica to explain the unusual phychoactive effect. Unlike familiar fungal psychedelics, the active substance in L. asiatica isnt psilocybin. Researchers have yet to isolate the compound responsible for the hallucinations. Current tests suggest it is not likely related to any other previously identified psychedelic substance. Colin Domnauer, a doctoral student in biology affiliated with both the University of Utah and the Natural History Museum of Utah, has devoted years to studying L. asiatica. It sounded so bizarre that there could be a mushroom out there causing fairytale-like visions reported across cultures and time, Domnauer said. I was perplexed and driven by curiosity to find out more. NANHUA, CHINA - AUGUST 08: A merchant arranges wild mushrooms for sale at a wild mushroom market during the 22nd Wild Mushroom Food Culture Festival on August 8, 2025 in Nanhua County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province of China. (Photo by Li Jiaxian/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) China News Service via Getty Ima According to Domnauer, the mushroom is far from rare or obscure. It is commonly sold in markets, regularly served in restaurants, and highly regarded for its deep, savory flavor. If cooked properly, the mushroom does not cause hallucinations. To gather specimens, Domnauer simply traveled to open-air fungi markets across Yunnan and asked vendors which mushroom makes you see little people. With a giggle they would gesture toward the correct basket in their booth and sell him exactly what he was after. Back in the lab, genomic sequencing confirmed the mushrooms identity. That analysis also revealed something unexpected. A mushroom from the Philippines associated with similar hallucinations turned out to be genetically identical to L. asiatica Indigenous communities in the remote Northern Cordillera of the Philippines have long harvested and eaten a wild mushroom that produces visions of small humanoid figures known as the ansisit. Locally called Sedesdem, the mushroom, like Yunnans Jian shou qing, is a culturally valued edible fungi that can induce consistent psychoactive effect. After making the discovery, Domnauer concluded that the same peculiar hallucinations (being) reported across such distant cultures indicates that these bizarre psychological effects are not cultural fabrications but manifestations of a shared underlying chemical and neurological basis. Accounts of these visions stretch back centuries. A prominent Daoist text from the 3rd century CE refers to a flesh spirit mushroom, which, according to the text, if eaten raw, allows one to see a little person and attain transcendence immediately. Archive photo Fairfax Media via Getty Images Modern reports are no less vivid. A professor in Yunnan described an evening meal after which he began perceiving swirling colors and shapes following a dish of stir-fried mushrooms. Recognizing the symptoms, the locals around him advised him to look for xiao ren ren, meaning little people. Lifting the tablecloth, he reported seeing hundreds of 2 cm high xiao ren ren, marching like soldiers. Stranger still, he noted, when I lifted the tablecloth higher, the heads came off and stuck to the bottom of the cloth and the bodies kept marching in place. Each year, hundreds of people in Yunnan Province end up hospitalized because of the little people. These intense and often frightening episodes may explain why people in China, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea do not seem to have a tradition of purposefully seeking out L. asiatica for its mind-altering effects. It was always just eaten for food, Domnauer noted, with hallucinations being an unexpected side-effect. Domnauer hopes that further study of L. asiatica will reveal new insights into how the brain generates hallucinations and help clarify rare cases of so-called lilliputian hallucinations. A Virginia man recently called in to The Ramsey Show for help with his familys finances, which he said are putting a strain on his marriage (1). Cody from Roanoke told cohosts Jade Warshaw and Rachel Cruze that he recently started making more money, but the more income I [bring] in, the more my wife likes to spend, and, at this point, he just cant keep up. Must Read While Cody and his wife may have differences in financial styles hes the saver and shes the spender the shows cohosts said that there might be other reasons at play for whats going on with his wifes spending, and their relationship. Debt and overspending Cody said that in addition to $7,000 in credit card debt, they have about $35,000 in medical debt after their youngest child had a medical issue and ended up in the ICU. On top of that, they bought a bigger car, to the tune of $50,000. We didn't have to, I guess we could have just kept going, Cody said, but my wife wanted to purchase a bigger vehicle for traveling and stuff. He told Warshaw and Cruze that he is the saver who likes to say no, and, you know, get the bills paid. But since purchasing the car, they are living paycheck to paycheck. They had $20,000 in savings, after selling a house that theyd invested in, but now their savings is down to about $5,000. Cody makes about $5,000 a month before taxes from his primary job, and he has a landscaping business that he says brings in a maximum of $2,000 a month. He and his wife have four children between them, and his wife stays home to take care of the kids, because day care costs would be too expensive. When Warshaw tried to dig into the numbers, to see what his wife was spending, Cody said monthly groceries added up to about $1,200. Well, that feels right, she said. When she asked Cody for an example of an area in the budget where his wife is overspending, he said we have our joint checking, which is what I feed the money to her through. If I tell her $100, it ends up being $150. Thats when Cruze chimed in. OK, Cody, youre not her dad, she said. Read More: The average net worth of Americans is a surprising $620,654. But it almost means nothing. Heres the number that counts (and how to make it skyrocket) Cruze said that while Codys wife may be out of bounds, if she is spending more than they earn, the way that Cody described their relationship in terms of finances sounded very separate. NEW YORK The Justice Department on Friday released many more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financiers sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with rich and powerful people such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest Epstein disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, posted to the departments website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release in December. Included in the batch were records concerning some of Epsteins famous associates, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Britains Prince Andrew, as well as email correspondence between Epstein and Elon Musk and other prominent contacts from across the political spectrum. The documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Lawmakers complained when the Justice Department made only a limited release last month, but officials said more time was needed to review an additional trove of documents that was discovered and to scour the records to ensure no sensitive information about victims was inadvertently released. Todays release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act, Blanche said at a news conference announcing the disclosure. Fridays disclosure represents the largest document dump to date about a saga the Trump administration has struggled for months to shake because of the presidents previous association with Epstein. State and federal investigations into the financier have long animated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and others who have suspected government cover-ups and clamored for a full accounting, demands that even Blanche acknowledged might not be satisfied by the latest release. Theres a hunger, or a thirst, for information that I dont think will be satisfied by the review of these documents, he said. After missing a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress to release all the files, the Justice Department said it tasked hundreds of lawyers with reviewing the records to determine what needed to be redacted, or blacked out. But it denied any effort to shield Trump, who says he cut ties with Epstein years ago despite an earlier friendship, from potential embarrassment. We did not protect President Trump. We didnt protect or not protect anybody, Blanche said. Among the materials withheld is information that could jeopardize any ongoing investigation or expose the identities of potential victims of sex abuse. Women other than Maxwell were redacted from videos and images being released Friday, Blanche said. The number of documents subject to review ballooned to roughly 6 million, including duplicates. Epsteins famous friends The latest batch of documents include correspondence either with or about some of Epsteins friends. Mountbatten-Windsors name appears at least several hundred times in the documents, sometimes in news clippings, sometimes in Epsteins private email correspondence and in guest lists for dinners organized by Epstein. Some of the records also document an attempt by prosecutors in New York to get the former prince to agree to be interviewed as part of their Epstein sex trafficking probe. The records also show that Musk, the billionaire Tesla founder, reached out to Epstein on at least two separate occasions to plan visits to the Caribbean island where many of the allegations of sexual abuse purportedly occurred. In a 2012 exchange, Epstein inquired how many people Musk would like flown by helicopter to the island he owned Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Probably just Talulah and me, Musk responded, referencing his partner at the time, actress Talulah Riley. What day/night will be the wildest party on our island? Musk messaged Epstein again ahead of a planned trip to the Caribbean in December 2013. Will be in the BVI/St Barts area over the holidays, he wrote. Is there a good time to visit? Epstein responded by extending an invite for sometime after the New Year holiday. Its not immediately clear if the island visits took place. Spokespersons for Musks companies, Tesla and X, didnt immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Musk has maintained that he repeatedly turned down the disgraced financiers overtures. Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED, he posted on X in 2025 when House Democrats released an Epstein calendar with an entry mentioning a potential Musk visit to the island. The documents also contain hundreds of friendly text messages between Epstein and Steve Bannon during Trumps first term. Bannon, a conservative activist who served as Trumps White House strategist earlier in the presidents first term, bantered over politics with the financier, discussed get-togethers with him over breakfast, lunch or dinner and, on March 29, 2019, asked Epstein if he could supply his plane to pick him up in Rome: Is it possible to get your plane here to collect me? Epstein told him his pilot and crew are doing their best to arrange that flight but if Bannon could find a charter flight instead, Im happy to pay. Apparently in France at the time, Epstein followed up with a text saying: My guys can pick you up. Come for dinner. The exchange did not show how that played out. On one occasion in December 2012, Epstein invited Howard Lutnick now Trumps commerce secretary to his private island in the Caribbean for lunch, documents released Friday show. Lutnicks wife, Allison Lutnick, enthusiastically accepted the invitation and said they would arrive on a yacht with their children. On another occasion in 2011, the two men had drinks, according to a schedule shared with Epstein. Lutnick has tried to distance himself from Epstein, saying in a 2025 interview that he cut ties decades ago and calling him gross. He didnt respond to a request for comment Friday. During Trumps first term, Epstein emailed Kathy Ruemmler, a lawyer and former Obama White House official, to warn that Democrats should stop demonizing Trump as a Mafia-type figure even as he derided the president as a maniac. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, where Ruemmler serves as general counsel and chief legal officer, said in a statement that Ruemmler had a professional association with Jeffrey Epstein when she was a lawyer in private practice and regrets ever knowing him. Building on the earlier release The Justice Department released tens of thousands of pages of documents just before Christmas, including photographs, interview transcripts, call logs and court records. Many were either already public or heavily blacked out. They included previously released flight logs showing Trump flew on Epsteins private jet in the 1990s, before they had a falling-out, and several photographs of Clinton. Neither Trump, a Republican, nor Clinton, a Democrat, has been publicly accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Both have said they had no knowledge he was abusing underage girls. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. In 2008 and 2009, Epstein served jail time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. At the time, investigators had gathered evidence that Epstein had sexually abused underage girls at his Palm Beach home. The U.S. attorneys office agreed not to prosecute him in exchange for his guilty plea to lesser state charges. In 2021, a federal jury in New York convicted Maxwell, a British socialite, of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of his underage victims. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence at a prison camp in Texas, after being moved there from a prison in Florida. She denies any wrongdoing. U.S. prosecutors never charged anyone else in connection with Epsteins abuse of girls, but one of his victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, accused him in lawsuits of having arranged for her to have sexual encounters at age 17 and 18 with numerous politicians, business titans, noted academics and others, all of whom denied her allegations. Among those she accused was Britains Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles amid the scandal. Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre but settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum. Giuffre died by suicide last year at age 41. --By Eric Tucker, Michael R. Sisak and Alanna Durkin Richer/The Associated Press Police declared a riot Friday in response to an hours-long protest at the Federal Building in downtown Eugene that included windows being broken at the building. Protesters breached the building and went inside, the Eugene police said in a statement. Federal officers reportedly used tear gas to try to prevent demonstrators from entering the building. Eugene police Chief Chris Skinner said his department responded to the scene when the actions of some protesters began clearly moving out of the peaceful realm and into riot behavior. He added there werent many federal officers at the building, and that support staff in the building were afraid. Police created a barrier between protesters and the building, and Skinner said officers were successful in de-escalating the situation and that they used no munitions. The protest at the building, at 211 E. 7th Avenue, started around noon and soon caused heavy congestion from 6th Avenue to 7th Avenue between Oak and Ferry streets, causing vehicle traffic to back up, police said. Demonstrators carried signs and called on federal immigration actions to end across the country. Protesters had been coming out to the Eugene Federal Building all week in the wake of a second person this month being shot to death in Minneapolis by federal officers. Activists had called a nationwide strike for Friday to support ending funding of federal immigration enforcement. On Friday, there was also a separate protest at City Hall in Springfield. OPB reported it included a tense moment when armed counter-protesters arrived on the scene but that the situation remained peaceful. Two powerful Oregon Democrats are cautioning against lawsuits the state could run into as lawmakers attempt to regulate the Trump administrations immigration crackdown, pitting them against activists eager to fight in court to prevent federal agents from covering their faces. The issue has taken on urgency for lawmakers in the wake of several high-profile immigration raids during which federal officers have smashed windows, held individuals at gunpoint, detained U.S. citizens and conducted operations in areas such as schools and hospitals, which have historically been avoided for immigration enforcement. Supporters say that the use of facial coverings by federal agents hampers efforts at accountability for excessive force and deepens mistrust in all law enforcement agencies across the board. Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills to regulate federal agents wearing masks. But in recent forums, Eugene-based House Speaker Julie Fahey and Senate Judiciary Chair Floyd Prozanski, both Democrats, spoke about the challenging legal landscape state lawmakers face when trying to regulate the actions of the federal government. Fahey controls which bills receive votes on the House floor and Prozanski rules over the committee most likely to consider mask-related bills, so their skepticism could doom efforts. Prozanski, a long-time municipal prosecutor, told the City Club of Eugene last week that he does not believe states can prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing masks. He pointed to the U.S Constitutions supremacy clause, which ensures that federal law supersedes conflicting state laws. Instead, he suggested that Oregon could require law enforcement to identify their agency and badge number or name on top of the mask itself. States could have that power under the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which delegates authority to states for issues over which the federal government does not have direct control, he said. This is one of those things that we can have a little more accountability for all officers, Prozanski said. I believe that the courts would find that that would be something that under the 10th Amendment, that we have the right as a state to set for public health and safety. Differing approaches Democrats are looking for different angles to regulate the conduct of ICE agents wearing masks. Senate Joint Resolution 203, led by Democratic Sen. James Manning Jr. of Eugene and Reps. Tom Andersen of Salem and Paul Evans of Monmouth, would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment in November to ban secret police, prohibiting law enforcement officers performing official duties in Oregon from wearing masks. It would also require them to wear official uniforms that clearly display the name of their governmental agency and the officers badge number. House Bill 4138, sponsored by Rep. Farrah Chaichi, D-Beaverton, and two dozen other Democrats, would require all law enforcement agencies operating in Oregon to adopt a policy restricting the use of facial coverings to narrow circumstances, such as for a medical necessity, undercover operation or SWAT assignment. The legislation would empower individuals to sue public agencies or individual officers in state court for damages, attorney fees or a court order when that policy is violated. A member of the public or a local government would be able to file an objection with a law enforcement agency, allowing them 120 days to correct their policy before legal action. An aide for Chaichi confirmed that amendments are forthcoming, including one that will remove the ability to sue individuals based on the legislation. Chaichi has met with Prozanski and Oregon law enforcement leaders, who have taken issue with the potential increased costs the policy could pass on to local police departments. Her bill introduced ahead of the legislative session that begins Monday does not adopt Prozanskis suggestion, and it also contains a slew of other provisions aimed at boosting the states sanctuary laws. The advocates that were working for think this is worthy of calling the question. Let the courts tell us no, especially because fascism isnt knocking at our doors anymore, it is knocking in peoples doors, Chaichi told the Capital Chronicle on Tuesday. We cant do nothing. Fahey, meanwhile, told reporters on Wednesday that shes focused on policies that will have the highest chance of withstanding a legal challenge. She noted that in California, where state lawmakers passed the nations first anti-masking law applicable to federal agents, ICE agents have ignored the law. We need to make sure that the policies we passed will make a difference on the ground for Oregonians, that they actually affect change, and that (they) have the highest likelihood of standing up in court, she said. Its those two values that were evaluating. The Trump administration in November sued to block the California laws implementation, and court arguments are ongoing. State attorneys agreed to hold off on enforcement until a federal judge rules on whether to grant a preliminary injunction preventing it from taking effect. Advocates for Chaichis anti-masking legislation, including Oregons chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, are more confident Oregons proposed legislation will stand muster in the courts because it doesnt specifically target federal agents. Californias law, for instance, exempts state law enforcement and creates criminal and civil penalties for local and federal law enforcement. A 2021 Oregon law requires local law enforcement working crowds in large cities to display their first and last name along with their identifying numbers. Feds still have a case regardless of tweaks, expert says Prozanskis office did not respond to requests for comment seeking clarification on his position. But any legislation dealing with masking and law enforcement accountability would need to pass through the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs. One legal expert, however, told the Capital Chronicle that he still had doubts over whether the approach he put forth would stand in court if challenged by the Trump administration. Its a fairly modest intervention, but it would still be a direct regulation of the conduct of federal immigration enforcement, said Noah Chauvin, professor of law at the University of Oklahoma. Oregon Republicans, meanwhile, have yet to stake out a clear position on the matter. House Minority Leader Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, told reporters Wednesday that many in the Legislature would agree that we dont want to see violence, and we dont want to see people scared. She attributed the heightened tensions to Oregons sanctuary laws, which prevent local and state law enforcement from assisting immigration enforcement without a court order. We do need to remember that these are law enforcement people at all levels. I respect law enforcement. I stand with law enforcement. Wow, do they have a hard job to do, she said. Theyre putting their lives on the line for you and me and all of us to keep us safe. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has allowed agents to masks in light of concerns over doxing, though it has failed to provide transparent data backing up its assertion that threats against officers are dramatically on the rise. Meanwhile, the FBI has warned law enforcement agencies that impersonators are exploiting ICEs increased presence to get away with committing crimes, urging them to identify themselves. In Californias lawsuit, a federal judge earlier this month expressed skepticism over whether ICE agents needed to wear masks in the first place. But if that judge upheld the policy and denied a preliminary injunction, theres a significant likelihood that on appeal Californias anti-masking law would be struck down, Chauvin said. Even without an official policy from the Homeland Security Department authorizing masking by federal agents, he said that guidance from top Trump administration officials allowing the practice is enough to show that this is something thats within the scope of their powers. That would be true even if Oregon took on Prozanskis idea of allowing masks with identification, he argued. ICE is engaged in far more aggressive immigration enforcement operations than it was a year ago, and its being more aggressive in how it interacts with the public. Its facing a lot more resistance than it was a year ago, he said. I can see that raising legitimate safety concerns on the part of some ICE officers just as it raises incredibly legitimate safety concerns on the part of the public. -- Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle Direct cash assistance from the state is helping homeless Oregon youth find housing, according to the results of a pilot program that concluded last year. In February 2023, the Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program at the Oregon Department of Human Services began providing 120 youth in Multnomah, Clackamas and Deschutes counties ages 18-24 experiencing homelessness with $1,000 monthly until January 2025. By the end of the two-year period, 94% of participants reported they were housed. Many also reported that they had improved their financial literacy skills, such as learning how to budget and build credit skills that allowed them to leave unsafe or unstable situations. The results of the pilot Direct Cash Transfer Plus program are encouraging and a worthwhile investment, said Matthew Rasmussen, program manager for the Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program. If somebody is really wanting to explore how to slow and end chronic homelessness among adults, then we need to do something to stop young people from entering it, Rasmussen said. Young adults aged 18 to 24 experience the highest poverty rates of any age group, according to research from the University of California, Berkley. In 2024, Oregon had the second highest rate of unsheltered unaccompanied youth in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Based on responses from about half of the programs participants, 80% of participants became homeless because of a family disruption. Forty-three percent said they had experienced physical abuse by a partner and 71% said they had experienced violence of some kind. The program prioritized underrepresented populations. That includes young parents, who made up 43% of participants by the end of the period. Forty-six percent of participants also reported they had experience in the foster care and justice system. More than half of participants were women, while 30% were male and 18% identified as transgender or gender inclusive. Gabrielle Huffman, a Bend resident, said the program helped her move into a place where she could heal, grow and plan for a sustainable future. Just one year after completing (the program), Im in my own place, halfway through a business degree, focused on building a stable, secure foundation for my daughter and myself, and working toward becoming a nonprofit leader who supports her community. To participate, the youth regularly met with case managers. They also had access to a one-time $3,000 enrichment fund during the two years, which helped them pay not just for housing, but for school expenses, car purchases and to build savings. Oregon is the second of its kind in the nation to implement the direct cash transfer program after New York City. Funded through the Oregon Department of Human Services, the goal of the program is to let youth choose how to spend their money and empower them to make investments in their own well-being. Oregons results confirm what we saw in New York: When you cover the real cost of shared housing directly for two years and pair it with support young people stay housed, said Larry Cohen, the cofounder and executive director at Point Source Youth, an organization that provided technical assistance to Oregon as it implemented the program. This isnt complicated. Stability takes time, and flexible cash gives young people the breathing room to build it. The direct cash transfer program is already underway for a second cohort. Payments began in September and have expanded to Jackson County. Funding for the latest round includes $240,000 worth in legislative appropriations and a $1 million grant from nonprofit Oregon Community Foundation. -- Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle The Oregon Capital Chronicle, founded in 2021, is a nonprofit news organization that focuses on Oregon state government, politics and policy. While immigration arrests appear to have fallen dramatically in January in Oregon, the people who help document the Trump administrations sweep are on high alert for a possible surge in the state. Volunteer observers say they remain hyper-vigilant in the wake of the killing of Alex Pretti a week ago in Minneapolis and a cryptic comment in a media report that Oregon was next. The Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition has seen a sharp increase of people who want to help, said Alyssa Walker Keller, a coordinator with the group that tracks and verifies immigration arrests in Oregon. I would be lying if I said that people arent afraid, Walker Keller said. I think a lot of people are looking at this as one of those moments that scared is what brave is for. Immigration arrests in Oregon appear to have almost doubled overall from years past to more than 2,000 but only rough comparisons are possible given little information released by U.S. Homeland Security officials. Since July, the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition has received reports of 1,146 arrests in Oregon - a likely undercount, Walker Keller said. But in January, the hotline logged only 78 arrest reports compared to 251 in December. Most arrests have been in Multnomah, Washington and Marion counties, according to the groups data. Walker Killer said immigrant rights advocates attribute the recent downward trend to the federal governments Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, where thousands of agents have converged. Last Saturday, agents beat and shot Pretti on a Minneapolis street as he held a phone and tried to help a fellow observer off the ground after she was pushed by an officer. Prettis death followed the fatal shooting two weeks earlier of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis as she tried to drive away. Video footage from witnesses to both shootings contradict federal accounts of the killings, which have ignited a national backlash of protests, the ousting of the Border Patrol commander from Minnesota and more calls to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. NBC News on Wednesday quoted an unnamed former White House official saying that Oregon was next in line for a targeted sweep. I think it shows why its important that were out here, said a 30-year-old volunteer who typically works as an observer in the Aloha area. It shows that theres danger in being out here, but it also shows why its necessary because we wouldnt know about these shootings if there werent other folks out there filming. The volunteer asked not to be named because of fear of retribution by federal authorities. In Salem on Thursday, Latinos Unidos Siempre, reported that ICE officers smashed the window of a U.S. citizen during a random traffic stop after apparently racially profiling the driver. Sandra Hernandez, director of the immigrant rights group, said the woman was injured after agents smashed her car window and dragged her out. They left her in the middle of the street after she showed the agents her passport card, Hernandez said. She said the woman asked not to release her name because she was still recovering. On Saturday, Oregons largest labor union, SEIU 503, identified the woman by only her first name, Maria, and said she suffered a concussion, a torn rotator cuff and bruised ribs. Shes a member of the union, which represents some state workers, home care givers and other health care workers. Maria was on her way to pay rent and to buy a cake for her grandsons birthday when the incident happened, the union said. We know theres a possibility of ICE becoming more active in the community, Hernandez said. Its important that folks know what resources are available. 2,100 arrests in Oregon In the first public disclosure of overall immigration enforcement numbers in Oregon, a Homeland Security spokesperson said this week that agents have arrest more than 2,100 people in the state since President Donald Trump took office. Thats close to twice as many the 1,171 ICE arrests in Oregon in 2017, the last year of full data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, which used to track national immigration data. Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, didnt answer questions about potential plans for a large-scale immigration operation in Oregon. She said the arrests likely would be higher if Oregon werent a sanctuary state. In 1987, Oregon became the first in the nation to prohibit local law enforcement cooperation with federal authorities for immigration enforcement. Walker Keller said more people have contacted with the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition over the last week wanting to become legal observers or community-based watchers. Legal observers undergo more intensive training to collect documentation on the ground that may be used in an immigrants legal case. Migra Watch volunteers typically are part of a rapid-response network that go to scenes of immigration arrests to monitor for safety and support. Its kind of like earthquake preparedness or fire drills, Walker Keller said. We want to be prepared so that were not figuring it out on the fly. Muscle memory is really helpful in those situations when theyre really stressful. U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, recently did a two-hour ride-along with a volunteer in Yamhill County and said the teams play a critical accountability role. It takes three different bucks. It is going to take Congress, it is going to take the court, and is is going to take community to be able to hold this administration, to hold ICE and Customs and Border Patrol accountable for their murderous action, Salinas said. When the three work in tandem, this will work and we will keep our community safe. A 44-year-old volunteer observer in the Beaverton area said she had a message for ICE: Were ready to protect our neighbors, because its the right thing to do. We outnumber you, and we always will. And thats why we will win. A 23-year-old volunteer observer in Woodburn said she and others in Oregon see themselves in Good and Pretti. We start to think like that could have been us, that could have been anybody, she said. I know personally, I see myself a lot in Alex because he was a health care worker, Im a health care worker. We are built different if someone is in need, we run towards them, not away. We dont necessarily stop if theres any danger. Its kind of the last thing we think of. Both observers also asked not to be named for safety reasons. Weve had some wins Volunteers in Minneapolis this week offered tips for others across the country in a call-in training meeting, organized by Showing Up for Racial Justice, that drew more than 2,000 listeners. The national group organizes white people across the country to fight for racial and economic justice. A volunteer in Minneapolis who identified herself only as Sophie urged people to take action in their cities. She and others said their work is starting to make a difference. Weve had some wins, this administration has take a step, maybe a half step back and we won this battle, she said. But were still very much at work. Weve been building power and we are literally seeing it come to fruition in real time. In Oregon, Walker Keller said people should have the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition hotline 888-622-1510 saved on their phones and continue to record immigration activity from a safe distance, she said. People who could be at risk should work on a family preparedness plan and make sure people they trust have all their biographical information and their immigration case information, immigrant advocates said. They should identify who will take care of their children, who will pick up the car and who has an extra set of keys to their home, for example. People can also call the Oregon Department of Justices sanctuary hotline to report violations of the law by local officials and law enforcement officers at 844-626-7276. The hotline saw a significant increase of calls from June through the end of the year, with a total of 278 calls during those seven months. People also should take time to care for themselves, Walker Keller said. We will lose the movement if we lose our capacity for joy, she said. Its really important right now to make sure that were prioritizing what were fighting for, not just what were fighting against. Protesters across the U.S. were calling for no work, no school, no shopping as part of a nationwide strike on Friday to oppose the Trump administrations immigration crackdown. The demonstrations were taking place amid widespread outrage over the killing of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was shot multiple times after he used his cellphone to record Border Patrol officers conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. The death heightened scrutiny over the administrations tactics after the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was fatally shot behind the wheel of her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. In Portland, businesses wrestled Friday with whether to close to support the strike or stay open to support their workers. Some that remained open chose to direct a portion of their profits to groups such as the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition. Meanwhile, hundreds of students gathered at Glenhaven Park in Northeast Portland near McDaniel High School on Friday afternoon. Portland-area students gather at Glenhaven Park during the general strike on Jan. 30 to protest ICE Vickie Connor | The Oregonian/OregonLive McDaniel sophomore Viola DeVigal, 15, was a main organizer of Fridays protest. I was advocating a lot for students to not go to school today and to strike, she said. I didnt want people to just stay home and do nothing, so I was looking for protests to go to. But there werent any, she said. I decided to just kind of create my own, she said. It was her first. DeVigal said seeing the turnout about 500 people around 3 p.m. was really impactful. She urged others to get involved. It was really empowering, and it felt really great to just see so many faces of my community and of my peers showing up to support people struggling right now, DeVigal said. I hope people take away that we all have the power to do something, and if we all do it, then we can change. McDaniel High School sophomore Viola DeVigal, 15, was the main organizer for Fridays protest. Hundreds of Portland students marched out of school as part of the nationwide protest on January 30, 2026. Isabel Funk/The Oregonian Ben Simon, a University of Portland student, said the events turnout was inspiring. Human rights violations are very rampant right now, Simon said. It was very heartwarming and inspiring to see a lot of people very impassioned and showing up in a way that I have not seen before Protesting ICE is being on the right side of history." Portland-area students gather at Glenhaven Park during the general strike on Jan. 30 to protest ICE Vickie Connor | The Oregonian/OregonLive Nick Soh, 34, said seeing a younger generation protesting was powerful. Theyre really passionate, he said. It doesnt matter who you are, your voice matters. Soh said hes started joining more protests within the past month and it helps him feel less powerless. It does feel productive to actually get out and feel like we have some power, he said. Just outside Minneapolis, hundreds gathered in the frigid cold early Friday at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, the site of regular protests in recent weeks. After speeches from clergy members, demonstrators marched toward the facilitys restricted area, jeering at a line of Homeland Security agents to quit your jobs and get out of Minnesota. Much of the group later dispersed after they were threatened with arrest by local law enforcement for blocking the road. Michelle Pasko, a retired communications worker, said she joined the demonstration after witnessing federal agents stopping immigrants at a bus stop near her home in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Theyre roaming our streets, theyre staying in hotels near our schools, she said. Everyone in this country has rights, and the federal government seems to have forgotten that. Were here to remind them. The Associated Press and Oregonian journalists Vickie Connor and Isabel Funk contributed reporting. It didn't take long for Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) to move past its embarrassing service outage two weeks ago. All it took was for the telecom giant to hit a home run with its 2025 full-year and fourth-quarter results. Verizon's shares soared after the company provided its Q4 update on Friday morning. And if you love Verizon's forward dividend yield of 6.4%, you'll especially like what management had to say. Verizon just gave income investors three new reasons to be optimistic. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks 1. Robust free cash flow growth When it comes to paying dividends, free cash flow is king. Verizon reported free cash flow of $20.1 billion in 2025, up from $19.8 billion in the previous year. However, that wasn't the best news. Verizon's guidance projects the company's free cash flow will grow by at least 7% year over year on 2026 to $21.5 billion. If the telecom leader achieves this goal, it would be the highest free cash flow that Verizon has generated since 2020. 2. Accelerating earnings Many income investors rely on dividend payout ratios as the primary metric for evaluating the safety of a dividend. Verizon already enjoys a healthy payout ratio of 58%, but it's probably about to get even more attractive. Dividend payout ratios are calculated by dividing the total dividends paid by earnings (either on an aggregate or per-share basis). The higher the earnings, the lower the payout ratio -- and the safer the dividend usually will be. Image source: Verizon Communications. Verizon projects adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of between $4.90 and $4.95 in 2026. This range reflects year-over-year growth of 4% to 5%. This growth also represents what the company called "a significant acceleration compared to recent historical performance." 3. An improving underlying business Generating robust free cash flow and increasing earnings is only possible when a company's underlying business is strong. Perhaps the best news for income investors is that Verizon's underlying business is improving noticeably. CEO Dan Shulman said in the Q4 update, "Verizon is at a critical inflection point." He believes the company is at "the beginning of our turnaround." The numbers appear to back up his enthusiasm. Verizon posted its highest quarterly postpaid phone net additions since 2019. Wireless services revenue rose 1.1% to $21 billion in Q4. Wireless equipment revenue jumped 9.1% year over year to $8.2 billion. The company further deleveraged its balance sheet, with net unsecured debt declining to $110.1 billion at the end of Q4 2025 from $113.7 billion at the end of the prior year period. A Norman High School Spanish teacher has been named a recipient of the 2026 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence by the nonprofit Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Darcy Pippins, Norman High world languages department chair, will be formally honored at the Academic Awards Celebration on May 2 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The award is given to exceptional teachers for their passion and innovation, commitment to professional growth and extraordinary impact on student learning, according to the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Pippins has worked for NPS for 28 years, during which she helped launch an elementary Spanish program that was awarded the global engagement initiative award in 2016 by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. NEWSLETTERS * required Thank you for subscribing! Email * Please enter a valid email address First Name Last Name A few times a week FREE SIGN UP Subscribing... During her time at OU, Pippins explored majors in art and pharmacy before deciding on Spanish. Without any student teaching experience, she then passed the teacher certification test and was hired at Norman High in 1998 as an alternative certified teacher. Pippins said she aims to teach her students the importance of learning about culture and society when studying a language. I dont just focus on Spanish, said Pippins. Im teaching Spanish, but theyre learning the history, or theyre learning the geography, or theyre learning about the food, the culture. As a finalist for the same award last year, Pippins was familiar with the nomination process. However, she did not anticipate she would win this year. They were talking about this wonderful teacher and this award, and then they say my name, Pippins recalled. I was in total shock. It's a great honor and Im extremely excited. Pippins said she hopes the award will give her a platform to make an impact. Pippins has previously been named Oklahoma World Language Teacher of the Year, Southwest Regional World Language Teacher of the Year and a finalist for National Teacher of the Year for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Pippins is also a National Board Certified Teacher, former president of the Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers Association and current NPS Spanish Language Academy advisory board member. At the Academic Awards Celebration, Pippins will receive a $5,000 reward, a medallion and a commemorative sculpture. Pippins is excited for the future of world languages and hopes Oklahoma will be ready to make language learning a priority again. Darcy Pippins exemplifies what it means to be an exceptional educator, said Superintendent Nick Migliorino in a release from NPS. Her influence extends far beyond her classroom, shaping future educators and opening doors for students across our district. This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure. Larkin Bock and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story. Editor's Note This article contains mention of sexual assault. Resources to report sexual assault are listed at the bottom of the article. The OU Police Department reported a sexual assault by an unknown male suspect Saturday morning at a university residence hall. According to an alert from OUPD, a woman reported being sexually assaulted Saturday morning between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. in a university residence hall room by an unknown male suspect. The woman first encountered the suspect on Campus Corner. The alert does not specify which residential hall the reported assault occurred in. NEWSLETTERS * required Thank you for subscribing! Email * Please enter a valid email address First Name Last Name A few times a week FREE SIGN UP Subscribing... The alert described the suspect as a white male, 180 pounds, approximately 6 feet, 1 inch tall with brown hair and brown eyes. The investigation is ongoing, according to the alert. The Daily reached out to OUPD for more information but communications personnel were not able to be reached for comment over the weekend. OUs annual security and fire safety report released in October showed rape incidents on campus more than tripled, rising from four in 2023 to 13 reported instances on campus property in 2024. In on-campus housing, 11 instances of rape were reported in 2024, an increase from three incidents reported in 2023. Resources For more information on reporting student, faculty or staff issues related to gender equity, harassment, sexual assault or misconduct and domestic violence, community members can visit the Institutional Equity Offices website, email ieo@ou.edu or call 405-325-2215. Community members can also contact the 24-hour reporting hotline with reports of bias, discrimination, harassment or misconduct. The hotline can be reached at 844-428-6531. Additionally, OU Advocates is a confidential advocate and referral resource for sexual assault or misconduct issues for students, faculty or staff that can be contacted through their website or anytime at 405-615-0013. This story was edited by Audrey McClour. Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) is one of the Best 52-Week Low Stocks to Invest In. Wall Street is bullish on Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) ahead of its fiscal Q4 2025 earnings, expected to be released on February 11, 2026. The Street expects the company to post quarterly revenue around $32.08 billion, along with a negative GAAP EPS of $4.08. Recently, on January 27, David S Macdonald from Truist Financial reiterated a Hold rating on the stock without disclosing any price targets. On the same day, Lance Wilkes from Bernstein reiterated a Buy rating on Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) with a $344 price target. On January 27, Piper Sandler released a research note discussing the impact of Medicare Advantage Advance Notice on healthcare stocks. Medicare Advantage is a private insurance alternative to traditional Medicare, which covers roughly half of the US seniors. The latest notice sets a benchmark for insurers such as Humana Inc, which is expected to directly impact revenue and profit margins. Moreover, on the same day, Reuters reported that the Trump administration has proposed a much smaller than expected increase in 2027 Medicare Advantage rates. Since the news, the share price of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) has fallen more than 24%, bringing it close to its 52-week lows. Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) is a leading health insurance and well-being company focused on Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid services, and specialty insurance products for individuals and employer groups. While we acknowledge the potential of HUM as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Colorado lawmakers are moving forward with two bills designed to protect students with disabilities and minorities from discrimination after the federal government reduced its ability to enforce civil rights laws in schools. State Representatives Jacque Phillips and Jennifer Bacon introduced the proposals this week to create new pathways for families to report discrimination when their children face harassment or unequal treatment at school. The bills come in response to the Trump administration's cuts to the federal Office of Civil Rights, which has drastically reduced staffing and shifted focus away from investigating complaints involving students of color, minorities, and those with disabilities. State Bills Address Gap in Federal Protection Phillips' bill would give the Colorado Department of Education the power to investigate and resolve complaints from parents whose children are not receiving required accommodations under Section 504 plans, according to CPR. These agreements outline what services students with disabilities need, such as extra time on tests or elevator access to classrooms. Currently, only the federal Office of Civil Rights handles these complaints, but federal staff cuts have slowed responses significantly. Parents say they file complaints and never hear back about their cases. Bacon's bill takes a broader approach by defining what counts as discrimination in schools and creating a clear process for parents to file complaints about discriminatory practices, bullying, and unequal access to programs. Under her proposal, the Colorado Civil Rights Division would investigate these cases and report to lawmakers on how many complaints it receives and the outcomes. Parents would have 180 days to file a complaint instead of the current 60 days, giving families more time to report problems. Read more: Washington Parents Bill of Rights Initiative Heads to November 2026 Ballot After Legislature Declines Action Support from Advocates and Budget Concerns Ahead State Senator Chris Kolker is expected to co-sponsor both bills. The legislation represents about a year of work by the lawmakers after the Trump administration eliminated seven of the federal Office of Civil Rights' twelve offices, Denver7 reported. The Denver office, which now covers Colorado along with surrounding states, went from 36 employees to 24 staff members while its caseload jumped from 628 cases to nearly 2,800. The federal office has also shifted direction to focus on diversity programs rather than investigating discrimination complaints. Civil rights groups, including Disability Law Colorado and the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States, have announced support for both bills. Advocates say the measures would protect families who feel abandoned by federal agencies and give students a faster path to getting the help they need. The bills may face budget challenges, however. Colorado currently faces an $850 million budget deficit, and implementing these programs could require additional funding for state agencies, as per Chalkbeat. Pennsylvania State Representatives Jill Cooper and Tim Briggs introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow school districts to use grant money to implement later start times for middle and high school students, addressing widespread sleep deprivation affecting adolescents across the state. House Bill 2152, introduced on Jan. 21, 2026, permits secondary schools to access funds from the School Safety and Mental Health Grant Program to offset costs related to implementing later start times. The bill recommends that classes begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m., a schedule aligned with scientific research on adolescent sleep needs. Understanding the Science Behind Teen Sleep Deprivation According to data cited by lawmakers, approximately 80 percent of teenagers in the United States are sleep deprived. Dr. Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh who worked with Representative Cooper on the bill, emphasized that teen sleep deprivation stems from biological factors rather than lifestyle choices. She explained that hormonal changes during puberty cause teenagers' brains to naturally fall asleep later and wake up later, according to CBS News. The legislation allows school districts to voluntarily adopt later start times rather than mandating a statewide change. This approach gives local school boards flexibility to decide whether later start times fit their community's needs while providing financial resources to help with the transition. Many Pennsylvania secondary schools currently begin classes before the recommended 8:30 a.m. start time, with most districts starting between 7:30 a.m. and 7:59 a.m. The early schedules conflict with research showing that teenagers require eight to ten hours of sleep each night for optimal academic performance, physical health, and emotional well-being. Sleep deprivation among adolescents has been linked to numerous negative outcomes. Dr. Fong-Isariyawongse noted that insufficient sleep impacts academic performance, grades, grade point averages, and mental health. Research also connects sleep deprivation to higher rates of car accidents, injuries, substance abuse, and aggressive behaviors among teenagers. Read more: New Jersey School District Consolidation Bill Could Force Mergers Without Voter Approval Building on Previous Sleep Research and Legislative Efforts The grant program would help school districts cover expenses associated with changing school schedules, including modifications to bus routes, adjustments to after-school programs, and other operational changes, WDAC reported. By tapping into existing School Safety and Mental Health Grant Program funding, the legislation aims to remove financial barriers that might prevent districts from considering later start times. The proposal builds on previous Pennsylvania legislative efforts to address teen sleep deprivation. In 2018, the state Senate adopted Senate Resolution 417, directing the Joint State Government Commission to study secondary school start times. The commission's October 2019 report, titled "Sleep Deprivation in Adolescents: A Case for Delaying Secondary School Start Times," recommended that secondary schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later. Representative Cooper, a Republican from Westmoreland County, and Representative Briggs, a Democrat from Montgomery County, are leading the bipartisan effort. The bill has been referred to the House Education Committee for consideration, as per legiscan. A printing company has expanded into Lancaster. Christopher Shaw opened SpeedPro Lancaster at 1009 N. Prince St. earlier this month. SpeedPro Lancaster offers a wide range of large-format printing services, including vehicle wraps, wall murals, custom signage, and branded graphics. The shop is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Shaw has owned SpeedPro of West Chester in West Goshen Township, Chester County, for three years. Weve seen firsthand how impactful high-quality visual branding can be for local businesses, Shaw said in a news release. Expanding into Lancaster allows us to bring the same level of service, speed, and expertise weve built in West Chester to a new community. Our goal is to become a trusted partner for businesses looking to grow and stand out. SpeedPro has 130 franchise locations in the United States, including one in Lemoyne. A 64-year-old Lancaster County man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his estranged wife and sister-in-law and critically wounding his son during an argument over who would cook dinner. Santiago Payano-Sanchez, of West Hempfield Township, on Friday pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and possessing an instrument of crime. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, according to the county district attorneys office. A 2010 protection from abuse order said Payano-Sanchez previously threatened his wifes life. 7 1 / 7 Two women killed at Lancaster County home On Oct. 5, 2025, Payano-Sanchez shot the three victims at a home on the 2100 block of Oak Hollow Drive during an argument over who would cook dinner that night, the DAs office said. Payano-Sanchez shot his 33-year-old son in the abdomen as the pair wrestled for the gun. The son survived his injuries, but still has bullet fragments inside his body. Ana Gutierrez-Cedano, Payano-Sanchezs 59-year-old wife who uses a wheelchair, and his 74-year-old sister-in-law, Dominga Cedano-Cedano, were both killed. After shooting Gutierrez-Cedano, Payano-Sanchez went upstairs and fatally shot the 74-year-old woman. The gun used in the shootings was lawfully owned by Payano-Sanchez. He had no prior criminal convictions, according to online court records. Two children inside the home, ages 2 and 7, witnessed the violence but were uninjured. In court, Payano-Sanchez could not explain why the argument escalated to a deadly shooting and asked his family for forgiveness, the DAs office said. I need to face what the law is imposing on me, he said. In a letter to the court, Cedano-Cedanos daughter said the death of her mother has left a void that can never be filled. Our family will carry this trauma for the rest of our lives, the daughter wrote while explaining she lives with PTSD and struggles to sleep. West Hempfield Township Police requested a Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) after responding to the home, but Payano-Sanchez surrendered to police before they arrived. In addition to his two life sentences, Payano-Sanchez was also ordered to pay more than $11,000 in restitution and to end all contact with the victims. Note: The DAs office in October 2025 said Cedano-Cedano was Gutierrez-Cedanos sister, but a Friday release listed Cedano-Cedano as both Gutierrez-Cedanos aunt and Payano-Sanchezs sister-in-law. The wheat complex continued strength on Thursday, with contracts higher across the three exchanges. Chicago SRW futures close with contracts 5 to 6 cents in the green. KC HRW futures were up 4 to 5 cents in the front months. Thursday. MPLS spring wheat was 7 to 9 cents higher at the close. Export Sales data released this morning showed wheat sales for the week ending on January 22 at 558,201 MT. That was back down from last week but 22.39% above the same week last year. The largest buyer was Japan at 141,300 MT, with 96,800 MT sold to Mexico and 90,500 TM to Nigeria. More News from Barchart Monthly Census trade data totaled 1.616 MMT (59.4 mbu) during November, a 5-year high for the month. The European Commission estimates EU wheat production at 134.2 MMT, down 0.2 MMT from last month. Ending stocks are up 1.3 MMT, with exports 1.5 MMT lower to 29.5 MMT. Mar 26 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.41 1/2, up 5 1/2 cents, May 26 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.50 1/4, up 5 3/4 cents, Mar 26 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.47, up 4 3/4 cents, May 26 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.57 3/4, up 5 cents, Mar 26 MIAX Wheat closed at $5.82 1/2, up 7 1/2 cents, May 26 MIAX Wheat closed at $5.95 1/2, up 8 1/4 cents, On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com Lancaster Police this week charged a 22-year-old man with aggravated assault and related offenses after he shot a teenage girl during a domestic dispute, according to a police report. Around 2:15 a.m. Jan. 27, police were dispatched to the 500 block of South Pearl Street for a shots fired call. Officers arrived and found a girl with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. The police report did not include any additional information about the victims condition. Investigators later determined the shooting took place during a domestic incident. On Jan. 28, police charged Darius Edmond, of Lancaster, with four counts of aggravated assault, a first-degree felony, and four counts of recklessly endangering another person. He is also charged with firearms not to be carried without a license and simple assault. Edmond has a warrant for his arrest. Anyone with information regarding Edmonds whereabouts is asked to call 911 or leave an anonymous tip through Crimewatch. Grady Demond Wilsons work still stands up. Playing the role he was best known for Lamont Sanford, the son of Fred Sanford on the hit show Sanford and Son he brought laughs into the living rooms of millions for decades. Wilson, 79, died Friday morning at his home in Palm Springs, California. Wilsons son, Demond Wilson Jr., told TMZ that his father died from complications related to cancer. I loved him, Wilson Jr. told TMZ. He was a great man. Wilson played Lamont Sanford on the show from 1972 through 1977. The beloved shows re-runs continue to air today. Wilson has a long list of acting credits with the last coming in 2023 for the TV series Eleanors Bench. Wilson took a long break from acting prior to that appearance, with his last credit before 2023 coming in 2004 and 2005 on the series Girlfriends. he also starred in 18 episodes of The New Odd Couple in 1982 and 1983, and starred in the 1993 film, Me and the Kid. Other credits include Full Moon High, Todays F.B.I., and The Love Boat. Wilson was a native of Valdosta, Georgia, and prior to his acting career he enlisted in the United States Army where he served from 1966 through 1968. Wilson was a member of the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam and was wounded. He returned home and began working on Broadway and off-Broadway stage productions. He has several acting credits in television and film along the way before landing his role on Sanford and Son. Direct flights to Chicago OHare International Airport will be available from Lancaster Airport as soon as this spring, following SkyWests selection for the airports Essential Air Service Contract. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday morning that it has awarded SkyWest a contract that will run from March 1 through the end of 2029. The exact start date will be finalized between SkyWest and Southern Airways Express, the current contractor that SkyWest will replace. SkyWest, operating as United Express, plans to provide 12-round-trip flights per week between Lancaster and OHare, using 50-seat CRJ200 jets. It will receive between $5.1 million and $5.6 million per year in federal subsidies during the contract which translates to $4,274 per flight and $184 per passenger. A SkyWest spokesperson wrote in an email to LNP LancasterOnline on Friday that the airline plans to offer the flights seven days a week, but is still finalizing the schedule, pricing and start date. Airport officials previously estimated that a new contractor could begin service one to two months after the contract was awarded. We anticipate the flights will be starting in the coming months and will be working closely with the airport and current air carrier to support a smooth transition for passengers, spokesperson Wes Horrocks wrote. Southern currently flies from Lancaster to Washington Dulles International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport using nine-seat turboprop aircraft. It has been Lancasters EAS contractor since 2013 and has a regional maintenance hub at the airport. Its contract, which provided $3.1 million in subsidies last year, was recently extended through March 31 or until a new contractor was chosen. The airline hasnt said whether it will continue operating those routes once SkyWest takes over. SkyWest was chosen over three other proposals: Southern, Breeze Airways and Boutique Air. Breezes proposed flights to Raleigh-Durham International Airport received the most public comments in support. However, the Department of Transportation said that SkyWests proposal was better because it provides access to a large hub and the ability to book one ticket with a larger air carrier, United. SkyWest has proposed to provide service to ORD, which is a large hub airport, and SkyWests codeshare with United Airlines, which operates a hub at ORD, will provide Lancaster passengers numerous connections to the national air transportation system, the department wrote in its announcement. A Breeze spokesperson wrote in an email to LNP LancasterOnline on Friday that its unsubsidized flights between Lancaster and Orlando will not be impacted by the decision, and continue to meet the airlines expectations. The Lancaster Airport Authority, Lancaster County Commissioners and former Lancaster city Mayor Danene Sorace all made SkyWest their top choice during a public comment period last fall. The amount of interest from airlines in the contract this year was the highest its been since Lancaster Airport joined the Essential Air Service program in 2004, and for the first time included proposals using jets. Note: This story was updated with additional information and pictures around 4 p.m. Jan. 31. The York County Coroners Office was dispatched Friday night after a two-alarm house fire broke out in Hanover, according to Ted Czech of the York County Office of Emergency Management. Crews were dispatched to the fire, near Foxleigh Drive and Chapelwood Road, around 8:50 p.m. Hanover Area Fire and Rescue around 9:45 p.m. said crews were still on-scene working to bring the fire under control. A picture provided by Hanover Area Fire and Rescue showed a ladder truck positioned above the homes roof. Fire crews told 911 dispatchers they rescued at least one victim through the homes front door. Firefighters also said they were battling heavy fire in the attic. Pictures of the Foxleigh Drive home on Saturday, Jan. 31. Madison Montag A neighbor who lives next door to the address said a caregiver and a woman lived at the home. Part of the neighbors siding was melted from the intense heat of the fire. The siding of the home next door was melted from the intense heat. Madison Montag Please keep our neighbors, and all those affected, in your thoughts as crews continue their work. Thank you for all the outside crews covering our area currently, Hanover Area Fire and Rescue said. At least one person died as a result of the fire. No further information has been released by the coroners office at this time. An electrical outlet caused a house fire in Lebanon last year that killed five people, including children, ages 1 and 4, who were staying at the home for a birthday party. Another fire turned deadly after a 75-year-old woman was trapped on her porch after a utility light that was missing its protective metal guard imploded inside a Franklin County bedroom. Those deaths were among 35 in south-central Pennsylvania last year and among 152 recorded across the state, a tragic tally that topped every other state in the nation, according to the U.S. Fire Administration website. The next highest death toll was 130 deaths in New York. Pennsylvania often finds itself among the top states for deaths in home fires, according to data from the U.S. Fire Administration. Experts say thats because its the fifth largest state but it often surpasses larger states because of Pa.s primarily volunteer system for fire departments amid a shortage of volunteers and problems with coordination and cooperation among the many departments. The number of fatal house fires annually across the state is on the rise in recent years, according to federal data that show deaths rising from 113 in 2023 to 130 in 2024 and 152 last year. One reason fires are becoming more dangerous is because of what many new homes are made of and filled with, said Manheim Township Fire Rescue Fire Chief Scott Little said. Modern building construction and synthetic materials are a challenge firefighters face every time we encounter a fire, Little said. Everything is burning hotter and faster. Resulting in rapid structure collapse or unsafe working environments. House design also can contribute to fires spreading quickly, giving residents less time to escape. Larger and modern homes often have open floor plans with fewer walls. If you have open living rooms of homes with cathedral ceilings, theres nothing that can stop the fire, said York Area United Fire & Rescues Battalion Chief Todd Heilman. Harrisburg typically records one or no fatal years each year, but last year logged two: Both were unhoused people trying to stay warm using heating appliances. Top causes of fires Fire chiefs across central Pa. told PennLive the top reasons for fires last year were from electrical problems and lithium batteries. The top causes of home fires across the country are cooking, heating equipment, electrical distribution/lighting, intentional fires and smoking materials, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The NFPA said cooking fires often stem from unattended cooking, while heating fires are linked to space heaters and chimneys; smoking materials cause the most fire deaths, often from cigarettes. Winter is a busy time for house fires due to people using alternative heating sources like ovens and space heaters too close to combustible materials, and fireplaces and chimneys that are not properly serviced or cleaned, Chambersburg Department Chief Dustin Ulrich told PennLive. Unfortunately some peoples heat systems break in their home, and they turn on their oven and open the oven door to heat their area enough to sleep in their apartment, which is completely unsafe, Ulrich said. Fire chiefs in central Pennsylvania noted the top causes for fatal fires arent any different from other fires where no one is injured. What makes the deadly difference, they said, is how well residents prepare and how quickly residents are able to respond once they realize the house is on fire. Response to blaze is critical Its crucial for people to have proactive fire safety measures in case of a blaze, according to York Area United Fire & Rescues battalion chief Todd Heilman. The cause of the fire doesnt cause the death, Heilman said. Its what people do to prepare. No matter how safe we try to be, fires can still happen. Its what people do up to that point to protect themselves. A consistent theme with fatal fires involves smoke alarms that are not maintained, without batteries or not present in the home, according to Heilman. Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline said the key difference between a house fire and a fatal house fire is early detection from a working smoke alarm. Without one, the risk of death increases significantly, he said. Children and older adults are especially vulnerable, but most fatal fires occur in homes without functioning smoke alarms, according to Enterline. Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline at Station 2 on N. 16th St. Jan. 8, 2026. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com Homes filled in hoarding conditions can provide more fuel and less opportunity for escape from a home, so reducing clutter is a good preventative action, experts say. As is properly storing flammables like fuel and alcohol in garages and sheds. One of the biggest things people can do to protect themselves at night is to close their bedroom doors while sleeping. Heilman recommends people to sleep with their bedroom door closed because it limits the flow path of the fire to keep the blaze outside of the bedroom. By closing doors, you can isolate the fire and prevent spread, Heilman said. It also prevents oxygen from feeding the fire. Keeping the door shut will limit the spread so it doesnt get to the rest of the home. If its open you give it a flow path, where it can go throughout the rest of the home. The public safety tip became a campaign called Close Before You Doze. When evacuating a burning home, close the door too. Sometimes people panic and leave their home without closing the front door to prevent it from traveling faster, Heilman told PennLive. People overload them Electrical house fires are mainly caused by extension cords, power strips, faulty wiring, overloaded circuits, old or defective appliances and improper installation. Manheim Township Fire Rescue fire chief Scott Little said its important to avoid daisy-chaining power strips, which is plugging one strip into another, causing the circuits and wall outlet to overload. People often use extension cords without knowing how to properly use them, which leads to fire, Heilman told PennLive. A lot of people dont understand the limitations of extension cords and power strips, Heilman said. People overload them, they overheat, and or they have them in an area where they get damaged easily and that causes fires. A lot of people think they can use extension cords for permanent electrical sources and extension cords are not meant for that, Heilman said. Theyre meant for temporary use. Lithium-ion batteries Fires are also being caused by lithium-ion batteries, which is a type of rechargeable battery that moves electricity from one end of the battery to another, according to Heilman. Rechargeable batteries are in countless devices, from personal electronics like smartphones and laptops to larger items like bikes, scooters, and hoverboards to power tools, home appliances and electrical vehicles. Heilman emphasized lithium-ion battery fires happen when electrical items are being overcharged, have physical damage (or a damaged battery), manufacturing defects, or exposure to extreme temperatures, leading to intense heat, smoke, and potential explosions. We had a fire this past year where a battery-operated toothbrush exploded because it was charging, the battery overheated and it exploded in the bathroom and caused a fire, he said. Lithium-ion battery fires are also a pervasive problem across the country, especially in New York City. Since 2022, New York City has experienced more than 800 fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries, leading to 30 deaths and more than 400 injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department. Heilman said the cause of death for lithium-ion battery fires in New York City is often smoke inhalation due to the fires happening in apartments and affecting other units. With proper use and care, these batteries are safe, but if they overheat or incur damage, they can cause a fire, Heilman said. Theyre all the same lithium-ion batteries, just different sizes and the dangers of them are all the same, he said. If youre sleeping or not at home, [while charging a lithium-ion battery] that small issue can become a big issue if you dont know about it. Lithium-ion battery-related house fires are also connected to people using batteries not purchased from the original manufacturer, especially cheap, uncertified, or aftermarket ones, which significantly increases the risk of fires, Ulrich said. He said residents should follow the manufacturers specific recommendations and safety protocols when purchasing a new battery pack or charger. Unfortunately those items do cost more to replace them because you have to purchase them through the manufacturer, Ulrich told PennLive. So they go online through a third party and buy these items, or some people even make their own battery. Theyre not compatible in many cases, and the batteries overheat, explode and then it creates a fire. Damaging a product with a lithium-ion battery by dropping, crushing, or puncturing it, can breach the batterys internal structure, causing a short circuit, overheating and potentially leading to a fire or explosion, he said. If somebody drops a battery and it hits the concrete, it could damage the battery pack without anybody knowing. And it can create some issues, Ulrich said. Undetermined Federal data show 90% of last years house fires were listed as under investigation or undetermined, according to Enterline. Enterline said the high rate of unknowns is due to changes in fire investigation standards over two decades that have made it harder to prove the exact causes. Decades ago, firefighters would use their training and experience to determine likely causes, but now the courts rightfully demand science-based methods to prove a cause with 100% evidence-based certainty. Most fire agencies now simply look to determine whether a fire started accidentally or intentionally. Accidental fires become a civil matter, and the responsibility to prove the cause is turned over to the insurance company and homeowner. Intentional fires, known as arson, are handled by police and fire agencies with evidence sent to the Pennsylvania State Police lab for analysis. Now, we try to do our best to narrow it down, and youll see very few of our fires that are listed as undetermined, Enterline said. However, if a fire department cannot determine 100 percent conclusive evidence on the cause of a fire being accidental or arson, then its ruled undetermined, he said. Additional tips from the experts Install carbon monoxide/smoke detectors in your home with at least one on each floor. Its suggested to have a detector in every bedroom in addition to requiring them outside each sleeping area, according to the NFPA. Change smoke detector batteries and test them monthly. Have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and/or garage. Contact your local fire department to see if they offer free smoke/carbon monoxide alarms. Keep items like smartphones and laptops on a hard surface while charging. Purchase power strips with built-in breakers or electrical shutoffs. Practice safe cooking habits. Never re-enter a burning home for belongings or pets. Have an escape plan in your home that includes at least two ways to exit the home (convenient for children). Large electric appliances like electric ovens, coffee makers and refrigerators should be plugged into an outlet, not into an extension cord. When purchasing an e-bike, choose one where the battery and charger have a UL2849 certification stamp from Underwriters Laboratories. For more tips from Pennsylvania click here. First responders in York County on Friday night were sent to battle a two-alarm house fire in North Hanover. Hanover Area Fire and Rescue around 9:45 p.m. said crews are on-scene working to bring the fire under control. The York County Department of Emergency Services listed the fire near Foxleigh Drive and Chapelwood Road around 8:50 p.m. Several fire vehicles and EMS units have responded to the area. It is unclear what started the fire or if anyone was injured or displaced. Please keep our neighbors, and all those affected, in your thoughts as crews continue their work. Thank you for all the outside crews covering our area currently, Hanover Area Fire and Rescue said. I want to share why Pennsylvanians should care about the wolf population and preserving public lands in the Western United States. Gray wolves are my favorite animals and play a vital role in keeping ecosystems healthy by controlling deer and elk populations, which helps plants and other animals grow strong. I recently visited the Wolf Sanctuary in Lititz. The wolves there are amazing creatures! It was surprising to me just how big they were. Although there are no wild wolves in Pennsylvania, protecting their habitats out West is important. Right now, there are some upcoming pieces of legislation that could open public lands to mining, drilling, and logging, putting these fragile ecosystems at risk. If public lands are developed, it could harm wildlife habitats, including those of wolves, and reduce biodiversity. Preserving public lands ensures that wolves and many other species have safe places to live. By advocating for these issues, we help protect the wolves across the country. John Peternith, Lewisberry, Pa. For most of this nations history, we have had racists who fight to ensure that Blacks are not equal partners in America. Its what the South fought for. The cause of the Civil War was the many concessions offered to the South. No concession offered was ever enough. The North repeatedly compromised on freedom for Blacks for the stake of white American peace, turning the moral question of Black equality into a ballot question. The immoral bargains shattered the United States and plunged us into Civil War. Franklin Pierce, our 14th president, was pro slavery. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise banned slavery north of Missouris southern border. The South never accepted the compromise. The Compromise of 1850 broke that agreement and turned the moral issue of owning another human being into territorial popular referendum. Pierce also supported and enforced the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. In 1857, James Buchanan, a Pennsylvanian, was the 15th president. He entered office by conspiring with the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision, which said Blacks are not citizens, had no rights and that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery. By the time Buchanan left office, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union on our way to 750,000 Civil War deaths. His failure on the moral question of Black equality has enshrined him and Pierce among the worst presidents in U.S. history. History teaches us to compromise on policy for the sake of stability. Compromises on moral questions are poison to our sacred union as Americans. Gregory M. Abdur Rahman, Sunbury, Pa. Former Pa. Lt. Gov. Mark Singel in Sarasota, FL, Jan. 13, 2022. Daniel Wagner | Special to PennLive Photo by Daniel Wagner By Mark S. Singel I have been talking with some folks who remember the tumult of the Viet Nam era. They remember demonstrations in the streets and crackdowns by officials that got violent on occasion. They also remember the uproar from the artist community and protest songs like Neil Youngs Ohio that went viral long before we knew what that term meant. Bruce Springsteen stepped up this week to add his voice to the thousands across the country who are stunned by the callousness of their own government. In his new song Streets of Minneapolis, Springsteen decries King Trumps private army and their brutal tactics. People are dying in the streets. It is time for artists and all Americans to take a stand. News reports suggest that Democrats in the U.S. Senate are withholding support for the federal budget until and unless there are some restrictions placed on ICE tactics and funding. We may be heading for another shutdown of the federal government over the issue. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) seems to have changed his own position on the matter. While he still opposes a government shutdown, Fetterman has indicated his strong displeasure with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He has called for her to be fired. Gov. Josh Shapiro has been equally vocal. In a series of appearances on national talk shows and with news programs, Shapiro made it clear that he opposed the crackdown on immigrants. Its time to end this mission directed by Trump and Vance and Noem to wreak havoc on a community, he said. He also said that he is preparing for ICE operations in several Pennsylvania cities just in case. Like Springsteen and others, Gov. Shapiro is using his unique platform to remind us of the brutal killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota and called for the mayhem to end. Meanwhile, nine members of Gov. Shapiros cabinet have declared what is going on in Minnesota to be a clear abuse of power in a letter directed to the U.S. Congress. Eric Scicchitano of the Daily Item reported this week that Democrats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly are preparing their own legislative package to prevent ICE excesses in the state. Legislators will soon be introducing bills to prohibit the state police from making immigration arrests and instructing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to review civil liberties violations committed by federal agents. There is also an effort underway to restrict the use of state spending on immigration raids. Since the Democrats hold a one-seat voting majority in the state House and Republicans continue to control the state Senate, any such legislation will require some bipartisan support. Still, supporters of the effort are clear about where their duties lie. Sen. Tim Kearney (D-Del.) said that What ICE is doing in Minnesota, in our communities here in PA, and across the country is shocking and un-American. For goodnesss sake, Americans must believe their own eyes and stand up to protect our liberty before it is broken beyond repair. Some other initiatives include preventing ICE enforcers from wearing masks and requiring proper identification. Federal agents would also be prohibited from warrantless arrests within 1,000 feet of property owned or leased by the Commonwealth. Twenty-two Democrats of the 23- member caucus signed onto a resolution condemning deadly force and demanding impartial investigations of the killings that occurred in Minnesota. Pennsylvania legislators are asking their counterparts at the federal level to stand their ground on funding the Department of Homeland Security and ICE until protections for American citizens and legal immigrants are firmly in place. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that at least one legislator, state Rep. Abigail Salisbury, (D-Allegheny), is introducing a bill that would ban any cooperation of the Pennsylvania State Police with ICE. A Shapiro administration spokesman said that it would monitor the Salisbury bill. It is unthinkable that the president of the United States would invade his own cities with masked, heavily armed troops and place the lives of American citizens in danger. But this is where we are. It is possible to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into our country and the recent border crossing statistics bear this out. It is also possible to adopt an immigration policy that weeds out violent criminals but is still fair and compassionate to those whose only crime was to seek a better life for themselves and their children. The alternative is more chaos and killings in our cities. As the opposition to ICE mounts, we can only hope that the decision-makers in the federal government will listen. Mark Singel is a former lieutenant Governor and former acting governor of Pennsylvania. In the beginning of January, a large group gathered outside the Mechanicsburg office of Pennsylvania Federal District 10 Rep. Scott Perry. The group wanted to deliver letters they had written to Perry or his staff. We were not only turned away, we were locked out of the three-story building. The building manager was stationed at the door to keep us out. Perrys staff even called the local police to have them on standby. Our group, comprised mostly of retirees, wondered what we could do. We offered to gather the 82 letters together and to have two of us deliver them. Again we were rebuffed, told to just leave them at the building entryway. No one received a receipt confirming delivery of the letters. Finally, we called the local police, ourselves. The officer who responded negotiated on our behalf with Perrys chief of staff. She did come to the entrance and took our letters. When we asked when we might get a response, the answer was a month or more. Rep. Perry and his staff work for us, the taxpayers. Yet we were treated as if we were dangerousa distraction Perhaps this should not be surprising - he has not held an in-person town hall since 2019. He is either afraid of citizens, or disdainful of them, or both. Della Hoke, Mechanicsburg Pa. Last week, I offered an hypothesis: Despite apparently confirming, late last year, that he plans to IPO SpaceX in 2026, Elon Musk might actually intend to IPO Starlink instead. Now, I might be wrong about that; I might be right. Honestly, it doesn't make much difference. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks Because whichever company technically gets taken public in 2026, it's Starlink that really matters. Earth orbit crowded will all sorts and manner of satellites. Image source: Getty Images. Starlink is the growth driver behind SpaceX Why do I say this? Let's consider a few numbers. In 2024, SpaceX is reported to have generated total sales of $13.1 billion. In 2025, that number seems to have grown 15% to $15 billion, and in 2026, it's likely to grow to $23.8 billion -- 53.5% growth, according to data from the space analysts at Payload Space. (Note that because SpaceX is still privately owned, and not required to disclose its financial information publicly, all these numbers are guesses based on incomplete information. Payload Space is one analyst that's posited the $23.8 billion number, but other analysts, such as Quilty Space, are generally in the same ballpark.) Is it realistic to expect SpaceX to more than triple its 2025 revenue growth rate this a year? Possibly, and especially if you consider where that growth is coming from: Starlink. According to Payload, $10.4 billion of SpaceX's $15 billion in 2025 revenue came from Starlink satellite internet (both collecting subscription fees and selling hardware). That was 69% of total sales. In 2026, Payload forecasts Starlink revenue will grow 80% to $18.7 billion, with the result that Starlink will account for approximately 79% of SpaceX's total revenue in 2026. Contrast this 80% growth in Starlink satellite revenue versus the mere 9% growth in revenue from SpaceX's rocket launch business, and what can you conclude? That essentially all of SpaceX's revenue growth comes from Starlink. The company's space launch business, in contrast, is growing much more modestly. SpaceX has planned this for years And that's OK. While things are a little behind schedule, this is basically the way SpaceX mapped things out nearly a decade ago. Back then, The Wall Street Journal reported on internal SpaceX documents detailing the company's 10-year plan for turning itself into the most profitable company in space. These documents described how, by 2025, SpaceX planned to have grown into a company with $36 billion a year in sales, generating a 60% operating profit margin and earning $22 billion in annual profit. America250PA officially kicked off 2026 celebrations in Perry County on Jan. 21, bringing local officials, community organizations, and residents together to mark the start of a yearlong commemoration of the nations 250th anniversary. The event opened with remarks from Cassandra Coleman, executive director of America250PA, the Commonwealths official commission coordinating the anniversary across all 67 counties and more than 500 communities. Coleman outlined the statewide scope of the initiative and thanked statewide and local sponsors for supporting what she described as a once-in-a-generation effort to engage Pennsylvanians of all ages. Coleman highlighted Perry Countys historic role as the land between the rivers, noting how the Juniata and Susquehanna rivers helped shape the countys early transportation networks, industry and agriculture. She said the countys legacy, from Revolutionary War service to Civil War-era contributions, continues today through local participation in America250PA programs, including school initiatives, public installations and community events. Efforts include a Keystone Classroom visit to Greenwood Elementary School, the planting of a Liberty Tree at Little Buffalo State Park, a Bells Across Pennsylvania installation, and the presence of the America250PA mobile unit at an apple festival. Frank Campbell, chair of the Perry County Board of Commissioners, thanked the countys America250 committee and partner organizations for their work over several years leading up to the kickoff. He also recognized the Perry County Economic Development Authority for sponsoring the countys semi-quincentennial bell and credited artist Jessica Burkholder with capturing the character of Perry County in the design. SIGNED UP Officials gathered in the courthouse in New Bloomfield to plan for America250PA celebratory events in the county for the nations 250th anniversary. (Kim Grundon photo) Perry County Times Burkholders bell design, Pursuing Happiness, draws on the natural landscape and cultural identity of Perry County. The artwork incorporates imagery of the Appalachian Mountains and the countys waterways, including the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, along with Shermans and Big Buffalo creeks. Recreational scenes depict hikers, anglers and tubers, referencing the countys trail systems and outdoor traditions, including the Appalachian Trail. Additional elements on the bell include Pennsylvanias state flower, the mountain laurel, as well as local landmarks such as the Perry County Courthouse and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in New Bloomfield. State Rep. Perry Stambaugh spoke about the origins of America250PA, which were established by state law in 2018, and reflected on Pennsylvanias central role in the nations founding. He emphasized themes drawn from the Declaration of Independence, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and encouraged continued civic engagement as the anniversary approaches. Coleman also outlined upcoming America250PA initiatives, including a Commonwealth Concert Series, scholarship opportunities for Pennsylvania students, a Memorial Flag initiative honoring veterans, statewide lecture series, and health and wellness programming tied to state parks. Dr. Steven Messner, Perry Countys America250PA county adviser, detailed local efforts focused on education, youth engagement and volunteerism. A ceremonial flag presentation to county leaders followed. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) is among the most profitable healthcare stocks to buy. On January 27, Graham Parry from Citi began coverage of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) with a Buy rating and a price target of CHF 133, TheFly reported. According to the analyst, the company is well-positioned to sustain its strong momentum, with 5%-6% annual sales growth guidance through 2030. Earlier on January 20, Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) said that it is likely to be protected from U.S. tariffs by mid-2026. As told by CEO Vas Narasimhan to CNBC, We expect to be in a position by middle of this year where we are not really exposed to tariffs, because were able to produce in the U.S. for the U.S. We have inventory on hand. Jim Cramer is Optimistic About Novartis' (NVS) Cancer Drug adriaticfoto/Shutterstock.com What reaffirms this optimistic view is the companys agreement with the U.S. government, which is expected to exclude Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) from tariffs. These comments follow the Trump Administrations plans to impose 10% tariffs on many European countries, including the UK, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. The company is also investing in regional supply chains to minimize its exposure to trade policies in the future. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is a pharmaceutical company. Incorporated in 1996, the company offers Entresto, Cosentyx, and Kisqali, among others. While we acknowledge the potential of NVS as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. An Aiken landmark displays a thorough ice coating in 2025. The forecast for this weekend is calling for snow and below freezing temperatures. Berkeley and Dorchester Metro Reporter Komlavi Adissem is a metro reporter covering Berkeley and Dorchester counties. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he covered city, county, and state government for the Columbia Missourian. Find him on Twitter (X) and Bluesky @KAdissem! PR-Inside.com: 2026-01-31 00:01:41 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 504 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 30, 2026 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Bath & Body Works, Inc. ("Bath & Body Works" or the "Company") (NYSE:BBWI). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton atnewaction@ pomlaw.comor 646-581-9980, (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.The class action concerns whether Bath & Body Works and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.You have until March 16, 2026, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class if you purchased or otherwise acquired Bath & Body Works securities during the Class Period. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained atwww.pomerantzlaw.com [Click here for information about joining the class action]On August 28, 2025, Bath & Body Works reported its second quarter 2025 financial results. Among other items, the Company reported earnings per diluted share of $0.30, representing a decline of 55.8% year over year and missing the Company's prior guidance on the low end by $0.03. Bath & Body Works also reported net income of $64 million, a decline of 57.9% year over year. The Company also announced that it was cutting its full year guidance for earnings per diluted share by $0.03 at the midpoint, to a range of $3.28 to $3.53.On this news, Bath & Body Works' stock price fell $2.18 per share, or 6.9%, to close at $29.36 per share on August 28, 2025.Then, on November 20, 2025, Bath & Body Works reported third quarter 2025 financial results. The Company reported a 1% year over year decline in revenue, missing its guidance of 1-3% growth for the quarter. Bath & Body Work's net income also declined, falling 26% to $77 million. Finally, the Company announced that it was slashing full year guidance for net sales from a previously positive 1.5%-2.7% to negative "high single digits." Bath & Body Works also cut expected earnings per diluted share from a range of $3.28 to $3.53 to "at least $2.83." In an investor presentation published the same day, the Company announced a new business strategy and admitted that its strategy of "adjacencies, collaborations and promotions" had "not grown our total customer base." On this news, Bath & Body Works' stock price fell $5.22 per share, or 24.8%, to close at $15.82 per share on November 20, 2025.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. Seewww.pomlaw.com Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP PR-Inside.com: 2026-01-31 18:00:20 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 558 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 31, 2026 /WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers or acquirers of senior notes by Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) issued pursuant and/or traceable to the Shelf Registration Statement filed with the SEC on March 15, 2024, and as supplemented on September 25, 2025 (together, the "Offering Documents"), of the New York State class action lawsuit filed on their behalf.SO WHAT: If you purchased or acquired Oracle senior notes 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 Oracle class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=51135 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@ rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed.WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, the Offering Documents contained false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that at the time of the Offering, Oracle would require a significant amount of additional debt to build the AI infrastructure. In addition, Oracle was organizing to raise that additional debt, which would ultimately bring the creditworthiness of these bonds into question. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.To join the Oracle class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=51135 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@ rosenlegal.com 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.Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm , on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/ Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.---Contact Information:Laurence Rosen, Esq.Phillip Kim, Esq.The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.275 Madison Avenue, 40th FloorNew York, NY 10016Tel: (212) 686-1060Toll Free: (866) 767-3653Fax: (212) 202-3827 case@ rosenlegal.comwww.rosenlegal.com SOURCE: The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. PR-Inside.com: 2026-01-31 01:40:10 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 890 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 30, 2026 / Star Copper Corp. (the "Company") (CSE:STCU)(OTCQX:STCUF)(FWB:SOP) is pleased to announce the grant of 3,400,000 restricted share units (the "RSUs"), 500,000 stock options (the "Options") and 500,000 performance share units (the "PSUs", together with the RSUs and Options, the "Incentive Awards") to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company under its omnibus equity incentive plan (the "Plan").All 3,400,000 RSUs vest over a period of three years, with one third of the RSUs vesting on each of the one, two and three year anniversary from the date of grant. Upon vesting, each RSU is redeemable for one common share in the capital of the Company (the "Common Shares"), cash or a combination of Common Shares and cash in accordance with the Plan and as determined by the Company. The Company, in its sole discretion, may elect to defer the vesting of any portion of the RSUs to a subsequent year.The Options are exercisable to acquire up to 500,000 Common Shares at an exercise price of $1.15 per Common Share and expire on January 29, 2029. The Options vest as to 20% on the date of grant and each of the 6, 12, 18 and 24 month anniversaries of the date of grant.The PSUs entitle the holder to receive up to 500,000 Common Shares and will vest upon the acquisition of greater than 5.0% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company by a third party investor.The grant of the Incentive Awards is subject to the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange and applicable securities laws.On Behalf of the Board of Directors~Darryl Jones~Darryl JonesCEO, President & DirectorStar Copper Corp.About Star Copper Corp. (CSE:STCU)(OTCQX:STCUF) (FWB:SOP/WKN A416ME)Star Copper Corp. (the "Company") is an exploration and development company focused on developing high-potential copper projects in mining-friendly jurisdictions. The Company aims to advance its 100%-owned Star Project in British Columbia's prolific Golden Triangle and Sheslay District (watch our videos https://starcopper.com/media/) . The project hosts multiple copper-gold porphyry-style targets, including Star Main, Star North, and Copper Creek. Significant exploration including historical drilling has confirmed open mineralization at depth and in all directions. Star Copper's strategic plans include geological mapping and geophysical surveys to refine existing targets, diamond drilling programs to test high-priority zones, environmental baseline studies and permitting groundwork alongside data analysis and resource modeling to support a future resource estimate prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The Company further plans to advance its Indata Project with follow-up drilling to expand on previous high-grade copper and gold intercepts, trenching and surface sampling to delineate mineralized zones, and infrastructure improvements for site accessibility and operations. With a commitment to sustainable development and value creation, Star Copper aims to position itself to support surging industrial demand to meet growing global electrification needs.For more information visit: www.starcopper.com to watch our selection of videos at https://starcopper.com/media/ , and while you are there, sign up for free news alerts at https://starcopper.com/news/news-alerts/ or follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook or LinkedIn. More information regarding the project, including historical drilling, is available under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and/or in the Company's February 26, 2025 technical report.Investor RelationsStar Copper Corp. Email: info@ starcopper.com Web: https://starcopper.com/ Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans in respect of its business and properties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, but are not limited to, the early stage nature of the Company's properties, the inherently unpredictable nature of resource exploration, market conditions and the risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect, and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law.SOURCE: Star Copper Corp. Wireless operator Airtel Africa more than doubled its post-tax profit for the nine months to December 2025 to $586 million in reported currency on the back of a sizeable increase in data revenue, according to its unaudited earnings report out on Friday. The mobile service provider, which operates in fourteen countries across sub-Saharan Africa, expanded turnover by 28.3 per cent to $4.7 billion, with all income sources including voice revenue, data revenue and listing revenue recording growth. The fairly remarkable revenue performance was driven by currency appreciation in key markets, particularly Nigerian naira, Zambian kwacha, Ugandan and Tanzanian shilling and West African CFA franc. Airtel Africa, based in the UK, is quoted in London, and has a secondary listing in Nigeria, its largest market. Our push to enhance financial inclusion across the continent continues to gain momentum with our Mobile Money customer base expanding to 52 million, surpassing the 50 million milestone, CEO Sunil Taldar said in a separate statement. Annualised total processed value of over $210bn in Q326 underscores the depth of our merchants, agents and partner ecosystem, and remains a key player in driving improved access to financial services across Africa. We remain on track for the listing of Airtel Money in the first half of 2026, he added. Airtel Africas mobile money business is backed by Mastercard, Qatar Investment Authority and US-based private equity firm TPG, among other institutional investors. EBITDA margin, a key metric for measuring operating profitability and efficiency, climbed to 48.9 per cent from 46.2 per cent. Total finance cost diminished 15.8 per cent to $506 million. Airtel Africa stated that its total customer base rose 10 per cent to 179.4 million, with data customers accounting for 81.8 million and growing by 14.6 per cent. Profit before tax jumped 107.2 per cent to $1 billion from $494 million, while profit after tax accelerated by 136.6 per cent to $586 million from $248 million. Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi has sacked political appointees and dethroned traditional rulers from the Amasiri community of Afikpo Local Government Area over alleged complicity in a violent land dispute. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Amasiri community was recently involved in a land dispute with neighbouring Okporojo village, in Oso community of Edda Local Government Area of Ebonyi, resulting in four deaths and destruction of several properties. Mr Nwifuru, who visited the Okporojo community on Saturday, said that the Amasiri community had not shown enough commitment to maintain permanent peace in the area, and the government had decided to bare its fangs. All government appointees from Amasiri from the local government development centremanagement committee members to commissioners have been sacked. Traditional rulers from Amasiri will have their certificates of recognition withdrawn while all town union leaderships of villages in the community are dissolved, he said. The governor counselled the Amasiri people to correct the notion that he was against them, noting that he was not against anybody. I only say the truth, and we love and adore the Amasiri people. They should have a change of heart and I am sure that the community still has people who worship and do Gods wish. He assured the people of Okporojo that the government would not abandon them as everything would be done to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of the dastardly act. I beg the people of Okporojo to shun reprisals as they would see the immediate impact of government actions on the issue. I thank security agencies for their prompt response and I urge them to do more in ensuring adequate security in the area he said. The Chairman of Edda Local Government Council, Chima Ekuma-Nkama thanked the governor for the visit, noting that it has re-enforced the peoples belief in the government. The people hitherto said they have been abandoned by the government but they have seen that the government is with them. It is disappointing to see human heads severed from their bodies and we wonder what the aggressors are doing with those heads, he said. Joy Okoro, one of the victims, said she lost a loved one and had her house burnt during the attack. All we want is justice and only it, will make us believe in life again, she said. NAN reports that Mr Nwifuru was accompanied on the visit by heads of security agencies in the state and top government officials, especially from the affected local government areas. The Abuja Chapter of the United States Government Exchange Alumni Association of Nigeria (USGEAAN) on Thursday convened a major alumni networking event, drawing about 300 beneficiaries of US Government-sponsored exchange programmes resident in the Federal Capital Territory. The semi-formal Meet and Greet, held at the National Assembly Library, brought together alumni from diverse professional backgrounds for networking, knowledge-sharing and renewed engagement, while highlighting the long-term impact of US exchange programmes in Nigeria. The gathering showcased how alumni of the programmes continue to promote values such as constitutionalism, democracy, civic responsibility and public service across Nigerias public, private and civic sectors. The USGEAAN is a non-partisan network of Nigerian alumni of the US Government-funded exchange programmes, committed to leadership development, community service and the promotion of shared values between Nigeria and the United States. The association comprises alumni of programmes including the Fulbright programmes, International Visitors Leadership Programme, Mandela Washington Fellowship, Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship, TechWomen, TechGirls and several youth, education, cultural and leadership exchanges. The event was attended by officials of the United States Embassy, led by the Public Diplomacy Officer, Raisa Dukas, members of the USGEAAN national executive committee and other prominent alumni, including Gaza Gbefwi (SDP, Nasarawa State) a 2016 International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) alumnus, and Jesse Onuakalusi (LP, Lagos State) Chairman of the NigeriaUnited States Parliamentary Friendship Group. Speaking at the event, Ms Dukas emphasised the role of exchange alumni in strengthening democratic institutions and deepening people-to-people ties between Nigeria and the United States. She also announced the launch of Freedom 250, a year-long initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, which she said would spotlight enduring American values of courage, generosity and innovation. The President of USGEAAN, Nosayaba Tukura, also addressed the gathering, stressing the need for coordinated alumni action to translate exchange experiences into tangible national impact. She was represented by the associations General Secretary, Olalekan Adeeko. Ms Tukura said the associations focus was not merely on the size of its alumni network, but on how effectively it mobilises collective expertise for national development. Across Nigeria, USGEAAN alumni are applying the skills gained through US exchange programmes to strengthen institutions, expand civic participation and drive community-level impact. Our goal is to align this energy, provide clear direction and ensure that chapters serve as effective platforms for leadership and service, she said. Unveiling the chapters 2026 work plan, Akin Rotimi (APC, Ekiti), Coordinator of the USGEAAN Abuja Chapter and an IVLP alumnus, noted that the plan outlines priorities including administrative strengthening, improved collaboration and networking, expanded community impact within Abuja and support for national-level initiatives of the association. Mr Rotimi, who is the spokesperson of the House of Representatives, said the Abuja Chapter occupies a strategic position as a hub for alumni engagement in Nigerias political and civic centre. Being in Abuja, at the heart of Nigerias political and civic life, gives our chapter a unique responsibility and opportunity. Our goal is to build a connected, dynamic community of alumni who turn their experience into meaningful action, mentoring, leading, and innovating across society, he said. The event also featured structured networking and engagement sessions designed to promote collaboration, mentorship and strategic partnerships among alumni. The Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has lifted the restriction on the movement of motorcycles and tricycles in Minna, the state capital, ending a curfew that had been in place for about 10 months as part of measures to address insecurity. The decision followed a review of the security situation in the city and recommendations by the State Security Committee, the government said on Friday. The Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Usman, announced the development in a statement signed by the Coordinator of Press Affairs in his office, Lawal Tanko. The governor has approved the total lifting of the restriction on the movement of motorcycles and tricycles within the Minna metropolis between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., the statement said, adding that the move reflected significant and sustained improvement in the security landscape of Minna. The curfew was initially imposed from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. amid concerns over the use of motorcycles and tricycles in criminal activities. After public complaints, particularly from traders, it was adjusted two months later to run from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Mr Usman said the restriction had served as a proactive step to curb crime and protect lives and property, assuring residents that the government would continue to work closely with security agencies to maintain peace in the state capital. However, some residents say the ban brought hardship without delivering lasting security gains. Ibrahim Nura, a resident of Bosso Estate, told the PUNCH newspaper that attacks by hoodlums continued despite the curfew. The ban did not stop the attacks, he said. They still broke into houses, robbed people and injured them. It was not about okada or keke. The real problem is unemployment and hunger. He added that the restriction only succeeded in limiting movement and creating opportunities for extortion. If it worked at all, it was only in the first two months. After that, it was business as usual, he said. Another resident, Sherifat Auwal, recounted how the curfew forced her to trek at night after an event, during which an okada rider who offered her a ride was allegedly arrested by men she believed were police officers. They were in plain clothes, only one wore a police cap, she said. They took the rider away. It was clear they were going to extort him. The Niger State Police Command spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, said no formal complaint had been made to the command regarding such incidents. If there are cases of extortion, affected persons should report through the Police Public Relations Office or the Complaint Response Unit, he said. Wider implications of motorcycle bans Restrictions on commercial motorcycles, popularly known as okada, have become common across several Nigerian states, often justified on security and safety grounds. Lagos, Kano, Abuja and parts of the South-South and South-East have all implemented similar policies in recent years. Transport analysts and labour experts say such bans often carry mixed outcomes. While some studies have linked restrictions to reductions in traffic accidents and certain crimes, they have also been associated with job losses, higher transport costs and mobility challenges, particularly for low-income residents. In cities with poor road networks and limited public transport, motorcycles remain a key means of movement for workers, traders and small businesses. Their absence, experts argue, can slow economic activity and deepen hardship unless viable alternatives are provided. READ ALSO: JNI condemns terrorist massacre in Niger State Former Niger State governor, Sani Bello, imposed a similar ban on commercial motorcycles in Minna in 2021, citing security concerns. The lifting of the latest restriction is expected to ease movement in the state capital, especially for residents who depend on motorcycles and tricycles for daily commuting, while renewing debate over how states can balance security needs with livelihoods in Nigerias urban centres. The Kwara State House of Assembly has approved a total of N656.5 billion as the states total expenditure for the 2026 fiscal year. The sum represents an increase of N10.5 billion over the estimate presented by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Salihu, disclosed this at the plenary on Friday following the consideration of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation. A breakdown of the budget shows that the states recurrent revenue has increased to over N409.6 billion, reflecting an upward review of N10.5 billion. Meanwhile, recurrent expenditure was reduced to N212.6 billion, a cut of over N6.4 billion, in line with efforts to strengthen fiscal discipline. The Speaker further explained that transfers to the Capital Development Fund have been raised to N271 billion, up from N254 billion, to boost funding for capital projects across the state. Total debt servicing for the 2026 fiscal year now stands at N14.2 billion, slightly higher than the earlier proposal. Mr Danladi said the adjustments were made to ensure prudent financial management and to support the effective implementation of government programmes and projects. He praised the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, chaired by Ariola Lawal, for what he described as a job well done. The Speaker further thanked the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) for their cooperation with the House during their project presentations. The Speaker directed the Clerk of the House to prepare and transmit a clean copy of the budget to the governor for his assent. More Photos: At least two farmers were killed on Thursday in Poto, a village in the Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, after a long-running land dispute with neighbouring Ketso village escalated into violence, residents and community leaders have said. According to Sahara Reporters, the victims were identified as Mohammed Kudu, 42, and Manko Ibrahim, 41, both indigenes of Poto who were engaged in farming activities at the time of the attack. Residents said tensions flared around 2 p.m. when Usman Manko was allegedly assaulted by youths from Ketso village at a pedestrian bridge in the GudzanPoto axis while returning from Enagi, the headquarters of Edati Local Government Area. Witnesses said the attackers threatened that their long-standing vow to invade Poto village and kill residents would be carried out the same day. Barely an hour later, at about 3 p.m., the violence reportedly escalated as armed youths from Ketso mobilised in large numbers and stormed farmlands around Poto village. Residents said crops were destroyed and irrigation facilities, including solar-powered water pumps and panels, were vandalised. Mohammed Kudu was reportedly attacked on his farm, where he had fallen asleep after working. Residents said he was killed and his body set ablaze, after which the assailants took the remains away. From the farmlands, the attackers allegedly advanced towards the village. While several farmers fled, Manko Ibrahim, described by residents as a youth leader, reportedly stepped forward to calm tensions and prevent retaliation. However, residents said another group of attackers arrived shortly after and assaulted him. He was allegedly struck on the head with a spear and attacked with locally made weapons, leading to his death. Ketso has been coming to our village with this kind of violence for over a decade, said Muhammadu Shaba, a resident of Poto. They come in large numbers, sometimes with their leaders. After my son was beaten at the bridge, they made phone calls and mobilised. One group came to the village, the other went straight to the farms. He added that Mr Kudu was attacked while sleeping on his farm. He was killed and his body set on fire. When they reached where our youths were farming, one of our leaders tried to intervene, but he was killed with a spear, Mr Shaba said. READ ALSO: Niger State to partially reopen schools weeks after mass abduction forced shutdown The Chief Imam of Poto, Jibrin Mohammed, described the incident as devastating. This is the saddest moment of our lives. They killed my younger brother over land that belongs to us. They have always said land disputes do not end without bloodshed, he said. Residents also alleged that a letter, purportedly issued in the name of the emirs palace, helped trigger the violence. A security analyst, Lamidi Adeosun, a former Chief of Policy and Plans of the Nigerian Army, said recurring land disputes were driven by weak implementation of the Land Use Act and poor boundary delineation. Senators on Friday lamented the absence of funds to run standing committees of the upper chamber, warning that the situation could undermine legislative oversight and the timely passage of the 2026 budget. The complaints were raised during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Appropriations convened to outline a timetable for the defence of the 2026 budget by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), as well as its presentation to the Senate and eventual passage. Several lawmakers said the lack of funding was crippling committees constitutional responsibility to oversee federal government agencies. Shortly after the meeting commenced, the senator for Ebonyi South, Anthony Ani, complained that the Senate Committee on South East Development Commission, which he chairs, had not received any funds since its establishment last year. Mr Ani, a professor, said the situation made it impossible for his committee to invite relevant ministries and agencies for the defences of their 2026 budget proposals. Mr Chairman, you have read out the timetable to be followed by the various committees for consideration of the 2026 budget, but the Senate Committee on South East Development Commission that I belong to, does not have money to organise meetings with any agency due to zero allocation since formation and inauguration, he said. He added that other committees overseeing regional development commissions were also unfunded, questioning how such committees could function effectively. Similarly, the senator representing Benue North-West, Titus Zam, who chairs the Senate Committee on the North-Central Development Commission (NCDC), described the situation as increasingly frustrating. Lack of funding the Committees on Zonal Development Commissions in the Senate , is gradually turning excitement that heralded them into disappointment and even into lamentation, Mr Zam added. The Senate Minority Leader, Oyewunmi Olalere, warned that the funding gap could affect the implementation of the 2026 budget, particularly the plan to sustain a JanuaryDecember budget cycle. The promise on single budget implementation from April 1st this year is being threatened because parts of the capital component of the 2024 budget in terms of contracts execution are not paid yet not to talk of the 30 per cent capital component of 2025 budget expected to expire by the 31st of March. Today (Friday) is January 30, which means that only two months are left for clearing off the left overs of 2024 and 2025 budgets to pave the way for the promised single budget implementation from April 1st 2026 . Mr Chairman, a lot needs to be done between now and next month by your committee and critical stakeholders to prevent continuation of multiple budget implementation, he added. Also contributing, Osun East Senator, Francis Fadahunsi, said unpaid contractors were still protesting across the country. I concur with my colleague from our state on the yet to be fully implemented 2024 budget because the affected unpaid contractors are still carrying placards around . This committee must reach out to the critical stakeholders for the required tidying up of 2024 and 2025 budgets before 1st April 2026, he said. Following the series of complaints, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Adeola Olamilekan, directed that the meeting proceed behind closed doors. Funding for committees The Senate has over 100 standing committees charged with oversight of federal ministries, departments and agencies. Each committee is allocated funds, often running into millions of naira to manage its activities, including organising public hearings, committee meetings and other official engagements. These allocations are not usually disclosed publicly, as they are embedded in the National Assemblys annual budget, which runs into billions of naira. Lawmakers have also frequently been accused of collecting bribes during oversight functions, with reports of them accepting sponsored travel, accommodation, and other perks from government agencies. A civil society group, Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the Central Bank of Nigerias directive requiring ATM cards for the payment of the Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) to pilgrims for the 2026 Hajj. In a statement by its National Coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammad, the group warned that the policy could impose severe hardship on pilgrims, noting that about 70 per cent come from rural areas with limited access to electronic banking. IHR said language barriers in Saudi Arabia, unfamiliarity with ATM usage, and possible transaction failures could expose pilgrims to financial losses and embarrassment. The group urged the suspension of the ATM-only policy, a return to cash disbursement through NAHCON, and consultations with stakeholders to develop pilgrim-friendly reforms. It added that the directive undermines the principle of ease in religious practice and could affect Nigerias image within the global Muslim community. Read statement CSO writes Tinubu Over Hajj BTA Card Policy A civil society organisation, Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), has petitioned President Bola Tinubu over the Central Bank of Nigerias (CBN) directive mandating the use of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards for the disbursement of Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) to pilgrims for the 2026 Hajj. In a letter dated January 17, 2026, and signed by its national coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammad, the group urged the President to intervene, warning that the policy could expose pilgrims to undue hardship. The organisation noted that about 70 per cent of Nigerian pilgrims are from rural areas with limited access to electronic banking services, adding that language barriers in Saudi Arabia and possible transaction failures could result in financial losses. The policy poses significant risks to our pilgrims, many of whom come from rural communities with limited electronic banking access, the letter stated. READ ALSO: Nigerian lawmakers complain of insufficient funds for committee works Independent Hajj Reporters called for the suspension of the ATM-only policy for the 2026 Hajj, the reinstatement of full cash disbursement through the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), and the convening of stakeholders to design pilgrim-centred reforms. The group also argued that the policy contradicts the principle of ease in religious obligations and could undermine the dignity of pilgrims if not reviewed. It expressed confidence that the President would act in the interest of pilgrims and national welfare, urging urgent attention to the matter to safeguard Nigerias reputation within the global Muslim community. The Nigerian Army says troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), a joint task force, have killed a top commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and other insurgents in a series of coordinated operations across the North-east. This was disclosed in a statement issued by the operations spokesperson, Sani Uba, on Saturday. Mr Uba said military intelligence confirmed that Julaibib, a senior ISWAP commander operating within the Gujba axis of the Timbuktu Triangle, was killed during an encounter around Kimba in the Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State on 30 January. Further intelligence revealed that the elimination of the terrorist leader has thrown ISWAP elements in the area into disarray, with several fighters reportedly neutralised during the operation, Mr Uba stated. In a related operation, troops working with the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) ambushed insurgents between Ngazalgana and Lamusheri communities in Borno State, killing three terrorists and forcing others to flee with gunshot wounds. Mr Uba said two AK-47 rifles were recovered from the scene. On 29 January, troops deployed in an ambush position at Tsokorok in Gwoza Local Government Area also engaged fighters suspected to be either members of Boko Haram or ISWAP fighters, killing one terrorist and recovering two motorcycles. Mr Uba said there were no casualties recorded on the side of the troops. Troops foil criminal operations in Adamawa Beyond counterterrorism operations, troops also foiled criminal activities in Adamawa State. In Mubi North Local Government Area, soldiers responded to a distress call from the Barama community and arrested two armed robbery suspects who attempted to attack a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. One suspect sustained a gunshot wound to the thigh while confronting the troops and was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Mubi, for treatment. The suspects were later handed over to the police. Recovered items, Mr Uba noted included three cutlasses, two laptops, four mobile phones and a power bank. Earlier, on 28 January, troops and local vigilantes conducted a fighting patrol along the AmtasaWashim axis in Hong Local Government Area, where they engaged terrorists, forcing them to retreat. A woman abducted by the suspected insurgents was rescued during the operation, while weapons and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, a submachine gun and assorted rounds of ammunition, were recovered. Mr Uba said these operations underscore the sustained, intelligence-driven efforts of Operation Hadin Kai to dismantle terrorist networks, deny insurgents freedom of movement and protect lives and property across the North-east theatre, as security forces continue working with local communities to restore lasting peace and stability in the region. Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State was formally admitted into the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, ending weeks of speculation of his defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). The governors former political godfather and leader of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, labelled the move a betrayal and demanded that the governor resign from office before defecting. Mr Yusuf resigned from the NNPP on 23 January in a letter addressed to the Diso ward chairperson of the NNPP in Gwale Local Government Area. He cited deepening internal crises and escalating legal disputes within the NNPP and the need to safeguard the broader interest of the people of Kano State. The governors journey to the APC was long and fraught with tension. He eventually joined the party on 25 January in an elaborate event at Government House. Many observers have described the development as a palace coup. His supporters said Mr Yusufs defection liberated him from the overbearing influence of Mr Kwankwaso, who they accused of using his son-in-law as a stooge to serve a third term as governor. The governors critics, however, accuse him of betraying Mr Kwankwaso, without whom he could not have been governor. For the governor, the defection means a new alliance with his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje, a figure he and his erstwhile godfather viewed as a political adversary and whose eight-year governorship they condemned as corrupt-tainted. The governor took with him into the APC 22 members of the State House of Assembly, nine members of the House of Representatives, the 44 local government chairpersons, and several key support groups of Mr Kwankwasos Kwankwasiyya movement. However, Deputy Governor Aminu Abdulsalam declined to move with Mr Yusuf. His status as an elected official means he can keep his office while being a political opponent of his principal. The appointed officers have no such protection. At least five high-ranking cabinet members have resigned their appointments to remain with Mr Kwankwaso in the NNPP. They include Mustapha Kwankwaso and Ibrahim Umaru, a retired air vice marshal and former commissioner for internal security and special services. The others are Yusuf Kofarmata, commissioner for science, technology, and innovation; Nasiru Garo, commissioner for special duties; and Aliyu Kibiya, commissioner for humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation. The wave of resignations also swept away Laminu Rabiu, director-general of the state pilgrims welfare board; Sunusi Kwankwaso, the governors political adviser; and Samaila Mukhtar, director of the state anti-corruption training institute, among others. Those who resigned reaffirmed their loyalty to Mr Kwankwaso, who had spent weeks holding meetings with the displaced officials, field commanders and support groups at his Miller Road residence. In public statements, Mr Kwankwaso branded the governors action as an act of betrayal. Following a suggestion from journalist Jafar Jafar on Facebook, he declared 23 January, the day Governor Yusuf resigned from the NNPP, as World Betrayal Day. What next for Kwankwaso, Governor Yusuf Ironically, Mr Kwankwasos anger with Mr Yusuf is not based on a principled objection to defections or hatred for the APC. He confessed that he, too, negotiated with the APC and was not opposed to joining the ruling party if his demands were met. His anger with the governor stemmed from Mr Yusuf allegedly negotiating with the APC leadership without consulting him. Mr Kwankwaso said that by the time he became aware of the situation, the governor had already secured a deal with the federal government and the backing of NNPP elected officials and support groups. This was interpreted by Mr Kwankwaso as an attempt by the governor to strip him of his leadership of the political group that produced the governor and cast him into irrelevance. With this rift, Kano States politics has shifted dramatically, leaving Mr Kwankwaso devastated. The governor has not only stripped Mr Kwankwaso of his primary bargaining chip (control of Kano State) but has also triggered a critical political transition that places Mr Yusufs own survival at stake. The governor appears to have the upper hand against Mr Kwankwaso at this initial stage. Only a handful of the commissioners that Mr Kwankwaso personally put up for appointment have declared loyalty to him. Furthermore, none of the 44 local government chairpersons has opted to stay with him. These are individuals he had handpicked at his Miller Road residence as NNPP candidates while the governor was away in Saudi Arabia. That was the same way he twice anointed Mr Yusuf: first as the PDP candidate in 2019, and then as the NNPP candidate in 2023. This rift has also dismantled the NNPPs only stronghold (Mr Yusuf was the partys only governor) and taken away Mr Kwankwasos most significant asset for political negotiation. As the partys foundation in Kano crumbles, the stage is now set for a high-stakes rematch between Mr Kwankwaso and Mr Ganduje, his estranged successor, in the next election cycle. The fight has begun Mr Kwankwaso has a profound understanding of Kano politics and has leveraged this insight to build personal popularity. By positioning himself as a fighter for the commoners, he has fostered a perception of himself among the masses as one of them. Historically, Kano politics has tended toward opposition, particularly when a non-Northerner leads the federal government. Mr Kwankwaso traverses the city on condolence visits and other engagements, deliberately passing through densely populated areas to maintain grassroots connections. He has started firing salvos at the defectors, using populist sentiments to portray the governor and his allies as capitalists and anti-massesultimately branding them as betrayers of the people. Even though he now stands as the underdog, it would be unwise to dismiss Mr Kwankwasos chances of reclaiming majority support in the 2027 elections, especially if he joins the opposition coalition, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Kano often votes against the federal centre, as seen in the 1983, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2023 elections. Mr Kwankwaso understands this dynamic. As the sitting governor in 2003, when his PDP also controlled Abuja, he was defeated by an opposition candidate, Ibrahim Shekarau. The 2027 contest promises to be an intriguing battle. However, Mr Kwankwaso no longer benefits from a major factor that aided the NNPP in 2023namely, a crisis in the APC caused by Mr Gandujes poor management of the party. Due to the crisis, key political figures departed the APC and supported the NNPP. Automatic ticket and endorsement Governor Yusufs entry into the APC appears to have the backing of the partys leadership. The defection ceremony was attended by all the partys bigwigs. Among the prominent figures was the Deputy Senate President and 2027 gubernatorial hopeful, Barau Jibrin, who officially endorsed the governor for reelection. Mr Jibrin was for many years a formidable adversary of the Kwankwasiyya Movement in the state. Welcoming the governor into the APC, he preached party unity, political stability, and the development of Kano State. The senior lawmaker told reporters on Tuesday, after the defection, that President Bola Tinubu has directed APC leaders in Kano to support Mr Yusuf and avoid actions that could undermine ongoing development efforts in the state. The former National Chairman of the APC, Mr Ganduje, corroborated Mr Jibrins remarks, telling the governor, You will win your second term in 2027. We have spoken to all aspirants, and they have agreed to support you. This endorsement and pledge of support were a direct rebuttal of Mr Kwankwasos observation that the governors planned defection had already ignited a crisis in the APC. He stated that the party would not welcome defectors at the expense of its loyal members. My loyalty remains to Kano Defending his decision to break his political association with his father-in-law, Mr Yusuf attributed his return to the APC to a desire to work with President Bola Tinubu to gain more federal support for Kanos development. The decision is not driven by personal ambition, nor is it inspired by political excitement. It is anchored on one overriding consideration: the stability, progress, and well-being of our state and its people. He continued, Kano, I must say, is blessed beyond measure by its population, enterprise, and resilience. Yet, we must be honest with ourselves. Our persistent political tensions and cycles of confrontation have, at critical moments, slowed our progress. Our people now ask for results, not rivalries; they ask for solutions, not slogans. Governance is not a permanent political contest; it is a responsibility to deliver. In the realities of todays Nigeria, delivery requires strategic alignment, cooperation, and accessnot isolation. By aligning with the centre, we choose stability over stagnation, partnership over polarity, and progress over pride. Let me say clearly: this decision does not erase our past, nor does it diminish our future political journey. I remain profoundly grateful to our supporters who sacrificed and guided us toward this decision. The governor declared that his ultimate loyalty lies with the citizens, in what is considered a jibe at Mr Kwankwaso. My loyalty is unwavering for the people of Kano. Kano first! Kano first!! Kano first!!!before any other person. With that closing remark, Mr Yusuf erases any doubt of the drama in Kano being yet another case of things falling apart between a Nigerian political godfather and his godson. A Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday, nullified the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention held in the city between15 and 16 November, 2025. The judge, Uche Agomoh, also held that the Caretaker Committee led by Mohammed Abdulrahman and Samuel Anyanwu remained the only recognised National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, pending the conduct of a valid national convention. It would be recalled that the Kabiru Turaki faction of the PDP had filed the suit No. FHC/IB/CS/121/2025, seeking recognition of the convention held in Ibadan in November ladt year and validation of the NWC that emerged at the convention Mr Agomoh also barred Mr Turaki and other officials purportedly elected at the convention from parading themselves as national officers of the party forthwith. The court held that the convention was conducted in flagrant disobedience to two subsisting judgments of the same court. It said that returning to seek judicial approval for actions taken in defiance of court orders was an exercise in futility. Consequently, all decisions taken at the convention were set aside by the court. The judge further declared that the PDP could only operate through the caretaker committee until a proper and lawful national convention was held. Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the PDP Caretaker Committee, Ferdinand Oshioke Orbih, described the ruling as a boost for Nigerias democracy. Mr Orbih, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said that the claimants had sought judicial endorsement of what he described as an illegal convention, but the court firmly rejected the move. He said the judgment affirmed that the rule of law must prevail over political expediency, stressing that all actions and structures arising from the convention had been completely nullified. The judgment follows a protracted crisis within the PDP, which held a contentious national elective convention in Ibadan in November 2025 despite existing court orders. Previous judgements The Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by James Omotosho had stopped the convention, saying its conduct would violate the Nigerian Constitution. Also, Peter Life of Federal High Court in Abuja, ordered the suspension of the convention in a suit filed by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido. Mr Lamido had challenged the process, alleging that he was denied the opportunity to purchase a nomination form to contest for the partys chairmanship, in violation of the PDP constitution and guidelines. However, on 4 November, 2025, an Oyo High Court in Ibadan presided over by A.L.Akintola, cleared the party to proceed with the national convention and asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to supervise it. No cause for alarm Turaki-led NWC Meanwhile, The Turaki-led NWC has said it has directed its lawyers to immediately file an appeal on the judgment of Federal High Court, Ibadan, nullifying the partys national convention. The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, on Friday in Abuja, said that there was no cause for alarm, insisting that the outcome of the convention remained legally intact and unshaken. We are aware of the judgement of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, delivered this morning, which essentially declined to grant the order of mandamus sought on the ground that doing so would, in the courts view, amount to sitting on appeal over judgments of courts of coordinate jurisdiction. ALSO READ: Wike rejoices as court halts PDP National Convention We have, accordingly, briefed our lawyers to immediately file an appeal and to take all further legal steps necessary to advance our arguments and firmly protect our position on this matter. Notwithstanding this judgement, the Turakiled Peoples Democratic Party, which emerged from the Ibadan Convention, remains legally intact and unshaken, as we await the authoritative pronouncement of the appellate courts, Mr Ememobong said. He urged PDP members to remain resolute and committed, saying there is absolutely no cause for alarm. Mr Ememobong added that the rebirth movement remained firmly on course. (NAN) The National Industrial Court has issued a formal warning to senior officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and labour union leaders, cautioning that they risk imprisonment for contempt if they disobey a subsisting court order restraining industrial action in the FCT. The warning came in a Form 48 notice, dated 29 January, and signed by the court senior registrar, Olajide Balogun. Take notice of that unless you obey the directions contained in the Order of Hon. Justice E.D Subilim of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria dated 27th day of January 2026 (copy attached) you will be guilty of contempt of Court and will be liable to be committed to prison, the notice stated. JUAC strike and grievances The contempt warning stems from a broader industrial dispute that saw workers of the FCTA embark on an indefinite strike on 19 January. The strike involved staff responsible for running core government services in Abuja and was organised under the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC). In response, the National Industrial Court on 27 January ordered FCTA workers to suspend their ongoing strike after the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the FCTA filed a suit to halt the action. Emmanuel Subilim granted an interlocutory injunction directing that the industrial action be suspended pending further hearing of the substantive case. The court held that once a dispute has been formally referred to it under the law, the right to strike is not absolute and must be restrained until the dispute is fully resolved. The contempt warning was directed at Abdullahi Saleh, JUAC secretary and Benson Upah, acting general secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Restrained strike, picketing, road blockades In the ruling, the court restrained the defendants, together with all other members of the Joint Unions Action Committee comprising all Trade Unions involving employees of the 2nd claimant, from engaging in strike actions or related activities. The injunction specifically prohibits industrial action, strike, picketing, lock-out, or any other form of disruption, including actions such as blocking roads, obstructing vehicular movement, or shutting down operations of the FCTA. The judge added that the order was intended to prevent actions intended to cripple operations or frustrate the businesses and activities of the 2nd claimant, pending the determination of the substantive suit. Justice Subilim ordered that the injunction shall remain in full force and effect pending the hearing and final determination of the originating summons filed in this suit. The case has been adjourned to 25 March 2026 for hearing of a motion on notice. Alleged disobedience by union labour leaders A letter submitted to the court by lawyers representing Mr Wike, alleged that the defendants had ignored the injunction. Despite the restraining order, the 2nd Defendant, Abdullahi Umar Saleh, and Comrade Benson Upah have issued directives for workers to continue their strike action in flagrant disobedience and total disregard of the order of this Honourable Court, the lawyers stated. They argued that the alleged defiance undermines judicial authority, noting, orders of Court are not made for fun. Application for form 48 The FCT Ministers legal team has applied for the issuance of Form 48, a legal document of the court, which spells out the consequences of violating the order of court, to be served on the striking workers. The form would compel the two defendants to appear before the court. Mr Subilim ordered that the injunction shall remain in full force and effect pending the hearing and final determination of the originating summons filed in this suit. Labour unions reject court order On Tuesday, the labour unions, criticised the courts decision and vowed to continue their action. The NLC condemned the ruling and described the suspension order as unacceptable, insisting that workers grievances remain unresolved. Leaders of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) also threw their weight behind the striking workers, accusing the administration of neglect and signalling solidarity with the industrial action. They also directed its affiliate unions in Abuja to intensify and sustain the strike action until all workers demands are fully addressed. The Nigerian Army says its troops have recorded fresh gains against bandits and terrorist groups in parts of Kwara State following sustained offensive operations under a new campaign tagged Operation Igbo Danu, also known as Operation Forest Flush. According to a statement issued on Friday by Maureen Ogubka, 2 Division Army Public Relations officer, the operations were carried out by troops of the 22 Armoured Brigade with support from the Office of the National Security Adviser between 23 and 29 January 2026. She said the offensive was aimed at dismantling terrorist networks operating within the divisions joint operations area. The troops conducted coordinated fighting patrols in several bandits enclaves, neutralising terrorists, while others escaped into the forest with suspected gunshot wounds, Ms Ogubka said. Their hideouts and camps were completely destroyed, leaving the brigands dislodged. The statement said the operation was led by the General Officer Commanding 2 Division, Chinedu Nnebife, alongside the commander of the 22 Armoured Brigade, Nicholas Rume, as part of wider efforts under Sector 3 of Operation Fansan Yamma. Troops also cleared Garin Dandi, described as a long standing bandits enclave in Ifelodun Local Government Area, where logistics bases and supply routes used by the groups were destroyed. The army said soldiers further advanced into remote forest locations previously inaccessible to security forces, uncovering and demolishing abandoned camps and logistics enablers. Despite the difficult terrain, the military said its forces maintained pressure across forested areas, blocking escape routes and intercepting fleeing suspects. Several suspected bandits were arrested at blocking positions, while numerous kidnapped victims were rescued from different camps across the state, the statement added. The army, however, raised concerns about the role of local collaborators. Ms Ogubka said observations from the operations showed that bandits receive support from collaborators within nearby communities, who provide intelligence on troop movements, enabling early withdrawal from targeted locations. She said the successes recorded underscored the divisions resolve to degrade terrorist elements and restore security in Kwara, adding that the operation was still ongoing. The latest offensive comes amid heightened security operations in Kwara State following a wave of kidnappings and bandit attacks along the Ifelodun, Edu, and Patigi axis. PREMIUM TIMES reported a series of military airstrikes, ground offensives, and the imposition of curfews by local authorities in January 2026 as security agencies intensified efforts to reclaim forest corridors used by armed groups. Security analysts say such operations reflect a broader national pattern. In late 2025 and early 2026, the Nigerian military recorded multiple operational gains, including the neutralisation of senior terrorist commanders and the rescue of hundreds of abducted victims through intelligence led operations and precision airstrikes. However, analysts caution that tactical victories have not translated into lasting security. READ ALSO: Kwara tightens curfews as security forces hunt bandits Experts note that while forest clearing operations weaken criminal logistics, armed groups often regroup, exploit intelligence leaks, and shift locations. Analysts also warned that without stronger intelligence coordination, accountability, and non kinetic interventions addressing poverty and local collaboration, military gains risk being temporary. The army urged residents to support ongoing operations. Ms Ogubka said the GOC had called on the public to continue to provide credible and timely information on bandits and their collaborators to enhance ongoing operations, assuring that troops would deal decisively with all terrorist networks operating within Kwara State. South Africa and Israel have expelled each others top diplomats in what is the latest diplomatic row between the two countries. It began with South Africa accusing Israels envoy of insulting its president and violating protocol, and Israel retaliating by expelling South Africas senior diplomat. In a statement issued on Friday, South Africas Department of International Relations and Cooperation accused the charge daffaires at the Israeli embassy, Ariel Seidman, of using social media platforms to attack its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and inviting Israeli officials to the country without permission. It said, Such actions represent a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege and a fundamental breach of the Vienna Convention. They have systematically undermined the trust and protocols essential for bilateral relations. South Africas sovereignty and the dignity of its offices are inviolable. The country declared him persona non grata and gave him 72 hours to leave. Hours later, Israel retaliated by announcing that the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had also declared South Africas Charge dAffaires in Israel, Shaun Byneveldt, persona non grata. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar decided following South Africas false attacks against Israel in the international arena and the unilateral, baseless step taken against the Charge dAffaires of Israel in South Africa that South Africas senior diplomatic representative, Minister Shaun Edward Byneveldt, is persona non grata. He was also given 72 hours to leave the country. Tension between South Africa and Israel intensified after South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in late 2023. At the time, South Africa had said it is gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants. In the 84-page document submitted to the court, South Africa also said, The acts and omissions by Israel are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group, that being part of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip. Israels attack on Gaza has led to the death of over 71,660 people since October 2023 and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. However, Israel rejected the case, describing it as baseless. South Africa withdrew its ambassador to Israel in 2018, accusing the country of an indiscriminate, deadly attack on civilians in Gaza. Israel recalled its ambassador to South Africa in 2023 after the case was filed with the ICJ. Femi Otedola, the Chairperson of First HoldCo Plc, has raised his stake in the financial services group to 18.1 per cent, according to the companys unaudited financial report for 2025 released on Friday. The billionaire tycoons direct shareholding in the entity stood at 7.3 per cent or 3.3 billion shares as of 31 December 2025, while his indirect interest came to 10.8 per cent or 4.8 billion shares. Altogether, his combined stake sums up to 8.06 billion shares. Earlier in December, Mr Otedola acquired 370 million shares at N40.1 each in the bank holding company, putting the value of the transaction at N14.8 billion. He purchased the shares through Calvados Global Services Limited, his special purpose acquisition vehicle, according to a regulatory filing. PREMIUM TIMES estimate of his stake at the time of the transaction was 16.9 per cent. In the same month, Mr Otedola divested his majority ownership in Geregu Power Plc in a deal estimated at $750 million, financed by a consortium of lenders led by Zenith Bank. Sources said, following the deal, that the billionaire mogul was looking to invest more of his fortune in the financial sector. According to the outcome of First HoldCos private placement released on 31 December 2025, ten applications from unnamed investors were received for 2.6 billion shares, all of them fully allotted. The private placement took the total issued and fully paid-up shares of First HoldCo to 44.5 billion units from 41.9 billion units. Last September, Mr Otedola acquired 64.9 million shares valued at N2 billion in the banking group: 39.3 million units worth N1.2 billion in his own name and 25.6 million units estimated at N792.5 million via Calvados Global Services. As of half-year 2025, he held 3.2 billion shares directly and 3.5 billion indirectly in the entity, according to First HoldCos unaudited financial report for the period. In July 2025, Mr Otedolas former closest rivals in the top ownership of First HoldCo, Oba Otudeko and Oye Hassan-Odukale, abruptly sold off their holdings in the group. As many as 10.4 billion shares, translating into almost 25 per cent of the groups entire ordinary shares were traded off-market in 17 deals on a single day, a trader told PREMIUM TIMES at the time. The sellers were Barbican Capital Limited & affiliates and Leadway Group & affiliates, and the buyer was RC Investment Management Limited, First HoldCo said in a statement issued after the transactions. Mr Otudeko controls Barbican Capital Limited, while Mr Odukale is the CEO of Leadway Assurance Company Limited. The embattled Nigerian evangelist, Yinka Yusuf, has decided to look elsewhere for his 1 Million Crusade after the Akwa Ibom State Government cancelled an approval granted to him. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the Akwa Ibom State Government, through its agency that manages public facilities, wrote a letter to Mr Yusuf, informing him that the approval to use a government hall, Ibom Hall, for the crusade had been withdrawn due to security reasons and the prevailing security situation in the State. The government letter, dated 27 January, was signed by Patrick Udomfang, the CEO of the Akwa Ibom Property and Investments Company Limited. The letter went viral on Facebook. Mr Yusuf had paid the Akwa Ibom State Government for the use of the hall for his crusade, scheduled for 9 February at the Ibom Hall grounds. The cleric alleged that the Akwa Ibom chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) instigated the state government against him because the two religious blocs had invited a Kenyan prophet to Uyo. He said the programme by the Kenyan prophet was slated to take place a week before his own crusade, but that CAN and PFN wanted him to postpone his by a week. He argued that he had already spent millions of naira on publicity and logistics, and that international guests had booked flights to Uyo, making any last-minute shift costly and disruptive. Moving out of Uyo In a Facebook post on Friday morning, the evangelist announced that his ministry had decided to discontinue the plans for the Uyo crusade. We have come to the end of the road for Uyo, Mr Yusuf wrote. The government, PFN, and CAN have insisted that I must reschedule our crusade to accommodate the Kenya government, PFN, and CAN crusade, moving it forward by a week. We have decided to act according to the Word of God and move to the next city. He said his team was withdrawing trucks and trailers already mobilised for the programme back to Lagos, adding that he had spent over N43 million on the botched crusade. We leave everything to God, from whom nothing is hidden. May the Lord bless the Governor, PFN, and CAN. We wish them a successful programme. May the Lord of the harvest, who sent us to Uyo, send other evangelists to accomplish what we couldnt do in the city, he said. We apologise to the five thousand evangelists we invited to Uyo from around the world; many have already purchased their tickets from America, the UK, South Africa, Australia, Namibia, etc. The announcement came hours after a video clip circulating on social media showed the evangelist making remarks, considered derogatory, about Akwa Ibom, which has a predominantly Christian population. The problem is the ancestral demon that controls Calabar and Uyo. Think of Okon, you are thinking about a gateman. Think about Ekaette, you are thinking about a cook. It has made them believe that they are slaves. If you go there, you will see pride that is not in America. The most proud people in this world are from Akwa Ibom. Proud for nothing, he said in the video. The comments sparked widespread outrage on social media. Reacting to the backlash, Mr Yusuf, in another video posted on his Facebook page, dismissed the clip as propaganda by people opposed to the crusade. He said the video was taken out of context and was from a sermon he preached two years earlier on what he described as pulling down spirit in the state. The Akwa Ibom State Government, apparently capitalising on the evangelists controversial remarks, backtracked on its earlier reason for withdrawing the approval for the crusade. For the avoidance of doubt, the decision was not based on any prevailing security situation, as no such condition exists in Akwa Ibom State, the Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, said in a statement on Friday. Rather, it was informed solely by the vile, denigrating, and inflammatory comments made against the people of the State by Pastor Yusuf in a widely circulated video, in which he crudely stereotyped and insulted the collective identity, dignity, and intelligence of the Akwa Ibom people. These comments constitute a direct affront to the approximately 7.9 million citizens of the State, understandably inflamed public sentiment, and must be condemned by all peace-loving, right-thinking members of society. Mr Yusuf, on Friday, retracted his controversial remarks and apologised to the people of Akwa Ibom. The Administrative Secretary of PFN in Akwa Ibom, Victor Ukpong, told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday that PFN would soon issue a public statement on the matter, but the organisation had yet to do so after several hours. PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach CAN for its comment. The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, is a pastor. He owns a medium-sized church, All Nations Christian Ministry International, in Eket, Akwa Ibom. Like his predecessors, Mr Eno administration has been spending millions of government funds to organise frequent religious programmes, including monthly prayer and fasting. The clash between the Akwa Ibom State Government and Mr Yusuf coincides with William Kumuyis well-publicised crusade in Uyo. Mr Kumuyi is the founder of Deeper Life Ministry, one of the largest churches in Nigeria. While a disappointed Mr Yusuf was making plans to move its ministrys equipment from Uyo to Lagos, Governor Eno on Friday received Mr Kumuyi and his delegation at the Government House, Uyo. May the good Lord that you serve strengthen you to carry the cross across the nations, Joshua Iboro Samson, a cleric from Akwa Ibom, said in a consolatory Facebook message to Mr Yusuf, who had previously held crusades in Lagos, Kaduna and other Nigerian cities. As at Saturday afternoon, Mr Yusufs billboard for the botched crusade was still in front of the Ibom Hall when our reporter visited the place. Panic gripped Kawuri community in the Bama Local Government Area of Borno State late Thursday night after a Boko Haram attack left a forest guard dead and a Nigerian Army lieutenant missing. Local media reported that the incident started in the morning when a large number of heavily armed insurgents arrived in the community. Sources said the arms in their possession included anti-aircraft guns. They reportedly overwhelmed the soldiers stationed in the area after a fierce battle. During the encounter a forest guard was killed and an army lieutenant was also declared missing. However, the identity of the lieutenant was not disclosed. The forest guard attached to the security formation was among the rangers recently inducted by the federal government to support the military in combating insurgency in the region. The attackers were also reported to have set fire to parts of the military base before retreating into the surrounding hills under the cover of darkness. There is no official statement about the incident yet. When contacted, the police spokesperson in Borno, Kenneth Daso, was not audible over the phone. After several attempts, his phone was later unreachable. For his part, Sani Uba, spokesperson for Operation Hadin Kai, was also unreachable by phone. Both officials didnt also reply a message to confirm the incident. The surge in violence follows the killing of scores of labourers in Wajirko, a village of in the Damboa Local Government Area. It similarly follows the execution of a commanding officer and his troops who were ambushed between Damasak and Geidam. According to reports by Daily Trust, troops recovered the bodies of the commanding officer (a major), seven soldiers, and two members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) on Wednesday during a fierce ground and air operation. The latest assault comes amid renewed offensives against the Boko Haram fighters across their majors enclaves. Former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has wrongly accused a businessman, Ahmad Rabiu, of leaking classified documents to PREMIUM TIMES. The documents exposed a multi-billion-naira scandal involving the ownership of Dala Inland Dry Port Limited during Mr Gandujes administration. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Rabiu was arrested at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport by plainclothes officers from the Kano State Police Command. The arrest occurred while he was boarding an Air Peace flight bound for Abuja on Wednesday. The police action followed a petition filed by Mr Gandujes children and his aide, Abubakar Bawuro. The petitioners alleged that Mr Rabiu provided the investigative outlet with the sensitive documents that led to the expose on Mr Gandujes alleged conflict of interest while in office. Following a two-day detention, the police arraigned Mr Rabiu before the Federal High Court on Friday on a six-count charge of defamation. Notably, the prosecutions case appears to rely solely on the findings of the PREMIUM TIMES investigation into the Dala Inland Dry Port Limited. The 16-page petition, which references the Premium Times investigation, failed to identify any instance where the publication names Mr Rabiu as the source of the documents. The court session On Friday, the police arraigned Mr Rabiu before the Federal High Court No. 3 in Kano, presided over by Justice Samuel Amobede, under charge number FHC/KN/CR/378/2025. The defendant faces six counts of defamation against Mr Ganduje, his two sonsUmar Abdullahi Umar and Muhammad Abdullahi Umarand his aide, Abubakar Sahabo Bawuro. Mr Rabiu pleaded not guilty to all charges. Following the plea, defence counsel Maliki Kuliya informed the court that a bail application had been filed on 29 January and sought leave to move the application. In response, prosecuting counsel S. O. Ekwe confirmed service of the application but requested an adjournment to allow time for a formal response. Mr Kuliya then urged the court to grant the defendant administrative bail pending the next hearing, offering his personal undertaking to ensure the defendants appearance. After a 10-minute recess, Justice Amobede ruled in favour of the defence. The judge cited Mr Kuliyas standing as a senior lawyer and former Attorney General of Kano State as a significant factor in granting the application. The case has been adjourned to 3 February for further proceedings. Intimidation Responding to Mr Rabius arrest and subsequent arraignment the state prosecutor, Muhuyi Magaji, who is prosecuting Mr Ganduje and others in the state High Court, stated that the move was intended to tamper with the ongoing case. Mr Rabiu is among the prosecution witnesses the state government lined up, including government officials who were allegedly manipulated into signing documents that facilitated fraudulent transfers from the state government to the private port entity. The state government accused Mr Ganduje and other defendants of conspiring to fraudulently transfer 80 per cent of the shares of Dala Inland Dry Port, including the states 20 per cent equity, to private ownership under the fictitious name City Green Enterprise. The prosecution also alleged that the defendants diverted over 4.49 billion in Kano State funds to execute infrastructure projects, including a double-carriageway, electricity, and perimeter fencing at the dry port, for their personal and family benefit. At the state High Court, the defendants also face charges of abuse of office and conflict of interest, as it was alleged that they leveraged their official roles to redirect public resources for personal benefit, thereby violating financial and constitutional regulations. Background PREMIUM TIMES exposed how Mr Ganduje secretly transferred the state governments 20 per cent stake in the facility to private hands, making his children co-owners of the company before awarding a contract worth more than N4 billion to provide infrastructure for the project. The transfer ended Kano States shareholding in the project, while Mr Gandujes children and aide, Abubakar Bawuro, became directors and shareholders. What PREMIUM TIMES investigation exposed When Dala Inland Dry Port Limited was incorporated on 8 December 2003, its only directors were the founder, Ahmad Rabiu, and his son, Rabiu Ahmad Rabiu. Two years later, at an extraordinary general meeting on 19 January 2005, the board was expanded with the appointment of four new directors: Abdulaziz Haladu, Anwar Isyaku-Rabiu, Diepreye George, and Abdullahi Kwaru. Records obtained by this newspaper show that on 5 March 2020, Mr Gandujes three children and his longtime associate, Abubakar Bawuro, replaced Mr Rabius son and all other directors elected in 2005 as board members of the company. Minutes of the companys Annual General Meeting (AGM), held on 5 March 2020, at its Zaria Road office in Kano, confirmed the appointment of Abdulaziz Abdullahi Umar, Umar Abdullahi Umar, and Muhammad Abdullahi Umarall children of Mr Ganduje alongside Mr Bawuro as new directors of Dala Inland Dry Port Limited. It was also at the meeting that the state government was removed as a co-owner of the dry port, and the Ganduje children were appointed not just as directors but also as shareholders, each holding 5 million shares. According to its ordinary resolution, the meeting was attended by all the shareholders, and it was unanimously resolved that Abdulaziz Abdullah Umar, Umar Abdullahi Umar, and Muhammad Abdullahi Umar the three children of Mr Ganduje be allotted five million shares each, each being 20 per cent of the total 25 million shares of the company. Mr Rabiu and Mr Bawuro were also each allotted 20 per cent, creating a new ownership structure of five equal shareholders, each with 20 per cent of the companys shares. This structure edged out the Kano State Government from the ownership of the company. The state government said due process was not followed in the divestment process, accusing Mr Ganduje of using his office to undermine the state. I will not lose sleep over the sibling rivalries of Europe and its North American first cousin. Rather, my concern is how Greenland and the sixty five remaining colonies in the world can become independent. We need a new world order. Western Europe, which for the first time in eighty years has sent troops in a growing dispute with the United States (US) is falsely claiming that it sent its military to the disputed Greenland on noble grounds. On 27 January, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed the Europeans are engaged in the face-off to assert their sovereignty, fight against foreign interference and global warming, contribute to Arctic security, and for the economic and social development of Greenland. These are all false grounds. First, how can Western Europe claim to be defending its sovereignty in Greenland, when the territory is in North America, a different continent? How can it claim it is fighting against foreign intervention when the Europeans, including the Danish who make claims to Greenland, are all foreigners? What intervention can be more foreign than France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands and United Kingdom sending troops across the Atlantic Ocean to Greenland? Europe did not explain how its sending soldiers to Greenland translates to fighting global warming. Is global warming fought with bullets? When Macron said the primary interest of Western Europe includes the socio-economic development of Greenland, he did not explain how this is being expressed with the continued colonisation of the territory. The truth is that there is no difference between the colonial interests of Europe, which includes making Greenland a military base, and those of the US under President Donald Trump. Another truth is that both sides are primarily interested in the exploitation of Greenland, including the control of that territorys 110 billion barrels of oil, one of the worlds largest reserves. How can the European do-gooders claim they want the development of Greenland but would not allow it to be free? If in reality Europeans want Greenland to develop, all they need to do is de-colonise it and allow the people the fundamental right to self-determination and independence, in accordance with the 14 December, 1960 United Nations General Assembly Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Trump, while sulking that he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, told the Norwegian leader in a text that he must be given Greenland because, The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. In reality, the greatest source of insecurity in the world today is the US, which exhibits a sense of entitlement to take whatever it wants and, with the possible exceptions of Russia, North Korea and China, bully the rest of humanity. The primary issue in Greenland is about a country stolen by Denmark, and the determination of the US to steal it from the Europeans. For this, both sides, which have been allies since the end of the Second World War eighty one years ago, are ready to endanger world peace. It is actually an historical shame that Denmark had been involved in selling stolen lands. For instance, in 1916, it sold the occupied lands called Danish West Indies to the US, which renamed them the United States Virgin Islands. Until today, the US continues its colonisation of those lands. The emerging scenario is not new. For centuries these allies went around the world seizing other peoples lands and redrawing the geographical map of the universe. They literarily stole the world blind. Their unrestrained grab of other peoples lands, which in the case of Africa was christened The Scramble For Africa, was so much, and the actors, so greedy, that war was inevitable. But they had common sense. So, they held an international conference in Berlin between 1884 and 1885, where they agreed that wherever one of them had established its presence, the others should look elsewhere to other territories. They called such theft colonialism. Colonialism is no different from the theft of humans, which Europeans called slave trade. That trade, in which over fifteen million human beings were trafficked across the oceans, went on for over four hundred years. In the case of Greenland, after the Danes had sailed from Europe to seize it, the Americans, in 1867 and again in 1910, offered to buy it. In fact, the US, while being aware that the lands did not belong to Denmark, offered to buy Greenland and Iceland for $5.5 million. That was the same way, after defeating colonial Spain, it asked the latter to sell Cuba and Puerto Rico to it. Spain had rightly refused to do so; how could it sell countries or lands it did not own? That was the absurdity of the US request, and it remains so today in the case of Greenland. It is actually an historical shame that Denmark had been involved in selling stolen lands. For instance, in 1916, it sold the occupied lands called Danish West Indies to the US, which renamed them the United States Virgin Islands. Until today, the US continues its colonisation of those lands. Even Greenland is not free from the pranks of Denmark and the US. The latter occupied Greenland during the Second World War, ostensibly to prevent Nazi Germany from occupying it. And till today, eight decades after that war, the US has refused to leave. The only thing it has done is to reduce its three military bases of Sonddderstrom, Marsarsuaq and Thule to a main functional one in Thule. Also, Denmark, rather than allow Greenland independence, annexed it in 1953. How can bullies who go round the world invading weaker countries, overthrowing governments, carrying out mass killings and breaking up families, claim they are fighting for peace? What peace did they keep when they invaded and destabilised countries like Iraq and Libya? As Western Europe, in a quixotic manner, began sending troops to Greenland from 14 January, President Trump teased it as parading cowards: Weve never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. You know, theyll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines. Going by the casualty figures in that inglorious war, with 2,456 of the total number of 3,500 allied troops that died being Americans, Trump might have a point. But the United Kingdom that lost 457 troops in that war, was livid. Prince Harry, who fought in Afghanistan, responded: Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defence of diplomacy and peace. In the first place, neither Europe nor the US had any business invading Afghanistan, so the lives lost, especially of the poor Afghans, were a mere waste. The sacrifices that Harry referred to were needless and in vain. When the English Prince claimed the Afghan invasion was in defence of diplomacy and peace, he was being delusional. How can bullies who go round the world invading weaker countries, overthrowing governments, carrying out mass killings and breaking up families, claim they are fighting for peace? What peace did they keep when they invaded and destabilised countries like Iraq and Libya? I will not lose sleep over the sibling rivalries of Europe and its North American first cousin. Rather, my concern is how Greenland and the sixty five remaining colonies in the world can become independent. We need a new world order. Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author. Imoudus official biographer, Baba Omojola Oluwide, wrote that Imoudu had always insisted that he had never made any strike in his life. That he: only watched the workers mood and by constant contacts at the factory floor, at the district meetings, in public statements and mass rallies, introduced gradual mobilisation tactics to entice the bystanders to the picket line and involve other non-working class forces to sympathise with the workers. Michael Imoudu, doubtlessly, ignited the 1945 General Strike at a time when the leaders of the labour movement argued that the strike was ill-timed. But Imoudu himself was prompted by the Lagos society to make the strike. Lagos the capital city of colonial Nigeria was the hotbed of the strike movement. Its workers and other radical social and political forces created the political and psychological atmosphere that made opposition to the colonial authorities not only legitimate but also glorious. In fact, Lagos workers started fertilising the grounds for a general strike in 1943. That was when Imoudu was arrested, detained, imprisoned, and exiled to Benin city, from where he was banished to Auchi. They held that Imoudu was unreasonably being victimised for the struggle he led to increase wages and grant workers a cost of living allowance (COLA) the previous year. So, when the ultimatum for the strike was issued by the African Civil Service Technical Workers Union (ACSTWU), the nationalist press gave it nationwide publicity. In addition, they strongly criticised the discriminatory increases in wages and cost of living allowance (COLA), and encouraged workers to justly demand for their increases. Senior staff organisations, including the Civil Service Union (CSU), the Committee of Africans holding European Appointments (CAHSA), the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Amalgamated Union of Mercantile Workers (AUMW) supported the demands of the ACSTWU. The publicity given by the press, especially The West African Pilot and Daily Comet, was so successful that other social forces within and outside Lagos looked forward to the strike. These forces, in fact, began mobilising and organising for the strike. Lagos workers insisted that whatever the excesses and limitations of Imoudu, he did not deserve the treatment and punishment by the government. They complained bitterly about how Imoudu and his family were left with no means of livelihood. One of the editions of the Railway Workers Union (RWU) magazine, The Nigerian Railway Man captured all these in a poem by C. Enitan Brown: 1. Do you still receive your COLA? Do you still receive your salary? I am deprived of both. 2. Summary dismissal cancels my pension. Deportation opens up new avenues To new mode of employing my mind and time. 3. Never have I been blind To my shortcomings and who is perfect? (Except my Heavenly Father whom I serve) 4. My body needs food and clothing My mind needs constant cultivation, My soul needs further development. 5. Thanks to the loyal members of my union, My needs number One are greatly reduced; But one tree does not make a forest. 6. I do not beg for it; I claim your financial support, Every worker in the Country. 7. I spoke and made known your desires, Your feelings I interpreted To the Governor and the governed. 8. I am here at Auchi To learn how to swim After I had bathed long Enough in the pool, I must return to you For greater Service. The poem, first, depicted governments handling of Imoudu as amounting to killing a fly with a sledge hammer. Secondly, that he was victimised for standing and leading workers struggles for improved conditions. Thirdly, that, despite colonial victimisation, he remains an unrelenting workers leader. Fourthly, that Imoudu eagerly looked forward to be freed to continue offering greater service to workers. When news of Imoudus release from internal exile on 20 May, 1945 spread, Lagos society made elaborate preparations for his reception. So successful was the reception that an estimated crowd of 50,000 welcomed him. In organising the reception, Wogu Ananaba, a labour leader of the era, wrote that workers, as individuals and groups, took every opportunity in religious and social gatherings to convince the community at large that Imoudus detention marked the peak of bondage and his release should mark the start of freedom for all. During the reception, Imoudu was generally portrayed as a liberator of the masses. Brown, for instance, poetised: Man took you away to suffer, God has brought you back to prosper; Two and half years in exile, Were sure youre now virile To fight the cause of workers. Herbert Macaulay, the leading nationalist of the era, declared that the Almighty God alone should be praised for Imoudus release. He added that his release showed that the liberation of this country is very near. Another nationalist, Nnamdi Azikiwe, orated that, the hero of Nigerian labour will go down as a historic occasion in the annals of Nigerian trade unionism and that Imoudu had, paid the penalty of leadership. He trod the stony road of Golgotha. He bore the cross of Cavalry. He was crucified. He was resurrected. He has returned to us in flesh (to) lead the workers to the Promised Land. Responding, Imoudu said, I have gone into exile for training. I have done very little towards trade unionism. Without the confidence of the workers, I would not have triumphed. I am prepared to die for Nigerian trade unionism, for the working class. The organisation of the reception and the reception itself boosted Imoudus personality and political credentials. Most importantly, the political and psychological atmosphere that enabled opposition to confront the government was created. The Acting Governor confirmed the political volatility of the reception. In a secret dispatch to London, he wrote: the mood of the people of Lagos in general is such that there are few lengths short of violence which people will go to secure greatly increased wages (and) employees of Government and the commercial firms are at present time unwilling to listen to reason. All these popularised and politicised the proposed 1945 General Strike. Thus, when stories went round that Bankole and his colleagues had capitulated to government to suspend the strike, market women were part of the rowdy groups that repudiated him on 20 June, 1945. Bankole wrote that market women, along with workers, shouted at him, Thief, thief, you have been bribed; the government has bribed you. Then followed the showering on me of an appreciable quantity of gari (farina) an act which savoured of rank impudence. The popular support for the proposed 1945 General Strike, and the willingness of workers to embark on it propelled Imoudu and his colleagues to insist that the strike must proceed as planned. Imoudus official biographer, Baba Omojola Oluwide, wrote that Imoudu had always insisted that he had never made any strike in his life. That he: only watched the workers mood and by constant contacts at the factory floor, at the district meetings, in public statements and mass rallies, introduced gradual mobilisation tactics to entice the bystanders to the picket line and involve other non-working class forces to sympathise with the workers. The making of the 1945 General Strike was more than Imoudu. For just, as he ignited the strike, so was he ignited by Lagos workers, women, youth and radical nationalist politicians to make the strike. Ahmed Aminu-Ramatu Yusuf worked as deputy director, Cabinet Affairs Office, The Presidency, and retired as General Manager (Administration), Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMet). Email: [email protected] Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has cautioned against attempts to create division among residents of Tongegi Island and across the state over ongoing oil exploration activities in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area. The governor gave the warning while commissioning the AbeokutaObalende and Osinubi New Roads in Ijebu-Ode, where he clarified that the oil drilling exercise is being carried out by the Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and not by the Ogun State Government. Mr Abiodun explained that although hydrocarbon deposits have been identified in parts of Ogun Waterside, including Tongegi Island, their commercial viability is yet to be established. He dismissed claims that funds meant for oil exploration had been diverted, describing such allegations as misleading and politically motivated. According to the governor, the discovery followed reports of crude-like substances seeping from the ground, which prompted technical investigations by the NNPCL. After conducting preliminary tests, they informed me that oil had been discovered in Ogun State. However, drilling is necessary to confirm whether it exists in commercial quantity, and that process was approved by Mr. President, Mr Abiodun said. He added that security around the drilling area has been significantly strengthened, noting that a Naval Base has already been established near the oil well to safeguard national assets. The governor expressed concern over what he described as misrepresentation of his comments in some sections of the media, which he said sparked unnecessary controversy. At no time did I say that commercial drilling had commenced at Tongegi Island. What we have are promising indications, not confirmation of commercial quantity, he stressed. Governor Abiodun further revealed that a Naval post has also been established at Tongegi Island, with approval granted by the Chief of Naval Staff for a Forward Operating Base to reinforce Nigerias territorial presence in the area. Commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the governor said the revival of the Olokola Deep Sea Port project would significantly boost Ogun States economic prospects, adding that the President has directed visible progress on the project within the next year. On infrastructure development, Mr Abiodun reaffirmed his administrations commitment to improving road networks across the state, stating that performance not rhetoric remains the governments response to criticism. He disclosed that more than 20 township roads have been reconstructed in Ijebu-Ode, including Awujale Road, Ijebu-OdeEpeMojoda Road, MolipaFusigboye Road, StadiumLubaGateway Annex Road, Imoru Road, Tam-Balogun Road, Osinubi Road, and several others, with additional projects currently ongoing. Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya, said the completed roads were executed to enhance connectivity, reduce travel time, and stimulate local commerce. Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Dare Alebiosu, noted that the improved road network has boosted economic activities and strengthened public confidence in government. Also speaking, the lawmaker representing Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu North-East and Odogbolu Federal Constituency, Femi Ogunbanwo, praised the governors consistent investment in infrastructure across Ijebu land. Market leaders, represented by the Otun Akile Iyaloja of Ijebu-Ode, Mrs Kikelomo Olufunmi, said the roads would ease movement of goods and enhance trading activities. Traditional rulers and community leaders at the event commended the governor for delivering on his promises, describing the projects as impactful and timely for the development of the area. Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has commended President Bola Tinubu for selecting Tudun Biri village as the first beneficiary of the Resettlement Scheme for Persons Impacted by Conflicts. The governor who made this known on Friday, noted that the village was selected following the accidental bombing that claimed innocent lives in December 2023. Speaking at the commissioning of houses, 6 kilometre road, Primary Healthcare Centre and Skills Acquisition Centre at Tudun Biri, he said that the presidents directive has resulted into an integrated development model. According to him, the scheme has shown that peace is sustained not only through security measures, but through development, inclusion, and economic opportunity. This initiative moved beyond temporary relief to comprehensive reconstruction, delivering modern homes supported by essential social infrastructure designed for safe and sustainable living, he added. The governor further said that Kaduna State played a central role in the reconstruction of Tudun Biri, from the earliest stages of the tragedy, culminating in the commissioning of projects. According to him, Kaduna State Government used portions of farmland for residential development and community infrastructure to ensure safe and orderly housing, roads, and public facilities. He argued that farmers whose lands were affected were consulted and supported through a combination of livelihood measures, including priority access to agricultural inputs, sundry empowerment and skills programmes, and alternative livelihood support where necessary. In the immediate aftermath, we coordinated emergency medical care, facilitated psychosocial support, and worked closely with community leaders to manage relief distribution. As recovery progressed, our focus expanded deliberately to healthcare, education, livelihoods, and infrastructure, guided by our firm policy that Kaduna State will not tolerate the creation of internally displaced populations in the form of IDP camps, he added. Governor Sani pointed out that his administrations approach prioritises resettlement within communities, preservation of social bonds, and the restoration of economic life. He further said that his government constructed and equipped a twenty-five bed Primary Healthcare Centre in Tudun Biri, offering five comprehensive services, including maternal care, minor surgeries, and ophthalmological treatment. According to him, infrastructural development has been critical to the recovery of Tudun Biri, adding that his government constructed a 6-kilometre asphaltic road linking the community to the Kaduna International Airport corridor. Recognising the economic realities faced by affected families, we prioritised Tudun Biri residents in our social intervention programmes. Agricultural inputs, including fertiliser, rice, and maize, were distributed to households, while sustained psychosocial and medical support was provided through the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency, he disclosed. The governor said that his administration also established a Skills Acquisition Centre to equip young people with practical vocational and entrepreneurial skills that translate directly into employment, income, and self-reliance. In education, a new primary school has been constructed with the support of Nigeria Army and other development partners, ensuring uninterrupted learning for our children, he added. He commended Vice President Shettima stressing that his leadership and oversight were instrumental to the success of this effort. As Chairman of the Committee that refined and guided the implementation plan, he ensured that commitments were translated into measurable outcomes, he clarified. According to Mr Uba Sani, the Vice Presidents dedication, dexterity, and commitment to the restoration of Tudun Biri is not surprising because bringing succour and hope to displaced and conflict-impacted communities is familiar terrain for him. For eight years as Governor of Borno State, he devoted himself daily to addressing similar challenges. We therefore join the people of Tudun Biri in sincerely thanking him for his steadfast dedication, he added. The governor expressed gratitude to the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mrs Zubaida Umar, and her team. Their professionalism ensured effective coordination, diligent monitoring, and transparent deployment of resources from conception to completion, he said. Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President Shettima said that the commissioning of the Tudun Biri Resettlement Scheme is an assurance of our collective belief that fairness is the glue that holds a nation together, and that compassion is not a weakness of the state, but its moral strength. According to him, the scheme is a vehicle for hope of the families whose lives were disrupted, adding that it is a practical assurance that the Nigerian state does not abandon its citizens in times of adversity. The Vice President further said that the Rehabilitation Scheme is a Federal Government initiative designed to deliver durable recovery and resettlement. Under this programme, similar resettlement and recovery projects are underway across Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Niger, Katsina, and Benue States, he disclosed. The Vice President said that the projects reflect a coordinated national response to internal displacement, one that prioritises durable solutions, community resilience, and the restoration of dignity to Nigerians affected by conflict and insecurity. He commended Governor Uba Sani for his administrations constructive partnership and inclusive approach to governance. The success of initiatives such as this rests on collaboration, trust, and shared ownership between the Federal Government, state authorities, host communities, and development partners, he maintained. The testimonies of Governor Uba Sanis stewardship in bringing the people of Kaduna State together are an assurance of the better days we have promised, Mr Shettima added. Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, has approved the inclusion of Bakori Local Government Area among council headquarters to benefit from the construction of a dual carriageway road in the 2026 financial year. The governor said the decision was informed by increasing traffic congestion and transportation challenges in the area, stressing that the project would improve mobility, enhance road safety and stimulate economic activities in Bakori and neighbouring communities. Governor Radda disclosed this today while receiving critical stakeholders from Bakori Local Government Area on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Katsina. The delegation was led by the Chairperson of Bakori Local Government Council, Abubakar Musa Barde. Our administration is intentional about closing infrastructure gaps across Katsina State. The decision to include Bakori in the dual carriageway programme followed careful assessment of traffic pressure and the need to support economic growth in the area, Governor Radda said. He added that the project aligns with his administrations commitment to balanced development across all local government areas of the state. We are determined to ensure that no part of Katsina State is left behind. Strategic road projects such as this are critical to improving livelihoods, boosting commerce and connecting our communities more efficiently, he stated. The governor assured the delegation that other requests presented by the stakeholders would be given due consideration, particularly those relating to infrastructure development and project execution, in line with available resources and government priorities. He also urged stakeholders to strengthen consultation and unity within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bakori Local Government Area, noting that internal cohesion remains key to sustainable development and political stability. He further charged party leaders to intensify sensitisation efforts and encourage APC members to update their registration during the one-week extension period, stressing that an updated and vibrant membership base would further strengthen the party. Earlier, the Chairperson of Bakori Local Government Area, Mr Musa Barde, said the visit was to express the appreciation of the people of Bakori to Governor Radda for the numerous development projects executed in the area under his administration. Also speaking, the Chairperson of Bakori Stakeholders, Ahmed Mohammed Bakori, a professor appealed to the state government to consider the construction of a general hospital in the area to address the healthcare needs of residents who currently seek medical services in neighbouring local governments. Mr Bakori also called for the construction and rehabilitation of key roads in the local government, including the dualisation of the township road, with particular emphasis on the asphalting of the Tashar MadallaGugaKandarawa road. In the same vein, the member representing Bakori in the State House of Assembly, Abdulrahman Kandarawa, drew the governors attention to the deplorable condition of the BakoriGugaKakumi road and appealed for urgent government intervention. Those in attendance included the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Abdulkadir Mamman Nasir; National Coordinator, AUDA-NEPAD, Salisu Jabiru Abdullahi Tsauri; APC Chairperson, Sani Aliyu Daura; Shamsu Sule Funtua, Board Member, North-West Development Commission; and other prominent stakeholders from Bakori Local Government Area. Governor Dapo Abiodun has reaffirmed that education remains a cornerstone of his administrations developmental agenda, emphasising continued investment in the sector as essential for securing the states future. The governor made the statement during the 35th Convocation Ceremony of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), held at the institutions permanent site in Ago-Iwoye. The event was particularly significant as it coincided with Ogun States 50th anniversary, with Governor Abiodun noting that the university stands proudly among the legacies of this defining milestone in the states history. Represented at the ceremony by his Deputy, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, Governor Abiodun lauded OOU for producing competent, innovative, and future-ready graduates while upholding high standards of discipline, innovation, and service. He commended the Pro-Chancellor, Professor Toyin Ashiru, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ayodeji Olayinka Johnson Agboola, and members of the Governing Council and Senate for sustaining the universitys ideals. The 35th Convocation celebrates academic excellence, access, and institutional relevance, Governor Abiodun said. By placing reliable data at the centre of decision-making, our administration has enhanced transparency, improved outcomes, and ensured that every intervention across the education value chain is strategic and measurable. Highlighting his administrations commitment, the governor revealed that 275.4 billion, representing 17% of the states 1.7 trillion 2026 budget, was allocated to education. This reflects our determination to expand access to quality education, reduce inequality, and ensure no child is left behind, regardless of background or location, he said. Governor Abiodun congratulated the graduating students, urging them to continue learning, asking questions, and serving as ambassadors of the university. As a demonstration of support for academic excellence, he donated 500,000 to each of the 13 best graduating students from the universitys faculties and 2 million to Master Ajayi David of the Faculty of Engineering, who emerged as the overall best graduating student. In his remarks, Vice-Chancellor Professor Ayodeji Olayinka Agboola praised OOUs tradition of excellence, noting that the university currently ranks 16th nationally among 321 Nigerian universities, based on academic visibility, research output, and web presence. He highlighted that the university is second only to LAUTECH among state-owned institutions in Nigeria. Professor Agboola also commended Governor Abiodun for prioritising education as a catalyst for holistic and transformative development, reaffirming OOUs commitment to advancing a knowledge-driven economy anchored on innovation, digital transformation, and sustainable development aligned with the federal governments Renewed Hope Agenda. A compliance officer with Access Bank Plc, Olomotane Egoro, on Friday, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that inflows from Kogi State local governments were deposited into multiple private bank accounts. The seventh prosecution witness, who began his testimony Thursday in the ongoing trial of Mr Bello, told the judge, Emeka Nwite, that the funds were deposited and withdrawn in a structured manner that avoided filing Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). He disclosed that millions of naira moved through several accounts before being further withdrawn or transferred to other entities. Led in his evidence-in-chief by prosecution lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the witness told the court that the funds were channelled through accounts belonging to companies including Fazab Business Enterprise, E-traders International Limited, Keyless Nature Limited, and Hayzma Business Enterprise, before being withdrawn or moved to other accounts. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Mr Bello, who served as Governor of Kogi State from January 2016 to January 2024, on 19 counts of money laundering. The charges alleged diversion of N80.2 billion from the accounts of the Kogi State Government and some local governments in the state while he was in office. Mr Bello has denied the charges. Mr Egoro is the seventh prosecution witness called by the EFCC to prove its case. Earlier prosecuting wit eases included bank officials, who detailed transactions from Kogi State accounts into private accounts. Earlier on Thursday, Mr Egoro, provided detailed testimony on the transactions, explaining how funds from the local governments moved through multiple private accounts. According to him, two entities: Fazab Business Enterprise and E-traders International Limited were at the heart of the transactions. He showed how Fazab Business Enterprise received funds directly from the local governments and how cash was deposited in E-traders International Limited. After his testimony Thursday, the trial was adjourned to continue hearing from him today (Friday) Structured cash deposits On Friday, the witness named other private accounts that were involved in the transactions. According to a statement by Dele Oyewale, EFCCs head of media and publicity, the witness identified Exhibit 33(5) and told the court that the account was domiciled at the National Assembly branch of Access Bank, Abuja. He explained that a transaction dated 21 March 2018, reflected a loan disbursement to a customer and included entries such as principal interest liquidation and final entry liquidation. The witness examined transactions between 1 April and 21 May 2020 and said that on 1 April 2020, Abigail Grace Amuda deposited N7.25 million (N7,250,000) at the Lokoja branch of Access Bank on Murtala Mohammed Way. He told the court that entries on 8 April 2020 totalled 13 cash deposits, while additional deposits on 7 and 12 May 2020 brought the total to 21. According to the witness, all 21 deposits were made at the Lokoja branch, and each was below N10,000,000. The witness explained that N10 million is the reporting threshold for corporate accounts, above which banks are required to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). He added that the deposits appeared structured to evade the reporting requirement But Mr Bellos lawyer, Abdulwahab Mohammed, also a SAN, objected to the line of questioning. However, the trial judge, Mr Nwite, overruled the objection and noted that the witness was qualified to shed light on the subject matter. Continuing, Mr Egoro identified Exhibit 33(10), the statement of account of Keyless Nature Limited, an Access Bank customer domiciled at the Lokoja branch with account number 1496568739. He said that between 30 September 2021 and 23 February 2024, the account recorded multiple credit inflows from different local government areas of Kogi State. He added that immediately after the inflows from the local governments, there were outflows in the form of transfers to another Keyless Nature Limited account outside Access Bank. Mr Egoro cited transactions dated 3 March, 4 April, 5 May, 3 June, and 5 July 2022, which, he said, showed transfers from Keyless Nature Limited to Keyless Nature Limited at Fidelity Bank, occurring on the heels of inflows from the states local governments. He also identified Exhibit 33(4), the statement of account of Hayzma Business Enterprise, with account number 1392197091, domiciled at the Lokoja branch. The witness noted that deposits from the local governments into the account on 28 August 2020 totalled 14, while outflows showed multiple cash withdrawals by one Yakubu Siyaka. He further told the court that in August 2020 alone, Hayzma Business Enterprise received N813,777,893.40 from several local governments, and that between 20 August and 9 September 2020, N546,628,000 was withdrawn in cash by Yakubu Siyaka within 12 days, all from the Lokoja Branch of Access Bank. The witness identified another Keyless Nature Limited account, Exhibit 33(11), account number 1456400204, domiciled at the Lokoja Branch. He said a transaction dated 14 December 2021, described as principal disbursement, reflected a loan of N2,100,000,000 from Access Bank to Keyless Nature Limited. He added that on 15 and 17 December 2021, withdrawals totalling about N1.3 billion (N1,259,473,000) were made, while entries on 24 and 30 December 2021 showed multiple credit inflows from various local governments. Mr Egoro concluded that such inflows continued into the account up to 6 February 2024. After his testimony, it was the turn of the defence to cross-examine him, but Mr Mohammed told the court that his team was not yet thorough with reviewing the documents tendered by the witness and requested more time. Mr Pinheiro, the prosecution lawyer, however, argued that the documents had been with the defence for over a year and noted that they had even obtained certified true copies. Nevertheless, Mr Nwite adjourned the matter until 4 and 5 February for the cross-examination of the witness. LONDON, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Statement from the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) Development Group: The DSRB Development Group welcomes the statement by Canada's Minister of Finance confirming Canada's leading role with regards the establishment of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank. Canada's leadership reflects a shared understanding among allies that strengthening defence and security now requires not only increased spending, but financing structures capable of supporting industrial scale-up, supply-chain resilience, and long-term capacity. The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank is being established to address this challenge by improving access to affordable, predictable financing across defence and security ecosystems, while working alongside existing national and multilateral institutions. The DSRB Development Group is working closely with Canada and other like-minded nations to support the establishment of the Bank, including its design, governance, and operational framework, to ensure it meets the needs of participating nations and their industries. WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Capstone LLC, a leading policy analysis and investment research firm, has released its energy sector preview for 2026, identifying key policy and regulatory developments expected to impact mergers and acquisitions, agriculture, telecommunications infrastructure, and state and local government finances. Capstone expects the Trump administration to maintain a permissive stance on merger reviews, with most transactions approved unless they pose clear competitive harm. The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission will continue deregulation and welcome consolidation, anticipating a surge in broadcast media and broadband mergers through 2027. US agriculture faces a challenging year as farmers contend with weak crop prices, elevated input costs, and trade uncertainty. The administration's push to narrow SNAP eligibility through new work requirements introduces risks for grocers and packaged-food companies, with limited federal relief expected. State and local budgets will face mounting pressure from underperforming tax revenue and federal funding cuts. States opposed to Trump policiesincluding California, New York, and Illinoisface the highest risk of having transit, climate, and disaster relief grants withheld. All states will suffer if Congress fails to reauthorize the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by October 2026. Please access the following links to read Capstone's outlook on developments for 2026: Mergers & Acquisitions Broadcast Media State and Local Governments Agriculture For more information contact Daniel Kruger by phone at (917) 566-8220 or E-mail: [email protected] About Capstone Capstone is a leading global policy analysis and regulatory due diligence firm with locations in Washington, DC, New York, Houston, London, Paris, Mumbai, and Sydney. As developments in Washington, London, Brussels, and other centers of government become more crucial to investment strategies, legislation, regulatory reforms, and new federal oversight are affecting industries in evolving ways. We advise institutional investors and companies on how changes in state, federal, and international policy impact investments. Capstone has established leading coverage of public policy investments affecting financial and business services, energy and environment, healthcare, national security, TMT, and more. Our professionals analyze policy to uncover risks, opportunities and, in the process, unique business and investment strategies for our clients. Contact: Daniel Kruger, Capstone Phone: 202-350-4700 Email: [email protected] SOURCE CAPSTONE LLC NEED TO KNOW A woman thought she was suffering from appendix issues, but after surgery, she was instead told she has two wombs Ellie Curran, 21, eventually received a formal diagnosis of complete bicorporeal uterus a rare condition that affects only about 0.4% of women "Women, you know your own body better than anyone. If you think there's something not right, dont stop fighting for answers," she tells PEOPLE A woman, who historically suffered from intense periods, once thought she was also having appendix issues. When doctors told her that the pain she was experiencing was, for the most part, actually caused by her having two wombs, she was shocked. Ellie Curran of Ireland was 12 years old when she got her period for the first time. "I noticed roughly just after that, they were very sore and heavy," she tells PEOPLE. "I'd mainly have to stay in bed a lot, and I was so drained it affected my social life also." One night, Curran, now 21, says she had "really bad pain" in her lower stomach area and thought it was her appendix. According to SWNS, she underwent surgery to remove the organ, and that's when doctors made the unexpected find that she has not one uterus, but two. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [The doctors] said there seems to be two uteruses, but didnt say too much when I had my appendix removed, Curran recalled. Ellie Curran SWNS 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. Curran underwent further testing and eventually received a formal diagnosis of complete bicorporeal uterus, meaning she has two distinct uterine cavities separated by a wall of tissue. (Only about 0.4% of women are born with the rare condition, according to the Cleveland Clinic.) She additionally told SWNS that further scans later revealed she has two cervixes, and she "might have an extra kidney." Curran was also diagnosed with endometritis, which doctors have said could contribute to her painful periods. Ultrasound scan of Ellie Curran's wombs SWNS According to Curran, "[There are] not really many treatment options Ive been told of yet, so its a waiting game now." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She is currently on a wait list for additional tests, and she is scheduled to undergo surgery in May. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! And, should she choose to have children, Curran tells PEOPLE getting pregnant will present challenges. "Id have to mainly get pregnant in the left womb, because its bigger than the right, and it's safer in the left," she explains. Curran, a call center worker, is sharing her story in hopes of helping others. "I want to spread awareness and find girls with something similar to what Im currently going through," she says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for her go-to advice for other women dealing with the same or similar situations? Curran tells PEOPLE, "Women, you know your own body better than anyone. If you think there's something not right, dont stop fighting for answers." Read the original article on People ATLANTA, Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Challenge Island, the world's #1 STEM/STEAM program, is once again named a top franchise opportunity by Entrepreneur Magazine. With over 170 locations in 36 states and Canada, Challenge Island's inclusion on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2026 Franchise 500, marks its ninth consecutive year on the industry's most respected ranking, which evaluates franchises on unit growth, financial strength, operational and marketing support, and brand power. Placement on the list is one of the most coveted honors in franchising and Challenge Island has done it 9 times straight! Challenge Island, The World's #1 STEAM Program, is ranked on Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 for the 9th consecutive year. With 170 locations in 36 states and Canada, Challenge Island has touched the lives of 5 million kids through award-winning onsite STEAM field trips, camps, afterschool classes, and family engagement events. In 2025 the company launched a new sub-brand, Slimetopia by Challenge Island, giving its bestselling summer camp series a year-round school-focused platform. With the 2025 launch its new sub-brand, Slimetopia by Challenge Island (Where STEAM and Slime Activate!), Challenge Island franchisees now get 2 bestselling brands for the price of 1. Founded and led by award-winning educator, Random House parenting author and internationally-syndicated education journalist, Sharon Duke Estroff, Challenge Island's ground-breaking screen-free, soft-skills-focused, collaborative approach to STEM learning, is revered by educators, pediatricians and parents alike. Additional 2025 accolades include: Parents Picks Award for the 9 th Consecutive Year Consecutive Year #50 Ranking on Entrepreneur's Top Franchises Under $100,000 Franchise Dictionary Magazine's Top 100 Game Changers Franserve's Frantastic Brands Entrepreneur's Hottest Franchise Trends Women of Wonder Award (for Challenge Island's Founder and CEO) Founded in 2002 by award-winning Atlanta teacher, Random House parenting author and internationally syndicated education journalist, Sharon Duke Estroff M.A.T., Challenge Island is an established trendsetter and trailblazer in the $70 Billion K-12 STEM/STEAM Education market. In 2025, the company released a new sub-brand, Slimetopia by Challenge Island, which taps into the $5 Billion Slime market. 7 million children in 20,000 schools and community organizations have experienced the magic of Challenge Island's award-winning onsite field trips, afterschool classes, camps, and family programs. The company's ground-breaking screen-free, soft-skills-focused, collaborative approach to STEM learning, is revered by educators, pediatricians and parents alike. "Through the power of the franchising model and the infinite talent and drive of our passionate "Ohana" of franchisees, Challenge Island has been able to touch the lives of exponentially more kids than I ever dreamed possible," says Estroff, who is also the co-author of the bestselling Challenge Island STEAM Adventure Book Series which can be found in stores and libraries nationwide. "To be recognized by Entrepreneur magazine for nine consecutive years is an extraordinary honor," added Estroff. "It reflects the dedication of our franchise owners, the tenacity of our system and model - and the lasting impact Challenge Island continues to have on children and communities worldwide." Learn More: www.challenge-island.com Contact Us: [email protected] and 404-915-1986 Challenge Island by the Numbers 170+ US Locations 36 States + Canada 40 Franchise 500 Rankings 7 Million Kids Served 20,000 School and Community Partners 3 Bestselling STEAM Adventure Books 12 Parents Picks Awards Countless Smiles SOURCE Challenge Island STRYKER, Ohio, Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Armor Health (ArmorHealthcare.com), a leading national provider of integrated correctional healthcare, successfully transitioned correctional health care services under a new partnership with the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO). The company was awarded the new contract in December, 2025 after a competitive RFP process. The transition occurred at midnight, January 15th during a significant winter storm. "We are pleased with the transition to Armor, our new healthcare provider," said Dennis Sullivan, Executive Director for the CCNO facility. Sullivan added, "Transitions are never simple, but the weather added a whole different challenge. Armor came prepared and continued medical services without disruption." Despite the challenging weather conditions, the transition proceeded smoothly. The Armor Health team demonstrated preparedness and responsiveness by quickly identifying needs and deploying two additional nurses to address immediate staffing needs, ensuring continuity of care and uninterrupted medical and mental health coverage for the patients in the facility. "We are encouraged and optimistic about the partnership moving forward," Sullivan noted. "Armor has been working to make this transition as painless as possible and that speaks to their commitment to correctional healthcare." "Armor's programs focus on each patient we care for, highlighting CCNO's commitment to caring for the incarcerated patient's physical and mental well-being. We are committed to providing Armor's highly-skilled, passionate, and laser-focused medical and behavioral health onsite team to further enhance the results that we know make an important difference in the lives of the patients we care for," said Armor Health CEO, Otto Campo. The partnership between CCNO and Armor serves the jail's mission to protect the public, employees, and inmates while operating a cost effective detention center for Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Williams Counties. About Armor Health Armor Health is a leading provider of correctional healthcare services providing quality care to local correctional facilities across the country for more than 21 years. Every day, Armor provides evidence-based medical and behavioral health services revolutionizing the healthcare landscape utilizing its proprietary Insights Analytics, risk scoring and predictive modeling. Powered by modern AI solutions from its partnership with Antidote-AI our AI clinical tools, and our expert clinicians provide a laser focus on best-in-class interventions to deliver the right care, at the right time, in the right place to every patient we serve. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Armor Health Xytech Systems, LLC allegedly failed to accurately record employees' time during their shifts. Allegedly, this resulted in inaccurate wages paid to employees, among other allegations. **THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT** VENTURA, Calif., Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Los Angeles employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action complaint alleging that Xytech Systems, LLC. violated the California Labor Code. The Xytech Systems, LLC class action lawsuit, Case No. 2025CUOE056388, is currently pending in the Ventura County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here. The Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP Speed Speed Xytech Systems, LLC allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse for required expenses, and (f) failed to pay sick wages, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in California Labor Code Sections 201-203, 226, 226.7, 233, 246, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct. The lawsuit further alleges that Defendant failed to provide all the legally required off-duty meal and rest breaks and failed to compensate Plaintiffs for missed meal and rest breaks. These employees, from time-to-time, were denied their first rest periods of at least ten (10) minutes for some shifts worked of at least two (2) to four (4) hours, a first and second rest period of at least ten (10) minutes for some shifts worked of between six (6) and eight (8) hours, and a first, second and third rest period of at least ten (10) minutes for some shifts worked of ten (10) hours or more, from time to time. Defendant allegedly paid Plaintiffs less than they would have been paid had they been paid for their actual recorded time rather than "rounded" time. The allegations resulted in Defendant violating California Labor Codes 1194, 1197, and 1197.1 For more information about the class action lawsuit against Xytech Systems, LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago that dedicates its practice to helping employees, investors and consumers fight back against unfair business practices, including violations of the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act. If you need help in collecting unpaid overtime wages, unpaid commissions, being wrongfully terminated from work, and other employment law claims, contact one of their attorneys today. **THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT** Media Contact Nicholas De Blouw Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP (800) 568-8020 [email protected] https://www.bamlawca.com/ SOURCE Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP SARASOTA, Fla., Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Coldwell Banker Realty is proud to announce Roger Pettingell, Thomas Arbuckle, and the Pettingell Professionals team achieved more than $161 million in closed sales volume in 2025, making them the No. 1 Duo across the Coldwell Banker Real Estate network. The Sarasota, Fla.based team continues to lead the luxury market through a hightouch client model and an expansive digital presence. Roger Pettingell (PRNewsfoto/Coldwell Banker Global Luxury) Pettingell Professionals is comprised of founder Roger Pettingell, director of sales Thomas Arbuckle, luxury property specialist Kelly Rosenberg, director of marketing Saleemah Stanley, director of operations Lola Diaz and project manager Scott Shields. The team was also ranked No. 1 in Sarasota County for the 16th consecutive year, according to the REALTOR Association of Sarasota and Manatee. Throughout his more than 40year career, Pettingell has amassed over $3 billion in sales and has repeatedly earned Coldwell Banker's International Society of Excellence, the brand's highest production honor. He was additionally recognized on the 2025 RealTrends + Tom Ferry The Thousand list, ranking among the top 250 individual real estate agents in the United States. Pettingell Professionals has also built one of the region's strongest digital platforms. The team's YouTube channel now reaches more than 100,000 subscribers, featuring community highlights, market updates, and property films. Its longrunning weekly series, REALTALK with Roger Pettingell, launched in 2013, has surpassed 420 episodes and continues to expand listing visibility and showcase the lifestyle in Sarasota and Longboat Key. They also maintain a deep commitment to supporting local community through the oversight of The Pettingell Family Foundation, which focuses on local philanthropic initiatives across Sarasota and Manatee counties. Quotes: "Roger's ability to anticipate market movements and elevate the standard for luxury representation continues to set him apart. His team brings a level of precision, polish and long-term consistency that has shaped the expectations of buyers and sellers throughout Sarasota's high-end coastal communities." Duff Rubin, Coldwell Banker Realty regional president, Southeast. "Roger is one of those rare leaders whose influence extends beyond his sales volume. The way he and his team approach preparation, service and market expertise has helped define what modern luxury real estate looks like along the Gulf Coast." Ellen O'Day, managing broker of the Coldwell Banker Realty Longboat Key office. About Coldwell Banker Realty Coldwell Banker Realty companies operate the company-owned real estate brokerage offices in leading markets in the United States representing approximately 48,000 independent real estate agents. Coldwell Banker Realty is a part of Compass International Holdings (NYSE: COMP), a global real estate services company with a presence in every major U.S. city and in approximately 120 countries and territories. Visit ColdwellBankerHomes.com. For more information about the greater Sarasota residential real estate market, contact the area's top luxury real estate team, Pettingell Professionals, at 941-387-1840 or visit pettingell.com. Media Contact: Alexandra Rishty [email protected] (703) 855-8029 SOURCE Coldwell Banker Realty NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Why: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces an investigation of potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA) resulting from allegations that Carvana may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. So What: If you purchased Carvana securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses. What to do next: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=17341 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. What is this about: On January 28, 2026, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Carvana Stock Falls on Short-Seller Report Alleging Overstated Earnings." The article stated that Carvana stock had fallen after "the release of a short seller's report that alleged the company's earnings are 'far more dependent' than previously known on private companies linked to Carvana's controlling shareholders." On this news, Carvana's stock price fell 14% on January 28, 2026. 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. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] www.rosenlegal.com SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A. CHICAGO, Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SPLICE Software, an awardwinning provider of AIpowered customer engagement and omnichannel communications solutions, marked a landmark year of growth in 2025, driven by enterprisegrade artificial intelligence, expanded strategic partnerships, and industry recognition. Throughout the year, SPLICE helped organizations across insurance, financial services, retail, and healthcare modernize customer communications with responsible, compliant, and measurable AI designed for realworld enterprise environments. Through its patented Dialog Suite and DataDriven Dialog workflows, SPLICE enables enterprises to orchestrate compliant, personalized engagement across voice, text messaging (SMS), chat, email, and surveysembedding NPS, CSAT, CES, and eNPS directly into interactions to generate actionable insight and drive continuous optimization of customer, employee, and business outcomes. In 2025, SPLICE expanded its AI capabilities to support more contextaware, outcomedriven engagement, including predictive outreach, brandtrained conversational agents, analyticsdriven optimization, and governed humanintheloop controlsaugmented by integrated feedback loops using NPS, CSAT, CES, and eNPS to measure experience, sentiment, and performance at enterprise scale. These capabilities are purposebuilt for regulated industries, combining automation with governance to ensure accuracy, transparency, and trust. A major milestone came in September 2025 with the expansion of Talk+ to include full AI Voice, unifying voice, text, and chat into a single, brandtrained conversational agent. Powered by shared knowledge, policies, and conversation history, Talk+ enables seamless, contextpreserving interactions as customers move between channels. Key capabilities include policy and knowledge grounding, realtime intent recognition, human escalation with full context transfer, and compliance by design across every interaction. Collaboration was another defining theme in 2025 as SPLICE expanded and deepened its enterprise partner ecosystem, enabling tighter integration between communications and core business systems. Notable partners include Duck Creek, EZLynx, Sapiens, Insuresoft, Socotra, Salesforce, Majesco, ManageMy, Eloqua, and Solvrayshelping organizations embed omnichannel engagement directly into insurance, financial services, and enterprise workflows. In April 2025, SPLICE also announced a strategic partnership with LendPro, integrating LendPro's multilender application "waterfall" with SPLICE's DataDriven Dialogs. The collaboration enables retailers to automate timely, personalized, and compliant followup across channelssupporting improved customer experience throughout the financing journey. SPLICE's innovation and customer impact were recognized with several major industry honors in 2025, including the InsurTech Global Tech Award, a TMC Product of the Year Award, and the Best Automated Communication Workflow Company Award. These recognitions reflect SPLICE's commitment to delivering measurable business value through intelligent, enterpriseready communications. "Our mission is to help organizations deliver the communications people want and needbased on permissionswhen and how they prefer," said Tara Kelly, President & CEO of SPLICE Software. In 2025, SPLICE further advanced measurable, closedloop orchestrationintegrating NPS, CSAT, CES, and eNPS directly into AIdriven engagement to help enterprises operationalize experience, sentiment, and performance at scale across the customer and employee journey. About SPLICE Software Founded in 2006, SPLICE Software helps organizations unlock smarter customer communication through automated, datadriven omnichannel engagement with voice, text, chat, email, and surveyssupported by optin and optout management, AIdriven insights, embedded experience measurement, and enterprisegrade workflowsSPLICE empowers organizations to deliver consistent, compliant experiences that reinforce loyalty and drive measurable results. Media Contact SPLICE Software [email protected] 403720TEAM SOURCE SPLICE Software Inc Powerhouse Energy Group PLC (AIM:PHE, FRA:BT81) earlier this week reaffirmed its commitment to its Ballymena-based hydrogen project, with CEO Paul Emmitt confirming that planning applications have now been submitted and permitting processes are underway. Speaking to Proactive, Emmitt said Ballymena had been a key strategic focus for the past 18 months, offering a combination of local feedstock availability, community and council support, and existing infrastructure at the former Michelin site. The project will be executed under a design-build-operate model, with Powerhouse seeking dedicated project finance rather than turning to shareholders for funding. Proactive: Paul, very good to speak with you. You've secured the site and now submitted planning. Why is Ballymena the right place for Powerhouses first UK hydrogen project? Paul Emmitt: Thanks for that, Stephen. So for me, Ballymena has been quite a focus of my energy for probably the last 18 months. I think for our first large project, other than the Protos project, we needed something local to us. Northern Ireland was an ideal opportunity. Ballymena set itself up very well as a hydrogen hub. We've got plenty of feedstock available in the area. There are a number of offtakers available there in addition. And we're in an environment where the councils are supportive, the locals are supportive. The site itself was the old Michelin site, which means there's a significant amount of infrastructure in the area that wont need to be put in for the project. And really, we just see it as another string to our bow. This is a project we can control. Because this will be design, build, operate whether that's under an SPV or on our own. We won't be going to shareholders for finance. We'll be looking for project finance for this project. But what its given us is we've got the Australian opportunity, which is a licensing and royalty opportunity, which at the moment is undergoing financial due diligence. Thats helping form what we need really for Ballymena in addition but what this gives us is something that we control. So as you see, we've moved very, very quickly from signing the lease into submitting the planning. A lot of work was undertaken previously by not only Engsolve from the engineering perspective, but by local consultants that we brought in through our partner in Ireland, Noage Energy. We've been pretty much inviolable, to be honest. They've lined up consultants, they've lined up feedstock supplier conversations, offtake conversations. Theyre really our eyes and boots on the ground over there. But what this really gives Powerhouse is something to follow. We've got the full control now of this. We can move quickly well, as quickly as we can with a planning application into the next step, which is permitting. We have started that process, but it's a slightly different way of going through that process than it is in mainland UK. So we really are set up and just need to take this forward. We're in discussion with the feedstock suppliers. We're in discussion with potential hydrogen offtakers. Youve read previously last year that we do have a partial offtake letter of intent from BS Holdings for a specific Denseness project. That just means we've got this target to hit. We have to keep this now moving forward. So really, yeah the start of the year is good news. We just need to keep that momentum running now to get through to the next stage. Proactive: The plant turns landfill-bound waste into pure hydrogen. Paul, how attractive is that proposition for councils and transport partners? Paul Emmitt: That's the key. So in Ballymena, it's very attractive. They've got a significant amount of waste going to landfill. On the site that we've taken the lease on, there are waste producers sending their waste to landfill. I wont go into the details because were in discussions. On the hydrogen side the grid in Northern Ireland is very different to the UK. They were later coming onto natural gas, which means they are set up potentially for hydrogen blending if they needed to do that. So it puts us in a good position there. Also, there's very little green hydrogen being produced in the island of Ireland not just Northern Ireland. So it gives that opportunity to be there first. I think the fact that we have councils in mainland UK sending waste to Northern Ireland were certainly not going to run out of waste. We just need to take the project forward. Proactive: Okay. So the key milestones investors should be watching for over the rest of 2026? Paul Emmitt: So the key issue really for this particular project will be the first round of responses to the planning application. They will trigger the permit application. Then its just really were sort of in the hands of the gods, waiting for the councils to complete the planning and to complete the permit. But in the interim, we should be seeing that the feedstock and offtake agreements are progressed. Well keep everybody updated as we move along. And really, its just a positive start to the year, which we needed after the end of last year, I think. Proactive: I hope you'll continue to keep us updated as well. Thank you very much for your time today. London BTC Company Ltd (LSE:BTC, OTCQB:VINZF) announced it has signed a 30-day exclusive call option to acquire a 100% interest in the tenements containing the historic Chance gold mine, in Western Australia. The company said the move forms Stage One of a hedging strategy aimed at reducing exposure to Bitcoin volatility, and, follows comments made in its interim results published in November. The Chance Gold Mine is located about 4km south of the Copperhead Gold Mine near Bullfinch in the Western Australian Goldfields. The release cites historic production in the 1930s of ore grading 9.4 grams per tonne of gold. It also cites limited drilling by Troy Resources in the 1980s, including 2m grading 6.9 grams per tonne, with numerous drill holes reporting grades over 1 gram per tonne. We like Bitcoin and we like gold," said chair David Lenigas, adding: "linking the two we feel we could create a very exciting platform for growth and one that could see our Bitcoin operations grow faster. Northstar Gold Corp. (CSE:NSG) CEO Brian Fowler joined Proactive to discuss discussed the recent approval of up to $4 million in funding from DIGITAL, Canadas innovation cluster for digital technology, to advance its Cam Copper Project. The funding will support the implementation of surgical mining technology developed by Novamera, a low-impact approach to mining that utilizes rotary drilling to target narrow, high-grade mineralized zones. This initiative began in 2023 following a memorandum of understanding with Novamera, and it aims to mine copper at the Cam Copper Project, located 18km southeast of Kirkland Lake, Ontario. In 2023, Northstar intersected a standout interval of 14.5% copper over 2.5 metres. Proactive: All right, welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Brian Fowler. He is the CEO of Northstar Gold Corp. Brian, good to see you again. How are you? Brian Fowler: I'm well, thank you. Good to see you. So you and I talked in the past about your hope to use this type of surgical mining at your CAM Copper Mining Project, and today you're announcing that you've secured up to $4 million from DIGITAL, which is Canadas global innovation cluster for digital technology. So I know that this has been a long time coming for you, Brian. Maybe explain a bit about this? Certainly. Yes, we're very pleased to announce this. It all started back in 2023 when we signed an MOU with Novamera, who were very interested in our high-grade CAM Copper Project, 18 km southeast of Kirkland Lake. In 2023, we intersected some very high-grade copper 14.5% copper over 2.5 metres. Novamera specializes in what they call surgical mining. That involves rotary drilling down the throat of tabular deposits using up to a two-metre diameter drill. The cuttings can be collected and shipped directly to a mill. It's a novel new approach to mining with a very low environmental impact. DIGITAL is a federally funded agency with a mandate to support critical minerals, mining and technology. So we engaged DIGITAL through agreements with Novamera, and this morning we announced a project thats been approved for up to $11 million. DIGITAL will provide up to $4 million, split roughly evenly between Novamera and Northstar, to advance this. This is obviously really good news because this is federal funding. So its not diluting your shareholders and allows you to get that capital where you need it in the ground. Absolutely. On our side, we have about $3.5 million in capital costs to get things going. We expect to receive about $2 million from DIGITAL. This is a net investment basically funding up to 30% of pre-approved expenditures. We have to spend the money to get the return, but this is huge for us. Its a solid endorsement, and we look forward to moving ahead. And the other thing, Brian, is you have partners. You've got Novamera, Northstar, Micon you've got people to absorb some of this cost as well. I know you're high on this project after the results youve had. So its nice to have those friends helping lead the way. Absolutely. You cant do it yourself. Like I said, we started discussions with Novamera in October 2023, and weve kept moving this forward. We're very pleased to have achieved this milestone. Do you have a timeline as to whats going to happen in 2026? Any thoughts on that yet? Certainly. We closed a $1 million private placement just before year-end and used some of those proceeds to do more infill diamond drilling on the No. 2 Zone at CAM Copper, where we're going to conduct surgical mining. Were currently logging that core and anticipate announcing significant assays next month. That will update our geological model, which well provide to Novamera. Theyll review and finalize their mining projections. That will all be incorporated and reported through a 43-101 report, which Micon will oversee. That will form the basis for a mine permitting application. We need to apply for a closure plan and go through an environmental assessment. But being surgical mining, with such a low environmental footprint, and with federal support, we anticipate an accelerated and simplified permitting timeline. Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity M2i Global Inc (OTC:MTWO) CEO Alberto Rosende talked with Proactive about the company's mission to reshape the U.S. critical minerals supply chain. In a conversation centered on national security and economic resilience, Rosende outlined how M2i Global is addressing America's over-reliance on foreign sources for critical minerals. Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. Joining me now is Alberto Rosende. He is the CEO of M2i Global. Alberto, good to see you again. How are you? Alberto Rosende: Excellent, excellent. Trying to stay warm in this cold. How are you? Good. Doing well, doing well. Yes, it is cold but what's heating up is the need for critical minerals. Thats been the story for the last couple of years. The U.S. government has recently come out to say why its so important and how they want to catch up. You feel the company is in a perfect sweet spot for that? Oh, absolutely. The founding principle of M2i is really focused on creating a transparent, sustainable, and responsible critical minerals supply chain flow for the United States. Its for national defense and economic securitytheyre tied together at the hip. Back in April, as the administration was getting underway, they issued a 232 investigation. The Department of Commerce looked at imports and their impact on our economic viability and national security. We've been waiting for the results, and on January 14th, this past week, the White House announced those findings. Tell me about those and how the company fits in with that. Absolutely. As I mentioned, we focus on the critical minerals supply chain. We've been working on returning processing to the United States while sourcing from our allied partner in Australia. Its really a hand-to-glove fit with the 232 investigation findings. Not only did it focus on the impact of critical mineral imports on our economic and national security, but it also confirmed how dependent we arewere 100% dependent on 12 of those critical minerals, and over 50% dependent on over 29 of them. There are 60 critical minerals on the list. So this aligns right with our mission at M2i. We feel very well positioned to keep moving forward and provide solutions for the United States and our allies. Its interesting because were at a point with critical minerals similar to what happened with diamonds years agowhen people began tracing where diamonds came from. Thats really happening now with minerals. So are lessons from then being implemented now? Is that where the strength of your company is coming in? Right, absolutely. Not only did we want to bring processing back, but we also wanted to ensure we could prove the provenance of all critical minerals in the supply chain. Thats the issue weve been working to impact. We recently had a podcast with Ellen Carey, an expert in supply chain traceability, and we discussed this. I highly recommend folks check it out. Being able to trace minerals back to their source is critical. We want to make sure they are mined responsibly and not associated with forced labor, child labor, or other unethical practices. The flow of critical minerals to the U.S. must increase. We need to process them herebut also know exactly where theyre coming from and how theyre being extracted. Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style OKYO Pharma Ltd (NASDAQ:OKYO) earlier this week confirmed it is set to launch a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for neuropathic corneal pain, following a productive Type C meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a conversation with Proactive, chief executive Robert Dempsey said the regulatory meeting provided "a clear line of sight" for advancing the programme, which targets a condition he described as severely debilitating and significantly underserved. Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Robert Dempsey. He is the CEO of Okyo Pharma. And Robert, it's great to see you again. How are you? Robert Dempsey: I'm doing very well, thank you. We survived the storm up here in Boston. We're also very excited coming off the heels of our successful FDA meeting that was completed yesterday. NEXE Innovations Inc (TSX-V:NEXE, OTC:NEXNF, FRA:FRA: NX5) reported higher revenue and improved cost controls in its second quarter of fiscal 2026, while outlining plans to accelerate commercialization through partnerships and licensing initiatives. For the three months ended November 30, 2025, the maker of compostable materials and products reported revenue of about $199,000 up from about $71,000 in the same quarter a year earlier. The increase was attributed to the continued uptake of its compostable coffee pod, launched in late 2024, and the addition of a customer targeting the big-box retail channel. Revenue for the first half of fiscal 2026 totaled about $319,000, surpassing the companys full-year fiscal 2025 revenue of about $308,000, which the company said reflected growing customer traction. Gross margins for the quarter remained slightly negative, largely due to one-time setup costs associated with onboarding a new customer and fulfilling an initial large retail order. However, on a per-unit basis, NEXE reported a 25% reduction in unit costs compared with the prior quarter, suggesting improving manufacturing efficiency as production volumes increase. 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 Seoul, Jan 31 : The interim CEO of Coupang underwent 12 hours of intensive police questioning over allegations of destruction of evidence linked to a massive data breach at the e-commerce company. Harold Rogers emerged from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Saturday at 2:22 am, declining to answer reporters' questions on whether he admitted to the charges or intended to leave the country, reports Yonhap news agency. Rogers faces accusations of obstructing official investigations into the breach estimated to have affected nearly 33 million users. Coupang had independently announced that data from only 3,000 accounts was leaked, a figure authorities dispute. Police, who suspect more than 30 million accounts were affected, are investigating the reliability of Coupang's internal probe. The government has criticised the company's findings as one-sided. Investigators focused on the company's handling of a laptop allegedly used in the hacking. Coupang recovered the device in China last month from a former employee responsible for the breach and submitted it to police. However, the company reportedly failed to disclose that it had already conducted its own forensic analysis on the computer. Police questioned Rogers regarding the motives behind the company's undisclosed contact with the suspect and its handling of the evidence. "Coupang has fully and will continue to fully cooperate with all of the government investigations that are looking into us. We will also fully cooperate with the police investigation today," Rogers said upon arriving at the agency on Friday. Rogers, who defied two previous police summonses, had left South Korea on Jan. 1, a day after attending a two-day parliamentary hearing into the retail giant's leak, before returning to the country last week. While there is speculation he may exit the country immediately following the questioning, police are reportedly considering calling him in for further interrogation. He also faces allegations of perjury regarding his parliamentary testimony, where he claimed the internal probe was conducted at the instruction of the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The NIS has denied the claim. Separately, he is accused of ordering a report to shield the company from liability after a logistics centre worker's death in 2020. a"IANS na/ New Delhi, Jan 31 : The Bihar government on Saturday requested a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of a NEET aspirant in a Patna women's hostel, seeking a transparent and fair investigation into the case. Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Samrat Choudhary took to his social media 'X' and said, "The Honourable Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, has requested the Government of India to order a CBI investigation into the murder of a NEET student in Patna (Case No. 14/26). Ensure a transparent and fair investigation of the incident." The victim, a resident of Jehanabad district, was preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and was staying at a women's hostel in Patnaas Chitragupt Nagar area. Earlier this month, she was found unconscious in her hostel room under mysterious circumstances. She was rushed to a private hospital, where she remained in a coma for several days before succumbing to her injuries on January 11. The victimas family has alleged that she was sexually assaulted and has accused the authorities of attempting to cover up the incident. They have consistently expressed dissatisfaction with the police investigation and demanded a high-level probe. On January 28, the victimas father sought a judicial enquiry into the matter and threatened self-immolation if justice was not delivered. Significant developments in the case were reported on January 27, when the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) collected blood samples from 11 individuals as part of the investigation. Those sampled included the hostel owner, Manish Ranjan, five members of the deceased studentas family, and six other suspects. The suspects include individuals seen in CCTV footage from the area as well as those who were involved in taking the student to the hospital after she was found unconscious. DNA samples are being collected from all suspects to establish their possible involvement in the crime. According to official sources, the victim was a minor, as confirmed by her age certificate. In view of this, investigators are preparing to invoke provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the case. The FSL examination has revealed the presence of sperm on the studentas clothes, intensifying suspicions of sexual assault. The victimas family had handed over the clothes to the police on January 10, and the forensic report was submitted to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) two days ago. The post-mortem examination conducted at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) has also indicated the possibility of sexual assault, contradicting initial police claims and raising serious questions about the early handling of the investigation. Following revelations of alleged investigative lapses, two Station House Officers a" Roshni Kumari of Chitragupta Nagar Police Station and Hemant Jha of Kadamkuan Police Station a" were suspended with immediate effect. Taking a strict stance, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Samrat Choudhary on Friday had summoned Director General of Police Vinay Kumar and Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit in connection with the suspicious death of the NEET aspirant in Patna, signalling possible major action in the case. The move came after the victimas family met the Deputy Chief Minister at his residence and appealed for justice for their daughter. Following the meeting, Samrat Choudhary immediately called the stateas top administrative and police officials to review the progress of the investigation. Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit and DGP Vinay Kumar reached the Home Ministeras residence as directed. Patna IG Jitendra Rana, SSP Kartikeya K. Sharma, ASP Abhinav, and other members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) were also present during the high-level review meeting. Kolkata, Jan 31 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into the violence in Murshidabad district's Beldanga area for two days earlier this month over the death of a migrant worker from West Bengal in neighbouring Jharkhand. Sources said on Saturday that the development coincided with Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to West Bengal. The NIA took over the investigation on a day when HM Shah is scheduled to hold a workers' meet in Barrackpore and Siliguri later in the day on Saturday. It may be noted that violent protests broke out in Murshidabad's Beldanga on January 16 following the death of a migrant worker from the state in Jharkhand. A large number of people took to the streets by blocking railway tracks and the national highway for several hours and even attacked policemen and media persons. The protests continued for another day, resulting in disruption of traffic movement on the national highway. Police later resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control and lifted the blockades. A total of 36 people were arrested in connection with this incident, including a leader of the AIMIM party, the minority political party from Hyderabad. They were arrested based on social media videos and after monitoring CCTV footage. It may be noted that a PIL was filed at Calcutta High Court seeking deployment of central forces in violence-hit Beldanga. While hearing the PIL, a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court gave freedom to the Union government to order a NIA probe into the violence and tension for two days in Beldanga. The Division Bench of Calcutta High Courtas Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen also directed that Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel to be deployed at Beldanga till 100 per cent normalcy is restored in the area and if necessary, more CAPF companies could be deployed in the area for that purpose. The Division Bench also clearly directed the state government to make the most effective use of the CAPF in the troubled pockets. The court gave this order after a detailed hearing on a Public Interest Litigation filed by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, demanding deployment of CAPF personnel in the region, as well as an NIA probe into the matter. Justice Paul and Justice Sen also directed the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police of Murshidabad to file affidavits in the court within 15 days, taking responsibility for the security of the lives of people and property in the area. Baramati, Jan 31 : Amid rapid political developments in Maharashtra after the demise of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Saturday clarified that he was not consulted regarding Sunetra Pawar's elevation as the Deputy CM. He also stated that the reunion of the two NCP factions was almost finalised and Ajit Pawar was set to formally announce it on February 12. Baramati, Jan 31 (IANS) Amid rapid political developments in Maharashtra after the demise of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Saturday clarified that he was not consulted regarding Sunetra Pawaras elevation as the Deputy CM. He also stated that the reunion of the two NCP factions was almost finalised and Ajit Pawar was set to formally announce it on February 12. aI have had no discussion with Sunetra Pawar regarding this. I only learnt about the swearing-in ceremony through the morning news," he stated at a press conference. On the merger between the two NCP factions, he confirmed that positive talks regarding reunification took place between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil and claimed that the reunion was almost finalised and the Dy CM was set to formally announce it on February 12. Sharad Pawar clarified that while the talks were happening, he was not directly involved in the negotiations and they were led by Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil. aIt was Ajit Dadaas wish that both NCPs should come together, and it was our wish as well," the senior Pawar stated. He noted that the sudden demise of Ajit Pawar in an air crash has now caused a break in these merger discussions. The future course of action will now depend on the leaders of both sides. Sharad Pawar emphasised that the road map was clear, saying that for four months, discussions were held to reunite the party. However, with the leader who initiated these talks no longer present, the process faces a significant challenge. "We cannot bring back the one who has gone. Facing the current situation is a challenge, and someone must take up Ajit Pawar's responsibility," he concluded. He also stated he had no information regarding the potential induction of Sunetra Pawar or Rohit Pawar into the ministry, noting that the demand for Sunetra Pawar's leadership is coming from within her own faction. When asked about Sunetra Pawaras appointment, Sharad Pawar distanced himself from the decision. He further added, "The party (NCP) is theirs to run. Leaders like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare have the authority to make these decisions, and I will not comment on their internal choices. Our political paths are different. While the family stands together in grief, politics remains separate." On Ajit Pawaras legacy and reflecting on his nephewas career, Sharad Pawar paid a heartfelt tribute. "Ajit was a capable leader who maintained a deep dialogue with the common man. He had a profound understanding of the people's issues and worked tirelessly to provide justice. His day would begin at dawn; had he been with us today, he wouldn't be at home a" he would be out on the field working." He described the loss as a massive blow to the family and the state. Etawah, Jan 31 : A major road accident occurred on the Agra Highway in the Jaswantnagar area of Etawah district, when a double-decker bus carrying pilgrims overturned after the driver lost control of the vehicle. Around 45 pilgrims were on board the bus at the time of the accident. Approximately ten pilgrims sustained injuries and were admitted to hospital for treatment. According to reports, the double-decker bus was travelling late on Thursday night from Barsana in Mathura district to Orai in Jalaun district after the pilgrims had completed their religious visit. As the bus reached near Malajani village on the Agra Highway, the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle due to dense fog, causing the bus to overturn. The sudden mishap led to panic among the passengers. Soon after the accident, villagers from nearby areas rushed to the spot and assisted in rescue operations. Some locals informed the police, while others called for ambulances to help transport the injured. Several pilgrims sustained minor injuries, while a few were seriously hurt. Traffic movement on the highway was disrupted for some time due to the overturned bus and rescue operations. Upon receiving information, police and administrative teams promptly reached the accident site. The injured passengers were shifted to the Community Health Centre in Jaswantnagar using ambulances and private vehicles. A team of doctors immediately began medical treatment. Of the injured, eight pilgrims sustained minor injuries, while two suffered comparatively more serious injuries and are under observation. Following the incident, District Magistrate Shubhrant Kumar Shukla and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava visited the accident site as well as the hospital. They interacted with the injured pilgrims and directed the medical staff to ensure the best possible treatment. The district administration is extending all necessary assistance to the affected passengers. Speaking on the incident, SSP Brijesh Kumar Srivastava said that the pilgrims were returning from Barsana late at night after completing their pilgrimage. Due to dense fog near Malajani village, the driver lost control of the bus, leading to the accident. He added that all the injured are currently undergoing treatment and the situation is fully under control. January 31 : Lucknow: In accordance with the vision of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, construction and repair work of buildings associated with the Revenue Department is being carried out at a fast pace to strengthen the basic infrastructure of the Revenue Department. Under this initiative, a total amount of Rs 196.39 crore has been released in the financial year 2025-26 for the construction and repair of office and residential buildings being undertaken in various divisions, districts and tehsils of the state, through which construction works are being executed rapidly. Once completed, these projects will not only ensure smooth functioning of the Revenue Department but will also provide greater convenience to the people of the state in the conduct of revenue-related work. With the objective of ensuring smooth operation of the Revenue Departments work and accelerating development activities, construction and repair of revenue buildings is being carried out in various districts and tehsils of the state. Under this, construction of Revenue buildings is in progress at Obra in Sonbhadra district, Loni in Ghaziabad, Amroha and Naugawan Sadat tehsils in Amroha, as well as Urai tehsil in Jalaun. The executing agencies are carrying out the construction work at a fast pace. Along with this, repair work of Collectorate buildings is also underway in Gorakhpur, Meerut and Sambhal. In the same sequence, construction of Revenue buildings is also being carried out in Naugarh tehsil of Siddharthnagar district, Bidhuna tehsil of Auraiya and Kurawali tehsil of Mainpuri. Among these, the construction work of most of the buildings is almost complete, while the remaining works will be completed soon. The Collectorate and Revenue buildings will be equipped with modern facilities, where all kinds of revenue-related work can be carried out under one roof. In this sequence, the state government has also provided financial approval for some new and approved projects. These include the allocation of funds for developing a multipurpose auditorium hall at the district headquarters in Maharajganj, the construction work of which has also commenced. Along with this, construction and reparations of residential complexes for employees of the Revenue Department is also being undertaken. In this sequence, works include the repair of the District Magistrates residence in Barabanki and the construction of Type-4 residences for Revenue officers in Ayodhya, along with the construction of residential buildings at Harraiya tehsil in Basti district. In addition, approval processes for proposals of several other construction works are also progressing at a fast pace. These include proposed reconstruction of the Collectorate in Mirzapur, construction of office buildings of Sadar tehsil in Kanpur, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar tehsil in Chandauli, Kasimabad and Sevarai tehsils in Ghazipur. Along with this, proposals have also been submitted for the construction of court rooms in the office of the Commissioner of Meerut division, court room and office building of the Additional District Magistrate (Judicial) in Amroha. In the same sequence, the approval process is also underway for proposals related to the construction of residential accommodations for departmental employees in tehsils of several districts including Ayodhya, Kanpur, Moradabad, Lalitpur, Muzaffarnagar, Hardoi, Varanasi, Agra and Jaunpur. January 31 : Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the development of grand ceremonial gateways at all seven major entry points of the state capital, Lucknow, with the objective of giving the city an attractive, majestic and distinctive cultural identity. CM says, 'The moment one enters the state capital, the rich cultural, spiritual and historical heritage of Uttar Pradesh should be clearly visible'. During a high level meeting held on Friday, the Chief Minister said, 'Gateways should be constructed on the major routes connecting Lucknow to Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Naimisharanya, Hastinapur, Mathura and Jhansi. Each reflecting the cultural and religious identity of the respective destination'. He emphasized by saying, every gateway must symbolically represent the mythological, historical and spiritual legacy associated with the route. Discussing the naming and design of the gateways, the Chief Minister added, the Prayagraj route (RaeBareli Road) should feature Sangam Dwar, reflecting the Triveni Sangam and the Mahakumbh tradition. The Varanasi route (Sultanpur Road) should have Nandi Dwar, symbolising Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham. The Ayodhya route (Barabanki Road) should feature Surya Dwar, inspired by Suryavansh and Prabhu Shri Ram. Similarly, the Naimisharanya route (Sitapur Road) will have Vyas Dwar. The Hastinapur route (Hardoi Road) will have Dharma Dwar, the Mathura route (Agra Road) Krishna Dwar and the Jhansi route (Unnao Road) will have Shaurya Dwar, symbolising valour and bravery. All gateways will prominently display the official emblem of Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister directed, the designs should incorporate elements of traditional Indian architecture, craftsmanship and cultural symbolism. Stone carvings, pillars, murals, fountains, lighting and landscaped green spaces should be used to ensure that the gateways are not only aesthetically appealing but also meaningful, offering travelers a rich cultural experience upon entering Lucknow. He further continued by saying, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds should be utilized for the construction of these gateways. All works must adhere to prescribed standards and necessary approvals should be obtained from the National Highways Authority of India and other concerned agencies to ensure coordinated and timely execution. New Delhi, Jan 31 : Foreign Minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attend the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAFMM). New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Foreign Minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attend the second IndiaArab Foreign Ministers' Meeting (IAFMM). Welcoming Oman's Foreign Minister, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to X and stated: "His visit will further strengthen the multifaceted strategic partnership between India and Oman." Earlier in the day, Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, United Arab Emirates' Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arrived in New Delhi to attend IAFMM. The MEA warmly welcomed the UAE leader and said, "His visit will further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE." On Friday, Foreign Ministers of Libya, Eltaher S M Elbaour, Somalia, Abdisalam Ali, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, arrived in New Delhi to participate in the second IAFMM. Extending a warm welcome to the delegates, the MEA stated that their visit would help strengthen the bilateral partnership between India and the respective countries. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday met League of Arab States Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in New Delhi to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two sides across various sectors. Following their talks, EAM Jaishankar posted on X, "A warm meeting with Secretary General, League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit this morning. Had a wide ranging conversation about our cooperation and strengthening it across various domains. Also exchanged views on the recent developments in the region." EAM Jaishankar also held separate meetings with Foreign Ministers of Comoros Mbae Mohamed; Sudan Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim; Libya Eltaher S.M. Elbaour; Somalia Abdisalam Ali; and Palestine's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian. The discussions centred on enhancing the bilateral cooperation and deepening collaboration across several sectors. India is set to host the second IAFMM on Saturday. The meeting, being hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates, will have the participation of Foreign Ministers from other Arab League Member States and the Arab League Secretary General. The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting is expected to build on existing cooperation and expand the partnership. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after 10 years, as the first meeting was held in Bahrain in 2016. During the first Foreign Ministers Meeting, the leaders identified five priority verticals of cooperation - economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. "India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue," the MEA stated. --IANS scor/rs Kolkata, Jan 31 : An explosion rocked a Trinamool Congress leader's car in the South 24 Parganas Kulpi area in the middle of the night, said the police on Saturday morning. The explosion was so powerful that the garage roof was blown off. However, no one was injured in the incident. Following the incident that took place after midnight, the area has been tense. The Trinamool Congress alleged that the Indian Secular Front (ISF) is behind the incident. On the other hand, ISF claimed that the Trinamool leader had stockpiled bombs in his car for the upcoming Assembly elections, which exploded. The Police have started an investigation after hearing the allegations from both sides. According to reports, Kutubuddin Paik is a resident of Chhamanabuni village in South 24 Parganas Kulpi area. He is the booth president of the village. Like other days, Kutubuddin Paik's car was parked in his house's garage on Friday night. In the middle of the night, locals suddenly heard a loud explosion. They rushed to the spot and saw that the car's windows were shattered and the asbestos roof of the garage had been blown off. The police were informed immediately. Kutubuddin alleged that his house had been bombed before. This time too, the Trinamool leader has pointed the finger at ISF, led by its MLA Nawsad Siddiqui. The Trinamool leader demanded that the culprits be arrested. "The explosion occurred around 1 a.m. There was a loud bomb blast. People rushed to me and said your garage has been destroyed, and your car has been blown. I came and saw that my shop near the garage and the car were completely damaged. The bomb was planted here. There was a bombing at my house earlier as well. It is the handiwork of ISF and other parties." ISF, however, dismissed Kutubuddin's allegations, claiming that the Trinamool leader was stockpiling bombs in the area before the elections, and one of those bombs exploded, causing this incident. "Now the Trinamool leader is trying to shift the blame onto the opposition. In fact, bombs stored in the Trinamool leader's car exploded. The party is trying to save its face," said a local ISF leader. Meanwhile, the police have cordoned off the area and removed the car. They are investigating how the explosion occurred in the car. The police have not commented on the cause of the explosion. However, the incident has caused tension in the area ahead of the elections. Chennai, Jan 31 : Five people, including four devotees on a pilgrimage, were killed and three others sustained injuries in two separate road accidents reported from Siruvachur and Mangalamedu in Perambalur district over the weekend. In the first incident, a group of devotees walking towards the Samayapuram temple were run over by a car near the Siruvachur bridge in the early hours of Saturday. Police said more than 10 devotees from Cuddalore and Salem districts had set out on foot as part of a religious pilgrimage. As they were nearing the Siruvachur bridge, a car travelling from Chennai to Tiruchy allegedly rammed into the group from behind. Three women S. Malarkodi (35) and B. Vijayalakshmi of Tholar Kudikadu village in Cuddalore district, and M. Chitra (40) of Gangavalli in Salem district died on the spot. Three others, identified as P. Jothilakshmi (57), M. Tamilarasi (42), and S. Vijayalakshmi (43), all from Tholar Kudikadu, sustained severe injuries and were rushed to the Perambalur Government Hospital for treatment. Another devotee, T. Sasikala (47), also from Tholar Kudikadu, who was critically injured in the accident, later succumbed to her injuries, taking the death toll in the incident to four. The bodies of the deceased were sent to the Perambalur Government Hospital for post-mortem examination. Police registered a case and arrested the car driver, S. Gowtham (24) of Tirusulam in Chennai. Further investigation into the incident is underway. A devotee who was present at the spot told reporters that the group had been walking cautiously along the road in the early morning hours when the accident occurred. "The car came out of nowhere and hit us. Everything happened so fast. It felt unreal, like a scene from a movie," the devotee said. In a separate accident reported on Friday night, S. Navshad Ali (22) of V. Kalathur in Perambalur district was killed while returning home on his two-wheeler from the Thirumandurai toll plaza. Police said the accident occurred near Thirumandurai on the ChennaiTiruchy National Highway, where he allegedly collided with a lorry carrying wood that was travelling ahead of him. Mangalamedu police rushed to the spot soon after receiving information, recovered Navshad Ali's body, and sent it to the Perambalur Government Hospital for post-mortem examination. A case has been registered, and an investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. Kolkata, Jan 31 : A video purportedly showing a Trinamool Congress block president disrupting a hearing on claims and objections to the draft voters' list as part of the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in West Bengal has gone viral on social media. The incident is said to have occurred in Pandua in the Hooghly district of the state. Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday shared the video on his social media handles on X and Facebook. In the clip, Trinamool Congress's Pandua block president Sanjog Ghosh is seen and heard allegedly threatening the electoral officer in charge of the hearing centre. IANS could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. Sharing the clip, the Leader of the Opposition alleged that the ruling party was deliberately attempting to derail the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. "The Trinamool Congress seems determined to disrupt the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise in West Bengal. This is because the ruling party knows very well that a voters' list with only genuine voters is enough to make them panic. Leaders of the ruling party at all levels are aware of this and are therefore trying to disrupt the exercise at any cost," he said. He further claimed that the Pandua block president was not only threatening the electoral officer but also instigating local residents to disrupt the hearing process. "The Trinamool Congress's nefarious attempts will never succeed. Trinamool Congress leaders are in complete panic mode because fake voters, dead voters, Bangladeshi voters and Rohingya voters will ultimately be removed from the voters' list. The Assembly elections in West Bengal will be conducted with a clear and transparent voters' list. The Trinamool Congress will not return to power this time," the Leader of the Opposition said. Since the beginning of the hearings on claims and objections to the draft voters' list in the state, there have been several reports of disruptions at hearing centres, allegedly by Trinamool Congress activists. In many cases, such incidents were reportedly led by local legislators of the ruling party. Ahmedabad, Jan 31 : A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ahmedabad sentenced three private individuals to three years' imprisonment each for fraudulently availing excise duty rebate amounting to more than Rs 1.18 crore, an official statement said on Saturday. Ahmedabad, Jan 31 (IANS) A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ahmedabad sentenced three private individuals to three yearsa imprisonment each for fraudulently availing excise duty rebate amounting to more than Rs 1.18 crore, an official statement said on Saturday. The court convicted Samir Fateh Mohammad Immamudin, who remains absconding, Tejas Desai, and Amit Gupta, and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of them on Friday. According to CBI, convictions relate to the submission of forged export documents to wrongful claim rebates from the Central Excise Department, Surat. The CBI had registered the case on February 20, 2009, against M/s Shree Sai Impex, Surat, its associates and other unknown persons following allegations of criminal conspiracy and cheating. According to the investigation, the accused had submitted forged export documents as genuine in support of 51 rebate applications, fraudulently obtaining a total rebate of Rs 1,18,39,833 and causing an equivalent loss to the government exchequer. After completing the investigation, the CBI filed its chargesheet on November 30, 2009, against Immamudin, Ghanshyam Rafaliya, Desai, and Gupta. During the pendency of the trial, Rafaliya died, leading the court to abate proceedings against him. Following a detailed trial, the court found Immamudin, Desa,i and Gupta guilty under the relevant provisions of criminal and fiscal law. The sentencing order noted that the prosecution had established the use of fabricated export-related documents to obtain excise duty rebates illegally. The case underscores the prolonged nature of financial crime trials, with the judgment delivered more than 16 years after the registration of the FIR. Proceedings relating to the absconding accused are expected to continue in accordance with the law. Similar convictions have been recorded by the CBI court in Ahmedabad in other financial fraud cases also. The CBI actively investigates fraud cases, leading to convictions, including imprisonment and fines. Mumbai, Jan 31 : Sandalwood star Kiccha Sudeep promised to keep working harder as he completed 3 decades in the industry. Expressing his gratitude, he thanked his fans, director, writers, producers, and also the members of the Kannada film industry for always being by his side. The 'Eega' actor penned a heartfelt note on social media that read, "30 years. Infinite gratitude. Standing here after three decades in this crazy, beautiful film world, my heart is justa full. From a boy with dreams, doubts and wild hope to whatever this has become a" itas bigger than I ever imagined because of YOU. (sic)" Thanking all those who have been a part of his long and incredible journey, he added, "Fans a" youare my strength, my fuel, my reason to keep showing up. Directors & writers a" thank you for trusting me with your stories, for pushing, challenging and believing I could do more. Producers a" your courage and faith made dreams happen. Co-actors & every single technician a" cinema is pure teamwork: from the light boys to the cameramen, art teams to costume, spot boys to editors a" your unseen sweat is everything. To television & media a" you amplified my voice, questioned me, celebrated me and helped me grow. To the Kannada film fraternity a" you gave me identity, pride and home; I carry Kannada cinema in my heart always." Sandeep also thanked his family and friends for keeping him real and grounded through it all. The 'Maanikya' actor also revealed that his 30 years in the industry have taught him humility. He further said that he will continue to try his best to honor the craft that has given him so much. "If 30 years taught me one thing, itas humility: every success is borrowed. I promise to keep working harder, to honor the craft and to give back everything cinema has given me. With folded hands and a grateful heart a" thank you, from the bottom of me," the post concluded. Sudeep first graced the screen with a supporting role in the movie "Thayavva". -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Bengaluru, Jan 31 : Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara stated on Saturday that the state police investigating the death of known industrialist, Confident Group Founder and Chairman C.J. Roy during the raid by the Income Tax (IT) Department in Bengaluru, will first look at the suicide angle. He said the police are currently not looking at the angle of alleged pressure by the IT Department officials, leading to his death. "During the course of investigation, if any matters come up, then it will be looked into," Home Minister Parameshwara clarified. He was speaking to the media after meeting AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Bengaluru. "As a Home Minister, I want to convey that as of now the suicide angle will be probed. If other matters come up in the course of the investigation, those matters could be investigated at later stages. Firstly, let us see what comes out of the preliminary probe. Based on that, future course of action will be taken," HM Parameshwara stated. When asked about allegations that the pressure of repeated IT raids prompted Roy to end his life, HM Parameshwara stated, "We have not thought of that angle. Because, the police department will look into how the incident took place. The IT Department raid dimension is not being looked into by the police." "We have to see what comes out of the investigation. The brother of the deceased has given a statement that due to IT department's pressure Roy committed suicide. The police department has not seen the case in that angle," he stated. "I don't know who was in the IT team. It will be known in the investigation," he stated while answering a question. Sharing details about the case, HM Parameshwara stated, "In December, his company was raided by the Income Tax Department. After that, within 60 days they completed the investigation and filed the chargesheet, to finalise this by February 4, they had called him. Three days ago he came from Dubai." "The IT officers had intimated him about this and also about the need for recording his statements. Roy had responded positively. As per the communication, IT officers had come to his office and Roy also met them. In between, Roy had told officers that he would come back in 10 minutes and went to his chamber. He did not turn up for 20 minutes," he stated. "When the chamber's door was broken, the incident of Roy committing suicide came to light. Apart from this, I have asked the police department to conduct a preliminary investigation into the background of the case and other matters related to it. When the probe is done, we will know the facts," HM Parameshwara stated. Meanwhile, a case of suspicious death has been registered at the Ashok Nagar police station in connection with the suicide. As the exact cause of the industrialist's death is yet to be ascertained, Ashok Nagar police have registered a UDR (Unnatural Death Report) under Section 174C of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and have launched an investigation. Confident Group Managing Director T.A. Joseph has filed a complaint seeking an investigation into the suicide of C.J. Roy. Police said that Joseph has not made any allegations against Income Tax officials in his complaint. Consequently, Ashok Nagar police are probing the case as an unnatural death. According to the complaint, on Friday (January 31) at around 3 pm, C.J. Roy had come with Joseph to the Confident Group office on Langford Road in Bengaluru to give a statement to IT officials. After that, Roy went into his cabin. A short while later, he informed Joseph that he wanted to speak to his mother, following which Joseph stepped outside. About ten minutes later, when Joseph returned, security staff informed him that Roy had instructed that no one should be allowed inside the cabin. After another ten minutes, Joseph went to the cabin again and knocked on the door, but there was no response. It was found that the door was locked from inside. The door was then forced open. Inside the cabin, Roy was found seated on his chair. There was blood on his shirt and his body was cold. An ambulance was immediately called. Medical personnel who arrived with the ambulance checked his pulse and found none. He was then rushed to Narayana Hospital in HSR Layout, Bengaluru, where he was admitted to the emergency care unit. In his complaint, Joseph has requested a thorough investigation to ascertain what kind of pressure might have driven Roy to take the extreme step. C.J. Babu, brother of C.J. Roy, speaking to the media on Saturday, stated that his brother had called him on Friday morning and said that he was under pressure from the Income Tax department. Roy had also asked when he would be returning to Bengaluru. "He did not speak specifically about the nature of the pressure and only asked me to come to Bengaluru, saying that he would discuss the matter with me then. I do not know much beyond that," Babu said. Mumbai Jan 31 : After Shah Rukh Khan, his producer and interior designer wife Gauri Khan has also come out praising Bollywood star Rani Mukerji for her powerful performance in her recently released Mardaani 3. Taking to social media, Gauri lauded Rani's performance, calling it strong and brilliant, and described the film as gripping and a must-watch. She further also extended her best wishes to the entire team behind the project. She wrote, "What a strong performance. Rani you were brilliant in #Mardaani3. Such a gripping film a must watch. All the best to everyone who worked on this film!! #RaniMukerji @yrf." For the uninitiated , Rani marks her return as the fearless cop Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani 3. On Friday, Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan had also taken to his social media account to extend heartfelt wishes to his dear friend Rani Mukerji Mardaani 3 hit theatres on Thursday. SRK went on to laud the actress, calling her 'feisty, strong and compassionate', both on screen and off screen. Taking to social media, Shah Rukh wrote, "Just from the heart.to my Rani 'Mardaani' all my best wishes. I am sure you will be feisty, strong & compassionate in Mardaani 3 like u are in the real world too." Talking about Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji's bond, they share a long-standing friendship that dates back to the 90s. The stars have worked together in many superhit movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Chalte Chalte, Paheli and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Recently, Rani Mukerji was honoured with the Vande Mataram Puraskar, the West Bengal Governor's Award of Excellence. Accepting the award and expressing gratitude, Rani in a statement said, "I accept this honour with gratitude, with pride, and with a renewed sense of responsibility, to continue contributing to Indian cinema with sincerity, and to always remain worthy of the values Bengal has given me. Thank you, West Bengal, for always claiming me as your own and always showering so much love on your child. It is truly precious." The actress is also celebrating 30 years of her glorious career with 'Mardaani 3', this year. Talking about Mardaani 3, it is directed by Abhiraj Minawala and produced by Aditya Chopra. IANS rd/ New Delhi, Jan 31 : As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 2026-27 on Sunday, leaders from ruling parties expressed optimism and enthusiasm on Saturday, stating that the budget would reflect an inclusive vision and address the aspirations of farmers, youth, women, industrialists, and the poor. In contrast, Opposition leaders said they had little expectations from the budget, accusing the Centre of neglecting several states. New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 202627 on Sunday, leaders from ruling parties expressed optimism and enthusiasm on Saturday, stating that the budget would reflect an inclusive vision and address the aspirations of farmers, youth, women, industrialists, and the poor. In contrast, Opposition leaders said they had little expectations from the budget, accusing the Centre of neglecting several states. Speaking to reporters, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said that the budget would reflect the government's commitment to inclusive development. "Tomorrow, the country's budget will be presented in Parliament. Through this budget, we will see how an inclusive framework is crafted one that becomes the voice of farmers, youth, women, industrialists, and the poor. "I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the significant transformations achieved since 2014, including lifting nearly 25 crore people above the poverty line," he said. Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal highlighted the historic nature of the upcoming budget presentation. "Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the ninth-consecutive time. The Prime Minister's vision is to make India a 'Viksit Bharat'. Economic surveys clearly outline parameters such as growth in manufacturing and agriculture's contribution to GDP and the strengthening of overall economic indicators. "As India moves towards becoming the world's third-largest economy, these benchmarks must be ambitious, and the budget will be framed accordingly," he said. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma described the occasion as a symbol of women's empowerment. "What could be a stronger example of women's empowerment than a woman Finance Minister presenting the budget nine times in a row? Prime Minister Modi often speaks about empowering women, and this is a powerful reflection of that vision. While the budget will be presented tomorrow, the Economic Survey has already provided a clear picture of the country's economic direction," he said. Former Cabinet Minister Jai Parkash Dalal said the budget was aimed at achieving the long-term goal of a developed India by 2047. "This budget is meant for the entire country and is designed to move India towards the vision of Viksit Bharat. It considers all sections of society and does not focus on any one group. It will play a vital role in shaping India's future progress," he added. JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said correcting regional imbalances was a key priority of the NDA government. "The unequal distribution of resources has been a major concern, and Prime Minister Modi's government has addressed this through data-driven policies. Bihar has received nearly 3.5 times more central assistance in the last 11 years compared to the Congress era. The last two Union Budgets have given special focus to Bihar and addressed long-pending issues," he said. However, the Opposition remained critical and expressed disappointment ahead of the Union Budget. Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said he had "zero expectations" from the budget. "It has been 12 years, and the Modi government has done nothing substantial for Karnataka. Despite Finance Minister Sitharaman being elected twice from the state, Karnataka has not received any special attention," he said. RJD Spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari echoed similar concerns, particularly for Bihar. "What hope does Bihar have? The state has only received announcements during election periods. There has been no special state status, no special package for Patna University, and no recognition for central universities. Bihar has been repeatedly neglected in successive Union Budgets," he alleged. Meanwhile, after the presentation of the Budget in the Lower House, a copy of the budget will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha. This will be the third Budget of the Narendra Modi government in its third term. Tumakuru : , Jan 31 (IANS) A Police Sub-Inspector, Chetan Kumar, attached to the Tumakuru Rural Police Station, was caught red-handed by Lokayukta officials while allegedly accepting a bribe to release a vehicle seized in a case, the Lokayukta said on Saturday. The vehicle belonged to a Bengaluru-based advocate, and the PSI had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 5 lakh for its release. On Friday night, at around 11.30 pm, Chetan Kumar was trapped by Lokayukta officials while he was accepting Rs 40,000 as part of the bribe at the Namaste Tumakuru Hotel near Kyathsandra. Following the trap, Lokayukta police interrogated the PSI and later produced him before a court. The accused officer has been booked under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Nagesh S.K., a resident of Nagadevanahalli in Bengaluru, has filed a complaint in this regard. According to the Lokayukta, the accused officer had received the bribe amount through an intermediary. The PSI has been taken into custody, and further investigation is underway. A police inspector, posted at Bengaluru's K.P. Agrahara police station, was also caught red-handed by Karnataka Lokayukta officials on Friday while accepting a bribe of Rs 4 lakh to drop a personas name from a chit fund fraud case. The accused officer has been identified as Inspector Govindaraju. He was trapped while receiving the bribe amount at the CAR Grounds on Mysuru Road. Lokayukta Superintendent of Police Shivaprakash Devaraj said on Friday that the inspector had earlier accepted Rs 1 lakh on January 24 out of the overall demand of a Rs 5 lakh bribe in connection with a case registered under the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act, 2019, at the police station. "The accused inspector was caught red-handed while accepting money from the complainant, Akbar, near the Chamarajapete CAR Ground. The bribe was allegedly taken to drop the accused from the case," the SP said. Govindaraju has been arrested under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and sent to judicial custody. Police sources said Inspector Govindaraju allegedly created a scene at the time of his arrest and turned aggressive during the trap operation. A video showing the Inspector creating a ruckus after being caught while accepting the bribe has surfaced. The video shows Lokayukta officials taking him into custody despite his aggressive behaviour. At one point, as many as six Lokayukta officials were seen restraining the Inspector as he became violent. He was heard shouting and creating a dramatic scene. Quetta, Jan 31 : As Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) announced the start of the second phase of 'Operation Herof' across Balochistan on Saturday, armed clashes, explosions and attacks targetting Pakistani military installations emerged from multiple districts of the province, local media reported. Calling it a "declaration of decisive resistance", BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, in a brief statement, said the new phase is directed against "the occupying state and all its military and administrative structures." He said that by standing alongside Baloch fighters, the people of Balochistan would "defeat the enemy in every city, street and neighbourhood," stressing that the operation seeks to demonstrate that "there is no place for the occupier in Balochistan." Citing residents and local sources, the Balochistan Post reported that the security situation remained highly tense across several regions in the province, including Quetta, Nushki, Kalat, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kharan, Gwadar, Pasni, Tump, Buleda and Dhadar, amid reports of heavy gunfire, explosions and attacks on Pakistani police and military sites. Meanwhile, residents in provincial capital Quetta reported gunfire and explosions in multiple areas, including the highly sensitive Red Zone. Reports suggest that armed men attacked a Pakistani police mobile van on Sariab Road in Quetta, killing two personnel and setting the vehicle on fire, with gunfire reported from the direction of the railway station. In a new statement sent to media outlets, the BLA said during the second phase of 'Operation Herof' it has launched "simultaneous, coordinated attacks" in 10 cities in the province, including Quetta, Nushki, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kalat, Kharan, Gwadar, Pasni, Tump and Buleda. According to the BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, the group had attacked "military and administrative structures," disrupted the movement of "enemy forces", and "pushed back" Pakistani troops in multiple areas. The statement added that "Fidayeen attacks" targeted Pakistani army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) camps in Quetta, Pasni, Gwadar, Noshki and Dalbandin, asserting that the group's Majeed Brigade had "successfully entered army camps and captured large sections of them," with "fierce fighting" continuing. The BLA claimed that "dozens" of Pakistani military personnel had been "neutralised" so far, adding that further details would be shared with the media soon. In a separate message released through the BLA's media wing, the group's commander-in-chief, Bashir Zeb Baloch, called on the people of Balochistan to "come out of their homes and fight against Pakistani forces." "This struggle does not belong to any single individual but to collective consciousness. When a nation stands united, the enemy cannot avoid defeat despite its power. The Baloch nation is urged to step out and become part of Operation Herof," The Balochistan post quoted Bashir as saying. People from Balochistan are currently fighting for their independence from Pakistan. Various human rights organisations of Balochistan have time and again highlighted the repression by Pakistani forces in the province, which includes violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the 'kill and dump' policy, detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases. Bengaluru, Jan 31 : Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Saturday said the state police had informed him that no narcotic substances were recovered during the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raids in Mysuru, adding that he would verify the facts in light of the NCB's claims. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said he was surprised by the NCB's press statement, which claimed seizures in Karnataka. "Seizures in other states are a different matter. I was in Mysuru on Friday and spoke to the Police Commissioner and the Inspector General. They told me that police officials, along with Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers, conducted searches and nothing was recovered in Mysuru," he said. "Based on this information, I stated that nothing was found. However, since the NCB statement mentions recovery of drugs from Karnataka as well, I will verify the facts of the case," the Home Minister added. Explaining the sequence of events, Parameshwara said a person from Karnataka was intercepted outside the state while transporting drugs, and his vehicle was seized. "After questioning him, officials came to Mysuru in search of his relative. A phenyl manufacturing unit was being set up there, but it was not operational. The premises were searched, but no narcotic substances were recovered," he said. Rejecting allegations that the Congress-led state government had failed to curb the drug menace, Parameshwara said such claims were false. "Raids are conducted every day and drug mafias are being busted. This involves international networks, with narcotics coming from countries like Thailand. A new substance called 'hydro ganja' is also being seized in large quantities, valued between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore," he said. The clarification comes a day after the NCB claimed it had busted a major inter-state drug trafficking syndicate and a clandestine drug manufacturing laboratory in Mysuru. In its official statement issued on Friday, the NCB said drugs worth about Rs 10 crore in the street market, cash of Rs 25.6 lakh, a Toyota Fortuner vehicle and over 500 kg of chemicals had been seized so far. "The unit located in Hebbal Industrial Area, Mysuru, housing the clandestine lab, has been sealed for examination by the forensic team," the statement said. According to the NCB, acting on intelligence inputs, a Toyota Fortuner SUV with a Karnataka registration number was intercepted at Palsana in Surat district of Gujarat on January 28, leading to the seizure of around 35 kg of Mephedrone (MD). Subsequent searches at the residence of the alleged mastermind, Mahindra Kumar Vishnoi, in Palsana led to the recovery of 1.8 kg of opium, Rs 25.6 lakh in cash and various chemicals, with assistance from the Surat Police. Meanwhile, the BJP slammed the Congress-led Karnataka government over the alleged drug factory bust in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's native Mysuru. Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka warned that the party would launch an agitation if strict and immediate measures were not taken. "If this drug racket, which is destroying the future of our youth, is not taken with utmost seriousness, we will be forced to launch an intense agitation against the government," Ashoka said. Chandigarh, Jan 31 : In a strategic move to strengthen the Dalit vote bank of 32 per cent in Punjab that will go to the Assembly polls early next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Dera Sachkhand Ballan on the occasion of Ravidass Jayanti, a prominent Ravidassia community sect that has much influence in the state's Doaba region comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala districts. He will be spending nearly 45 minutes on Sunday in the dera located on the outskirts of Jalandhar with Sant Niranjan Das, the revered saint of the Ravidassia community and head of Dera Ballan, who was conferred the Padma Shri on Republic Day. As per the tour programme of the Prime Minister, he will be reaching the Adampur airport at around 3.30 pm, from where he will be heading to the sect in a helicopter. PM Modi last visited the air base of Adampur on May 13, 2025, where he had interacted with brave air warriors and soldiers, days after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire. Adampur was among the air force stations that Pakistan attempted to attack on the intervening night of May 9 and 10 after India's 'Operation Sindoor.' As per the official programme, during the visit the Prime Minister will rename Adampur's civil airport after Guru Ravidass Maharaj in honour of sentiments of the community whose concentration is the highest in the state's Doaba region -- the area between the Beas and the Satluj rivers. The Doaba region holds 23 of 117 Assembly seats and the Dera Sachkhand Ballan has direct influence on at least 19 seats. Also, the PM will virtually inaugurate the new terminal of the Halwara airport in Ludhiana. On the auspicious occasion of the 649th birth anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidass, the renaming of Adampur airport honours the revered saint and social reformer whose teachings of equality, compassion, and human dignity continue to inspire India's social ethos. Further advancing aviation infrastructure in Punjab, the terminal building being inaugurated by the PM at Halwara will establish a new gateway for the state, catering to Ludhiana and its surrounding industrial and agricultural hinterland. Located in Ludhiana district, Halwara is also home to a strategically important Indian Air Force station. The earlier airport in Ludhiana had a relatively small runway, suitable for small-size aircrafts. To improve connectivity and accommodate larger aircrafts, a new civil enclave has been developed at Halwara which has a longer runway capable of handling A320-type aircrafts, an official statement said. Who is Sant Niranjan Das? The spiritual head has devoted his entire life to spreading the teachings of Sant Guru Ravidass Maharaj across India and abroad, while also strengthening the values of social harmony, service, and humanity. Last month, ex-Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Vijay Sampla, along with Sant Niranjan Das, met PM Modi at his official residence in New Delhi and had urged that the Adampur airport be renamed after Guru Ravidass Maharaj. At that time, Sampla had said that PM Modi received the delegation with great respect and devotion. The delegation had submitted a proposal to celebrate the 650th Prakash Purab in 2027 at the national level for a full year, promoting the teachings and "bani" of Guru Ravidass across the country. A request was also made to the PM for 50 acres of land in Varanasi, dedicated to organising the grand celebrations and related religious activities. The delegation had honoured the Prime Minister with a beautifully framed portrait of Guru Ravidass Maharaj. Ahead of the PM's visit, the AAP government in Punjab on Thursday announced to establish the Sri Guru Ravidass Bani Adhayyan Centre near Dera Sachkhand Ballan and got three pieces of land, worth Rs 10.50 crore, registered in its name. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the novel initiative was "one of its kind in the country, and the government has got registered more than nine acres in the name of the Adhayyan Centre." "The Punjab government stands totally committed to ensuring that the teachings and ideology of Sri Guru Ravidass reach every nook and corner of the globe," Cheema was quoted as saying. The government's decision is being seen as an attempt to woo the Ravidassia community ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. Dera Ballan, located in Ballan village some eight km from Jalandhar city, was founded in the early twentieth century by Sant Pipal Das. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chennai, Jan 31 : PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss has accused the DMK government of deliberately misleading government employees and teachers over the newly announced Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme, alleging that the scheme exists only on paper and has not been implemented on the ground. In a statement, Anbumani said the State government had announced that the Assured Pension Scheme came into effect from January 1, 2026. However, more than 5,000 government employees who retired at the end of January have not received any official orders granting them pension benefits under the new scheme, despite many of them being eligible. "This clearly proves our long-standing charge that the DMK government has been systematically deceiving government employees and teachers," he said. He recalled that since 2003, Tamil Nadu has followed the New Pension Scheme, and government employees and teachers have been agitating for nearly 26 years, demanding its withdrawal and restoration of the Old Pension Scheme. The DMK, he noted, had come to power promising to reintroduce the Old Pension Scheme, but failed to fulfil that assurance even after five years in office. According to Anbumani, frustrated by the delay, government employees announced an indefinite strike from January 6. In an attempt to prevent the protest, the DMK government hurriedly announced the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme on January 3. Anbumani said he had warned at the time that the scheme was "deceptive" and would not benefit employees. Though the government issued a Government Order on January 10, it created a false impression that the scheme had already come into force from January 1, 2026. In reality, the order clearly stated that the scheme would be implemented only after framing detailed rules -- a fact the government allegedly concealed. On the last working day of January 2026, over 5,000 government employees will retire. If the scheme had truly been implemented, eligible retirees should have received pension orders immediately, he said. "No such orders were issued. This has exposed the government's deception," he alleged. Anbumani further criticised the government for staging "political drama" by celebrating the announcement with select union leaders, while failing to operationalise the scheme. He pointed out that, unlike the Old Pension Scheme, which is fully funded by the government, the new assured scheme is financed by a 10 per cent salary deduction from employees -- similar to the New Pension Scheme -- but offers far fewer benefits. "The DMK government has failed even to implement this flawed scheme. That alone is enough to measure the extent of its betrayal of government employees and teachers," Anbumani said. Colombo/Visakhapatnam, Jan 31 : India on Saturday dispatched to Colombo a consignment of 10 Bailey Bridges to assist restoration of critical connectivity in parts of the country severely affected by Cyclone Ditwah. "India continues to stand with Sri Lanka to support reconstruction efforts after Cyclone Ditwah. To assist restoration of critical connectivity, a consignment of 10 Bailey Bridges was despatched today from Visakhapatnam to Colombo on-board INS Gharial," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) posted on X. According to the MEA, the supply of bridges is a part of Indiaas Special Economic Package of USD 450 million announced during the recent visit of External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar to Sri Lanka, after Indiaas emergency HADR support through Operation SagarBandhu. Last week, a 120-foot Bailey Bridge on the B-492 Kandya"Ragala Road was jointly inaugurated by Satyanjal Pandey, Deputy High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, and Manjula Suraweera Arachchi, Member of Parliament, under Indiaas Post-Ditwah Reconstruction Assistance. The newly commissioned bridge restored a vital road link and strengthened connectivity for communities in the region. It re-established an essential transport corridor critical for passenger movement, the supply of essential goods, and the revival of local economic activity. According to the Indian High Commission in Colombo, this is the second Bailey Bridge on the Kandya"Ragala Road constructed under India's USD 450 million Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Assistance to Sri Lanka. It follows the launch of a 100-foot Bailey Bridge on the Kandy-Ragala Road (KM-21) on 10 January 2026, jointly inaugurated by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka and the Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways, Prasanna Gunasena, and the Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education, Madhura Senevirathna. "The project forms part of India's reconstruction and rehabilitation assistance extended to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, which caused severe disruptions to connectivity due to landslides and the collapse of existing bridges. The newly commissioned Bailey Bridges have significantly improved access and mobility for communities in the affected areas, particularly in challenging hilly terrain. These restoration efforts are being undertaken in close coordination with the Sri Lankan Army and the Road Development Authority (RDA)," read a statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo. "In the next phase, additional Bailey bridges will be constructed over the coming weeks to ensure comprehensive restoration of connectivity across all affected areas," it added. Patna, Jan 31 : After the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Purnea Lok Sabha MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has demanded that the CBI investigation into the suspicious death of a NEET aspirant be conducted under the supervision of a Supreme Court or High Court judge. Addressing a press conference in Purnea on Saturday, Pappu Yadav said that the transfer of the case to the CBI itself proves the failure and incompetence of the Bihar Police and CID. "With the recommendation of this case to the CBI, it is now clear that the Bihar Police and CID are incompetent and have failed to crack the case. Nevertheless, I welcome the decision to hand over the probe to the CBI, but the investigation must be conducted under the supervision of a Supreme Court or High Court judge," Yadav said. He said he had already raised the matter in the Lok Sabha and expressed serious concern over the safety of the victim's family. "I strongly fear that the Bihar Police may falsely implicate the family members of the deceased or that they could even be eliminated through henchmen. These fears have also been expressed by the victim's mother. I urge the Bihar government and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to immediately provide adequate security to the family," he added. Making a serious allegation, Pappu Yadav claimed he had information suggesting a criminal conspiracy behind the case. "I have information that hostel and hospital owners have allegedly given a contract to kill someone. I do not know who the target is, but I request that the Bihar government protect the victim's family at any cost. These people can go to any extent," he said. Pappu Yadav also praised Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha for visiting Jehanabad and meeting the victim's family. "I appreciate Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha for going to Jehanabad and consoling the family. I request him to ensure the family's safety. I have personally spoken to him regarding this matter. Except for him, I have not seen any other leader, including Giriraj Singh, taking this issue seriously," Yadav said. Expressing concern over women's safety in the state, Pappu Yadav concluded, "I firmly believe that girls are not safe under this government. There is an urgent need to fight to protect our sisters and daughters." The NEET aspirant was found unconscious in her hostel room on January 6 and later succumbed to her injuries at a private hospital on January 11. Initially, the Patna SSP ruled out sexual assault, but the post-mortem report by Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report contradicted this claim. Both reports stated that sexual assault could not be ruled out. The FSL report further confirmed that male sperm was found on the clothes of the deceased. The Patna Police had constituted a high-level SIT under the supervision of an IG-rank officer, but the investigation has made little progress so far. The SIT has collected blood samples from more than 15 individuals, including family members of the deceased. The case has now been handed over to the CBI, even as political pressure mounts for a court-monitored investigation to ensure transparency and justice. --IANS ajk/dan New Delhi, Jan 31 : After the Union Home Minister slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for not wearing the 'gamosa' presented to him by President Droupadi Murmu, leaders of the BJP and JD(U) backed Amit Shah on Saturday and said the incident revealed Gandhi's alleged disregard and hatred towards the people of the Northeast and Assam. However, the Congress hit back by saying that even the Defence Minister had not worn the gamosa. The controversy erupted after Amit Shah, while addressing an event in Dibrugarh, Assam, said that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi's refusal to wear the traditional gamosa amounted to disrespect towards the culture of the northeastern states. "Rahul Gandhi can do whatever he wants, but as long as the BJP is in power, it will not allow any disrespect of the culture of the northeastern states," Union Minister Shah said. He further noted that all other attendees, including foreign dignitaries, wore the traditional attire as a mark of respect, while Rahul Gandhi was the only one who did not wear it. Reacting to his remarks, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma told IANS that the incident was deeply regrettable. "The traditional Assamese gamosa is recognised across the country and has become a symbol of Assam. When someone wears it, it reflects respect for the state and its people. If it is not accepted, not only the people of Assam but the entire nation feel offended. Such behaviour reflects a sense of disregard that should not exist," he said. Sharma also referred to past instances where, according to him, LoP Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge were absent from key national programmes in Parliament, questioning their commitment to national and regional sentiments. BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo said the incident on Republic Day was 'shameful' and deeply concerning. "Even after a request from the President, Rahul Gandhi did not wear the gamosa, while others did. This exposes his attitude towards the Northeast and the Assamese people. Such conduct raises serious questions," he said. JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said symbolic gestures play an important role in strengthening the bond between states and the Centre. "The Prime Minister has often adopted local traditions and attire to connect with people during his visits. Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly been seen faltering on issues of regional identity and self-respect. The Union Home Minister's statement suggests that he has failed to learn from his past mistakes," Prasad said. Meanwhile, the Congress dismissed the allegations. Congress state president Deepak Baij said Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also not worn a gamosa on the occasion. "Amit Shah should first examine the conduct of leaders within his own party before accusing others. Such statements are made merely for political point-scoring and reflect the BJP's narrow mindset," he said. Chennai, Jan 31 : The DMK government has announced plans to install a towering 125-foot statue of Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola at the upcoming Grand Chola Museum in Thanjavur, reaffirming its commitment to honouring iconic figures from Tamil history. a Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS) The DMK government has announced plans to install a towering 125-foot statue of Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola at the upcoming Grand Chola Museum in Thanjavur, reaffirming its commitment to honouring iconic figures from Tamil history. Public Works Department (PWD) Minister E.V. Velu said the statue would serve as the centrepiece of the ambitious museum project. According to the minister, the proposed statue will be modelled on the Raja Raja Chola statue that was installed near Sivaganga Park in Thanjavur during the tenure of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. "The Chief Minister is personally particular about this project and wants it executed with historical fidelity and grandeur," Velu said. As part of preparatory work, the minister recently visited Gujarat to study the Statue of Unity, the 597-foot monument dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He noted that the Patel statue's foundation and base were constructed using steel, while the outer structure was built with copper plates. The project, he said, was executed by Larsen & Toubro after the statue was fabricated in China. "We are holding discussions with the same company for the Raja Raja Chola statue as well," Velu added. The Grand Chola Museum is being developed on a sprawling 52-acre site within the Tamil University campus at Thanjavur, at an estimated cost of Rs 56.41 crore. While the Museums Department is overseeing the construction and curation of the museum, the PWD has been entrusted with designing and erecting the statue, envisioned as the museum's primary visual and symbolic attraction. Work on the museum is currently in progress. The project was first announced by Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu in his 202324 Budget speech. He said the museum would commemorate the civilisational contributions of the Cholas and act as a repository for art objects, inscriptions, and monuments associated with the era. In addition to the statue, the museum narrative will be enriched by the presence of two small bronze idols of Raja Raja Chola and his queen, Lokamadevi, which were smuggled out of Tamil Nadu and recovered by the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police in 2018 from Ahmedabad. These idols are slated to be ceremonially placed before the deity at the Thanjavur Big Temple on Sathaya Vizha, marking the birth star of the Chola king. The Grand Chola Museum will feature galleries covering the Cholas' historical legacy, Sangam-era roots, religious patronage, administration and governance, architectural excellence, urban planning, water and land management, art and culture - especially Chola bronzes and stone sculptures - as well as society, economy, literature, overseas trade, naval power, and military strength. Together, the statue and the museum aim to present a comprehensive portrait of one of Tamil civilisation's most influential dynasties. Chennai, Jan 31 : The Bharatiya Janata Party's appointment of campaign managers for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections has provided the clearest indication yet of the constituencies the party is keen to contest as part of its alliance with the AIADMK. Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Partyas appointment of campaign managers for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections has provided the clearest indication yet of the constituencies the party is keen to contest as part of its alliance with the AIADMK. Though both the BJP and the (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) have maintained that formal seat-sharing talks are yet to begin, party sources say the internal list reflects the BJPas negotiating priorities. According to the list, eight senior leaders and well-known faces of the BJP have been tasked with overseeing election work in 41 Assembly constituencies across the State. Senior leaders, including Arvind Menon, Sudhakar Reddy, L. Murugan, Pon Radhakrishnan, Tamilisai Soundararajan, H. Raja, Vanathi Srinivasan and K. Annamalai, have been assigned responsibility for these constituencies, signalling the BJPas intent to press hard for these seats during alliance negotiations. The allocation of campaign managers is seen as a strategic exercise aimed at consolidating the partyas presence in regions where it believes it has electoral potential, based largely on its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The western belt of Tamil Nadu dominates the list, with Coimbatore district emerging as a key focus area. The BJP has identified eight constituencies in the district -- Kinathukadavu, Coimbatore North, Kavundampalayam, Singanallur, Pollachi, Coimbatore South, Valparai (SC) and Mettupalayam -- reflecting the partyas relatively strong organisational base in the region. The western focus extends to Tiruppur district (Tiruppur North, Tiruppur South and Udumalpet), the Nilgiris district (Ooty and Coonoor) and Krishnagiri district (Hosur and Thalli). Of the 15 western Tamil Nadu constituencies featured, the BJP finished second in nine Assembly segments during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Notably, all eight senior leaders have been assigned constituencies in this western cluster, underlining the importance the party attaches to the region. A similar emphasis is evident in Kanniyakumari district, where the BJP has traditionally performed better. The party finished runner-up in all five constituencies listed from the district -- Nagercoil, Colachel, Padmanabhapuram, Vilavancode and Killiyoor -- in 2024. Kanniyakumari, along with Coimbatore, marked the BJPas strongest parliamentary performances in the State. In southern Tamil Nadu, the list includes Madurai North, Madurai South and Thirupparankundram, the latter drawing increased attention following the recent Karthigai Deepam-related controversy. Other constituencies identified include Radhapuram and Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district, Srivaikuntam in Thoothukudi, Paramakudi (SC) and Mudukulathur in Ramanathapuram, Tenkasi, Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar and Karaikudi in Sivaganga. In Chennai, the BJP has zeroed in on T Nagar, Velachery, Mylapore and Virugambakkam, all falling under the (Chennai South), where the party secured over 26 per cent of the vote in 2024, pushing the AIADMK to third place. January 31 : Lucknow: The producer and director of the film 'Godaan', based on Cow protection, its importance in Indian culture and the Panchgavya-based scientific outlook, paid a courtesy visit to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday. On this occasion, the films trailer was also launched officially. The producer and director Vinod Chaudhary stated, "The most comprehensive, concrete and grassroots-level work on Cow protection in the country has taken place in Uttar Pradesh, driven by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths clear vision and committed leadership. These very factors inspired the team to meet the Chief Minister." Soon after Yogi Adityanath assumed office as Chief Minister, rapid and stringent action was initiated against cow smugglers in Uttar Pradesh, leading to large-scale arrests. The Chief Ministers affection for cattle and commitment to cow protection is evident from the fact that over the past nine years, more than 7,500 cow shelters have been established across the state. In addition, over 12 lakh destitute cattle have been protected. To further strengthen cow service and conservation, cow protection committees have been formed in every district, with District Magistrates and SSPs appointed as nodal officers. Produced and directed by Vinod Chaudhary, 'Godaan' is set for a simultaneous nationwide release on 6 February. The film is not merely a story but a comprehensive document highlighting cow protection, Indian culture, scientific awareness and social responsibility. The producer apprised the Chief Minister of the films subject, objectives and social message. During the meeting, producer Vinod Chaudhary stated that the most visible and concrete work in the field of cow protection in the country today is centered in Uttar Pradesh. Expansion of cow shelters, arrangements for destitute cattle, strict action against smuggling and making cow protection a governance priority have all been made possible under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He added by saying, responsibilities which should ordinarily be shared by society and every citizen are being personally exemplified by the Chief Minister. The cow is not merely an animal but the cultural soul of India, forming the foundation of life since the Vedic era. From the legend of Kamdhenu emerging during the churning of the ocean to the present day, the cow has nurtured Indian civilization. Vinod Chaudhary noted, the younger generation is gradually forgetting the importance of the Cow. Often, cows are kept only as long as they provide milk and later abandoned, with the responsibility shifted to the government. However, he emphasized that caring for the cow is not solely the governments duty but a moral and social responsibility of every citizen. He stated unequivocally, the cow is our mother. Those who regard the cow merely as an animal, are living with an animalistic mindset. Just as a mother nourishes her children, the cow nourishes the entire human society. T he film 'Godaan' prominently highlights the concept of five transformations through Panchgavya. It explains how Panchgavya brings positive changes in human life. According to the producer, even gently stroking a cow provides mental peace, helps regulate blood pressure and has a positive impact on various ailments. The film presents this message through a scientific lens. The films producer also expressed his desire about the film to be tax-free. He stated that 'Godaan' does not belong to any single caste, religion, or class, but is meant for every citizen. In particular, the younger generation should watch this film. Its message should reach schoolchildren, families and every section of society. Those present during the meeting with the Chief Minister included Vinod Chaudhary (Producer), Shantanu Shukla (Head of Publicity and Promotion), Dr Kapil Tyagi (CMD, Yatharth Hospital, Noida) and Naval Kishor. Chairman of the Cow Service Commission, Shyam Bihari Gupta, stated, "For the earth, agriculture, nature and human life, the cow is the greatest blessing. Under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, unprecedented arrangements have been made in Uttar Pradesh for cow service and protection. He added that this film Godaan should be watched by every youth, children and elderly person along with their families. Kolkata, Jan 31 : Kolkata Police arrested an employee of a popular bar-cum-restaurant in Park Street for allegedly serving beef instead of goat meat to YouTuber Sayak Chakraborty. The arrest was made on Saturday after the YouTuber lodged a complaint at Park Street Police Station the previous night. "One employee of a popular restaurant/bar at Kolkata's Park Street has been arrested on charges of serving beef instead of goat meat to a YouTuber after he lodged a complaint with Park Street police. A case has been registered against the accused, and an investigation into the matter is on," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.a Sayak went to the popular bar-cum-restaurant Olypub on Friday night with two friends. According to his complaint, they ordered mutton steak but were allegedly served beef instead. After the incident, Sayak shared a video of his altercation with the waiter and manager on social media. The video went viral. In the Facebook video, Sayak described his ordeal. He said he and his friends ordered mutton, but the waiter served him beef. "Do you know that I am a Brahmin? How can you share beef to me?" Sayak was heard saying in the clip. In the clip, the restaurant manager was seen smiling at one point. "This is not a matter to laugh at," the actor's friend said.a After the incident, the BJP criticized and condemned the restaurant. "A well-known blogger, actor, and his friends went to Olypub, a restaurant in Park Street, and ordered mutton steak. But they were served beef steak instead ! The waiter later returned with a mutton steak, saying it was a mistake. Later, even the manager came and tried to pass it off as a mistake, with a smile! Why are Hindus made a soft target? Imagine the outrage if it were some other kind of meat served to some other community," said BJP leader Keya Ghosh in a social media post.a Chennai, Jan 31 : Slamming the AIADMK for "shamelessly copying" the DMK government's welfare and development initiatives into its election manifesto, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on Saturday said the opposition party had a long record of making promises it never fulfilled and had no credibility to seek another mandate. Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS) Slamming the AIADMK for "shamelessly copying" the DMK government's welfare and development initiatives into its election manifesto, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on Saturday said the opposition party had a long record of making promises it never fulfilled and had no credibility to seek another mandate. Speaking at a public function in Karaikudi during his tour of Sivaganga district, Stalin said AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami had failed to implement even the assurances made during his tenure as Chief Minister. "He has not kept his earlier promises and he will certainly not become the Chief Minister again," Stalin said, adding that copying DMK schemes would not compensate for years of non-performance. The Chief Minister questioned whether several high-profile promises made by the AIADMK government had ever been delivered. He cited the long-pending ChennaiKanyakumari coastal road project and asked whether it had been completed. Referring to other assurances, Stalin asked what happened to the promise of distributing mobile phones to ration card holders, providing free Wi-Fi, and establishing Amma two-wheeler repair centres in every panchayat. "People know very well that Palaniswami does not do what he promises," he said. Earlier in the day, Stalin inaugurated the Chettinad Agricultural College and Research Institute at Kanadukathan, a major step aimed at strengthening agricultural education and research in the Chettinad region. He later inaugurated the Government Law College at Kalani Vasal, constructed at a cost of Rs 100.45 crore, expanding access to legal education in southern Tamil Nadu. As part of the same programme, the Chief Minister also inaugurated 49 completed development projects worth Rs 2,600 crore and distributed welfare assistance to beneficiaries. Addressing the gathering, he listed various schemes implemented by the DMK government for Sivaganga district, highlighting investments in education, infrastructure, and livelihood support. Stalin also trained his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of levelling false allegations against the Tamil Nadu government for electoral gains. He pointed out that the Union government itself had acknowledged and praised several Tamil Nadu welfare schemes and their outcomes. Raising concern over amendments to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Stalin warned that changes introduced by the Centre could result in rural workers receiving barely half of the assured 125 days of employment. Later, the Chief Minister inaugurated a Mini TIDEL Park, underlining the state's push to generate technology-driven employment in smaller towns and districts. New Delhi, Jan 31 : Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday hit out at the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for neglecting public needs and exposed the Arvind Kejriwal government for carrying out development only in advertisements. Inaugurating projects worth more than Rs 100 crore at Mehrauli in south Delhi, CM Gupta said, "Some people merely made Delhi shine in advertisements. The heritage of Mehrauli, the needs of this area, and the aspirations of its citizens remained neglected for years." The Chief Minister said that the BJP government in the Capital is committed to good governance and development, pulling the city of inertia that the previous AAP government pushed it into. In a message in social media, the Chief Minister said, "Today, projects worth more than Rs 135 crore for the development of the Mehrauli Assembly constituency have been inaugurated. The dream of a developed Delhi will be realised only through your homes, colonies, and developed Assembly constituencies, and Mehrauli is firmly moving forward in that direction." "While preserving the historical grandeur of Mehrauli, we are connecting it to the modern facilities of the 21st century. The heritage will also be preserved, and the future will be empowered," she said. In a sharp but veiled attack on the previous AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal, she said, "Some people merely made Delhi shine in advertisements... Their politics was solely power-centric; our politics is one of service, good governance, and development." Referring to the projects launched during the event, she said all these projects are concrete steps toward ensuring cleanliness, strengthening infrastructure, and making citizens' lives more organised, safe, and dignified. On this occasion, area MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, MLA Gajendra Singh Yadav, former Councillor Aarti Singh Yadav, zonal presidents of the area, and many local dignitaries were present. Alappuzha : , Jan 31 (IANS) As the Kerala Assembly elections draw closer, the chief of SNDP Yogam, a prominent and influential social service organisation for the Ezhava community in Kerala accused ally Indian Union Muslim League of exercising disproportionate influence over the Congress-led United Democratic Front, while also alleging that "love jihad" continues to be a reality in the state. Alappuzha (Kerala), Jan 31 (IANS) As the Kerala Assembly elections draw closer, the chief of SNDP Yogam, a prominent and influential social service organisation for the Ezhava community in Kerala accused ally Indian Union Muslim League of exercising disproportionate influence over the Congress-led United Democratic Front, while also alleging that "love jihad" continues to be a reality in the state. Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam general secretary Vellapalli Natesan alleged that the Muslim League functions as an organised religious force that exploits divisions within the Hindu community for electoral gains. "There is no doubt that Congress is under the control of the League. If Priyanka Gandhi wants to win in Wayanad, she needs to seek support from Malappuram (the citadel of Muslim League)," Natesan said, highlighting the shifting power dynamics within the Opposition front. At present, the IUML, a key ally in the UDF, has 15 MLAs in the 140-member Kerala Assembly and two Lok Sabha MPs from the state. Its leaders recently said the party would seek more seats from the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state, reviving debate over the alleged pressure tactics of the Congress ally. The SNDP Yogam leader further alleged that "love jihad" incidents have affected his own family, claiming his uncle's granddaughter was a victim of such a trap. "Love jihad has existed; we cannot deny the fact that it has been happening. We have experienced this ourselves," he said, adding that certain elements within the community harbour agendas to establish a religious nation. Reflecting on past grievances, Natesan pointed out that despite the SNDP Yogam's previous collaboration with the Muslim League to secure rights for backward classes, the UDF failed to protect their interests upon coming to power. He cited the Narendran Commission report, noting that while special recruitment drives were initiated for Muslims, similar measures for other backward communities were ignored. He also accused the League of blocking the establishment of a primary school in Malappuram despite applications from the SNDP. On the political front, Nadesan observed a shift in the state's electoral climate, noting that the Bharatiya Janata Party is gaining ground. He credited former Union minister and current Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar for bringing a "clear change" and positive energy to the party rank and file. "The BJP in Kerala is not declining; it is growing. I'm not saying they will win many seats, but their vote share will definitely increase," he said. The Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, led by his son Thushar Vellappally, is an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in Kerala, although Natesan is not part of the combine and maintains a pro-LDF position, extending support to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Natesan also called for a broader alliance ranging from tribal groups to Christian communities to navigate the current socio-political environment. He welcomed recent supportive statements from Nair Service Society general secretary Sukumaran Nair, who defended Nadesan against verbal attacks from Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan. Stressing the need for cohesion across communities, he said, "In the present situation of the country, unity from tribal to Christian communities is essential." Regarding his Padma award, Natesan stated he did not expect the honour and noted that while the state government had not recommended him, the Prime Minister's office likely acted on separate recommendations. New Delhi, Jan 31 : Urging the need to strengthen international cooperation to combat the "global scourge" of terrorism, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Saturday said that zero-tolerance for terrorism must be an uncompromising universal norm. In his opening remarks at the 2nd India Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in the capital, EAM Jaishankar asserted that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations remains a common threat in both the regions. "Cross-border terrorism is particularly unacceptable because it violates the basic principles of international relations and diplomacy. Societies targeted by terrorism have the right to defend themselves and will understandably exercise it. It is essential that we strengthen international cooperation to combat what is a global scourge. Zero-tolerance for terrorism must be an uncompromising universal norm," he said. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are co-chairing the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministersa Meeting (IAFMM) which is happening after a gap of 10 years and is being attended by the Foreign Ministers of other Arab League Member States and the Arab League Secretary General. EAM Jaishankar stated that the meeting is taking place at an "important juncture" when the global order is undergoing transformation for a variety of reasons. "Politics, economics, technology and demography are all fully into play. Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year. This obviously impacts all of us, and India as a proximate region. To a considerable degree, its implications are relevant for India's relationship with Arab nations as well," he mentioned. He highlighted that multiple developments - "each of considerable consequence" - have taken place in the Middle East/West Asia over the last few years with many of them having reverberated well beyond the region. "The situation in Gaza, in particular, has been the focus for the international community. Many of us were present at the Sharm-el-Sheikh Peace Summit in October 2025. This evolved into the UN Security Council Resolution 2803 of November 2025. Taking forward the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict is today a widely shared priority. Various countries have made policy declarations on the peace plan, individually or collectively. This is the larger context in which we deliberate on the regionas challenges and prospects," remarked EAM Jaishankar. In his opening remarks, EAM Jaishankar also cited a number of other situations in the region, including the conflict in Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya and Syria. This is the first India-Arab FMM to be hosted by India in New Delhi and is seeing participation by all 22 Arab countries by Foreign Ministers, other Ministers, Ministers of State and other Senior Officials and Arab League. India Arab Foreign Ministersa Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalizing the process of dialogue. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed for the establishment of Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, which was subsequently revised in 2013 in terms of structural organization. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States. "India has strong partnerships with all LAS nations, in many cases, maturing to a strategic level. Much of that is rooted in history, where we have long exchanged goods, people and ideas. In the contemporary era, this collaboration has taken different forms with various partners. The region has some of our largest expatriate communities, key energy sources, major trade relationships and increasingly, emerging technology and connectivity initiatives. We are crucial to each other when it comes to food security and health security. Todayas deliberations, while of a collective nature, will nevertheless give a fillip to many bilateral ties," said EAM Jaishankar. He maintained that the India-Arab Cooperation Forum serves as a platform to give positive sentiments a practical shape. "Our meeting will examine an agenda for such cooperation in 2026-28. It currently covers energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, human resource development, culture and education, amongst others. India looks forward to a more contemporary dimension of cooperation being included, such as digital, space, start-ups, innovation, etc. We will also be contemplating working together on counter-terrorism and parliamentary exchanges. I note that we have launched the India-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture yesterday. These activities and initiatives will parallel what is happening in the bilateral domain and reinforce the bonds between us," stated EAM Jaishankar. New Delhi, Jan 31 : Doctors on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court's order against the use of stem cell therapy to treat autism -- a neurodevelopmental condition affecting communication, social interaction, and behaviour. A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan noted that stem cell therapy lacks "scientific support and has not been recognised as a sound medical practice backed by empirical evidence". The Bench ruled that "every use of stem cells in patients outside an approved clinical trial is unethical and shall be considered as malpractice." Doctors welcomed the move by SC as many private labs are minting money from patients over the promise of treatment for autism, amid a lack of scientific evidence. "This is absolutely the best thing that can happen because there is no proof or evidence of the utility of stem cell therapy in autism or in any neurological disorder as of now," Dr Manjari Tripathi, Head of Department, Neurology, AIIMS Delhi, told IANS. "Many people in India, and private labs, are advertising stem cells for autism and other disorders like cerebral palsy and charging patients anywhere between Rs 6 and 20 lakh. Many families have lost money with no improvement. So, it's a correct move by the Supreme Court, and should have come earlier," she added. Notably, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), under the National Medical Commission (NMC), had, in December 2022, constituted the Committee on Stem Cell Use in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It had stated that none of the current international guidelines recommend stem cell therapy as a treatment for ASD and added that the therapy is not recommended as a treatment for ASD in clinical practice. Moreover, the Court also noted that an unproven therapy cannot be "demanded by a patient as a matter of right". It stated "patients may remain under therapeutic misconception and anticipate such results from an unproven treatment as may be expected from routine treatment and care. Following through with the medical treatment even when patients are under such a misconception is, in our view, a gross violation of medical ethics," the Court noted. "Most stem cell therapies are unregulated in India and are promoted based on no evidence, and fake advertisements. While these disorders have no cure, many people are falsely lured by these companies," Tripathi said. The apex Court, however, added that the advanced therapy, which holds promise in several medical fields, can still be approved for monitored clinical research trials. It added that the patients have the liberty to participate in approved and regulated clinical trials. Dr Shefali Gulati, paediatric neurologist at AIIMS, cited a recent ICMR report, based on a systematic review, which "conclusively found no proven benefit for clinically meaningful response in autism spectrum disorder through stem cell therapy." As there is not much evidence available for clinical practise, it should be used only in a clinical trial format and not for clinical practise, Gulati told IANS. "We are doing a trial in which we have been working on stem cells in mice with autism. We have been working on exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells to work in the autism mouse model. While research has been encouraged, the therapy should not be used in clinical practise because the evidence does not support it," she said. The expert called for more research "to generate evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of stem cells in ASD". Jalandhar, Jan 31 : Acting against cyber fraudsters cheating US nationals through illegal call centres, the ED conducted searches at nine locations across Punjab, Haryana and Delhi and seized digital devices, Rs 34 lakh cash and incriminating records, an official said on Saturday. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar Zonal Office, conducted the search operations on Thursday under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a money laundering investigation against the accused, the ED said in a statement. The ED investigation revealed that the accused cheated US victims in the guise of technical support call centre service and during the process they stole crucial information of victims and threatened them about statutory action by IRS (Internal Revenue Service, US). The accused, subsequently, induced them to transfer their money into crypto accounts which were siphoned from foreign victimsa accounts to cryptocurrency wallets and subsequently transferred the Proceeds of Crime for personal gains into shell entities, Bliss Infraproperties LLP and Bliss Infraventures LLP. The federal agencyas investigation revealed that illegal call centre, Digikaps - the Future of Digital, had 36 employees including Jiger Ahmed, Yash Khurana, Inderjeet Singh Bhali, and Nikhil Sharma under the supervision of Joney, Dakshay Sethi and Gaurav Verma, the ED said. The accused were operating a network of transnational financial crime by running illegal call centres and committing cyber fraud by targeting foreign citizens online. The search operations covered residential premises of Joney, Dakshay Sethi, Gaurav Verma and others. The ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by CBI, based on information shared by Federal Bureau of Investigation, US, under various Sections of BNS 2023 against the accused for defrauding the US citizens of millions of dollars. The investigation revealed diversion of Proceeds of Crime into real estate by the accused persons. The search operation on Thursday resulted in the recovery of various digital devices, seizure of Rs 34 lakh of unaccounted cash and incriminating records linking the accused persons to high value investments and acquisition of immovable properties in India and abroad, said the statement. Ahmedabad, Jan 31 : The Ahmedabad Police have arrested a male nurse in connection with the alleged molestation of a semi-conscious woman patient in the intensive care unit of a private hospital in the Sabarmati area, officials said on Saturday.a Ahmedabad, Jan 31 (IANS) The Ahmedabad Police have arrested a male nurse in connection with the alleged molestation of a semi-conscious woman patient in the intensive care unit of a private hospital in the Sabarmati area, officials said on Saturday. The arrest follows a complaint lodged by the survivor on January 27. The accused has been identified as Indrajit Rathod, a resident of Chamanpura in the Asarwa area, who was employed as a staff nurse at the Metis hospital at the time. According to the first information report registered at Sabarmati police station, the woman had been admitted to the hospital after attempting self-harm by consuming sleeping pills. Police said the complainant was under severe mental stress due to ongoing marital disputes and had been living with her parents for some time. As her condition worsened, she was shifted to the ICU, where she remained in a semi-conscious state under medication. The woman alleged that during the early hours, while she was lying in the ICU, the accused approached her and inappropriately touched her. She stated that the man took advantage of her condition and repeatedly touched sensitive parts of her body. When she partially regained consciousness and raised an alarm, the accused allegedly fled the ward. Inspector Y R Waghela of Sabarmati police said a case was registered after the survivor approached the police and recorded her statement. "Based on the complaint of the woman patient, an offence of molestation has been registered against a male nurse employed at Metis Hospital. The complainant has stated that the accused misused her vulnerable condition while she was semi-conscious in the ICU," Waghela said. Police said the delay of three months in filing the complaint was linked to the woman's medical condition and mental state following the incident. The survivor reportedly informed her family soon after the alleged act. Her father later sought access to CCTV footage from the hospital, but alleged that the hospital authorities initially refused to provide it. Investigators subsequently examined CCTV footage and hospital records, including staff duty details, which led to the identification of Rathod as the suspect. Police said the accused is married and has been working at the hospital for around two years. No previous criminal cases have been found against him so far, though officers said his background is being verified. The accused has been taken into custody, and further investigation is underway. Police said they are also examining whether there were any lapses in hospital procedures and patient safety protocols related to the incident. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 31 : Political leaders cutting across party lines in Kerala on Saturday called for a comprehensive investigation into the suicide of prominent industrialist and Confident Group chairman C.J. Roy in Bengaluru, amid reports that the incident occurred during a raid by central agencies. Roy allegedly died by suicide after shooting himself at his office in Bengaluru on Friday. The motive behind the incident is yet to be ascertained. The shooting reportedly occurred during an Income Tax raid at his office on Longford Road. CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan demanded a detailed probe, particularly into the complaints raised by Roy's family. He said the situation was one in which allegations regarding the conduct of central agencies could arise. "We do not know what exactly happened during the raid in Bengaluru," Govindan said. He pointed out that the family has alleged that Roy's death occurred in the backdrop of the raid and that the operation reportedly continued for one-and-a-half hours even after his death. Govindan said that any irregularities detected during raids should be addressed through legal means, humanely. "It must be examined why such a death occurred despite the availability of legal remedies," he said. General Education Minister V. Sivankutty described Roy's death as shocking and said the circumstances leading to such a tragic outcome must be examined in detail. He noted that Roy, who had decades of experience and led a major corporate group, was not someone who could be lightly driven to take an extreme step. While affirming that central agencies have the authority to conduct raids where laws are violated, Sivankutty said it was essential to investigate whether undue mental pressure or abnormal practices were involved. He called for an inquiry under judicial supervision and urged authorities to conduct a thorough probe into the circumstances surrounding the death. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan also sought an investigation, saying there was a sense of mystery surrounding Roy's death. He said it was not clear what kind of harassment Roy had faced. "If an income tax raid has pushed a businessman to the point of suicide, the matter must be investigated. The truth should be brought out," Satheesan said. Roy's death has sent shockwaves through the business community, with leaders stressing the need for transparency and accountability. Moscow, Jan 31 : Russia strongly condemns the latest restrictive measures imposed by the United States on Cuba, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday. Zakharova made the remarks in response to a media question regarding a US executive order published on Thursday, which threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba. She noted that unilateral sanctions against sovereign and independent states, adopted in circumvention of the United Nations and its Charter as well as other norms of international law, are "categorically unacceptable", Xinhua news agency reported. Zakharova said the US move represents yet another radical relapse of Washington's long-standing strategy of maximum pressure on Cuba, aimed at economically suffocating the Caribbean country. Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said Friday that Cuba has declared an "international emergency" in response to a recent executive order of tariff threats issued by US President Donald Trump. Rodriguez said in a post on X that the Cuban people, with the solidarity of the international community, find that the current situation involving the US government constitutes an "unusual and extraordinary threat" which originates wholly or substantially from the "US anti-Cuban neo-fascist right wing." According to the minister, the threat endangers not only the national security and foreign policy of all countries but also international peace and security, as well as the survival of humanity in the face of nuclear threats and climate change. Trump signed the executive order on Thursday, threatening to impose tariffs on any goods entering the United States from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that her government will seek alternatives to support Cuba following a decree by US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island. At her daily press conference, Sheinbaum reaffirmed Mexico's commitment to sovereignty and the principle of self-determination of peoples, warning that the US move could trigger a humanitarian crisis in Cuba by affecting essential services such as healthcare and food supply. She said she has instructed Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente to contact the US State Department to learn the details of the decree and express Mexico's concern about the possible repercussions in the region. Chandigarh, Jan 31 : A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab, state Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has a letter to him, apprised his leading issues concerning the state and seeking their resolution at the earliest. a Chandigarh, Jan 31 (IANS) A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab, state Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has a letter to him, apprised his leading issues concerning the state and seeking their resolution at the earliest. He said, "Punjab, one of the most prosperous states and the breadbasket of the nation, is facing unprecedented economic challenges due to pending releases of Central funds. Punjab feels neglected in terms of Central investment and policy support too." Furthermore, he stated that the state's fiscal autonomy has been severely curtailed through the progressive erosion of financial rights and a reduced share of Central taxes, thereby undermining the spirit of true federalism enshrined in the Constitution. Adding to the Punjab's woes is an acute water crisis; the state is experiencing a serious shortage of surface and groundwater due to the unjust division and diversion of river water to other states and a lack of control over headworks within the Punjab's jurisdiction, the Speaker said. "This discrimination in the sharing of Punjab's river water has pushed our water table to an alarming depth and is threatening agricultural sustainability." The Speaker hopes that the Prime Minister's visit will mark a turning point and that his leadership will address these concerns with the urgency and compassion the state deserves. The Speaker also sought an increase in flight frequencies at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport in Mohali, which serves as a gateway to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, and Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport in Amritsar. He said Punjab's farmers and traders require direct access to international markets to maximise their income and reduce dependency on intermediaries. He urged the Central government to explore an operationalise a road trade link to Middle-East countries. "Such connectivity will enable our agricultural producers, traders, particularly those in the northern region, to export their fresh products, dairy, and other commodities directly, ensuring better prices and economic prosperity for our farming community," the Speaker added. New Delhi, Jan 31 : While Pakistan's propaganda machinery prepares to stage another so-called annual "Kashmir Solidarity Day" on February 5, its dreaded intelligence agencies continue to work through terror proxies to threaten the elimination of Kashmiri intellectuals who expose Islamabad's state-sponsored terrorism. a New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) While Pakistan's propaganda machinery prepares to stage another so-called annual "Kashmir Solidarity Day" on February 5, its dreaded intelligence agencies continue to work through terror proxies to threaten the elimination of Kashmiri intellectuals who expose Islamabad's state-sponsored terrorism. In the latest development, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) functioning under a proxy name of The Resistance Front (TRF) has issued a death threat to well-known counter-terrorism expert Junaid Qureshi, inform sources. The threat was delivered through an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform, using TRF's branding to Qureshi, the Director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS). Calling him a "traitor," the TRF explicitly stated in the message that it would have "no hesitation" in eliminating him. Incidentally, this is the second such threat within six months against people who raise Pakistan's terror connections in the global sphere, exposing Islamabad's involvement in a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. The seriousness of this threat is underscored by the earlier patterns in violence against Kashmiri voices. Between 1989 and 2020, Pakistanbacked terrorist outfits have killed more than 5,000 civilians, journalists, politicians, and intellectuals who opposed its terrorism or stood in support of India. The assassination of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari in June 2018, after repeated threats from Hizbul Mujahideen, remains one stark reminder. More recently, social activist Ghulam Rasool Magray was murdered in Kupwara in April last year by suspected terrorists, further illustrating the pattern. Qureshi, speaking to a media outlet, alleged that Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence (ISI) orchestrated the threat, executed through the LeT and its commander, Sheikh Sajjad Gul. He pointed out that the communication referred to certain sensitive details about a proposed Kashmiri intellectual think tank, where the information is not available on public domain, with details confined only to a limited number of people. Thus, the exercise has a strong indication of the direct involvement of intelligence agencies, he said. Qureshi further underscored how the communication specifically targeted his efforts at dismantling Islamabad's propaganda mechanism on Kashmir and presented such documented instances on global platforms. It is also apparent that his own background contributed to the observation, providing additional sources. He is the son of Hashim Quraishi, one of the hijackers of an Air India aircraft in January 1971. The IC405 plane, flying from Srinagar to Jammu, was hijacked by Hashim and Ashraf Quereshi of the separatist terror organisation Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). They took the aircraft to Lahore, where the then Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, met the hijackers. They were persuaded to release the crew and passengers, who then returned home by road through Amritsar. Islamabad had refused New Delhi's request to fly them back in a replacement plane, and the hijackers had the parked aircraft torched later. However, Junaid Qureshi has consistently rejected his father's ideology, calling the hijacking an act of terrorism an incident that took place even before he was born. Meanwhile, he has been constantly proving through EFSAS that Pakistan's claim of a "freedom struggle" in Kashmir is actually a statesponsored terror campaign run by the LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen, and JaisheMohammed under the ISI's supervision. Sources have also confirmed that the encrypted account used to issue the threat is operated from Rawalpindi under the direct control of LeT commander Sheikh Sajjad Gul. This account was created on August 24, 2025, under a pseudonym and has been routinely disseminating TRF propaganda, including operational updates and photographs, establishing Islamabad's hand behind the threat. This episode has once again brought to the fore the contradictions in Pakistan's Kashmir narrative. While Islamabad publicly proclaims "Kashmir Solidarity Day" every year, its intelligence agencies continue to deploy terror groups to intimidate, silence, and eliminate Kashmiri voices that challenge Islamabad's narrative within the region and on international fora. Srinagar, Jan 31 : J&K Students Association (JKSA) on Saturday wrote to Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, on the recent attack on a Kashmiri shawl seller in Uttarakhand, as former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti, voiced concern over the safety of Kashmiris.a Srinagar, Jan 31 (IANS) J&K Students Association (JKSA) on Saturday wrote to Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, on the recent attack on a Kashmiri shawl seller in Uttarakhand, as former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti, voiced concern over the safety of Kashmiris. JKSA wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking urgent intervention over what it described as a "disturbing and sustained pattern of identity-based harassment and violence" against Kashmiri traders, shawl sellers, labourers, and students across several North Indian states, following the brutal assault on an 18-year-old Kashmiri youth in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. In the letter addressed to the Home Minister, Association National Convenor Nasir Khuehami said the latest incident occurred in the Vikas Nagar area of Dehradun, where the teenager was selling shawls along with his family to earn a livelihood during the harsh winter months. According to the association, the youth was first questioned about his identity and place of origin. Upon learning that the family belonged to the Muslim community and hailed from Kashmir, the situation allegedly escalated into severe violence. The youth was beaten mercilessly with iron rods, resulting in a fracture to his left arm and serious head injuries that required 13 stitches. Blood was reportedly oozing profusely from his head at the time of the assault. His brother was also brutally roughed up, while other family members were dragged, slapped, and assaulted. The victim was initially rushed to a local hospital and later referred to Doon Hospital, Dehradun, where he remains under medical supervision. Terming the assault "not merely a criminal act but a grave manifestation of identity-based violence," the association said the incident strikes at the core of India's constitutional values, national unity, and internal cohesion. Khuehami emphasised that the Vikas Nagar Dehradun attack cannot be viewed in isolation. He pointed to a series of similar incidents over the past year involving Kashmiri traders, seasonal shawl sellers, labourers, and students in states such as Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and adjoining regions. These incidents, the association said, indicate a hostile environment in which Kashmiris are increasingly being profiled, targeted, and made to feel unsafe solely because of their identity. "As a consequence, many Kashmiri students and traders are presently living under constant fear and severe psychological distress. Several have been forced to leave states where they were studying or earning their livelihood," the letter stated, adding that repeated incidents of violence have led to disruption of education, loss of livelihood, and a deep erosion of dignity and personal security. "Nothing damages the idea of India in Kashmir more than repeated instances where innocent Kashmiris are targeted, threatened, humiliated, or forced to flee while perpetrators believe they can act with impunity," Khuehami said. He added that such incidents risk deepening alienation, weakening emotional integration, and undermining India's long-term national interests. The letter stressed that Kashmiris are not outsiders but equal citizens and an integral part of the Indian Union, entitled to the same constitutional rights, freedoms, and dignity as any other Indian. The association further cautioned that allowing communal profiling and violence against Kashmiri citizens to continue unchecked could inadvertently serve the objectives of hostile external forces. "This is precisely what our hostile neighbour seeks to sow internal division, fracture social cohesion and weaken India's national fabric from within," it said. Highlighting the historical role of Kashmiri traders, labourers, and students who travel across the country for education and seasonal work, the association said they have long acted as silent ambassadors of integration, strengthening people-to-people ties through everyday interaction, trade, and coexistence. "For decades, they believed that their social and economic future lay within India. Today, that belief is being shaken," it noted. Stressing that violence, intimidation, and communal hatred must not be allowed to become normalised under any circumstances, the association urged the Union Home Ministry to intervene decisively. It has requested the Home Minister to seek a detailed report from the Uttarakhand government on the Vikas Nagar incident and all similar cases reported over the past year, including the status of FIRs, arrests, prosecutions, convictions, and preventive measures undertaken by the state. The association has also sought clear and binding directions for strict, time-bound enforcement of the law, the fixing of accountability for lapses, and the establishment of credible security and monitoring mechanisms to safeguard Kashmiri traders. Khuehami said timely intervention by the Union government would help restore confidence among affected families, prevent further alienation, and reaffirm the Centre's firm commitment to protecting the constitutional rights, dignity, and safety of every citizen. Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on X, "When a young Kashmiri shawl seller is almost beaten to death in Uttarakhand, no one comes to his rescue. But when the PDP attempts a peaceful protest against such atrocities, the entire police machinery is unleashed to crush the march. Kashmiris are caged within J&K and thrashed when they step out to earn an honest livelihood. When even survival is treated as a crime, where are Kashmiris supposed to go from here? Are they even allowed to exist in New India?" --IANS sq/dan Patna, Jan 31 : After the suspicious death of a NEET aspirant was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), RJD National Working President Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Bihar government, accusing it of complete administrative failure and incompetence. In a written statement, the RJD leader said that instead of delivering justice, the Bihar government has once again exposed the corrupt, inefficient, and unprofessional nature of its governance. "Instead of solving the alleged rape and murder of a NEET student, the Bihar government has once again proven the corrupt, incompetent, inefficient, and unprofessional character of its administrative system by handing over the case to the CBI. This clearly shows that the system is incapable of solving even a rape and murder case," Tejashwi Yadav said. He said the matter goes beyond police failure and reflects the collapse of the NDA government's entire law-and-order machinery. "This is not just the failure of the police, but the failure of the boastful NDA government's corrupt and compromised system, whose ministers and chief minister keep claiming they can catch criminals from anywhere in the world," he added. Raising doubts over the effectiveness of a CBI probe, Tejashwi Yadav cited past cases where investigations failed to reach a conclusion. "In several cases, including the Navaruna case, the CBI failed to arrest the accused for 1213 years and even closed the investigations. The same fate may await this case as well," he said. Taking a swipe at the ruling alliance, Tejashwi questioned their silence on the deteriorating law and order situation. "Where are those who were shouting about 'jungle raj' during the elections? Who will take responsibility for Bihar's collapsed and corrupt law-and-order system? Will the government once again attempt to divert public attention through headline management?" he asked. Earlier in the day, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Samrat Choudhary recommended transferring the case to the CBI, following which a notification was issued by Governor Arif Mohammad Khan. The case has sparked widespread political reactions, with opposition parties questioning both the intent and capability of the state government in delivering justice. The NEET aspirant was found unconscious in her hostel room on January 6 and later succumbed to her injuries at a private hospital on January 11. Initially, the Patna SSP ruled out sexual assault, but the post-mortem report by Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report contradicted this claim. Both reports stated that sexual assault could not be ruled out. The FSL report further confirmed that male sperm was found on the clothes of the deceased. The Patna Police had constituted a high-level SIT under the supervision of an IG-rank officer, but the investigation has made little progress so far. The SIT has collected blood samples from more than 15 individuals, including family members of the deceased. The case has now been handed over to the CBI, even as political pressure mounts for a court-monitored investigation to ensure transparency and justice. Kolkata, Jan 31 : A student of Scottish Church College in north Kolkata has died under unusual circumstances, and her autopsy report is awaited to confirm the cause of death, said the police on Saturday.a The student had fallen ill at the college hostel about seven days ago. She was found unconscious and taken to the hospital, where she later died.a According to the police, the deceased student has been identified as Rishita Banik. Rishita, a resident of Tripura, was a third-year Political Science student at Scottish Church College.a According to police sources, on January 24, at around 1:45 pm, the student's mother repeatedly tried to call her daughter but received no response. Therefore, she called Rishita's roommate. After a search, Rishita was found unconscious in the hostel's sick room. She was immediately rescued and taken to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. She was admitted to the ICU, where she later died while undergoing treatment.a Police from the Barasat police station launched an investigation into the unnatural death of the female student. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. According to sources, traces of a poisonous substance have been found in the deceased's stomach. However, the actual cause of death will be known only after the final post-mortem report is received.a The police said that interrogations of other students at the hostel revealed that Rishita returned to the hostel around 9:30 pm on January 23. She was feeling quite unwell at the time and had informed her roommate. She then went to the sick room on the fourth floor of the hostel. After that, she was not seen coming out. The next day, she was found unconscious in that room. The police are investigating how the student died.a "A case of unnatural death has been registered. We are waiting for the final post-mortem report to determine the cause of death," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.a New Delhi, Jan 31 : Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, on Saturday, attended the closing ceremony of Bharat Parv 2026 at the Red Fort lawns, highlighting that the event reflects India's unity in diversity and collective resolve towards Viksit Bharat@2047.a New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, on Saturday, attended the closing ceremony of Bharat Parv 2026 at the Red Fort lawns, highlighting that the event reflects Indiaas unity in diversity and collective resolve towards Viksit Bharat@2047.a The six-day festival, organised by the Ministry of Tourism as part of the Republic Day celebrations, showcased Indiaas rich cultural diversity, artistic traditions, and tourism potential, said a statement.a Addressing the gathering, the Vice President said that Bharat Parv is more than a festival and described it as a vibrant experience that brings the timeless spirit of India to life.a He noted that the celebrations carried forward the spirit of the 77th Republic Day and reflected the soul of the nation through the participation of States and Union Territories.a Referring to the Republic Day Parade, the Vice President said it stood as a powerful reflection of Indiaas unity in diversity, discipline in strength, and progress with purpose.a He also appreciated the tableaux presented by various States and Ministries, which, he said, beautifully narrated the story of a confident, creative, and progressive India committed to building a Viksit Bharat @ 2047.a Radhakrishnan highlighted that the year holds special national significance with the commemoration of 150 years of aVande Matarama, noting that the timeless song ignited the spirit of freedom and unity during Indiaas independence movement and continues to inspire reverence for the motherland, the statement said.a Underscoring the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Vice President said that Bharat Parv reflects the spirit of aEk Bharat Shreshtha Bharata by bringing together traditions, crafts, cuisines, and artistic expressions from across the country on a single platform.a He also referred to initiatives such as the Kashi Tamil Sangamam as living examples of Indiaas enduring cultural bonds and civilisational unity.a Speaking about Indiaas transformation during the Amrit Kaal, Radhakrishnan said that infrastructure expansion, digital empowerment, financial inclusion, social security, women-led development, and youth innovation are reshaping the nation's foundations.a He pointed out that the remarkable growth of domestic tourism, with over 400 crore domestic tourist visits in 2025, reflects renewed national confidence and enthusiasm to explore India. a--IANS rch/dan Patna, Jan 31 : After more than three decades, a district court in Darbhanga has sentenced five individuals to life imprisonment for the Patori massacre of August 8, 1994, which resulted in two deaths and eight injuries. Even after 31 years, the people of Darbhanga recall the episode with distress. Locals note that the conflict was not between nations but among neighbors, triggered by a land dispute that escalated into large-scale violence, an unforeseen outcome at the time. According to Public Prosecutor Amarendra Narayan Jha, the incident occurred around 67 pm when 1012 farmers from Patori village were returning after grazing their cattle. "They stopped to water their cattle at Gunsar Pond, near the village. At that moment, dozens of armed men from Basant village arrived with axes, spears, and guns and attacked them," Jha said. He stated that the attackers surrounded the farmers, forcibly attempted to take away their cattle, and when the farmers resisted, the assailants opened indiscriminate fire. As a result, ten people sustained serious gunshot injuries. Ramkripal Chaudhary and Rampukar Chaudhary, both from Patori village, suffered multiple wounds and were taken to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Ramkripal Chaudhary died shortly after admission, and Rampukar Chaudhary passed away a few days later. Eight others were treated at DMCH, and many still carry bullet scars, according to the prosecutor. On August 9, 1994, police registered an FIR against 13 named accused and 1012 unidentified persons. During the trial, the court found that Kausar Imam Hashmi, Ambar Imam Hashmi, Qamar Imam Hashmi (now deceased), and Raja Hashmi were directly involved in the crime. Public Prosecutor Amarendra Narayan Jha informed the court that one accused, Rangdar Hashmi, had absconded. "A chargesheet was filed against the remaining 12 accused. Two more accused absconded during the trial. Five accused died during the long pendency of the case. The remaining five accused were convicted," he said. On January 31, 2026, Third Additional District and Sessions Judge Suman Kumar Diwakar of the Darbhanga Civil Court pronounced the verdict. The convicted persons are Ambar Imam Hashmi (a prominent advocate), Anjar Imam Hashmi, Raja Imam Hashmi, Mobin Hashmi, and Kausar Imam Hashmi (a former public prosecutor). All five were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 5 lakh each. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional one year of imprisonment. After a legal process spanning 31 years, the victims' families have received justice through the court's verdict. Mumbai, Jan 31 : After taking the oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sunetra Pawar, on Saturday, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his best wishes. "The blessing you have given is inspiring for me. As I begin the new responsibility for the service of Maharashtra, your words have increased my confidence in the work of public welfare. The resolve to work honestly and with a dedicated commitment to the welfare of the people of the state has become even stronger because of this. Heartfelt thanks for your trust," she said. Speaking at length about her husband and former Deputy Chief Minister late Ajit Pawar, Sunetra Pawar, in her post on X, said, "Respected Ajitdada has given the mantra of living one's entire life for farmers, laborers, women, youth, and deprived sections. Today, carrying forward the legacy of their thoughts with unwavering loyalty to the principles of 'Shiv-Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar', my heart is truly overflowing as I accept the responsibility of the Deputy Chief Minister position with a sense of duty." She further stated, "Though the untimely passing of Dada has caused a mountain of sorrow to crash upon my heart, the true support I have is the duty-bound commitment, the strength to struggle, and the bond with the people that he taught me. I will continue to work tirelessly and honestly to realize the just, equality-based, and developed Maharashtra of his dreams. In these difficult times, the love and support from the people of Maharashtra are my true strength. With the power of your trust, illuminating Dada's ideals, I will keep moving forward with new hope." Earlier, she was sworn in as the first woman deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. In a simple ceremony held at Lok Bhavan, the Governor Acharya Devvrat administer Sunetra Pawar the oath of office and secrecy. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, ministers, and legislators were present at the swearing-in ceremony. She took the oath solemnly. Before her swearing in, Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the NCP Legislature Party leader. Her name was proposed by party veteran Chhagan Bhujbal and seconded by Dilip Walse Patil and a host of other legislators. The meeting was convened today after Sunetra Pawar, who has yet to recover from the deep shock following the sudden and untimely demise of her husband in a plane crash on Wednesday in Baramati, gave her consent to take the responsibility of the legislature party leader. --IANS sj/dan New Delhi, Jan 31 : In a push to improve pedestrian safety and urban mobility, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh on Saturday announced the construction of eight Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) at accident-prone locations in Delhi.a New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) In a push to improve pedestrian safety and urban mobility, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh on Saturday announced the construction of eight Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) at accident-prone locations in Delhi. The Minister said the projects reflect the government's commitment to creating safer roads through practical and citizen-centric infrastructure. The FOBs have been sanctioned at Madhuban Chowk (Vikas MargPatparganj Road); Welcome-cut, GT Road; Shahbad Dairy, BadliBawana Road; Ber Sarai Market, Vedant Deshika Marg; Katwaria Sarai, near LBS Sanskriti Vidyapeeth; Okhla Sabzi Mandi, Captain Gaur Marg; Janakpuri, near Block A-2, Jeevan Park bus stand and Lal Singh Chowk, near Mata Chanan Devi Hospital. The initiative is part of the Delhi government's focused infrastructure strategy to reduce road accidents, streamline traffic movement, and provide safe, organised crossing facilities for lakhs of daily commuters, said Parvesh Sahib Singh. These locations were selected following traffic studies and on-ground assessments, keeping in view heavy pedestrian movement, accident vulnerability, and daily commuter convenience, he said. The PWD Minister said, "Delhi's growth demands modern solutions. No one should have to risk their life while crossing a road. These Foot Over Bridges are being built exactly where safety concerns are greatest, ensuring smoother traffic flow and secure passage for pedestrians." Emphasising swift execution, the Minister added that clear deadlines have been fixed to prevent project delays. "We are moving away from the culture of slow infrastructure. Construction will begin by February, and projects will be completed within the defined timeframe. Accountability and speed are now non-negotiable," he said. The Minister instructed close coordination among all concerned agencies to ensure parallel progress on site readiness, utility shifting, and approvals so that work proceeds without bottlenecks. He said the PWD will also closely monitor the progress of ongoing pedestrian infrastructure works to maintain momentum across the city, with strict quality checks and timeline reviews. Parvesh Sahib Singh said the comprehensive pedestrian project underscores the Delhi government's resolve to build safer, smarter, and more accessible urban infrastructure, placing citizen safety and convenience at the centre of development planning. 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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 Faridabad, Jan 31 : The 39th edition of the Surajkund International Crafts Mela commenced today, January 31, in Faridabad, Haryana, attracting a wave of excitement and enthusiasm from across the globe. The mela, which will run until February 15, has been transformed into a grand celebration of crafts, arts, and cultural diversity, with Egypt as the partner nation this year. Speaking to IANS at the inauguration, Haryana Minister Arvind Kumar Sharma highlighted the significance of the event, describing it as more than just a mela, but a "craft festival" that draws immense interest from people even before its official start. "People begin inquiring months in advance about the dates and the nature of the event. The enthusiasm is palpable, and it continues to grow every year," Sharma stated. Last year, the mela saw participation from 44 countries, but this year, the event has surpassed expectations with over 50 countries taking part. Nearly 700 participants have already arrived, and the footfall is anticipated to exceed the 15 to 16 lakh mark witnessed in previous editions. Sharma added that the increasing number of visitors is a testament to the growing popularity and trust people place in the mela. "The beauty of the event and the trust it commands are growing day by day," he remarked. Ensuring safety, over 2,000 police personnel have been deployed for security, with additional forces expected on weekends. The mela will be closely monitored through CCTV coverage, further enhancing its security. "This event has truly gone from local to global," said Sharma confidently. The Surajkund Mela is known for transforming the usually quiet Surajkund Road into a vibrant cultural hub. Craftspeople, performers, and food vendors from across India and abroad come together to showcase their traditional art, crafts, and culinary skills, making it one of the most awaited events in the cultural calendar. With colourful lighting, renovated grounds, and cultural displays, this yearas mela promises to be an unforgettable experience. New Delhi, Jan 31 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday received a delegation of Foreign Ministers of Arab countries, Secretary General of the League of Arab States and Heads of Arab delegations, who are in India for the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday received a delegation of Foreign Ministers of Arab countries, Secretary General of the League of Arab States and Heads of Arab delegations, who are in India for the second India-Arab Foreign Ministersa Meeting. During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the deep and historic people-to-people ties between India and the Arab world which have continued to inspire and strengthen our relations over the years. "Delighted to receive the Foreign Ministers and delegations of the Arab League today. The Arab world is a part of Indiaas extended neighbourhood, linked by deep civilisational bonds, vibrant people-to-people connections and enduring brotherly ties, as well as a shared commitment to peace, progress and stability," PM Modi posted on X after meeting the ministers and representatives of the Arab countries. "Confident that enhanced cooperation in technology, energy, trade and innovation will unlock new opportunities and take the partnership to new heights," he added. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), during the meeting, PM Modi outlined his vision for the India-Arab partnership in the years ahead and reaffirms Indiaas commitment to further deepen cooperation in trade and investment, energy, technology, healthcare and other priority areas, for the mutual benefit of our peoples. "Prime Minister reiterated Indiaas continued support for the people of Palestine and welcomed ongoing peace efforts, including the Gaza peace plan. He conveyed his appreciation for the important role played by the Arab League in supporting efforts towards regional peace and stability," read a statement issued after the meeting. India on Saturday hosted the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministersa Meeting (IAFMM) which saw the participation of all 22 Arab countries by Foreign Ministers, other Ministers, Ministers of State and other Senior Officials and Arab League. The IAFMM was preceded by the 4th India-Arab Senior Officialsa Meeting on Friday. Saturday's meeting was co-chaired by India and the UAE. The Foreign Ministersa meeting took place after a gap of 10 years, the first meeting being held in 2016 in Bahrain. At the first FMM, the Ministers had identified five priority verticals of cooperation: economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. According to the MEA, India Arab Foreign Ministersa Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalizing the process of dialogue. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed for the establishment of Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, which was subsequently revised in 2013 in terms of structural organization. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States. Kolkata, Jan 31 : A political slugfest has surfaced in West Bengal over the appointment of former additional director general (South Bengal), Supratim Sarkar as the new Commissioner of Kolkata Police, which was officially announced by the West Bengal Police Directorate on Friday. Top BJP leaders from West Bengal claimed that Sarkar was gifted with the post by the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government for managing the tension at Sandeshkhali, a conglomeration of islands in North 24 Parganas district in 2024, when the entire area was boiling over atrocities on local people, especially women, by now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates. "Sarkar, as the then additional director general (South Bengal), had managed the affairs at Sandeshkhali quite well, according to the convenience of the ruling Trinamool Congress. He had always been an opportunist cop. He was extremely close to the previous Left Front regime, and now he is close to Trinamool Congress leadership," said the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday. Former West Bengal BJP president and the current Union Minister, Sukanta Majumdar, recollected how Sarkar, as the then police superintendent of Hooghly district led the police action against the Trinamool Congress activists protesting against the land acquisition at Singur for the Tata Motors' small car project. "Then, he was a confidant police officer of the former Chief Minister, Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Now, he has proved himself a confidant of Mamata Banerjee," said Majumdar. However, the state education minister, Bratya Basu, said that these allegations were baseless since Sarker's new designation was a part of routine administrative transfers. "BJP can say anything. They are the ones who garlanded those accused of rape at Unnao," Basu said. Sarkar replaced the previous Kolkata Police Commissioner, Manoj Verma, who had been transferred as the director (securities). On Friday, the state government also named Peeyush Pandey as the successor of Rajeev Kumar as the Acting Director General of the state police. Kumar retired from his service on Saturday. Beijing, Jan 31 : China condemned the capture of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduroas by US forces as a "hegemonic act undermining global norms", but for those familiar with Beijing's abuses against Uyghurs, the reaction was not just "hypocritical - it was grotesque", a report said on Saturday. Beijing, Jan 31 (IANS) China condemned the capture of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduroas by US forces as a "hegemonic act undermining global norms", but for those familiar with Beijing's abuses against Uyghurs, the reaction was not just "hypocritical it was grotesque", a report said on Saturday. "To capture Maduro, the Trump administration deployed a limited number of personnel by air, land, and sea. The operation lasted two hours and twenty-eight minutes. China, by contrast, mobilised tens of thousands of police officers and hundreds of thousands of government cadres to detain more than three million Uyghurs. Trump's soldiers arrived at the gates of a presidential palace. Chinese police jumped over courtyard walls in the middle of the night, broke into homes, smashed doors, and deliberately terrorised families by entering without warning," Shohret Hoshur, an Uyghur American journalist, wrote for online magazine 'Bitter Winter' "Trump's forces stormed the palace of a president protected by soldiers and security forces. Chinese armed police stormed the homes of defenceless civilians men, women, and the elderly whose only protection might have been a dog in the yard. Maduro was bound and taken away by helicopter. Uyghurs were often hooded; when hoods were unavailable, officers pulled their own coats over detainees' heads and dragged them away," he added Hoshur pointed out that in Maduro's case, detention was almost immediately followed by legal procedures -- within three days of his arrival in New York, he was brought before a court. Also, within a week, Maduro was allowed to meet his son, while the world was aware of the reason for his arrest. But for Uyghurs sent to camps, Hoshur said, there were no legal procedures at all -- no warrants, no charges, no trials. "Families were left in the dark. Detainees themselves often did not know why they had been taken except that they were Uyghur, the owners of the resource-rich region known historically as East Turkestan," he added. According to the report, following Maduro's arrest, the Trump administration openly admitted its interest in Venezuelan oil, saying that both nations could mutually benefit. China, meanwhile, it said, has discreetly exploited the oil, gas, and natural resources of East Turkestan while claiming it is merely "supporting Xinjiang economically", offering no explanations where the profits go. "If global outrage is reserved for presidents while millions of civilians can be taken hostage in silence, then the problem is not only political hypocrisyit is the hollowing out of international law itself," the report mentioned. Itanagar, Jan 31 : Arunachal Pradesh is set to strengthen its power infrastructure with the commissioning of two major hydroelectric projects, involving an investment of approximately Rs 21,700 crore, officials said here on Saturday. a The projects are expected to significantly enhance electricity generation capacity while contributing to regional development and energy security in the state. a An official of the Chief Ministeras Office (CMO) said that the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, on Saturday approved State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) reimbursement concessions for the two power projects. a The official said that to enhance the financial viability of large hydropower projects revived through Memoranda of Agreement (MoA) signed with Central Public Sector Undertakings in 2023, the Cabinet approved SGST reimbursement concessions for the Kalai II Hydroelectric Project (1,200 MW) and the Attunli Hydroelectric Project (680 MW). The Kalai II Hydroelectric Project is being developed by THDC India Limited, and the Attunli Hydroelectric Project (680 MW) is being developed by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited. a THDC India Limited is registered as a Public Limited Company in July 1988 under the Companies Act, 1956, with equity participation between the Government of India and the Government of Uttar Pradesh, while SJVN is a joint venture between the Government of India and the Government of Himachal Pradesh. a The Kalai II project is located on the Lohit River in Anjaw district, while the Attunli project is on the Tangon (Talo) River in Dibang Valley district. According to the official, both power projects will be implemented through joint venture companies, with the Arunachal Pradesh government holding a 26 per cent equity stake. a These two projects involve a cumulative investment of approximately Rs 21,700 crore and are expected to generate around Rs 458 crore annually in free power and Rs 84 crore annually under the Local Area Development Fund after commissioning, he said. a In addition to substantial employment and self-employment opportunities, the projects are expected to contribute significantly to long-term socio-economic development in the project-affected areas. a In line with provisions of the MoAs, the joint venture companies will reserve employment opportunities for local tribal communities, including 25 per cent of Group A and B posts, 50 per cent of Group C and D posts, and 25 per cent of skilled and unskilled jobs, ensuring inclusive participation of local populations. a The Cabinet also approved the provision of annuity grants for the entire lifetime of hydropower projects to project-affected families through the Local Area Development Fund, in addition to land and property compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation packages. This decision aims to make project-affected families long-term partners in the commissioning and operation of hydropower projects. a To strengthen senior technical leadership, the Cabinet approved a one-time relaxation of the Superintending Engineer (SE) Common Recruitment Rules, 2014, to promote to the post of Superintending Engineer (Civil) in the Department of Hydro Power Development. a The move is intended to ensure continuity and timely execution of ongoing and upcoming hydropower projects. The official said that the cabinet further approved the Renovatea"Owna"Operatea"Transfer (ROOT) Policy for Small Hydropower Projects, 2026, aimed at reviving underperforming small hydropower projects by attracting private investment, improving operational efficiency, and increasing renewable energy generation in line with the Stateas Decade of Hydropower (2025a"2035) vision. a The state cabinet, chaired by the Chief Minister, held at Anini, the district headquarters of Dibang Valley, under the government of Arunachal Pradeshas flagship 'Cabinet Aapke Dwar' initiative. The meeting marked another significant step towards decentralised governance by taking key policy decisions closer to the people. a The cabinet deliberated on a wide range of developmental, administrative, and institutional reforms and approved several important decisions aimed at strengthening governance systems, improving transparency, enhancing service delivery, and promoting inclusive growth across sectors. a The Chief Minister further announced that a detailed feasibility study for the development of an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at Anini will be conducted by an expert team to assess the technical and operational viability, with the districtas strategic location and connectivity requirements in mind. a The announcements made at Anini reflect the Governmentas resolve to ensure balanced regional development, strengthen border districts, and respond swiftly to local aspirations through direct engagement and decentralised decision-making under the 'Cabinet Aapke Dwar' framework. Jammu, Jan 31 : Another accused was identified on Saturday by the prosecution witness in the special court during the trial of the 1990 terrorist attack on IAF personnel in J&K's Srinagar city, in which four IAF personnel were killed. Jammu, Jan 31 (IANS) Another accused was identified on Saturday by the prosecution witness in the special court during the trial of the 1990 terrorist attack on IAF personnel in J&Kas Srinagar city, in which four IAF personnel were killed. aSenior additional advocate general, Monika Kohli, said that after the JKLF chief Yasin Malik, his close confidant Shoukat Bakshi was identified by an eyewitness before a special court on Saturday as one of the shooters involved in the January 1990 terror attack on a group of Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel in Srinagar. aIn January 2024, Malik was identified as the main shooter by former IAF corporal Rajwar Umeshwar Singh, who survived the terror attack in which four IAF personnel were killed. aBesides the four men, including squadron leader Ravi Khanna, who were killed, 40 people were injured in the incident on January 25, 1990, in the Rawalpora area on the outskirts of Srinagar city. aThe IAF employees were waiting for their pickup to travel to the old Srinagar airfield for duty when they were attacked by the terrorists. aA charge sheet was filed on August 31, 1990, against Yasin Malik and five others, including Showkat Bakshi, in the designated TADA court here. The others accused in the killing of the IAF personnel are JKLF operatives, including Ali Mohammed Mir, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi alias Mustafa, Javed Ahmed Mir alias 'Nalka', Javed Ahmed Zargar, and Saleem alias Nanaji. Bakshi was identified by the prosecution witness, an IAF employee, and one of the survivors, Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli, said. aKohli, who is also a senior Public Prosecutor for the CBI, is representing the central agency along with Special Public Prosecutor S.K. Bhat in the case against Malik and others. aThey are also representing the CBI in the case related to the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, by the Malik-led terror group. aIn May 2022, Yasin Malik pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy against the state and was sentenced to life. He is serving a life sentence in Delhias Tihar Jail. a New Delhi, Jan 31 : Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said on Saturday that the Delhi government will ensure ration cards for every poor citizen earning below the officially approved minimum wage. He added that it would be better if Aam Aadmi Party leaders stop misleading the poor people of Delhi. The Delhi BJP chief said that the "first come, first served" ration card scheme introduced by the Arvind Kejriwal government for people with an annual income of up to Rs 1 lakh was a deception. Under the cover of this scheme, thousands of ration cards were issued to Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims in Delhi, he alleged. Sachdeva said that AAP leaders are afraid of the committees constituted under area District Magistrates because now, on the recommendation of their MLAs, ration cards will no longer be issued to Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, or to their party's affluent workers. The Delhi BJP President stated that now Delhi has a BJP government, and if any official demands money from a poor person for issuing an EWS card, the doors of the Chief Minister's residence and the Delhi BJP office are open to hear their complaints. The BJP government will provide ration cards to every poor Indian citizen, but will not allow even a single Bangladeshi or Rohingya Muslim to be issued a ration card, said Sachdeva. Earlier, highlighting the public welfare intentions of BJP Delhi government, the BJP leader welcomed Water Minister Parvesh Verma's action of placing under suspension three senior Delhi Jal Board officials for laxity and unauthorised absence from offices during working hours. The Water Minister conducted surprise inspections on Friday after receiving complaints that the public was not being able to meet the zonal bill officers of the Delhi Jal Board. On finding the officials absent during the check, the Minister recommended the suspension of three Zonal Revenue Officers for not being present in their offices. Sachdeva said that the BJP government in Delhi is sensitive to public convenience and citizens' rights, and by recommending the suspension of officials who do not come to office on time, the Minister has sent a strong message to the bureaucracy. The BJP leader, in this context, condemned the statement of Delhi AAP Convener Saurabh Bharadwaj and said that the service rules in force now are the same as those during the Arvind Kejriwal government. He said Kejriwal and his ministers wanted the power of suspension in their own hands so that they could intimidate officials and get the corruption of their ministers covered up, whereas ministers of the present BJP government recommend the suspension of officials who neglect public convenience or are involved in corruption to the competent authority and ensure they are punished. Technology PiLog Reinforces Its Global Leadership in Enterprise Data Governance PiLog Strengthens Its Position as a Global Leader in Master Data Governance and Digital Transformation Hyderabad, India January 30, 2025, PiLog Group, a global enterprise technology company specializing in Master Data Governance (MDG), Data Quality, and Digital Transformation solutions, today reaffirmed its commitment to helping organizations transform fragmented and unreliable data into a trusted strategic asset. Founded in 1996, PiLog has established itself as a recognized authority in enterprise data lifecycle management. The company delivers standards-based, AI enabled solutions that ensure data accuracy, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence across data-intensive industries worldwide. Modern enterprises face increasing challenges due to inconsistent, duplicated, and poorly governed data spread across multiple systems and departments. These issues often result in inefficiencies, compliance risks, delayed decision making, and higher operational costs. PiLog addresses these challenges through an integrated suite of data governance and data quality solutions designed to manage, standardize, enrich, and govern master and reference data across mission-critical systems. PiLogs solutions are aligned with global standards such as ISO 8000 and are deeply integrated with enterprise platforms including SAP S/4HANA. By embedding governance workflows directly into business processes, PiLog ensures that data quality and compliance are enforced at the source rather than managed in isolation. The companys AI driven capabilities, including intelligent data classification and automation, significantly reduce manual effort while improving accuracy and time to value. PiLogs proprietary industry taxonomies and pre-configured templates further differentiate it from generic data governance tools, enabling faster deployment across complex enterprise environments. PiLog serves a wide range of industries, including Energy, Oil & Gas, Utilities, Aerospace & Defence, Travel & Transport, Public Sector, Mining, Chemicals, Food & Beverages, and Telecommunications. Across these sectors, PiLog helps organizations improve procurement accuracy, asset reliability, regulatory compliance, and data driven decision-making. With recognition from leading analyst firms such as Gartner, Forrester, and InfoTech Software Reviews, PiLog continues to be trusted by enterprises seeking scalable, compliant, and intelligent data governance solutions. As organizations accelerate digital transformation initiatives and prepare for AI enabled futures, PiLog remains focused on its mission of enabling enterprises to treat data not as a challenge, but as a reliable and valuable business asset. About PiLog Group PiLog Group is a global enterprise technology company specializing in Master Data Governance, Data Quality, and Digital Transformation solutions. Established in 1996, PiLog delivers ISO-compliant, AI powered solutions that help organizations govern, standardize, enrich, and manage enterprise data across materials, assets, suppliers, customers, and services. Company Information Company Name: PiLog Group Founded: 1996 Industry: Enterprise Software & IT Services Specialization: Master Data Governance, Data Quality, Digital Transformation Website: https://www.piloggroup.com Strategic advisory platform supports investors, entrepreneurs, and property owners throughout Southern California LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Alejandro Hernandez, a business and real estate advisor with a growing national presence, announced the expansion of his advisory services in the Los Angeles market, further strengthening his footprint in Southern California. Hernandez provides strategic business consulting, real estate advisory, and transaction coordination services to individuals, entrepreneurs, and investors navigating complex asset and property matters. His work focuses on real estate positioning, business structuring, and coordinated planning across multiple professional disciplines. The Los Angeles expansion reflects increased demand for advisory services tailored to high-value real estate markets and growth-oriented businesses. Hernandez works closely with industry professionals to help clients align real estate and business strategies with long-term objectives. "Alejandro Hernandez brings clarity and structure to complex business and real estate decisions," said a spokesperson. "His advisory approach is well suited to the dynamic and fast-paced Los Angeles market." Through affiliated advisory and real estate entities, Hernandez supports clients operating in California, New York, and select national markets, with a focus on strategic growth, disciplined planning, and transaction readiness. About Alejandro Hernandez Alejandro Hernandez is a business and real estate advisor providing strategic consulting and transaction support to individuals, entrepreneurs, and investors. His work centers on real estate advisory, business structuring, and asset planning across multiple jurisdictions. Media Contact Alejandro Hernandez Business & Real Estate Advisor Los Angeles, CA Compliance Notice Alejandro Hernandez does not provide legal or financial advice, and does not engage in activities requiring licensure under California law. All legal, and financial services are provided by appropriately licensed professionals. Media Contact Alejandro Hernandez, ARH Consulting LLC, 1 6462903780, [email protected], www.arhconsults.com SOURCE Alejandro Hernandez A Mars rover, a Syrian refugee girl, a cheetah, and a depressed teen: there are no obvious links between these disparate characters. But in the stories of childrens author Jasmine Warga, each is a touchstone for exploring themes of home, belonging, and identity. Growing up in a small town outside Cincinnati, Warga, 37, says she felt like an outsider. Middle school was hard for me. I was always really shy. I was one of the only kids who had an immigrant parent, and we were the only Muslim family. Her mother is American, but her father, whose family had previously been displaced from Palestine, had come to the U.S. from Jordan for his medical residency and fellowship. Books were my comfort, she says. They saved me in lots of ways. They helped me understand that my world at that moment was small, but the world itself wasnt small. I hoped I could write books like the ones I loved. Warga recalls a career day at school when she wore a lab coat, as a nod to a possible future in medicine, following in her fathers footsteps. Instead of carrying a prescription pad, however, she carried a notebook, representing her dream of becoming a writer, although she wasnt sure exactly what that would look like. After studying history and art history at Northwestern University, Warga, who currently lives near Chicago, started teaching sixth grade in Texas, reading aloud many of the books shed loved as a child with her students as well as discovering new favorites. She later completed an MFA in creative writing at Lesley University. Although she had planned to write for the upper elementary level, the book that gets you in the door isnt necessarily representative of all the work youve done before, she says. Her 2015 debut novel, My Heart and Other Black Holes, was YA, written as a way to process grief from the loss of a friend. She followed it up with another YA novel, Here We Are Now (2017). She had established herself as a writer to watch, but Other Words for Home, her 2019 middle grade novel in verse, became her breakout book. Centering on a Syrian girl finding her way as a refugee in the U.S., where she faces different kinds of conflict, the story offers messages of resilience and hope. It won a 2020 Newbery Honor, as well as a Walter Award from We Need Diverse Books and a Charlotte Huck Honor from the National Council of Teachers of English. Working with editor Alessandra Balzer at Balzer + Bray on seven of her books, Warga has continued to write stories that defy easy categorization. When the Balzer + Bray imprint moved to Macmillan last year, Warga followed her longtime editor. She has a special gift, Warga says. She helps me understand what kind of book Im trying to write and steers me in that direction. The trust in their relationship is such that Warga says she can send Balzer a messy draft and feel exhilarated rather than flattened by Balzers incisive feedback. That supportive relationship has allowed her to stretch her wings with new kinds of stories, including her forthcoming release, The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan. As a fourth grader, Warga completed an assignment on Cathryn Hilker, who founded the Cat Ambassador program at the Cincinnati Zoo. Revisiting the zoo as an adult with her kids rekindled her interest in the zoos majestic cheetahs. Despite their reputation for fierceness, cheetahs are anxious creaturesespecially while living in human care. So zookeepers have paired them with rescue dogs as buddies to keep them calm. This unlikely animal friendship seemed ripe with storytelling possibility for Warga, and the idea for The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan took shape. Her research led her into deep exploration of animal communication. Because they bond early with humans and other animals alike, cheetahs introduced to dogs when young will be affectionate and playful with their new friends. Later, Warga says, cheetahs grow into their grace. This real-life transformation proved informative in shaping the arc of a story that explores how friends make us braver. Getting into the mindset of a cheetah was challenging. But there were entry points that felt personal, Warga says. For example, although Chase, her cheetah character, was born in a zoo, she knows there are others like her who come from somewhere else, not unlike many of the characters Warga has created who struggle for a sense of belonging. Still, she says, she was hesitant to write an animal story, in part because of a certain pressure to represent her community in her work, and the predominance of animal stories in childrens books vs. narratives that spotlight marginalized characters. Ultimately, Warga says, the story offers an opportunity to expand the idea of what a diverse book is, adding, Im bringing my lens to it. Along with Chase & Finnegan, shes releasing another middle grade novel this year: The Claiming, a mystery thats part of Scholastics multiplatform series The Last Resort. Shes also working on a companion book for her 2022 novel A Rovers Story. At a time when parents, teachers, and librarians have raised the alarm about declining middle grade reading habits, Warga says shes intentional in her storytelling, aiming to reach readers on a lot of different levels. Making chapters shorter, for example, is one way to invite all our kids in to reading in a way thats welcoming and accessible, keeping read-alouds in mind. She has heard from a number of parents and readers that Rover, about a Martian probe named Resilience, is the first chapter book that many of her readers read on their own. On the other hand, more advanced readers engaged with the book because of the subject matter. Keeping her books high interest and paced in a way that builds a nice momentum has proven to be a winning strategy, Warga says. Hopefully, Im writing books that have a literary quality, but are fun. I dont think those things are mutually exclusive. Warga, who is herself the mother of two middle grade readers, believes that kids in their tween years are drawn to literary fiction because they want to be challenged and are naturally thinking about the big questions at this particular time of their lives. Increasingly, though, she sees that kids are carrying so much anxiety, she says. They feel so much pressure to be perfect. They are so afraid of making mistakes. Through her works, she hopes to entertain and inspire wonder, but also to help young readers understand that, in her words, you dont have to be perfect to be worthy of love. Its okay to be anxious. Its okay to feel afraid sometimes. Thats what our friends and connection are for. Joanne OSullivan is a journalist, author, and editor in Asheville, N.C. On January 17th, President Trump told Politico that its time to look for new leadership in Iran. Hes right. The U.S. should unabashedly support such change. Ayatollah Khameni already blames the U.S. for fomenting all the recent social unrest in Iran. Lets help him prove his point. Sadly, some of our partners in the region are worried about regime change in Iran because it could lead to regional instability. Really? As if the current Iranian regime that has been in power for close to 47 years hasnt sufficiently terrorized and destabilized the region and the world. Lets not forget that the Iranian regime now in power is directly responsible for the deaths of well over 1,000 American citizens. Could it be that some of the competing powers in the region are really worried that a change in the Iranian regime could lead to the emergence of a large regional superpower that is closely allied with the U.S. and the West that becomes an economic powerhouse, and that drives the price of oil down to below $50 a barrel? That may be a source of worry for some of the powers in the region but should be a source of comfort for the U.S. A change in the Iranian regime will be good for the U.S., for the Iranian people, for the region and for the world. The U.S. and its close regional partners should be fully behind change, albeit quietly. This regime is not on the verge of collapse, but it is significantly weakened, isolated and under tremendous pressure---structural vulnerabilities that can all be exploited to advance the total collapse of the regime. The U.S. can help in establishing and guiding an opposition figure who can rally the Iranian people. At the moment, Crown Prince Pahlavi is perhaps the only good bet. First, hes outside of Iran and can communicate to the Iranian people (once internet access is restored) more freely and frequently than any opposition figure within Iran. Second, he is articulate and can appeal to audiences in the U.S. and Europe who will need to support his efforts. Third, in his embracing the Iran Prosperity Project, there is a plan for transitioning Iran from a theocratic autocracy to a democracy that will embrace warm relations with the West. By his own admission, the Crown Prince will almost certainly not be a long term solution for Iranian governance. Nevertheless, he can play a very positive transitional role. That is what he claims he wants to do. He has a plan, and the U.S. should support him and help him refine his plan to the advantage of the Iranian people. At the same time, the U.S. should quietly reach out to opposition figures in Iran to articulate its support for regime change and welcome their contributions to a democratic Iran once the regime is toppled. If it is not doing so already, the U.S. should be at the forefront of promoting regime change in Iran through increased economic pressure against the regime and covert action operations. The regimes greatest weakness at this point is its inability to fix the Iranian economy and deliver basic services such as water supply for the benefit of the populace. The U.S. should continue to weaken the Iranian economy through tightened sanctions to further destabilize the regime. At the same time, the U.S. should send a clear message that once the regime is replaced by a government that is friendly to the U.S., abandons its nuclear weapons program and stops fomenting unrest in the region through its proxies, the U.S. will pull out all stops to help Iran recover economically. Further, the U.S. should pursue a broad range of covert action operations against the regime. This can range from cyber operations to arming and assisting opposition groups within the country. At the right time, direct military action can also come to play to deliver a fatal blow to the regime. President Trump is right to be measured and deliberate in directing U.S. action in Iran. But his instincts on regime change are absolutely right. I trust that he will properly marshal U.S. policy toward making Iran free of its tyrannical leadership and a friend of the U.S. again. Joe Zacks is a retired CIA Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Wealth taxes are increasingly popular. Across Europe, wealth tax proposals are par for the course in economic policy debate. In the U.S., recent proposals include Sen. Elizabeth Warrens Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act and the 2025 Billionaires Income Tax Act. While it sounds appealing to tax the rich, the U.S. should resist the apparent quick-fix of taking money from the wealthy to plug gaps in public finances. With rising wealth inequality and governments struggling to fund their programs, politicians and voters want the wealthiest to provide a larger share to the public. The wealthy are less excited, with people like Bernard Arnault, Frances richest man, warning against it. One criticism is that wealth taxes would make some billionaires leave something proponents consider acceptable. However, the bigger problem may not be billionaires leaving. Wealth taxes would see Western states destroy wealth for the sake of consumption. A lot of wealth is not liquid, but held in assets such as stocks or real estate. To pay taxes, the wealthy may have to turn some of these into liquid funds, selling stocks or houses. Supporters of a wealth tax might not care, but they should. If someone has to liquidate wealth in order to pay taxes, it could mean that next year, there is less wealth for the state to tax. The tax erodes its own base. For friends of such a tax, this may still be acceptable. After all, the state can convert private into public wealth. It could use the new funds to build roads, schools or hospitals. It could fund research or expand the production of renewable energy. But the issue is Western governments seem unwilling to do that. Instead, they are more interested in subsidizing the consumption of some groups. Germany can be an instructive example. Germanys debt brake prohibited the federal government from borrowing, which, after the dual shocks of the Covid-pandemic and Russias invasion of Ukraine, has come under scrutiny. Germany, the story went, could not invest enough into its future since it could not borrow enough money. The current government has loosened the debt brake and taken up a record sum of 500 billion euros in debt, which economic advisors called both necessary and urgent. This large amount would give the government the necessary freedom to invest in its infrastructure and its defense capabilities. This sounds fine on paper. But reality diverged quickly from that ideal. Germanys council of economic advisors the Wirtschaftsweisen were positive in the spring of 2025, but by November, they had begun criticizing how the government spent its new funds. While Germany is using some of the new debt for infrastructure and defense, less than half of these expenses are actually in addition to what was planned in the budget. Instead of turning the new funds into additional investments, Germany is using the debt to keep investment levels steady, while shifting the original funds towards things such as higher pensions for mothers. This, the countrys economic council argues, limits the positive economic effects of the new debt. Instead of funding economic efficiency, Germany is subsidizing consumption for a few privileged groups. The issue becomes even starker as the German ruling coalition is having internal, intergenerational fights over its new pension legislation, which would increase the pressure on the young to fund Germany's expensive pension-system. Germany spends 41% of its budget on social expenditures: half of that goes to pensions. With demographic shifts, the pressure is set to increase. Since the median voter is also getting older, reducing pensions will become even more politically unfeasible not just in Germany, but across the developed world. Governments will struggle to acquire funds for their pension systems. With pensions and social assistance as political priorities, the money from wealth taxes may likely end up there. Wealth taxes allow the state to cover up irresponsible spending. As long as European governments do not reform their welfare schemes, a wealth tax will only erode wealth for the sake of short-term consumption. Retired people will likely not invest the money they may receive, but spend it on consumption. In the private domain, everyone knows taking out a loan to go on vacation is bad financial planning. For governments, it seems like the most natural thing to do. Wealth taxes might be unproblematic if the money is spent on creating lasting public wealth or invested to boost economic efficiency. But as the example of Germany shows, the incentives to spend it on consumption may be too great for governments to resist. Michael Haiden is a research associate at the University of Hohenheim, Chair of Economic and Social Ethics. He is a writing fellow with Young Voices, specialising in European politics and policy. The Department of State recently announced that the U.S. had committed $2 billion in humanitarian assistance to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The aid is focused on 17 countries in crisis and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, with initiatives in other regions including the occupied Palestinian territory. Per the State Department, the funds are part of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) implementing vital reforms to make that work more impactful, efficient, and accountable to the American taxpayer. In truth, any gains in efficiency will be more than offset by a total loss of accountability. In short, the MOU represents an almost strings-free two-billion-dollar gift to the United Nations. The Trump administrations new understanding with the United Nations outlines a radical shift in allocation of U.S. humanitarian aid through United Nations. In the past, the U.S. would work with individual UN entities to address discrete objectives or crises. This arrangement was time-consuming but granted the U.S. a great amount of control over how and where its assistance was spent. The new arrangement shifts that authority to OCHA. U.S. funds would go into a subaccount, and the U.S. will instruct OCHA which countries are eligible, but from there OCHA takes over. U.S. funds would be pooled with funding from other governments and OCHA would distribute them based on reasoned judgment of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator or Resident Coordinator, who are appointed by the UN Secretary General. The UN prefers pooled funding because it grants more flexibility and discretion to the organization than when governments earmark funding for specific purposes. The U.S. has traditionally favored earmarked funding because it wants to ensure that U.S. funds support U.S. interests. Now, the U.S. is essentially ceding its ability to direct U.S. taxpayer dollars. Worse, American influence is diminished as now OCHA, not the U.S., will allocate U.S. funds to other UN agencies. The U.S. may have membership on advisory boards for pooled funds, but it is not guaranteed. Regardless, the memo specifies, Advisory Board membership does not permit members to hold back or decide quantity of funds for allocations; their role is simply an advisory one. For context, OCHA has never managed even half this amount of money -- the U.S. contribution would double OCHAs 2025 funding. Nor does the new MOU improve oversight of assistance, leaving that to the UNs Board of Auditors, Office of Internal Oversight Services and the Joint Inspection Unit entities that the U.S. Mission to the UN has criticized as inadequate and lacking independence. Indeed, the MOU explicitly disallows audits by the U.S. government as required by U.S. law. This codifies past UN refusal to share information or cooperate with U.S. investigations. It gets worse: The new agreement does not require OCHA to agree to waive UN immunities that have fostered a culture of sexual abuse, financial impropriety, and support for terrorism throughout the UN system. Instead, OCHA must report credible allegations of misconduct, misuse, fraud, waste, abuse, diversion of assistance to the State Department and its Office of Inspector General. But any use of that information would be confidential and in accordance with the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. In other words, the U.S. could not prosecute individuals unless the Secretary General waives those protections, which he has been unwilling to do for former UNRWA employees implicated in the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. And then theres the festering sore of UNRWA, which the memo does not even mention. This is a direct contradiction of the Trump administrations previous insistence it was defunding what is effectively an arm of Hamas at the UN. The new MOU makes clear that once U.S. funds are transferred to OCHA, it has complete discretion on their distribution. Tom Fletcher, the Undersecretary General that helms OCHA, has been unapologetic in his support for UNRWA despite is proven complicity with Hamas and support for extremism. Without clarification, the MOU likely allows OCHA to transfer funds to UNRWA or other organizations that the U.S. has defunded. Relatedly, the memo states that it is the policy of DOS to seek to ensure that none of its funds are used, directly or indirectly, to provide support to individuals or entities associated with terrorism. But OCHA only promises to use reasonable efforts to actually safeguard U.S. taxpayer dollars from supporting terrorism. Even worse, under the terms of the memo, the determination of terrorists and terrorist entities is based on the Consolidated UN Security Council Sanctions List. Guess whos not on the list? Hamas and Hezbollah. In short, the MOU grants cosmetic changes to the U.S., such as quarterly consultation, membership on advisory boards, and a dedicated subaccount for U.S. funds. But OCHA remains in full control of funds once provided, makes no substantive reforms, and does not in any way commit waiving immunities in cases of fraud or criminality, or agree to abide by U.S. oversight, terror designations, or other prohibitions of use of funds in U.S. law. Indeed, the only part of the Trump administrations new understanding with the United Nations that makes sense is that it explicitly states that either party can discontinue it at any time. The U.S. should terminate it immediately and demand a new agreement that provides proper oversight, authority to direct U.S. assistance to support U.S. interests, specify that U.S. funds cannot be used to support UN organizations otherwise barred from receiving U.S. funding, and require OCHA to abide by U.S. terror designations. Because prior to this agreement, that was the policy of President Donald Trump. Brett D. Schaefer is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on multilateral treaties, peacekeeping, the United Nations, and international organizations. Danielle Pletka is a distinguished senior fellow at AEI and the co-host of the podcast What the Hell Is Going On? India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff Key Points India is expected to grow 7.4% in FY26, the fastest among big economies. Global risks mean no big tax cuts are likely this year. Making more products in India can reduce imports and create jobs. High electricity costs hurt factories; power reforms are crucial Faster tax dispute resolution will improve ease of doing business. Bigger investment in AI is needed to stay competitive. Tourism can generate jobs quickly across states. Why India's Growth Remains Strong India continues to demonstrate resilience amid heightened global uncertainties. With the growth projection of 7.4 per cent in the financial year 2025-2026 (FY26), it is the world's fastest-growing large economy for the third year in a row. Beyond stable macroeconomic fundamentals, this growth has been driven by reforms, cuts in rates of income tax, and goods and services tax, and monetary easing, including a cumulative 125-basis point reduction in the repo rate. The government has also done well to forge new economic partnerships to diversify trade and strengthen supply chains. Why the Budget Has Little Room for Tax Giveaways As we turn to the Budget this year, the scope for significant tax breaks or raising tax revenues is limited. Growth in gross tax revenues has been muted and there is a need to continue fiscal discipline. The central and state governments must continue their focus on reforms to ensure greater ease of doing business and more competitive factor markets.Growth in public capex must be sustained. Though private capex has been growing, it has been impacted by global uncertainties and the threat of dumping by other countries. Against this backdrop, I lay down a few areas and sectors that could act as strategic levers to turbocharge the economic engine in 2026. Accelerate manufacturing India's sizeable manufacturing imports, estimated at over $450 billion, present both a risk and an opportunity. The Budget could announce policies and schemes that facilitate maximum value addition within the country and reduce imports, especially for products that expose India to disruption in external supply chains. 'Champion sectors' as well as the top 50 products in which domestic manufacturing accounts for less than 50 per cent of consumption should be urgently identified. A case in point is the ministry of power, which is looking at developing local manufacturing for a multitude of products like sub-sea cables and high-conductivity copper rods. Investment in data centres over the next five years is estimated at 13 trillion. Approximately two-thirds of the products used in data centres need to be imported. Inability to create adequate domestic manufacturing in strategic areas will continue to result in higher imports, supply-chain vulnerability, a high current-account deficit, and volatility in the exchange rate. The National Manufacturing Mission can develop the road map and oversee the implementation of the above with the intent of building scale and capabilities in each identified sector or product. Product-specific strategic gaps such as access to technology, pricing power, and regulatory hurdles should also be included. Spur investment via divestment and sovereign wealth fund As of June last year, the government's shareholding in listed entities was valued at approximately 46.3 trillion. However, the proceeds from divestment this financial year have been 8,768 crore. In FY25 and FY24, the proceeds were about 10,160 crore and 16,500 crore, respectively. Higher revenue generation through divestment is possible in buoyant capital markets. Therefore, a structured, multiyear divestment programme could unlock significant value and raise resources for the government. Entities in non-strategic sectors can be privatised. Divestment proceeds can provide a cushion for maintaining fiscal stability and drive government capex, and can be used to make long-term strategic investment, including in technology, resources, and infrastructure. Another way to use divestment proceeds is to create a sovereign wealth fund, which can be supplemented by allocations from pension funds managed by the government. Implement power reforms Many countries are using affordable energy to attract manufacturing investment. Expeditious implementation of proposed reforms by incentivising state governments is crucial. States hold regulatory assets of nearly 7 trillion and the annual losses are now nearing 2 trillion. Cheap Power, Competitive Industry Electricity tariffs for manufacturing are high with a cross-subsidy surcharge of 1.50 to 2 by states. Cost-based tariffs and privatising discoms or issuing additional distribution licences would make energy markets more efficient and affordable for industry. Unlock mining sector India's imports of base metals, coal, and precious metals during April-December 2025 -- worth $84 billion and representing 17 per cent of the country's merchandise imports -- underscore the need for domestic exploration and production. The development of underperforming coal and mineral assets by state-run and private companies should be fast-tracked, while the timelines for new mine development can be reduced from as much as five-eight years currently. In line with the recent changes in rules for petroleum and natural gas, which now combine a separate exploration licence and mining lease, the terms for mineral exploration licences should be amended to include mining rights to incentivise greater private capital flow into the sector. Prioritise tax-dispute settlements The Budget must continue the government's endeavours to minimise tax disputes. Over 26.3 trillion (about 8 per cent of India's gross domestic product) was locked in income-tax disputes as in FY25. Of the case-pendency, 89 per cent is at the first appellate level, whose workforce shortage is 40 per cent. Prioritising long-pending and high-value cases, more frequent virtual hearings, adequate manpower to the Central Technical Committee, and a close monitoring of disposing of cases are some easily implementable solutions. More than 300 matters are pending with the Board for Advance Rulings (BAR). Reconstituting the BAR with judges of high courts and retired members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, laying down a timebound framework for admitting cases, and providing final rulings will help unclog pendency. Simultaneously, introducing a timebound mediation mechanism for tax disputes with an independent body of experts can reduce litigation by providing fair settlement at a pre-assessment stage. While there has been considerable progress, the advance pricing agreement (APA) programme still has over 850 cases pending before the authority. A 'framework' approach for resolving pending cases with low complexity/risk, allocating additional and specialist resources, and a special window of accelerated APAs for old cases are some measures to consider. Amending the safe-harbour rules to make them more attractive will also help reduce the burden on APAs. Disproportionately invest in AI Given the massive investment across the world and the need for sovereign AI, the upcoming Budget could consider increasing allocation to the IndiaAI Mission while accelerating the development of a full sovereign AI stack. A sovereign DeepTech Fund that can support research & development, where traditional venture-capital funding is structurally constrained, could be looked at to leapfrog DeepTech technologies. Use tourism as an employment multiplier A relaunch of the Incredible India campaign, together with waiving visa fees and evisa coverage, will help increase inbound travel. Further, for the identified 50 tourist destinations, empowered destination management or local authorities should be set up. Tourism as a Job Creator These authorities can be tasked with coordinating infrastructure development like hotels, improving access, branding and awareness, and creating ancillary activities to improve the attractiveness of tourism destinations. In all, the Budget will be pivotal in outlining an agenda that sustains growth and capex, enhances manufacturing and technological capabilities, creates jobs, and makes our economy more dynamic and competitive. Industry looks forward to the government articulating its plans to further deregulate the economy. Disclaimer: These are Rajiv Memani's personal views. Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff Restoring weighted tax deductions and adopting a petty patents regime can foster firm-level innovative activity critical for competitiveness, points out Nagesh Kumar, member, Monetary Policy Committee. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff Innovative activity is widely recognised as a key driver of competitiveness and economic growth. Its importance has only increased in the context of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution and the compulsions of net-zero. Hence, India's underperformance in gross research & development (R&D) expenditure (GERD) as a proportion of gross domestic product -- stagnating at around 0.7 per cent, much lower than the global average of 1.93 per cent -- has attracted much debate. Other countries like China spend a far higher proportion on R&D, at about 2.6 per cent. The output indicators of innovative activity -- for example, India's rank improving from 81st to 38th between 2015 and 2025 in the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index -- present a more encouraging picture. Patents filed in India have also surged, from 24,326 in 2020-2021 to 68,176 in 2024-2025. ISID's India Industrial Development Report 2024-2025 finds India's GERD to be underestimated and projects it at around 1.25 per cent -- more respectable than 0.7 per cent, but still low. Another concern about GERD is that over 60 per cent of it is spent not by business enterprises, where it could help sharpen their competitive edge, but in government laboratories, including those run by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, the Defence Research and Development Organisation, and the Indian Council of Medical Research, among others. While mission-oriented R&D organisations such as the Indian Space Research Organisation have achieved considerable success, government laboratories often face challenges in commercialising their innovations. The bulk of business R&D is conducted by a handful of large companies and is heavily concentrated in the pharma and auto sectors. Benchmarking the R&D activity of Indian firms against their global counterparts, industrialist and economist Naushad Forbes makes a case for expanding business R&D activity by a factor of five. The neglect of R&D activity by Indian industry is curious, especially given its role in driving competitiveness. This can be explained by the market failures inherent in innovative activity, which do not allow investors to reap the full rewards due to its public good-like nature. Recognising the market failures and its strategic importance, governments in the United States and other industrialised countries spend billions of dollars on subsidies and R&D contracts awarded to national enterprises, including through agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, NASA, and the National Institutes of Health. Public funding has been an important source of industrial innovation in Western countries; for example, Tesla received substantial support from the US government -- in addition to tax credits and contracts -- while developing its innovative electric vehicles. Advanced countries also built an exception for R&D subsidies to the tune of 50 per cent of project costs in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Duties, which debarred all other forms of industrial subsidies. In India, until 2017, R&D activities in industry were encouraged mainly through weighted tax deductions at the rate of 200 per cent, and 150 per cent during 2017-2021. Since 2021, only a 100 per cent deduction is allowed. In 2024, the government established the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to mobilise Rs 50,000 crore over five years to promote academia-industry linkages for high-impact research. In November 2025, the government launched the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme with a corpus of Rs 1 trillion to boost private sector-driven innovation, focusing on strategic sectors such as AI, quantum, energy, and biotech, by low-cost loans and equity through a two-tiered structure managed by the ANRF. The ANRF and RDI are clearly important and desirable initiatives to foster innovative activity. Yet, they need to be complemented by other incentives and policies to realise the Viksit Bharat and Aatmanirbhar Bharat visions. The finance minister in the Union Budget 2026-2027 may consider restoring 200 per cent weighted deduction for R&D expenditures. Weighted deductions provide greater freedom to firms for undertaking R&D to respond quickly to emerging market needs or other strategic considerations. While the weighted deduction may be provided based on an audited statement, there could be a provision for reporting the activities undertaken under the scheme, the processes and products developed, foreign exchange saved or earned, patents filed, and licensing fees earned. This will ensure that tax benefits are not claimed as routine and that they actually lead to innovative activity. Another policy to promote local innovation could be to protect minor innovations through the so-called petty patents, as practised in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. The patent system fails to encourage minor innovations because the criteria for inventiveness tend to look at novelty. India could consider adopting a petty patents regime that provides limited protection for three to five years to minor incremental innovations, especially those by micro, small and medium enterprises. To sum up, therefore, the Union Budgets of the past few years have taken major initiatives to foster innovative activity. The 2026-2027 Budget should build on these initiatives by restoring weighted tax deductions and creating a petty patents regime to foster incremental innovations needed to realise the Aatmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat visions. Nagesh Kumar is director, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi, and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee. The views are personal. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff Customs regimes can lead to labyrinthine legal disputes. Budget 2026 must recognise that an excessively defensive Customs posture can itself become a trade barrier, point out Mukesh Butani and Shankey Agrawal. IMAGE: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during Parliament's budget session, New Delhi, January 29, 2026. Photograph: Sansad TV/ANI Video Grab "Trade is not a zero-sum game, but its administration often is." This adage captures the current tension at India's Customs borders. Key Points While FTAs promise smoother market access, Customs enforcement practices are turning trade facilitation into a legal and procedural maze. The commerce ministry negotiates liberal trade regimes, but the finance ministrys enforcement framework often undermines these commitments. Customs law sits at the fault line between revenue protection and trade promotion, creating persistent structural tension. As India pivots its trade towards a new generation of future-fit alliances through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), a paradox has emerged. While the ministry of commerce negotiates the red carpet of market access, the ministry of finance is not aligned with enforcement. The challenge for the upcoming Budget is to transition towards strategic facilitation and ensure that trade facilitation measures through FTAs are not a legal fiction, but an economic reality. Customs law: Gatekeeper to free trade The legal nexus between customs law and FTAs is inherently precarious. Customs law acts like the gatekeeper of free trade since it regulates the import and export of goods. FTAs, on the other hand, are negotiated exceptions to the World Trade Organization's most-favoured-nation (MFN) rule, which is found in Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. FTAs let States give preferential tariff treatment to treaty partners while keeping normal tariff rates for others. The interface between the two is more operational than conceptual. A complicated set of subordinate laws makes FTAs work by giving customs officials the power to decide treaty eligibility. This creates a structural duality in which the Customs administration has to balance revenue mobilisation efforts with trade propulsion measures. As a result, Customs regimes lead to labyrinthine legal disputes, where giving someone a tariff preference is no longer a ministerial act but a strict process for assimilating evidence. Rules of Origin: A regulatory bottleneck In the context of implementation and operationalisation of FTAs, a major pushback comes from rules of origin (ROO). ROO are a set of procedural measures to determine the economic nationality of a product. In the past, India faced issues with regional trade agreements in South-East Asia because of trade deflection, which is when goods from other countries were slightly processed to claim the benefit of FTAs. To counter this, India put in place the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR) to protect the economy from this kind of circumvention. This framework juxtaposed the conventional trust-based model of international trade by transferring the burden of proof from the exporting sovereign to the importer. By requiring importers to have detailed information about the cost structures and manufacturing processes of their foreign suppliers, CAROTAR changed the Certificate of Origin (CoO) from a definitive shield into a convoluted compliance burden. These rules have given rise to legal controversies, while undermining India's larger FTA objectives. Agreements with ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), South Korea and Japan were expected to integrate India more deeply into regional value chains, yet utilisation rates have remained uneven. However, recurring issues over origin of goods have resulted in wide scepticism, with many domestic businesses now questioning whether FTAs truly benefitted trade. The information requirements cut deep into suppliers' cost structures, and processes have raised concerns on proportionality, predictability and ease of compliance, militating against the principle of mutual trust and cooperation between customs administrations. As a result, CAROTAR has become a critical instrument shaping how FTAs are experienced in practice, often determining whether preferential access is effectively usable by trade. Impact of CAROTAR on FTAs In practical terms, CAROTAR has had a dampening effect on FTAs' utilisation, particularly for sectors with complex or multi-country supply chains. Importers increasingly face uncertainty regarding post-clearance audits, retrospective denial of benefits, and extended verification timelines. Often, cases have landed up in courts. Post-clearance audits have become more frequent, with benefits sometimes denied retrospectively. Verification timelines often stretch far beyond what businesses can reasonably plan for. In response, many companies are shifting into a defensive mode. Some are redesigning supply chains simply to make origin compliance easier and some businesses now choose to pay MFN duties to avoid risk of disruption. The burden is felt most acutely by micro, small and medium enterprises, which lack the leverage to obtain detailed origin data from overseas suppliers. CAROTAR is a conscious policy reset aimed at curbing trade deflection and circumvention, which have often bothered India's policymakers. Tighter origin enforcement seeks to ensure that tariff concessions are not exploited through third-country trades. No doubt, the objective is legitimate and necessary. However, it must be remembered that FTAs are political and strategic bargains, and not merely tools for tax collection. When CAROTAR is applied with excessive rigidity, it weakens commercial confidence and dilutes the strategic value of trade commitments. QCOs: A double whammy Beyond the complex maze of country-of-origin disputes, another nadir has emerged in the form of quality control orders (QCOs). Issued under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) framework, QCOs are increasingly functioning as non-tariff impediments to the Indian market. In principle, they promote safety, quality and environmental protection. In practice, they often dilute the very trade liberalisation that FTAs seek to achieve. A product may successfully clear the CAROTAR origin threshold and still remain stranded at the port, because the required BIS certification cannot be issued by foreign laboratories that lack Indian accreditation. This creates a regulatory double whammy for importers. Compliance is achieved on paper but defeated in execution. If left unaddressed, such tensions risk turning India's borders into a holding zone for preferential trade, where tariff concessions negotiated through diplomacy are effectively neutralised by the operational rigidity of technical standards. The challenge is no longer just about lowering duties -- it is about aligning regulatory architecture with India's trade ambitions in a manner that preserves both safety objectives and commercial certainty. Budget: Converting bottleneck to bridge The upcoming fiscal document must recognise that an excessively defensive Customs posture can itself become a trade barrier. Revenue protection is a legitimate sovereign interest, but it should not come at the cost of commercial paralysis. If the Budget can successfully bridge the gap between revenue protection and trade facilitation, it will do more than merely collect duties - it will provide the institutional bedrock required for India to integrate meaningfully into the global economic architecture. Mukesh Butani is the managing partner, while Shankey Agrawal is a partner with the indirect tax, trade & customs team at BMR Legal Advocates. Assisted by Harsh Shukla (counsel) and Nitin Dhatarwal (associate) Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff Sources added that the exchange may file its draft papers by April-May this year, and the proposed issue is expected to be entirely an offer for sale. IMAGE: The National Stock Exchange headquarters in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has granted a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), paving the way for the countrys biggest exchange currently valued at Rs 5 trillion in the unlisted market to file draft documents for its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO). Key Points In the wake of this nod, the NSE finally can file long-awaited draft IPO papers with the regulator The final terms of the agreement expected after nod from Sebis advisory committee The NSE is expected to file DRHP in April-May this year, with its IPO being entirely an offer-for-sale We are delighted to receive Sebi approval for our IPO a significant milestone in our growth journey. With Sebi's nod, we embark on a new chapter of value creation for all our stakeholders. "This approval also reinforces confidence in NSE being an integral part of the Indian economy and beacon of Indian capital markets, said Srinivas Injeti, chairperson, NSE. The regulatory nod follows the resolution of several legal overhangs, including matters related to colocation and dark fibre, that have weighed on the exchange for over a decade. Sebi has agreed to the settlement in principle, with final terms expected after approval from its high-powered advisory committee, sources said. Industry experts noted that regulated entities must obtain an NoC from their respective regulators before filing for an IPO. In NSEs case, both the NOC and the eventual approval of the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) are required from Sebi. Sources added that the exchange may file its draft papers by April-May this year, and the proposed issue is expected to be entirely an offer for sale. Emailed queries sent to Sebi remained unanswered. The exchange recognised a provision of Rs 1,297 crore, including interest, towards the settlement of matters linked to colocation and dark fibre cases. The NSE had said this was over and above the Rs 100 crore penalty imposed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in the colocation case, which had already been adjusted against amounts deposited with Sebi in 2022-23 (FY23). The NSE reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,098 crore in the second quarter of 2025-26 (Q2FY26), sharply lower than Rs 3,137 crore a year earlier, primarily due to one-time provisioning related to settlement applications filed with Sebi. Consolidated revenue from operations declined nearly 18 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 3,676.8 crore in Q2FY26. Revenue from transaction charges fell 22 per cent to Rs 2,785 crore, reflecting lower volumes across both cash and derivatives segments. The colocation case, currently pending before the Supreme Court, pertains to allegations that certain brokers received preferential access to NSEs trading servers between 2015 and 2016. Once Sebi formally clears the settlement, it will be required to file an affidavit in the apex court seeking withdrawal of its appeal. In January 2023, SAT upheld non-monetary penalties against the NSE but set aside the disgorgement order, instead imposing a fine of about Rs 100 crore for lapses in due diligence. Later that year, the Supreme Court directed Sebi to refund around Rs 300 crore to the NSE in connection with the matter. Despite being unlisted, the NSE already boasts of a large retail shareholder base. The number of retail shareholders of the exchange stood at 171,563 as of December 2025, collectively holding about 12.3 per cent of the exchange. A pickup in freight rates, rising fleet utilisation and a long-awaited replacement cycle are breathing fresh life into Indias commercial vehicle (CV) market, strengthening the investment case for Tata Motors CV arm (TMCV). Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters Key Points Fleet utilisation levels have climbed to 74-80 per cent Ebitda rose 19 per cent to Rs 2,720 crore. Recent price hikes should help offset commodity cost pressures Tata Motors plans to deliver around 6,000 buses to various states next year. It expects double-digit CV demand growth to sustain Despite a broadly steady December quarter (Q3) performance, brokerages remain divided on whether the upswing is strong enough to offset margin pressures. There are also other issues like adverse product mix and concerns around market share and overseas exposure, reflected in a wide divergence in ratings and target prices. What brokerages say Nomura, which has a buy rating on the Tata Motors stock with a target price of Rs 547, sees clear signs of a CV upcycle gathering momentum, driven by improving industry fundamentals. According to the brokerage, fleet utilisation levels have climbed to 74-80 per cent and freight rates have moved higher. This is following recent goods and services tax (GST) rate changes, and replacement demand has begun to revive as transporter profitability improves and financing costs ease.Reflecting this trend, Tata Motors CV segment posted revenue of Rs 21,700 crore in the December quarter, up 16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 19 per cent to Rs 2,720 crore. Ebitda margin stood at 12.5 per cent, broadly in line with consensus expectations, though slightly below Nomuras estimate of 13 per cent. Nomura flagged a miss on average selling prices (ASPs), which declined 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) to Rs 19.1 lakh, largely due to an adverse product mix. Nevertheless, it believes recent price hikes should help offset commodity cost pressures, while moderating discounts could support margins going forward. The management commentary, as cited by Nomura, pointed to a positive demand outlook for at least until the first half of FY27. It would be aided by rising tipper demand, healthy prospects in the bus segment, particularly electric buses, and strong export growth, driven by Saarc nations and Africa. Tata Motors' future plan Tata Motors plans to deliver around 6,000 buses to various states next year. Emkay Global Financial Services also remains constructive on the CV cycle, maintaining a buyrating with a target price of Rs 650, and describing the December quarter as steady despite a modest revenue miss. The brokerage highlighted Tata Motors market-share gains in domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCVs), with its share rising nearly 100 basis points (bps) sequentially to about 47.9 per cent. ASPs fell around 2 per cent sequentially due to an unfavourable mix, reflecting a lean bus quarter and higher small commercial vehicle volumes. Emkay Research noted that underlying demand drivers remain robust. These include a 2-5 per cent rise in freight rates post GST changes, a 23 per cent Y-o-Y increase in e-way bill volumes, and improving transporter profitability. Commodity headwinds, estimated to have impacted margins by about 50 bps each in the December and March quarters, have largely been addressed through portfolio-wide price hikes of about 1 per cent taken in January 2026, along with tighter control on discounts, Emkay Research said. It expects double-digit CV demand growth to sustain until at least the first half of FY27 and believes Tata Motors is well positioned to lead a multi-year upcycle. In contrast, Motilal Oswal Research struck a more cautious tone, reiterating its neutral rating with a target price of Rs 431. The brokerage flagged margin pressure from higher input costs as a key reason for Tata Motors earnings miss against its estimates in the December quarter. It expressed concern over a gradual loss of market share across key CV segments. Motilal Oswal Research also highlighted risks from the companys Iveco acquisition, which could expose Tata Motors to global macro uncertainties and lead to a derating if overseas demand weakens. While it has already factored in a recovery in domestic CV demand, estimating a 9 per cent volume growth over FY25-28, it believes margins are likely to remain stable rather than expand meaningfully. After the recent rally, Motilal Oswal Research said the stock appears fairly valued at over 24 times FY27 estimated earnings, limiting further upside in the near term. The armed forces of India will be wise to remember that its public interface needs to be tempered with discretion, maturity and example, keeping in mind the nation's multi-cultural and multi-religious fabric which is its greatest strength but which can also become its biggest fault-line, asserts Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd). Kindly note that this illustration generated using ChatGPT has only been posted for representational purposes. Indian armed forces swear allegiance to the Constitution and not to any person, organisation, faith or ideology The armed forces of India occupy a hallowed place in national consciousness. They continue to be perceived as the last bastion of propriety, discipline and sacrifice in an otherwise disintegrating social, cultural, professional and religious ethos. They also continue to enjoy the admiration and respect of the public at large due to their demonstrated valour, dedication and bravery in the face of adversity. The armed forces are also the finest example of social, cultural and religious harmony which embodies 'unity in diversity.' It is because of the value that the Constitution attaches to this diversity that the Indian armed forces swear allegiance to the Constitution and not to any person, organisation, faith or ideology. Secular and Inclusive Values This is a serious responsibility that must be borne with great maturity and balance. In a world that is increasingly being divided into sharply contrasting religious and ideological positions, the Indian armed forces must not just act but also be seen to act in the interest of an inclusive and secular ethos. Any action by the armed forces leadership or personnel that diverts from this 'straight and narrow' path does not bode well for the future. More so because the armed forces, in recent decades have been brought out of the barracks and interact frequently with the public at large, whether for security operations, humanitarian missions or for combined civil-military effort. Allegiance to the Constitution The article under reference (wire.in; January 27, 2026, Why Uniformed Army Personnel at Baba Bageshwar Event Have Alarmed Veterans [external link]) relates to army personnel of a particular Indian Army unit in Kota, Rajasthan, attending a religious gathering presided over by Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, a self-styled godman. A significant number of army personnel were present to pay obeisance and offerings to the godman and listen to his sermon. It was also 'reported' that the unit's commanding officer felicitated Shastri in public and posted a video clip of the event. This indicates that the event attended by uniformed army personnel in significant numbers had official sanction at some level. Religious Practices Personal The army spokesperson at Delhi denied that the function was 'officially organised' by the army. Interestingly, the spokesperson did not differentiate between an entire unit visiting the godman in uniform and an individual doing so. This is a weak argument and reflects a poor understanding of the armed forces ethos of deliberately downplaying religious affiliations in public. It also tends to deflect an important question that must be asked and answered. What really is the matter and should what happened at Kota be considered normal, for now and the future? Uniform and Public Conduct First, the armed forces encourage their members to keep religious practices and affiliations strictly personal. This is the only way if the armed forces are to operate cohesively, given their diverse composition. The Indian Navy, for certain, actively discourages any public display of religious faith in naval ships and establishments. I suspect the Indian Air Force follows a similar practice. The Indian Army is somewhat different in this respect as it has its own places of worship within its own establishments, normally in the form of a Sarv Dharm Sthal, incorporating places of worship for all major faiths. Leadership Responsibility Second, as per the army spokesperson, visiting religious places in uniform is not proscribed. This needs clarification from the army leadership to their own rank and file. Should there be a difference in wearing uniform to a Sarv Dharm Sthal within army establishments and visiting a public place of religious worship? Should there be public felicitations of religious personalities by senior officers of the army? Such guidance is absolutely necessary if individual tendencies to deviate form the established ethos is to be kept in check. I have seen several advisories issued by the navy at different levels to dissuade its personnel from visiting public religious places in uniform. Civil-Military Interaction IMAGE: Soldiers at Dhirendra Krishna Shastri's sermon. Photograph: Kind courtesy bageshwar_dham_ki_chran_sevika/Instagram.com Third, we need to recall the 'law of replication.' People often replicate behaviour, habits and actions of leaders or influential figures.' There is a need for military leaders to be scrupulously diligent in ensuring that their own behaviour is appropriate as it may be taken as an unspoken sanction for lower formations and subordinates to behave similarly. There is some dilemma on account of this which must be acknowledged. Fourth, often ministers and senior functionaries tour military stations and visits to religious places in the near vicinity are planned as part of their itinerary. It is during such visits that we sometimes see public images of senior military officers in uniform accompanying these functionaries and participating in associated rituals or sporting religious symbols on their person. To my mind, this is just a matter of poor planning. All it requires is for the planners to afford the entourage a 15-minute break to change into appropriate clothing to visit a public religious place. Sarv Dharm Concept Fifth, there is no need for unnecessary publicity. Are we going to a religious place to pursue our personal beliefs and seek solace or are we doing it to show the world that we a 'believers' of a certain description? I don't find a good reason to Instagram a religious visit by anyone to a place of worship unless it is to satisfy misplaced egos, blatantly advertise religious leanings to a certain audience or to curry favour from superiors who may appreciate such antics. In my experience, no senior military leader who understands the Indian military ethos would be impressed by this kind of indiscretion. Discipline and Discretion One ceremony that is clearly religious is the chanting of religious verses by priests at President's Colour presentation ceremonies, but that done is by priests of all major religions of India and exemplifies the 'Sarv Dharm' concept. However, there are often areas that may seem to be in the 'grey zone.' These are more like socio-cultural practices with origins in rituals but they create dilemmas on where to draw the line. For example, we break a coconut, recite religious hymns and paint a swastika on a ship's hull during the launching ceremony; we light lamps at the beginning of a cultural function; do a small ceremony for auspiciousness at the end of a ship's refit; military leaders are sometimes honoured by civilian hosts by draping a shawl over the uniform and so on. Customary, benign practices that are harmless could be acceptable. The armed forces of India will be wise to remember that its public interface needs to be tempered with discretion, maturity and example, keeping in mind the nation's multi-cultural and multi-religious fabric which is its greatest strength but which can also become its biggest fault-line. Key Points The armed forces are respected for discipline, sacrifice, and unity in diversity. Allegiance is to the Constitution, not to any religion, individual, or ideology. Religious beliefs are meant to remain personal to preserve cohesion in a diverse force. Public religious displays in uniform raise ethical and institutional concerns. Leadership conduct sets precedent, making discretion and maturity essential. Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff Glimpses of nationwide protests in US cities, January 30, 2026, against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US President Donald Trump's immigration policies following the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by US federal immigration agents. ICE Out! Protests IMAGE: A demonstrator reacts in front of Los Angeles police department officers standing guard during a protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. Photograph: Jill Connelly/Reuters IMAGE: A demonstrator confronts LAPD officers during the protest near the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. Photograph: Jill Connelly/Reuters IMAGE: People take part in the protest in Los Angeles. Photograph: Jill Connelly/Reuters LA ICE Shootings IMAGE: Demonstrators attend an 'ICE Out' protest, after the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by US federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters IMAGE: Demonstrators attend an ICE Out protest in Minneapolis. Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters IMAGE: Demonstrators hold placards during an 'ICE Out' protest in Minneapolis. Photograph: Seth Herald/Reuters IMAGE: An ICE Out protest in Minneapolis. Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters IMAGE: A demonstrator gestures during an ICE Out protest at the Mission Dolores park in San Francisco. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff The false promise of efficiency The latest punditry calls for three-year medical schools, stripped of ethics and other vital subjects, with less clinical training. The rationale? Efficiency. The result? A generation of physicians unprepared for the complexity of childrens lives. General pediatricians themselves admit in published surveys that they know squat about developmental-behavioral pediatrics (DBP) after residency. Yet the proposed solution is to shorten training further. That is not reform; it is abdication. A white paper, not a poster The Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics recently circulated a poster of solutions that read more like a fourth graders wish list to Santa than a serious plan. Aspirations are not enough. Pediatrics requires a logical, structured, and enforceable blueprint. Here is that blueprint. Tailored training tracks Primary care pediatricians Rotations: Two DBP rotations (first year and third year), each four to six weeks. Competencies: Autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, trauma-informed care, family systems, and school collaboration. Deliverables: OSCEs in counseling families, chart audits for DBP documentation, and coding accuracy for prolonged consultations. Outcome: Graduates earn Clinical Instructor status, signaling baseline DBP competence. Accountability: Primary care pediatricians must be held responsible for accurate DBP documentation, coding integrity, and closed-loop follow-up with families. Failure to meet these standards should be subject to professional review and liability. General academic (teaching) pediatrics Fellowship: One to two years. Core blocks: Six months DBP, interdisciplinary training with psychology/social work/education law, teaching skills, and leadership. Deliverables: Teaching portfolio, curriculum design, bedside teaching evaluations, and quality improvement projects in outpatient continuity clinics. Outcome: Entry as Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Teaching track). Accountability: Teaching pediatricians must demonstrate competence in curriculum design and interdisciplinary leadership, with measurable outcomes in outpatient continuity clinics. They are responsible for ensuring trainees achieve DBP milestones, subject to faculty evaluation and institutional oversight. Teaching + research pediatrics (clinician-scholar) Fellowship: Two years. Core blocks: Six months DBP, six months statistics and research design, plus protected time for prospective studies. Deliverables: IRB-approved project, first-author manuscripts, and demonstrated competence in statistical modeling and equitable recruitment. Outcome: Entry as Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (Clinician Scholar track). Accountability: Clinician-scholars are responsible for research integrity, statistical rigor, and ethical recruitment. Misrepresentation of data or failure to meet IRB standards should trigger academic sanctions and jeopardize advancement. Tenure track (research exclusive) Fellowship: Two years exclusively in research, with optional third year for multisite trials. Deliverables: Funded research plan, K-level grant submission, and mentorship committee oversight. Outcome: Entry into tenure track contingent on scholarly output and grant pipeline. Accountability: Tenure candidates must maintain transparency in funding sources, reproducibility of results, and adherence to ethical research standards. Breaches of integrity should disqualify tenure consideration. Hospitalists (internal medicine/pediatrics) Fellowship: One year. Focus: Interdisciplinary training, care coordination, discharge planning, and subspecialty integration. Competencies: Hospitalists must serve as head chefs, accountable (including being subject to malpractice suits) for integrating subspecialty plans and ensuring closed-loop follow-up. Outcome: Certified competence in transitions of care, reducing the fragmentation that cost families dearly. Historical precedent This is not unprecedented. In the early 1980s, University of Minnesota graduates were required by HMOs to complete a one-year fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics because their training lacked outpatient skills. Systems have imposed corrective fellowships before. Better to build them in from the start. My own pivot to Yale was fueled by this reality, and by the recognition that DBP was the new morbidity of the 1990s. Payment reform: Aligning value Training alone is not enough. Congress must raise RVUs for the 96xxx CPT codes to properly compensate DBPs. Reinstate 99245 (high-level Office or Other Outpatient Consultation) as a high-intensity consultation, not a code (99205) equivalent to a complicated ear infection. Pay for questionnaires, prolonged consultations, and interpretation. I went deep into the Congressional Record to find those codes. Hospitals refused to mill what I coded, and insurers rejected Congressionally approved CPT codes and their RVU units. Congress itself has failed to pass a health budget in years, relying on continuing resolutions. The result? DBPs are penalized for rigor, while proceduralists are rewarded for volume. Reform must align compensation with the actual work. ADVERTISEMENT Ethics as safeguard Eliminating ethics from medical education is not liberation; it is surrender. Ethics is the safeguard against fragmentation, coercion, and corporate capture. Without it, pediatrics becomes a technical service line, not a civic discipline. Ethics must be expanded, not erased. Vulcan logic Shortening training creates cheaper, less knowledgeable doctors that could be at extreme risk for malpractice: false economy. Tailored, deeper training creates accountable physicians. DBP is not optional; it is the core of pediatrics in the 21st century. If the AAP, ABP, and SDBP have the courage to act, pediatrics can be rebuilt as a discipline of compassion, rigor, and civic accountability. If not, we will continue to lose children in the gaps between subspecialists, hospitalists, and systems that prize efficiency over dignity. This is the shot across the bow: not a poster, not a wish list, but a white paper with enforceable solutions. Pediatrics deserves nothing less. History will judge pediatrics not by how quickly we trained doctors, but by whether we trained them to protect children with dignity. Ronald L. Lindsay is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician. Seeking foreign loan had forced Pakistan to 'bow' its head and make compromises at the 'cost of self-respect', Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said in a candid admission about the humiliation involved in approaching 'friendly countries' for financial aid. IMAGE: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) and Field Marshal Asim Munir meets US President Donald Trump at the White House. Photograph: Courtesy White House Key Points Shehbaz Sharif admitted seeking foreign loans forced Pakistan to compromise its self-respect. He highlighted the humiliation of asking 'friendly countries' for financial aid. Sharif noted loans create obligations and can lead to undue demands. Pakistan relies heavily on financial aid from countries like China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar. The government is rolling out relief measures for industries, including reduced electricity tariffs and export refinance rates. Addressing a ceremony held in honour of the country's eminent businessmen and exporters Islamabad on Friday, Sharif recalled the difficult period when Pakistan faced fears of bankruptcy and was described by some as being on the verge of technical default. "When we assumed office, the economic situation was extremely fragile, and the common man faced severe hardships," he said. The prime minister referred to his meeting with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Paris in 2023, after which the global lender approved an economic programme that helped stabilise the country's economy. Have to pay the price: Sharif Sharif said friendly countries had fully supported Pakistan during difficult times and that, together with the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, he had met leaders of several countries to seek loans worth billions of dollars. However, he said, "How should I tell the way we requested friendly countries for loans? The friendly countries didn't disappoint us. But the one who goes to seek a loan, his head is bowed down." The prime minister said loans also create obligations that have to be fulfilled. "When you go seeking loans, you have to pay the price at the cost of your self-respect. You have to compromise... Sometimes, undue demand may come up, and you have to implement it even when there is no reason to fulfil it," he said. Pakistan depends heavily on foreign aid Pakistan heavily relies on financial aid from several countries, including China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, to manage its foreign exchange reserves and debt. These nations, along with the IMF, provide regular loans and rollovers to the cash-strapped nation. During the event, the prime minister rolled out relief measures for industries, including a reduction of PKR 4.04 per unit in electricity tariffs, and said the wheeling charges would be brought down to PKR 9 to boost exports and support the business community. He further said the government was reducing the export refinance scheme rate from 7.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent to provide immediate relief to businesses and accelerate export-led growth. India on Saturday strongly rejected a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein, describing it as 'little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal' that deserves to be dismissed with the 'utmost contempt'. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photograph: Jitender Gupta/ANI Photo Key Points India strongly rejects any reference to PM Modi in the Jeffrey Epstein files. The External Affairs Ministry spokesperson called the references 'trashy ruminations'. The email in question references PM Modi's official visit to Israel in July 2017. The US Justice Department released the files as part of an American law. The latest files relating to the convicted sex trafficker were released by US authorities. "We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the prime minister and his visit to Israel," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement. "Beyond the fact of the prime minister's official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," he said. The email is among investigative files released by the US Justice Department on Friday. The department released 3.5 million pages and 2,000 videos in line with an American law that was passed by the US Congress. Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar, who is likely to be sworn in as Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister, replacing her deceased husband and Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet, left for Mumbai on Friday evening, sources said. IMAGE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah offers his condolences to NCP Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar (left) during the last rites of Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Baramati, January 29, 2026. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is also seen. Photograph: @AmitShah X/ANI Photo While the talk of the imminent merger of the two NCP factions was gaining ground following Ajit Pawar's death in an air crash on Wednesday, the leaders of the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar or Sharad Pawar's family were not privy to her decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti government, sources said. Key Points Sunetra Pawar is likely to be sworn in as Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister, replacing her deceased husband and Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet Sunetra Pawar, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the NCP at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, after which she is likely to take oath as deputy CM Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP, which heads the ruling alliance Mahayuti, would support any decision taken by the family and party of late Ajit Pawar "The NCP-SP leadership and Sharad Pawar's family members were completely in the dark about her plans," a source added. Sunetra Pawar, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, after which she is likely to take oath as deputy CM. Sunetra, who made her debut in electoral politics in 2024, would be the first woman to hold the post of deputy CM in the state. Meanwhile, Sunetra Pawar has reached Mumbai on Saturday. She reached Devgiri, the official residence of her late husband in south Mumbai, in the wee hours, accompanied by son Parth. The 62-year-old leader, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon, and is all set to take oath as Maharashtra's first woman deputy CM. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP, which heads the ruling alliance Mahayuti, would support any decision taken by the family and party of late Ajit Pawar. "The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take for the post of deputy chief minister, and we will support the decision. We are standing behind the family of Ajit Dada and the NCP," the CM told reporters in Nagpur on Friday. Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the Lok Sabha elections that year, she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husband's party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle. Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha. The NCP's legislature wing will hold a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon where she would be named as its leader, state minister and senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said. The Confident Group chairman CJ Roys brother said that he was unaware of what happened with the Income Tax and would have to find out. CJ Babu, the brother of Confident Group chairman CJ Roy, on Saturday, cited an ongoing Income Tax issue as the only known concern, stating Roy had no threats or loans. IMAGE: A police official at the site where Confident Group chairman CJ Roy shot himself, in Bengaluru, January 30, 2026. Photograph: ANI Photo Key Points CJ Babu said he spoke with his brother on Friday morning, adding that he has no information on the income tax issue and that Roy has no loans in his name Officials said forensic teams, including the Scene of Crime Officer and Forensic Science Laboratory teams, are investigating the case Bengaluru city police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said that, according to preliminary information, an IT raid has been underway for the past two days He added that the family is focused on the cremation process and gathering more information from the office staff. This comes after on Friday, CJ Roy allegedly shot himself at his office amid ongoing Income Tax raids, as per the officials. Speaking to ANI, CJ Babu said he spoke with his brother on Friday morning, adding that he has no information on the income tax issue and that Roy has no loans in his name. "I have to meet the family to discuss the cremation. No other...Other than the Income Tax issues, he had no other issues. That I am very sure of. He didn't have threats or loans. But I don't know what happened with the Income Tax. I will have to go and find out...Let the truth come out. Let us see what will happen...I last spoke with him at 10.40 am yesterday. He called me twice...I will see what the other office staff have to say, I will meet them and get back to you," CJ Babu said. Earlier in the day, the wife and son of CJ Roy reached the post-mortem centre at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. His wife, Lina Roy, and son, Rohith Roy, arrived at the hospital mortuary along with Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee President Mohammed Nalapad. Meanwhile, officials said forensic teams, including the Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) teams, are investigating the case. Officials said Income Tax raids had been conducted at Roy's premises over the past two days. Bengaluru city police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said, "An incident occurred today (Friday) within the limits of Ashok Nagar police station, where the chairman of the Confident Group (CJ Roy) shot himself. The SOCO and FSL teams are investigating the matter. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead." He added, "The Income Tax team had been searching his premises for the past 2-3 days. A team from Kerala had also come. The police are in contact with the family members, who are currently not in India and are arriving by flight today. As of now, it appears to be a case of suicide. According to preliminary information, an IT raid has been underway for the past two days. There had been raids before as well. We are yet to have the details of that." Karnataka deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Friday that a high-level investigation would be conducted into the death of Confident Group chairman CJ Roy. 'I don't know if she is doing it willingly or not, but she is respecting the sentiments of the party. Party workers, MLAs -- everyone has requested her to take over. This will help keep the party united.' IMAGE: Sunetra Pawar doing an aarti of Ajit Pawar in 2023. Three days after Ajit Pawar's death in a tragic plane crash in Baramati, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is poised to make its most significant move yet in its efforts for stability. At a 2 pm meeting in Vidhan Bhavan, all 40 NCP MLAs from Maharashtra unanimously elected Sunetra Pawar, the party's only Rajya Sabha MP, as leader of the NCP legislative party; she will be sworn in as deputy chief minister by 5 pm. Key Points NCP MLAs unanimously elect Sunetra Pawar as legislative party leader. Sunetra Pawar will be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman deputy chief minister at 5 pm. Party leaders dismiss rumours of dissent, defections, or Sharad Pawar being sidelined. MLAs say Ajit Pawar would have supported Sunetra Pawar's elevation to keep the NCP united. Despite rumours of dissenting votes and defections, party MLAs say the decision indicates a unified and urgent course of action that they believe that Ajit Pawar would have supported himself. A 2 pm Meeting Meant to End Speculation By the time the clock struck 2 pm at the Vidhan Bhavan on Saturday, the chamber once occupied by Ajit Pawar witnessed his wife being elected as leader of the party he has always been a part of. The 40 NCP MLAs gathered to elect a new leader of its legislative party in the Maharashtra assembly, a Constitutional post left vacant after Pawar's tragic death in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28. "This is a meeting to elect our group leader, and all NCP MLAs will attend," Sana Malik, the NCP MLA from Anushakti Nagar in Mumbai, said before the meeting. "Sunetra Vahini will be unanimously elected. Party president Sunil Tatkare has called the meeting." The urgency of the meeting, leaders insist, reflects the urgent necessity to maintain unity and scotch rumours about the impending split in the party. "Yesterday, the entire family was busy in rituals," Malik said, referring to Ajit Pawar's asthi visarjan (immersion of the ashes in the river). "But we are proud that Maharashtra will have its first woman DCM, and that too from the party led by Ajit Dada." No Objection, Total Unanimity IMAGE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah offers his condolences to NCP Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar in Baramati, January 29, 2026. Photograph: @AmitShah X/ANI Photo "There is only one name, and no dissent," Prakash Solanke, the NCP MLA from Majalgaon in Beed, spelled it out in detail. "All the 40 NCP MLAs will be attending the meeting in Ajit Dada's chamber," Solanke said before the meeting. "The only agenda is to fill the position of leader of the legislative party that fell vacant due to Ajit Dada's tragic death." The outcome, he said, is already clear. "There is only one name the party has unanimously decided on -- Sunetra Vahini. There is no objection. We will elect her unanimously and inform the government." Solanke also dismissed suggestions that Sunetra Pawar was being forced into the role. "The media should stop speculating. There is no pressure on her. Party workers, MLAs -- everyone has requested her to take over. This will help keep the party united," he said. "I don't know if she is doing it willingly or not, but she is respecting the sentiments of the party." Babasaheb Patil, the MLA from Ahmedpur in Latur, put it more simply: "We will meet at 2 pm and unanimously elect Sunetra Vahini as our leader." Rumours of Dissent, Firmly Rejected As the meeting approaches, rumours of internal unease have only grown louder -- particularly about senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal being unhappy with the speed of the transition and with former Rajya Sabha MP and a close confidante of Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, and the NCP's Maharashtra chief Sunil Tatkare taking the lead in pushing Sunetra Pawar's name. Diliprao Bankar, the NCP MLA from Niphad in Nashik, dismissed the talk outright. "Rubbish. Media speculation," he said. "We will reach Mumbai and at the legislative party meeting we will give our stamp of approval to Sunetra Vahini's name. The rest is baseless speculation." Bankar also rejected the claim that Sharad Pawar is being sidelined. "Nothing of that sort is happening," he said, insisting that the party's decisions were being taken collectively. 'Ajit Dada Would Have Supported This' IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde meet Sunetra Pawar in Baramati on Wednesday, January 28. Photograph: ANI Photo Behind the scenes, leaders admit that conversations have been sensitive and measured. One NCP MLA, who did not wish to be named, said discussions had taken place keeping the larger picture in mind. "Our leaders held discussions in this atmosphere (just two days after Pawar's death on January 28 when a closed door meeting was held and it was decided to name Sunetra Pawar as the next DCM)," the MLA said. "Probably Praful Patel might have spoken to Pawar Saheb." Referring to Bhujbal's press conference, the MLA added, "That was his reaction. What can I say about it?" But the reasoning, the MLA said, was straightforward. "Where is the question of sidelining Sharad Pawar Saheb? An important post in the Vidhan Sabha has fallen vacant and it is urgent that we fill it." Then comes the line that captures the party's mood: "Even Ajit Dada would be happy to see her become the DCM. Even he would have supported such a decision. It is important to keep the party united and focused in this hour of crisis and tragedy." At 5 pm, when Sunetra Pawar takes oath at Raj Bhavan, she will not just create history but would have also put to rest wild speculations about a possible split in the NCP. Sunetra Pawar on Saturday became the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and was allotted excise, sports, minority development and Aukaf departments, but not finance and planning which her late husband Ajit Pawar held. IMAGE: Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administers to the oath of office to Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar. Photograph: Sahil Salvi Key Points Sunetra Pawar sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman deputy chief minister. She was allotted excise, sports, minority development and Aukaf departments. Finance and planning department, which her late husband Ajit Pawar held, was not allocated to her. She has resigned her RS membership and is expected to contest byelection from Baramati. The brief swearing-in ceremony at the Lok Bhavan in Mumbai took place three days after Ajit Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party president and a deputy chief minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' government, died in an air crash in Baramati on January 28. Finance and planning department was not allocated to her, indicating that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will hold the charge of the crucial portfolio and present the Budget next month. Sunetra Pawar, 62, has resigned her Rajya Sabha membership. She is not a member of either house of the state legislature at present, and is expected to contest the byelection to the Baramati assembly constituency represented by her late husband. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to Sunetra Pawar, expressing confidence that she will work tirelessly for welfare of the people and carry forward her late husband's dream. Sharad Pawar's family skips ceremony After taking the oath of office, Sunetra, a commerce graduate born into a political family who mostly stayed away from politics until 2024 (when she contested the Lok Sabha election from Baramati against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule and lost), vowed to carry forward her husband's people-centric legacy and work with a sense of duty to serve the state. Ajit Pawar's commitment to duty, spirit of struggle and honesty towards the people would remain her guiding strength, she added. Besides Sunetra Pawar's younger son Jay Pawar and his wife, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal were present at the ceremony where she was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Acharya Devvrat. Nobody from party patriarch and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar's family were present. NCP leaders mum on unification The NCP, which elected her as the new leader of its legislature wing earlier in the day, remained tight-lipped about the proposed merger of the two factions. Speaking to reporters in Baramati in the morning, Sharad Pawar said he learnt about the swearing-in from the news, and he had not been consulted about Sunetra Pawar's decision to join the state cabinet. It was his late nephew Ajit's wish to unite the two factions, and 'now it is our wish that his wish should be fulfilled', Pawar said, while admitting that the process might hit a roadblock due to his sudden death. Ajit Pawar and NCP-SP leader Jayant Patil had been holdings talks on the merger roadmap, Sharad Pawar revealed. But while NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare maintained silence on the issue, Union minister Piyush Goyal in an interview to PTI said he did not expect the merger of the two NCPs to take place. The leadership of the NCP has passed on to Sunetra Pawar and Praful Patel has been appointed its national president, Goyal said, adding that Sharad Pawar had lost the people's trust and vote. The NCP's legislature wing will hold a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon where she would be named as its leader, state minister and senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde meet Sunetra Pawar, in Baramati, January 28, 2026. Photograph: / Rediff.com Key Points Sunetra Pawar is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature and was elected to the Rajya Sabha. The NCP legislature wing will hold a meeting to name her as its leader. Speculation about a merger between NCP factions arose after Ajit Pawar's death, but Sharad Pawar's family denies knowledge of her decision to join the BJP-led government. The BJP has pledged its support for the NCP's decision regarding the Deputy Chief Minister post. Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar, who is all set to be sworn in as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister replacing her deceased husband and NCP chief Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet, reached Mumbai on Saturday. She reached Devgiri, the official residence of her late husband in south Mumbai, in the wee hours, accompanied by son Parth. The 62-year-old leader, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon, and is all set to take oath as Maharashtra's first woman deputy CM. The talk of the imminent merger of NCP and the faction headed by party founder Sharad Pawar was gaining ground following Ajit Pawar's death in an air crash on Wednesday, but sources in NCP-SP and Sharad Pawar's family said they were not privy to her decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti government. "The NCP (SP) leadership and Sharad Pawar's family members were completely in the dark about her plans," a source said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP, which heads the ruling alliance Mahayuti, would support any decision taken by the family and party of late Ajit Pawar. "The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take for the post of deputy chief minister, and we will support the decision. We are standing behind the family of Ajit Dada and the NCP," the CM told reporters in Nagpur on Friday. Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the Lok Sabha elections that year, she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husband's party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle. Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha. The NCP's legislature wing will hold a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon where she would be named as its leader, state minister and senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said. Newly-appointed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Saturday said she would carry forward the legacy and ideals of her late husband Ajit Pawar, describing his teachings on duty, struggle and commitment to the people as her guiding force. IMAGE: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar takes oath of office at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai. Photograph: Sahil Salvi Key Points Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the first woman deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. She pledges to continue the work and ideals of her late husband, Ajit Pawar. Her focus will be on serving farmers, workers, women, youth, and the marginalised. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to Sunetra Pawar. In a post on X, Pawar said Ajit Pawar devoted his entire life to farmers, workers, women, youth and the marginalised, and gave society a mantra of purposeful living. Accepting the responsibility of the deputy chief minister's post while remaining steadfast to the ideals of Shivaji, Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar filled her with deep emotion, she said. While his untimely demise had caused immense grief, Pawar said the values he imparted, a sense of duty, the strength to struggle and accountability towards the people, would remain her true support. She pledged to work with unwavering honesty to realise his dream of a just, egalitarian and developed Maharashtra. Modi extends best wishes to Sunetra Pawar The Deputy CM said the love and support shown by the people of Maharashtra in this difficult period was her biggest strength, and asserted she would move forward with renewed hope while keeping Ajit Pawar's thoughts alive. Responding to a post on X by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said his blessings were a source of inspiration. The PM's words had strengthened her confidence as she began a new responsibility in the service of Maharashtra and reinforced her resolve to work honestly and with dedication for public welfare, Pawar said. Modi had extended his best wishes to Sunetra Pawar, who became the first woman deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. 'Best wishes to Sunetra Pawar Ji as she begins her tenure as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the first woman to hold this responsibility,' Modi said in a post on X. 'I am confident she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state and fulfil the vision of the late Ajitdada Pawar,' the prime minister said. Ajit Pawar was killed along with four others after a Learjet 45 aircraft they were travelling in crashed at Baramati, his hometown in Baramati, on January 28. Sunetra Pawar (62) was on Saturday sworn in as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. She was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a brief ceremony at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai. Earlier in the day, she was elected as the state NCP legislature party leader. Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar Maharashtra unit president Shashikant Shinde on Saturday said his party chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders had no prior knowledge about the decision that Nationalist Congress Party's Sunetra Pawar would take oath as the state deputy chief minister. IMAGE: Maharashtra Deputy CM greets Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Eknath Shinde after taking oath at Lok Bhavan, on Saturday. Photograph: Sahil Salvi Key Points Shashikant Shinde claims Sharad Pawar was unaware of Sunetra Pawar's appointment as deputy chief minister. Discussions about unifying the two NCP factions had taken place prior to Ajit Pawar's death. The NCP-SP plans to continue discussions with leaders from both sides to determine the next course of action. Sunetra Pawar (62), wife of Ajit Pawar who died in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28, was on Saturday sworn in as the first woman deputy CM of Maharashtra. Addressing reporters, Shinde said, "There had been discussions and meetings on the two NCPs coming together. But Ajitdada is no more. Some broad positions had been discussed earlier. Now, we will discuss what needs to be done and then make a decision. How others respond is their call." On questions over the apparent haste in conducting Sunetra Pawar's swearing-in ceremony, Shinde said the answers should come from her family, senior party leaders, or the chief minister and his colleagues. "Ajit Pawar's passing is a great loss to Maharashtra. When the state is in mourning, why this decision was taken is not known to us. They will have to explain it," he said. Sharad Pawar did not have prior knowledge about her swearing-in, Shinde said. Discussions on NCP unification According to him, in the three months prior to Ajit Pawar's January 17 meeting with Sharad Pawar, eight to ten meetings had been held. "After the civic elections, a decision was taken to work towards unifying the two parties. This position was also conveyed to Sharad Pawar," he said. Referring to a video of the January 17 meeting between Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar that has gone viral, Shinde said it was held at Pawar senior's residence and not at (NCP-SP) leader Jayant Patil's house. "...Ajitdada said he had discussed the matter with the state president and others, and that he has taken the decision," Shinde said. Candidates were fielded in civic polls across Maharashtra on the party (NCP) symbol, and it was discussed that a decision on unification would be taken after the results were declared, he said. Asked whether Ajit Pawar wanted the two NCP factions to merge but faced resistance from senior leaders in his party, Shinde said he had no information on that. "After completing all processes, we will try to bring leaders from both sides together and hold discussions. Based on the decisions they take, we will decide our next course of action," he said. Sharad Pawar also claimed on Saturday that he had 'no idea' about the swearing-in of Sunetra Pawar, and said that his late nephew Ajit Pawar had finalised February 12 to announce the 'merger' between the NCP factions. "All discussions were held at their level, but it now appears the process may hit a roadblock following the accident," said the NCP-SP chief. Referring to the viral video, Kiran Gujar, a close associate and confidant of Ajit Pawar and the Pawar family in Baramati, confirmed that it was of the January 17 meeting in which the "merger" talks were being finalised. The video shows senior Pawar sitting at the centre while Ajit Pawar, NCP-SP leaders Jayant Patil, Rajesh Tope, Shashikant Shinde, Harshwardhan Patil, Rohit Pawar and Lok Sabha MP Amol Kolhe, holding discussions. "The meeting took place on January 17, and Ajit Dada told me about the outcome of the meeting on January 21," Gujar said Based on our combined experience of over 70 years in patient advocacy, pain management, and behavioral neurology, we are convinced that U.S. public perception and public policy on treatment of pain have been driven almost entirely by sociopolitical and legal factors. Seldom in recent years has policy been significantly influenced by science. The U.S. enjoyed a brief period of scientifically enlightened policy in the late 1990s through 2008. A large number of patients almost certainly benefited from more available pain treatment employing opioid analgesics. However, tragically, patients treated with opioids were soon to become legacy patients, prime targets for involuntary opioid tapering. University medical centers might have provided a scientifically based countervailing force to the various nonscientific influences through much more extensive education of students and residents on pain management. By and large, they failed to do so. Beginning around the year 2000, corrupt physicians collaborated with corrupt pharmacists to create pill mills. A 5-minute visit with a clinician could net someone a prescription for 1,000 pharmaceutical grade oxycodone 30 mg tabs, which could then be promptly filled. National drug distributors such as McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, and Cardinal Health, strongly supported the pill mills. Pharmaceutical companies, most notably Mallinckrodt, provided volume discounts to the distributors. A tsunami of opioids flooded the country and vulnerable populations evolved to become the heart of the modern phase of the opioid crisis. The decade from 2000 to 2010 was thus dominated by business corruption. In response, the DEA began prosecuting pill mills. However, the reason for DEA actions was not transparent; many (eventually most) pharmacists became fearful that dispensing opioids in any quantity would put them at risk. Thus from 2008 to the present, a pharmacy shuffle emerged: Patients who had an opioid prescription issued by a clinician (even one with excellent credentials) could not find a pharmacist who would fill it. This can be called the panic phase of the American opioid crisis. Well-intended pharmacists revealed that, after all, they are human beings, afraid for their own livelihoods. Pill mills were shut down by the states between 2010 and 2012, mainly by strengthening Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) and making PDMPs universal and ultimately highly interlinked between states. Closing of the pill mills should have ended debate about public policy bearing on opioid treatment of pain. The big problem had been solved. The rise of illicit opioids and political influence However, two other dynamics were percolating. The first dynamic was driven by the entrance (around 2007) of Mexican drug cartels selling high purity, cheap heroin to addicts who suddenly had been denied an opioid supply or couldnt afford the rising costs of pharmaceutical grade opioids. Several years later, Mexican cartels were joined by Chinese entrepreneurs selling illicit fentanyl. These two sources of opioids continue to dominate the illicit drug market. The second dynamic was driven by a group of anti-opioid zealots led by Andrew Kolodny: Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP). Dr. Kolodny proved to be a very skillful schmoozer. He leveraged his friendship with Tom Friedan, then Director of CDC, to arrange for major PROP representation on the advisory board supervising the development of 2016 CDC opioid guidelines. The result was a guideline that was based purely on belief and devoid of science, and one that ignored even the CDCs own data. This can be seen as the launch of the political phase in clinical management of pain. The enormous gravitas of the CDC (ill-deserved since the firing of its last independent director, David Sencer, in 1977) provided the basis for capturing the VA, the FDA, the DEA, pharmacists, health insurance companies, and state governments in a form of anti-opioid hysteria. This is the mature political phase of our opioid crisis. U.S. public health policies on pain management are now dominated by it. ADVERTISEMENT Well before 2016 CDC guidelines on pain management were published, health care providers became aware of the guidelines; their attorneys quickly perceived a potential new source of liability. If a patient died of anything and happened to be taking opioids and opioid dosage was not compliant with the CDC guideline, the family could potentially sue for wrongful death. So began the legal phase of the pain treatment crisis. This is where the rubber really meets the road. A health care provider can rescind a clinicians clinical privileges in a heartbeat. Buprenorphine and the science gap The rise of buprenorphine (usually prescribed as buprenorphine 8 mg/naloxone 2 mg (Suboxone) up to 3x daily) represents only the latest non-scientific wrinkle in the ongoing crisis. It appears that Bupe has become a favorite with clinicians because it is viewed as a safe harbor. They can treat pain but are highly unlikely to have their clinical privileges threatened or to incur DEA scrutiny. One could call this the sociological sub-phase. But what about the science? There is robust science supporting the use of buprenorphine (and methadone) as an adjunct in the rehabilitation of addiction. However, the science bearing upon efficacy for treating chronic pain, safety, and most importantly, dosing, is far less robust. Higher doses have been tested, mainly in European studies. They provide some evidence that higher doses may be more effective in pain control, but are also more fraught with side effects. We have long known from studies of other opioids that due to genetic factors, there is enormous inter-individual variability in side effects caused by any given opioid. The overwhelming likelihood is that buprenorphine has more similarities to other opioids than differences. Doses required to control pain vary enormously. Some patients will achieve adequate pain control when provided the standard Suboxone regimen. Clinicians see plenty of others who tell us that the drug takes the edge off or that it is better than nothing. We have long known that opioid dosage required to achieve pain control may vary by a factor of as much as 15. A substantial quantity of this variability can be accounted for by genetically mediated differences in enzymes of the hepatic P450 system. There is also strong reason to suspect that there are substantial inter-individual differences in central nervous system signal transduction when an opioid binds to a receptor. It is also clear that suffering, which represents a pattern of neural activity in the orbitofrontal-limbic system of the brain, is the major factor that drives patient experience of pain and patient perception of pain control. There may be a substantial disconnect between pain signal and suffering. There is little published science that bears upon this. As an opioid, buprenorphine has pharmacodynamic effects: Patients experience withdrawal symptoms if the drug is tapered too precipitously. Clinicians have been taught about pharmacodynamics during medical school as far back as the 1970s. Unfortunately, many clinicians (most notably the authors of DSM-5), display confusion about the difference between pharmacodynamics effects and addiction, often conflating the two. The mechanisms underlying the two phenomena are vastly different. Thus, it seems fair to conclude that current buprenorphine practice, like opioid prescribing over the past 25 years, is not driven by science. Inadequate clinician training, corrupt business, fear, zealotry, political chicanery, health provider concern over legal liability, political institutional dynamics, and clinician and pharmacist sociology, coupled with the psychosocial/economic factors that drive people to addiction to illicit opioids, define current public health opioid policy. But science? Sorry but no. Richard A. Lawhern is a nationally recognized health care educator and patient advocate who has spent nearly three decades researching pain management and addiction policy. His extensive body of work, including over 300 published papers and interviews, reflects a deep critique of U.S. health care agencies and their approaches to chronic pain treatment. Now retired from formal academic and hospital affiliations, Richard continues to engage with professional and public audiences through platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and his contributions to KevinMD. His advocacy extends to online communities like Protect People in Pain, where he works to elevate the voices of patients navigating restrictive opioid policies. Among his many publications is a guideline on opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain, reflecting his commitment to evidence-based reform in pain medicine. Stephen E. Nadeau is a behavioral neurologist. PRAGUE -- New Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's government has signaled interest in repairing ties with Beijing after years of strained relations. But as it does so, it's also carefully calibrating Prague's next steps with how US President Donald Trump approaches China -- and how much room Washington leaves its allies to maneuver. That was underscored in a mid-January phone call between Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and the US ambassador to the Czech Republic, Nicholas Merrick, according to two Czech Foreign Ministry officials who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity. Macinka, they said, outlined Prague's early thinking on China and, as a courtesy, conveyed that Babis -- who returned to office in December to top off his political comeback -- would not travel to Beijing before Trump does in an expected visit slated for April. One Czech Foreign Ministry official told RFE/RL the government is operating on the assumption that the global order is consolidating around three major poles -- the United States, China, and Russia -- and that Prague's overriding interest is to remain firmly anchored in the American camp. "That means, above all, respecting Washington's desires on foreign policy," the official said. "But it doesn't mean ignoring China forever." The new balancing act reflects a deeper debate now unfolding across much of Europe where governments are grappling with how to secure investment, boost trade, and maintain economic growth in an era of tightening US-China rivalry. Leaders from Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, South Korea, and soon Germany, have visited Beijing recently to rekindle engagement with China after years of tensions as they weigh how much to hedge their ties with Washington over trade and geopolitical frictions. That tightrope is particularly sensitive in Central and Eastern Europe where China's steady support for Russia, despite its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has damaged its reputation in regional capitals. In response, Beijing has launched its own charm offensive, looking to deepen already warm ties with Hungary and Slovakia, while dangling new trade opportunities and investments in front of Romania and Bulgaria . "It's not just Prague; it's everyone across Central and Eastern Europe who is waiting for the signal from the US side on how to proceed," Katerina Prochazkova, an analyst at Sinopsis, a Prague-based think tank that tracks Chinese influence across Europe, told RFE/RL. From China's Gateway' To Taiwan's Closest European Partner For now, Czech officials say they're content to wait for Trump's next move and gauge what kind of space that leaves them for engagement with Beijing. But the desire for a more pragmatic China policy is strong within Babis's three-party coalition, which includes his ANO party, Macinka's populist Motorists for Themselves party, and the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), some of whom have spoken of the need to pivot from the previous government's close alignment with Taiwan and pursue warmer ties with Beijing. "It would be nonsensical for us to be absent from the Chinese market," Hynek Kmonicek, Babis's national-security adviser, told the Czech daily iDNES.cz during a January 13 interview. "Of course we have to go there in such a way that it is a safe version and beneficial for us." Kmonicek didn't elaborate on what those plans would be, but said renewed engagement with Beijing would not mean abandoning ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own. "When it comes to Taiwan, I wouldn't expect a big shift in substance from the new government," Zuzana Koskova, a China expert who leads the Red Watch Program at the European Values Center for Security Policy think tank, told RFE/RL. "The visibility of Taiwan in the Czech Republic, however, will be lower and this will shift from a values-based foreign policy because Taiwan is a democracy toward a pragmatic one about trade and investment opportunities." Relations between Prague and Beijing deteriorated in recent years under the previous Czech administration that favored close ties with Taiwan. In August, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it would cease engagement with Czech President Petr Pavel -- who holds an influential, but largely ceremonial role -- over his visit with the Dalai Lama in India. Pavel, a retired top NATO general, drew Beijing's ire after his election in 2023 when he broke with decades of diplomatic protocol and accepted a phone call from then Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen. During his tenure, Pavel has warned that China is an "assertive" actor looking to rebalance the global order in its favor and that Europe should move to lessen its economic dependencies on Beijing. That marked a turnaround from his predecessor, Milos Zeman, who was president from 2013 to 2023 over two five-year terms. Zeman courted stronger ties with China and famously offered his country as "China's gateway to Europe" during a visit to Beijing. As president he toed a pro-Beijing line on many human rights issues in hopes of attracting greater Chinese investment. Zeman even appointed Ye Jianming, a former chairman of CEFC China Energy, as his honorary economic adviser. The Chinese billionaire, who had spent more than $1 billion in deals in the Czech Republic, was detained in 2018 by Chinese authorities and his whereabouts are still unknown. Many of the deals under Zeman's tenure did not materialize or stalled in the years that followed. Taiwan, which is critical to global supply chains, has since become a larger investor than China in the Czech Republic as Taiwanese companies continue to expand their links to Europe. Babis's Domestic Focus How Babis, who was also prime minister from 2017-2021, engages with China may be highly influenced by domestic factors, analysts say. "The personality of Babis is very important here. He's very focused on domestic politics," said Koskova. "He did business with China before he went into politics and it wasn't a very positive experience for him." A billionaire with an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Babis has taken a populist approach to politics that propelled him to first become prime minister in 2017. That stint was marred by an investigation into allegations that one of his companies fraudulently obtained EU subsidies. Babis, who denied any wrongdoing, was eventually tried and acquitted, though the case re-emerged this year when a Czech municipal tribunal was ordered to re-examine it. Pavel, who decisively defeated Babis to become Czech president in 2023, had said the former premier needed to sort out ownership of his business empire to eliminate any conflicts, a dispute that intensified during government formation talks following the October 2025 parliamentary election. That standoff was settled when Babis publicly committed to transferring his business group to an independently governed trust in December. But both leaders have found themselves at odds again amid a new scandal around Pavel's refusal to appoint lawmaker Filip Turek to a cabinet position and subsequent allegations that Macinka attempted to blackmail the president over the decision. Macinka has rejected the blackmail allegations, but the crisis has engulfed Czech politics. With attention currently focused on scandal at home, Babis may look to make good on his campaign goal of bringing in greater investment to spur economic growth through a trip to Asia this summer, where his staff are looking to also include a stop in Beijing. That trip, which could also include visits to Singapore and Vietnam, would come after a prospective meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in April, and give Babis clearer signals on how to proceed as he courts new investments and trade openings. "When it comes to China, Babis is not like Zeman," Koskova said. "Of course he would be open to more investment, but the main thing is to not offend the Americans." Iran's foreign minister has signaled a readiness to resume nuclear talks with the United States, while once again drawing firm red lines around Tehran's missile program and defensive capabilities, as regional mediation efforts accelerate amid escalating threats from President Donald Trump. Speaking on January 30 in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran would be prepared to re-enter negotiations with Washington if talks were conducted on what he described as a "fair and equitable" basis. At a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Araqchi said Iran was open to "confidence-building" measures related to its nuclear program, but stressed that Iran's military posture was non-negotiable. "Iran's defensive capabilities and missiles will never be the subject of any negotiation," he said, adding that no direct talks between Tehran and Washington are currently planned. The remarks come as diplomatic activity across the region intensifies to prevent a direct USIran confrontation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call with Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian, offered Ankara's services as a "facilitator" between Iran and the United States. According to Turkey's presidency, Erdogan said Ankara was ready to help reduce tensions and resolve disputes, an offer that was followed by an in-person meeting later on January 30 between Erdogan and Araqchi. Iran's presidency said Pezeshkian told Erdogan that any successful negotiation would depend on the abandonment of "warmongering and threatening actions in the region." The presidency later said Pezeshkian told Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi in a call that Iran "has never sought, and in no way seeks, war and it is firmly convinced that a war would be in the interest of neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region." Meanwhile, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with Ali Larijani, a top Iranian security official, in Tehran and "reviewed ongoing efforts" to de-escalate tensions in the region, Qatar's Foreign Ministry said. Still, analysts say Tehran's position reflects longstanding rigidity rather than a meaningful shift. Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, argues that Iran's negotiating posture has remained unchanged since early 2025, despite mounting pressure. "The Islamic republic is neither able nor willing to learn how to deal with Donald Trump," Vaez told RFE/RL's Radio Farda, noting that other countries -- from NATO members to regional states -- have adapted their approach to Trump's confrontational negotiating style to advance their interests. Trump, for his part, has raised the stakes. On January 29, he said Iran must halt its nuclear program and stop "killing protesters," claiming those demands had already been conveyed to Iranian officials. Two days earlier, he announced that a "massive armada" was moving toward Iran, warning it could act with "speed and fury" if necessary, while expressing hope for a "fair deal" that would leave Iran without nuclear weapons. Germany-based political analyst Mehran Barati sees Washington pursuing a longer-term strategy aimed at weakening the Islamic republic rather than delivering a single decisive blow. "The United States wants to move forward step by step and weaken the establishment," Barati told Radio Farda, arguing that sustained military pressure, financial tracking of state assets abroad, and coordinated diplomatic action point to an effort to force change from within the system. Barati is skeptical that Turkish mediation or similar regional initiatives can prevent escalation. He argued that regional actors are driven primarily by their own interests, including fears of refugee flows and instability, rather than confidence that Tehran will alter its behavior. "Each has entered this affair with its own distinct aim," he said. "I do not think it is possible to prevent yet another confrontation." Vaez similarly warns that both sides are cornered. Trump's method, he says, is to apply maximum pressure and then settle for less while declaring victory. However, "there is no good option available to the United States, and no good option available to the Islamic Republic either." For now, he added, that leaves both locked in a stalemate. By Jonathan McCambridge, Press Association Three council workers have been attacked while on duty in Belfast City Centre. Detectives have appealed for information about the assaults which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning. A PSNI spokesperson said: We received a number of reports at around 12.40am that three men, believed to be council workers, had been attacked by two unknown males while carrying out their duties in the Little Donegall Street area. Appeal for information after assaults on council workers in Belfast City Centre. Details here: https://t.co/lVwG1uXacn pic.twitter.com/vPxy72dA3p Police Belfast City Centre (@PSNIBelfast) January 31, 2026 Officers spoke with all three of the injured men, who had been punched to the face and neck, with one of the men also sustaining an injury to his hand. It was reported that an unknown male had approached the council workers and began being verbally abusive towards them, before physically assaulting them. He was then joined by a second, unknown male, who also physically assaulted the men. Police said one of the suspects was described as being of slim build with blond hair and was wearing a grey tracksuit. All three injured men were treated in hospital for their injuries. Our council workers are a vital part of our community and assaults on them whilst doing their job will not be tolerated PSNI spokesperson The police spokesperson added: Our council workers are a vital part of our community and assaults on them whilst doing their job will not be tolerated. I would urge anyone who may have been in the area and witnessed this to come forward and assist us with our inquiries, which are ongoing. Anyone who has any information that might assist can contact police on 101, quoting reference number 61 of 31/01/26. Officials argue the Bill seeks to centralise regulation, stripping states of their existing powers and reducing state-level bodies to a purely advisory role. File Photo. Minister Khudian highlighted critical gaps and said there is no mechanism for compensating farmers in cases of crop failure. Farmers or Firms? Punjab Objects to Centre's Seeds Bill for Favoring Agri-Corporates Advertisement The Punjab Government has officially registered its opposition to the Union Ministry of Agricultures draft Seeds Bill 2025 and described it as a move that neglects small and marginal farmers. State Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that the department rejected the bill after a thorough review, asserting it prima facie favours large seed manufacturing companies. Minister Khudian highlighted critical gaps and said there is no mechanism for compensating farmers in cases of crop failure. A major point of contention is the recognition of seed trials conducted on foreign soil. The minister warned that allowing foreign-tested seeds into the Indian market without local multi-location testing under Punjabs specific agro-climatic conditions could facilitate the entry of genetically modified (GM) seeds. Furthermore, the Punjab government objected to the "zone-based" system, which fails to guarantee the state's representation in the Central Seed Committee. Officials argue the Bill seeks to centralise regulation, stripping states of their existing powers and reducing state-level bodies to a purely advisory role. Advertisement The states formal reply to the Centre warns that implementing the Bill in its current form could trigger widespread unrest among the farming community, who fear being left at the mercy of private corporations. Source: The Tribune Key practices recognised included the use of non-polluting transport, energy-efficient lighting, and rainwater harvesting. Satya Bharti School in Tungaheri, Ludhiana, was specifically recognised as a "Changemaker" in the primary category. File Photo. Hoshiarpur also maintained its dominance, retaining the "Best District" title for the second year in a row with 947 report submissions. National Green Honors: Punjab and Hoshiarpur Lead at CSE Awards Advertisement Punjab has clinched the "Best State" award for the third consecutive year under the Green School Programme (GSP), an initiative by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The state accounted for over 84% of the total submissions in audit registrations and report submissions across 28 states and union territories. According to the GSP Audit 202526 results, 6,264 schools from Punjab submitted audit reports, with 237 institutions earning the prestigious 'green' rating. Nationwide, 433 schools were honoured as the country's "greenest", meaning Punjab alone accounts for over 54% of the top-rated schools in India. Hoshiarpur also maintained its dominance, retaining the "Best District" title for the second year in a row with 947 report submissions. Advertisement CSE Director General Sunita Narain praised the initiative and said that the programme allows students to measure and benchmark their environmental footprint to make a visible difference. Tushita Rawat, programme manager at CSE, noted a growing trend among schools toward lower resource use and the adoption of conservation measures. The audit revealed that 86% of submissions came from government schools, highlighting their leadership in sustainability. Key practices recognised included the use of non-polluting transport, energy-efficient lighting, and rainwater harvesting. Satya Bharti School in Tungaheri, Ludhiana, was specifically recognised as a "Changemaker" in the primary category. Advertisement Source: The Times of India Romanias Strongest Trade Bank before WWII Marmorosh-Blank used to be one of Romanias strongest banking institutions before 1945 RRI Encyclopedia Steliu Lambru, 31.01.2026, 14:00 Marmorosh-Blank used to be one of Romanias strongest banking institutions before 1945. It functioned under two generations of bankers, the first being that of founders Iacob Marmorosch and Mauriciu Blank. The second generation was represented by Aristide Blank, the son and heir of Mauriciu Blank. Born in 1823 in Kolomea, which at that time was in Austria but today is a city in Ukraine, Marmorosch died in Vienna in 1905. He started as a money-changer and pawn-broker and in 1848 we found him in the commercial area of Bucharest, the Lipscani Street, where he started his career. His business partner, Mauriciu Blank, was born 25 years later in 1848, in Pitesti, the kingdom of Muntenia. After his period of studies in Vienna, Blank came back to Romania in 1863 and got hired by Marmorosch. Felicia Waldman is professor with the Bucharest University and wrote biographies of the Jewish people who lived in Bucharest. She has also followed the careers of the founders of the famous institution Marmorosch-Blank. Felicia Waldman: The bank was established in 1848 by Iacob Marmorosch, and in 1867 he hired Mauriciu Blank, who was only 15 at that time and he had just graduated from the Trade School in Vienna. Marmorosch actually hired Blank right when his bank and Mauriciu celebrated their 15th anniversaries. Mauriciu Blank was born in 1848, the year Marmorosch founded his bank. So, in 67 Marmorosch hired Blank and in 73 he got him as his partner and then he left him as the only owner of the aforementioned institution. This detail is very interesting and we dont know why Marmorosch made that decision as he used to have a family at that time, he had children, you know. People used to think he didnt have a family and that was the main reason for giving the bank to Mauriciu, whose actual name was Durrera el Blanco and he was a Sephardic Jew in spite of writing his name with a K. The Marmorosch-Blank was among the funders of Romanias war efforts during the countrys war of independence in 1877 and 1878. After the war it continued to provide credits for a series of development projects in various economic sectors such as road infrastructure, insurance, banks, public buildings. A very dynamic institution, the bank associated itself with its German, French and Hungarian counterparts. According to Felicia Waldman, the period when Mauriciu Blank joined the banks managing board was the institutions expansion peak but also the generational change. Felicia Waldman: He remained the only owner as early as 1900, but to honor the memory of Marmorosch, he continued to keep the institutions name unchanged. Back in 1905, the bank was changed into a joint stock company. Blank was also a shareholder in the biggest enterprises such as Vulcan and Luther. It got involved in funding public works, such as roads and railways, which, of course, contributed to the development of trade. In 1912, Mauricius son, Aristide Blank, and the banks director at that time, were invited to become part of the committee of founding the Academy of Economic Studies. Between 1915 and 1923, when it was the strongest trade bank in Romania, its head-offices that are still visible in the Doamnei Street were built. The banks second office, that was built around 1848 was in the Ghermani Inn. The bank also had a third office at Lipscani 8. Back in 1920, the bank founded the National Culture Graphic Workshops, which it sold to the Romanian state in 1930. In 1923 the bank used to have 25 branches in the Romanian kingdom and four abroad, in Paris, Istanbul, Vienna and New York. The Marmorosh-Blanks second generation of bankers included Mauricius son, Aristide, born in Bucharest in 1883. Aristide was a complex personality; besides his banking business, he was a patron of the arts, writer, owner of publications. A Liberal, Aristide was one of the funders of Romanias nationalist projects but he opposed the fascist far-right. A close friend to king Carol 2nd, he kept the control over his bank taken over by the Central Bank after the crash of 1931. Marginalized in the 1940s during the dictatorship of Ion Antonescu, Blank tried to kick-start a banking business after the war, but his efforts were blocked by the communist regime, which nationalized the economy back in 1948. Sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1953, he was allowed to emigrate five years later following a series of foreign interventions. After two years he died in Paris at the age of 77. Felicia Waldman: He was one of the initiators and founding share-holders of Air France and if we check the companys site, they admit that. Their webpage say the money came from the famous bank Marmorosch-Blank, initially via the French-Romanian Air Navigation Company, founded in 1920 by Aristide Blank and Pierre de Fleurieu. That was later turned into the International Air Navigation Company in 1925 and then Air France, after merging with four other companies in 1932 and its nationalization a year later. In 1922, the French-Romanian Air Navigation Company was to inaugurate the first inter-continental trade route Paris-Istanbul with a stopover in Baneasa. Marmorosch-Blank was the banking institutions, two generations of bankers created and used in keeping with the opportunities of their time. And through what it represented for Romania, it is one of the most consistent chapters in the history of the Romanian banking system. (bill) Astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet orbiting the nearby K-dwarf star HD 137010 after detecting a single, shallow transit in the archival data from NASAs Kepler extended K2 mission. HD 137010 is a K3.5V dwarf star located about 146 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. Its age is estimated to lie between about 4.8 and 10 billion years, and its low level of magnetic activity is consistent with an old, relatively quiet star. Also known as BD-19 4097, HIC 75398, 2MASS J15242123-1944215 or TYC 6179-1111-1, the star has a visual magnitude of 10.1, making it one of the brightest stars known to host an Earth-sized planet with temperate orbital properties. Designated HD 137010b, the newly-discovered planet was detected during K2 Campaign 15, when NASAs Kepler space telescope observed the parent star for nearly three months in 2017. Previous discoveries of Earth-sized planets in habitable zones are mostly around so-called red dwarfs, which are much smaller and dimmer than our Sun, said University of Southern Queensland astronomer Alexander Venner, first author of the study. Scientists have concerns that these planets might lose their entire atmospheres due to high-energy radiation from their host stars, leaving them uninhabitable to known life. In contrast, the host star of HD 137010b has properties much closer to our Sun, which makes it more likely that the planet could sustain an atmosphere based on current theoretical models. In the study, Dr. Venner and colleagues examined K2 data, nearby stellar light curves, archival imaging, radial velocity measurements, and astrometric data to assess the nature of the signal, which lasted about 10 hours. The checks strongly indicate that the transit occurred on the target star and is astrophysical in origin, rather than being caused by background contamination, a nearby eclipsing binary, or a solar system object. From the transit depth, the astronomers derived a planetary radius of about 1.06 times that of Earth. Based on the transit duration and stellar properties, they estimate an orbital period of roughly 355 days. At this distance from the host star, HD 137010b is estimated to receive roughly 29% of the stellar flux received by Earth from the Sun, placing it near the outer edge of the stars habitable zone. If HD 137010b has an atmosphere like that of Earth or Mars, it is likely to be colder than Antarctica, Dr. Venner said. But a thicker atmosphere could warm the planet enough to allow liquid water, which might be a good environment for life. While current generations of astronomical instruments cannot fully characterize this newly-discovered planet, it could become a prime target for future radial velocity instruments aiming to detect Earth analogues. Future space missions designed to directly image Earth-like planets, like the NASA Habitable Worlds Observatory, may also be capable of capturing images of HD 137010b. The discovery is reported in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. _____ Alexander Venner et al. 2026. A Cool Earth-sized Planet Candidate Transiting a Tenth Magnitude K-dwarf from K2. ApJL 997, L38; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/adf06f Prolific author Fern Michaels, "a mother of five in suburban New Jersey who responded to her husband's request to get a job by taking up writing, only to blossom into a bestselling author of more than 200 romances and thrillers," died last November at age 92, the New York Times reported. Michaels began her career writing with a partner, Roberta Anderson, but took legal control of the pen name (her real name was Mary Kuczkir) in 1989 and adopted it as her public persona in interviews. She sold an estimated 150 million books, according to Kensington Publishing, her longtime publisher. Her work has been translated into 20 languages. She was best known for the Sisterhood series, a collection of 36 romantic thrillers that began with Weekend Warriors (2003). Michaels credited a steely resolve that allowed her to launch a writing career in her 40s: "When my youngest went off to kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn't know how to do anything except be a wife and mother.... Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don't have that husband anymore." Although the couple never divorced, they separated in the early 1970s. She met Anderson, another suburban mother, while working part time in market research. They chose their pen name because Michaels liked the name Michael, and had a huge plastic fern in her living room. The Times wrote that "the duo worked odd jobs, including cleaning clogged drains and taking door-to-door surveys, before publishing the first Fern Michaels novel, Pride & Passion, in 1975.... Two years later, they achieved a commercial breakout with Captive Passions." "Fern's books became a safe place for women to find someone who not only understood what they were going through, but also celebrated them," said Esi Sogah, who edited several of her novels for Kensington. "She gave us a window into the world the way it could be, and showed us how to have a fun time doing it." After she took over the pen name, Michaels continued her relentless pace for decades. Even into her 90s, she typically published four books a year. She recently embarked on a new series, Twin Lights, and published the first installment, Smuggler's Cove, in August. Code Blue, the 37th Sisterhood novel, was published in December, and several more books are scheduled for publication in the coming year. "Is Fern Michaels a great writer? No," she wrote on her website. "She is however, one hell of a story teller. When people ask me what I do, I say, 'I scribble and tell stories.' It's a great way to make a living." L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables longed for friendship with a "kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul." It's the type of rare connection that ought to be cherished once discovered, and it's one that novelist Lynn Cullen depicts tenderly between photographer Eve Arnold and actress Marilyn Monroe in When We Were Brilliant. Professors Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf cultivate a similarly profound bond through the vigorous debate they present in Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian. After all, negotiating differences is key to any friendship, especially when cohabitating, as Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo learn in their winsome memoir Two Women Living Together. But it's also worth it, because, as the Anne Shirley-obsessed narrator of Virginia Kantra's novel Anne of a Different Island says: "All the likes and comments and shares in the world are no substitute for a good book. Or a true friend." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. An imposing sign and exposed pipeline off Arthur Kill Road may cause passersby to hesitate, but the danger has passed. Near Arthur Kill Road and Johnson Street, old orange and black signage reads: Warning Liquid Petroleum Pipe Line Do Not Anchor Or Dredge. The pipeline, owned by Georgias Colonial Pipeline Company, was recently spotted by a citizen who traversed near the waters edge. Surrounded by rocks, forgotten tires, and clusters of birds, the pipeline can be seen extending into the water, partially coated in what appears to be moss or algae. Off Arthur Kill Road in the South Shore, an exposed pipeline was discovered by a citizen. Courtesy of tipster The Advance/SILive.com reached out to the Colonial Pipeline Company to learn the pipelines status. The pipeline no longer transports petroleum products and is filled with inert, low-pressure nitrogen, a Colonial Pipeline Company spokesperson said. We are aware that a small portion of pipe is exposed during low tide and we continue to monitor its safe condition, the spokesperson added. This pipeline is not to be confused with the Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline owned by Williams and Transco, which will run along a 17.4-mile underwater stretch through the Raritan and Lower New York bays, passing Staten Islands shores. That pipeline will ferry gas across state lines to improve gas reserves for parts of New York City and Long Island. The gas itself will not be given to Staten Islanders, though National Grid will bump gas bills 3.5% for the borough to help pay for the pipeline. This, however, doesnt deter National Grid from their stance that the pipeline will help Staten Islanders in the long run. Currently gas is being shared across Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, a National Grid spokesperson said. The spokesperson also emphasized the possibility for $2.5 billion in energy savings for New Yorks downstate residents, like Staten Islanders, over the next 15 years. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Groundhog Day is Monday, Feb. 2, and that means Staten Island Chuck is getting ready to make his annual prediction The Groundhog Day ceremony, which is set to take place at the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton, will begin on Monday at 8 a.m. However, the ceremony will be closed to the public this year due to the weather. Fans of Chuck are invited to tune-in and watch the proceedings live on the Staten Island Zoos Facebook page. The Staten Island Advance/SILive will be on hand to cover the prediction. Youll be able to catch the ceremony live from our Facebook page. Chuck will make his grand appearance and determine his seasonal prediction at 8:30 a.m. Here is everything you need to know about Groundhog Day. 1. Shadow or no shadow? Every year on Feb. 2, for more than 120 years, Groundhog Day has held its tradition of assigning a groundhog to predict the remainder of winter. For more than 40 years, Staten Islands groundhog, Chuck, has carried out that duty. If the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, an early spring is expected. 2. The aged seers Since 1981, Chuck, also known as Charles G. Hogg, has been predicting the outcome of the upcoming season. Chuck has competed with his longtime rival, Punxsutawney Phil, who has been making predictions since 1886. Phil lives at Gobblers Knob, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Fans interested in seeing Punxsutawney Phil make his prediction can view it online. The livestream will begin at approximately 6 a.m. 3. The history of Groundhog Day The history of Groundhog Day is rooted in Christianity and traces back to the Christian holiday known as Candlemas. Every Feb. 2, Christians would bring candles to church to be blessed, believing the prayers bring blessings to their household for the rest of the winter. Clear skies on Candlemas were a sign of an extended winter. Over time, Germans adapted the tradition and determined that if the sun appeared on Feb. 2, a hedgehog would cast a shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. 4. Tracking Chucks predictions To determine whether Chucks forecast is accurate, the weather over the following six weeks is tracked. If the temperature rises above 40 degrees, the day is considered atypical. At the end of the six weeks, the total number of typical and atypical weather days is tallied. If the number of atypical days exceeds the number of typical days, it is deemed an early spring. If not, six more weeks of winter are expected. Chuck boasts an 85% accuracy rate from the last 20 years, according to 2025 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 5. Popular with politicians Over the years, Staten Islands groundhog, Chuck, has drawn visits from politicians and local officials during Groundhog Day celebrations. The annual ceremony has become a popular stop for public figures, with Chuck appearing alongside officials such as Gov. Kathy Hochul, former Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 6. Memorable moments Chuck has experienced a decade filled with memorable moments for a groundhog. In 2009, he made headlines for biting Bloomberg, setting the stage for even more dramatic events to come. In 2014, an incident occurred when de Blasio dropped a stand-in groundhog named Charlotte, adding to the already dramatic history of Chucks Groundhog Day appearances. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, is pictured as Staten Island Chuck breaks free during the Groundhog Day ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo on Sunday Feb. 2, 2014. (Advance/SILive.com | Anthony DePrimo) Following the incident, the Staten Island Zoo implemented a new safety policy, ensuring that only the official handler is permitted to hold Chuck STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. An update on a road widening project in Richmond Valley will be delivered during a Staten Island Community Board meeting this week, while another public meeting will address updates to board administrative rules and procedures. Below is a detailed list of all meetings planned by Staten Islands Community Boards, provided by representatives of each board. Community Board 1 Community Board 1 has no meetings planned next week. Community Board 2 Community Board 2 will host a meeting of its Law Committee on Thursday, Feb. 5, to review proposed changes to the boards Administrative Rules of Procedure. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., and will take place at Executive Suites at the Park, 900 South Ave., Bloomfield, in the third-floor conference room. Committee members are expected to discuss amendments to the boards bylaws, specifically those concerning the district managers authority over staff. The proposed changes have not yet been made public, but the review marks the next step in the ongoing effort to update and clarify internal governance practices. Community Board 3 Community Board 3 will hold two public meetings on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at its office at 1243 Woodrow Rd, Woodrow, on the second floor. A Traffic & Transportation Committee meeting and public hearing is set for 6:30 p.m., during which representatives from the Staten Island Department of Design and Construction and the city Department of Transportation are scheduled to present an update on the Richmond Valley Road Widening Project, which spans from Arthur Kill Road to Page Avenue. Staten Island elected officials have called on the city to begin designing and implementing a road widening project for the southern segment of Arthur Kill Road, calling the issue an urgent priority. A second public meeting, the Community Alliance Committee hearing, will begin at 7 p.m. That session will focus on New York State Liquor Authority applications for new and temporary retail permits. Applicants on the agenda include: Alati KN, Inc., 2286 Arthur Kill Rd, Huguenot Libro & Latte Inc., 125 Page Ave.,Richmond Valley Mansion Island Inc., 141 Mansion Ave., Great Kills Open to the public All Community Board meetings and meetings of their committees are open to the public. They provide an opportunity for residents to learn about happenings in their neighborhood and surrounding areas. Below is more information about the Islands three Community Boards: Community Board 1 Arlington Castleton Corners Clifton Concord Elm Park Fort Wadsworth Graniteville Grymes Hill Livingston Mariners Harbor New Brighton Port Richmond Randall Manor Rosebank St. George Shore Acres Silver Lake Stapleton Sunnyside Tompkinsville West Brighton Westerleigh The board chairman is Nicholas Siclari. The district manager is Joan Cusack. The telephone number is 718-981-6900. Community Board 2 Arrochar Bloomfield Bulls Head Chelsea Dongan Hills Egbertville Emerson Hill Grant City Grasmere High Rock Lighthouse Hill Midland Beach New Dorp New Springville Oakwood Ocean Breeze Old Town Richmond South Beach Todt Hill Travis The phone number is 718-568-3581. The chairman is Fred Guinta. The district manager is Debra A. Derrico. Community Board 3 Annadale Arden Heights Bay Terrace Charleston Eltingville Great Kills Greenridge Huguenot New Dorp Oakwood Pleasant Plains Princes Bay Richmond Valley Richmond Rossville Tottenville Woodrow The phone number is 718-356-7900. The board chairman is Diane Peruggia. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. According to groundhog lore, if the furry creature sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, six more weeks of cold, blustery winter are on the way. But, if no shadow is spotted, we can look forward to the early arrival of spring. The Staten Island Zoos most famous resident, Staten Island Chuck, has an accuracy rate of more than 85% since 1981 when it comes to predicting the arrival of spring, according to data. And officials at the West Brighton zoo tell us hes primed to give us a glimpse into our weather future on Monday, Feb. 2, Groundhog Day 2026. Despite New Yorks recent dangerous cold and wind chills, human weather forecasters at the National Weather Service are predicting sunny skies and a high of 32 degrees on Monday. Accuweather meteorologists are also calling for sunny skies on Monday, with the same high temperature. Residents should continue monitoring forecasts as the weekend approaches for any changes to the expected conditions, meteorologists warn. The Old Farmers Almanac has Monday looking cloudy and cold, with a chance of snow. No shadow equals early spring. Staten Islanders know the true forecaster is Chuck whos really been on a roll the past 16 years and well just have to wait for his 2026 prediction. In 2025, he was right on the money, predicting early spring. His prediction was followed by several days of warm weather within the next six weeks. And his early spring forecast in 2024 was also on cue. Chuck was last officially wrong in 2009, the same year he bit former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Worth noting: In 2017, students at PS 45 who tracked Chucks prediction said he was wrong that year, too. The Groundhog Day ceremony, which is set to take place on Monday, Feb. 2, at the Staten Island Zoo will be closed to the public this year due to the weather. New York City has seen arctic temperatures in recent days, after a significant storm dumped about a foot of snow on the borough last weekend. The ceremony will begin on Monday at 8 a.m. Fans of Chuck are invited to tune-in and watch the proceedings live on the Staten Island Zoos Facebook page. Chucks appearance and prediction are expected to occur at 8:30 a.m. The Staten Island Advance/SILive.com will also be on hand to cover the prediction. Youll be able to catch the ceremony live from our Facebook page. Those interested in seeing Punxsutawney Phil, Chucks main rival, make his annual prediction from Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, can view it online. The livestream will begin at approximately 6 a.m. A company that is being blamed for helicopter noise thats destroying the quality of life for Staten Islanders is mum on what theyve done or can do to improve the situation. A number of Staten Islanders have reached out the Advance/SILive.com recently to complain anew about persistent helicopter noise that disrupts their lives in the evening and nighttime hours. The issue first reared its head in 2024, with community residents and elected officials taking up the charge. But the clatter persists. Islanders say that air traffic websites show that helicopter company HeliNY, which flies nighttime sightseeing trips out of Linden Airport in New Jersey, regularly sends its choppers over Staten Island. HeliNY was also cited when Staten Island elected officials previously raised the alarm about the intrusive chopper flights. Irwin Baron of Great Kills said that he had complained to the Federal Aviation Administration about the noise. On a daily basis there is an abundance of helicopter activity especially between the evening hours of 8 p.m. to 12 a.m., he said. They fly very low and very near residential areas even blocks away. Baron continued, The activity is disturbing, loud and you can actually feel vibrations from their flyby. This has to be addressed immediately and action taken. Staten Islanders have complained that the persistent racket drowns out conversation and makes it difficult to enjoy their backyards and other outdoor spaces. One resident said that theyve taken to sleeping in their basement in order to escape the noise, while another said that the vibration from the rotors of the low-flying aircraft are enough to create ripples in the water of their pool. The FAA recently told the Advance/SILive.com that If helicopter pilots are following the rules, we cannot impose fines. The FAA suggested that irked Islanders file complaints with the agency. But William Mahoney said that complaining to the FAA is futile and that absolutely nothing has changed since the issue first surfaced here. Mahoney described the problem as a steady stream of helicopter onslaught. Around and around we go just like the blades on a helicopter, Mahoney told the Advance/SILIve.com. Having helicopters flying within 600 feet of our homes jeopardizes our safety and degrades our quality of life. And to think the tourism businesses make a profit off of this. The Advance/SILive.com reached out to more than one person at HeliNY about the new round of complaints, asking what the company had done or could do about the situation. HeliNY has not responded to the outreach. The FAA has said that helicopters typically fly over Staten Island using Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and just outside Newark Airport Class B airspace. When flying VFR, pilots are not required to be under air traffic control, according to the FAA. The FAA in addition does not assign specific routes or altitudes to pilots flying VFR outside of the Newark Class B airspace. Pilots often use visual cues such as landmarks, major roads, railways or waterways to navigate in the uncontrolled airspace. Pilots operating VFR use a see-and-avoid method to conduct their flights and the responsibility for flying neighborly resides with the pilot operating the helicopter, the FAA has said. HeliNY in 2024 told the Advance that their helicopters had previously been transitioning, or traveling through airspace, from Linden to the city over Staten Island because they were directed to do so by the air traffic control tower at Newark Liberty International Airport, which controls the airspace in question. HeliNY at the time said they were in talks to look at alternate transitions between Linden Airport and New York City. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Recent weeks have brought particularly cold weather to New York state and Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging residents to stay warm amid dangerously frigid conditions. This weekend, below-average temperatures and biting winds will result in sub-zero, feels-like temperatures throughout the state. Those who do not dress appropriately run the risk of suffering from hypothermia or frostbite. In addition to the cold, an offshore noreaster could cause gusty winds and minor coastal flooding to areas east of New York City Saturday night into Sunday night. This winter has been brutal, but we must keep ourselves prepared in order to stay safe, Hochul said. Accumulating snow and extreme cold poses a huge risk to those who may be out and about, so be sure to dress appropriately and have supplies on hand to keep yourself safe. With temperatures expected to remain below freezing, a Code Blue will remain in effect and local social services districts are required to take steps to ensure individuals experiencing homelessness have access to shelter and that shelter hours are extended. A cold weather advisory has been issued for the city by the National Weather Service due to this cold and will extend until 10 a.m. Sunday. The advisory warns that wind chills could result in feels-like temperatures of -5 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit. In anticipation of the extreme cold, the city will deploy 10 buses across the city to serve as warming shelters. There will be one bus on Staten Island, three in Manhattan and two in each of the other three boroughs from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Staten Island bus will be outside 18 Richmond Pl. in Richmond Valley, according to 311. Those in need of a warming space and food can also visit either NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Vanderbilt located at 165 Vanderbilt Ave. in Clifton from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., or they can visit Project Hospitality at 150 Richmond Terr. in St. George. For more information on warming centers visit https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-03702 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Staten Island residents should prepare for dangerously cold wind chills through Sunday morning. The National Weather Service has issued a cold weather advisory for Richmond County that remains in effect until 10 a.m. Sunday. According to the weather service, the combination of cold temperatures and increasing northerly winds will produce wind chills within advisory levels late Saturday night into Sunday morning. These cold wind chills could result in hypothermia if proper precautions are not taken. Residents should limit time outdoors and ensure they wear appropriate cold weather clothing, including hats and gloves. Wind speeds are expected to increase Saturday evening, with gusts reaching 30-40 mph by Sunday morning, particularly in coastal areas. A few gusts could approach 45 mph, though the weather service notes that wind advisory criteria are not expected to be met. The strongest winds will occur Sunday morning through early afternoon as a storm system strengthens offshore. Minor tidal flooding is possible Sunday into Monday along Staten Islands coastal areas due to the combination of spring tides and the offshore low pressure system. The extent of ice on area waters may limit flooding impacts. For New York City, temperatures will remain cold through the weekend with increasing northerly winds. Wind chills will be at or near advisory levels across the five boroughs. The extended forecast shows improving conditions by Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday, theres a chance of light snow developing late into Wednesday night across the New York City area. Residents should continue to monitor weather updates as the cold pattern persists through the weekend before moderating early next week. A weak pressure gradient is expected to bring relatively tranquil conditions by mid-week. A draft of this story was generated using AI. It was reviewed, edited and approved by Advance/SILive.com staff. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A massive effort is underway by the Department of Sanitation to melt the foot of snow that buried Staten Island and the rest of New York City. Melting machines are operating around the clock on Staten Island and throughout the five boroughs. The operations are conducted at eight sites, with one location each on Staten Island and in the Bronx, and two locations each in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. The Staten Island site is located in Midland Beach. Sanitation started melting operations on Tuesday evening and the effort has been going full steam since Wednesday morning. Citywide, more than 40 million pounds of snow have been liquified in the melters. The snow is deposited into the melters and each machine is able to liquefy 60 tons, or over 120,000 pounds, in an hour. (Dennis Rees for the Advance/SILive.com) As of Friday morning, over 5.5 million pounds of snow was melted on Staten Island. The totals climb every hour in an effort that probably will last for weeks. Tour of melt hub in Midland Beach Vincent Gragnani, a Sanitation spokesman, gave the Advance/SILive.com an exclusive tour of the melting operation at Midland Beach. Snow is being trucked to a parking lot at Capodanno Boulevard and Hunter Avenue, where three melting machines are located. Two melters are used at a time while one is kept as a spare. By Friday morning, about 645 truckloads of snow had been delivered to the lot. The initial push was to collect snow from schools and hospitals, but the cleanup has been extended to residential and commercial areas. Staten Island got hit especially hard, and we cant wait around for Mother Nature to melt this, Gragnani said, noting that all borough Sanitation garages measured 12 inches of snow as of Monday morning. Front loaders are being used to lift snow from huge piles. The snow is deposited into the melters and each machine is able to liquefy 60 tons, or over 120,000 pounds, in an hour. These are running constantly and they probably will be for a very long time given that these sub-freezing temperatures arent going away anytime soon, Gragnani said of the melters. The water flows directly from each machine into the sewer. Midland Beach was chosen partly because we have plenty of space here, Gragnani said. Were grateful on Staten Island to have the space, he said. You can see we have plenty of space to put the snow and run these operations. Trucks and front-end loaders can move back and forth freely. Snow is being trucked to a parking lot at Capodanno Boulevard and Hunter Avenue, where three melting machines are located. Two melters are used at a time while one is kept as a spare. (Dennis Rees for the Advance/SILive.com) Attacking storm on all fronts Gragnani noted that since the beginning of the storm, about 2,500 Sanitation workers have been on duty for each 12-hour shift citywide. Their efforts have been supplemented by temporary workers known as emergency snow shovelers. At least 572 Sanitation workers have been on duty on Staten Island, working 12-hour shifts during the storm and throughout the clean-up operation. Weve attacked the storm on all fronts, Gragnani said. We start out by pre-brining roadways, then we salted the roadways, then we plowed. Melters are being used on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in a parking lot at Midland Beach at Capodanno Boulevard and Hunter Avenue. (Dennis Rees for the Advance/SILive.com) Focus shifts to pedestrians In the last few days, workers have been focusing on snow removal at crosswalks, bus stops and fire hydrants. We know that pedestrians rely on this infrastructure every day to get to work and need to be safe, Gragnani said. Despite the deluge of snow, workers also have been picking up about 24 million pounds of trash citywide, albeit with some delays. Commuters in particular have complained about being snowed in at bus stops. The responsibility for clearing bus shelters falls to the city Department of Transportation. Adjacent property owners are supposed to clear not only their own sidewalks but also the areas around bus sign posts. Some property owners have not been complying. Sanitation workers have been out there attacking all of the bus stops, Gragnani said, clearing not only all the space around the bus stop, but also a path between the bus stop and the street. Property owners have been legally required to clear their sidewalks since Monday at 12:30 p.m. Since then, about 400 summons have been issued each day citywide to violators. Contact 311 to report snow-covered sidewalks. Advertisement Exclusive BusinessWorkplaceAviation Air traffic controller shortages trigger calls for government monitoring Chris Zappone February 1, 2026 9:59am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Air traffic officials have met with airlines wanting urgent fixes to Sydneys costly airport control problems, which triggered a rash of flight cancellations last month, but the industry is still in wait-and-see mode for a solution. Professor Graeme Samuel, head of airline industry group A4ANZ, described the meeting as highly productive. But well just have to wait and see what the outcome will be, he said. Unplanned staffing shortages at Airservices Australia in Sydney caused disruptions in September and November. Alamy Stock Photo Samuel described the January 28 meeting in cautious terms, while stressing that the cost of ongoing problems with air traffic control-related delays was enormous. Advertisement More than 50 flights at Sydney Airport were cancelled on January 15, stranding about 10,000 passengers. In total, 200,000 passengers flights were delayed both in Sydney and beyond. Airservices Australia said at the time the problem stemmed from local staff ... on short-notice sick and carers leave. Airlines were forced to dispatch alternative planes, rebook passengers and pay for hotel rooms for customers, staff and cabin crew. Sydney Airport has been wracked by delays. The uproar prompted A4ANZ, the body representing Australias airlines, to request a meeting with Airservices Australia boss Rob Sharp. Advertisement Airservices Australia said the meeting covered recent disruptions to our air traffic control services. While Airservices overall service performance is at its strongest in more than three years, we recognise resilience remains below where it needs to be in some locations, particularly Sydney, a spokesperson said. The persistent troubles among Sydneys air traffic controllers have prompted airlines to push for outside scrutiny. A spokesperson for Sydney Airport said it has about 900 aircraft movements daily, so even small disruptions to air traffic control can have a major impact on passengers and airlines. Were supportive of all initiatives to improve productivity and the reliability of Airservices operations. Advertisement Related Article Updated Air travel Dozens of flights cancelled at Sydney Airport amid critical staffing issue A comprehensive fix to the air traffic control issues looks elusive. The forthcoming aviation consumer rights ombuds scheme will address airlines but will not tackle government-related bodies in airports that can affect passengers experiences. Australian Airports Association chief Simon Westaway said: We would like the ombuds to be able to monitor Airservices so that if air services operations are contributing to customer impact, then its monitored and its called out, certainly in the data. Westaway stressed the airports associations constructive relationship with Airservices, including Sharp, adding that he believed the controller problems were a contingency issue and it relates to work practices. Advertisement The contingencies around sick leave management or when key personnel call in sick on a particular day or days ... that level of back-up obviously isnt consistently there, Westaway said. Unplanned staffing shortages at Airservices Australia in Sydney also caused disruptions in September and November, prompting flight delays. Airservices Australia controllers. AARON FRANCIS Airservices Australia, which is backed by the government and funded by charges to the aviation industry, produces regular performance updates. Its data shows an average of 6.5 cancellations per month linked to air traffic control across major airports in 2024-25, below its stated target of less than 14. Within that figure, 5.7 cancellations were the monthly average in Sydney, with the remainder in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Advertisement On average, there were 18 hours per month of ground delays linked to air traffic control across the four major airports, with Sydney again accounting for lions share: 12.6 hours. Perth accounted for 4.7 hours and Melbourne made up 0.4 hours, while Brisbane made up 0.3. The goal for ASA was an average of less than 67 hours per month of delays linked to its services. Australian Airports Association chief executive Simon Westaway. James Brickwood In its federal budget submission, Australian Airports Association noted that while staffing rates had improved post-COVID for air traffic controllers, maintaining staffing levels to deliver consistent daily service remains an ongoing challenge, particularly at major, metropolitan and regional airports. Under forthcoming legislation, air traffic control, border control and biosecurity will be excluded from an aviation consumer ombuds oversight. In December, the association proposed that government-run parts of airports be monitored for performance without financial determinations against agencies because of how much they impacted passenger experience. Advertisement Related Article Opinion Air travel Theres a big change coming to Australian airports, but its not enough Ben Groundwater Travel writer The association wants the government to mandate that more of the revenue generated from an existing passenger movement charge be used to improve border infrastructure, which has become a source of irritation, if not alarm. More of the $70 passenger movement charge levied on travellers departing Australia for destinations abroad should be directed at improving the troubled border experience, its submission to the government said. If the PMC remains unchanged at $70 per passenger, there will be a $380.41 million increase in PMC revenue collected in FY2030 compared with FY2025, an increase driven by growth alone. An additional 5 per cent of the total PMC revenue each financial year should be specifically reallocated to address and modernise border infrastructure at existing and redeveloping international airport gateways, the AAA said in its submission. Advertisement The AAA is also calling for more passport control self-service kiosk machines to be deployed and functional at international gateways. It wants the digitisation of the Australian traveller declaration card to be fully funded, to replace the much-loathed paper cards that passengers must complete upon arrival in Australia. The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning. Advertisement CultureLive reviewsSydney live reviews Divinyls legend Chrissy Amphlett lives on in potent and moving performance Shamim Razavi John Shand and Updated February 2, 2026 4:35pm ,first published January 31, 2026 12:05pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A CABARET Amplified Belvoir St Theatre, January 30 Until February 8 Reviewed by JOHN SHAND Long after Chrissy Amphletts band Divinyls ground to a halt, she imagined doing a one-woman theatrical show about herself and her songs. Having spent her Divinyls career playing a fiery, racy, pouting, unpredictable schoolgirl, she wanted a character this time, too, reportedly settling on a crow. It was never to be. She died of breast cancer before the half-formed dream took flight. Enter Sheridan Harbridge, Glenn Moorhouse and Sarah Goodes. Together, they envisaged a ghost of the show Amphlett had contemplated, subtitling it The Exquisite Rock and Rage of Chrissy Amphlett. Harbridge wrote it, with Moorhouse as musical director and Goodes directing Harbridges performance. Theyve done a storming job. Sheridan Harbridge as Chrissy Amphlett in a potent performance. Jade Ellis Harbridge doesnt become Chrissy, in the sense that the story is told in the third person, but Amphletts spirit is alive and living dangerously inside Harbridges performance. Advertisement What a range the latter has, from being the best Blanche Ive seen in A Streetcar Named Desire, to now exploding off the stage with a singing voice I didnt know she had, that could be brutally powerful when required, yet also sweetly soulful. Harbridges voice can be brutally powerful but also sweetly soulful. Jade Ellis Beyond the potency of her performance and the engaging storytelling, the music and spoken word are interwoven so that a Divinyls hit might start, shudder to a stop while Harbridge tells us more, pick up again, and repeat this process. Its done so well that youre not cursing the fact that they wont get on with the song; youre engrossed in an ever-growing tension that finally finds release when the song takes centre-stage. Sheridan Harbridge in full flight. Jade Ellis Advertisement Another strength is the music itself, with Moorhouse (on guitar) joined by Clarabell Limonta (keyboard), Ben Cripps (bass) and Dave Hatch (drums). I never particularly rated Divinyls as a band, compared with their songs and Amphletts performance of them. Moorhouse and company have knocked some bricks out of the wall of sound and replaced them with nuance, without losing the kick to the surging chorus of, say, Boys in Town. Related Article Whats on Chrissy Amphlett wrote a show in which she was a crow. Years after her death, her vision lives on The fearless Harbridge, meanwhile, doesnt just enter the audience, she invades it. Shes also funny, and the humour makes for a completeness of emotional impact, given the inherent sadness of a story of excess, of Amphletts repeatedly having to smash the same glass ceiling, and then suffering multiple sclerosis before the cancer hit. Perhaps its also so moving because the show exudes such immense affection for its subject. If the intensity of grip is released a little in the final phase, its certainly reasserted when they launch into I Touch Myself, the song that made the teenage Harbridge a fan. Advertisement I suspect Amphlett would approve. Shed have appreciated the absence of hagiography and sugar-coating, and she may have recognised a fellow traveller in the high-stakes game of being audacious on stage. She may have even stood up with the rest of us at the end. MUSIC The Whitlams and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra State Theatre, January 31 Reviewed by SHAMIM RAZAVI The Whitlams were early adopters of the now-fashionable and symphony trend, returning to it intermittently over the past 20 years. It is a format that frontman Tim Freedman freely admits can be reduced to some strings on top of our chords a reduction he spends the evening trying to disprove. His counterargument opens convincingly with Beauty in Me with the two elements in balance: the orchestra afforded the space to carry the opening lines on their own, with Freedman on piano and daughter Alice on vocals, joining in as the song unfolds. This sets up the template for the night: agreeable, well-balanced and designed to amplify the bands hallmark pretty tunes. Tim Freedman. Sitthixay Ditthavong Advertisement The effect is more interesting when inverted, the swelling strings pulling counter to the sardonic lyrics of Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent, heightening the sleight-of-hand tricksy of the original. The same effect is even more powerful on Melbourne, the tale of righteous outsider contrarianism that gains bite when delivered with the buttoned-up formality of the symphony. Twenty years of orchestral toying has thrown up the occasional gem, chief among them Out the Back, co-written with distinguished composer Peter Sculthorpe. No mere rearrangement for strings, this is a genuine three-way conversation between guitarist Jak Housdens languid line, Freedmans lazy lyrics and the orchestras expansive response. On record, it is clever and tight live, it takes beautiful flight. The Whitlams were an early adopter of the symphony concert and they use the format well. Sitthixay Ditthavong The arrangement of Up Against the Wall by the masterful Benjamin Northey similarly transcends the strings-atop-chords formula: a meaningful reworking rather than just pretty ornamentation. In both pieces, the orchestral accompaniment doesnt merely add depth but illumination, drawing out the Irish folk-inflected lines that underpin so much of the Whitlams songwriting. All of which is to say that too much of the remainder amounted to an amiable but unrevealing run through the bands back catalogue. Sure, their hits are still fabulous and Blow Up the Pokies sounds even better with 30 more musicians whirling away. For all we are given, we are left wanting: more reimagining, less reupholstering. Advertisement MUSIC The Edge of Zen: Riley Lee, Satsuki Odamura, Chroma Quartet Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House, February 1 Reviewed by PETER McCALLUM I wont attempt to define the Zen that this concert placed itself at the edge of, but I imagine one knows when one is near it. The Zen-like music, from Scottish, Australian and Japanese composers, explored states of mind that were quiet and reflective and marked by a vivid sense of presence and sometimes pain. Koto player Satsuki Odamura set the tone with Letter from a Strangers Childhood by Robin Williamson for solo bass koto. Its simple melody moved around the scale thoughtfully, hastened by occasional impulsive gestures and quivering pauses, as though to recover a breath or thought. Musicians performing The Edge of Zen at the Utzon Room. Jay Patel Voice of the Rain by Ross Edwards for shakuhachi (Riley Lee) and string quartet (Chroma Quartet: Harry Bennetts, Victoria Bihun, Elizabeth Woolnough and Eliza Sdraulig) began by blending a freely floating solo on the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) with a quiet wispy fifth on cello, a sonority that returned at the close. Advertisement Lees playing was ineffably delicate, nurturing pure tones inflected by microtonal pitch bending and ornamental vibrato, as though seized by deep regret. The music to this point had largely explored unmetered rhythms but Haru no Umi (Spring Sea) for koto and shakuhachi, by blind Japanese composer Michio Miyagi, juxtaposed contemplative sections where the ornamentation drove the music to brief moments of madness, with imitative rhythmic passages, reaching a plateau of suspended time and arresting strangeness in the upper register. Anne Boyds Alchera-Jugulba for shakuhachi and string quartet entered a lonely place with sustained shakuhachi tones against plucked notes on strings, which sometimes become unsettled like a chime animated by a sudden gust. With quiet string chords and low howling shakuhachi tones, the work had the stillness of an evening where thoughts turn inwards, sometimes darkly. Stepping a little further away from the edge of Zen, the Chroma Quartet then performed Debussys String Quartet with attentive sensitivity to its textural subtlety. After the densely compact chords and rhythmic tussle of the first movement, the plucked transparent passages of the second movement flitted by with evanescent lightness. Playing with precision of pitch and sensitive calibrations of softness, the players established the haunting third movement as the works expressive fulcrum before an invigorated finale. To close, Lachlan Skipworths Sealight for shakuhachi, koto and string quartet returned to rumination, gently lapping rhythmic patterns and heterophonic elaboration, ending with vibrating shakuhachi echoes and, from the koto, a sentimental twang. The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday. Remove items from your saved list to add more. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Save this video for later Add videos to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Advertisement NationalNSWPrimary school The 10 signs a child is ready to start kindergarten Cindy Yin February 1, 2026 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Spencer Paine, who will turn six in March, and four-year-old Arielle Katrib are 15 months apart in age but they will both sit on the carpeted floors of a kindergarten classroom for the very first time when they start primary school this week. Their parents have answered the question that weighs on the minds of many families: should they send their children to school early or hold them back a year? Four-year-old Arielle Katrib and five-year-old Spencer Paine are both starting school this week. Sam Mooy/Wolter Peeters After attending preschool four days a week, Arielle is eagerly counting down the days until she joins her three older siblings at Holy Family Primary School in Granville. Asked what excited her the most about starting school, she exclaimed: I can see the kids at lunchtime! Spencer is also excited to start, grinning as he tries on his uniform for Our Lady Queen of Peace at Greystanes. But, unlike Arielle, its a day he could have seen a year earlier: Spencers mother, a primary school teacher herself, had enrolled him to start in 2025 but withdrew his application after his preschool suggested he wasnt ready yet. Advertisement More NSW parents are waiting until the year their child turns six to send them to kindergarten. The proportion of students starting school aged five or younger declined from 78 per cent in 2011 to 69 per cent in 2024, department data shows. In contrast, 28 per cent of students have now turned six by July the year they entered kindergarten, up from 19 per cent in 2011. Under NSW public school rules, a child can begin kindergarten as early as age four if they turn five before July 31 of that year. With the law requiring every student to be enrolled in school by their sixth birthday, a class can have age differences of up to 19 months. Advertisement How do you know if your child is ready? Experts have rejected a one-size-fits-all approach when gauging whether a child is ready to start school, saying the process is highly individual for each family. While University of Sydney early childhood education lecturer Dr Erin Harper said it wasnt a perfect science, a good litmus test is assessing a childs social, emotional and self-regulation skills. Kindergarten student Arielle, 4, and her mum, Sheena Katrib. Sam Mooy Its not just about age, we want to think about some of the day-to-day things. How does the child cope with separation? How do they go following daily routines? Are they comfortable in large groups? Also, how they respond to frustration and setbacks, she said. Advertisement We dont want to be sending children to school before theyre ready, but we also dont want to hold children who are ready, back. Related Article Editorial Education Parents need better guidance on when to send kids to kindy The Herald's View Editorial Arielles mum, Sheena Katrib, said her daughter, who turns five in May, had been babied a lot as the youngest child but was very confident. In terms of basic numbers, colours, writing her name, shes ready. Emotionally, shes ready, too, Katrib said. At first the preschool said she wasnt yet ready because of her letters, but they worked hard on them with her and said she had progressed. Advertisement What happens if children start before they are ready? Rachel Paine said her son Spencer was ready for kindergarten coursework last year but has benefited from more time in other ways. Intellectually, he was fine. Hes started to read books, and he can count. Socially and emotionally, he wasnt ready for school. He would cry every day going to preschool, and that was only two days a week, she said. Five-year-old Spencer Paine and his mum, Rachel. Wolter Peeters When I spoke to the [preschool] teachers they said he would engage with other kids sometimes but he would often withdraw himself, sit back and watch. So he didnt have those social skills and those interactions with kids, but that got a lot better. Advertisement By the end of 2025 Spencer was definitely nowhere near as emotional, and focusing for long periods and connecting with other children became much easier for him, Paine said. As a primary school teacher, Paine said children who started school before they were ready were just that little bit more immature. Theyre not as independent at certain things. Just their interactions and the way they approach situations is different, she said. Harper said children who start school before they are ready could feel more anxious or insecure, impacting their self-esteem and whether they view themselves as capable. She recommended parents get on the front foot and talk to their childs early childhood educators early about school readiness, continuing that conversation throughout the year. Advertisement Related Article Sydney beyond 2026 Sydneys high schools need to find room for 22,000 more students in the next decade. Where? NSW is unique in having such a wide age range for starting school. In Victoria, students must have turned five by the end of April, while Queenslands cut-off is the end of June. Opposition education spokesperson Mark Speakman has called on the government to review the school starting age ahead of the start of a pre-kindergarten year, taken by all children in NSW, due by 2030. Tweaking the earliest starting age would put students on a more even footing, he said. The government has no plans to review the school starting age in 2026. Advertisement 10 questions to ask before enrolling your child in kindergarten Can they follow basic instructions? Do they have an interest in learning, are they curious to find out how things work? Can they recognise letters, count and read? Can they follow daily routines such as getting dressed, brushing their teeth and washing their hands? Can they make connections with their peers? Can they cope with separation? Are they comfortable in large groups of up to 30 other children? How do they respond to setbacks and frustration? Can they be patient and wait for their turn? Are they comfortable asking for help when they need it? Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. A view of downtown Fargo, N.D., on a sunny day (Sanghwan Kim via Getty Images) Fargo's climate tests rooftops year-round, from frigid, snow-packed winters to humid summers marked by heavy rain and the occasional hailstorm. Ice dams and strong winds can cause significant wear, making routine roof maintenance crucial for long-term protection. To help homeowners find reliable local experts, we examined Fargo roofing contractors based on customer feedback, Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings and the variety of roofing materials and services they provide. After narrowing the field, we reached out to select companies to verify details about warranties, labor practices and seasonal repair availability, ensuring our recommendations reflect the most dependable options for Fargos demanding weather conditions. Top Fargo roofers The best roofing company in Fargo for YOU When its time to repair or replace your roof, a little planning goes a long way. Begin by defining the scope of your project: whether you need an entirely new roof or just a few problem areas repaired. From there, explore different materials to find the right combination of style and performance for your home. Maybe youre drawn to the durability of metal, the sophistication of slate or the warmth of cedar. Balance these preferences against your budget and timeline to set clear priorities. Once you have those details sorted out, choosing a reliable roofing professional who can deliver quality work becomes a much more straightforward decision. Whatever solution you choose should have a lasting impact on your home's value. Our top two Fargo roofing contractors, Western Products and Allstar Construction, have both been in business for decades. Each offers residential and commercial services, and their certifications enable them to provide exceptional roofing warranties. Best roofing companies in Fargo, N.D. Western Products is the best overall Fargo roofing company A completed roof by Western Products (Western Products) Western Products, our top Fargo roofing contractor, has been a trusted name in home improvement and roofing across the Dakotas and western Minnesota for decades. Known for its craftsmanship and durable materials, the company offers a wide variety of roofing styles, including asphalt, metal and specialty options that enhance both curb appeal and long-term protection. Homeowners can also turn to Western Products for complete exterior and interior upgrades, such as seamless siding, gutter systems, energy-efficient doors and windows and custom cabinetry. Each roofing project starts with an in-home consultation, where a representative evaluates the property and recommends the best solutions. If a roof replacement is needed, the written estimate details costs for materials, labor, old roof removal and debris cleanup. Most installations take one to two days, depending on weather and project scope, and crews return promptly if conditions delay work. Homeowners can stay on-site throughout the process. To get on the schedule, clients make a 30% down payment, with the remaining balance due upon completion of the project. Western Products accepts cash, major credit cards and financing, with a 3% processing fee applied to card payments. The company works with long-standing subcontractors who specialize in roofing. While background checks aren't required, these crews have maintained strong working relationships with Western Products for years. Services offered Residential and commercial roofing Doors and windows installation Custom cabinetry Gutter and siding offerings As a GAF Master Elite Roofing Contractor, Western Products provides exclusive coverage options, including the GAF Golden Pledge Limited Lifetime Warranty. This warranty safeguards against manufacturing defects for life and gives homeowners 50 years of full non-prorated protection for materials, labor, tear-off and disposal. Workmanship coverage ranges from 25 to 30 years, depending on the shingle type. Western Products is one of Fargos most established roofing providers. The company holds BBB accreditation and maintains an A+ rating. Over the last three years, six customer complaints have been reported, a relatively small number considering Western Products operates multiple branches throughout Minnesota and the Dakotas. Customer experiences online vary: the company earns an impressive 4.5-star average across 233 Google reviews, while its eight Yelp reviews average 1.9 stars. Located at 474 45th Street South, Suite 101, Fargo, 58103, Western Products welcomes clients Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office is closed on weekends. To learn more about roofing services or to schedule an inspection, call 7014191298 or visit the companys official website. Customer testimonial Product is terrific and installers were professional, friendly, and did a fantastic job of cleaning up post-install. I was especially impressed by their attention to detail and made absolutely certain everything was done correctly. - Jodi P., Google reviews () * See Google reviews * See Yelp reviews Western Products Best overall Fargo roofer Western Products Western Products is a leading roofing and home improvement contractor based in Fargo, serving homeowners across the Dakotas and western Minnesota for decades. The company is recognized for its craftsmanship, durable materials and wide selection of roofing styles. Western Products offers exterior and interior upgrades, including seamless siding, gutters, energy-efficient windows and doors and custom cabinetry. As a GAF Master Elite Roofing Contractor, it provides access to the exclusive GAF Golden Pledge Limited Lifetime Warranty, covering materials, labor, tear-off and disposal for up to 50 years. Pros Longstanding regional reputation and decades of experience GAF Master Elite certification Wide range of home improvement services beyond roofing Transparent estimates and efficient project timelines Cons Mixed customer feedback, with notably low Yelp ratings 3% processing fee for credit card payments No formal background checks for subcontractors Weekend office closure may limit scheduling flexibility Get estimate Allstar Construction Fargo is our top alternative Fargo roofer A completed metal roof from Allstar Construction Fargo (Allstar Construction Fargo) Allstar Construction serves homeowners in Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead, offering expert roofing, siding and gutter services backed by more than 45 years of experience. The company also specializes in storm damage repairs and prides itself on delivering customized solutions that fit each property's design and condition. You can request a roofing quote by booking a site visit online or calling the office directly. Most visits are arranged within a day or two. During the appointment, a representative inspects the home and provides detailed cost estimates that include materials, labor, removal of the old roof and complete cleanup. Most replacement projects take several days, depending on the size, roof type and weather. Crews resume work as soon as conditions allow, and homeowners can stay inside while installation takes place. As long as temperatures remain above 30 degrees Fahrenheit and roofs are free of snow and ice, Allstar performs roofing year-round. A 50% deposit is typically required to confirm a spot on the job schedule, though this can be discussed with your representative. The final payment is due upon completion of the work to your satisfaction. Allstar accepts checks, credit cards and financing, noting a 3% service charge for card payments. Allstar employs a combination of its own workers and trusted subcontractors. Everyone involved completes background checks for homeowner peace of mind. Services offered Roofing for homeowners and companies Storm damage repairs Gutter services Siding installation Windows and doors Snow and ice removal As both a GAF Master Elite Contractor and a CertainTeed Select ShingleMaster, Allstar offers some of the strongest warranty protection in the region. Homeowners can qualify for limited lifetime warranties on both materials and labor, coverage that few local roofers can match. Allstar Construction Fargo has built an excellent reputation for quality workmanship and customer satisfaction. The company holds BBB accreditation with an A+ rating and has not received any complaints in the past three years. Its strong online presence reflects similar results: 146 Google users have rated it an outstanding 4.9 out of five stars, and Angi reviewers (seven in total) have given it a flawless five-star score. While it doesnt yet have a Yelp presence, feedback elsewhere paints a clear picture of consistent reliability. The companys office is located at 6415 100th Avenue South, Horace, N.D., 58047. The company offers around-the-clock service, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers can reach the team anytime by calling 7019695175 or by visiting its website for more details. Customer testimonial Alex and Dupre did an excellent job coordinating and communicating with me leading up to the project. I felt the price was fair compared with other companies we received quotes from. - Corey M., Google reviews () * See Google reviews * See Angi reviews Allstar Construction Fargo Top alternative roofer in Fargo Allstar Construction Fargo Allstar Construction is a long-established exterior contractor serving homeowners and businesses in Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead with roofing, siding, gutters, windows, doors and snow and ice removal. Backed by more than 45 years of experience, the company offers customized solutions and specializes in storm damage repairs, handling everything from inspection and detailed estimates to tear-off and full cleanup. As both a GAF Master Elite Contractor and CertainTeed Select ShingleMaster, Allstar can provide limited lifetime material and labor warranties that exceed most local competitors. Pros More than 45 years of industry experience Offers a range of services GAF Master Elite and CertainTeed Select ShingleMaster certifications Transparent quoting process Background checks for roofers Year-round work when possible Cons Requires a 50% deposit Adds a 3% service charge for credit card payments Get estimate DaBella Exteriors is the best national roofer serving Fargo A home, pictured on a sunny day, with a new asphalt shingle roof installed by DaBella Exteriors (DaBella Exteriors) At Yahoo Local, we aim to help homeowners make informed decisions when selecting service providers for major home projects. While many homeowners prefer working with local roofing contractors, there are circumstances where a national roofing company can provide broader capabilities, stronger warranty options and more consistent installation standards. For homeowners in Fargo who are comparing local and national roofing companies, understanding these distinctions can be useful. For those seeking a nationwide provider with proven systems and experience, DaBella Exteriors is a leading national roofer serving the Fargo area. DaBella Exteriors is a nationwide roofing and home remodeling company that offers a full range of services for residential properties. Its work includes roof repairs, complete roof replacements, new roof installations, bathroom remodeling and solar roofing solutions. DaBella holds an average 4.4 star rating on Google based on more than 3,000 customer reviews and has delivered roofing services across multiple regions of the country for more than a decade. On Yelp, the company maintains a 3.2 star average rating, which ranks among the highest for large regional and national roofing contractors. With approximately 60 locations across the United States, DaBella serves homeowners in 26 states, including North Dakota. While the company has a strong presence in the Western and Rocky Mountain regions, it also supports customers throughout the Central U.S. and portions of the Northeast. DaBella was founded in 2011 in Hillsboro, Oregon, and the company name combines the names of Owner Donnie McMillan Jr.s children, David and Isabella. Today, DaBella is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Like many national roofing providers, DaBella requires an on site evaluation before issuing pricing and does not provide estimates over the phone. This process allows roofing specialists to review roof conditions, materials and project scope directly, which typically results in more accurate and reliable estimates. Many DaBella customers choose to finance their roofing or remodeling projects through payment plans, which the company helps arrange. Other payment methods may include credit card, debit card or check, depending on location. Deposit amounts vary based on payment type and region, and all payment details are explained during the in-home consultation. Services offered Roofing and home remodeling services Roof repairs, replacements and installation Siding and window installation and repair GAF Timberline Solar roofing options Bathroom remodeling Skylight installation and repair Free in-home consultations DaBella installs a variety of roofing systems, including asphalt shingles, metal roofing, TPO and solar roofing products. As a GAF Master Elite contractor, DaBella primarily installs GAF materials, including GAF Timberline Solar shingles. For homeowners interested in tile roofing, DaBella also installs Boral tile products, making it one of the few national roofing companies to offer tile roofing options. All GAF roofing systems installed by DaBella include the GAF Silver Pledge warranty as standard, with the option to upgrade to the GAF Golden Pledge warranty. The company also provides a 10-year workmanship warranty and a 25-year materials warranty for solar shingles. To support projects nationwide, DaBella works with local subcontractors in each service area. While background checks are not required, all subcontractors must comply with applicable state and local licensing requirements. DaBella is accredited by the BBB with an A+ rating. Over the past three years, the company has received 624 customer complaints, which is typical for a national contractor operating at scale. Homeowners looking for the best national roofer serving Fargo can contact DaBella Exteriors at 701-380-8421 or visit the website to schedule an inspection. Hours are weekdays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time and Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time. It is closed on Sundays. The company is located at 4950 13th Ave. South, Suite 28, Fargo, N.D., 58103. For more information, read our full DeBella Exteriors evaluation. Customer testimonial I couldnt be happier with my new roof! The craftsmanship is top-notch, and the entire process was smooth from start to finish. JJ did a great job of helping us with the process and answered any questions we had quickly. What really stood out was the great valuepremium materials and expert installation at a price that felt more than fair. Theres also a sense of exclusivity in the design and finish; it doesnt look like every other roof on the block. Highly recommend to anyone looking for both quality and distinction! - Tara S., Google reviews () * See Google reviews * See Yelp reviews More best Fargo roofers Asset Roofing Best Fargo roofer for insurance claim work Asset Roofing Asset Roofing is a residential roofing contractor serving the Fargo-Moorhead area in North Dakota and Minnesota since 2011. The company specializes in asphalt shingle installation, repair, inspection, storm-damage claims and related services, including skylight work and gutter work, using premium materials from brands such as CertainTeed and IKO. It offers roof inspections, ventilation upgrades and storm damage assistance. Pros Long established Offers financing Nearly perfect online reviews Cons Limited to residential asphalt shingles No weekend hours Get estimate ABC Seamless Best Fargo contractor for steel roof installations ABC Seamless ABC Seamless of North Dakota is a family-owned home remodeling company operating since 1978, specializing in exterior and interior upgrades for homes in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. It maintains locations in Bismarck and Fargo, focusing on installations by in-house crews rather than subcontractors. The company provides steel siding, replacement windows, steel roofing, gutters, doors and bathroom remodeling with Jacuzzi products. Pros Energy-efficient options In-house crews Family-oriented 40+ years of experience Cons No weekend hours Get estimate J & J Repairs & Roofing Best full-service roofing company in Fargo J & J Repairs & Roofing J & J Repair & Roofing, a family-owned and operated business since 1971, specializes in residential and commercial roofing, siding, chimneys, fascia, soffit repairs and construction, shingles, gutters and snow removal services across Fargo-Moorhead, West Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Jamestown, Detroit Lakes, and surrounding areas. Pros Snow management Long-established business Large service area Cons No weekend hours Get estimate You can count on Yahoo Local roofing advice, and this is why We believe a recommendation is only as good as the honesty behind it. That's why we've ditched the "black box" approach and built a proprietary engine that pulls real-world feedback from across the web's most trusted platforms. We don't just average numbers; we apply a rigorous weighting process to filter out the noise and surface the businesses that truly earn their reputation. The best part? Our rankings aren't for sale. You won't find "pay-to-play" placements or boosted results here, as every business on our list is there because the data says they belong. We lay out our criteria openly so you can be the final judge of our work. No outside influence, no sponsored bias, just the facts you need to move forward with confidence. Ready to peek under the hood of our methodology? Visit our full methodology page. Below is everything that went into the rankings for our list of the best roofing companies in Fargo: 24 roofers evaluated 2,461 customer reviews and ratings from five sources Eight ranking criteria incorporated Interviewed or connected with all three featured roofers Independent price quotes sought from all three featured roofing companies Independently researched and fact-checked by Yahoo Recommendations are maintained and updated regularly North Dakota roofing FAQs How much does the average roof replacement cost in North Dakota? The average roof replacement cost in North Dakota is around $7,900, with most homeowners paying between $6,100 and $20,500. The final price depends on factors such as roof size, material type and local snow-load building codes. Roof replacement prices in North Dakota can also rise during peak seasons or harsh weather conditions. These estimates are based on data from This Old House, a trusted name in home improvement. How do I know if my roof needs repairs or a full replacement? To determine whether your roof needs repairs or a full replacement, inspect for localized issues such as missing, cracked, or curled shingles; minor leaks from flashing or vents; and limited granule loss in gutters after storms. These typically favor affordable spot repairs and are suitable for roofs under 15 years old. Opt for replacement when facing systemic problems such as roofs over 20 to 30 years old, widespread curling, cupping, bald spots, sagging decking, interior water stains or moss and algae growth. Begin with a safe, ground-level visual check using binoculars for shingles, flashing, and gutters, and for attic signs such as daylight or dampness. Then hire a professional and certified roofer for a full ladder inspection. Are there roofing regulations or permits required in North Dakota? In North Dakota, roofing work requires permits and compliance with regulations administered at the local city or county level, not statewide, and with adherence to the State Building Code, which was last updated in 2026, which covers aspects such as snow loads and fire ratings. Roofing contractors must obtain a state contractor license from the Secretary of State for projects over $4,000, including classifications by project value, liability insurance and workers' compensation. Permits for re-roofing or replacements are typically needed for major work, though minor repairs may be exempt; always contact the local authority having jurisdiction. A good starting point is our North Dakota roofing licensing and regulations guide. How long does a roof typically last in North Dakota? Deciding when to replace a roof depends on factors such as material quality, installation, weather, and maintenance. Key signs include damaged shingles, leaks, rising energy bills and mold, according to Fargo Roofing, a local contractor. Asphalt shingles last 15 to 20 years for three-tab shingles and up to 30 years for architectural shingles, while metal roofs can last up to 70 years and offer energy-efficiency benefits. Specialty options such as clay (50 to 100 years), slate (50 to 200 years), and wood shakes (20 to 40 years) offer longevity and aesthetic appeal but require additional care. What is the best time of year to replace a roof in North Dakota? There are several reasons replacing your roof in the summer is both beneficial and problematic. Fargo Roofing, however, says that fall is the ideal time for roof replacement because mild temperatures allow asphalt shingles to seal properly, preparing homes for winter challenges such as ice dams and snow accumulation while addressing summer damage from sun and storms. Replacing a worn roof now improves energy efficiency by preventing heat loss, reduces heating costs and avoids winter installation issues such as brittle materials and weather delays. More Yahoo Local-approved North Dakota providers Best North Dakota roofers Fargo Best North Dakota movers Fargo Catherine Hughes son Riley died from whooping cough. She now campaigns in favour of vaccinations. Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A Catherine Hughes baby Riley died from a vaccine-preventable disease before he was old enough to smile. He was just peaceful. He didnt cry much. He was just a sweet little thing with blond hair, blue eyes and beautiful, soft skin, she said. Then everything turned upside down. Riley was three weeks old in February 2015 when he started to develop what Catherine thought were mild cold symptoms. Catherine called a doctor to check her sniffling son, who said he appeared perfectly fine. But when Riley stopped feeding, Catherine had one of those stomach-sinking intuitions only a mother can have. I tried to feed him the next morning, but he was just not interested he kept falling asleep, she said. So we took him to the childrens hospital. By his third day in hospital, doctors suspected Riley had whooping cough. By the fourth, he had pneumonia, and on his fifth, he was on life support. The Bordetella pertussis bug had overwhelmed his tiny body. He passed away when he was 32 days old, Hughes recalled. My son would likely be alive today if everyone in my community had been fully vaccinated against whooping cough. Now, a Herald and Age investigation reveals parents are boasting about paying anti-vaccine doctors and nurses to falsify Medicare records to enrol their children in childcare and fraudulently claim government payments. Catherine Hughes in her Perth home with daughters Lucy and Olivia, as well as dog Augustus. She founded the Immunisation Foundation of Australia after her 4-week old baby Riley died from whooping cough, a vaccine-preventable disease. Trevor Collens Advertisement Imagine being a mother dropping off your two-year-old at childcare, and one of the kids there has whooping cough or measles, and it spreads through the childcare, putting your child at risk? said Margie Danchin, a professor of paediatrics and vaccinology at The Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. This is a huge public health issue. Health experts warn that unvaccinated children risk infecting themselves with preventable diseases while lowering herd immunity, leaving others at risk of severe illness or death. Vaccine uptake in Australia has stalled below national targets in a global climate of rising anti-vaccine sentiment, partly fuelled by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Danchin said. No jab, no pay, and no jab, no play policies mean unvaccinated children cant be enrolled in childcare or preschool in most Australian jurisdictions, and families lose tax benefits unless they have a medical exemption or are on a vaccination catch-up program. Margie Danchin, a professor of paediatrics and vaccinology at The Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. Wayne Taylor The restrictions have led some parents to seek out healthcare professionals to alter immunisation records, Danchin said. $2500 per child Parents are using an anti-vaccine Facebook group with more than 40,000 members to find doctors or nurses to falsify their childrens immunisation records. Advertisement Has anyone found a good doctor who was willing to sign off childhood immunisations as complete even though the child isnt vaccinated, or who deemed them medically exempt? one post read. I can get your childs full immunisation schedule up to date and uploaded to your Medicare file without any [syringe emoji] being administered, came the reply. And no, its not a scam. Ive helped hundreds of people since the COVID pandemic until now. DM on the Signal app if interested. Another post said: So hard to find because theyre risking their jobs doing it. From what I have been able to find, it costs thousands. Someone recently told me they know a nurse who does and charges $2500 per child. A father said he got a medical practitioner to falsify his daughters vaccine schedule. Im grateful to share that my daughters immunisation records were successfully updated in the database without requiring vaccination, the comment read. She has since been accepted into kindergarten without issue. If youre seeking information on alternative options for immunisation records, Id be happy to provide more details about the medical professionals who assisted me. Advertisement The only people authorised to log a vaccination on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) are nurses with specialised qualifications who have registered as vaccination providers. Youre relying on the honesty of the medical provider to tick those boxes of those vaccines truthfully, Danchin said. It is clear that we need to address parents concerns openly with better communication and resources to prevent this issue from growing, although some parents will never be convinced. Public health experts warned in 2019 that vaccine mandates can backfire, and simply induce parents to seek loopholes, and, worse, fuel negative attitudes towards vaccination. In November 2021, Perth nurse Christina Hartmann Benz was charged with fraudulently recording a vaccine after a doctor allegedly witnessed her insert a needle into a 15-year-olds arm but not dispense the vaccine. A police prosecutor told the court suspicions were raised when patients kept specifically asking for her, and she would close the door to her room, citing privacy reasons, in what was clearly an anti-vaccination stance. WA Police said a lack of health information hindered their ability to prosecute the 51-year-old, and the case was dropped. In Victoria, Dr Denes Borsos had his registration suspended after he issued fake COVID-19 vaccine exemption documents to allow children to enrol in early education. A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia said it was aware some health professionals were offered, and rejected, bribes during the COVID-19 pandemic to falsify vaccination records, adding: This practice is not something our members have raised with us in recent years. Advertisement Threat of childhood diseases returning In NSW, health authorities have issued a warning about an increased risk of measles a vaccine-preventable airborne disease with 14 cases since December 1, 2025. The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is given free to children in doses at 12 and 18 months. There were 181 measles cases in Australia in 2025, according to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System more than three times the number in 2024. One parent in a Facebook group asked if anyone personally knew of childcare centres that enrolled unvaccinated children in Sydneys south-west, even though their child was partially vaccinated. One mother replied that she had enrolled her child in Camden, and that she could share some locations. In a 2025 study of parents of 2000 under-fives, 47.9 per cent of unvaccinated parents did not believe vaccines are safe, and 46.7 per cent would not feel guilty if their unvaccinated child got a vaccine-preventable disease. Nearly 40 per cent did not believe vaccinating children helps protect others in the community. Permanent medical vaccine exemptions are granted under strict conditions to patients who have had a life-threatening allergic reaction to a vaccine or are severely immunocompromised. Advertisement Advertisement PoliticsFederalScott Morrison Opinion He didnt hold a hose, but Morrisons still happy to fan the flames Jacqueline Maley Columnist and senior journalist February 1, 2026 6:00am February 1, 2026 6:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Scott Morrisons contribution to the post-Bondi political debate this week, delivered from the safe distance of Israel, served to remind Australians of many things about Morrison, most of which we were happy enough to forget. In the public mind, Morrison is still associated with the pandemic and all its privations, his Hawaii trip during the bushfires, his true-enough assertion that he didnt hold a hose, the illegality of robo-debt, and the constitutional outrage of his secret ministries. Scott Morrison: As a former prime minister, his first duty, surely, should be to champion Australians, including Muslim-Australians. The Sydney Morning Herald Pull on the Morrison memory thread, and it keeps unspooling remember when, after the March 4 Justice in 2021, he said that it was a triumph of democracy that the women protesters had not been met with bullets? This is a vibrant liberal democracy. Not far from here, such marches, even now, are being met with bullets but not here in this country. This is a triumph of democracy when we see these things take place, Morrison told parliament. Advertisement If you squint, you can see what he was trying to say. But the conjuring of mass shootings of women was not the ideal message for marchers enraged by the ongoing catastrophe of violence perpetrated against them by men. Many on Morrisons side of politics hated that all men were scooped up into this slur. They refused any insinuation all men were inherently violent or misogynistic, or that they should all be made to answer for those of them that were. They even invented a social media hashtag for it: #notallmen. Do Muslim Australians deserve a similar benefit of the doubt? Morrisons speech this week suggested that any such right is outweighed by the stark tragedy of the Bondi massacre perpetrated by two Muslim men, one Australian, one Indian apparently motivated by a vile antisemitic ideology. Morrison said that after December 14, all options to combat antisemitism must be on the table that includes how religion is practised and governed in Australia. Advertisement But he was only talking about one religion Islam. He called for nationally consistent, self-regulated standards for Islamic institutions, as well as recognised accreditation for imams, a national register for public-facing religious roles, clear training and conduct requirements, and enforceable disciplinary authority. Scott Morrison prays at Jerusalems Wailing Wall last week. Facebook Furthermore, Australias Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme should be expanded to capture foreign funding of (Islamic) religious institutions. He asserted that these reforms are not about policing faith and that where similar weaknesses exist in other faiths, including my own the reforms and requirements should apply. Advertisement He said that in Australia, other faiths operate under strong governance frameworks that were held to account during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which neatly glosses over the fact that such governance clearly failed. Hence, the need for a royal commission. In the Catholic Church in particular, governance did nothing to prevent, and much to enable, the mass criminality of the Catholic priests who sexually abused children for generations. Morrison also praised countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan, who have reasserted authority over religious teaching and disrupted extremist funding. Not unrelated is the fact that these countries are repressive authoritarian regimes, which, in the case of Saudi Arabia, violently suppress women and Christians, among other groups. What to make of this extraordinary Morrisonian intervention, delivered from so far away? Advertisement The Australian National Imams Council said the comments were reckless, irresponsible and deeply ill-informed and said that to blame an entire community for the actions of a few criminal terrorists is unacceptable, rejected, and undermines our social cohesion. Related Article Opinion Racism I was born in Australia. I look Indian. Since Bondi, that makes me a target Sunil Badami Journalist The Lebanese Muslim Association said that Morrison was the last person the Australian Muslim community would ever seek advice from. Morrison had a fan in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hailed him as a terrific, terrific champion of our people. But as a former prime minister, his first duty, surely, should be to champion Australians, including Muslim-Australians. Morrisons proposals amounted to an onerous, anti-liberal and utterly unworkable system of superintendence imposed on Muslim-Australians and no one else. Advertisement The former Liberal member for Cook also believes Muslim preachings should be translated into English (by whom, and how, it is not specified), which sounds a lot like the government would be undertaking surveillance of religious preaching. This, from a former PM who tried (and failed) to push through religious discrimination legislation. (That legislation failed to get up because some faith groups wanted protections enabling them to discriminate against gay and lesbian teachers, among other things. Even Morrison, a great champion of faith freedom, couldnt argue that through his party room.) Morrison implied there is a code of silence around this issue, which he was breaking with his speech. To treat such issues as taboo serves only those who wish to keep these influences opaque and in the dark, he said. But theyre not taboo. The fact that Islamic-inspired extremism exists is not a truth that dare not speak its name, stifled by the hand of wokeness and cancel culture. It is a threat that is named and already heavily surveilled. In 2024, ASIO director Mike Burgess said Sunni-Islamic violent extremism posed the greatest religiously motivated threat in Australia. Advertisement He has also highlighted the threat of politically and/or ideologically related violence, including the critical threat of white nationalism (whose adherents align themselves with Christianity, not that Christians need to take responsibility for that). Related Article Opinion Political leadership Amid Coalition chaos, this Nationals leader has little to be proud of James Massola Chief political commentator The greatest evolution in security threats is the post-COVID confluence of conspiracy theorists, anti-government paranoiacs and gun-toting survivalist types who are radicalised on the internet. The internet is, of course, what usually radicalises religiously motivated Islamic terrorists, too. The men and women who left Australia to fight for ISIS in Syria didnt do so because their local mosque told them to. The call to arms came from their social media feed. If Morrison wanted to make a serious, good-faith contribution to the post-Bondi reckoning, he would have done so at home. But he has done the job of opening the Overton Window in Australia, for people who wish to link ordinary Muslim Australians with the Bondi attacks. Advertisement This is pertinent, given the Liberal opposition has promised to release its immigration policy soon (a pledge now on hold indefinitely while they figure out their unseemly leadership squabble). Liberal moderate Senator Andrew Bragg responded to Morrisons comments by saying that the Australian Muslim community has to take some responsibility for the behaviours weve seen exhibited over the last couple of decades. The West has probably been too nice for its own good, and a lot of Western countries probably feel that they cant be honest and open about some of the issues, he told the ABC. But in what way should we be less nice? And how would such a lessening of niceness achieve the strategic objective to stamp out terrorism and antisemitism? As Burgess said in 2024, you cannot arrest your way to social cohesion, or spy your way to less youth radicalisation. Advertisement The only way to chart through this era of tribalism, division and violence, which the Bondi massacre brought literally to our shores, is for people of moderation to raise their voices and hold the line, thankful, I guess, that we wont be met with bullets for doing so. Jacqueline Maley is a columnist and author. Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter. Advertisement WorldEuropeEpstein fallout Andrew pictured looming over woman in latest Epstein files Janet Eastham and Alexander Butler January 31, 2026 6:04pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is pictured in the Epstein files, crouched on all fours, looming over a woman lying flat on the floor. The former prince is seen looking at the camera as the woman, whose face is redacted, lies on her back between Andrews arms. The image from the file appears to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, but there is no detail on where or when it was taken. Department of Justice In another photo, his hand is placed on her torso. Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein offered to introduce the former Duke of York to a beautiful 26-year-old Russian woman, emails released by the US Justice Department reveal. Advertisement Epstein said he could arrange to introduce Mountbatten-Windsor to a woman named only as Irina in an email sent in August 2010, two years after Epstein was convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Mountbatten-Windsor previously claimed to have cut contact with Epstein after an investigation was launched in 2006, only getting back in touch to end their relationship in person in late 2010. Related Article Epstein fallout Epstein survivors say fight for justice not over as final documents released However, a new cache of 3 million files, published by the Department of Justice on Friday, suggests they were in regular, friendly contact in the months between Epsteins release from house arrest in August and Mountbatten-Windsors visit to the US that December. Other high-profile figures also face questions over private emails published in the files, such as British Labour peer Lord Mandelson, whose husband was allegedly paid 10,000 by Epstein for an osteopathy course, Bill Gates, who Epstein claimed caught a sexually transmitted disease after sleeping with Russian women, and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who arranged lunch with Epstein in 2013. Advertisement Richard Branson, the Virgin Group co-founder, was also facing questions after the released emails indicated that Epstein visited his island in 2013 accompanied by 2 Russian girls who dont have UK Visas. Mountbatten-Windsor will face further scrutiny over his own personal affairs after the publication of an email dated August 11, 2010 to an account called The Duke, believed to be associated with him. Epstein wrote: I have a friend who i think you might enjoy having dinner with her name is irina she will be london 20-24. A document summarising Epsteins assets released in the latest batch of files. AP An individual signing off as HRH The Duke of York KG accepted the offer. Great, he wrote, adding: Any other information you might know about her that might be useful to know? Like what have you told her about me and have you given her my email as well? A. Advertisement Epstein responded: she 26, russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email [sic]. The name Irina also appeared in emails disclosed last year during court proceedings involving Jes Staley, the former head of Barclays. In one email, dated August 30, 2009, Epstein emailed Staley asking if he needed anything while he was in London, to which he replied: yep. The convicted sex offender then emailed someone named Irina three days later to inform her that jes staley is staying at the Berkley hotel in london tonight. It is unclear if this Irina was the same as the 26-year-old Russian the paedophile offered to Mountbatten-Windsor. Advertisement The latest disclosures under the Epstein Files Transparency Act cast doubt on the former dukes claim that he curtailed his relationship with Epstein after learning in 2006 that he was under investigation for child sex offences. Epstein was convicted in Florida in June 2008 of soliciting a minor under the age of 18, and served 13 months in Palm Beach County Stockade before being placed under house arrest. Andrews fall from grace Mountbatten-Windsors relationship with the paedophile precipitated his fall from grace, which culminated last October in King Charles removing both his HRH style and his prince title. Prince Andrew now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lies across several women at Sandringham in a newly released photograph. US Department of Justice Advertisement The former duke travelled to New York in December 2010, when he stayed at Epsteins home and was pictured with him in Central Park. He claimed afterwards that he had made the trip to end their relationship because he was too honourable to end it by phone. Related Article Epstein fallout No records of this meeting: Rudd denies visiting Epsteins NY home But other emails published on Friday show that the pair remained close both in the months before their relationship apparently ended and in the months afterwards. Mountbatten-Windsor arranged an intimate dinner with Epstein and three women, named only as Sarah, Sue and Vera, at Buckingham Palace in September 2010. Epstein emailed again that month to say that he was in London, asking: what time woudl you like me and vera.. we will also need/ have private time [sic]. Advertisement Mountbatten-Windsor replied, suggesting they have dinner at the palace, adding that the location would offer lots of privacy. In November 2010, further emails show Mountbatten-Windsor plotting with Epstein ahead of their meeting the next month, saying that he was really looking forward to seeing him. Some interesting things to discuss and plot ..., he wrote. Two months after Mountbatten-Windsor claimed to have ended his relationship with Epstein, emails show that the pair discussed paying someone named J off to avoid them taking a story to the News of the World. Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein at the Queens Balmoral cabin in 1999. US District Attorneys Office In an email exchange on February 28, 2011, Mountbatten-Windsor told Epstein: We are in this together. Advertisement He wrote: Im just as concerned for you! Dont worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it! Let me know if you want me to deal with J wages. Otherwise keep in close touch and well play some more soon!!!! Related Article Exclusive Epstein fallout Keating speaks out on unfortunate Epstein ties after emails exposed Epstein agreed and replied: I don;t trust him at all, and a payment from me at the moment if disclosed to the press would look like a payoff for the little s---. Mountbatten-Windsor responded: So I could get it paid by someone else?, to which Epstein replies yes. Other emails reveal warm words shared in the earlier days of their relationship, such as one exchange in 2002 where Epstein asks Andrew if it was true he was considering having more children, adding: I shall have to refer to you as super sperm. Advertisement Mountbatten-Windsor shut the suggestion down, telling his friend: No Im not having more children and dont believe everything you read in the papers. Related Article Royal family Prince Andrew photo no fake, says photographer who sourced it in 2011 Correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins former girlfriend, was also published in the files. An exchange from 2005 showed Mountbatten-Windsor telling the disgraced socialite, who is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking minors for sex, that he was literally in her hands in an email discussing a trip to see her. Maxwell also called Mountbatten-Windsor a sweet pea in an email consoling him the day after the Queen Mothers death in 2002. Advertisement Mountbatten-Windsor has faced allegations, which he denies, that he sexually assaulted a teenage Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein. The former duke stepped down from royal duties in 2019, and in 2022 paid millions to Giuffre to settle a civil sexual assault claim despite maintaining that the pair had never met. Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Other emails showed that Mandelsons husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, had emailed Epstein asking for money to fund an osteopathy course and other related expenses in 2009. In a statement issued to the London Telegraph on Saturday AEDT, Mandelson apologised unequivocally to Epsteins victims for his continued association with the paedophile. Advertisement I was wrong to believe Epstein following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards, he said. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered. The Telegraph has attempted to contact da Silva for comment. In September last year, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was forced to sack Mandelson as US ambassador after it emerged that he had called Epstein his best pal in a 50th birthday tribute book. In further emails, Epstein claimed that Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, had asked for antibiotics he could surreptitiously give to his then-wife Melinda after contracting an STD from Russian girls. Epstein pictured with Microsoft founder Bill Gates in an undated photo shown in the latest files. Department of Justice Advertisement A spokesman for Gates said: These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The emails also reveal that Mountbatten-Windsors former wife Sarah Ferguson called Epstein a legend and the brother I have always wished for in messages. In one email from 2009, released in the files, she called him my dear spectacular and special friend and told him: I am so proud of you. The former duchess of York was stripped of her title last year following revelations about her relationship with Epstein in a previous release of files. A steadfast friend In September, it was revealed Ferguson had sent Epstein an email in 2011, after she claimed she had cut ties with him, referring to him as her steadfast, generous and supreme friend. Advertisement Another email released on Friday revealed an invitation Ferguson had sent Epstein for Mountbatten-Windsors 50th birthday at St James Palace. She wrote there would be mysterious mischief at the event on February 26, 2010, but Epstein later responded to the question of whether he could attend with not able. The invite read: Dear Jeffrey, Beatrice, Eugenie and I would love to invite you to celebrate 50 years of Papa/Andrew. It will be suits and cocktail dresses, and you know me, mysterious mischief, so bring your presents, your presence and your humour. The former prince and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson in 2024. AP Advertisement Former supermodel Claudia Schiffer and magician David Copperfield got engaged on Epsteins island, the paedophile claimed. In an email exchange between Epstein and a man named Alireza Ittihadieh, Epstein writes: Give David my regards. He got engaged to Schiffer on my island. The exchange was about an effort from Copperfield to make an unexplained purchase. Copperfield has previously attracted controversy over his links to Epstein. Prosecutors claim Epstein gave several of his victims backstage passes to the magicians shows as a treat for their services. In an October 2007 email from the previous release of files relating to the case, a prosecutor whose name is redacted wrote: FYI FBI Seattle and FBI Las Vegas executed a search today on a warehouse owned by Epsteins favorite cohort, David Copperfield, in connection with allegations that Copperfield raped an adult female. Copperfield denied the rape allegations, and no charges were ever filed. On Friday night, senior Democrats claimed that US President Donald Trump was still suppressing the full files. Advertisement Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general and Trumps former lawyer, said earlier that the Justice Department had sifted through 6 million documents in total and would release 6 million, including 2000 videos and 180,000 images. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives oversight committee, accused Trump of withholding roughly 50 per cent of the Epstein files despite being legally obliged to turn over the documents in full. Garcia said: This is outrageous and incredibly concerning. The Telegraph, London Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter. Advertisement WorldEuropeEpstein fallout Epstein email to Andrew: I have a Russian friend for you. Shes 26 Janet Eastham January 31, 2026 2:21pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Jeffrey Epstein offered to introduce Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to a beautiful 26-year-old Russian woman, emails released by the US Justice Department reveal. Epstein said he could arrange to introduce the former Duke of York to a woman named only as Irina in an email sent in August 2010, two years after the disgraced financier was convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Mountbatten-Windsor previously claimed that he had cut contact with Epstein after an investigation was launched in 2006, only getting back in touch to end their relationship in person in late 2010. New pictures appearing to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on the floor with a woman were included in files released by the US Department of Justice. However, a new cache of 3 million files, published by the US Department of Justice on Friday, suggests they were in regular, friendly contact in the months between Epsteins release from house arrest in August and Mountbatten-Windsors visit to the US that December. Advertisement Other high-profile figures also face questions over private emails published in the files, such as Lord Mandelson, whose husband was allegedly paid 10,000 ($19,600) by Epstein for an osteopathy course, Bill Gates, who Epstein claimed caught a sexually transmitted disease after sleeping with Russian women, and Elon Musk, the Tesla tech billionaire, who arranged lunch with Epstein in 2013. Related Article Epstein fallout Bill Gates caught STD from Russian girls, Epstein claimed Mountbatten-Windsor will face further scrutiny over his own personal affairs after the publication of an email dated August 11, 2010, to an account called The Duke, believed to be associated with Mountbatten-Windsor. Epstein said: I have a friend who i think you might enjoy having dinner with her name is irina she will be london 20-24. An individual signing off as HRH The Duke of York KG accepted the offer. Great, he wrote, adding: Any other information you might know about her that might be useful to know? Like what have you told her about me and have you given her my email as well? A. Advertisement Epstein responded: she 26, russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email. The latest disclosures under the Epstein Files Transparency Act cast doubt on the former dukes claim that he curtailed his relationship with Epstein after learning in 2006 that he was under investigation for child sex offences. Millions of documents, including photos of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, have been publicly released. AP Epstein was convicted in Florida in June 2008 of soliciting a minor under the age of 18 and served 13 months in Palm Beach County Stockade before being placed under house arrest. Mountbatten-Windsors relationship with the paedophile precipitated his fall from grace, which culminated last October in King Charles removing both his HRH style and his prince title. Advertisement The former Duke travelled to New York in December 2010, when he stayed at Epsteins home and was pictured with him in Central Park. He claimed afterwards that he had made the trip to end their relationship because he was too honourable to end it by phone. But other emails published on Friday show that the pair remained close both in the months before their relationship apparently ended and in the months afterwards. Plotting friends arranged press pay-off Mountbatten-Windsor arranged an intimate dinner with Epstein and three women, named only as Sarah, Sue and Vera, at Buckingham Palace in September 2010. Epstein emailed again that month to say that he was in London, asking: what time woudl [sic] you like me and vera.. we will also need/ have private time. Advertisement Mountbatten-Windsor replied, suggesting they have dinner at the palace, adding that the location would offer lots of privacy. In November 2010, further emails show Mountbatten-Windsor plotting with Epstein before their meeting the next month, saying that he was really looking forward to seeing him. Some interesting things to discuss and plot..., he wrote. Loading Two months after Mountbatten-Windsor claimed to have ended his relationship with Epstein, emails show that the pair discussed paying off someone named J to avoid them taking a story to the News of the World. In an email exchange on February 28, 2011, Mountbatten-Windsor told Epstein: We are in this together. Advertisement He wrote: Im just as concerned for you! Dont worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it! Let me know if you want me to deal with J wages. Otherwise, keep in close touch, and well play some more soon!!!! Epstein agreed and replied: I don;t [sic] trust him at all, and a payment from me at the moment if disclosed to the press would look like a payoff for the little s---. Mountbatten-Windsor responded: So I could get it paid by someone else?, to which Epstein replied yes. Andrews closeness with Maxwell revealed Other emails reveal warm words shared in the earlier days of their relationship, such as one exchange in 2002 in which Epstein asks Mountbatten-Windsor if it was true he was considering having more children, adding: I shall have to refer to you as super sperm. Advertisement Mountbatten-Windsor shut the suggestion down, telling his friend: No Im not having more children and dont believe everything you read in the papers. A photograph previously released by the US Justice Department shows former prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell. Correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins former girlfriend, was also published in the files. An exchange from 2005 showed Mountbatten-Windsor telling the disgraced socialite, who is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking minors for sex, that he was literally in her hands in an email discussing a trip to see her. Maxwell also called Mountbatten-Windsor a sweet pea in an email consoling him the day after the Queen Mothers death in 2002. Advertisement Mountbatten-Windsor has faced allegations, which he denies, that he sexually assaulted a teenage Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein. The former duke stepped down from royal duties in 2019 and in 2022 paid millions to Giuffre to settle a civil sexual assault claim, despite maintaining that the pair had never met. Virginia Giuffre with a photo of herself as a teen, when she says she was abused by Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre died by suicide last year. Getty Images Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Other high-profile figures associated with Epstein had private affairs exposed in the latest tranche of emails. Advertisement The emails also reveal Mount-Battens former wife, Sarah Ferguson, called Jeffrey Epstein a legend and the brother I have always wished for in messages to the paedophile billionaire. In one email from 2009, which has been released in the files, she called him my dear spectacular and special friend and told him: I am so proud of you. In another from the same year, she said she had never been more touched by a friends kindness than your compliment to me in front of my girls. The former prince and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson in 2024. AP The former Duchess of York was stripped of her title last year, after revelations about her relationship with Epstein revealed in a previous release of files. In September, it was revealed that Ferguson sent Epstein an email in 2011, after she claimed she had cut ties with him, referring to him as her steadfast, generous and supreme friend. In March 2011, she gave an interview apologising for her terrible, terrible error of judgment in associating with him, and promising she would have nothing ever to do with him again. Advertisement But the following month, she sent him a message from the truth of my heart, saying she must humbly apologise. Related Article Epstein fallout Twenty-nine Epstein associates were shielded by US government, Maxwell claims Claudia Schiffer, the former supermodel, and magician David Copperfield got engaged on Epsteins island, the paedophile claimed. In an email exchange between Epstein and a man named Alireza Ittihadieh, Epstein writes: Give David my regards. He got engaged to [Claudia] Schiffer on my island. The exchange was about an effort from Copperfield to make an unexplained purchase. Copperfield has previously attracted controversy over his links to Epstein. Prosecutors claim Epstein gave several of his victims backstage passes to the magicians shows as a treat for their services. Advertisement In an October 2007 email from the previous release of files relating to the case, a prosecutor whose name is redacted wrote: FYI FBI Seattle and FBI Las Vegas executed a search today on a warehouse owned by Epsteins favorite cohort, David Copperfield, in connection with allegations that Copperfield raped an adult female. Copperfield denied the rape allegations and no charges were ever filed. Senior US Democrats claimed last night that US President Donald Trump was still suppressing the full files. Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, in 1997. Getty Images Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney-general and Trumps former lawyer, said on Friday the US Justice Department had sifted through 6 million documents in total and would release 3 million, including 2000 videos and 180,000 images. Advertisement Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives oversight committee, accused Mr Trump of withholding roughly 50 per cent of the Epstein files despite being legally obliged to turn over the documents in full. This is outrageous and incredibly concerning, Garcia said. In other emails, Epstein claimed that Gates, the Microsoft founder, had asked for antibiotics he could surreptitiously give to his then-wife Melinda after contracting an STD from Russian girls. A spokesman for Gates said: These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. Meanwhile, other emails suggest Epstein arranged lunch with Musk, the SpaceX founder, at the companys office in 2013. Advertisement The Telegraph, London Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter. Advertisement WorldNorth AmericaEpstein fallout No records of this meeting: Rudd denies visiting Epsteins NY home Michael Koziol January 31, 2026 5:00pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Washington: Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has denied ever visiting convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at his New York home, despite such a meeting appearing in Epsteins schedule in 2014, according to new emails released by the US Department of Justice. In a lengthy, detailed statement he also denied any friendship with Epstein after a mutual associate, the then secretary-general of the Council of Europe, described Rudd in an email to Epstein as a friend of both of us. About 3 million pages of documents relating to Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice on Friday, US time, under a congressional order, shedding further light on the deceased financiers network of contacts in business, politics and the media. Kevin Rudd, Australias outgoing ambassador to the US, on stage at the Institute of International Finance in Washington in 2025. Bloomberg Emails in the data dump show Rudd appeared on Epsteins daily schedule for Sunday, June 8, 2014, at 4.30pm. According to the schedule, Epstein flew to New York that morning from his private island, Little Saint James, for planned meetings that included lunch with venture capitalist Joi Ito and film director Woody Allen, and later, a meeting with Rudd. Advertisement Rudd, who is in his final two months as Australias ambassador to the United States, said he did not attend. Related Article Epstein fallout Epstein survivors say fight for justice not over as final documents released Our office has no records of this meeting, and the published documents gave no indication about who was involved in organising it. In any case, they were unsuccessful in arranging the introduction, his office said. The emails appeared to show some uncertainty on Epsteins part about whether the former Australian prime minister would attend, and when. On June 6, two days before the appointment, Epstein emailed his long-time assistant Lesley Groff to ask for non-vegetarian food at Sundays lunch as now kevin rudd is also coming. Seconds later, he emailed Ito to say: Kevin Rudd might also stop by former prime minister austrailia [sic]. Advertisement Thousands of people are mentioned in the Epstein files, and it is not a sign of any wrongdoing. This masthead does not assert there was any form of personal relationship between Epstein and Rudd. In a statement from his office, the former prime minister repeated his previous denials of ever corresponding with Epstein or visiting any of his properties. Dr Rudd also has no reason to believe that he ever met with Jeffrey Epstein at any time. We cannot rule out the possibility that they might have attended the same event at some stage, since Dr Rudd has attended literally thousands of functions in New York over the years, Rudds office said. Most references to Dr Rudd in these latest documents mention him in passing. Others indicate there were attempts by mutual acquaintances of Jeffrey Epstein to introduce him to Dr Rudd. No introduction ever took place, and there is no evidence of any direct contact between Jeffrey Epstein and either Dr Rudd or his office. Another email in the trove refers to a dinner Epstein planned in September 2015 with the then-president of Mongolia. Epstein is asked by an assistant: Kevin Rudd has also asked if he can bring his wife and son. Would that be ok? Epstein replies: Ok. Advertisement Rudds office said that on that occasion, Rudd was invited to the event by the International Peace Institute [IPI] a think tank he chaired at the time but he ultimately declined. We do not know whether or not the dinner went ahead without him. Related Article Exclusive Epstein fallout Keating speaks out on unfortunate Epstein ties after emails exposed The newly published Epstein emails also show that in 2016, then-secretary-general of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland emailed Epstein suggesting a visit to his private island. In an unrelated aside he added: Kevin Rudd, a friend of both of us just left my house. Rudds office acknowledged having dinner with Jagland at his home in Strasbourg that night but said: The secretary-generals reference to Dr Rudd being a friend of both of us appears based solely on their shared connection to the IPI. Rudd has previously acknowledged distant ties to Epstein through the IPI. In 2020 he said he was blindsided when he learnt the previous year that Epstein had donated $650,000 to the organisation over the decade. Advertisement He also accepted the chief executives resignation after it emerged they had taken an undisclosed personal loan from Epstein. At that time Rudd acknowledged being on a 2014 teleconference call that included Epstein, and attending an event to which Epstein was also invited, but said he had no recollection whatsoever of meeting the man. Rudd was largely based at Harvard University in 2014 before moving to New York in 2015, when he became president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. He later became president and chief executive of the Asia Society, and is leaving the US ambassadorship after three years to return to those roles. In the new statement about the emails released by the Justice Department, Rudds office said: Even if these various records were somehow to be accepted at face value, none of them allege that Dr Rudd engaged in any wrongful activity or had any knowledge of Epsteins crimes. Dr Rudds legal team is prepared to launch legal action against any defamatory statements asserting any kind of personal relationship between Dr Rudd and Epstein. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter. 'Misrepresent reality': AI-altered shooting image surfaces in US Senate Washington, United States, Jan 30 (AFP) Jan 30, 2026 An AI-enhanced image depicting the moments before immigration agents shot an American nurse ricocheted across the internet -- and also made its way onto the hallowed floor of the US Senate. Social media platforms are awash with graphic footage from the moment US agents shot and killed 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide outrage. One frame from the grainy footage was digitally altered using artificial intelligence, AI experts told AFP. The manipulated image, which purports to show Pretti surrounded by officers as one points a gun at his head, spread rapidly across Instagram, Facebook, X, and Threads. It contained several digital distortions, including a headless agent. "I am on the Senate floor to condemn the killing of US citizens at the hands of federal immigration officers," Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, wrote on X Thursday, sharing a video of his speech in which he displayed the AI-enhanced image. "And to demand the Trump Administration take accountability for its actions." In comments beneath his post, several X users demanded an apology from the senator for promoting the manipulated image. On Friday, Durbin's office acknowledged the mistake. "Our office used a photo on the Senate floor that had been widely circulated online. Staff didn't realize until after the fact that the image had been slightly edited and regret that this mistake occurred," the senator's spokesperson told AFP. - 'Advancing an agenda' - The gaffe underscores how lifelike AI visuals -- even those containing glaring errors -- are seeping into everyday discourse, sowing confusion during breaking news events and influencing political debate at the highest levels. The AI-enhanced image also led some social media users to falsely claim the object in Pretti's right hand was a weapon, but analysis of the verified footage showed he was holding a phone. That analysis contradicted claims by officials in President Donald Trump's administration that Pretti posed a threat to officers. Disinformation watchdog NewsGuard said the use of AI tools to enhance details of witness footage can lead to fabrications that "misrepresent reality, in service to advancing an agenda." "AI tools are increasingly being used on social media to 'enhance' unclear images during breaking news events," NewsGuard said in a report. "AI 'enhancements' can invent faces, weapons, and other critical details that were never visible in original footage -- or in real life." The trend underscores a new digital reality in which fake images -- created or distorted using artificial intelligence tools -- often go viral on social media in the immediate aftermath of major news events such as shootings. "Even subtle changes to the appearance of a person can alter the reception of an image to be more or less favorable," Walter Scheirer, from the University of Notre Dame, told AFP, referring to the distorted image presented at the US Senate. "In the recent past, creating lifelike visuals took some effort. However now, with AI, this can be done instantly, making such content available to politicians on command." On Friday, the Trump administration charged a prominent journalist Don Lemon and others with civil rights crimes over coverage of immigration protests in Minneapolis, as the president branded Pretti an "agitator." Pretti's killing marked the second fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester this month by federal agents. Earlier this month, AI deepfakes flooded online platforms following the killing of another protester -- 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. AFP found dozens of posts across social media, in which users shared AI-generated images purporting to "unmask" the agent who shot her. Some X users used AI chatbot Grok to digitally undress an old photo of Good. US approves nearly $4 bn in Apache war helicopter sales to Israel Washington, United States, Jan 30 (AFP) Jan 30, 2026 The United States said Friday it had approved a $3.8 billion sale to Israel of 30 Apache attack helicopters and related equipment, as a fragile ceasefire is in place in Gaza. The sale was within a new package of nearly $6.7 billion in weapons to Israel, for which President Donald Trump has vowed strong support. "The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability," the State Department said in a statement. "This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives," it said. Also in the package was a $1.8 billion sale of joint light tactical vehicles. The United States sends billions of dollars worth of military supplies per year to Israel, largely in aid rather than sales. Israel and Hamas reached a US-backed ceasefire in October that largely paused two years of war. The Trump administration has said that the ceasefire is now in its second phase, with a focus on disarming Hamas. Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally that includes hostages who died or were killed during their captivity in the Gaza Strip. Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel's retaliatory military campaign, according to Gaza's health ministry. US approves approves major arms deals to Israel, Saudi Washington, United States, Jan 31 (AFP) Jan 31, 2026 The United States on Friday approved multibillion-dollar weapons sales to both Israel and Saudi Arabia, at a point of high tensions with Iran. The State Department said it green-lighted a $3.8-billion sale of 30 Apache attack helicopters to Israel, which has agreed to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. "The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability," the State Department said in a statement. "This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives," it said. Also in the package was a $1.8 billion sale of joint light tactical vehicles. The United States sends billions of dollars worth of military supplies per year to Israel, largely in aid rather than sales. Israel and Hamas reached a US-backed ceasefire in October that largely paused two years of war. Tensions are high elsewhere in the region as the United States deploys a major military contingent in waters near Iran. The State Department also approved a $9-billion sale to Saudi Arabia for 730 Patriot missiles, which are used to defend against incoming attacks. Israel last year carried out a major bombing campaign against nuclear and other military sites in Iran. Iran has faced growing pressure after major protests against the clerical state, which has responded by killing thousands of protesters. Saudi Arabia, while no friend of Iran, has voiced caution about an attack on Iran as Gulf monarchies fear instability that could jeopardize their reputation as business havens. Saudi Arabia for years has been considering a historic normalization with Israel, which increasingly seems distant as the kingdom looks warily at Israel's military campaigns in the Palestinian territories. The Trump administration has said that the Gaza ceasefire is now in its second phase, with a focus on disarming Hamas. Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally that includes hostages who died or were killed during their captivity in the Gaza Strip. Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel's retaliatory military campaign, according to Gaza's health ministry. Danish war veterans to hold silent march after Trump 'insult' Copenhagen, Jan 31 (AFP) Jan 31, 2026 More than a thousand are expected to join a silent march in Copenhagen on Saturday organised by Denmark's veterans' association to protest against US President Donald Trump's comments downplaying the role of non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan. "The demonstration is called #NoWords because that really describes how we feel. We have no words," the vice president of the association, Soren Knudsen, told AFP. "Obviously, we also want to tell Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and the values that we defended together," he added. Trump sparked outrage in Denmark and across Europe on January 22 when he said European NATO troops "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines" during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan. The Scandinavian country fought alongside US forces during the Gulf War as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. In response to Trump's claim, 44 Danish flags, which carried the names of the 44 Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, were placed on Tuesday in planters outside the US embassy in Copenhagen. The embassy removed the flags, before apologising and replacing them. "We have nothing but the deepest respect for Danish veterans and the sacrifices Danish soldiers have made for our shared security. There was no ill intent behind the removal of the flags," it said in a post on its Facebook page. It noted that the planters were embassy property and not in the public domain, and the initial planting of the flags had not been coordinated with the embassy. - Wreath ceremony - On Friday, the US ambassador himself placed 44 Danish flags in the flowerbeds. On Saturday, 52 new flags are to be added, with names inscribed on them: 44 for the Danes who died in Afghanistan, and eight others for those killed in Iraq. The demonstration is to begin at 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) with a brief ceremony at Copenhagen's monument to fallen soldiers, where a wreath will be laid. The procession will then march to the US embassy about two kilometres (1.2 miles) away, where a minute of silence will be observed. Organisers told AFP they expected well over a thousand people to take part. "We were very pleasantly surprised by the support we received. It all started within the association and grew into a large event," Knudsen said. Denmark has traditionally been an ardent US ally, and continues to call Washington its "closest ally" despite tensions over Trump's recent interest in taking over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. Drone attacks on Ethiopia's restive Tigray kill one Addis Ababa, Jan 31 (AFP) Jan 31, 2026 Two drone attacks in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region on Saturday targeted trucks and killed a driver, as fears grew of a fresh conflict between local and federal forces. Hostilities broke out in recent days in Tsemlet, western Tigray, an area claimed by forces from the neighbouring Amhara region. Flights to Tigray have been suspended since Thursday. Drones were used extensively during the 2020-2022 Tigray war between the Ethiopian army and forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) that killed at least 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates. A truck driver was killed in the first attack in central Tigray, which began at 3:30 am (0030 GMT) and lasted about 30 minutes, Dimtsi Woyane television, a media outlet close to the Tigrayan authorities, reported. Images posted on Facebook show a a body slumped in the driver's seat. A second strike in the same area at around 5:30 am (0230 GMT) targeted another truck carrying pepper, the outlet said. Two sources close to the local authorities confirmed the strikes to AFP. A spokesperson for Ethiopia's federal army has not responded to AFP requests for comment. On Friday, the African Union expressed "deep concern over recent developments" in Tigray and urged "all parties to exercise maximum restraint." Tension has been brewing over the presence of troops from Amhara and the neighbouring country of Eritrea in Tigray, violating a peace deal that ended the war. Last year, the head of Tigray's interim administration established by Addis Ababa was forced to flee Mekele, the regional capital, amid growing divisions within the TPLF. The TPLF which controlled all of Ethiopia before being displaced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, remains banned. Addis Ababa accuses the group of forging ties with neighbouring Eritrea and "actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia". Gaza health ministry says 11 killed in Israeli strikes Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, Jan 31 (AFP) Jan 31, 2026 Israeli air strikes killed 11 people in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to the territory's ministry of health, including people sheltering in a tent in the south. Munir al-Barsh, the general director of the ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP that 11 people were killed and 20 more were wounded "as a result of strikes carried out by the occupation targeting civilians in a tent and an apartment". Barsh said the wounded arrived at hospitals in Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis in the south. Israel "continues its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement amid a severe shortage of medical supplies, medicines and medical equipment", Barsh added. A US-brokered ceasefire in place since October progressed into its second phase in January, which is supposed to include Hamas's disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of an international stabilisation force. Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce. Gaza's Hamas-run government press office said Saturday that the strike on the tent in the south killed seven members of one displaced family, including a child and an elderly person. According to the health ministry, 509 people have been killed since the ceasefire took effect on October 10. Almost all of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once during the war in the tiny coastal territory, and hundreds of thousands still live in tents or makeshift shelters. The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The Israeli retaliation flattened much of Gaza, which was already suffering from previous rounds of fighting and from an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007. The two-year war has left more than 71,769 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill 28 Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, Jan 31 (AFP) Jan 31, 2026 Israeli air strikes killed 28 people including children in Gaza on Saturday, according to the Palestinian territory's civil defence agency, as the military said it attacked in response to a Hamas ceasefire violation. Despite a US-brokered ceasefire entering its second phase earlier this month, violence in the Palestinian territory has continued, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the truce agreement. The latest bloodshed comes after Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday for the "limited movement of people". "Twenty-eight martyrs have been recovered, a quarter of whom are children, a third of whom are women, and one elderly man," the civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, said in a statement, adding that people were still missing under the rubble. "Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted, resulting in this humanitarian catastrophe," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said. A unit in an apartment building of Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood was left entirely destroyed, and blood spatters from its inoccupants were visible on the street below, an AFP journalist reported. "Three girls died while they were sleeping. We found their bodies in the street", Samer al-Atbash, a relative of the family, told AFP. "What truce are you talking about? Everyone is deceiving everyone else," added Nael al-Atbash, another relative. One strike hit the police station in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre. Gaza's general police directorate said seven people were killed in that attack, while Bassal said the dead included four women police officers. "The killed included police officers and personnel as well as civilians who were present at the station at the time," the directorate said. - Ceasefire violations - About a dozen first responders rushed to the devastated building and pulled bodies from the rubble, an AFP journalist reported. Another Israeli attack hit a shelter in Al-Mawasi, an area of south Gaza where tens of thousands of displaced Gazans live in tents and makeshift shelters, an AFP journalist reported. Large plumes of smoke rose above the thousands of densely pitched tents. The number of casualties from this strike was still not known. Although people have been killed almost daily in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on October 10, Saturday's toll was particularly high. Israel's military said in a statement that the air strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in the south Gaza city of Rafah, which it said violated the fragile ceasefire. It said forces "struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations across the Gaza Strip". Gaza health ministry general director Munir al-Barsh told AFP that Israel "continues its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement amid a severe shortage of medical supplies, medicines and medical equipment". Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in a statement condemned Saturday's strikes as "a brutal crime". The health ministry, which operates under the Hamas authority, has said Israeli attacks have killed at least 509 people in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect. Israel's military says four soldiers have been killed in the same period in Gaza in suspected militant attacks. - Rafah reopening - Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have meant that AFP has been unable to independently verify casualty figures or freely cover the violence. Meanwhile, Israel has said Sunday's reopening of the Rafah crossing will be only for the "limited movement of people". The reopening, a major demand of humanitarian organisations, is a key element in the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Israel had previously expressed its unwillingness to reopen the gateway until it received the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage to be held in Gaza, who was recovered earlier this week and laid to rest in Israel on Wednesday. The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel's retaliation flattened much of Gaza, which was already suffering from previous rounds of fighting and from an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007. The two-year war has left at least 71,769 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. bur-az-lba-jd/jfx Thousands join Danish war vets' silent march after Trump 'insult' Copenhagen, Jan 31 (AFP) Jan 31, 2026 Between 8,000 and 10,000 people joined an emotional silent march in Copenhagen on Saturday organised by Denmark's Veterans' Association to protest Donald Trump's comments downplaying the role of non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan. The association had expected well over a thousand people to take part, and Danes braved subzero temperatures en masse to support their veterans and the 44 Danes who died in Afghanistan. Police told AFP they estimated the number of demonstrators were "at least 10,000", while organisers put the turnout at between 8,000 and 10,000. Trump sparked outrage in Denmark and across Europe on January 22 when he said European NATO troops "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines" during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan. The Scandinavian country fought alongside US forces during the Gulf War as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. Gathering in Copenhagen's Kastellet, or citadel, a brief ceremony was held at the monument to fallen soldiers before the procession began. "The demonstration is called #NoWords because that really describes how we feel. We have no words," the vice president of the association, Soren Knudsen, told AFP. "Obviously, we also want to tell Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and the values that we defended together." Some demonstrators waved red-and-white Danish flags and others were dressed in military uniform, as they marched quietly -- no slogans or chanting -- to the US embassy about two kilometres (1.2 miles) away. Most were sombre, others were visibly emotional with tears streaming down their cheeks. "We're very happy that so many people turned out," Knudsen told AFP outside the US embassy, pleased that veterans from the US and across Europe had also joined in. "What Trump said was very insulting," Henning Andersen, who served as a Danish UN soldier in Cyprus, told AFP. "I have friends who were down there. Some of them were wounded, and they carry the war with them even today," the 64-year-old said, four military medals pinned to his black veterans' jacket. "He's saying things he doesn't know the full truth about." One 58-year-old member of Denmark's home guard, who gave her name only as Orum, also expressed anger over Trump's remarks. "How can he even say that? It's insulting," she said, clad in khaki fatigues and green beret. - 44 flags - Protesters at the front of the march carried a large red banner reading "NoWords", while others carried hand-drawn signs. One said "Trump is so dumb", while another held by a child read "Say sorry, Trump". In response to Trump's claim, 44 Danish flags, which carried the names of the 44 Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, were placed on Tuesday in planters outside the US embassy in Copenhagen. The embassy removed the flags, before apologising and replacing them. "We have nothing but the deepest respect for Danish veterans and the sacrifices Danish soldiers have made for our shared security. There was no ill intent behind the removal of the flags," the embassy said in a post on its Facebook page. It noted that the planters were embassy property and not in the public domain, and the initial planting of the flags had not been coordinated with the embassy. On Friday, the US ambassador placed 44 Danish flags in the flowerbeds. On Saturday, 52 additional Danish flags were added, with names inscribed on them: 44 for the Danes who died in Afghanistan, and eight others for those killed in Iraq. A minute of silence was also observed outside the embassy. One person laid down a wreath of red and white flowers. Denmark has traditionally been an ardent US ally, and continues to call Washington its "closest ally" despite tensions over Trump's recent interest in taking over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. The EHRC has shared an updated services code of practice with the minister for women and equalities Bridget Phillipson for approval, although it said the issues raised by the tribunal were more closely related to the existing employment code of practice which it is planning to update. Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and his father are being held at a Texas immigrant center. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery on Saturday ordered they be released while their case proceeds through the court system. Columbia Heights Public Schools Pepper spray is used by Texas troopers to disperse protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley. Eric Gay/Associated Press In a ruling that includes a stinging rebuke of the Trump administration, a federal judge in San Antonio has ordered the release of an Ecuadorian man and his 5-year-old son who are being held in a South Texas immigrant detention center. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery's order, issued Saturday morning, requires that Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias and his son, Liam Conejo Ramos, be released from federal custody while their immigration case proceeds through the court system. Biery's order requires they be released by Tuesday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Conejo Arias and his son were detained in Minnesota after federal officials said they had overstayed their immigration parole. Their attorneys say they are in the country under an asylum claim, but in court filings federal officials say the man and his child are not here legally and that their immigration parole expired in April. Conejo Arias and his son are currently being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Frio County, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio. READ ALSO: San Antonio woman gets 11 years in smuggling scheme that killed migrant Statesman Logo Want more Statesman? Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search. Add Preferred Source Biery's ruling accuses the Trump administration of "ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence," and contends that the case against Conejo Arias and his son "has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Liam's mother Erika told Minnesota Public Radio News that she was concerned over her son's health while he was being held at the Texas immigration center. "Liam is getting sick because the food they receive is not of good quality," she said. "He has stomach pain, hes vomiting, he has a fever and he no longer wants to eat." Biery wrote that administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer. Due to what he called "the arcane United States immigration system," Biery wrote that Conejo Arias and his son may at some point "return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Biery's order requires Conejo Arias and his son be released "under appropriate conditions of release no more restrictive than those in place prior to the detention at issue in this case, to a public place as soon as practicable, but in any event, no later (than) Tuesday." The order also prohibits federal officials from moving Conejo Arias and his son to another facility while they await their release. Messages left Saturday with ICE and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas were not immediately returned Jennifer Scarborough, an attorney representing Conejo Arias and his son, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Saturday ruling by Biery followed a temporary order he signed Monday that prohibited federal officials from removing Conejo Arias and his son out of the Western District of Texas while the case proceeded. In the government's response to that earlier ruling, federal officials argued that Conejo Arias and his son were not entitled to the relief sought. The document argued that Conejo Arias and his son are lawfully detained, that the other claims should be severed and dismissed and that the court should deny the petition in its entirety. The government response did not address the family's claim that they have sought asylum, but says Conejo Arias and his son arrived at a port of entry in Brownsville on Dec. 14, 2024, and that parole was granted only through April 15, 2025. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Conejo Arias and his son were detained on Jan. 20 in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. They were brought to Texas and have been held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Frio County. Their detention came as the nation has watched confrontations between Minnesota protesters and ICE agents and the subsequent deaths of two American citizen protesters in Minneapolis who came into contact with federal officers during demonstrations in the state. Neighbors and officials from the child's school have accused federal immigration officers of using the preschooler as "bait," saying the boy was told to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer the door. I held a press conference at the Laredo Holding Institute to raise awareness about ICE transferring detained families from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley to Laredo, where they are released to local shelter and expected to make their way back to their pic.twitter.com/fk5nwLTykS Rep. Henry Cuellar (@RepCuellar) January 30, 2026 Officials with the Department of Homeland Security disputed those accusations and described that depiction as an "abject lie." They say Conejo Arias fled on foot and left his son in a running vehicle in their driveway. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a social media post, the Department of Homeland Security wrote: "This is a horrific smear pushed by the media and anti-ICE activists. The child was abandoned by his father, and the alleged mother refused to take custody of her own child. Our law enforcement took care of the child, got him McDonalds and played him his favorite music to comfort him. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates." Dozens of people have protested outside the family detention facility in Dilley since the boy and his father were brought to Texas. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, along with fellow Texas Democrat U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, led a delegation Wednesday to talk with Conejo Arias and his son at the center and called for their release. At least two protesters were taken into custody after troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety deployed smoke canisters to contain the crowd after protestors refused to disperse. Security Concerns for Assyrians in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey (AINA) -- The security situation in northern Syria has reached a critical stage. What was previously described as allegations is now substantiated by multiple field reports and security assessments confirming the existence of established tunnel networks linking Syrian territory with both Iraq and Turkey. These tunnels are neither incidental nor defensive in nature; they constitute an organized, transnational logistical infrastructure used to move fighters, weapons, explosives, and technical expertise, facilitating deliberate killings, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the systematic intimidation of local populations. These networks are centered around the Syrian Democratic Forces (Qasad), operating in direct coordination with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliated elements. These actors cannot be viewed as separate entities, but rather as a single, interconnected armed system operating across borders. Their conduct, including cross-border operations, tunnel warfare embedded within civilian areas, and the coercive domination of local communities, meets widely recognized criteria associated with non-state armed groups engaged in terrorist activity. Equally alarming is the documented role of authorities within what is commonly referred to as the so-called Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Available evidence indicates that this territory has functioned as a logistical rear base for the establishment, arming, and reinforcement of Qasad, as well as a transit corridor for the relocation of PKK fighters from Iraq into Syria. These movements have occurred through borders left effectively outside federal Iraqi military control, while forces loyal to the Barzani leadership exercise de facto authority over border crossings, creating a security vacuum exploited by militant actors. This reality raises a fundamental question of state sovereignty and constitutional order. If Iraq is not a divided state, then border security must be exercised uniformly and exclusively by the federal government across the entirety of national territory, rather than selectively delegated or informally ceded. Continued parallel control over borders, resources, and armed actors reinforces perceptions, both domestically and internationally, of de facto partition. The responsibility therefore lies with Baghdad to reassert full federal authority over borders, customs, security, and cross-border movement, thereby removing any ambiguity regarding Iraq's unity and sovereignty. The consequences of these militant corridors extend well beyond Syria's frontlines. Assyrian towns and villages in northern Iraq and adjacent areas have suffered systematic destruction, alongside the vandalism and erasure of irreplaceable historical and archaeological sites that form an integral part of Iraq's ancient heritage. Indigenous communities have faced intimidation, land confiscation, demographic pressure, and forced displacement, resulting in the gradual and deliberate emptying of ancestral lands. These outcomes are not incidental; they are the foreseeable consequences of unaccountable armed dominance and the absence of effective state protection. The Assyrian people, as one of the indigenous nations of Mesopotamia, are entitled to explicit and specific protection under international and domestic law. In both Iraq and Syria, Assyrians have endured a recurring pattern of dispossession: villages destroyed or appropriated, churches and archaeological sites desecrated, community leaders threatened, and families compelled to flee under the pressure of armed force. In Syria, Assyrians have ultimately suffered the same fate as their counterparts in Iraq, marginalization under militarized administrations, demographic engineering, and the steady erosion of cultural and historical presence. The destruction of Assyrian heritage is not merely a minority-rights violation; it constitutes an assault on the shared historical legacy of the region and may amount to cultural cleansing, prohibited under International Humanitarian Law and relevant UNESCO conventions. From a legal perspective, the facilitation of cross-border tunnel construction, the transfer of militants, and the existence of parallel security structures constitute serious violations of international and domestic law, including: Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, prohibiting actions that undermine the territorial integrity and political independence of states; International Humanitarian Law, particularly prohibitions against embedding military infrastructure within or beneath civilian areas and cultural heritage sites; UN Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions, which obligate states to prevent the movement, arming, and logistical support of terrorist organizations; The Iraqi Constitution, which affirms exclusive federal authority over borders, foreign policy, and national security. By enabling or tolerating these practices, whether through direct coordination or willful negligence, responsible actors risk legal and political complicity. Tunnel warfare and proxy militarization deliberately endanger civilians, entrench impunity, and obstruct any viable path toward stabilization or reconciliation. The path forward is clear. The Iraqi state must reassert full control over its borders, natural resources, and security and political landscape, ensuring that no political party or regional authority operates above the state. International partners should support independent investigations, effective border-monitoring mechanisms, and targeted accountability measures. Transparency and the rule of law are not escalatory acts; they are the minimum requirements for halting proxy warfare, protecting the most vulnerable communities, foremost among them the Assyrian people, and preserving Iraq's unity, sovereignty, and historical legacy. Jay Janner is a staff photographer at the Austin American-Statesman where, since 2003, he has documented life in one of the most dynamic cities in America. In his more than 30-year career, Janner photographed many of the biggest news stories in Austin but his greatest joy is photographing moments in the lives of everyday people. Community photojournalism is his passion. Janner is an eight-time National Press Photographers Association Regional Photographer of the Year and a four-time winner of the Headliners Foundation of Texas Star Photojournalist of the Year award. His photos have won numerous state and national awards including Pictures of the Year International and NPPA Best of Photojournalism. Born in Houston and raised in Bryan, Texas, Janner earned a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from Texas A&M University. He previously worked as a staff photographer at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Colorado Springs Gazette. Crockett High School student Emilina Villalobos, 17, walks out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Thousands of Austin-area students walked out of class this week to protest the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Central Texas and across the country. Students poured into the streets at multiple high schools and some middle schools in Austin, with some walking several miles to reach the Texas Capitol. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The student marches were part of a national protest against ICE, dubbed the nationwide shutdown, which prompted some businesses to close, and organizers in several cities to host rallies. The protests have come in response to the killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez and Keith Porter Jr., all civilians who died during encounters with federal agents. About one thousand protesters march on Congress avenue on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman Erica Hoffman, Young Active Labor Leaders co-chair and Education Austin union member, speaks at a protest on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 at the Texas Capitol as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman A protester holds up a sign for Alex Pretti at a march on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 at the Texas Capitol as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman About one thousand protesters march through downtown Austin on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman Andrea Baca holds a sign at a march on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 in downtown Austin as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Baca, whose parents are immigrants from Mexico, said, "If my parents were to be deported, I'd probably be homeless." Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman Protesters gather outside the Omni Austin Hotel during a march on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Speakers gathered at the hotel to protest Capital Factory. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman An anti-immigration enforcement sign is left on the sidewalk during a march through downtown Austin on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman About one thousand protesters march through downtown Austin on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman About one thousand protesters march through downtown Austin on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman About one thousand protesters march through downtown Austin on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman Texas State Troopers lijne up outside the Texas Capitol in preparation for a protest on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 at the Texas Capitol that is part of a nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman Texas State Troopers lijne up outside the Texas Capitol in preparation for a protest on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 at the Texas Capitol that is part of a nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman A protester holds up a sign for Alex Pretti at a march on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 at the Texas Capitol as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman Protesters gather on Friday, Jan 30, 2026 at the Texas Capitol as part of nationwide protest against actions by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School student Alexandra Fulbright, 15, walks out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Reese Armstrong leads a chant as McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Brandy Trouble helps herself to free coffee outside Flitch Coffee in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. The coffee shop was closed as part of a nationwide day of action, while offering free coffee in protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students participate in a walkout of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman A sign announces the one-day closure of Lovecraft on East 11th Street in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Beatriz Schleppe raises her fist in support as Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Beatriz Schleppe raises her fist in support as Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman A sign announces the one-day closure of Uncommon Objects in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman A sign announcing free coffee is posted at Flitch Coffee in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as the shop closes for the day as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman A sign announces the one-day closure of End of an Ear Record Store in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman A sign announces the one-day closure of Charm School Vintage on East 11th Street in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman A sign announcing free coffee is posted at Flitch Coffee in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as the shop closes for the day as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman A sign announces the one-day closure of Uncommon Objects in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman EB Parry waves an anarchist flag as McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman A student climbs a pole for a better angle to photograph as McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman A McCallum High School student uses a crutch as they participate in a walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students cheer as a car honks in support as they walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students chant as they walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students gather as they walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students receive whistles, a means of warning neighbors of ICEs presence, as they walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students gather as they walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students chant as they walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman McCallum High School students walk out of class in protest of ICE in Austin Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Austin Independent School District freshman Aiyana Meshoulam wanted to protest because high schoolers today are the future, and they need to make their voices heard, she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Crockett High School students walk out of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman We know whats wrong and whats right, Meshoulam said. Statesman Logo Want more Statesman? Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search. Add Preferred Source At Crockett High School in South Austin, students marched Friday from the high school to the Austin Community College South campus, across the street. They carried signs with the message Education, Not Deportation. Students then walked through the intersection of West Stassney Lane and Menchaca Road, spreading to both sides of the street and into the median of Menchaca. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Blasting Tejano music, students in cars cruised between the protesters on Menchaca, as some leaned out the window or poked through sunroof, shaking signs and flags of Mexico, Ecuador and Cuba. Crockett High School students participate in a walkout of school in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, as part of a nationwide protest of the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hundreds of students participated in the walkout, which was among similar student demonstrations held at other Austin-area schools. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Students climbed on the picnic tables of Moreno Burger Co., across the street from Crockett, holding signs and cheering as cars honked in support. One student, who asked not to be named, said he marched with his classmates because his father is an immigrant from Mexico, and hes proud of all his dad has done to create a better life for him and his siblings. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A few hours later, students at McCallum High School in Northwest Austin also marched out of class. They made several laps around the campus, holding signs and chanting. Students at Akins High School in South Austin left class on Thursday because they wanted a chance to have their opinions on ICE activities heard, said Adeleah Cardenas, a senior who organized the walkout with her friends. So many people younger than me feel like they don't have a voice and can't do things like this, Cardenas said. We are the future of this country. If we dont do this, who else will? Advertisement Article continues below this ad Students are afraid, she said. Some students who walk to their afterschool jobs worry about being detained. In Asia, the countries in red are where there have been Nipah virus outbreaks. In yellow are the places where the particular bat lives that is spreading the virus. Provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The internet has been abuzz with "Nipah virus" after two cases were recently identified in health care workers in India. Could this be our next COVID-19? Advertisement Article continues below this ad Why are people worked up about Nipah virus? "It is a horrible disease," said Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor at the University of Texas who studies pandemics and created the UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium when the pandemic started. What is most scary about Nipah is its death rate. In outbreaks, 40% to 70% or more infected people have died from this virus, which causes inflammation, particularly in the brain. "At the height of COVID, the death rate was only 1%," Ancel Meyers said. When there is a Nipah outbreak, "it is all hands on deck" to contain it, she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Statesman Logo Want more Statesman? Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search. Add Preferred Source Where did Nipah virus come from? "It's something that has been smoldering for the last 25 years," said Dr. Brian Metzger, an infectious disease specialist at St. David's Medical Center. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There have been outbreaks throughout Asia since it was first discovered in 1998 among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore. It started in fruit bats but then spread to pigs. People who were taking care of the infected pigs became the first human cases. Fewer than 1,000 people in the world have been infected by the virus. Lauren Ancel Meyers with the University of Texas creates models of how viruses spread. Angela Piazza, for American-Statesman How is the Nipah virus different from COVID-19? So far this virus has been contained to small outbreaks in Asia. There have been no known cases in the United States, but airports throughout Asia have stepped up health screenings to try to prevent the spread. Advertisement Article continues below this ad COVID was a respiratory virus that was airborne and had a short incubation rate of a couple of days and the possibility to be contagious before people had symptoms. The Nipah virus, though, has a long incubation rate, which allows the people who have been infected to be isolated and for the infected animals (usually pigs) who gave it to the humans to be culled. In the two current cases in India, contact tracing revealed almost 200 people who had been in contact with the infected people and none has had the virus. Will Nipah virus come to the U.S., Texas, Austin? It's unlikely, said both Ancel Meyers and Metzger. Someone from that small area of India would have to be infected and then travel to the U.S. and have very close contact with someone here for the virus to reach Austin. Even then, contact tracing and isolation could contain it quickly. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This current outbreak of two people doesn't seem larger or more threatening than any of the previous outbreaks, Ancel Meyers said. How is Nipah virus spread? According to the Center's for Disease Control and Prevent, the virus is spread by: Coming in contact with an infected animal Eating food or drinks such as fruit or juice that have been contaminated by infected animals Coming in contact with bodily fluid from an infected person Advertisement Article continues below this ad What are the symptoms of Nipah virus? People with Nipah can have no symptoms at all, or they can be sick for three to 14 days with these symptoms: Fever Headache Sore throat Difficulty breathing In later stages, people have brain swelling that causes: Advertisement Article continues below this ad Confusion Drowsiness Seizures Coma How is Nipah treated? There is no vaccine for Nipah or antivirals to lessen the symptoms. Doctors treat the symptoms such as headache, fever and brain swelling. What other viruses should people in Austin be worried about? Ancel Meyers and Metzger continue to worry about the current flu season. While flu numbers in Texas have been declining in recent weeks, this has been a rough flu season, Metzger said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While COVID-19 has not been as active this winter, it is still dangerous and potentially deadly for people who are older or have weakened immune systems. Joycelyn Henderson leads chants during a Jan. 10 rally at Austin City Hall, one of the protests held across the country after an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. A reader says that history shows brute force is never the solution; we need peaceful and long-lasting resolution. Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman Emergency call for change Where is the real leadership in this country? Advertisement Article continues below this ad You know, the kind that seeks to resolve issues and problems instead of making them worse. History shows us that brute force is never the solution. Peaceful and long-lasting resolution is what is needed. We, as a country, need to elect people who are willing to look for the solutions instead of causing more problems. It's time for the insanity in our country to stop. We have too many ineffective leaders. We, the people, can change that. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Peggy Aschenbeck, Austin Hold agents accountable Advertisement Article continues below this ad This editorial points out the crying need for law enforcement to follow proper procedures. Law enforcers need to also obey our Constitution, laws and codes. An apprehension for an alleged crime is the purpose of their job. They are not to be the judge, jury and executioner. That is not the purpose of enforcement. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not above the law. Immigrants legal and those without legal status need to have their day in court, just like American citizens are entitled to have. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That is due process and what is supposed to happen, not lock them up or run them out of the country. Donald Hammers, Augusta, Georgia Fear exists in Austin Thank you for clarifying both the implications of the recent increase in scope at the federal level and Austin Police Department's bottom line actions in response increased reporting to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the disappearance of our hard-working neighbors. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Fear is rampant. We are not safer when fellow Austinites are afraid to ask for help. Dorothy Ann Compton, Austin A federal agent uses a facial recognition app on a person during a Jan. 27 traffic stop in Minneapolis. A reader encourages federal agents to change, saying it's not too late to reverse course and return to acting lawfully. Adam Gray/Associated Press Spiraling into chaos Congress must act in response to recent events in Minneapolis. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Immigration control must be orderly, civilized and humane. Instead, these federal agents are chaotic, brutal and trigger-happy. That two United States citizens have been killed by federal agents is utterly intolerable. Every Republican lawmaker must have the same response as if their constituents were killed during an operation led by a Democratic administration. There must be independent investigations and accountability, not blaming the victims and proliferating memes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The rule of law must prevail. I have lived in Texas for almost 50 years, but I came from Minneapolis and maintain close ties there. Many Americans have similar connections there and in other states. We are connected; we are Americans. Renee Good and Alex Pretti are every one of us. We want peace and truth, not aggression and cruelty. I implore Republican leadership to stop this spiral of brutality. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Carolyn Slocum, Austin ICE agents can change Here is a message for all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, especially the newest ones: You can change. You do not have to keep killing unarmed American citizens or neglecting immigrants in detention centers. Advertisement Article continues below this ad You do not have to keep brutalizing children and asylum seekers with valid documents. You do not have to keep breaking down doors and bursting into families' private homes without a valid warrant and violating the Fourth Amendment of America's Bill of Rights. You can change. ICE can once again be an agency that acts lawfully. We can support such an ICE. We can never support the actions of ICE agents today. Al Lindsey, Austin Advertisement Article continues below this ad A voter makes selections at an Austin polling location last fall. A reader says President Donald Trump's solutions are much worse than our problems, and the power rests with voters to change the direction of our country. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Voters are the solution Lets hope we dont become desensitized to seeing masked enforcers terrorize our communities. Right here in the land of the free, lives and families are being destroyed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Vice President JD Vance says these U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have "absolute immunity." Sound familiar? Check your history books, then compare what you've read to what is happening right in front of us. We have reached a point where President Donald Trump's solution is much, much more destructive than the problems. We have a voice and a vote. That should be power enough if we have the will to do the right thing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Diana Cox, Austin Reverse direction of GOP The time has come to quit blaming individuals for the long list of dumb, illegal, immoral, destructive things our state and national leaders are doing. This is not solely the work of the governor or president. This is the work of our Republican leadership in Texas and Washington, D.C. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I am so tired of being embarrassed for my beloved country. I am an Army veteran and I have voted for the old Republican Party much of my life, but the Republican Party is lost. Continuing to march like lemmings in the wrong direction will destroy us. We must forget old habits, think for ourselves and choose new leadership as soon as possible. William R Allen, Kingwood Advertisement Article continues below this ad Need unbiased investigation The recent shootings in Minneapolis has raised serious concerns about the integrity of our justice system and the rule of law in our country. Our safety and our collective sanity depends on our trusting law enforcement to wield deadly force in a responsible manner, and to fully and impartially investigate civilian fatalities. Law enforcement and prosecutors dont have to be perfect, but they must remain nonpartisan. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The administrations handling of these incidents has politicized what should be a thorough investigation of an awful, preventable and repeatable tragedy. Partisan law enforcement undermines our faith in those we trust to police us, and the government we need to protect us. When an investigation seeks to smear an unarmed victim of a police shooting rather than uncover the truth, our government fails all of us. Our demand should be bipartisan: Investigate these cases transparently, with state and local authorities, without political interference. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Jacob Rolls, Driftwood Catherine OHara died on Friday at age 71 following a brief illness. A cause of death has not yet been released. Earlier this month, she was notably absent from the Golden Globes, though, where she had been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for the series The Studio. The Toronto native, best known for her roles in Schitts Creek and Home Alone, often stayed close-lipped about her health. However, in a 2021 interview, she revealed that she had a rare congenital condition called dextrocardia with situs inversus. Dextrocardia is characterized by the heart being positioned on the right side of the chest. Meanwhile, situs inversus occurs when the major visceral organs are mirrored or reversed from their normal positions. OHara recalled discovering her condition after getting baseline medical tests with her husband, Bo Welch. After an EKG and X-ray, the doctor revealed the uncommon diagnosis. He calls us into his office and says, Youre the first one Ive met! OHara remembered. And its, OK, I dont even know the name, cause I dont want to know the name. Something cardi-inversa. And then dexter-cardia-and-something-inversa. She admitted at the time that she preferred to remain in the dark about the specifics. I kind of dont want to know. Cause I didnt know before that, she said, jokingly adding, Im a freak, yeah! While people can live full lives with situs inversus, the condition can cause complications, particularly when the heart is involved. OHara noted that on the same day she learned of her condition, one of her brothers had just undergone quadruple bypass surgery, though his heart was on the typical left side. So, she quipped, he kind of scooped my story that day. Following OHaras passing on Friday, several of her co-stars through the years paid tribute to her on social media. Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later, wrote her Home Alone on-screen son Macaulay Culkin in a heartbreaking post. Syracuse, N.Y. Around 200 people packed the sidewalks of Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse on Friday to protest the Trump administrations immigration crackdown. The rally was part of a National Day of Action protesting immigration enforcement policies and ICE operations. Nationwide, organizers encouraged people to refrain from shopping or going to work or school. Rallies unfolded nationwide, with crowds ranging from hundreds to thousands gathering in places like Minnesota and other cities across the U.S. In Syracuse, protesters lined both sides of South Salina Street near Clinton Square for more than an hour despite temperatures below 10 degrees, with wind chills dipping to minus 10. Some signs read Abolish ICE and Justice for Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole and Keith Porter. One child held a sign that read, Salt melts ICE, while others carried signs reading Melt ICE, Abolish ICE and Stop ICE terror. Two men played drums as demonstrators chanted. Passing cars honked. An AMR ambulance drove through, honking and waving to protesters. One man driving by stuck his middle finger out the window of his truck. Several demonstrators said they attended because they felt compelled to act and did not want to be complacent about the violence they say ICE has carried out. In Minneapolis, ICE agents shot and killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. James Sullivan, one of the protest organizers and a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said the group was responding to a call from Minnesota and standing in solidarity with a nationwide action against ICE. This came together really fast, and there are a lot of people out here in really crappy weather, Sullivan said. Its not the time to get complacent, and its important that people know the kind of effect they can have by just one day of sustained action like this. One protester, Ty, said he attended because he believes the country was founded by immigrants and said he opposes what he sees happening to immigrants and to Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. Im Irish, and if you know anything about Irish history, we align ourselves with any oppressed group, he said. Another demonstrator, who declined to give his name, said he is a college student and a person of color. He said the country was founded by people seeking a better life and that everyone deserves that opportunity. Its a horrible thing to be complacent in times like this, he said. People need to stand up and show this isnt OK. The rally was one of several actions held locally Friday. A number of Central New York businesses joined the National Day of Action. Some businesses closed for the day, while others said they would donate Fridays or weekend profits to immigration advocacy groups in Central New York. On Thursday, more than 200 Nottingham High School students walked out of class at 1:30 p.m., about 30 minutes before dismissal, and protested ICE on East Genesee Street, students said. The National Day of Action was inspired by a similar action in Minnesota last week, where organizers say federal immigration officers have significantly increased their presence in recent weeks. DeWitt, N.Y. - Dozens of cars joined in a caravan-style protest on Erie Boulevard East in DeWitt Saturday to protest against federal immigration enforcement in Central New York. Starting at about 11 a.m. at the vacant ShoppingTown mall, protesters in about 70 vehicles decorated with signs and balloons drove back and forth on Erie Boulevard between Thompson Road and East Genesee Street. The demonstrations route was intentionally placed near the DeWitt Home Depot, where an ICE detention took place on Jan. 22, according to advocates from the Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Network. Protest organizer Christine Herbs vehicle was decorated with a sign encouraging state lawmakers to pass the New York For All Act, which would prohibit state money from being diverted to federal immigration enforcement operations and ban law enforcement in the state from working with ICE. She argued that its more comprehensive than Gov. Kathy Hochuls recently announced Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which would curtail local law enforcement from working with ICE but allow them to work with federal law enforcement in criminal investigations. Shes muddying the water, Herb said. NY For All has everything that we need to protect our immigrants, so this is what we want to promote, not her new one. At one point as protesters were setting up, a man and his wife drove by to express their support for the demonstration but said that out of fear, they wouldnt be joining We would love to be in this protest line, said the man, who requested to remain anonymous, but my wife is an immigrant, and were afraid to be in it. Thats how bad things have gotten. Retired educator Bill Collins, 81, was among those who drove with the caravan on Saturday. The scene was nothing new to Collins, who has been attending protests against the federal government since the Kent State shootings in 1970. There are so many things, I believe, that are going in the wrong direction right now in this country, he said, and I cant do much about it except this. Collins is also a parishioner of the All-Saints Church in Syracuse, the same congregation as Jose Criollo and Adrian Ramirez, two immigrants who were detained by ICE on Syracuses East Side and are currently in detention in Batavia. Theres a good, hard-working family man from our church that got picked up, Collins said. It turns your stomach. Barb Bachman attended the protest with her husband, Bob, and their friend Karen Guillaume. Bachman said she has no problem with immigration laws, but she believes that how the government is approaching immigration right now goes against common decency. They keep telling us that theyre sending the worst of the worst out, Bachman said, and youve got five-year-olds, and youve got the guy that made soap, that had to leave the country. U.S. Army veteran Angel Belford said she does not believe that the current immigration policies of the federal government represent what she sought to fight for when she joined the military. I do not believe that this is the country that I fought for, Belford said. This is not the way that the country should be run, and this is not the democracy that I went to war twice for. The demonstration mirrored one held in North Syracuse last Saturday, where drivers lapped around the village and drove past the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office at 100 Northern Concourse in Salina. Syracuse, N.Y. Onondaga Countys top prosecutor, a nationally known Republican district attorney, said the Trump administrations current immigration enforcement policies defy rationality and common sense. William Fitzpatrick spoke to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard after appearing Friday with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, in New York City as she introduced legislation to limit local law enforcement in New York state from assisting ICE operations. Fitzpatrick said he has spoken privately of his concerns about the current federal immigration enforcement policies. But after the detainment of two Upstate University Hospital workers, he chose to speak out publicly and support the governors legislation. A same-sex couple in Upstate New York who fled persecution, followed every legal requirement, and were granted protection are now facing deportation to a country they have zero connection to, Fitzpatrick wrote in a joint news release with Hochul and other state law enforcement officials. That is not what the American people signed up for, he said. No one voted to deport hard-working people who came here for the most fundamental reason imaginable to live and love openly without fear. The two workers, Alcibiades Lazaro Ramirez Gonzalez and Yannier Vazquez Hidalgo, also known as Alex and Yan, fled Cuba for America in 2021 and 2022. They worked together at the hospital and married in 2025. The men had asylum protections and recently passed a test required to prove there is a credible threat to their lives in Cuba because of their sexuality, their family said. On Oct. 29, the couple went together to check in with ICE officers in Mattydale. They thought it would be their last visit before a judge would give a final blessing to live here. Instead, agents grabbed them and shipped them to a detention center in Batavia. Fitzpatrick told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard on Friday the men came to this country for the best reason possible. Fitzpatrick, who has been a prosecutor for more than four decades, has served as president of both the national and state district attorneys associations. He said the problem with the current system of immigration enforcement is a lack of rationality and discretion. He said there must be a distinction between hard-working people trying to play by the rules and dangerous criminals when considering deportations. He said that people who are trying to get citizenship the right way, contribute to society and have no run-ins with the law should be welcomed. Why would we not want to keep these people in America, as opposed to deporting them to countries they have no connection to? Fitzpatrick asked. An immigration judge in Batavia has ordered Alex and Yan be deported to Ecuador. Fitzpatrick said he cannot understand the rationale behind deporting people to countries to which they have no ties. These people have, from what I understand, as much connection to Ecuador as I do, Fitzpatrick said. Namely, none. He said he worries about tactics he has seen in other parts of the state, including New York City. He specifically expressed his concern for federal officers detaining immigrants in courthouses in other parts of the state: Thats not right. Fitzpatrick said that his office will cooperate with law enforcement regardless of public sentiment, but will do so correctly and properly. He said he will not hold people on behalf of federal immigration officials unless there is a court order. Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley, a Democrat, has made the same distinction. He said undocumented immigrants will only be held in the county jail if a judge signs a warrant. On Friday, Fitzpatrick joined other top New York law enforcement officials as the governor announced legislation to eliminate 287(g) agreements to work with ICE, bar state and local police from acting as federal agents or using taxpayer-funded resources or personnel to carry out federal civil immigration enforcement. Fitzpatrick said the governor asked him to be there in New York City for her announcement. It was not a political thing, he said. It is about right and wrong. Fitzpatrick said he as concerned by the news coming out of Minnesota, even if it is not black and white. I mean, I have two eyes, Fitzpatrick said. I saw what happened in Minnesota. He said that there is a naivete in some protesters, citing Alex Prettis choice to bring a firearm to a protest, but stressed that doesnt equate to suffering the death penalty. Pretti, who had a license to carry a firearm, was shot dead by ICE agents in Minneapolis. He said the shooting of Renee Good reminded him of the officer-involved shootings of two teens in Dewitt in 2023. In both cases, officials alleged officers were in danger of being hit by a car. Fitzpatrick said that he has been encouraged by some recent statements by Trump, specifically one he made at the Davos Summit, about reassessing the approach to immigration enforcement. That was a good sign, Fitzpatrick said. And then I think Mr. Pretti was killed after that, so well see. Dr. Wayne Amato made his first run for political office in 1974. He aimed high. He ran for governor of New York State, the candidate of the Courage Party. He finished a distant, but respectable, third behind Democrat Hugh Carey and Republican Malcolm Wilson. Why start out at the bottom? Amato joked in 1991. Disappointed, he did not seek public office again until 1989, when he took his first crack at Otisco town supervisor. Running as a Republican, he lost to Democrat Jim Cummings. Two years later, Cummings beat him again. In 1993, many local pundits predicted a fourth disappointment for Amato. But this time, he surprised them, riding a wave of renewed anti-zoning sentiment to a 90-vote victory. Dr. Wayne Amato and wife, Kathleen in 1985. They were standing in their living room. Post-Standard File Photo For Amato, it was a stunning - and long-awaited - win. We simply responded to the wishes of the people, he said. He held the position for 29 years. Amato had lived in Otisco since the early 1970s. He cherished the place. Id describe the town as unique, he told a reporter in 2006. Its pristine, rural and agricultural, and has been this way from the beginning. It hasnt changed much and most of us down here would say thats a good thing. Amato passed away on Saturday, Jan. 24, at his daughters home in Syracuse after a protracted battle with Parkinsons disease. He was 84 years old. Dr. Alexander Stern and Dr. Wayne Amato show Onondaga County Executive Nick Pirro the pilot plant for testing wastewater in 1995. Dennis Nett According to Amatos obituary, he was born in Newark, N.J. He was the oldest of three children. He earned a bachelors degree from Newark College of Engineering and a masters from the University of Buffalo. He settled in Upstate New York while earning his doctorate in chemical engineering at Syracuse University, where he met his beloved wife of 39 years, Kathleen. Together they designed and built their Otisco home where they reared five children and he passionately served as town supervisor, his obituary said. He loved to teach engineering, mathematics, science, religion and political science and served as an assistant and adjunct professor at SU and SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, in addition to teaching catechism classes for over 20 years at the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God Catholic Church. He was an active member at the Blessed Virgin Mother Churchs Holy Name Society and choir. He continued his career as a consulting professional engineer and completed countless designs for Woodford Brothers and locals in the area. Otisco Town Supervisor Wayne Amato drops into the dunk tank at the town's community day in 1995. He was raising money for the fire department. Fred Hickey / The Post-Standard Amato was fervent about liberty and personal responsibility, pride in his work, a fierce debater, and a staunch advocate for smaller government and lower taxes, his obituary said. He was just 32 years old in 1974 when he ran for New York governor. Pragmatism is something we shun, Amato said at a campaign stop at Le Moyne College just before Election Day. We believe in the thrust of Western civilization under the Judeo-Christian ethic and constitutional republicanism. During his tenure as Otiscos town supervisor, Amato was anti-zoning, anti-taxes and anti-regulation. We brought spending and taxes under control, Amato said after his first term. We put our efforts into trying to accomplish what I said we would, which is evaluating every expenditure in a rigorous fashion. The town built a sensible town hall during his tenure. Zoning was his biggest issue. Ive been an opponent of zoning from the beginning, Amato said in 2006. I ran several times for supervisor on that issue. I believe its an intrusion on the ability to run our property. Stephen Rogers, left, Publisher of the Syracuse Newspapers, and Dr. Wayne S. Amato, second from right, both guest speakers at yesterday's United German American Societies dinner, discuss the program with Erich R. Nordheim, second from left, general chairman of the dinner, and J. Edward Hill, toastmaster. Photo was taken in 1974 while Amato was running for New York State governor. Post-Standard File Photo Amatos obituary described him as a voracious reader who earned black belts in judo and karate and enjoyed hunting, drum corps music and state politics He is survived by his two sisters, Carole and Judy; five children, Siena Halligan (Chuck), Stephen Amato (Amanda), Alan Amato, Alicia Stanley (Chris) and Alexander Amato (Renee); 21 grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws. Calling hours will be held on Sunday, Feb. 15 from 1-4 p.m. at Butler-Badman Funeral Home, 4504 W. Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13215. The Requiem Latin Mass will be on Monday, Feb. 16 at 9 a.m. at Transfiguration Church, 740 Teall Avenue. Burial will be in St. Agnes Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the BVM Church Building Fund, 2656 Warners Road, Warners, N.Y. 13164. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store. ChatGPT apps launched in October 2025, introducing a new way to interact with third-party services directly inside conversations. OpenAI rolled out integrations with popular platforms, promising to blend familiar interactive elements with conversational AI. The feature is available across all ChatGPT account types, including free users, and developers can now build custom apps using the Apps SDK built on the Model Context Protocol. While the concept sounds revolutionary, imagine booking travel, designing graphics, or managing emails without leaving your chat window, early testing reveals significant gaps between promise and performance. These ChatGPT apps introduce new vulnerabilities, usability friction, and reliability issues that often make the native applications faster and more dependable. What Are ChatGPT Apps and How Do They Work? ChatGPT apps are third-party integrations that run natively inside ChatGPT conversations. Users can invoke them in two ways: by starting a message with an app name (like "Spotify, make a playlist for my party this Friday") or through contextual suggestions when ChatGPT detects relevant intent during conversation. For instance, mentioning home shopping might prompt ChatGPT to surface the Zillow app automatically. These apps can read conversation context, access connected account data, and display interactive elements like maps, playlists, or design previews directly in the chat interface. Each app requires explicit connection authorization the first time it's used, establishing data-sharing permissions between ChatGPT, the user, and the third-party service. The system relies on the Model Context Protocol to enable apps to expose tools, process data, and return structured responses that ChatGPT can render. Privacy and Security Concerns With ChatGPT Apps Connecting ChatGPT apps creates additional attack surfaces and data exposure risks that users should carefully consider before authorizing access. When integrating third-party applications, sensitive information flows between ChatGPT, the app's servers, and OpenAI's infrastructure, creating multiple points where data could be intercepted or breached. ChatGPT already collects substantial data including account details, all prompt content, uploaded files, IP addresses, browser information, and approximate location. Third-party app integrations compound these privacy implications by granting additional services access to conversation history, personal preferences, and potentially sensitive information shared during chats. In 2023, Samsung experienced an internal data leak when engineers accidentally shared proprietary source code with ChatGPT while troubleshooting issues. Security experts highlight several specific risks associated with third-party ChatGPT apps: data exposure during transmission between systems, vulnerabilities in plugin architectures that may not follow core platform security standards, and fragmented authentication processes that create unauthorized access opportunities. If authentication credentials for connected services are compromised, attackers could potentially access ChatGPT interactions and extract sensitive information. ChatGPT's privacy policy explicitly states that conversations can be stored, reviewed by human staff for model training, and turned over to authorities if deemed incriminating, even when chat history is disabled, data remains on internal servers for 30 days. These retention policies extend to information shared with connected apps, meaning users sacrifice additional privacy layers each time they authorize a new integration. The 5 ChatGPT Apps That Fall Short of Expectations 1. Spotify Great Concept, Limited Execution The Spotify ChatGPT app shows promise for podcast discovery and broad playlist creation but struggles when users request specific criteria. Testing revealed the app successfully generated a "rainy day" playlist with moody songs that appeared directly in Spotify via clickable links. ChatGPT could also analyze recent listening history to recommend new podcasts, though users still needed to manually search and follow each suggestion in Spotify. The integration breaks down with nuanced requests. When asked to create a playlist of "lesser-known but critically acclaimed 1990s songs from UK artists," the app failed after six attempts and ultimately suggested manual playlist creation or editing in Spotify to remove songs that didn't meet the criteria. This limitation reveals a fundamental weakness: ChatGPT apps work for simple, broad tasks but lack the precision required for detailed specifications that the native Spotify app handles effortlessly. 2. Canva Design Tool Turned Frustration Generator Canva's ChatGPT integration promises to transform outlines into slide decks and generate custom designs through conversation, but real-world performance disappoints considerably. In testing, attempts to replicate existing designs with different text resulted in ChatGPT repeatedly claiming success while providing broken links or unchanged original designs. After multiple failures, the AI admitted it couldn't complete the task and redirected users to make changes manually in Canva. Even straightforward requests produced flawed results. A simple prompt to design a vintage-looking jar label for plasticine yielded designs with nonsensical spelling errors like "Plasitthcciine," a text-rendering problem supposedly resolved in earlier ChatGPT versions. Interestingly, running identical prompts separately in ChatGPT and Canva's native AI produced correctly spelled results, suggesting the integration somehow degrades both systems' performance when working together. The only viable use case appears to be generating basic templates that users can then extensively edit in Canva itself, raising the question of whether the integration provides meaningful value over using either platform independently. 3. Booking.com When Convenience Becomes Complexity The Booking.com ChatGPT app transforms a simple, efficient booking process into a confusing, time-consuming ordeal. The native Booking.com website allows users to find suitable holiday rentals within minutes using flexible date ranges, location filters, property type specifications, and budget parameters, all with smart AI-assisted filtering. By contrast, using the ChatGPT apps integration for the same task produces significantly worse results: ChatGPT ignored previous instructions, suggested unsuitable properties, provided incorrect information about property sizes, and falsely claimed unavailability for dates that showed open on the website. The app also refused to display property photos, forcing users to visit the Booking.com site anyway to view accommodations. The conversation-based interface creates additional friction rather than reducing it, requiring users to repeatedly clarify requirements that standard web forms capture efficiently in a single step. While ChatGPT can help brainstorm destination ideas based on desired vacation attributes, a task it performs well without app integration, the booking execution itself remains far superior on Booking.com's native platform. 4. Gmail One-Way Street With Limited Utility The Gmail ChatGPT app offers read-only functionality that can search inboxes, access profile information, and read sent and received emails, but critically cannot move messages, send emails, or reliably handle attachments. This one-directional access creates an unusual dynamic where ChatGPT can consume information but lacks the ability to act on it meaningfully within the email ecosystem. The app can summarize emails and help draft responses that users must then copy and paste into Gmail manually. However, Google's own Gemini AI already provides similar email composition assistance natively within Gmail, where drafted text inserts directly without the copy-paste step. Testing confirmed the ChatGPT integration failed to read documents attached to emails when specifically requested. Privacy implications deserve special consideration. Granting ChatGPT access to read an entire email inbox exposes potentially sensitive personal, financial, or professional information to both OpenAI's systems and the data retention policies previously discussed. Given the limited functionality and significant privacy trade-offs, most users would find better workflows by drafting in ChatGPT separately (without app connection) and manually transferring content to Gmail, thereby minimizing connected data exposure. The app did prove somewhat useful for inbox organization advice, allowing users to reference specific emails, senders, and folders during conversation, though all recommended actions still required manual execution in Gmail itself. 5. Coursera Marketing Engine Disguised as Learning Tool The Coursera ChatGPT integration excels at one thing: efficiently funneling users toward Coursera's paid course catalog. When users request information about topics like beginner Python training, the app immediately provides course links matching requirements, making enrollment temptingly frictionless. This streamlined discovery benefits Coursera substantially by reducing the path from interest to purchase, potentially increasing conversions compared to competing educational platforms not featured in ChatGPT. However, advantages for end users remain questionable. Searching Coursera's website directly offers identical information with greater clarity and more comprehensive filtering options for comparing courses, pricing, instructor credentials, and user reviews. Frequently Asked Questions 1. Are ChatGPT apps only for paid users? No. Many ChatGPT apps work for free users, but some features still depend on region, rollout, and the third-party service's own subscription. 2. How are ChatGPT apps different from browser extensions or "ChatGPT wrapper" apps? ChatGPT apps run inside the official ChatGPT interface using OpenAI's Apps SDK, while extensions and wrapper apps are external tools that sit on top of, or around, the core service. 3. Can I control exactly what data a ChatGPT app can access? Control is mostly at the app level. You can grant or revoke access, but you usually cannot choose very specific limits (like one folder or one project only). 4. What tasks are actually well-suited for ChatGPT apps? They work best for light, low-stakes tasks, quick ideas, simple recommendations, and basic summaries, where convenience matters more than precision or deep control. Deadly landslide strikes militia-held mining site in DR Congo Rubaya, DR Congo, Jan 31 (AFP) Jan 31, 2026 A series of landslides struck a militia-held mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, burying people alive and killing several, the governor and witnesses told AFP on Friday. Since its resurgence in 2021, the M23 group has taken vast tracts of the DRC's resource-rich east, capturing the Rubaya mine in North Kivu province in April 2024 with Rwanda's help. Scavengers said part of a hillside in the Rubaya mining zone collapsed on Wednesday afternoon. A second landslide struck on Thursday morning. "It rained, then the landslide followed and swept people away. Some were buried and others are still in the pits," freelance miner Franck Bolingo told AFP. Eraston Bahati Musanga, the M23?appointed governor of North Kivu province, told AFP the slide had been deadly. "Some bodies have been found," he said, without giving an exact number but suggesting it could be significant. AFP was unable to independently verify a toll. "There was a landslide on Wednesday when I was in a pit looking for minerals," said Olivier Zinzabakwira, adding that he narrowly escaped. Dozens of scavengers were still shovelling away at the vast site on Friday, AFP video showed. Dressed in tank tops and rubber boots for some of the better equipped, men and women continued to sift through the pits, despite the danger. The Rubaya mine produces 15 to 30 percent of the world's supply of coltan, key to making of electronics like laptops and mobile phones. According to United Nations experts, the M23 has set up an administration parallel to the Congolese state to regulate the operation of the Rubaya mine since its capture. The experts estimate that the M23 makes around $800,000 a month from the mine thanks to a seven-dollars-a-kilo tax on the production and sale of coltan. The UN experts also accuse Rwanda -- which denies providing the M23 with military support -- of using the militia to syphon off the DRC's mineral riches. Besides containing between 60 to 80 percent of the world's coltan, the wider eastern DRC is also home to vast reserves of gold and tin. Several international mining firms have temporarily halted their operations in the east as a result of the M23's advance. Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Catherine OHara, the beloved Canadian comedic actor, has died. She was 71. Although she played a wide variety of characters in a career that spanned five decades, she was perhaps best known for playing mothers. She played Macaulay Culkins character Kevins mother, Kate McCallister, in the first two Home Alone films spawning the viral Kevin! meme before going on to play matriarch Moira Rose in hit TV series Schitts Creek. She died Friday in Los Angeles following a brief illness, her manager told Variety. A cause of death has not been reported. Culkin was among those leading the tributes to his late co-star, writing on Instagram: Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. Also paying his respects was Pedro Pascal, who worked with OHara in The Last of Us. He wrote: Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. OHara recently earned Emmy nominations for her work on The Last of Us and The Studio the ninth and tenth of her career. Born in Toronto on March 4, 1954, OHara was the sixth of seven children. In 1974 she joined the cast of The Second City in Toronto, the improv comedy troupe that also helped launch the careers of John Candy, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. open image in gallery OHara most recently appeared on Seth Rogens AppleTV series The Studio ( Invision/AP ) open image in gallery OHara played Kate McCallister in the first two Home Alone films ( 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock ) In 1976, the company launched SCTV, a televised sketch comedy show, and OHara became a regular performer. After the show was picked up by NBC for broadcast in the U.S. it became known as SCTV Network 90, and OHara won her first Emmy in 1982 for Outstanding Writing on an episode titled Moral Majority Show. During the 1980s, she landed a number of supporting roles in films including Martin Scorseses After Hours in 1985 and Tim Burtons Beetlejuice in 1988. Decades later she reprised her role as Delia Deetz, mother to Winona Ryders Lydia Deetz, in the 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. In 1990, she appeared in Home Alone, the blockbuster comedy that has become a perennial festive favorite. She returned two years later for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. 9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled. Try for free ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day New subscribers only. 9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled. Try for free ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. In 1996, she was part of the ensemble cast of Christopher Guests improvised mockumentary Waiting for Guffman. The film, which also starred Guest, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard and Parker Posey among others, was critically acclaimed and won a cult following. She reunited with Guest and the rest of the cast for follow-ups including Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006). Along with her film career, OHara also appeared in guest roles in a variety of television shows including Committed, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glenn Martin DDS, 30 Rock, and Modern Family. open image in gallery Catherine O'Hara won her second Emmy for playing Moira Rose on Schitts Creek ( Pop TV ) open image in gallery O'Hara died following a brief illness ( AFP/Getty ) In 2015, OHara made her debut as eccentric former TV star Moira Rose on Schitts Creek. For 80 episodes alongside cast members Dan and Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy, OHara would win over a new generation of fans and win her second Emmy in 2020. During her Emmys acceptance speech, held during the Covid-19 pandemic OHara said: I will forever be grateful to Eugene and Daniel Levy for bestowing upon me the opportunity to play a woman of a certain age, my age, who gets to fully be her ridiculous self. In an interview with New York magazine in 2019, she reflected on how her early years at Second City had taught her to how to use everyday life to inspire her performance, and to fuel her social critique. Youre kind of gathering all these little bits of information. And its all laughing at ourselves, she said. Not just others, but ourselves. Just behavior that human beings cant help. We are ridiculous and great and lovely and sweet and innocent and scary. OHara met her husband, production designer Bo Welch, on the set of Beetlejuice in 1987. Welch is known for his collaborations with Tim Burton, dating back to Edward Scissorhands. They couple married in 1992. OHara is survived by Welch and their two sons, Matthew and Luke. Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Bug Hall, who starred as Alfalfa in beloved film The Little Rascals, has spoken out about his decision to flee Hollywood and live off-grid, becoming a self-described radical Catholic extremist in the process. Hall, whose real name is Brandon Rowan, left Hollywood in 2020 along with his wife and five kids, moving to Texas, Michigan, and Ohio, before settling on an 80-acre plot of land near Mountain View, Arkansas. The former child star has taken a vow of poverty, according to the Daily Mail, and has given away the fortune he made from his acting career. Hes even sold most of his belongings and has plans to build their family home complete with its own electric and plumbing systems. Its all part of his desire to be off the grid. My goal is to maintain a life as free of any need for an income as possible, he told the publication. If there's a financial need that comes up, I'll go take some work or do an odd job, for cash to fulfill that need. Halls breaking point with Hollywood came after he was arrested for an incident while visiting his parents in Texas in 2020. He was allegedly found huffing air duster cans and charged with misdemeanor possession, according to documents obtained by People; however, he claimed he faced no charges and the publication could not locate a criminal record. open image in gallery Bug Hall starred as Alfalfa in The Little Rascals ( Universal/X@BugHall ) The former actor had been sober for 15 years at the time of his arrest, he told the Daily Mail. But he admitted to suffering several relapses that were brushed off in Hollywood's high energy environment. Halls 2020 arrest was a turning point, he said, as he realized he no longer wanted to live a life of manipulation, of other people, in how I speak to them, in the stuff that I make or produce including myself, as an addict. I didnt want to go work some job that was basically meaningless, making widgets to entertain people or distract people, Hall told the Daily Mail. Now, Hall is embracing a simpler life but not without controversy. Hes a self-described radical Catholic extremist and medieval moralist, per a video he posted to his public YouTube channel in April 2025. Hes even been praised by followers of the so-called trad Cath movement. But Hall faced a ban from X in 2022 over comments made about punishing his children. We punish severely in my home for unacceptable behavior, he wrote on the platform at the time. Punishment begins at around 10 months. Before the age of reason it's an immediate corporal/retributive justice. It then begins to shift to a privation/reparative model. He explained to the Daily Mail, saying it was not the right choice of words, adding: We believe in severe punishment, meaning that it's swift, it's exacting. I do spank my kids, and I'm a firm believer in spankings as a means of creating right cogitative associations early. When Katy Morgan had her second child, her breasts changed. They went massive during pregnancy, then deflated, explains the 32-year-old model. I wanted them to go back to what they were pre-pregnancy a firm 34D. Morgan decided to get cosmetic surgery for the first time, and chose Dr Riccardo Frati, a renowned Harley Street plastic surgeon whose website describes him as the boob god and surgeon to the stars. Hed done all the celebrities, and I couldnt find one bad review against him, says Morgan. Everything online about him was positive. I thought Id be in safe hands. She paid 8,500 for her breast implants, and the surgery was carried out in April 2021. But, a few days later, Morgan collapsed and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. I had a contaminated implant, and it had given me an infection, she explains. They had to do emergency surgery to remove the implant, wash it out, and it was put inside me. It was awful. She also developed necrosis on her other breast, and five years later, still experiences pain in her breasts, as well as issues with the positioning of the implants theyre not actually in the pocket the left one floats around. It goes under my armpit, so I have to push it over. The impact of the complications was huge for Morgan, whose two children were aged one and six at the time. She kept it quiet, until 2023 when someone she knew was planning to visit Dr Frati for surgery. My friends told me, you need to make people aware of your experience. So I did. She posted a TikTok sharing images of her breasts as well as photos of her in hospital. It was viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Then, weeks later, Morgan received a letter in the post explaining she was being sued by Dr Frati for breaking her non-disclosure agreement (NDA). I had no idea Id even signed one, says Morgan, who claims she was heavily medicated at the time of signing it a claim that Dr Frati disputes. The contract refunded the cost of her surgery but did not include any compensation and barred her from publicly criticising Dr Frati, or providing information to industry regulators. Id broken it twice because I went to his regulators a month after my surgery complaining about the aftercare and his treatment, says Morgan. And Id posted about him online. open image in gallery Katy Morgan no longer models like she used to since her surgery ( Katy Morgan ) At a hearing in September 2023, Dr Frati was granted an interim injunction against Morgan, which prevented her from speaking out about him. She was forced to delete her TikTok and refrain from commenting on the case. It was only this January, two-and-a-half years later, that a judge lifted the injunction against Morgan, enabling her to finally speak out about her experience. He took away my voice, says Morgan. I had my breasts done to get my confidence back after being pregnant. It was for my own self. But I wasnt even allowed to speak about it. She still struggles with the results of her surgery my breasts are awful. I hide it well, but I dont model like I used to. My sexual life is different. I should be in the prime of my life, but I no longer have the body confidence I used to but being silenced was even worse. I had to find the strength to say, no, this is my body, its my choice, I have a right to speak about my own experiences and say if Im not happy with something, she says. I want it to be fair, and for other women to make their own judgements with the good and the bad. Everyone will have bad reviews and people they prefer, but it should be out there for people to make their own informed decisions. open image in gallery Dr Riccardo Frati calls himself the boob god ( Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock ) Zelda Perkins, founder of Cant Buy My Silence UK, a campaign committed to ending the misuse of NDAs to buy victims silences, has seen the agreements used regularly in the medical world. Theres not one sector thats clean and clear of using NDAs to hide malpractice, she says. Its not that everyones corrupt, but over the last 40 years its become standardised to use confidentiality as reputational protection. Thats not what confidentiality is for. The reality is this is so simple its about the integrity of the law. It shouldnt be possible to have a legal agreement, private contract or not, that hides harm. That makes a mockery of the integrity of the law. Perkins herself experienced the silencing of an NDA. She was a personal assistant to Harvey Weinstein in the late 1990s, and after witnessing and experiencing repeated sexual harassment by Weinstein, she was pressured into signing an NDA as part of her settlement. She broke the NDA in 2017 after nearly two decades of enforced silence. I was told my NDA said I couldnt speak to the police, but I didnt know that wasnt legally enforceable until 2017, says Perkins, explaining that the legal jargon means people signing NDAs are unaware that the content isnt always legal or enforceable. The whole point of these confidentiality clauses in these agreements is to obfuscate. When people are pushed to sign an agreement with a time limit, understanding the implications of confidentiality is very hard. open image in gallery Zelda Perkins, founder of Cant Buy My Silence UK ( PA ) She praises Morgan for fighting her legal battle to have the injunction lifted, explaining that every time an NDA is fought in the courts, it raises awareness. Shes also not surprised that for Morgan, the hardest part of her experience was the agony and harm of being silenced. Its a basic human right being removed from someone not being able to speak about a harm thats happened to them, she says. Beyond the public interest, its a devastating process to go through being silenced. It has a personal impact as well as a public impact. Fighting the case took away precious time from my children, says Morgan. Ive been in this situation with him for nearly three years. She still has a hearing on 9 February, where she hopes to have the case finally thrown out. Elliot Hammer, a media litigation partner at Branch Austin McCormick, the firm representing Morgan, says: Lifting the injunction was a significant victory, allowing Katy to tell her story to the press. Katy has pleaded that the claim is a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) and our strike-out hearing on 9 February 2026 will decide whether the NDA is void for public policy or undue influence reasons. Dont let a man take away your voice Katy Morgan A statement from the surgeons legal team reads: Dr Frati is limited in his ability to discuss freely the details of any case because of the importance of patient confidentiality. He is a deeply caring, considerate and experienced clinician. The health and wellbeing of all his patients is his absolute priority. He categorically denies the allegations made in this case, which are the subject of ongoing legal and regulatory proceedings. They are disputed and have not been determined by any court or regulator. The recent court hearing concerned interim and procedural issues only. No findings were made on the merits of any allegations, which remain to be determined through the proper legal process. At no stage has Dr Frati sought to prevent a patient from talking to a regulator or other governing authority. In the meantime, Morgan is simply grateful to be able to speak out about her story, and hopes it helps other women who may be in similar positions. Dont let a man take away your voice, she says. Dont be threatened and intimidated by powerful people to tell you what you can and cant say about something that happened to you personally and your own body. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Striding out in a line dressed (almost) all in black, with slight smiles playing on their faces, the Beckhams looked a little like a high fashion mob family as they made a joint appearance in Paris on Monday. It probably wasnt the sartorial reference they were going for but it felt quite apt for a clan closing ranks, after a tearaway faction took a very public shot at their supremacy. When David and Victorias 26-year-old son Brooklyn broke the Beckhams showbiz omerta last week with an explosive Instagram statement, one question immediately arose. How would Britains media-savvy golden couple respond to this devastating salvo, in which their eldest child accused them of, among a whole array of headline-grabbing allegations, public promotion and endorsement above all else and trying endlessly to ruin [his] relationship with wife Nicola Peltz Beckham? Would they issue a rejoinder of their own, and risk being dragged into a social media war of words? Would they dredge out the wedding video to disprove their sons suggestion that Victorias mother-of-the-groom dancing was very inappropriate? Or would they take a leaf out of the royal familys never complain, never explain playbook and simply carry on as normal? For the Beckhams, it was surely always going to be the latter option. They are, of course, seasoned professionals when it comes to the art of the agenda-shaping photo opp (remember when David and Victoria paraded around on the slopes of Courchevel amid allegations of an affair with Rebecca Loos?). And they will be all too aware that a smiling family snap is worth a thousand words (or, in Brooklyns case, 821 words). Indeed, the past week or so seems to have been a case of business as usual for the clan with an extra sprinkling of fashion industry stardust. The effect of it all? To make us feel silly for even questioning whether Brooklyns statement could ever really send this celebrity dynasty into a tailspin. Reports of Brand Beckhams death, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated. It was Victoria who appeared to be the main target of her sons ire, thanks to the aforementioned dancing, along with allegations that her fashion brand had pulled out of making Nicolas wedding dress at the eleventh hour. But the Beckham matriarch has managed to rise above it all with a clever (and at least partially organic) strategy bridging high and low culture. open image in gallery Victoria Beckham, right, reunited with the Spice Girls at Emma Buntons birthday party ( Instagram/@victoriabeckham ) Would Victoria have attended Emma Baby Spice Buntons 50th birthday party last weekend if Brooklyn hadnt just lobbed a verbal grenade at the family brand? Most probably, yes. Friendship never ends, and all that. Will she have been hyper-aware of just how useful a photo of her and three of her Spice Girls pals (Mel B was off on her honeymoon) might prove as a distraction? Also yes. If ever there was a tactic precision-engineered to secure your place in the good graces of a certain millennial British demographic, its a Spice Girls reunion. Indeed, the sense of nostalgia that Victoria can still conjure up was out in force on social media in the aftermath of Brooklyns big Prince Harry moment, as fans shared clips of old dance routines from her brief Noughties solo career (it surely wasnt what her son had envisaged after that inappropriate jibe, but hey taking the piss is a national sport on this side of the Atlantic). Her 2001 track Not Such an Innocent Girl even climbed to the top of the singles sale charts (trouncing the number six spot it reached 25 years earlier). The gears in the Beckham machine may be grinding away behind the scenes, but you have to hand it to them: they make it look very easy Monday, though, proved a reminder that, although she may have started as a slightly scrappy popstar, Victoria is now a respected fashion tastemaker. In a glamorous ceremony held during Paris Couture Week, the designer was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by French culture minister Rachida Dati, in recognition of her contribution to the industry. Also on the guest list were major players such as Anna Wintour and Francois-Henri Pinault, president of the luxury fashion conglomerate Kering. Again, the date will surely have been in the calendar for months, but what impeccable timing. The Beckhams do big events like this one very well indeed. The kids (minus Brooklyn) all dressed in dark hues, mirroring their mum and dad in a display of sartorial unity. The photos posted on Instagram afterwards, showing them posing en famille in front of a lavish backdrop of chandeliers and gilded panelling, felt like a very chic power move. open image in gallery The Beckham family (minus Brooklyn) attended Victorias ceremony ( Instagram/@davidbeckham ) Romeo and Cruzs girlfriends, Kim Turnbull and Jackie Apostel, also present at the ceremony, were rigorously on brand, too, with social media posts in praise of Victorias kindness and respect (per Jackie) and role model status (per Kim). No nightmare mother-in-law narratives here; it was hard not to interpret their words as a rejoinder to the Peltz Beckham branch of the family. Yes, those images and gushing soundbites arguably tally up with Brooklyns jab about performative social media posts. But, as ever with the Beckhams, even when you have a sneaking suspicion that you might be being played, its very easy to fall for the smiles, the shiny surfaces and the lookalike kids. Call it celebrity-induced cognitive dissonance if you will. The gears in the Beckham machine may be grinding away behind the scenes, but you have to hand it to them: they make it look very easy. The familys only wild card is 20-year-old Cruz, which can probably be explained by the fact that, well, hes only 20 years old. The aspiring musician has been liking memes about his mums wedding dance, and earlier this week, posted a video clip showing him, his brother Romeo (23), and their respective girlfriends in a Paris taxi. Imagine hating and were just here like, he wrote in the caption. open image in gallery David and Victoria Beckham leaving the Ministry of Culture in Paris ( AFP/G ) His cryptic words appeared to allude to Brooklyns bombshell statement (in which one of the eldest Beckham sons claims was that his brothers were sent to attack [him] on social media before blocking him out of nowhere this last summer). Crucially, they were also vague enough for plausible deniability - but Cruz (or possibly another member of Brand Beckham) seemed to have second thoughts, as the post was quickly deleted. It cant entirely be a coincidence, either, that both Cruz and Romeo appear to have made strides in their fledgling careers over the past few days, too. Last Friday, Romeo walked in the Willy Chavarria catwalk show as part of Paris menswear fashion week, marking his latest foray into the modelling industry (hes previously walked for the likes of Versace and Balenciaga). Cruz, meanwhile, has just announced his first UK tour with his band, the Breakers, along with European dates in Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin. While the Brooklyn furore must have been fraught for them to navigate, it has also surely thrown some refracted spotlight onto these solo endeavours. Victorias next big moment will be her fashion brands AW26 show in the City of Light in just a few weeks. The united front strategy will doubtless still be in full force. Expect to see the Beckham clan 2.0, with associated plus ones, sitting pretty on the front row in support. Never has one famous family understood the power of image so well. Additional reading: Ive seen behind the scenes of Brand Beckham and it wasnt always pretty 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A Miami-Dade jury Friday spared the life of an elderly man who, nearly 30 years ago, kidnapped a five-year-old girl and left her to die in the Everglades, where alligators killed her. The jury deliberated for more than three hours before deciding that Harrel Braddy, 76, would face life in prison rather than the death penalty for the 1998 kidnapping and murder of Quatisha Maycock. Braddy was originally sentenced to death in 2007 by an 11-1 jury vote, but the sentence was overturned in 2017 due to a law requiring a unanimous verdict. Under a 2023 Florida law, a jury can now impose the death penalty with an 8-4 vote. The jurors in the resentencing of Harrel Braddy worked hard to find a proper sense of justice for the 1998 murder of 5-year-old Quatisha Maycock, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. No one can adequately describe the pain that Quatishas mother, Shandelle Maycock, had to go through reliving the details of her daughters murder. On a November 1998 night, Braddy drove Quatishas mother, Shandelle, a woman he knew through a church acquaintance, home from work and later agreed to take her to pick up her daughter, who was staying with a family friend, according to People. When they returned home, Shandelle asked Braddy to leave, claiming she was expecting company, which she later said was an excuse to get him to go, but he refused, insisting on talking. open image in gallery Harrel Braddy, 76, convicted in 2007 of kidnapping and murdering 5-year-old Quatisha Maycock, escaped the death penalty this week in a resentencing trial ( Florida State Attorney Office ) Braddy immediately attacked Shandelle when told to leave, threatening to kill her and choking her until she lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, she was still in her apartment, and Braddy again choked her until she passed out. Braddy then placed Shandelle in the trunk of his car and abandoned her on a deserted stretch of U.S. 27 near the Broward-Palm Beach county line. Shandelle survived despite Braddys apparent belief that she would not, and testified about the horrific attack during the recent trial. She was not present for the verdict, according to the Miami Herald. Prosecutor Abbe Rifkin said Braddy committed the crimes after Shandelle repeatedly rejected his advances. Fearing that Quatisha could identify him, he abandoned the child on Alligator Alley. Days later, fishermen found her body in a canal, still dressed in her Polly Pocket pajamas, with her left arm severed and bite marks on her head and stomach. During closing arguments, Rifkin urged the jury to impose the death penalty, arguing that Braddy showed no decency and that Quatisha suffered fully aware in her final moments in the alligator-infested canal, the outlet reports. Braddys defense attorney, Khurrum Wahid, urged jurors to consider the full picture of Braddys life beyond Quatishas murder and a previous crime spree. Braddys criminal history includes convictions for robbery, kidnapping, and attempting to kill a corrections officer by choking him. In September 1984, he escaped custody three times, overpowering a Miami-Dade corrections officer and four Broward deputies. Despite this history, the defense highlighted that family, neighbors and church members knew Braddy as a generous family man. He has been described as a model prisoner during decades of incarceration and suffers from serious health issues, including throat cancer and brain and nerve damage. Wahid also argued that executing Braddy would devastate his family, including his wife, Cyteria, to whom he has been married since the 70s, and their five children. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Eight Louisiana inmates, including four accused of murder, were captured and returned to custody Saturday after a multi-agency manhunt that followed their escape from the Riverbend Detention Center the day before. Louisiana State Police announced shortly after midnight Saturday that the final three fugitives had been located and taken back into custody. All eight inmates, described by authorities as violent offenders, escaped in a breakout around 1:20 a.m. Friday. Inmates Hugo Molino, 27; Trenton Taplin, 29; and Savon Wheeler, 31, were captured first, followed by Destin Brogan, 22; Kelin Looney, 21; Krisean Salinas, 21; Kevin Slaughter, 25; and Koplelon Vicknair, 19, whose apprehension brought the manhunt to an end. Local media reported that Taplin faces first-degree murder and attempted murder charges, Brogan and Looney are charged with second-degree murder, and Vicknair was awaiting sentencing in connection with a 2023 homicide. Louisiana State Police said the final three fugitives were captured Saturday, ending the escape of eight 'violent offenders' who broke out Friday at 1:20 a.m. ( Louisiana State Police ) Police did not release details on how the men escaped or how they were captured, but said the arrests followed a coordinated CREST mission involving Louisiana State Police and multiple local, state and federal agencies. The Independent has contacted LSP for comment. This recent escape marks the latest high-profile jailbreak in Louisiana. In December, two inmates accused of violent crimes remained on the run for nearly two weeks after escaping a southwest Louisiana jail by dismantling a deteriorating wall and using bedsheets to scale the facility. A third inmate who took part in the breakout later died by suicide after authorities tracked him down. Earlier, in May, an elaborate escape by 10 inmates from a New Orleans jail drew national attention. Investigators later revealed the breakout involved broken cell doors, a breached bathroom wall and a climb over a security barrier. It took five months and a multi-state search before all 10 inmates were finally captured and returned to custody. 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 Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Momentum is building behind a movement to ban social media for under-16s in India, one of the worlds largest markets for many online platforms. Three Indian states have now begun discussions on whether to implement rules curbing social media use by children, moves that could potentially affect around 12 million minors. And an important coalition ally of prime minister Narendra Modis ruling BJP has also proposed a bill for a nationwide ban for under-16s. The 15-page proposal would have it so that no one under 16 shall be permitted to create, maintain, or hold a social media account. We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users' age be placed on the social media platforms," said LSK Devarayalu, a lawmaker from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which also governs the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh is one of the three states that are considering ways to restrict childrens social media use, the other two being Karnataka and Goa. Between them they are home to around the same number of children as the UK, which has launched its own consultation on whether to adopt a similar ban. The states all point to Australias move late last year, under which social media companies like Instagram, Facebook, and X are required to take "reasonable steps" to prevent minors from holding accounts, with the threat of significant fines for non-compliance. Finland has made a decision, the UK is also considering similar measures, and Australia took a call two months ago by banning social media exposure for children, Karnataka state IT minister Priyank Kharge said last week. We are also discussing what needs to be done in terms of the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence and social media, Mr Kharge said at a discussion on the impact of inappropriate digital content on minors, without specifying the age group that could face restrictions or the particular legislative action being considered. Goas IT minister Rohan Khaunte said state authorities are studying Australias law to regulate access to social media for its children. open image in gallery A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney ( AFP via Getty Images ) "If possible, (we will) implement a similar ban on children below 16 for usage of social media," Mr Khaunte said, according to Reuters. Andhra Pradesh, home to an estimated 4.7 million teens, is reportedly in the process of inviting representatives from Meta, X, and Google for a meeting on the issue. Social media platforms will be invited to the next meeting of the group of ministers (GoM) on Social Media to deliberate on making digital platforms safer, especially for women and children, Andhra Pradeshs IT minister Nara Lokesh said, adding that the situation cannot be ignored any longer. open image in gallery A 13-year-old boy displays a message on his mobile phone from social media platform Snapchat after his account was locked ( AFP via Getty Images ) India is believed to be home to around a billion internet users, and is the worlds second-largest market for smartphones. Many popular social media companies have more users in India than any other single country. Estimates suggest there could be about 500 million YouTube users in India, 403 million users on Facebook, and 481 million using Instagram. At present, the country does not stipulate any minimum age for accessing these apps. And the issue is getting more attention at the national level, with Indias chief economic adviser Anantha Nageswaran recently urging families to promote screen-time limits, device-free hours and shared offline activities. "Policies on age-based access limits may be considered, as younger users are more vulnerable to compulsive use and harmful content," Mr Nageswaran wrote in Indias annual economic survey, published on Thursday. "Platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification and age-appropriate defaults, he wrote. Following the implementation of Australias law, many researchers, including psychologists and digital safety experts, have welcomed the idea of social media bans for children. Others, including Monash University law professor Paula Gerber, have expressed concern that marginalised teens, including LGBT+ minors, will be cut off from an important resource for mental health support, community building, and identity development. Sonora, CA Sonora Elementary Schools superintendent and a former vice principal were arrested yesterday and now face misdemeanor charges for failing to report an incident last year involving a speech therapist, who later admitted to battering a seven-year-old child with autism in her classroom. On Friday (1/30/26), Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced that Sonora Elementary School Superintendent Cheryl Griffiths and former Sonora Elementary Vice Principal Kristiane Quinn were taken into custody and each charged with a misdemeanor for failing to report the incident to law enforcement and child welfare services, as mandated by law. Instead, D.A. Jenecke reported that the Sonora Police Department learned of the incident from the victims parents, who were not told until twelve days after their son was battered. As we reported here in February of 2025, 50-year-old Mary McGrew of Sonora, whom the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools employed, turned herself in to police, following allegations of assaulting a seven-year-old child with autism during a therapy session. At the time, Sonora Police Detective Thomas Brickley told Central Sierra Broadcasting, It was for child abuse and battery, not inappropriate touching per se, but more of abusive and battery-type behavior. D.A. Jenecke also announced that McGrew, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, pled guilty to a misdemeanor violation of battery on school property. She was sentenced to one year of summary probation, 25 hours of community service, 25 weeks of therapy, a $220 fine, a letter of apology to the victim and his family, and a 10-year weapon restriction. The child victim in this case was completely innocent of any wrongdoing and one of our most vulnerable children. Any allegations to the contrary are untrue and were never supported by the evidence. I am grateful to the victim and his family for staying steadfast in seeking justice with our office, stated D.A. Jenecke. Griffiths court date is set for March 4, 2026. D.A. Jenecke reported that Quinn, who now lives outside of the county, was notified of her arrest warrant and allowed to turn herself in to the police. No court date was released for her. State law properly charges mandated reporters with the sacred duty of protecting our children by requiring them to report suspected child abuse. Failure to do so will be addressed by our office when possible and appropriate, vowed D.A. Jenecke. To preserve the integrity of these cases, D.A. Jenecke stated that no additional comments will be provided at this time. Advertisement EnvironmentConservationAnimals Drinks delivered for dingoes in bushfire-ravaged national park Bianca Hall January 31, 2026 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Authorities have placed temporary water stations in Wyperfeld National Park in the Mallee district, amid concerns wildfires that have torn through more than 435,000 hectares in Victoria are driving parched dingoes onto private farms. Fresh figures released by Agriculture Victoria show that about 8000 kilometres of fencing has been destroyed by fires this month, in addition to 76,160 hectares of grazing pasture and 110,107 hectares of farming area. Wilkerr, found in the Big Desert region, are a genetically distinct group of dingoes. Ellisha Martion The loss of fencing, and the fires on Crown land, are driving fears dingoes and wild dogs will increasingly seek water and feed on neighbouring properties. The national park and surrounding Big Desert Wilderness Area are home to Wilkerr, a genetically distinct group of dingoes, which have been described as gripped in an extinction vortex. Advertisement Bushfires have torn through almost 60,000 hectares in the national park since they broke out in the first week of January. Announcing the recovery measure, a Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action spokesperson said it was part of recovery efforts to help native animals affected by bushfires. The water points will help wildlife survive in fire-affected areas where water is scarce, a spokesperson said. It will also discourage animals from moving onto private property to seek water. A 2023 government declaration cited scientific research that showed Big Desert dingoes were a discrete population that is now small, isolated, has very limited genetic diversity and has most likely entered an extinction vortex. Advertisement Related Article Animals For decades, people have believed this dingo myth. DNA testing has revealed the truth Ecologists describe species as being in an extinction vortex when a declining population becomes vulnerable to extinction due to inbreeding and environmental challenges. Amid the destruction of fences, private farmland and Crown land, there is renewed debate about the treatment of dingoes, their protection, and the wild dog question. Wild dogs is a catch-all phrase used to describe dingoes, feral dogs and dog-dingo hybrids, but dingo advocates are concerned it is used to justify the killing of native dingoes. Victorian Farmers Federation vice president Peter Star, who runs livestock in the north-east of the state, said farmers were reporting to him increased sightings of wild dogs entering private properties. Advertisement He said most farmers he spoke with did not consider the animals to be dingoes, but wild dogs that predated upon livestock predominantly sheep and which should be controlled. Its just adding to the trauma, its like a post-traumatic scenario. Some of these people are like soldiers returning from war, theyre that traumatised. And with exclusion fences down its a real worry. Big Desert Dingo Research founder Ellisha Martion has been studying and monitoring Wilkerr for years. She expressed concern dingoes might be coming and going from the park after the fires, which is a concern for everyone, conservationists and farmers alike. Especially when theres a livestock in the area. Advertisement Agriculture Victoria reports that in the states north-east and west, fires killed 31,710 sheep, 2742 beef cattle and 6246 poultry birds, while also destroying 535 bee hives. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share License this article More: Animals Bushfires Bianca Hall is The Age's environment and climate reporter, and has worked in a range of roles including as a senior writer, city editor, and in the federal politics bureau in Canberra. , Facebook or email. Connect via X Advertisement NationalVictoriaExtremism Flash juries and Bible verses: How sovereign citizens clog up Australian courts Angus Delaney February 1, 2026 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A So-called sovereign citizens are causing growing delays to the justice system by using bizarre, aggressive tactics to contest minor offences without legal basis. They often file masses of paperwork, represent themselves, argue theyre immune from the law, protest against judges authority and appeal convictions based on nonsense pseudo-law arguments, all of which jam up already congested courts. Sovereign citizens are heaping pressure on already congested Australian courts. Jamie Brown In some more bizarre hearings, they have tried to empanel their own juries, used Bible passages as evidence and claimed official courts are illegitimate to a fictitious Court of Terra Australis. It has become a frequent topic at legal conventions across the country as judges receive formal training on how to best deal with the members of the anti-authority movement, which also poses an increasing safety risk. Advertisement The still small but growing number of sovereign citizens who engage with the Australian judicature are an added source of pressure, High Court Chief Justice Stephen Gageler told the Australian Legal Convention last year. Sovereign citizens, who prefer to self-identify as part of the freedom movement, often face court accused of speeding, unlicensed driving, refusing to take a roadside drug or alcohol test, tax evasion, failing to repay a mortgage or squatting, court documents reveal. Former magistrate David Heilpern, pictured in 2017. Christopher Pearce David Heilpern, a former magistrate who worked at rural courts in NSW, often came across self-described sovereign citizens. He was tasked with hearing dozens of cases every day, and dealing with sovereign citizens would always delay other matters. You get one sovereign citizen and your whole day goes to s---, said Heilpern, now dean of law at Southern Cross University. Advertisement Although each case is unique, behind every one of these stories is some feeling of persecution, he said. Related Article Conspiracy theories Lasers and internet blackouts: Conspiracy theories spread like wildfire after deadly blaze Accused police murderer Dezi Freemans long and vexatious history in the courts provides insight into how sovereign citizens harm the justice system. Freeman has still not been found more than 100 days after allegedly shooting dead two police officers and seriously wounding a third in Porepunkah, 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne. Before he became the subject of one of Australias largest ever manhunts, Freeman frequently confronted officials in court. In September 2020, he was pulled over by police in Bright and was charged with refusing to take a roadside drug test and speeding. Advertisement Most of the time, these charges would result in fines, usually no more than $1000, and be heard briefly by a Magistrates Court. But Freeman ferociously fought the charges over four years, appealing convictions to the County Court and eventually the Supreme Court of Victoria, each time representing himself. Dezi Freeman outside Wangaratta court. According to court documents, Freeman argued the police who he called frigging Nazis and terrorist thugs were liars, that he was acting in self-defence and the law was invalid as it conflicted with his bodily autonomy and human rights. In November 2024, Judge James Gorton systematically tore down Freemans pseudo-law arguments and found there is no real prospect that he could have succeeded. Freeman lost his driving licence for two years, and his relationship with the authorities worsened. Advertisement Freeman also frequently challenged speeding fines, and in 2019 urged police to arrest a magistrate for operating under false authority and committing treason, after appearing in court nearly a dozen times over a civil case involving a land dispute. Barrister Erik Dober, the prosecutor during Freemans Supreme Court appeal, said the rise of sovereign citizens caused major delays to courts as lawyers and the judiciary were forced to take them seriously. Loading Dober declined to comment specifically on Freemans case, but said in the Court of Appeal written submissions were generally about 10 pages, but with sovereign citizens, it was closer to 100 pages of baseless argument. We [the legal fraternity] nonetheless feel the obligation to engage with the 100 pages, just in case on page 65 there is something that actually has legal merit, Dober said. Advertisement Every moment or every resource thats deployed towards that sovereign citizens case, whether its their written argument or whether its in court, those are moments where the various other cases of other litigants arent being dealt with. Editor's pick Liberal Party The Coalition is in tatters. The race is on to replace it in the centre In a 2023 case involving a different sovereign citizen in which Dober was prosecuting, then-Victorian Supreme Court judge John Dixon delivered a searing criticism of the movement. Busy judicial officers in the lower courts should not be troubled by such nonsense as is developed around the fatuous notions of sovereign citizen, he said. A Supreme Court of Victoria spokesperson said the court did not keep data on sovereign citizens, but it sees regular examples of them. Advertisement Access to the courts and the right to a fair and public hearing are central pillars of the rule of law, they said. The law also recognises that the process of the courts is a public resource and should not be abused by individuals. Ensuring access while preventing abuse of processes is an ongoing challenge for courts, and we continue to be informed by work being done across Australia and internationally. Sheriff of NSW Tracey Hall at Sydney Town Hall. Flavio Brancaleone Sovereign citizens commonly appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, where this masthead witnessed a speeding ticket case being challenged by someone with a significant history in court. The sovereign citizen repeatedly asked the irritated magistrate: Does this court operate under Commonwealth jurisdiction? Advertisement The matter was adjourned, but not before the sovereign citizen said she would invoice the court for the time she spent representing herself. To deal with a post-pandemic rise of sovereign citizens, the judiciary is being trained on how to deal with their impact on the courts. NSW sheriff Tracey Hall manages security and facilitates training for court staff and the judiciary on how to identify sovereign citizens. She uses court databases, police intelligence and highly skilled staff to identify risks and occasionally increase security when known sovereign citizens attend court. Advertisement One known NSW sovereign citizen Hall must deal with has been before courts more than 200 times. He tries to disrupt the court with bringing in a number of supporters to try and stand up a flash jury sort of thing, similar to the concept of the flash mob dance groups, where supporters come into the courtroom and try and swear themselves in as jurors because he believes that everyones entitled to a jury by their peers, Hall said. At legal conventions, judges trade first-hand tips. In a Judicial College of Victoria slideshow presentation, a leading Victorian judge and justice shared their advice on how to best deal with sovereign citizens. Show courtesy and respect, be confident in asserting the law, and dont add fuel to the fire, they recommended. Advertisement Their final piece of advice: Dont laugh (yet). Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. Advertisement NationalVictoriaEducation I feel like everythings changed: Kids in bushfire-ravaged Victoria are returning to school Nicole Precel January 31, 2026 6:56pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Six-year-old Jemima Jeffery stands on the blackened block near a school bus stop. I feel like everythings changed, she says. Everything looks different and everything feels different. In bushfire-ravaged areas of Victoria, families are still putting out fires, have had to euthanise their livestock and defend their homes as preppies and kids like Jemima prepare for their first days of school on Monday. Annabelle Cleeland (centre) and daughter Quinn; Lou Webb (left) with Tom, Fred and George, and Felicity Jeffrey (right) with Jemima, Sebastian and Claudia in Whiteheads Creek. Chris Hopkins Advertisement As of 9am on January 30, there were 21 schools, kinders and childcare centres impacted by fires, according to the Country Fire Authority. Four had been relocated, five had delayed starts and 12 were closed due to their proximity to fire, smoke and ash. The Victoria School Building Authority has inspected the fire impacts on 34 government school sites. Related Article Animals Drinks delivered for dingoes in bushfire-ravaged national park A CFA spokesperson said no schools had been lost. In the devastated town of Ruffy, the historic 1800s school building no longer used as a school burnt to the ground. In the last five years, the surrounding community faced the disruption from COVID-19, two major floods and a bushfire. Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland, who lives in Tarcombe, said her mothers group WhatsApp had shifted from a parenting logistics app to a critical check-in tool on how they were coping with the fires. Cleeland evacuated with her three children Arthur, 6, Quinn, 5, and Sigrid, 16 months old, while her husband stayed to defend their house. About 300 of the familys merino sheep had to be euthanised. Advertisement I think were all a bit numb still. Were kind of replaying what happened and not necessarily understanding the significance of the loss yet, she said. Country kids are resilient. How they process things I dont know yet. And I worry about that, but we dont have time to really sit and genuinely process how theyre holding onto things. When they returned to their burnt-out property nine days after the fire, one single ruby tomato survived in their veggie patch. My baby picked the tomato and, as she does, squeezes it, and put it on the ground, she said. At that point, her son, Arthur, unravelled. Advertisement I think thats what probably lingers the most when looking at transitioning back to school, she said. Before the fires, Cleelands daughter, Quinn, was very ready to start prep, but now due to the uncertainty of the past month, shes craving what she knows her kinder and the strong emotional ties to mum and dad. Annabelle and Dave Cleeland comfort their children, Quinn, Arthur and Sigrid, in the aftermath of the Longwood fire. Chris Hopkins That is what school provides, the routine, the continuity, the care beyond your parents and your family, she said. They are the village for your family. On January 30, the state and federal governments announced a $158 million disaster recovery fund for families, businesses and primary producers affected by the fires and an extra $2 million for schools within fire-affected areas to engage extra mental health services. Some 30 schools have been supported to access specialist wellbeing services so far. Advertisement A Victorian government spokesperson said teachers and school staff were providing tailored support to help students adjust to disruptions caused by the fires and re-establish routines in the classroom. Teams and specialist equipment have also been deployed to clear schools of smoke and bushfire residue, he said. Related Article Victorian Schools Guide English? Maths? PE? Find out your schools top VCE subject But Cleeland, a Nationals MP, says mental health counsellors and support are too far away. We need trauma specialists on the ground here now because recovery is not just about rebuilding fences and houses, its about rebuilding people. Principal of Seymours St Marys College, Wayne Smith said the school of 625 students delayed returning on Monday because of the fires. Some teachers had been defending their homes, volunteering with the CFA or working at relief centres. Advertisement We have families whove lost everything except the house, he said. Smith said the school would provide counselling support for students and families. St Marys, he says, has a strong wellbeing team, a full-time counsellor at the college, would run a targeted childrens grief program and is identifying students who might need extra help. Little children might say something, they may not. If they say something, it will be dealt with in the right way or responded to in the right way. But we want them to enjoy the day, enjoy school. The school is telling parents that they are welcome to talk to their counsellors as well. Mother of three Felicity Jeffery, 39, whose Tarcombe house was saved but whose property was burnt out, said better education around natural disasters, especially for bushfire-prone areas, could be woven into the school syllabus or school programs. Advertisement Its the longer tail of the psychological impact. When children are tired, when dads not home until after bedtime [from working on a property], it can manifest itself in those moments. Her husband, Ned, is a Mitchell Shire councillor and CFA volunteer and stayed to defend their property and his parents property while she evacuated with their children. Loading They returned a few days ago, to prepare their daughter Jemima to start year 2 at St Marys College. A Department of Education spokesperson said the familiar routine of schools were critical in helping students recover after natural disasters and were working to ensure impacted schools would open as soon as possible. Advertisement School sites and early childhood services within evacuation zones have been closed this week, with relocation plans in place in line with each schools emergency management plan, she said. Jeffery said some fire-affected families would have welcomed an earlier school start date to provide a sense of normality and routine for their kids, saying there was only so long they could look at a blackened block of land. But there was some relief for Jemima, having shared the experience with her best friends. She is ready to go back to school. Im feeling good, said Jemima. I feel like everythings changed, but I dont mind. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. Advertisement Exclusive NationalWATragedy Second note found at Mosman Park property alleged to detail why parents carried out murder-suicide Hannah Murphy January 31, 2026 1:58pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A A second note found at the property of a family who died by murder-suicide in Perth on Friday is alleged to be a letter explaining the reasoning behind the deaths of the Clune family. The bodies of father Jarrod Clune, mother Maiwenna Goasdoue and their two teenage sons Leon and Otis were found at the Mott Close property on Friday morning, in an apparent murder-suicide. A photo of the two boys when they were younger. Facebook Police said the alarm was first raised by a carer who went to the house just after 8am for a scheduled appointment, allegedly finding a note on the front door warning them not to enter and phone police. When officers entered, they found the bodies of the parents at the rear of the property and the two teenage boys in another part of the house. Advertisement Two dogs and a cat were also found deceased. While the first note found by police is alleged to be brief and a warning, this masthead understands a second note inside the property was structured as a letter that allowed police to make the determination the case was likely a murder-suicide. Police at the scene in Mosman Park on Friday morning. 9News Perth It is understood the second note contained details indicating a level of planning behind the act - going so far as to detail how the family wished their finances to be arranged following their deaths. It is alleged to contain details regarding the mindset of the family prior to their deaths, and appeared to show the parents jointly decided to end their lives. Advertisement Family and friends have previously characterised Jarrod and Maiwenna as desperate for help, and said they felt overwhelmed while caring for their two boys, who both lived with autism. One of the boys is believed to have experienced more challenges with his neurodevelopmental disorder than his brother. Those close to the case said the family were at a desperate place before their deaths, with both parents attempting to cope as best as possible. Some friends said the family did not receive enough support from government agencies and disability support providers. Detective Sergeant Jessica Securo told the media on Friday the family had accessed care providers in the past. Advertisement However, it is understood both Jarrod and Maiwenna were primary carers of the boys, and were under significant pressure and suffering from exhaustion at the time of their deaths. Western Australian police confirmed the existence of the second note, but said they would not be providing details about what it said. WA Police Detective Inspector Jessica Securo. Hannah Murrphy Securo said the ongoing investigation would attempt to determine when the family were last seen alive and how they died. She confirmed there was no indication their deaths were violent. Advertisement Related Article Updated Crime Family found dead in Mosman Park double murder-suicide identified Autism Association of WA chief executive Joan McKenna Kerr AM said there were resources available for anyone who may be struggling in the light of the news. We are deeply saddened by the news of this devastating tragedy, she said. We mourn the life of these two young people and their parents. Our heart goes out to all those who knew and loved them. We recognise that for many Autistic people and their families, this news does not just bring sadness, but a deep sense of grief. Advertisement If any family, or someone you know, is having difficulty with the news of this unimaginable tragedy, we urge you to reach out for professional support. The Autism Association of WA said anyone struggling could call 9489 8900 for help. Lifeline 13 11 14 WASHINGTON (AP) Elizabeth Kautz says she now carries her passport around the Minneapolis suburb where shes been the mayor since 1995. Those ICE agents dont know that Im the mayor of the city of Burnsville, Kautz, a Republican who has occasionally diverted from the Trump administrations views, said Wednesday as the United States Conference of Mayors opened its meeting in Washington. I could be coming out of a store and be harassed so I need to make sure that I have credentials on me. Her comments reflected a sense of frustration and exasperation hanging over the gathering of mayors, which would typically be a venue for leaders to strategize over issues ranging from affordable housing and transit to climate change and addressing urban violence. But much of that was overshadowed by the fallout from the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti by two federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, reigniting a national debate over the Trump administrations aggressive law enforcement tactics, which have often focused on cities. There has been no more urgent challenge facing all Americans these past few weeks than the chaos in Minnesota stemming from an unprecedented surge in immigration enforcement, said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, a Republican who is the conferences president this year. Multiple mayors said they appreciated President Donald Trumps nod this week toward deescalating the federal governments operation in Minnesota, adding that they agreed with the administrations goal of deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. But they also described a dynamic in which theyre facing pressure from constituents to evict federal agents from their cities something they cant do while struggling to align with federal counterparts. The surge has had a notable impact even in cities that havent faced the brunt of the federal governments pressure like Minneapolis. When trust is lost in how laws are being enforced in one city, we feel the risks to our police officers and to our residents in all cities, said Leirion Gaylor Baird, the Democratic mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska. Asked about the mayors concerns, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin responded: Have they seen the plummeting murder rates? Its not a coincidence when you remove tens of thousands of gang members, murderers and known and suspected terrorists from the country who were here illegally. Holt said the White House hasnt invited the mayors for a meeting while theyre in town this week. Trump has repeatedly put the onus on local officials to cooperate with federal law enforcement, saying Wednesday on social media that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was PLAYING WITH FIRE for saying his city wont enforce federal immigration laws. Jerry Dyer was the police chief in Fresno, California, for 18 years before he was elected mayor in 2020 as a Republican. He said he wasnt in Washington to bash ICE or the administration and expressed appreciation for Trumps work to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. But he criticized the way federal immigration enforcement has been implemented and said ICE was being rejected by communities across the U.S. In the process, he warned, trust in law enforcement is in peril. In order to gain that trust, we have to police neighborhoods with their permission, he said. We cannot be seen as an occupying force when we go into these neighborhoods. Jim Hovland, the nonpartisan mayor of Edina, Minnesota, a suburb just south of Minneapolis, described external forces that are tearing at the very fabric of our communities that were responsible for shepherding. Its really hard to figure out how to deal with it, he said. ___ This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyers last name. By STEVEN SLOAN Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) A Nevada jury on Friday convicted Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse of sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country. The jurors in Las Vegas found Chasing Horse guilty of 13 of the 21 charges he faced. Most of the guilty verdicts centered on Chasing Horses conduct with a victim who was 14 when he began assaulting her. He was acquitted of some sexual assault charges when the main victim was older and lived with him and his other companions. Chasing Horse, 49, faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 11. He has also been charged with sex crimes in other states as well as Canada. British Columbia prosecutors said Friday that once Chasing Horse has been sentenced and any appeals are finished in the U.S., they will assess next steps in their prosecution. Fridays verdict marked the climax of a yearslong effort to prosecute Chasing Horse after he was first arrested and indicted in 2023. Prosecutors said Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls. As the verdict was read, Chasing Horse stood quietly. Victims and their supporters cried and hugged in the hallway while wearing yellow ribbons. The main victim declined to comment. William Rowles, the Clark County chief deputy district attorney, thanked the women who had accused Chasing Horse of assault for testifying. I just hope that the people who came forward over the years and made complaints against Nathan Chasing Horse can find some peace in this, he said. Defense attorney Craig Mueller said he will file a motion for a new trial and told The Associated Press he was confused and disappointed in the jurys verdict. He said he had some meaningful doubts about the sincerity of the accusations. Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. He is widely known for his portrayal of Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costners Oscar-winning film. Dances With Wolves was one of the most prominent films featuring Native American actors when it premiered in 1990. His trial came as authorities have responded more in recent years to an epidemic of violence against Native women. During the 11-day trial, jurors heard from three women who said Chasing Horse sexually assaulted them, some of whom were underage at the time. The jury returned guilty verdicts on some charges related to all three. Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci said in her closing argument Wednesday that for almost 20 years, Chasing Horse spun a web of abuse that caught many women. Mueller said in his closing argument that there was no evidence, including from eyewitnesses. He questioned the main accusers credibility, calling her a scorned woman. Prosecutors said sexual assault cases rarely have eyewitnesses and often happen behind closed doors. The main accuser was 14 in 2012 when Chasing Horse allegedly told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. He then sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die, Pucci said. The sexual assaults continued for years, Pucci said. Todays verdict sends a clear message that exploitation and abuse will not be tolerated, regardless of the defendants public persona or claims of spiritual authority, said Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who came in to the Las Vegas court room to hear the verdict, in a statement. By JESSICA HILL Associated Press BIS Nagpur Branch Office conducts Manak Manthan Business Reporter : Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Nagpur Branch Office has organised a Manak Manthan, a technical meeting, on Wednesday at The Seven Hotel in the city. At the outset Raunak Sukhadeve, Scientist-D / Joint Director welcomed the audience and the BIS Manak Geet audio was played. Later, he explained the objective of Manak Manthan. He spoke about IS 14587 : 2025 Prelaminated Medium Density Fibre Boards of Wood and Other Lignocellulosic Materials - Specification & draft standard CED/22/26193 Selection, Installation and Maintenance of Automatic Fire Detection and Alarm System-Code of Practice. He also gave a detailed presentation on the topic. Following the presentation, the revised standard was discussed among the participants and suggestions were made by them on standard based on their practical experience and academic knowledge. Several comments received from the participants and the same are being compiled for further necessary actions on the Indian Standards. Moreover, all the participants were informed about the registration and downloading of the BIS standards. All the manufacturers were also informed about the procedure to obtain the BIS licence and they were also encouraged to apply for BIS licence. Overall the programme was very fruitful and the participants requested to carry out more such programs in future which is being considered by BIS Nagpur Branch Office. The programme was successfully conducted under the guidance of Hemant B Ade, Director & Head, Nagpur Branch Office. BJP would abide by NCP (AP) choice on its next leader: CM Fadnavis Staff Reporter : Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders have held talks as to successor of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, amidst talks about oath ceremony of Sunetra Pawar in the Maharashtra Cabinet. Interacting with mediapersons in city on Friday evening, Fadnavis said, he is awaiting communication from the NCP (Ajit Pawar) leaders as to their next legislature party leader. Once the NCP (AP) finalises its decision, the State Government and also, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would respect the same as they stand by their commitments made to their alliance partner, he added. However, Chief Minister refused to confirm whether Sunetra Pawar will be sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday. Earlier, the leaders of NCP (AP) held two rounds of talks with Chief Minister at Pune and later, at Mumbai and discussed the options available to the party. Already, there were talks that two rival groups of NCP heading for a merger, but now in light of new development, the move, it seems, might be put on hold till further notice. During the meeting, the two sides discussed various alternatives and now, the NCP leaders are awaiting confirmation from Sunetra Pawar, the widow of Ajit Pawar. The Pawar family, meanwhile, faces an uphill task in deciding its next course of action, as even before the members could overcome the mourning, they face the crucial decision to decide fast on the power equation. Cgarh Govt rolls back steep land rate hike, offers major relief in Raipur, Raigarh Staff Reporter Raipur : In a significant course correction aimed at easing public distress and restoring balance in the land market, the Chhattisgarh government has notified revised guideline rates for Raipur and Raigarh districts, substantially rolling back the sharp hike announced on November 20, 2025. The revised rates came into force on Thursday, offering immediate financial relief to landowners, farmers and small investors who had been hit by an unprecedented escalation in official land values. The November revision had triggered widespread concern after guideline rates in several pockets were raised by 400 to 500 percent, sharply inflating stamp duty, registration costs and transaction values. Acknowledging the disruption caused by the sudden surge, the government has now moderated the increase, particularly in rural areas where no new colonies or plotting activity is underway. As per the fresh order, such rural land will now carry guideline rates capped at up to double the pre-November levels, effectively restricting the increase to around 100 percent. Officials clarified that the objective was to correct anomalies without distorting genuine market signals. However, the government has retained higher rates in select villages where earlier values were unusually low or where active plotting and development are already in progress. In these pockets, the revised rates may still exceed the 100 percent mark, reflecting prevailing land-use patterns and demand. Urban areas in both Raipur and Raigarh have also seen downward revisions. In most city zones, the government has attempted to bring guideline values within twice the rates prevailing before November 20, 2025, reducing the pressure on homebuyers and developers alike. Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao described the move as a people-centric decision taken after reviewing ground-level feedback. He said the earlier hike had begun to choke land transactions and deter investment, with ripple effects on construction activity and allied sectors. The revised rates, he said, would help restore confidence and revive economic momentum. Rural landowners and farmers are expected to be among the principal beneficiaries, as the abrupt spike had made routine transactions and family settlements financially unviable. With the correction, land purchases are likely to become smoother, while proposed residential layouts and settlement projects may regain traction. Financial and real estate experts view the rollback as a calibrated signal to investors that the state intends to keep land valuation aligned with realistic market conditions rather than administrative shocks. They also indicate that similar revisions may soon follow in other districts. Sources said the issue could feature prominently during the Budget session, with the finance minister likely to outline a broader roadmap for rationalising guideline rates across Chhattisgarh. The present revision, analysts note, marks an important step towards stabilising the land market, improving transparency and cushioning citizens from avoidable financial strain, the sources maintained. CM Sai visits Garhbengal Ghotul at Staff Reporter RAIPUR : Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai visited Garhbengal Ghotul at Narayanpur on Friday. He is on a two-day visit to Narayanpur district. He saw his deep commitment towards the glorious traditions and folk culture of Bastar. On this occasion, amidst the melodious sound of traditional musical instruments and the warm welcome of the villagers, Chief Minister Sai himself was seen immersed in the folk colours. Chief Minister Sai observed the unique architecture of Ghotul and met the eminent personalities of Bastar and encouraged them. Chief Minister Sai said that Ghotul has been an educational and cultural centre for the tribal society since ancient times. This modern Ghotul, located near Chendru Park, will not only connect the new generation with its roots, but will also become a powerful medium to introduce the tribal lifestyle and social system to the tourists from India and abroad. This Ghotul in Garhbengal symbolizes the preservation of our glorious heritage. The State government is constantly striving to preserve this unique culture, tradition, and knowledge of Bastar. Chief Minister Sai inspected the Leyyor and Leyosk Kurma: rooms built for young men and women, as well as Bidar Kurma: a collection of traditional costumes, ancient musical instruments and cultural materials in the Ghotul complex. On the request of the villagers, Chief Minister Sai honoured the food culture of the region by tasting the traditional dishes of Bastar at Saga Kurma. Special food items like Gato-Bhat, Kodo-Bhat, Urid Daar, Hiruwa Daar, Jeera Bhaji, Kanki Paaj, Bhaji Ghirol Phool, Munga Bhaji, Tamarind Amat, Madia Paaj, Tomato Chutney, Chila Roti, Ragi Kurma, Ragi Cake, Ragi Lattu, Ragi Jalebi and other items were served for the Chief Ministers meal. Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap, Revenue Minister Tankram Verma, Chairman of Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce (Trading & Development) Co-operative Federation Limited Rupsai Salam, President of Zila Panchayat Narayanpur Narayan Karma, Padma Shri Pandiram Mandavi, folk artist Baltu Ram, Sandhya Pawar and others were present on the occasion. The Chief Minister honoured Vaidyaraj Padma Shri Hemchandra Manjhi, Padma Shri Pandiram Mandavi and renowned folk artist Butlu Ram. He also met the family members of Tiger Boy Chendru. ED arrests ex-RCOM chief Punit Garg in Rs 40,000 cr bank fraud case NEW DELHI : THE Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has arrested former Reliance Communications (RCOM) President Punit Garg on money laundering charges in an alleged Rs 40,000 crore worth bank loan fraud case against group companies of businessman Anil Ambani. The 61-year-old Garg was taken into custody on Thursday. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi sent him to nine days of ED custody, the federal probe agency said in a statement. Garg, ex-president and director of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), was arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation linked to an alleged over Rs 40,000 crore bank fraud and money laundering by RCOM and its group entities, the ED said. The ED had said on Wednesday that it has attached shares and mutual funds in the name of Gargs wife. Garg, while holding senior managerial and directorial positions in RCOM over an extended period from 2001 to 2025, was actively involved in the acquisition, possession, concealment, layering, and dissipation of proceeds of crime generated from the said bank fraud, the ED claimed. The alleged laundered funds were diverted through multiple foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities of RCOM, it claimed. As President of RCOM, the agency said, Garg was handling the global enterprise business of the company between 2006-2013. He also served as president (regulatory affairs) from 2014 to 2017. In October 2017, Garg was appointed as executive director of RCOM and from April 2019 till April 2025, he served as a non-executive director of RCOM, according to the agency. It was found that the proceeds of crime generated from this alleged fraud were diverted for the purchase of a luxury condominium apartment in New Yorks Manhattan. This property was fraudulently sold in 2023 during the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of RCOM by Garg, the ED said. It is understood that RCOM informed the stock exchange about this fraudulent sale in 2025. The sale proceeds of USD 8.3 million (about Rs 69.55 crore in 2023) were remitted from the USA under the guise of a sham investment arrangement with a Dubai-based entity controlled by a Pak-linked individual, without the knowledge or consent of the Resolution Professional (RP), agency said. Former President of ICAI CA Jaydeep Shah passes away Business Reporter : Known for his transformative leadership and dedication to professional excellence, past President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) CA Jaydeep Shah, passed away on Friday due to a heart attack at the age of 69. CA Jaydeep Shah, the first Chartered Accountant from the city to occupy the prestigious position of President of the national-level body - ICAI, was a towering personality in the profession and a source of constant inspiration for generations of Chartered Accountants. A distinguished professional from Nagpur, he was Partner at Shah Chari & Co., Chartered Accountants, and made exemplary contributions at the national and international levels. During his tenure as President and Vice-President of ICAI, and as Central Council Member for nine years, he played a pivotal role in strengthening professional education and infrastructure. His leadership led to several landmark initiatives including establishment of IT training labs across the country, introduction of residential training programmes, enhanced accessibility of study material for students, improved examination reforms, and several student-friendly initiatives. CA Jaydeep Shah also served on various prestigious committees and boards of the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Reserve Bank of India, SEBI, IRDA, C&AG, and international bodies such as IFAC, CAPA, and SAFA, thereby significantly contributing to policy formulation and governance reforms. At the regional and branch level, he was closely associated with ICAI Nagpur Branch and Western India Regional Council, serving in multiple leadership roles and always guiding the fraternity with his vision and wisdom. Several Past Presidents of ICAI including CA Ashok Chandak, CA R Bupathi (Chennai), CA Sunil Goyal (Jaipur), CA Ved Jain (Delhi), CA Manoj Fadnis (Indore), CA Devraj Reddy (Hyderabad), CA Debashish Mitra (Guwahati), CA Amarjit Chopra (Delhi), CA Kamlesh Vikamsey and CA Nilesh Vikamsey (Mumbai), CA Subodh Agrawal (Kolkata), CA Sunil Talati (Ahmedabad), CA G Ramaswamy (Coimbatore), and several other senior members of the fraternity have expressed their deep condolences on this irreparable loss. He is survived by wife Harsha Shah and son Harshdeep Shah, along with other relatives, friends, and well-wishers who deeply mourn this loss. In a noble humanitarian gesture, the family has donated his eyes, reflecting his lifelong values of service and compassion. The Managing Committee and members of ICAI Nagpur Branch extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and pray to the Almighty to grant eternal peace to the departed soul and strength to the family to bear this irreparable loss. The funeral procession of CA Jaydeep Shah will commence from his residence at Plot No. 214, Ram Nagar, on January 31 at 10 am, and will proceed to Ambazari ghat. IIM Nagpur to help transform Maharashtras villages, joins forces with Tata Motors, Govt Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Vinod Kulkarni, Priya Khan, Prof. Anoop Kumar, Col Makarand Alur and Prof Neelkanth Dhone during signing of the MoU. Staff Reporter : Imagine a village where every development plan is backed by expert research, where local youth are trained like professional managers, and where Government schemes reach the right person at the right time. This is the vision behind a new partnership between the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Nagpur, Tata Motors Foundation (TMF), and the Government of Maharashtra. The three organisations have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch IVDP 2.0 (Integrated Village Development Programme 2.0). The goal is simple: to turn rural Maharashtra into a model of success using modern management techniques. The agreement was signed by Dr Bhimaraya Metri (Director, IIM Nagpur) and Vinod Kulkarni (CEO, Tata Motors Foundation). The ceremony took place in the presence of Priya Khan from the Chief Ministers Office (CMO), Government of Maharashtra, and Prof Anoop Kumar, IAS (Retd) and currently Professor of Practice at IIM Nagpur. On this momentous occasion, Col Makarand Alur (CAO, IIM Nagpur) and Prof Neelkanth Dhone also were present. While the Tata Motors Foundation provides the funding and the Government provides administrative support and leadership, IIM Nagpur will serve as the Knowledge Partner for the project. Additionally, IIM Nagpur will work alongside YASHADA (the States training institute) to train field staff, ensuring that Government schemes reach the doorsteps of the underprivileged without delay. Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM Nagpur, stated: We dont want our expertise to stay only inside classrooms. Through this initiative, IIM Nagpur is going directly to the doorsteps of farmers and rural families. We are bringing world-class management to the village level to ensure every child gets a better education and every farmer gets better support. Vinod Kulkarni noted that to enhance the quality and scientific rigor of this initiative, they are seeking IIM Nagpurs engagement in providing inputs to strengthen and refine the planning process for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) formulation, validating the final GPDPs, and undertaking a comprehensive impact assessment after three years of implementation. Prof Anoop Kumar added that the institutes role is to ensure these villages become self-reliant. We are creating a success formula that can be used to develop any village in India, starting right here in Maharashtra. Priya Khan emphasised the State Governments commitment to aligning flagship programs with ground-level needs. This collaboration ensures that the IVDP 2.0 model remains transparent, efficient, and perfectly aligned with our states development priorities. How will IIM Nagpur change the face of rural Maharashtra? The tripartite agreement between IIM Nagpur, Tata Motors Foundation (TMF), and the Government of Maharashtra is more than just a document; it is a Management Revolution for rural development. IIM Nagpur is playing a crucial role as the Knowledge Partner and Technical Support Agency in this project. The key features of how this partnership will transform villages are: n Scientific Village Development Plan (GPDP): Development work will no longer be based on guesswork. Under the guidance of IIM experts, professional development plans will be created for each Gram Panchayat, prioritizing specific needs like water, health, and education. n Professional Training for Rural Youth: IIM Nagpur will train 'Cluster Coordinators' and field staff at the local level. This will create a skilled workforce within rural areas capable of using modern techniques to solve local problems. n Outcome-Based Development (Outcome Matrix): To move beyond just spending and measure actual impact, IIM has developed a special Input-Output-Outcome Matrix. This ensures transparency and guarantees that funds are utilized effectively. n Direct Field Monitoring: IIM experts will personally visit villages to inspect the quality of work. If a project is not benefiting the people as intended, immediate course corrections will be suggested. n Effective Implementation of Government Schemes: Alongside institutions like YASHADA, IIM will work to make the government machinery more efficient. This ensures that the benefits of government schemes reach the underprivileged without any delay. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has hailed Catherine O'Hara as a "legend". Catherine O'Hara passed away aged 71 The actress was born in Toronto, Canada, and the Prime Minster took to social media to pay tribute to her after she passed away aged 71. Carney wrote on X: "I join Canadians and fans across the world in mourning the loss of Catherine OHara. "Over 5 decades of work, Catherine earned her place in the canon of Canadian comedy from SCTV to Schitt's Creek. "Canada has lost a legend. My thoughts are with her family, friends, and all those who loved her work on screen. She will be dearly missed. (sic)" O'Hara died on Friday (30.01.26) at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, and tributes have been flooding in since her passing was announced. Macaulay Culkin - who starred alongside O'Hara in the Home Alone film franchise - previously paid a heartfelt tribute to the actress. Alongside two throwback photos, the actor wrote on Instagram: "Mama. "I thought we had time. "I wanted more. "I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. "I heard you. "But I had so much more to say. "I love you. "Ill see you later. (sic)" One of the photos was taken from when Macaulay and the actress starred together in the Home Alone film franchise. The second photo was taken in 2023, when the late actress supported Macaulay at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. O'Hara - who played the actor's on-screen mom - said that day: "Home Alone was, is and always will be a beloved global sensation ... the reason families all over the world can't let a year go by without watching and loving Home Alone together is because of Macaulay Culkin." Meanwhile, David Furnish hailed the movie star as a "brilliant actress and comedian". The 63-year-old filmmaker - who is married to Sir Elton John - wrote on the photo-sharing platform: "Absolutely devastated to hear of the passing of Catherine OHara. A brilliant actress and comedian. Shes kept me roaring with laughter for DECADES. From Lola Heatherton on @sctv in Canada in the 70s to Moira Rose on @schittscreek today - and all the roles in between. Ive loved everything shes done. How brilliant to leave such a legacy of artistic excellence and laughter. #CatherineOHara #RIP (sic)" Women named Anice are typically perceived as possessing a calm, graceful demeanor combined with quiet determination. They often exhibit natural elegance and poise, with an ability to navigate challenging situations with composure and wisdom. The name suggests someone who is thoughtful and reflective, yet possesses an inner strength that becomes apparent in times of adversity. Anice individuals are often described as having excellent listening skills and a nurturing nature, making them trusted confidantes and natural peacemakers in their social circles. Their grace extends beyond mere manners to a deeper quality of emotional intelligence and empathy. While they may appear reserved initially, those who know them well appreciate their subtle wit, loyalty, and the steady reliability they bring to relationships and responsibilities. This combination of gentle exterior and resilient core makes Anice a name associated with balanced, well-rounded personalities who contribute positively to their communities. The name evokes qualities of someone who moves through life with purpose and dignity, leaving a positive impact through quiet influence rather than loud proclamation. IIT Bhilai Phase-A Project awarded prestigious 5-Star GRIHA LD Rating Staff Reporter BHILAI : Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai has achieved a significant milestone with its Phase-A Campus Development Project being awarded the 5-Star GRIHA LD (Large Developments) rating, the highest level of certification under the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) framework. The rating has been conferred by the GRIHA Council in association with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India. The award was formally presented to IIT Bhilai at the 9th GRIHA Regional Conclave held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on Wednesday at Raipur. Prof Rajiv Prakash, the Director, IIT Bhilai, received the award from the Guest of Honour, Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education, Government of Chhattisgarh. GRIHA is Indias national rating system for green buildings and habitats, developed to promote environmentally sustainable design, construction, and operational practices. While GRIHA and focus on individual buildings, GRIHA LD evaluates the environmental performance of large-scale developments such as campuses, townships, and neighbor hoods. Projects with a site area of 50 hectares or more are eligible under this category. The objective of GRIHA LD is to provide a comprehensive framework to assess sustainability at the planning and infrastructure level. Projects are evaluated across parameters such as site planning, energy efficiency, water and wastewater management, solid waste management, transport systems, and social infrastructure. The Phase-A project of IIT Bhilai was completed in early 2024, and the permanent campus was dedicated to the nation on 20 February 2024 by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The Phase-A campus, which forms the core academic and residential infrastructure of the institute, has demonstrated exemplary performance in sustainable planning and resource efficiency. The 5-Star rating reflects IIT Bhilais strong commitment to environmentally responsible development and creation of a green, future-ready campus. This recognition reinforces the institutes continued efforts toward sustainability and alignment with national goals for resilient and energy-efficient infrastructure. ISI agent accused of leaking sensitive information arrested in Rajs Pokhran JAIPUR : THE Intelligence Wing of the Rajasthan Police has arrested a local youth from the Pokhran area of Jaisalmer district for allegedly spying for Pakistans intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Prafull Kumar, while addressing the media, said that the accused has been charged with transmitting sensitive and strategically important information related to the Indian Army to handlers across the border. ADGP Kumar said that the arrest follows sustained surveillance and intelligence inputs indicating increased espionage activity by Pakistani agencies in the border areas of Rajasthan. Acting on these inputs, Rajasthan Intelligence initiated a focused technical and human intelligence operation, which ultimately led to the identification of the suspect. Continuous monitoring of anti-national elements is being carried out across the State, he said. ADGP Kumar pointed out that during this process, the activities of Jhabararam, son of Bhana Ram, aged 28, a resident of Nedan village under Sankra police station limits in Pokhran, were found to be suspicious. Subsequent technical analysis revealed that he was in regular contact with Pakistani intelligence handlers through various social media platforms. Interrogation and forensic examination of the accuseds mobile phone uncovered disturbing details, he said. ADGP Kumar said that Jhabararam was lured into the espionage network through a honeytrap and financial inducements. In exchange for money, he allegedly shared confidential information related to Indian Army movements and installations. Investigators further revealed that the accused provided the One-Time Password (OTP) of a SIM card registered in his name to Pakistani handlers. This SIM card was then used to activate WhatsApp, which became a key communication channel for conducting anti-national activities, he said. ADGP Kumar said that after preliminary confirmation, Jhabararam was brought to the Central Interrogation Centre in Jaipur, where he was jointly questioned by Rajasthan Police Intelligence, Military Intelligence, and other central security agencies. Lifetime Achievement Award to former PCCF Dr P B Gangopadhyay Staff Reporter : Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav inaugurated the Forestry Conference and IFS Meet 2026 at the RCVP Noronha Administrative Academy, emphasising the States commitment to forest conservation, wildlife protection, and sustainable development. During the event, he presented the Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 to former PCCF Dr P B Gangopadhyay for his remarkable contributions to Madhya Pradeshs forests. The award was received by his wife, Gauri Gangopadhyay, on his behalf. Dr Yadav also launched the IFS theme song and its accompanying video, celebrating the work of forest officials and fostering a sense of camaraderie and professional dialogue within the department. He praised the departments achievements, including the reintroduction of cheetahs in Kuno National Park, the release of gharial in Chambal, and crocodiles in the Narmada River, highlighting the importance of coexistence between wildlife and local communities. The Chief Minister noted that forest officers not only protect the states biodiversity but also act as guides and support systems for villages near forest areas, ensuring access to essential facilities. He lauded initiatives such as core-area and buffer-zone fencing in national reserves, which safeguard both wildlife and human populations. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force V N Ambade highlighted ongoing projects, including the Aviral Narmada Project, which has restored and replanted over 5,000 hectares in the Narmada basin. Last year, the Forest Department planted more than 50 million trees, and the Ratapani Sanctuary was declared a tiger reserve in honour of Dr Vishnudhar Wakankar. The Chief Minister emphasised the role of such conferences in knowledge sharing and mentoring, noting that these gatherings allow junior officers to learn from their seniors and strengthen collaborative ties. He also underlined the cultural and spiritual significance of forests in India, referencing the Vanaprastha ashram stage in traditional life, which highlights the importance of forests in society. The event also recognised the work of forest personnel such as Forest Guard Jagdish Ahirwar, who collected 125 rare medicinal plants, a contribution appreciated nationally, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Mann Ki Baat programme. Maha-based snake rescuer persona unravels in Rs 2.6 crore Mahasamund ganja haul probe Staff Reporter Raipur : A carefully curated social-media image of wildlife conservation collapsed on Friday after Mahasamund police, under Operation Nischay, dismantled a Rs 2.6-crore ganja trafficking network allegedly fronted by a man projecting himself online as a snake rescuer and conservationist. The end-to-end operation led to the seizure of 520 kg of ganja and the arrest of nine accused spanning Odisha and Maharashtra, exposing a tightly run logistics chain masked by online influence and local distribution nodes. Investigators said the probe pivoted on Akash Jadhav of Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, who maintained a strong public presence under the moniker Sarpmitra Akash Jadhav, commanding millions of followers on YouTube and Instagram for snake rescue content. Behind the persona, police allege, Jadhav functioned as the principal transport coordinator and forward-link mediator for consignments moved from Odisha to Maharashtra. Preliminary scrutiny suggests the network executed at least six consignments over the past year, with Jadhav remaining absconding in a Pune case for nearly six months before his arrest. Assets worth about Rs 1.5 crore linked to him have been identified. The case, registered in Mahasamunds district Komakhan police station as Crime No. 03/2026 under Sections 20(b)(2)(C) and 29 of the NDPS Act along with relevant provisions of the BNS, began with intelligence inputs pointing to a bulk movement scheduled for Maharashtra. A coordinated interception and follow-through by the Anti-Narcotics Task Force and Mahasamund district police culminated in the seizure of 520 kg of ganja, valued at approximately Rs 2.6 crore. Police arrested the transporters Sagar Bagh of Jalna, Sanjeev Ahire of Ajintha-Sillod, Sushil Dabhade of Aurangabad and Aditya Pakhre of Ahilyanagar, alleging they ferried consignments using layered routes and decoys. The forward-link buyer Ramdas Chandu Sonawane of Khadakwasla, Pune, was taken into custody along with his sons Kunal Sonawane and Pratik Sonawane, who allegedly assisted distribution in the Pune belt. Investigators said Ramdas Sonawane has a prior criminal record and were previously externed; assets worth about Rs 4 crore linked to him are being processed for attachment under Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976. (SAFEMA). The backward link led to the arrest of Ranjan Durga of Charbahal, Kalahandi, Odisha, accused of sourcing and supplying bulk quantities. Police said the operation benefited from close inter-state coordination, including assistance from Maharashtras Anti-Narcotics Task Force, enabling arrests across jurisdictions. All seized material was weighed, sealed and documented as per procedure, and the accused were produced before the competent court. Further investigation is underway to trace financial trails, identify additional handlers and distributors, and map residual assets connected to the network. Authorities appealed to the public to share credible information on narcotics activity, assuring confidentiality. on the same page !? NO MATTER the assertion by Congress leader Mr. Shashi Tharoor that he and the party leadership are on the same page and all is good, those who know the internal atmosphere of the party will take the statement with a pinch (or, a bagful ?) of salt. For, what has been happening in the Congress party for the past 10-plus years does not suggest that all is well. Much to the contrary, enough indications are available to stress that the party is internally in the shambles -- simply because the collective leadership is not on the same page, because nobody seems to agree with anybody -- except those few who love towing the line of the Gandhi family. Seen from this angle, Mr. Tharoors we-are-on-the-same-page statement cannot be taken on its face value. It needs to be examined in real terms and not in terms of political rhetoric. It is possible that during his meeting with Congress President Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Tharoor was promised about certain internal reforms in the party. Possibly, he was made to feel important and got invited to join some decision-making mechanism in the party -- so that he gets a sense of participation at the highest level. And if this is so, then the statement of being on the same page makes little sense. For, it does not promise actual reforms in the party in a true sense. Just a few days ago, another Congress leader -- Mr. Shakeel Ahmed -- had blasted Mr. Rahul Gandhi for leading the party to repeated failure. Many other Congress leaders and workers also felt similarly, though they did not speak up openly. Many constituent parties in the Opposition I.N.D.I. Alliance also felt that Mr. Shakeel Ahmed was making an honest and frank statement that highlighted the internal situation in the Congress party. Leaders of many constituents of the Opposition camp have been airing their views frankly about the internal damage the Congress party has suffered over time due to inept leadership of Mr. Rahul Gandhi. And here is Mr. Shashi Tharoor making that assertion that he and the party leadership are on the same page. Certainly, something is cooking in the Congress party -- possibly positively, possibly favourably. If that is really so, then that may be a good news for the party that has seen defeat after electoral defeat in the past few years -- under Mr. Rahul Gandhis leadership. No matter its political reverses, the Congress party does have popular goodwill all over the country, and common people would certainly welcome good developments taking place in its folds -- as hinted at by Mr. Shashi Tharoor. Yet, Mr. Tharoors assertion appears to have been made without much conviction. Its words may be positive, but its tone may be questionable. Who knows, some time later, Mr. Tharoor may emerge as a defeated, disappointed, dejected man following his failed attempts to spruce up the party internally ! For, such has been the fate of many Congress leaders -- many of whom even chose to leave the party in search of other political pursuits in the past some years. Persons like Mr. Kapil Sibal, Acharya Pramod Krishnam, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mr. Jatin Prakash among many others felt fully frustrated trying to reform the party, and gave up and stepped out. Let us only hope that Mr. Shashi Tharoor does not suffer a similar fate. There is no doubt that Mr. Tharoor is a unique personality. He has often felt strongly that reforms in the Congress party need a strong push. He tried achieving that by contesting presidential election. Despite that loss, he talked with a sense of restraint. He was criticised, too, for siding with Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi on several counts. Yet, Mr. Tharoor did not lose his sense of balance and continued expressing his loyalty to Congress in his own way -- which won him respect of the people. Now, he appears to be making another attempt. Let us wait and watch how far he can go. Venezuelas acting President signs oil industry overhaul By Regina Garcia Cano CARACAS : VENEZUELAS acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday signed a law that opens the nations oil sector to privatisation, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades. The reform will undoubtedly be her Governments signature policy as it positions the oil sector Venezuelas engine to lure the foreign investment needed to revamp a long-crippled industry. Rodriguez enacted the measure less than a month after the brazen seizure of then-President Nicolas Maduro in a US military attack in Venezuelas capital, Caracas. Rodriguez, facing oil workers and ruling-party supporters, signed the bill less than two hours after the National Assembly approved it. At the same time, the US Department of Treasury officially began to ease punishing economic sanctions on Venezuelan oil, which were imposed by the first Trump administration, and expanded the ability of US energy companies to operate in the South American nation. Rodriguez on Thursday also spoke with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who a day earlier explained to US Senators in a hearing how the administration is planning to handle the sale of tens of millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela and oversee where the money flows. Venezuela has the largest proven reserves of crude in the world. The moves by both Governments are paving the way for yet another radical geopolitical and economic shift in Venezuela. Were talking about the future. We are talking about the country that we are going to give to our children, Rodriguez said of the reform. Rodriguez proposed the changes earlier this month, after Trump said his administration would take control of Venezuelas oil exports and revitalise the ailing industry by luring foreign investment. Private companies to control oil production The legislation promises to give private companies control over the production and sale of oil, ending the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SAs monopoly over those activities as well as pricing. A private company will assume full management of the activities at its own expense, account, and risk, after demonstrating its financial and technical capacity through a business plan approved by the nations Oil Ministry, according to the law. The legislation provides that ownership of the hydrocarbon reservoirs on which a company will carry out activities remains vested in the state. The new law also allows for independent arbitration of disputes, removing a mandate for disagreements to be settled only in Venezuelan courts, which are controlled by the ruling party. Foreign investors view the involvement of independent arbitrators as crucial to guard against future expropriation. Rodriguezs Government expects the changes to serve as assurances for major US oil companies that have so far hesitated about returning to the volatile country. Some of those companies lost investments when the ruling party enacted the existing law two decades ago to favour Venezuelas state-run oil company, PDVSA. Additionally, the revised law modifies extraction taxes, setting a royalty cap rate of 30 per cent and allowing the executive branch to set percentages for every project based on capital investment needs, competitiveness and other factors. Ruling-party lawmaker Orlando Camacho, head of the assemblys oil committee, said the reform will change the countrys economy. Meanwhile, Opposition lawmaker Antonio Ecarri urged the Assembly to add transparency and accountability provisions to the law, including the creation of a website to make funding and other information public. He noted that the current lack of oversight has led to systemic corruption and argued that these provisions can also be considered judicial guarantees. Those guarantees are among the key changes foreign investors are looking for as they weigh entering the Venezuelan market. Individuals named Halburt are typically perceived as possessing a strong moral compass combined with intellectual brilliance. They often exhibit natural leadership qualities, showing both courage in facing challenges and wisdom in decision-making. The name suggests someone who is principled yet practical, able to navigate complex situations with both strength and intelligence. These individuals tend to be protective of those they care about and are often drawn to roles where they can make a significant positive impact. Halburt's personality is frequently characterized by a balance between action and contemplation. They are often strategic thinkers who plan carefully before acting, yet when action is required, they demonstrate remarkable decisiveness and courage. This combination makes them excellent in crisis situations where both quick thinking and bravery are needed. Their inherent sense of justice and fairness often leads them to champion causes they believe in, while their intellectual capabilities allow them to articulate and defend their positions effectively. They typically inspire confidence in others and are seen as reliable pillars in their communities. Shares of ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (NYSEARCA:SDOG Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $63.69 and last traded at $63.5240, with a volume of 14783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.27. ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF Trading Up 0.9% The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.82. The stocks 50-day moving average is $61.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.99. Get ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 153,654 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,927,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF by 13.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,104 shares of the companys stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF by 102.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 56,923 shares of the companys stock worth $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 28,785 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, GGM Financials LLC purchased a new position in ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF in the 2nd quarter worth about $356,000. ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF Company Profile The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S-Network Sector Dividend Dogs index. The fund tracks an equal-weighted index of the five highest-yielding S&P 500 securities in each sector. SDOG was launched on Jun 29, 2012 and is managed by ALPS. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (NYSE:FINS Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 20,158 shares, a growth of 282.6% from the December 31st total of 5,268 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 45,407 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 45,407 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust Trading Up 0.8% NYSE FINS traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $13.26. The companys stock had a trading volume of 92,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,987. Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust has a 52-week low of $12.21 and a 52-week high of $13.64. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $13.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.14. Get Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust alerts: Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 10.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust Company Profile Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FINS. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. lifted its position in shares of Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust by 33.3% during the second quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 3,333 shares of the companys stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $76,000. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust during the third quarter worth $132,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust in the second quarter worth about $141,000. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust by 12.3% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 11,620 shares of the companys stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. (Get Free Report) Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (NYSE: FINS) is a closed-end, diversified management investment trust that commenced operations in early 2023. Organized as a Delaware statutory trust, FINS is structured with a defined termination date, at which point the trust will liquidate and distribute remaining assets to shareholders. Shares of the trust trade on the New York Stock Exchange, providing investors access to a yield-oriented portfolio through a single security. The trust seeks to generate current income principally through investments in a broad array of structured credit instruments. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Blackrock Income Trust (NYSE:BKT Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 79,623 shares, an increase of 262.8% from the December 31st total of 21,945 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 151,826 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 151,826 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days. Blackrock Income Trust Stock Performance BKT remained flat at $11.08 during trading hours on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 91,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,265. Blackrock Income Trust has a twelve month low of $10.85 and a twelve month high of $12.11. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $11.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.31. Get Blackrock Income Trust alerts: Blackrock Income Trust Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.0882 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Blackrock Income Trust Company Profile A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Blackrock Income Trust by 6.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,235,387 shares of the companys stock worth $14,516,000 after acquiring an additional 77,724 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Blackrock Income Trust by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,053,326 shares of the companys stock worth $12,377,000 after purchasing an additional 112,201 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Blackrock Income Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,957,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Blackrock Income Trust by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 256,017 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,008,000 after buying an additional 39,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp increased its position in Blackrock Income Trust by 311.8% during the 2nd quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 197,232 shares of the companys stock worth $2,317,000 after buying an additional 149,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.43% of the companys stock. (Get Free Report) BlackRock Income Trust (NYSE: BKT) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company sponsored by BlackRock, Inc The fund seeks to provide current income through investments in a broad array of fixed-income securities. Its holdings typically include high-yield corporate bonds, investment-grade corporate debt, government and agency obligations and securitized products such as mortgage- and asset-backed securities. The trust employs active portfolio management, aiming to capitalize on credit opportunities across global and domestic markets. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Blackrock Income Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Blackrock Income Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Old Mutual Limited (LON:OMU Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 70.60 and last traded at GBX 70.60, with a volume of 7580 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 68.80. Old Mutual Stock Performance The companys fifty day simple moving average is GBX 65.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 59.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 46.81, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of 2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.02. Old Mutual Company Profile (Get Free Report) Old Mutual Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial services primarily in South Africa and rest of Africa. The company operates through Mass and Foundation Cluster, Personal Finance and Wealth Management, Old Mutual Investments, Old Mutual Corporate, Old Mutual Insure, and Old Mutual Africa Regions segments. It offers risk products, including group risk and funeral covers; savings; lending; and transactional products. It also provides financial advice, investment, and income products, as well as asset management services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Old Mutual Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Old Mutual and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of UiPath, Inc. (NYSE:PATH Get Free Report) fell 5.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $12.53 and last traded at $12.5650. 26,620,069 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 0% from the average session volume of 26,511,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.25. Analyst Ratings Changes PATH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of UiPath from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on UiPath from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of UiPath from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on UiPath from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of UiPath in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UiPath presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $16.00. Get UiPath alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on UiPath UiPath Stock Down 5.2% The stock has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.83 and a 200 day moving average of $13.99. UiPath (NYSE:PATH Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $411.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $392.46 million. UiPath had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 3.73%. UiPaths revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that UiPath, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Transactions at UiPath In related news, CFO Ashim Gupta sold 67,468 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total transaction of $1,086,234.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 557,028 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,968,150.80. This represents a 10.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Dines sold 45,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.01, for a total transaction of $675,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,893,585 shares in the company, valued at $418,682,710.85. This represents a 0.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,040,048 shares of company stock worth $17,290,244. Company insiders own 23.19% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of UiPath Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PATH. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in UiPath by 23.8% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 752,448 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,068,000 after buying an additional 144,832 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in UiPath during the 2nd quarter worth about $891,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in UiPath by 863.9% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 42,847 shares of the companys stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 38,402 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of UiPath by 7.3% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,445,644 shares of the companys stock worth $18,448,000 after buying an additional 98,058 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of UiPath by 96.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 312,073 shares of the companys stock worth $3,995,000 after acquiring an additional 152,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.50% of the companys stock. UiPath Company Profile (Get Free Report) UiPath Inc provides an end-to-end automation platform that offers a range of robotic process automation (RPA) solutions primarily in the United States, Romania, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company offers a suite of interrelated software to build, manage, run, engage, measure, and govern automation within the organization. Its platform's embedded AI, ML, and NLP capabilities improve decisioning and information processing; emulate human behavior allows organizations to address a myriad of use cases; emulate human behavior allows organizations to address a myriad of use cases; multi-tenant platform enterprise deployment with security and governance and Automation Cloud, which enables customers to begin automating without the need to provision infrastructure, install applications, or perform additional configurations; intuitive interface and low-code, drag-and-drop functionality; signed to enable people and automations to work together; and tracks, measures, and forecasts the performance of automations, enables customers to gain powerful insights and generate key performance indicators with actionable metric. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for UiPath Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UiPath and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 3i Group plc Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:TGOPY Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.96, but opened at $12.05. 3i Group shares last traded at $11.81, with a volume of 388,783 shares changing hands. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a buy rating on shares of 3i Group in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Kepler Capital Markets cut 3i Group from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a buy rating on shares of 3i Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut 3i Group from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold. Get 3i Group alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on TGOPY 3i Group Price Performance 3i Group Company Profile The firms fifty day moving average price is $10.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.65. (Get Free Report) 3i Group plc is a Londonbased international investment manager that specializes in private equity, infrastructure and debt investments. The company deploys capital both from its own balance sheet and through managed funds on behalf of institutional investors, targeting midmarket buyouts, growth capital and core infrastructure assets. Its private equity activity typically focuses on acquiring, developing and exiting businesses through active ownership and operational improvement, while its infrastructure arm invests in longlife assets that generate steady cash flows. 3i manages a portfolio of companies across a range of industry sectors, including business and financial services, industrials, consumer and healthcare, and technology. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for 3i Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for 3i Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 50,985 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $2,630,000. Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 1.4% in the third quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 14,020 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 13,031 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 5,910 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% in the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 8,508 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 47,063 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the companys stock. Get Bank of America alerts: Key Stories Impacting Bank of America Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week: Bank of America Trading Up 0.3% BAC stock opened at $53.25 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $57.55. The stock has a market cap of $388.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $27.73 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.07%. Bank of Americas quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Evercore ISI set a $59.00 price target on Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Phillip Securities upped their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of America from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $60.00. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Bank of America Bank of America Company Profile (Free Report) Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets. Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Free Report) had its price target trimmed by Leerink Partners from $136.00 to $119.00 in a research report report published on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the healthcare product makers stock. Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $162.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a buy (b-) rating to a hold (c+) rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $138.40. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 3.0% NYSE ABT opened at $109.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $105.27 and a one year high of $141.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $122.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.49. The company has a market cap of $190.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.94%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.120-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.550-5.800 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year. Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratoriess previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio is presently 67.74%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carr Financial Group Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 3,880 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 795 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 12,555 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the third quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Key Abbott Laboratories News Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week: Abbott Laboratories Company Profile (Get Free Report) Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions. In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Green Street Capital (OTCMKTS:JAGR Get Free Report) and AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and institutional ownership. Profitability This table compares Green Street Capital and AllianceBernsteins net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get Green Street Capital alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Green Street Capital N/A N/A N/A AllianceBernstein 7.09% 20.56% 20.54% Earnings and Valuation This table compares Green Street Capital and AllianceBernsteins gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Green Street Capital N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A AllianceBernstein $4.48 billion 0.86 $423.37 million $3.04 13.97 AllianceBernstein has higher revenue and earnings than Green Street Capital. Insider & Institutional Ownership 19.3% of AllianceBernstein shares are owned by institutional investors. 72.4% of Green Street Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of AllianceBernstein shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Analyst Recommendations This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Green Street Capital and AllianceBernstein, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Green Street Capital 0 0 0 0 0.00 AllianceBernstein 1 6 1 0 2.00 AllianceBernstein has a consensus price target of $41.83, suggesting a potential downside of 1.48%. Given Green Street Capitals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Green Street Capital is more favorable than AllianceBernstein. Summary AllianceBernstein beats Green Street Capital on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks. About Green Street Capital (Get Free Report) Green Street Capital Corp. invests in environmental technology companies that require capital for expansion or are pursuing acquisition strategies. It also recycles grease trap waste for the production of biomass feedstock used in blending biofuels. Green Street Capital Corp. was formerly known as Jaguar Mining Enterprises Inc. and changed its name to Green Street Capital Corp. in July 2010. The company is based in Tampa, Florida. About AllianceBernstein (Get Free Report) AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities. The firm employs quantitative analysis along with long-term purchases, short-term purchases, trading, short sales, margin transactions, option strategies including writing covered options, uncovered options and spread strategies to make its investments. The firm obtains external research to complement its in-house research. The firm was formerly known as Alliance Capital Management Holding LP. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. was founded in 1967 and is based in Nashville,Tennessee. Receive News & Ratings for Green Street Capital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Green Street Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ambu A/S Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:AMBBY Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 2,001 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 271% from the previous sessions volume of 540 shares.The stock last traded at $13.53 and had previously closed at $13.57. Ambu A/S Stock Down 1.8% The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.61 and a 200-day moving average of $14.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Get Ambu A/S alerts: Ambu A/S (OTCMKTS:AMBBY Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ambu A/S had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 10.35%. Ambu A/S Company Profile Ambu A/S is a Denmark-based medical device company specializing in single-use diagnostic and life-supporting equipment for hospitals, clinics and emergency services. The companys core focus lies in developing products that enhance patient safety, streamline clinical workflows and reduce the risk of cross-contamination. Ambus offerings span critical care solutions such as anesthesia and respiratory care devices, as well as advanced endoscopy systems for minimally invasive diagnostics and therapies. Within its anesthesia and respiratory care segment, Ambu is known for its market-leading disposable resuscitatorscommonly referred to as Ambu bagsas well as a range of airway management products, including laryngeal masks and endotracheal tubes. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Ambu A/S Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ambu A/S and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Andritz (OTCMKTS:ADRZY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 117 shares, a decline of 52.6% from the December 31st total of 247 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 659 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 659 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.0% of the companys stock are short sold. Andritz Stock Performance Shares of ADRZY stock opened at $17.50 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.12. Andritz has a one year low of $10.79 and a one year high of $17.50. The stock has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Get Andritz alerts: Andritz (OTCMKTS:ADRZY Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.27. Andritz had a net margin of 5.84% and a return on equity of 20.50%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Andritz will post 1.1 EPS for the current year. Andritz Company Profile Andritz AG is a global technology group based in Graz, Austria, with a history dating back to its founding in 1852. The company specializes in providing equipment, systems, and services for industrial processes across four key business areas: Hydropower, Pulp & Paper, Metals, and Separation. Through a combination of engineering expertise and in-house manufacturing, Andritz develops tailored solutions that meet the demands of energy efficiency, resource optimization, and environmental sustainability. In its Hydropower division, Andritz designs and installs turbines, generators, and automation systems for run-of-river, reservoir and pumped storage plants. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Andritz Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Andritz and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO Free Report) by 9.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,324 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 10,582 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement Systems holdings in Apollo Global Management were worth $16,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in Apollo Global Management by 13.3% in the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 4,926 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,271 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,889 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apollo Global Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,390,000. 77.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Apollo Global Management alerts: Insider Activity In related news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 6,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total transaction of $788,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 325,604 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $42,787,621.64. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.20% of the companys stock. Apollo Global Management Price Performance Apollo Global Management Dividend Announcement NYSE APO opened at $134.56 on Friday. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.58 and a twelve month high of $174.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.40. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Apollo Global Managements dividend payout ratio is currently 29.82%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Apollo Global Management from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apollo Global Management from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets set a $136.00 price objective on Apollo Global Management and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Apollo Global Management from $162.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Apollo Global Management in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $165.62. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on APO About Apollo Global Management (Free Report) Apollo Global Management, Inc (NYSE: APO) is a global alternative investment manager that specializes in private equity, credit and real assets. The firm originates, invests in and manages a broad set of strategies across distressed and opportunistic credit, direct lending, structured credit, buyouts and real estate. Apollo provides investment management and advisory services to institutional clients and individual investors through pooled funds, separate accounts and publicly listed investment vehicles. Its private equity business pursues control and non-control investments across industries, often focusing on complex or distressed situations where operational improvement and capital solutions can create value. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding APO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Apollo Global Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apollo Global Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR Free Report) by 57.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,939 shares of the companys stock after selling 13,587 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLCs holdings in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEUR. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 6,520.0% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 274,466 shares of the companys stock valued at $18,170,000 after purchasing an additional 270,320 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 25.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 91,997 shares of the companys stock worth $6,267,000 after buying an additional 18,639 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $584,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 332.8% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 17,370 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 13,357 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Get iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF alerts: iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Price Performance Shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF stock opened at $74.23 on Friday. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $71.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.93. iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF has a 12 month low of $53.17 and a 12 month high of $75.61. iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Profile The iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (IEUR) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Europe IMI index, a market-cap-weighted index of developed European securities. IEUR was launched on Jun 10, 2014 and is managed by BlackRock. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IEUR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) executives outlined the companys growth strategy and discussed preliminary fiscal first-quarter 2026 results during an investor event, emphasizing what leadership described as durable demand, a relative scarcity distribution approach, and supply chain investments intended to support unit growth of about 10% annually. Get alerts: CEO highlights footbed mission and post-IPO performance CEO Oliver Reichert opened by framing Birkenstock as the inventor of the footbed, rather than a traditional footwear brand, and said the companys missionarticulated by Karl Birkenstock when Reichert joined in 2009was to give every human being access to the footbed. Reichert said the company has delivered 72 million pairs since the IPO and roughly 360 million pairs during his tenure. Reichert reviewed performance since becoming a public company, citing revenue growth of 41% and EBITDA growth of 38% over the first two years post-IPO, along with deleverage of 55%. He also referenced EUR 275 million invested in production and the company, and share buybacks totaling $200 million. He reiterated managements view that the brands opportunity is not limited to sandals or a fashion cycle, pointing to what he described as white space in APAC, the companys own retail/DTC footprint, and closed-toe shoes. Reichert said APAC has doubled, the retail fleet has doubled since the IPO, and the closed-toe business has reached 38% of the mix, which he said has helped balance seasonal revenue. Preliminary Q1 fiscal 2026 results: growth continues amid FX and tariffs CFO Ivica Krolo presented preliminary Q1 fiscal 2026 results, reiterating a previously disclosed revenue figure of EUR 402 million. Krolo said this represented 18% constant-currency growth and 11% reported growth, with momentum continuing from back-to-school and the holiday season. He said foreign exchange created a 670 basis point headwind to reported revenue growth, primarily due to the weaker U.S. dollar (with an average around 1.16 versus 1.07 a year earlier), as well as depreciation in certain APAC currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar. Krolo also said additional U.S. tariffs pressured margins. Adjusted gross margin: 57.4%, down 290 basis points year over year; Krolo said FX and tariff pressures accounted for 350 basis points, and excluding those effects gross margin would have been up 60 basis points. 57.4%, down 290 basis points year over year; Krolo said FX and tariff pressures accounted for 350 basis points, and excluding those effects gross margin would have been up 60 basis points. Adjusted EBITDA margin: 26.5%, down 170 basis points; excluding FX and tariffs, he said EBITDA margin would have been up 190 basis points. 26.5%, down 170 basis points; excluding FX and tariffs, he said EBITDA margin would have been up 190 basis points. Adjusted EPS: $0.27, up 50% year over year, driven by a lower tax rate, improved financial results (including lower interest expense and valuation effects from an embedded derivative), and fewer shares outstanding following buybacks. By segment, Krolo said constant-currency growth was positive across regions, including 14% in the Americas, 17% in EMEA, and 37% in APAC. By channel, B2B grew 24% in constant currency while DTC grew 12%. Addressing channel mix, Krolo described B2B as not a sickness, saying younger consumers are intentionally purchasing in multi-brand, in-store environments. He cited approximately 19,000 global customer touchpoints versus about 100 company-operated stores and said B2B is an efficient customer acquisition path, with retail partners marketing on Birkenstocks behalf. Three-year outlook: 13%-15% revenue growth target, 30%+ EBITDA commitment Management reiterated fiscal 2026 guidance and outlined a three-year growth algorithm through fiscal 2028. Krolo said Birkenstock expects 13%-15% constant-currency revenue growth, steady margins, and EPS growth about 200 basis points above revenue growth (around 15%-17% in constant currency). Krolo said the company remains committed to delivering 30%+ EBITDA margins even in the post-Liberation Day world, while noting the outlook assumes no further tariffs beyond what is already reflected and stable FX at 1.17. He also said the plan includes share repurchases of $200 million per year. At the midpoint of the plan, Krolo said Birkenstock expects about EUR 1 billion of incremental revenue in fiscal 2028 versus fiscal 2025, remarking that it took the company 250 years to come to EUR 2 billion, and three years for an additional EUR 1 billion. He said Americas and EMEA are expected to grow double digits, while APAC is expected to grow about twice as fastdoubling revenue over three years. Regional strategies: retail expansion, engineered distribution, and APAC scaling Americas President David Kahan said the Americas region includes around 10,000 points of distribution compared with 14 company-owned stores at the end of 2025 (he noted the store count had recently moved to 15). Kahan said the region will contribute over 10% growth over the next three years and emphasized that B2B is expected to grow faster than DTC due to the scale of the business, while the company leans into DTC through store expansion. Kahan highlighted the emerging youth consumer (roughly ages 14 to mid-20s) as the fastest-growing demographic and said Birkenstock customers average 3.6 pairs, implying runway among newer buyers. He argued the company operates a pull model, citing examples of high full-price realization at retailers, and said distribution is vendor-managed by Birkenstock by door, by channel, and by calendar. For retail, Kahan said the company plans to open 30 additional stores in the Americas, guided by a bulletproof retail model with metrics including cash return in 12-18 months and a year-two break-even target of 60%. In EMEA, regional leader Nico described a business operating in 61+ countries with dot-com in 27 countries, 42 stores, and a mono-brand footprint across owned and partner stores of 150. He said EMEA offers the best margin profile among the three regions and outlined growth drivers including under-penetrated European markets (such as France, the U.K., and Spain), youth and young male consumers, further DTC penetration, and continued growth in closed-toe styles beyond Boston. In APAC, Klaus said the region is more heavily oriented toward mono-brand retail and positioned very premium in a premium luxury segment. He said APAC currently has eight online stores, 245 mono-brand stores (41 owned), and about 2,200 wholesale stores, largely in Japan and Australia. Klaus said APAC revenue is expected to double over the next three years, supported by DTC-led growth and a balanced 50/50 shoes and clogs mix, and he outlined plans to open 70 stores and add 100 partner stores. Supply chain and capacity: targeting 10% annual unit growth Supply chain leader Jakob said Birkenstocks vertically integrated modelseven factories in Germany and Portugal, with an eighth expectedremains central to quality control, IP protection, and responsiveness. He said the supply chain is expected to support unit growth of 10% per year and higher growth in production hours as product mix shifts toward more premium and more complex executions. Jakob said more than 95% of products are assembled in the companys German factories and that more than 70% of units are contracted with 5-9 months of visibility through the order book, which he said improves planning and efficiency. He outlined expansion work underway at key sites including GArlitz (focused on cork-latex output), Pasewalk (EVA and PU technologies), Arouca (Portugal; focusing on uppers and complex executions), and the newly acquired Wittichenau facility near Dresden, which he said is expected to be operational in 2027. He also said the company is exploring further expansion of Pasewalk and evaluating additional brownfield opportunities. About Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) Birkenstock Group AG, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BIRK, is a global footwear manufacturer renowned for its anatomically contoured footbeds and iconic sandal designs. The companys core product lines include classic models such as the Arizona, Boston and Madrid, alongside a range of clogs, shoes and orthotic insoles. In addition to footwear, Birkenstock offers complementary accessories, including socks and leather care products, reinforcing its commitment to foot health and comfort. Birkenstock reaches consumers through a diversified distribution network that combines direct-to-consumer channelssuch as branded retail stores and e-commerce platformswith wholesale partnerships spanning specialty footwear retailers, department stores and select online marketplaces. See Also BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II (NYSE:BLE Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 14,679 shares, a decrease of 47.5% from the December 31st total of 27,948 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 91,065 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 91,065 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Institutional Trading of BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLE. Integrated Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,824 shares of the companys stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 22,477 shares of the companys stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 22,927 shares of the companys stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,540 shares of the companys stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares during the period. Finally, Balefire LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 25,514 shares of the companys stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the last quarter. Get BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II alerts: BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II Trading Up 0.6% Shares of BLE stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $10.58. The companys stock had a trading volume of 61,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,269. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $10.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.29. BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II has a 1 year low of $9.56 and a 1 year high of $10.87. BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II Company Profile BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II (NYSE:BLE) is a closed-end, diversified management investment company that seeks to offer shareholders a high level of current income exempt from federal income taxes. The fund pursues this objective by investing primarily in a portfolio of municipal debt obligations. Its holdings span various sectors of the municipal market, including general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, and other tax-exempt instruments issued by U.S. states, cities, counties and municipal authorities. The funds portfolio typically combines investment-grade and below-investment-grade (high-yield) municipal securities, allowing it to balance income potential with credit quality considerations. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock Municipal Income Trust II and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE:BDN Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,385,893 shares, a drop of 28.4% from the December 31st total of 17,288,333 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,046,484 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 7.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 7.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,046,484 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Insider Transactions at Brandywine Realty Trust In related news, CEO Gerard H. Sweeney bought 88,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.38 per share, for a total transaction of $299,130.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 3,042,210 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,282,669.80. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Get Brandywine Realty Trust alerts: Institutional Trading of Brandywine Realty Trust Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi lifted its stake in Brandywine Realty Trust by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 176,372 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $787,000 after buying an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Brandywine Realty Trust by 11.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,274,556 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $5,685,000 after acquiring an additional 130,811 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Brandywine Realty Trust during the first quarter valued at $136,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Brandywine Realty Trust by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 256,527 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 3,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Brandywine Realty Trust by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 185,977 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 9,009 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Brandywine Realty Trust Stock Performance Brandywine Realty Trust Dividend Announcement BDN opened at $2.84 on Friday. Brandywine Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $2.74 and a 1-year high of $5.53. The stock has a market cap of $492.44 million, a P/E ratio of -2.65 and a beta of 1.30. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $3.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 7th. Brandywine Realty Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -29.91%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BDN shares. KeyCorp cut shares of Brandywine Realty Trust from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an underweight rating on shares of Brandywine Realty Trust in a report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a sell (d-) rating on shares of Brandywine Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Brandywine Realty Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Citigroup restated a sell rating on shares of Brandywine Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Reduce and an average price target of $4.00. View Our Latest Report on BDN About Brandywine Realty Trust (Get Free Report) Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) is an internally managed real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the acquisition, development, and management of office and mixed-use properties. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company focuses on creating highquality, transitoriented workplaces that meet evolving tenant demands for sustainability, technological connectivity, and flexible design. Brandywines portfolio emphasizes Class A office space, often integrated with retail, residential or hospitality components to foster vibrant, liveworkplay environments. Since its founding in 1994, Brandywine has executed a strategy of disciplined property investment and targeted development. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Brandywine Realty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brandywine Realty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cementos Argos S.A. Sponsored ADR (OTC:CMTOY Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $21.39 and last traded at $21.39, with a volume of 237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.00. Cementos Argos Stock Performance The stocks fifty day moving average price is $14.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.41. Get Cementos Argos alerts: Cementos Argos Increases Dividend The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.1039 per share. This is a positive change from Cementos Argoss previous dividend of $0.10. This represents a dividend yield of 2,084.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. About Cementos Argos Cementos Argos SA offers cement, concrete, aggregates, ready-mix concrete, and hydrated lime products in Colombia, the Caribbean, Central America, and the United States. The company also engages in the reinsurance; property management; transport; and seaports operation businesses. In addition, it exports its products. The company was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Barranquilla, Colombia. Cementos Argos SA is a subsidiary of Grupo Argos SA See Also Receive News & Ratings for Cementos Argos Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cementos Argos and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) executives emphasized operational execution, portfolio strengthening and shareholder returns during the companys fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, highlighting record production, major project startups and a dividend increase. Get alerts: Record production and major project milestones Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said 2025 was a year of execution, pointing to record production globally and in the U.S. The company completed the Future Growth Project at Tengiz, which Wirth said added 260,000 barrels of oil per day. He also cited the startup of Ballymore and Whale and the ramp-up of Anchor in the Gulf of Mexico as key steps toward Chevrons stated goal of reaching 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the Gulf of Mexico in 2026. Fourth-quarter results and capital returns Wirth said Chevron reached 1,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the Permian and described a shift in focus toward free cash flow growth. He also noted the close of the Hess acquisition, which he said created a premier upstream portfolio with the highest cash margins in the industry. CFO Eimear Bonner reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.8 billion, or $1.39 per share, with adjusted earnings of $3.0 billion, or $1.52 per share. Bonner said items included pension curtailment costs of $128 million and negative foreign currency effects of $130 million. Cash flow from operations was $10.8 billion for the quarter and included $1.7 billion from a working capital drawdown. Bonner said Chevron expects working capital to build in the first quarter of 2026, consistent with historical trends. Organic capital expenditures were $5.1 billion in the quarter, and full-year organic CapEx was in line with guidance. Inorganic CapEx was mostly related to lease acquisitions and new energies investments, she said. Chevron repurchased $3 billion of shares in the quarter, which Bonner described as the high end of guidance, and ended the year with a net debt coverage ratio of 1x. For the full year, Bonner said adjusted free cash flow was $20 billion and included the first loan repayment from TCO and $1.8 billion in asset sales. Wirth said adjusted free cash flow, excluding asset sales, increased more than 35% year-over-year even with oil prices down nearly 15%, and he noted that Chevron returned record cash to shareholders for the fourth consecutive year. Bonner also announced a 4% increase in the quarterly dividend, calling it Chevrons top financial priority. She said the company has returned more than $100 billion in dividends and buybacks over the last four years. Venezuela: self-funded growth and potential additional volumes Wirth provided an update on Chevrons Venezuela operations, saying activity has continued uninterrupted and that Chevrons people are safe. He said Chevron is in four joint ventures with PDVSA, three of which are producing assets. According to Wirth, since 2022following changes in licensesChevron has increased production in its Venezuela ventures by more than 200,000 barrels per day, with gross production around 250,000 barrels a day. He said Chevron sees potential for up to 50% additional production growth over the next 1824 months, contingent on additional authorizations from the U.S. government. Wirth said the work in Venezuela is funded through cash within the ventures, with cash used for required taxes and royalties, debt repayment, and reinvestment into operations such as well work and maintenance on pumps, pipelines and compressor stations. He added that while resource potential is large with a lot of running room, Chevron needs stability, confidence in fiscal terms, and regulatory predictability, noting a hydrocarbon law passed just yesterday that the company was reviewing. Eastern Mediterranean growth and exploration plans Wirth highlighted Chevrons advantage assets in the Eastern Mediterranean and described a slate of gas projects intended to expand supply to regional markets. He said Leviathan reached final investment decision (FID) to further expand production capacity and, combined with near-term expansion, gross capacity is anticipated to reach roughly 2.1 billion cubic feet per day by the end of the decade. Wirth said this is expected to contribute to a doubling of current earnings and free cash flow. He also said a Tamar optimization project was starting up, increasing gross capacity to approximately 1.6 billion cubic feet per day. Aphrodite has entered front-end engineering and design (FEED) as Chevron works toward a competitive investment in Cyprus. In Q&A, Wirth said the company has at least one exploration well expected offshore Egypt and described a large position in blocks offshore Egypt in relatively underexplored areas. He said Chevron has shot seismic and plans to drill wells to test whether petroleum systems extend offshore. Tengiz update, cost reductions, and 2026 outlook Wirth addressed a recent issue at Tengizchevroil (TCO), saying the facility experienced a temporary problem in the power distribution system and production was proactively put in recycle mode for safety while the team identified the root cause. He said early production has resumed and Chevron expects most plant capacity to be online within a week, with unconstrained production levels within February. Wirth said Chevrons 2026 guidance of $6 billion of Chevron-share free cash flow from TCO at $70 Brent was unchanged. Bonner said 2025 was the highest full-year worldwide and U.S. production in Chevrons history. Excluding Hess acquisition impacts, she said net oil-equivalent production growth was at the top end of the companys 6%8% guidance range. Looking to 2026, Bonner said the company expects production growth to continue driven by project ramp-ups, a full year of Hess assets, and ongoing efficiency in shale. She said growth in high-margin assets is anticipated to contribute to a 7%10% increase in production year-over-year, excluding the impact of asset sales. Bonner also provided an update on Chevrons cost reduction program, saying execution exceeded expectations with $1.5 billion delivered in 2025 and $2 billion captured in the annual run rate. She said Chevron expanded its target to $3 billion$4 billion by the end of 2026, with more than 60% of savings expected from durable efficiency gains. Among operational updates, executives said Chevron is holding Permian production at roughly 1 million barrels per day while optimizing cash generation and improving capital efficiency, and they discussed applying best practices to the Bakken following the Hess transaction. In downstream, Wirth said Chevron brought about 50,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude into the Pascagoula refinery and could take another 100,000 barrels per day into its system, including Pascagoula and the El Segundo refinery. About Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevrons core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide. Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco. Read More Christian Dior S.E. (OTCMKTS:CHDRY Get Free Report) and Buckle (NYSE:BKE Get Free Report) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership. Analyst Recommendations This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Christian Dior S.E. and Buckle, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Get Christian Dior S.E. alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Christian Dior S.E. 0 0 0 0 0.00 Buckle 0 2 0 0 2.00 Buckle has a consensus target price of $55.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.30%. Given Buckles stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Buckle is more favorable than Christian Dior S.E.. Institutional & Insider Ownership Valuation and Earnings 53.9% of Buckle shares are held by institutional investors. 39.0% of Buckle shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. This table compares Christian Dior S.E. and Buckles gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Christian Dior S.E. $91.40 billion N/A $5.64 billion N/A N/A Buckle $1.22 billion 1.99 $195.47 million $4.08 11.59 Christian Dior S.E. has higher revenue and earnings than Buckle. Dividends Christian Dior S.E. pays an annual dividend of $2.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Buckle pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Buckle pays out 34.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Volatility and Risk Christian Dior S.E. has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Buckle has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Profitability This table compares Christian Dior S.E. and Buckles net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Christian Dior S.E. N/A N/A N/A Buckle 16.13% 44.42% 20.62% Summary Buckle beats Christian Dior S.E. on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks. About Christian Dior S.E. (Get Free Report) Christian Dior SE, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and retail of fashion and leather goods, wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, and watches and jewelry worldwide. The company offers its fashion and leather goods under the Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Celine, Loewe, Givenchy, Kenzo, Berluti, Pucci, Loro Piana, Rimowa, and Off-White brand names; and wines and spirits under the Hennessy, Moet & Chandon, Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Chateau d'Yquem, Belvedere, Glenmorangie, Newton Vineyards, Bodega Numanthia, Chateau d'Esclans, Armand de Brignac, and Joseph Phelps brands. It also provides perfumes and cosmetics under the Parfums Christian Dior, Guerlain, Parfums Givenchy, Make Up For Ever, Benefit Cosmetics, Fresh, Acqua di Parma, KVD Vegan Beauty, Fenty, Ole Henriksen, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and Officine Universelle Buly 1803 brand names; and watches and jewelry under the Tiffany, Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Zenith, Hublot, Chaumet, Fred, and Repossi brands. In addition, the company operates retail stores under the DFS Galleria, Sephora, and Le Bon Marche names; publishes Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, a daily newspaper; builds yachts; and operates hotel and the Cova pastry shop brand. Further, it is involved in real estate activities. The company sells its products through store network, including e-commerce websites; and agents and distributors. The company was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Christian Dior SE (ENXTPA:CDI) operates as a subsidiary of Financiere Agache Societe Anonyme. About Buckle (Get Free Report) The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise primarily comprising BKE, Buckle Black, Salvage, Red by BKE, Daytrip, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Sterling & Stitch, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B. Holt, Modish Rebel, Maven Co-op, and Veece. The company provides services, such as hemming, gift-packaging, layaways, guest loyalty program, the Buckle private label credit card, and personalized stylist services, as well as special order system that allows stores to obtain requested merchandise from other company stores or its online order fulfillment center. The Buckle, Inc. also sells its products through its website, buckle.com. The company was formerly known as Mills Clothing, Inc. and changed its name to The Buckle, Inc. in April 1991.The Buckle, Inc. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska. Receive News & Ratings for Christian Dior S.E. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Christian Dior S.E. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Clontarf Energy plc (LON:CLON Get Free Report)s stock price was down 13.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 0.03 and last traded at GBX 0.03. Approximately 45,617,863 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 83,788,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 0.03. Clontarf Energy Price Performance The stock has a market capitalization of 2.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.00 and a beta of -0.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 0.02 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 0.03. Clontarf Energy Company Profile (Get Free Report) Clontarf Energy plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves and other related activities. It holds 60% interest in the Tano 2A Block covering an area of 1,532 square kilometers located in Ghana. The company also focuses on exploring and developing Bolivian salt-lakes. In addition, it focuses on liquefied natural gas reserves located in Western Australia. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Clontarf Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Clontarf Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CNX Resources (NYSE:CNX) executives used the companys fourth-quarter 2025 Q&A call to discuss 2026 capital pacing, production expectations, early takeaways from its deep Utica program, and updates across its RNG and technology initiatives. Management also addressed operational readiness amid an ongoing cold weather event, emphasizing that the company did not expect meaningful near-term disruption. Get alerts: Cold weather preparedness and operations President and CEO Alan Shepard opened the call with comments recognizing industry workers responding to extraordinary cold weather. In response to an analyst question about potential first-quarter volume impacts, Shepard said CNX had been preparing for weeks and that the team had done a tremendous job keeping the field running. He added that the results released that morning included any expected disruptions, and said the company was not expecting additional disruption. 2026 capital pacing, flat production, and flexibility In response to questions on how CNX plans to maintain a flat production profile through 2026, CFO Everett Good said the companys capital program is expected to be front-half weighted. He characterized first-half capital spending at roughly 60% of the years total, while production is expected to be pretty flat throughout the year. Good said the first-half weighting provides flexibility later in the year, including the ability to accelerate completion activity if market conditions warrant. Management also addressed how it could respond to changes in natural gas prices. Good said any potential uptick in activity is not included in CNXs base capital guidance ranges, and noted that after the February contract, the forward strip falls off pretty significantly. Shepard added that CNX does not intend to chase short-term spot price strength, and said any decision to add activity would likely need to be tied to longer-term demand catalysts, such as new infrastructure, new power plants, or other factors that move the 20272029 strip higher. Utica program: timing, well costs, and spacing tests Several analysts focused on CNXs Utica program, with questions about the number of anticipated turn-in-lines and early results from recent deep Utica wells. Shepard said the appearance of a smaller 2026 Utica turn-in-line schedule was primarily a timing issue, rather than a change in confidence. He noted the company had a number of turn-in-lines from last year coming online and said CNX also plans to harvest economic inventory in Southwest Pennsylvania. He said the company expects to return to Utica completion activity later in the year. COO Navneet Behl reiterated managements confidence in the deep Utica program and said CNX expects to complete about five Utica laterals during 2026, characterizing the pacing as a function of timing on when we complete it. Asked about the three deep Utica wells turned in line during the quarter, management said costs and performance were tracking in line with expectations. Behl said CNXs average Utica drilling cost is about $1,700 per foot, consistent with prior guidance. On well performance, he said results were in line with expectations and that the company is now focused on spacing evaluation, with two spacing tests underway: 1,300-foot spacing 1,500-foot spacing Behl said CNX plans to share more information as it gathers additional results. RNG: REC pricing stability and 45Z outlook CNX also discussed its RNG-related economics, including Pennsylvania Tier 1 renewable energy credit (REC) pricing and the outlook for 45Z-related value. On the PA Tier 1 REC market, management said pricing had been pretty stable since around spring of the prior year, though it had softened a little bit with the change in administration. CNX described current pricing levels as broadly reflecting what is needed to underwrite new solar and wind development in PJM. Management said higher value per megawatt-hour would likely require step-ups in renewable contribution requirements, arguing that tighter standards would be the longer-term bullish driver for pricing. On 45Z, management said that at current production levels, CNX is able to generate about $30 million per year on a run-rate basis under the initial proposed guidance. Management cautioned that it is still waiting on final guidance and said the outcome could include adjustments. Coal mine methane visibility and hedging approach Addressing coal mine methane volumes and modest year-over-year variability, Shepard said volume changes are driven primarily by activity at the underlying mine. He said CNX expects volumes to remain in a similar range moving forward, assuming the mine continues operating. He described it as a metallurgical mine in Virginia and said the life-of-mine is 20+ years, adding that volume wiggles reflect longwall pace and gassing needs. On hedging, CNX said it targets being approximately 80% hedged as it approaches 2027. Good said 2027 is a really good year for the company and noted a weighted average NYMEX price of about $4 for the hedge position discussed on the call. Management said CNX is already a little over 60% hedged for that year and expects to continue building out the book over time, with flexibility to be opportunistic given the current coverage. Technology: AutoSep adoption and broader initiatives CNX provided an update on its technology efforts, including AutoSep. Management said the company has fully internalized and adopted AutoSep in its own operations, using it on flowbacks and citing cost savings along with environmental and safety benefits. Management said CNX is a non-op on the broader commercialization effort and has outsourced the rollout to an oilfield services company, which is working to expand adoption across Appalachia. While management said it believes 2026 could be an uptick year for adoption, it added that the technology is not yet contributing materially to CNXs financial results and that guidance would be provided if that changes. Management also noted that other technology-related business concepts remain under consideration, but said there was nothing material to update at this time. About CNX Resources (NYSE:CNX) CNX Resources Corporation is a natural gas and natural gas liquids producer with operations concentrated in the Appalachian Basin. Established as an independent, publicly traded entity in 2018 following its spinoff from Consol Energy, the company focuses on the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbon resources in the Marcellus and Utica shales across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. In addition to its upstream activities, CNX Resources has invested in midstream infrastructure through its subsidiary that gathers, processes and transports natural gas. Further Reading Constellium SE (NYSE:CSTM Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $23.71 and last traded at $22.6530, with a volume of 249036 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.07. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts recently commented on CSTM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a hold rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Constellium in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a hold (c) rating on shares of Constellium in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Constellium from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Constellium from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Constellium from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $24.00. Get Constellium alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CSTM Constellium Price Performance The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.44 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. The companys 50 day moving average price is $19.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.50. Constellium (NYSE:CSTM Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.25. Constellium had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 1.42%.The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.02 earnings per share. Constelliums revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Constellium SE will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Trading of Constellium Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Constellium by 59.7% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,362,760 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $71,325,000 after buying an additional 2,005,216 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Constellium by 35.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,935,766 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $103,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,813,400 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Constellium by 139.7% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,171,333 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $28,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,401 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its position in shares of Constellium by 244.6% in the second quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 1,666,521 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $22,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Constellium during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,054,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.59% of the companys stock. About Constellium (Get Free Report) Constellium SE is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance aluminum products and solutions. The company serves key markets including aerospace, automotive, and packaging, offering advanced rolled and extruded aluminum sheet, plate and structural components. Its product portfolio encompasses precision-engineered parts for commercial and military aircraft, automotive body structures and closures, beverage and specialty packaging, as well as industrial and structural applications. Established in 2011 through the consolidation of Rio Tinto Alcans rolled-products and engineered-products businesses, Constellium has built a reputation for innovation in lightweighting and sustainability. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Constellium Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Constellium and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Renasant (NYSE:RNST Get Free Report) is one of 20 public companies in the State Commercial Banks Fed Reserve System industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Renasant to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Renasant and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat. Get Renasant alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Renasant 0 1 0 1 3.00 Renasant Competitors 33 182 227 26 2.53 As a group, State Commercial Banks Fed Reserve System companies have a potential upside of 5.50%. Given Renasants rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Renasant has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. Volatility and Risk Institutional & Insider Ownership Renasant has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Renasants rivals have a beta of 1.01, indicating that their average share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. 77.3% of Renasant shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.2% of shares of all State Commercial Banks Fed Reserve System companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Renasant shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of shares of all State Commercial Banks Fed Reserve System companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Dividends Renasant pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Renasant pays out 43.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, State Commercial Banks Fed Reserve System companies pay a dividend yield of 2.2% and pay out 57.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Renasant is clearly a better dividend stock than its rivals, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Profitability This table compares Renasant and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Renasant 12.55% 7.53% 1.09% Renasant Competitors 8.71% 7.90% 0.90% Valuation and Earnings This table compares Renasant and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Renasant $1.44 billion $195.46 million 17.80 Renasant Competitors $829.30 million $114.12 million 22.77 Renasant has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. Renasant is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Summary Renasant beats its rivals on 9 of the 15 factors compared. Renasant Company Profile (Get Free Report) Renasant Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Renasant Bank that provides a range of financial, wealth management, fiduciary, and insurance services to retail and commercial customers. It operates through three segments: Community Banks, Insurance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banks segment offers checking and savings accounts, business and personal loans, asset-based lending, and equipment leasing services, as well as safe deposit and night depository facilities. It also provides commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; equipment financing and leasing; real estate1-4 family mortgage; real estatecommercial mortgage; real estateconstruction loans for the construction of single family residential properties, multi-family properties, and commercial projects; installment loans to individuals; and interim construction loans, as well as automated teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, call center, and treasury management services. The Insurance segment provides insurance agency services, such as commercial and personal insurance products through insurance carriers. The Wealth Management segment offers a range of wealth management and fiduciary services, including administration and management of trust accounts, such as personal and corporate benefit accounts, and custodial accounts, as well as accounting and money management for trust accounts; annuities, mutual funds, and other investment services through a third party broker-dealer; and qualified retirement plans, IRAs, employee benefit plans, personal trusts, and estates. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated a network of 189 banking, lending, and mortgage offices located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee; 150 full-service branches and 11 limited-service branches; 173 ATMs; and 38 interactive teller machines. Renasant Corporation was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi. Receive News & Ratings for Renasant Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Renasant and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.05 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 21.99%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. Here are the key takeaways from Cullen/Frost Bankers conference call: Get Cullen/Frost Bankers alerts: Cullen Frost reported Q2 2025 earnings of $155.3M / $2.39 per share with average loans up 7.2% YoY to $21.1B and average deposits up 3.1% to $41.8B, reflecting continued organic growth. with average loans up 7.2% YoY to $21.1B and average deposits up 3.1% to $41.8B, reflecting continued organic growth. The bank hit its 200th financial center ; the expansion effort has generated $2.76B in deposits, $2.003B in loans and ~69,000 new households, and management expects the program to be accretive to earnings in 2026. ; the expansion effort has generated $2.76B in deposits, $2.003B in loans and ~69,000 new households, and management expects the program to be accretive to earnings in 2026. Management raised its outlookfull-year net interest income growth now expected at 6%7% (vs prior 5%7%), NIM improvement of ~1215 bps vs 2024, loan growth midtohigh single digits and deposits up 2%3%. (vs prior 5%7%), NIM improvement of ~1215 bps vs 2024, loan growth midtohigh single digits and deposits up 2%3%. While NPAs fell to $64M, total problem loans rose to $989M driven largely by criticized multifamily CRE (Risk Grade 10); management expects resolutions in Q3Q4 2025 and is guiding fullyear net chargeoffs around 2025 bps. Management flagged increasing competitionespecially in CREwith greater use of aggressive deal structures (guarantees, equity burns) and some pricing compression, which raises underwriting and franchise risk. Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.8% NYSE:CFR opened at $137.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $131.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.49. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 52-week low of $100.31 and a 52-week high of $145.53. Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement Wall Street Analyst Weigh In The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Cullen/Frost Bankerss dividend payout ratio is currently 41.15%. CFR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a hold (c) rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $138.18. Read Our Latest Research Report on CFR Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers In other news, EVP Coolidge E. Rhodes, Jr. sold 700 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.00, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,795 shares of the companys stock, valued at $481,965. This represents a 15.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Institutional Trading of Cullen/Frost Bankers Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the banks stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 366 shares of the banks stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.1% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 4,685 shares of the banks stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,334 shares of the banks stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,471 shares of the banks stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Key Cullen/Frost Bankers News Here are the key news stories impacting Cullen/Frost Bankers this week: About Cullen/Frost Bankers (Get Free Report) Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc is the holding company for Frost Bank, a Texas-chartered financial institution whose origins date back to 1868 in San Antonio. As one of the oldest banking organizations in the state, it offers a broad range of services to individuals, small and large businesses, and institutional clients. Core banking activities include commercial lending, deposit services, cash management and trade finance, while consumer products cover residential mortgages, personal lines of credit and home equity loans. Beyond traditional banking, the company provides comprehensive treasury and equipment leasing solutions tailored to support working capital and capital expenditure requirements. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Cullen/Frost Bankers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cullen/Frost Bankers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Deutsche Boerse AG (OTCMKTS:DBOEY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 65,859 shares, a decrease of 29.1% from the December 31st total of 92,896 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 778,468 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 778,468 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Deutsche Boerse to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Deutsche Boerse from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a buy rating on shares of Deutsche Boerse in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets lowered Deutsche Boerse from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold. Get Deutsche Boerse alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Deutsche Boerse Deutsche Boerse Stock Performance About Deutsche Boerse Shares of DBOEY stock opened at $25.25 on Friday. Deutsche Boerse has a fifty-two week low of $23.37 and a fifty-two week high of $33.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.86. The company has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.53. (Get Free Report) Deutsche Borse AG is a Germanybased provider of marketplace infrastructure, trading technology and posttrade services to the global financial industry. The company operates electronic trading platforms and derivatives markets, offers clearing and settlement services, and supplies market data, analytics and index products to investment banks, brokers, asset managers and listed companies. Key businesses within the group include electronic equity trading via the Xetra trading system, derivatives trading through the Eurex exchange, and posttrade and custody services provided by Clearstream. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Deutsche Boerse Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Deutsche Boerse and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dover (NYSE:DOV Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. Dover had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Dovers quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Here are the key takeaways from Dovers conference call: Get Dover alerts: Dover closed Q4 with broad-based momentum organic growth of 5% (the years high), bookings +10% in Q4 and a book-to-bill of 1.02 , supporting durable demand into 2026. of (the years high), bookings +10% in Q4 and a book-to-bill of , supporting durable demand into 2026. Profitability and cash generation strengthened segment EBITDA margin rose 60 bps to 24.8% , Q4 all-in adjusted EPS was $9.61 (+14%), and Q4 free cash flow was $487M (23% of revenue); 2026 FCF is guided at 1416% of revenue . , Q4 all-in adjusted EPS was (+14%), and Q4 free cash flow was (23% of revenue); 2026 FCF is guided at . Management is actively deploying capital while preserving optionality 2025 closed acquisitions (~ $700M ) are outperforming underwriting, a $500M accelerated share repurchase was started, and Dover guides 2026 EPS $10.45$10.65 (double-digit growth at midpoint). ) are outperforming underwriting, a accelerated share repurchase was started, and Dover guides (double-digit growth at midpoint). Notable near-term headwinds and uncertainties remain Engineered Products revenue declined (vehicle aftermarket/vehicle services), the company has commodity exposure (copper/steel) that may require pricing action, and typical Q1 seasonality/backlog timing could produce uneven earlyyear results. Dover Stock Down 0.5% Shares of NYSE DOV opened at $201.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $198.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.31. Dover has a 1 year low of $143.04 and a 1 year high of $222.31. Dover Announces Dividend Insider Activity The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Dovers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.79%. In other Dover news, SVP Ivonne M. Cabrera sold 2,630 shares of Dover stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.80, for a total transaction of $501,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 72,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,922,294.40. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christopher B. Woenker sold 1,627 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.04, for a total value of $302,687.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,553 shares of the companys stock, valued at $474,960.12. This represents a 38.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dover Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DOV. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Dover in the third quarter worth about $60,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in shares of Dover in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Dover by 419.8% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 473 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Dover in the third quarter worth $99,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in Dover by 31.6% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 796 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 84.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Dover in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a neutral rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a buy (b-) rating on shares of Dover in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Dover in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Dover from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Dover from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $222.67. Read Our Latest Research Report on Dover Key Headlines Impacting Dover Here are the key news stories impacting Dover this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations Dover reported $2.51 EPS (toppling the $2.48 consensus) and revenue (~$2.10B) rose ~8.8% y/y, with margins and bookings improving; this confirms accelerating organic growth. Read More. Q4 results beat expectations Dover reported $2.51 EPS (toppling the $2.48 consensus) and revenue (~$2.10B) rose ~8.8% y/y, with margins and bookings improving; this confirms accelerating organic growth. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Datacenter demand helped results management cited strong demand for AI/datacenter liquidcooling products as a driver of Q4 profit growth, signaling exposure to a highergrowth end market. Read More. Datacenter demand helped results management cited strong demand for AI/datacenter liquidcooling products as a driver of Q4 profit growth, signaling exposure to a highergrowth end market. Read More. Positive Sentiment: New product launch supports longterm end markets SWEP (a Dover business) introduced an allstainless heatexchanger product aimed at electronics/semiconductor cooling, strengthening product exposure to secular trends. Read More. New product launch supports longterm end markets SWEP (a Dover business) introduced an allstainless heatexchanger product aimed at electronics/semiconductor cooling, strengthening product exposure to secular trends. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Analyst action mixed Wells Fargo nudged its price target to $210 from $205 but kept an equal weight rating, a modest positive on valuation but not a bullish endorsement. Read More. Analyst action mixed Wells Fargo nudged its price target to $210 from $205 but kept an equal weight rating, a modest positive on valuation but not a bullish endorsement. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials available Management hosted the Q4 call and published the press release and slide deck (useful for digging into segment dynamics, margin drivers and backlog details). Read More. Investor materials available Management hosted the Q4 call and published the press release and slide deck (useful for digging into segment dynamics, margin drivers and backlog details). Read More. Negative Sentiment: FY2026 guidance slightly soft on EPS Dover guided EPS to $10.45$10.65 vs. a consensus near $10.62; the lower end of the range and tightness around consensus likely disappointed some investors and capped upside given the beat elsewhere. FY2026 guidance slightly soft on EPS Dover guided EPS to $10.45$10.65 vs. a consensus near $10.62; the lower end of the range and tightness around consensus likely disappointed some investors and capped upside given the beat elsewhere. Negative Sentiment: Market caution some commentators urged patience ahead of the quarter (e.g., cautious take from commentators like Jim Cramer), contributing to muted investor reaction despite the beat. Read More. About Dover (Get Free Report) Dover Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer of industrial products, components and specialty systems that serve a wide range of commercial and industrial end markets. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, the company has built a portfolio of operating businesses that design, manufacture and distribute engineered equipment, aftermarket parts and related services for customers around the world. Dovers activities span several product and solution categories, including fluid-handling and pumping systems, material handling and processing equipment, refrigeration and foodservice technologies, product identification and printing systems, precision components and automation and sensing solutions. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Dover Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dover and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Electrolux (OTCMKTS:ELUXY Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.62), Zacks reports. Electrolux had a return on equity of 6.58% and a net margin of 0.43%.The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. Electrolux Trading Up 12.2% OTCMKTS ELUXY traded up $1.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $16.06. 8,448 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,339. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.59. Electrolux has a 12-month low of $10.80 and a 12-month high of $18.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Get Electrolux alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Electrolux in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a hold rating for the company. Citigroup restated a neutral rating on shares of Electrolux in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Electrolux presently has a consensus rating of Reduce. About Electrolux (Get Free Report) Electrolux AB, trading on the OTCMKTS as ELUXY, is a global leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of home and professional appliances. The companys product portfolio spans major and small household appliances, including refrigerators, freezers, cooking ranges, dishwashers, laundry machines and vacuum cleaners, as well as specialty equipment for food-service and hospitality markets. Electrolux is recognized for its emphasis on energy efficiency, innovative design and user-focused functionality across its brands. Founded in Sweden in 1919 through the merger of Elektromekaniska AB and Lux AB, Electrolux has grown into one of the worlds largest appliance makers. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Electrolux Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Electrolux and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,348 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $4,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LLY. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 77,295 shares of the companys stock valued at $60,253,000 after buying an additional 41,222 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 189.6% during the third quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,408 shares of the companys stock worth $13,283,000 after purchasing an additional 11,396 shares during the period. Rede Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth about $487,000. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 15.3% during the second quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 294 shares of the companys stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 25.8% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 8,990 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the companys stock. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research firms have issued reports on LLY. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $830.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. National Bankshares set a $1,286.00 price objective on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,163.00 to $1,161.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America cut their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,286.00 to $1,268.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a buy rating and a $1,250.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $1,162.75. Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 1.3% Shares of NYSE LLY opened at $1,037.84 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,056.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $888.67. The company has a market capitalization of $981.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $623.78 and a 1 year high of $1,133.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $7.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.42 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 109.52% and a net margin of 30.99%.The businesss quarterly revenue was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $1.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Companys previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Eli Lilly and Companys payout ratio is presently 29.35%. Eli Lilly and Company News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Eli Lilly and Company this week: Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile (Free Report) Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company founded in 1876 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and therapies for patients worldwide. Eli Lilly maintains operations and commercial presence across North America, Europe, Asia and other regions, serving both developed and emerging markets. The company has been led in recent years by President and Chief Executive Officer David A. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report) by 2,410.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 478,214 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 459,162 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.s holdings in Altria Group were worth $31,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 62.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the companys stock valued at $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $126,471,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1,094.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the companys stock worth $67,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the companys stock worth $4,315,438,000 after acquiring an additional 886,583 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Altria Group alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a buy (b) rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $62.56. Trending Headlines about Altria Group Here are the key news stories impacting Altria Group this week: Positive Sentiment: Management says price increases and cost discipline are boosting margins and fullyear profit is forecast above estimates, supporting nearterm cash generation. Read More. Management says price increases and cost discipline are boosting margins and fullyear profit is forecast above estimates, supporting nearterm cash generation. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Altria keeps returning capital: high dividend (long streak of increases), buybacks and a progressive dividend policy remain central to the investment case and attract income buyers. Read More. Altria keeps returning capital: high dividend (long streak of increases), buybacks and a progressive dividend policy remain central to the investment case and attract income buyers. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Company continues to push smokefree products (on! pouches, NJOY integration) and emphasizes innovation to offset falling cigarette volumes a longterm growth narrative for investors. Read More. Company continues to push smokefree products (on! pouches, NJOY integration) and emphasizes innovation to offset falling cigarette volumes a longterm growth narrative for investors. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance of $5.56$5.72 is essentially in line with consensus, leaving limited surprise risk but not a clear catalyst to re-rate the shares. Read More. FY2026 EPS guidance of $5.56$5.72 is essentially in line with consensus, leaving limited surprise risk but not a clear catalyst to re-rate the shares. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Stifel trimmed its price target from $72 to $68 but maintained a buy rating shows some analyst support despite tempered upside. Read More. Stifel trimmed its price target from $72 to $68 but maintained a buy rating shows some analyst support despite tempered upside. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.30 missed consensus ($1.32) and cigarette shipment volumes fell ~10%; smokeable revenue pressure and smokefree weakness drove the initial selloff. Read More. Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.30 missed consensus ($1.32) and cigarette shipment volumes fell ~10%; smokeable revenue pressure and smokefree weakness drove the initial selloff. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Regulatory, volume trends and company filings highlighting leverage/negative ROE raise longerterm execution and balancesheet scrutiny among some investors. Read More. Altria Group Trading Up 3.7% MO opened at $61.97 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.30 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.47. The firms 50-day moving average price is $59.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.75. Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The companys revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued. Altria Group Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.92%. About Altria Group (Free Report) Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the companys operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country. Altrias principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Federated Hermes Inc. cut its position in Dutch Bros Inc. (NYSE:BROS Free Report) by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 521,940 shares of the companys stock after selling 216,434 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.s holdings in Dutch Bros were worth $27,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dutch Bros during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Dutch Bros by 557.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 447 shares of the companys stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Kiker Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Dutch Bros by 4,423.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kiker Wealth Management LLC now owns 588 shares of the companys stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Dutch Bros by 31.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 856 shares of the companys stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Dutch Bros by 24.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,442 shares of the companys stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 85.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Dutch Bros alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades BROS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a buy rating on shares of Dutch Bros in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Dutch Bros in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Dutch Bros in a research report on Monday, January 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Dutch Bros in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Dutch Bros from $82.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.19. Dutch Bros Price Performance BROS stock opened at $54.38 on Friday. The companys 50-day moving average price is $60.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.89. The firm has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Dutch Bros Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.16 and a 12 month high of $86.88. Dutch Bros (NYSE:BROS Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $423.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $414.81 million. Dutch Bros had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 4.04%.Dutch Bross revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Dutch Bros Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Transactions at Dutch Bros In related news, major shareholder Dm Individual Aggregator, Llc sold 648,089 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.44, for a total value of $35,930,054.16. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,817 shares of the companys stock, valued at $544,254.48. The trade was a 98.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Travis Boersma sold 1,678,616 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.44, for a total value of $93,062,471.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 9,817 shares in the company, valued at $544,254.48. This trade represents a 99.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,465,214 shares of company stock valued at $189,800,291. Insiders own 42.40% of the companys stock. Dutch Bros Company Profile (Free Report) Dutch Bros Coffee, trading on the NYSE under the ticker BROS, is an American drive-through coffee chain known for its quick-service model and community-focused brand. Founded in 1992 by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma in Grants Pass, Oregon, the company began as a single coffee stand and has since expanded its footprint across numerous U.S. markets. Dutch Bros specializes in handcrafted espresso drinks, drip coffee, cold brew, energy drinks, smoothies, teas, and a variety of signature Dutch Freeze and Dutch Frost blended beverages. The company operates a mix of company-owned and franchised locations, placing a strong emphasis on speed and customer engagement. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BROS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Dutch Bros Inc. (NYSE:BROS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Dutch Bros Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dutch Bros and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$74.65. FTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Fortis from C$74.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Fortis from C$72.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$74.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Fortis from C$72.00 to C$75.50 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Get Fortis alerts: Read Our Latest Report on FTS Fortis Trading Up 0.4% FTS opened at C$72.60 on Friday. Fortis has a twelve month low of C$60.50 and a twelve month high of C$74.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$71.49 and a 200-day moving average of C$70.30. The stock has a market cap of C$36.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.31. Fortis (TSE:FTS Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported C$0.87 earnings per share for the quarter. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.53%.The business had revenue of C$2.94 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortis will post 3.3419913 EPS for the current year. Fortis Increases Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.64 dividend. This is an increase from Fortiss previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Fortiss payout ratio is presently 73.21%. About Fortis (Get Free Report) Fortis owns and operates 10 utility transmission and distribution assets in Canada and the United States, serving more than 3.4 million electricity and gas customers. The company has smaller stakes in electricity generation and several Caribbean utilities. ITC operates electric transmission in seven U.S. states, with more than 16,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation serving a peak load in excess of 23 gigawatts. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Fortis Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fortis and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV Get Free Report) (TSE:FNV) has been assigned a consensus rating of Hold from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $245.00. Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Franco-Nevada from $211.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a hold rating and issued a $228.00 price objective on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Franco-Nevada from $218.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a buy (b-) rating to a hold (c+) rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group restated a buy rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Friday. Get Franco-Nevada alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on FNV Institutional Inflows and Outflows Franco-Nevada Trading Down 10.5% Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Franco-Nevada in the 2nd quarter valued at $460,218,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,363,324 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $525,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,509 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 26.4% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,049,187 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $901,092,000 after purchasing an additional 846,950 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 35.2% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,220,029 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $528,289,000 after purchasing an additional 838,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Franco-Nevada during the second quarter valued at about $80,621,000. Institutional investors own 77.06% of the companys stock. Shares of FNV opened at $234.25 on Monday. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $221.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.90. Franco-Nevada has a 12 month low of $135.16 and a 12 month high of $273.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.48. Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV Get Free Report) (TSE:FNV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $487.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $448.51 million. Franco-Nevada had a net margin of 59.48% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 76.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Franco-Nevada will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year. Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Franco-Nevadas previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Franco-Nevadas dividend payout ratio is presently 31.87%. About Franco-Nevada (Get Free Report) Franco-Nevada Corporation is a Toronto-based royalty and streaming company that specializes in securing and managing long-term interests in mining properties. The firm focuses primarily on precious metals, particularly gold, while also holding interests related to silver, copper, platinum-group metals and select base metals. Rather than operating mines directly, Franco-Nevada acquires royalty and streaming agreements that entitle it to a percentage of production or revenue from producing and developing assets in exchange for upfront or staged financing. The companys business model centers on providing capital to mining companies in return for a sustained share of production or metal revenue, which can reduce exposure to operating and capital cost risks typical of mine operators. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Franco-Nevada Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Franco-Nevada and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of Hold by the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $309.6667. IT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a sell (d+) rating on shares of Gartner in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Gartner from $272.00 to $254.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on Gartner from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Gartner from $457.00 to $390.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Get Gartner alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on IT Key Headlines Impacting Gartner Gartner Price Performance Here are the key news stories impacting Gartner this week: Shares of NYSE:IT opened at $209.35 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $237.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.42. Gartner has a twelve month low of $207.01 and a twelve month high of $584.01. Gartner (NYSE:IT Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The information technology services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.35. Gartner had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 92.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Gartner has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.650- EPS. Research analysts predict that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling In other Gartner news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 367 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.56, for a total value of $84,982.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,074 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $943,375.44. This trade represents a 8.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 220 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.57, for a total value of $50,505.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,046 shares in the company, valued at $699,270.22. This represents a 6.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gartner by 2.6% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,333 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gartner by 4.2% in the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Impact Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gartner by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 713 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Gartner by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 806 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the companys stock. About Gartner (Get Free Report) Gartner, Inc is a global research and advisory firm that provides insights, advice and tools for leaders in IT, finance, HR, customer service and other business functions. Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Gartner specializes in helping organizations make informed decisions about technology, operations and strategy through a combination of published research, advisory services, consulting, executive programs and events. The companys offerings include proprietary research reports, market forecasts, and analytical frameworks that are widely used by technology buyers and vendors. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Gartner Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gartner and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Great-West Lifeco Inc. (OTCMKTS:GWLIF Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. A number of research analysts have commented on GWLIF shares. CIBC restated an outperform rating on shares of Great-West Lifeco in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group started coverage on Great-West Lifeco in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. National Bankshares restated a sector perform rating on shares of Great-West Lifeco in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating on shares of Great-West Lifeco in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Get Great-West Lifeco alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on GWLIF Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 0.6% Great-West Lifeco Company Profile OTCMKTS GWLIF opened at $46.84 on Friday. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of $30.70 and a twelve month high of $51.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.89. (Get Free Report) Great-West Lifeco Inc, trading on the OTCMKTS under the symbol GWLIF, is a Canadian-based financial services holding company. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it operates as a subsidiary of Power Financial Corporation and offers a broad range of insurance, retirement, and investment solutions. The company traces its heritage to the founding of Great-West Life Assurance Company in 1891 and was organized as a distinct holding entity in 2003 to oversee its growing global operations. The firms primary lines of business include life, health and group insurance, as well as retirement savings products and employee benefit plans. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Great-West Lifeco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Great-West Lifeco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Armanino Foods of Distinction (OTCMKTS:AMNF Get Free Report) and General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability. Valuation & Earnings This table compares Armanino Foods of Distinction and General Millss revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Get Armanino Foods of Distinction alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Armanino Foods of Distinction $69.40 million 5.33 $14.61 million $0.55 21.63 General Mills $19.49 billion 1.27 $2.30 billion $4.65 9.95 Dividends General Mills has higher revenue and earnings than Armanino Foods of Distinction. General Mills is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Armanino Foods of Distinction, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Armanino Foods of Distinction pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Mills pays an annual dividend of $2.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Armanino Foods of Distinction pays out 36.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. General Mills pays out 52.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. General Mills has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. General Mills is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of recent recommendations for Armanino Foods of Distinction and General Mills, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Armanino Foods of Distinction 0 1 1 0 2.50 General Mills 3 13 5 0 2.10 Armanino Foods of Distinction presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.06%. General Mills has a consensus target price of $53.33, suggesting a potential upside of 15.30%. Given Armanino Foods of Distinctions stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Armanino Foods of Distinction is more favorable than General Mills. Institutional and Insider Ownership 0.1% of Armanino Foods of Distinction shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.7% of General Mills shares are held by institutional investors. 30.2% of Armanino Foods of Distinction shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of General Mills shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Risk & Volatility Armanino Foods of Distinction has a beta of 0.1, meaning that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Mills has a beta of -0.06, meaning that its share price is 106% less volatile than the S&P 500. Profitability This table compares Armanino Foods of Distinction and General Mills net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Armanino Foods of Distinction 23.65% 48.19% 33.53% General Mills 13.51% 21.41% 6.12% Summary Armanino Foods of Distinction beats General Mills on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks. About Armanino Foods of Distinction (Get Free Report) Armanino Foods of Distinction, Inc. produces and markets frozen food products in the United States. The company offers gourmet beef, Italian style beef and pork, and smoked turkey meatballs; grated parmesan and 3 cheese blend cheese; and various pesto, such as basil, artichoke, cilantro, dried tomato and garlic, roasted garlic, roasted red bell pepper, and southwest chipotle. It also provides frozen pasta, which includes beef cannelloni, cheese manicotti, cheese stuffed shells, cheese tortellini; pasta sheets, potato gnocchi, and tricolor cheese tortellini, as well as beef, butternut squash, four cheese, cheese and spinach, and wild mushroom ravioli; and various sauces, comprising creamy garlic, alfresco, Bolognese, chimichurri, harissa, and romesco. The company offers its products under the Armanino brand. It markets its products through a network of food brokers and sells to retail and foodservice distributors, club-type stores, and industrial accounts. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Hayward, California. About General Mills (Get Free Report) General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. The company also manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food; and operates ice cream parlors. It markets its products under the Annies, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Dunkaroos, Edgard & Cooper, Fiber One, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardettos, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Nudges, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Progresso, Tastefuls, Total, Totinos , Trix, True Chews, True Solutions, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, and Yoki brands. The company sells its products to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Receive News & Ratings for Armanino Foods of Distinction Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Armanino Foods of Distinction and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hexagon (OTCMKTS:HXGBY Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.01, reports. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.67 billion. Hexagon had a net margin of 12.09% and a return on equity of 10.64%. Hexagon Stock Down 0.4% Shares of HXGBY opened at $11.34 on Friday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $11.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $30.44 billion, a PE ratio of 43.62, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.40. Hexagon has a 12 month low of $8.51 and a 12 month high of $12.85. Get Hexagon alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets HXGBY has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hexagon from a hold rating to an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a hold rating on shares of Hexagon in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hexagon has an average rating of Hold. Hexagon Company Profile (Get Free Report) Hexagon AB (publ) is a Sweden-based global provider of digital reality solutions, combining sensor, software and autonomous technologies. The company develops measurement instruments, software and data analytics platforms that enable customers to capture, process and visualize information about physical assets, infrastructure and environments. Hexagons offerings are designed to improve productivity and quality in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, surveying, agriculture, mining, public safety and utilities. The companys hardware portfolio includes positioning and dimensioning sensors, laser scanners, GNSS receivers and total stations used for surveying and geospatial data acquisition. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Hexagon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hexagon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hypermarcas (OTCMKTS:HYPMY Get Free Report)s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.94, but opened at $5.1715. Hypermarcas shares last traded at $5.1715, with a volume of 376 shares. Hypermarcas Trading Down 2.7% The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74 and a beta of 0.72. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $4.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Get Hypermarcas alerts: Hypermarcas (OTCMKTS:HYPMY Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter. Hypermarcas had a return on equity of 6.89% and a net margin of 12.03%.The business had revenue of $408.83 million during the quarter. Hypermarcas Company Profile Hypermarcas SA is a Brazil-based consumer health and pharmaceutical company whose shares trade over the counter in the United States under the symbol HYPMY. Founded in the early 2000s and headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, the company operates as a holding group for a broad portfolio of branded products in the healthcare and personal care sectors. Through its various subsidiaries, Hypermarcas develops, manufactures and markets prescription and over-the-counter medications, alongside personal care, baby care, home care and nutritional supplement products. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Hypermarcas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hypermarcas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January (NYSEARCA:EJAN Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 32,690 shares, a drop of 45.1% from the December 31st total of 59,545 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the companys stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 73,726 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 73,726 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.9% of the companys stock are sold short. Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January Stock Performance Shares of Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.76. 27,999 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 51,575. Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January has a 52 week low of $27.90 and a 52 week high of $35.19. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $34.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.33. The company has a market cap of $123.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.40. Get Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF - January alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,296 shares of the companys stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp raised its position in Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January by 10.5% in the second quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 16,160 shares of the companys stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January by 93.9% in the second quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,625 shares of the companys stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,081 shares in the last quarter. Compass Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January by 19.6% during the second quarter. Compass Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,529 shares of the companys stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 4,848 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January by 53.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,849 shares of the companys stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 7,234 shares during the period. Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January Company Profile The Innovator Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF January (EJAN) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Emerging Markets index. The fund aims for specific buffered losses and capped gains on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index over a specific holdings period. The actively-managed fund holds options and collateral. EJAN was launched on Jan 1, 2020 and is managed by Innovator. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF - January Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Innovator MSCI Emerging Markets Power Buffer ETF - January and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. International Paper (NYSE:IP Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research note issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a neutral rating on the basic materials companys stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.25% from the companys previous close. Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on IP. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.80 target price on International Paper and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of International Paper from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of International Paper from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of International Paper from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded International Paper from a strong sell rating to an outperform rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $49.53. Get International Paper alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on International Paper International Paper Stock Up 3.2% Shares of International Paper stock opened at $40.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.00, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.10. The firms 50 day moving average price is $40.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.08. International Paper has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $58.11. International Paper (NYSE:IP Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.90 billion. International Paper had a negative return on equity of 0.35% and a negative net margin of 14.12%.International Papers revenue for the quarter was up 53.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that International Paper will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Buying and Selling In other International Paper news, CEO Andrew K. Silvernail acquired 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.98 per share, with a total value of $1,999,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,000. The trade was a increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Clay R. Ellis sold 18,819 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.85, for a total transaction of $693,480.15. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.35% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Paper Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IP. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of International Paper by 51.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,990,719 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,272,966,000 after purchasing an additional 16,622,062 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Paper in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $281,735,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of International Paper by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,330,790 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $2,520,945,000 after buying an additional 3,768,772 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC raised its position in shares of International Paper by 165.9% during the 2nd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,220,070 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $150,553,000 after buying an additional 2,009,123 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in International Paper by 9.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 18,737,896 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $877,496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.95% of the companys stock. Key International Paper News Here are the key news stories impacting International Paper this week: Positive Sentiment: CEO insider buy: CEO Andrew K. Silvernail purchased 50,000 shares at ~$39.98 (~$2.0M), signaling management confidence and providing a bullish technical/psychological catalyst. Read More. CEO insider buy: CEO Andrew K. Silvernail purchased 50,000 shares at ~$39.98 (~$2.0M), signaling management confidence and providing a bullish technical/psychological catalyst. Read More. Positive Sentiment: 2026 guidance: Company set adjusted EBITDA targets of $3.5$3.7B for full year and Q1 adj. EBITDA of $0.74$0.76B, implying operational improvement and cashflow recovery potential. Read More. 2026 guidance: Company set adjusted EBITDA targets of $3.5$3.7B for full year and Q1 adj. EBITDA of $0.74$0.76B, implying operational improvement and cashflow recovery potential. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Planned split into two companies: IP will separate into a North American company and a separate EMEA packaging company to sharpen regional focus a strategic move that could unlock value long term but creates nearterm execution and transition risk. Read More. Planned split into two companies: IP will separate into a North American company and a separate EMEA packaging company to sharpen regional focus a strategic move that could unlock value long term but creates nearterm execution and transition risk. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Analyst moves mixed: Truist trimmed its price target to $48 but kept a buy rating (still implies upside), while Wells Fargo upgraded IP to equal weight with a $40 target these actions temper/recast expectations rather than dramatically change the investment thesis. Read More. | Read More. Analyst moves mixed: Truist trimmed its price target to $48 but kept a buy rating (still implies upside), while Wells Fargo upgraded IP to equal weight with a $40 target these actions temper/recast expectations rather than dramatically change the investment thesis. Read More. | Read More. Negative Sentiment: Q4 earnings miss and large impairment: Reported Q4 EPS of ($0.08) vs. $0.28 expected; company recorded a $2.47B pretax goodwill impairment plus accelerated depreciation and restructuring charges, producing a large GAAP loss and weighing on nearterm profitability and multiples. Revenue rose ~53% (beat) but the impairment and margin impact drove a negative market reaction. Read More. About International Paper (Get Free Report) International Paper is a global producer of renewable fiber-based products, focused primarily on pulp, paper, and packaging. The company manufactures containerboard and corrugated packaging used for shipping and retail display, as well as a range of specialty papers and pulp products that serve industrial, consumer goods, and e-commerce customers. Its product portfolio is oriented toward large-scale packaging solutions, tissue and paper grades, and raw pulp for a variety of manufacturing uses. Founded in 1898, International Paper is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and is one of the largest and longest-established companies in the forest products sector. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for International Paper Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for International Paper and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF (NYSEARCA:TBLL Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 11,353 shares, a decrease of 74.3% from the December 31st total of 44,209 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 189,244 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 189,244 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF Stock Performance Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $105.61. The companys stock had a trading volume of 212,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,171. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.67. Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF has a 52 week low of $105.39 and a 52 week high of $105.90. Get Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF alerts: Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF Cuts Dividend The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th were given a dividend of $0.3301 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 20th. Institutional Trading of Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF About Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF by 7,000.0% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the companys stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 4,760 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF during the first quarter worth about $711,000. SMI Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF in the second quarter worth $1,585,000. Finally, Clarius Group LLC boosted its stake in Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF by 104.0% in the 2nd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 27,159 shares of the companys stock worth $2,866,000 after purchasing an additional 13,845 shares during the period. (Get Free Report) The Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF (TBLL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the ICE US Treasury Short Bond index. The fund tracks a market-weighted index of debt issued by the US Treasury. Remaining maturity must be between 1-12 months. TBLL was launched on Jan 12, 2017 and is issued by Invesco. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Short Term Treasury ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (NYSEARCA:SUSA Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 66,126 shares, a decline of 28.2% from the December 31st total of 92,106 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 94,394 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 94,394 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SUSA. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 0.3% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 31,088 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,217,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,384 shares of the companys stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 3,494 shares of the companys stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,740 shares of the companys stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Peak Financial Management Inc. now owns 4,575 shares of the companys stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF alerts: iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF Trading Down 0.5% Shares of NYSEARCA SUSA opened at $141.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -253.13 and a beta of 1.05. The businesss 50 day moving average is $140.47 and its 200-day moving average is $135.92. iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF has a 1-year low of $99.48 and a 1-year high of $143.18. iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF Company Profile The iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (SUSA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Extended ESG Select index. The fund tracks an index of US companies with high environmental, social and governance (ESG) factor scores as calculated by MSCI. SUSA was launched on Jan 24, 2005 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ITT Educational Services, Inc. (OTCMKTS:ESINQ Get Free Report) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $0.00 and traded as high as $0.0001. ITT Educational Services shares last traded at $0.00, with a volume of 0 shares changing hands. ITT Educational Services Stock Performance Get ITT Educational Services alerts: About ITT Educational Services (Get Free Report) ITT Educational Services, formerly the parent company of ITT Technical Institute, was a for-profit higher education provider based in Carmel, Indiana. The company operated campus-based and online programs focused on career-oriented training across fields such as information technology, electronics, drafting and design, business management, and health sciences. ITT Educational Services aimed to prepare students for entry-level positions through a combination of classroom instruction, hands-on lab work, and career services support. Founded in 1969 as ITT Technical Institute and later spun off as a publicly traded entity in 1994, the company expanded steadily throughout the United States over several decades. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for ITT Educational Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ITT Educational Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. LG Display Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LPL Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of Reduce from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. LPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded LG Display from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a sell (d-) rating on shares of LG Display in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of LG Display from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Thursday. Get LG Display alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on LG Display LG Display Stock Performance Shares of LPL stock opened at $3.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The companys fifty day moving average price is $4.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.50. LG Display has a 12 month low of $2.43 and a 12 month high of $5.67. LG Display (NYSE:LPL Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The electronics maker reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.41). LG Display had a return on equity of 3.29% and a net margin of 0.98%.The business had revenue of $5.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that LG Display will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On LG Display Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LPL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in LG Display by 0.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,826,043 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $19,973,000 after buying an additional 15,767 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of LG Display by 114.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,948,975 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $10,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,826 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LG Display by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,510,470 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $5,166,000 after acquiring an additional 161,409 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of LG Display during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,862,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of LG Display by 898.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 404,155 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 363,673 shares in the last quarter. About LG Display (Get Free Report) LG Display Co, Ltd., headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is a global manufacturer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels. The company designs and produces display solutions for a wide range of applications, including televisions, desktop monitors, notebook computers, tablets, smartphones, signage and automotive screens. Its product offerings span large-screen television modules, ultra-high definition monitors, flexible and transparent OLED displays, and specialized industrial panels. LG Display operates a network of production facilities and research centers across Asia, including major manufacturing sites in Paju and Gumi, South Korea, as well as Wuhan, China. See Also Receive News & Ratings for LG Display Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LG Display and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Magna International Inc. (TSE:MG Get Free Report) (NYSE:MGA)s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$66.55 and traded as high as C$71.62. Magna International shares last traded at C$71.17, with a volume of 1,991,017 shares. Analysts Set New Price Targets MG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Magna International to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup raised Magna International to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$61.00. Get Magna International alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Magna International Magna International Trading Down 2.2% The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.81, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of C$19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.93. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is C$73.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$66.63. Magna International (TSE:MG Get Free Report) (NYSE:MGA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported C$1.33 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$14.57 billion for the quarter. Magna International had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 9.11%. As a group, analysts forecast that Magna International Inc. will post 8.8948171 EPS for the current year. Magna International Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Magna Internationals payout ratio is 52.88%. About Magna International (Get Free Report) Magna is one of the worlds largest automotive suppliers and a trusted partner to automakers in the industrys most critical markets-North America, Europe, and China. With a global team and footprint spanning 28 countries, we bring unmatched scale, trusted reliability, and proven execution. Backed by nearly seven decades of experience, we combine deep manufacturing expertise with innovative vehicle systems to deliver performance, safety and quality. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Magna International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Magna International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 900,885 shares, a decrease of 33.1% from the December 31st total of 1,346,004 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 257,130 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.6% of the companys shares are short sold. Currently, 2.6% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 257,130 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Analysts Set New Price Targets MEI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a sell (d-) rating on shares of Methode Electronics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $8.50 price target on shares of Methode Electronics in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Methode Electronics to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $11.25. Get Methode Electronics alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on MEI Methode Electronics Stock Performance Shares of MEI traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $8.02. 325,541 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 315,317. Methode Electronics has a twelve month low of $5.08 and a twelve month high of $11.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 1.07. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $7.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Methode Electronics (NYSE:MEI Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The electronics maker reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.01. Methode Electronics had a negative return on equity of 7.10% and a negative net margin of 6.39%.The company had revenue of $246.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $237.69 million. Analysts predict that Methode Electronics will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year. Methode Electronics Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Methode Electronicss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -11.24%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Methode Electronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $488,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Methode Electronics by 100.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 43,031 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,603 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Methode Electronics by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 168,100 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $1,599,000 after buying an additional 45,600 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Methode Electronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $703,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Methode Electronics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the companys stock. About Methode Electronics (Get Free Report) Methode Electronics, Inc is a Chicago-based global manufacturer of custom-engineered electronic and electromechanical components and assemblies. Founded in 1946, Methode specializes in providing solutions that integrate electrical connectors, sensors, switches, human-machine interface devices and power distribution modules. The companys product portfolio addresses complex application requirements across a broad range of end markets, including automotive, industrial, energy, healthcare and data/telecommunications. In its automotive segment, Methode develops advanced connector systems, circuit protection devices and thermal management solutions for internal combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Methode Electronics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Methode Electronics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. MWA Asset Management purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,057 shares of the aerospace companys stock, valued at approximately $644,000. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 63 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 93 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the companys stock. Get Northrop Grumman alerts: Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.4% NYSE NOC opened at $692.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $599.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $588.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 0.05. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $705.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend Northrop Grumman ( NYSE:NOC Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $6.97 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.61 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 25.57%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.39 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grummans payout ratio is 31.72%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $662.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a buy (b) rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Susquehanna reiterated a positive rating and issued a $752.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Vertical Research reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $688.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $688.72. View Our Latest Report on Northrop Grumman Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman In related news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total transaction of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,281 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,414,826.48. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 191,602 shares of the companys stock, valued at $117,835,230. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,097 shares of company stock worth $6,099,716. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Northrop Grumman Company Profile (Free Report) Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the companys portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions. The companys work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Northrop Grumman Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Northrop Grumman and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. N-able, Inc. (NYSE:NABL Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $6.04 and last traded at $6.0650, with a volume of 582821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.40. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut N-able from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a sell (d) rating on shares of N-able in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of N-able in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of N-able from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of N-able from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, N-able presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $9.45. Get N-able alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on NABL N-able Stock Performance The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -202.67 and a beta of 0.61. N-able (NYSE:NABL Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $131.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $127.48 million. N-able had a positive return on equity of 4.17% and a negative net margin of 1.31%.The businesss revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that N-able, Inc. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On N-able A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunriver Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of N-able by 39.7% during the second quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 6,398,641 shares of the companys stock worth $51,829,000 after purchasing an additional 1,817,978 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of N-able in the second quarter valued at about $9,332,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of N-able by 516.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,274,744 shares of the companys stock worth $10,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068,061 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in N-able by 271.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 679,119 shares of the companys stock worth $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 496,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Topline Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in N-able in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,545,000. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the companys stock. About N-able (Get Free Report) N-able (NYSE:NABL) is a cloud-based software provider specializing in solutions for managed service providers (MSPs). The companys platform offers remote monitoring and management (RMM), backup and disaster recovery, endpoint detection and response (EDR), security information and event management (SIEM), and automation tools. By integrating these services into a unified interface, N-able enables MSPs to streamline IT operations, enhance security posture, and deliver proactive maintenance across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, N-able traces its origins to the managed services division of SolarWinds before completing a spin-off and initial public offering in mid-2021. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for N-able Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for N-able and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C Free Report) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,044,632 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 143,807 shares during the quarter. National Pension Services holdings in Citigroup were worth $410,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Citigroup in the second quarter worth $2,455,929,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,125,995 shares of the companys stock worth $2,854,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,211,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Citigroup by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,334,407 shares of the companys stock worth $368,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,865 shares in the last quarter. Natixis grew its position in Citigroup by 382.7% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 1,523,782 shares of the companys stock valued at $129,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Citigroup by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,851,890 shares of the companys stock valued at $14,117,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,451 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the companys stock. Get Citigroup alerts: Citigroup News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week: Positive Sentiment: U.K. head says M&A and capitalmarkets deal pipeline is the strongest in years, implying potential nearterm fee revenue upside for Citigroups investment banking franchise. Read More. U.K. head says M&A and capitalmarkets deal pipeline is the strongest in years, implying potential nearterm fee revenue upside for Citigroups investment banking franchise. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg reports Citigroup India is hiring a new commercialbanking head (Khurana), a hire that could accelerate growth in a highgrowth market and boost corporate lending and transaction banking volumes. Read More. Bloomberg reports Citigroup India is hiring a new commercialbanking head (Khurana), a hire that could accelerate growth in a highgrowth market and boost corporate lending and transaction banking volumes. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Management has reshuffled corporatebanking leadership to sharpen focus on client coverage and deal execution a strategic move investors view as supportive of revenue recovery if execution holds. Read More. Management has reshuffled corporatebanking leadership to sharpen focus on client coverage and deal execution a strategic move investors view as supportive of revenue recovery if execution holds. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage is spotlighting Citigroup (investor attention rising), and the stock is being compared with peers on 2026 upside this increases liquidity and trade interest but is informational rather than a direct fundamental catalyst. Read More. Analyst and media coverage is spotlighting Citigroup (investor attention rising), and the stock is being compared with peers on 2026 upside this increases liquidity and trade interest but is informational rather than a direct fundamental catalyst. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Reports confirm another round of layoffs in March as part of a 20,000job reduction through 2026 shortterm charges and execution risk on the restructuring raise concerns about morale, client disruption and timing of cost savings versus revenue headwinds. Read More. Reports confirm another round of layoffs in March as part of a 20,000job reduction through 2026 shortterm charges and execution risk on the restructuring raise concerns about morale, client disruption and timing of cost savings versus revenue headwinds. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Reputational/legal noise persists after coverage of a former executives lawsuit and criticism of industry practices; such issues can prolong distractions and, in a downside scenario, lead to regulatory scrutiny or settlements. Read More. Citigroup Stock Up 0.4% Citigroup stock opened at $115.68 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $55.51 and a one year high of $124.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $113.67 and a 200 day moving average of $103.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $206.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.18. Citigroup (NYSE:C Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.16. Citigroup had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business had revenue of $19.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year. Citigroup Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. Citigroups payout ratio is 34.43%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citigroup from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Citigroup from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Citigroup from $141.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Citigroup from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $125.56. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Citigroup Citigroup Profile (Free Report) Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide. Citis principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding C? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Citigroup Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Citigroup and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY Free Report) by 95.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,465 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock after purchasing an additional 28,065 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Funds holdings in Teledyne Technologies were worth $33,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Teledyne Technologies by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,841,524 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $2,992,671,000 after acquiring an additional 123,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Teledyne Technologies by 2.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,143,419 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $1,098,095,000 after buying an additional 46,916 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in Teledyne Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $767,307,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Teledyne Technologies by 2.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,242,610 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $635,107,000 after buying an additional 28,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Teledyne Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth $317,986,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.58% of the companys stock. Get Teledyne Technologies alerts: Insider Transactions at Teledyne Technologies In other news, Director Michael T. Smith sold 2,469 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.00, for a total transaction of $1,533,249.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 47,328 shares of the companys stock, valued at $29,390,688. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TDY. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Teledyne Technologies from $615.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Teledyne Technologies in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. They issued an equal weight rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Teledyne Technologies from $645.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Teledyne Technologies from $579.00 to $599.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a buy (b-) rating on shares of Teledyne Technologies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Teledyne Technologies currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $627.88. Read Our Latest Report on Teledyne Technologies Teledyne Technologies Price Performance NYSE TDY opened at $619.75 on Friday. Teledyne Technologies Incorporated has a 1 year low of $419.00 and a 1 year high of $630.76. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $537.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $543.34. The company has a market cap of $29.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Teledyne Technologies (NYSE:TDY Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $6.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Teledyne Technologies had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 14.63%.The companys revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. Teledyne Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 23.450-23.850 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 5.40-5.500 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Teledyne Technologies Incorporated will post 21.55 EPS for the current year. Teledyne Technologies Company Profile (Free Report) Teledyne Technologies (NYSE: TDY), headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, is a diversified industrial technology company that designs, manufactures and supports sophisticated electronic systems, instruments and imaging products. Founded in 1960 by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky, Teledyne has grown into a multinational provider of high-performance equipment and software for commercial, scientific and government customers. Its offerings are used in markets that include aerospace and defense, marine, industrial manufacturing, environmental monitoring and scientific research. The company operates through businesses that develop precision instrumentation, digital imaging products, engineered systems and aerospace and defense electronics. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TDY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Teledyne Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Teledyne Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Oshkosh (NYSE:OSK Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.07), FiscalAI reports. Oshkosh had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Here are the key takeaways from Oshkoshs conference call: Get Oshkosh alerts: 2025 results and 2026 outlook: Oshkosh reported full-year revenue of $10.4 billion and adjusted EPS of $10.79 , and guided 2026 to roughly $11 billion in sales and adjusted EPS of about $11.50 , while flagging Q1 as the weakest quarter and a stronger back half. Oshkosh reported full-year revenue of and adjusted EPS of , and guided 2026 to roughly in sales and adjusted EPS of about , while flagging Q1 as the weakest quarter and a stronger back half. Tariff headwind and pricing timing: Management estimates incremental tariffs of ~ $200 million in 2026 (~$160M higher vs. 2025), largely hitting the Access business, and said recent price increases pulled some demand into Q4 and will dampen Q1 volumes. Management estimates incremental tariffs of ~ in 2026 (~$160M higher vs. 2025), largely hitting the Access business, and said recent price increases pulled some demand into Q4 and will dampen Q1 volumes. Access segment dynamics: Q4 orders were strong at $1.7 billion (book-to-bill 1.5) with a $1.3B backlog, but Oshkosh expects weaker nonresidential construction demand to pressure Access revenue in the first half of 2026 and only recover in H2/2027. Q4 orders were strong at (book-to-bill 1.5) with a $1.3B backlog, but Oshkosh expects weaker nonresidential construction demand to pressure Access revenue in the first half of 2026 and only recover in H2/2027. Vocational momentum and backlog: Vocational posted ~13% revenue growth in 2025 (> $3.7B) with robust margins (~16%), a backlog > $6.6 billion , and ~$150M of planned capital to raise throughput and shorten lead timesmanagement expects ~17% operating margin in 2026. Vocational posted ~13% revenue growth in 2025 (> $3.7B) with robust margins (~16%), a backlog > , and ~$150M of planned capital to raise throughput and shorten lead timesmanagement expects ~17% operating margin in 2026. Transport ramp, defense wins, and cash returns: NGDV production continues (5,000th unit, >10M miles), transport revenue is expected to grow to ~$2.5B in 2026 with margin improvement over the year, and Oshkosh generated strong free cash flow (~$618M in 2025), returned $278M via buybacks and announced a $0.57 quarterly dividend. Oshkosh Stock Down 1.0% Shares of NYSE:OSK opened at $143.86 on Friday. Oshkosh has a fifty-two week low of $76.82 and a fifty-two week high of $158.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $136.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.62. The company has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.41. Oshkosh Increases Dividend Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oshkosh The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This is a boost from Oshkoshs previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Oshkoshs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.36%. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OSK. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oshkosh by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 594 shares of the companys stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in Oshkosh in the second quarter worth $89,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Oshkosh by 6.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,763 shares of the companys stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oshkosh by 62.6% in the second quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the companys stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Oshkosh by 1,207.3% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the companys stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.36% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $182.00 price target on Oshkosh in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded Oshkosh from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Oshkosh from $144.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Oshkosh from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Oshkosh from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $157.07. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Oshkosh Key Headlines Impacting Oshkosh Here are the key news stories impacting Oshkosh this week: Positive Sentiment: Board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.57 (11.8% increase); ex-dividend Feb 17 supports income-focused holders and signals confidence in cash flow. Board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.57 (11.8% increase); ex-dividend Feb 17 supports income-focused holders and signals confidence in cash flow. Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target from $145 to $155 (maintaining a neutral rating), implying upside vs. the current price and providing some analyst support for the stock. Benzinga JPMorgan raised its price target from $145 to $155 (maintaining a neutral rating), implying upside vs. the current price and providing some analyst support for the stock. Neutral Sentiment: Q4 revenue grew 3.5% Y/Y to $2.69B and topped estimates demand across key segments remained intact, which helps near-term top-line outlook. Zacks: Q4 Revenues Increase Q4 revenue grew 3.5% Y/Y to $2.69B and topped estimates demand across key segments remained intact, which helps near-term top-line outlook. Neutral Sentiment: Company released earnings materials and the full earnings-call transcript and slides useful for digging into segment-level trends, margin drivers and backlog commentary. MarketBeat: Conference Call & Slides Company released earnings materials and the full earnings-call transcript and slides useful for digging into segment-level trends, margin drivers and backlog commentary. Negative Sentiment: Oshkosh reported Q4 EPS of $2.26, missing consensus of $2.33 and down from $2.58 a year ago the earnings shortfall is weighing on near-term sentiment and valuation multiples. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Miss Oshkosh reported Q4 EPS of $2.26, missing consensus of $2.33 and down from $2.58 a year ago the earnings shortfall is weighing on near-term sentiment and valuation multiples. Negative Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance of $11.50 (midpoint) was well below the Street (~$12.32), creating the biggest near-term negative catalyst as it lowers consensus expectations despite revenue guidance roughly in line with estimates. About Oshkosh (Get Free Report) Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty trucks, military vehicles and access equipment. The companys offerings span critical end markets, including defense, fire and emergency services, commercial construction and industrial sectors. By combining engineering expertise with advanced technologies, Oshkosh delivers solutions that enhance mobility, safety and productivity for its customers. Founded in 1917 and headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the company has evolved from producing heavy-duty dump trucks to a diversified portfolio of products and services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Oshkosh Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Oshkosh and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of PT Bank Mandiri Persero TBK (OTCMKTS:PPERY Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.85, but opened at $11.45. PT Bank Mandiri Persero TBK shares last traded at $11.07, with a volume of 8,856 shares. PT Bank Mandiri Persero TBK Trading Down 0.4% The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.33. Get PT Bank Mandiri Persero TBK alerts: About PT Bank Mandiri Persero TBK (Get Free Report) PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk is one of Indonesias largest banking groups, providing a full range of commercial banking services to corporate, commercial, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and retail customers. The bank was established in 1998 through a government-led consolidation of four state-owned banks as part of efforts to strengthen the financial system during the Asian financial crisis. Since then it has grown into a diversified financial services franchise offering deposit taking, lending, trade finance, payment and cash management, treasury, and wealth-management services. Bank Mandiris product suite spans traditional retail and corporate banking products including savings and time deposits, consumer and mortgage loans, working capital and project financing alongside specialized services such as trade and export-import finance, foreign exchange and treasury solutions, card products, and digital banking channels. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for PT Bank Mandiri Persero TBK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PT Bank Mandiri Persero TBK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $191.00 price target on the financial services providers stock. Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on RJF. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a hold (c+) rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Raymond James Financial from $174.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a positive rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $176.00 price objective on Raymond James Financial and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $182.17. Get Raymond James Financial alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on Raymond James Financial Raymond James Financial Price Performance RJF opened at $165.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $164.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.67. The firm has a market cap of $32.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. Raymond James Financial has a 1 year low of $117.57 and a 1 year high of $177.66. Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.03. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 17.74% and a net margin of 13.07%.The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Raymond James Financial will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year. Raymond James Financial Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Raymond James Financials previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Raymond James Financials dividend payout ratio is currently 21.14%. Insider Activity at Raymond James Financial In related news, insider Paul C. Reilly sold 130,687 shares of Raymond James Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.15, for a total transaction of $21,321,584.05. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 260,546 shares in the company, valued at $42,508,079.90. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James Financial Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,076 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 0.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,216 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 2.0% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 3,302 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 0.6% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,425 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the companys stock. About Raymond James Financial (Get Free Report) Raymond James Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1962, the company provides a range of services to individual investors, businesses and institutions through a combination of wealth management, capital markets, investment banking, asset management, banking and trust services. Its business model centers on a network of financial advisors and broker-dealer operations that deliver personalized financial planning, investment advisory services and brokerage solutions. The firms core offerings include private client wealth management delivered by independent and employee advisors, equity and fixed-income research, institutional sales and trading, and investment banking services such as mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Raymond James Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Raymond James Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms: 1/27/2026 Bank of America had its buy (b) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 1/27/2026 Bank of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets from $66.00 to $62.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/26/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $65.00 to $67.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 Bank of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $64.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 Bank of America was given a new $59.00 price target on by analysts at Evercore ISI. 1/15/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Piper Sandler from $56.00 to $57.00. They now have a neutral rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Argus from $58.00 to $59.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $64.00 to $65.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 Bank of America had its price target lowered by analysts at TD Cowen from $66.00 to $64.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 Bank of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Corporation from $62.00 to $60.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 Bank of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $64.00 to $63.00. They now have an outperform rating on the stock. 1/14/2026 Bank of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Evercore ISI from $63.00 to $59.00. They now have an outperform rating on the stock. 1/14/2026 Bank of America is now covered by analysts at CICC Research. They set an outperform rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. 1/7/2026 Bank of America had its buy rating reaffirmed by analysts at TD Cowen. 1/7/2026 Bank of America was upgraded by analysts at HSBC Holdings plc from a hold rating to a buy rating. They now have a $50.00 price target on the stock. 1/7/2026 Bank of America was downgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating. 1/7/2026 Bank of America was upgraded by analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. 1/7/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at TD Cowen from $64.00 to $66.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/6/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Corporation from $58.00 to $62.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/6/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $58.00 to $64.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 1/6/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $58.00 to $61.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock. 1/5/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $59.00 to $71.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock. 1/5/2026 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $65.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock. 1/5/2026 Bank of America was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a hold rating to a sell rating. 12/28/2025 Bank of America was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a sell rating to a hold rating. 12/20/2025 Bank of America was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a hold rating to a sell rating. 12/18/2025 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. from $55.00 to $63.00. They now have an outperform rating on the stock. 12/18/2025 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Corporation from $56.00 to $58.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock. 12/17/2025 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $58.00 to $64.00. They now have an outperform rating on the stock. 12/12/2025 Bank of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $68.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock. 12/12/2025 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $56.00 to $59.00. They now have an outperform rating on the stock. 12/11/2025 Bank of America had its price target raised by analysts at Piper Sandler from $55.00 to $56.00. They now have a neutral rating on the stock. Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets. Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Corporation Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America Corporation and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Robert Half (NYSE:RHI Get Free Report) updated its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of 0.080-0.180 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 0.130. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.3 billion-$1.4 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.3 billion. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a sell (d) rating on shares of Robert Half in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Robert Half from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Robert Half from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 target price on shares of Robert Half in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Robert Half from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Robert Half has a consensus rating of Reduce and an average target price of $33.00. Get Robert Half alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on RHI Robert Half Stock Performance Shares of NYSE RHI traded up $7.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.55. The stock had a trading volume of 11,400,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,773,801. Robert Half has a one year low of $25.22 and a one year high of $66.25. The firms 50 day moving average price is $27.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 0.85. Robert Half (NYSE:RHI Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.02. Robert Half had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Robert Half will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year. Key Robert Half News Here are the key news stories impacting Robert Half this week: Hedge Funds Weigh In On Robert Half Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Robert Half by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,098 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,937 shares during the period. Certuity LLC purchased a new position in Robert Half in the 3rd quarter worth about $315,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 777.6% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,233 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 9,067 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Robert Half by 498.7% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,813 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Robert Half by 3.5% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 12,069 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.41% of the companys stock. About Robert Half (Get Free Report) Robert Half International Inc, founded in 1948 by Robert Half, is a global professional staffing and consulting firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California. As a pioneer in specialized staffing, the company has built a reputation for matching skilled professionals with leading organizations across a range of industries. Robert Halfs shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RHI, reflecting its position as one of the longeststanding and bestknown firms in the staffing sector. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services, including temporary staffing, permanent placement, and consulting solutions. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Robert Half Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Robert Half and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Scor SE (OTCMKTS:SCRYY Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $3.25, but opened at $3.09. Scor shares last traded at $3.26, with a volume of 5,628 shares. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SCRYY. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Scor from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating on shares of Scor in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research raised Scor from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Scor from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an outperform rating on shares of Scor in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy. Get Scor alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on SCRYY Scor Price Performance The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.32. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.59. Scor (OTCMKTS:SCRYY Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.14. Scor had a return on equity of 20.01% and a net margin of 5.63%.The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Scor SE will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Scor Company Profile (Get Free Report) SCOR SE, trading over-the-counter as SCRYY, is a leading global reinsurer headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1970, the company specializes in providing property & casualty and life & health reinsurance solutions to insurance companies worldwide. By pooling and diversifying risk, SCOR enables its clients to underwrite larger exposures, stabilize loss experience and safeguard their balance sheets against extreme events. The companys main business activities encompass risk underwriting, claims management and portfolio solutions designed to address evolving market needs. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Scor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Scor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Carlyle Credit Income Fund (NYSE:CCIF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 21,122 shares, a growth of 99.4% from the December 31st total of 10,594 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,410 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,410 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Carlyle Credit Income Fund Trading Down 2.4% Carlyle Credit Income Fund stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.53. 360,543 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 120,157. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $4.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.31. Carlyle Credit Income Fund has a 52 week low of $4.47 and a 52 week high of $7.90. Get Carlyle Credit Income Fund alerts: Carlyle Credit Income Fund (NYSE:CCIF Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 18th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $7.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.97 million. Carlyle Credit Income Fund Announces Dividend Analysts Set New Price Targets The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 27.8%. A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group set a $6.00 price objective on Carlyle Credit Income Fund in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Zacks Research raised Carlyle Credit Income Fund from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Carlyle Credit Income Fund from $9.00 to $6.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $6.50 price objective on shares of Carlyle Credit Income Fund in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage on shares of Carlyle Credit Income Fund in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. They set a buy rating on the stock. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Carlyle Credit Income Fund Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in Carlyle Credit Income Fund by 38.7% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,868 shares of the companys stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 4,150 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carlyle Credit Income Fund by 34.4% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 17,135 shares of the companys stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Carlyle Credit Income Fund during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Icon Advisers Inc. Co. bought a new stake in Carlyle Credit Income Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. Finally, Melfa Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Carlyle Credit Income Fund by 133.1% in the 4th quarter. Melfa Wealth Management Inc. now owns 52,974 shares of the companys stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 30,250 shares during the period. Carlyle Credit Income Fund Company Profile (Get Free Report) Carlyle Credit Income Fund is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Vertical Capital Asset Management, LLC. The fund is co managed by Behringer Advisors, LLC. The Fund invests mainly in fixed-income securities. The fund invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It seeks to benchmark the performance of its portfolio against the Barclays Capital U.S. Mortgage Backed Securities Index. Carlyle Credit Income Fund was formed on December 30, 2011 and is domiciled in the United States. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Carlyle Credit Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Carlyle Credit Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:PFIG Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 21,246 shares, an increase of 166.4% from the December 31st total of 7,975 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 43,933 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 43,933 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days. Approximately 0.5% of the companys shares are short sold. Institutional Trading of Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 314.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,282 shares of the companys stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Nikulski Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF during the second quarter worth approximately $340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF during the 2nd quarter worth $375,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,147 shares of the companys stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,986 shares of the companys stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 9,330 shares during the period. Get Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF alerts: Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Stock Up 0.0% Shares of NYSEARCA PFIG traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.27. The companys stock had a trading volume of 8,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,747. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $24.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.25. Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF has a one year low of $22.64 and a one year high of $26.96. Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Increases Dividend About Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th were given a dividend of $0.0876 per share. This is a positive change from Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs previous monthly dividend of $0.09. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 20th. (Get Free Report) The Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (PFIG) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the RAFI Bonds US Investment Grade 1-10 index. The fund tracks a fundamental-weighted index of investment-grade corporate bonds available in US markets. Issues are selected and weighted using RAFI scores based on financial statement metrics. PFIG was launched on Sep 15, 2011 and is managed by Invesco. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Fundamental Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF (NYSEARCA:VPL Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 103,213 shares, an increase of 99.9% from the December 31st total of 51,620 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 894,342 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 894,342 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Institutional Trading of Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VPL. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,988,147 shares of the companys stock valued at $541,329,000 after buying an additional 15,856 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF by 57,834.6% during the second quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,584,461 shares of the companys stock valued at $212,388,000 after purchasing an additional 2,580,000 shares in the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC grew its position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF by 1,188.8% in the second quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 2,236,667 shares of the companys stock valued at $183,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063,117 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,620,706 shares of the companys stock worth $133,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elm Partners Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Elm Partners Management LLC now owns 1,125,155 shares of the companys stock worth $98,834,000 after purchasing an additional 84,555 shares during the last quarter. Get Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF alerts: Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF Trading Down 1.1% Shares of Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF stock traded down $1.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,162,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,395. The stocks 50 day moving average is $92.99 and its 200 day moving average is $89.42. Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF has a twelve month low of $64.21 and a twelve month high of $100.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 0.77. About Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF, formerly Vanguard MSCI Pacific ETF, is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund. The Fund seeks to track the investment performance of the MSCI Pacific Index that consists of common stocks of companies located in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore. The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the common stocks included in the MSCI Pacific Index (the Index). See Also Receive News & Ratings for Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Springfield Properties PLC (LON:SPR Get Free Report) shares were down 1.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 132 and last traded at GBX 132.15. Approximately 106,989 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 191,236 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 134.50. Springfield Properties Stock Performance The firm has a market cap of 157.45 million, a PE ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 38.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 126.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 111.58. Get Springfield Properties alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Sandy Adam sold 127,899 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 119, for a total value of 152,199.81. Also, insider Innes Smith sold 100,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 133, for a total value of 133,000. Insiders sold a total of 1,867,899 shares of company stock worth $217,399,981 in the last ninety days. 22.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Springfield Properties Company Profile The Springfield Group is one of the largest homebuilders in Scotland. Made up of six well-established and respected brands Springfield Properties, Springfield Partnerships, Dawn Homes, Walker Group, Tulloch Homes and Mactaggart & Mickel Homes we deliver high quality, energy efficient homes across multiple tenures for people that need them. With a focus on sustainable and quality homes, the customer is at the heart of what we do. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Springfield Properties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Springfield Properties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of Reduce from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. Several analysts have commented on SVNLY shares. Citigroup reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an underweight rating on shares of Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Get Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ Price Performance Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ Company Profile SVNLY opened at $7.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ has a twelve month low of $4.93 and a twelve month high of $8.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.71. (Get Free Report) Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) is a Sweden-based universal bank offering a broad range of financial services to private individuals, businesses and institutions. Established in 1871 and headquartered in Stockholm, the bank operates on a decentralized branch model that empowers locally managed offices to deliver tailored banking solutions. Svenska Handelsbanken provides core services such as deposit accounts, lending, payment services and credit cards, alongside specialized corporate offerings including trade finance, cash management and leasing. In addition to its commercial banking activities, Handelsbanken maintains a dedicated investment banking arm known as Handelsbanken Capital Markets, which offers services in equity and debt underwriting, corporate finance advisory and research. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Textron (NYSE:TXT) closed out 2025 with fourth-quarter revenue up 16% to $4.2 billion and segment profit up 34% to $380 million, driving adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $1.73 per share, executives said on the companys fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. For the full year, Textron reported revenue of $14.8 billion, up 8%, and segment profit of $1.4 billion, up 14%, with adjusted EPS of $6.10. Get alerts: Manufacturing cash flow before pension contributions totaled $510 million in the quarter and $969 million for the year, up $204 million and $277 million, respectively, from the prior-year periods. The company also repurchased about 2.3 million shares for $187 million in the quarter and 10.7 million shares for $822 million during 2025. Leadership transition and 2026 guidance Executive Chairman Scott Donnelly said the quarter closed out the year with another solid quarter, and noted this would be his last earnings call. CEO Lisa Atherton, who discussed her background across Textrons defense and aviation businesses, outlined priorities centered on execution, portfolio focus, and building resilience through manufacturability, supply chain, and talent investments. For 2026, Atherton said Textron is projecting revenue of about $15.5 billion, up about 4.5% from 2025, and adjusted EPS of $6.40 to $6.60. Manufacturing cash flow before pension contributions is expected to be $700 million to $800 million, reflecting about $350 million of higher capital expenditures and long-lead materials to support low-rate initial production (LRIP) preparation for Bells MV-75 program. CFO David Rosenberg added that Textron is eliminating Textron eAviation as a separate reporting segment, with eAviation activities realigned across Textron Aviation, Textron Systems, and Corporate. The company recast 2025 results in its posted earnings presentation to provide comparability with 2026 guidance, he said. Textron Aviation: deliveries, backlog, and margin cadence Textron Aviation posted fourth-quarter revenue of $1.7 billion, up 36% year over year, with segment profit of $208 million, up $108 million. Rosenberg attributed the increase primarily to higher volume and mix, including higher Citation jet and commercial turboprop volume as the segment recovered from a late-2024 strike, along with higher aftermarket parts and service revenue. For the full year, Aviation revenue rose 13% to $6.0 billion and segment profit increased 23% to $694 million. Backlog ended the year at $7.7 billion. Donnelly said Aviation delivered 171 jets in 2025, up from 151 the prior year, and 146 commercial turboprops, up from 127. He also said the Citation Ascend, CJ3 Gen2, and M2 Gen2 with autothrottles received FAA certification and began deliveries during the quarter. Atherton said the Beechcraft Denali program logged more than 3,200 hours of flight testing in 2025. She also noted Textron Aviation entered a contract to deliver the first two Beechcraft T-6 aircraft to Japans Air Self-Defense Force, with deliveries scheduled for 2029 and additional contracts anticipated. For 2026, Rosenberg guided to Aviation revenue of about $6.5 billion, roughly 9% growth, with segment margin expected to be 11% to 12%. In Q&A, Rosenberg said the guidance implies higher deliveries and a similar aftermarket growth profile of around 6%. On margin cadence, Rosenberg said he expects seasonality similar to 2025, with margin about 100-150 basis points below the midpoint of the guide to start the year, rising to 100-150 basis points above the midpoint by year-end. Atherton also cited engines as a continuing supply chain laggard and described workforce challenges, including high attrition among early-tenure employees, prompting an in-house training program to upskill workers. Bell: MV-75 acceleration, investment pull-forward, and potential LRIP adjustment Bell posted fourth-quarter revenue of $1.3 billion, up 11%, driven by higher military revenue tied primarily to the MV-75 program, partially offset by lower commercial revenue due to mix. Segment profit was $101 million, down $9 million from the prior years quarter. For the full year, Bell revenue rose 20% to $4.3 billion, while segment profit declined $7 million to $363 million. Bell backlog ended the year at $7.8 billion, up more than $300 million. Donnelly and Atherton detailed progress on MV-75 acceleration, including completing more than 90% of engineering drawings, contracting nearly 2,000 Tier One and Tier Two suppliers, issuing 45,000 purchase orders, opening new manufacturing capacity in Wichita and Fort Worth, and beginning to manufacture components for the first six aircraft. Atherton said Bell is poised to begin testing the first unit later in 2026, deliver engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) articles through 2027, and transition into LRIP deliveries in 2028. She said the Armys acceleration effectively pulls the program forward by about 2.5 to 3 years, filling what had been an expected gap between EMD deliveries and production. For 2026, Rosenberg guided to Bell revenue of about $4.4 billion and margin of 8% to 9%. He also said Textron expects the MV-75 LRIP phase contract option could be awarded in late 2026 or early 2027, and that upon award the company expects to record an unfavorable cumulative catch-up program adjustment of $60 million to $110 million, reflecting higher costs than originally anticipated when the program was bid in 2021. Rosenberg said the potential adjustment is not included in 2026 guidance due to uncertainty around timing, and he emphasized the MV-75 program is expected to remain profitable after the adjustment. Rosenberg said elevated MV-75-related CapEx is expected in both 2026 and 2027, reflecting investment being moved roughly two years earlier than previously planned. In another exchange, executives said the opportunity is between 40 and 60 units per year and that the ramp is expected to support a higher revenue profile sooner than originally expected. They also said Bell historically was a double-digit margin business and that the company expects a return toward those levels as the program matures. Systems, Industrial, and other financial items Textron Systems reported fourth-quarter revenue of $323 million, up 4%, and segment profit of $43 million, up $1 million. For the full year, Systems revenue was $1.2 billion, up slightly, and segment profit was $175 million, up 14%. Backlog ended 2025 at $3.3 billion, up more than $700 million, which Rosenberg said reflected awards across ATAC, Marine Systems, and Land Systems. Management highlighted the Ship-to-Shore Connector program, noting the business is about 15 units into a 73-unit program of record and received more than $450 million of awards during the year. Donnelly also noted Systems received an IDIQ contract valued up to $200 million for ATAC to provide airborne standoff jamming services to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Industrial revenue was $821 million in the quarter, down $48 million, reflecting a $72 million impact from the divestiture of the powersports business within Textron Specialized Vehicles. Rosenberg said Kautex revenue increased 5% in the quarter, largely due to favorable foreign exchange. Industrial segment profit was $30 million, down $18 million, which he attributed largely to higher selling and administrative costs and lower volume and mix. For the full year, Industrial revenue was $3.2 billion, down 9% (down 4% organically), with segment profit of $145 million. Other items discussed included corporate expenses of $44 million in the quarter, manufacturing net interest expense of $31 million, a LIFO inventory provision of $84 million, and non-service pension and post-retirement income of $66 million. Rosenberg also laid out 2026 company-wide assumptions, including corporate expenses of about $180 million, net interest expense of about $140 million, a LIFO provision of $200 million, and an adjusted effective tax rate of about 20.5%. About Textron (NYSE:TXT) Textron Inc is a global, multi-industry manufacturing company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company designs, manufactures and services a diverse range of products for the aerospace, defense and industrial markets. Textron operates through four primary business segmentsTextron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems and Industrialeach of which serves customers around the world. Textron Aviation is known for its Cessna and Beechcraft branded business jets and turboprop aircraft, offering models that range from light jets and turboprops to larger cabin aircraft designed for corporate and charter use. Read More Shares of ThyssenKrupp AG Sponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:TKAMY Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $13.27, but opened at $14.21. ThyssenKrupp shares last traded at $13.30, with a volume of 8,475 shares changing hands. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts have recently issued reports on TKAMY shares. Zacks Research upgraded ThyssenKrupp from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an underweight rating on shares of ThyssenKrupp in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a buy rating on shares of ThyssenKrupp in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ThyssenKrupp presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Get ThyssenKrupp alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on ThyssenKrupp ThyssenKrupp Stock Down 1.3% The firms 50-day moving average is $11.31 and its 200 day moving average is $12.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.69. ThyssenKrupp (OTCMKTS:TKAMY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter. ThyssenKrupp had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 2.80%.The company had revenue of $9.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. ThyssenKrupp Company Profile (Get Free Report) ThyssenKrupp AG (OTCMKTS: TKAMY) is a diversified German industrial conglomerate headquartered in Essen and Dusseldorf. Formed in 1999 through the merger of Thyssen AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH, the company operates across multiple segments, including steel production, materials distribution, industrial engineering, elevator technology and automotive components. In its Materials Services division, ThyssenKrupp supplies processed and semi-finished steel products and high-performance materials to industries such as automotive, construction and machinery manufacturing. See Also Receive News & Ratings for ThyssenKrupp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ThyssenKrupp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:SMLF Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,869 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,180,000. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF by 150.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 68,441 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,254,000 after acquiring an additional 41,163 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,719 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF by 769.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 134,442 shares of the companys stock worth $8,357,000 after purchasing an additional 118,972 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF in the 2nd quarter worth $10,295,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF by 20.7% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 17,338 shares of the companys stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the last quarter. Get iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF alerts: iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF Price Performance iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF stock opened at $77.80 on Friday. iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF has a one year low of $53.39 and a one year high of $80.72. The businesss fifty day moving average is $76.82 and its 200 day moving average is $74.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 1.10. iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF Company Profile The iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap Multifactor ETF (SMLF) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the STOXX U.S. SmallCap Equity Factor index. The fund tracks an index of small-cap US equities. Stocks are selected and weighted to increase exposure to four factors (quality, value, momentum, and low volatility). SMLF was launched on Apr 28, 2015 and is managed by BlackRock. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SMLF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:SMLF Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares U.S. Small Cap Equity Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. UiPath, Inc. (NYSE:PATH Get Free Report)s share price dropped 1.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $14.08 and last traded at $14.0950. Approximately 15,935,357 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 26,033,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.36. Analyst Ratings Changes PATH has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of UiPath from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of UiPath from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group reissued a neutral rating on shares of UiPath in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Truist Financial set a $17.00 price objective on UiPath in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on UiPath from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $16.00. Get UiPath alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on PATH UiPath Stock Down 5.2% The firm has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.08. The companys 50 day moving average is $15.82 and its 200 day moving average is $13.99. UiPath (NYSE:PATH Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. UiPath had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The firm had revenue of $411.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $392.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that UiPath, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling at UiPath In related news, CFO Ashim Gupta sold 67,468 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total value of $1,086,234.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 557,028 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,968,150.80. The trade was a 10.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Daniel Dines sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total transaction of $864,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 29,153,585 shares in the company, valued at $560,040,367.85. The trade was a 0.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,040,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,290,244 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 23.19% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of UiPath Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in UiPath by 8.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 140,774 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 10,872 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of UiPath by 69.6% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,566 shares of the companys stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 9,257 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of UiPath by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,477,730 shares of the companys stock worth $15,221,000 after buying an additional 75,737 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in UiPath in the second quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in UiPath by 48.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.50% of the companys stock. UiPath Company Profile (Get Free Report) UiPath Inc provides an end-to-end automation platform that offers a range of robotic process automation (RPA) solutions primarily in the United States, Romania, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company offers a suite of interrelated software to build, manage, run, engage, measure, and govern automation within the organization. Its platform's embedded AI, ML, and NLP capabilities improve decisioning and information processing; emulate human behavior allows organizations to address a myriad of use cases; emulate human behavior allows organizations to address a myriad of use cases; multi-tenant platform enterprise deployment with security and governance and Automation Cloud, which enables customers to begin automating without the need to provision infrastructure, install applications, or perform additional configurations; intuitive interface and low-code, drag-and-drop functionality; signed to enable people and automations to work together; and tracks, measures, and forecasts the performance of automations, enables customers to gain powerful insights and generate key performance indicators with actionable metric. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for UiPath Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UiPath and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Visa (NYSE:V) reported what management described as a strong start to fiscal 2026, driven by resilient consumer spending, continued growth in cross-border activity, and accelerating contributions from value-added services and commercial and money movement solutions. Get alerts: Quarterly performance and key volume trends Chief Executive Officer Ryan McInerney said fiscal first-quarter net revenue rose 15% year-over-year to $10.9 billion, while earnings per share increased 15%. Payments volume grew 8% year-over-year in constant dollars to nearly $4 trillion, and processed transactions increased 9% to 69 billion. Chief Financial Officer Chris Suh said business drivers were strong and relatively consistent with fiscal Q4. In constant dollars, cross-border volume excluding intra-Europe rose 11% and processed transactions grew 9%. In the U.S., payments volume increased 7%, with credit up 7% and debit up 6%. Suh noted a slight step down in U.S. payments volume through the quarter, driven primarily by debit. He attributed that to a Visa Direct client shifting remaining volume to its own solution, the loss of some Interlink volumes tied to a Capital One debit migration, and severe weather affecting certain spending categories. He added that the highest spend band continued to grow the fastest, and Visa did not see deterioration in the lower spend band. On holiday spending (Nov. 1 through Dec. 31), Suh said U.S. consumer holiday spending growth was in line with last year, with strength in retail, improvement in fuel, and moderation in other categories. Retail holiday spending growth was slightly better than last year, led by e-commerce. Visa said several key countries saw similar patterns, with retail holiday growth improving year-over-year and e-commerce leading. Revenue drivers: value-added services and commercial momentum Suh said fiscal Q1 net revenue outperformance was largely driven by three factors: stronger-than-expected value-added services revenue, lower-than-expected client incentives, and stronger-than-expected commercial and money movement solutions revenue, which more than offset lower-than-expected currency volatility. Revenue increased 13% in constant dollars, and EPS rose 14% in constant dollars. Visa detailed performance across major revenue components: Service revenue grew 13% year-over-year, which management said reflected pricing and card benefits. grew 13% year-over-year, which management said reflected pricing and card benefits. Data processing revenue rose 17%, attributed to pricing, strong value-added services performance, and higher cross-border transaction mix. rose 17%, attributed to pricing, strong value-added services performance, and higher cross-border transaction mix. International transaction revenue increased 6%, below the 11% constant-dollar cross-border volume growth (excluding intra-Europe). Suh cited lower-than-expected volatility and additional pressure from mix and hedging. increased 6%, below the 11% constant-dollar cross-border volume growth (excluding intra-Europe). Suh cited lower-than-expected volatility and additional pressure from mix and hedging. Other revenue grew 33%, driven by advisory and other value-added services and pricing. grew 33%, driven by advisory and other value-added services and pricing. Client incentives increased 12%, lower than management expected due to one-time write-downs tied to client performance and deal timing. McInerney said commercial and money movement solutions revenue grew 20% in constant dollars, supported by 10% constant-dollar commercial payments volume growth and 23% Visa Direct transaction growth. Suh added Visa Direct transactions increased 23% to 3.7 billion, with strength in domestic and cross-border use cases. Value-added services revenue grew 28% in constant dollars to $3.2 billion, with Suh citing strength across all portfolios and particular demand for advisory and other services, especially in marketing services. In response to analyst questions, management emphasized the broad-based nature of value-added services growth, spanning issuing solutions, acceptance, risk and security, and advisory. Product and technology initiatives highlighted on the call McInerney framed Visas strategy around a Visa as a Service stack, highlighting innovations across credentials, tokens, agentic commerce, stablecoins, issuer processing, and risk and security. On credentials, he said Visa now has more than 5 billion credentials. Tap-to-pay penetration surpassed 80% of face-to-face transactions globally, with the U.S. at nearly 70%. Visa also cited growth in Tap to Phone, which McInerney said helped acceptance locations exceed 175 million globally and added more than 20 new markets over the past year. Visas Flex credential, which allows multiple funding sources on a single credential, reached about 20 million credentials globally. McInerney said Block announced a pilot launch of a Cash App Visa Debit Flex card that enables Afterpay to pay over time anywhere Visa is accepted and leverages Visas DPS issuer processing solution for the debit component. Visa expects to expand Flex to more than 20 additional issuers this year, according to McInerney. On tokenization, McInerney said Visa has more than 17.5 billion tokens globallymore than three times the number of physical cardsand described a long-term goal of fully replacing card-centric e-commerce payment technology. He highlighted ongoing work to reduce guest checkout in Visa e-commerce, which he said fell from 44% in 2019 to about 16% in fiscal 2025; among Visas top 25 sellers, it is less than 4%. Stablecoins, issuer processing, and risk/security updates McInerney said stablecoins remain early-stage for payments but that Visas objective is to build an interoperable layer between stablecoins and traditional fiat payments. He said Visa expanded stablecoin card issuance to surpass 50 countries and extended USDC settlement capabilities into the U.S. Total stablecoin settlement reached an annualized run rate of $4.6 billion globally, according to McInerney. Visa also launched a global stablecoins advisory practice and announced pilots involving Visa Direct stablecoin payouts in the U.S. In issuer processing, Visa discussed investments in DPS and progress following its Pismo acquisition. McInerney highlighted Pismos first post-acquisition commercial offering with Banco BICE in Chile (with Mendel) and Pismos first fleet card offering with Finance Now in New Zealand. In Q&A, he described modernization of bank technology stacks as a long sales-cycle opportunity and said there was no change in the total addressable market, calling it enormous. On risk and security, McInerney said Nets (part of Nexi Group) selected Featurespace to expand fraud prevention for 150 banks in Nordic and Central Europe. Visa also provided updated results for Visa Account Attack Intelligence, which it said scored more than 60 billion transactions and identified nearly 600 million suspicious transactions in the last 12 months in the U.S. McInerney added that in Latin America, within six months, almost 90% of clients were activated and Visa had prevented more than $10 billion of fraud. Guidance, expenses, and capital return Looking ahead, Suh said Visa is maintaining its full-year expectations for adjusted and nominal net revenue growth, with adjusted net revenue growth expected to be in the low double digits. He said Visa assumes the macro environment remains broadly stable and consumer spending stays resilient. For fiscal Q2, Visa expects adjusted net revenue growth in the low double digits, with a step down from Q1 driven by lower pricing contribution, lower volatility, and higher incentive growth. Visa expects adjusted operating expense growth in the mid-teens in Q2, reflecting increased marketing-related expenses tied to the Olympics and FIFA and prior-year timing effects. On taxes and other items, Suh said full-year tax rate expectations were revised lower to 18% to 18.5% due to claim of right tax benefits related to recent and anticipated legal settlements, while reiterating a long-term tax rate expectation of 19% to 20%. Visa now expects full-year non-operating expense of approximately $100 million to $125 million. During the quarter, Visa bought back approximately $3.8 billion in stock and paid about $1.3 billion in dividends. Visa also funded a litigation escrow account by $500 million, which Suh said has the same effect on EPS as a stock buyback. At the end of December, Visa had $21.1 billion remaining in buyback authorization. About Visa (NYSE:V) Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the worlds largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visas network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world. Visas product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration. Featured Articles Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR Free Report) by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,383 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock after acquiring an additional 15,145 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLCs holdings in Antero Resources were worth $1,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 91.3% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 114.2% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 938 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Antero Resources by 9,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,485 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Antero Resources by 701.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.04% of the companys stock. Get Antero Resources alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Roth Mkm restated a neutral rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Monday, December 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a neutral rating and set a $39.00 target price (down from $44.00) on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $45.60. Insider Activity In other news, insider Brendan E. Krueger bought 5,000 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $33.35 per share, for a total transaction of $166,750.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 295,917 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,868,831.95. This trade represents a 1.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 6.30% of the companys stock. Antero Resources Stock Up 2.9% NYSE AR opened at $36.34 on Friday. Antero Resources Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.10 and a 1-year high of $44.01. The company has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33 and a beta of 0.50. The stocks 50 day moving average is $34.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Antero Resources (NYSE:AR Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 11.73%.The companys quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.07) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Antero Resources Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Antero Resources Company Profile (Free Report) Antero Resources Corporation is an independent exploration and production company focused on the development of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and oil properties in the Appalachian Basin of the United States. The companys operations target the Marcellus and Utica shales, where it applies advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize recovery from its large acreage position. Anteros portfolio encompasses significant reserves of ethane, propane and other NGLs, alongside dry gas volumes that are positioned to serve both domestic and export markets. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Antero Resources holds approximately 1.8 million net acres of leasehold interests across parts of West Virginia and Ohio. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Antero Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Antero Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. Weyerhaeuser had a return on equity of 1.50% and a net margin of 4.69%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Weyerhaeusers revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Weyerhaeuser Stock Down 0.6% Shares of WY opened at $25.76 on Friday. The businesss 50 day moving average is $24.13 and its 200 day moving average is $24.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Weyerhaeuser has a 12-month low of $21.16 and a 12-month high of $31.66. The company has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 58.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 96.30 and a beta of 1.04. Get Weyerhaeuser alerts: Weyerhaeuser Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Weyerhaeusers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 190.91%. Insider Buying and Selling Institutional Inflows and Outflows In related news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis bought 4,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.61 per share, with a total value of $106,245.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 25,978 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $613,340.58. The trade was a 20.95% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, CEO Devin W. Stockfish sold 90,162 shares of Weyerhaeuser stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.33, for a total transaction of $2,103,479.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,024,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,007.13. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing . Company insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WY. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 6,259 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Weyerhaeuser by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,630 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new stake in Weyerhaeuser during the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Worth Venture Partners LLC bought a new stake in Weyerhaeuser in the third quarter worth $233,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CIBC restated an outperform rating on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Friday, December 12th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Weyerhaeuser from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America restated a neutral rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a sell (d+) rating on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Weyerhaeuser from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $28.50. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on WY Weyerhaeuser News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Weyerhaeuser this week: Weyerhaeuser Company Profile (Get Free Report) Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) is a leading integrated forest products company whose core businesses are timberland ownership and forest products manufacturing. The company owns and manages large tracts of timberland and harvests, processes and sells wood and wood-derived products used primarily in residential and industrial construction. Its manufacturing operations produce a range of building materials, including lumber, engineered wood products and wood panels, alongside fiber-based products that serve multiple commercial applications. Founded in 1900 by Frederick Weyerhaeuser and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company has a long history in the North American forest products industry. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Weyerhaeuser Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Weyerhaeuser and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR Free Report) by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,378 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 8,888 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corps holdings in Whirlpool were worth $1,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Whirlpool by 129.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 369 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 80.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 511 shares of the companys stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC now owns 600 shares of the companys stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Whirlpool during the 3rd quarter worth $69,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 942 shares of the companys stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the companys stock. Get Whirlpool alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WHR shares. Wall Street Zen raised Whirlpool from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Whirlpool from $82.00 to $75.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Whirlpool from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an underperform rating on shares of Whirlpool in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Whirlpool currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $87.29. Whirlpool News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Whirlpool this week: Whirlpool Trading Up 4.0% WHR opened at $80.06 on Friday. Whirlpool Corporation has a 12-month low of $65.35 and a 12-month high of $111.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.24. The firms fifty day moving average price is $78.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.13. Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.04%.Whirlpools revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. Whirlpool has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.000-7.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Whirlpool Corporation will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year. Whirlpool Profile (Free Report) Whirlpool Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of home appliances, with a product portfolio that spans major categories such as laundry, refrigeration, cooking, dishwashing and small electrics. Headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the company designs, produces and distributes its appliances through a network of wholly owned manufacturing facilities, joint ventures and third-party partners. Whirlpool serves both retail and professional markets, offering products under its flagship Whirlpool brand as well as several well-known names including Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir, Amana, Brastemp and Consul. In its laundry segment, Whirlpool provides top- and front-load washing machines, dryers and combination units designed to balance energy efficiency, capacity and convenience. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WHR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Whirlpool Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Whirlpool and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Winnow Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ Free Report) by 3,160.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,337 shares of the cell phone carriers stock after buying an additional 24,560 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 0.9% of Winnow Wealth LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Winnow Wealth LLCs holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carriers stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 95.3% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the cell phone carriers stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carriers stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 782 shares of the cell phone carriers stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Verizon Communications alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $47.43. Verizon Communications Stock Performance Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stocks fifty day moving average is $40.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.39 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company has a market capitalization of $187.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.34. Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $36.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year. Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communicationss payout ratio is presently 58.97%. More Verizon Communications News Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on EPS and revenue Verizon reported $1.09 EPS vs. consensus $1.06 and revenue of $36.38B, topping estimates and showing 2% year-over-year revenue growth. Read More. Q4 beat on EPS and revenue Verizon reported $1.09 EPS vs. consensus $1.06 and revenue of $36.38B, topping estimates and showing 2% year-over-year revenue growth. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Raised FY2026 EPS guidance management set guidance of $4.90$4.95, above consensus, improving forward earnings visibility and supporting valuation. Read More. Raised FY2026 EPS guidance management set guidance of $4.90$4.95, above consensus, improving forward earnings visibility and supporting valuation. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Strong subscriber momentum Verizon logged its highest quarterly wireless net adds in years (notably large postpaid phone adds), a primary driver of the upside in revenue and service growth metrics. Read More. Strong subscriber momentum Verizon logged its highest quarterly wireless net adds in years (notably large postpaid phone adds), a primary driver of the upside in revenue and service growth metrics. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Capital return program management outlined a large buyback program (cited in call writeups), which supports EPS and signals confidence in cash flow. Read More. Capital return program management outlined a large buyback program (cited in call writeups), which supports EPS and signals confidence in cash flow. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity heavy call buying was reported intraday, consistent with speculative/hedged bullish positioning by some investors. (Options volume report) Unusual options activity heavy call buying was reported intraday, consistent with speculative/hedged bullish positioning by some investors. (Options volume report) Neutral Sentiment: Operational resilience highlighted company actions to harden networks for winter storms were noted; supports customer experience but is a longer-term benefit. Read More. Operational resilience highlighted company actions to harden networks for winter storms were noted; supports customer experience but is a longer-term benefit. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Positive media/analyst writeups emphasize value after the beat, framing VZ as an income + growth story for yield-seeking investors. Read More. Positive media/analyst writeups emphasize value after the beat, framing VZ as an income + growth story for yield-seeking investors. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Execution and cost risks called out deeper analysis warns that aggressive subscriber promotions, the Frontier deal and integration/unit economics could pressure margins and near-term earnings visibility. Read More. Execution and cost risks called out deeper analysis warns that aggressive subscriber promotions, the Frontier deal and integration/unit economics could pressure margins and near-term earnings visibility. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cut Wells Fargo trimmed its target in a sector reassessment, a reminder that some shops remain cautious on wireless pricing and capital intensity. Read More. Analyst target cut Wells Fargo trimmed its target in a sector reassessment, a reminder that some shops remain cautious on wireless pricing and capital intensity. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Dividend-safety concerns re-surfacing articles questioning sustainability of the ~7% yield could weigh on long-term income-focused demand if cash flow dynamics shift. Read More. Dividend-safety concerns re-surfacing articles questioning sustainability of the ~7% yield could weigh on long-term income-focused demand if cash flow dynamics shift. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Minor institutional selling a small manager reduced its position, noted in filings; not a major red flag but adds to mixed signals. Read More. About Verizon Communications (Free Report) Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers. The companys consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Verizon Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Verizon Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEARCA:DXJ Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,029,112 shares, a growth of 193.8% from the December 31st total of 350,248 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 825,688 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 825,688 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund Stock Up 0.8% Shares of DXJ stock opened at $152.73 on Friday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $146.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.41. WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund has a 52-week low of $91.58 and a 52-week high of $156.60. Get WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund by 672.5% in the 2nd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 309 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 306 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. About WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance of the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Index (the Index). The Index is designed to provide exposure to Japanese equity markets while at the same time neutralizing exposure to fluctuations of the Japanese Yen movements relative to the United States dollar. In this sense, the Index hedges against fluctuations in the relative value of the yen against the United States dollar. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund (NYSEARCA:DFJ Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 123,685 shares, a growth of 56.0% from the December 31st total of 79,264 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 14,383 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.6 days. Currently, 3.5% of the companys stock are sold short. Currently, 3.5% of the companys stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 14,383 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.6 days. WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund Trading Down 0.3% DFJ traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.39. The stock had a trading volume of 10,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,582. The company has a market capitalization of $358.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.42. The stocks 50 day moving average is $97.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.13. WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund has a one year low of $70.04 and a one year high of $103.63. Get WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 210,721 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $19,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,769 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund by 3.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 91,335 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $8,662,000 after acquiring an additional 3,274 shares in the last quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86,134 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $8,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund by 192.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 51,026 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $4,839,000 after buying an additional 33,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nkcfo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,970,000. WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund Company Profile WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance of the WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of dividend paying small-capitalization companies in Japan. After the 300 largest companies have been removed from the WisdomTree Japan Dividend Index, the remaining companies are chosen for inclusion in the Index. Companies are weighted in the Index based on annual cash dividends paid. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Justin Trudeau has paid a glowing tribute to Catherine O'Hara. Catherine O'Hara was born in Toronto The actress - who was born in Toronto, Canada - died on Friday (30.01.26) at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, and the former Canadian Prime Minister has taken to social media to heap praise on the Home Alone star. Alongside a throwback photo of them together, Trudeau wrote on X: "From SCTV to Home Alone to her unforgettable role as Moira Rose on Schitts Creek, Catherine OHara was a beloved Canadian icon with a rare gift for comedy and heart. She made people laugh across generations and helped bring Canadian storytelling to the world in a way only she could. "My thoughts are with her family, friends, and everyone who found joy in her work. (sic)" Meanwhile, Seth Rogen previously hailed the actress as a huge influence on his own career. The film star took to social media to pay a heartfelt tribute to O'Hara, his former co-star on The Studio. Seth - who has enjoyed huge success with movies like Superbad, Knocked Up, and Pineapple Express - wrote on Instagram: "Really dont know what to say I told OHara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person Id ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. Were all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it. (sic)" Judd Apatow also paid tribute to the late actress, describing her as a "really special person". The 58-year-old filmmaker wrote in response: "[heart emoji] brilliant and kind. Riotously funny for fifty years. A really special person. (sic)" 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. It might seem crazy to release the second half of a two-part after a five-year gap, but that's exactly what's happening with the final entry in the long-running Fast & Furious saga fronted by Vin Diesel. Universal Pictures, the backers of the saga, have slated the movie, officially titled Fast Forever, for a March 17 release in 2028. It will mark 27 years since the first film The Fast and the Furious opened in theatres. Diesel, who is also a producer on these movies, shared a picture of himself with Paul Walker from the original film, with the caption: No one said the road would be easy but its ours. One that has defined us and become our legacy And a legacy lasts forever. At the 2025 edition of FuelFest, an event for automobile enthusiasts held in LA, actor Vin Diesel, who was present alongside Tyrese Gibson and Cody Walker, dropped a major update on the 11th film in the Fast & Furious franchise. Addressing an elated crowd, Diesel shared that the new film, which would pick up from the cliffhanger ending of Fast X, would get an April 2027 release window and teased that Brian O'Conner, played by the late Paul Walker in the series' earlier entries, would return. Elaborating, Diesel told the crowd that he agreed to make the new one for Universal Pictures on three conditions. "The first is to bring the franchise back to LA. The second thing was to return to the car culture, to the street racing. The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O'Conner. That is what you're going to get in the finale." However, Diesel did not reveal how they would bring Brian back. The most obvious guess is that advanced CGI and AI would be involved in some capacity. But it remains to be seen how loyal fans and film buffs in general will react to this idea. It's unclear whether Brian would appear in one scene or several or throughout the film. If it's the latter, it would be quite baffling, to say the least. (But since the franchise is known for many strange decisions, it wouldn't be really that surprising, is it?) In Furious 7, there was a genuine reason to incorporate a CGI component considering Paul Walker's untimely death in 2013 in a car crash, at age 40. Paul's brothers, Cody and Caleb, had opted to become stand-ins for their brother for the unfinished scenes, with the screenplay modified to make it appear as though Paul was retiring instead of the alternative. It's likely the makers would take the same route to bring the character back in the new film. It has been 25 years since the release of the original film The Fast and the Furious, directed by Rob Cohen. The 11th film is expected to be the final entry of the long-running franchise. Jason Momoa, who played the principal antagonist Dante Reyes in Fast X, is expected to return along with director Louis Leterrier. In an earlier interview with Empire magazine, Leterrier shared that he and Momoa will take the villain in a new direction. "Lets do something else. Its never twice the same with Jason. Dante will truly evolve. Lets explore something we havent seen before. He was fuelled by vengeance. He could have played it dark, angry. But it was interesting to play with the duality and the push-pull within the character, where within the same sentence hes laughing and feels the pain of losing everything. Only an actor like Jason could have done that." Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability in India, placing a massive burden on families and the healthcare system. In a stroke, every minute matters; nearly 1.9 billion brain cells are lost every minute when treatment is delayed. Timely care within the golden hour can significantly reduce mortality and prevent lifelong disability. Yet, across much of India, especially in rural and remote regions, reaching a stroke-ready hospital within this critical window remains a major challenge. Delays in transportation, lack of awareness about stroke symptoms, shortage of specialised facilities, and difficult terrain often mean that patients arrive too late to receive life-saving clot-busting treatment. Addressing this urgent gap between symptom onset and treatment, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has taken a major step by handing over two Mobile Stroke Units (MSUs) to the Government of Assam. The initiative marks a fundamental shift in stroke care delivery, from patients struggling to reach hospitals to hospitals reaching patients at their doorstep. Developed under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the guidance of Union Health Minister JP Nadda, the programme reflects the governments commitment to extending advanced healthcare services to the poorest, most marginalised and vulnerable populations, including women, even in Indias most challenging geographies. By integrating cutting-edge technology with emergency medical services, India has now become the second country globally to successfully deploy Mobile Stroke Units within rural emergency response systems, a milestone that could reshape stroke care in low-resource settings. How prevalent are strokes in India? Indias stroke burden is both massive and rapidly increasing. According to data from the National Stroke Registry Programme (NSRP), the country reports between 119 and 145 stroke cases per lakh population annually, with approximately 86.5 deaths per lakh population every year due to stroke. This translates into an estimated 14.4 to 16.6 lakh new stroke cases annually. The situation has worsened over the past three decades. An analysis published in The Lancet Neurology revealed that India has witnessed a 51 per cent increase in stroke cases between 1990 and 2021. Time remains the single most critical determinant of stroke survival and recovery. Delays in reaching appropriate care continue to compromise treatment outcomes. For your daily dose of medical news and updates, visit: HEALTH This challenge was highlighted by a 2025 hospital-based study conducted at a tertiary care centre in southern India, which examined delays in transporting patients for thrombolytic therapy. The researchers noted, The time taken to transport patients for thrombolytic therapy in stroke cases remains alarmingly high, compromising potential positive outcomes. Addressing these delays can enhance prehospital care and improve patient prognoses. The study aimed to identify factors causing delays in treating acute stroke patients at a tertiary care hospital in southern India, to inform better practices and expedite care. To assess this, caregivers of ischemic stroke patients were interviewed regarding treatment delays. Patients were categorised into two groups - those who arrived within the four-and-a-half-hour therapeutic window (Group A) and those who arrived later (Group B). Data on distance from hospital, transport availability, and mode of travel were analysed. The findings revealed significant systemic gaps. Among 594 patients included in the analysis, 73.4 per cent arrived outside the recommended treatment window. Women constituted one-third of the total study population but accounted for only 20 per cent of patients who reached hospitals within the critical window. Younger patients were more likely to arrive early. The main reason for delays was a lack of awareness of stroke symptoms (53.2%), followed by initial care sought at non-stroke-ready hospitals (23%). Use of ambulances and vehicle ownership significantly correlated with faster arrivals, while distance to the hospital did not significantly affect timeliness, the researchers further reported. Delays in stroke treatment are a major concern, linked to factors like age, gender, and transportation issues. No single factor independently predicted early hospital arrival. To improve outcomes, we need strategies that enhance public education, symptom recognition, and transportationespecially for vulnerable groups like women and the elderly, the study concluded. Similar barriers have also been documented in Indias northeastern region, where healthcare access remains limited. A prospective observational study conducted at the Department of Neurology, Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Assam, between January 2023 and March 2024, examined real-world challenges affecting thrombolysis delivery in acute ischemic stroke patients. The researchers observed, Timely thrombolysis significantly improves functional outcomes in acute ischemic stroke. However, implementation remains suboptimal in lowresource settings. The study included 444 ischemic stroke patients who presented within 24 hours of symptom onset. Despite this, only 29 patients, just 6.5 per cent, received thrombolytic therapy. Identifying the major obstacles, the study reported, The most common barriers were delayed arrival beyond the 4.5hour window (63%), lack of symptom awareness (52%), ambulance unavailability (38%), imaging and consent delays (22%), and elevated blood pressure (17%). Financial constraints were a factor in 11%. Most patients originated from rural areas. Realworld barriers continue to hinder thrombolysis implementation in India. Public education, prehospital care reforms, and streamlined stroke protocols are crucial to improving outcomes in underserved regions, it concluded. What is a Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU)? A Mobile Stroke Unit is a mobile hospital on wheels, equipped with a CT scanner, teleconsultation with specialists, point-of-care laboratory, and clot-busting drugs, enabling early diagnosis and treatment of stroke at or near the patients home. This innovation is especially crucial for remote and difficult terrains, where travel to hospitals can take several hours. Through specialist teleconsultation, the MSU enables early identification of stroke type and rapid initiation of treatmentsaving lives and preventing disability. Why the Northeast is in focus The Northeast has a disproportionately high burden of stroke. Difficult terrain, long distances, and limited access to specialised care have historically made timely stroke treatment challenging. To address this gap, ICMR established a neurologist-led stroke unit at Assam Medical College & Hospital, Dibrugarh, and physician-led stroke units at Tezpur Medical College Hospital and Baptist Christian Hospital, Tezpur. The Mobile Stroke Units were embedded into this pre-hospital stroke care pathway. The results have been transformative. The model reduced treatment time from nearly 24 hours to about two hours, reduced deaths by one-third, and reduced disability by eight times. Between 2021 and August 2024, the MSU received over 2,300 emergency calls. Trained nurses screened 294 suspected stroke cases, with 90 per cent of patients treated directly from their homes. Integration of the MSU with the 108-emergency ambulance service expanded its reach to a 100 km radius. Handing over the MSU to the Government of Assam, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research and Director General, ICMR, said, Mobile Stroke Units were first developed in Germany and later evaluated in major global cities. India has evaluated such units in a rural, remote, and difficult terrain in Northeast India. We are also the second country globally to report successful integration of an MSU with emergency medical services for treating rural acute ischemic stroke patients. Sharing the states experience, Shri P. Ashok Babu, Secretary & Commissioner, Health and Family Welfare, Government of Assam, said that the handover strengthens Assams emergency response system and ensures continuity of this life-saving service under state ownership. He noted that the collaboration with ICMR has enabled faster treatment, better coordination, and improved outcomes for stroke patients, and provides a strong foundation for expansion. This story is done in collaboration with First Check, which is the health journalism vertical of DataLEADS. CLAIM: Letting children play in dirt and natural outdoor environments helps strengthen their immune system, while raising them in overly sterile conditions may increase the risk of allergies, asthma, and frequent infections later in life. FACT: Research shows that early exposure to everyday environmental microbes, through outdoor play, pets, and natural surroundings, helps train childrens immune systems and may lower the risk of allergies and asthma later in life. However, experts stress that this does not mean unsafe exposure to harmful germs or pollution, and basic hygiene and protective measures remain essential. In a reel posted by Dr Manan Vora, an orthopaedic surgeon with over 6.06 lakh followers on Instagram, the doctor warns parents against raising children in overly sterile environments. In the reel, Dr Vora explains that many parents feel the urge to constantly protect their children from dirt, bacteria, and germs, but this may actually do more harm than good. You know, I see a lot of parents, and they have this urge to keep their babies away from any kind of dirt, infection or bacteria, but as a doctor parent, I feel this is one of the worst things you can do to your kid, he says. According to him, constantly maintaining an ultra-clean environment prevents the immune system from learning how to respond to everyday microbes. Always keeping an ultra-sterile environment for your kid means their immune system is not getting exposed to any bacteria or pathogen, because of which their body never trains to fight them, he explains. Dr Vora further adds that such overprotection cannot last forever. You cannot prevent the exposure forever. They will eventually go to school and play with other kids. And at that time, if their body is not trained, it can result in allergies, asthma and skin infections, he says. While stressing the importance of hygiene, he also encourages outdoor play. So while hygiene habits are important, you should also let your kids play outside in the dirt so their bodies are trained to recognise and fight infections, he adds. The reel has gained significant attention on social media, clocking over 1.67 lakh views, 3,590 likes, and 4,441 shares. Is getting dirty actually good for kids immune systems? What research shows Multiple scientific studies suggest that early exposure to everyday environmental microbes may play a protective role in shaping childrens immune systems. Research from 2014 conducted on young children living in urban environments found that infants exposed to common household microbes, including pet dander, dust, and certain allergens, before the age of one had a lower risk of developing allergies and recurrent wheezing later in childhood. Activities such as outdoor play and mud play may contribute to this natural exposure. While mud itself is not a medical intervention, it represents contact with soil-based microbes that children would otherwise miss in highly sanitised indoor settings. Similar protective trends were observed in rural settings. A small 2016 study reported that children raised on non-industrial farms were significantly less likely to develop asthma compared to those who were not. The biological explanation behind these findings is detailed in a 2018 scientific review. It explains the immunological mechanisms behind why reduced early-life microbial exposure is linked to increased allergic diseases (including asthma), highlighting the importance of microbial stimuli for proper immune development. Further evidence comes from a large 2019 study that directly tested the hygiene hypothesis in children with atopic dermatitis (eczema). The study analysed 426 children diagnosed with the condition and compared them with 426 non-atopic controls. The researchers reported, The odds ratio of atopic dermatitis first occurrence was 0.35 for children who had experienced four or more infections compared with those with no infections. For your daily dose of medical news and updates, visit: HEALTH The study also found that family and environmental exposure mattered. Children with two or more siblings showed a 40 per cent lower risk of developing atopic dermatitis, while daily contact with dogs was associated with a significantly reduced risk. Summarising their findings, the authors concluded, Early-life environmental exposures, including pathogens and commensals, act as microbes contact carriers influencing immune system balance early in life. More recent evidence strengthens this link. A comprehensive 2022 review focusing on the environmental microbiome, the collection of microbes present in soil, air, plants, and built environments, found that early interaction with diverse microbes is largely protective against allergic diseases and asthma. During the critical window between birth and one year of life, interactions between our early immune system and the environmental microbiome have two consequences: our individual microbiome is populated by environmental microbes, and our immune system is trained regarding which antigens to tolerate, the authors explained. The review further noted that greater microbial diversity in early life dramatically reduces the risk of developing allergic diseases, although it cautioned that microbial exposure later in life may have different effects depending on individual health conditions. Researchers have also studied how early environmental exposure affects gut health. A study titled Infant gut microbiota and the hygiene hypothesis of allergic disease: impact of household pets and siblings on microbiota composition and diversity examined 24 healthy infants from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) cohort. Faecal samples collected at four months of age showed that infants living with pets had higher microbial richness and diversity in their gut microbiota. This study provides new evidence that exposure to pets and siblings may influence the early development of the gut microbiota, with potential implications for allergic disease, the researchers concluded. Indian researchers have echoed similar concerns. A review from the Indian Journal of Medical Research also discusses how the gut microbiome (community of microbes) plays a key role in childrens health and immune system development. It highlights that alterations in the microbiome are associated with immune-related conditions, including asthma and atopy (allergic diseases) in children. What experts say Dr Amit Gupta, Senior Neonatologist and Paediatrician at Motherhood Hospitals, Noida, explained that the concept is linked to the long-discussed Hygiene Hypothesis, which suggests that limited early exposure to microbes may weaken immune development in children. If a child is kept all the time indoors and not exposed to the outside environment, the immune system does not get properly trained, Dr Gupta said. When children start going to daycare or begin outdoor activities after the first year, they are naturally exposed to viruses and harmless microbes. These early infections help the body develop immunity. He added that early exposure helps the immune system differentiate between harmful and harmless substances. Studies have shown that children who grow up around pets, farms, or natural environments tend to have a lower risk of allergies compared to those raised in overly sanitised settings, he noted. According to Dr Gupta, playing outdoors, touching soil, and interacting with nature can support immune regulation and may reduce the risk of allergies and asthma later in life. Exposure to harmless environmental microbes, from mud, plants, or pets, plays an important role in strengthening the immune system, he said. However, he cautioned parents against confusing healthy exposure with unsafe practices. This does not mean dangerous germs or pollutants are safe. Basic hygiene remains essential. Children should wash their hands after outdoor play, avoid extremely dirty environments, and use masks in high pollution areas when required. Balanced exposure- this is the key to building a strong immune system, Dr Gupta added. This story is done in collaboration with First Check, which is the health journalism vertical of DataLEADS. Three days after the tragic death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in Baramati, his uncle and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar revealed on Saturday that his nephew had been in favour of a merger between the two warring factions of the NCP. Pawar shared that discussions about the reunification of the two NCP factions had been ongoing for the last four months and that Ajit had set February 12 as the target date for the merger to take place. The veteran leader clarified that the talks had been taking place between Ajit Pawar and Jayan Patil, an NCP (SP) leader, and that he himself was not actively involved in these negotiations. Pawar said he was not aware of the decision of Ajits wife Sunetra to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government as a deputy chief minister. "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions, he said. Pawar hinted that the "haste" decision to appoint Sunetra Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister may have been made by leaders in the Mahayuti government in Mumbai. If there is a problem in the family, the family stands together. There are no issues in the family... All these discussions are not taking place here; they are happening in Mumbai. Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, and other senior leaders are having these discussions. Whatever is being seen appears to be decisions taken by them. I will not comment on this, he added. Commenting on the tragic death of Ajit in the plane crash, Pawar urged against politicising the incident. This is a huge loss for Maharashtra. The state has lost a dynamic and decisive leader, he said. Some people are saying there is some politics behind this, but it was an accident, and there is no politics involved. Politics should not be brought into this. The Bihar government has recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of a female NEET aspirant in Patna after her parents alleged sexual assault and efforts to cover it up. The deceased, who had been preparing for the medical entrance exam, was found unconscious in her hostel room in Chitragupt Nagar, Patna, earlier this month. She died at a private hospital on January 11 after remaining in a coma for several days. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has urged the Government of India to hand over the investigation into the NEET student's death (Case No- 14/26) to the CBI. The incident must be thoroughly and transparently investigated, said Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who also holds the home portfolio, in a post on X. A special team of the state police is already investigating the case. The CBI may now register a separate case on the basis of the FIR registered by Patna Police. The agency sleuths will collect all evidence obtained by the state police and will also record the statements of suspects, the arrested person, hospital staff, family members and policemen, who had initially investigated the case. The girls parents have alleged that she was sexually assaulted, claiming that the state police attempted to downplay the matter by treating it as a case of suicide. One person, an employee of the hostel, has been arrested in connection with the case. On Friday, high drama unfolded outside the residence of DGP Vinay Kumar, where the bereaved parents, hailing from the neighboring district of Jehanabad, met him to raise their grievances. Today, our hopes for justice have been dashed. The DGP said he is treating the case as that of suicide. He offered to arrange a meeting with Home minister Samrat Choudhary if we were not satisfied. We are crestfallen, the deceaseds mother told reporters. Meanwhile, a forensic report on the girls clothes, which she had been wearing at the time of hospitalisation, has detected traces of semen, strongly suggesting the possibility of sexual assault and harassment. DNA profile from the traces of semen detected in the forensic report is being obtained, and it will be matched with DNA profiles of the arrested persons and other suspects. That is the reason DNA samples are being collected of several persons as part of the investigation into the case, a senior police official told PTI. A crucial meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs and MLCs will be held today at the Vidhan Sabha to deliberate on the partys future course of action following the shocking demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash. The meeting comes amid intense speculation that Ajit Pawars wife, Sunetra Pawar, may be appointed as the new Deputy Chief Minister and that the two warring factions of the NCP could move towards a merger. The NCP legislature party meeting will be convened on Saturday, where Sunetra Pawar will be named as its leader. Many leaders want her to become the Deputy Chief Minister, senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal said. Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, arrived in Mumbai on Friday night and proceeded to Devgiri Bungalow, the official government residence allotted to Ajit Pawar. #WATCH | Mumbai | Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM late Ajit Pawar, reaches their Mumbai residence. pic.twitter.com/MJUlAMrasZ ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2026 The sister of former state minister and Lok Sabha MP Padamsinh Patil, Sunetra entered active politics only after the NCP split in 2023. Fondly known among party workers as Vahini, she contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Baramati against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule. Although she lost by a huge margin, Sunetra was later elected to the Rajya Sabha a few months later. According to reports, Sunetra Pawar is likely to be named the NCP legislature party leader at todays meeting, with her swearing-in ceremony as Deputy Chief Minister expected to take place at 5 pm. The party has also reportedly decided to field her from the Baramati Assembly constituency, which has fallen vacant following Ajit Pawars death. NCP Maharashtra President Sunil Tatkare, however, declined to comment on discussions regarding the vacant Deputy CM post. "We still feel that Dada (Ajit Pawar) is with us. It is very painful for us to come to this (party) office today in his absence. Beyond that, I have nothing else to say," he said. Meanwhile, sources in NCP (SP) and Sharad Pawar's family said they were not privy to her decision to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government. "The NCP (SP) leadership and Sharad Pawar's family members were completely in the dark about her plans," a source told PTI news agency. Ajit Pawar (66), the longest-serving Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, was travelling to Baramati to attend a rally for the Zilla Parishad elections when his chartered aircraft crashed and caught fire on Wednesday morning. His death comes at a time when talks were underway regarding a possible merger between the NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), aimed at strengthening the party. A visible thaw in relations between the two factions has been evident in recent months. Earlier this month, the two groups formed an alliance for municipal elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad and have also announced a tie-up for the third phase of civic body polls scheduled for February 5. Both factions had agreed to contest the elections under Ajit Pawars factions clock symbol. Ever since the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) made its plans to merge with the Ajit Pawar faction official on Thursday, plans to derail the move began, a report claimed. The plots stemmed from the belief that Sharad Pawar would become the undisputed leader of the party, which would not be in favour of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance or a section of the NCP (Ajit Pawar), it added. The BJP has made all the arrangements to ensure that Sunetra Pawar will become the final word in Ajit Pawar's camp. Devendra Fadnaviss party Co is hopeful that they will be able to keep the party within its fold if Sunetra Pawar is in charge, Loksatta pointed out in a report. The Sharad Pawar camp was not kept in the loop about her elevation, and this is why the veteran leader told the media that he was in the dark about her entry into the state cabinet. We have no idea about Sunetra Pawar's oath-taking ceremony as Deputy Chief Minister, Sharad Pawar had said about the programme scheduled for Saturday evening. What happens if NCP merger becomes reality? Even if the merger happens, the BJP wants to ensure Sharad Pawar will not enjoy a monopoly in decision-making. The elevation of Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state is a measure to strengthen her position within the party so that she will be capable of rallying cadres behind her after the merger. The saffron party is strongly backed by a group of NCP (Ajit Pawar) leaders who believe they stand to lose dearly if the unification happens. These leaders believe their careers will hit roadblocks if Sharad Pawar becomes the patriarch of a unified NCP again. NCP (SP) leaders are likely to dominate them when it comes to ticket distribution, as well as party hierarchy and roles, they fear. "Some people like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare took the initiative. These people might have decided something," the senior Pawar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The veteran leader further claimed that it was his late nephew Ajit Pawar's wish to unite both factions and that they were optimistic about it. "Now we feel his wish should be fulfilled. Ajit Pawar, Shashikant Shinde, and Jayant Patil had initiated the talks about the merger of the two factions. Even the merger date had been fixedit was scheduled for the 12th (February). Unfortunately, Ajit left us before that," he said. Sources from the NCP had said on Friday that the Rajya Sabha MP is likely to be sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday, replacing her late husband, Ajit Pawar, in the cabinet. Following the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the 28 January air crash in Baramati, a section of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders had demanded that she be given the post held by her late husband in the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet. Only time will tell if the efforts from the Mahayuti will succeed. In a shocking case, a Karnataka man murdered his parents and sister and buried their bodies inside their rented house in Vijayanagar on Tuesday, Police said. The murders were carried out at the family's rented home in L B Colony on Harapanahalli Road in Kottur. Akshay Kumar, from Doddakittadahalli village in Hosadurga taluk, Chitradurga district, was arrested after he tried to file a missing person case at the Tilak Nagar police station in Bengaluru. Police became suspicious when the man gave vague statements about where he thought his parents and sister had gone. After police sustained the questioning, he admitted to committing the crime. He said that he killed his father Bhimraj, mother Jayalakshmi and sister Amrutha on January 27 and buried their bodies inside the house before fleeing to Bengaluru. Police sources said that the man was triggered by a family dispute over his sisters romantic relationship with a young man. Akshay reportedly opposed the relationship. When his parents reportedly supported his sister and tried to reason with him, he murdered them in a rage. However, the exact motive for the murder is still under investigation. Sources also hint at a property dispute being a possible motive behind the act. The family, who are originally from Chitradurga district, had moved multiple times for work, including to Ballari district and Davangere. There, they had built a house worth Rs 1.5 crore. About two years ago, they moved to Kotturu and began living in a rented house. Vijayanagar District SP Jahnvi and Kudligi DSP Mallesh Doddmani arrived at the scene of the crime to oversee the inquiry with a dog squad and fingerprint experts. The accused is being taken to the scene so that he can pinpoint the exact place he buried the victims' bodies. Authorities are gathering forensic evidence and trying to confirm the sequence of events. Even as speculation over a possible merger of the two warring factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) intensified following the shocking death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawars decision to join the Maharashtra government is likely to push such a move to the back burner for now. According to reports, neither the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) nor members of his family were aware of Sunetra Pawars decision to join the BJP-led Mahayuti government as Deputy Chief Minister. The NCP (SP) leadership and Sharad Pawars family members were completely in the dark about her plans, a source told the PTI news agency. Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, is likely to be elected leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday. She is expected to take oath as Deputy Chief Minister later in the evening. Sunetra, who made her electoral debut in 2024, would become the first woman to hold the post of Deputy Chief Minister in Maharashtra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP, which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance, would support any decision taken by the family and party of the late Ajit Pawar. The NCP will take whatever decision it has to take regarding the post of Deputy Chief Minister, and we will support it. We are standing behind the family of Ajit Dada and the NCP, Fadnavis told reporters in Nagpur. It remains to be seen whether the NCPs decision to continue in the Mahayuti will slow down merger talks with the NCP (SP), which is a constituent of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi. NCP leaders said the immediate priority was to fill the vacant posts of legislature party leader and Deputy Chief Minister, both of which were held by Ajit Pawar. They added that the decision on reunification of the two factions now rests with the Pawar family and the party leadership. A merger is the need of the hour to build a strong NCP and provide an effective political alternative. Talks had reached an advanced stage, but in Ajit Pawars absence, the question now is who will take the final call, a senior NCP (SP) leader told PTI. The NCP and the NCP (SP) contested the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections in an alliance, and there were talks of an alliance for the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) rhetoric of protecting West Bengal from infiltrators was the resounding message during Union Home Minister Amit Shahs second visit in two months, a sign that the saffron party means serious business of capturing CM Mamata Banerjees turf. On infiltration and border fencing Hitting out at the CM while accusing her of shielding infiltrators to consolidate her votebank, Shah emphasised the Calcutta High Court (HC) ruling of the state government handing over land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing Indo-Bangladesh borders. #WATCH | Bagdogra, West Bengal: Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, "The infiltration from Bengal is not just a matter of Bengal's security. The infiltration happening in Bengal has become a matter of national security and therefore, it is necessary to remove this government that pic.twitter.com/E0Zo3P4ugr ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 Calcutta High Court has asked the state to give BSF land before March 31st. Mamata has no interest in stopping infiltrators. This is a big jolt to Mamata Banerjee. Dont think that after the High Court judgement Mamata will give the land to BSF, because infiltrators are Mamatas vote bank. But whether Mamata does give or not give the land by March 31st, BJP will shut all borders by April when they form the government, said a confident Amit Shah at Barrackpore in the North 24 Parganas district, while referring to the BJP-ruled Assam where infiltration has reportedly reduced due to the saffron partys efforts. Shahs next stop was Siliguri in North Bengal. While addressing the BJPs North Bengal supporters, Shah asked: Can Mamata Didi wipe out infiltrators? Our tribal MPs are beaten up. Be it Rajbanshis, Kurmis, Adivasis, people of Bihar, Gorkhas or people of Bengal. In your rule Mamata Didi, people are not secure. The Union Home Minister reiterated that he had visited Mamatas office and had even written letters to her, but land was still not given to the BSF. Whether you give land or not, BJP government will hand over land to BSF in 45 days," said Shah, pointing out that Mamata was scared the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) would shield infiltrators. Shah next brought up Trinamool Congress (TMC) making Vande Mataram a big issue in the Parliament. Our infiltrator vote bank is angry, that is why we are opposing Vande Mataram. You should be ashamed, Mamata Banerjee, for opposing Vande Mataram. In 2026 people will size you up, said Shah. #WATCH | Bagdogra, West Bengal: Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, "...It is unfortunate that when Vande Mataram was discussed in Parliament, these Trinamool Congress people were opposing it. I asked one of their MPs why they were opposing Vande Mataram. Bankim Chandra was from pic.twitter.com/Y2qN5d1ILh ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee lashed out at the BJP on the infiltration issue. BJPs Lok Sabha MP Jagannath Sarkar said if BJP comes to power, BJP will remove the Bangladesh border. These are not my words, these are Jagannath Sarkars words. Did Amit Shah show cause Jagannath Sarkar? If Amit Shah is right, he should show cause Jagannath Sarkar, said Banerjee. On the Anandapur warehouse fire The BJP is also using the recent Anandapur warehouse firewhich claimed at least 25 lives so far with many more people missingquestioning that the owner of Wow! Momo was being shielded by cohorts in the TMC government and not being arrested. So far, three arrests have been made in the case, including the owner of both the warehouse and godown which caught fire, as well as the manager and deputy manager of Wow! Momo. #WATCH | North 24 Parganas, West Bengal: Addressing Karyakarta Sammelan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, "The fire in Anandpur is not an accident. 25 people have lost their lives, and 27 are missing. Why did this incident happen? Whose money is invested in this Momo factory? https://t.co/NKE7RqLbx3 pic.twitter.com/VAe6lzaOWh ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 Shah hit out at Mamata for not empathising with families of the deceased. I want to ask Mamata ... if it was infiltrators, would your reaction be the same? People of Bengal have died and you should be ashamed for doing vote bank politics, added Shah while hitting out at state Fire and Emergency services Minister Sujit Bose for allegedly reaching the spot 32 hours later. The TMC reacted sharply to Shahs comments. BJPs politics is politics of division; politics of hatred. No one should politicise an unfortunate incident. Everyone irrespective of caste, creed and religion should unite. I ask everyone to join hands to help the administration ensure such incidents are not repeated in future, said Abhishek Banerjee at the Kolkata airport while leaving for Delhi to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday (along with Mamata) over the SIR issue. If Mamata Banerjee is responsible for the death of 25 people in Anandapur, then the Prime Minister and Home Minister is also responsible for the death of 140 people with regard to SIR. Because BJP wanted to implement SIR. They are the ones who wanted to impose SIR on the people of Bengal, Banerjee added. On corruption and development Shah went on to speak about corruption while referring to various scams like School Service Commission (SSC), cattle smuggling, MNREGA, and PM Awas Yojna. Mamata ji there is Rs 1000 crore scam which you cannot see because you have been blinded by cataract to see your nephew as the Chief Minister. You should do a cataract operation to see clearly, Shah went on, claiming that the people of Bengal were fed up of corruption. #WATCH | Bagdogra, West Bengal: Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, "I can say without hesitation that there is no government in this country more corrupt than Mamata Banerjee's government in Bengal. Mamata Didi says there is no corruption. Mamata Didi, you have institutionalised pic.twitter.com/GFzcq2GNOe ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 Does money not go into the hands of TMC goons? Should such a government continue? he questioned further. The Union Home Ministers North Bengal speech was also laced with references to developmental projects like the AIIMS hospital, the new airport in North Bengal, and a railway projectall which he alleged were stalled by the TMC government. Shah also spoke about jobs for the youth of North Bengal. The message was clearthat going beyond a common narrative, the BJP appears confident of winning 28 of 28 seats in its stronghold of North Bengal. On the BJPs ballot box dreams The BJP is confident of coming to power with a majority and getting close to a 45 per cent vote share, citing statistics of earlier Lok Sabha and Assembly elections that ultimately took its toll from 2 to 77 seats in the state over the last five elections. Shah was vocal about the saffron party not being satisfied with a ruling in 21 states and about ambitions of taking over Bengal as the 22nd state under their rule, as part of the shradhananjali (tribute) given by the people of Bengal. #WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: On Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement, AITC MP and National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee says, "Last time too, he said they would cross the 200-seat mark. When the Lok Sabha elections were held, the Prime Minister himself said that https://t.co/aSDlMIlOex pic.twitter.com/CAiNGfuP9w ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 TMC's Banerjee scoffed at Shahs confidence and said that in the last Assembly elections too, BJP had said that they would cross 200 seats. They will say this, it is their way of motivating people. There is no problem, but I said whatever you do, you cannot weaken Trinamool Congress. You come every five years, we bring our report card every year. What have you done for Bengal? questioned Abhishek Banerjee. Apart from public rallies, Shah also held organisational meetings with workers of the Kolkata and other district units, with the intention of understanding worker sentiments and emphasising the need for party workers to work in unity to end the TMCs three-term rule and take over the reins of the 22nd state under the saffron partys control. The decision by Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, to join the Maharashtra government has stalled the merger talks between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the NCP(SP). In response, leaders from the Sharad Pawar-led faction met on Saturday at his residence in Baramati to discuss their partys next steps. The meeting follows Sharad Pawars revelation that he had no knowledge of Sunetras plans to take over the Deputy Chief Minister post, which was previously held by her late husband, in the BJP-led Mahayuti government. MP Supriya Sule, MLA Rohit Pawar, Yugendra Pawar and other senior NCP (SP) leaders were present at the NCP(SP) meeting. At a press conference earlier that day, Sharad Pawar claimed that Ajit Pawar had been in favour of a merger between the two NCP factions. Talks on the matter had been ongoing for the last four months, with Ajit setting February 12 as the deadline for finalising the merger. When asked whether the merger would lead to a shift towards the NDA, Sharad Pawar dismissed the suggestion, stating, This is all speculation from your side (media). There is nothing like that here. Sources indicated that neither Sharad Pawar nor his family members were informed about Sunetras decision to join the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti government. A merger is the need of the hour to build a strong NCP and provide an effective political alternative. Talks had reached an advanced stage, but in Ajit Pawars absence, the question now is who will take the final call, a senior NCP(SP) leader told PTI. Senior NCP(SP) leader Jayant Patil said Ajit was eager to reunite with his uncle Sharad Pawar and had held several meetings to facilitate the merger of the two party factions. "He (Ajit Pawar) visited my house on multiple occasions and held talks over dinner. He said he wanted to reunite with his uncle by getting over the past. On January 16, we decided to contest the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections together, and the announcement of the formal merger was to be made on February 12," Patil said. With the merger talks now on hold, it remains unclear whether the two factions will proceed with their plan to contest the third phase of civic body elections scheduled for February 5. Both factions had previously agreed to contest under Ajit Pawars factions clock symbol. Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman warned US officials in a meeting held in Washington on Friday, that the "Ayatollah regime will only grow stronger" if President Donald Trump does not follow through with his threats against Iran. The remarks were reported by four sources who spoke to Axios. Khalid bin Salman reportedly said that after Trumps repeated threats, he would ultimately be forced to take military action while seeking to reduce the risk of a regional escalation. Khalid Bin Salman is the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's closest advisor. The statement is a turnaround from Saudi Arabias previous stance, made clear by a senior official from the Gulf Cooperation Council, who said that the country would not allow the US to use its airspace or bases to attack Tehran. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had also told Iranian President Pezeshkian that Riyadh would not allow the use of its airspace for a strike in Iran on Wednesday, during a call. The meeting on Friday lasted about an hour and included about 15 Middle East experts from research institutes and representatives of five Jewish organisations. Bin Salman also reportedly repeated a similar message during a gathering at the White House a day earlier. He also said that he didn't know what the Trump administration's current strategy was. One US official who spoke to Middle East Eye a day before the meeting said that the US was trying to sway Saudi Arabia to get behind an attack on Iran. Some of the talking points of the meeting were how a military strike on Tehran could reduce the country's threats to partners in the region. Still, one Arab official said Saudi Arabia may be convinced to quietly acquiesce to US strikes. The US has troops in Jordan and an aircraft carrier in the region, but would need approval from Saudi to use their airspace for contingency planning, a former US defence official told Middle East Eye. After the meeting on Friday, a Gulf official said that Saudi Arabia was stuck in a position where the U.S. striking Iran risked "bad outcomes," but not doing so would mean "Iran will come out of this stronger." A reason for the shift in stance could be that Saudi Arabia had reportedly taken Trump's multiple threats as a determination to strike the country and did not want to be seen as opposing the move. Trump on Friday said that the Islamic Republic wanted a deal. I can say this, they do want to make a deal. I hope it happens, Trump told reporters at the White House, while warning, If there is no deal, well see what happens. Meanwhile, Iran is anticipating a US strike against Tehran and has made it clear that it will not engage in negotiations unless President Trump stops threatening it. A western source who spoke to Iran international said that the the question is not whether the strike will occur but when. The decision has been made, and now they are waiting for a suitable operational opportunity, which could arise within days or possibly weeks, the source said. Recent high-resolution satellite imagery captured by Planet Labs PBC has revealed significant activity at Irans primary nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan, both of which were targeted during the 12-day war in June involving Israeli and American airstrikes. The images show that Iran has erected large roofs over damaged structures at both sites, a move widely interpreted by intelligence analysts as an effort to conceal the extent of destruction and ongoing recovery operations. At the Natanz nuclear complex, satellite images indicate that a roof was constructed in December over the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, a facility previously used to enrich uranium. A similar structure was completed in early January at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre, covering a damaged building near the sites northeast corner. Analysts assess that these roofs are not immediate steps towards restoring operational capability, but rather temporary measures designed to shield wreckage from foreign surveillance. Analysts say the Iranian regime is likely attempting to assess and recover key assets, including stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, without American or Israeli satellites observing what survived the bombardment. Such concealment has taken on added significance because the International Atomic Energy Agency is currently barred from accessing the sites and must rely heavily on satellite imagery to monitor developments. By covering damaged structures, Iran effectively blinds international inspectors to the status of its nuclear remnants and any salvage efforts under way. Beyond the visible surface repairs, satellite imagery also points to a deepening underground expansion of Irans nuclear infrastructure. Near the Natanz complex, at a site known as Pickaxe Mountain, or Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, analysts have detected extensive excavation activity. Experts believe a new ultra-deep underground facility is being built, potentially buried more than 100 metres below ground to withstand bunker-buster munitions. Tunnels leading into the mountainside at Isfahan are filled with dirt to protect them from missile strikes, and some are reinforced with new blast walls, reducing their vulnerability to air attacks. Meanwhile, at the Parchin military complex located southeast of Tehran, a structure known as Taleghan 2, identified in documents seized from Iranian nuclear archives as a site used to test high explosives for nuclear weapon detonation, is being reconstructed quickly after it was destroyed by Israel in June. Analysts say this may signal an attempt to reconstitute research related to implosion-style nuclear weapons. These developments come amid sharply rising tensions between Washington and Tehran. President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East, describing it as a large armada intended to pressure Iran. Trump has warned that time is running out for Tehran to agree to a new deal that would eliminate its nuclear programme and halt the killing of protesters. He has threatened military strikes larger than previous attacks if Iran refuses to negotiate, targeting what remains of its nuclear infrastructure. While Trump has recently suggested that Iran wants a deal to avoid conflict, he has underscored that US forces are prepared to act with speed and violence if necessary should Iranian leaders fail to comply with American demands. Iranian officials, however, have adopted a defiant posture. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has ruled out direct negotiations while Iran remains under threat, insisting that any talks must be conducted on a fair and equitable basis. Tehran has explicitly excluded its ballistic missile programme from negotiations, viewing it as essential to national defence. Araghchi has warned that while Iran remains open to diplomacy, it is equally ready for warfare, and officials have stated that any aggression would be met with a limitless response targeting US interests. Amid the brinkmanship, Turkey has emerged as a potential mediator. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan have been in contact with both Washington and Tehran in an effort to prevent escalation into a wider regional war. The instability has already rippled through global markets. Crude oil prices jumped more than 3 per cent on fears that US military action could disrupt Middle Eastern supplies. US crude rose above $65 per barrel, while Brent crude settled above $70. In Europe, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signalled support for Trumps hardline stance. While stopping short of explicitly endorsing new military strikes, Starmer said preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon remains a number one priority and that Britain supports the goal of the US administration, a position widely seen as tacit backing for Washingtons pressure campaign. The US Department of Justice on Friday released another tranche of records connected to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The records include three million pages, 2,000 videos and 1.8 lakh images. The Justice Department is required by a law passed in November to publish all Epstein-related records. The Epstein Files Transparency Act was enacted after months of public and political pressure. "Today we are producing more than 3 million pages, including 2000 videos and 180,000 images related to Epstein. These include large quantities of commercial pornography and images seized from Epstein's devices," said US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. However, he pointed out that the Justice Department did not protect President Donald Trump from his name appearing in the documents. "We comply with the act, and there is no 'protect President Trump.' We didn't protect or not protect anybody," he told reporters. The DoJ had missed the earlier deadline of December 19 set by Congress. The Justice Department said hundreds of lawyers were tasked with reviewing the records to determine what needs to be redacted in order to protect the identities of victims of sexual abuse. Blanche said there were a total of six million documents but they were redacted due to presence of child sexual abuse material. Before Christmas, the DoJ had released several thousands of pages, which included flight logs showing that Trump flew on Epstein's private jet in the 1990s. The records also had several photographs of former President Bill Clinton. However, neither Trump nor Clinton has been publicly accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Both of them have said they had no knowledge about his involvement in child abuse. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. At least 10 Pakistani-origin security officials have been killed in a "coordinated" attack on 12 cities in Balochistan on Saturday by armed members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan administration also killed at least 37 people in the clashes that followed, which are said to be the second phase of 'Operation Herof', the Baloch separatists' offensive against the Pakistan Army. Reports of explosions and firing began on Saturday in various cities of Pakistan's largest province, including the capital Quetta, Nushki, Dalbandin, Pasni, and Gwadar. Baloch Rebel Group Balochistan Liberation Army seen taking control of the market in Quetta. Pakistan Army soldiers helpless under Asim Munir. pic.twitter.com/34K0jISb0X Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) January 31, 2026 The attacks were carried out using guns and suicide bombings, with visuals circulating on social media showing a large number of BLA members roaming Quetta amid the tumult. Notably, Islamabad has designated the Balochistan-based outfits as Fitna Al Hindustan, as part of a claim that India had an alleged role in the separatists destabilising Pakistan, as per a Dawn report. Claims have also been flying on both sides, with the Baloch separatists alleging that a number of their personnel had been killed before the Saturday attack, while Islamabad's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed that as many as 41 Baloch militants had been killed by Pakistani forces during two separate operations on Friday, as per a BBC report. In that regard, a state of emergency has been imposed in the state of Balochistan, which has led to the highly sensitive Red Zone being sealed, while government offices, including the Civil Secretariat and courts, have all come to a standstill. Domestic train services to and from Quetta have been suspended, including the Jaffar Express from Quetta to Peshawar, which has been stopped at Jackabad. Internet service is also down in various parts of Quetta as helicopters are reportedly patrolling the skies over the province. The latest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice alleges that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates contracted a sexually transmitted disease after sleeping with Russian women. The files go on to say that Gates had to take antibiotics 'secretly' and give them to his then-wife, Melinda Gates, as well. Though the allegations have not been verified, the claims appear in emails Epstein wrote to himself in 2013. These, along with hundreds of documents, were released by the DoJ on Friday. Refuting the allegations, a spokesperson for Gates said they were completely false and absurd. "The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame," the spokesperson told the Daily Mail. Jeffrey Epstein wrote in 2013 that Bill Gates contracted an STD after having sex with Russian girls, and asked for antibiotics to slip to his then-wife Melinda. pic.twitter.com/mCBDzPOcEI Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 30, 2026 Along with the documents, over 2,000 videos and 1,80,000 images were also released by the Justice Department. The latest allegations released were emails dated July 18, 2013, which show draft messages and also the voice of Gates's then-adviser, Boris Nikolic. Epstein accused Gates of "sleeping with Russian girls", contracting an STD, and asking for antibiotics that could be "surreptitiously" given to Melinda Gates. Epstein also claimed that Gates asked him to delete the emails relating to it. After the Justice Department released the emails, unseen pictures of Gates with a woman were circulated on social media. However, the authenticity of the images could not be verified. The draft emails also criticised Gates for ending the relationship with Epstein after six years of association. Epstein also alleged that he had been asked to participate in behaviour ranging from morally inappropriate to ethically unsound. Earlier, Gates had said that he regretted his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdanis mother, Mira Nair, is mentioned in one of the newly released troves of documents related to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Nair reportedly attended an after-party at convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwells house after the release of her film Amelia. The event was also attended by former president Bill Clinton and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos among others. The names are mentioned in an email sent by Peggy Siegal to Epstein on October 21, 2009. Just left Ghislaines townhouseafter party for film, the message reads. Bill Clinton and Jeff Bezos were thereJean Pigozzi, director Mira Nairetc. Film received tepid reaction though women like it much moreHillary Swank and [Richard] Gere are at stupid party in Bloomingdales cheap sportswear departmentvery weird, Peggy continued. Studio went for free party from store and windows for a month Going to be in Wall Street 2 tomorrow .more to come. xoxo Peg. Nair directed the 2009 biopic on Amelia Earhart, a pioneer aviator starring Hillary Swank as the titular character and Richard Gere as her husband George Putnam. Nair is just one name out of a massive list of acquaintances Epstein seems to have had, according to the 3 million documents published on Friday. About 800,000 new files were identified in the new release. Some of the recurring names in them include Elon Musk, Melania Trump, Bill Gates, Kathryn Ruemmler, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Steve Tisch, the co-owner of the New York Giants. About 6 million pages were reviewed by prosecutors in the last two months, and after making redactions of victims and abuse material, around 3.5 million pages were published. The latest release also contained around 2000 videos and 180,000 images. The files also contained at least 4,500 documents mentioning US President Donald Trump according to the New York Times. The documents reveal the friendships and interactions of Epstein with a wide range of influential people. Musk and Epstein exchanged messages between 2012 and 2014 comparing schedules to find time to meet in Florida or in the Caribbean. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick meanwhile planned a trip to Epsteins island for a lunch gathering along with his wife, children and another family. Lutnik has however denied tht he spent time with Epstein. The University Grants Commissions proposed equity regulations to prevent caste discrimination in higher educational institutions led to protests from the general category students. The protesters argued the measures could lead to reverse discrimination and encourage false complaints. The Supreme Court was quick to stay the rules, noting the potential for misuse, preventing escalation in the protests. Eight years ago, in April 2018, India witnessed a widespread agitation. At that time, the Dalits took to the streets after the Supreme Court ruled that arrests under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act would require prior sanction and permitted anticipatory bail. For Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, the judgment appeared to weaken the legal safeguard against discrimination. Parliament later overturned the ruling through an amendment, and the apex court upheld the change. Together, these episodes reflect a pattern in public life: protections for one group often trigger resistance from another, keeping caste firmly embedded in political consciousness. The impending caste census sharpens this moment. It will be the first comprehensive enumeration since 1931, and political parties across the spectrum have supported the exercise, recognising caste as a powerful instrument for mobilisation, particularly ahead of elections. Supporters of caste census argue that Indias affirmative action framework relies on data that is nearly a century old and must be updated to ensure benefits reach those still left behind within reserved categories. Critics warn that such a count could further entrench social identities and complicate social cohesion. Census being a digital exercise, responses and analysis are likely to emerge faster, aided by data analytics and artificial intelligence. During the 2011 socio-economic survey caste count, which was never made public, some 4.6 million caste names were recorded. Though the government is yet to make its formula public on how deeply details are captured about castes, the caste census is likely to record at least the same number of groups, if not more. Caste identities have further solidified in recent decades. They are also being expressed through the reinterpretation of historical figures. For instance, Emperor Ashoka is increasingly projected as an OBC icon, while several state governments commemorate the birth anniversaries of hyperlocal leaders revered by specific communities. Such assertions have expanded visibility and confidence among these groups, even if historians question the accuracy of some representations. Yet this growing confidence has not necessarily translated into ideological commitment. In this competitive politics, coalitions remain fluid, with smaller caste-based parties recalibrating partnerships ahead of every election to retain relevance. The political consolidation of smaller caste groups into pressure blocs has already reshaped electoral outcomes, as we saw recently in Bihar. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, long associated with the assertive OBC Yadav base, lost ground when other OBC communities, through their political representatives, shifted towards the BJP-JD(U) alliance. The BJP, despite its umbrella Hindutva assertion, has been more successful than other parties in cobbling coalitions with smaller caste-based parties. Its flexibility to attune its electoral politics to bring in diverse groups and their leaders has helped it stay ahead of the competition. The recent Padma Awards to tribal leader Shibu Soren, posthumously, and Punjabs Dera Sachkhand Ballan chief Sant Niranjan Das, who represents the numerically powerful Dalit Ravidasia community, point to this outreach. Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the Dera in Jalandhar following the Union Budget signals the BJPs targeted outreach to specific Dalit subgroups. As we move ahead, the question is no longer whether caste should shape politics, as it already does. The question will remain whether successive governments can convert this heightened assertion into more equitable development, or whether it will merely lead to more political parties based on smaller caste groups. Shares of NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO Get Free Report) were down 1.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $4.70 and last traded at $4.71. Approximately 56,305,959 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 30% from the average daily volume of 43,457,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.77. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In NIO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on NIO from $8.60 to $6.90 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of NIO in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of NIO from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a sell (d-) rating on shares of NIO in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered NIO from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $6.83. Get NIO alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on NIO NIO Price Performance Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIO The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.75. The company has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.05. Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aspex Management HK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of NIO during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $266,700,000. WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in NIO in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $142,120,000. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in NIO in the 3rd quarter valued at $91,440,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIO in the third quarter valued at about $89,952,000. Finally, RWC Asset Advisors US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIO in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $79,761,000. 48.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About NIO (Get Free Report) NIO Inc is a pioneer in the premium electric vehicle (EV) segment, dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of smart, high-performance EVs. Established in November 2014 and headquartered in Shanghai, China, the company focuses on integrating cutting-edge electric propulsion, advanced connectivity and autonomous driving technologies into its automotive platforms. NIOs vision centers on creating a holistic user experience that extends beyond the vehicle itself, encompassing energy services and digital solutions. The companys product lineup includes flagship SUVs and sedans such as the ES8, ES6, EC6, ET7 and ET5, each engineered to deliver strong performance, long range and a suite of intelligent driver-assistance features. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for NIO Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NIO and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:RSPG Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 61,255 shares, a growth of 304.5% from the December 31st total of 15,142 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 96,183 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 96,183 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Approximately 1.1% of the companys stock are short sold. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF Stock Performance Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.40. 207,750 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 113,207. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF has a 52-week low of $63.76 and a 52-week high of $91.32. The company has a market cap of $518.52 million, a P/E ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.08. Get Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,816,000. Guild Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF in the third quarter worth $5,218,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF by 290.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 79,507 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,330,000 after acquiring an additional 59,139 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF by 402.6% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 50,256 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,743,000 after purchasing an additional 40,256 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Guidance Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,722,000. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF Company Profile The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (RSPG) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy Plus index. The fund tracks an equal-weighted index of US energy companies in the S&P 500. RSPG was launched on Nov 1, 2006 and is managed by Invesco. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Schneider National, Inc. (NYSE:SNDR Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $30.98 and last traded at $30.25, with a volume of 136325 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.55. Schneider National News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Schneider National this week: Get Schneider National alerts: Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $150 million share repurchase (up to ~2.9% of shares). Buybacks typically support the stock and signal management confidence in valuation. Repurchase Authorization Board authorizes $150 million share repurchase (up to ~2.9% of shares). Buybacks typically support the stock and signal management confidence in valuation. Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend increased (next payment $0.10; modest raise and ~1.3% yield). Provides income support and is a shareholder-friendly signal. (Company announcement) Quarterly dividend increased (next payment $0.10; modest raise and ~1.3% yield). Provides income support and is a shareholder-friendly signal. (Company announcement) Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating while lowering its price target to $30, implying upside from current levels. TD Cowen Note TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating while lowering its price target to $30, implying upside from current levels. Neutral Sentiment: Company released its Q4 slide deck and held the earnings call useful for modeling and management commentary but contains details that already reflected the wider guidance/earnings miss. Slide Deck / Press Release Company released its Q4 slide deck and held the earnings call useful for modeling and management commentary but contains details that already reflected the wider guidance/earnings miss. Negative Sentiment: Q4 earnings missed estimates reported $0.13 EPS vs. $0.21 consensus and revenue $1.25B vs. $1.45B expected; management cited softer demand and a truncated peak season, pressuring margins. Zacks: Earnings/Revenue Miss Q4 earnings missed estimates reported $0.13 EPS vs. $0.21 consensus and revenue $1.25B vs. $1.45B expected; management cited softer demand and a truncated peak season, pressuring margins. Negative Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance reset to $0.70$1.00, well below the ~$1.08 consensus implies weaker profitability recovery than investors expected. (Company guidance update) FY2026 EPS guidance reset to $0.70$1.00, well below the ~$1.08 consensus implies weaker profitability recovery than investors expected. (Company guidance update) Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimmed price targets and neutral/equal-weight views after the miss: Wells Fargo cut target to $25 (equal weight) and JPMorgan lowered to $26 (neutral), increasing near-term downside pressure. Analyst Notes Analysts trimmed price targets and neutral/equal-weight views after the miss: Wells Fargo cut target to $25 (equal weight) and JPMorgan lowered to $26 (neutral), increasing near-term downside pressure. Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: multiple outlets report shares tumbling after results and weak 2026 outlook, reflecting investor concern over volume softness and higher costs. Investing.com: Shares Tumble Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SNDR shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Schneider National from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Schneider National from $19.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Schneider National from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Schneider National from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a hold (c) rating on shares of Schneider National in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Schneider National has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $29.20. Schneider National Stock Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.00 and a 200 day moving average of $24.67. Schneider National (NYSE:SNDR Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.08). Schneider National had a return on equity of 4.04% and a net margin of 2.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. The firms revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Schneider National, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year. Schneider National Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Schneider Nationals previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Schneider Nationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.38%. Schneider National announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued. Institutional Trading of Schneider National Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blueprint Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Schneider National during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,722,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Schneider National by 14.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,991,213 shares of the companys stock valued at $72,238,000 after acquiring an additional 386,340 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Schneider National by 25.9% in the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 535,150 shares of the companys stock valued at $12,924,000 after acquiring an additional 109,950 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Schneider National by 3.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 836,497 shares of the companys stock valued at $20,205,000 after acquiring an additional 31,387 shares during the period. Finally, Blueprint Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Schneider National during the second quarter worth approximately $4,722,000. Institutional investors own 28.54% of the companys stock. About Schneider National (Get Free Report) Schneider National, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics services in North America. The company offers a full spectrum of solutions, including truckload transportation, intermodal services and dedicated logistics. Through these offerings, Schneider supports the movement of goods ranging from dry van freight to refrigerated and flatbed shipments, while also providing customized supply chain management and warehousing capabilities. Founded in 1935 by Al Schneider as a single-truck operation in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the company has grown into one of the industrys most recognized carriers. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Schneider National Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Schneider National and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:DEXC Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,487 shares, a decrease of 56.9% from the December 31st total of 3,453 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,034 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 13,034 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days. Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF Stock Down 1.7% Shares of DEXC stock traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.39. 12,401 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,925. The company has a market cap of $268.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 1.29. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $61.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.15. Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF has a 1-year low of $42.68 and a 1-year high of $67.10. Get Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF during the third quarter worth $34,000. CNB Bank acquired a new position in Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF during the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF by 329.6% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,826 shares of the companys stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. Premier Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF by 9.7% in the third quarter. Premier Financial Group now owns 2,441 shares of the companys stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF during the second quarter worth about $140,000. About Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF The Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF (DEXC) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund is an actively managed, closet index tracking, fund. The fund aims to provide diversified emerging market equity exposure, excluding China all together DEXC was launched on Nov 13, 2024 and is issued by Dimensional. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dimensional Emerging Markets ex China Core Equity ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Standex International (NYSE:SXI) reported fiscal second-quarter 2026 results that management said reflect years-long efforts to build a growth engine, driven by increased new product development and a greater focus on fast growth end markets. Chairman, President and CEO David Dunbar highlighted 6.4% organic revenue growth and a consolidated book-to-bill ratio of 1.04, while CFO Ademir Sarcevic pointed to higher cash generation and modest margin expansion. Get alerts: Quarterly results highlighted by organic growth and record orders Standex said second-quarter sales rose 16.6% year over year to $221.3 million, including 6.4% organic growth, a 9.4% contribution from acquisitions, and a 0.8% benefit from foreign currency. Orders of approximately $231 million were the highest quarterly intake in the companys history, according to management. Dunbar said new product sales increased about 13% to $16.3 million, while sales into fast growth markets totaled about $61 million, representing 28% of total sales. He attributed the progress to actions dating back to fiscal 2021, when Standex increased R&D spending from 1% of sales to about 3% and intensified efforts to win applications tied to faster-growing end markets. Profitability improved modestly on an adjusted basis. Dunbar reported adjusted gross margin of 42.1%, up 120 basis points year over year, and adjusted operating margin of 19.0%, up 30 basis points. Sarcevic said adjusted earnings per share increased 8.9% to $2.08. Cash flow, leverage, and capital allocation Standex generated $20.7 million of net cash from operating activities, up from $9.1 million in the prior-year quarter. Capital expenditures were $7.7 million, resulting in free cash flow of $13.0 million versus $2.2 million a year ago. On the balance sheet, Sarcevic said available liquidity was approximately $213 million. Net debt ended the quarter at $437.7 million, and Standexs net leverage ratio was 2.3. Management said the company paid down roughly $10 million of debt during the quarter and expects leverage to decline further through fiscal 2026. Standex declared its 246th consecutive quarterly cash dividend of $0.34 per share, which Sarcevic said was an approximately 6.3% increase year over year. For fiscal 2026, the company expects capital expenditures of $33 million to $38 million. For fiscal third quarter 2026, management expects interest expense of $7 million to $7.5 million. Segment performance: Electronics leads, Specialty Solutions pressured Electronics was the primary growth driver. Segment revenue increased 20.6% to a record $115.7 million, reflecting 11.1% organic growth, a 9.1% acquisition benefit, and a 0.4% foreign currency benefit. Adjusted operating margin rose 120 basis points to 28.8%, which management attributed to higher volume, pricing initiatives, and product mix. The segment posted a book-to-bill of 1.08 with approximately $125 million of ordersits sixth consecutive quarter near or above 1, Sarcevic said. In Q&A, management provided more detail on Electronics, including the contribution from the Grid business acquired last year (Amran and Narayan). Sarcevic said the Grid business ran at roughly a 1.2 book-to-bill, while the core Electronics business was around 1.03 to 1.04. Dunbar described the core Electronics business as mid-single-digit organic growth, led by switches and relays, with strength in Asia, a pickup in Europe, and a flat environment in North America. He also cited demand tied to test and measurement equipment connected to electrification, grid, and data centers. Engineering Technologies revenue increased 35.3% to $30.6 million, driven primarily by a 33.4% benefit from the McStarlite acquisition, with 1.2% organic growth. Sarcevic said organic performance was suppressed by delays in customer project timing. Adjusted operating margin improved 260 basis points to 18.9%, attributed mainly to higher volume. Scientific revenue rose 5.5% to $19.5 million, reflecting an 8.1% acquisition benefit partially offset by a 2.6% organic decline. Sarcevic said the decline was primarily due to lower demand from academic and research institutions affected by NIH cuts. Adjusted operating margin fell 270 basis points to 24.2% due to organic decline and product mix. Engraving revenue increased 13.6% to $35.7 million on 10.3% organic growth and a 3.3% foreign currency benefit. Adjusted operating margin increased 490 basis points to 19.2%, which management said was driven by higher sales and benefits from previously executed restructuring actions. Dunbar said Europe is starting to pick up, while North America remains at similar levels. He added that an increase in expected new product sales for fiscal 2026 is largely coming from Engraving related to a new win producing differentiated parts using a proprietary soft trim process, though he said the company remains cautious about the broader auto-related market. Specialty Solutions revenue declined 7.2% year over year to $19.8 million, and operating margin fell 600 basis points to 10.7%. Dunbar attributed the weakness to difficult North American end markets, but said the company was seeing some improvement in order intake and expected both revenue and margin to be moderately to significantly higher sequentially. Outlook: fiscal 2026 sales outlook reiterated; Q3 expected to improve Management reiterated its fiscal 2026 sales outlook and said that, barring unforeseen economic, global trade, or tariff-related disruptions, it expects revenue to grow by more than $110 million from fiscal 2025. Dunbar said the drivers include momentum from new products and fast growth markets, along with the full-year impact of last years acquisitions. Standex raised its expected fiscal 2026 new product sales to $85 million from $78 million and said new products are expected to add about 300 basis points of incremental sales growth. Dunbar said the company launched four new products in the second quarter and remained on track to release more than 15 new products in fiscal 2026; later in Q&A he said Standex had introduced nine products year-to-date. Fast growth markets are expected to exceed $270 million in fiscal 2026, up more than 45% year over year, according to Dunbar. In Q&A, he said the grid-related business makes up just over half of fast growth market sales, with defense and space as the next largest contributors, along with smaller contributions from EVs and renewable energy. For fiscal third quarter 2026, management expects mid- to high single-digit organic growth and slightly higher adjusted operating margin year over year, though it noted partial offsets from growth investments and higher medical costs. On a sequential basis, Standex expects slightly to moderately higher revenue and operating margin, supported by higher volume, product mix, pricing, and productivity initiatives. Acquisition accounting and capacity expansion discussed in Q&A During the question-and-answer session, Sarcevic addressed a technical accounting item related to the acquisition of Amran and Narayan. He said Standex acquired 90% of Narayan in cash and initially planned to acquire the remaining 10% with Standex shares, but that share-based purchase required Indian government approval that has not been obtained and is now unlikely. As a result, Standex used an alternative cash-based mechanism in the purchase agreement tied to a 12x trailing twelve-month EBITDA multiple, which led to a remeasurement of the remaining stake. Sarcevic said the adjustment reflects the increased value of the business and noted it will be adjusted quarterly as the trailing EBITDA changes until the remaining interest is purchased. Management also discussed capacity expansion plans for the Grid business. Dunbar said Standex has increased capacity about 50% since acquisition, largely through additional shifts, lean work, and some automation, and is now bringing on new sites. He said that over three to five years, Standex expects to more than double current capacity through the Croatia site ramp, expansion into Mexico, a larger Houston facility expected to be operating in about 18 months, expansion in India, and further lean and automation. Sarcevic said these ramp efforts create costs ahead of production increases, and management expects Electronics margins to remain strong but not necessarily expand in subsequent quarters due to the investments. About Standex International (NYSE:SXI) Standex International Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer specializing in food service equipment, engineered components, and industrial products. Operating across multiple markets, the company designs and produces commercial cooking and warming solutions, precision-engraved nameplates and decorative products, fluid power hydraulics, and magnetics-based electronics. These offerings serve a broad array of end markets, including quick-service restaurants, automotive, aerospace, medical devices, and consumer appliances. With business organized into key segmentsFood Service Equipment, Engraving & Decorating, Hydraulics, Industrial Electronics, and Technical Graphical SolutionsStandex delivers a combination of proprietary technology, automated manufacturing processes, and custom engineering services. Featured Stories American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF (NYSEARCA:MGNR Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 136,954 shares, an increase of 262.4% from the December 31st total of 37,789 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 88,725 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.5% of the companys stock are short sold. Approximately 1.5% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 88,725 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Institutional Trading of American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,234,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF by 21.1% in the second quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 912,866 shares of the companys stock valued at $30,327,000 after buying an additional 158,771 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,185,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF by 123.7% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 145,280 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,877,000 after buying an additional 80,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF by 87.4% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 98,064 shares of the companys stock worth $3,258,000 after acquiring an additional 45,748 shares in the last quarter. Get American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF alerts: American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF Trading Down 5.0% Shares of MGNR stock traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $48.98. 173,301 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,400. American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF has a fifty-two week low of $24.79 and a fifty-two week high of $52.75. The stocks 50 day moving average is $45.36 and its 200-day moving average is $40.41. The company has a market cap of $462.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 0.89. About American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF The American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF (MGNR) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in stocks based on a particular theme. The fund is actively managed, seeking long-term capital appreciation through investments in a narrow portfolio of global stocks that are predominantly involved in natural resources and related businesses. MGNR was launched on Feb 5, 2024 and is issued by American Beacon. See Also Receive News & Ratings for American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Beacon GLG Natural Resources ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Topaz Energy Corp. (TSE:TPZ Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$29.34 and last traded at C$29.32, with a volume of 50891 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$28.94. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TPZ. National Bankshares set a C$33.50 target price on Topaz Energy and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Topaz Energy from C$32.00 to C$34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Topaz Energy from C$31.00 to C$30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Topaz Energy to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Topaz Energy currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of C$31.40. Get Topaz Energy alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on Topaz Energy Topaz Energy Stock Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 36.45, a quick ratio of 7.17 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$27.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$26.27. The stock has a market cap of C$4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 78.92 and a beta of 0.16. Topaz Energy (TSE:TPZ Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported C$0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$76.44 million for the quarter. Topaz Energy had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 5.15%. Equities analysts anticipate that Topaz Energy Corp. will post 0.2019855 EPS for the current fiscal year. Topaz Energy Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Topaz Energys payout ratio is currently 362.16%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Topaz Energy news, Director Mike Rose bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$25.21 per share, for a total transaction of C$252,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 443,470 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately C$11,179,878.70. The trade was a 2.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. 35.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. About Topaz Energy (Get Free Report) Topaz Energy Corp is a royalty and energy infrastructure company focused on generating free cash flow growth and paying reliable and sustainable dividends to its shareholders, through its strategic relationship with Canadas natural gas producers, and leveraging industry relationships to execute complementary acquisitions from other high-quality energy companies, while maintaining its commitment to environmental, social and governance practices. It generates revenue from the Royalty Assets, which generate the companys Royalty Production Revenue; and the Infrastructure Assets, which generate the companys Processing Revenue and Other Income. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Topaz Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Topaz Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Stride (NYSE: LRN) recently: 1/28/2026 Stride had its market perform rating reaffirmed by analysts at BMO Capital Markets. They now have a $94.00 price target on the stock. 1/28/2026 Stride had its buy rating reaffirmed by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.. They now have a $125.00 price target on the stock. 1/28/2026 Stride had its outperform rating reaffirmed by analysts at Barrington Research. They now have a $125.00 price target on the stock. 1/21/2026 Stride had its outperform rating reaffirmed by analysts at Barrington Research. They now have a $125.00 price target on the stock. 1/5/2026 Stride was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a hold rating to a buy rating. 12/29/2025 Stride had its hold (c+) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/28/2025 Stride was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a buy rating to a hold rating. 12/22/2025 Stride had its hold (c+) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/20/2025 Stride was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a hold rating to a buy rating. 12/17/2025 Stride had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $95.00. They now have an equal weight rating on the stock. 12/15/2025 Stride had its hold (c+) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/8/2025 Stride had its hold (c+) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/1/2025 Stride had its hold (c+) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. Stride, Inc (NYSE:LRN) is a technology-driven education company that designs and delivers online learning solutions for students and adult learners. Through long-term partnerships with state-authorized public school districts, Stride operates virtual academies that serve K-12 students across the United States. The companys blended-learning model combines digital curriculum, live teaching support and data analytics to personalize instruction and monitor student progress. In addition to its K-12 offerings, Stride provides a portfolio of career and workforce readiness programs under its Stride Career Prep division. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Stride Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stride Inc and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for American Noble Gas (NYSE: INFY): 1/15/2026 American Noble Gas had its price target raised by analysts at TD Cowen from $17.00 to $18.00. They now have a hold rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 American Noble Gas had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $16.50 to $19.00. They now have a hold rating on the stock. 1/15/2026 American Noble Gas had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $18.00 to $20.00. They now have a market perform rating on the stock. 1/9/2026 American Noble Gas had its price target raised by analysts at TD Cowen from $16.00 to $17.00. They now have a hold rating on the stock. 12/29/2025 American Noble Gas had its hold (c) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/22/2025 American Noble Gas had its hold (c) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/15/2025 American Noble Gas had its hold (c) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/8/2025 American Noble Gas had its hold (c) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 12/1/2025 American Noble Gas had its hold (c) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. Infosys Ltd. is a digital services and consulting company, which engages in the provision of end-to-end business solutions. It operates through the following segments: Financial Services, Retail, Communication, Energy, Utilities, Resources, and Services, Manufacturing, Hi-Tech, Life Sciences, and All Other. The company was founded by Dinesh Krishnan Swamy, Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Narayana Ramarao Nagavara Murthy, Raghavan N. S., Ashok Arora, Nandan M. Nilekani, and S. D. Shibulal on July 2, 1981 and is headquartered in Bangalore, India. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for American Noble Gas Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Noble Gas Inc and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Danone (OTCMKTS:DANOY Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 2,311,583 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 174% from the previous sessions volume of 843,924 shares.The stock last traded at $15.90 and had previously closed at $15.8630. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating on shares of Danone in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Danone in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Danone from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of Danone in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold. Get Danone alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on Danone Danone Price Performance About Danone The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.58 and a 200 day moving average of $17.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.78. (Get Free Report) Danone is a French multinational food-products company headquartered in Paris, with roots dating to 1919 when it was founded by Isaac Carasso. The company positions itself around nutrition and health-oriented food and beverage products, and it combines global brand management, manufacturing and distribution to serve a broad consumer base. Danones long history has been characterized by expansion beyond its original yogurt business into bottled water, infant and medical nutrition, and plant-based alternatives. Danones principal activities include the development, production and marketing of dairy and plant-based products, bottled waters, and specialized nutrition for infants and medical patients. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Danone Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Danone and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Agilon Health, Inc. (NYSE:AGL Get Free Report) Director John William Wulf bought 81,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $0.63 per share, with a total value of $51,030.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 365,857 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $230,489.91. The trade was a 28.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Agilon Health Stock Performance Shares of AGL traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $0.84. 6,296,853 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,084,399. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.04. Agilon Health, Inc. has a one year low of $0.51 and a one year high of $6.08. Get Agilon Health alerts: Agilon Health (NYSE:AGL Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Agilon Health had a negative net margin of 5.24% and a negative return on equity of 75.92%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Agilon Health, Inc. will post -0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilon Health Agilon Health News Summary A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilon Health by 243.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 501,440 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 355,365 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Agilon Health by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 214,200 shares of the companys stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 7,209 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in shares of Agilon Health by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 47,111 shares of the companys stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 10,424 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilon Health by 6.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,060,333 shares of the companys stock valued at $21,911,000 after buying an additional 311,158 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilon Health by 5.6% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 105,324 shares of the companys stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627 shares in the last quarter. Here are the key news stories impacting Agilon Health this week: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AGL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a sell (e+) rating on shares of Agilon Health in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Agilon Health from $1.50 to $1.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BTIG Research reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Agilon Health in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Agilon Health from $1.50 to $1.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Agilon Health from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $2.71. View Our Latest Report on Agilon Health Agilon Health Company Profile (Get Free Report) Agilon Health (NYSE: AGL) is a healthcare company that partners with independent primary care physicians to deliver value-based care for Medicare beneficiaries. Through risk-sharing arrangements, Agilon assumes financial responsibility for patient populations, enabling physicians to focus on preventive and proactive health management. The company provides the administrative, clinical and operational infrastructure needed to support comprehensive care delivery. Agilons platform encompasses data analytics, care management, patient engagement tools and population health programs. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Agilon Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agilon Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank Hapoalim (OTCMKTS:BKHYY Get Free Report)s share price was down 5.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $117.69 and last traded at $117.69. Approximately 1,056 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 3,735 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.91. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Barclays lowered shares of Bank Hapoalim from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold. Get Bank Hapoalim alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim Stock Up 0.4% The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.29 and a 200 day moving average of $104.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 1.16. Bank Hapoalim (OTCMKTS:BKHYY Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter. Bank Hapoalim had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 14.60%. Bank Hapoalim Cuts Dividend The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were paid a $0.9362 dividend. This represents a yield of 266.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Bank Hapoalims dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.62%. About Bank Hapoalim (Get Free Report) Bank Hapoalim B.M. is one of Israels largest banking groups, providing a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional customers. Founded in 1921 by the Histadrut labor federation, the bank has developed into a full-service financial institution offering deposit accounts, consumer and mortgage lending, credit cards, payment services, and branch-based retail banking. It also serves small and medium-sized enterprises with working capital and trade finance solutions. In addition to traditional retail banking, Bank Hapoalim operates significant corporate and investment banking divisions. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Bank Hapoalim Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank Hapoalim and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:IVLU Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 341,635 shares, a drop of 45.3% from the December 31st total of 624,499 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,212,529 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,212,529 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF Stock Down 0.8% Shares of IVLU stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.50. 1,657,170 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,321,548. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.71. iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF has a 52-week low of $26.41 and a 52-week high of $41.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.47 and a 200 day moving average of $36.28. Get iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF by 174.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,645 shares of the companys stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF in the second quarter valued at $59,000. iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF Company Profile The iShares Edge MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF (IVLU) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI World ex USA Enhanced Value index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap developed ex-US equities, selected using fundamental metrics, and weighted by these metrics and market-cap. IVLU was launched on Jun 16, 2015 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:TCAF Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 146,289 shares, a decline of 44.2% from the December 31st total of 261,936 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,028,591 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the companys stock are short sold. Approximately 0.1% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,028,591 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TCAF. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 397,391 shares of the companys stock valued at $14,020,000 after purchasing an additional 14,786 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF by 7.9% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 81,822 shares of the companys stock worth $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,008 shares during the period. Pacific Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF during the second quarter worth about $214,000. Tanglewood Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tanglewood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 127,588 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,501,000 after purchasing an additional 4,644 shares during the period. Finally, Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF by 39.5% in the second quarter. Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 17,585 shares of the companys stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 4,979 shares during the period. Get T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF alerts: T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF Trading Down 0.4% TCAF traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,187,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,119,564. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.73. The firm has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 0.91. T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF has a 12 month low of $28.28 and a 12 month high of $39.34. T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF Company Profile The T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF (TCAF) is an exchange-traded fund. The funds investment portfolio concentrates primarily on large cap equity. TCAF is an actively managed fund that pursues higher quality stocks of US large-cap companies that are perceived to have above average potential for capital growth. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FMCB Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 2,036 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 686% from the previous sessions volume of 259 shares.The stock last traded at $1,114.15 and had previously closed at $1,140.00. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Price Performance The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,105.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,054.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $805 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.19. Get Farmers & Merchants Bancorp alerts: About Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (Get Free Report) Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Central California. Headquartered in Hanford, California, the company provides a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services tailored to individuals, businesses and agricultural enterprises in the San Joaquin Valley region. The companys core offerings include deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Farmers & Merchants Bancorp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Oragenics, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:OGEN Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 57,838 shares, a decrease of 46.5% from the December 31st total of 108,196 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 34,528 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 34,528 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oragenics Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Oragenics by 7,374.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,546 shares of the companys stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 15,338 shares during the period. Sabby Management LLC purchased a new position in Oragenics during the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Clear Street LLC bought a new position in Oragenics during the second quarter valued at $270,000. Institutional investors own 18.71% of the companys stock. Get Oragenics alerts: Oragenics Price Performance OGEN traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $0.84. 59,373 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 913,663. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 0.90. Oragenics has a 52 week low of $0.74 and a 52 week high of $18.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $0.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.11. Oragenics Company Profile Oragenics ( NYSEAMERICAN:OGEN Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.96) earnings per share for the quarter. (Get Free Report) Oragenics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the research and development of novel anti-infective therapeutics targeting oral and mucosal diseases. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the company leverages proprietary technologies to address unmet needs in dental and oral healthcare, with an emphasis on innovative treatments that can improve patient outcomes and reduce reliance on traditional antibiotics. The companys lead product candidate, Oraprev, is being developed as a pre-procedural rinse designed to reduce oral microbial load prior to dental procedures. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Oragenics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Oragenics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The government should focus on strengthening infrastructure at the National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs) to improve efficiency in insolvency cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in the upcoming Union Budget, asserted Anoop Rawat, National Practice Head at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. "What we need is the strengthening of the infrastructure at the NCLTs. We need more and more benches," Rawat said in an interview with ANI, when asked what one change would make the IBC stronger immediately. The Union Budget for 2026-27 will be tabled in the Parliament on Sunday morning. Rawat said the IBC has significantly improved investor confidence. He said the Government of India has always been very active in responding to the need to amend the code, occasioned by economic shifts, such as the pandemic, or by meeting creditors' and other stakeholders' expectations. He said that, drawing on experience with the code's implementation, the government has introduced path-breaking amendments, including a new creditor-led resolution framework and provisions for cross-border insolvency. He said these provisions, among others, are likely to further improve investor confidence and strengthen the country's rescue framework. When asked about the biggest issue of the IBC in today's world, Rawat said delays and low recovery have been issues. "But, frankly, delays and low recovery are usual in the stabilisation phase," he said, adding that the insolvency code has worked exceptionally well. However, he said there are certain areas where some focus is needed and said institutional strengthening and improving bench strength are two important areas. On whether the new IBC amendments will speed up resolutions, Rawat said, "absolutely." He said there are many expectations from the new amendments and that they are intended to move toward a more cooperative approach rather than a potentially adversarial one. He said the new amendments aim to involve the existing management in the resolution, provided there are initial efforts to resolve it more quickly. He said there will be phase-wise resolution processes. "First, it will be a creditor-led resolution framework where the creditor and the debtor together will try to attempt a resolution," he said. If that fails, Rawat said it moves to the second resolution process, which is the CIR process, where the management has to give way to the insolvency professional who then carries on the process. On NCLT and NCLAT, Rawat said the number of cases reflects the state of the economy and will continue to fluctuate. He said NCLT and NCLAT would always remain busy. Rawat said that, after the amendment, the time taken to admit cases will decrease substantially. He said the amendment is expected to be taken up in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament. (ANI) Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc. (CVE:YFI Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as C$0.05 and last traded at C$0.05, with a volume of 236111 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.05. Edgewater Wireless Systems Price Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of -18.34, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of C$10.73 million, a PE ratio of -4.50 and a beta of -0.41. The stocks fifty day moving average is C$0.05 and its 200-day moving average is C$0.05. About Edgewater Wireless Systems (Get Free Report) Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc develops and commercializes technologies and intellectual property for the wireless communications market in North America. The company provides IP Licensing, Wi-Fi spectrum slicing solutions, dual channel Wi-Fi; wireless access points and associated peripheral equipment and support services; and PowerZoning, a channel power control product for multi-channel single radio Wi-Fi networks. It also offers spectral surveillance architecture. The company was formerly known as KIK Polymers Inc and changed its name to Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc in January 2012. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Edgewater Wireless Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Edgewater Wireless Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO Get Free Report) dropped 4.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $59.99 and last traded at $60.2770. Approximately 16,096,389 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 23,253,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.89. More Novo Nordisk A/S News Here are the key news stories impacting Novo Nordisk A/S this week: Get Novo Nordisk A/S alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday. They set a neutral rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a sell (d+) rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a buy rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an underperform rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an underweight rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $57.79. Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 0.1% The businesss 50-day moving average price is $53.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.25. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 32.76% and a return on equity of 73.50%. The company had revenue of $11.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.98 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 179.4% during the second quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 43,450 shares of the companys stock worth $2,999,000 after buying an additional 27,900 shares in the last quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 117,577 shares of the companys stock worth $6,524,000 after acquiring an additional 41,129 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,294,000. Guild Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Guild Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,995 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 6,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,368,649 shares of the companys stock valued at $131,436,000 after purchasing an additional 110,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the companys stock. About Novo Nordisk A/S (Get Free Report) Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsvrd, Denmark, best known for its leadership in diabetes care and metabolic health. The company traces its roots to early Danish insulin production in the 1920s and was established in its current form through a 1989 merger of predecessor companies. Novo Nordisk develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and devices that address chronic and serious diseases, with a strong emphasis on long-term treatment and patient support. The companys core product portfolio centers on diabetes therapies, including a range of insulins and modern incretin-based treatments. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Novo Nordisk A/S Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Novo Nordisk A/S and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF (NYSEARCA:EWL Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 208,513 shares, a drop of 61.5% from the December 31st total of 541,066 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 511,544 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days. Currently, 0.8% of the companys shares are short sold. Currently, 0.8% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 511,544 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWL. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. MAI Capital Management grew its position in iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF by 631.1% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 965 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF during the third quarter worth $60,000. 68.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF Stock Performance Shares of NYSEARCA:EWL traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $61.54. The companys stock had a trading volume of 534,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 527,106. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.81. iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF has a fifty-two week low of $46.22 and a fifty-two week high of $62.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.91. About iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF iShares MSCI Switzerland Capped ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Switzerland Capped Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI Switzerland 25/50 Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Zurich Stock Exchange. The Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted index with a capping methodology applied to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Index weight and all issuers with weight above 5% do not exceed 50% of the Index weight. Read More Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Serengeti Resources Inc. (CVE:SIR Get Free Report)s stock price traded up 2.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$0.50 and last traded at C$0.49. 70,621 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 97,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.48. Serengeti Resources Trading Up 2.1% The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$0.49 and a 200 day moving average price of C$0.49. The company has a market cap of C$54.39 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.60. About Serengeti Resources (Get Free Report) Serengeti Resources Inc acquires and explores for mineral properties in Canada. It company explores for gold, copper, and silver deposits. The company's flagship property is the Kwanika project that covers an area of 25,928 hectares located in the northern Quesnel Trough, British Columbia. It also has an option to acquire 100% interest in Top Cat project covering an area of approximately 21,600 hectares situated in central British Columbia. The company was formerly known as Serengeti Minerals Ltd. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Serengeti Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Serengeti Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Compagnie de Saint-Gobain Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:CODYY Get Free Report)s stock price traded down 2.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.66 and last traded at $19.77. 192,053 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 210,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.20. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, UBS Group cut Compagnie de Saint-Gobain from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Get Compagnie de Saint-Gobain alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Compagnie de Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain Stock Performance About Compagnie de Saint-Gobain The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.97 and a 200 day moving average of $20.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. (Get Free Report) Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (OTCMKTS: CODYY) is a French multinational that develops, manufactures and distributes building materials and high-performance solutions for construction, mobility and industrial markets. Founded in 1665 and headquartered in Courbevoie, France, the company has evolved from its origins in glassmaking into a diversified materials group producing an array of products used across building envelopes, interiors and specialized industrial applications. Saint-Gobains product portfolio includes glass and glazing systems, insulation and gypsum-based solutions, mortars, exterior and interior finishing systems, piping and high-performance ceramics and abrasives. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Compagnie de Saint-Gobain Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Compagnie de Saint-Gobain and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Jet2 plc (LON:JET2 Get Free Report)s stock price was up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as GBX 1,263 and last traded at GBX 1,237. Approximately 1,157,248 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 1,841,134 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,219. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have weighed in on JET2. Panmure Gordon restated a buy rating and issued a GBX 1,700 target price on shares of Jet2 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Jet2 from GBX 2,059 to GBX 1,857 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a GBX 2,150 target price on shares of Jet2 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a buy rating and issued a GBX 2,100 price target on shares of Jet2 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a buy rating and set a GBX 2,250 price objective on shares of Jet2 in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of GBX 1,917.83. Get Jet2 alerts: Get Our Latest Report on JET2 Jet2 Stock Up 1.5% The stock has a market capitalization of 2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.28, a PEG ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 2.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 1,353.74 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 1,433.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.30, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Jet2 (LON:JET2 Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported GBX 300.40 earnings per share for the quarter. Jet2 had a return on equity of 26.53% and a net margin of 6.38%. As a group, research analysts expect that Jet2 plc will post 170.9134615 EPS for the current fiscal year. Jet2 Company Profile (Get Free Report) Jet2 plc is a leading leisure travel group, specialising in friendly low fares from its award-winning airline, Jet2.com, and package holidays you can trust from the UKs largest package holiday provider, Jet2holidays. Jet2.com is the UKs third largest airline, flying from 12 UK airports to over 70 destinations across Europe and beyond and Jet2holidays is the UKs largest tour operator. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Jet2 Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Jet2 and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Cellnex Telecom SA Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:CLLNY Get Free Report) dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $15.30 and last traded at $15.38. Approximately 82,549 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 158,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.60. Analyst Ratings Changes CLLNY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Cellnex Telecom from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Cellnex Telecom to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays raised Cellnex Telecom to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cellnex Telecom currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Get Cellnex Telecom alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on CLLNY Cellnex Telecom Stock Down 1.4% Cellnex Telecom Company Profile The businesss fifty day moving average is $15.31 and its 200-day moving average is $16.50. (Get Free Report) Cellnex Telecom SA is a leading independent wireless telecommunications infrastructure operator based in Barcelona, Spain. The company designs, builds and manages telecom tower sites and related connectivity solutions, offering site rental services to mobile network operators, broadcasters and enterprises. Its portfolio includes macro sites, distributed antenna systems (DAS), small cells, in-building coverage, fiber networks and edge computing nodes, all aimed at enhancing voice, data and next-generation digital services. Founded as a spin-off from Abertis Infraestructuras in 2015, Cellnex launched an initial public offering on the Madrid Stock Exchange in May of that year. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Cellnex Telecom Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cellnex Telecom and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. TMX Group Limited (OTCMKTS:TMXXF Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TMXXF shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an outperform rating on shares of TMX Group in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an outperform rating on shares of TMX Group in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, TD Securities raised TMX Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Get TMX Group alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on TMXXF TMX Group Stock Performance TMX Group Company Profile Shares of OTCMKTS:TMXXF opened at $36.98 on Wednesday. TMX Group has a 12 month low of $30.30 and a 12 month high of $42.19. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $37.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.12. (Get Free Report) TMX Group Limited operates Canadas premier financial infrastructure that supports capital markets for listing, trading, clearing, settlement and information services. As a holding company, TMX Groups principal businesses include the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV), Montreal Exchange (MX), and Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS). These platforms facilitate equity and derivatives trading, debt issuance, exchange-traded funds and a broad spectrum of structured products. Through its marketplace operations, TMX Group offers issuers access to public capital, while providing investors with deep liquidity and a diverse range of listed instruments. See Also Receive News & Ratings for TMX Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TMX Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE:NCDL Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of Hold from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.75. Several equities analysts have issued reports on NCDL shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Get Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on NCDL Insider Buying and Selling Institutional Inflows and Outflows In other Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending news, Treasurer Shaul Vichness bought 5,000 shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.20 per share, with a total value of $71,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the treasurer owned 20,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $284,000. This represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink . Also, CEO Kenneth J. Kencel bought 20,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.22 per share, with a total value of $284,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 48,117 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $684,223.74. This trade represents a 71.13% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 27,000 shares of company stock worth $383,600 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.62% of the companys stock. Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GraniteShares Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 6.7% in the second quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 167,084 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 10,439 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC increased its position in Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 84,333 shares of the companys stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 11,510 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $173,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 32,820 shares of the companys stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 16,408 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $773,000. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Price Performance NCDL stock opened at $13.51 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $667.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.40. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending has a fifty-two week low of $13.03 and a fifty-two week high of $18.01. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $51.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $52.00 million. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 36.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Company Profile (Get Free Report) Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending (NYSE:NCDL) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns through a diversified portfolio of direct lending instruments. Established in early 2022, NCDL focuses on privately negotiated debt investments in middle-market companies, primarily within the United States. The fund offers investors access to a segment of the credit markets that has historically been less correlated with public debt markets, aiming to capture yield premiums associated with private lending. The funds investment strategy centers on senior secured loans, unitranche financings and selectively structured mezzanine debt. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wpp Plc (NYSE:WPP Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of Reduce from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. Several research firms recently weighed in on WPP. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WPP from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a sell (d+) rating on shares of WPP in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded WPP from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on WPP in a report on Monday, January 12th. They set a neutral rating for the company. Get WPP alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on WPP WPP Stock Performance Hedge Funds Weigh In On WPP WPP stock opened at $20.88 on Monday. WPP has a 1-year low of $17.47 and a 1-year high of $49.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.48. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WPP. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of WPP by 185.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,254 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in WPP during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in WPP by 323.9% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,454 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of WPP by 184.5% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,889 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of WPP by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,852 shares of the business services providers stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. 4.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About WPP (Get Free Report) WPP plc (NYSE: WPP) is a British multinational advertising and public relations company headquartered in London, England. Recognized as one of the worlds largest communications services groups, WPP provides a wide array of marketing, advertising, media investment management and data consultancy services. Through its integrated network of agenciesamong them Ogilvy, Grey, GroupM and Wavemakerthe company delivers creative content, brand strategy, digital transformation and media planning solutions to clients across virtually every industry. Established in 1971 by Martin Sorrell as Wire and Plastic Products, the firm underwent a strategic transformation in the 1980s, focusing on acquisitions that expanded its capabilities into advertising and communications. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for WPP Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WPP and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. NewsVoir Pune (Maharashtra) [India], January 31: Understanding how interest works is often the first step in building financial awareness. Before exploring market-linked products, some investors prefer to understand basic interest concepts and how money grows over time in a linear manner. A simple interest calculator helps explain this foundation in a straightforward way, without introducing complexity. This understanding may help you place mutual fund investing in the right context and set realistic expectations. What simple interest means in everyday terms Simple interest is calculated only on the original amount invested, also known as the principal. The interest earned does not compound or earn further interest. This makes it easier to understand and predict. For example, if a sum is invested at a fixed rate for a fixed period, the interest is calculated once on the principal for the entire duration.For illustrative purpose only Because of this linear structure, simple interest is often used for short-term instruments or basic learning purposes, rather than long-term wealth planning. How a simple interest calculator works A simple interest calculator uses three basic inputs: principal amount, rate of interest, and time. Based on these, it shows the interest earned and the total value at the end of the period. The calculation follows a standard formula, which keeps outcomes predictable and easy to interpret. This makes the simple interest calculator suitable for understanding time-value concepts without market variables. The calculator is an aid, not a prediction tool. It may provide only an indicative picture. Why understanding simple interest may still matter While mutual funds do not operate on simple interest, understanding this concept may help you build financial clarity. It shows how time and rate influence outcomes in a direct manner, without compounding effects. This clarity may be useful when comparing different savings and investment options. It may also help you recognise why long-term market-linked investments behave differently from fixed-return instruments. Comparing simple interest with market-linked investing Simple interest offers certainty in calculation, but it does not reflect how mutual funds work. Mutual fund returns depend on market movements and portfolio performance. performance: Past performance may or may not be sustained in future. Unlike simple interest, mutual fund returns may vary year to year. Over longer periods, compounding plays a role, which is not captured in simple interest calculations. Understanding this distinction may help you set suitable expectations and avoid comparing unrelated return structures. Using a simple interest calculator for basic planning You may choose to use a simple interest calculator when planning short-term goals or understanding how fixed-rate products behave. It may also help in estimating interest from basic lending or savings arrangements. The calculator is an aid, not a prediction tool. It may provide only an indicative picture. However, it is generally not used to evaluate mutual fund investments, as these involve varying returns and compounding over time. Where mutual funds fit into the picture Mutual funds are managed investment products where money is invested across assets such as equity or debt, depending on the scheme objective. An asset management company oversees these investments, following stated mandates and regulatory frameworks. Unlike simple interest-based products, mutual funds do not promise fixed outcomes. Returns depend on multiple factors including market conditions, asset allocation, and time horizon. Understanding simple interest first may help you appreciate why mutual fund outcomes are not linear. Understanding the role of an asset management company An asset management company is responsible for managing mutual fund schemes and making investment decisions in line with the scheme objective. The company appoints fund managers, ensures compliance, and handles day-to-day operations. The asset management company does not guarantee returns. Its role is to manage investments professionally within defined risk parameters, while outcomes remain linked to market performance. Conclusion A simple interest calculator is a useful learning tool for understanding basic interest concepts and linear growth. It may help build financial awareness and provide clarity on how time and rate influence money. However, mutual fund investing operates differently, with returns linked to markets and compounding over time. Understanding this distinction may help you approach investments with more informed expectations and a suitable perspective. Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. (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.) Howard Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Bunge Global SA (NYSE:BG Free Report) by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,136 shares of the basic materials companys stock after selling 4,661 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.s holdings in Bunge Global were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bunge Global by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Bunge Global by 20.5% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 681 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Bunge Global by 9.8% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,360 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Bunge Global by 1.9% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,743 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Bunge Global by 0.5% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 28,841 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.23% of the companys stock. Get Bunge Global alerts: Insider Activity at Bunge Global In related news, VP Christos Dimopoulos sold 25,300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.37, for a total value of $2,387,561.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 104,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,865,156.69. This represents a 19.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms recently issued reports on BG. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bunge Global from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Bunge Global from $100.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Barclays upgraded Bunge Global from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Bunge Global from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a hold (c+) rating on shares of Bunge Global in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $110.67. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on BG Bunge Global Stock Down 1.2% NYSE BG opened at $113.73 on Friday. Bunge Global SA has a twelve month low of $67.40 and a twelve month high of $119.57. The stock has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.66. Bunge Global (NYSE:BG Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.04. Bunge Global had a return on equity of 9.06% and a net margin of 2.20%.The firm had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 71.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Bunge Global SA will post 7.94 EPS for the current year. Bunge Global Company Profile (Free Report) Bunge Global is a leading agribusiness and food company that processes oilseeds and grains, produces sugar and bioenergy, and supplies fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. The company operates an integrated value chain that spans origination, processing, and distribution, enabling it to serve food processors, livestock producers, and retail customers worldwide. Through its network of processing plants, port terminals and logistics assets, Bunge handles a diverse portfolio of commodities, including soybeans, corn, wheat, vegetable oils, and sugarcane. The companys core business activities are organized into agribusiness and food & ingredients segments. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bunge Global SA (NYSE:BG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bunge Global Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bunge Global and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM Free Report) by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,452 shares of the information technology services providers stock after purchasing an additional 155,456 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.49% of EPAM Systems worth $41,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 8.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 854 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 1.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,546 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $987,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in EPAM Systems by 1.7% in the second quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 10,549 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in EPAM Systems by 3.1% in the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,522 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.58% of the companys stock. Get EPAM Systems alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at EPAM Systems In other EPAM Systems news, SVP Viktar Dvorkin sold 2,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.80, for a total transaction of $454,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,124 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,930,943.20. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Gary C. Abrahams sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.29, for a total value of $107,574.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,668.80. This represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,100 shares of company stock worth $1,597,074 over the last ninety days. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. EPAM Systems Stock Performance Shares of EPAM opened at $208.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $207.32 and a 200-day moving average of $177.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 3.02. EPAM Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $138.15 and a one year high of $269.00. EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The information technology services provider reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. EPAM Systems had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 7.01%.The companys quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.12 earnings per share. EPAM Systems has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.360-11.440 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.100-3.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year. EPAM Systems announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 12.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued. Analyst Ratings Changes EPAM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a hold (c-) rating on shares of EPAM Systems in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on EPAM Systems from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $185.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research cut EPAM Systems from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EPAM Systems currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $214.20. Read Our Latest Analysis on EPAM About EPAM Systems (Free Report) EPAM Systems, Inc is a global provider of digital platform engineering and software development services. The company partners with clients across industriessuch as financial services, healthcare, retail, and technologyto design, develop, and maintain complex software applications and digital experiences. EPAMs offerings include custom software development, application management, infrastructure management, quality assurance, and testing services, enabling organizations to accelerate digital transformation and enhance operational efficiency. In addition to its core engineering capabilities, EPAM delivers a range of specialized services, including product design and consulting, data and analytics, cloud computing, DevOps, and cybersecurity. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EPAM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for EPAM Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EPAM Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SWP Financial LLC reduced its holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (BATS:EFV Free Report) by 74.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,270 shares of the companys stock after selling 58,299 shares during the quarter. SWP Financial LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF were worth $1,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EFV. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,125,413 shares of the companys stock worth $4,451,560,000 after purchasing an additional 23,376,524 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 28.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,814,518 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,003,906,000 after buying an additional 3,518,683 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 4.1% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,614,142 shares of the companys stock worth $864,247,000 after acquiring an additional 540,216 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 11.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,719,462 shares of the companys stock worth $616,991,000 after acquiring an additional 999,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 24.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,959,087 shares of the companys stock worth $568,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743,904 shares during the period. Get iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF alerts: iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF Price Performance Shares of EFV stock opened at $75.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.73. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $71.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.83. iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF has a one year low of $51.05 and a one year high of $66.83. About iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Value Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Value Index. The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East. The Fund invests in sectors, such as financials, energy, healthcare, telecommunication services, industrials, utilities, consumer discretionary, materials, information technology and consumer staples. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG Free Report) by 11.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,620 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 23,531 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Kite Realty Group Trust worth $4,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust by 54.8% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Kite Realty Group Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Kite Realty Group Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust by 118.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,748 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the companys stock. Get Kite Realty Group Trust alerts: Kite Realty Group Trust Stock Up 1.1% KRG stock opened at $23.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.89. Kite Realty Group Trust has a twelve month low of $18.51 and a twelve month high of $24.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Kite Realty Group Trust Increases Dividend Kite Realty Group Trust ( NYSE:KRG Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $205.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.82 million. Kite Realty Group Trust had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 4.27%. Analysts anticipate that Kite Realty Group Trust will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This is a boost from Kite Realty Group Trusts previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Kite Realty Group Trusts payout ratio is currently 181.25%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In KRG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kite Realty Group Trust from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Kite Realty Group Trust in a research note on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $25.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Kite Realty Group Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Kite Realty Group Trust from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a hold (c) rating on shares of Kite Realty Group Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $25.43. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Kite Realty Group Trust About Kite Realty Group Trust (Free Report) Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG) is a real estate investment trust that specializes in the ownership, development and management of open-air retail real estate. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, the company focuses on acquiring, developing and operating community and neighborhood shopping centers, as well as mixed-use properties that accommodate national, regional and local retailers. Established in 1994, Kite Realty has grown its portfolio through strategic development projects, targeted acquisitions and selective dispositions. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KRG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Kite Realty Group Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kite Realty Group Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD Get Free Report) and Tingyi Cayman Islands (OTCMKTS:TCYMF Get Free Report) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings. Institutional & Insider Ownership 75.3% of Nomad Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.3% of Nomad Foods shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Get Nomad Foods alerts: Analyst Recommendations This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Nomad Foods and Tingyi Cayman Islands, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Nomad Foods 0 2 3 0 2.60 Tingyi Cayman Islands 0 0 0 0 0.00 Dividends Nomad Foods currently has a consensus target price of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 33.65%. Given Nomad Foods stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Nomad Foods is more favorable than Tingyi Cayman Islands. Nomad Foods pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Tingyi Cayman Islands pays an annual dividend of $0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Nomad Foods pays out 47.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nomad Foods has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Nomad Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth. Earnings & Valuation This table compares Nomad Foods and Tingyi Cayman Islandss top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Nomad Foods $3.35 billion 0.58 $245.74 million $1.44 8.83 Tingyi Cayman Islands $11.22 billion 0.65 $519.46 million N/A N/A Tingyi Cayman Islands has higher revenue and earnings than Nomad Foods. Profitability This table compares Nomad Foods and Tingyi Cayman Islands net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Nomad Foods 6.56% 9.73% 3.96% Tingyi Cayman Islands N/A N/A N/A Volatility and Risk Nomad Foods has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tingyi Cayman Islands has a beta of -0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 139% less volatile than the S&P 500. Summary Nomad Foods beats Tingyi Cayman Islands on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks. About Nomad Foods (Get Free Report) Nomad Foods Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of frozen food products in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company offers frozen fish products, including fish fingers, coated fish, and natural fish; ready-to-cook vegetable products, such as peas and spinach; and frozen poultry and meat products comprising nuggets, grills, and burgers. It also provides meal products that include ready-to-cook noodles, pasta, lasagna, pancakes, and other ready-made meals; ice creams, such as in-home and out-of-home ice creams; and other products consisting of soups, pizzas, bakery goods, and meat substitutes. The company sells its products to supermarkets and food retail chains primarily under the Birds Eye, Green Cuisine, iglo, Findus, Aunt Bessie's, Goodfella's, Frikom, Ledo, La Cocinera, and Belviva brand names. Nomad Foods Limited was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Feltham, the United Kingdom. About Tingyi Cayman Islands (Get Free Report) Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp., an investment holding company, manufactures and sells instant noodles, beverages, and instant food products in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Instant Noodles, Beverages, and Others segments. It offers ready-to-drink teas, juices, bottled water, and carbonated soft drinks, as well as coffee drinks/functional drinks/probiotics. The company also provides property rental and management, logistics, management, and support services; and manufactures and sells bakery products. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Receive News & Ratings for Nomad Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nomad Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Centric Wealth Management lowered its holdings in shares of United States Natural Gas Fund LP (NYSEARCA:UNG Free Report) by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 60,000 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Managements holdings in United States Natural Gas Fund were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNG. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of United States Natural Gas Fund by 6.8% during the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 18,882 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of United States Natural Gas Fund by 1,412.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,693 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Natural Gas Fund by 132.8% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 9,618 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 5,486 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of United States Natural Gas Fund by 41.1% during the second quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,131 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 5,574 shares during the period. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in United States Natural Gas Fund by 41.9% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,186 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,963 shares in the last quarter. Get United States Natural Gas Fund alerts: United States Natural Gas Fund Stock Performance UNG opened at $16.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $639.67 million, a PE ratio of -15.04 and a beta of -0.12. The stocks fifty day moving average is $13.09 and its 200-day moving average is $13.17. United States Natural Gas Fund LP has a one year low of $9.95 and a one year high of $24.33. About United States Natural Gas Fund United States Natural Gas Fund, LP is a limited partnership. The Company is a commodity pool that issues limited partnership interests (shares) traded on the NYSE Arca, Inc (the NYSE Arca). The investment objective of the Company is for the daily changes in percentage terms of its shares per share net asset value (NAV) to reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of the spot price of natural gas delivered at the Henry Hub, Louisiana, as measured by the daily changes in the price of the futures contracts on natural gas traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (the NYMEX) that is the near month contract to expire, except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration, in which case it will be measured by the futures contract that is the next month contract to expire (the Benchmark Futures Contract), less its expenses. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for United States Natural Gas Fund LP (NYSEARCA:UNG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for United States Natural Gas Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for United States Natural Gas Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP Free Report) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,994 shares of the banks stock after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.s holdings in Credicorp were worth $21,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAP. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Credicorp in the 1st quarter valued at $78,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Credicorp by 193.0% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 665 shares of the banks stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Credicorp in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Credicorp by 9.4% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 225,351 shares of the banks stock worth $50,370,000 after purchasing an additional 19,378 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Credicorp by 6.7% in the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,688 shares of the banks stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Credicorp alerts: Credicorp Price Performance Shares of BAP stock opened at $356.60 on Friday. Credicorp Ltd. has a 12 month low of $165.51 and a 12 month high of $365.42. The company has a market capitalization of $28.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $295.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Analysts Set New Price Targets Credicorp ( NYSE:BAP Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The bank reported $6.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $6.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.71 billion. Credicorp had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 23.59%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Credicorp Ltd. will post 21.9 EPS for the current year. A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a buy (b) rating on shares of Credicorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Credicorp from $242.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Credicorp from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Credicorp from $263.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $290.20. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on BAP Credicorp Profile (Free Report) Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE: BAP) is a Lima-based financial services holding company that operates a diversified group of banking, insurance, and investment businesses. Established in the mid-1990s, Credicorps principal subsidiaries include Banco de Credito del Peru (BCP), Mibanco (microfinance), Credicorp Capital (investment banking and asset management) and Pacifico Seguros (insurance). The company serves retail, commercial and corporate clients and is one of the largest financial conglomerates in Peru. Through Banco de Credito del Peru and its retail network, Credicorp provides a full suite of banking products including deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, payment and transaction services, and digital banking solutions. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Credicorp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Credicorp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. lifted its stake in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSEARCA:EWZ Free Report) by 136.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,005,000 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after buying an additional 1,157,900 shares during the period. iShares MSCI Brazil ETF comprises 6.2% of Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd.s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd.s holdings in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF were worth $62,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 344,041 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $8,894,000 after acquiring an additional 52,532 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 819.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF during the second quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF in the second quarter valued at $263,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF in the second quarter worth $498,000. 72.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get iShares MSCI Brazil ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Price Performance EWZ opened at $37.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.87. The firms fifty day moving average price is $33.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.92. iShares MSCI Brazil ETF has a fifty-two week low of $23.05 and a fifty-two week high of $38.88. iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Profile iShares MSCI Brazil Capped Index Fund (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Brazilian market, as measured by the MSCI Brazil Index (the Index). The Index seeks to measure the performance of the Brazilian equity market. It is a capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSEARCA:EWZ Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Brazil ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Berman McAleer LLC purchased a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 9,110 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $610,000. A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKC. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 427,422 shares of the companys stock worth $28,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 75,082 shares of the companys stock worth $5,024,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 13,072 shares of the companys stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,121 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 7,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 137.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 782 shares of the companys stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the companys stock. Get McCormick & Company Incorporated alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes MKC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an outperform rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $73.30. McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.8% MKC stock opened at $61.80 on Friday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $59.62 and a 1-year high of $86.24. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $66.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.62. McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.01). McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.050-3.130 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current year. McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 29th. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporateds previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. McCormick & Company, Incorporateds payout ratio is presently 65.53%. Insider Activity In related news, CEO Brendan M. Foley sold 57,144 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $3,746,360.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,123,225.12. This represents a 34.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.43, for a total transaction of $3,371,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,639,161.66. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 146,158 shares of company stock valued at $9,635,824 in the last ninety days. 23.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. McCormick & Company, Incorporated Profile (Free Report) McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) is a global leader in spices, seasonings and flavor solutions. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the company traces its origins to the late 19th century and has grown into a major manufacturer and marketer of branded and private?label flavor products for consumer, industrial and foodservice markets. McCormicks product portfolio includes pure spices and herbs, blended seasonings, marinades, rubs, sauces, extracts and specialty flavorings, along with ingredient systems and custom flavor development for manufacturers and foodservice operators. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MKC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for McCormick & Company Incorporated Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McCormick & Company Incorporated and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB Get Free Report) and One Liberty Properties (NYSE:OLP Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current ratings for Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and One Liberty Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Get Pebblebrook Hotel Trust alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Pebblebrook Hotel Trust 6 5 1 1 1.77 One Liberty Properties 1 0 0 0 1.00 Pebblebrook Hotel Trust currently has a consensus price target of $12.08, suggesting a potential upside of 5.76%. Given Pebblebrook Hotel Trusts stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is more favorable than One Liberty Properties. Insider and Institutional Ownership Valuation & Earnings 36.2% of One Liberty Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 25.8% of One Liberty Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. This table compares Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and One Liberty Propertiess top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Pebblebrook Hotel Trust $1.45 billion 0.89 -$4.24 million ($1.19) -9.60 One Liberty Properties $90.56 million 5.14 $30.42 million $1.54 13.96 One Liberty Properties has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than One Liberty Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Risk & Volatility Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, One Liberty Properties has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Dividends Pebblebrook Hotel Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. One Liberty Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust pays out -3.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. One Liberty Properties pays out 116.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Profitability This table compares Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and One Liberty Properties net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Pebblebrook Hotel Trust -7.45% -4.02% -1.93% One Liberty Properties 34.87% 10.99% 4.23% Summary One Liberty Properties beats Pebblebrook Hotel Trust on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks. About Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (Get Free Report) Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust ("REIT") and the largest owner of urban and resort lifestyle hotels and resorts in the United States. The Company owns 47 hotels and resorts, totaling approximately 12,200 guest rooms across 13 urban and resort markets. About One Liberty Properties (Get Free Report) One Liberty Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in acquisition, ownership, and management of the geographically diversified portfolio consisting primarily of industrial, retail, restaurant, health and fitness, and theater properties, many of which are subject to long-term leases. The properties in the firms portfolio include net leases, long-term lease, and scheduled rent increases. The company was founded in December 1982 and is headquartered in Great Neck, NY. Receive News & Ratings for Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. In the upcoming Union Budget, investors in virtual digital assets (VDA) are seeking relief on the taxation framework, particularly the ability to claim losses, even as gains from cryptocurrency remain taxable at 30 per cent under Indian law, Rohit Garg, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, said. "Now, any investor, like you and me, if we are investing in cryptocurrency and earning any gain out of it, that is being taxed at 30 per cent. However, the concern which is being raised by the investor community is, if you are taxing us on the gains, please provide us the benefit of any loss that is being made," Garg said in an interview with ANI in the national capital. Garg said VDA taxation is provided under the Income Tax Act, 1961, and has been carried forward in the new income tax code. He said VDA covers cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and other stablecoins. He added that the need of the hour is that, if India wants to tax and continue to tax such gains and losses -- which are otherwise allowable for other capital assets-- VDA investors should be allowed to claim them as well. Beyond VDA taxation, Garg said the foreign investor community is looking for tax certainty in international taxation. He said India is transitioning to the new Indian Income Tax Act, effective 1 April 2026, and that predictability and certainty should be provided to foreign investors. "Foreign community is definitely looking for tax certainty of late," he said, adding that there have been tax rulings from the Supreme Court of India which have shaken the confidence of the foreign community. Garg said there have been tax rulings from the Supreme Court of India which have "shaken the confidence of the foreign community." He said tax certainty is linked to the tax rate applied and the income tax administration's position on a transaction. He said disputes often take years to settle, with taxpayers litigating up to the Supreme Court before certainty emerges. "What is needed at this stage is that the Indian tax administration should bring out proactively all the circulars, notifications, clarifications, whereby on each and every aspect that impacts the foreign investment should be clarified upfront," Garg said. On trade and investment sentiment, Garg said foreign investors want to invest in India but are seeking tax certainty. He also referred to the India-EU trade deal as a path-breaking agreement, adding that investors want predictability even when there is a tax cost. Speaking on compliance, Garg said geopolitical tensions would neither increase nor reduce the burden of tax compliance for investors in India. Responding to a query on tax litigation, Garg said appeals are increasingly being filed in digital form, but noted that more than 5 lakh appeals are still pending at the first appellate forum, resulting in revenue being stuck. He said the Budget should provide a redressal mechanism to expedite the disposal of appeals and also called for the reintroduction of the income tax settlement commission, which was removed in an earlier budget. (ANI) Royal Bank Of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of Marsh (NYSE:MRSH Free Report) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a $200.00 target price on the stock. Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MRSH. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marsh from $199.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Marsh from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $199.33. Get Marsh alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on MRSH Marsh Stock Up 0.2% MRSH stock opened at $188.21 on Friday. Marsh has a one year low of $174.18 and a one year high of $248.00. The stock has a market cap of $92.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Marsh (NYSE:MRSH Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $6.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.52 billion. Marsh had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 31.60%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Marsh Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 29th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 29th. Marshs dividend payout ratio is presently 42.70%. Key Stories Impacting Marsh Here are the key news stories impacting Marsh this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and consulting-unit strength Marsh reported $2.12 EPS vs. $1.97 est., revenue around $6.6B (beats estimates) and y/y revenue growth of ~8.7%; company commentary highlighted strength in consulting and insurance lines. Article Title Q4 earnings beat and consulting-unit strength Marsh reported $2.12 EPS vs. $1.97 est., revenue around $6.6B (beats estimates) and y/y revenue growth of ~8.7%; company commentary highlighted strength in consulting and insurance lines. Positive Sentiment: Fourth-quarter profit rise driven by core insurance business coverage reiterates that insurance operations and fee-based consulting lifted profitability and revenue. This is the primary fundamental driver for the stock move. Article Title Fourth-quarter profit rise driven by core insurance business coverage reiterates that insurance operations and fee-based consulting lifted profitability and revenue. This is the primary fundamental driver for the stock move. Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $203 (from $199) with an Equal Weight rating the lift to a $203 target (~7.9% above current levels) likely contributed to buying interest. Article Title Wells Fargo raised its price target to $203 (from $199) with an Equal Weight rating the lift to a $203 target (~7.9% above current levels) likely contributed to buying interest. Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley nudged its target to $195 (from $190) and kept an Equal Weight rating another upward revision that supports the stock. Article Title Morgan Stanley nudged its target to $195 (from $190) and kept an Equal Weight rating another upward revision that supports the stock. Neutral Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed a Sector Perform rating with a $200 target a modestly constructive take but not a buy/upgrade; this is neutral-to-slightly supportive. Article Title RBC reaffirmed a Sector Perform rating with a $200 target a modestly constructive take but not a buy/upgrade; this is neutral-to-slightly supportive. Neutral Sentiment: Non-financial article (filming locations for Under Salt Marsh) is unrelated to Marsh plcs business and unlikely to affect the stock. Article Title About Marsh (Get Free Report) Marsh is a global insurance broker and risk advisor that helps organizations assess, manage and transfer a broad range of risks. The firm provides insurance placement and broking services for commercial and public-sector clients as well as specialty solutions for families and high-net-worth individuals. Its work focuses on identifying exposures, designing risk-transfer strategies and securing coverage from insurers and reinsurers to protect clients assets and operations. Services offered by Marsh include commercial property and casualty broking, cyber and professional-liability placement, employee benefits consulting, and industry-specific specialty lines such as marine, energy and construction. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Marsh Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marsh and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT Free Report) had its price target lifted by Truist Financial from $605.00 to $695.00 in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the aerospace companys stock. A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $398.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lockheed Martin from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $577.29. Get Lockheed Martin alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on LMT Lockheed Martin Stock Up 1.9% Shares of LMT stock opened at $634.31 on Friday. Lockheed Martin has a 52-week low of $410.11 and a 52-week high of $645.67. The stock has a market cap of $146.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.52, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.24. The firms 50-day moving average is $509.69 and its 200-day moving average is $480.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.53). The business had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.84 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 108.53% and a net margin of 6.69%.Lockheed Martins quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lockheed Martin will post 27.15 EPS for the current year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lockheed Martin Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,697,527 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $10,048,993,000 after buying an additional 214,565 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lockheed Martin by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,884,954 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $2,256,147,000 after acquiring an additional 19,459 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,384,753 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,190,493,000 after acquiring an additional 79,491 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,196,058 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,096,294,000 after acquiring an additional 87,663 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,022,940 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $510,662,000 after acquiring an additional 63,430 shares during the period. 74.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Lockheed Martin News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Lockheed Martin this week: About Lockheed Martin (Get Free Report) Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) is a global aerospace and defense company that designs, develops and manufactures advanced technology systems for government and commercial customers. Formed through the 1995 merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta, the company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and focuses on providing integrated solutions across air, space, land and sea domains. Its primary customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and allied governments around the world. Lockheed Martins product and service portfolio spans military aircraft, missile and fire-control systems, missile defense, space systems and satellite technologies, sensors and precision weapons. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Lockheed Martin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lockheed Martin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,264 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $699,000. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Get iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF alerts: iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Price Performance IEUR opened at $74.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.86. The firm has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.93. iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF has a 1-year low of $53.17 and a 1-year high of $75.61. About iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF The iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (IEUR) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Europe IMI index, a market-cap-weighted index of developed European securities. IEUR was launched on Jun 10, 2014 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IEUR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA Free Report) by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,865,527 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,741,125 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corps holdings in Coterra Energy were worth $162,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC grew its holdings in Coterra Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 43,009 shares of the companys stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 30,832 shares of the companys stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 2.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,763 shares of the companys stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Coterra Energy by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 9,725 shares of the companys stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Coterra Energy by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 50,333 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.92% of the companys stock. Get Coterra Energy alerts: Coterra Energy Price Performance NYSE CTRA opened at $28.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.36. Coterra Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.33 and a 1-year high of $29.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $26.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.90. Coterra Energy Announces Dividend Coterra Energy ( NYSE:CTRA Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.02). Coterra Energy had a net margin of 23.25% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The companys revenue was up 33.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Coterra Energy Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Coterra Energys payout ratio is presently 40.55%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Coterra Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Monday. Stephens upped their target price on Coterra Energy from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. Siebert Williams Shank increased their target price on Coterra Energy from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Coterra Energy from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $32.81. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on CTRA Coterra Energy Company Profile (Free Report) Coterra Energy (NYSE: CTRA) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company focused on the development, production and optimization of onshore hydrocarbon resources in the United States. The companys operations center on the exploration, drilling, completion and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs), with an emphasis on maximizing operational efficiency and capital discipline across its asset base. Its business activities include identifying and developing resource-rich acreage, operating producing wells, managing reservoir performance and marketing produced hydrocarbons to a range of midstream and energy customers. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CTRA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Coterra Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coterra Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 23,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock, valued at approximately $611,000. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Curio Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 36,600.0% in the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the companys stock. Get Pfizer alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a neutral rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a neutral rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a hold rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $28.06. Pfizer Price Performance NYSE PFE opened at $26.43 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.03. The stock has a market cap of $150.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $27.69. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.08. Pfizer had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $16.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.94 billion. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.000-3.150 EPS. Analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year. Pfizer Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. Pfizers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%. Key Stories Impacting Pfizer Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week: Pfizer Company Profile (Free Report) Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas. Pfizers portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG Free Report) had its price objective increased by Roth Mkm from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the insurance providers stock. A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HIG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on The Hartford Insurance Group from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Argus raised their price target on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $143.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on The Hartford Insurance Group from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of The Hartford Insurance Group from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on The Hartford Insurance Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued a sector perform rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $147.63. Get The Hartford Insurance Group alerts: Read Our Latest Report on HIG The Hartford Insurance Group Stock Performance HIG opened at $134.94 on Friday. The Hartford Insurance Group has a 1-year low of $105.98 and a 1-year high of $140.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $134.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.09. The company has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.61. The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.84. The Hartford Insurance Group had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 13.52%.The business had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Hartford Insurance Group will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Transactions at The Hartford Insurance Group In other news, CFO Beth Ann Costello sold 35,339 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.58, for a total value of $4,826,600.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 77,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,595,056.92. This represents a 31.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hartford Insurance Group Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in The Hartford Insurance Group by 707.7% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 210 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in The Hartford Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in The Hartford Insurance Group by 151.1% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 221 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Financial Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hartford Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Key Headlines Impacting The Hartford Insurance Group Here are the key news stories impacting The Hartford Insurance Group this week: Positive Sentiment: HIG reported adjusted operating EPS of $4.06 for Q4 2025, beating the consensus of $3.22 and rising ~38% year-over-year; revenue of $7.34B also topped estimates. Management cited higher premiums and stronger investment income as drivers. Read More. HIG reported adjusted operating EPS of $4.06 for Q4 2025, beating the consensus of $3.22 and rising ~38% year-over-year; revenue of $7.34B also topped estimates. Management cited higher premiums and stronger investment income as drivers. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Corporate release emphasized outstanding results: Q4 operating earnings of $1.1B and full-year core earnings of $3.8B with a core earnings ROE of ~19.4%, led by robust performance in Business Insurance and improved Personal lines execution. Read More. Corporate release emphasized outstanding results: Q4 operating earnings of $1.1B and full-year core earnings of $3.8B with a core earnings ROE of ~19.4%, led by robust performance in Business Insurance and improved Personal lines execution. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Quarterly metrics show healthy profitability (net margin ~12.8%, ROE ~21.1%) and year-over-year revenue growth (~6.7%), supporting the view of operational strength across segments. Read More. Quarterly metrics show healthy profitability (net margin ~12.8%, ROE ~21.1%) and year-over-year revenue growth (~6.7%), supporting the view of operational strength across segments. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and the investor presentation are now available useful for parsing management commentary on reserve development, underwriting outlook, and capital deployment, but they contain no market-moving surprises in headlines. Read More. Read More. Earnings call transcript and the investor presentation are now available useful for parsing management commentary on reserve development, underwriting outlook, and capital deployment, but they contain no market-moving surprises in headlines. Read More. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and outlets are publishing metric-level deep dives to help investors assess sustainability of the quarter (reserve development, combined ratio drivers, investment returns). These are informational and may influence medium-term views. Read More. Analysts and outlets are publishing metric-level deep dives to help investors assess sustainability of the quarter (reserve development, combined ratio drivers, investment returns). These are informational and may influence medium-term views. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Roth MKM raised its price target from $120 to $135 but retained a neutral rating; the new target is roughly in line with the current share price, implying limited near-term upside from that analyst. Read More. About The Hartford Insurance Group (Get Free Report) The Hartford Financial Services Group, commonly known as The Hartford, is a U.S.-based insurance and investment company that provides a broad range of commercial and personal insurance products and employee benefits. Its core businesses include property and casualty insurance for businesses and individuals, group benefits such as group life, disability and dental plans, and retirement and investment solutions offered through affiliated asset-management operations. The company also delivers risk management, claims-handling and loss-prevention services designed to support policyholders across a variety of industries. Founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810, The Hartford is one of the oldest insurance organizations in the United States and has a long history of underwriting and product development across multiple insurance lines. Read More Receive News & Ratings for The Hartford Insurance Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Hartford Insurance Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. National Pension Service raised its stake in Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER Free Report) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,439,421 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock after purchasing an additional 122,307 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.21% of Uber Technologies worth $434,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Uber Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Uber Technologies during the third quarter worth $27,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in Uber Technologies in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Uber Technologies in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Uber Technologies in the third quarter valued at $34,000. 80.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Uber Technologies alerts: Uber Technologies Price Performance UBER stock opened at $80.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $166.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.23. Uber Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.63 and a twelve month high of $101.99. Uber Technologies News Summary Uber Technologies ( NYSE:UBER Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The ride-sharing company reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.67 by $2.44. The business had revenue of $13.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.25 billion. Uber Technologies had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 68.17%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Uber Technologies, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year. Here are the key news stories impacting Uber Technologies this week: Insider Transactions at Uber Technologies In related news, CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah sold 5,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $519,255.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 20,330 shares in the company, valued at $1,919,355.30. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tony West sold 3,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $260,937.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 176,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,744,764. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,875 shares of company stock valued at $1,319,130 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.84% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In UBER has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Uber Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Uber Technologies from $108.00 to $99.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $110.00 price target on shares of Uber Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Uber Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a buy rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Uber Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $107.50. View Our Latest Analysis on UBER Uber Technologies Profile (Free Report) Uber Technologies, Inc is a technology company that operates a global platform connecting riders, drivers, couriers, restaurants and shippers. Founded in 2009 by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick and headquartered in San Francisco, Uber developed one of the first large-scale ride-hailing marketplaces and has since expanded into a broader set of mobility and logistics services. The company completed its initial public offering in 2019 and continues to position its app-based network as a multi-modal transportation and delivery platform. Ubers principal businesses include mobility services (ride-hailing and shared rides), delivery through Uber Eats, and freight logistics via Uber Freight. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Uber Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Uber Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Keybank National Association OH trimmed its position in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (BATS:MTUM Free Report) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,940 shares of the companys stock after selling 4,127 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH owned approximately 0.27% of iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF worth $50,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TFC Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF during the third quarter worth about $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF by 45.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 216 shares of the companys stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF by 397.8% during the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 224 shares of the companys stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF alerts: iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF Trading Up 22.4% Shares of BATS MTUM opened at $255.79 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $253.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.95. The company has a market cap of $18.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.02. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF has a 12-month low of $168.49 and a 12-month high of $240.99. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF Profile The iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (MTUM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap US equities, selected and weighted based on price appreciation over 6- and 12-month periods and low volatility over the past 3 years. MTUM was launched on Apr 16, 2013 and is managed by BlackRock. See Also Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL Get Free Report) insider Thomas Tesh sold 323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.83, for a total value of $20,294.09. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,760,559.43. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Rollins Stock Performance NYSE ROL opened at $63.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $30.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.19 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.56. Rollins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.07 and a 1-year high of $63.84. Get Rollins alerts: Rollins (NYSE:ROL Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.03. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year. Rollins Announces Dividend Key Rollins News The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Rollinss dividend payout ratio is 68.22%. Here are the key news stories impacting Rollins this week: Positive Sentiment: Recent operating results support valuation Rollins reported an October?quarter beat (EPS $0.35 vs. $0.32) with ~12% revenue growth and strong ROE, which underpins investor confidence in recurring service demand. MarketBeat ROL Profile Recent operating results support valuation Rollins reported an October?quarter beat (EPS $0.35 vs. $0.32) with ~12% revenue growth and strong ROE, which underpins investor confidence in recurring service demand. Positive Sentiment: Dividend confirmed Company set a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 ($0.73 annualized), supporting income investors and making the yield (~1.2%) a modest positive for holders ahead of the ex?dividend date. Dividend notice Dividend confirmed Company set a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 ($0.73 annualized), supporting income investors and making the yield (~1.2%) a modest positive for holders ahead of the ex?dividend date. Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing remains favorable Multiple firms (Morgan Stanley, RBC, Goldman, Bernstein) carry Buy/Outperform views and the average price target (~$67.7) sits above current levels, providing a constructive backdrop. Analyst coverage Analyst backing remains favorable Multiple firms (Morgan Stanley, RBC, Goldman, Bernstein) carry Buy/Outperform views and the average price target (~$67.7) sits above current levels, providing a constructive backdrop. Neutral Sentiment: UBS reassessment ahead of earnings kept a Neutral rating but nudged the price target higher to $65 suggests the near?term setup is balanced rather than decisively bullish. UBS article UBS reassessment ahead of earnings kept a Neutral rating but nudged the price target higher to $65 suggests the near?term setup is balanced rather than decisively bullish. Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed several funds increased stakes in Q4 while institutions still own a majority (~52%), which can stabilize the stock but limits volatility. Institutional holdings Institutional positioning is mixed several funds increased stakes in Q4 while institutions still own a majority (~52%), which can stabilize the stock but limits volatility. Neutral Sentiment: Media noise unrelated to the company (references to WWEs Rollins) appeared in feeds unlikely to affect fundamentals or trading. Example media item Media noise unrelated to the company (references to WWEs Rollins) appeared in feeds unlikely to affect fundamentals or trading. Negative Sentiment: Clustered insider selling by senior executives and founders multiple Form 4s on Jan. 2628 show sizable sales by Gary W. Rollins, John F. Wilson, CEO Jerry Gahlhoff and others. While sales can reflect personal tax/planning, clustered senior?level disposals often add near?term supply and are read as a negative by the market. Sample SEC filing (Gary Rollins) Institutional Trading of Rollins Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,282,523 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $2,297,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,241 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Rollins by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,274,415 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $720,999,000 after purchasing an additional 172,303 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 4.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,379,509 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $527,446,000 after purchasing an additional 432,067 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Rollins by 41.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,657,997 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $319,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Rollins during the second quarter worth approximately $218,593,000. 51.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Rollins from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays raised Rollins from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price target on Rollins and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $65.00 price objective on Rollins in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $67.67. Read Our Latest Stock Report on Rollins Rollins Company Profile (Get Free Report) Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors. Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Rollins Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rollins and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP Get Free Report) (TSE:BEP) announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.88, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 0.66%. Here are the key takeaways from Brookfield Renewable Partners conference call: Get Brookfield Renewable Partners alerts: Delivered strong 2025 results with FFO per unit of $2.01 (up 10% YoY) and Q4 FFO of $0.51 per unit (up 14% YoY), and announced a >5% distribution increase to $1.468 , continuing 15 consecutive years of ?5% annual distribution growth. (up 10% YoY) and Q4 FFO of per unit (up 14% YoY), and announced a >5% distribution increase to , continuing 15 consecutive years of ?5% annual distribution growth. Record deployment and commissioningdeployed or committed a record $8.9 billion (? $1.9B net to BEP) and brought over 8 GW of new capacity online, targeting a ~ 10 GW /year run rate by 2027. (? net to BEP) and brought over of new capacity online, targeting a ~ /year run rate by 2027. Strengthened balance sheet and funding advantageended the year with $4.6 billion liquidity, maintained a BBB+ rating, executed a record ~ $37 billion of financings, and launched a $400M ATM program to repurchase shares. liquidity, maintained a BBB+ rating, executed a record ~ of financings, and launched a ATM program to repurchase shares. Strategic positioning across technologies to capture rising energy demandscaling low?cost solar/onshore wind, planning to quadruple battery storage to over 10 GW (via Neoen) and benefiting from a landmark U.S. nuclear agreement through Westinghouse that provides long?term fuel and maintenance cash flows. (via Neoen) and benefiting from a landmark U.S. nuclear agreement through Westinghouse that provides long?term fuel and maintenance cash flows. Execution risks remain in parts of the U.S.onshore wind permitting has slowed at the federal level and realized U.S. hydro prices were flat (~$83/MWh) due to generation mix and hydrology, though management expects contracted hydro pricing to rise as new long?term PPAs phase in. Brookfield Renewable Partners Price Performance NYSE BEP opened at $29.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of -34.73 and a beta of 1.12. The firms 50 day moving average price is $27.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a 52-week low of $19.29 and a 52-week high of $32.72. Brookfield Renewable Partners Announces Dividend Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Renewable Partners The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.373 per share. This represents a $1.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Brookfield Renewable Partnerss dividend payout ratio is presently -173.26%. Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 2,751,581 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $70,795,000 after buying an additional 67,481 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 8.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,697,265 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $69,226,000 after acquiring an additional 207,985 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 20.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,791,832 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $46,211,000 after buying an additional 301,229 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,716,308 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $44,264,000 after buying an additional 24,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 50.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,196,648 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $30,862,000 after purchasing an additional 400,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.16% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets BEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $38.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Monday, November 24th. Mizuho set a $33.00 price target on Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Friday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets set a $36.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Desjardins raised Brookfield Renewable Partners to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $34.93. Read Our Latest Report on BEP Brookfield Renewable Partners Company Profile (Get Free Report) Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. is a leading global owner, operator and developer of renewable power assets. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BEP, the partnership focuses on generating clean electricity from a diversified mix of hydroelectric, wind, solar and energy storage facilities. As part of the Brookfield Asset Management group, Brookfield Renewable leverages a long-term, asset-backed approach to investing in sustainable energy projects that support the transition to a low-carbon economy. The companys platform encompasses approximately 23,000 megawatts of installed capacity across four continents. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Renewable Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Renewable Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. NewsVoir Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 31: Amar Seva Sangam, a premier organization in the field of disability management recently launched one of India's largest Sensory Park at its Ayikudi Center, in Tenkasi District, Tamil Nadu. Developed across five acres with the support of the Australian Consulate in Tamil Nadu, the sensory park integrates nature-based therapeutic interventions, universal accessibility, and dignity-centred rehabilitation, strengthening inclusive, community-based support systems for persons with disabilities. This initiative marks a significant milestone in advancing inclusive, community-based rehabilitation in the State and reflects a shared commitment of Amar Seva Sangam and the Australian Government towards inclusive development, dignity, and empowerment of persons with disabilities. Supported under the Australian Government's Direct Aid Program (DAP), funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and administered through the Australian Consulate-General in Chennai, the Sensory Park, with a grant of INR 8 lakhs was inaugurated by Mr. Cameron Noble, Deputy Consul General, Australian Consulate-General, Chennai. In his inaugural address, Mr. Cameron Noble reaffirmed the Australian Government's strong commitment to building inclusive societies where persons with disabilities can fulfil their potential. He highlighted that the support to Amar Seva Sangam aligns with Australia's International Disability Equity and Rights Strategy, integrating disability inclusion across foreign policy, international development, and humanitarian programs. He noted that strengthening the therapeutic and vocational components of the Rehab Orchard would support sensory integration, early intervention, and agricultural-based vocational training for children and adults with disabilities." Thanking the Australian Government for its valuable support, Mr. S. Sankara Raman, Promoter, Co-Chairman and Secretary of Amar Seva Sangam, said, "The sensory park serves as a sanctuary for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, offering a range of therapeutic and vocational activities such as planting, watering and harvesting, sensory engagement through herbs and soil, tactile pathways, rope bridges, water-based play, and skill training in composting and solar drying. This initiative reinforces Amar Seva Sangam's long-standing commitment to holistic rehabilitation and social inclusion. Support through the Australian Government's Direct Aid Program will further strengthen our efforts focused on inclusive development, dignity, and the empowerment of persons with disabilities. We firmly believe that such initiatives highlight the critical role of international partnerships in advancing sustainable, locally driven, disability-inclusive development." Chief Guest Mr. Kamal Kishore, IAS, District Collector, Tenkasi, special invitees - Padma Shri Mr. D.R. Karthikeyan, Former Director of CBI, Mr. T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Commissioner of India (Virtual presence), CA. Mahadevan, Samruddhi Trust, Chennai, and Padma Shri Shri S. Ramakrishnan, Founder Chairman & President of Amar Seva Sangam were present during the inauguration. Other distinguished guests included: Dr. Murugaiah, Vice President, Amar Seva Sangam; Mr. T. V. Subramanian, Treasurer; Mrs. Pattammal, Committee Member; Mrs. Sulochana Krishnamoorthy, President, Handicare International, Canada; Mr. V. Mahadevan, Samruddhi Trust, Chennai; Dr. T. A. P. Valathakutti, President, Udavikkaram Tamil Nadu Association; Professor Chidambaram, State President, Pondicherry Udavikkaram Association; Dr. Rema Chandramohan, Deputy CEO, Centre of Excellence for Autism, Chennai; Dr. Karpagam, Gynaecologist, Chennai; Mr. S. Raman, Premier Industries; Mr Muralidharan, from Australia, along with government officials, panchayat leaders, and representatives from civil society. About the Sensory Park A symbol of dignity, independence & inclusion, Amar Abdul Kalam Rehab Orchard sensory park is spread across five acres and is located in Amar Seva Sangam, Ayikudi, Tenkasi. It is designed as a multi-functional therapeutic environment amidst 600 amla trees and 200+ native fruit varieties to support a higher-order rehabilitation ecosystem. The Park integrates structured sensory pathways, play-based therapeutic equipment, motor-planning zones, and vocational elements, which collectively supports enhanced sensory processing, improved motor coordination, strengthened social interaction, better employability outcomes, and the overall well-being of the children and adults with intellectual and developmental delays. For more details, please visit: www.amarseva.org. About Amar Seva SangamFounded in 1981, Amar Seva Sangam is a pioneer in disability management and inclusive development, offering services such as early intervention, education, vocational training, and community rehabilitation. The organization remains committed to the mission of integrating differently-abled individuals into mainstream society, fostering self-reliance, and advocating for sustainable, inclusive growth. (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.) Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ Get Free Report) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of 4.900-4.950 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 4.790. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Verizon Communications Stock Up 11.8% Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $187.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.34. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $40.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.74. Verizon Communications has a 52-week low of $38.39 and a 52-week high of $47.35. Get Verizon Communications alerts: Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $36.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verizon Communications has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-4.950 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement Wall Street Analyst Weigh In The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communicationss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%. Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. KeyCorp reiterated a sector weight rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.43. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Verizon Communications Verizon Communications News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on EPS and revenue Verizon reported $1.09 EPS vs. consensus $1.06 and revenue of $36.38B, topping estimates and showing 2% year-over-year revenue growth. Read More. Q4 beat on EPS and revenue Verizon reported $1.09 EPS vs. consensus $1.06 and revenue of $36.38B, topping estimates and showing 2% year-over-year revenue growth. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Raised FY?2026 EPS guidance management set guidance of $4.90$4.95, above consensus, improving forward earnings visibility and supporting valuation. Read More. Raised FY?2026 EPS guidance management set guidance of $4.90$4.95, above consensus, improving forward earnings visibility and supporting valuation. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Strong subscriber momentum Verizon logged its highest quarterly wireless net adds in years (notably large postpaid phone adds), a primary driver of the upside in revenue and service growth metrics. Read More. Strong subscriber momentum Verizon logged its highest quarterly wireless net adds in years (notably large postpaid phone adds), a primary driver of the upside in revenue and service growth metrics. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Capital return program management outlined a large buyback program (cited in call writeups), which supports EPS and signals confidence in cash flow. Read More. Capital return program management outlined a large buyback program (cited in call writeups), which supports EPS and signals confidence in cash flow. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity heavy call buying was reported intraday, consistent with speculative/hedged bullish positioning by some investors. (Options volume report) Unusual options activity heavy call buying was reported intraday, consistent with speculative/hedged bullish positioning by some investors. (Options volume report) Neutral Sentiment: Operational resilience highlighted company actions to harden networks for winter storms were noted; supports customer experience but is a longer-term benefit. Read More. Operational resilience highlighted company actions to harden networks for winter storms were noted; supports customer experience but is a longer-term benefit. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Positive media/analyst writeups emphasize value after the beat, framing VZ as an income + growth story for yield-seeking investors. Read More. Positive media/analyst writeups emphasize value after the beat, framing VZ as an income + growth story for yield-seeking investors. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Execution and cost risks called out deeper analysis warns that aggressive subscriber promotions, the Frontier deal and integration/unit economics could pressure margins and near-term earnings visibility. Read More. Execution and cost risks called out deeper analysis warns that aggressive subscriber promotions, the Frontier deal and integration/unit economics could pressure margins and near-term earnings visibility. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cut Wells Fargo trimmed its target in a sector reassessment, a reminder that some shops remain cautious on wireless pricing and capital intensity. Read More. Analyst target cut Wells Fargo trimmed its target in a sector reassessment, a reminder that some shops remain cautious on wireless pricing and capital intensity. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Dividend-safety concerns re-surfacing articles questioning sustainability of the ~7% yield could weigh on long-term income-focused demand if cash flow dynamics shift. Read More. Dividend-safety concerns re-surfacing articles questioning sustainability of the ~7% yield could weigh on long-term income-focused demand if cash flow dynamics shift. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Minor institutional selling a small manager reduced its position, noted in filings; not a major red flag but adds to mixed signals. Read More. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carriers stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276,809 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,265,695 shares of the cell phone carriers stock valued at $1,989,427,000 after purchasing an additional 557,576 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,592,460 shares of the cell phone carriers stock worth $992,939,000 after buying an additional 646,537 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,848,766 shares of the cell phone carriers stock worth $385,983,000 after buying an additional 2,965,033 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,834,911 shares of the cell phone carriers stock valued at $300,394,000 after buying an additional 61,013 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Verizon Communications Company Profile (Get Free Report) Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers. The companys consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Verizon Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Verizon Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. South Atlantic Bancshares (OTCMKTS:SABK Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports. South Atlantic Bancshares Price Performance OTCMKTS:SABK opened at $20.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.62 million, a P/E ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.15. South Atlantic Bancshares has a 12-month low of $14.00 and a 12-month high of $21.93. Get South Atlantic Bancshares alerts: South Atlantic Bancshares (OTCMKTS:SABK Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $16.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.17 million. Research analysts anticipate that South Atlantic Bancshares will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year. About South Atlantic Bancshares South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for South Atlantic Bank, a Florida-based community bank that provides a comprehensive suite of financial services. The company operates through its subsidiary to offer personalized banking solutions designed for individuals, small businesses, and commercial clients. By focusing on relationship-driven banking, South Atlantic Bancshares aims to deliver tailored financial products that address the unique needs of its customers. The companys core offerings include a variety of deposit accounts, such as checking, savings and money market products, alongside lending solutions encompassing commercial real estate loans, construction financing, equipment loans and consumer mortgages. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for South Atlantic Bancshares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for South Atlantic Bancshares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eaton Vance High Yield ETF (NYSEARCA:EVHY Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of 0.2986 per share on Thursday, February 5th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Eaton Vance High Yield ETF Stock Down 0.6% EVHY stock opened at $52.86 on Friday. Eaton Vance High Yield ETF has a one year low of $50.26 and a one year high of $53.63. The firms 50 day moving average price is $53.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.23. Get Eaton Vance High Yield ETF alerts: About Eaton Vance High Yield ETF (Get Free Report) Featured Articles The Eaton Vance High Yield ETF (EVHY) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in high yield fixed income. The fund is actively managed, investing in a broad portfolio of US corporate high yield debt securities with varying maturities. The fund aims for high levels of income and capital growth EVHY was launched on Oct 16, 2023 and is issued by Eaton Vance. Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Vance High Yield ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton Vance High Yield ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Thursday, January 29th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.134 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 29th. This represents a yield of 447.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Lloyds Banking Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Lloyds Banking Group has a dividend payout ratio of 23.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lloyds Banking Group to earn $0.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.3%. Get Lloyds Banking Group alerts: Lloyds Banking Group Stock Up 1.1% LYG opened at $5.99 on Friday. Lloyds Banking Group has a twelve month low of $2.97 and a twelve month high of $6.02. The companys 50-day moving average price is $5.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.79. The stock has a market cap of $88.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.89. Lloyds Banking Group News Roundup Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile Here are the key news stories impacting Lloyds Banking Group this week: (Get Free Report) Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of retail, commercial and insurance products. Its principal consumer-facing brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, through which it offers current accounts, savings, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans. The group also delivers services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporate clients, supplying business accounts, lending, payments and cash-management solutions. In addition to core banking, Lloyds operates a significant wealth and insurance arm under the Scottish Widows brand, offering life insurance, pensions, investment and retirement planning products. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Lloyds Banking Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lloyds Banking Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Vizsla Silver Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:VZLA Get Free Report)s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $6.86, but opened at $6.00. Vizsla Silver shares last traded at $5.68, with a volume of 11,959,211 shares changing hands. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In VZLA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Vizsla Silver from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Vizsla Silver in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. They set a buy rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Vizsla Silver in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vizsla Silver has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $7.00. Get Vizsla Silver alerts: Read Our Latest Report on Vizsla Silver Vizsla Silver Stock Performance Institutional Inflows and Outflows The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -127.00 and a beta of 0.94. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $5.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.45. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Vizsla Silver by 1,165.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,932,731 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700,887 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vizsla Silver during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,546,000. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. bought a new position in shares of Vizsla Silver in the 2nd quarter valued at about $323,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Vizsla Silver by 9.5% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 334,031 shares of the companys stock worth $984,000 after acquiring an additional 29,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management B.V. increased its stake in Vizsla Silver by 30.3% during the second quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. now owns 250,790 shares of the companys stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 58,303 shares during the last quarter. 22.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Vizsla Silver Company Profile (Get Free Report) Vizsla Silver Corp. is a Canada-based mineral exploration and development company focused on high-grade silver projects in Mexico. The company holds a portfolio of properties in the Panuco District of Sinaloa, where it is advancing its flagship Panuco Project, among several other exploration targets. These assets cover prolific epithermal vein systems that have historically produced significant silver and base metals. The Panuco Project encompasses multiple mineralized zones over a 17,000-hectare land package, where ongoing drilling campaigns have reported consistent high-grade silver intercepts. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Vizsla Silver Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vizsla Silver and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Airtel Africa (LON:AAF) management highlighted what it described as strong operating and financial momentum during its call to discuss nine-month 2026 results, pointing to broad-based growth across its footprint and continued investment to expand network capacity and digital services. Get alerts: Revenue and EBITDA growth driven by scale and demand Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said the group delivered reported currency revenue growth of 28.3% and nearly 36% growth in EBITDA over the last year. On a constant currency basis, revenues rose 24.6% and EBITDA increased 31%, which management framed as a better reflection of underlying performance. Regional performance: Nigeria acceleration, Francophone recovery, East Africa competitive pressure Discussing quarter three specifically, Taldar said revenues reached $1.69 billion, up 24.7% in constant currency, accelerating from 24.2% in the prior quarter. Reported revenue growth was almost 33% following recent foreign exchange developments. Taldar said EBITDA margin expanded to 49.6% in quarter three from 49% in quarter two, supported by cost efficiencies, a more stable macro backdrop, and operating leverage. Management called out accelerating growth in multiple regions. Francophone Africa constant currency growth increased to 18.7% in quarter three from 15.8% in quarter two, which Taldar attributed to investments and strategic focus driving a multi-year recovery. In Nigeria, constant currency growth accelerated to 53%, with management citing strong demand and tariff adjustments. In the Q&A, Taldar said the price adjustment was very badly needed for industry stability and has supported higher investment levels. He added that while voice consumption has seen some pirating, data consumption has accelerated, and customer acceptance of the pricing changes has been positive. He noted that roughly 40% to 50% of last years growth in Nigeria came from tariff effects, and said the company would have more visibility after reporting the next quarter, when the pricing impact is fully overlapped. In East Africa, constant currency growth of 16.1% was described as robust, though management acknowledged evolving dynamics. Responding to an analyst question, Taldar said underlying metrics remained stableciting customer base growth of about 9.5% and smartphone growth of about 19%but noted significantly higher competitive intensity in some markets and temporary regulatory-related disruptions in quarter three tied to sector-wide security issues. He said the issues were temporary and the company expected improvement as actions taken begin to show results. Data remains core growth driver; smartphone penetration still below 50% Airtel Africas mobile services business recorded constant currency revenue growth of 23.6% in quarter three, which management attributed to customer growth, usage expansion, and higher ARPU. The company reported total customers of 179.4 million, with data customers rising nearly 15% to 81.8 million. Smartphone penetration increased by nearly four percentage points to 48.1%, which management characterized as evidence of remaining runway for adoption. Data traffic rose nearly 47%, and data usage per customer reached 9.3 GB per month in quarter three, up 25.6% year-over-year and 8% versus quarter two. Data ARPU increased 16.2% in the quarter, contributing to data revenue growth of 35.5% in constant currency terms. Taldar said data revenues are now the largest component of group revenue. Airtel Money crosses scale milestones; IPO preparations continue Management emphasized the growth of Airtel Money as a second major engine. Taldar said the platform surpassed 50 million customers, ending quarter three with 52 million. Annualized total processed value exceeded $200 billion, reaching more than $210 billion, up 36%. In quarter three, Airtel Money revenue grew 28% in constant currency, and the business delivered EBITDA margins of over 50%, which management described as best-in-class financials. Executives also pointed to the gap between total GSM customers and Airtel Money users52 million out of nearly 180 millionas support for continued growth potential. On the IPO, Taldar reiterated that preparations are progressing and said the listing remains on track for the first half of 2026. In response to a question about venue selection, management said it continues to evaluate major listing venues and is close to finalizing a preferred location, with further updates to follow in due course. Management also discussed increasing segmentation and product focus within Airtel Money, describing how the platform is now organized across wallet services, financial services, and merchant services. Executives said the business has historically been driven by cash-in/cash-out and peer-to-peer transfers, but efforts are increasingly geared toward driving app penetration and expanding use cases to increase engagement. Investment, cost efficiency, and partnerships: network build-out and Starlink Taldar said Airtel Africa continues to invest to improve customer experience, reporting approximately 2,500 additional sites and an expanded fiber network of more than 81,500 kilometers. He said the company has accelerated capital investment to capture long-term growth opportunities. Management reiterated full-year CapEx guidance of between $875 and $900 (as stated on the call). For the nine-month period, CapEx increased more than 30% to $603 million, and the company said it remains on track to meet guidance. Executives also pointed to a cost efficiency program, launched around six to seven quarters ago, as a contributor to margin improvement. In response to questions on margins, management cited three drivers behind a roughly 240 basis point improvement on a constant currency basis: a more stable macro environment (including stable fuel prices), faster revenue growth, and continued cost initiatives aimed at eliminating waste without cutting growth-enabling spending. On connectivity initiatives, Airtel Africa discussed a partnership with Starlink for direct-to-cell services across its 14 markets. Management said the offering would initially support Gen 1 servicesSMS and light dataallowing customers with existing 4G and 5G phones to remain connected when outside terrestrial coverage, subject to regulatory approvals. Taldar described the service as complementary to network expansion rather than a replacement for terrestrial investment. Additionally, management said network sharing agreements with MTN (Nigeria and Uganda) and Vodacom (Tanzania and the DRC) are intended to reduce duplicated infrastructure investment, improve resilience, and support coverage expansion. Executives said some benefits have already begun to accrue, with more details expected in future quarters. Other topics addressed in the Q&A included Nigeria VAT changesmanagement estimated input VAT claimability would lift Nigeria margins by roughly 1.5% beginning in quarter fourand tower lease renewals in Nigeria, with management stating the ATC contract was renewed in September 2024 for a 12-year term and the IHS contract extended through 2031. The company also reported 4G population coverage of about 82% in Nigeria. Closing the call, Taldar reiterated a focus on customer experience and said the company is positioning itself to sustain growth through continued investment, digital adoption, and financial inclusion initiatives. About Airtel Africa (LON:AAF) Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa. Airtel Africa offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally. The Group aims to continue providing a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys. Featured Stories PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $134.00 to $143.00 in a research note issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. Evercore ISIs price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.36% from the stocks current price. Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on PHM. Zacks Research downgraded PulteGroup from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $128.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on PulteGroup from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research initiated coverage on PulteGroup in a research report on Monday, December 1st. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $140.54. Get PulteGroup alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on PulteGroup PulteGroup Price Performance Institutional Trading of PulteGroup PHM stock opened at $125.04 on Friday. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $142.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $124.68 and a 200 day moving average of $124.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.33. Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $404,339,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $315,883,000. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new position in PulteGroup in the third quarter worth about $174,347,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 120.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,703,049 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $225,024,000 after purchasing an additional 930,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,199,906 shares of the construction companys stock worth $337,462,000 after purchasing an additional 683,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the companys stock. Key Headlines Impacting PulteGroup Here are the key news stories impacting PulteGroup this week: About PulteGroup (Get Free Report) PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM) is a U.S.-based residential homebuilder that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and develops master-planned communities. The company operates multiple national and regional brands that target different buyer segments, including first-time buyers, move-up buyers and active-adult customers. Its operations encompass land acquisition and development, home design and construction, community amenities and ongoing customer service and warranty programs. PulteGroup markets homes under several well-known brands, such as Pulte Homes, Centex and Del Webb, among others, offering a range of product types from entry-level detached homes to larger, higher-end residences and age-restricted active-adult communities. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for PulteGroup Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PulteGroup and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Zhihu (NYSE:ZH Get Free Report) and CreditRiskMonitor.com (OTCMKTS:CRMZ Get Free Report) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations. Valuation & Earnings This table compares Zhihu and CreditRiskMonitor.coms gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Get Zhihu alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Zhihu $2.96 billion 0.11 -$23.54 million $0.16 23.47 CreditRiskMonitor.com $19.81 million 1.37 $1.67 million $0.13 19.38 Risk and Volatility CreditRiskMonitor.com has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Zhihu. CreditRiskMonitor.com is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zhihu, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Zhihu has a beta of 0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CreditRiskMonitor.com has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Zhihu and CreditRiskMonitor.com, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Zhihu 1 0 0 0 1.00 CreditRiskMonitor.com 0 0 0 0 0.00 Profitability This table compares Zhihu and CreditRiskMonitor.coms net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Zhihu 3.41% 2.42% 1.78% CreditRiskMonitor.com 7.47% 13.03% 5.92% Institutional and Insider Ownership 28.9% of Zhihu shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.6% of Zhihu shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 56.2% of CreditRiskMonitor.com shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth. About Zhihu (Get Free Report) Zhihu Inc. operates an online content community in the Peoples Republic of China. Its community allows people to seek inspiration, find solutions, make decisions, and have fun. The company offers technology, business support, and consulting services; information transmission, software, and information technology services. It also offers information and marketing services; vocational training; and internet services, as well as holds audio-visual permit. Zhihu Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Beijing, the Peoples Republic of China. About CreditRiskMonitor.com (Get Free Report) CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. engages in the provision of interactive business-to-business software-as-a-service (Saas) subscription products for corporate credit and procurement professionals in the United States. The company's products include CreditRiskMonitor product provides subscribers with unlimited usage and coverage of public and private companies, featuring multi-period spreads of financial reports and ratio analysis, credit risk scores, payment-behavior scores, trend reports, peer analysis, and credit limit recommendations, as well as up-to-date financial news screened specifically for materiality in credit evaluation; and SupplyChainMonitor, creates a risk management solution built specifically for procurement, supply chain, sourcing, and finance personnel involved in the supplier lifecycle, risk assessment, and ongoing risk monitoring. It also offers add-on subscription services, including Credit Limit Service product, available on the CreditRiskMonitor platform product, helps subscribers manage credit line limits for their customers, in light of changes in the customers' financial strength; Financial Statement Processing, and Confidential Financial Statement Tool products, provides subscribers a flexible option to help ease their process in the data entry and standardization of private company financial statements, as well as provides private company FRISK scores; and Confidential Financial Statement Portal, allows subscribers to invite their private company counterparties to enter or upload confidential financial statements to standardize and score to provide private company FRISK scores. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is based in Valley Cottage, New York. CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Flum Partners. Receive News & Ratings for Zhihu Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Zhihu and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BigBear.ai, Hut 8, Tempus AI, SoundHound AI, and Fluence Energy are the five Artificial Intelligence stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeats stock screener tool. Artificial intelligence stocks are shares of companies whose primary business involves developing, providing, or enabling AI technologies including machine-learning software, data platforms, model training and inference services, and specialized hardware like AI chips. Investors treat these stocks as a thematic or growth play, typically expecting faster revenue expansion but also accepting higher valuation volatility, execution risk, and potential regulatory or ethical uncertainties. These companies had the highest dollar trading volume of any Artificial Intelligence stocks within the last several days. Get alerts: BigBear.ai (BBAI) BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. provides artificial intelligence-powered decision intelligence solutions. It offers national security, supply chain management, and digital identity and biometrics solutions. The company also provides data ingestion, data enrichment, data processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, and predictive visualization solutions and services. Hut 8 (HUT) Hut 8 Corp., together with its subsidiaries, acquires, builds, manages, and operates data centers for digital assets mining, computing, and artificial intelligence in the United States. It operates in four segments: Digital Assets Mining, Managed Services, High Performance Computing Colocation and Cloud, and Other. Read Our Latest Research Report on HUT Tempus AI (TEM) Tempus AI Inc. is a technology company advancing precision medicine through the practical application of artificial intelligence principally in healthcare. The company provides AI-enabled precision medicine solutions to physicians to deliver personalized patient care and in parallel facilitates discovery, development and delivery of optimal therapeutics. Read Our Latest Research Report on TEM SoundHound AI (SOUN) SoundHound AI, Inc. develops independent voice artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that enables businesses across automotive, TV, and IoT, and to customer service industries to deliver high-quality conversational experiences to their customers. Its products include Houndify platform that offers a suite of Houndify tools to help brands build conversational voice assistants, such as Application Programming Interfaces (API) for text and voice queries, support for custom commands, extensive library of content domains, inclusive software development kit platforms, collaboration capabilities, diagnostic tools, and built-in analytics; SoundHound Chat AI that integrates with knowledge domains, pulling real-time data like weather, sports, stocks, flight status, and restaurants; and SoundHound Smart Answering is built to offer customer establishments custom AI-powered voice assistant. Read Our Latest Research Report on SOUN Fluence Energy (FLNC) Fluence Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers energy storage products and solution, services, and artificial intelligence enabled software-as-a-service products for renewables and storage applications in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company sells energy storage products with integrated hardware, software, and digital intelligence. Read Our Latest Research Report on FLNC Featured Articles Gorman-Rupp Company (The) (NYSE:GRC Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $54.32 and last traded at $54.0210, with a volume of 50977 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.74. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of brokerages have weighed in on GRC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gorman-Rupp from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a buy (b) rating on shares of Gorman-Rupp in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Gorman-Rupp currently has an average rating of Buy. Get Gorman-Rupp alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on GRC Gorman-Rupp Price Performance Gorman-Rupp Dividend Announcement The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 2.08. The companys fifty day moving average price is $49.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.31. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Gorman-Rupps dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.79%. Institutional Trading of Gorman-Rupp Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Gorman-Rupp by 2,664,700.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 266,480 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $12,367,000 after purchasing an additional 266,470 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gorman-Rupp during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,007,000. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gorman-Rupp in the 3rd quarter worth $2,191,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Gorman-Rupp by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 592,988 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $21,775,000 after buying an additional 38,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gorman-Rupp by 203.0% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,499 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,702,000 after buying an additional 32,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.26% of the companys stock. Gorman-Rupp Company Profile (Get Free Report) Gorman-Rupp Company is a U.S.-based manufacturer specializing in the design, production and distribution of pumps and pumping systems. Its product lineup includes centrifugal self-priming pumps, submersible pumps, vacuum priming pumps and engineered pumps for applications such as water and wastewater management, sewage handling, dewatering, industrial processing and agricultural irrigation. The company supports both standard pump requirements and custom engineered solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and municipal clients. Headquartered in Mansfield, Ohio, Gorman-Rupp has built a reputation for rugged, reliable equipment and aftermarket support services. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Gorman-Rupp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gorman-Rupp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. NewsVoir Chandigarh [India], January 31: Chandigarh University has witnessed a stupendous rise in placements over the past decade, with the number of recruiting companies surging from 282 in 2014 to over 1300 in 2025, a remarkable 325% increase. Likewise, annual job offers have risen from 2,410 to 10,000 during the same period, reflecting an impressive 315% growth reflecting the university's expanding industry engagement and strong employability outcomes. Chandigarh University students have secured a remarkable 15,000 job offers from leading IT companies in the last 10 years alone. In 2025 alone, CU students have secured over 10,000 job offers from more than 1300 leading national, international firms and Tier-1 Multi-National Companies (MNCs) including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Walt Disney, IBM, E&Y, Intel, Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, TCS, Cognizant, L&T, Wipro, Dell, HCL, Accenture, Flipkart and SAP Labs among others. Chandigarh University students have secured highest 550 offers from the tech giant TCS in the entire North India in 2025. Chandigarh University students achieved the highest placement offers in North India, securing over 85 offers from HighRadius and creating a national record with 70 offers from EPAM, both at packages of Rs 8 LPA. Gaurav Maheshwari, Computer Science Engineering (CSE) student secured the highest international package of INR 1.7 Crore from Nutanix, an American cloud computing firm. Moreover, CSE student Vandana Chauhan received a Rs 54.75 LPA offer from Palo Alto Networks, MBA and hotel management students earned highest salary packages of Rs 28 LPA and Rs 18 LPA respectively, showcasing the university's stellar performance across different domains. Among the top recruiters were Microsoft, offering Rs 50 LPA, Amazon and Atlassian with Rs 40 LPA packages. More than 500 companies presented offers above Rs 5 LPA, with over 100 companies offering Rs 10 LPA. While the average salary package secured by CU students was between Rs 7 lakhs to Rs 8 lakhs. The highest stipend of Rs 1.3 lakhs was received by Engineering student during his internship. CU processed 1,534 internships during the Jan to Dec 2025 cycle across 6 academic clusters and 167 programs with 99% paid internships and 37 international placements, reinforcing strong industry demand, global exposure and career readiness of its students. CU is the only university in the entire Punjab visited by Adobe for exclusive hiring of Software Development Engineer (SDE) roles. Chandigarh University also houses India's first LinkedIn Experience Zone (lab) at its campus which is a pioneering initiative to transform university spaces into dynamic career launchpads that empower students to build strong professional profiles, enhance employability and prepare them for the future of work. Chandigarh University's Engineering Students Get 6047 Job Offers, Secure Record High Package of Rs 1.7 Crore Chandigarh University has set new benchmarks for engineering education with its dynamic hands-on experiential learning-based engineering education, industry-aligned programs that guarantees impeccable placements. The students of Engineering streams attracted the highest number lucrative packages in 2025 with 532 top notch firms including leading MNCs turning up with record 6047 offers for students of engineering streams. These MNCs included Microsoft, Amazon, Hewlett Packard, Bank of America, NOKIA, Deloitte, IBM, DELL and SAP Labs. The top recruiters for the 2024-25 batch across all streams, included Microsoft offering the highest package ever of Rs 50 LPA, followed by Amazon with a top package of Rs 40 lakh per annum and Atlassian providing a top package of Rs 40 lakh per annum. While there was a big-time jump of 30% in the number of total companies visiting the CU campus for campus placements of engineering students, there was a jump of 70% in the number of Core Engineering Companies. While 6 companies offered salary package 35 lakh and above, 10 companies offered 30 lakhs and above, 20 companies offered 25 lakhs and above, 31 companies offered Rs 20 lakhs, 52 companies offered over Rs 15 LPA package, over 100 companies offered over Rs 10 LPA and over 500 companies offered over Rs 5 LPA package to CU students making it to the final list of successful among them. For 2025-26 CU's Computer Science Engineering (CSE) IT students received the over 4,000 job offers from 350 companies with 317 students received multiple offers and 585 students have been offered placements by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 2024-25. Of the students placed in TCS, 26 received offers with salaries ranging between Rs 9 and Rs 11.5 lakh per annum. Additionally, 179 students were offered positions with compensation packages between Rs 7-7.3 lakhs per annum. In Electronics & Communication and Electrical Engineering, over 159 companies recruited CU's 743 engineering students and 546 students of Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics and Automobile Engineering, securing job offers from 133 companies with highest salary package of Rs 40 lakhs. In Mechanical Engineering (M Tech), CU students secured the highest package of Rs 40 lakhs and average package for the program was 9 LPA while more than 130 recruiters visited the varsity to hire fresh talent in this domain. In Civil Engineering, 233 students received job offers during the campus placement session with the highest package of 15 LPA. In Chemical and Biotechnology Engineering, 45 companies made job offers to 300 students with a salary package offered touching Rs 8.4 LPA. The total number of offers made to the engineering students in 2024-25 saw a rise of 60% in comparison to last year. Of the Engineering sector companies, more than 400 companies offered pay-package of more than Rs 5 LPA while over 100 companies offered packages of more than 10 LPA. CU follows a rigorous training process under which a student adapts himself and starts preparing for campus placements in the first year itself. There is a specially designed innovative Corporate Connect Program for ensuring employability for its graduates and Career Resource Centre connects students to placement opportunities. Chandigarh University's 1153 MBA Students Get 1427 Jobs Offers from 447 Top Global & Indian Companies Chandigarh University (CU), one of India's premier private institutions which was ranked 4th in management among all private universities in India in the QS World Rankings by Subjects 2025, continues to scale greater heights in business education with its marvelous placement record for MBA graduates. As many as 447 top-notch global and national firms hired 1153 MBA graduates at CU who secured 1427 job offers with a highest salary package of Rs 23 lakh received by one of the students in 2024-25. One of the MBA graduates had secured the highest salary package of Rs 21 LPA; the average salary package also ranged between Rs 5 LPA to Rs 6 LPA. While the top recruiters in the FMCG sector included HUL, Dabur, ITC, Godrej, United Spirits, Proteinex, the leading firms that hired CU students in consumer durable goods sector were Philips, LG, Sony, Samsung, DELL and Panasonic among others. In Marketing and Finance, 256 top companies offered jobs MBA students including Mahindra Finance, Deloitte USI Tax, KPMG, Bharat Financial Inclusion and Growth Arrow LLP among others with highest salary package of Rs 23 LPA secured by CU students from Indicaa Group in marketing and another student received job offer of Rs 12 LPA from Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company in Finance. In International Business, 11 top companies offered jobs to Chandigarh University students with Indicaa Group offering the highest package of Rs 23 LPA in this domain during 2024-25 academic session. In Banking and Financial Engineering, 52 top companies in the sector offered jobs to Chandigarh University students with Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company offering the highest package of Rs 12 LPA in this domain. In Travel, Tourism and Hospitality, 10 top companies offered jobs with Chandigarh University students receiving the highest package of Rs 11 LPA in this domain. In Business Analytics, 12 top companies offered jobs to CU MBA graduates with Ford Business Solutions offering the highest package of Rs 10.5 LPA. In Human Resources and Strategic HR, 64 top companies offered jobs to CU students in 2024-25 with Hyundai Motors offering the highest package of Rs 9.25 LPA in this domain. In Data Science & AI, Capital Markets, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Healthcare and Hospital Management, 161 top companies offered jobs CU's MBA graduates with the highest package of Rs 16.42 LPA which was offered by Federal Bank of India. Biotechnology Student Secures Highest Rs 15 LPA, Legal Studies Student Secures Rs 12 LPA Chandigarh University continues to demonstrate strong placement outcomes across its academic spectrum, with the University Institute of Architecture (UIA) securing a highest package of Rs 8.45 LPA and the University Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities (UILAH) achieving Rs 13 LPA. In the health and life sciences domain, the University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) recorded Rs 7.5 LPA, while the University Institute of Biotechnology (UIBT) reached an impressive Rs 15 LPA. The University Institute of Sciences (UIS) reported a top package of Rs 9 LPA, and the University Institute of Media Studies (UIMS) achieved Rs 7.2 LPA. The University Institute of Design (UID) registered Rs 8.45 LPA, hospitality students from the University Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (UITHM) secured Rs 20 LPA, and the University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) recorded a strong highest package of Rs 12 LPA, reflecting the university's industry-aligned and multidisciplinary placement success. CU Students Get 100% Placement in Tourism, Aviation & Hospitality with Rs 21 LPA as Highest Package Chandigarh University has become the most sought-after destination for leading national and international recruiters from the tourism and hospitality industry, which is clearly evident from the exceptional placement record for these domains in the last two years; as many as 834 students of Tourism and Hospitality Management at CU secured jobs at the students in prestigious hospitality establishments in the past two years. Even more, as many as 76 students of Tourism and Hospitality Management at CU received multiple job offers. In all, 381 students of hotel management secured jobs in Five Star Hotels, Quick Service Restaurants and Retail Management companies. Of these, 327 students secured jobs in 18 Five Star Hotels including The Oberoi Bengaluru, Hilton Bangalore, Trident Gurgaon, The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, Radisson Jaipur City Centre, Marriot Gurgaon, Sheraton Hyderabad, Vivanta by Taj Surajkund, Taj Lake Palace Udaipur, Wildflower Hall Shimla, Pullman and Oberoi Sukhvilas among others. In Aviation and Travel Sector, 391 students secured jobs in 22 top aviation and travel companies in 2023 and 2024 with the highest package of Rs 7 LPA. In the aviation sector, Chandigarh University students were offered 205 jobs by 16 Airlines, including seven international carriers including Lufthansa Airways, British Airways, Air France, Qatar Airways, Kuwait Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Oman Airways, Indigo, Go Air, Spice Jet and Air India. In Tour and Travel Management, 73 students secured jobs in leading firms including Thomascook India, Pickyourtrail, Zenith Leisure Holidays, EaseMyTrip.com among others. Under its International Transfer Program, CU gives students the option to study 2 years in CU and 2 in Canada, United States of America or France or Switzerland with International Degree. Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and QS World Ranked University. This autonomous educational institution is approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website address: www.cuchd.in. (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.) Orla Mining Ltd. (NYSEAMERICAN:ORLA Get Free Report)s stock price fell 9.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $17.55 and last traded at $17.6120. 3,166,805 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 38% from the average session volume of 2,294,690 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.55. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms have weighed in on ORLA. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Orla Mining in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Natl Bk Canada upgraded shares of Orla Mining to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Orla Mining in a report on Monday. National Bankshares started coverage on shares of Orla Mining in a report on Monday, January 12th. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. Finally, CIBC reissued an outperform rating on shares of Orla Mining in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $27.00. Get Orla Mining alerts: Get Our Latest Report on ORLA Orla Mining Stock Performance Orla Mining Dividend Announcement The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.09 and a beta of 0.30. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $14.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.16. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Orla Minings dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -599.40%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Orla Mining by 99.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,208,500 shares of the companys stock worth $13,031,000 after purchasing an additional 601,500 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new position in Orla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,303,000. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Orla Mining in the 2nd quarter valued at about $355,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Orla Mining in the third quarter valued at about $3,557,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Orla Mining by 22.9% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,126,430 shares of the companys stock worth $33,765,000 after acquiring an additional 582,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.04% of the companys stock. About Orla Mining (Get Free Report) Orla Mining is a Canada-based mineral exploration and development company focused on advancing gold and silver projects in the Americas. Its flagship asset is the Cerro Quema oxide gold-silver project in Panama, where the company holds approximately 13,000 hectares of mineral concessions. Through feasibility studies and pilot plant testing, Orla has demonstrated the potential of heap leach processing at Cerro Quema, positioning the asset for transition into construction and production phases. In addition to Cerro Quema, Orla Mining expanded its portfolio in early 2023 with the acquisition of the Gold Springs project located along the UtahNevada border in the United States. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Orla Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Orla Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $48.49 and last traded at $48.48, with a volume of 57356 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.61. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BLX. Wall Street Zen lowered Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior from a buy (b+) rating to a buy (a-) rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Strong Buy. Get Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Stock Performance The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.07 and a beta of 0.84. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $44.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.75. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $82.78 million for the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 26.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLX. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,213,835 shares of the banks stock worth $48,918,000 after buying an additional 28,375 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior in the 2nd quarter worth $273,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 20.3% in the second quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,718 shares of the banks stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 6,020 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 122,864 shares of the banks stock valued at $5,648,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 46,968 shares of the banks stock valued at $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 4,843 shares during the last quarter. 19.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Company Profile (Get Free Report) Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior SA, commonly known as BLADEx and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BLX, is a multilateral financial institution dedicated to promoting foreign trade and regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Panama City, the bank provides specialized trade finance solutions to corporate clients and financial institutions, helping to facilitate cross-border transactions across key markets in the region. Its services encompass import and export financing, supply chain solutions, project and structured finance, as well as treasury and risk management products. Established in 1977 by a consortium of 20 Latin American and Caribbean governments in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), BLADEx has a mandate to support economic development through trade facilitation. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Premium Brands Holdings Co. (OTCMKTS:PRBZF Get Free Report)s stock price traded up 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $68.99 and last traded at $68.97. 44,043 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 228% from the average session volume of 13,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.52. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PRBZF shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Premium Brands in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an outperform rating on shares of Premium Brands in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a sector perform rating on shares of Premium Brands in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Premium Brands from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Premium Brands has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Get Premium Brands alerts: Get Our Latest Report on PRBZF Premium Brands Price Performance Premium Brands Company Profile The businesss fifty day moving average is $71.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.52. (Get Free Report) Premium Brands Holdings Corp is a Canadian specialty food manufacturing and distribution company that develops, produces and markets a broad array of premium branded and private-label food products. The company serves retail, foodservice and take-home meal customers, offering a diverse portfolio that includes deli meats, fresh and frozen sandwiches, baked goods, seafood, plant-based proteins and artisanal cheeses. Premium Brands focuses on high-growth, value-added segments of the food industry where quality, convenience and innovation drive customer loyalty. Through a strategy of organic development and targeted acquisitions, Premium Brands has assembled a network of production facilities and distribution centres across North America and selected international markets. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Premium Brands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Premium Brands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Charlottes Web Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS:CWBHF Get Free Report) traded down 14.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $0.4444 and last traded at $0.4499. Approximately 1,804,062 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 137% from the average session volume of 760,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.5270. Charlottes Web Trading Up 13.4% The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $0.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $0.18. Get Charlotte's Web alerts: About Charlottes Web (Get Free Report) Charlottes Web Holdings, Inc is a producer and distributor of hemp-derived wellness products, operating under the Charlottes Web brand name. The company specializes in full-spectrum cannabidiol (CBD) formulations sourced from proprietary hemp genetics and manufactured at its vertically integrated processing facilities in Colorado. Its product suite encompasses CBD oils, capsules, gummies, topicals and pet-specific formulations designed to support general well-being. Originally founded in 2013 by the Stanley Brothers in Boulder, Colorado, Charlottes Web pioneered the consumer CBD market with an emphasis on quality, consistency and transparency. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Charlotte's Web Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charlotte's Web and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Austevoll Seafood ASA (OTCMKTS:ASTVF Get Free Report) shot up 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.75 and last traded at $9.75. 200 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.73. Austevoll Seafood ASA Price Performance The firms 50 day moving average price is $9.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.23. Get Austevoll Seafood ASA alerts: Austevoll Seafood ASA Company Profile (Get Free Report) Austevoll Seafood ASA is a Norway?based integrated seafood company engaged in the harvesting, farming, processing and marketing of seafood products. Headquartered in Austevoll, the company operates across multiple segments, including pelagic fishing, whitefish capture, salmon farming and production of feed. Its portfolio spans fresh and frozen fish products, omega-3 oils, fishmeal, and value-added seafood items supplied to retail, foodservice and industrial customers. In its pelagic division, Austevoll Seafood targets species such as herring, blue whiting and mackerel through a modern fleet of purse seiners and trawlers operating primarily in the Northeast Atlantic. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Austevoll Seafood ASA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Austevoll Seafood ASA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Booking, Travelers Companies, Expedia Group, Trip.com Group, MakeMyTrip, Thor Industries, and Allegiant Travel are the seven Travel stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeats stock screener tool. Travel stocks are shares of companies whose primary business is facilitating or serving leisure and business travel including airlines, hotels and resorts, cruise lines, online travel agencies, car rental firms, and travel-related technology providers. They tend to be cyclical and sensitive to economic conditions, seasonality, fuel and labor costs, and geopolitical events, which often produces higher volatility in revenue and share prices compared with defensive sectors. These companies had the highest dollar trading volume of any Travel stocks within the last several days. Get alerts: Booking (BKNG) Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc., is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands. Travelers Companies (TRV) The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. Read Our Latest Research Report on TRV Expedia Group (EXPE) Expedia Group, Inc. operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. Its B2C segment includes Brand Expedia, a full-service online travel brand offers various travel products and services; Hotels.com for lodging accommodations; Vrbo, an online marketplace for the alternative accommodations; Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group, ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com and CarRentals.com. Read Our Latest Research Report on EXPE Trip.com Group (TCOM) Trip.com Group Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a travel service provider for accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and in-destination, corporate travel management, and other travel-related services in China and internationally. The company acts as an agent for hotel-related transactions and selling air tickets, as well as provides train, long-distance bus, and ferry tickets; travel insurance products, such as flight delay, air accident, and baggage loss coverage; and air-ticket delivery, online check-in and seat selection, express security screening, real-time flight status tracker, and airport VIP lounge services. Read Our Latest Research Report on TCOM MakeMyTrip (MMYT) MakeMyTrip Limited, an online travel company, sells travel products and solutions in India, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Peru, Colombia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The company operates through three segments: Air Ticketing, Hotels and Packages, and Bus Ticketing. Read Our Latest Research Report on MMYT Thor Industries (THO) THOR Industries, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells recreational vehicles (RVs), and related parts and accessories in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company offers travel trailers; gasoline and diesel Class A, Class B, and Class C motorhomes; conventional travel trailers and fifth wheels; luxury fifth wheels; and motorcaravans, caravans, campervans, and urban vehicles. Read Our Latest Research Report on THO Allegiant Travel (ALGT) Allegiant Travel Company, a leisure travel company, provides travel services and products to residents of under-served cities in the United States. The company offers scheduled air transportation on limited-frequency, nonstop flights between under-served cities and leisure destinations. As of February 1, 2024, it operated a fleet of 126 Airbus A320 series aircraft. Read Our Latest Research Report on ALGT Recommended Stories MPC Container Ships ASA (OTCMKTS:MPZZF Get Free Report)s share price traded up 2.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1.93 and last traded at $1.9140. 14,901 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 25,493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.8650. MPC Container Ships ASA Stock Up 1.4% The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.75. Get MPC Container Ships ASA alerts: About MPC Container Ships ASA (Get Free Report) MPC Container Ships ASA operates as a pure?play container vessel owner and charterer, specializing in the acquisition and long?term chartering of modern container ships. Incorporated in Norway, the company focuses on securing a diversified fleet of gearless vessels, which are then chartered out to established liner operators under fixed?rate time and bareboat agreements. This asset?light model allows MPC Container Ships to benefit from contracted cash flows while mitigating exposure to spot market volatility. The companys fleet consists of medium?sized container vessels ranging in capacity from approximately 1,000 TEU to 4,500 TEU, with an emphasis on younger, fuel?efficient ships. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for MPC Container Ships ASA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MPC Container Ships ASA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hang Lung Group (OTCMKTS:HNLGY Get Free Report) and Tejon Ranch (NYSE:TRC Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk. Analyst Recommendations This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Hang Lung Group and Tejon Ranch, as provided by MarketBeat. Get Hang Lung Group alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Hang Lung Group 0 0 0 0 0.00 Tejon Ranch 0 1 0 0 2.00 Insider and Institutional Ownership 60.6% of Tejon Ranch shares are held by institutional investors. 22.4% of Tejon Ranch shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Profitability Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Hang Lung Group N/A N/A N/A Tejon Ranch 6.41% 0.61% 0.48% Earnings & Valuation This table compares Hang Lung Group and Tejon Ranchs net margins, return on equity and return on assets. This table compares Hang Lung Group and Tejon Ranchs revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Hang Lung Group $1.51 billion N/A $276.02 million N/A N/A Tejon Ranch $41.89 million 10.35 $2.69 million $0.12 134.33 Hang Lung Group has higher revenue and earnings than Tejon Ranch. Summary Tejon Ranch beats Hang Lung Group on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks. About Hang Lung Group (Get Free Report) Hang Lung Group Limited, an investment holding company, operates as a property developer in Hong Kong and the Mainland of China. The company operates through Property Leasing and Property Sales segments. It develops properties for sale and lease, such as large-scale commercial, office, and residential developments. The company also invests in and develops various properties, including shopping malls, office premises, residential and industrial premises, and car parking bays. In addition, its investment properties portfolio includes Grand Gateway 66, a commercial, office, and residential complex, as well as Plaza 66, a commercial and office complex in Shanghai; Palace 66 and Forum 66 in Shenyang; Parc 66 in Jinan; Center 66 in Wuxi; Riverside 66 in Tianjin; Olympia 66 in Dalian; Spring City 66 in Kunming; and Heartland 66 in Wuhan. Further, the company offers car park and property management, financial, management, project management, and property agency services, as well as operates and manages apartment. Hang Lung Group Limited was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong. About Tejon Ranch (Get Free Report) Tejon Ranch Co., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified real estate development and agribusiness company. It operates through five segments: Commercial/Industrial Real Estate Development, Resort/Residential Real Estate Development, Mineral Resources, Farming, and Ranch Operations. The Commercial/Industrial Real Estate Development segment engages in the planning and permitting of land for development; construction of infrastructure projects, pre-leased buildings, and buildings to be leased or sold; and sale of land to third parties for their own development. It is also involved in the activities related to communications leases, a power plant lease, and landscape maintenance. This segment leases land to various auto service stations with convenience stores, fast-food operations, service diner-style restaurant, a motel, an antique shop, and a post office; various microwave repeater locations, radio and cellular transmitter sites, and fiber optic cable routes; and package of land for an electric power plant. The Resort/Residential Real Estate Development segment engages in land entitlement, planning, pre-construction engineering, stewardship, and conservation activities. The Mineral Resources segment includes oil and gas royalties, rock and aggregate royalties, and royalties from a cement operation leased to National Cement Company of California, Inc.; and the management of water assets and infrastructure projects. The Farming segment farms permanent crops, such as wine grapes, almonds, and pistachios in package of land. It also manages the farming of alfalfa and forage mix on package of land in the Antelope Valley; and leases package of land for growing vegetables, as well as almonds. The Ranch Operations segment provides game management and ancillary land services comprising grazing leases and filming, as well as various guided hunts. Tejon Ranch Co. was founded in 1843 and is based in Lebec, California. Receive News & Ratings for Hang Lung Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hang Lung Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSE:ESI Get Free Report) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$2.47 and traded as high as C$3.29. Ensign Energy Services shares last traded at C$3.20, with a volume of 118,877 shares trading hands. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESI shares. ATB Capital reduced their target price on Ensign Energy Services from C$3.25 to C$3.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Ensign Energy Services from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$2.50 to C$3.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Ensign Energy Services from an outperform rating to a hold rating and set a C$3.50 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Atb Cap Markets upgraded Ensign Energy Services to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on Ensign Energy Services from C$2.50 to C$2.75 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$2.90. Get Ensign Energy Services alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ESI Ensign Energy Services Trading Down 1.6% The stock has a market cap of C$577.29 million, a PE ratio of -12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 202.94 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 84.02, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$2.72 and a 200-day moving average price of C$2.48. Ensign Energy Services (TSE:ESI Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported C($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$411.16 million for the quarter. Ensign Energy Services had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 2.37%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ensign Energy Services Inc. will post 0.2901354 EPS for the current fiscal year. Ensign Energy Services Company Profile (Get Free Report) Ensign Energy Services Inc offers services in drilling and well servicing, oil sands coring, directional drilling, underbalanced and managed pressure drilling, equipment rentals, transportation, wireline services, and production testing services. Ensign produces enhanced drilling with the help of its proprietary automated drilling rigs. The automated drilling rigs are built for improved safety and a reduced environmental footprint. Most of the companys revenue is derived from the United States and Canada. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Ensign Energy Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ensign Energy Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. UPM-Kymmene Co. (OTCMKTS:UPMKY Get Free Report)s stock price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $26.45 and traded as low as $26.29. UPM-Kymmene shares last traded at $26.4501, with a volume of 6,600 shares. UPM-Kymmene Stock Up 3.3% The stock has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.45. Get UPM-Kymmene alerts: UPM-Kymmene Company Profile (Get Free Report) UPM-Kymmene Corporation is a Finnish forest industry company headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, that specializes in the production of renewable and sustainable wood-based products. The companys core activities encompass the manufacture of pulp, paper, plywood and sawn timber, with a strong emphasis on innovation in specialty papers and label materials. In addition to traditional forest products, UPM-Kymmene has developed a range of advanced biorefinery solutions. These include renewable biofuels, industrial wood-based chemicals and specialty biomaterials designed to replace fossil-based alternatives. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for UPM-Kymmene Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UPM-Kymmene and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Macaulay Culkin has paid a heartfelt tribute to Catherine O'Hara. Catherine O'Hara has died aged 71 The 45-year-old actor has taken to social media to reflect on the passing of his former Home Alone co-star, who has died aged 71. Alongside two throwback photos of himself and Catherine, the actor wrote on Instagram: "Mama. "I thought we had time. "I wanted more. "I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. "I heard you. "But I had so much more to say. "I love you. "Ill see you later. (sic)" One of the photos was taken from when Macaulay and Catherine starred together in the Home Alone film franchise. The second photo was taken in 2023, when the late actress supported Macaulay at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Catherine - who played the actor's on-screen mom - said that day: "Home Alone was, is and always will be a beloved global sensation ... the reason families all over the world can't let a year go by without watching and loving Home Alone together is because of Macaulay Culkin." Elsewhere, Pedro Pascal has also taken to social media to heap praise on his former co-star. The actor - who starred alongside Catherine in The Last of Us - wrote on Instagram: "Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Always [heart emoji] "The one and ONLY #CatherineOHara (sic)" Meanwhile, David Furnish has hailed Catherine as a "brilliant actress and comedian". The 63-year-old filmmaker - who is married to Sir Elton John - wrote on the photo-sharing platform: "Absolutely devastated to hear of the passing of Catherine OHara. A brilliant actress and comedian. Shes kept me roaring with laughter for DECADES. From Lola Heatherton on @sctv in Canada in the 70s to Moira Rose on @schittscreek today - and all the roles in between. Ive loved everything shes done. How brilliant to leave such a legacy of artistic excellence and laughter. #CatherineOHara #RIP (sic)" NewsVoir Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 31:The architect of India's unprecedented economic resurgence and intellectual hegemony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be delivering the keynote address at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2026. The summit is scheduled to be held at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi, on February 13 and 14. In the eleven years of PM Modi's stewardship, India has climbed six rungs to become the world's fourth largest economy, outranking Japan last year. This is a remarkable achievement in a considerably short period of time and India is already well on its way to becoming the world's third largest economy by 2030. With this background, the PM's address at ET NOW Global Business Summit 2026 comes at an opportune time in global economic history and would likely lay down a pathway for India's enhanced role in becoming the innovation capital of the world, as our indigenous manufacturing and technology prowess get strengthened. The Global Business Summit has already established itself as South Asia's definitive thought leadership dialogue. And this year's theme 'A Decade of Disruption, A Century of Change' is expected to generate rich conversions about ways to tackle the unprecedented disruption of the last decade, which was marked by seismic shifts in geopolitics, climate, capital and technology. With global leaders, key policy makers and top CEOs in attendance, the summit would allow participants to explore multiple, actionable pathways for India to become a knowledge-based, innovation economy. Under PM Modi, India has pursued a trajectory of inclusive and sustainable growth, with initiatives such as "Make in India" boosting domestic manufacturing and attracting Foreign Direct Investment in electronics, renewable energy and more. The Digital India program has revolutionised our technological landscape, fostering a robust digital economy that ranks among the world's most advanced. Infrastructure development has been another critical driver. The Modi government's investment in high-speed rail, modernised airports and smart cities reflects a commitment to building a foundation for long-term prosperity. At the heart of India's economic success is its demographic advantage: a young, dynamic workforce. And the startup ecosystem, one of the largest globally, has produced unicorns in fintech, e-commerce and Artificial Intelligence, rivalling innovation centres like Silicon Valley. Education and skilling initiatives by the Modi government have been pivotal in sustaining this momentum. Then, India's rise as the fourth-largest economy has profound implications for the world. Its vast market offers unparalleled opportunities for trade and investment. And the emphasis on innovation positions it as a global hub for Research and Development. Collaborations between Indian and international firms in AI, Biotechnology, and Clean Energy are driving global advancements. The nation's digital infrastructure, including its leadership in 5G and blockchain, facilitates cross-border partnerships, enhancing global connectivity. India's economic policies also promote stability in an uncertain world. By diversifying supply chains and reducing dependence on single markets, India contributes to global economic resilience. And our role in multilateral trade agreements and regional economic blocs fosters cooperation, countering protectionist trends. As a voice for developing nations, India advocates fair trade practices and access to technology, reshaping global economic norms. The Times Group presents ET NOW Global Business Summit 2026 as a distinguished platform that has in the past hosted an illustrious array of personalities, both from India and around the world. This distinguished list includes luminaries such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the visionary Bill Gates from Microsoft, Brian Chesky of Airbnb, Arianna Huffington from Huffington Post Media Group, Dara Khosrowshahi, the leader of Uber, Reed Hastings representing Netflix, the innovative Steve Wozniak from Apple, renowned venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki, Anshula Kant from the World Bank Group, iconic actor Shah Rukh Khan, and the esteemed Economist and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, among other influential figures. The summit continues to be a nexus of unparalleled insights and global perspectives, bringing together the brightest minds to shape the future of business and innovation. ET Edge, an Initiative of The Times Group, is India's largest conference and thought leadership company. Since its inception in 2015, ET Edge has been at the forefront of creating unique thought leadership initiatives with the objective to empower multiple sectors, industries, and segments by dispersing critical business knowledge through strategically developed specialised conferences and summits. ET Now Global Business Summit is among ET Edge's flagship IPs, which strives to bring together visionaries and key global leaders through its enriched knowledge platforms to aid the symbiotic relationship between societies and businesses. Some of the other marque conference properties of ET Edge include (SDG) Sustainability Development Goals Summit, Supply Chain Summit, CX Summit, and Best Brands series. (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.) iShares MSCI Poland UCITS ETF USD (Acc) (LON:SPOL Get Free Report) passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 2,430.15 and traded as high as GBX 2,656. iShares MSCI Poland UCITS ETF USD (Acc) shares last traded at GBX 2,592, with a volume of 38,196 shares. iShares MSCI Poland UCITS ETF USD (Acc) Trading Down 0.9% The businesss fifty day moving average price is GBX 2,436.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 2,284.21. See Also Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Poland UCITS ETF USD (Acc) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Poland UCITS ETF USD (Acc) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A. (OTCMKTS:DVDCY Get Free Report)s share price crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.85 and traded as high as $9.85. Davide Campari-Milano shares last traded at $9.85, with a volume of 3,900 shares. Davide Campari-Milano Trading Up 5.5% The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $9.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.85. The company has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of 37.88 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Get Davide Campari-Milano alerts: About Davide Campari-Milano (Get Free Report) Davide Campari-Milano N.V. is a leading global beverage company specializing in the production, marketing and distribution of premium spirits, wines and ready-to-drink products. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, the companys portfolio features iconic brands such as Campari aperitivo, Aperol, SKYY Vodka, Wild Turkey bourbon and Grand Marnier, alongside a range of regional and craft labels. Through an integrated network of manufacturing sites and distribution offices, Campari serves consumers in over 190 markets worldwide, with a particularly strong presence in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. The companys core activities encompass brand development, production and global sales of alcoholic beverages across multiple price points. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Davide Campari-Milano Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Davide Campari-Milano and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Jiangsu Expressway Co. (OTCMKTS:JEXYY Get Free Report) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.70 and traded as high as $25.70. Jiangsu Expressway shares last traded at $25.70, with a volume of 106 shares traded. Jiangsu Expressway Price Performance The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.82. Get Jiangsu Expressway alerts: About Jiangsu Expressway (Get Free Report) Jiangsu Expressway Company Limited is a China-based infrastructure enterprise primarily engaged in the investment, development, operation and management of toll roads. Headquartered in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, the company focuses on highway construction, maintenance and ancillary services designed to support regional transportation networks. It holds concessions for a portfolio of expressway projects, overseeing functions such as toll collection, traffic monitoring and road safety management. The companys core assets are concentrated within Jiangsu Province, one of Chinas most economically dynamic regions. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Jiangsu Expressway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Jiangsu Expressway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. With the Union Budget for FY27 scheduled for Sunday, expectations are tamed even as markets remain alert to the possibility of selective positive surprises, according to a pre-Budget note by Union Bank of India (UBI). The report notes that while the Government does not wait for the Budget to announce key reforms, the Budget continues to be a crucial policy document, especially at a time when most major policy announcements are already under execution. UBI expects fiscal consolidation to continue in FY27, albeit at a slower pace. The fiscal deficit is projected at 4.2-4.4 per cent of GDP, with the bank stating, "We see fiscal consolidation to continue in FY27, albeit at slower pace, to 4.2% of GDP, in order to preserve policy space in an uncertain world & ahead of Pay Commission implementation in FY28." The report highlights a likely transition towards a debt-to-GDP targeting framework, noting that the Centre aims to transition to a debt management approach from FY27 with an endeavour to reduce debt to GDP to around 50+-1 per cent by FY31. Despite pressures on revenues from earlier tax cuts and the discontinuation of the GST compensation cess from February 1, 2026, policy priority is expected to remain firmly on capital expenditure. UBI projects FY27 capital expenditure at Rs 12.4 lakh crore, or about 3.2 per cent of GDP, with defence, roads and railways remaining key focus areas. The report states that capex push and revex rationalisation are expected to be the main drivers of fiscal consolidation in FY27. On market borrowings, UBI sees room for lower-than-expected numbers. While market consensus pegs FY27 gross borrowings in the range of Rs 15.5-16.5 lakh crore, the bank's baseline estimate is at the lower end. "Despite low probability of an 'optimistic' scenario, we propagate the same," the report says, adding that there is space to show lower gross and net borrowing numbers of around Rs 15.5 lakh crore and Rs 10.5 lakh crore, respectively. The 16th Finance Commission report, to be tabled along with the Budget, is expected to be closely watched. While market expectations point to minor changes in tax devolution, the report flags the possibility of more substantive reform signals. UBI notes "macro urgency to have a handle on states' finances," and says the Commission may lay down a "fiscal roadmap for states targeting fiscal deficit to come down to sub-3% of GSDP in a prescribed time period." Beyond fiscal arithmetic, the report says reform announcements will be a key focus of the Budget. These include measures to make bank deposits more attractive, steps to "lay the red carpet for foreign investors," promotion of sectors like defence amid geopolitical uncertainty, and customs duty rationalisation to boost manufacturing and ease of doing business. Summing up, UBI notes that while the Finance Minister is known for being conservative & credible, the upcoming Budget still carries the possibility of selective favourable surprises for markets and the macro outlook. (ANI) Just for night owls, early birds and local news junkies, tonight we share just a few more stories that we're reading by way of pop culture, community reporting and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . South Side Arctic Insanity Endures 'Super Plunge' participants dip into icy Longview Lake for a good cause A group of highly charged and dedicated people took several dips into icy Longview Lake on Friday to raise money for Special Olympics Missouri. Local Latina Debut . . . Edra Soto 'the place of dwelling' is Kemper's 10 year atrium project finale Artist Edra Soto with Bad Bunny and her dog, Fiesta // Photo by Samantha Russell The Kemper calls the museum's entryway an atrium. Soto sees a chapel. Soto's commissioned works line the atrium with depth and dimension in this 10th-year installation, highlighting Latin American artists. Who Will Rule Meth Town?!? Hear from all 4 Independence mayoral candidates in KSHB 41's questionnaire There are four candidates running to become the new Independence mayor after incumbent Rory Rowland decided against seeking a second term. Bridging The Dotte Turner Diagonal Bridge project expected to be complete later this year Construction work for the Turner Diagonal Bridge is expected to be complete this summer, according to Wyandotte County Public Works. 90s Nostalgia Comeback Dave Matthews Band returns to KC for first time in 10 years. Tickets on sale soon No two shows from DMB are the same, and the Kansas City area will get its first since 2016. Today's Celeb Fashion Statement Adelaine Morin Hot Shots To Kick Off Her 28th Birthday! Adelaine Morin's celebrating her 28th birthday today ... and we've put together her hottest shots for you to enjoy! MAGA Builds Thunderdome?!? President Trump reveals plan to build 100,000-seat stadium for UFC White House event The highly-anticipated UFC White House event may have just hit another level. According to President of the United States, Donald Trump, the upcoming UFC card will feature a stadium in front of the White House that will hold up to 100,000 people. Trump didn't offer any additional details about the proposed structure, but with less [...] The Drop Arrives . . . Analysis: 5 early takeaways from the DOJ's big Epstein files drop | CNN Politics The Justice Department on Friday announced the long-awaited release of an enormous tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files, spanning more than 3 million pages, which it said fufilled its obligations under transparency legislation passed last year. Deets On Shutdown Power Play Lindsey Graham Holds Up Trump-Backed Spending Package Over Sanctuary Cities, Jack Smith Provision Lindsey Graham Holds Up Trump-Backed Spending Package Over Sanctuary Cities, Jack Smith Provision Won't Help Him Either Way US DoJ opens federal civil rights investigation into killing of Alex Pretti Deputy attorney general makes announcement over fatal shooting in Minneapolis as fierce protests there continue Saudis Talk Solutions Scoop: Saudi defense minister says Trump not bombing Iran would embolden regime "At this point, if this doesn't happen, it will only embolden the regime." Holy Land Documents Tragedy Israel accepts health authorities' Gaza death toll is broadly accurate, saying 70,000 have died Israeli military's U-turn in accepting official figures comes after years of attacking data as 'Hamas propaganda' Royal Creeper Suspect Accused Son of Norway crown princess to stand trial for allegedly raping 4 women Marius Borg Hoiby, the 29-year-old son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has been charged with a total of 38 counts. Comeback Nobody Wanted Hoping to jump-start broken-down series, Vin Diesel announces March 2028 release for Fast XI Honking his horn on Instagram, Vin Diesel now says Fast XI, the long-awaited conclusion to the saga, will hit theaters in March 2028. Final Act For Hollywood Icon Actress Catherine O'Hara dies at 71 O'Hara, known for iconic films like "Beetlejuice" and "Home Alone," has died. Participation Trophy Cometh FIFA trophy to stop in Kansas City during spring North American tour Specific locations in Kansas City where the trophy will be on display have not yet been announced. Frozen In Time . . . Prepare for frigid cold Saturday morning in Kansas City metro Saturday is a First Alert Weather Alert day due to dangerously cold wind chills near minus 10 in the morning. And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. Actually, from what we've seen . . . This is one of many upcoming rallies coming up in Kansas City that garnered surprising support for an otherwise arctic January afternoon. Cowtown Activists & protesters stood in the single-digit temperatures to protest against the actions of federal agents in Minnesota and an upcoming ICE detention facility planned for KC Proper. And so we pose this questions do readers tonight in terms of accountability, the local discourse and recent advances in thermal wear: Did it work?!? Here's the roundup and better reporting so that our blog community can decide for themselves . . . "Hundreds of demonstrators gathered across the Kansas City area to protest ICE operations and recent events in Minneapolis, with rallies held at multiple locations, including U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley's office and the ICE Kansas City office. Hundreds protest ICE operations at multiple locations in Kansas City amid Minneapolis tensions "The protests drew participants with both local and personal connections to the issues at hand. " Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . . Hundreds protest ICE operations at multiple locations in Kansas City amid Minneapolis tensions Hundreds of demonstrators gathered across Kansas City to protest ICE operations and recent events in Minneapolis, with rallies held at multiple locations. Local Kansas City shops take stand against ICE, protest Friday Local Kansas City businesses are sharing their stance on recent ICE-related events and immigration news during Friday's Nationwide 'ICE Out' Black Out Event. 'If you don't say anything, you're compliant': KCMO businesses close, support anti-ICE protests Kansas City-area businesses on both sides of the state line decided to support a nationwide day of protest against ICE on Friday. Several Kansas City businesses shut down for the day in solidarity with anti-ICE protests It wasn't business as usual for some Kansas City shops on Friday. A nationwide protest and strike led some local businesses to shut their doors or show their support in other ways. Demonstrators gather across multiple locations demanding accountability from ICE operations The Missouri Workers Center organized the demonstrations. Developing . . . For longtime Kansas City residents this story resonates inasmuch as KC Proper once hosted a thriving Jewish community that moved on with the march of time . . . Even now it's always interesting to pass by the former temple on Linwood or the old Beth Shalom Synagogue at 34th & Paseo and think of a bygone era when KCMO was a profoundly different place. Accordingly . . . Here's an effort to reconnect the community beyond borders . . . "Across Greater Kansas City, Jewish life is not defined only by where synagogues, schools and community centers stand. Families live north of the river, in Midtown, in Olathe, in eastern Jackson County and far beyond the neighborhoods most closely associated with Jewish communal life . . . The question facing Kansas Citys Jewish institutions is not only where Jews live but also how to reach them." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Right now we celebrate model, celeb and Insta hottie Rosie as we take another peek at pop cutlure, community reporting and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . Cowtown Coffee Talk Northeast Kansas City, Missouri, coffee shop brews conversation and community connection Coffee, community and conversation - that's what PH Coffee embodies at its shop in the historic Northeast neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. Unwanted Return Trip?!? Why there's a better chance for a Tyreek Hill-Chiefs reunion than in years past For years, many fans have hoped to see Tyreek Hill back in Kansas City. There now is a better chance of that potentially happening. Dead-Tree Daily Plea . . . Our feeds are flooded with trendy news. Kansas City needs local journalism | Opinion What information people want and what they need do not always match. A healthy society needs both. | Opinion Show-Me So Many Losers Missouri sports betting tops $543M in first month but deductions leave state with only $521K - St. Louis Business Journal Missourians placed more than half-a-billion dollars in bets on sporting events in December but promotional offers offset the taxable profits, leaving less than $1 million to help problem gamblers and public education. Kansas Growing Season Redux Harvest hubs taking root across Kansas Hubs aim to help address a lack of access to healthy food, a factor in the state's steep decline in the national health rankings. Artsy Resistance Debuts KC was set to give major art project to non-local artist. Then community spoke up "$185,000 going to somebody in Minnesota or Texas," one local artist said. "When you have a plethora of artists, not even just Black artists, but Black, white, Chinese, Mexican, whatever, right, in Kansas City." Home Team Deals With Future Royals sign Vinnie Pasquantino to two-year deal, avoid arbitration The slugger avoids a contentious hearing. Snow Angel Celebration Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's Snow-Kissed Moment Creats a Frosty Frenzy Rosie Huntington-Whiteley sent Instagram into full winter-glam mode on Saturday, January 10, as the verified fashion star dropped a breathtaking alpine photo set that proved icy backdrops and barely-there bikinis could absolutely coexist. The British model and beauty entrepreneur, 38, posed against towering, snow-draped mountains while serving a luxe apres-ski fantasy in a crisp white [...] Debating Damaging Dox What 3 million new documents tell us about Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein | CNN Politics President Donald Trump is mentioned more than 1,000 times in the three million Jeffrey Epstein documents released Friday, after the president initially resisted the effort. While some of the references are benign, others include newly disclosed unverified sexual assault claims against Trump as well as fresh details about how some of Epstein's victims described their interactions with the future president. More Deets On Drop What have we learned from the newly released Epstein files? Latest documents indicate high-profile figures continued friendships with financier after child sex abuse convictions Brinkmanship Forever . . . Government shutdown deadline just hours away as Senate works to pass funding deal Dozens of federal agencies are set to see their funding lapse at midnight as senators work to finalize a deal on a package of spending bills. Living In American Shadows This Minneapolis family has been in hiding for weeks, fearful of being deported From a missed graduation ceremony to daily anxiety about walking their dog, one family recounts their ever-present fear of being deported as immigration agents flood their city. Holy Land Strike Postscript Israeli air strikes kill at least 27 Palestinians in Gaza, rescue officials say Israel's military confirmed the strikes, which come during a ceasefire that Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaking. Toast To Bitter Engagement?!? With decades-long restrictions lifted, a Pakistani brewery has started exporting beer Drinking is illegal for Pakistan's Muslim majority, but Murree Brewery's beer has long been available to non-Muslims and foreigners there. Now it's being exported to the U.K., Japan and Portugal. Is the U.S. next? Thrust Into Vacay Dreams Inside the World's 10 Wildest Sex Resorts From clothing-optional beaches to sensual theme nights and playrooms, these 10 adult-only sex resorts around the world redefine what it means to vacation without limits. Local Carby Rescue Community rallies around Northland pastry shop From birthdays to weddings and every celebration in between, Wally's Pastry Shop has been a staple in Kansas City's Northland since 1962. Today's Update Was Written Under Blanket . . . First Warn Forecast: First Warn in place for dangerous cold Saturday morning It's another day to bundle up and protect yourself from this blast of frigid air. Dropkick Murphys "The Big Man" is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. Minister of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan Adil Karimli, who is on a visit to Oman, met with Umberto Fanni, General Director and Artistic Director of the Royal Opera House in the capital city of Muscat, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan. It was noted that the minister spoke about professional theater and opera art in Azerbaijan, emphasizing the countrys rich traditions in this field. During the meeting, issues of cooperation between the Royal Opera House Muscat and the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, as well as other theater and concert institutions, were discussed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. Members of the professional staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee visited the Azerbaijani Parliament to discuss prospects for further strengthening bilateral relations on January 31,Trend reports. Samad Seyidov, Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Interparliamentary Ties and head of the working group on Azerbaijan-U.S. parliamentary relations, highlighted the history of Azerbaijan-U.S. relations, current areas of cooperation, and the prospects for elevating ties to a strategic partnership. He emphasized that both sides determination to elevate relations to the level of a strategic partnership is clearly reflected in their joint statements and the practical steps being implemented. Discussing the Washington summit, the Committee Chairman highlighted the importance of President Ilham Aliyevs working visit to the United States last August, noting the significance of the talks held, agreements reached, and documents signed. He stated that these agreements have brought Azerbaijan-U.S. relations to a qualitatively new stage and stressed that they play a key role in the broader peace agenda between Azerbaijan and Armenia, contributing to regional stability and enhanced cooperation. The parties also highlighted the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) initiative, with Seyidov noting that its implementation, supported by the United States, will reshape Eurasian transport corridors and significantly deepen regional cooperation. Additionally, the importance of repealing Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act with respect to Azerbaijan was underlined, as this step is expected to strengthen bilateral relations, foster mutual trust, and expand opportunities for collaboration. Farid Hajiyev, Chief of Staff of the Azerbaijani Parliament, briefed the U.S. delegation on the powers of the parliament and the legal and regulatory framework guiding its work. He explained that parliamentary activities are conducted consistently and systematically, ensuring the discussion and adoption of legislative initiatives, the exercise of parliamentary oversight, and the development of international interparliamentary cooperation. Hajiyev also outlined the structure of the parliament, the countrys electoral system, the political parties represented, and the work of parliamentary committees and commissions. Guests were informed about the laws regulating deputies activities, the legislative process, and relevant procedural rules. Members of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs praised the recent advancement of Azerbaijani-American relations, highlighting the deepening cooperation and the elevated level of interparliamentary dialogue. They affirmed that sustaining this positive momentum serves the interests of both nations. Participating in the meeting were Nigar Arpadarai, Deputy Chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations and Interparliamentary Relations, and MPs Vugar Bayramov, Erkin Gadirli, Sevinj Fataliyeva, and Gulshan Pashayeva, who responded to the delegations questions and emphasized that expanding interparliamentary dialogue will further strengthen mutual trust and advance bilateral relations. The event was also attended by Deputy Chief of Staff Rustam Makhmudov, heads of parliamentary divisions, members of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Azerbaijan, and other officials. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. On January 31, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian, Trend reports. During the conversation, the sides reaffirmed that relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are built upon the principles of friendship, brotherhood, and good-neighborliness, underscored by the deep historical, ethnic, and religious bonds shared by their peoples. During the phone call, the heads of state reflected favorably on the Iranian Presidents previous visits to Azerbaijan and the productive negotiations held during their meetings, noting that these high-level interactions have significantly contributed to the development of bilateral relations. They also highlighted that the construction of the Aghband-Kelaleh highway bridge over the Araz River is proceeding according to schedule. The head of state expressed concern regarding the current situation in the region, stating that Azerbaijan is ready to contribute to de-escalating tensions. He emphasized that Azerbaijan advocates for resolving such issues through dialogue and mutual understanding. For his part, President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed his gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev. During the conversation, the sides exchanged views on various aspects of the friendly and brotherly ties between the two countries and on future joint steps. They agreed to continue further contacts. Ahead of the upcoming Union Budget, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has called for a significant overhaul of the financial framework governing the telecom industry. Lt Gen (retd) Dr SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI, emphasised that the sector should be viewed not as a standalone industry but as the backbone of the entire economy. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the 2026-27 Union Budget on February 1. Kochhar noted that the government's own vision aligns with this, stating, "In the words of our Minister, our telecom has become a value added horizontal sector that give value to all other sectors." He stressed that maintaining the health of this infrastructure is a collective responsibility, adding, "That is very important sector and it is ours, government's and the industry's job to see that its working properly and in a sustainable manner." A primary concern raised by the industry body is the high cost of spectrum, which continues to strain the balance sheets of service providers. Dr Kochhar pointed out that the current pricing model is counterproductive to revenue generation and network expansion. "There is a big problem and that is the spectrum prices that are charged. They are very high and we don't get much revenue as we should," he remarked. He urged the government to recognise the essential nature of connectivity in the modern era, suggesting, "The spectrum pricing should be revisited and keep that in mind that today telecom is a horizontal value added service which will help telecom operators to create a whole network." Beyond spectrum costs, the COAI is pushing for a reduction in the regulatory levies that currently consume 8% of the sector's earnings. Of this, 5% is allocated to the Digital Bharat Nidhi (formerly the USOF) and 3% to license fees. Kochhar argued that these collections should be paused until the substantial funds already sitting in the government's coffers are utilised. "Our demand is that the amount that is already there in Digital Bharat Nidhi should be spent first, then we should be levied. If you are not able to spend that amount then why you taking more?" he questioned. He proposed that the "Digital Bharat Nidhi should be held in abeyance" and that the license fee be slashed to between 0.5% and 1% so that only "administrative expenses are met." Finally, the association highlighted a liquidity crisis caused by accumulated Input Tax Credits (ITC) under the GST regime. The industry currently has thousands of crores locked away in government accounts that can neither be used nor withdrawn. To resolve this, the COAI has requested a sharp reduction in GST rates on regulatory payments. "Our demand from the government is that the GST on license fees and spectrum fees should be reduced from 18% to 5%," Dr. Kochhar stated. He concluded that such a move would be a win-win for both the state and the industry, noting, "It will not only help the government, but also benefit the industry as well." (ANI) 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. Turkmenistan's Commodity Exchange sees slight decline in external quotations Photo: State commodity and raw materials exchange of Turkmenistan (SCRMET) During the latest trading session on the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan, the total value of external quotations decreased slightly, driven mainly by the agriculture sector, while other commodity categories remained stable. Access to paid information is limited If You already have a account, please log in Login Register ING Group releases forecasts for Azerbaijan's GDP growth until 2028 Azerbaijan's economy is expected to experience moderate GDP growth over the next few years, with signs of diversification as non-oil sectors perform well, despite challenges in the oil and gas industry. Access to paid information is limited If You already have a account, please log in Login Register ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 31. Turkmenistan and the U.S. discussed the strengthening of bilateral cooperation and regional security in Central Asia, Trend reports via the U.S. State Department. The discussions took place during a telephone conversation between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor, and Turkmenistans Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov. The parties exchanged views on progress in enhancing regional security and economic prosperity. Secretary Rubio reaffirmed the United States commitment to expanding business ties with Turkmenistan and further strengthening the bilateral relationship. Photo: The Ministry of Investments, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 31. Uzbekistan and Pakistans Habib Rafiq Ltd. have signed a memorandum of cooperation on smart city development, modern infrastructure projects, and investment attraction, Trend reports via the Uzbek Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade. The agreement was signed during a meeting between Uzbekistans Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade, Laziz Kudratov, and Chief Executive Officer of Habib Rafiq Ltd., Malik Muhammad Aslam. The parties discussed prospects for expanding UzbekistanPakistan investment cooperation, focusing on infrastructure development, smart city initiatives, and projects in the mining and processing sectors. Particular attention was given to copper beneficiation, the extraction and processing of strategic minerals, as well as the introduction of advanced engineering solutions and modern technologies. Habib Rafiq Ltd is a Pakistani engineering and construction group with a 70-year track record. The company has delivered large-scale projects such as Capital Smart City and Lahore Smart City, contributed to the development of Islamabad International Airport, and participated in green energy initiatives. In partnership with Geely, the group has also launched electric vehicle manufacturing. Headquartered in Lahore, the company employs around 8,000 people and generates approximately $600 million in annual revenue. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 31. Belarus and Turkmenistan reviewed the results of bilateral business cooperation in 2025 and explored prospects for joint participation of enterprises from both countries in major trade fairs in 2026, Trend reports via the Belarusian MFA. The issue was discussed at a meeting between Belarusian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Stanislav Chepurnoy and Chairman of the Turkmen Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mergen Gurdov. The sides also explored prospects for joint participation of enterprises from both countries in major trade fairs in 2026. The Turkmen side expressed interest in sending specialized business missions to Belarus to explore opportunities for cooperation, including in transport, IT, and light industry sectors. Azerbaijans Central Bank launches tender for IT equipment The Central Bank of Azerbaijan has announced a tender for IT equipment transportation and installation services. Companies must submit their proposals by the specified deadline, with the tender packages being opened at the same time. Access to paid information is limited If You already have a account, please log in Login Register ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 31. Turkmenistan and Eswatini discussed opportunities for cooperation in information and communication technology (ICT), digital innovation, and youth skills development, Trend reports via the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Technology of Eswatini. Discussions took place during a meeting between Eswatini's Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Savannah Maziya, and the representatives of a Turkmen business delegation, led by Khydyrberdi Abdurakhmanov, Founder and Owner of Aydyn Gijeler Holding, in Mbabane, Eswatini. In the course of the meeting, the Minister emphasized Eswatini's strategic vision to emerge as a regional hub for ICT innovation, underpinned by the country's stability, peaceful environment, and investor-friendly policies. She reiterated the governments steadfast commitment to advancing digital transformation, fostering youth empowerment, and promoting skills development. Earlier in 2025, Minister Savannah Maziya visited Turkmenistan, where she toured Aydyn Gijeler's manufacturing facility, specializing in ICT and electronics solutions, further strengthening the collaborative ties between the two nations. The Turkmen delegation, headed by Tanryguly Atakhallyyev, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, and the Uzbek delegation, led by Shuhrat Ganiev, Advisor to the President of Uzbekistan on Agrarian Development, convened a high-level meeting with officials from both nations' relevant ministries and agencies responsible for water resources, irrigation, and environmental protection. During the meeting, the co-chairs emphasized the longstanding strength of Turkmen-Uzbek relations, founded on principles of mutual trust, respect for sovereignty, and cooperation. They underscored the significance of enhancing collaboration not only in water management but also in key sectors such as economic development, infrastructure, and humanitarian affairs. Discussions focused on the adoption of advanced technologies for optimizing water use, effective systems for water resource monitoring and accounting, and strategies for human capital development in the water management sector. Particular attention was devoted to climate adaptation strategies and risk mitigation measures to ensure the sustainability of water supplies. The sides confirmed their commitment to regular consultations, commission meetings, joint initiatives, and strengthening the legal and institutional framework of cooperation. The meeting concluded with the signing of the protocol of the fifth session of the Joint Turkmen-Uzbek Intergovernmental Commission on Water Management, held in a constructive and businesslike atmosphere. Photo: The embassy of Tajikistan in The Republic of Korea ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, January 31. Central Asian countries and South Korea discussed enhancing cooperation in the customs sector, Trend reports via the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Seoul. The discussions took place during a formal luncheon meeting on January 30, 2026, attended by the Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service and ambassadors from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The talks included new forms of collaboration under the Central Asia-Republic of Korea framework, information exchange, participation in international conferences and projects, and joint training programs. The meeting also highlighted ongoing initiatives between the Korea Customs Service and Central Asian partners, with active participation in professional development programs and seminars organized by the Korean side. South Korea will host the Korea-Central Asia Summit in 2026. Previously postponed, the summit is meant to serve as a platform to advance dialogue on mutually beneficial cooperation between the sides. Actor Mallika Prasad, the fierce antagonist in Rani Mukherji starrer 'Mardaani 3', opened up about the evolving space for female villains in the industry. Highlighting the growing acceptance of women in negative roles, Prasad, in an interview with ANI, said she had wanted to explore that character type for a while. "I wanted to explore what it is like to be a villain. I'm not unfamiliar with playing characters that are not straight or black and white characters, but I'm always keen to see how people receive characters like this in mainstream work. Sometimes, you don't think of a villain necessarily as a woman. I'm of the generation when 'Mogambo' was the iconic villain of all time. I also think about what it would mean to have a woman play an iconic villain like that," she said. Noting that while audiences and filmmakers have always been open to female-centric stories, Mallika Prasad acknowledged a gap that still exists between male and female performers. "The world has been ready for the feminine for a very long time. I come from a training and experience space where we trust the organic intelligence of audiences, and I don't believe diluting content, an idea necessarily serves your own growth as an artist. It is true that we tend to support failure, but I can't be blind to the fact that if it is a male actor, then the sense of support is higher. There are way too many women now on both sides of the script, the camera and the production," the actor continued. Mallika Prasad, who is seen opposite Rani Mukerji's Shivani Shivaji Roy in the latest 'Mardaani' film, also recalled meeting the actor on the film's muhurat puja. Stating that they had a limited period of shoot schedule together, Prasad spoke highly about Rani's powerful presence and her film legacy. "Mostly, we had different schedules or circumstances and had to work separately. So, there wasn't much that of an interaction on the sets. I remember having a brief interaction with her during the puja. All of us were in a room and she told me 'Welcome to the franchise'. For me, it feels nice to work with strong women like her. For a woman to reach where she is now wouldn't have been easy," she shared about Rani Mukerji. Mallika Prasad is seen as the lead antagonist in the third 'Mardaani' film. As the merciless, evil, and powerful 'Amma', she will be shown as responsible for handling a beggar mafia, mostly targeting child victims. Directed by Abhiraj Minawala and produced by Aditya Chopra, 'Mardaani 3' marks the return of Rani Mukerji as Shivani Shivaji Roy. (ANI) TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 31. Uzbekistan and the World Bank have discussed attracting $55 million in loan financing for the construction of modern schools, Trend reports via the Uzbek Ministry of Economy and Finance. The issue was reviewed during a meeting between Yves Jeancleme, the World Banks Senior Education Specialist, and Otabek Fazilkarimov, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan. The discussions also encompassed the allocation of a $5 million grant, alongside a separate $70 million initiative focused on the development of preschool educational institutions. Both parties examined strategies to enhance the effectiveness of these initiatives, emphasizing the need for harmonization, integration, and optimization of the projects. A primary focus was placed on the creation of next-generation educational facilities that align with contemporary standards and international benchmarks. Additionally, the parties deliberated on the construction of energy-efficient educational and social infrastructure, utilizing advanced "green" technologies to promote sustainable resource usage and incorporating best international practices. Meanwhile, Uzbekistans portfolio of joint projects with the World Bank currently exceeds $14 billion, reflecting the scale of their ongoing cooperation. This draft was developed following a thorough analysis of proposals from citizens, political parties, civil society organizations, and experts, complemented by open public discussions and an examination of emerging norms and provisions. The proposed amendments seek to align the Constitution with a more human-centered state, embodying the contemporary values and principles of the Kazakh people. They also aim to enhance the effectiveness of the country's political institutions. A key modification in the new Preamble is the declaration that human rights and freedoms will be the state's foremost priority. The principles of unity, solidarity, and interethnic and interfaith harmony are established as the cornerstones of Kazakhstan's statehood, while sovereignty, independence, unitarity, and territorial integrity are enshrined as inviolable values. For the first time, the new Constitution also introduces principles such as justice, law and order, and environmental stewardship. The draft Constitution emphasizes that the people of Kazakhstan are the only source of state power and the bearers of sovereignty, signaling a stronger focus on democracy and accountability. A central theme of the new Constitution is the emphasis on education, science, culture, and innovation. This represents a significant shift, highlighting that the future of the nation will be determined not by natural resources but by human capital and the achievements of its citizens. A notable feature of the proposed changes is the focus on digitalization. For the first time, the Constitution will include provisions to protect citizens' rights in the digital environment, marking a step towards safeguarding digital rights in an increasingly connected world. The draft Constitution also emphasizes the separation of religion and state, asserting the secular nature of Kazakhstan's educational and upbringing systems. Furthermore, it introduces a provision that marriage is a voluntary and equal union between a man and a woman, reinforcing traditional values and strengthening the protection of women's rights. The process of constitutional reform was initiated by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who proposed the idea of establishing a unicameral Parliament in Kazakhstan during his annual address to the nation on September 8, 2025. The proposal aims to reboot the political system and positively influence Kazakhstan's socio-economic development in the era of artificial intelligence. On October 8, President Tokayev signed a decree to establish a working group for parliamentary reform, which included egal experts, political party representatives, and civil society members. Public participation was also encouraged, with citizens submitting their opinions and suggestions through the e-Otinish and eGov portals. On January 21, the Constitutional Commission was officially formed, consisting of 130 members. Over the course of its work, the Commission reviewed proposals affecting all sections and 77 articles, which represent 84% of the Constitutions content. As a result, the Commission has supported the idea of preparing a completely new Constitution for Kazakhstan. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 31. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yermek Kosherbayev will soon pay an official visit to Turkiye, Trend reports via the Kazakh MFA Ahead of the visit, the Ministry unveiled an infographic showcasing the key sectors of the evolving strategic partnership between the two nations. As reported, Turkiye became the first country to formally recognize Kazakhstan's independence on December 16, 1991, and the two countries established diplomatic relations on March 2, 1992. Since 1993, the Intergovernmental Economic Commission, focused on trade and economic cooperation, has been operational, hosting 13 sessions to date. The High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, established in 2012, further strengthened bilateral ties. In 2022, both nations adopted a Joint Statement on Enhanced Strategic Partnership, deepening their cooperation. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kazakhstan's presidents have visited Turkiye a total of 29 times, while Turkish presidents have made 17 visits to Kazakhstan. The ministry further reports that Turkiye is Kazakhstans fourth-largest trading partner, with trade turnover in 2025 reaching $5.4 billion, up 8.9% from the previous year. Kazakhstans exports to Turkiye amounted to $3.9 billion, while imports from Turkiye reached $1.5 billion. Over 4,000 companies with Turkish participation operate in Kazakhstan, implementing more than 70 projects worth a total of $5 billion. Turkiye is also among the top 15 investors in the country. Photo: Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, January 31. Tajikistan and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) discussed the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation and issues related to water resources and climate during a meeting in Geneva on January 29, 2026, Trend reports via the Tajik MFA. The issues were discussed during a meeting between Tajikistans Permanent Representative to the UN Office, Sharaf Sheralizoda, and IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong. The sides also exchanged views on strengthening inter-parliamentary relations between Tajikistan and the IPU. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. Western countries sought to turn the protests in Iran into a civil war, the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during the speech at the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran on January 31, Trend reports. According to him, they tried to turn the protests into violence, terror, and destruction of state property, abusing public demands. However, there is no legal basis for attacks on law enforcement officers and service centers. Pezeshkian stated that the Iranian government, aware of its responsibility, considers it its duty to heed the voices of protesters and resolve their issues. The loyalty of Iranian citizens to the government has always neutralized plans to divide society. However, this issue should not cause those in charge to forget their duty. Those in charge must reorient their behavior towards citizens and their work to counter the plans of malicious actors who turn protests into hatred, he noted. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. The visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Turkiye on January 30 represents a significant moment in regional diplomacy. During the trip, Araghchi engaged in high-level discussions with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reflecting on the outcomes of the visit, Araghchi described the bilateral relations between Iran and Turkiye, as well as the regional negotiations, as both constructive and beneficial. The Iranian minister reiterated Iran's firm stance against the pursuit of nuclear weapons, reaffirming the countrys commitment to a fair and rational nuclear agreement that safeguards its legitimate interests. He emphasized that such an agreement should encompass not only a commitment to non-proliferation but also the effective removal of sanctions. Araghchi further acknowledged Turkiye's longstanding role as a constructive force in promoting peace and stability within the region, highlighting Irans deep appreciation for these efforts. He concluded by reiterating Iran's readiness to engage in cooperation with its neighboring countries to preserve regional peace and stability. Tensions in relations between Iran and the U.S. have reached a peak in recent times. Although the U.S. side has put forward a number of proposals for an agreement with Iran, Tehran considers these proposals unacceptable. In particular, the demand to abandon uranium enrichment in Iran is considered by Iran as a violation of the country's sovereign rights. The U.S., on the other hand, links uranium enrichment with the threat of a potential nuclear weapon. This disagreement shows that the process is heading in a dangerous direction. The increase in military preparations by both sides has raised the risks of possible escalation in the region. The Gulf countries and other neighbors of Iran have also openly expressed their concern about the escalation of the situation. It's against this background that several Arab countries and regional actors are making diplomatic initiatives to prevent the escalation of tensions. Turkiye is also starting to take a more active role in the process, establishing contacts with both Tehran and Washington and trying to prevent the deepening of the conflict. The Iranian side, on the other hand, has stated several times that the discussions held so far with the U.S. aren't realistic and result-oriented, and that it's not interested in negotiations in such a format. Tehran considers it possible and appropriate to hold negotiations that are free from threats and pressure, based on mutual respect, and that can yield concrete results. According to Iran's position, negotiation frameworks without the prospect of an agreement neither promise real development nor contribute to regional stability. Although there were expectations that tensions would gradually decrease after the U.S. struck three key Iranian nuclear facilities in June last year, the process has developed in the opposite direction. Tehran has not provided the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with any additional information about those facilities and has criticized the IAEA for its lack of a clear response to the strikes on nuclear facilities, describing it as biased. Although Iran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, the U.S. and Western countries are not unequivocal about this position. They claim that Iran's nuclear activities could potentially be directed towards military purposes, and highlight the high enrichment of uranium as one of the main indicators of this risk. Following the nuclear agreement reached in 2015 with the P5+1 countries (the U.S., Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany), Iran reduced its uranium enrichment level to 3.14%. However, after the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018, Tehran announced its decision to halt compliance with the deal's stipulations, progressively increasing its uranium enrichment to 60%. This shift has positioned the nuclear issue as a key risk factor, not only in the context of Iran-U.S. relations but also within the broader regional security framework. As a result, the diplomatic efforts of regional actors, particularly Turkiye, have become even more critical in addressing the growing tensions and mitigating potential risks. Actor Sunny Deol celebrated the success of his latest film 'Border 2', dancing his heart out with his team. Taking to his Instagram story, Sunny shared a video showing him with his team basking in the success with much joy. In the clip, Sunny along with team could be seen singing to the chorus of "Happy Border" and cutting a cake. Throughout, the actor responded joyfully and danced to mark the moment. Prior to this, director Anurag Singh also dedicated a post for Sunny Deol, expressing his admiration for the actor. "The unseen side of the man with a dhai kilo ka haath and a 5 kilo ka heart. The roar is legendary. But so is the laughter that lights up the set. From the power you bring on screen to the warmth you bring on set - it's been a joy every single day, sir. We love you @iamsunnydeol sir," he wrote, https://www.instagram.com/p/DUKTw4VCX6H/ Sunny Deol reshared the same on his Instagram handle and playfully added, "Thank you for exposing me. I love you, Anurag." Earlier this week, the actor shared a special video for his fans, thanking them for loving his latest release. "Aawaaz kahan tak gayi...aapke dilo tak. Aapko meri Border bhaut pasand aayi, thank you very much. Love you all," he said in the clip. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUFp1u2jA7D/ What caught fans' attention, however, was the way he ended the video, echoing his father's trademark manner. Border 2, which was released in theatres on January 23, is inspired by the true events of the 1971 India-Pakistan War and showcases how the Army, Navy, and Air Force fight together as one force. It brings Sunny Deol back in uniform once again. Released on January 23, Border 2 has crossed the Rs 200 crore mark within six days. So far, the film has collected Rs 257.50 crore in India. The film also stars Varun Dhawan, Ahan Shetty and Diljit Dosanjh in the lead roles. (ANI) You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday expressed his gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for renaming the Kathua Railway Station as "Martyr Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary Kathua Railway Station", thanking him for the swift response to the demand. In a post on X, Singh said, "Kathua Railway Station renamed as 'Martyr Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary Kathua Railway Station'. Thanks, PM Narendra Modi, for expeditiously responding to the popular demand presented before you from the people of Kathua for the renaming of Kathua Railway Station after the war martyr who was a son of the soil. Thanks, Home Minister Amit Shah and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, for your kind cooperation in facilitating the official process." According to the Government Order No.129-JK(GAD) of 2026 on January 29, it stated, "Sanction is hereby accorded to the naming of 'Kathua Railway Station' as 'MARTYR CAPTAIN SUNIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY KATHUA RAILWAY STATION'" in District Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir. Earlier, Union Minister Jitendra Singh extended greetings to the nation on the 77th Republic Day, which falls on January 26 annually. On this occasion, he unfurled the national flag at his residence and distributed sweets to the security personnel present there. Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "Warm wishes to everyone on Republic Day. And coincidentally, this year's Republic Day is the first one after Operation Sindoor. 150 years of Vande Bharat have been completed, and there was also a very interesting and captivating presentation. The event concluded with a performance of Vande Mataram." "As far as my region is concerned, the purple fields of lavender from Jammu and Kashmir were also showcased. The miniature paintings of Basohli were also displayed. There was also a performance of a traditional hill dance. So, the point is that it was an opportunity to showcase the different aspects of India's culture and its diversity, and at the same time, India's strength," he said. (ANI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday attended the wedding ceremony of four former Naxalite couples who got married in Narayanpur district under the Chief Minister's Kanya Vivah Yojana after surrendering. Speaking to ANI at the event, he said, "Today, an event was organised where four couples got married under the Chief Minister's Kanyadaan Yojana. They were already acquainted with each other. After surrendering, they tied the knot today. I congratulate them heartily... There are other people who also want to get married, and they are also welcome, and the government will arrange their marriages as well," emphasising the government's efforts towards eliminating Naxalism. One of the newlyweds shared his past with Naxalism, saying, "I was working with the Maoist organisation from 2006 to 2024. I surrendered in 2025... We are getting married under the Chief Minister's Kanya Vivah Yojana. We are also benefiting from the government's policies." Following the event, he also later in the day interacted with the soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, highlighting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have given a deadline of March 31 to remove Naxalism, highlighting that Naxals who surrender would be taken care of by the government, and noting the implementation of rehabilitation. Speaking to ANI, he said, "The Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister have announced a deadline of March 31, 2026, to completely eliminate Naxalism, and from the very beginning, we have been appealing to them to abandon violence. No one has ever benefited from the language of bullets, nor will they. Join the mainstream of development. The government will treat you well. We will implement an effective rehabilitation policy; it has yielded strong results, and there are still two months left. This means that if everyone surrenders, the government will certainly take care of them." Citing an example of surrendered Naxals participating in the Bastar Olympics in 2025, he said, "The government also launched the Bastar Olympics last year, and surrendered individuals participated in that as well. They also participated in Bastar Pandum, so they are welcome." On January 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also raised concerns over the growing influence of urban Naxalism, saying it has increasingly acquired international dimensions and continues to work against India. Addressing workers at the BJP national headquarters in the national capital, PM Modi said, "Another major challenge is urban Naxalism. The scope of urban Naxalism is becoming international. If they tweet something positive about Modi even once or twice a year, or say something positive on TV, or write something positive in a newspaper, some journalists humiliate them so much that they are hounded and made untouchable. They are silenced so that they can never speak again. This is the method of urban Naxalism." He added that for years, such groups isolated the BJP and treated party members as untouchables across the country. "Now the country is understanding the actions of these urban Naxals. Urban Naxals are continuously working to harm India," PM Modi said. (ANI) The White Knight Corps of the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF on Saturday continued the ongoing anti-terror Operation Trashi-I, stating that contact with the terrorists was re-established in Kishtwar's Dolgam. The White Knight Corps stated that a cordon has been established to carry out the operation. "Operation Trashi-I: During the ongoing joint Operation TRASHI-I, contact with terrorists was re-established in the early hours of January 31, 2026, in the general area of Dolgam by troops of White Knight Corps, Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF. Intelligence from all sources had been coordinated to provide inputs to execute the operation on ground. A cordon has been established, and operations are in progress," the White Knight Corps wrote on X. Earlier this morning, Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma visited Kishtwar to review the counter terrorism grid and operational preparedness. The Army Commander, while interacting with the ground Commanders and the ever committed troops, commended them for their unwavering resolve in the ongoing efforts, the Indian Army said. The counter terrorism Operation Trashi-I began on January 18 in the Union Territory. On January 19, army officers paid last tributes to Havildar Gajendra Singh, who laid down his life in the line of duty during a counter-terrorism operation in the Singhpora area of Chatroo in Kishtwar district. Havildar Gajendra Singh, a Special Forces soldier, was killed "while gallantly executing a counter-terror operation" as part of the ongoing Operation Trashi-I on the intervening night of January 18 and 19. In a post on X, the White Knight Corps said, "The #GOC, White Knight Corps and all ranks pay solemn tribute to Havildar Gajendra Singh of the Special Forces, who made the supreme sacrifice while gallantly executing a Counter Terrorism operation in the Singpura area during the ongoing Operation TRASHI-I on the intervening night of 18-19 Jan 2026." "We honour his indomitable courage, valour and selfless devotion to duty and stand firmly with the bereaved family in this hour of profound grief," the post further read. (ANI) The National Investigation Agency has taken over the probe into the violent unrest that shook Beldanga in West Bengal's Murshidabad district after the death of a migrant worker. The agency took over the case after almost 14 days from the West Bengal Police on Friday, following orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs, considering the gravity of the case. Violence erupted at Beldanga in Murshidabad district on January 16 over the death of the 30-year-old migrant worker Alauddin Sheikh.The post-mortem report of the deceased migrant worker, as well as the investigation by Murshidabad police, had ruled out murder or any foul play. A large number of people took to the streets by blocking railway tracks and the national highway for several hours. After the death, a sub-inspector of Murshidabad police went to Palamau, Jharkhand, to inquire into the death of Sheikh. "Statements of 8-10 Bengali migrant labourers residing in the area were also recorded. However, they did not point out any conspiracy of murder," the Murshidabad district police said in a statement on January 24, 2026. The incident triggered a political slugfest in West Bengal with the Trinamool Congress leadership describing the death as a targeted attack on migrant workers in other states. Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had reached out to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemanta Soren over the death and urged him to ensure a swift investigation into the case. The BJP, however, said that the violence in Beldanga was pre-planned. BJP leader Amit Malviya posted on social media saying the riots in Murshidabad's Beldanga were not spontaneous and were politically convenient. The father of the deceased migrant worker also refused to accept that his son had died of suicide and claimed that there were injuries on the body. The police also added that it recorded the statement of Kasim Shaikh, who had brought down the body from the ceiling fan in Jharkhand. He also did not make a statement indicating murder or foul play. The post-mortem report also added that the cause of death was "ante-mortem hanging. No antemortem injuries. No abrasions, bruises, fractures or signs of assault".(ANI) Opposition calls for answers from culture minister. Italian premier Giorgia Meloni is at the centre of a bizarre controversy over reports that a restored fresco of an angel in a landmark Rome church bears a striking resemblance to her. A recent restoration project at the fifth-century Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina reportedly altered the face of an angel, originally a simple cherub but which now strongly resembles Meloni. The story, first reported by La Repubblica newspaper, involves a restoration of two angels flanking the marble bust of Umberto II of Savoy, the last king of Italy who reigned for only 34 days from in 1946 before the monarchy was abolished. The newspaper reports that the work was not carried out by professional restorers working on other areas of the church but was conducted by a "sacristan and decorator" who previously carried out decorative works for former premier Silvio Berlusconi and who also ran for office in Rome as a candidate for the now disbanded right-wing political coalition La Destra Fiamma Tricolore. "An intervention of this kind, especially in a church of great artistic value, should have been intercepted by multiple levels of oversight: from the parish priest to the Superintendency responsible for overseeing the restoration" - newspaper Il Messaggero writes - "It's hard to imagine that the similarity wasn't noticed". The story has triggered a political debate in Rome, with the opposition centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) calling for answers. "We demand that culture minister Alessandro Giuli immediately contact the Superintendency of Rome regarding the news reported by La Repubblica regarding the restoration of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina. What has emerged is unacceptable", PD culture representative in the chamber of deputies, Irene Manzi, said in a statement. "The suggestion that a restoration project on a protected property could have produced an image attributable to a contemporary face represents a potential and serious violation of the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code, which prohibits arbitrary alterations, customizations, and interventions not strictly based on scientific and historical-artistic criteria", Manzi stated. Asked by news agency ANSA for his reaction, the church's rector, Monsignor Daniele Micheletti, said: "I read the newspaper with the news this morning and went to see the restoration... Indeed, there is a certain resemblance, but we should ask the restorer why he did it that way. I don't know." Photo Il Messaggero With an ethos of putting people in front of people for over 53 years, FDC Group has become an institution in communities across Ireland, creating opportunities, building careers and securing futures through cooperative values and future-proofed innovation. With over 550 consultants, advisors and experts across 51 offices, FDC offers a full suite of services, with strengths spanning accounting, tax and legal, financial services, agri consultancy, management accounting, advisory, banking, audit and corporate training. Today, the firm serves more than 35,000 clients nationwide, boasting a diverse client base that includes farmers, SMEs, family businesses, commercial agribusinesses, self-employed professionals and contractors. FDCs Accountancy Graduate Programme plays a key role in supporting the companys ongoing expansion. The programme has expanded recently to include the following programmes and universities: Masters in Accounting (MACC) at University College Cork. Postgraduate Diploma in Business in Accounting at ATU Galway. Accounting MA TUS Athlone. Master of Science in Accounting at the University of Limerick. In this programme, students complete a one-year level 9 degree, fully funded by FDC Group. Upon successful completion, graduates enter a three-year work as Trainee Accountants in the FDC office of their choosing. Deadlines for applications are approaching. Please visit https://www.fdc.ie/graduate-programme/ to apply. The aftermath of Storm Chandra and the extremely high levels of rainfall over recent days are still causing problems in certain parts of Waterford. On Saturday morning, January 31, Waterford City & County Council - on behalf of Met Eireann - issued two separate weather alerts relating to road conditions in the county. The Inner Ring Road - the R709 - is flooded at SuperValu and is closed but Waterford Council crews are attending the scene. In a separate alert the local authority advised the public to be aware of 'ponding water' on roads in the eastern part of the county. A spokesperson for the local authority urged motorists to "drive with care". For updates on weather conditions around the county and across the country go to www.met.ie Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Remove items from your saved list to add more. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark are heading to Australia for a six-day state visit. The couple, who met at the Sydney Olympics and married in 2004, will make their fourth official visit to Australia in March - their first since the King took the throne in 2024 following the abdication of his mother, Queen Margrethe II. The royals will travel from the Northern Territory through the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania, where the queen was born and raised. Loading The couple will be accompanied by Denmarks deputy prime minister, foreign minister and climate minister and a delegation representing 55 Danish businesses. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday stated that had Mahatma Gandhi been alive today, he would have supported the Assamese people's fight against illegal immigration, arguing that protecting the state's rights and identity is not an act of hatred. Responding to a social media post of Tushar Gandhi, the Assam Chief Minister asserted that democratic governments are changed by elections, not by intimidation or attempts to prematurely remove an elected Chief Minister. "If Bapu were alive today, he would have stood with the Assamese people. In fact, history shows that his intervention saved Assam from becoming part of Pakistan. Standing up against illegal infiltration is not hatred--it is about protecting the rights, identity, and future of the Assamese people. Let me answer you very clearly: governments in a democracy are changed by the people through elections, not by intimidation or attempts to pull down an elected Chief Minister," Sarma wrote on X. Gandhi, who is the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, had posted on X that, "If India was that of Bapu, Citizens of the nation would have pulled the CM of Assam from his office and impeached him for his hateful comments. Alas, today we are a nation of Bapu's murderer Nathuram Godse and his follower, the high priest of hate and divisiveness PM Modi." This comes amid the sharp criticism against the Assamese CM's recent comments on 'Miya Muslims' to refer to the influx of immigrants from Bangladesh. Sarma had defended his remarks stating that he had not coined the term "Miya Muslims" and that it had been in vogue within the community itself, which had migrated from Bangladesh to refer to themselves. In a post on X, CM Sarma said those attacking him for his remarks on "Miyan" should note the Supreme Court of India's observations on Assam and illegal migration. "Those who are attacking me for my remarks on "Miyan"--a word used in Assam in the context of Bangladeshi Muslim illegal migration--should pause and read what the Supreme Court of India itself has said about Assam. This is not my language, not my imagination, and not political exaggeration," he said. Quoting the apex court, the Chief Minister highlighted its warning on demographic changes in the State."These are the Court's own words: "The silent and invidious demographic invasion of Assam may result in the loss of the geostrategically vital districts of lower Assam. The influx of illegal migrants is turning these districts into a Muslim-majority region. It will then only be a matter of time before a demand for their merger with Bangladesh may be made. Loss of lower Assam will sever the entire land mass of the North East from the rest of India, and the rich natural resources of that region will be lost to the Nation," Assam CM said in his post. Sarma also said that acknowledging such concerns cannot be termed communal or hateful.Congress MP fronn the State, Gaurav Gogoi had on Friday called out Sarma over the latter's "Miya Muslims" remarks, accusing him of "misusing" the name of the Supreme Court to justify his remarks. In a post on X, Gogoi referred to Himanta Biswa Sarma's politics as politics of "dishonesty and shamelessness" as he asserted that the Assam CM is "lying" and the SC has never "authored the said words nor adopted it". "Dishonesty and shamelessness define Himanta Biswa Sarma's politics. He has stooped so low that he is misusing the name of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. He claims to rely on the Hon'ble Court's 'own words' from the case of Sarbananda Sonowal. This is a blatant lie," Gogoi said. "The language he quotes is not the Supreme Court's. The Hon'ble Court neither authored the said words nor adopted it. To pass off an executive report as a judicial pronouncement is a deliberate contempt," he added. (ANI) Michael Buble has hailed Catherine O'Hara as "an ambassador for Canada in the truest sense". Michael Buble has paid tribute to Catherine O'Hara The acclaimed actress - who was born in Toronto, Canada - has died aged 71, and Michael has taken to social media to pay a glowing tribute to the film star. Alongside a photo of Catherine, Michael wrote on Instagram: "Heartbroken doesnt even begin to cover it. "Catherine OHara was one of a kind. A rare light in this world and her passing hits with a weight I cant fully put into words. "She wasnt just a legendary artist, actor and comedian. She was an ambassador for Canada in the truest sense: brilliant, fearless, deeply original, and so full of humanity. She made the world laugh, but she also made people feel seen. "As an artist, she inspired me more than shell ever know. She set the bar for what it means to represent your country with excellence and grace and all without ever losing warmth or humility. "My heart is broken for her family, her loved ones, and everyone who adored her, both here in Canada and around the world. "If youre grieving this loss, youre not alone. Were all holding a piece of this sadness together. "Rest easy, Catherine. Thank you for everything. CA (sic)" Elsewhere, Michael Keaton - who starred alongside Catherine in the Beetlejuice film franchise - has also taken to social media to pay tribute to the actress. The 74-year-old actor - who plays Beetlejuice in the money-spinning movies - admitted that he'll miss his former co-star. Alongside a throwback photo of them together, Michael wrote: "We go back before the first Beetlejuice. "Shes been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend. "This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her. Thinking about Beau as well. (sic)" Justin Theroux, who appeared in 2024s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, has also paid tribute to the actress. The Hollywood star wrote on Instagram: "Oh Catherine. You will be so so missed (sic)" Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said on Saturday that the government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has urged the Central government to hand over the investigation into the death of a NEET aspirant in a Patna Hostel on January 11 to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The BJP leader emphasised that the incident must be handled transparently. "Honorable Chief Minister of Bihar Shri @NitishKumar ji has urged the Government of India to hand over the investigation of the NEET student's murder case in Patna (Case No.- 14/26) to the CBI. "The incident must be thoroughly uncovered in a transparent and just manner". According to the police, a NEET aspirant died during treatment in Patna. While there were reports of an alleged sexual assault, the police said that the doctors have not confirmed sexual or penetrative assault in the case. https://x.com/samrat4bjp/status/2017435347182096392?s=20 Meanwhile, Patna Police on Sunday suspended two police officers in the death of a NEET aspirant in a Patna Hostel. The suspended officers are the station house officer of Chitragupta Nagar police station, Roshni Kumari, and the additional station house officer of Kadamkuan police station, Hemant Jha. The Patna Police had released a press statement providing this information. According to the statement, the suspension is a result of delayed action and failure to collect intel in a timely manner. Senior officers of the Patna Police suspended both officers on these grounds. "During the examination conducted by the FSL, traces of human sperm were found on an undergarment allegedly worn by the deceased at the time of the incident. A DNA profile is being prepared from this sample," the press release read earlier. The sample will be used to match the DNA of the accused, who has been arrested, as well as the suspects identified by the Special Investigation Team to uncover further details. "This DNA profile will be matched with the DNA of the accused who has been arrested, as well as with the DNA of other suspected individuals identified by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), as part of the ongoing investigation," the release stated. The Bihar Police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. In January, parents gathered outside the Patna hostel, claiming that hostel authorities were not cooperating and that students were unable to continue their studies after the incident. (ANI) Following the demise of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a place crash in Baramati, a group of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders calling for Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar to step into her late husband's shoes. Reacting to the development, Congress leader Udit Raj has said that politics ignores traditional mourning customs, and noted that bereaved families usually abstain from celebrations or festivals. Raj said that it displayed how political compulsions can override the period of mourning. "When someone dies, nothing is done for 12-13 days...They don't celebrate any festivals or anything throughout the year. But politics disregards all rituals and traditions. They didn't wait for 13 days...But here, preparations are underway for the Deputy CM oath......," Raj told ANI. Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday. Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that the party has pitched Pawar's widow Sunetra Pawar to take over as the State's Deputy CM and had asked CM Devendra Fadnavis if the swearing-in ceremony can take place today. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. Addressing reporters in Baramati, Sharad Pawar said that NCP Working President Praful Patel and MP Sunil Tatkare had taken the initiative to decide on the posts that fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Rupali Patil Thombare today said, "Timing is very important in politics. People will talk. Those who are speaking for him today used to comment on him when he was alive. Vahini is going to take oath as the Deputy CM today." Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday when a chartered plane carrying him crashed-landed in Baramati. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. (ANI) Tom Tuite A Dublin man accused of starting a mattress fire in his bedroom, which led to his building being evacuated, has been remanded in custody. Shane Goodall, 47, appeared at Dublin District Court on Saturday, charged with causing damage by fire to a mattress at his address, North Circular Road, on Friday. Garda Sophie Ennis alleged that the fire brigade was called and that the building was evacuated. The court heard the accused had a room in an apartment and set fire to his mattress. Garda Ennis opposed bail, citing fears that he would return to the property, but the defence suggested a condition that Mr Goodall stay away from the premises. Judge Gerard Jones set bail at 200 and remanded the accused, who has yet to enter a plea, in custody pending the cash lodgement. On taking up bail, he must stay away from the building and another property in a different part of Dublin 7. I love snow. We are probably in the perfect global location in the Ox Mountains for snow to always be a novelty. I know it can be a pain in the neck at times, now that we all have such busy lives and so many places to be, but snow does paint our world a different colour for a few days each year and, I for one, am okay with that. I had two days off work in recent weeks because of snow and it gave me time to reflect on the one form of precipitation that never fails to amaze us. One day we are living in a world of green and grey, the next, everything is highlighted in pristine white. Therell be Snow It was the great weather forecasting phrase at creamery platforms or in the pub, especially if a sharp east wind was blowing. Forecasting snow is not the same as forecasting rain; anyone can predict rain, but it takes a keener observer of atmospheric conditions to know that snow is on the way. He might counter that it is too cold to snow at present, but give it a few days and therell be snow. Snowflakes are unique, six-sided ice crystals formed from water vapor freezing onto atmospheric dust, growing as they fall through changing temperatures and humidity, which dictates their intricate, symmetrical patterns. Each snowflake's journey through different atmospheric conditions creates a unique snowflake, resulting in diverse shapes, even though they always maintain their six-fold symmetry. The variations in temperature, humidity, and air currents that a snowflake encounters during its fall ensure that no two are exactly alike, making each a tiny, frozen story of its journey to earth. Snow and hail are not from the same precipitation family. Snow consists of delicate ice crystals forming from water vapor in cold clouds, while hail forms as solid ice, or frozen raindrops, built up in layers by strong updrafts in thunderstorms, often in warmer seasons. Snow is fluffy but hail is hard. The key difference lies in formation: snow is direct water vapor freezing into crystals, whereas hail involves liquid water repeatedly freezing into ice pellets within a storm clouds. Snow falls in cold, wintery conditions; hail can fall at any time, even in warm weather. Snow Records It could be said that the snow we get in and around the Ox Mountains is not real snow at all. It is just a token display that is visited upon us every so often, with a decent fall occurring about every ten years or so. Real snow falls in places like the Alps and the Rocky Mountains and is predictable and deep. It leads to a particular way of life; snow tyres, ski slopes, and avalanche warnings. A paper issued by Aidan Murphy of Met Eireann (2018), Snowfall in Ireland, has some interesting statistics about our encounters with snow over the centuries. Murphy starts with some general information. January and February are the months in which snow is most frequent but its not uncommon to have snow in any of the months November to April. Snow has been reported in May and September. On some of these occasions the falls have been considerable but the snow melted quickly. Generally, snowfall in Ireland lasts on the ground for only a day or two. Some of the more notable snowfalls in recent times had snow lying on the ground lasting from 10 to 12 days. Interestingly, the West of Ireland features high in the league table of snow depth because of various storms over the decades. For example, Belmullet had 17cm on January 24, 1958 and Claremorris had 20cm on January 27, 1984. The deepest snow recorded in Ireland in recent years is only 45cm at Casement Aerodrome near Dublin on December 31, 1962. These recordings are from weather stations, not high mountain basins, but they do point to the fact that, in general, we seldom experience serious snowfall. Notwithstanding this, Murphy highlights years when snowfall did impose considerable hardship on the population, among them the year 1807. On 19th and 20th November, a disastrous blizzard swept the country and many people were killed. Two transport ships were wrecked on the east coast. Heavy snow prevented the crews from realising how close they were to land. Records at the Phoenix Park detail heavy falls of snow during the winter and many people died. World Records Global snowfall information is interesting and throws up a few interesting facts. Snow covers over 100 countries seasonally, with the winter snow in the Northern Hemisphere sometimes covering almost 50 million square kilometres of ground. Climate change is leading to less snow in many regions, such as the United States, which is receiving 33% less snow than it did in the 1970s. Japan is recognised as the world's snowiest country, with some cities getting over 26 feet annually. This phenomenon occurs due to moist air from the Sea of Japan hitting the countrys high mountain ranges. Often known as the Third Pole, the Himalayas are another key snowfall location. Recent years however, again shows a decline, with 2022-23 seeing less snow in winter but more in spring, highlighting regional shifts. Mount Baker, in the US, holds the record for a single season with 95 feet recorded in 1998-99. Georgetown, Colorado, received just over five feet in 24 hours on December 4, 1913, a US record. Apart from the obvious beauty of a recent snowfall, snow has countless gifts to bestow on our planet. Snow acts as an insulating blanket for the ground, protecting soil, plant roots, and dormant animals from extreme cold and predation. Snow reflects almost 90% of incoming sunlight back into space. This prevents the Earth's surface from absorbing too much solar radiation, helping to keep the planet cool. Packed snow acts as a frozen reservoir that stores water during the winter and releases it slowly in the spring and summer. As snow falls, it collects nitrogen and other particulates from the atmosphere, acting as a natural fertiliser when it melts, often referred to as "poor man's fertiliser". Stories and Whispers My father was a great man for snow. Like myself, he liked the novelty of it. Even though it invariably made his farm tasks more difficult, he seemed to have a certain forgiveness for snow - if it didnt linger too long. I always loved to hear his stories of the Big Snow in 1947 - and he loved to tell them. It was like he had been on some strange adventure and had survived to tell the tale, a bit like Tom Crean returning from the South Pole. He talked about the six-week long advance freeze, the eventual snowfall, the subsequent blizzard, the weeks of clearing paths, sledging the ice-covered Moy and ferrying river water to thirsty, house-bound cows. As well as all the practical benefits of snow, there are personal benefits. Apart from the joy of waking up to a snow-covered landscape, my favourite snow sensation is standing in falling snow, in the dark. Try it sometime, alone or with your child. On a calm night, as snow begins to fall, feel those perfectly formed flakes fall gently on your face as you gaze into the darkened heavens, and listen for the tiny whispers of the snow as it softly falls through leafless trees. Nathan Chasing Horse is led out of a courtroom after a jury found him guilty of sexual assault at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, on Friday, Jan 30, 2026. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief, Sharad Pawar, on Saturday refuted the speculation around the merger of two NCP factions after Ajit Pawar's demise. When asked if he would consider being part of NDA if both factions of NCP merge, Sharad Pawar told reporters, "This is all going on your side (media), there is nothing like that here." Member of Vidya Prathisthan and close associate of the Pawar family, Kiran Gujar, earlier said that NCP chief Ajit Pawar's last wish was to unite the two party factions. NCP and NCP (SCP) contested the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections in an alliance, and there were talks of an alliance for the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls. Amidst this, there were speculations that the two factions would come together under one symbol before Ajit Pawar passed away in a plane crash in Baramati. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Sharad Pawar said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday, after which his wife Sunetra Pawar is speculated to take up the vacant Deputy CM post. Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that the party has pitched Sunetra Pawar's name and asked CM Devendra Fadnavis if the swearing-in ceremony can take place today. When asked about the haste to make political decisions immediately after Ajit Pawar's death, Sharad Pawar hinted that the decisions were being made by leaders in the Mahayuti government in Mumbai. "If there is a problem in the family, the family stands together. There are no issues in the family... All these discussions are not taking place here; they are happening in Mumbai. Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, and other senior leaders are having these discussions. Whatever is being seen appears to be decisions taken by them. I will not comment on this," he said. Earlier today, NCP spokesperson Rupali Patil Thombare said that Sunetra Pawar is set to take oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday. Speaking to ANI, Rupali Patil Thombare said party leaders had urged Sunetra Pawar to decide on the Deputy CM post and emphasised the importance of timing in politics. Thombare said, "Ajit dada's death was very shocking. He is not with us anymore. Sunetra Vahini (Sunetra Pawar) is grieving much more than all of us. She lost her husband all of a sudden. This is the fourth day since his death. We, the workers, have urged Vahini to forget her pain and adopt Ajit Dada's dreams and work style. For this, she has made a decision for today; she had to." "Timing is very important in politics. People will talk. Those who are speaking for him today used to comment on him when he was alive. Vahini is going to take oath as the Deputy CM today," the NCP Spokesperson said. (ANI) Allentown, PA (18103) Today Mostly sunny and continued breezy and chilly. Temperatures at least a little more tolerable in the afternoon compared to recent days.. Tonight Partly cloudy and cold. Amid ongoing speculation that Nationalist Congress Party MP Sunetra Pawar being proposed as Maharashtra Deputy CM after Ajit Pawar's death, BJP MP Mithilesh Kumar Katheria on Saturday said that such decisions remain entirely up upto the NCP. This comes after NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Friday said that the NCP would elect Ajit Pawar's wife, Sunetra Pawar, as the legislative party leader. "The NCP is a political party. The decisions regarding their party are entirely up to them. Who will hold which position and who will not is a matter for their party leadership to decide," Katheria told ANI. Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday, after which his wife Sunetra Pawar is speculated to take up the vacant Deputy CM post. Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said that the party has pitched Sunetra Pawar's name and asked CM Devendra Fadnavis if the swearing-in ceremony can take place today. Earlier today, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar, said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. Speaking to reporters in Baramati, Sharad Pawar said that NCP Working President Praful Patel and MP Sunil Tatkare took the initiative to decide on the posts that fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash. Meanwhile, all of the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) representatives in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will gather at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday at 2:00 PM. In the notice of meeting signed by the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Nationalist Congress Party, Sunil Tatkare, on Friday, all members of the Legislative Assembly/Legislative Council are called upon for the meeting. This comes amid speculations around Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy CM face and a merger of the two NCP factions. (ANI) Following the alleged suicide of Confident Group Chairman CJ Roy Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said that Roy''s company had been raided by the Income Tax Department in December 2025 and was given 60 days to file a chargesheet. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said the deadline to file the chargesheet was February 4, and Roy had returned from Dubai three days ago. He added that Roy cooperated with the Income Tax officials who visited his office to record his statement. "His (CJ Roy) company was raided by the IT department in December. They were given 60 days to file a charge sheet. The deadline was set for the February 4 and he arrived from Dubai three days ago. The officials (Income Tax) went to his office to record his statement. He (Roy) responded to that," Parameshwara told reporters. The Home Minister further stated that Roy went inside his office, saying he would come out in a few minutes. However, when he did not emerge for about 20 minutes, it was found that he had died by "suicide". Parameshwara said an investigation would be conducted into the earlier incident and that he has asked his department to conduct a preliminary inquiry. "In the meantime, he went to his office and said he would come in a few minutes. When he did not come out for about 20 minutes, it was noticed that he had committed suicide. Apart from this, an investigation should be conducted to find out what happened in the past. I have asked our department to conduct a preliminary investigation," Parameshwara said. Speaking about his meeting with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Parameshwara described it as a courtesy visit during which state politics, development, personal and family relations were discussed. "This is a courtesy visit. We discussed some issues related to our relations, family relations, state politics, and development. I have not discussed anything political," Parameshwara said. Meanwhile, the last rites of CJ Roy will be held at Nature''s Luxuri (Confident Cascade Mega Resort & Convention Centre) in Bannerghatta, Bengaluru on Sunday. Earlier on Friday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central Division, Akshay Machindra Hakay, informed that the incident occurred between 3 and 3:15 pm. While speaking to ANI, Hakay said, "The incident would have happened around 3-3.15 pm. Prima facie, it appears the death by gunshot...An investigation is underway, and the crime scene is being thoroughly analysed..." CJ Babu, who is the brother of CJ Roy, on Saturday cited an ongoing Income Tax issue as the only known concern, stating Roy had no threats or loans. He added that the family is focused on the cremation process and gathering more information from the office staff. On Saturday, the wife and son of CJ Roy reached the post-mortem centre at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. His wife, Lina Roy, and son, Rohith Roy, arrived at the hospital mortuary along with Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee President Mohammed Nalapad. Meanwhile, officials said forensic teams, including the Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) teams, are investigating the case. Officials said Income Tax raids had been conducted at Roy''s premises over the past two days. Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said, "An incident occurred today within the limits of Ashok Nagar police station, where the chairman of the Confident Group (CJ Roy) shot himself. The SOCO and FSL teams are investigating the matter. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead." (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab on February 1 (Sunday). As per the offical release, at around 3:45 PM, the Prime Minister will visit Adampur airport, where he will unveil the new name of the Airport as 'Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Airport, Adampur. He will also inaugurate the Terminal Building at Halwara Airport in Ludhiana, Punjab. On the occasion of the 649th Birth Anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidas Ji, the renaming of Adampur Airport honours the revered saint and social reformer whose teachings of equality, compassion, and human dignity continue to inspire India's social ethos. Further advancing aviation infrastructure in the state, the Terminal Building, to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister at Halwara Airport, will establish a new gateway for the State, serving Ludhiana and its surrounding industrial and agricultural hinterland. Located in the Ludhiana district, Halwara is also home to a strategically important Indian Air Force station. The earlier airport at Ludhiana had a relatively small runway, suitable for small-size aircrafts. To improve connectivity and accommodate larger aircraft, a new civil enclave has been developed at Halwara, which has a longer runway capable of handling A320-type aircraft. Aligned with the Prime Minister's vision of sustainable and environmentally responsible development, the terminal incorporates several green and energy-efficient features, including LED lighting, insulated roofing, rainwater harvesting systems, sewage and water treatment plants, and the use of recycled water for landscaping. The architectural design reflects Punjab's rich cultural heritage, offering passengers a distinctive and regionally inspired travel experience. Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party's Punjab President Sunil Jakhar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Dera Ballan on February 1, calling it a significant visit that reflects the Prime Minister's respect for Guru Ravidas and the sentiments of the people of Punjab. Jakhar said the Prime Minister's visit is taking place on a special day when the Union Budget is also being presented, underscoring the importance the Prime Minister attaches to faith and reverence. He described the visit as a message of affection and respect for Punjab and urged leaders of other political parties not to view it through a political lens. He urged that the Prime Minister's visit be viewed through the lens of faith, reverence, and respect, rather than political gain. Jakhar said that the renaming of Adampur Airport as Guru Ravidas Airport had already been announced, and the Prime Minister will now formally implement it during his visit. He added that Prime Minister Modi will also visit the Dera and pay his respects there. According to Jakhar, the move reflects respect for a community which, he claimed, was sidelined or misunderstood by the Congress, and should be seen as an inclusive gesture towards society as a whole. (ANI) Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Saturday described the death of Confident Group Chairman CJ Roy as a case of "pure harassment" by the Income Tax Department, accusing the Centre of using the IT, ED and GST departments to target SMEs, MSMEs, individuals and industrialists who do not align with the government. This comes after Roy allegedly died by suicide in Bengaluru on Friday, according to officials. "This is nothing but harassment by the Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate officials, and it is happening across the country. This is the third or fourth such instance in Karnataka. The IT, ED and GST departments are being used to harass SMEs, MSMEs, individuals and industrialists who do not align with the government," Priyank Kharge told reporters. He further alleged that central agencies had been turned into tools of harassment, while people earning their livelihoods legally were being subjected to such treatment. Kharge said this was not merely a political allegation, adding that Roy''s family had also raised similar concerns. "These agencies have been turned into tools of harassment. But people who are earning their livelihood legally are subjected to such harassment. This is not just a political allegation--the family has also said the same. Whatever the case may be, we will investigate it. We will even investigate the IT officials who were present there." he said. Earlier in the day, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said that Roy''s company had been raided by the Income Tax Department in December 2025 and was given 60 days to file a chargesheet. Speaking to mediapersons in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said the deadline to file the chargesheet was February 4, and Roy had returned from Dubai three days ago. He added that Roy cooperated with the Income Tax officials who visited his office to record his statement. "His (CJ Roy) company was raided by the IT department in December. They were given 60 days to file a charge sheet. The deadline was set for the February 4 and he arrived from Dubai three days ago. The officials (Income Tax) went to his office to record his statement. He (Roy) responded to that," Parameshwara told reporters. On Saturday, the wife and son of CJ Roy reached the post-mortem centre at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. His wife, Lina Roy, and son, Rohith Roy, arrived at the hospital mortuary along with Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee President Mohammed Nalapad. Meanwhile, officials said forensic teams, including the Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) teams, are investigating the case. Officials said Income Tax raids had been conducted at Roy''s premises over the past two days. Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said, "An incident occurred today within the limits of Ashok Nagar police station, where the chairman of the Confident Group (CJ Roy) shot himself. The SOCO and FSL teams are investigating the matter. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead." (ANI) CUPET crude oil tanks near Havana, Cuba [Photo by Mosbatho / CC BY 4.0 On Thursday, January 29, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled Addressing threats to the United States by the government of Cuba. Absurdly claiming that Cuba poses an extraordinary threat to US national security, the executive order directs the government to impose tariffs on any country supplying the island nation with oil unless Cuba agrees to align sufficiently with the United States on national security and foreign policy matters. Following the US governments abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and its assertion of control over that nations oil supply, Trump and his associates believe American imperialism can finally starve the island into submission and bring it back under direct US domination 68 years after the Cuban Revolution as part of Trumps Donroe Doctrine elaborated in last months US National Security Strategy. The Mexican government acknowledged on Tuesday the cancellation of a planned oil shipment to Cuba this month under pressure from the US government over trade talks and threats of military invasion. At a Tuesday press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum claimed, unbelievably, that withholding the shipment was a sovereign decision by Mexicos state-run oil company Pemex, while making mealy-mouthed statements indicating Mexico still supported sending Cuba humanitarian aid. The Financial Times cited data company Kplers estimate that the cancellation of Mexicos shipment would leave Cuba with only 15-20 days of oil at current levels of demand and domestic production. Cuba imports over 60 percent of the oil it consumes. Domestic oil production amounts to less than 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the estimated 110,000 to 120,000 bpd Cuba requires. Venezuela, which in the past sent 100,000 bpd, had reduced shipments dramatically over the years, down to about 30,000 bpd at the end of 2025, according to Jorge Pinon of the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute. These shipments were cut off entirely by US imperialisms seizure of vessels bound for Cuba in the run-up to Maduros abduction and its subsequent assertion of control over Venezuelan oil. Mexico and Russia are Cubas only remaining significant suppliers. From January to September of 2025, Mexico sent around 22,000 bpd to Cuba before a visit in early September by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after which they fell to just 7,000 bpd. In 2026, Mexico sent just one shipment on January 9, amounting to 84,900 barrels. Pinon estimates that Russias contribution to Cubas energy supply was about 6,000 bpd, but its contributions had not been as regular as those of Venezuela or Mexico. As Cuba relies primarily on fuel oil to power its electricity production, the shortfall has resulted in blackouts of up to 20 hours in many parts of the country, making it almost impossible for many Cubans to maintain refrigerated food or medication. Refuse is collecting on the streets because there is not enough fuel for garbage trucks. Lack of power for fans or air conditioning has led to epidemics of mosquito-borne viruses including dengue and chikungunya, which have reportedly left morgues overflowing. The reduction in oil shipments has also led to shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities as the Cuban government had been reselling a portion of the fuel to earn foreign exchange for other imports. Tourism, the governments biggest source of foreign exchange, has seen visits drop 70 percent since 2018, from 4.8 million tourists down to 1.6 million. The operations against Venezuela and now Cuba are intimately connected. On January 3, just hours after the kidnapping of Maduro, Rubio threatened the Cuban government saying, If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, Id be concerned at least a little bit. A day later, he repeated the warning, saying theyre in a lot of trouble. He continued, Im not going to talk to you about what our future steps are going to be and our policies are going to be right now in this regard. But I dont think its any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro. On January 11, after the seizure of Maduro, Trump wrote on Truth Social THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. He continued, writing, Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. At a recent staff meeting at the US Embassy in Havana, Charge dAffaires Mike Hammer reportedly told those present, If you dont have your bag packed yet, then pack your bag. The Cubans have complained for years about the blockade, but now there is going to be a real blockade. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a report on January 22 based on discussions with senior US officials that the Trump administration is actively planning to carry out regime change in Cuba by the end of the year. According to the WSJ report, the US government is actively seeking out Cuban government insiders who will be willing to cut a deal. Trumps executive order spells out what would be expected from such a US proconsul in Cuba, namely complete capitulation to its assertion of hemispheric dominance. In particular, the country would be required to cut ties with Russia, China and Iran, characterized as hostile countries and malign actors. The executive order complains that Cuba hosts Russias largest overseas signals intelligence facility and that it continues to build deep intelligence and defense cooperation with the PRC. The executive order also states, The Cuban regime continues to spread its communist ideas, policies, and practices around the Western Hemisphere, threatening the foreign policy of the United States. At minimum then, US imperialisms proposed collaborators would be presumably expected to give up their rhetorical commitment to socialism, open the economy to American corporations and return property nationalized after the revolution in 1959. Cuban government officials have appeared in public recently wearing military fatigues while issuing claims that the population is preparing for countrywide war in the face of a US invasion. It is clear, however, that they have no answer for what amounts to the imposition of an economic siege. Moreover, it is not at all excluded that elements in the Cuban government, like their counterparts in Venezuela, would be willing to collaborate with Washington to secure their own privileges. The imposition of a total blockade on Cuba and the threats of military aggression must be opposed by the international working class, and especially the working class of the United States. The fight against American imperialist aggression must start with the building of rank-and-file committees internationally to prepare for mass action, including a general strike to stop the Trump administrations criminal lawlessness at home and abroad. Postal workers who want to discuss the way forward in their struggle and share their views on the tentative agreements should contact the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee at canadapostworkersrfc@gmail.com or by filling out the form at the end of this article. Canada Post workers on strike in Ontario in November 2024 More than a month after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced it had reached tentative agreements with Canada Post, the full proposed contracts remain under lock and key, keeping rank-and-file postal workers in the dark about the language that would govern their jobs and working lives until January 2029. However, the selective highlights released by the union bureaucracy make clear that the agreements constitute a sweeping sellout, paving the way for mass job destruction, intensified exploitation and the transformation of Canada Post into a precarious, Amazon-style logistics operation. They underline the repeated warnings made by the World Socialist Web Site: that Mark Carneys Liberal government wants to use Canada Post as a test case for a massive across-the-board onslaught on worker rights and conditions, and second, that the CUPW leadership and entire trade union bureaucracy is fully complicit in this process. Postal workers must respond by broadening their struggle and mobilize the full social power of the working class. The conditions exist to do so because all workers, public and private sector alike, confront the same attacks on their jobs, public services and the right to strike, and have a direct stake in securing the job protections and improved conditions demanded by postal workers for over two years. CUPW announced an agreement in principle in late November and immediately suspended all job actiondespite the fact that no finalized contract text existed. Rank-and-file workers who had forced CUPW to sanction a nationwide walkoutthe second in less than a yearin response to the Carney governments September announcement of a massive restructuring of Canada Post, including the destruction of thousands of jobs, were ordered back to work in October without a vote. They were told to trust that their interests would be protected while management, the union apparatus and the very government officials responsible for the attack finalized contract details behind closed doors. The CUPW apparatus is attempting to lull workers into complacency by boasting that controversial measures such as dynamic routing, route restructuring and load levelling have been dropped. These claims are fraudulent. In the context of the broader restructuring plan, the removal of a handful of immediate flashpoints functions as a poison pill. Once the agreements are ratified, management will proceed with a wholesale reorganization that guts jobs, slashes delivery standards and radically alters working conditions. The Amazonification of Canada Post is not being abandoned; it is being implemented through other mechanisms embedded in the contracts and sanctioned by the government. The CUPW leadership is now promising to release the full contracts prior to ratification. But the delay in doing so is calculated to further demobilize the rank and file and stymie workers efforts to organize opposition. On November 21, the National Executive Board announced an agreement in principle with Canada Post. More than two months on, workers still have only been provided selective summaries of what has been agreed to, meant to promote ratification and hide the real consequences. This lack of transparency has understandably fueled growing anger and distrust. The union bureaucracy clearly fears that it may struggle to smuggle the massive concessions past postal workers, who have repeatedly demonstrated their readiness to fight. This explains why five out of the 15 members of CUPWs national executive voted against the deal, including President Jan Simpson. This miserable attempt to create an alibi for the very individuals responsible for leading the postal workers struggle into a dead end and conspiring with management at the bargaining table on how best to impose their dictates should fool no one. Rank-and-file workers should take it as a sign of the concern within the upper echelons of the bureaucracy about the prospect of opposition on the shop floor escaping CUPWs control. They should redouble their efforts to build rank-and-file committees in every sorting centre and distribution hub across the country to develop the struggle as a political fight against Canada Post management and its backers in the Carney government. The Liberal government plan to dismantle Canada Post and CUPWs complicity In September, the Liberal governmentwhich banned the 2024 postal workers month-long strike by invoking anti-democratic provisions in section 107 of the Canada Labour Codeattacked again. It authorized Canada Post to end door-to-door mail delivery, expand the use of community mailboxes, lengthen delivery standards for letters and close or convert post offices to private franchises, particularly in rural and suburban areas. Canada Post management has openly discussed eliminating up to 30,000 jobs by 2035. President and CEO Doug Ettinger promised that the corporation will break even by 2030 during testimony before the House of Commons government operations committee in December. Asked when Canada Post would become financially sustainable, he stated that the corporations plan had been shaped around the governments September restructuring announcement. He insisted that government bailouts must end, and that investment was required to make Canada Post more competitive. Given that the company has posted approximately $5 billion in losses since 2018, such a turnaround will only be done on the backs of workers and through the gutting of postal services. The CUPW leadership fully endorses the aim of returning Canada Post to profitability. The content of the tentative agreements aligns seamlessly with this agenda. New job classifications such as Permanent Flex Employees (PFEs), Part-Time Unstructured (PTU) workers and Parcel Delivery Part Time (PD PT) employees are explicitly designed to erode established routes, eliminate overtime and replace stable full-time employment with precarious labour in both the urban postal operations and rural and suburban mail carrier units. These classifications mirror the two-tier schemes imposed in the auto industry, which were sold as temporary compromises but permanently degraded conditions for younger workers, while dragging down standards for all workers and boosting corporate profits after the 2008 global financial crisis. A Canada Post worker who spoke to the World Socialist Web Site explained that many postal workers feel pressured to accept the agreements because they are exhausted and financially strained after nearly two years of a struggle which has been drawn out and isolated by the union bureaucracy. CUPW has exploited this by presenting the deal as a form of grandfathering, preserving existing conditions for current workers while conceding the future to managements dictates. This is a trap. Two-tier systems are designed to pit workers against one another and provide management with the leverage to gut wages, benefits and working conditions for all. Whats more, there is nothing inevitable about the hopeless dead end where postal workers currently find themselves. The CUPW leadership has systematically led the contract struggle into the sand by blocking any appeal to all delivery workers and public sector workers whose jobs and conditions face the same threats. Earlier this month, it was revealed that close to 10,000 federal government workers have received warning notices that their jobs could go. On Friday, 1,200 workers at GMs Oshawa assembly plant worked their last shift as the highly profitable automaker imposed long-announced mass layoffs. CUPW has done nothing to unite postal workers with these workers in a common fight against layoffs and austerity but has worked tirelessly to prevent such unity by invoking the inviolability of the pro-employer collective bargaining system, which government officials, management executives and union bureaucrats use to ram concessions down workers throats. CUPWs own updates reveal the scale of the concessions. Under the new arrangements, PFEs may be assigned weekend work and additional duties as deemed appropriate by the corporation, stripping route holders of overtime and undermining any predictable schedule. PTU and PD PT positions involve unstructured work, granting management unilateral authority to carve up routes and reassign hours. The introduction of weekend delivery staffed by new part-time classifications represents a historic concession, normalizing seven-day operations and eroding holidays. For rural and suburban mail carriers (RSMCs), the shift to an hourly rate systemfalsely presented as a longstanding demandthreatens a substantial pay cut. Route values will be capped, overtime opportunities eliminated and fixed start and end times imposed. Faster, more experienced workers will be punished, while management gains the power to pile on additional work without extra compensation. Virtual restructures, carried out through AI-driven routing and remote meetings, have already produced chaos, with routes lengthened, distances increased and grievances piling up. On wages, CUPW has agreed to suspend the cost-of-living allowance and entirely tie wage increases in the contracts third, fourth and fifth years to the consumer price index (CPI). This guarantees real-wage erosion. Official CPI figures systematically understate the actual cost increases faced by workers, particularly for housing, food and transportation. By accepting CPI indexation without robust, automatic COLA protections, the union has handed management and the government a mechanism to steadily undermine living standards. The agreements would bar strike action until at least 2029, precisely as the Carney governments restructuring goes into high gear. They provide Canada Post and the big business Liberal government with labour peace as they carry out service cuts, job eliminations and the conversion of a public service into a low-wage logistics arm competing with Amazon, UPS and DHL. A new strategy is needed CUPW and the broader union bureaucracy from the Canada Labour Congress (CLC) on down have worked systematically to conceal the political character of this struggle. Prime Minister Mark Carney has openly declared Canada Post unviable. But he considers it viable to gut worker rights in order to fund tens of billions of dollars in additional military spending so that Canadian imperialism can ruthlessly pursue the profit interests of the financial oligarchy in wars around the world. Postal workers must defend the right to strike, demand emerging technologies like AI not be used to intensify exploitation, but rather ease the burden of labour under workers control, and fight for job security and wages that keep pace with the cost of living. These are issues that all workers would fight for if they were armed with the necessary political understanding and organizational framework to participate in the struggle. What is required is a new strategy and new forms of organization. Postal workers must take control of their struggle through the building of rank-and-file committees in every depot and facility, independent of the union bureaucracy. The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee, affiliated with the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, is fighting to unite postal workers across Canada with workers internationally in a common struggle against capitalist austerity, war and the gigification of work. The defense of Canada Post as a public service and the defense of decent, secure jobs cannot be reconciled with the CUPW-backed profit mandates of the government and management. Only through the independent mobilization of the working class, guided by a socialist perspective, can this onslaught be stopped. Postal workers should decisively reject the tentative agreements and join the fight to build rank-and-file power in Canada and internationally. Elevenlabs AudioNative Player German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, centre, welcomes Lithuania's Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene for a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. [AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi] The first month of 2026 has witnessed the explosion of American imperialism. It began with the Trump administrations invasion of Venezuela and abduction of President Nicolas Maduro, continued with Trumps demand to own Greenland and control its natural resources and Arctic shipping routes, and is now culminating in the mobilisation of an American armada of warships in the Middle East poised to strike Iran. The extent of the brutality and criminality of American imperialism with Trump at its head often obscures the aggressive intent of the European imperialist powers, or fuels the misguided belief that Germany, France and Britainthe old colonial powersare more humanitarian than their transatlantic rival. The remarks this week by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which in content were redolent of Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, should put to rest any such illusions. Addressing the German parliament, Merz placed his remarks in the context of a new era of great power rivalry. He declared, For several weeks now, we have been seeing more and more clearly that a world of great powers is beginning to emerge. A harsh wind is blowing in this world, and we will feel it for the foreseeable future. This rhetoric serves to enforce the officially proclaimed new epoch in foreign policy, which has seen all parties in parliament unite to spend 1 trillion on preparing for war and impose social spending cuts to pay for it. Merzs response to the new world situation he described could just as well have come from one of Hitlers programmatic speeches in the early 1930s. We will only be able to implement our ideas in the world, at least in part, if we ourselves learn to speak the language of power politics, if we ourselves become a European power, he told the deputies. What he means is nothing less than the transformation of Europe into an independent military superpower under German leadership. Merz continued: Firstly, we must take our security into our own hands. This requires measures to reduce dependencies ... It requires us to invest heavily in our own European defence capabilities. The invocation of sovereignty and independence is the ideological cover for a historic rearmament offensive whose scale is comparable only to German militarisation prior to the two world wars. Together with the majority of this House, we decided last year to increase our national defence spending to up to five percent of gross domestic product, Merz boasted. In absolute terms, this means a German war budget of well over 200 billion annuallymore than is spent on education, health and social benefits combined. Merz explicitly presented this path as a model: We have led the way, and others in Europe have followed us. This rearmament is inextricably linked to comprehensive social spending cuts. The attacks on jobs, wages, pensions and public services not only serve to directly finance the military, but are also intended to make German and European capitalism competitive on the global stage. Secondly, we must make our economy competitive again, Merz stated openly, referring to the growing growth gap with the US and China. According to the chancellor, Germanys ability to shape world politics depends above all on economic powerthat is, on the ability to increase profits and open up markets and raw materials, including by military means. What Merz and the ruling class have in mind is an authoritarian Fortress Europeakin to the dictatorship Trump is seeking to establish in the USthat enforces its imperialist interests worldwide under German leadership. Thirdly, we must stand united in Europe on these issues, Merz demanded, stating bluntly: Unity is a factor of power in the world. What he means is the united enforcement of European imperialist interests with economic and military coercionagainst Russia and China, but increasingly also against the United States. As examples of European power, Merz cited the leading role of Europeans in NATOs war against Russia in Ukraine and the joint action against the punitive tariffs US President Trump threatened to impose on the European powers who resisted his push to seize Greenland. Anyone who believes they can make policy against Europe with tariffs must know that we are ready and able to defend ourselves against them, the Chancellor declared. At the same time, he emphasised that we do not want to recklessly jeopardise established alliances. As long as Europe needs time for massive rearmament and, above all, continues to depend on Washingtons support in NATOs war offensive against Russia, Merz is keen to avoid an open confrontation with the US. This tactical restraint does not alter the fact that German imperialism is ever more explicitly striving for an independent role as a world power. The current global realignment also presents an opportunity for all players who prefer rules to arbitrariness and who see more advantages in free and fair trade than in the unilateral pursuit of their own interests, Merz explained. He described Germany as part of a dynamic, agile network of sovereign states and, in this context, praised in particular the European Unions planned trade agreements with India and the Latin American Mercosur states. Merzs attempt to portray his bid for world power as a defence of a rules-based international order is particularly cynical. In reality, Germany and Europe have supported every war of aggression led by the United States over the past three decadesfrom Kosovo to Afghanistan and Iraq to Libya. Merz himself boasted in his speech that German soldiers had fought alongside our American partners in Afghanistan after 11 September 2001, and declared that he would not allow this mission to be disparaged. The German government continues to support US operations and wars that violate international law, as long as they serve its own interests. At the beginning of the year, Merz openly backed US aggression against Venezuela, supports preparations for war against Iran and defends Israels genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. Against this backdrop, the official Holocaust memorial ceremony in the Bundestag the day before Merzs speech was pure hypocrisy. With its ritualised never again, the ruling class is trying to conceal that it is doing exactly the same again: great power politics, militarism and genocide abroad, and authoritarian politics at home. Significantly, Merz did not say a word about the openly fascist developments in the US, where Trumps ICE militias hunt migrants and murder counter-demonstrators in cold blood. The reason is obvious: militarism abroad and authoritarian rule at home are also the programme of the German bourgeoisie. Merzs statements on European nuclear weapons show how far advanced this development already is. Just hours after his speech, the chancellor confirmed during a press conference with Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene that strategic talks on European nuclear weapons are being held. These talks are in their infancy, he said, but we know that we have to make some decisions here, both strategically and in terms of military policy. Brigadier General Frank Pieper, Director of Strategy at the German Armed Forces Command and Staff College, goes even further. In an interview with Stern magazine, he called for Germany to have its own nuclear weapons and for politicians to make a real change. Germany needs its own tactical nuclear weapons, he demanded, adding provocatively: Get out of bed and get to work. The demand for a German nuclear bomb is not only illegal, it would be a step that brings humanity even closer to the brink of a nuclear world war. This madness is supported not only by Merzs right-wing Christian Democratic Union, the Social Democrats and far-right Alternative for Germany, but also by parties that claim to be left-wing or progressive. Representatives of the Left Party and the Greens, who already approved the governments horrendous war credits in the spring, attacked Merz not because of his war policy, but because, in their view, he was not aggressive enough towards the US and Russia. The Left Partys parliamentary group leader, Soren Pellmann, called on the federal government to now draw conclusions. This applies both to economic policy and security policy. He then exclaimed, Where is the export ban on German weapons to the US? Stop kowtowing! Take action! The Green Party warmongers are particularly impatient with the pace of preparations for war against Russia. Referring to the governments stated goal of being ready for war against Russia by 2029, the Green Partys security policy spokesperson, Sara Nanni, ranted hysterically, We have 35 months left. Thirty-five months! ... 35 months to go until 2029. I ask you: What are you doing until then? What is being arranged? When will the shadow fleet be stopped? When will the Taurus [missiles] be delivered [to Ukraine]? When will investments be made in comprehensive defence, and when will the population be prepared for the possibility of an emergency? The madness of war has objective causes that the Trotskyist movement has long analysed. As early as 2014, the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) examined in a resolution the historical and political forces behind the war policies of all capitalist parties and warned of the consequences of the return of German militarism: History is returning with a vengeance. Almost 70 years after the crimes of the Nazis and its defeat in World War II, the German ruling class is once again adopting the imperialist great power politics of the Kaisers Empire and Hitler... The propaganda of the post-war erathat Germany had learnt from the terrible crimes of the Nazis, had arrived at the West, had embraced a peaceful foreign policy, and had developed into a stable democracyis exposed as lies. German imperialism is once again showing its real colours as it emerged historically, with all of its aggressiveness at home and abroad. But the same contradictions of the capitalist system that are driving society inexorably toward warthe contradiction between the global economy and the nation-state system, and between the social character of production and its private appropriationalso create the objective basis for social revolution. In the United States, resistance to Trumps fascist policies is growing, with workers and young people protesting against ICE murders, going on strike and discussing the preparation of a general strike. Workers and young people in Germany and Europe must orient themselves towards this powerful social forcethe international working class. The answer to Trumps policy of might makes right is not the German or European language of power politics, but the international mobilisation of the working class against all imperialist warmongers. The only progressive perspective lies in the overthrow of the capitalist system and the building of an international socialist society. The Socialist Equality Party and its sister parties in the International Committee of the Fourth International are fighting for this programme. Groves High School students hold signs protesting immigration police after walking out of morning class on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 in Birmingham, Michigan. [AP Photo/Corey R. Williams] ICE operations in Michigan and across the United States have increasingly taken on more aggressive and deceptive practices, meant to draw less public attention, and are reflective of clear growing authoritarian trends. ICE arrests in Michigan, through October 15, 2025, numbered 2,349, a nearly 230 percent increase over the 952 ICE arrests recorded in Michigan in 2024. Nationwide, the number of arrests during this period exploded to approximately 380,000. Nearly 75 percent of immigrants arrested in Michigan in the first ten months of 2025 had no criminal history, and included immigrants with lawful status or those with US-citizen spouses and family members. ICE arrests are now occurring after routine traffic stops by local police, who then alert ICE; and at marriage-based green card interviewswhere ICE agents use back entrances to avoid detection by other immigrants in the waiting room awaiting their own interviews. ICE officers are frequently not wearing uniforms, and are otherwise not identifying themselves. During a routine January 9, 2026, traffic stop in Sterling Heightsa Detroit suburb of 135,000, approximately 27 percent of whom are immigrantsthree people who did not have proper immigration documentation were arrested by Border Patrol. In Detroit on October 9, 2025, immigration agents arrested and placed into deportation proceedings Erick Pena, a Honduran native married to a US citizen, with two US citizen children, who was in the process of obtaining a green card, as he was traveling to work. ICE operations have recently ramped up in Michigan this week, particularly in Washtenaw County. On January 26, 2026, four immigrant parents in Ypsilanti, who were apparently waiting to pick their children up from school, were abducted by ICE. Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross has urged students to walk in groups and use trusted carpools while traveling to and from school, and that families keep emergency contact information for children updated with the school district. Wayne County Airport Authority, which operates Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus and Willow Run Airport in Van Buren Township, has refused to halt ICE flights out of Willow Run. Eighty-eight flights out of this airport to immigration detention centers in the South occurred in 2025, conducted by several airlines, including Key Lime Air and Eastern Air Express. Chad Newton, CEO of Wayne County Airport Authority, dismissed concerns about the facilitys implicit cooperation with ICE, claiming that the Authority has nothing to do with the agreements between various airlines and the federal government, being otherwise uninvolved and uninterested so long as those agreements meet legal and safety requirements. ICEs heavy-handed methods, and particularly its bloody crimes in Minneapolis, have resulted in significant pushback from the working class, forcing some Michigan municipalities to walk back cooperation with immigration authorities. Detroit City Council Member At-Large, Mary Waters, has introduced an ordinance, named the Alex Pretti Detroit No Masks Ordinance, that would ban law enforcement from using masks to conceal their identities within city limits. Ferndale Mayor Raylon Leaks-May issued a statement at a January 26, 2026, City Council meeting, meant to reassure nervous Ferndale residents about ICE activity, that the Ferndale Police Department does not cooperate with ICE and has no intention to cooperate with ICE. The Michigan Supreme Court is also currently considering a court rule that would prohibit most ICE arrests of individuals who are attending a court proceeding or having legal business in the courthouse, which would apply to all Michigans state trial and appellate courthouses; a direct response to the Trump regimes increase in courthouse arrests of immigrants. On January 21, 2026, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners barred ICE agents from conducting immigration enforcement on property owned, operated, or leased by the county. ICE agents must now obtain a valid judicial warrant or court order to enter such properties. Washtenaw County employees and contractors have also been banned from voluntarily assisting ICE enforcement on county property. The Washtenaw County decision is significant in the context of the recently-revealed May 12, 2025, internal ICE memorandum signed by Acting ICE Director, Todd Lyons. This memo purports to give immigration agents the authority to enter private residences without a judicial warrant, using as its basis for authority, President Trumps January 20, 2025, Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The memo states plainly that DHS has not historically relied on administrative warrants to make arrests in private residences, but that the DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose. The memorandum does not make any additional arguments or legal citations in support of this determination, nor does it address how the DHS Office of the General Counsel came to this conclusion, simply declaring that ICE may now arrest people after forcibly entering their place of residence. The memorandum states that administrative warrants, signed by ICE officers or agents, not federal judges, are sufficient to make such entries. The document exploits a common confusion between judicial warrants and administrative warrants, and treating both as holding the same constitutional weight and power. While the language of the memorandum appears to limit these actions to immigrants with final orders of removal, the rhetoric and actions of the Trump regime has shown no such restraint. The baldfaced unconstitutionality of this memorandum requires some consideration. The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution states plainly a persons right to be secure from unreasonable arrest in their homes, and that to make such an arrest, a warrant must be issued, based on probable cause, supported by an oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the person to be arrested. The United States Supreme Courts 1980 decision in Payton v. New York specifically states that the government needs an arrest warrant to enter a home to make an arrest, and that these warrants must be issued by a judicial officer. This is further refined by Kidd v. M ayorkas , a more recent Biden-era decision from the Central District of California, which points out that administrative warrants to enter a private dwelling lack the independent assurance guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment and that ICE training materials affirm that administrative warrants do not authorize entry into a dwelling without consent. Tellingly, the memorandum does discuss Kidd , directing that immigration agents may not enter a private dwelling in the Central District of California without a judicial warrant. Finally, 8 C.F.R. 287.8(f)(2) specifically states that immigration officers may not enter into the non-public areas of a residence without a warrant or consent. Vice President JD Vance defended the memo, stating [w]ere talking about different types of warrants that exist in our system[t]ypically in the immigration system, those are handled by administrative law judges[s]o were talking about getting warrants from them. He continued that it is the Trump regimes understanding that immigration laws can be enforced through administrative warrants. But these warrants, signed by immigration officials, not federal judges, do not satisfy the language of the Fourth Amendment. Vance is engaging in intentional doublespeak. Immigration law is a federal administrative field; immigration judges are administrative judges within the federal government. They have no general legal authority, including the authority to sign warrants to enter private dwellings. A 2013 graduate of Yale Law School, Vance knows very well that a secret memorandum issued by the Department of Homeland Security cannot ignore, change, override, or reinterpret the U.S. Constitution, existing judicial precedent, or statutory provisions. The loudest spokesperson for this fascist policy, Stephen Miller, has also engaged in rhetoric meant to tear up any Constitutional restraints on ICE agents. He has claimed ICE has federal immunity in their duties, and anyone obstructing those duties is committing a felony. These are clear signals to ICE agents that they are permitted by the Trump regime to act with impunity and in violation of statutory, judicial, and constitutional authority. The World Socialist Web Site spoke recently with independent rap artist Sole after the latter published a video on his social media page denouncing the Trump administrations deployment of ICE in Americas cities and the brazen murder of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good. Sole (Tim Holland) Sole (born Timothy Holland, September 25, 1977 in Portland, Maine) is a pioneering figure of the American underground hip-hop scene, whose work, over more than two decades, has fused experimental musical form with a critique of elements of capitalist society and imperialist war. Emerging at the end of the 1990s as a founding member of the California-based Anticon collective, he helped carve out a new tendency in independent rap that was hostile to commercial formulas, intensely literary and consciously opposed to the degradation of culture experienced in capitalism. Albums such as Bottle of Humans and Selling Live Water (2000 and 2002 releases on Anticon Records) are widely regarded in serious music circles as landmark statements of this oppositional current. In the years since, Sole has combined a prolific musical output with an explicit engagement with generally left-wing views. Our differences with some of those views emerge in the discussion. In his response to the ICE murder of protesters in Minneapolis, Sole-Holland speaks bluntly, stating that the US government is seeking to build a dictatorship and likening the population to frogs slowly cooking in an authoritarian soup. He notes that people are getting killed, cities are under military occupation youre not going to be able to just keep your head down and hope everything goes back to normal. There is no normal. The WSWS reached out to Sole asking him to speak more about the situation. He agreed, despite recovering from a recent illness. The following is the result of that conversation, edited for length and clarity. Nick Barrickman: Lets speak a little bit about your background. Tim Holland: My dad was a heroin addict; he was an abusive person. Both of my parents owned their own businesses. So theres something about that trauma, but also having parents who were hustlers, working class people, going from having a lot to being on food stamps. You gotta get kicked to make great art. Around age 11, I just started writing rhymes. I heard a Fat Boys song on a video and just something about it sounded smart. I started writing raps. Id loop beats on a tape dub by rewinding, pausing. Then I would write rhymes. I got online in 1996, before the internet was a big thing, and just started trading tapes with people from all over the country and started building up a network with those people. Later, some of them led me to the people who I founded Anticon Records with. When I was coming up in hip-hop, it was just before the bling era. Its when rap went from Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions and the politically conscious stuff to the gangster stuff. NWA, who were very politically sharp, actually. But then it just went from there, Puff Daddyhip-hop became s, in my opinion, around that time. Thats when Anticon started popping. We were drawing inspiration from indie rock and electronic music and beat poetry and Dadaism, and underground West Coast hip-hop and underground East Coast beatmaking. Just a bunch of weirdo outsidersmostly white boysfound each other. We put together the first collectively run hip-hop label in North America. It was collectively owned and operated. After 9/11, I was in New York on the way to pick someone up at the airport and saw the smoke. The night before, I had this weirdly prophetic dream. So when I saw the smoke, I just had this instinct that now I had to educate myself on history, politics and philosophy. I may have been turned off by where political hip-hop went in the early 2000s, but I needed to educate myself. I didnt see any reason to just sing about my feelings or to sing about the music industry. I sought to educate myself. So you want a revolution? What does a revolution look like? I really have put myself through an educational course and put myself and my music in the interest of revolution, of forwarding revolutionary theory and politics. I like art too, I just cant babble and I cant make love songs. NB: What were some of the issues behind the response in rap music to these events youre describing, 9/11, the Iraq War? These were major turning points in society that impacted culture and yet aside from a few artists, yourself included, music didnt really become politicized. TH: I just dont understand that, personally. Youre a musician. You have all the time in the world to educate yourself. Some of these rappers just sit around playing video games. So thats why we started a record label. Are you asking me about Anticon or hip-hop? NB: Hip-hop in general. Selling Live Water (2003) TH: Rappers aint about s, straight up. Ninety-nine percent of them. I wouldnt want to put myself in the mind of someone who doesnt care enough to speak on these things. I understand you dont want to listen to a book report. You dont want to listen to someone reading a Karl Marx book to you on record. You dont want someone telling you what you already know. You dont want to hear a college 101. I understand why a lot of artists dont put their views out there. Once you put your views out there, you have to be able to defend them. So you have to really educate yourself on these subjects. So theres that and theres also, frankly, people being scared. No one said s about Palestine either. NB: Regarding that, there was the Kendrick Lamar-Drake feud, while the genocide was going on, which was so damning about what passes for consciousness in rap. TH: I have to mute out 95 percent of what is said in the hip-hop I listen to. I can listen to Billy Woods all day and he is one of the sharpest voices in hip-hop. I love the way he navigates personal issues with the bigger worldly issues. He does it in an interesting way that doesnt sound like a book report. NB: Obviously, art has a unique job to do. It cant replace politics. There are things that art can reveal that nothing else can. TH: Sometimes I find myself listening to Santigold. Shes like M.I.A. in some ways. The music has a ska-ish reggae kind of vibe in it with electronic beats and it keeps me moving. I always listen to the lyrics and Im thinking, well, maybe Im just imagining that these are revolutionary lyrics, you know? Its vague enough to be empowering and revolutionary, but catchy enough to be a pop song. Thats the power of music, it can put wind under your sails and tell you youre not crazy. Theres something really important about that, especially right now. NB: Speaking of that: the first three weeks or so of the New Year has been a whirlwind. Theres been the invasion of Venezuela. There were the protests in Iran, which the Trump administration has cynically latched onto in order to push for regime change and threaten to more bombing. There are the Trump administrations threats to annex Greenland, which will potentially bring the US into direct military conflict with another member of NATO. The events in Minneapolis obviously form a part of this. Could I ask you to speak about these events and why you made the video? TH: First and foremost, if youve been following my music, Ive made it a point to use my platform and whatever art Im making in furtherance of revolutionary politics, specifically anarchists or anti-authoritarian communism. Art in itself is actually really important. When Im in my kitchen, Im listening to music. Thats the only thing keeping me going right now; music. But over the last seven years, I moved back to Maine. I got a homestead. Im not super steeped in activism anymore. I run a vegan food company. Im still making music, but Im kind of on the periphery of the empire. Now Im a dad, you know, my life is more domestic. For me, thats a really important perspective, because when youre a revolutionary without kids, your conception of the world is entirely different than someone who has kids. So I feel like, as a parent, part of my terrain of struggle now is like coexisting in a world where theres like cops and FBI agents and like radicals and parents and different kinds of people. Sole The conversations I have on a daily basis arent with people who want to overthrow the government and want free communism. Most people just dont want fascism and were fine. They were fine with the way things were, and thats part of the problem. As someone who has been organizing, I just feel like our actions are never enough to meet the moment. The issues that are on our plate such as global warming, AI and the massive disruption it will cause to our world. Obviously, police killings and all this other stuff, but these are the things that we should be addressing [as a society]. We shouldnt be rounding up people living here or have our government attack the cities of every single politician who stands in its way. Now theyre [ICE and other agencies] flooding Maine. People are freaking out. The violence is coming home. Trump is just unleashing so much chaos. He is continuously sticking his finger in beehives. Its like shock doctrine on steroids. If you care about the world you live in, you might want to fight for it, because it might not be there next year, or it might not be there for your kids. NB: Thats a strong statement, and it rings true. Trump is the face of the crisis, but obviously the crisis is much bigger than just him. You wouldnt have had these types of conversations were having decades ago. The situation has been building up. Trumps administration is probably the wealthiest administration in world history. Obviously, the government was always controlled in one way or another by the extremely rich. But this marks a whole new level. I do want to get a little back into this question, though, about your video. You had mentioned that your children had actually raised this issue with you? TH: Well, my wife doesnt necessarily agree with how I talk to my kids about politics. I dont hide things from them. Maine is interesting because it was like the whitest state in the country when I was growing up. But part of why I wanted to move back here was when I would go to downtown Portland, I would now see more hijabs, African markets, Arab markets. Maine also has a large Somali and African population. So ICE is currently here to deal with [them] and the cruelty is the point, right? But not all my childrens friends are white. They have friends who are from Africa. They have friends who are Mexican. They themselves are mixed. Their grandfather is from Iraq. So they were asking me about how these things work and what was going on with ICE. They were saying ICE has been around and theyre having conversations at school. ICE is just breaking the laws, theyre profiling. People I found out who voted for Trump the second time, were not friends anymore. Youre an idiot if you voted for him a second time and now were all paying for that ignorance. The Democrats suck. Kamala was terrible. Biden, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But that still would have been way better than living under military occupation and the shredding of the Constitution. NB: I would say America didnt necessarily know what it was getting. I dont think most people voted for any of this. And, in fact, it shows in the polls. Even Trumps immigration policy, which he ran on. Obviously, there remains a political disconnect in this country between the depth of the crisis and the revolutionary methods required to resolve it. The Democratic Party isnt a lesser evil, its another capitalist party. They work together in tandem with the Republicans. No doubt, what Trump does and what the Republicans do is more openly rapacious. The Democrats job, however, is the other side of this, to suppress the population, to misdirect and disorient it, to demobilize it. And, at the same time, to normalize the things which the Republicans then lay hold of and take to the next level. The suppression of anti-genocide protest started with the Biden administration. The attacks on students for supposedly being antisemitic started with Biden. The genocide of the Palestinian people started under Biden. The weapons that Israel used on the children were sold to them by Bidens administration. Trump, of course, took that and took it further. They work in tandem. That even showed in the actual behavior of the Democratic Party during the election, where they were warning about Trump one second and then after Trump won, they wished him well. What about what they were warning about? His being a dictator on day one and so on? The biggest thing the Democrats are concerned about, in addition to foreign policy issues, is that the working population may start to assert itself directly in opposing Trump in ways that threaten the oligarchy, which I think is becoming more and more the case. Nothing frightens the Democrats more than a movement from below. The call for a general strike in Minneapolis on January 23 is significant. It has to be the starting point for a much wider movement. There is a widespread recognition that the normal means and the normal channels for confronting Trump are no longer sufficient. It must be developed by the working population and it must develop independently of the Democratic Party and all the Democratic Partys arms that it uses to try and box in the population. Im talking about the AFL-CIO, for example, which has not even endorsed the January 23 event. If they do endorse it, its to make it as passive as possible, treat it like its a consumer boycott rather than a work stoppage. Historically, the biggest hurdle of the American working class has been the Democratic Party. TH: Its so hard, man, battling liberalism. Nobody wants to acknowledge that were really in this situation where we need to make a new world, you know? NB: The population doesnt come to revolutionary ideas through idealistic or moral searching. They do so based on necessity. I think were reaching a point like that now. Could you let us know if youve got any music coming out in the near future? TH: Ive got a new album coming out, with my man Televangel actually, we will have vinyl in a month. At a picket of striking Kaiser healthcare workers in Los Angeles, a nurse holds a sign that reads: Alex Pretti would be proud, honk for him on January 30, 2026. Friday marked the fifth day of an open-ended strike by 31,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers in California and Hawaii. The strike is part of a broader upsurge of social struggles, including nationwide protests Friday and Saturday against the ICE rampage in Minneapolis, as well as a three-week strike by 15,000 nurses in New York City. Healthcare workers are being driven into direct confrontation not only with corporate healthcare giants like Kaiser Permanente, but with the entire political and economic framework that subordinates human life to profit, repression and state violence. Next month, thousands of pharmacy technicians, clinical laboratory scientists and medical laboratory technicians (CLS/MLT) across Southern California are scheduled to strike. Pharmacy technicians have been without a contract since November 1, 2025, while CLS/MLT contracts expire on February 1, 2026, affecting workers in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Kern and Imperial counties. Under intense pressure from the rank and file, multiple UFCW Southern California locals (UFCW 770, UFCW 324 and UFCW 135) were compelled to issue a unified 10-day unfair labor practice (ULP) strike notice to Kaiser, set to begin February 9 at 7:00 a.m. across the region. Workers are demanding across-the-board raises, retroactive pay, wage equity, especially for low-paid workers in Kern County, safe staffing, aligned contract expiration dates, an improved Performance Sharing Program, no concessions and caregiver input into patient care. Workers in UFCW Local 324 voted overwhelmingly to strike in October. In spite of this, no strike was called, and workers have been kept on the job without a contract since November 1. At Kaiser, the UNAC/UCHP union accused management of anti-union escalation in a statement Thursday, for hiring thousands of temporary workers and filing lawsuits to end national bargaining and prioritizing profits over patient care. In spite of this, the union has not called for broader action, even when the conditions are emerging for a powerful national movement in defense of public health. On January 21, Kaiser filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Alliance of Health Care Unions, seeking to weaken or dismantle the national bargaining framework established under the 1997 Labor-Management Partnership (LMP). The legal maneuver amounts to giving the union bureaucracy its marching orders to shut down the strike or risk getting cut off from tens of millions in corporate funding. The LMP is a corporatist body set up with the explicit goal of preventing strikes. Its founding agreement calls on Kaiser management and the unions to unite around our common purposes and work together to most effectively deliver high quality health care and prevail in our new, highly competitive environment. But the defense of healthcare requires a movement of the working class against oligarchy and inequality, not partnership. Such a movement has to be built through independent action from below by nurses themselves, enforcing democratic control over the struggle and establishing contact with healthcare and other workers across the country in order to prepare for a general strike. This means forming networks of rank-and-file committees, transforming growing working class resistance into a conscious movement capable of challenging corporate power and defending democratic and social rights. While a series of major strikes have taken place at Kaiser over the past several years, each one of these has been shut down prematurely by the trade union apparatus before workers demands, particularly those relating to safe staffing ratios, were met. The World Socialist Web Site spoke with Kaiser workers in the Los Angeles area. Linda, a nurse, described chronic understaffing. We have very high-acuity patients, but not enough resources, not enough nurses to be able to care for the patient safely, she explained. It can be very overwhelming and a disservice to patients. Recalling her time on telemetry, she said staffing levels were four patients-to-one nurse. I mean, really bad. We dont have nurse assistants. We dont have licensed vocational nurses to help out the fellow RNs. Asked about the killing of Alex Pretti, she became visibly shaken. Its horrible. I really dont know where to even start. He was one of our own, she said. And he was doing what I think every nurse would do: stand up against whats wrong. She emphasized the ethical commitment of nurses: When we take the oath to be nurses, we dont look at peoples race or who they are, how they identify, we just look at them as a whole person and we stand up for whats right. Addressing nurses striking in New York, Linda declared, Were there with you guys, our brothers and sisters! We hope for a fair contract for all of us and for nurses like Alex Pretti to never be forgotten. Jane, a nurse with 10 years of experience, echoed these sentiments. Its so unfortunate that he had to die and other people, innocent people, have to die just to stand up for other human beings, she said. We should all see each other as human beings and not a legal status. Learning that Alex Pretti and Renee Good were reportedly placed on a federal database, Jane responded with alarm. Thats really bad, because now people that are standing up are being targeted just for standing up for other people that dont have a voice, she said. We have freedom of speech, and we shouldnt be targeted for speaking up or trying to defend our brothers and sisters. She described the crushing cost of living in Los Angeles and the impact on patient care. Since COVID, weve been working short-staffed, even in the outpatient settingone nurse doing the job of three people, she explained. With no additional personnel, providers are overbooked and patients face months-long waits. Its not fair for patients. Its not fair for us. It has gotten to a point that its a safety issue now. Jane expressed outrage that Kaiser has reportedly invested in CoreCivic, a private prison and ICE detention company. Separating families is not for someones well-being, she said. Instead of investing in this type of place, they should invest in getting the hospital staff well so that we can prevent near-death situations or risk for patients. Asked whether she supported a general strike against the Trump administration, Jane responded emphatically: Yes, of course, of course, of course. Susan, a Kaiser nurse for more than 25 years, described being forced to perform multiple roles simultaneously. When I come in, I am the tech, I am the secretary, I am the IT, I am the lead person on the floor, she said. By the end of a 12-hour shift, you are tired, exhausted, and cant give anymore. She explained that she cannot afford to live near her workplace. I drive an hour and a half to come into Kaiser West L.A. to work, she said. Despite holding a masters degree, she must work two jobs, as both an RN and a nurse practitioner. Our wages and our job are not enough to support a one-bedroom at $2,500-plus, she said. Kaiser says theyre giving us the top rates. Thats not the case. On Prettis killing, Susan was unequivocal. He didnt need to die. He didnt have to die, she said. He was trying to defend someone, and this is what we do. Were nurses. Were always working, whether were at the job or whether were out on the street. Susan expressed strong support for broader collective action. I think a general strike would be a great way for us to have our voices heard, she said. On the formation of rank-and-file committees to link workers nationally, she added, That would be a great idea. I would like to participate. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, January 27, 2026, in New York. [AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura] On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), announced in a special address to the public that the city faces a budget shortfall of $12.6 billion over the next two fiscal years. A final budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2027 is due from the mayors office by February 17. In recent years, the citys budget has been approximately $115$120 billion. Today, we are going to be sharing the truth with New Yorkers that has sadly been hidden from them for far too long, Mamdani stated, blaming the previous administration of Eric Adams for a $12 billion fiscal deficitat a scale that eclipses what we saw here in New York City during the Great Recession. While claiming to reject austerity politics and insisting that the excellence in public services our city depends on should not be sacrificed, Mamdani immediately raised the prospect of cuts to essential services, stating that cuts to libraries, parks, and schools are last resort. Mamdani added, We will not balance the budget on the backs of working people while the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the world sees one in four of its residents living in poverty. The day after his remarks rejecting austerity, Mamdani signed an executive order aimed at initiating spending cuts. The order established the position of Chief Savings Officer (CSO) within every city agency, to be filled by an existing senior employee. Each CSO has been tasked with delivering a plan to City Hall within 45 days outlining how to make their respective agencies more efficient. In announcing the order, Mamdani declared, Delivering public goods requires public excellence. That means a government that respects New Yorkers by using every dollar wisely. Far from rejecting austerity, the mayor is preparing to implement it through a rebranding of cuts as efficiency. His declaration that CSOs will take direct aim at waste and cut through bureaucracy employs the standard language used to justify the slashing of jobs, wages and social services. Publicly, Mamdani has pledged to address the deficit by taxing the rich, though he has advanced no serious proposals in this direction. Aside from a symbolic gesture to defund a faulty city chatbot at a cost of $500,000, his main proposals amount to mild adjustments that depend entirely on the support of the Democratic Party establishment at the state level. These include a 2 percent personal income tax surcharge on incomes over $1 million, impacting roughly 34,000 filers, and an increase in the corporate tax rate from 7.25 to 11.5 percent on the most profitable companies, matching New Jerseys rate. Together, these measures would extract only a fraction of the immense wealth hoarded by New Yorks ultra-rich, including 116 billionaires and more than 16,000 individuals with net worths exceeding $30 million. These proposals, however, depend entirely on the support of Democratic politicians in the state legislature and, above all, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, who has consistently opposed tax hikes on the wealthy. In fact, far from confronting Hochul, Mamdani has privately assured her administration that he would happily accept money she was willing to offer in lieu of raising taxes in her re-election year, according to a New York Times article published earlier this week. I think you pick your spots, and a wins a win, Rebecca Katz, a campaign ad consultant for Mamdani, told the Times. A person close to the mayor added that Mamdani is intensely focused on policy victories rather than ideological fightsa revealing admission that his performative rhetoric is subordinated to backroom deals with the Democratic Party establishment. In his remarks on Wednesday, Mamdani cited 2022 figures showing that the city sent $68.8 billion to Albany but received only $47.6 billion in return, creating a $21.2 billion gap. He was, however, careful not to criticize Hochul. Mamdani has met with some of the richest New Yorkers since his primary victory in June and has appointed dozens of officials from the Bloomberg, de Blasio, and Adams administrationsmany of them deeply involved in school closures, budget cuts and the reopening of city services, including schools, during the pandemic. He has assembled an administration well prepared to implement austerity. One of Mamdanis most significant actions was the reappointment of billionaire scion Jessica Tisch as NYPD Commissioner. Tisch, a former Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications chief, is one of the principal architects of the citys mass surveillance infrastructure and predictive policing programs. On Tuesday, the so-called Strategic Response Group (SRG)the NYPDs heavily militarized counterterrorism and protest suppression unit, notorious for its brutal treatment of demonstratorscarried out mass arrests of peaceful protesters outside a Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, where ICE agents were reportedly being housed. At a press conference later that day, Mamdani expressed support for the demonstrators but insisted that the NYPD would retain its responsibility to respond to protests. He attempted to square the circle by declaring that he aimed to disband the SRG by decoupl[ing] the counterterrorism responsibilities from within the department to police responses to First Amendment activity. In practice, this means that the NYPDs anti-terrorism operations will continuetargeting anyone the department chooses to label a terroristand that any future police violence will simply be carried out by other units. The most overt expression of Mamdanis prostration before and political integration into the capitalist establishment is his ongoing relationship with Donald Trump. Even as the Trump administration directs a nationwide campaign of ICE murders, violent repression of dissent, and a conspiracy to establish a presidential dictatorship, Mamdani maintains open lines of communication with the fascist president. In an interview aired Sunday on ABCs This Week, Mamdani said he has directly conveyed his concerns over ICE operations in Minneapolis to Trump. Mamdani called the actions of federal agents horrific, without addressing Trumps own responsibility. He then declared that while he would oppose Trump if he pursued policies that hurt New York, When the president is going to pursue policy to help the city, Ill embrace that opportunity for working together. He portrayed his relationship with Trump as pragmatic, stating: Its less about the maintenance of a personal relationship, its more about delivering for the people of the city. Mamdani did not explain how a president who operates nakedly in the interests of the financial oligarchy, who is overseeing the murder of immigrants and citizens alike, would help the population of New York or any other city. On Thursday, Trump returned the favor. In a press briefing, he offered effusive praise for Mamdani, declaring, I told everyone New York was being run into the ground. Now the new mayor is finding out exactly what I have said for years. He continued, Adams left a mess, but Zohran is finally being honest about how bad it really is. Its a smart political move. You always blame the guy before you. In this case, hes actually rightAdams was a disaster for that city. Mamdanis collaboration with Trump in Novemberwhen they held a closed-door meeting in the Oval Officesignaled to the political establishment that Mamdani could be trusted to deliver without challenging the underlying interests of capital. Mamdanis relationship with Trump belies the DSAs posturing as a political alternative to the establishment. It reveals the real function of such left figures within the Democratic Party: to channel opposition into safe, controlled paths, while facilitating the implementation of the very policies they claim to oppose. The International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees has launched an investigation into deadly conditions in US auto plants. Fill out the form below to contribute information to this investigation. All submissions will be kept anonymous. Ford Chicago Assembly Workers at the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant are responding with shock after a worker was crushed beneath a vehicle after it fell from an overhead clamshell carrier in the chassis area. The worker was critically injured and airlifted from the plant. Multiple workers report that management had been warned in advance that the equipment was unsafe but ordered production to continue anyway. One worker who spoke to the WSWS said, They were in critical condition in the hospital. Management was notified before this happened. The chain or whatever wasnt secure. Multiple people told multiple managers this was not secure. But they didnt listen. He was standing up securing the bolts on the car like he was used to, the worker said. Theres usually six people under the car. But it was just him, thankfully. Normally theres six people under a car in that area. The same worker said the injured man was removed from the line on a stretcher, his neck immobilized. They watched him get crushed, the worker added. He was taken out in a stretcher with his neck secured. Everyone was posting on Facebook they couldnt believe they had to continue working. Workers say management did not stop the line or send employees home after the near-fatal injury. Not only did they do nothing, the worker said, but they did not stop the line. They did not send everyone home. They made people work through that, just like the guy with the seizure. That was traumatic to see for everyone. Everybody wanted the line stopped and sent home, the worker told us. They couldnt even work in these conditions. Another worker who spoke to the WSWS said, From what Ive heard its an issue thats been complained about before. ... Theyre saying [there] should be some kind of protection in place because its happened before. Just nobody was under it before, luckily. The same worker added, People were calling OSHA from the plant. I dont know for sure, but I heard no plant manager or assistant plant managers or top union reps came on site for the situation. We are all in shock still, and the morale is definitely down right now. People are going to medical and calling off on that side of the plant. A day after the incident, he added, We still havent heard anything from the union yet. Another worker confirmed that management ordered production to continue. I did hear they kept the line running, the worker said, but a lot of people went home because they werent mentally right after that, and I heard a couple people contacted OSHA. Workers also expressed anger over the response of the union and management on social media. One worker wrote, For the union or its representatives to tell any union brother or sister to look at something from the companys point of view, when someone got hurt, is wild. Things like that hurt solidarity and cause the members to lose faith in the process and representation. This incident was preventable. Once again when the membership speaks to anyone in salary about fixing something, it should be treated with a high level of severity. Apparently there have been complaints in the area for a while but no real attention to the issue. This is how these things happen sacrificing actual safety for compliance with the illusion of safety. The same worker continued, Racks fall, hoists break, systems fail. When members interact with these processes daily, say something is wrong, why is it dismissed or shelved constantly? Yet, parts and other things that aid in production can be flown in, waited on and or expedited to get production going. Why is it that the same energy isnt put around protecting the very hands that build the product? Another worker also wrote on social media, The only time the union safety is on the floor present is when hes carting company safety around. Anytime she comes to look at something for real, guess whos never around. Another worker wrote, Its also sad as hell how they treat employees when they are in a full blown seizure. They will literally move the person to the side and keep the line running. This place doesnt give a f about their employees whatsoever, and its sad. If they wouldnt treat their family that way; they shouldnt treat employees like that. Hell, you can have a heart attack on the line and be lying there half dead, and the only thing they give a shit about is how do we keep the line running. Its disgusting! Another worker posted an update on the injured workers condition, writing, The guy (my good friend) that was injured last night is okay and is home resting. While many workers expressed relief that the injured man survived, they also stressed that this does not erase what happened or the conditions that made it possible. The incident at Fords Chicago Assembly Plant takes place amid a broader wave of industrial accidents and corporate indifference to human life, including a recent fire at General Motors Lansing Delta Township in Michigan and unsafe conditions at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant. A week before the Ford worker was crushed, CBS Chicago reported a fire at the plant on January 19. The fire started on a conveyor belt and in the ventilation system. Firefighters were called to the roof to check ducts and vents. While no injuries were reported, the fire incident continues to highlight major issues about the plants safety conditions. Last April, skilled tradesman Ronald Adams, Sr. was crushed to death while performing maintenance at the Stellantis Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan. Adams case would have been buried by management and union bureaucrats were it not for the launching of an independent inquiry by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). Evidence and testimony collected by the inquiry pointed to the use of cheater keys by management to override lockout/tagout procedures; after Adams death, management quickly ordered all of these keys returned. These conditions are the product of a political and economic system that subordinates all human life to the interests of corporate profit. Ford Motor Company reported billions of dollars in profits over the past few years while at the same time it has cut costs through layoffs and speedup. The UAW bureaucracy is deeply integrated into corporate management through joint labor-management committees, safety boards and profit-sharing schemes that align union officials interests with the companies rather than the rank-and-file workers. As a result, safety complaints are ignored, incidents are downplayed, and production continues regardless of the consequences. The injury at Ford Chicago occurred in the middle of a massive outpouring of anger in Minneapolis and across the country against the Trump administrations campaign of murder and terror against immigrants and workers in every major city. Popular calls for a general strike are growing in opposition to plans for a dictatorship by the Trump administration, representing the interests of the corporate and financial elite that has carried out attacks on the living standards of the working class. The sole obstacle to such a movement remains the UAW and the trade union bureaucracy as a whole. While mouthing empty words in support of a general strike, the UAW continues to keep workers on the job and working in unsafe conditions. The experiences at the Chicago Assembly Plant and other workplaces across the country point to the urgent need for workers to form independent rank-and-file committees controlled by workers themselves. As one rank-and-file worker told us, If we had a say in all this, we would have said anyone who needs to go upstairs can do so. If the line has to be stopped, then the line has to be stopped and if you want to go home go home. Anyone should have had the choice to go home, not just continue working because they said so. Rank-and-file committees of workers must take safety into their own hands, halt production when conditions are dangerous, and organize collective action independent of management and the union apparatus, and also fight to develop a broader movement to fuse the interests of workers for safety and higher living standards with the growing mass protests against dictatorship. The International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) has launched an investigation into the deadly conditions in US auto plants. Fill out the form below to contribute information to this investigation. All submissions will be kept anonymous. Few revolutionary tracts match in importance Tom Paines Common Sense. Published for the first time on January 9, 1776, 250 years ago this month, the pamphlet, a frontal assault on the entire aristocratic world, is widely credited with clearing the way for the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified just six months later. The anniversary arrives under conditions that make Paines assault on monarchy newly relevant. Donald Trumps unconcealed attraction to the prerogatives of absolute rule and his contempt for the Constitution are not just his own pathologies. He is the chosen leader of a staggeringly wealthy oligarchy and the product of a diseased political order increasingly divorced from popular life, conditions that echoalbeit in modern formthe world Paine confronted. At the same time, mass oppositionexpressed in the No Kings demonstrations and the eruption of protest following murderous state violence in Minneapolishas again raised fundamental questions of sovereignty, equality, and the right of the people to resist arbitrary power. Common Sense speaks to this moment. Tom Paine, portrait by Laurent Dabos, c. 1792 Also much like the present, in its own time Common Sense addressed a conjuncture in which the central issues had not yet been widely grasped. Until its publication, the public debate about the Imperial Crisis between Great Britain and its rebellious North American colonies had revolved around whether Parliament had lived up to its ancient duties under the British constitution, not whether or not the existing orderas in fact constitution was then understoodwas itself to blame. The debate was motivated by colonists desire to return to an imagined status quo ante, before the ever-greater assertion of the Empires authority in the years following the Stamp Act of 1765. This took the form of polemics over Parliaments right to tax the colonists, who were not directly represented in that body. Despite its legalistic appearance, it would be a mistake to treat this as a merely conservative debate. For beneath the controversy over taxation and representation lay revolutionary stakesquestions of power, liberty, and, above all, equality. Through 1775 most colonists could not face up to the explosive implications of the positions they advanced, a weakness their Loyalist opponents exploited. The Tories leaned on the great English jurist William Blackstone, who argued that in every government there must be a single, final authorityan absolute despotic power, as he put it, that has the last word. In the British Empire that power lay with the KinginParliament, the king, lords, and commons acting together as one sovereign body. To question any part of that body was to challenge the whole. From this widely accepted premise flowed a direct challenge to the colonial position. If Parliament, the very body that constituted the Realm, would not rule the colonies, where then would sovereignty reside? Paine had an answer. But where, say some, is the King of America? Ill tell you, Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain. In America the law is king. Here Paine predicted what has been called the American theory of the governmentat least before its complete inversion by the Trump administration. The people, not the monarch, would be sovereign. Paine used a metaphor to describe this transformation in sovereignty from king to citizen, urging that the crown itself be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is. By the time Paine wrote these lines the constitutional crisis had already slid into war. The Crown had placed Boston under martial law, declared the colonies in open rebellion, and sent armies to pacify Massachusetts, leading to the first battles of the revolution. The Ministrys escalation only deepened resistance. Across the colonies, revolutionary committees emerged, weakeningand in some places chasing outroyal authority. At a proto-national level, the Continental Congress formed in Philadelphia, creating a rival center of power that in 1775 deployed its own army with George Washington at its head. This was plainly illegal under the very British constitution most colonists still professed to uphold. Yet even amid war and the multiplication of extralegal institutions, talk of independency largely remained private and tentative, imagined as a distant possibility rather than an immediate program. To be sure, some colonial leadersamong them Samuel and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and the young Thomas Jeffersonhad come to favor a complete rupture. But the dominant view still held that Parliament and a corrupt Ministry, not the King, bore responsibility for the crisis. John Dickinson, portrait by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1780 Conciliationists such as John Dickinson and Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania continued to hope for a settlement through some imperial reconfigurationperhaps separate legislatures under a shared monarchy. In fact, on the day Common Sense appeared, Dickinsons allies created a committee to reassure the inhabitantsand the Kingthat the Continental Congress was not seeking independence. This was true. Not a single colonial assembly had instructed its delegation at Philadelphia to consider independence. Monarchy itself had yet to be placed in the dock. Into this impassebetween a king waging war on his colonies and a political culture still reluctant to indict kingship itselfentered Tom Paine. He might have seemed an unlikely candidate for the dramatic role he was about to take up. Paine had arrived in America only 14 months earlier, a letter of reference in hand from Franklin, whom he had met in London to discuss their shared interest in Newtonian physics. Then utterly unknown in his native England, Paine, 39, had failed at everything he had ever tried, writes historian Robert Middlekauffas a corsetmaker, the trade he inherited from his father in Norfolk; as a school teacher; and as a petty bureaucrat. Disembarking in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774, just as the First Continental Congress was retiring from the city, Paine found himself in exactly the right place at exactly the right moment. Philadelphia was then still the largest colonial citythough with only 30,000 inhabitants just a large town by our standards. It was also the third busiest port in the British Empire after London and Liverpool, and the most cosmopolitan place in America, with substantial numbers of immigrants from many parts of Europe and a large laboring population of artisans and common workers. Philadelphia was also home to the most radical politics. Paine situated himself in this milieu, befriending figures such as the scientist David Rittenhouse, the artist Charles Willson Peale, and the physicians Thomas Young and Benjamin Rush, who treated the citys poor free of charge and advocated the new idea of administering inoculations against disease. It was Rush who suggested Paine take up his pen for independence. This proved a perspicacious choice. Common Sense hit with meteoric force. The pamphlet burst from the press, Rush wrote, with an effect which has rarely been produced by types and papers in any age or country. Paine had put the torch to the combustibles, said Edmund Randolph of Virginia. The pamphlet was like a landflood that sweeps all before it, wrote a contemporary from Connecticut. We were blind, but the scales have fallen from our eyes. Cover of Tom Paine's Common Sense No part of the debate would ever be the same again. Common Sense sold 120,000 copies in its first three months and went through 25 separate editions in its first year. A comparable publishing run in America today would require some 15 million copies sold over a few months. But at that time, readership meant something more, reaching beyond those who were literate or who could purchase a book. One account from Philadelphia noted that the pamphlet was read to all ranks (emphasis added). It was discussed in public squares, in taverns, and in homes. Washington ordered passages of it read to whole regiments of the Continental Army. Common Sense, in short, saturated the population with revolutionary ideas. Such a triumph cannot be located solely in Paines prose. Franklins much earlier success with the serialized Poor Richards Almanack and his development of the colonial postal system helped create a shared print cultureand the means to circulate itthat made possible the vast debate among pamphleteers and editorialists of which Common Sense was the crowning achievement. This print culture, in turn, had been prepared by incremental but decisive advances in printing and papermaking, the growth of cheap-print markets, and expanding networks of newspapers, booksellers, and informal reprinting that allowed short, topical works to be produced rapidly and carried across the colonies. These developments now interacted with the transformations in consciousness produced by the Imperial Crisis itself, the changes in the minds of the people, as John Adams later put it. Paines genius lay in giving this evolving sensibility compelling expression, articulating thoughts that, after years of crisis, were broadly shared: Time makes more converts than reason, he observed. History may have done the lions share of the work, as Paine suggested, but it is not clear that any other figure could have done what he did. Little is known about his life in England, but his writing reveals an immersion in the eighteenthcentury Enlightenment worlds republic of letters. It is just as certain that Paine had absorbed the underground radical traditions of the English Civil Warantimonarchical, republican currents that survived Cromwells defeat and continued to circulate, halfsuppressed, in English political culture. On top of this, Paines very failures and poverty contributed to his talent, suggests Bernard Bailyn. The pamphlet channeled the indignation and rage of the semi-dispossessed, living at the margins of respectable society and hanging precariously over the abyss of debtors prison, threatened at every turn with an irrecoverable descent into the hell that Hogarth painted so brilliantly and so compulsively in his savage morality tales. Hogarth's The Second Stage of Cruelty: Coachman Beating a Fallen Horse Whatever his own origins, there was something radically new about Paines work. He wrote in an accessible way designed not only to influence what would today be called opinion makers, but masses of colonists. Raised in and among Englands despised lower orders, Paine knew his audience. He wrote in simple, direct, and vivid language, appealing to considerable knowledge of the Old Testament and the Book of Common Prayer. He eschewed Latin phrases and arcane references to the Roman Republic that had filled the pamphlets and newspaper columns of a decade of debate reaching back to Dickinsons highly influential Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer, which had framed the crisis as one over representation and taxation. In this unadorned style, Paine stated what was: Reconciliation with the Empire was no longer possible. Not the Parliament, not the Ministry, not even King George as an individual, was to blame. Tyranny and all the threats against the people emerged out of the system of monarchy and aristocracy, the very Empire itself. Revolution, independence, with the goal of creating a republican government, was the only answer. Much of the pamphlet was devoted to a ferociousand often hilariousattack on monarchy and aristocracy. To appreciate its audacity, contemporary readers must grasp that only a decade earlier colonists bowed, scraped, and doffed their caps before even the lowest ranks of the British aristocracy represented in the colonies. Royal symbols were everywhere. The Kings birthday was celebrated as a holiday. Monarchy aimed to overawe its subjects. And now Paine could state, with ruthless humor, that heredity rule violated both reason and nature. One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings is, that nature disapproves it, he wrote, otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion. King George III Paine did not stint in laying out a reasoned case for his contempt for monarchy as a form of rule, writing: There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of Monarchy; it first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required. The state of a king shuts him from the World, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly; wherefore the different parts, by unnaturally opposing and destroying each other, prove the whole character to be absurd and useless. This description of an increasingly complex society ruled over by entitled ignoramuses applies with even greater force to the America of Donald Trump, ruled by giant corporations with CEOs paid many hundreds of times the salary of the average workers, who collectively know the business far better. In Paines view, the long history of feudalism offered no refuge for the crowned heads of Europe. William the Conquerorfrom whom all English monarchs were (and are) descendedwas merely a French bastard landing with an armed banditti, a usurper who made himself king against the consent of the natives. Such ignominious origins spawned a corrupt political order in which centuries later George III hath little more to do than to make war and give away places, yet was rewarded extravagantlya pretty business indeed, Paine scoffed, for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshipped into the bargain. Paine summed up his views of monarchy with a stark calculus that does not have to be changed by one word after 250 years: Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. But Paines immediate target was not King George but the suggestion from temporizers such as Dickinson that an understanding might yet be reached with monarchy. Paine insisted that Lexington and Concord made conciliation as antiquated as the almanacks of the last year. After the Kings armies marched into the Massachusetts countryside and shed colonial blood, reconciliation became, in Paines phrase, a fallacious dream, for King George now revealed himself as a hardened, sullen tempered Pharaoh of England a wretch, that with the pretended title of father of his people, can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul. One cannot help but think, in reading this last line, of Donald Trumps embrace of the police murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. A 1775 depiction the entry of British forces entering Concord by Amos Doolittle. From the blood spilled at Lexington and Concord, Paine turned outward. Britains conductdeclaring War against the natural rights of all Mankindthus elevated the conflict beyond a colonial dispute, transforming it into a struggle with universal human stakes. The cause of America, he proclaimed, is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Paines pamphlet breathed the spirit of revolutionary optimism in its call for American independence from British rule. It told Americans they could take the step that they were on the brink of. We have it in our power, he assured, to begin the world anew. He explained that it was a moment that would be remembered for ages the world over: O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled herEurope regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind. America would serve as the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty and a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety. In Paines vision, all those meeting in America were countrymen, and the new republic existed to welcome those fleeing oppression lines that stand as a direct rebuke to Trumps language of invasion, animals, and poisoning our country when he speaks of immigrants and refugees. Paines view of the struggle from a global standpoint was not unique in the revolutionary generation. The Founding Fathers, writes Gordon Wood, never intended to make a national revolution in any modern sense. Summarizing Paines views, the historian explains that the Americans were the most cosmopolitan people in the world. They regarded everyone from different nations as their countrymen and ignored neighborhoods, towns, and country as distinctions too limited for continental minds. The imagination of the republican revolutionaries of the 1770s and 1780s, Paine foremost among them, may have been expansive, even universal. But it was not matched, at that moment in history, by the development of the world economy. The material foundations for a genuinely global fraternity did not yet exist. Production remained fragmented, communication slow, and social life overwhelmingly organized within imperial and emerging national-capitalist frameworks that constrained even the boldest revolutionary aspirations. The present is different. Capitalism itself has created what earlier revolutionaries could only intuit: an integrated global economy and a working class whose labor, supply chains, and struggles cross every border. The idea of universal fraternity is no longer merely a moral appeal or philosophical hope; it is rooted in objective social relations. Workers today, for the first time in history, possess the material conditions that make Paines promise concrete. They have it in their power, in a far more literal sense than Paine could have imagined, to begin the world over again. The Victorian Labor government is pressing ahead with its destruction of 44 public housing towers in the state capital of Melbourne. In a number of the towers, residents have already been displaced, and demolition works are being prepared. Flemington public housing towers The policy is a massive assault on the working class, dictated entirely by the interests of property developers. Poor and vulnerable layers are being thrown out of their homes, while prime inner city locations are being turned over to rapacious corporate interests. This is a continuation and deepening of a nationwide assault on public housing over decades. In a cynical attempt to justify what amounts to social cleansing, Labor has claimed that the towers are not habitable and must be demolished. That lie has been opposed by residents, including those who have joined the Neighbourhood Action Committee, a rank-and-file group of residents and workers initiated by the Socialist Equality Party to fight the demolitions. As part of this struggle, the WSWS recently spoke to architect Simon Robinson of the OFFICE group. It produced a comprehensive report, establishing that refurbishment of the towers is a viable option, and thus refuting a central pretext for the attack on public housing residents. WSWS: The OFFICE report Retain Repair Reinvest: Flemington Estate: Feasibility Study and Alternative Design Proposal presented an alternative proposal to the Labor governments plans to demolish Melbourne's 44 public housing towers. Can you explain how this research evolved? Simon Robinson (SR): OFFICE is structured as a not-for-profit. Were a registered charity and a registered architectural practice. This means whatever we do is legally bound by our constitution as being for the public good. Were interested in practising in a different way and using a not-for-profit structure and specifically the legal constitution as a way to guide us through what kind of projects we do. We researched the public housing renewal programs and quickly realised the government was going ahead with the demolition and rebuild strategy, but not looking at refurbishment as a way to renew these estates. I dont think there is enough assistance to vulnerable communities in these types of fights. I think the work we and the consultants helping us out do, its important to put it into language the government understands and producing evidence that can be held up in public housing inquiries or in court. Were using our skill set in a way that can help residents then campaign and advocate for themselves. We did a study on Waterloo [Sydneys biggest public housing estate]. We received some funding from the City of Sydney to look at refurbishment infill up there and worked with the local residents but also architects who have been involved in that community for the last 10 years. Again, we found similar findings that the buildings can be brought up to contemporary standards. We can include increased density on this site by doing infill development while avoiding the displacement of those communities. We took it upon ourselves to start to do refurbishment studies that could show theres a different way to renew public housing estates and avoid relocating residents. The project has three key objectives. The first is to retain existing residents which is the main point of it. Were trying to avoid the relocation of residents because we know how much harm that causes. Secondly to repair the existing buildings to reduce the environmental impact. Were in a climate crisis. We should start thinking about retrofit as a way to minimise harm to the environment. The third point is reinvest. Initially the land was being given to the developers, but now its being leased to a consortium, but the proposed tenure type is still the same. Public housing is getting replaced with a mixture of private affordable and community housing. So reinvest is to put any savings back into public housing. We see public housing as important for the state. We also think theres a role for community housing providers, as well for affordable housing, but I think public housing is really key for addressing the housing crisis were in and providing housing options for people in pretty dire circumstances. There needs to be more investment into public housing in this state. WSWS: You said that four years ago the government was already looking towards replacement rather than refurbishment. SR: Officially it started in 2016 through the Public Housing Renewal Program (PHRP) which identified nine low rise estates. These were estates with three-storey walk-up buildings of which Ascot Vale is one. Then the Big Housing Build (BHB) announcement in 2021. Some of those nine estates identified in the PHRP got morphed into the BHB. Most recently the High-Rise Redevelopment Program (HRRP) where [Victorian Labor Premier] Dan Andrews announced the demolition of all 44 towers throughout Melbourne and then resigned three days later. While theres no transparency on how the HRRP will be rolled out we understand its going to be mixture of the Ground Lease Model so leasing the land for 40 years to a private consortium made up of a developer, a builder, a community housing provider. With each program, the government is aware of a lot of the criticism. The biggest criticism of the 2016 PHRP was they were either selling the land or giving the land to private developers. The Ground Lease Model was an attempt for them to say, we're going to lease and after 40 years we get the buildings and the land back. In what condition those buildings and land are in, and what the politics are in 40 years time, no one really knows. WSWS: Simon Newport CEO of Homes Victoria claimed that any attempt to refurbish the towers would be like putting lipstick on a pig SR: The issue with the announcement of the demolition of all 44 towers is its a blanket statement. It's saying all the 44 towers are exactly the same, in exactly the same condition and have exactly the same issues. Were not saying that the towers dont have issues. Part of our work is to say through refurbishment can we bring them up to contemporary standards? But to say they all have the same issues is just wrong. In our studies we found the existing buildings do meet some of the things that Newports saying they dont. And through refurbishment we can meet all the contemporary apartment guidelines, as well as services issues and maintenance issues as well. The red brick towers that have been demolished already, one of the key reasons that they were demolishing those is because of the sewer stacks failing. Mid last year the government released an open tender to fix up the sewer stacks on all the other towers as well. So the release of that tender shows that it is possible to fix these things and theyre going to be spending money on it. A lot of the reasons that these towers are deemed to be beyond repair could potentially be fixed through investment and refurbishment. The one report that was released under FOI on the red brick towers referred to door widths and ceiling heights. But these things arent actually non-compliant, they just dont meet the current Better Apartment Design guidelines which are recommendations rather than code. If we were to adhere to those, most buildings in Melbourne would have to be demolished. WSWS: Do you think they looked at refurbishment or they excluded that as an option? SR: Im sure they would have thought about it but how far Im not too sure. Our understanding is they got a lot of their recommendations off the Property Council and the building industry. Both of those are risk averse. There is a risk with refurbishing existing buildingsthings like asbestos, structural condition, just unknown costs but you can reduce that risk by doing thorough investigations. Without thorough investigations I dont think the building industry would promote refurbishment because theyre not thinking about the cost to residents, their health and wellbeing, the cost to the environment through carbon emissions and all those things. Theyre just looking at delivery time and potentially costs and creation of jobs. And when you think about it in that narrow perspective it favours a demolition / rebuild proposal. Whereas were saying theres all these other things that are linked and most importantly theyre homes to really vulnerable people. Currently theres 10,000 residents in these apartments, and we assume more because there is overcrowding in some apartments, and their health and well-being should come at the forefront of any proposal. Through demolition / rebuild theres no way to avoid relocation of residents away from their communities, which has huge impact to these people. WSWS: One issue that the residents have raised with us is the structural integrity of the towers that the government claims fail in terms of earthquake codes. SR: We engaged a structural engineer to look at the structural drawings of one of the towers. When you run the seismic loading requirements simulating if an earthquake hit Melbourne the buildings would withstand that. What they dont meet is current construction requirements. A way to upgrade these to contemporary building construction methods is to put in new connection plates. So whether or not the buildings are dangerous in the condition that they are in were not sure. But if the government knew that and didnt release that report thats obviously very problematic. But what we do know is that there are ways to upgrade them to meet structural code compliance in todays standards as well. From our understanding and the work of the structural engineer, if an earthquake was to happen, they wouldnt fall down. You have to assume that that is the case because if the government knew that if an earthquake happened and they would fall down then thats putting a lot of lives in danger. Our position in all of this is not saying that no building should be demolished. Its saying that appropriate investigations should be undertaken where youre looking at two responsesone is refurbishment and one is demolition / rebuildholding those against each other with the residents at the forefront. WSWS: Your report explains that it was developed in the face of intense government secrecy. Can you give us some examples of the government secrecy and what conclusions you draw from this behaviour? SR: We put in a series of Freedom of Information Requests and got denied on all of them. Some of the things that we were asking were for the architectural plans, so not secret information. A lot of the information were asking for such as maintenance records or structural records were also denied. A lot of denials were based on commercial-in-confidence. Architects working on these projects have to sign non-disclosure contracts. There are a lot of rumours around that the buildings arent structurally sound. Architects and engineers are happy to say these things without producing any evidence but theyre not allowed to talk about their involvement in the demolition of these buildings or whats being proposed in their place. Thats the same with Homes Victoria and Simon Newports evidence in court and at the inquiry. Whenever they are asked, can you elaborate or produce the documents that show refurbishment is not possible, they say, oh no, it's cabinet-in-confidence, but theyre more than willing to talk about why the demolition is the only approach. WSWS: OFFICE made a submission to the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry which handed down its findings in December 2025. Can you comment on your participation in the inquiry in the light of the report? SR: Our report got referenced a lot in other peoples submissions and I think thats the reality of it sitting within a vacuum of information. It shows its worth in terms of being a useful thing that we have done to change the conversation. We gave evidence based on our report. Because we had something that could be questioned, we were questioned. Things like how many bolts were being proposed by the structural engineer to be drilled through some of the structural plates? Where would the residents get relocated through our proposals? The release of the report is great to have this on record and the findings support everything that we and others have been promoting. What it will do and achieve I dont have high hopes. The government doesnt have to take on board the recommendations. And I dont think they will take them on board. [Housing] Minister [Harriet] Shing immediately after the release of the report, went on the radio and said its business as usual and theyre going ahead with it. WSWS: What is your estimation of the motives behind the governments refusal to consider refurbishment of the towers despite all the reasons you have explained? SR: Unfortunately, it appears that the government no longer wants to supply and manage public housing. Like so much of our public infrastructure the provision of homes is being handed over to the private sector and the government is relieved of its responsibility. It is something we have found through the release of four reports, that it doesnt matter how much evidence is produced if the government doesnt want to do it, they wont. And this is clear, weve put forward alternatives that are supported by the residents, cheaper to deliver and will avoid huge social and environmental damage yet public housing estates are still being demolished. Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil on Saturday questioned the rush to fill the Deputy Chief Minister post in Maharashtra, saying that it is not a constitutional post and had only been vacant for three days following Ajit Pawar's demise. Patil also called the discussion around Sunetra Pawar potentially becoming Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister an "internal matter" for the NCP. He said the party's decision-making process and outside influences remain unclear following the death of the 66-years-old Pawar. Speaking to ANI in Nagpur, Patil said, "This is a very serious issue. Who is making the decisions? It's also important to see who was behind the scenes, influencing and forcing the decisions. There are also reports that the BJP is making decisions on behalf of the NCP, and if the family wasn't even given a chance to decide on the next step, that's also something to consider. Another important issue is where was Ajit Dada for the last two months? Who was he talking to? With whom was he discussing the distribution of tickets for the district panchayat elections? Looking at this might reveal the direction things are headed, but this is currently an internal matter for their party." "He (Praful Patel) is the working president right now, but one thing I don't understand is that this wasn't a constitutional post (Dy CM) that couldn't be left vacant for a few days... it had only been three days. The funeral took place yesterday... what could be the reason for this haste? Only those who made this decision so quickly can answer that," he added. Ajit Pawar had died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." (ANI) Thyssenkrupp coking plant and blast furnace in Schwelgern in northern Duisburg [Photo by Rainer Halama / wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 When the IG Metall union calls for a protest outside the Annual General Meeting of Thyssenkrupp AG shareholders in Bochum on Friday, the focus is on the steel subsidiary. For while 11,000 of the 27,000 steelworkers are set to lose their jobs, and thus their financial livelihood in the coming years, the assembled shareholders want to approve a dividend of 93 million for themselves. But the IG Metall protest is a desperate attempt to distract from its own treacherous role. The dividend that will be decided on Friday is part of the many millions stolen from the pockets of steelworkers through the so-called social contract at Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE). Steelworkers know exactly who drafted this sellout agreement and thus enforced the job cuts and the 8 percent pay cut at TKSE: the North Rhine-Westphalia IG Metall district manager Knut Giesler, as well as the unions works council reps at the steel subsidiary, under the chairmanship of Ali Guzel and in the overall group under Tekin Nasikkol. Steelworkers must therefore take matters into their own hands and build independent rank-and-file Action Committees. IG Metall, its works council reps and their cronyism with the corporate leaders, which they describe as a social partnership, are tools of management and the shareholders against the workforce. In the midst of the deepest crisis of the steel industry, Thyssenkrupp is imposing the largest jobs destruction programme in its history. More than one in three jobs is to be cut, and entire plants closed. In Bochum, the hot strip mill 3 and other facilities are being wound up, in Duisburg two of four blast furnaces are being shut down and there alone around 1,600 jobs in production as well as thousands in administration and indirect areas are being destroyed. At the same time, the approximately 3,000 employees of Huttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) are threatened with either closure or a continuation with only a third of the workforce, while Salzgitter, Thyssenkrupp and Vallourec argue over dowries, legal disputes and ownership structures. At HKM, the IG Metall is also trying to conclude a social contract and thus regulate the breakup even before a decision by the owners could trigger massive protests by the workforce. At other corporations such as ArcelorMittal and Salzgitter, investments are also being cut, programmes tightened and further job cuts threatenedthe entire industry is being ruthlessly trimmed for profit and global competition in the face of falling sales figures. The employers Steel Federation had already prepared the next attacks when it recently presented last year's sales figures. German steel production fell to its lowest level in 2025 since the financial crisis of 2008; plants are operating at less than 70 percent capacity. Jindal Steel from India, to which Thyssenkrupp wants to sell its steel subsidiary, had therefore already indicated to IG Metall secretary Giesler in December that it would destroy further jobs. But he initially concealed this after his visit to Indiatogether with Nasikkol. Jindal, which is closely linked to the Hindu-nationalist BJP government of Narendra Modi, is pursuing an aggressive international expansion strategy and operates steel mills, mines and businesses on several continents. The IG Metall leadership initially expressly welcomed these plans because Jindal assured the continuation of co-determination (Mitbestimmung), the legally enshrined provision of various positions to union bureaucrats, i.e., the maintenance of corruption via lucrative posts on the supervisory board and works council. Meanwhile, scepticism is growing among the union officials. Not because they reject the cutting of jobs and the lowering of wages; they are experts at working these out. Rather, they believe that in the event of a war, Germany must possess an effective steel industry. The submarines and warships built by the defence contractor Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems should be manufactured with German steel, they assert. The corporation is led by one of Giesler's predecessors at IG Metall in North Rhine Westphalia, Oliver Burkhard. Mirze Edis, works council member at HKM for three decades and now simultaneously a Bundestag (parliament) member for the Left Party, spoke very openly recently about the necessity for a German war industry. The country could have no interest in Germanys largest steel corporation being steered from New Delhi in the future, he declared. We are currently experiencing how a new world order is emerging. It would be fatal if we were to give up important value chains of industry right now or let ourselves be controlled remotely at this point. We need secure, green steel production in Germany. But this argument is doubly false. First, the conversion of industry to a war economy does not protect jobs. They are cut even faster to build an effective war machine. Second, it is no alternative to build the defence of jobs on war and thus on mass murder and death. The federal and state governments, which have already promised Thyssenkrupp billions for the transformation of the company, are accordingly using the crisis to enforce an industrial policy aligned with war and Great Power geopolitics. The restructuring to green steel production is not being pursued in the interest of protecting the climate or workers jobs, but as a lever to close plants, reduce the workforce and secure profits in an intensified trade and economic war. While billions in subsidies are flowing into direct reduction plants and electric furnaces in Duisburg and Salzgitter, investments elsewhere are being stopped, plants in Bremen and Eisenhuttenstadt are now called into question and the workforce subjected to permanent blackmail. The federal government under Friedrich Merz (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), who first declared war on the unemployed and now on employees, has adopted the unions demands for cheaper electricity for industry, new subsidies and protective tariffs against steel from Chinai.e., the ability to produce tanks, weapons and armaments in war. Steelworkers are supposed to accept wage cuts, extended working hours, job cuts and flexibility in order to finance a rearmament policy that is pursued in the interest of German exports and the arms industry. Build Action Committees! Steelworkers can only defend their jobs, wages and social rights if they break with IG Metall and its works council reps and build their own independent fighting organisations. These Action Committees must be elected in all plantsDuisburg, Bochum, HKM, Kreuztal-Eichen, Salzgitter, Bremen, Eisenhuttenstadt, Georgsmarienhutte and all other locationsand be accountable solely to the rank and file. Such committees must not allow any IG Metall officials or works council members holding responsible positions, as they have long since pledged their loyalty to management, the supervisory boards and the government. The struggle of steelworkers in Duisburg, Bochum and Salzgitter is inseparably linked to the struggle of steelworkers in India, Italy, the Czech Republic, France, China and worldwide. Corporations like Thyssenkrupp, ArcelorMittal, Salzgitter and Jindal operate globally, play workers off against each other, demand competitiveness and the nationalist defence of steel production in Germanyand enforce wage cuts and job cuts everywhere. The answer to this can only be an internationally coordinated class struggle that rejects such nationalist policies and establishes the unity of the working class across national borders. When corporate bosses, supervisory boards and IG Metall officials declare that the economic situation, the cost pressures and worldwide competition mean there is no alternative to the closure of plants and the cutting of tens of thousands of jobs, this expresses the fact that the vital interests of the working class have become incompatible with the capitalist system. The logical consequence is the demand for the expropriation of the large steel and arms corporations, their transfer into public ownership under the democratic control of the workers, and the planning of production according to social needs instead of profit. Instead of channelling billions in subsidies and arms contracts into the pockets of shareholders and managers, the existing resources must be used to reduce working hours, with no loss of pay, preserve all jobs and convert production ecologically and socially. Every steelworker and every apprentice now faces a decision: either follow the well-known path of Opel, Ford or former steel locationsmeaning piecemeal reductions, social severance payments, temporary employment companies, unemployment and povertyor organise themselves independently and take a different course. It is now necessary to convene assemblies in all factories, elect Action Committees, make contact with colleagues in other plants and countries and organise the fight for every job, every euro of wages and every social achievement. Send a WhatsApp message to +491633378340 and register immediately via the following form. A man walks through tents sheltering displaced Palestinians amid the ruins left by the Israeli military in Gaza City, Wednesday, January 28, 2026. [AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi] After more than two years of dismissing the Gaza Health Ministrys death toll as Hamas propaganda, the Israeli military has officially accepted that approximately 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. This belated acknowledgment exposes years of systematic lies by the Israeli government, the imperialist powers and the Western mediaall of whom worked in concert to conceal the scale of the genocide. A senior Israeli security official told journalists Thursday that the military accepts the Health Ministrys figure, excluding the more than 10,000 missing and presumed buried under rubble. We estimate that about 70,000 Gazans were killed in the war, not including the missing, the official stated. The Gaza Health Ministrys count as of January 27 stands at 71,662 killed, with 171,428 injured. What other accusations could turn out to be true? the Israeli newspaper Haaretz asked following the briefing. The Israeli public must ask itself what this belated recognition indicates about the army and the governments credibility regarding Israels conduct in Gaza. These are questions the Haaretz editors might ask themselves. For over two years, they and their colleagues in the international press participated in the campaign to discredit the documented scale of the slaughter. The Israeli military previously claimed to have killed 22,000 combatants in Gaza. By its own admission, this means more than two-thirds of the 70,000 dead were civilians. But even this figure understates the massacre. A leaked Israeli military database in August 2025 showed that 83 percent of those killed were civiliansconsistent with what human rights organizations had documented all along and what Israel and its allies worked to suppress. From the earliest weeks of the war, Israel and American imperialism mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit the Palestinian death toll. In October 2023, just two weeks into the assault, then President Joe Biden declared, I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using. I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. At the time, the Health Ministry had documented over 7,000 deaths, including nearly 3,000 children. Then National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby called the Health Ministry a front for Hamas whose figures could not be taken at face value. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed allegations of mass civilian casualties as blood libelinvoking the medieval antisemitic slander to deflect from documented war crimesand bragged in September 2024 that Israel had achieved the lowest ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in the history of modern urban warfare. This was a lie, and Netanyahu knew it was a lie when he said it. The U.S. Congress took the extraordinary step of legally prohibiting government agencies from citing the Gaza Health Ministrys figures. In June 2024, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed an amendment to a State Department spending bill blocking the department from citing Gaza Health Ministry data. The vote was 269 in favor, with 62 Democrats joining 207 Republicans. Later that year, Congress passed a defense spending bill that similarly barred the Pentagon from publicly citing the estimates as authoritative. Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, declared: Validating the public health arm of Hamas is like validating the public health arms of Al Qaeda and ISIS or the public health arms of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. It is morally and intellectually corrupt. Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland said the Health Ministry figures should be treated with the same skepticism we would those made by al Qaeda or ISIS. Neither Torres nor Hoyer has commented since Israel itself acknowledged the accuracy of the figures they worked so hard to suppress. The 70,000 figure Israel has accepted represents only a fraction of the true death toll. The official count includes only those killed directly by Israeli military fire whose bodies have been identified. It excludes the missing buried under rubble. It excludes the hundreds who have died of starvation. It excludes the thousands who have died from lack of medical care as Israel systematically destroyed Gazas healthcare system. Multiple independent studies suggest the true death toll is far higher. A Lancet study in July 2024 estimated 64,260 traumatic injury deaths by June 30, 2024, more than a year ago. The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research estimated in November 2025 that violent deaths had likely surpassed 100,000 by October 2025. An independent household survey published in Nature found almost 84,000 deaths between October 2023 and early January 2025. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has cited estimates suggesting the real death toll could be as high as 680,000. The scale of destruction defies comprehension. Over 20,000 children have been killedmore than one child every hour for 23 months. At least 274 journalists have been killed, more than the combined death total of the US Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Yugoslav Wars and the post-9/11 Afghanistan War. Over 1,700 healthcare workers have been killed. More than 300 UN workers have diedthe deadliest conflict for UN staff in history. Between 66 and 84 percent of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Ninety-two percent of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Ninety-five percent of farmland lies in ruins. More than 500,000 people face catastrophic starvation conditions. Life expectancy fell by 44 percent in 2023 and 47 percent in 2024. Ninety percent of Gazas 2.2 million people have been displaced, many of them multiple times. The genocide in Gazawhich is still ongoing, now with the backing of Trumphas been enabled by the systematic lies of capitalist governments and their media. The Biden administration, the U.S. Congress and the major news outlets all worked to shield Israel from accountability by casting doubt on the documented scale of the slaughter. These same institutions now demand that workers support new wars against Iran and other targets of American imperialism. The lies about Gaza expose the lies that will be told about every war waged by imperialism. Tens of thousands march in Minneapolis against federal occupation, fascist dictatorship Tens of thousands of workers, students and residents poured into the streets of Minneapolis on Friday January 30, in the second-largest demonstration yet against the federal occupation of the city and the murderous operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Inspired by last weeks mass protest and the nationwide outrage over the murders of Minneapolis residents Alex Pretti and Renee Good by ICE and federal Border Patrol agents, the mass mobilization marked a deepening revolt from below against escalating state repression. A section of the protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 30, 2026. Students from campuses across the country joined the thousands of workers and community members in Minneapolis in coordinated mass protests against the immigration police. From New York City to California, walkouts and assemblies brought together young people, teachers, and healthcare workers in solidarity with those disappeared and killed by the immigration police. These demonstrations are not isolated outbursts but part of a broader rising mass movement from below demanding an end to the immigration Gestapo and the federal forces occupying working class communities. Protesters carry signs in Minneapolis that read: "Abolish ICE" and "History is screaming, are you listening?" January 30, 2026. The protests are increasingly intertwined with striking healthcare workers in New York City and California, whose walkouts over labor conditions and patient care have exposed the limits of appealing to corporations while leaving the conduct of the struggle in the hands of trade union bureaucrats who are more concerned with legal niceties and protecting their ill-gotten assets under conditions where the Trump administration is establishing a presidential dictatorship. Reporters for the World Socialist Web Site intervened at protests across the country and distributed thousands of copies of the statement, Stop ICE murders and dictatorship! Build a rank-and-file movement of the working class for a general strike! The statement made clear that the drive toward dictatorship is inseparable from the staggering levels of social inequality gripping the United States and the rotting capitalist system that both parties defend. It called for the formation of rank-and-file committees independent of the trade union bureaucracies, which have failed to support this weeks or last Fridays strike actions, as the basis for uniting the working class. These committees would coordinate demands that include the removal and disbanding of all immigration police, an end to the persecution of immigrants, the release of all those detained by ICE and CBP, and the prosecution and removal from power of all those responsible in the Trump administration for violating constitutional rights. The explosive growth of protest activity underscores the potential for a mass general strike to end the federal occupation and drive the fascists from Washington. Students throughout Detroit participate in National Shutdown protests against ICE On January 30, numerous protests took place across the Detroit metropolitan region in support of the National Shutdown against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including student walkouts at Cass Technical High School, a sit-in at Royal Oak High School, and rallies in Dearborn, Novi, Hazel Park, and Superior Charter Township. United in protest against the murders in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, small business closures also took place in the 7 Mile Livernois area where last summer the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) held a hearing to investigate the death of Ronald Adams Sr. Somewhere around 500 students at Detroits Cass Tech High School walked out of school and rallied as part of the National Shutdown, with students waving signs saying, There comes a time when silence is betrayal, No decent Human has a heart made of ICE, and ICE murders innocents. Hundreds of high school students at Cass Tech in Detroit, Michigan protest against the immigration police and in solidarity with Minnesota workers and residents, January 30, 2026. Brizait Gonzalez Rivera said, I am protesting because immigrants are suffering at this moment. Im Mexican American. Look at all the tragedies that have happened. I have read the stories, I have read the news, Im informed, and it is obvious we are being tortured. They are taking random citizens. It is not fair, it is not just, it is not right. As students, as the next generation, lets lead this movement. It is a movement. Other students across Metro Detroit walked out, including at Groves High School in Birmingham. They marched demanding, No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state. Other high school protests or walkouts occurred in Berkley, Rochester, Novi, and Dearborn, with hundreds marching on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing. About 100 Royal Oak High School students organized a sit-in to protest ICE and held a discussion about what they expect from their school to keep them safe. One told the WSWS, Young people are enraged because we were raised learning to love everyone, no matter what, with movies like Pocahontas, to understand people who are different from us. Several hundred workers and young people also marched down Telegraph Road, shouting No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here. Palestinian flags were visible, as marchers held signs which included, Stop U.S.-Backed Genocide in Gaza and Protest NOW!! or Bow Down Later! Hundreds of high school students in Knox County, Tennessee walk out to protest immigration police Knox County Schools (KCS) high school students staged a walkout on Friday, January 30 against ICE and KCSs policy to follow the law when it comes to ICE entering public schools. A section of the protest in Knoxville, Tennessee, January 30, 2026. Despite the districts warning to students of disciplinary action if they walk out, over 300 students gathered in downtown Knoxville for a rally and march to the City County Building. Many students were accompanied by their parents. Students from the University of Tennessee also participated. High school students delivered speeches in front of life-sized drawings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti and other victims of ICE brutality. Participants carried handmade signs in opposition to the immigration police along with references to the American Revolution of 1776. Students hold signs calling for the abolition of ICE at the Knoxville, Tennessee protest January 30, 2026. Students who spoke to the WSWS described fear for classmates and their parents who entered the United States without papers. I dont want ICE here. I dont want to go to school and be scared, one student said. Another told the WSWS, Its kind of like the US is turning into a dictatorship. Some of my friends are immigrants too so I am worried for them and I dont want them to be taken. They also described conditions of poverty and oppression in the countries they fled for a better life in the US. Other participants blamed the corruption of government and US imperialism for ICE and the descent into fascism and barbarism. Students agreed that a general strike, led by the working class, is central to abolishing ICE and toppling the Trump administration. As Trumps border czar vows to continue kidnappings, students and workers denounced Democratic Party collaborators On Thursday reporters with the World Socialist Web Site spoke to students at the University of Minnesota about the ongoing federal occupation of the state by some 3,000 federal agents and the murders of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Earlier in the day, Trumps White House border czar Tom Homan held a press conference in Minneapolis in which he pledged to continue immigration kidnapping operations while simultaneously blaming protesters and agitators for their own deaths at the barrels of immigration police. Prior to Thursdays press conference, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz praised Homan as a law enforcement professional and pledged that local police would assist federal agents in kidnapping residents. He said that Homan understands if you really want to enforce immigration, if you really want to get the worst of the worst, you coordinate with local folks, you coordinate with our [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension] and you pick these people up when they are not suspecting it, in the middle of the night where no shots are fired. A former substitute teacher and public health major at the University of Minnesota told the WSWS, I think that Waltz and Trump talked on the phone and made some agreement, but we aren't aware what it was. Trump is saying that he de-escalated but he just sent Bovino home and then brought somebody else in. They think that is going to make people scatter and think things are going to be better when in reality they're going to continue doing the same things. Its all just optics. Minneapolis is the spotlight right now, so they hope they can send a thousand other ICE agents to different cities without the press following it. Commenting on the escalating attack on the jobs and living standards of workers, she said, I remember when they first started talking about AI it was like this would allow humans to do the jobs they really want to do. Now theyre just firing people. Its not just the Republicans that defend all this wealth its the Democrats too. Theyre not investing in education because they want people to be dumber. Theyre not using funds to make us healthier. They just want control over people. COVID showed us how important workers really are to the world. Even people working in restaurants were essential workers. People needed teachers to send their kids somewhere. If teachers, service and other workers come together and refuse to work there could be a lot of power. The rich are taking money from education and privatizing everything to make more money, when we should be funding public services to make our communities better. A University of Minnesota electrical engineer student said, We should completely defund ICE, and we should not have federal agents targeting immigrants like this. Theyre not targeting criminals like they say, they are targeting innocent people and even kids. Even US citizens like me are carrying our passports because we think were going to get questioned by ICE or that we are going to be detained and not be able to talk to our family. Were living in America in the 21st century and its just not something that should be happening. It's just crazy to say we're living in a first world country. I dont believe Trump is telling the truth. Hes only saying hes deescalating and theres nothing to worry about so people dont panic. But its already too late for that. And even if they remove some ICE agents from Minneapolis, it wont be long until this happens in another city. I saw videos of people saying they're going out wearing scarves because ICE is using facial recognition and they're scared they're going to get tracked and ICE is going to show up at the door. Its so crazy that were being monitored 24-7. I think that Alex Pretti was targeted. Read the rest of the article here. In a major attack on the First Amendment and the democratic rights of everyone, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday on social media that she personally ordered the arrest of four individuals for documenting or participating in an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota earlier this month. Bondi wrote: At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. More details soon. Don Lemon attends the 15th annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute at the American Museum of Natural History, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in New York. [AP Photo/Evan Agostini] Lemon is a former CNN anchor; Fort is a three-time Emmy Awardwinning independent journalist. Trahern Jeen Crews is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and Jamael Lydell Lundy is an aspiring candidate for the state Senate. Lemon and Fort were present at the January 18 protest in their capacity as journalists, documenting the events as they unfolded. This has not stopped Trumps Justice Department from charging all four individuals with Conspiracy Against Rightsa postCivil War statute originally enacted to combat the Ku Klux Klanas well as violations of the FACE Act, a federal law intended to protect access to abortion clinics and places of worship. Both charges are serious felonies that carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Last week, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen, and William Kelly were also arrested in connection with the January 18 protest at the church. The three were released after being charged under federal civil rights statutes for allegedly conspiring to interfere with the free exercise of religion and disrupt a worship service. Lemon was arrested Thursday evening in Los Angeles, California, while Fort was taken into custody early Friday morning by federal agents at her home. Before her arrest, Fort went live on Facebook to inform the public, stating, Agents are at my door right now. She continued, My children are here. They are impacted by this. This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media. We are supposed to have our constitutional right, freedom to film, to be a member of the press. I dont feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago. The Cities Church in St. Paul was not randomly selected, but specifically chosen by protesters because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, serves as the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in St. Paul. David Easterwood, self-identified acting field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in St. Paul, Minnesota, October 2025. [Photo: C-SPAN] Cities Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, a Protestant denomination formed in 1845 to defend slavery and provide religious justification for slaveholding. Joe Rigney, one of Cities Churchs founders, now serves as an associate pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, alongside the churchs founder and increasingly influential pastor, Doug Wilson. Wilson is a Christian nationalist figure popular among MAGA Republicans. He has spoken at Turning Point USA events and the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon). A 71-year-old reactionary, Wilson has referred to women he disagrees with as lumberjack d*kes and c*nts, and has described the Civil War as the war between the states. Wilson is based in Moscow, Idaho, where he founded the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) in the 1990s. According to Politico, the CREC has grown to include more than 500 congregations across four continents, including a church in Tennessee whose membership includes Trumps Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. Nothing about the January 18 protest at Cities Church was violent or threatening. Protesters held cell phones and peacefully chanted slogans such as Justice for Renee Good and ICE out of Minneapolis. After a period inside, they moved outdoors and continued their demonstration, calling for justice for our neighbors. Lemon and Fort documented the protest but did not participate in it. Lemons attorney, Abbe Lowell, shared a written statement with the press following his clients arrest, which read in part: Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention, and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. Lowell added, This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. After he was released on Friday, a defiant Lemon said he would not stop covering the news, adding, There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable. After she was released Friday afternoon, Fort posed one central question: As a journalist who has worked in media for more than 17 years, I leave this federal courthouse with one question: Do we have a Constitution? These arrests, and the ongoing occupation of Minneapolis by federal agents, are part of a broader Trump administration effort to criminalize not only political opposition, but activities guaranteed under the First Amendment. In addition to journalists, earlier this week Bondi announced that 16 people were facing charges for allegedly assaulting, resisting or impeding immigration Gestapo. They face up to 20 years in jail. None of the claims from the federal government should be believed. Nasra Ahmed, one of the 16 charged, said at a news conference last week that she was wrongfully arrested while immigration police were attempting to detain two Somali men. She said agents assaulted her and called her racial slurs before transferring her to the Sherburne County Jail for two days, after which she was released and, at the time, faced no charges. Christina Rank, a special education teacher at Concord Education Center in Inver Grove Heights, is also facing charges after ICE agents appear to have rammed her vehicle as she was arriving at work on January 12. According to her mother, the teacher was held for 12 hours at the ICE detention center in Fort Snelling after agents boxed in her vehicle. Sarah Hunkele, Ranks mother, said her daughter was released without charges two weeks ago but is now facing federal assault charges. Video posted on social media at the time of the incident shows ICE agents surrounding Ranks vehicle. A witness said they saw ICE thugs break Ranks window and rip her from the vehicle as she was pulling into the parking lot for work! The arrests of these protesters and journalists mark a massive escalation in the Trump administrations assault on core democratic rights. Journalists, teachers, healthcare workers and ordinary residents are being arrested and charged with felonies for doing nothing more than filming or opposing the brutal actions of a paramilitary police force. Far from retreating, the Trump administration is advancing its agenda to establish a dictatorship. Claims of a retreat promoted by the Democratic Party and the media are a political fraud, designed to disarm and disorient opposition. In this context, the role of the Democratic Party is particularly despicable, which has worked over the past week to reach an agreement with Trump. This includes keeping the Department of Homeland Security funded and facilitating war preparations. Amid speculations that Sunetra Pawar will be sworn in as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, just days following the demise of her husband Ajit Pawar, BJP National Spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said on Saturday that his party will back the Nationalist Congress Party, an important ally of the ruling NDA in Maharashtra, while staying out of the NCP's internal decision-making. The Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024 witnessed a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, securing a landslide win with 235 seats. The results marked a significant milestone for the BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats. The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, part of the Mahayuti alliance, also made notable gains, with 57 and 41 seats, respectively. ",As far as Sunetra Pawar is concerned... Whatever decision is made will be an internal matter for their party, but we stand with them, as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said. The entire BJP stands with them," Islam told ANI. BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi also shared similar sentiments. "... A very unfortunate incident happened. Late Ajit Pawar is no longer with us, but I am not in a position to comment on who will become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra; this is an internal matter of the NCP... BJP is an ally of NCP. The right and appropriate decision will be taken," Sarangi said. NCP Maharashtra State President Sunil Tatkare today refused to comment on NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar's remarks stating that he had no information about NCP MP and Ajit Pawar's widow Sunetra Pawar being pitched for the post of Deputy Chief Minister. Addressing reporters, Tatkare said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will make the final decision on the Deputy Chief Minister post, which fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise. He said, "I don't have anything to say on this matter right now. We have a meeting, and after the meeting, we will discuss all these issues." "We have a meeting this afternoon. After the meeting, we will meet with the Chief Minister. After the meeting with the Chief Minister, we will present our views to him, and then the Chief Minister will make a decision on it. We will discuss all these things later," the NCP leader added. NCP is scheduled to hold a meeting this afternoon, after which the party will submit the name for the Deputy CM post. Sharad Pawar said he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being proposed for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday. (ANI) Union Minister Piyush Goyal paid tribute to his father and former Union Minister Vedprakash Goyal on his 100th birth anniversary, remembering his principles of "dedication, humility, and selfless service." Sharing a picture with his father on X, Piyush Goyal said that his determination inspired him and his family. Remembering his father, Goyal wrote, "Celebrating a Century of Compassion: Papa's Enduring Legacy. In loving memory of Papa, Vedprakash Goyal, who would have turned a hundred today, I remember a noble soul whose life was guided by faith and dedicated entirely to the service of others. Simple and pious in spirit, he moved through life with humility, meeting hardships with quiet courage and unwavering resolve. For our family, he was a living monument to principles, dedication, humility, and selfless service, giving without expecting anything in return. He seemed to embody the truth so beautifully expressed by Mahatma Gandhi: 'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others'." "Though his mortal presence has merged with eternity, his inspiring memory continues to guide us, strengthen us, and reaffirm the timeless Indian belief that a life lived for others is a life lived close to the Divine. His quiet determination and love for giving his best have always inspired our family. In one mathematics exam, where the questions were outside the syllabus, students were given the option to accept their marks or retake the test. My father had scored an impressive 99 out of 100, but unwilling to settle for missing even a single mark, he chose to take the exam again. This time, he achieved the perfect score. His dedication and pursuit of excellence continue to inspire us to this day," he added. He noted that former BJP leader Vedprakash Goyal was born into a modest family and later received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Banaras Hindu University, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. The Union Minister said, "Born into a family whose greatest wealth was prayer and piety, he grew up amidst financial hardships. His mother worked tirelessly to support his education, doing household chores, sewing clothes for income, and doing everything she could to ensure he had the opportunity to study. Despite these formidable challenges, he excelled academically and went on to study electrical and mechanical engineering at Banaras Hindu University. Decades later, he received the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" from the prestigious university." "After his studies, he moved to Mumbai and secured a job at a steel factory. Though he lacked the means for proper housing, he carried with him a wealth of experience in navigating hardship with calm and perseverance. He spent his nights in the Mumbai Port Trust godown, sleeping on shelves to avoid the rats on the floor, and rose early each morning to get ready and head to work. A man shaped by such trials moved forward with a strength that continues to inspire our family," the X post read. He recalled that last year, as a tribute to his father, he inaugurated the North Mumbai constituency office, Lok Kalyan Karyalay (Public Welfare Office), in Mumbai, coinciding with his father's 99th birthday. Piyush Goyal wrote, "He was a man of remarkable dedication and relentless discipline. Early in his career, he would leave for the factory before his children woke up and go straight from work to Kathak Bhavan, the Mumbai office of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh at the time, where the party was expanding its presence and laying the foundation for its future growth." "In tribute to my father, I inaugurated my North Mumbai constituency office, Lok Kalyan Karyalay (Public Welfare Office), in Kandivali West on January 31, 2025, coinciding with his 99th birthday. This office serves as a central hub for addressing public grievances and overseeing development initiatives across the constituency. There is nothing more satisfying for me than resolving the problems faced by people who visit the Lok Kalyan Karyalay for help," he added. Further, Goyal remembered his father as someone with courage and humility to serve others. "Even today, his life reminds us that true greatness is not measured by wealth or ease, but by the courage to rise above adversity, the humility to serve others, and the dedication to give one's best in every moment. He taught us that perseverance, integrity, and selfless love are the pillars of a meaningful life. Though he is no longer with us in body, his spirit continues to illuminate our path, inspiring each of us to live with purpose, to face challenges with courage, and to serve others with a generous heart, keeping his legacy alive in every act of kindness and every effort toward excellence," the X post read. Born on January 31, 1926, at Karnal in Haryana, Vedprakash P Goyal was a Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP. He was sworn in as the Cabinet Minister for Shipping on September 1, 2001. Vedprakash Goyal was an industrialist by profession. (ANI) Prior to her death, Catherine OHara found lasting love with husband Bo Welch and Beetlejuice played a major part in their love story. News broke on Friday, January 30, 2026, that OHara died at the age of 71. The Schitts Creek alums cause of death has yet to be revealed. O'Hara's sudden death had many fans wondering about her life and legacy, including who she is survived by. She was lucky in love, meeting Welch in 1987 on the Beetlejuice set and tying the knot five years later. Advertisement Advertisement Despite falling for each other on the movie set, it wasnt until director Tim Burton got involved that Welch actually made a move. Catherine OHara Through the Years: Home Alone, Schitts Creek and Everything in Between Tim told me, You should ask Catherine out. It didnt even occur to me that I was even supposed to talk to actors, Welch told Uproxx in 2015. But since Tim told me to, I did, and then we dated and were married and here we are today. Scroll down to learn more about OHaras husband, Welch: How Did Catherine OHara Meet Bo Welch? OHara met Welch on the set of Beetlejuice in 1987. In the film, OHara played Delia, while Welch was a production designer. Following their meet-cute, OHara moved from Canada to Los Angeles to continue her romance with Welch. Advertisement Advertisement OHara recalled during a 2019 interview with The New Yorker that she and Welch started dating toward the end of filming. We went on location at the end of the movie, and we started dating. I moved to L.A. to be with him, she shared. Yeah, I moved for love. Kevin Winter/Getty Images What Does Bo Welch Do for a Living? While Welch studied architecture at the University of Arizona, he learned shortly after moving to Los Angeles that it wasnt his dream job. Even though I loved the education, and I loved architecture I still do I hated the job, Welch told Kingdom of Dreams in January 2024. Welch pivoted to a job in the art department for Universal Studios in 1977, working his way up to set designer in the mid-1980s. His first major design credit came on 1987s The Lost Boys. Advertisement Advertisement He has since worked on Edward Scissorhands, the Men in Black trilogy and the show A Series of Unfortunate Events. Welch has been nominated for Oscars for his work. Home Alone Cast: Where Are They Now? Macaulay Culkin, Catherine OHara and More Is Bo Welch Canadian? Unlike OHara, Welch is not from Canada. The set designer was born in Yardley, Pennsylvania. When Did Catherine OHara Marry Bo Welch? OHara and Welch tied the knot in April 1992 after five years of dating. Following their wedding, Beetlejuice director Tim Burton gave the newlyweds a private tour of the Vatican in Vatican City, Italy, and it was a comical affair. OK, so a priest took us around he got yelled at at one point, O'Hara recalled on The Kelly Clarkson Show in February 2024 of the awkward tour. I wish I spoke Italian, but he was definitely getting yelled at by another priest because we were in the popes closet, like, looking at garments and stuff. It was crazy. Advertisement Advertisement The tour ended on a positive note, according to OHara, who said they got to see where the gifts that the Vatican receives are stored. And this priest is just letting us open cases, and pretending to put a crown inside Bos backpack, taking pictures, she said. Michael Tran/AFP Do Catherine OHara and Bo Welch Have Children? The Best in Show actress welcomed her first child with Welch, son Matthew, in 1994. Their second son, Luke, was born in 1997. The couple raised their sons in Canada, but both of them have followed in their parents footsteps and worked in Hollywood. How Many Times Did Bo Welch Work With Wife Catherine OHara? In addition to working together on 1988s Beetlejuice, where Welch and OHara met, they collaborated on A Series of Unfortunate Events. Welch was a director on five episodes of the Netflix series and the production designer for the show, which ran from 2017 to 2019. OHara, for her part, played Dr. Orwell in four episodes. Catherine O'Hara made her political views crystal clear when she sent a direct message to Donald Trump's desire to make Canada the 51st U.S. state. On Friday, Jan. 30, the Schitt's Creek and Home Alone actress died at 71 after being rushed to a Los Angeles hospital following a "brief illness." Her cause of death has not been revealed, as of writing. SIGN UP for Parades Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox In a March 28, 2025, episode of TheWraps UnWrapped podcast, O'Hara reacted to Trump's suggestion that The Great White North should officially be added to the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement God bless Canada. God bless Canadians, the Beetlejuice actress declared. The only good thing out of this is its unifying Canadians and building a little nationalism that they deserve that we deserve. Related: Catherine OHaras Final Interview Before Her Death Reflected on Her Comedy Icon Legacy O'Hara added, "Makes me just really want to be in Ontario, Canada, right now. But it makes my skin crawl when I hear anything about that particular threat." Additionally, she confessed, "Right now, the political climate scares me for women." Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has brought up making Canada the 51st U.S. state on several occasions. In May, he wrote on Truth Social, I told Canada, which very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System, that it will cost $61 Billion Dollars if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation, but will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State. They are considering the offer! Advertisement Advertisement Although O'Hara was born in Canada, she also obtained U.S. citizenship after marrying her husband, producer Bo Welch. In addition to playing Moira Rose in Schitts Creek, OHara was best known for her role as Kevins (Macaulay Culkin) mom, Kate McCallister in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and Delia in Beetlejuice (1988) and its sequel, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (2024). She also starred in movies like Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006) and Frankenweenie (2012), among others. OHara is survived by Bo and their two sons, Matthew Welch and Luke Welch. Next: Michael Keaton Pens Catherine OHara Tribute After Beetlejuice Stars Death: "This One Hurts" This story was originally published by Parade on Jan 31, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Former CNN journalist Don Lemon was released from jail on his personal recognizance, a judge ruled Friday afternoon following his arrest by federal agents in Los Angeles. Lemon and three others were arrested and indicted for civil rights crimes in connection with an incident in which anti-ICE protesters disrupted a service at a Minnesota church, according to officials. The four were charged with conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers during the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. Advertisement Advertisement Protesters were heard chanting "Justice for Renee Good" inside the church. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that Lemon, Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort, and two others were arrested early Friday "at my direction." She promoted the arrests on social media. "Make no mistake. Under President Trump's leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely," Bondi said in a video posted online. "And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you." At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. More details soon. Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026 "WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP," Bondi said on social media last week. Advertisement Advertisement Lemon spoke briefly after existing federal court in downtown Los Angeles Friday afternoon. "I've been doing this for 30 years and I won't stop," he said. "I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court." The indictment unsealed in federal court alleges that lemon and others attempted to block the worshippers at the church. It appears to be all based on Lemon's videos that were posted to social media. He was at the protest as an independent journalist. Lemon posted video to his Instagram on Jan. 18 showing protesters yelling as well as his interviews with churchgoers and protesters. Lemon said on the video, "We're not part of the activists, but we're here just reporting on them." Advertisement Advertisement Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, said on Friday that Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents while he was covering the Grammy Awards. Federal sources told ABC News Lemon was arrested at a Beverly Hills hotel. "Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done," Lowell said in a statement. "The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable." "Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this case," Lowell said, calling the arrest an "attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration." Lowell called Lemon's arrest an "unprecedented attack on the First Amendment" and said the journalist "will fight these charges" in court. Advertisement Advertisement Lowell had said last week that a magistrate judge rejected charges against Lemon, and a source told ABC News that Bondi last week was "enraged" at the magistrate judge's decision to not charge the journalist. Minnesota Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz also wrote to the 8th Circuit appeals court last week that Lemon and his producer were "not protesters at all," and that "[t]here is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so." The Department of Justice responded to Schiltz in a filing unsealed Thursday, "The FACE Act contains no exception that would permit journalists or their producers to use or threaten force or physically obstruct worshippers who are lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. ... Nor does Section 241 afford impunity to journalists or their producers to conspire to violate those worshippers' rights. The complaint's detailed allegations speak for themselves on each agitator's role in the incident for which they are charged." L.A. Mayor Karen Bass issues statement on Lemon's arrest Mayor Karen Bass issued on statement on the arrests Friday morning, calling it "an egregious assault on constitutionally protected First Amendment rights." Advertisement Advertisement "Don Lemon, an internationally known and renowned journalist and friend, was arrested last night by federal agents and is now in custody in Los Angeles - simply for doing his job and following a protest into a church in Minneapolis while reporting the story," she wrote. "Emmy-winning news producer and Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort - another widely respected Black journalist - was also arrested by federal agents in Minnesota for reporting on the same protest." "The arrest of journalists for going into a church in the course of reporting is shocking enough, but what's even more alarming is that it's no secret that Don Lemon is a Trump critic. "Let me be very clear - President Trump is not deescalating anything after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents. In fact, the arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort demonstrates quite the opposite - he is escalating. "First, Trump's agents shoot and kill people exercising their First Amendment rights, and now we're arresting journalists going into a church. It's an egregious assault on constitutionally protected First Amendment rights. Advertisement Advertisement "I have reached out to the U.S. Attorney to check on Don Lemon's status." White House touts arrest of Don Lemon While the White House is referring requests for comment on the arrest of Lemon to the Department of Justice, the official White House X account posted an image Friday morning touting Lemon's arrest, alongside the comment "When life gives you lemons..." and an emoji of a chain. When life gives you lemons... pic.twitter.com/wxry0fudOj The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 30, 2026 ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: CNN Don Lemon, who has been in Los Angeles this week to cover the 68th Grammy Awards (scheduled on the 2026 TV schedule for this Sunday), was released on Friday, January 30 after he was taken into custody on Thursday night on civil rights violation charges. The former CNN anchor, who currently operates as an independent journalist, was arrested by two federal agents for attending an anti-ICE protest inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota on Sunday, January 18. After his hearing on Friday afternoon, he's been allowed to walk free by U.S. District Judge Patricia Donahue, who denied the government's request to order a $100K bond and limit his travel to New York or back to Minnesota, per Variety. But that's not the end of his legal troubles. Lemon has been asked to make another appearance in court in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Monday, February 9. Following his release, Lemon said the following, per his Instagram: Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night for doing what I have been doing for 30 years. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects that work for me and countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them, and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court. The journalist is being charged with violating federal laws by reportedly going past the line of activity that is protected by the First Amendment and impeding the right for citizens to practice their religious beliefs. While Lemon was live-streaming the protest that began outside a church before going inside with protestors where he proceeded to interview them, congregants, and a pastor inside. Advertisement Advertisement Lemon has earned restrictions to his international travel as a result of the arrest aside from a vacation to France this summer, as requested by his attorney Marilyn Bednarski. She argued that he has no history of violence nor does he pose any flight risk following assistant U.S. attorney Alexander Robbins alleging that Don Lemon "knowingly joined a mob and stormed into a church and terrorized people engaged in worship services" while he attended the protest. Lemon says he was simply reporting on the event. Early on Friday morning, United States Attorney General Pamela Bondi shared on social media that Lemon and three other people were arrested at her orders. Check out her post: At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.More details soon. @AGPamBondi (January 30, 2026) Voir le tweet original Don Lemon's lawyer said the journalist is "committed to fighting his case." We don't currently know if Lemon will still be part of the Grammys red carpet livestream he's in Los Angeles for the time being. The 68th Grammys will be on CBS this Sunday, and will stream live for those with a Paramount+ subscription. British PM's visit to China achieves fruitful results: spokesperson Xinhua) 09:07, January 31, 2026 BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's official visit to China yielded fruitful results, demonstrating the breadth and depth of cooperation between the two countries, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said here Friday. Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular news briefing that this is the first visit to China by a British prime minister in eight years, and Starmer is also the first leader of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council received by China in 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Starmer on Thursday, during which the two leaders agreed that China and Britain should develop a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership, turn the vast potential of China-Britain cooperation into real progress, and open up new prospects for China-Britain relations and cooperation, Guo said. The spokesperson noted that Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with Starmer, and China's top legislator Zhao Leji also met with him, during which they exchanged in-depth views on advancing pragmatic cooperation across various fields and restoring exchanges between the legislative bodies of both countries. Guo said that both sides agreed to establish a high-level China-Britain climate and nature partnership, resume the bilateral high-level security dialogue, and hold a new round of institutional dialogues within the year, such as the strategic dialogue and economic and financial dialogue, and the meeting of the China-Britain Joint Economic and Trade Commission. China will reduce tariffs on imported whisky from Britain from 10 percent to 5 percent, he added. Both sides agreed they should strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and facilitate personnel exchanges to deepen mutual understanding and build trust, and in principle agreed to resume normal exchanges between their legislative bodies, Guo said, adding that China welcomes British parliamentarians to visit China more if they so desire and will give positive consideration to visa-free access for British travelers. During the visit, Premier Li and Prime Minister Starmer jointly witnessed the signing of 12 intergovernmental cooperation documents covering trade, agriculture and food, culture, and market regulation. They also attended the 2026 UK-China Business Council meeting. The two sides will also hold the first meeting of the China-Britain financial working group and the China-Britain insurance forum, he said. Guo said it is particularly noteworthy that Starmer has led a delegation of more than 60 important representatives from Britain's business and cultural sectors on this visit to China. "We have noted that many British netizens regard China as a trustworthy friend and partner," Guo said, adding that China is ready to work with Britain to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries and jointly develop a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Paris Hilton has found motherhood to be the "most beautiful thing". Paris Hilton loves the challenges of motherhood The 44-year-old star has son Phoenix, three, and daughter London, two, with her husband Carter Reum, and Paris admits that she loves her family life. The blonde beauty - who has been married to Carter since 2021 - says in her new documentary, Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir: "Being a mom, its the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced. "[Its] the kind of love thats so deep, it changes you forever. "When I look at my babys faces, I see everything I was ever meant to be. London and Phoenix are my whole heart, my cutesie crew.' "Every smile, every cuddle, every little moment with them feels like pure magic. Theyve given my life a new kind of sparkle one thats deeper, softer and so full of love it takes my breath away." Last year, Paris praised Carter for filling their family home with "love, laughter, and fun". The reality TV star took to Instagram on Father's Day to heap praise on her husband. Paris - who has also enjoyed success in the music business - wrote on the photo-sharing platform at the time: "Happy Fathers Day to the Dada who fills our home with love, laughter, and fun. Watching you be a dad is the greatest gift your kindness, patience, and playful heart make every day magical [star emojis] Phoenix, London, and I adore you beyond words "Forever grateful for our #CutesieCrew [tears and hearts emoji] (sic)" Paris also paid tribute to her own dad on Father's Day. The socialite wrote: "Happy Fathers Day to my incredible dad @RickHilton7 [heart emoji] The most loyal, loving, and protective man [tears emoji] "Thank you for always believing in me and letting me chase my dreams [heart and stars emoji] Im so lucky to be your daughter. Love you forever [heart emojis] #FathersDay. (sic)" Nationalist Congress Party's Maharashtra State President Sunil Tatkare said the party's legislature members will hold a meeting on Saturday afternoon to elect the leader of the Legislature Party, with Sunetra Pawar expected to be chosen. After the meeting, NCP members will meet the Chief Minister with an official letter for a final decision. Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash along with four others on Wednesday. Speaking to the mediapersons here, Tatkare said, "Our legislature party members will meet at 2 pm today. The Group leader (Leader of Legislature Party) will be elected. We hope that keeping in mind the sentiments of people, Sunetra Pawar will be elected as the leader. After that, NCP members will meet the CM with an official letter and then he will make a decision." He added that NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar, and more details will be shared after today's legislature party meeting. "Today, we saw a video showing the meeting, which took place over tea in Baramati during an agriculture exhibition. After this, Ajit Dada held a press conference and said that discussions were held regarding the local body elections. Ajit Dada himself noted the details of that day when the discussion took place and shared it with the journalists. We will speak to you in detail after today's meeting. NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar," he said. NCP MLA Pramod Hindurao added that all members want Sunetra Pawar to take on the responsibility, after which the process and oath-taking or further formalities will be finalised. "There is a legislative party meeting at 2 PM this afternoon, where all our leaders will make a decision. However, everyone wants Sunetra Pawar to take on this responsibility. After that meeting, the process will be followed, and then the oath-taking ceremony or whatever further program is decided will be finalised. All party workers want Sunetra Pawar to accept this position as soon as possible," Hindurao said. (ANI) Donald Trump recently made claims that British soldiers stayed off the front lines during the war in Afghanistan, and his comments struck a chord, especially with Prince Harry, who served for over a decade in the British Army. The 41-year-old didnt waste any time calling out the United States president, but his father, King Charles, reportedly wishes his son reacted differently. Keep reading for more information. king charles donald trump King Charles Is 'Horrified' By Prince Harry's Response To Donald Trump According to Royal reporter Rob Shuter, Harry's very public reaction to Donald Trump's claims has put King Charles in a "deeply uncomfortable" position, especially ahead of King Charles and Queen Camilla's upcoming trip to the United States. Shuter reported that Charles "understands the emotion, but he's horrified by the timing." "This is diplomacynot podcast politics," an insider told Shuter. "Harry's comments make an already sensitive situation far trickier. The King can't clap backeven if he agrees." donald trump Donald Trump Makes Claims About NATO Allies In an interview with Fox News last week, Donald Trump questioned if the NATO allies would "be there" if the United States "ever needed them." Advertisement Advertisement "I've always said, 'Will they be there, if we ever needed them?' And that's really the ultimate test. And I'm not sure of that. I know that we would have been there, or we would be there, but will they be there?" he questioned. "We've never needed them," he continued. "We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they didthey stayed a little back, a little off the front lines." prince harry donald trump Prince Harry Responds To Trump's Claims These claims from Donald Trump angered many members of the NATO alliance, including England. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Trump's claims "insulting and frankly appalling," and even Prince Harry had more than a few words to say about it. Through a spokesperson, Prince Harry released a statement on the topic. "In 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 for the firstand onlytime in history," he said, referencing the mutual defense clause that was activated following the September 11, 2001 attacks. "It meant that every allied nation was obliged to stand with the United States in Afghanistan, in pursuit of our shared security. Allies answered that call." prince harry donald trump "I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there," he continued. "The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed. Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost." "Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defense of diplomacy and peace," he finished. Prince Harry has long since been a supporter and defender of British veterans, having founded the Invictus Games in 2014, an international, Paralympic-style event for wounded, injured, and sick military service personnel and veterans. **Related Video Above: Notable deaths of 2026 (WJW) He grew up on the worlds stage. On Friday, actor Macaulay Culkin honored his on-screen mother upon learning of her death. The Associated Press confirmed Catherine OHara died at the age of 71, following a short illness. She played Culkins somewhat forgetful mom in the holiday favorites Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Rock legend says hes thinking twice about performing in US: America is a dangerous place Advertisement Advertisement Culkin took to social media with a heartfelt message: Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later. Catherine OHara, left, and Macaulay Culkin attends a ceremony honoring Culkin with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Macaulay Culkin, left, and Catherine OHara attend a ceremony honoring Culkin with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Culkin, now 45, and OHara stayed in touch through the years and when he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023, she was one of the people who gave some words at the ceremony. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. With hundreds of millions of views, YouTuber Ghanem al-Masarir was flying high. From his flat in Wembley, the loud-mouthed and sometimes offensive comedian was making waves as a critic of the Saudi Arabian royal family. But as well as fans, he'd made some powerful enemies. The first thing al-Masarir noticed was that his phones were behaving weirdly. They had become very slow, with the batteries running out quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Then he noticed seeing the same faces appear in different parts of London. People who seemed to be Saudi regime supporters began stopping him in the street, harassing and filming him. But how did they know where he was all the time? Al-Masarir feared his phone was being used to spy on him. Cyber experts would later confirm he'd become the latest victim to be spied on with the infamous Pegasus hacking tool. "It was something that I couldn't comprehend. They can see your location. They can turn on the camera. They can turn on the microphone, listen to you," al-Masarir tells the BBC. "They got your data, all pictures, everything. You feel you've been violated." On Monday, after six years of legal battles, the High Court in London ruled Saudi Arabia was responsible, and ordered the kingdom to pay al-Masarir more than 3m ($4.1m) in compensation. Advertisement Advertisement Al-Masarir's iPhones had been hacked in 2018 after he clicked on links in three text messages seemingly sent from news outlets as special membership offers. It led to him being stalked, harassed and in August of that year, beaten up in central London. The court heard two strangers had approached al-Masarir and shouted at him, demanding to know who he was to talk about the Saudi royal family, before punching him in the face and then continuing to attack him. Passers-by intervened and the two men retreated, calling the YouTuber a "slave of Qatar" and saying they were going to "teach him a lesson". Advertisement Advertisement The High Court judge described the physical attack as premeditated and noted that one of the assailants was wearing an earpiece. "There is a compelling basis" that the assault and the hack "was directed or authorised by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or agents acting on its behalf," Mr Justice Saini said in his written judgement. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had a clear interest in and motivation to shut down the claimant's public criticism of the Saudi government," the judge ruled. After the assault, the harassment continued. In 2019, a child approached al-Masarir at a Kensington cafe and sang a song praising King Salman, the Saudi monarch. Advertisement Advertisement This incident was filmed and posted on social media, began trending with its own hashtag, and was even broadcast on state-owned television in Saudi Arabia. On the same day, a man walked up to al-Masarir as he was leaving a west London restaurant and told him, "Your days are numbered", before walking off. Al-Masarir was born in Saudi Arabia but has lived in Britain for more than 20 years, originally coming to study in Portsmouth. He is now a British citizen and lives in Wembley, but no longer ventures far from home - going into central London is still frightening for him after he was attacked. Advertisement Advertisement The 45-year-old rose to fame in the Arabic-speaking world for his satirical YouTube videos criticising Saudi rulers, in particular the crown prince and de facto ruler Mohamed bin Salman. Al-Masarir's videos often poked fun at the Saudi crown prince [Getty Images] Al-Masarir's humorous takes - and sometimes personal and offensive attacks on the Saudi government - often went viral, generating more than 345 million views. In his most watched clip - which has 16 million views - he criticised the authorities for being angry about a viral video of girls dancing in Saudi Arabia. Mysteriously, the sound has been removed on YouTube and al-Masarir has no idea how or when the video was edited. Since al-Masarir was hacked and attacked he has lost his confidence and become depressed and fearful. The once funny and outspoken personality agreed to talk to the BBC - but was reserved and didn't want to fully show his face. Advertisement Advertisement He hasn't posted a video for three years and says in spite of his legal victory, the Saudi government has succeeded in silencing him. "No amount of money can repay the harm this has done to me," he says. "The hack has really changed me. I am not the same Ghanem I used to be." It was spyware experts from the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab who confirmed al-Masarir had been hacked with Pegasus spyware. They sent an analyst to London and deemed it highly likely the hack had been orchestrated by Saudi Arabia. Advertisement Advertisement Pegasus is a powerful and controversial hacking tool made by Israeli company NSO Group. NSO Group insists it only sells its spyware to governments to help track terrorists and criminals. But Citizen Lab has discovered it on phones belonging to politicians, journalists and dissidents - including al-Masarir. When al-Masarir first tried to bring a claim against Saudi Arabia, the kingdom argued it was protected from legal action under the State Immunity Act 1978. But in 2022 the court ruled Saudi Arabia did not have immunity. Since, then the country has not been represented in any further proceedings. Advertisement Advertisement "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has failed to serve a defence or to respond to this application and has breached multiple further orders. It appears unlikely to participate in the claim," the High Court judge concluded. The total damages awarded are 3,025,662.83 but it's not clear if Saudi Arabia will pay. The BBC contacted the Saudi embassy in London but has not had a reply. Al-Masarir says he is determined to enforce the judgement and is willing to use international courts if necessary. But no amount of money will make up for how the hack has turned his life upside down, he says. "I feel depressed that they got away with something like this in London - in Great Britain." More weekend picks Former CNN anchor and journalist Don Lemon was arrested and charged with federal civil rights violations this week in connection with his reporting on an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, igniting a national debate over press freedom and the First Amendment. Lemon, now an independent journalist, was taken into custody Thursday night in Los Angeles while in town to cover the Grammy Awards, his attorney Abbe Lowell said. A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted Lemon and eight others over the Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church, where demonstrators objected to a pastor who also heads the local field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Prosecutors allege the group conspired to interfere with the First Amendment rights of worshippers and violated federal laws designed to protect access to places of worship. Charges include conspiracy against rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act a 1994 statute originally aimed at preventing violence and obstruction at abortion clinics and religious services. Advertisement Advertisement Lemon was released on his own recognizance after a brief court appearance in Los Angeles and has vowed to fight the charges. His lawyer called the case an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment, arguing that Lemon was present solely in a journalistic capacity to document the protest. Lemon has also declared that he wont be silenced in his pursuit of justice for his actions as protected under the First Amendment and journalistic ethics and standards. The arrests also included independent journalist Georgia Fort and two protest participants; Fort livestreamed her arrest from her home. Start your day with essential news from Salon. Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course. The case has drawn sharp criticism from press freedom advocates, civil rights groups, and major news organizations, who warn that charging a journalist for covering a protest could usher in a chilling effect on newsgathering. Critics argue that such prosecutions blur the line between reporting and participation and could deter journalists from covering volatile events. Advertisement Advertisement Justice Department officials have defended the arrests as necessary to uphold federal protections for religious freedom. Lemons next court date is scheduled next month in Minnesota. The post I will not be silenced!: Don Lemon arrested for reporting on church protest appeared first on Salon.com. NEED TO KNOW The home where Marilyn Monroe died in 1962 was named a historic cultural landmark in 2024 after the urging of preservationists Its owners say they were given no notice of the change and it has blocked their plans to demolish the structures, which they bought for $8.35 million in 2023 The couple claim the home has undergone numerous renovations and seen 14 owners since Monroe's death and no longer has meaningful ties to her The owners of the Los Angeles home where Marilyn Monroe died are suing the city and mayor Karen Bass after the alleged unconstitutional taking of their private residence, according to a civil complaint obtained by PEOPLE. Husband and wife Roy Bank and Brinah Milstein, who currently reside at the property, filed suit against the city and Bass on Jan. 23 in the Central District Court of California, Western Division. In the complaint, the owners allege L.A. took their single family Brentwood residence without any public purpose or just compensation through the use of the citys Historic Cultural Monument ordinance. According to the complaint, Bank and Milstein purchased the property in 2023 for $8.35 million. At the time, the purchasers bought the residence with the clear intent of demolishing the dilapidated structures on the property, per court documents. They claim they spent an additional $30,000 to secure the proper demolition and grading permits which the city initially approved. An aerial view of Marilyn Monroe's former Los Angeles home. Mario Tama/Getty However, problems began to arise for the homeowners on Sept. 8, 2023, when the City Council approved a motion, allegedly without any notice to the owners, to consider the property for a historic-monument designation. The motion subsequently invalidated the couples legally issued permits. Advertisement Advertisement The complaint says the City Council ultimately approved the designation on June 26, 2024, against the wishes of the homeowners. Bank and Milstein allege that the city shouldnt have had any interest in the home since the propertys connection to the actress is far removed. Not a trace of Ms. Monroes short tenure at the house remains at the property or in the house and the house has been substantially altered by successive owners over more than sixty years," attorneys claim in the complaint. Marilyn Monroe poses outside her home in 1962. Gene Lester/Getty According to Variety, the Some Like It Hot star lived in the 1929 Spanish Colonial-style house for only 6 months. Advertisement Advertisement She purchased the property in February 1962 shortly after parting ways with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller. However, the civil complaint says Monroe only "occasionally occupied the house while traveling between her other residences in New York City and elsewhere. The actress was found dead at age 36 inside the residence in August 1962. A coroner's toxicology report officially listed her cause of death as acute barbiturate poisoning, as she reportedly ingested a lethal amount of Nembutal, which is often used to treat anxiety, and a sedative called chloral hydrate. Her death was ruled an overdose and "probable suicide." In the years since, the current owners say the property has had 14 different owners, undergone numerous remodels and was issued more than two-dozen building permits from the city all done without the consideration of a historical designation. The complaint argues that the designation has led to the property turning into a tourist attraction, citing traffic congestion on the dead-end street and trespassers leaping over property walls. The lawsuit specifically mentions a Nov. 7, 2025 incident in which "burglars scaled the wall and broke into the house allegedly searching for "memorabilia or other items. Advertisement Advertisement Bank and Milstein are suing the city and Bass citing one count of violating the Fifth Amendments Taking Clause and one count of violating the Fifth Amendments Just-Compensation Clause. The couple is asking for the court to order the city to reinstate their demolition and grading permits, or to compensate them for their 2023 investment into the property. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass Arnold Turner/Getty for Los Angeles Urban League 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. Attorneys for Bank and Milstein did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. PEOPLE has reached out to the offices of the L.A. City Attorney and mayor Bass for comment. Read the original article on People After their eviction from the Royal Lodge, ex-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson are reportedly being encouraged to move abroad. Andrew and Ferguson have stayed in the same orbit for years, even after their divorce. But now, as they prepare for a major change in living arrangements, a new report claims people close to the palace want something bigger for them than a move down the road. Ex-Prince Andrew and Sarah Fergusons move abroad could offer them real reset, per source RadarOnline exclusively reported that royal circles are urging ex-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson to leave the United Kingdom entirely and move abroad post eviction. The outlet reported that Andrew is expected to vacate Royal Lodge in Windsor within weeks. This will end a long stretch that has witnessed the former couple share the 30-room home since 2008. One palace insider claimed, With Andrew preparing to leave Royal Lodge, theres a growing expectation inside the palace that this shouldnt just be a change of address within Britain. They added, The view being expressed is that a move overseas, for both Andrew and Sarah, could offer a real reset. Advertisement Advertisement The source added that distance could also help their daughters. They suggested, By putting physical distance between themselves and the U.K., it would give Beatrice and Eugenie the space to live their lives in a healthier, more positive environment, without their parents issues constantly hanging over them. Moreover, the source claimed it would help clarify that the sisters stand apart from their parents situation. RadarOnline noted that ex-Prince Andrew stepped back from public duties in 2019. They cited a source who believed, Among those advising them, theres a strong sense that Andrew and Sarah simply havent faded far enough into the background. Ex-Prince Andrews immediate plan is reportedly to relocate to Sandringham. So, whether he and Sarah Ferguson actually move overseas after their eviction remains to be seen. Still, sources paint the push as a clear attempt to close an old chapter. The post Why Ex-Prince Andrew & Ex-Wife Are Encouraged To Move Abroad Source appeared first on Reality Tea. President Donald Trump urged his social media followers to check out Melania, Brett Ratners must-see documentary about his wife, against the recommendations of a long, long list of film critics. Trump, 79, felt compelled to plug the $75 million production once more on Friday, after having done so on Monday while dubiously claiming that tickets were selling out, fast. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend a screening of 'Melania' at the Kennedy Center on Jan. 29, 2026. / Samuel Corum / Getty Images (Samuel Corum) Last night I saw, MELANIA, for the second time, Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to the premiere at the Kennedy Center. The audience loved it, and so do I. Check it out'A MUST SEE!" Trump claimed the documentary about his wife is a The vast majority of early reviews by critics say otherwise. Advertisement Advertisement The Daily Beasts Kevin Fallon described Melania as an abomination of filmmaking. Over the course of its 104 minutes, he wrote, Melania has nothing to say, and is certainly not insightful. It is not juicy, nor entertaining. Elsewhere, critics took issue with the lack of tough questions posed to the films subject. At the black-carpet premiere on Thursday, Melania described her documentary as To Varietys Owen Gleiberman, Melania is so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial. To say that Melania is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies, The Hollywood Reporters Frank Scheck wrote, criticizing it for its onscreen graphics listing Melanias achievements as first lady in such laudatory fashion that North Korea would blush. Advertisement Advertisement While the audience at the MAGA-fied venue in Washington, D.C. may have loved the film, as Trump said, in some theaters across the country, there hasnt appeared to be much of an audience at all. As of Thursday, the movie had sold out in just two of 1,400 theaters, according to a WIRED analysis of ticket seller Fandango, though its possible that theaters can use other sellers. And in the days leading up to the documentarys release, images of still-empty or nearly empty theaters made the rounds on social media. Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack and YouTube for even more coverage. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) On Feb. 7, visitors to Billys Lounge in Grand Rapids can attend an annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash featuring over three hours of Caribbean music, a food buffet and more. It normally sells out, said David Bauman, producer of the Bob Marley Birthday Bash at Billys Lounge. I would advise people to get there early. 8 big concerts coming to Grand Rapids in 2026 Celebrating what would have been Marleys 81st birthday, this years bash includes performances from Chicagos Hurricane Reggae Band and a DJ Sanjay from Grand Rapids. Advertisement Advertisement Its actually our 18th year at Billys Lounge, Bauman said. Billys Lounge hosts musicians and DJs for its annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash. (Courtesy) Billys Lounge hosts musicians and DJs for its annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash. (Courtesy) Billys Lounge hosts musicians and DJs for its annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash. (Courtesy) At the core of the night is a celebration of Marleys music, which has been beloved by critics and fans for over 45 years. His music was extremely popular throughout the world, Bauman said. More important is his message. Billys Lounge hosts musicians and DJs for its annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash. (Courtesy) KINGSTON, JAMAICA JULY 9: Bob Marley relaxes with friends in front of his house at 56 Hope Road on July 9, 1979 in Kingston, Jamaica. (Courtesy Charlie Steiner Hwy 67 Revisited/Getty Images) Billys Lounge hosts musicians and DJs for its annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash. (Courtesy) To attend the event, guests to Billys Lounge must pay a $10 cover at the door. Performances will continue from 9:30 p.m. until after 1 a.m. This is your opportunity to have an evening of Caribbean music and food, Bauman said. Its a fun time literally from the first song to the last. Doors open at Billys Lounge for the Bob Marley Birthday Bash beginning at 8 p.m. Billys Lounge closes at 2 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Grand Rapids library concert series returns for 2026 For more information, visit the Bob Marley Birthday Bash Facebook page. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Anthony Bourdain smiling - Paulo Fridman/Getty Images Anthony Bourdain is one of the most well-known celebrity chefs, up there with Gordon Ramsey and Guy Fieri. After serving as an executive chef in Manhattan, he published his book, "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly." This got him a show on Food Network, "A Cook's Tour," which lasted from 2002 to 2003, and then he moved over to Travel Channel for his more well-known show, "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations." This show featured Bourdain traveling around the world, discovering local food and culture, and discussing the role food played in that culture. His "do as the locals do" attitude is one reason he was so beloved, but it also got him into some pretty wild situations. "No Reservations" ran for nine seasons and saw Bourdain visit places all over the globe, from major U.S. cities to tiny, remote Panamanian villages. When the show ended, Bourdain switched networks once again to CNN for his show "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown." "Parts Unknown" was like the mature older brother to "No Reservations," with more awards and a broader cultural focus, but many fans prefer the vibe of "No Reservations." The show not only focused more on food, but was a little more off-the-cuff. As one Redditor put it, "I prefer No Reservations because I feel like he was happier, but the cinematography in Parts Unknown is excellent." That's hard not to keep in mind, especially after Bourdain's suicide in 2018. While both shows are great, the zaniness of "No Reservations," plus dashes of danger, created some unforgettable wild moments. Read more: 13 Former Food Network TV Stars We Don't Hear Much From Anymore 1. Season 1, Episode 12: ATV...accident? Anthony wearing a helmet on an ATV. - Travel Channel In introducing Season 1, Episode 12, "New Zealand," Anthony Bourdain says the country is, "Like nothing else I've ever seen anywhere in the world. It's also the country where I nearly lost my life." About halfway through the episode, Bourdain is invited by Chef Al Brown to a barbecue on a remote New Zealand beach only accessible by ATVs. Though a local four-wheeler expert, Greg Hall, is there to teach the crew how to use the vehicles, Bourdain is anxious to get going. They follow Greg down the beach, and the expert shows off some tricks, making Bourdain feel a bit competitive. He admits, "I'm so hot on keeping up with Greg, I don't bother to listen when he yells back at me, 'Don't do what I'm doing.' Big mistake." Advertisement Advertisement What Greg was doing was driving his ATV up a sand dune, and Bourdain tried to follow. His ATV stalls at the top, and as he tries to troubleshoot, the ATV rolls on top of him. Bourdain and the ATV roll down the hill together until stopping at the bottom. He ends up being no worse for wear, but there's some shakiness in his voice. Later, he's able to laugh about it; introducing the clip for a YouTube compilation from Travel Channel, he says, "We can hardly do a 'physical activity gone wrong' collection without including the classic 'Tony rolls an ATV on himself' scene from New Zealand." Since he goes surfing and cave exploring later in the episode, it's safe to say he wasn't too shaken up. 2. Season 2, Episode 24: escaping a war zone Anthony Bourdain looking out over Beirut. - Travel Channel From the get-go, it's clear that the "In Beirut" episode is unlike any other "No Reservations" episode. Season 2, Episode 24 opens with shots of military personnel, and the format is different from a typical episode, interspersing on-the-ground shots with interview-style footage of Anthony Bourdain talking about their experience. The trip started normally Bourdain meets up with their guide Joe in downtown Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, and they go for a meal at what Bourdain calls "Exactly the sort of place we like to do on the show." Lebanon has a long history of both internal civil war and conflict with neighboring countries like Israel and Syria. So when, after some sightseeing, Bourdain and Joe hear gunfire, the whole tone changes. Hezbollah, a radical group in Lebanon, had just killed and kidnapped Israeli troops at the border. Joe knows trouble is ahead, and Bourdain recounts him saying, "They'll destroy the country. We'll all pay for this." He was right. Bourdain wakes up the next day to find the airport has been bombed. The remainder of the episode showcases them moving to a hotel on a safer side of town and waiting until they can be rescued. "We're sitting around the pool...watching a war. If there's a single metaphor in this entire experience...that's probably it," Bourdain says bitterly. After over a week, the crew finally receives word that it's time to go. They bribe a guard to get them out and manage to make it onto the U.S.S. Nashville and finally head home. The episode would go on to earn an Emmy nomination. 3. Season 4, Episode 5: jungle trek and cave diving Anthony Bourdain looking sweaty and exhausted in the Jamaican jungle. - Travel Channel Season 4, Episode 5, "Jamaica," is an episode full of fascinating experiences; Anthony Bourdain meets Rastafarians and explores Jamaica's thriving music and food scenes. But as Bourdain says, "I knew there was more to Jamaica than just good food, good music, and beautiful beaches. In my zeal to go beyond that, I urged my producers to look deep into the country, culture, and traditions in search of something off the beaten path. Perhaps they took 'deep' and 'off the path' too literally." Advertisement Advertisement That's how he wound up in what he calls the "worst, hardest, most dangerous, misery-inducing, physically demanding, and, frankly, stupid escapade of my television career." It starts with a hike through the muddy jungle, a hot, physically demanding trek that includes crossing a river full of toxic runoff from a nearby rum factory and over dirt infested with parasites. When they finally reach the entrance pit of the cave, one guide explains that it has "hundreds and hundreds of thousands of bats down there. As every step progresses, you will feel increasing heat, humidity, and it smells like a barn down there. Tremendous life experience." He doesn't quite sell it to Bourdain, who remarks sarcastically, "I think this ranks with the ATV and Sicilian cliff jump among the all-time good ideas." The cave is no easier than the jungle, full of slippery bat and cockroach feces. Bourdain finishes the segment by saying, "I trust I've shown anyone looking for a cheap cave thrill while on Jamaican vacation that you should probably stick with a chaise lounge and a spliff." 4. Season 1, Episode 6: freestyle cliff climbing and jumping Shot of the water from where Anthony Bourdain jumped. - Travel Channel Anthony Bourdain was an experienced traveler and TV host, but by just episode six of "No Reservations," "Sicily," he was feeling burned out. Still, he was optimistic that a trip to Sicily would revive his spirits. Unfortunately, when Bourdain arrives in Sicily, he finds the airline has lost his luggage (again), which isn't helping his stress levels. He meets his guide, Chico, and to help with the lost luggage issue, Chico offers to take Bourdain to a local tailor-slash-musician. Bourdain's time with him is largely spent listening to him play Sicilian music, and while Bourdain appreciates the culture, he leaves without new clothes. With a sigh, he says, "Maybe tomorrow, the airline will locate my luggage, and I'll locate a reason to live." Bourdain and Chico spend several hours sightseeing, and when Chico suggests a break to go sailing, Bourdain jumps at the chance. He's enjoying the sun and scenery when Chico decides they're going to go cliff jumping into the water, which requires first freestyle climbing the cliffs. Now, Bourdain is already very, very stressed at this point, and while he jokes around, the tension in his voice is obvious. There's a lot of swearing, and once at the top, he jokingly asks Chico, "Hypothetically, if you don't make it, how do I get down from here?" Bourdain ultimately does jump and emerges from the water unscathed (physically, at least). 5. Season 4, Episode 6: Halloween dinner at Dracula's castle Anthony Bourdain in a suit and tie sitting at a table with fake blood on his forehead. - Travel Channel "The Romania episode of No Reservations is one of the most bizarre in all of Bourdain's shows," one Redditor posts of Season 4, Episode 6, and folks seem to agree. This one makes the list not for danger, like the previous episodes, but because it's just so out of pocket, making "Romania" a strange contrast to "Jamaica" right before it. Anthony Bourdain visits Romania to meet up with his friend and occasional travel companion, Zamir Gotta, and celebrate Zamir's 50th birthday. Advertisement Advertisement It's when Zamir drags Bourdain to Dracula's castle that things start to get weird. The castle is for sale, and Zamir wants them to pretend to be buyers so they can get a tour. Bourdain is disappointed to see that the castle is somewhat run down and that the namesake for Bram Stoker's character never actually lived there. Later that evening, which Bourdain calls a "night in the darkest pit of hell," Zamir drags Bourdain to a Halloween party at the House of Dracula Hotel. Bourdain describes it as a cross between a Motel 6 and a Renaissance Fair, which seems a fair comparison. Sporting a knife headband and fake blood, he stands at the bar and sighs, "This is it, the low point of my career." The party is awkward, full of other tourists, and "Just when you think it can't get worse, it does." He watches Zamir lose an arm-wrestling fight before leaving the "dinner theatre of the dammed" to head back to his room. 6. Season 5, Episode 1: lucha libre Anthony Bourdain in the lucha libre ring with El Octagon on top of him. - Travel Channel In Season 5, Episode 1, "Mexico," Anthony Bourdain heads south to visit his friend and fellow chef Carlos. His first stop is Mexico City, where he and Carlos meet up with another friend, Martin, for an early meal at a cantina. After getting their fill of tequila and carnitas, they head over to learn the art of lucha libre from middleweight champion El Octagon. Martin is up first and finds himself getting thrown around the ring before Bourdain says, "There comes that terrible moment in the life of many a drinker when one's decision-making process becomes, shall we say, less than optimal." Bourdain steps into the ring and almost immediately finds himself flat on his back. We see El Octagon also perform a choke hold and jump onto Bourdain from the middle rope before the crew leaves to try more food. While lucha libre is the most physical part of the episode, there are other interesting cultural moments in "Mexico" that occur later. After enjoying some Mexican street food, including tacos al pastor, the crew heads to Xochimilco, a part of southern Mexico City where transportation is mainly done through canals. Here, they visit La Isla de las Munecas (The Island of the Dolls), where one man covered the island in dolls to ward off evil spirits. Later, Bourdain and Carlos head to Carlos' hometown of Puebla, where he goes to watch a bull fight. This is an event Bourdain clearly isn't very excited about, but ultimately he says, "I totally respect the tradition. I get why people like it." 7. Season 5, Episode 13: cockle hunting Anthony Bourdain knee-deep in mud. - Travel Channel We mentioned earlier that the "In Beirut" episode of "No Reservations" was unlike any other, and while that's true, the crew nearly found themselves in a similar situation in Season 5, Episode 13, "Thailand." They arrive at the beginning of the 2009 Thai political unrest, but luckily, Anthony Bourdain and crew are able to avoid the political upheaval and travel elsewhere for the show. The entire episode is a fascinating look at the culture of Thailand, from water gun fights for the Buddhist New Year to visiting markets with trains running right through them to trying traditional Thai foods. Advertisement Advertisement Harvesting cockles was supposed to be simple. As Bourdain says, "Take boat down canal, harvest some cockles, go further out onto the open water for a festive al fresco picnic." First, they're mobbed by a horde of small monkeys, who take many of their supplies. Once they reach the shore, they slog through the deep mud, picking up cockles and trying to avoid getting stuck. But things really go sideways as they attempt to take their boat out to a hut on stilts in the gulf so they can have their picnic. The weather has turned sour, and the waves are too rough to tie up the boats. Soaked to the bone, the crew gets a boat to take them back to the mainland. "I don't think in any show I've been more wet more of the time or covered in mud and other material," Bourdain says. "I'm telling you, violent insurrection looks good about now." 8. Season 6, Episode 1: burning cocaine Anthony Bourdain standing on a pile of cocaine. - Travel Channel In Season 6, Episode 1, "Panama," Anthony Bourdain visits the country somewhat on a whim. He finds a goldmine of fascinating culture, a melting pot spurred by the development of the Panama Canal. But the country has its dark side, as well. After indulging in local cuisine, Bourdain and team visit the abandoned home of former dictator Manuel Noriega, a man known for his ruthless, violent reign. And, of course, the country's location makes it a prime spot for drug smuggling. Director Gustavo Perez brings Bourdain to see six tons of cocaine that the Panamanian government has seized and is going to burn. Perez tells Bourdain that the cocaine is worth somewhere between 300 million and 600 million dollars, and they seized 12 tons of the stuff in just 42 days. He even lets Bourdain light the pyre, and they watch as the cocaine goes up in thick, black clouds of smoke. While burning cocaine is by far the wildest thing Bourdain does in this episode, we would be remiss if we didn't mention that, apparently, he didn't learn from his Jamaican adventure. He decides to trek through the Darien Gap, "one of the wildest, most dense jungle regions on earth." Despite the risk of malaria and venomous snakes, he handles the jungle here better than he did in Jamaica and has the added bonus of meeting some incredible villagers who live there. 9. Season 6, Episode 10: opossum hunting Anthony Bourdain learning how to capture manicou. - Travel Channel Compared to the other "No Reservations" episodes on this list, Season 6, Episode 10, "Caribbean Island Hopping," is relatively tame. Anthony Bourdain spends most of his time talking with locals and trying out different Caribbean foods, and very little time putting himself in physical danger. Advertisement Advertisement However, while visiting Bequia, an island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Bourdain participates in "something that ordinary Bequians have been doing and still do all the time: hunt and eat manicou." While not a life-threatening activity, hunter and farmer Clement warns that the manicou will bite, and "When they bite, they hold onto your flesh, and they don't let go until they actually walk with that flesh." By the way, manicou is just another name for the common opossum. Clement shows Bourdain the long spear they use to hunt manicou, and explains that you stab the manicou, bring the spear down, grab the opossum by the tail, and swing it around. At 2:00 in the morning, they head into the woods looking for this nocturnal rodent, and Bourdain and the locals use their flashlights to spot the manicou's shining eyes. Bourdain watches in awe as some of the men climb pretty high up in the trees to catch their prey. After the hunt, they cook the manicou over a fire and turn it into a stew. Bourdain says this is not only a tradition, but a great excuse for the men to get together and hang out. 10. Season 8, Episode 4: swimming with sushi Anthony Bourdain swimming with tuna. - Travel Channel Season 8, Episode 4 of "No Reservations," "Croatian Coast," is a particularly food-focused episode. But in true Anthony Bourdain fashion, the host doesn't just try the local meals, but learns all about how they're made and sourced. He goes truffle hunting, learns about wine-making, harvests mussels, and visits a tuna farm. Tuna farms, obviously, are quite different from your standard farm with cows or pigs. These farms are built underwater off the coast using nets, and the one Bourdain visits is farming bluefin tuna used for making sushi. He gets the opportunity to swim inside the farm along with the tuna, giving him both an up-close look at the large fish and the opportunity for plenty of inappropriate comments. Now, this is incredibly highquality tuna, meaning the farmers have to make sure the tuna are happy and healthy. The fish fed to the tuna is fit for human consumption, and the tuna also needs to be killed in a very particular way. "Unhappy, freaked-out animals release enzymes into meat that affect their deliciousness," Bourdain explains. To prevent this from happening, the crew essentially performs a sort of fish lobotomy to quickly paralyze and kill the tuna. "Then you run a wire up its spine," Bourdain continues. "This causes all the blood to flood into the gut, producing better color and flavor in the fish." It seems to work, as Bourdain describes his bite of fresh-cut tuna as "buttery, fatty, beautiful." Advertisement Advertisement Want more food knowledge? Sign up to our free newsletter where we're helping thousands of foodies, like you, become culinary masters, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google. Read the original article on Chowhound. BILL MAHER: A viral video in Maine, ICE guys taking this womans, a picture of her license plate, and she says, why are you taking my information down? This is caught on tape, I guess, because they have the quote, because we have a nice little database, and now youre considered a domestic terrorist.. That is exactly what they do in fascist governments. Whenever youre a protester, youre actually an enemy of the state, and we arrest you. Thats whats going on in Iran right now. They arrested Don Lemon. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes! Somebody went, Yes, like good, I dont know. I dont know. (AUDIENCE GROANS) Its not good to arrest him! I dont, you know. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: Well, Im going to say he violated the FACE Act. He went into a church, disrupted their worship, and then later in an interview compared them to white supremacists. Thats not journalism. Thats activism. I had an experience with Don Lemon. BILL MAHER: What, does it warrant getting arrested? MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: Disrupting a worship service, stopping peoples right to worship God, that is violation of the FACES Act. And under the Biden administration, pro-lifers were sent to prison up to 11 years for praying in front of an abortion clinic and they were convicted under the FACE Act. So I dont think thats journalism, thats not First Amendment going in and harassing people in the middle of church. And you know, Don Lemon came to my office with the Tesla takedown guy that organized it and we had to call Capitol Police. BILL MAHER: Okay, but can we just charge him with not cool, man? Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a sharp attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that the slogan of "Maa, Maati, Maanush" under which she came to power has lost its meaning as all three are now unsafe in the state. Addressing the BJP Karyakarta Sammelan in North 24 Parganas, Shah criticised the Mamata government over the deteriorating law and order situation, extortion and coercive control exerted by her group and infiltrators in West Bengal, and their impact on national security and electoral integrity. "In the state of Mamata Didi's government, which came to power with the slogan "Ma, Mati, Manush," today all three--Ma, Mati, and Manush--are unsafe. Maa is insecure; there is no solid guarantee for women's safety. Manush is troubled by Mamata's syndicate, and Mati has been swallowed by infiltrators," Amit Shah said. Drawing a parallel with the Ramayana, Shah said that just as Ravana believed he was invincible, Banerjee should be prepared for defeat, asserting that the BJP's vote share in the state would cross 50 per cent and that the party would form the next government with a massive majority. "When Lord Shri Ram built the Ram Setu, even Ravana thought the same--that on this earth, who can defeat me? Mamata ji, this time watch out, BJP's vote share is going to be more than 50% now, and our government is going to be formed with a massive majority," Amit Shah said. On the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, Amit Shah said that, on one hand, the government has decided to celebrate the event, whereas Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress are opposing Vande Mataram out of appeasement politics and vote-bank considerations. He said the West Bengal Chief Minister was not opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi but was opposing Bengal's identity and India's pride. "This year marks the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram... PM Modi's government has decided to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram nationwide... But look at the irony. When Vande Mataram, which originated in Bengal and was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, was discussed in Parliament, Mamata Banerjee's MPs opposed the discussion... Can the land of Bengal tolerate this opposition to Vande Mataram?... We have to take this message to every single person in Bengal, to every voter, to every citizen, that Mamata Banerjee and the TMC are opposing Vande Mataram for the sake of vote bank politics and to appease infiltrators," said Amit Shah. "By opposing Vande Mataram, Mamata Banerjee is not opposing Narendra Modi, but she is opposing the identity of Bengal and the pride of India... I appeal to the people of Bengal to completely uproot and throw out the TMC, which opposes the identity of Bengal, in the next elections and bring in a government of patriots here," Shah added. (ANI) Joe Scarborough faced an on-air correction from Marjorie Taylor Greene on Real Time With Bill Maher after repeatedly misstating the FACE Acts name during a discussion about Don Lemons arrest. Both Scarborough and Greene served as Mahers panelists for Fridays episode of the HBO program, where they shared their clashing stances on Lemons arrest, which came about following his presence at an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month. Lemon faces charges under two federal statutes, conspiracy to deprive rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which in part prevents one from interfering with someones First Amendment right of religious freedom. Advertisement Advertisement Greene made it clear that she completely supports the DOJs decision to indict the independent journalist, claiming Lemon violated the FACE Act by disrupting a place of worship and comparing the parishioners to white supremacists. Thats not journalism, thats activism, the former Congresswoman from Georgia stated. Disrupting a worship service, stopping peoples right to worship God, that is a violation of the FACE Act I dont think thats journalism. Thats not First Amendment, going in and harassing people in the middle of church. After Greene concluded her point, Scarborough attempted to jump in with his own point, but initially struggled to nail down the specifics of the case. If I can disagree here, I think the people that went into the church, that were the protesters, if under the Faith Act, Scarborough said, gesturing to Greene for support. Advertisement Advertisement Greene quickly chimed in with a correction, noting the FACE Act. However, Scarborough didnt appear to hear her, as he once again repeated the Faith Act. Again, Greene fact-checked Scarborough, telling the TV personality that the federal law is called the FACE Act. Faith, right, Scarborough hit back. The two former politicians did this back-and-forth over the name a couple more times, until Scarborough realized his error. Oh, FACE, he said. I thought it was, You Gotta Have Faith, because it was in [a] church. As Mahers studio audience erupted with laughter, Greene added, The parishioners, the Christians, have faith and they were trying to have church and Don Lemon and a bunch of activists came in and harassed them to the point that children were crying. Advertisement Advertisement Scarborough doubled down on his stance, however, sharing, Whatever that act is, whether its the FACE Act or the Faith Act or the Fake Act, whatever act it is, I think the people that went in and disturbed that church, if the [DOJ] wants to prosecute them thats certainly their right to consider that. He continued: I think there has to be sort of a differentiation between if somebodys going in there and saying, Im not with them. Can I ask you some questions? Because youre going to have embeds in war, youre going to have embeds in protests. Per Scarborough, he had no doubt that the arrests of journalists Lemon and Georgia Fort meant to scare other reporters. Lemon expressed a similar sentiment following his release Friday, sharing with reporters, There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable. Advertisement Advertisement He added: Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night, for something that Ive been doing for the last 30 years and that is covering the news. The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists I will not be silenced. Real Time With Bill Maher airs new episodes Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO. The post Joe Scarborough Stumbles as Marjorie Taylor Greene Corrects Him On-Air About Don Lemons Arrest appeared first on TheWrap. Heading into the fifth episode of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 18, Kenya Pleaser had just knocked the recently-having-fainted Briar Blush out of the competition after both failed to impress with their bestie vs. bestie designs. Vita VonTesse Starr became the fourth queen to snatch a maxi challenge win, while Athena Dion and Mia Starr were simply glad that their personal antagonist Briar was no longer around. This week, the queens are split into two groups with half showcasing their talent on the Main Stage while the others watch and rate their performances, setting everyone up to show their catty side in the super shady Rate-A-Queen twist. Swedish pop star Zara Larsson serves as guest judge alongside series panelists RuPaul Charles, Michelle Visage, and Ross Mathews. More from Gold Derby Advertisement Advertisement The queens still competing for the crown on Season 18 are: Athena Dion, Ciara Myst, Darlene Mitchell, Discord Addams, Jane Don't, Juicy Love Dion, Kenya Pleaser, Mia Starr, Myki Meeks, Nini Coco, and Vita VonTesse Starr. Read on for our recap of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 18, Episode 5, titled "The Rate-A-Queen Talent Show, Part 1," which aired Friday, Jan. 30 on MTV. Myki Meeks MTV "Safe bottom is very responsible, OK?" Myki Meeks At a point in the competition when the girls were struggling to stay out the squabbles with one another, Ru arriving to announce the return of Rate-A-Queen felt like two steps back. Even though the group would be split into two groups, a Part 1 and a Part 2 of the Talent Show, Jane was concerned that the pre-existing relationships among the cast would factor into how fairly, or unfairly, the ratings go. To make matters worse, Ru asked that the queens divide themselves into the two performance groups and agree upon their own running order for each show. Once the ratings are tabulated for each Part, the top two would Lip Sync for the Win and the bottom-rated queen in each group would be up for elimination against each other. To determine the groups, the queens assessed what style of talent each would present and tried to position themselves against queens who wouldn't be direct competition. For the Florida-based queens (Juicy, Athena, and Mia), they knew it would be bad strategy to have all three of them in one group, but in order to divide their trio evenly they brought in Kenya as a fourth in an agreement to split two-and-two with a commitment to rate their sisters one and two no matter what. Separately, Mia and Kenya also made a deal with Ciara, Nini, and Myki to rate everyone in the Q-pop girl group "GLAM!" highest. Jane Don't MTV "I planned to be judged by RuPaul, but now I'm going to be judged by a bunch of bitches from Florida who can't read." Jane Don't With an uneven number of competing queens, Vita was given the advantage as the latest maxi challenge winner to choose which group of five she would perform with. Once all the alliances and deals were hashed out in small whispery groups, it was agreed that Nini, Vita, Juicy, Mia, Ciara, and Darlene perform in Part 1 and Discord, Jane, Kenya, Myki, and Athena perform in Part 2. Prior to the first part of the talent extravaganza featuring the first six performers, all 11 queens walked the runway in this week's "Not Today, Satin" category featuring standout looks from Juicy in a green and purple oversized carnivorous flower gown, Myki in a black leather and periwinkle satin stunner, and Kenya, who looked better in a garment borrowed from Jane than Jane did in her own confusing bird gown. Advertisement Advertisement During the talent show, Ciara opened with a spoken word, interpretive dance number about rebirth dressed as a skeleton butterfly. Juicy followed in a slick hot pink robotic outfit with an original track built to show off her insanely tight flips, high kicks, and splits. Next was Nini as a praying mantis with the instant-catch-phrase-creating "You wanna make me mother? I wanna make you dinner" track, followed by Vita with a lackluster Alabama aerobics session and Darlene with a comedic country song about tools. Mia served as the closer with hip-hop choreo to match her "Mama Mia" rap track. Athena Dion MTV "She comes from the Athena Dion Academy for Young Aspiring Artists and she served, bitch." Athena Dion Instead of offering the queens critiques on the Main Stage, the judges remarked on the performances while the girls rated each other backstage. Zara explained that the words of Ciara's performance were lost and it felt like "the costume was the talent." Ross understood the character that Juicy presented in her choreography as a robot and Michelle referred to it as a "10 out of 10." Zara thought Nini was a favorite of the night in both her silly stage performance and the way she looked as a praying mantis and in the runway category. Michelle noticed that Vita "dropped her lip sync quite a few times" in the span of a one minute presentation. The panel felt the charm in Darlene's set, but also agreed that she could have pushed it further and Ross thinks her runway was "amateur hour," especially when compared to Mia who they thought performed like a star. Overall, their favorites were Juicy and Mia and their least favorites were Vita, Ciara, and Darlene. In their private Rate-A-Queen sessions, Athena and Kenya both stayed true to their Dion family alliance by placing Juicy and Mia in the top spot, but both Kenya and Myki failed to honor the GLAM! alliance in their placements of Ciara in the bottom half of their rankings. Both Vita and Darlene also took hits from some queens, but were declared safe alongside Nini once the averages were tallied. On the top was nice Juicy and auntie Mia, who went head-to-head in the LSFTW to Zara's song "Pretty Ugly," and the dance battle everyone else was hyped to watch did not disappoint. The two were so evenly matched that before handing out the win to both of them, Ru declared the match-up as "how you compete for the crown." Left at the bottom of the rankings was Ciara who would stick around until next week when she competes against the bottom queen from Part 2 in her own lip sync for survival. Best of Gold Derby Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Breeze on Wednesday announced a wide-ranging route expansion that will add new destinations, restore previously served markets, and introduce dozens of new and seasonal routes across its network beginning this summer. The expansion includes new service to Atlantic City, New Jersey; Brownsville, Texas; and Nassau, Bahamas, along with the carrier's return to San Antonio after a four-year absence. Atlantic City will join Breeze's network with new nonstop service to Charleston, South Carolina, beginning May 6, and to Raleigh-Durham starting June 11. The carrier will also offer one-stop BreezeThru service between Atlantic City and Tampa beginning June 11. A Breeze A220. (Photo: Shutterstock | Wenjie Zheng) Brownsville will receive new nonstop service to Orlando starting May 15, marking Breeze's entry into the South Texas market. International Expansion Breeze will also add new international service between Tampa and Nassau, Bahamas, beginning June 11. The route will operate twice weekly and will become the airline's fourth international destination. Advertisement Advertisement The airline will restore service to San Antonio, Texas, with new nonstop flights from Memphis and Raleigh-Durham beginning May 8. Additional seasonal nonstop service from Pensacola will launch June 10, along with one-stop BreezeThru service from Tampa. Additional Routes As part of the expansion, Breeze is also introducing several new and seasonal domestic routes, including: ColumbusGreenville-Spartanburg nonstop service beginning May 8 HuntsvilleFort Lauderdale nonstop flights starting June 12 Seasonal HartfordLouisville nonstop service launching May 29 Seasonal Los AngelesLouisville nonstop flights beginning May 6 Seasonal PittsburghLouisville nonstop service starting May 7 Seasonal MadisonRaleigh-Durham nonstop flights beginning May 8 Several routes will also be offered as BreezeThru services, including ColumbusOrlando and Raleigh-DurhamSan Antonio. When you think of celebrating craftsmanship, candy might not come to mind. But thats exactly what Yaw Asare and Orson Fournillier say they are doing with their business, Gold Coast Candy. The northeastern Wisconsin business is in expansion mode. From its humble beginning with peanut brittle at its core, the company has continued to grow with the addition of a wide variety of gourmet treats. The biggest step forward came with the acquisition of Sweet Ps Pantry of Oconomowoc. But Asare and Fournilliers story goes back to 2019. Asare, a native of Ghana, moved to the United States when he was 18 years old. He majored in economics at Lawrence University in Appleton, met his wife, and had three children. His career varied from working at service jobs to being a full-time banker. Advertisement Advertisement But always underlying those experiences was a dream. I wanted to be an entrepreneur so I took a variety of jobs so I would have different experiences, Asare said. When I came to the U.S., one of my dreams was to start a business someday. That dream became a reality when he was craving the peanut brittle that his mom made in Ghana. It was unlike brittle he tasted here because it had a wonderful flavor and didnt stick to his teeth. He said, I had a hankering for the brittle I used to eat in Ghana and called my mom for her recipe. I started playing around in the kitchen and gave it to family and friends and people went crazy about it. Advertisement Advertisement The result was a new product, Sharays (his childhood nickname) Ghana Style Brittle. Sharay's Ghana Style Brittle doesn't stick to teeth because it uses real sugar instead of corn syrup, says company founder Yaw Asare. Roasted peanuts, water and salt round out Sharay's ingredient list. With Orson Fournillier joining as his business partner, the product was tested at farmers markets and developed a loyal following. They promoted the brittle as a mouthwatering blend of tradition and flavor with a taste of Ghana in every bite. Fournillier, a native of Trinidad, had come to the United States in 2001 to pursue an MBA in supply chain management at Howard University. After graduating, his career had him and his family moving all over the country. In 2013, he took a job with a company in Wrightstown and met Asare at a Juneteenth Celebration in Green Bay. He said, I decided to leave corporate America to help build the company while also doing consulting. Gold Coast Candy partners, Yaw Asare, left, and Orson Fournillier, continue to look for ways to grow and expand their business and product line. They were using Sweet Ps Pantry as their producer while doing business as Sharays Brittle and Gold Coast Candy. Their line of treats continued to expand with toffees, caramels, chocolates, pretzel rods, truffles, chocolate bars and more. The brittle line also grew and included peanut, pistachio, pecan, and cashew. Advertisement Advertisement With so many different items, Asare and Fournillier thought it would make sense to acquire Sweet Ps Pantry. They had worked with the owner, Sharon Pavich, and said she had built a good, strong company with a good reputation. Fournillier said, We were her top customer for years. To purchase the business, we went back and forth in negotiations. She was kind enough to agree to be a learning resource for us; we learned a lot about what it takes to buy a business. Her company, founded in 2012, became part of Gold Coast Candy in 2023. On her LinkedIn page, Pavich said of the owners, They are growing this fabulous chocolate business to the next level. Watch for their Sweet Ps brand and Sharays Ghana Brittle brands in a store near you! Advertisement Advertisement Bringing the products to stores near you is part of the expansion planned by the pair. Fournillier said they are focusing on wholesale. He said, The first year after purchase was spent understanding the business. The second year was product changes, consolidation of operations to one location, and then focus on wholesale. We put a lot of energy into expanding the business from about three wholesale customers to 25-plus. To increase wholesale, new products have been introduced. The business is marketed as part of the Something Special from Wisconsin program, and appropriately, one of the products is a Wisconsin Bar, a bar that is shaped like the state and customized with a variety of fillings. This year, almost three years later, Asare says more changes are coming. Advertisement Advertisement It is time to consolidate under a single brand, he said. We are branding as Treat Culture; people come to us because they are looking to treat themselves with something special and we have all of the ingredients to do that. They are still doing business as Gold Coast Candy with the other brands as subsidiaries. They promote their items as African-inspired treats. Fournillier said, We asked ourselves, Will people appreciate a treat that has an origin in Africa? We have this opportunity to take our treats to communities where we can expose them to the things we grew up with. So far, the answer has been a resounding yes. They have noted a growing interest in trying foods from other cultures. That is an area they explore with their mentors, Refilwe Goll and Tonya Fourte-Lyles with Northwestern Mutual, as participants in the Green Bay Packers Mentor-Protege Program that they are part of this year. Advertisement Advertisement As they divide roles between sales, operations, finance, and human resources, time is spent following advice offered by their mentors and working on a business plan. The plan looks at packaging, shipping, the possibility of a brick-and-mortar store or store within a store, and profitability. Fournillier said, When it comes to projections, we have a crystal ball and its broken but we are still using it. When Yaw started in 2019, who would have thought wed be owning a production company in Oconomowoc. Opportunities come your way and you have the chance to say yes or no. We are focusing on the things we know and that helps us to understand where the opportunities are. The quest for opportunities will persist. They plan to continue selling at some farmers markets, doing direct sales, offering a concierge service, holding special events, utilizing online marketing and sales, and promoting corporate gifts. Products, including an array of Valentine treats, are available on their website, goldcoastcandy.com. As Asare looks back on how far the business has come, he said, If you are starting a business, you need to make sure that what you do is profitable. If you are just running around in circles, you are wasting your time. You need clarity and purpose or dont do it, because when things get tough, you will give up. A key thing, when I think of this business, is that we see ourselves as more than a candy store. We are a gifting company that makes candies that you can enjoy. Advertisement Advertisement Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Gold Coast Candy offers growing line of gourmet brittle, sweet treats In Ohio, Buckeye Chuck gets all the attention around Groundhog Day. And indeed, the rodent with radar will return to the Marion County Fairgrounds on Feb. 2 for his 47th weather forecast, predicting whether spring will be early, the Marion Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, reports. Nationwide, Punxsutawney Phil hogs the spotlight. People from across the country flock to the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, transforming it into the "weather capital of the world," USA TODAY reports. Advertisement Advertisement And while we wait to see whether the groundhogs spotted their shadow, signaling six more weeks of winter, other all-knowing animals around Ohio are making their forecasts for the start of spring. Let's meet them. The crowd cheered at the Marion Fairgrounds in Marion as Buckeye Chuck, the prognosticating groundhog, predicted an early 2025 spring by not seeing his shadow. Wildwood Willie makes predictions from Toledo metropark Wildwood Willie is the only other groundhog on the list. But unlike Chuck and Phil, Willie is stuffed. The taxidermy groundhog hosts an event every Groundhog Day at Wildwood Preserve Metropark in Toledo, according to GroundhogDay.com. The event includes groundhog stories, songs, crafts, games and a nature walk through a typical groundhog habitat. According to the website, Willie has made 11 predictions since 2011. Six called for more winter, five forecast an early spring and four were not recorded. Concord Casimir, the pierogi-eating cat from Northern Ohio Concord Casimir is an orange cat found as a kitten on the steps of Clevelands St. Casimir Polish Church in 2012. Casimir makes his predictions from Concord Township in Lake County, and in a different way than the groundhogs, according to GroundhogDay.com. Advertisement Advertisement Instead of whether Casimir sees his shadow, the cat's forecast is based on how he eats his pierogi. If he's a sloppy eater, the region is in for a long, messy spring. If Casimir eats them normally, the forecast calls for winter as usual. If he swallows them in one gulp, the summer will be warm. The website says Casimir's predictions don't fit neatly into the long winter/early spring system. But roughly, the cat has made eight predictions, five for more winter and three for an early spring. Benny the Bass forecasts from Buckeye Lake festival Benny the Bass is a forecasting fish that makes his predictions during Winterfest at Buckeye Lake, held the last Saturday of January each year. Like Casimir, Benny's forecast is based on food. Festival organizers drop live bait into Benny's tank. The forecast for an early spring depends on how fast Benny eats the bait, Winterfest chair Mike Fornataro said, according to GroundhogDay.com. Advertisement Advertisement I pour a bunch of minnows into this big tank with a live bass, the website quotes Fornataro as saying. Then people chant, 'Take the bait, spring cant wait. The bass has three minutes to eat a minnow. If he does, its an early spring. If he doesnt, its six more weeks of winter. Benny has made 10 predictions since 2015, per the website. Four called for six more weeks of winter. Six foresaw an early spring. One year's prediction went unrecorded. Go away, groundhogs: This Ohio fish predicts when spring will arrive Walnut the Hedgehog learned from the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil himself Walnut the Hedgehog makes her predictions from the Boonshoft Discovery Museum in Dayton. Advertisement Advertisement According to GroundhogDay.com, she learned "the arcane rituals of weather prediction" from Punxsutawney Phil himself. Walnut was part of a debate team that traveled to Pennsylvania. Walnut now performs her predictions for "National Hedgehog Day," which the website says is "a Roman tradition that precedes the modern Groundhog Day." Walnut has made three predictions, according to the site, seeing her shadow twice, predicting more winter, and predicting an early spring once. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Move over groundhogs. Ohio has other weather forecasting animals Jordan Blake Banks moved to Finland in 2019 to attend grad school and stayed to work. She said pay is lower in Finland, but it's offset by affordable education and healthcare. Banks said she's also been able to use being the "brave American" to her advantage. This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Jordan Blake Banks, an American and Finnish citizen who moved to Finland in 2019 for school and stayed to work. This story has been edited for length and clarity. I was born and raised in St. Louis, then moved to Urbana-Champaign to study my bachelor's in agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Illinois. I graduated in May 2019 and moved to Finland about a month and a half later. Advertisement Advertisement I studied abroad in Spain, and really loved it there. It opened my world and gave me more perspective, so I knew I wanted to go abroad after I graduated. I was interested in bioenergy, and that industry isn't very developed in the US. After doing some research, I landed on Finland, which has a huge forestry and bioenergy industry. The Nordics, in general, also have a lot of English-language master's degree programs. Through a Fulbright scholarship, I moved to Finland to pursue my master's degree. I basically moved from one university environment to another, so in that sense, it was pretty similar. During my second year, I completed a research traineeship while I worked in a lab and wrote my thesis. After school, I eventually got a job in sustainability consulting at Deloitte, one of the Big Four consulting firms. Working in Finland vs the US In Finland, you will most likely get a much lower salary than what you would make in the United States, but at least in my experience, it has balanced out. A lot of the things that are more expensive in the United States, like health insurance, education, and childcare, cost way less in Finland. Finland has a really good work-life balance in general. There isn't a huge culture of grinding, staying up late, and working long hours to get ahead in your career. The general idea is that the company and your colleagues respect you as a person and your personal time. Advertisement Advertisement It's very common for people to set clear boundaries around work. A parent might leave in the middle of the day to take care of their child or have strict start and stop times because of family responsibilities. I really don't think that's seen as anything bad in Finland. Most people also take a month of holiday in the summer and time off in the winter. Even in consulting, the expectation to constantly work overtime just isn't the norm. Banks first lived in a smaller Finnish town before moving to Helsinki. Alexander Spatari/Getty Images Learning the language isn't necessary, but it helps Finnish is a very different language and probably the biggest challenge. Even though many international companies operate in English, in consulting, some projects are done in Finnish, and colleagues who speak the language are more likely to get those assignments. I eventually participated in an integration program where I spent months learning Finnish full-time. That experience really accelerated my language learning. Learning the language helped me feel more integrated in everyday life. I also don't think I would have passed the national Finnish language exam without it, which I took to become a citizen after meeting and marrying my wife here. I feel very safe in Finland, but people are more reserved One of the biggest pluses is that I feel very safe here as a woman. Walking alone at night is something I would probably be very anxious about in many places in the United States, but in Finland, I feel pretty comfortable. Advertisement Advertisement As a Black American living in a small Finnish town, that can be a shock if you're not used to it. In the smaller university town where I started, I did feel maybe a little bit more othered, but since moving to Helsinki, I noticed there was a lot more diversity. There are also all of these different Facebook groups like "Americans in Finland" or "Americans in Helsinki." I think it's actually pretty easy to connect if you're looking for a specific cultural group. People in Finland are not as open initially. In the US, it's very common to make eye contact, smile, or say hi to people you pass on the street. In Finland, it can feel like people are actively avoiding contact. I've heard many stories of people about to leave their apartment who hear their neighbor open their door to also leave, so they rush back inside so they don't have to make contact with anyone. That can be a shock at first. At the same time, once you do get to know people, you can make good connections and real friendships. You just have to be willing to put yourself out there and be the brave American who asks for what you want. Advertisement Advertisement You can also use it to your advantage, and I think it helped me land my first paid research job at the university. I was willing to make contact and be the "brave American" who asks for things. Do you have a story to share about moving abroad? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@businessinsider.com . Read the original article on Business Insider If youve ever dreamed of commissioning a custom piece from the late Yves Saint Laurent, the highlight of this extraordinary experience in Marrakech offers the next best thing. For this one-off adventure, Robb Report has tapped Travel Master Alex Wix of Wix Squared and Gail Leonards team at Plan-it Morocco. If Marrakech can be the muse of someone like Yves Saint Laurent, why on Earth are you not coming to Marrakech? Leonard says with a laugh. Its a sensory overload, a sugar rush of color. Together, the Morocco-based outfits have devised an itineraryequal parts experience and art objectdesigned to immerse you in the city that enchanted one of fashions most legendary talents. More from Robb Report Villa Oasis Saint Laurent was instantly smitten with Marrakech during his first visit in 1966. He and his partner, Pierre Berge, bought a home there almost immediately, dubbing it Dar el Hanch or the Snakes House. The designer painted the serpent mural that gave the residence its name, and the artwork directly inspired the necklace included in this package. Snakes feature heavily in his costume-jewelry designs, for their creative rebirth when they shed their skin, Leonard says. Advertisement Advertisement Designed by Stephen di Renza, the necklace itself will be a bespoke creation by Paris-based enamelist Sandrine Tessier, a third-generation artisan whose work appears in the vitrines of Place Vendome. Vault buyers skip her lengthy waiting list and go straight to a custom commission, the Serpent of Marrakech, a fully articulated chain with 46 double-sided elements: a dozen each of blue, yellow, and green sapphires, 12 rubies, and 20 black diamonds. The serpent pendant adds more than 250 more black diamonds, navette-cut rubies, and champleve enamel. Each enamel layer is hand-fired, and the entire piece is cast in 18-karat palladium white gold with black dorure beneath the stones. Tessier guarantees it to be a true one-of-one, with no prototype or reproduction ever permitted. The bespoke necklace inspired by a serpent mural painted by Yves Saint Laurent. The trip goes far beyond the jewel. Your three-night stay is at La Mamounia, Saint Laurents longtime hotel of choice. Youll sleep in the 2,280-square-foot Al Mamoun Suitetwo bedrooms and multiple terraces offering wide-open views of the Atlas Mountains, the same panorama that helped seal the designers bond with the city. Days unfold through a series of private visits, backed by a luxury town car for any spur-of-the-moment detours. At Dar el Hanch, the homes current owners will welcome you for drinks and share firsthand stories of the Saint Laurentera. (They knew Saint Laurents circle personally.) These were the heady, happy days, Leonard notes. That very famous photograph of Saint Laurent, bare-chested in white jeans? He is standing on the balcony as you arrive into the house. Youll leave with a copy of YSL: Une Passion Marocaine as a memento of the meeting. Bedroom, Al Mamoun Suite, Room 280. La Mamounia Hotel, Marrakech, Morocco. Photo by Alan Keohane www.still-images.net for La Mamounia Next comes an extraordinary access to Villa Oasis, the final home of Saint Laurent and Berge. Closed to all but a handful of visitors each year, the residence reveals rooms layered with carved-woodwork pieces and meticulous artisanal detailsan intimate look at the aesthetic that shaped Saint Laurents late career. Youll also tour the Musee Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech and the adjacent Jardin Majorelle, a whimsical botanical fantasia created by artist Jacques Majorelle and painstakingly restored by the couple. Advertisement Advertisement The experience isnt rooted solely in the past. Hadia Temli, one of Moroccos most influential creators and gallerists, will lead you through the studios and workshops of the citys rising artists, offering a window into Marrakechs creative present. The museum that pays tribute to YSLs genius. This immersion will underscore what drew Saint Laurent and his circleincluding Talitha Gettyto the city in the first place. Its an amazing weekend of dipping your Manolo-shod toes into this incredible scene, Leonard says. In that era, it became so glamorous, with a frisson of possibility and inspiration. And people still come to be incredibly inspiredthats still the essence of Marrakech. $471,000 Sign up for RobbReports's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. When the weather is dreary, I can always rely on bright citrus like oranges to bring me a burst of joya bowl of mandarins adorns my dining table, I toss orange supremes into salads, and I love cooking with the aromatic fruit. There are more than 600 types of oranges grown around the world. The fruit ranges in sweetness and acidity, shines in both sweet and savory applications, and is a key player in many cuisines, including Moroccan, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean. Each variety has different qualities: Super sweet mandarins are especially delicious for eating on their own, blood oranges give salads a bright pop of color, and sweet-tart Valencia oranges are great for juicing. This guide to some of the most common orange varieties will help you navigate the citrus section at grocery stores and farmers' markets, so youll know when to reach for which. You might even discover a new kind of orange to try. (All peak seasons below refer to the U.S.) What Exactly Are Oranges? Of course, you almost certainly have a general sense of what oranges are, but let's unpeel the fruit a little further. Oranges are part of the Rutaceae citrus family, which also includes lemons, calamansi, limes, kumquats, and grapefruit. Pomelos, citrons, and mandarins are the ancestors from which all citrus fruits have evolvedthe orange is a hybrid of the pomelo and the mandarin. In his book On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee notes that oranges likely originated from southern China, northern India, and Southeast Asia, and made their way to Europe during the Middle Ages by way of trade and crusaders returning from Asia and the Middle East. Today, oranges are grown in subtropical climates around the world, including Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Japan, and the United States. Advertisement Advertisement There are two main types of orange, plus mandarins, which are often lumped in with oranges but are actually a separate genus. Sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis) have a thick skin, large, round shape, and a tangy citrus flavor. They are bolder than mildly sweet mandarins, making them ideal for eating raw, baking, or cooking with. Sour or bitter oranges (Citrus aurantium) have a thick, aromatic skin, are small and round, and have intensely tart, bitter flesh. Mandarins (Citrus reticulata) include tangerines, clementines, and satsumas. They are smaller, slightly flatter, and sweeter than oranges, and have looser skin that makes them easier to peel. We've chosen to include mandarins in this guide since oranges and mandarins are often sold together and used interchangeably. Types of Oranges Valencia Orange Getty Images / yodaswaj Type: Sweet Flavor: Balanced, sweet, and tart Appearance: Ovular, golden-orange color with thin, smooth rind Texture: Very juicy flesh Size: Medium to large, 3 inches in diameter Peak Season: March through June Valencia oranges are primarily grown in California and Florida. In her book Oranges: A History, the British writer Clarissa Hyman notes that while many assume the orange hails from Valencia, Spain, the variety was named in its new home of California when it was deemed to resemble a late-maturing Old World orange by a homesick Spanish visitor. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Valencia is the most common orange produced in the U.S., with a crop yield of over 944,550 tons in the 2023 to 2024 season. Advertisement Advertisement They are the only oranges with a peak season in late spring and early summer. Valencia oranges are beloved for their exceptional juice, which is slightly acidic and pleasantly sweet and tart. They're great for squeezing homemade orange juice to drink or use in recipes. Navel Orange Getty Images / Lew Robertson Type: Sweet Flavor: Sweet, aromatic, and mildly acidic Appearance: Globular to slightly oval with a prominent navel on the stem end. Bright orange rind with pebbled texture. Flesh is yellow-orange. Texture: Juicy, tender flesh with thin membranes and a spongy pith Size: Medium to large, 3 to 4 inches in diameter Peak Season: November through February Navel oranges are originally from Brazil and are among the most common orange varieties in the U.S. today. Navel oranges are easily identifiable by their belly buttonlike holes at the stem end. (The Cara Cara orange is a type of navel that is becoming increasingly popular; Cara Caras have delicate pink flesh and low acidity.) Navel oranges have a thinner skin than many other oranges and are sweet and seedless. Theyre the standard everybody knows and eats, says Valerie Aikman-Smith, chef and co-author of Citrus: Sweet and Savory Sun-Kissed Recipes. You'll always get sweetness and juiciness out of them. Advertisement Advertisement Since navel oranges are seedless, they must be propagated through grafting onto other trees, a process that requires careful attention to ensure healthy fruit production. Grafting is more labor-intensive than growing oranges from seed because the trees are slower to mature and more susceptible to diseases, which adds complexity to large-scale orange farming. Navel oranges are ideal for eating on their own or adding to fruit salads. While navel oranges contain a substantial amount of juice, a naturally occurring antioxidant called limonin turns the juice bitter and sour about 30 minutes after exposure to air, and its best to drink the juice immediately. Blood Orange Getty Images / Lew Robertson Type: Sweet Flavor: Floral, sweet, and tart with raspberry notes Appearance: Obovoid to globular with a blushing orange rind and dark red flesh Texture: Medium-thick spongy pith and juicy flesh Size: Medium to large, 2 to 3 inches in diameter Peak Season: December through April The blood orange, a hybrid of the pomelo and tangerine with origins in the southern Mediterranean, is known for its ruby flesh and vibrant floral notes. Popular varieties of blood orange include the arancia rossa di Sicilia, sanguinello moscata, and moro, each offering distinct levels of sweetness, tanginess, and intensity. The flesh can range from reddish-orange to maroon, crimson, or a saturated, almost black hue. The color comes from purple-red pigments called anthocyanins, which also gives fruits and vegetables like blueberries and beets their color. Advertisement Advertisement Aikman-Smith describes the fruit as having a tart, slightly perfumed flavor with subtle bitterness. The fruit has very few seeds, and the flesh is soft and juicy with hints of cherries and raspberries. Blood oranges are beautiful in salads and their juice is great for cocktails. Seville Orange Getty Images / Nikand4 Type: Sour Flavor: Floral, bitter rind with sour flesh Appearance: Round with thick, bumpy, yellow-orange rind; orange flesh Texture: Spongy pith with soft, juicy flesh and cream-colored seeds Size: Medium, 3 inches in diameter Peak Season: January through March Also known as bitter or sour oranges, Seville oranges (hailing from Seville, Spain) are highly acidic. Because of their intense tartness, Seville oranges aren't ideal for eating on their own. However, the fruit is great for cooking with, and it is a staple ingredient in both Spanish and Mayan cooking, where their vinegar-like acidity livens up sangria, cochinita pibil (Yucatan-style barbecued pork), and other dishes. The Seville oranges high pectin content makes it an especially good citrus variety to use for marmaladewhen balanced with sugar, the fruits bitter rind and sour kick add great depth to preserves. Mandarin Getty Images / Andrey Elkin Type: Mandarin Flavor: Sweet and strong Appearance: Deep orange color and oblate or spherical shape Texture: Soft flesh with loose, easy-to-peel skin Size: Small to medium, 1 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter Peak Season: November through March Advertisement Advertisement Mandarins have a bright, sweet, and slightly tangy flavor with a juicy, refreshing texture. The term mandarins refers to a subset of mandarinslike clementines or satsumasthat are often labeled "mandarin" without identifying the specific variety of citrus sold. They are typically sweeter, less acidic, and easier to peel than oranges. They are significant in Chinese Lunar New Year festivities: Their deep orange color and round shape are considered auspicious, symbolizing wealth and good fortune. There are nearly 200 varieties of mandarin, including tangerines. Most mandarins have soft, loose skin that's easy to peel and the fruit are virtually seedless, making them a convenient snack. Tangerine Getty Images / Natikka Type: Mandarin Flavor: Robust sweet-tart Appearance: Round and slightly flattened with a broad, curved middle; dark orange-red color Texture: Thin, smooth peel with tender, juicy flesh and cream-colored seeds Size: Small to medium, 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter Peak Season: November through March Tangerines, which belong to the mandarin family, are pebbly and have a bright orange hue with sweet, tangy flesh. In the 19th century, Italian immigrants brought tangerines from Tangiers, Morocco, to the U.S. The fruit usually contains seeds, however, many tangerine hybrids including tangelos, clementines, minneolas, and satsumas, are seedless. Like mandarins and clementines, tangerines are very sweet and easy to peel, making them an excellent choice for snacking. Clementine Getty Images / Teen00000 Type: Mandarin Flavor: Sweet, subtly tangy with floral nuances Appearance: Round and slightly flattened with thin, bright, and shiny orange skin Texture: Smooth rind with juicy and tender flesh with little pith Size: Small, 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter Peak Season: November through January Advertisement Advertisement Clementines are the smallest type of mandarin and are commonly known by their brand names Cuties, Sweeties, and Halos. These small fruits are super sweet and slightly tangy with floral notes. Theyre typically seedless and have reddish-orange skins that are thin, smooth, and shiny. They are easier to peel than tangerines, with a very thin pith that doesnt stick to the flesh. Satsuma Type: Mandarin Flavor: Mild, sweet, and subtly tangy with honeyed nuances Appearance: Round and slightly flattened with a broad, curved middle. Color is slightly less bright than other mandarins Texture: Smooth rind and succulent flesh with very little pith Size: Small to medium, 2 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter Peak Season: October through December Satsumas tend to be flatter than other mandarins and have bumpy rinds. They are easy to peel with a sweet and lightly acidic flavor. Store-bought satsumas are mostly seedless, though homegrown satsumas can contain seeds. They are often enjoyed fresh and are also commonly used for canning. There are more than 100 varieties of satsuma worldwide, including miyagawa (a common variety in Japan) and xie shan (a Chinese variety). Most of the satsumas available in the United States are owari, a variety from Japan. Satsumas are distinct from other mandarin species for their cold tolerance, and can grow in temperatures where most citrus cannot. While most oranges grow best in temperatures of 65F (18C) and above, satsumas can flourish in temperatures as cool as 55F (13C), and have been known to stand up to even lower temperatures. Sumo Citrus Getty Images / ruiruito Type: Mandarin Flavor: Rich, refreshing, fruity, balanced, sweet, and tangy Appearance: Round to oval shape with a protruding knob and furrowed neck. Yellow-orange in color Texture: Coarse, bumpy rind. Thin pith and firm yet soft, succulent flesh Size: Medium to large, 3 to 4 inches in diameter Peak Season: January through April Advertisement Advertisement In 1972, growers in Japan created a new seedless citrus varietySumo Citrusby crossing a tangor (a hybrid between an orange and a satsuma mandarin) with a ponkan, a citrus fruit popular throughout Asia. In Japan, this variety is known as Dekopon; in the US, it is marketed as Sumo Citrus, a name inspired by its typically large size, the bump's resemblance to a top knot, and its Japanese heritage. Sumo Citrus is one of the most labor-intensive orange varieties to cultivate, hence its heftier price tag. It takes four years for the trees to start producing fruit after theyre grafted. Each fruit is hand-picked, then cured for 20 to 40 days to reduce the its acidity and boost sugar levels. As the Sumo sits in storage, its starches gradually break down into sugars while citric and malic acid levels decrease to create that signature bright, sweet flavor. Curing also allows moisture to redistribute within the fruit, which makes the flesh juicier and the peel easier to remove. How to Choose the Best Oranges and Mandarins In general, Aikman-Smith recommends looking for citrus fruit that is glossy and firm with a slight give. The fruit should have no soft spots, discoloration, or bruising on the skin, which could indicate rotting or damage. While a bright orange color can be appealing and can be a sign of ripeness, its not the only indicator of an orange or mandarin's quality. A better indicator of an orange or mandarin's juiciness and flavor is its weight and scent: It should feel heavy for its size and have a fresh zesty aroma. Aikman-Smith explains that supermarket oranges are often picked while theyre not fully ripe, as harvesting them early makes the fruit firmer and less prone to damage during transport. However, because oranges develop much of their natural aroma and sweetness as they ripen on the tree, picking them too soon means they dont have time to fully develop the volatile compounds responsible for their signature citrus scent. As a result, these oranges often have little to no aroma. Advertisement Advertisement Citrus season typically begins in November and lasts until June, with the exception of Valencia oranges, which are in season during the early summer. According to Aikman-Smith, buying oranges in season means you're more likely to get fruit that was harvested recentlyespecially if you live in a region where oranges growrather than fruit that has been stored for months or shipped from thousands of miles away. (If you live in a place like Maine, for instance, buying in-season would be the difference between buying domestic oranges vs. those shipped in from Brazil.) If possible, consider visiting a local pick-your-own citrus orchard, as you will likely get the freshest and most flavorful fruit. Alternatively, you can shop at farmers' markets and grocery stores that offer regionally cultivated fruits. If you don't live in a citrus-growing region, seek out vendors who carefully select the fruits they sell. How to Cook With Oranges While oranges and mandarins are often enjoyed raw, cooking with them can enhance their sweetness, mellow their acidity, and infuse dishes with bright citrus flavor. The key to cooking with oranges is balancing their sugars and acidity to complement other ingredients. For this reason, some recipes where flavor complexity is paramount and subtle flavor variations can make or break the dishsuch as sauces and baked goodsmay call for a specific orange variety. Some dishes, such as salads and frozen desserts, allow for more freedom to experiment, as each type of orange offers unique ways to add brightness and nuance to recipes. Fresh Juice The thin skin of Valencia oranges and their nearly seedless pulp make them ideal for juicing. The juice is delicious drunk on its own, or incorporated into syrups, cocktails, smoothies, and vinaigrettes. To give your sauces, cocktails, and desserts a bright pop of color, consider using blood orange juice. You can freeze any orange or mandarin juice when the fruit is in season, then thaw the juice when youre ready to use it. Marinade, Sauce, and Braising Liquid Orange juice makes for great marinades, not only because of the flavor it brings, but also because the acid helps tenderize the meat by breaking down its proteins and connective tissues. The sour juice and fragrant zest of Seville oranges are ideal for cooking Cuban-style mojo pork, as their tartness helps cut through the richness of the dish. Seville oranges are also the fruit of choice for duck a l'orange, where sweet orange juice would be far too cloying. Segments Sweet oranges can be segmented and tossed into a salad or ceviche. Firmer-fleshed varieties like the Valencia hold up especially well, as in this Spanish-style salad. Smaller mandarins might be more difficult to slice into supremes, but their lack of pith makes the fruit easy enough to simply peel, separate into segments, and add to a salad. Advertisement Advertisement For an easy dessert, consider serving segmented oranges as they do in Thailandin a refreshing iced syrupor dipping seedless tangerine or Sumo citrus segments in dark chocolate, then topping them with chopped nuts for extra crunch. Zest Orange zest lightens up heavy dishes by providing much-needed freshness. A delicious way to do it is with gremolata, which is one of Aikman-Smiths favorite uses for navel orange zest, especially when served with lamb or osso buco. Zest also adds a lovely aroma to salads, vinaigrettes, desserts, and orange curd. Preserves Seville oranges and their seeds have an abundance of pectin, which is why this variety is often the orange of choice for orange marmalade. Another great variety for preserves is the mandarin, which has an enticingly sweet flavor. Baked Desserts Sweet orange juice can enhance desserts such as tarts and creme brulee. Sour oranges can also be used to make an orange meringue pie, where the bitterness of the fruit helps offset the sweetness of the meringue, or as a citrus substitute for a key lime pie. Toss whole satsuma segments into cake batter, or caramelize oranges to top off baked goods like a cheesecake. How Long Do Oranges Last? While you can refrigerate oranges for a few weeks, it's best to eat them fresh within a few days, as their quality will deteriorate as they sit and lose moisture. In our orange storage tests, we found that oranges will keep best in the refrigerators crisper drawer, where they can be stored for up to three weeks. Avoid putting them in sealed plastic bags, as they will soften more quickly and may mold. You can also freeze the juice for up to six months. Read the original article on Serious Eats A quick Bahamas getaway just got a lot more temptingespecially if youre the kind of traveler who loves a nonstop flight and a good deal. This summer, Breeze Airways is rolling out new nonstop service to Nassau, giving budget-minded travelers a fresh, affordable way to reach one of the Caribbeans most popular beach destinations. And yes, those headline-grabbing fares really do start under $100. Beginning June 11, Breeze will offer twice-weekly nonstop flights between Tampa International Airport and Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau, with service running on Thursdays and Sundays. To mark the launch, the airline is offering limited-time one-way fares starting at $99, available to book through early February. Advertisement Advertisement Related: This Growing Low-Cost Carrier is Launching Its First Mexico & Caribbean RoutesWith Fares As Low As $99 Its a move that fits squarely with Breezes growing reputation for connecting travelers to vacation-friendly destinations without the usual hassleor price tagof legacy airlines. For Florida-based travelers in particular, it means skipping the layover and heading straight for turquoise water, white-sand beaches and easygoing island vibes. The timing also makes sense. The Bahamas has been riding a major tourism wave, welcoming a record-breaking number of visitors last year. Nassau, home to well-known resorts, historic neighborhoods and quick ferry access to Paradise Island, continues to be one of the most popular entry points for first-time visitors and repeat travelers alike. Related: The One Budget Airline The Points Guy Uses to Save Hundreds Advertisement Advertisement For Breeze, the Nassau route adds to a steadily expanding international footprint, while still sticking to its core pitch: nonstop flights to places people actually want to go, paired with flexible fare options. Travelers can choose from stripped-down basics or upgrade to bundles that include perks like checked bags, extra legroom and onboard Wi-Fihandy if youre turning a long weekend into a longer escape. The new service also taps into a broader trend: travelers prioritizing shorter flights, fewer connections and destinations that feel like an instant reset. With just a few hours in the air, Tampa flyers can trade traffic and meetings for ocean breezes and beach daysoften for less than the cost of a tank of gas and a hotel night at home. Bottom line: if a Bahamas trip has been sitting on your someday list, Breezes new nonstop flights make this summer a pretty compelling time to finally book it. Related: Your Favorite Budget Airline Is Opening a LoungeReally This story was originally published by Parade on Jan 31, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here. There might be something rotten in the state of Walmart. No, we're not talking about that package of bacon someone tucked into the shelves of the auto supply aisle. We're talking about potentially legally dubious discrepancies in its labeling practices. In a series of now viral posts, TikTok user Jimmy Wrigg found that many of the chain's prepackaged meat products do not match the weight listed on the label. In one video, Wrigg weighed several packages of Kentucky Legend ham to measure against the labels. He found many of the cuts were less than half the weight at which they were priced. This weight gap has caused quite the ruckus online, with many echoing Wrigg's calls for pricing accuracy and transparency. For many, this appears to be yet another way retailers are trying to squeeze money from shoppers already dealing with high grocery prices. Not only would such a big inconsistency in labeled weight and actual weight be poor business practice, it would also be illegal, as it constitutes misleading packaging. Read more: 6 Big Changes Coming To Walmart In 2026 A meaty matter Meat on scale - 0802290022/Getty Images Accusations of illegal business practices are, of course, a very serious matter. For this reason, there are a few aspects to consider before directly jumping on the meat fraud train. While larger discrepancies in weight may be illegal, smaller differences (if a package is off by only a few ounces) are within the allowed range for accuracy. Another aspect of this puzzle to consider is the precision of grocery store scales. Most states do have regulatory practices regarding grocery scales to ensure measurements are accurate. Wrigg did test the scale using a hand weight before weighing his hams, and did find a small difference, but not nearly enough to make up for the large differences in labeled weight and actual weight. Advertisement Advertisement Another possibility? Water weight. Many meat products have water added during processing. Ham, for example, is often packaged with "natural juices." This temporarily increases the weight of said meat product, and often drains during or after the packaging process. The pad at the bottom of your chicken, for example, may soak up some of your chicken's water weight. This water isn't just added to bulk up products; it can also help with food safety. However, some of the weight differences being reported online by disgruntled customers do appear to be well beyond a bit of water or incorrectly calibrated scales. If you're concerned about accurate pricing when you visit the grocery store, be sure to weigh your meat before purchasing. If you suspect inaccurate labeling practices, you can report it to the USDA. Want more food knowledge? Sign up to our free newsletter where we're helping thousands of foodies, like you, become culinary masters, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google. Read the original article on Chowhound. Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Saturday welcomed the possibility of Sunetra Pawar becoming the Deputy Chief Minister, saying it's a good decision, and people want it following the untimely death of NCP chief Ajit Pawar. Sunetra Pawar, Ajit Pawar's wife, is likely to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister today. Speaking to the reporters, Bhujbal said, "It is good. People want it, and our MLAs are also demanding the same. This is absolutely right. Under the current circumstances, Sunetra taai should indeed be the Leader of Legislative Party and Deputy CM." Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash on January 28, after which the Deputy CM post fell vacant. On NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar's statement, he said, "I don't know what was said by whom..." Earlier in the day, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief and Ajit Pawar's uncle, Sharad Pawar, said that he has no information about NCP MP Sunetra Pawar's name being pitched for the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. He said, "I have no information about it (Sunetra Pawar's name for the Deputy CM post). Her party must have decided. What I saw in the newspaper today: some names like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatakare who have taken the initiative to make some decisions." Further, NCP Maharashtra State President Sunil Tatkare refused to comment on NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar's remarks. Speaking to reporters, Tatkare said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will make the final decision on the Deputy Chief Minister post, which fell vacant after Ajit Pawar's demise. He said, "I don't have anything to say on this matter right now. We have a meeting, and after the meeting, we will discuss all these issues.""We have a meeting this afternoon. After the meeting, we will meet with the Chief Minister. After the meeting with the Chief Minister, we will present our views to him, and then the Chief Minister will make a decision on it. We will discuss all these things later," the NCP leader added. (ANI) At 15 years old, Natalie Razore has already survived more than many people face in a lifetime. She loves music. Shes a devoted Seattle Kraken fan. She grew up cheering in Bellevue. By most appearances, Natalie is a typical teenager. But her journey to this moment and Make-A-Wish Washington Alaska taking her to the Grammys this weekend has been anything but typical. When Natalie was just two weeks old, she contracted pertussis, also known as whooping cough. Advertisement Advertisement I spent 72 days at Seattle Childrens Hospital, Natalie said. She stopped breathing and needed blood transfusions, a ventilator, and eventually ECMO a machine that temporarily took over for her heart and lungs. Her family says she was the first infant with whopping cough that needed an ECMO machine to ever survive at Seattle Childrens. But that early fight left lasting complications damage to a growth plate in her left leg. It meant Natalie would need surgery every few years, followed by six months in a wheelchair and daily physical therapy. Wed come home from Minnesota with this big growing machine and wed have to grow two to three times a day, Natalie said. Advertisement Advertisement Her final leg-lengthening surgery is scheduled for March. For the first time, it felt like the end of a long medical journey was in sight. Then, last year, Natalie noticed something wasnt right. Some lymph nodes went under my armpit, she said. Then I was wearing a necklace and my neck fell uneven. I was like, Mom, Dad what is this? The diagnosis changed everything - stage three cancer. Hodgkins lymphoma, Natalie said. I was pretty shocked. She cut her hair and began chemotherapy, returning again and again to Seattle Childrens Hospital. Through it all, Natalie found strength in music. Taylor Swifts song I Can Do It With a Broken Heart was my theme song going across the 520 Bridge, she said. The lyric is, Im a real tough kid. Advertisement Advertisement Now, Make-A-Wish Washington Alaska is giving Natalie another reason to sing sending her to the Grammys this weekend. That was my wish, Natalie said. Because I love music. The experience includes walking the red carpet and seeing some of her favorite artists up close. Im most excited to see all the different music artists hopefully get some autographs, she said. But the biggest moment in Natalies journey came well before Make-A-Wish she is now in remission. I rang the bell last March, she said. After years spent in and out of hospital rooms, shes imagining a future beyond appointments and procedures. Advertisement Advertisement My dream job is probably to become a teacher, Natalie said. She added she also wants to be a mom. I just love little kids and enjoying life. Natalie and her mom are already in Los Angeles for the Grammys. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Washington-Alaska chapter of Make-A-Wish, which has granted wishes to more than 9,200 children. You can follow Natalies medical journey on Instagram. For the first time, New Bedford foster parents are speaking publicly as they advocate to keep their foster child in the United States, saying the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families had been moving to reunite the girl with her biological father, who was deported to Guatemala, despite never having custody of her in the U.S. Cathy and John Cobbett-Walden say the child, whom 25 Investigates is calling S, came to them through an emergency placement by DCF in 2021. She is now 8 years old and lived in their home for more than three years. We always talked about how that was the best day of our lives, said foster mother, Cathy Cobbett-Walden. Advertisement Advertisement At one point, the couple believed adoption was imminent. So, at some point, did it look like you would, the wheels were in motion for you to adopt her? Kerry Kavanaugh asked. One hundred percent, Cobbett-Walden said. They were ready to terminate fathers rights. We had been licensed to adopt her. During that time, developments in the childs care and protection case have raised renewed questions about how DCF determines the best interests of a childs well-being. Court records show the childs biological mother had her parental rights terminated. She was 15 years old when S was born. The childs biological father, a Guatemalan national, was 29 at the time of her birth. Advertisement Advertisement Court filings say he was in and out of the childs life and never had custody. He currently resides in Guatemala following his second deportation from the United States, according to court filings. 25 Investigates has reached out Immigrations Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security for more details about the deportation. Esvin Stay Opposition by Boston 25 Desk And despite his deportation, DCF chose to continue on the path of permanently placing S with him in Guatemala, said the foster parents attorney, Kirsten Zwicker. The move would have sent the American-born child out of the country at which point DCF oversight would end. As soon as we started advocating for Ss wishes, they stopped sharing information with us. They stopped communicating with us, said John Cobbett-Walden. Advertisement Advertisement Zwicker said there was no clear plan in place to meet the childs social and emotional needs in a country she does not know and where she does not speak the language. DCFs prerogative of facilitating the removal of citizen children to foreign countries without any federal oversight was troubling to us, Zwicker said. And we raised that in our filings, that we saw no legal authority that allowed them to do so. As the case played out in court, 25 Investigates learned that in November, DCF removed S from the New Bedford foster home following a domestic violence incident. That case was later dismissed. There were no criminal charges, but the removal remained. Zwicker says the family was under enormous stress with the pending loss of the child they cared for as their own for so long. Family wouldnt provide details of the circumstances of the removal due to ongoing court proceedings but described it like this. Advertisement Advertisement Its like your heart being ripped out of your chest, John Cobbett-Walden said. Shes the most amazing kid. 25 Investigates: Advocates renew push for legislative action in honor of Harmony Montgomery So, I went home and made sure she had the clothes she would want, the toys I could fit into one suitcase because I wasnt going to let her have a trash bag, Cathy Cobbett-Walden said. The couple says even without S in their home, they continued advocating to ensure the childs wishes were heard in the custody decision. Zwicker reiterated concerns about the fathers lack of custody and the agencys authority. Advertisement Advertisement The facts here where father had no legal custody, has not had any legal custody. The fact that they were removing her under their own authority without some kind of federal oversight was troubling, she said. The foster parents sought an emergency court order to keep the child in the United States. In a new court filing this week, their legal team uncovered what court records described as the biological fathers extensive criminal history in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including charges of assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon involving a police officer, trafficking cocaine, possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance, furnishing false identification at arrest, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and failure to stop for police. 2026-01-28 SRC Notice of Supp Facts FINAL by Boston 25 Desk The fathers attorney told 25 Investigates he could not comment on the case. In the fathers own court filing, attorneys refuted the foster parents claims, writing that their claimed irreparable harm is speculative and contradicted by the state courts reunification findings. Advertisement Advertisement 25 Investigates asked DCF about its plan to send an American child to live with her deported father in Guatemala while criminal cases remained open in Massachusetts. The agency did not respond by our Friday deadline. We will update this story when we hear back. 25 Investigates also reached out to the Office of the Child Advocate about the process. They said they need time to unpack our questions. We will update this story when we receive a response from the OCA. We want to be connected, we want to support her, we want to be involved in her life, John Cobbett-Walden said through tears. To have the opportunity to even just be there to support her at all, ripped away. For now, the foster parents say if they cannot be there for S, they hope someone in the system will be. Advertisement Advertisement Thursday night, a Massachusetts juvenile court reversed course and vacated the order that would have sent the child to Guatemala. The case now remains open within the DCF system. 25 Investigates will continue to track what happens next. Mass. DCF missed warning signs, girl suffered chronic neglect before death, report says Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Federal prosecutors said nine people have been charged after a series of raids Thursday on the Near West Side, South Side and in the western suburbs. That includes a couple accused of leading a cocaine distribution operation. Officials say Joel Andrade and Mora Hernandez moved large amounts of cocaine throughout the city and suburbs, including Little Village, Villa Park, Addison and Rosemont. Seven of the nine charged were arrested during Thursday's raids. Advertisement Advertisement They have begun making initial appearances in federal court in Chicago. The complaint charges Andrade, 34, of Chicago, and Hernandez, 32, of Chicago, with drug conspiracy, drug distribution and firearm offenses. The other defendants charged with federal drug offenses are Richard Rubio, 33, of Chicago Ridge; Alexis Andrade, 30, of Chicago; Jeremy Rush, 34, of Downers Grove; Devonte Jones, 30, of Chicago; Jose Navarrete, 23, of Chicago; Jeremie Reyes-Gonzalez, 21, of Cicero; and Alexis Gutierrez, 43, of Riverside. Rubio and Alexis Andrade are also charged with possessing handguns in furtherance of their drug trafficking crimes, officials said. Advertisement Advertisement ABC7 Chicago captured video of agents removing evidence from a home near 21st Street and Washtenaw Avenue in Little Village Thursday morning. Villa Park police said the FBI served a warrant there, as well. INTERACTIVE SAFETY TRACKER | Track crime and safety in your neighborhood By Farah Master, Colleen Howe and Liz Lee HONG KONG/BEIJING, Jan 30 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China is the latest win Beijing can tout in its rivalry with Washington, but the deals he brings back to London also show the limits of the balancing act that middle powers may try to play. He follows Canadian counterpart Mark Carney, who struck a trade deal on a similar visit weeks ago, before heading to Davos to herald a new global trade order as U.S. President Donald Trump disrupts long-standing ties with allies. Advertisement Advertisement European leaders have also visited, as have India's Narendra Modi and others since Trump began his second term a year ago, but it is less clear what tangible long-term economic and security benefits such visits yield for Western powers. "Traditional U.S. allies feel hard done by and are now hedging their bets, but they are far from being able or willing to substitute China for the United States," said John Quelch, an expert in global strategy at Duke Kunshan University. From the perspective of London, Ottawa and other Western capitals, the visits demonstrate to Trump that alternatives exist if he keeps up pressure on issues from Greenland to renegotiating the USMCA trade deal among the United States, Canada and Mexico. But these are "superficial gestures amid stalled global growth," said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis. Advertisement Advertisement "These visits highlight the severe limits of any 'pivot' to China," she said. "They expose middle powers' vulnerability, chasing scraps while China's export flood overwhelms their industries." And they benefit Beijing, by supporting the narrative of a broad pivot to China as the world's "reliable partner", in contrast with Trump's chaotic tariff policies and his growing list of threats and demands towards partners and rivals alike. "President Trumps efforts to decouple the United States from China are also decoupling the United States from the world," Quelch added. STARMER SCORES WINS ON VISAS, WHISKY Advertisement Advertisement The deals clinched by Western powers on such visits come in return for deeper integration with a country that ran a trade surplus the size of the Dutch economy last year but where consumption is too weak for even its own producers to prosper at home. On his trip to the world's second largest economy, Starmer secured 30-day visa-free access for Britons travelling to China and lower tariffs on whisky, while British drugmaker AstraZeneca unveiled a $15 billion investment in China. He got nothing beyond "frank dialogue" on tension arising from China's increasingly assertive stance on Taiwan, its stronger ties with Russia after the Ukraine invasion and a rights crackdown on Britain's former colony of Hong Kong. British and U.S. politicians who criticised Starmer's trip also aired accusations of espionage and human rights abuse, which Beijing denies. Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, Carney left China with expectations that Beijing will cut or drop tariffs on canola, lobsters, crabs and peas, but that triggered threats of 100% tariffs from Trump, who warned Ottawa about allowing Chinese EVs into North America. And even before Starmer has wrapped up his China visit, Trump warned Britain it was dangerous to get into business with Beijing, after the prime minister extolled the economic benefits of resetting relations with China. CHINA'S EXPORT-DRIVEN GROWTH POSES RISKS FOR WEST China's imports last year were flat at $2.6 trillion, but they were largely driven by energy and commodities from emerging markets, rather than the West. Advertisement Advertisement Its trade surplus, however, jumped a fifth, to a record $1.2 trillion, as its manufacturers responded to Trump's tariff measures by muscling into virtually every other market in the world, at the expense of domestic producers. Such a pace of growth puts China's trade surplus on track to roughly reach the size of the $3-trillion French economy by 2030 and the $5-trillion German economy by 2033. Its exports to the European Union last year jumped 8.4%, while imports dipped 0.4%. China shipped 7.8% more to Britain, while buying 4.7% less. With Canada, sales grew 3.2% while purchases plunged 10.4%. "This makes it an especially risky proposition for countries trying to protect or grow their own manufacturing industries to substantially increase trade integration with China," said Eswar Prasad, a former China director at the International Monetary Fund. Advertisement Advertisement "China hardly provides a safe harbour for countries trying to cope with the adverse economic effects of U.S. tariffs," added Prasad, who now teaches trade policy at Cornell University. Still, say some analysts, significant trade wins with China may not be as important - or even realistic - for countries such as Britain or Canada right now. Resetting ties may be the best they can get, but that could still be valuable, as previous deterioration in relations exposed critical supply chain dependencies on China. The Asian giant's trade countermeasures helped to widen two-way trade imbalances, rather than narrow them, analysts said. Advertisement Advertisement The visits by Starmer and Carney are "a propaganda coup for Beijing," said Noah Barkin, Europe-China expert at the German Marshall Fund and Rhodium Group, while warning, "This is not a pivot to China. It is about reducing tension with Beijing." He added, "No country wants to be in open conflict with the two superpowers at the same time." (Additional reporting by Liangping Gao and Kevin Yao in Beijing and David Kirton in Shenzhen; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Thousands of protesters hit the streets in cities across the United States on Friday to protests to demand the withdrawal of federal immigration agents from Minnesota following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The demonstrations were part of a nationwide day of action, advocating no work, no school, no shopping in a protest against the Trump administrations sweeping immigration crackdowns. Protesters in Philadelphia, New York, Boise and Columbus gathered at city halls, courthouses, statehouses and legislative buildings, according to an action tracker. Students at high schools and colleges in Florida, California and other states staged walkouts. In Milwaukee and in Buffalo, Wyoming, people are gathering at parks and on street corners. Advertisement Advertisement In Minnesota, where tens of thousands turned out for economic actions and a rally last Friday to protest ICEs surge in the city, some businesses closed for the day while others stayed open under different models, either donating revenue from the day or providing free coffee and a place for people in the community to rest safely. In New York, thousands chanted and marched in frigid temperatures. Among the protesters were young and old people in thick coats, hats and gloves. In California, people hit the streets of cities including San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles. By Friday evening, demonstrations in Los Angeles had turned heated. Some protesters gathered in front of a downtown federal building, throwing bottles and other debris, spray painting anti-ICE slogans on the walls of the building. Authorities activated a tactical alert. Advertisement Advertisement Law enforcement officers sprayed chemical irritants into a crowd of about 200 protesters outside the Metropolitan detention center, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Bureau of Prisons facility, which ICE uses to detain immigrants, has become a site of repeated demonstrations. Video footage circulated on X appeared to show a group of demonstrators topple a small structure, then drag a large, red dumpster and push it to block the entrance. Protesters lobbed water bottles at law enforcement officers held clear shields that read police. Organizers said Fridays blackout or general strike, as some are calling it is part of a growing nonviolent movement to combat ICEs aggressive enforcement tactics. Those deaths include Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Keith Porter in Los Angeles and Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Illinois. Fridays national protest leaders, many of them students at the University of Minnesota, are calling for ICE to leave the city after its nearly month-long operation. They say economic pressure through work stoppages and consumer boycotts is just one way to demand accountability and reform. Advertisement Advertisement We are calling for this strike because we believe what we have been doing in Minnesota should go national, said Kidus Yeshidagna, president of the Ethiopian Students Union at the University of Minnesota and one of the students organizing the strike. We need more people and lawmakers across the country to wake up. Yeshidagna is part of a coalition of student groups that organized the Minnesota shutdown last Friday, in which thousands of people flooded the streets in sub-zero temperatures and hundreds of businesses shut their doors to demand justice for Good, who was shot by an ICE agent while trying to protect a neighbor. Last weekend, agents killed Pretti, another resident who was observing agents activities. The student groups including the associations representing Black, Somali, Liberian, Ethiopian and Eritrean students and the graduate labor union first gathered on 21 January to plan the calls for local and national strikes. We came out in huge numbers despite the cold, he said, referencing last weeks actions. We are now doing it again. Advertisement Advertisement From restaurants and clothing retailers to bookstores and coffee shops, businesses across dozens of cities stayed closed. Bench Pressed, a letter press and retail shop in Minneapolis, stayed open and donated all profits from Friday to people in the community who need help paying rent, which is due this weekend for February. Little Joy Coffee in Northfield, south of Minneapolis, sold a $5 Fuck ICE honey and cinnamon latte with all proceeds going to mutual aid funds, and has supplies for people to screen-print items with anti-ICE messages and to reach out to their representatives. Modern Times, a cafe in Minneapolis, has indefinitely switched to a free, donation-based model and was closed on Friday to join the general strike. The business said it would be referred to as Post Modern Times until the ICE surge is over, refusing to generate taxable income to fund the government that is brutalizing the city. Elliott Payne, the Minneapolis city council president, posted a video after stopping by a local high school walkout, writing: Our kids are leading the way and its our job to stand with them and make a better world possible for them. Advertisement Advertisement Students in Knoxville, Tennessee, walked out of their classes this morning to join an ICE Out protest, organized by Indivisible Knoxville. In a video originally posted by the Democratic representative Gloria Johnson, students and adults chant and hold signs with messages saying Defund ICE and Skipping Our Lessons to Teach You One. Sophie Pedigo, a senior at South-Doyle high school, told the Knoxville News Sentinel: I fully believe in freedom of speech. And whats happening is so wrong, and I feel like education, the place where you get your education, should not be somewhere that you should be scared of being ripped from your family. Thats just not right. And thats why Im here today, because Im fully against that. Over 20 Tucson, Arizona, schools closed today, as several staffers participated in the strike. Online, footage spread of high school students in places including San Antonio, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, participating in the walkouts. Hundreds of New York City high school students marched toward a downtown park as a part of the day of action. Advertisement Advertisement Volunteers with the Peoples Forum, a New York-based non-profit centered on political education and organizing, have been shoveling snow in preparation for the thousands of attendees anticipated to show up at todays protest in New York Citys Foley Square. Three weeks ago, no one considered, or even thought of the word general strike as having any relevance in the US context, and now its the one thing on everyones minds, said Manolo De Los Santos, executive director of the Peoples Forum. Not just as a figment of imagination, but as a real tool for how people fight back against this fascist regime in Washington. Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), spoke to the Guardian on his way to attend the New York City ICE protest in Foley Square. This [administration] has never been about safety and security, and its simply always been about cruelty, he said. Advertisement Advertisement The neighbors and family members of Good and Pretti contacted the student organizations to share their support for the protests, Yeshidagna said. We want to obstruct the pillars that are upholding the Trump administration, Gloriann Sahay, a national coordinator with 50501, said. Yeshidagna, who grew up in St Paul, said he was in high school and 15 minutes away from where George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. Since Trump sent ICE officers to Minnesota, he and his peers in the student organizations have watched his friends and family members be targeted. Fridays protests coincided with the looming prospect of a government shutdown as Senate Democrats and some Republicans cobbled together a last-minute deal that funds virtually all government agencies except Homeland Security. Democrats are limiting DHS funding to give them leverage to push for a variety of reform measures, including banning agents from wearing masks and having ICE obtain warrants to make arrests. The House will have to pass the $1.2tn funding package on Monday to avoid a prolonged shutdown. ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) According to a news release, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) will waive all vehicle registrations that expired this week. This waiver applies to any vehicle that is renewed by Feb. 6, and it ensures Arkansans do not pay a penalty for expiration this week, when state offices were closed due to weather. Arkansas author debuts kids book on brotherhood, families Advertisement Advertisement In addition to the release, DFA will extend the hours of several revenue offices next week. The following offices will remain open until 6 p.m. each day: Van Buren, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale, Fort Smith East, Jonesboro, Paragould, Batesville, Mountain Home, Cabot, White Hall, Pine Bluff, West Memphis, Monticello, Texarkana, Benton, Hot Springs Albert Pike, El Dorado, West Little Rock, Conway, Sherwood, Searcy, and Russellville. In addition to waived fees and extended hours, DFA employees will work this weekend to clear any backlog from online transactions submitted this week, DFA Secretary Jim Hudson said. This will increase the availability of employees to address immediate customer needs when Revenue Offices open Monday morning. We know many Arkansans will be visiting our offices, and we will be prepared to serve them. We remain committed to providing a great customer experience in every state Revenue Office. Additionally, the release said Arkansans now have the option of making an appointment for Revenue Office services. With an appointment, a DFA agent knows the reason for the visit, and is prepared at that time to complete it, eliminating unnecessary waiting. Tens of thousands of appointments have been completed since the program was launched in 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A fiery tweeter who is in charge of Uganda's military, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba is decried by his critics as being in the middle of an unholy trinity, or alliance, of three men who rule the East African nation with an iron fist. Kainerugaba, the son of the country's long-time leader Yoweri Museveni, has posted on social platform X about the killing of opposition supporters during this month's fiercely contested presidential election. In posts which were subsequently deleted, he also threatened to have the testicles of defeated opposition candidate Bobi Wine removed. Advertisement Advertisement With the 81-year-old president winning a seventh term, analysts say this is likely to be his last term and he is grooming his 51-year-son to succeed him. The so-called "unholy alliance" - a play on the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity - is made up of Museveni, Kainerugaba, and the president's powerful brother and special adviser, Salim Saleh. Kenya-based analyst for the Institute for Security Studies think-tank, Nicodemus Minde, tells the BBC that he heard the description during a recent research trip to Uganda. "The Father being Museveni, then the Son being Muhoozi, then the Unholy Spirit could be the uncle, Salim Saleh," he says. Advertisement Advertisement Minde describes Saleh as a "power behind the scenes", saying he was "influential in terms of money, business and access". Opposition supporters accuse the family of believing they have a God-given right to rule Uganda, with Museveni extending his 40-year-rule after he was declared the winner of the election with more than 70% of the vote. Indeed Anita Among, the speaker in the last parliament, also used the image of the holy trinity last year, as she rallied voters to back Museveni. "We believe in God the Father - and God the Father is President Museveni. God the Son is MK [Muhoozi Kainerugaba], and now you [the voters] are the Holy Spirit. Therefore, vote for them," she was quoted as saying in comments that came in for some criticism. Advertisement Advertisement After getting just 24% of the vote, Wine dismissed the results as "fake", claiming widespread "ballot-stuffing" was behind Museveni's victory. This incurred the wrath of Kainerugaba, who threatened the opposition leader, giving him "exactly 48 hours to surrender himself to the police". "If he doesn't we will treat him as an outlaw/rebel and handle him accordingly," he wrote. Those tweets - and the one in which he threatened to remove Wine's testicles - have since been deleted. Wine, who had gone into hiding after a raid on his house following the election, later called out the general on X and included a screengrab of some of the deleted tweets - to which Kainerugaba responded with the comment: "Boo hoo hoo Mr. 24%." Advertisement Advertisement Another tweet saying Wine was wanted "dead or alive" is still on his feed, even though a government minister has said the opposition leader is free to carry out his activities. The army chief later accused the US of helping Wine escape and said that all military co-operation between the two countries would be suspended. On Friday, he apologised, saying he had been given "wrong information". He subsequently announced "I intend to reduce my interactions" on the social media site. Last year, he said he would leave X before returning after just a few days. Kainerugaba has a long history of controversial posts, some of which have been later deleted, and is also known as the "tweeting general". Advertisement Advertisement He has also invoked religion to advance his political aspirations. "I fear no one on this planet because my bloodline is from Jesus Christ," he posted earlier this month. This tweet has also been deleted. A long-time friend of the general, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says he is "incredibly loyal", and compares his posting to US President Donald Trump. "He might be Trumpian, but that's him expressing himself," the friend tells the BBC. He says "it is wrong to try to understand him from the tweets that he posts", adding that Kainerugaba is "a man of complex character". Advertisement Advertisement Minde describes the general's posts as often "wild", but says that many of his comments can make sense when viewed within the context of Uganda's succession politics - in particular Kainerugaba's bid to position himself as his father's heir. President Museveni won the 15 January elections by a landslide [AFP via Getty Images] "He probably wants to endear himself to his father," Minde tells the BBC, but adds that some of the posts are deliberate "provocations". He says that Kainerugaba's statements do little to win him public favour. Kainerugaba's friend, on the other hand, tells the BBC the general would be an "incredible successor" to his father. Advertisement Advertisement He points out that Uganda is a post-conflict country where security is all-important. "This is our number-one priority, to make sure that you are peaceful and stable and [Kainerugaba] is very experienced in that sphere. He's been doing this all his life," he adds. However, some of his posts could threaten international relations if taken at face-value. In 2022 he threatened to invade neighbouring Kenya, triggering a backlash from Kenyans who trolled him for his "reckless" comments. He responded by urging them to "relax", but as the row escalated, Museveni was forced to phone his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto to apologise for his son's "mistake". Advertisement Advertisement Kainerugaba has in the past downplayed some of his remarks as "musings" and "abstractions" that do not need to be taken seriously. Uganda-based security analyst Freddie David Egesa observes that the military chief "enjoys having that kind of vibe". "He sometimes likes joking around it," Egesa says. Ugandan security forces have been accused of rights violations [Anadolu via Getty Images] Kainerugaba's friend says the general is "a kind, generous, intensely smart person who spends all his time thinking about the peace and security of this country". He adds that the general executes his responsibilities to the best of his abilities. "And that's why he serves in the role that he serves." Advertisement Advertisement Critics say Kainerugaba has brooked little opposition in the country, acting decisively against anyone perceived as a threat to his father's administration. By the general's own admission on X, at least 30 people were killed and 2,000 others detained by security officers following the recent elections. Before the polls, opposition rallies were disrupted, with security forces at times opening fire. The United Nations said the election was held in an "environment marked by widespread repression and intimidation against the political opposition". Kainerugaba played a role in the four-day internet blackout that lasted until after the elections, Reuters news agency quoted Andrew Mwenda, a Ugandan political commentator and close ally of the general, as saying. The internet remained partially restricted afterwards, but on Monday, Kainerugaba posted that access to all social media platforms was being restored. "We are releasing all social media today," he wrote. On the same day, he took to X to deny that his soldiers had beaten up Bobi Wine's wife Barbara Kyagulanyi. She had alleged from her hospital bed on Saturday that military officers had assaulted her overnight as they searched for her husband. According to Minde, Kainerugaba's actions appear driven by loyalty or a desire to protect Museveni's administration. The general's first name, Muhoozi, means avenger. "I named him Muhoozi, which means vengeance, such that when someone wrongs me, he avenges," Museveni once explained. Kainerugaba, who was born in 1974, grew up in exile in Tanzania, Kenya and Sweden before his father took power in 1986 after overthrowing the brutal regime of Milton Obote. He joined the military in 1999, enrolled at the UK's elite Sandhurst military academy and graduated the following year. He is married with several children. He rapidly rose through the military ranks shortly after joining the army, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general 10 years later. He was promoted to a full general in 2022. He played a pivotal role in the formation of the Special Forces Command (SFC), an elite military unit responsible for his father's security. The SFC has been accused of involvement in a wave of abductions and torture of opposition members. It has denied the allegations, but some of its officers have been convicted of abusing their power. The most prominent case was that of a 32-year-old SFC soldier, who was court-martialled and sentenced to death in 2024 for shooting dead three people and injuring two others, including a one-year-old child. And after a bodyguard of Wine, Edward Sebuufu went missing last May, Kainerugaba revealed on X that he was in detention "in my basement", and sparked a social media storm after he published a photo of him appearing half-naked and with his beard shaved off. As with Wine, he threatened to castrate Sebuufu. Wine has alleged that members of the SFC, as well as the military, were behind a raid on his home the day after the election. The unit is viewed as a shadow army that has helped Museveni, along with his ever-growing family dynasty, to consolidate power. The latest addition to the political dynasty is Kainerugaba's son, Ruhamya, who has joined the army - seen as the first step to acquiring power in Uganda. In the years to come, the composition of the trinity could change, with Kainerugaba as the Father, Ruhamya as the Son and another family patriarch succeeding Saleh as the Spirit. More about Uganda from the BBC: [Getty Images/BBC] Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica BBC Africa podcasts DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The Dayton Police Department announced Friday afternoon that an arrest in a cold case homicide has been made. Dayton Police & Fire said a 36-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Police said the arrest was in connection to the 2004 death of Lillie Oglesby. Lillie Oglesby | Photo/Ohio Attorney Generals Office The Ohio Attorney Generals Office lists May 26, 2004, as the date and a location in the 4600 block of Genessee Avenue in Dayton as the location for Oglesbys death. Advertisement Advertisement Investigators continued to work this case over the years and recently resubmitted evidence for additional analysis, which led to the identification and arrest of the suspect, said Dayton police. Story is developing Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Six of the hundreds of anomalies discovered in the Hubble telescope archives, including three unusual galaxies and three gravitationally lensed objects. | Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. ORyan, P. Gomez (European Space Agency), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) An artificial intelligence (AI) tool has uncovered more than 1,000 strange cosmic objects in the Hubble Space Telescope's image archive, including some that cannot be explained by science. After searching with the tool for just two days, researchers found 1,300 oddball objects, including chaotic merging galaxies, stars trailing gas, and even some objects that haven't been classified yet. Of these, 800 had never been spotted before, European Space Agency (ESA) officials said in a Jan. 27 statement . The findings were published Dec. 16, 2025, in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics . Advertisement Advertisement "Additional discoveries included galaxies with massive star-forming clumps, jellyfish-looking galaxies with gaseous 'tentacles,' and edge-on planet-forming disks in our own galaxy resembling hamburgers," NASA officials said in a separate statement . Remarkably, several dozen objects defied existing classification schemes entirely." Space jellies and sky burgers For the new study, ESA research fellows David O'Ryan and Pablo Gomez developed an AI tool to examine 100 million image cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive , which covers the telescope's observations following its 1990 launch. Each of the images was only a few dozen pixels per side, representing a narrow slice of sky barely a thousandth of a degree wide. "Archival observations from the Hubble Space Telescope now stretch back 35 years, providing a treasure trove of data in which astrophysical anomalies might be found," O'Ryan wrote in the paper. In addition to the "jellyfish galaxies" and cosmic "hamburgers," the search uncovered a range of other phenomena. "Most of the anomalies were galaxies undergoing mergers or interactions, which exhibit unusual morphologies or trailing, elongated streams of stars and gas," according to the NASA statement. "Others were gravitational lenses, where the gravity of a foreground galaxy distorts spacetime and bends light from a background galaxy into arcs or rings." One of the new Hubble anomalies is a 'collisional ring' galaxy, formed when one galaxy smashes into the center of another. | Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. ORyan, P. Gomez (European Space Agency), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) The researchers' AI tool, called AnomalyMatch, picked up these features after learning patterns from a training dataset. Using tools like this speeds up the traditional means of discovering strange things in the sky, which usually requires manual inspection or a lucky observation. Advertisement Advertisement "While expert astronomers excel at identifying unusual features, the sheer volume of Hubble data makes comprehensive manual review impractical," NASA officials said in a statement. " Citizen science initiatives have helped expand the scope of data analysis, but even these efforts fall short when faced with archives as extensive as Hubble's." related stories 'This doesn't appear in computer simulations': Hubble maps chaotic history of Andromeda galaxy, and it's nothing like scientists expected Hubble telescope discovers 'Cloud-9,' a dark and rare 'failed galaxy' that's unlike anything seen before Advertisement Advertisement NASA's Hubble telescope reveals most detailed photos of interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS to date "This is a powerful demonstration of how AI can enhance the scientific return of archival datasets," Gomez added. "The discovery of so many previously undocumented anomalies in Hubble data underscores the tool's potential for future surveys." NEW CASTLE A Butler County man has pleaded guilty in Lawrence County Court to fatally shooting a woman in an Ellport bar. Nathan Fink, 41, of Harmony, pleaded guilty Jan. 29 to third-degree homicide, aggravated assault and firing into an occupied structure in exchange for several other charges, including reckless endangerment and attempted homicide being dropped in the Sept. 7, 2024, incident. State police said Fink fired into the Breaker's Pub on Portersville Road after getting into a fight earlier in the evening inside. During the shooting, police said 37-year-old Crystal Wawrzynski, of Ellwood City, was struck and killed by the gunfire. Four others were injured but survived. A sentencing for Fink has tentatively been scheduled for April 21. This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Butler County man pleads guilty in Lawrence County bar shooting Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary's tweet about the NEET student's murder case has sparked a reaction, with Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha slamming the state government. While speaking to ANI, Jha said, "The situation in Bihar is not good these days. In this incident, too, an attempt was made to tarnish the victim's character. Now you are trying to cover it up." A family member of the victim alleged that there was connivance of the administration behind his death "I am not satisfied with this... There is connivance of the administration, hostel and the hospital. The government is trying to cover up the matter... We did not demand CBI inquiry, but a fair one under the supervision of Supreme Court or High Court judge... The DGP said that our daughter committed suicide... We trust no one... The Bihar police is under the pressure of the government," the family member said. Meanwhile, Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha defended the government's decision to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "The government's intention is clear. We tried to conduct an honest investigation. The victim's family was not satisfied, so it was decided to hand over the case to the CBI. The government is ensuring that complete justice is served," Sinha told ANI. Samrat Choudhary, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, announced it via X. "Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar ji has urged the Government of India to hand over the investigation of the NEET student's murder case in Patna (Case No.- 14/26) to the CBI. The incident must be thoroughly uncovered in a transparent manner," Choudhary wrote. https://x.com/samrat4bjp/status/2017435347182096392?s=20 On Saturday, Janata Dal United (U) vowed that the accused involved in the death of a NEET aspirant in a Patna Hostel on January 11 will "not be spared" and noted that calls were growing for a CBI probe into the incident.JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad emphasised that law enforcement agencies will act whenever an incident occurs in the State." Demands were being raised that this matter be investigated by the CBI. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has urged the Union Government for a fair and transparent manner. Our objective is clear: if an incident occurs in the state, we will take action against criminals. If anyone has any suspicion, their sentiments have been respected. It is clear that the guilty will not be spared; they will be given a stringent punishment and sent to jail."His remarks came hours after the Bihar government, led by Nitish Kumar, recommended a CBI inquiry into the incident. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said on Saturday that the government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has urged the Central government to hand over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation. "The incident must be thoroughly uncovered in a transparent and just manner". According to the police, a NEET aspirant died during treatment in Patna. While there were reports of an alleged sexual assault, the police said that the doctors have not confirmed sexual or penetrative assault in the case. Meanwhile, the Patna Police suspended two officers on Sunday in connection with the incident. The Bihar Police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. In January, parents gathered outside the Patna hostel, claiming that hostel authorities were not cooperating and that students were unable to continue their studies after the incident. (ANI) Two Chicago police officers involved in a deadly shooting in 2024 were found to have acted reasonably, according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Chicago police officials said Watson was stabbing another man before officers ordered him to drop his weapon. COPA says officers shot Tracey Watson after he refused to drop a knife. COPA also says the officers' reports matched up with video from the shooting. Advertisement Advertisement However, COPA did recommend reprimanding the officers for not turning on their body cameras earlier. READ MORE | Family claims man fatally shot by Chicago police in South Austin was defending himself from attack The city of Dallas announced Friday it notified the Texas Department of Transportation it would comply with the directive requiring removal of non-compliant pavement markings, such as rainbow-colored crosswalks. According to the city, the request covers 30 decorative crosswalks across the city. The city appreciates TxDOTs partnership in sustaining safe multimodal transportation in Dallas, City Manager Kim Tolbert said in a statement. The city will work with affected communities on ways to recognize their neighborhoods. Advertisement Advertisement The city had appealed TxDOT's directive to remove the pavement markings, the city said, but TxDOT rejected the appeal. This all comes following Gov. Greg Abbott's directive issued last year on Oct. 8, which the state said is to "prioritize uniformity and predictability in traffic control devices statewide." There has already been some protesting the order, including an Oak Lawn church which painted its steps in rainbow colors in response. Many local community activists have also protested the order, saying the crosswalks were privately funded and approved by the city. Were increasing the vibrancy of the neighborhood and providing a safe space for a community thats marginalized, Valerie Jackson of the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and Foundation said. The rainbow is for everyone. Advertisement Advertisement The order has also seen the forced removal of other kinds of crosswalks across the state, such as the Buddy Holly-themed crosswalk in Lubbock that features his iconic glasses. There are other crosswalks along the SMU campus that feature the school's mascot. The city has 90 days to comply with the order. The Department of Justice released millions of files related to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. The latest release included more references to President Donald Trump, as well as former President Bill Clinton, and a high ranking Obama administration official. In accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump signed into law last November, the DOJ said it was making more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images public on Friday. According to a search on the DOJs database, there are many documents that mention Trump, as well as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Clinton, Elon Musk, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Obama administration official Kathy Ruemmler. Advertisement Advertisement Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters that the files released Friday will be the last of the Epstein files as the DOJ has completed its review and made all information available to the public. Some material withheld from the drop includes duplicate information, sensitive information about victims and violence. The DOJ said in a press release that in an effort to release the information quickly and comply with the law to make all information available, some of the files may include fake or falsely submitted information. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already, the DOJ said in a statement. The Deseret News reached out to the White House for comment and was referred to the statement made by the DOJ that the production of the Epstein files may include fake or false information and some include untrue and sensationalist claims made against Trump ahead of the 2020 election. Advertisement Advertisement Its the latest in the saga of Epsteins crimes after Trump promised on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would make the information public. Attorney General Pam Bondi was in hot water last summer when she gave differing information about releasing the files. While Blanche said that it was the final batch of information that the FBI has related to Epstein and his former girlfriend and associate Ghislaine Maxwells investigations and court cases, House Oversight Democrats are arguing that its not the full information. Donald Trump and his Department of Justice have now made it clear that they intend to withhold roughly 50% of the Epstein files, while claiming to have fully complied with the law, Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said in a statement. This is outrageous and incredibly concerning. The Oversight Committee subpoena is directing Bondi to release all the files to the committee, while protecting survivors. We are demanding the names of Epsteins co-conspirators and the men and pedophiles who abused women and girls. We will begin a thorough review of this latest limited production, but lets be clear: our work and investigation are just getting started, Garcia said. Central Florida is preparing for three consecutive freezing nights that will test the limits of local heating systems and could spike energy bills. Most heat pumps in the area are only designed to handle temperatures down to approximately 35 degrees. As temperatures drop below these design parameters, heating systems must work harder and consume more power, leading to higher utility costs for residents. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heating typically accounts for about 29% of a households energy bill. Advertisement Advertisement Bill Green, vice president of Greens Energy Services, said local heat pumps do combat both the heat and cold. However, unlike northern furnaces or radiators, heat pumps struggle when the outside temperature is significantly lower than the desired indoor temperature. Most of our heat pumps in this area are designed for a maximum low temperature of about 35 degrees, Green said. So this is going to test it beyond its design parameters. HVAC technicians recommend starting heating systems before the freezing temperatures arrive this weekend. This allows the system to maintain warmth rather than attempting to catch up once the house has already cooled. Heating a home during freezing weather requires significantly more power than cooling it during the summer. Maintaining a 70-degree interior when it is in the 30s outside requires a 40-degree difference. This requires more energy than cooling a home to 70 degrees on a 90-degree day. Advertisement Advertisement Aly Raschid, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, agreed the heat could lead to increased energy costs. Their heating systems are gonna be working harder and theyre gonna be using more energy which will be reflected on their bills, Raschid said. Raschid told Channel 9, Duke Energy customers are automatically enrolled in usage alerts to monitor their energy consumption. Midway through the billing cycle, theyll get an update on what their energy use looks like and the costs associated with that, Raschid said. To help lower costs, Duke Energy provided the following tips: Customers can combine these efforts with winter energy efficiency tips to maximize savings: Advertisement Advertisement Set the thermostat to the lowest comfortable setting. (The smaller the difference between the inside and outside temperatures, the lower the energy usage and the greater the savings.) Change air filters regularly for better efficiency. Caulk, seal and weatherstrip air leaks in windows, doors and vents to keep warm air inside. (This alone can save 10% to 20% in heating and cooling costs.) Operate ceiling fans clockwise to push warm air down and turn them off when leaving a room. Open blinds and curtains during the day, letting the sun heat the home, and close them at night to insulate the home. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) A local home school group will represent Nevada in Washington DC next month after winning this past weekends regional Future City competition at UNLV. One of the hundreds of students, Janice, from Bob Miller Middle School: This years theme is Farm To Table. Were trying to reduce or even cut down food waste entirely, like, globally. Shes from one of the 15 teams from middle schools all over Las Vegas that worked to solve food waste in their own way by creating models of imaginary cities of the future using only recycled materials and lessons learned from volunteer mentor engineers like Elizabeth Martinez from local engineering firm GCW. Advertisement Advertisement Martinez talked with one group of students: Tell me more about how you planned the actual model. Nalana from Las Vegas Day School didnt hold back: We had lots of paint on the floor and materials everywhere. After a perfect middle school lunch of Papa Johns and Raising Canes, Nevada Future City coordinator Anthony Fiti announced the four teams moving on the afternoons final round: 1. Noble Collegiate Academys team Verda 2. Las Vegas Day Schools Krushii City 3. Bob Miller Middle Schools Dimitre 4. Pearl Homeschool groups Mycelia Judges, including Chef Mitchell Bryant from Green Side Up Farms in North Las Vegas, asked questions to see how well the students could think on their feet. Advertisement Advertisement It was a tough call, but the 2026 Nevada Regional Future City champ is Mycelia. The national Future City competition is Presidents Day Weekend where the homeschoolers will not only get an eye-opening experience going up against the other regional winners, but theyll also be given time to explore all that our nations capital has to offer. Congrats and good luck! Full disclosure: its been my honor to MC the regional Future City final round for more than 20 years. We always want to know Whats Cool At School. If youve got something, let us know. Whats Cool At School is under the Community tab at 8newsnow.com. Or just email: whatscoolatschool@8newsnow.com Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The City of College Park has responded to rumors of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office opening in the city. In a statement, a College Park spokesperson wrote: The City of College Park is aware of discussions regarding an ICE administrative office within our city limits. We are committed to complying with all applicable laws while remaining transparent with our residents and businesses. Our priority is sharing accurate information, dispelling misinformation, and reducing fear within our community. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Its a combination of fear and anxiety. Weve seen whats been happening in other cities with ICE, Chief Strategy Officer with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Seth Levi, told Channel 2s Audrey Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Levi said he believes the opening of the ICE office will intimidate the community. This isnt just the immigrant community, while theyre definitely going to be the ones targeted, weve definitely seen in other cities, that ICE has been detaining people who are American citizens, said Levi. In a past statement, ICE wrote: Securing our nations borders and safeguarding the integrity of our immigration system is a primary focus of ICE officers and agents throughout the country. On Friday, Washington reached out to ICE for a comment on the new office but did not hear back. I think thats part of the problem, is that they are not telling us what the reasons are. It kind of happened under the cloak of night and they havent been really forthcoming about it, Levi explained. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Over the past few weeks, Channel 2 Action News covered several anti-ICE protests across the country and in metro Atlanta. In Cobb County on Friday, Channel 2 Action News spoke with students who walked out of class in protest. Its not fair that my mom is living her life being scared of being caught by ICE, one student said. City of College Park leaders said once the ICE office opens their priority is to foster a safe, inclusive, and economically vibrant environment for all who live, work, and do business here. As more verified information becomes available, the City will continue to communicate openly with the public." Advertisement Advertisement Levi said he still has concerns. Just given everything that has happened with ICE and other cities were unfortunately forced to fear for the rest, Levi said. There is no word on where the office will be located. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] A Boise Democrat proposed a bill on Friday that would prevent law enforcement from wearing masks. The legislation, which is similar to parts of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement bill proposed in Utah, includes a laundry list of exceptions, such as for medical masks, motorcycle helmets, or officers in undercover operations. The move comes less than a week after Customs and Border Protection agents fatally shot nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, sparking outrage. Friday is also a national protest day over ICE, whose officers nationwide have carried out enforcement while masked. I believe it addresses a real safety issue, public safety issue, the bills sponsor, Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, told a Senate committee. Just imagine, being a female or young adult and being stopped by a masked man with a gun, no uniform or visible identification, unmarked vehicle. How would a person know this is law enforcement and not a nefarious person? Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking (Courtesy photo) Its unclear how far the bill could go in a Legislature with a Republican supermajority. Advertisement Advertisement In Utah the anti-mask bill failed. A similar bill in California went into effect, but the Trump administration sued over the ban. Two GOP representatives have proposed a bill that would add additional penalties to Idaho law for wearing a mask while committing a crime. But one of the sponsors pulled it back after criticism, including a concern that the legislation could apply to ICE agents. That sponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, told the Statesman that he would bring forward a new version after taking suggestions. Ward-Engelking seemed to nod at those pressures on Friday, telling the Senate State Affairs Committee that she was hoping the bill would be introduced and that maybe it would get a chance to advance to the second step in the process, which is a hearing in committee. Ward-Engeling said she had spoken with individual police officers, but once the bill was introduced she would seek feedback from law enforcement organizations. The committee chair, Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, said the bill would come back for a public hearing depending on that feedback. Advertisement Advertisement The Boise area hasnt seen the kind of ICE activity present in Minneapolis, but immigration enforcement has increased. In Idaho, agents have changed their tactics, like smashing car windows and pushing for the mandatory detention of immigrants, according to previous Statesman reporting. In at least one instance, ICE waited at the Boise airport to pick someone up. In October, the FBI, ICE and other federal agencies raided a horse race and arrested over 100 immigrants, at least three of whom were lawfully in the U.S. The raid drew criticism over family separations. The committee unanimously introduced the draft legislation, making it a bill. After bills are approved by the committee for introduction in the Senate, lawmakers can hold a hearing on the bill in a Senate committee. If the committee sends it to the full Senate and the Senate passes it, the process is repeated in the House. A bill passed by both houses goes to the governor to sign or veto. Advertisement Advertisement Powerful budget committee expands potential cuts to Medicaid, public schools A lawmaker offered a bill to punish Boise for its Pride flag. What happened next Lawmaker wants no religion in Idaho courts. Does a new bill target Islamic law? Architects vs. arsonists? A face-off between newcomers and longtime Idahoans President Trump has invited several nations including key U.S. allies to join his Board of Peace to oversee postwar restoration efforts in the Gaza Strip, but several world leaders have rejected the request, and one country had its invitation revoked. The board was established after the first phase of Trumps 20-point peace plan to rehabilitate Gaza after Israel and Hamas reached a fragile ceasefire deal following two years of conflict that destroyed much of the territorys infrastructure and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. The Trump administration launched the board at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and issued invitations for 60 countries to join the board. The former businessman-turned-president will serve as chair with veto power over the boards decisions and membership. Advertisement Advertisement Joining the board for a permanent seat requires a $1 billion membership fee. Countries such as Israel, Argentina, Russia, Hungary and Saudi Arabia, among several others, accepted the presidents invitation. But after a recent exchange of words with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney over tariffs in Davos further drove a wedge in U.S.-Canada relations, Trump withdrew Canadas invitation. Here are the countries that have declined to join the board. France French President Emmanuel Macron quickly turned down the invitation. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said last week that Trumps very extensive powers as chair, including the power to choose his own successor, were of concern, Politico reported. Advertisement Advertisement This is very, very far from the Charter of the United Nations, Barrot said while giving a speech in Paris. Trump previously warned that he would impose a 200 percent tariff on wine and champagne from France if Macron did not join, adding that the French president is going to be out of office in a few months. Macron is term-limited and is expected to leave office after Frances 2027 elections, though hes indicated he could return to office in the future, Le Monde reported. Germany German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also rejected an invitation to join the board, Deutsche Welle reported. He expressed interest in the future of Gaza but said Germany cannot accept a spot on the board in its current form on the basis of constitutional grounds. Advertisement Advertisement We are, of course, ready to explore other forms, new forms of cooperation with the United States of America, Merz said in Rome last week. Greece Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Euronews podcast Europe Today that he rejected his invitation because it goes way beyond the U.N. Security Council mandate. I think we have to recognize that moving forward what has been established is something in which most European countries cant join, he said. Mitsotakis added the U.S. should be involved in redeveloping Gaza only for a limited amount of time. Italy Some elements are incompatible with our constitution, and this prevents us from signing tomorrow, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Italian state television last week, Bloomberg reported. My position is still one of openness. Advertisement Advertisement Meloni has expressed optimism about the board and dismissed concerns that it would conflict with the U.N. To join, Italy would require a potentially lengthy approval from its Parliament and from Italian President Sergio Mattarella. New Zealand New Zealand on Thursday became the latest nation to reject the invitation. A number of states, particularly from the region, have stepped up to contribute to the Boards role on Gaza, and New Zealand would not add significant further value to that, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters wrote on the social platform X. As a leading founder and longstanding supporter of the United Nations, it is important that the Boards work is complementary to and consistent with the UN Charter. It is a new body, and we need clarity on this, and on other questions relating to its scope, now and in the future, Peters added. New Zealand will not be joining the Board in its current form but will continue to monitor developments. Norway The American proposal raises a number of questions requiring further dialogue with the United States, Norwegian State Secretary Kristoffer Thoner said in a statement obtained by Euronews. Advertisement Advertisement Norway will therefore not join the proposed arrangements for the Board of Peace, and will therefore not attend a signing ceremony in Davos, Thoner added, also noting that Norway shared Trumps goal of lasting peace in Ukraine, Gaza and in other situations. Slovenia Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob called the boards mandate too broad. The main concern is that the committees mandate is too broad and that it could dangerously undermine the international order based on the United Nations Charter, Golob told the European news channel N1, Reuters reported. Although we find any initiative that can calm the situation in the Middle East to be commendable, this invitation dangerously encroaches on the broader international order and not just on pacification in Gaza, he added. Sweden Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he will not join the board as configured with its current text, Daily Finland reported, citing Swedish broadcaster Sveriges. Advertisement Advertisement As the text stands right now, Sweden will not sign, he said. United Kingdom British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the U.K. will not join, describing the board to the BBC as a legal treaty that raises much broader issues. She also expressed concern over Russias involvement with the board. Theres a huge amount of work to do. We wont be one of the signatories today, Cooper continued. Because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine. And to be honest, that is also what we should be talking about. Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also rejected the invitation, saying he could not join the board with Russia and Belarus as members. Advertisement Advertisement The very idea of inviting to this board of peace the biggest violator of peace and international law, Russia and Belarus, complicit in the crime of aggression, is absurd, Oleksandr Merezhko, Foreign Affairs Committee chair in Ukraines Parliament, told The Kyiv Independent, as the war between Russia and Ukraine nears its four-year mark. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LOGAN COUNTY (KFOR) Court documents say that 16-year-old Jordan Weems told the Logan County Sheriffs Office that he killed his mom, 49-year-old Spring Weems, with a hammer and his fists, then placed her in the trash can. This is an incredibly sad story. Youre talking about a woman who lost her life in just a brutal way, said Hunter McKee, with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, on Thursday. Documents reveal that Jordan confessed to waiting until the middle of the night and attacking his mom. Advertisement Advertisement RELATED: State investigators say a mother was allegedly killed, thrown into trash can by adopted son He then allegedly cleaned up the scene and lied to his family about where she was. Police were out in the area earlier that day for a welfare check because Spring was reported missing. She was found by Logan County Deputies after someone called 911, reporting that Jordan and one of his brothers were outside fighting. We initially responded to a fight-in-progress call. We arrived and found two juveniles fighting, said Undersheriff Troy Dykes, with the Logan County Sheriffs Office. A neighbor told News 4 that when she tried to end the fight, one of the boys told her, he just killed my mom. Advertisement Advertisement Court documents say Jordan and one of his brothers were in trouble prior to the murder for sneaking out of the home. Weems 2Download His brother told investigators that his mother told them to write letters of apology. RELATED: Authorities find dead womans body in a neighborhood trash bin That brother also says Spring took Jordans clothes and bedding away and locked them in her room. He goes on to say that she made Jordan wear an orange jumpsuit and fed him ham or chicken with beans to show him what prison life might be like if he did not start behaving. The district attorney stated in the court documents that Jordan planned the killing, took the steps to hide the body, fabricated evidence, and lied to his family. Advertisement Advertisement The document goes on to say that while Jordan had no prior criminal record, he was committed to a psychiatric hospital in the last few weeks for suicidal thoughts. News 4 is waiting on the results of the autopsy report. Jordan is facing first-degree murder, desecration of a human corpse, and unauthorized removal of a dead body. He is being held without bond. Our hearts go out to the children and family of the deceased. Our office is carefully reviewing the facts, and we will proceed responsibly and fairly, guided solely by the evidence, the law, and our ethical obligations. We would refer any other questions to the information and probable cause affidavit. Laura Austin Thomas, District Attorney for Payne and Logan County A GoFundMe has been set up for Spring Weems family; the link can be found here. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) Greensboro police are investigating a fatal head-on crash that happened early Saturday on Burlington Road. At approximately 3:46 a.m., officers responded to a crash with injuries in the area of Burlington Road and Buchanan Church Road, where a GMC Acadia traveling east on Burlington Road went left of center and crashed head-on into a westbound Kia Sorento. The driver of the Kia, Rodney Charles Delorenzo, 60, of Burlington, was pronounced dead at the scene. Advertisement Advertisement The driver of the GMC, Karl Earl Cheek, 39, of McLeansville, was injured and taken to a local hospital. Cheek was charged by citation of driving while impaired and traveling left of center. Once he is discharged, he faces a warrant for felony death by vehicle in connection with this crash. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. He said the haste had raised moral and political concerns and that even senior leader Sharad Pawar was not aware of the developments. Ajit Pawar, 66, died in a plane crash on January 28. Late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's wife and Rajya Sabha MP, Sunetra Pawar, has been elected as the leader of the NCP Legislative Party. She will take the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra this evening. Speaking to ANI, Dubey said, "Is what is happening moral?... Sharad Pawar is not aware of anything... Maharashtra is not happy with what is happening... What is the reason for this haste?" Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC extended her best wishes to Sunetra Pawar as she will take oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra this evening, welcoming the possibility of a woman holding the post. "Best wishes to her, a woman Deputy CM. She is also my neighbour. Best wishes to her," she said. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in the fields of sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress. Ahead of the meeting, Sunil Tatkare said the party's legislature members are expected to elect Sunetra Pawar as the Legislative Party Leader. In 2010, she founded the Environmental Forum of India (EFOI), a non-governmental organization dedicated to raising environmental awareness and fostering eco-conscious communities. She has led extensive grassroots campaigns focusing on biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, water resource management, and drought mitigation. After the meeting, NCP members will meet the Chief Minister with an official letter for a final decision. (ANI) The investigation into the crash from the Parkway East into the Monongahela River on Thursday evening is still in the early stages, but Pennsylvania State Police and divers who responded to the rescue effort explained more about what happened on Friday. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner announced Jacinta Stevens, 31, of Pittsburghs West End, was killed after she somehow lost control of her Ford Explorer in the left eastbound lane of the Parkway East Thursday night. PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Woman, 31, dies after vehicle plunges into icy Mon River from the Parkway East Advertisement Advertisement Troopers said she crossed from the left lane into the right lane, then crashed over the barrier and into the icy Monongahela River. That Explorer rides that snow embankment for a good bit, and then goes over, said Trooper Rocco Gagliardi of the Pennsylvania State Police. We have to work on what happened in that left lane of travel to cause that kind of path. State Police said they received very few 911 calls about the crash. The first call came from someone who was under the highway on 2nd Avenue. They witnessed the vehicle go into the river. They didnt have any cell phone or service on them, so they were trying to get to Second Avenue to flag down someone to call into 911, Gagliardi said. That took a couple of extra minutes there due to the fact that that was pretty much our only call for this crash. Advertisement Advertisement There was nearly four to five inches of ice on the Monongahela River Thursday night. PHOTOS: Divers perform rescue efforts after reports of vehicle submerged in Mon River Eric Capets, a Crew Chief with Pittsburgh River Rescue, was one of the six divers who went into the river. He went in on the third dive. I went inside the vehicle, checked the back seat, front seat, then we call a 360 where I went around the vehicle, then I did a sweep out of a perimeter about 10 feet away from the vehicle, then I did a downstream sweep as well, Capets explained. Channel 11s Andrew Havranek asked Capets about the condition of the car. Advertisement Advertisement It was pretty beat up, Capets said. I know thats under investigation and some of those details I cant talk about, but you can imagine, it plunged a pretty good distance, and when you hit the ice, it will crumple a car. Even though the ice was thick on the river, and the water was freezing, he said the conditions were ideal for a rescue. In the wintertime, the visibility is excellent, Capets said. When I say excellent, its about four to five feet because theres no algae bloom. The current was very low, very little current under the ice. Capets said divers with Pittsburgh River Rescue train for this kind of rescue operation constantly. In fact, there was already a training scheduled for ice dives on the river coming up next month. Advertisement Advertisement We train like we fight, Capets said. Youve probably heard that term. So when we train, we push it to the limits safely, but were ready for this. As part of the investigation, troopers said theyre looking at everything from potential car problems, the ice and snow on the Parkway East, to any potential alcohol being involved. While there is currently no evidence of alcohol, troopers said it is standard procedure in any fatal crash to help find out how and why a crash happened. Crews say they are getting ready to remove the car from the Monongahela River. Theres no word yet on when that extraction will happen. Troopers are looking at cameras in the area as part of their investigation. They are asking for anyone who may have seen the crash, or may have been driving on the Parkway East on Thursday and are able to talk to them about road conditions to give them a call. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW David Lester Dittman, a retired Social Security Administration manager who volunteered to rebuild homes for persons in need, died of respiratory failure Jan. 19 at the Charlestown retirement community. The former Ellicott City resident was 88. Born in Barnesville, Ohio, he was the son of Florence Baldwin Dittman, a teacher, and Lester Dittman, also a teacher. He grew up in Seymour, Indiana, and was a graduate of Ball State University. While a college student, he met his future wife, Jane Ellen Reed. They married in 1959. Advertisement Advertisement He moved to Ellicott City in 1964 and managed disability programs for the Social Security Administration. He was a longtime member of the First Presbyterian Church of Howard County where he was a deacon and sang in the choir. My grandfather was a go-to handyman and dedicated his life to serving others, said his granddaughter, Audrey Friedman. At the end of the Vietnam War he worked with the Columbia Cooperative Ministries Resettlement Program to assist refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Ethiopia find homes and jobs. He was volunteer coordinator for the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay Housing Coalition. Advertisement Advertisement He was president of the Light Street Housing Corp. based in Federal Hill. He acquired the nickname Hammerhead and worked to rehabilitate South Baltimore homes for recovering substance abusers, those experiencing mental health issues and the poor. He also joined similar groups, Christmas in April in Baltimore and Camp Hope in Western Maryland. Mr. Dittman was a volunteer with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and traveled to Mississippi to repair and rebuild homes following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He later worked with Bridges to Housing Stability to end homelessness in Howard County and was on the board of directors for the Christian Services of Howard County. Advertisement Advertisement Mr. Dittman was given Howard Countys Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. His granddaughter said he was a lifelong activist who participated in rallies, inaugurations and protests. He remained steadfast in his advocacy for underrepresented and marginalized communities. He was guided by a deep belief in equality and a lifelong commitment to building a better world for all, she said. He was a fan of the Baltimore Orioles and attended Camden Yards games. A cyclist, he traveled widely on the Eastern Shore and often rode in the Ilchester section of Howard County. He was an Eagle Scout, an admirer of nature, and enjoyed studying German language and history. Advertisement Advertisement Survivors include his four sons, David Dittman, of Elkridge, Stephen Dittman, of Frederick, Duane Dittman, of Fort Hill, Pennsylvania; and Michael Dittman, of Boulder, Colorado; nine grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren. His wife, Jane Ellen Reed, who was also a Social Security Administration analyst, died in 2024. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. April 13 at the First Presbyterian Church of Howard County in Columbia. Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at jkelly@baltsun.com and 410-332-6570 Hundreds of protesters gathered on the Idaho Capitol steps Friday afternoon as immigration rights advocates across the U.S. called for no work, no school, no shopping as part of a nationwide strike. The latest protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcements violent tactics and the Trump administrations crackdown came in response to the killing of two people in Minneapolis Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents. Both were gunned down, Good in her vehicle and Pretti on the street. Later in the day, a vigil for Pretti was held at the Boise VA Medical Center. He was a nurse at a Minneapolis VA hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advocates from organizations including the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Idaho 50501, the Sierra Club and immigrant rights organization PODER of Idaho spoke to the crowd, calling for protections for immigrant communities, federal accountability for the killings and the abolishment of ICE. The actions in Idaho were in coordination with demonstrations in hundreds of other cities. In Boise, some businesses observed the strike by closing for the day or donating proceeds of sales to immigrant aid organizations. A crowd estimated at 1,000-plus gathers at the Idaho Statehouse on Friday to protest deadly ICE violence in Minnesota. (Darin Oswald/doswald@idahostatesman.com) Estefania Mondragon, executive director of PODER of Idaho, said that by turning out Friday, demonstrators were building collective power. Idaho is standing in solidarity, Mondragon said. We are here on a national day of action to show up for Minnesota, for our communities who are facing occupation, intimidation and state violence at the hands of the highly militarized ICE force unleashed by the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Speaking to the crowd, she encouraged people to reflect on how their money is spent and who stays silent, and who speaks up. Today, Idaho chose to transform, today Idaho chose solidarity, Mondragon said. Today Idaho said, We see you, Minnesota, we see you, immigrant communities, we see the lie, and we reject it. People gather outside the Idaho Statehouse to protest against recent killings by ICE agents and their tactics across the country. (Sarah A. Miller/smiller@idahostatesman.com) Terra Cameron, a nurse who works at Boises Veterans Affairs Medical Center, also spoke at the rally and said she couldnt stay silent. Cameron spoke about the killing of Pretti, who was a VA nurse in an intensive care unit. (This administrations) lack of outrage for the murder of a VA nurse, nurse Pretti, speaks volumes, but nurses at the bedside do care, Cameron said. Now the veterans in that ICU have one less wonderful nurse to care for them when they are at their sickest. As a VA nurse, I am devastated that national and regional leadership have sent nothing to employees about the murder of one of our own. Advertisement Advertisement The speakers read aloud the names of others who have been shot by ICE agents across the country, including Good, Keith Porter who was shot by an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles and Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, who was shot in Illinois in September, among others. Morrighan Nyx, with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, gets the crowd to chant anti-ICE slogans on the Capitol steps in Boise on Friday. (Darin Oswald/doswald@idahostatesman.com) Many gather for VA vigil honoring Alex Pretti Veterans, nurses and members of the public gathered in front of the Boise VA center on Fort Street to honor Pretti and his work. Many units of the American Federation of Government Employees union were holding vigils across the U.S. The AFGE 1273 in Boise, which represents federal employees at the medical center and regional office, set out candles, flowers and photos in front of the buildings sign. The union also set up a table for people to write letters to be sent to the Minneapolis VA hospital for the staff who worked with Pretti. Advertisement Advertisement Union member and nurse Rachel Hall read a statement Prettis family posted online. In the message, the family said that when Pretti was shot in Minneapolis, he was attempting to help a woman who was shoved by ICE agents, which news sources including The New York Times confirmed through video analysis. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the term hero lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman, part of the statement read. The American Federation of Government Employees 1273, which represents federal VA employees in Boise, organized a vigil for Alex Pretti on Friday. (Shannon Tyler) Hall told the Idaho Statesman that it was painful to see another VA nurse shot and killed during a time when the work they do has been under attack. She said she was overwhelmed with emotion seeing community members show up for Prettis vigil. Its heartwarming to see the community come out and support, support us. Even though he wasnt a member of the Boise AFGE, he was still one of our own, and seeing one of your own executed in the streets when they were trying to help someone is absolutely devastating, Hall said. Advertisement Advertisement Dianna David, an Idaho resident who called herself an advocate and part of a family with many veterans, said Prettis life should be honored through action and by speaking out. How can every American not be here? David said. After what we saw, I dont understand why everyone isnt here standing up to this. LAGRANGE The Indiana State Police Cold Case Unit is looking for any information in the death of an Amish teen from an incident that happened on March 22, 1969. As described in the newspaper articles from the period, the Amish teen was killed by a large rock that was thrown from a passing vehicle. The teen, Mervin D. Lehman, 17, LaGrange, and his nephew, Ernest Lehman, 16, LaGrange, were in a horse-drawn buggy on LaGrange C.R. 300 West near C.R. 350 South around midnight. After the rock hit Mervin Lehman just below the neck, they hurried home. A neighbor, who drove, took the injured Mervin Lehman to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. ISP investigators said a unique fact of this case is that there was another similar incident around the same time, on the same night, about two miles away. Both passengers, Glenn O. Troyer, 21, Topeka, and Emma Miller, 21, LaGrange, of this Amish buggy were injured in this separate incident. Miller suffered severe lacerations and a skull fracture. Troyer had a bad cut to his forehead. Both were hospitalized. The Indiana State Police Cold Case Team is asking for the communitys assistance in this case. If anyone has tips, remembers anything of interest, or has information from either incident, they are encouraged to call the Indiana State Police Area 2 Cold Case Team at 1-800-453-4756 or email ispcoldcase@isp.in.gov. CHEYENNE A petition to remove Flock cameras from the city of Cheyenne has slowly been gaining traction, with nearly 600 signatures as of Friday morning. The petition, spearheaded by Laramie County Democratic Party Chairman Ted Hanlon, is in response to the recent installation of 23 Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) in contract with the surveillance company Flock and the Cheyenne Police Department. The cameras take a still image of every license plate that passes the camera, storing the image for 30 days before wiping it from the database. The data can only be accessed by request to the CPD, per the contract. Advertisement Advertisement The contract, approved by the Cheyenne City Council in November of 2024 and signed in December of the same year, will cost the city $143,450 over two years for 23 cameras installed on major roadways in the capital city. The cameras make (people) feel less safe, Hanlon told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. The whole purpose of law enforcement, to me, is to make your community safe. So if law enforcement is doing something that makes your community feel less safe, it seems to me like were doing the wrong thing. Hanlon said he learned about the cameras from a social media post from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wyoming, which detailed the risks of having these cameras in a community. Advertisement Advertisement Local law enforcement, however, has praised the cameras usefulness in developing leads. Were a very mobile society, CPD Chief Mark Francisco told the WTE. Crime isnt specific to a neighborhood; it travels. We share a lot of criminals back and forth with Colorado and crime suspects. Whats captured? Though the system doesnt necessarily solve crimes, the cameras help develop leads with data that often goes unobserved by witnesses, Francisco said. In one instance, CPD was able to solve a pharmacy burglary that occurred in the middle of the night in Cheyenne because cameras captured a vehicle with a Colorado license plate traveling in the area that hadnt been in Cheyenne in the previous 30 days. They were then able to follow up on that lead and make an arrest. Advertisement Advertisement It allows you to develop leads that you would never have otherwise, Francisco said. Francisco has been responding to a lot of what he referred to as misinformation regarding the cameras. The most common misconception is that the cameras can track you from your home to your destination. Theres only 23 cameras, Francisco said. All we can tell is this vehicle with this license plate went from this intersection; no idea where theyre going, it doesnt do that. The cameras do take a picture of the back of every vehicle at the intersections where theyre installed, so CPD or any agency that has approved access to the system could see if a vehicle is at an intersection once or every day at 4 p.m. for the past 30 days. But beyond that, the images are limited. Advertisement Advertisement That doesnt mean that the cameras arent capable of retrieving the image of a person or additional information surrounding the car. But because the image is shot from a high angle, it is very unlikely that officers could tell who is in the car from the photo, Francisco said. Fourth Amendment Though courts have consistently ruled in favor of Flock and the local law enforcement agencies that utilize their technologies, a primary concern for opponents to the cameras is a violation of Fourth Amendment rights. A violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government and guarantees the right to privacy, doesnt seem worth the increased effectiveness of law enforcement, Hanlon told the WTE. Advertisement Advertisement Though the petition is being led by the countys Democratic Party, the issue is seemingly nonpartisan, with well-known Republican leaders echoing the call to take the cameras down, as well. In an op-ed written by Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, he highlights how the Fourth Amendment is a clear remaining common ground in a relatively divided political landscape. Singh criticized the constitutional trade-off of having the cameras, noting that while he does not doubt law enforcement is acting with good intentions, good intentions do not eliminate constitutional trade-offs. These systems create a continuous record of movement, including the movements of innocent people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing, Singh wrote. Cameras placed near busy roadways and residential areas do not only observe crime. They observe daily life. Even when policies limit how data is used, the existence of mass, searchable surveillance raises a fundamental question. Are you truly free if your movements are constantly recorded? Advertisement Advertisement Francisco noted that if CPD thought they were violating Fourth Amendment rights, they wouldnt have pursued the system, but as it stands, the courts are on the side of the cameras. Courts have ruled repeatedly over the years that these arent Fourth Amendment violations, Francisco said. Its not a privacy issue because its in public, much like any video you get caught on as you go about your business. Trust issues Regardless of strict policies, court cases and contracts, Hanlon noted that there is a loss of trust inherent with these cameras, starting with the lack of local input. Hanlon pointed out that while the contract did go through standard voting procedure with the City Council, it was approved without robust public debate or a vote by local residents. Advertisement Advertisement I think when we make decisions like this, they should always flow out of the community to the city, not from the city down to the community, Hanlon said. Its one of those things where our City Council members should be talking about crime issues with people in the community and getting solutions from them, and talking about all these things at length before we just implement something. The trust issues extend beyond the installation of the cameras. Hanlon noted that because Flock is a private company with no public oversight, many people signing the petition dont trust that the company doesnt directly share data. Flocks official stance is that the company doesnt share its clients data; clients can grant access to requesting agencies should they choose. This stance also applies to recent allegations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has access to the system. The company has stated that ICE does not have direct access to Flock camera systems or data; however, clients can make the decision to share data with ICE. Advertisement Advertisement Tech news outlet 404Media reported obtaining records that indicated that several searches were carried out by local officers on behalf of ICE for immigration purposes, including its Enforcement and Removal Operations division. (Some) people that are concerned about Flock cameras are also concerned about being stopped and asked to show their birth certificate because of the color of their skin, Hanlon said. Francisco has stated that CPD has not approved any requests to access data from ICE. Only two federal agencies have requested access: the U.S. Postal Service and Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. When the system is accessed, that data, including the agency accessing the system and the case number being investigated, is documented. That log is maintained; however, the images viewed are still erased, Francisco said. Advertisement Advertisement Francisco said he has no doubts that Flock is upholding the contract and not sharing any data without the departments permission. Additional information on the system can be found on the departments transparency portal online at transparency.flocksafety.com/cheyenne-wy-pd. The petition The petition will close in February, at which point Hanlon intends to present it to the City Council and request that the cameras be removed. We dont have to go beyond Laramie County (for example) where were giving up personal freedom for some theoretical advantage to law enforcement, Hanlon said. First, giving up personal freedom is never the right solution. Second, we give up these personal freedoms, and nobodys feeling safer. ELKHART Jamee Decio, a Democratic candidate for Indianas 2nd District House seat, formally filed paperwork in Indianapolis in her campaign to challenge incumbent Republican Rudy Yakym in the 2026 midterm elections. Decio, who resides in South Bend, was born in Elkhart, graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School and practiced law in Elkhart County as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Elkhart County and in private practice. In announcing the filing, Decio said she believes our democracy has suffered in the last year because the Republican Congress has ceded its responsibilities under the Constitution to the executive branch, all but dismissing the people of the 2nd District. Advertisement Advertisement I grew up in a family that gives back, Decio said. What I do best is fight for others. I am running to give the people an advocate who will listen and fight for them in Congress, and not bow down to this administration. The duty of a representative is to stand up for the needs of all constituents, regardless of party, not just your donors. The 2nd District deserves someone who fearlessly represents them. Along with democracy, she lists the rising costs of living, including food, utilities, housing and health care, and defunding ICE as her top priorities. She said she strongly believes the nation needs to find a pathway for undocumented immigrants, and raise the national minimum wage. What occurred in Minneapolis in the last month should terrify every American, she said. Dragging people from cars and their homes because of the color of their skin without a warrant is unconstitutional. Shooting and killing innocent protesters is criminal, yet no one has been arrested. This administration intentionally ignores the law and as does the sitting congressman in the 2nd District. His failure to adhere to the Constitution displays his lack of empathy and concern for America and the American people. Two Americans were killed and he has remained silent. I will not be silent. Decio vowed to put country and Americans first, not members of the Trump administration, who she said put themselves before the American people. For Emma, the heartrending decision became clear came the night the police descended on her North Miami neighborhood. Her 14-year-old son heard police sirens, and the fear that had kept him awake at night and distracted him in school finally spilled into panic. He was worried about me. Hes like, Oh, Mom, do you think theyre coming for you? Emma, 40, recalled. He thought it was an ICE raid going on in the middle of the night. Advertisement Advertisement Between her sons panic attacks over a routine police incident, the constant images on television of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deploying across American cities, and her sons persistent fear that she could be detained because of her temporary immigration status, Emma made an agonizing choice. She decided to leave her job as a social worker, pack up her belongings and return to Haiti this weekend, before the fateful date of Feb. 3 the day she and more than 300,000 Haitians with Temporary Protected Status are due to lose their legal rights to live and work in the United States, exposing them to detention and deportation. Like other TPS holders, Emma, 40, asked not to be identified by her full name for fear of U.S. immigration authorities here as well as what awaits her in Haiti, a country where armed groups control every major road into the capital, more than 1.4 million people have been forced to flee their homes and Haitians from abroad are routinely targeted by kidnapping gangs. Im taking a chance, said Emma, who is among more than 150,000 Haitians with TPS who live and work in Florida, the majority of them in South Florida. A painful decision The decision has meant more than just uprooting herself. It also means taking her six-year-old U.S.-born daughter who suffers from epileptic seizures, is losing her hearing and has autism to a country where schools are shuttered, businesses have collapsed and an estimated 80% of health facilities in the capital are shuttered due to the pervasive gang violence. Advertisement Advertisement Unable to find the words in English to express the depth of her anguish, she turned to her native Creole. Youre choosing between one bad decision and the next, said Emma, who in addition to her daughter and teen son, both of whom were born in the U.S., is also mother to an older son currently enrolled in college. Its not getting detained by ICE that I fear; its the fact that I might get separated from my daughter. I am everything to her. I am her support system; her eyes, her ears. Sometimes people dont understand her, and Im here to advocate for her. Ahead of her move back to Haiti this week, she sent her teen son ahead to be with his father, hoping that being away from the police sirens and news about immigration raids would calm his anxiety. I was afraid he might do something that could get him into trouble, she said. He spoke to me about having dreams that ICE was coming after me, and how he would fight for me. At some point, it was very stressful for him. He was not doing well at school. Advertisement Advertisement Eventually, the weight of it all forced her to make the painful decision to forgo the life she has been building in Miami in exchange for the uncertainty of Haiti. Now, after weeks of separation Emma has decided to board a flight this weekend for Haiti, where she will also explore the possibility of migrating to Canada. My going back means Im not able to offer a safe environment for my kids, especially a teenager, to raise him the way I want him to be raised, she said. Im telling myself, maybe when I get to Canada, I will catch up with all of this and rebuild. Special needs Her return to Haiti comes will come nearly five years after she left shortly after the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moise. His slaying plunged the volatile Caribbean nation even deeper into a spiral of violence and political upheaval, surpassing the chaos that prompted President Barack Obama to designate Haiti for TPS after its devastating 2010 earthquake left more than 300,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless. Advertisement Advertisement Emma said her decision to migrate to the United States was driven not only by the instability in Haiti but by necessity. At the time, she could not get adequate medical care for her daughter, then two years old. She has special needs, and obviously thats why I chose to come here and stay here, because she would get the services that she needs, Emma said. She has multiple disabilities. Thats why I am worried, because I know that I wont get all those resources in Haiti. The impact of moving her daughter back to Haiti, she says, is her greatest fear. Ive seen her evolution, Emma said of her daughter, whom she has tried to prepare for the move by drawing pictures for her and telling her they are going to reunite with her brother. Still, she acknowledges the risk. I know that she can regress in a year. Advertisement Advertisement As a U.S. born child with special needs, the girl qualifies for services that are not available in Haiti. But Emmas lack of permanent immigration status means she has no protections. Im going only with the essentials, because I have to pack medication for my daughter, she said. Ive packed six months of medication until I find another way to refill. Yronel Cabrera walks with protesters during a candlelight vigil and interfaith prayer at Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport Jan. 28, 2026, as airport workers and faith leaders rally calling on the Trump Administration to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. (PHOTO BY AL DIAZ/adiaz@miamiherald.com) Contrary to national interest In ending Haitis TPS status, Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem has acknowledged her own administrations description of Haitian gangs as foreign terrorists and that certain conditions in Haiti remain concerning. But in the notice terminating TPS, Noem also said that Haiti no longer faces extraordinary and temporary conditions that would prevent nationals from returning. Allowing Haitians to remain, her lawyers recently argued in a Washington federal court, is contrary to the U.S. national interest. During the Jan. 7 hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes expressed confusion over what she described as opposing conclusions in the termination notice. It seemed odd, Reyes said, for the DHS secretary to say its perfectly safe to return to Haiti, and then in the same breath, say that there are gangs operating freely and terrorizing the population. Advertisement Advertisement How can it be safe to return to Haiti if were also making the determination that it does not have a functioning government? Reyes asked. She noted that even Noems description of Haiti in the Federal Register notice seems to say there is no safe haven for Haitian TPS holders to return to in their home country. The lawsuit is one of many that have been filed since Noem began dismantling TPS protections. Congress created Temporary Protected Status in 1990 to allow immigrants from countries deemed too dangerous for safe returns to legally remain in the U.S. The Justice Department is asking the judge to throw out the case. Advocates are asking her for a stay on Noems decision to terminate the status. Reyes has said she plans to issue a decision by Monday. Still, the stress and the possibility of still being targeted for deportation in other similar situations the Trump administration has gone directly to the U.S. Supreme Court to get a stay lifted while litigation continues has become too much for many immigrants to bear. Emma said she had been prepared to leave once before when it appeared last year that TPS was about to end, only to pause her plans when a federal judge in New York forced the Trump administration in July to maintain an 18-month extension for Haitians that had been granted by the outgoing Biden administration. Advertisement Advertisement Everything was in boxes. I was ready to go, she said. And then they made another decision. This time is different. A lot has changed during President Donald Trump took office last year. TPS has been terminated for a number of countries, not just Haiti, along with humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Venezuelans paroled into the U.S. by President Biden. In addition, Haiti has been placed on a full travel ban, and all immigration processes, including adjustment of status for those who legally qualify and citizenship ceremonies, have all been paused by the current administration. And then, there are the ICE raids, which have already made it into Florida cities. The atmosphere has changed, Emma said. The atmosphere is very fearful. Five Republican precinct caucuses were held at Franklin Jr High in Des Moines Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Iowa Democrats were approved Saturday to present their case to national Democrats on why the states Democratic caucuses should go in the early presidential nominating window in 2028. At the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, members reviewed the applications from 12 states that submitted waivers to hold their presidential nominating contests ahead of Super Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement All 12 state parties that submitted requests for early contest waivers to the DNC Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia were approved to present at later RBC meetings. This is the second presidential nominating cycle in a row where Democrats are considered likely to make changes in their calendar. The DNC went through a similar process of evaluating states and shifting the long-held process of beginning the nominating cycle with the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries during the 2024 election cycle. The Rules and Bylaws Committee approved a calendar in 2022 starting the nominating process with the South Carolina primaries, with contests in Nevada, New Hampshire, Georgia and Michigan also held in the early window but this schedule is once again up for change heading into the next election cycle. As committee members spoke about the new calendar, Minyon Moore, the RBC co-chair, said the committee would evaluate states based on rigorousness, efficiency and fairness of their nominating contests. The goal of the committee is to craft a calendar that produces the strongest possible Democratic nominee for president. The DNC charter and bylaws requires that only one state from each of four regions the Eastern, Western, Southern and Midwestern can be granted an early contest position, with the RBC able to grant one additional waiver. Advertisement Advertisement Iowa Democrats are competing against Michigan and Illinois to become the Midwestern state to hold an early contest in 2028. Iowa submitted its application to return to an early state spot Jan. 16, telling members of the RBC in the proposal that no other state has the knowledge, infrastructure, and history of giving long-shot Presidential candidates a fair chance. Iowa was home to the first-in-the-nation caucuses for several decades, kicking off the presidential nominating process for both parties. However, following issues with reporting results during the 2020 Iowa caucuses and existing concerns about the caucuses being less than fully accessible, the DNC removed Iowa from its position starting the process in 2024. Some Democrats have said Iowa caucuses, conducted at in-person, evening events, are difficult for many people to participate in, especially people with disabilities, those who have children or who work late shifts. In an effort to address these concerns, the Iowa Democratic Party moved to a mail-in caucus system in 2024. In their January application, the IDP wrote Iowa Democrats are working toward creating a more accessible contests, and that the Iowas party-run caucuses provide a great deal of flexibility in how we achieve the goal of a more inclusive process. Historically, reforms have been constrained by two factors: A desire by the national party to move away from caucuses in favor of primaries; and the New Hampshire Secretary of States definition of what constitutes a primary, the application read. For our proposal, we offer a menu of options that we look forward to discussing with the RBC, the current Iowa candidates we intend to elect this November, and our grassroots activists. Advertisement Advertisement While Iowa Democratic precinct caucuses will be held on the same day as Republicans in 2028, the IDP said the state party had flexibility on setting dates related to delegate allocation for the presidential nominating process. Iowas application outlined two major ways that could provide more accessibility to voters who cannot attend the in-person caucuses the mail-in preference card system used in 2024, or the option to hold satellite and virtual caucuses. The Iowa Democrats application argues that while the RBC rejected their effort to include a virtual caucus option in 2020, the state party believes this idea should be reconsidered following the 2024 DNC decision allowing delegates to electronically nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential nominee. Michael Kapp, an RBC member from California, questioned this argument. Id like Iowa in their presentation to address what I feel is a fundamental difference between a convention vote, with a known finite universe of credentialed voters, and a caucus process involving an open and undefined universe of potential participants, Kapp said. Advertisement Advertisement RBC member Frank Leone, of Washington, D.C., called for Iowa to provide the committee with a specific proposal instead of a menu of options. We spent a lot of time going back and forth with Iowa eight years ago, the DNC certainly raised some issues that caused some problems, Leone said. Theres a lot of issues that went on there, but I dont think we want to spend a lot of time trying to fine tune it. I think what we need to hear from Iowa is, This is what we want to do, and then this committee will fairly consider it and make a decision. Along with beginning the process of choosing early states, RBC members considered states ability to comply with the new calendar. Many states would need legislative approval to change the dates for party nomination contests. In the 2024 nomination cycle, the DNC calendar was not implemented with full success. The New Hampshire and Georgia secretaries of state, both Republicans, denied Democrats request to change the date of their contests, and held their primaries outside of compliance with the DNC calendar. States currently controlled by Republicans could face similar problems that New Hampshire and Georgia encountered in implementing the calendar during the previous cycle. Advertisement Advertisement If states hold contests unsanctioned by the DNC, voters can still weigh in on their choice for presidential nominee but the results of the state contest will likely not be counted when the national party holds its convention to select their presidential nominee. However, New Hampshire, which did not abide by the Democrats calendar and held its first-in-the-nation primary ahead of South Carolina in 2024, was allowed to have their delegates participate in the 2024 convention as the RBC approved an April nominating event held by New Hampshire Democrats. The IDP conducted a survey in 2025 asking voters how they want the state party to approach the 2028 caucuses. Results found 65.3% of respondents wanted Iowa to be first or early in the nominating process, but 51.1% did not want Iowa to defy the DNC calendar if not granted a waiver. The dates for when Iowa will present before the RBC and when the committee will decide which states to grant waivers has yet to be determined. The next RBC meeting is scheduled for April in New Orleans. A statement from the Iowa Democratic Party said we are pleased the Rules and Bylaws Committee decided to move forward with our application and look forward to having continued conversations with its members and co-chairs. Advertisement Advertisement All options are on the table for Iowa Democrats in 2028, the statement read. It was a mistake for the DNC to cut us out of the calendar, letting Republicans attacks go unanswered in Iowa while millions of dollars in advertising, organizing and the worldwide media flooded our state. If the Democratic Party wants to start winning big, sustainable majorities again, our candidates need to show they can compete in states like Iowa. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE At least 32 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Civil Defence agency reported on Saturday. Fourteen people were killed in an attack on a police station in the Sheikh Radwan district in the north of Gaza City, spokesman Mahmud Bassal told dpa. Seven others were killed in the south of the Gaza Strip when a tent, housing internally displaced persons, was fired upon, he said. Advertisement Advertisement The Israeli military said it had attacked commanders and infrastructure of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Targets included a weapons depot, a weapons workshop and two Hamas launch pads, the army said. The information cannot be independently verified. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A driver who died in a Wednesday crash north of Pahrump was identified Friday by the Nevada Highway Patrol. Raymond Delbert Rogers, 83, of Pahrump, died from injuries when the Chrysler Town and Country van he was driving overturned on State Route 160 in Nye County at mile marker 30 at about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. A passenger in the van was flown to a local hospital with serious injuries. Advertisement Advertisement A Nevada State Police news release indicated the van was northbound on SR160 when it crossed into the southbound lane and left the roadway, going into a desert area and striking a fence. The crash closed SR160 between Pahrump and U.S. 95 while investigators worked at the scene. Nevada State Police Highway Patrol is handling the investigation. NSPs Highway Patrol Southern Command has investigated 7 fatal crashes resulting in 7 fatalities so far in 2026. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NCP Rajya Sabha MP and Ajit Pawar''s widow, Sunetra Pawar, was chosen as the NCP Legislative Party Leader and is set to take the Deputy Chief Minister''s post. The position became vacant following Ajit Pawar''s demise in a plane crash on Wednesday in Baramati. She is set to take the oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra today. NCP leaders, including Party Working President Praful Patel and State President Sunil Tatkare, met at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai to propose Sunetra Pawar''s name for the post. To be sworn in as the Deputy CM today, she will have to resign from her Rajya Sabha seat. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in the fields of sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress Ahead of the meeting, Sunil Tatkare said the party''s legislature members are expected to elect Sunetra Pawar as the Legislative Party Leader. In 2010, she founded the Environmental Forum of India (EFOI), a non-governmental organization dedicated to raising environmental awareness and fostering eco-conscious communities. She has led extensive grassroots campaigns focusing on biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, water resource management, and drought mitigation. After the meeting, NCP members will meet the Chief Minister with an official letter for a final decision. Speaking to the mediapersons here, Tatkare said, "Our legislature party members will meet at 2 pm today. The Group leader (Leader of the Legislative Party) will be elected. We hope that, keeping in mind the sentiments of people, Sunetra Pawar will be elected as the leader. After that, NCP members will meet the CM with an official letter, and then he will make a decision." He added that NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar, and more details will be shared after today''s legislature party meeting. "Today, we saw a video showing the meeting, which took place over tea in Baramati during an agriculture exhibition. After this, Ajit Dada held a press conference and said that discussions were held regarding the local body elections. Ajit Dada himself noted the details of that day when the discussion took place and shared it with the journalists. We will speak to you in detail after today''s meeting. NCP MLAs, MPs, and leaders have collectively made a decision regarding Sunetra Pawar," he said. Maharashtra Minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal also welcomed the possibility of Sunetra Pawar becoming the Deputy Chief Minister, saying it''s a good decision, and people want it following the untimely death of NCP chief Ajit Pawar. (ANI) One person has been killed and another injured in drone strikes in Ethiopias northern Tigray region, a senior Tigrayan official and a humanitarian worker said, in another sign of renewed conflict between regional and federal forces. The Tigrayan official on Saturday said the drone strikes hit two Isuzu trucks near Enticho and Gendebta, two places in Tigray about 20km (12 miles) apart. The official said the Ethiopian National Defence Force launched the strikes, but did not provide evidence. Advertisement Advertisement A local humanitarian worker confirmed the strikes had happened. Both asked not to be named, the Reuters news agency reported. It was not immediately clear what the trucks were carrying. TPLF-affiliated news outlet Dimtsi Weyane posted pictures on Facebook that it said showed the trucks damaged in the strikes. It said the trucks were transporting food and cooking items. Pro-government activists posting on social media said the trucks were carrying weapons. Ethiopias national army fought fighters from the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) for two years until late 2022, in a war researchers say killed hundreds of thousands through direct violence, the collapse of healthcare and famine. Advertisement Advertisement Fighting broke out between regional and national forces in Tsemlet in the disputed territory of western Tigray earlier this week, an area claimed by forces from the neighbouring Amhara region. Tension has been brewing over the presence of troops from Amhara and the neighbouring country of Eritrea in Tigray, violating a peace deal in November 2022 that ended the war. Last year, the head of Tigrays interim administration established by Addis Ababa was forced to flee Mekele, the regional capital, amid growing divisions within the TPLF, which controlled all of Ethiopia before being displaced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Addis Ababa accuses the group of forging ties with neighbouring Eritrea and actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia. Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this week, national carrier Ethiopian Airlines cancelled flights to Tigray, where residents rushed to try to withdraw cash from banks. The Tigray war ended in 2022, but disagreements have continued over a range of issues, including contested territories in western Tigray, and the delayed disarmament of Tigray forces. The province is also suffering the effects of United States President Donald Trumps funding cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) last year, which was once Ethiopias largest source of humanitarian aid. Humanitarian organisations say up to 80 percent of the population is in need of emergency support, and funding shortfalls are placing a strain on the health system. Advertisement Advertisement The African Unions chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, on Friday urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and resolve all outstanding issues through constructive dialogue. He emphasised the importance of preserving the hard-won gains achieved under the AU-led Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) signed in Pretoria in 2022. A fire destroyed Dessie Scott School in Wolfe County Thursday night, school district officials said in a Friday social media post. No one was in the building and district officials were not aware of any injuries, the Wolfe County Board of Education said. We are sorry to pass on the news of a fire that happened last night at the Dessie Scott School and gym, district officials said in a Facebook post. Advertisement Advertisement The fire was devastating and has resulted in a total loss of the building, the post said. We are thankful that nobody was in the building at the time of the travesty and as far as we know no one was injured. Among its students are those who live at the Dessie Scott residential treatment facility. District officials said firefighters contained the fire in extremely adverse conditions with the ice and temperatures. School staff will begin meeting Friday with their partners at the Dessie Scott Campus to make plans to get our school back on its feet, school officials said. As everyone in this community knows, Dessie Scott Childrens Home is a staple for our county and has a decades long commitment to serving children in need from ... Kentucky and all parts of the United States, the post said. Advertisement Advertisement School officials could not immediately be reached Friday morning. The children and their homes are safe Patty Wilder, an official with the residential facility, told the Herald-Leader Friday morning that only the school building, where 24 children attend, was lost in the fire. The children and their homes are safe, said Wilder, Chief Operations Officer for Buckhorn Children and Family Services. The community reached out with compassion, school and facility officials said. This unfortunate incident has deeply affected our school community. As we support our students through the loss and help them adjust to a new routine, we ask for continued thoughts and prayers, said Wilder. WASHINGTON Election officials from across the country pushed back on Thursday against the Trump administrations increasingly combative tactics, following an FBI raid in Fulton County, Georgia, and a growing number of Justice Department demands for voter rolls. When election officials convene in Washington, D.C., every winter, as they did Thursday, it typically results in congenial and bipartisan discussions with experts and federal officials on the voting process. But this years meeting kicked off in a much tenser manner. The day before, the FBI conducted a search of an elections hub in Fulton County seizing ballots and records related to the 2020 election. The county has long been a focal point of unfounded fraud claims from President Donald Trump and his allies. Advertisement Advertisement And it also came as dozens of states have been sued by the Department of Justice over their demands for unredacted voter rolls, with Attorney General Pam Bondi most recently tying that request to the federal immigration enforcement operation thats rocked Minnesota. An FBI employee at the Fulton County election hub Wednesday. (Mike Stewart / AP) (Mike Stewart) Some of the state officials said these moves only served to undermine Americans faith in elections heading into the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential campaigns. All those folks in Fulton County whose work has been proven to be good, whose work has been proven to be solid over and over and over again have to suffer the humiliation. How in the world is that going to change anything? How in the world is that going to make anything better? Its just not, said Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat. Here we go again, added Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, also a Democrat. The bottom line is the 2020 election was secure, it was accessible, and it was an accurate reflection of the will of the people. If there was any evidence to the contrary, we would have found it by now. Advertisement Advertisement Still, after years of defending American elections from attacks by Trump and his supporters, Benson said its steeled the resolve of state officials. State officials are really all we have left in terms of guardrails over these processes, she said. While several Trump officials were scheduled to speak on a panel Thursday morning titled Federal Assistance with 2026 Elections Ask the Feds, just one aide, Jared Borg, appeared on the podium. He talked up White House meetings and collaboration with states on election administration. The reception was icy. Dozens of state officials have refused to provide their voter rolls to the Justice Department, noting that state laws prohibit it and that federal officials have not said how the information would be used. Advertisement Advertisement Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican who oversees her states elections, condemned statements made by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon that the administrations pursuit of voter rolls was due to states not maintaining them as quite appalling. Shes pretty much slandered all of us. To me, thats problematic to publicly claim that secretaries of state are not doing our jobs and that the federal government has to do it not OK, she said. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said she wasnt invited to the White House for the discussions Burg had touted. The Constitution places the states, not the federal government, in charge of our elections, and places Congress, not the president, in charge of making laws. How do you square the executive order with the Constitution and legislative arm? Bellows said. Advertisement Advertisement She referred to an executive order signed by Trump last March that attempted a major overhaul of American elections, requiring people to prove their citizenship when they register to vote, among other sweeping changes. A federal court blocked implementation of the order late last year. In interviews, several state election chiefs expressed concern about their degrading relationship with the federal government. Nevada Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said the Trump administration was working to intimidate state election officials into compliance. They just used American lives to try and intimidate a state into providing certain information, Aguilar said. That is horrendous. Advertisement Advertisement Others said they were worried about the lack of federal support, particularly following spending cuts that decimated the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) that had helped states defend against threats. Secretaries have reached out last year to say, how will we get this type of information? Were still waiting for an answer, said Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas, a Democrat. We have not had any cyber, foreign interference briefing since last January. FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey talks on the phone at the Fulton County election hub Wednesday. (Mike Stewart / AP) (Mike Stewart) Several of the Republican officials present said they wanted more information about the FBIs search of a Fulton County elections facility resulting in the seizure of 700 boxes, according to County Commissioner Rob Pitts before weighing in. I want to learn a little bit more about whats going on before I comment on that, said New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan. We have our own issue in New Hampshire where were being sued for voter roll data. Advertisement Advertisement West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner said he was anxious to see what information the administration provided that allowed the court to provide a warrant. And Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said, If the FBIs come in, there must have been smoke there and questions they wanted to get answered. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com The European Union is discussing a proposal to replace the current price cap on Russian oil with a complete ban on providing maritime services for its transportation as part of preparations for the 20th sanctions package. Source: Bloomberg, citing informed sources Details: The sources said that if EU member states support the initiative, European companies would be completely banned from providing services necessary for transporting Russian oil, including insurance and shipping. Advertisement Advertisement The key difference of the new approach is that the ban would apply regardless of the price (under the current system, transportation is permitted if the oil is purchased below the established price cap). Bloomberg sources stressed that a total ban would significantly increase pressure on the Russian economy and greatly facilitate monitoring compliance with the sanctions regime. EU countries have been briefed on the draft of the 20th sanctions package, which Brussels aims to approve by the end of February. However, the decision requires unanimous approval from all member states. The sources stated that several EU capitals had spoken out against replacing the price cap with a full ban on services. Advertisement Advertisement The new package is also expected to include restrictions on Russian banks and oil companies, cryptocurrency services, financial institutions in third countries that help Russia evade sanctions, and vessels linked to Russia's shadow fleet. Background: Next week the European Commission is expected to announce a proposal for the 20th package of EU sanctions against Russia. The union plans to adopt it by the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. European Pravda sources said that the 20th package will be largely focused on targeting Russia's shadow fleet. In addition, the 20th package may include tighter restrictions on Russian mineral fertilisers, which remain the third-largest category of Russian exports to the EU, and additional bans on the export of dual-use goods to Russia. The EU's 19th sanctions package against Russia was approved on 23 October. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! One California county is already feeling the costly effects of sea-level rise, as severe flooding spread across the area in early January. What's happening? As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Marin County began the new year with intense rainfall across the region, leading to damaging storm surge, king tides, and severe flooding. As a result, the county issued an emergency proclamation in order to seek financial assistance from the California Office of Emergency Services. While the damage from the recent strong storms is estimated to be more than $4 million, local officials fear that future impacts could become even more costly as sea levels continue to rise. Advertisement Advertisement According to a recent study from the Transportation Authority of Marin, the county could see up to 2 feet of sea level rise by the end of the century. To protect Marin County's shoreline from encroaching waters, experts determined that it will cost an estimated $17 billion to complete various sea-level rise resilience projects. "Sea-level rise has crossed from future scenario into a balance sheet risk," said Janelle Kellman, former mayor of Sausalito, California, and founder of the nonprofit Center for Sea Rise Solutions. "What's happening now is flooding. What's coming later is permanent transformation." Why is sea-level rise in Marin County important? King tides are the highest seasonal tides, caused by natural alignments of the sun, moon, and Earth. However, climate-fueled sea-level rise is making them more formidable. This could spell trouble for countless coastal communities such as Marin County. As water levels climb, these tides may become too costly for residents to endure without future intervention. With more than 260,000 residents in Marin County, sea-level rise could displace a large portion of that population. Advertisement Advertisement Rising global temperatures are a direct contributor to rising sea levels primarily through two ways: thermal expansion, or the process of warmer water taking up more space, and the melting of land-based ice formations, which adds more water to our oceans. The rise in both global temperatures and sea levels has coincided with human-caused air pollution that also continues to reach record highs every year. What's being done to protect the county's coastal communities? Rylan Gervase, director of legislative and external affairs at the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, noted that Marin County was making serious progress in planning its future sea-level rise resilience projects. However, these projects won't exactly be a walk in the park. "Marin has a chance to be really innovative and look at some interesting solutions," Gervase said, per the Chronicle. "It is going to be expensive, and it's not going to be easy." Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately for Marin, many of the county's most vulnerable, low-lying areas are located in low-income communities. This could jeopardize vital infrastructure for thousands of residents. Kristina Hill, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning, explained that despite the challenges the county faces, it may be imperative for other at-risk coastal communities in the U.S. to understand the best course of action to take with sea-level rise adaptation projects. "What happens to them is going to be a bellwether for other areas that are at risk," Hill said, per the Chronicle. Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD's exclusive Rewards Club. Experts have warned that tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Maine, with a record number of cases reported in 2025. What's happening? According to WGME CBS 13, the warming climate has allowed tick populations to expand, and, in turn, vector-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease and the more serious babesiosis to increase. While the former has long been a concern in the state, other related diseases have become more widespread in recent years. Advertisement Advertisement Cases of anaplasmosis and babesiosis, both of which are caused by the blacklegged tick and cause flu-like symptoms, broke records in both 2024 and 2025. Lyme disease numbers were also much higher, with most cases reported in just four counties on the midcoast. With winters becoming wetter and milder in the Northeastern states, ticks have a greater chance of surviving and reproducing, increasing the risk that these diseases will be transmitted to humans and deer populations. Why is the rise in tick-borne illnesses concerning? Air pollution has contributed to rising global temperatures, leading to fewer cold days, less winter snow, and earlier springs in many regions. Research from Canada's Wildlife Science Center has confirmed that warmer winters are pushing white-tailed deer the primary host for blacklegged ticks northward, likely a major reason ticks are also migrating. Advertisement Advertisement As people spend more time outdoors in winter to take advantage of milder weather, there are more opportunities for ticks to transmit diseases. While most Lyme disease cases cause mild or no symptoms, some can lead to severe or long-lasting problems, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Tick-borne illnesses like anaplasmosis and babesiosis can be more serious than Lyme if left untreated, potentially causing anemia, respiratory failure, neurological problems, uncontrolled bleeding, and other organ failure. Older adults, young children, and the immunocompromised are particularly vulnerable, as the Cleveland Clinic and Harvard Medical School noted. With reports that babesiosis cases in Maine have doubled since 2023 and with several residents dying from tick-borne illnesses, according to WGME, it's important to know how to protect yourself, especially if you work or spend a lot of time outdoors. What's being done to prevent tick-borne illnesses? According to the state's Department of Health and Human Services, residents should expect to encounter ticks in overgrown wooded areas and should wear long-sleeved clothing and boots treated with permethrin, a synthetic tick repellent, before venturing outdoors. Advertisement Advertisement Using EPA-approved repellents such as DEET, picaridin, or lemon eucalyptus oil is also recommended. When you return, check your body, clothing, gear, and pets for ticks, and shower within two hours of being outside. Around your home and backyard, remove anything that creates an inviting environment for ticks, such as leaf and wood piles, old furniture and tires, and tall grass. Scientists are developing a tick-repelling drug to protect humans from Lyme disease and other illnesses, similar to tick medications for dogs. Researchers are also studying the tick that causes severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome a novel tick-borne illness in Asia to identify the most effective treatment. Hopefully, the research findings will lead to improved treatment options and significantly fewer tick-borne diseases in the future. Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD's exclusive Rewards Club. Jan 31 (Reuters) - An explosion that hit a building in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday was caused by a gas leak, according to a preliminary assessment, the local head of the fire department said. Iranian state media reported that at least two people have been killed and 14 injured in the blast, which comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over Iran's crackdown earlier this month on nationwide protests and over the country's nuclear programme. "This (gas leak) is the preliminary assessment. My colleagues will give more details in the next few hours," Mohammad Amin Liaqat, the fire department chief, said in a video published by Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. Advertisement Advertisement A video published on social media showed people standing among debris and wrecked cars in front of a damaged building following the explosion. Reuters was able to verify the location by analysing buildings, trees, and road layout, which matched satellite and file imagery. Reuters could not independently verify the date the video was filmed. Separately, four people were killed after another gas explosion in the city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border, according to state-run Tehran Times. No further information was immediately available. NERVES STRAINED AS TRUMP PILES PRESSURE ON IRAN The explosions highlighted the jittery mood prevailing in Iran amid its clerical rulers' standoff with the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement U.S. President Donald Trump said on January 22 an "armada" was heading toward Iran. Multiple sources said on Friday that Trump was weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces. Ali Larijani, a senior Iranian security official, said on X on Saturday that work on a framework for negotiations with the United States was progressing, downplaying what he described as an "atmosphere created by artificial media warfare." Trump told Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich that Iran was "negotiating, so we'll see what happens," Heinrich wrote on X. "You know, the last time they negotiated, we had to take out their nuclear, didn't work, you know. Then we took it out a different way, and we'll see what happens," Heinrich quoted Trump as saying. Advertisement Advertisement Before the reports of the two blasts on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused U.S., Israeli and European leaders of exploiting Iran's economic problems, inciting unrest and providing people with the means to "tear the nation apart. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander had been targeted in the Bandar Abbas explosion were "completely false." Two Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel was not involved in Saturday's blasts. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bandar Abbas, home to Iran's most important container port, lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil. Advertisement Advertisement The port suffered a major explosion last April that killed dozens and injured over 1,000 people. An investigative committee at the time blamed the blast on shortcomings in adherence to principles of civil defence and security. Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests that erupted in December over economic hardship and have posed one of the toughest challenges to the country's clerical rulers. U.S.-based rights group HRANA has said at least 6,500 people were killed in the protests, including hundreds of security personnel. (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom and Menna Alaa El-Din, Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher in Cairo; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusaleum, Phil Stewart in Washington and Edward Carron in London; Editing by Gareth Jones, Nia Williams and Diane Craft) A powerful explosion rocked the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas earlier today. The blast occurred in an eight-story building, with parts of the lower floors severely damaged and windows throughout the building shattered. Hormozgans Crisis Management Organisation, noting that investigations into the cause of the Bandar Abbas incident are ongoing, said that following the explosion in a residential complex, 14 people were injured and, tragically, a 4-year-old girl lost her life. Some unofficial sources have claimed that Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the IRGC Navy, was the target of the incident. Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has denied these rumours as "completely false". Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Israel denied any involvement, according to the Jerusalem Post. Some domestic sources have attributed the incident to a gas leak, while local reports state that the building was not equipped with gas piping. While official sources have described the site of the incident as a residential building, videos filmed by passersby minutes after the incident show barbed wire, typically used at military facilities, installed on the compounds courtyard walls. Meanwhile, the IRGC Navys public relations office said that no drone attack has occurred on its bases in Hormozgan and that no buildings affiliated with the force have been damaged. Similar blasts in other cities Other reports indicate that sounds of explosions were heard in other Iranian cities, including Ahvaz near the IranIraq border. Advertisement Advertisement The Khuzestan Provinces Deputy for Security and Law Enforcement reported five people killed and two others injured following what he called "a domestic gas explosion" in Ahvaz. The local governor of Robat Karim county in Tehran province denied reports of a security or military incident in the cities of Parand and Robat Karim, saying that the smoke observed was caused by a fire in dry reed beds along the banks of the Shour River. Over the past hour, videos showing a large plume of smoke near a residential area have circulated, which are said to be related to the city of Parand on Saturday. Another video circulating widely on social media is being attributed to an incident in Qom. The footage shows smoke rising along the Amir Kabir Highway on the Kashan road, near a military-related facility (the military service organisation). Advertisement Advertisement Head of Qom Fire Department says "the smoke seen across the city is caused by a waste fire near the reed beds." However, social network users, pointing to similar incidents during the twelve-day war with Israel, have sarcastically written that it appears there was a gas leak in Qom today as well, with a gas pipe supposedly exploding. Meanwhile, East Azerbaijan province Crisis Management Authority, responding to rumours circulating on social media, said that no explosion occurred in Tabriz today. Naval exercise reportedly postponed This comes as the IRGC announced plans to hold a naval drill in the Persian Gulf later this week, a move that prompted a response from US Central Command (CENTCOM), which urged the IRGC to avoid provocative behaviour at sea. However, Al Mayadeen TV, a network close to Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran, reported on Saturday afternoon that the planned joint military exercise involving Iran, China, and Russia in the Strait of Hormuz has been called off, and that China and Russia will not be deploying any naval forces to the region, at least not until mid-February. FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) Police have arrested a Fall River man accused of breaking into and stealing from a restaurant earlier this month. John Lengyel, 63, has been charged with breaking and entering into a building during the nighttime and larceny from a building. Surveillance footage shows a man shattering a glass panel on the front door on Fiesta Mexican Restaurant the night of Jan. 11. (Courtesy: Fall River Police Department) (Courtesy: Fall River Police Department) Police said the suspect could be seen in the footage crawling through the broken door, and taking a cash lockbox from the counter. He then climbed back through the door and took off running down Rhode Island Avenue. Advertisement Advertisement walking into the restaurant and taking a cash lockbox from the counter before running out of the Rhode Island Avenue restaurant. Detectives were able to track the mans movements throughout the city via surveillance footage from property owners and businesses. Officers found a discarded mask on Montaup Street that matched the one worn by the suspect during the break-in, according to police. Police said the surveillance footage allowed detectives to identify Lengyel as the suspect. He was taken into custody last Friday at his East Main Street home. Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app. Follow us on social media: Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A man convicted of shooting and killing a teenager outside of his mothers restaurant was sentenced to life in prison on Friday. His family shared their message for him with Channel 11. This is what I walked out of the hospital withmy sons hair I cut, his fingerprint and his heartbeat from his last breath, Preeti Tuli told Channel 11. Preeti Tuli held onto those items for each step of Howard Hawkins court hearings, both trials, and Friday, when he was sentenced to life in prison for the death of 18-year-old Ahmir Tuli. Advertisement Advertisement RELATED COVERAGE >>> Pittsburgh man sentenced to life in prison for murder of teen outside Strip District bar To watch Howard Hawkins in court fight all these years, all the postponements, the motions he submitted my son never had an opportunity to fight, she said. PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>>Second trial begins for man accused of shooting, killing Pittsburgh teen in Strip District In February 2021, Howard Hawkins was kicked out of Preetis Pitt restaurant and bar in the Strip District. City surveillance cameras showed that instead of leaving, he lingered around the restaurant and grabbed a gun out of his girlfriends car. Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> I want this monster caught: Family desperate for arrest after North Hills grad shot, killed outside Strip District bar Ahmir was working for his mom that night, and when he walked outside, Hawkins approached him from behind and shot him in the back of his head. PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> 18-year-old North Hills High School grad dies after shooting outside Strip District bar I kept looking at him and just imagining how could you pick up a gun and kill an innocent boy? My only grandson that my daughter had, Kuldip Tuli, Ahmirs grandmother, told Channel 11. Hawkins refused to take responsibility for the teens death. In fact, he told the judge he is an innocent man and hopes to be exonerated one day. Advertisement Advertisement He has no remorse. You can tell by looking at him. He doesnt care. Theres some inhumane people in this world, and hes one of them. Hes gonna be in a cage for the rest of his life, and Im going to continue to work through everything for the rest of my days, Preeti said. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW src="https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js"> Preparations have begun for the swearing-in ceremony of late Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra after she was elected as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Legislative Party Leader on Saturday. The position of Deputy CM became vacant following Ajit Pawar's death in a plane crash in Baramati. Maharashtra Minister and NCP senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal said Sunetra Pawar is likely to take the oath at 5 pm today. "I believe the swearing-in will take place today. I think it will happen at 5 pm. CM is also very positive about that," he said. Meanwhile, Maharashtra State President of NCP, Sunil Tatkare, said, "Sunetra Pawar has been elected as the leader of the NCP Legislative Party...We have requested that the oath ceremony take place today." This comes after NCP Working President Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare met at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai to propose Sunetra Pawar's name for the post. To be sworn in as the Deputy CM today, Sunetra Pawar will have to resign from her Rajya Sabha seat. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress In 2010, she founded the Environmental Forum of India (EFOI), a non-governmental organization dedicated to raising environmental awareness and fostering eco-conscious communities. She has led extensive grassroots campaigns focusing on biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, water resource management, and drought mitigation. Earlier, Chhagan Bhujbal welcomed the possibility of Sunetra Pawar becoming the Deputy CM, saying it's a good decision, and people want it following the untimely death of NCP chief Ajit Pawar. Speaking to the reporters, Bhujbal said, "It is good. People want it, and our MLAs are also demanding the same. This is absolutely right. Under the current circumstances, Sunetra Taai should indeed be the Leader of the Legislative Party and Deputy CM." Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday when a chartered plane carrying him crashed-landed in Baramati. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. (ANI) At least 330,000 Haitians in the United States stand to lose temporary protected status when it expires Feb. 3, placing them at risk of deportation to a country facing political instability, gang violence and a humanitarian crisis. With the deadline just days away, a federal district court in New York was weighing whether to pause the termination of TPS for Haiti a designation given when a country is deemed unsafe for return. Haitians are not the only group grappling with changes to TPS. The Department of Homeland Security wants to end TPS for numerous countries amid a broader effort by the Trump Administration to restrict illegal and legal immigration. Advertisement Advertisement The program offers protection for periods of six, 12 or 18 months due to war, natural disaster or other extraordinary circumstances. Designations have been repeatedly renewed for countries where dangerous conditions persist. The Department of Homeland Security has declined to renew or tried to end TPS early for multiple countries on grounds that they no longer meet criteria and that renewal would counter national interests. We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited by illegal aliens for decades. President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary, the agency set in a statement about Haiti last year. Haiti was designated for TPS following a massive earthquake in 2010 and has since faced worsening crises due to political instability, dire poverty, violence and displacement. Advertisement Advertisement In March 2025, nearly 1.3 million people from 17 countries had TPS designations, according to a congressional report released last summer. Today, DHS is fighting lawsuits across the country challenging TPS terminations. In some cases, judges have paused termination of the program and suspension of benefits pending outcome of a case. Others have become effective despite ligation. Here is where they stand as of Jan. 30: Already Terminated (as of Jan. 30, 2026) Afghanistan Expired July 21, 2025; Lawsuit pending. Burma (Myanmar) Terminated Jan. 26, 202; Lawsuit pending. Cameroon Expired Aug. 4, 2025; Lawsuit pending. Honduras Expired Sept. 8, 2025; Lawsuit pending. Nepal Expired Aug. 5, 2025; Lawsuit pending. Nicaragua Expired Sept. 8, 2025; Lawsuit pending. South Sudan Expired January 5, 2026; Lawsuit pending. Syria Expired Nov. 21, 2025; Lawsuit pending. Venezuela Multiple expiration dates in 2025 and 2026. See DHS for more. A federal appeals court ruled Jan. 29 that DHS exceeded authority ending TPS, but the decision has no immediate effect. Earlier Supreme Court orders, most recently in October, allow the February termination of TPS for Venezuela to remain in effect while the case is considered. Ending After Jan. 30, 2026 El Salvador Expiration Sept. 9, 2026 Ethiopia Expiration Feb. 13,2026; Lawsuit pending. Haiti Expiration Feb. 3, 2026; Lawsuit pending. Lebanon Expiration May 27, 2026 Somalia Expiration March 17, 2026 Sudan Expiration Oct. 19, 2026 Ukraine Expiration Oct. 19, 2026 Yemen Expiration March 3, 2026. Source: DHS, ASAP This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: TPS ending for Haitians, other groups. See who is affected. Greetings from Ice Planet Hoth. Indeed, much of the eastern United States resembles the fictional frozen Star Wars world, and now folks there are now enduring some of the worst cold on Earth: "The eastern United States is forecast to be the coldest place, relative to average, on the planet over the next 10 days," said Washington Post meteorologist Ben Noll on X on Jan. 27. The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said that "overall, it is exceedingly rare to get this combination of length and magnitude of arctic airmass for this area, and it should be taken seriously for those who have to venture out in the cold for extended periods of time." Cold weather straight from Siberia Interestingly, "some of the cold is coming from Siberia and that is contributing to the extremity of the cold since Siberia is the source of the coldest air of the Northern Hemisphere in winter," said Massachusetts Institute of Technology climatologist Judah Cohen in an email to USA TODAY. Advertisement Advertisement Record-challenging cold is gripping the Midwest and Northeast this week, bringing the coldest winter in eight years to cities such as Detroit, New York and Boston, AccuWeather said. Cohen said this "extreme" to "historical" cold is courtesy of our wintertime foe, the polar vortex, which continues to play a role in this winter's weather, and likely will for weeks to come. From Oct. 2024: The often misunderstood polar vortex is awakening again Lisa Hemphill, of Hull, Mass., is bundled up tight against the cold wind in her face while walking along Nantasket Beach on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. Additional cold surges through February Much-below-normal temperatures should persist across the eastern United States into early February before moderating slightly. And while some temporary relief is likely, the polar vortex could unleash another surge of bitterly cold air across the central and eastern United States around the middle of February, according to AccuWeather long-range expert Paul Pastelok. He said this will be accompanied by chances for snow. Advertisement Advertisement The extreme cold outbreak would be around Feb. 8-11 and then there would still be no improvement, said Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue in an e-mail to USA TODAY. "Talk about Groundhog Day," he said. Meanwhile, warmth will be widespread across the western half of the country throughout most of the month, according to AccuWeather. Maps show temperature forecasts for February Maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center (below) show the cold will continue for most of the month in the eastern United States, while the West stays warm. The national temperature forecast for Feb. 6-11 shows still more cold for the East and warmth in the West. The national temperature forecast for Feb. 7-20, 2026, shows ongoing cold in the East and warmth in the West. When will these onslaughts of cold end? "They look to continue through at least mid-February and likely beyond that, but my uncertainty is pretty high," Cohen said. "Up until now this winter, I was fairly confident I can spot the next stretched polar vortex that would usher in the cold. We have at least one more stretched polar vortex in early February." Advertisement Advertisement When the polar vortex "stretches," cold air usually funnels down into the central and eastern United States. When it "strengthens," the cold usually stays bottled up in the Arctic and Canada. "But beyond that, we could see a bigger polar vortex disruption, and it is much harder to predict how it will influence our weather," he said. "I dont expect that the polar vortex will strengthen and return to normal until [meteorological] winter is over [Feb. 28]. It could strengthen again in March, but when and how it may influence our weather is a pure guessing game at this point." Snow covers the ground in northwest Oklahoma City, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. These photos captured the winter storm's aftermath from the sky. A person shovels snow off their driveway covers in northwest Oklahoma City, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. A section of West 42nd Street remains snow covered Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Indianapolis. Snow blankets the city Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, as motorists travel along Interstate 65 and West 38th Street in Indianapolis. An aerial photo shows the University of Missouri sitting under several inches of fresh snow on Jan. 25, 2026 in Columbia, MO. An aerial photo shows several inches of fresh snow covering a residential neighborhood on Jan. 25, 2026 in Columbia, MO. Snow covers downtown after a winter storm in Oklahoma City, on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. People play in snow after a winter storm in northwest Oklahoma City, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. Downtown Louisville and snowy interstate conditions are seen on Jan. 25, 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky. Downtown Louisville and snowy interstate conditions are seen on Jan. 25, 2026. Snow covers the ground in northwest Oklahoma City, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. Mesmerizing drone photos taken after winter storm show power of nature 1 of 11 Snow covers the ground in northwest Oklahoma City, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. These photos captured the winter storm's aftermath from the sky. Contributing: Amanda Wallace, NorthJersey,.com. Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, focusing on weather and climate. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More polar vortex mayhem in February 2026 forecast The Finnish Army, reacting to a query from The War Zone, is pushing back on a published statement that its forces were asked to go easy on U.S. troops during a major joint military exercise in the Arctic last year. That claim, made in a The Times story on Jan. 21, went viral on social media and it comes at a time when the U.S. militarys ability to operate at scale in the frigid north remains very much a work in progress. The exercise in question was last years iteration of Joint Viking, which focuses on cold-weather training and military-to-military engagement in the ever-more-strategically important Arctic region. In total, more than 10,000 soldiers from nine countries: Norway, Finland, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, and the U.S. participated. The Pentagon sent Marines and sailors from the 2d Marine Division and 2nd Marine Logistics Group and soldiers from the Armys 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 41st Field Artillery Brigade. U.S. Marines with 2d Battalion, 8th Marines, 2d Marine Division hold a defensive position during Exercise Joint Viking 25 in Norway, March 8, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alexander Peterson) Cpl. Alexander Peterson The controversy was sparked by a story about whether Greenland is really in danger of being overrun by Russia and China, as U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed. The American leader has made subsuming the Arctic island a centerpiece of his foreign policy. Advertisement Advertisement The Times of London suggested that the U.S. is not currently prepared to adequately fight in the region. The publication cited an incident from Joint Viking 2025 as an example. From that story: Most telling is that the US has little in the way of suitable military resources or experience for the Arctic. It is, for once, European Nato allies, especially the Scandinavians and Britain, who have Arctic-ready forces. One military source noted that in last years Joint Viking exercise in northern Norway, American troops struggled. Exercise commanders had to ask Finnish reservists, the most formidable Arctic warriors, who were playing the role of invaders in the war games, to go easy on the Americans. The Finns had to be told to stop beating the Americans as it was embarrassing and demoralising for them, a military source said. Advertisement Advertisement You can see videos from that exercise below. March 2025, north of the Arctic Circle in Norway: during #NATOs Joint Viking exercise watching Norwegians train young #US troops on how to handle Arctic warfare. This recruit had 1 minute to get out of the water wearing 20lbs bag pack. A different time.. pic.twitter.com/vBLMNH0073 Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo (@elisabethmalom1) January 20, 2026 More unseen footage from NATOs Joint Viking 2025 military exercise in #Norway, where Norwegian Armed Forces practiced FPV maneuvers. pic.twitter.com/nyGzE9NYaA Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo (@elisabethmalom1) January 20, 2026 After The Times story was published, it reverberated across social media. The posts generated more than three million views, largely chiding the U.S. military at a time when Trump was roiling NATO allies with talk of controlling Greenland. U.S. troops dislike losing so much that during drills others were asked to go easy. During NATOs Joint Viking exercises in northern Norway in March 2025, Finnish reservists repeatedly outperformed U.S. units. According to The Times, organizers later asked the Finnish side to pic.twitter.com/OBRNmZl65M NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 23, 2026 The Finns were asked to stop defeating American troops. During the NATO exercise Joint Viking in northern Norway, U.S. service members experienced noticeable difficulties, The Times reports. The organizers of the maneuvers asked Finnish reservists, who were playing the role of pic.twitter.com/VWNImLQtfP Olena Rohoza (@OlenaRohoza) January 22, 2026 Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Army has been struggling in Arctic NATO training according to reports. A military source cited last year's Joint Viking exercise in northern Norway as a clear example of the imbalance. "Exercise commanders had to ask Finnish reservists, the most formidable Arctic pic.twitter.com/ERFl5cwhCU Europa.com (@europa) January 23, 2026 In response to a query from The War Zone, Finlands Jaeger Brigade unequivocally denied going soft on U.S. troops. We do not recognize the type of situation having occurred as was described in The Times, according to which Finnish troops would have been asked to lower the pressure in the exercise, said the brigade, also known as the Jaakariprikaati in Finnish. Moreover, the unit, Finlands only participant in Joint Viking 2025, said they were not even conducting opposition force activities. The Finnish force operated in the exercise with the U.S. force on the same side, we were told. Finlands elite Jaeger Brigade. (Jaeger Brigade) It remains unclear who served as an opposition force (OPFOR) for elements of the exercise, or how that was conducted. We have reached out to the Army, Marines and Norway for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Its really important to note that these kinds of viral claims/stories are fairly common, and usually can be debunked from the get-go. More often than not, they clearly fundamentally misunderstand how exercises work and why they even exist at all, as well as their common structures. Exercises are designed to accomplish a set of learning objectives and teachable moments, as well as refine skills and provide usable experience that often cant be replicated in smaller training events. This includes, in many cases, interoperability with other units and allies. They are carefully tailored to do all this and to maximize the benefits they provide, which helps justify their high costs. As a result, its very uncommon that these events are just all-out warfare between two forces. A U.S. Marine with 2d Battalion, 8th Marines, 2d Marine Division aims an M3A1 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapons System during cold-weather training in preparation of Exercise Joint Viking 25 in Setermoen, Norway, Feb. 16, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alexander Peterson) Cpl. Alexander Peterson Because exercises are often misunderstood by the public, anyone losing can be painted in a poor and often outright inaccurate light. Restrictions on capabilities and movements can put one side at a disadvantage on purpose to achieve the intended lessons and to gain desired experience. The most prevalent examples of this kind of misunderstanding are HUD videos or images of an inferior fighter aircraft with their gun pipper on a superior one. This often leads to hyperbolic claims and declarations about aircraft and their abilities that spread across social media and the mainstream media landscape. Without full context of the setup for the training evolution, such assumptions are totally erroneous. A still image of the F/A-18s HUD showing a simulated gun kill on an F-22 Raptor. This image went viral as do many similar ones periodically, with the most inaccurate narratives imaginable being pushed alongside them. Oftentimes one aircraft will be weapons and sensors restricted and/or starting in a purely defensive position. This lopsided situation can more easily end in a kill by the inferior aircraft, but that is not understood from just a video clip or still image that exists without context. Nor is the reality that fighter-versus-fighter combat tells a tiny part of the story about the overall abilities of the fighter and the force it is part of. In other words, these aircraft do not fight alone in real combat, they benefit from expansive data networking, support aircraft, and employ combined arms tactics that accentuate their positives and blunt their negatives. Advertisement Advertisement The same can be said for land warfare exercises, where anecdotal and often unattributed claims turn into blanket statements of fact in the publics eyes. All that being said, it is undeniable that the U.S. does have a lot of learning to do in order to fight effectively in the High North at scale. This is not a surprise, and hence one of the primary reasons for this exercise. In a release as Joint Viking 2025 was underway, the Army said the training, led by the units NATO winter instructors in partnership with the Norwegian Army, was designed to provide foundational skills that allow Soldiers to excel and achieve their mission in extreme cold weather conditions. Instruction included classes on cold weather injury prevention, arctic terrain analysis, cold weather maintenance and improvised shelter construction, the Army added. A U.S. soldier assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 41st Field Artillery Brigade surfaces out of the arctic water while conducting cold water survival training during Exercise Joint Viking 25 in Setermoen, Norway, Feb. 28, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Thomas McCarty) The U.S. Army has acknowledged the difficulty of operating in the harsh Arctic environment that the Finns and Norwegians call home. During the Association of the U.S. Army Conference in 2023, senior Army officers and civilians gave a blunt assessment of the difficulties the service faces operating in the High North. Advertisement Advertisement The military and civilian leaders highlighted how extremely cold temperatures and basic geography mean units in the frigid region face unique equipment-related and logistical problems with everything from satellite communications to just keeping batteries charged. Many operational tasks, including setting up artillery positions, conducting basic first aid, and just moving from point A to point B, are also much harder than they would be at lower latitudes. For Scandinavian troops, these are routine operations, and their membership in NATO is lauded by the alliance as tensions with Russia across Europe mount. With the accession of Finland and Sweden to the Alliance, most Arctic states are now NATO members, a NATO spokesman told us. Thats an incredible strength for our organization, and for transatlantic security. The spokesman declined to comment on The Times claim because it was a Norway-led exercise. A Norwegian Army soldier participates in a squad attack demonstration to partner nations during the battle handover for Exercise Joint Viking 25 in Setermoen, Norway, March 8, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alfonso Livrieri) Sgt. Alfonso Livrieri Regardless of how exactly this exercise went down, operating in the Arctic is only going to become more critical. The U.S. and its allies, as well as China and Russia, are all eyeing a greater presence in this increasingly important, but desolate region. Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com A University of Utah health clinic with a sign warning of measles is pictured in Salt Lake City on June 30, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Romero/Utah News Dispatch) Five unvaccinated members of the same household in Canyon County contracted measles recently after traveling out of state, regional health officials say. Earlier this month, Southwest District Health warned parents of students in Vallivue middle and high schools that their children couldve been exposed to measles. But the health district hasnt publicly announced the measles cases in a news release because officials say they were able to contact everybody who may have been exposed. Advertisement Advertisement Since the exposures were just restricted to the school, we were able to notify everybody that were exposed, health district epidemiologist Lekshmi Venugopal told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview Friday. Southwest District Health spokesperson Monique Evancic also said the health district is hopeful that the infections will stay contained to the household. We want to, especially post-COVID, be mindful of, like, fear mongering, she said in an interview. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Idaho has at least 7 measles cases this year So far this year, Idaho has reported 7 measles cases, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfares infectious disease data dashboard. Last year, during the U.S.s worst outbreak of measles in decades, Idaho reported 13 cases. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US Advertisement Advertisement Regional health officials are classifying the measles cases reported in Canyon County as probable because people were diagnosed based on their symptoms, and they didnt do laboratory testing. Officials say the family has voluntarily quarantined at home. In a statement, Evancic said the health district doesnt know any other students or staff in the Vallivue School District who have measles symptoms. She said the health district alerted local health care providers that measles is in the area. But Venugopal said she does not believe measles is spreading within the southwest Idaho community, and that the five cases in Canyon County are no longer infectious. Idaho has the lowest rate of kindergartners nearly four out of every five who are reportedly up to date on their measles vaccine, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Southwest District Health notes thats well under the 95% vaccination rate that prevents outbreaks from spreading. But Venugopal said the schools where there could be exposure had around 95% vaccination status. Advertisement Advertisement The main public health concern right now is low vaccination coverage, which increases the risk of measles spreading in schools and the community, Evancic told the Idaho Capital Sun. Heres what Southwest District Health has said about the measles cases in Canyon County: Two children in the household attended school in the Vallivue School District this month while infectious with measles. One attended Vallivue Middle School on Jan. 9. Another attended Vallivue High School on Jan. 20. Both children did not have symptoms at the time. Parents should monitor their children for measles symptoms, which can surface up to 21 days after they were exposed. Venugopal said the other three cases in the household did not cause public exposure. What to know about measles Vaccination is the best way to prevent measles, which is highly contagious and usually leads to hospitalization for one in five children younger than 5 years old who are infected. Advertisement Advertisement Measles is highly contagious but rare. Up to 90% of non-immune people in contact with an infected person can become infected. The virus can live in the air up to two hours after someone infected leaves. Symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after exposure and include high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a distinctive rash, the CDC says. While many recover without problems, measles can lead to serious complications, especially in very young children and people with weakened immune systems. The viruss serious complications can include pneumonia, encephalitis (an inflammation of the brain) and, in rare cases, death. People with measles symptoms should not enter health care settings without calling ahead, and they should contact their health care providers. People exposed to measles should monitor for symptoms for 21 days after exposure. There is no antiviral treatment for measles, according to the CDC. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Starting Feb. 6, Floridians will need to take their driving tests exclusively in English, according to an announcement by Gov. Ron DeSantis administration on Friday. Previously, knowledge exams for most non-commercial driver license classifications were offered in multiple languages, states a press release from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Under the updated policy, all driver license knowledge and skills will be conducted in English. Non-English-speaking Floridians who want to obtain their license have exactly one week to do their driving tests before the changes are implemented. The changes will also apply to commercial learners permits and commercial drivers licenses, which are currently offered in English and Spanish, according to the press release. Advertisement Advertisement Language translation services will no longer be permitted for knowledge or skills examinations, and any printed exams in languages other than English will be removed for use, states the press release. While the state sets the rules for driving tests, locally elected tax collectors administer the tests. Dariel Fernandez, Miami-Dades Republican tax collector, said his office staffs Spanish-speaking and Creole-speaking employees to serve the local population. Census data shows about two-thirds of Miami-Dades households speak Spanish at home. Fernandez, a Cuban American, said he supports the change. Every single road sign is in English, he said. Its about safety. Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, a Democrat, called the English-only testing rule a bad idea from a safety standpoint because it will discourage some people who dont speak English from pursuing licenses. Advertisement Advertisement While I would love for everyone to learn English, its not necessary for you to know English to operate a motor vehicle safely, he said. I think its a bad idea to have public policy that may unintentionally discourage people from taking the test and inadvertently encourage them to drive unlawfully. Miami Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks contributed to this report. Flurries fell on Florida. While the official forecast of the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said there was "a chance of flurries after 4 p.m." on Saturday afternoon, the flakes arrived in the capital city early with folks jumping on social media at about 1:30 p.m. to share sightings. It came as one weather watcher pointed to a "renegade snow band" that was overperforming and bringing a bit of wintry precipitation to South Alabama and Georgia. The band had been moving southeast and ultimately closed in on the capital city. Advertisement Advertisement Soon after, Tallahassee-based WeatherTiger founder and meteorologist Ryan Truchelut reported seeing 12 snowflakes in Southwood as radar showed bits of snow or snow pellets falling in Leon County. By about 2 p.m., reports were coming in from around Leon County. Some were counting solitary snowflakes flit by while others enjoyed more steady but small bursts of flurries that hit the ground and instantly melted. At Trader Joes, patrons exclaimed in joy as they checked out a frenzy of flurries fall on the parking lot outside. Snow sightings were reported in the Southwood neighborhood, around Lake Jackson, on the Florida State University campus and as far south as the Wakulla River. Mother Nature was also flaking out in neighboring Gadsden and Jefferson County. Snow in Tallahassee! Getting some pretty flurries in this band about to move through the rest of Tallahassee, NWS meteorologist Wright Dobbs wrote on X. None is sticking or will cause any concerns but it's pretty to look at! Advertisement Advertisement By 4 p.m., the sun was shining and the wind was gusting ahead of what may be a record-breaking Florida cool-down that will reach all the way into south Florida. "With that, the Great Tallahassee Blizzard of 2026 ends," one resident wrote on Facebook. If you get a snow sighting on photo or video, email us at news@tallahassee.com. Please include your name and where the photo and video are from. The latest Tallahassee radar shows system with snow flurries The flakes before the Florida freeze? Meteorologists say look out for hypothermia The flurries are a fun prelude to a blast of winter weather that National Weather forecasters in Tallahassee warn will bring "dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills" to the Big Bend. Advertisement Advertisement "January 2026 will be ending on an incredibly COLD note," forecasters wrote in a morning update. "Brace for a very impactful Arctic outbreak arriving today. The coldest period will be tonight into Sunday morning. Take this event seriously." After a day of 20 to 40 mph wind gusts. temperatures will crash and it will become "bitterly cold" with feels-like temps in the single digits, ranging from 3 to 7 degrees, meteorologists say. "Hypothermia onset will be quick as cold air and strong winds efficiently pull heat from all living things that are outside," forecasters wrote in their afternoon discussion. "Sheltering and minimal exposure will be incredibly important Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning. Due to these extremely cold wind chills, an Extreme Cold Warning is in effect to warn all living things about the dangerously cold temperatures and to be sure to find adequate shelter." A brief history of recent Florida snow with more on the way? The freezing temperatures could not only break record lows around the state, but snow flurries attributed to "Gulf-effect rain and snow" might appear as far south as Tampa, according to AccuWeather and the National Weather Service Tampa Bay. Advertisement Advertisement "Snow flurries in Tampa Bay are exceptionally rare, with only one confirmed measurable snowfall and just a handful of reports of flurries over the past century, according to Brandon Buckingham, AccuWeather meteorologist. The best chance to see snow flurries in Florida over the weekend was expected to be in Pinellas County, near St. Petersburg or Clearwater, according to the National Weather Service Tampa Bay, and during a very small window Saturday night into Sunday morning, Feb. 1. But Tallahassee may have stolen the show. The flurries are the second bout of winter precipitation in north Florida this year. A couple weeks back, a more steady but still small snowfall hit the ground from Pensacola to Marianna in Jackson County, briefly dusting the ground. Advertisement Advertisement Saturdays flirtation with wintry weather comes near the one year anniversary of Floridas 2025 winter storm, which dumped more than 7 inches of snow on Pensacola and brought measurable accumulation to parts of North Florida for the first time in decades. This flight of flurries was far less dramatic, but still exhilarating for a state more accustomed to dealing with hurricane landfalls than snowfall. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida snow flurries fall as extreme cold, freeze looms Warning: This story discusses graphic details of human remains and death which some people may find distressing Known as "baby bear" by his loved ones, Tyrone France was 31 years old when he was murdered under the pretext of a drug deal at a beauty spot in 1996. Gwent Police were alerted to what was left of a fire at Wentwood Forest, near Newport, on Saturday 11 May and arrived to discover teeth, 343 small fragments of charred bone and spent bullets. Advertisement Advertisement Popular with campers, it wasn't unusual to find remains of illicit campfires and animal bones at the forest, but by chance, forestry workers raised suspicions and the police began the "painstaking" investigation to try and identify the remains. What they uncovered would both shock and devastate Tyrone's family, who described his death as "horrific" and recalled Tyrone as being a "cuddly little baby bear". Now, nearly 30 years on, a new documentary has revealed how pathology helped uncover the "brutal and pitiless murder" of France, said to expose the "dark underbelly" of the drugs and gangs culture in Newport the time. "All the papers were interested in were that he was a drug dealer, a womanizer," said Tyrone's sister, Tarnia. Advertisement Advertisement "He was bubbly, he was charming, he always had a smile on his face... and that's how he got his nickname baby bear." Tyrone's sister Tarnia says her family couldn't believe what happened to her brother [Yeti Television/BBC Cymru Wales] Det Chris Parry was one of the detectives first called to the scene. He told the BBC One Wales series: The Truth About My Murder - Bones in the Forest: "At the front of it was what appeared to be half a skull, well burnt. "The police surgeon said in her opinion it was a human skull, which was quite incredible." To preserve the evidence, officers erected a scene tent and created a grid of 50cm squares, allowing them to collect every piece of bone they could identify in the ashes. Advertisement Advertisement "Parts from the head would be in one place, parts from the feet would be in a different area, so you get a consistency to see a bit of the picture as to how the body was lying when it was burnt," said Parry. "In total we found 343 fragments of bone, we had no idea who the person is. We didn't even know if it was male or female. "The one obvious thing was that there wasn't a whole body there. To see that sort of thing is unusual." DNA profiling was in the early stages so it couldn't be used, but Dr Richard Shepherd, former Home Office forensic pathologist, said evidence from the body led them to the truth. Advertisement Advertisement Large parts of the body were missing, including the torso, and the fractures represented 5-10% of the body - with many coming from the thigh bone. Piecing them together is a complex process but, once assembled, Dr Shepherd said pathologists discovered the fracture was due to expansion and heat - one intense enough to fracture the densest bone in the body, indicating an accelerant had been used. The femur also gave the police their first lead - an approximate height of the victim - as pathologists confirmed the bones belonged to a someone between 5ft 11in and 6ft 1in. Former chief reporter at BBC Wales, Penny Roberts says she remembers the case "really clearly as it was so unusual" [Yeti Television/BBC Cymru Wales] Despite the intense blaze, it hadn't burned long enough to destroy everything and officers found a pin badge, keys, a watch face and strap and a bullet head. Advertisement Advertisement The keys had a charm that read: "My body is my own, but I am prepared to share it." A public appeal then led to a breakthrough. Parry said the police received phone calls from two women saying they believed the body to be that of their boyfriend and ex-boyfriend, Tyrone France, who had recently gone missing. The keys were taken to the last known address for Tyrone, confirming his identity, but a motive was still unclear. A friend of Tyrone, Chris Jenkins, described him as a "great guy" who "gets on with everybody" [BBC] A third witness, Jason Preece, then came forward claiming to be the last to see Tyrone but when inconsistencies emerged, he offered a new story involving a planned drug deal, an unexpected shooting and two other men - Simon Spring and Dylan Watcyns. Advertisement Advertisement Preece told police he and Tyrone picked up Spring and Watcyns and claimed Spring ordered Tyrone out of the car. He said there was a row that quickly escalated into Spring shooting Tyrone once, then again, in an "execution manner" said Parry. "It was almost a gangland killing." Simon Spring used a legally registered fire arm to commit the murder of Tyrone [Gwent Police] While Spring had no previous convictions, he owned a firearms certificate and a police raid at Spring's home found three firearms, including a 9mm pistol, which matched the shells at the scene. Penny Roberts, a former BBC Wales reporter who covered the case, said Spring borrowed 2,000 just two months earlier to buy the guns and "liked to pretend he was an enforcer of a shadowy gang called the firm". Advertisement Advertisement A father to a two-year-old at the time, Roberts said Spring appeared to be a "devoted family man", but had a darker side. Watcyns claimed Spring forced him at gunpoint to make a bonfire over Tyrone's body before he and Spring dropped Preece to the flat and returned to the fire. He claimed he thought Spring was going to assault Tyrone - not kill him. "Despite it being a raging fire, the body wasn't going anywhere. They decided they would wrap the body in a wet carpet and take it to the River Usk," said Parry. "When we got there we saw what looked like a log of wood and that transpired to be a torso, which had stayed exactly where it had gone in. Which was quite remarkable." A small section of hip was left of the torso, and there was enough bone in the femur and the hip for pathologists to match them together, confirming it was the same individual. Advertisement Advertisement With scientific truth it was one body, dental records then confirmed the body was Tyrone. Two bullet wounds to the torso were also able to establish one clear wound track, shown to enter through the lower back, through spinal cord, the heart and out through the chest wall. The shot would have paralysed Tyrone and caused an immediate haemorrhage of the heart, leaving him unconscious, Shepherd said. "A killing that seemed more like a fanciful description of a scene of a killing from a Hollywood movie, turned out to be true," he added. Dylan Watcyns was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 1997 for his involvement in Tyrone's murder [Gwent Police] Preece, Spring and Watcyns all denied murder but Spring admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Advertisement Advertisement Spring and Preece were found guilty of murder to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 18 years in 1997, while Watcyns was sentenced to seven years for manslaughter. The court heard that Spring was paranoid Tyrone was "stalking him" and he had been shot at - though there was no evidence to suggest that. Judge Justice Curtis described it as a "brutal and pitiless murder" and that the three had lived in a "twilight world" that was "completely overrun with drugs" in Newport. Jason Preece came forward as the last witness, but his initial account of events didn't add up [Gwent Police] "These three men - and in particular Simon Spring - seem to be just living out their fantasies as enforcers of macho hard men who worked for shadowy organisations," said Roberts. "Tragically, these fantasies they had, these images of themselves as being tough enforcers led to the death, the execution - and it was an execution - of Tyrone France." Recalling the trial, Tarnia described it as "horrific". Tyrone and Tarnia grew up on the Isle of Wight, his mum was English and his dad was from St Vincent in the Caribbean. "He was very cheeky... but when he was cheeky, they all loved him for his cheekiness," she smiled. Growing up in 1980s Britain, Tarnia recalled him having "a lot of stick" and he struggled with the prejudice he received, getting into trouble with the police for being an "easy target" she said. Aged 21, Tyrone left the Isle of Wight for Southampton and then Birmingham before arriving in Newport in 1992. Tyrone was described as a well-known character in Newport who was "well liked" and known to the police as a local, minor drug dealer - but his murder shocked the community. "Mum was devastated, because that was her baby boy," said Tarnia. Preece was released from prison on bail in 2012, followed by Spring in 2014. The first episode of The Truth About My Murder begins on BBC One Wales on 3 February at 22:40 GMT, with all six episodes available on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday More top stories BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) Four candidates have qualified to run for the 69th House District seat in the March 14 election. According to the Louisiana Secretary of States office, the qualifying period ran from Jan. 28 through Jan. 30. The 69th House District includes portions of East Baton Rouge Parish. The seat became vacant following the notarized resignation of state Rep. Paula Davis. Speaker of the House Phillip DeVillier called for the special election to be held in the spring, with a primary election date for March 14, and a general election for Saturday, April 18. Advertisement Advertisement Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. What voters need to know Voter registration deadline (in person, by mail, or at an OMV Office): Feb. 11 Online voter registration deadline (GeauxVote Online Registration System): Feb. 21 Early voting: Feb. 28March 7 (excluding Sunday, March 1), from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Absentee ballot request deadline (non-military and non-overseas voters): March 10 by 4:30 p.m. Requests can be made online through the Voter Portal or in writing through your Registrar of Voters Office Deadline for registrar to receive voted absentee ballots (non-military and non-overseas voters): March 13 by 4:30 p.m. See who qualified for the 69th Representative District seat Adam Beach Republican Lynn Coxe Graham Republican Angela Roberts Democrat Paul Sawyer Republican Advertisement Advertisement Qualifying ended on Friday, Jan. 30. Latest News Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A nationwide strike brought protests, student walkouts and business closures to Fresno as demonstrators voiced opposition to the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown. The grassroots effort, which included calls for no work, no school and no shopping, unfolded alongside demonstrations in Minneapolis and across the country. In Fresno, the sound of honking horns accompanied protesters who said they were organizing in solidarity with other cities. Advertisement Advertisement "I'm angry with what's happening in the country. I think we need to be prepared and we need to build that community and build that solidarity before what's happening in. Minneapolis comes here to Central Valley," said a student activist. The demonstrations come amid escalating tensions following the deaths of Rene Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this month. On Shaw Avenue in Fresno, protesters delivered a unified message, calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents to leave American cities. "They need to back off and let the Normal justice system work not the corrupt justice system," said protestor Bob Speechly. "This is not the American way." Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of students near Fresno High School marched out of class, carrying signs as they joined the protest. At Fresno State, students organized a different kind of demonstration, making bracelets printed with the ICE hotline number to report sightings and sharing information about how to become legal observers. "I think folks are showing up and whatever way they can. I think a lot of it folks are looking for peace folks want protection in their communities and I think part of that is being at risk with ice present," said Andrea Vazquez of the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance. Dozens of Valley businesses also participated. Advertisement Advertisement A vintage store on Fulton Street closed its doors for the day. Ampersand Ice Cream is donating all profits to the Valley Watch Network. Albee Sanchez of Frida Cafe said he could not close because of overhead costs but gave his employees the day off. "The most important thing for us right now to do is you unite and you do not unite with anger unite with common goal," Sanchez said. Fresno State political science professor Tom Holyoke said protests are a common response during periods of unrest, reflecting a long-standing American tradition of collective action. "It's actually a very old American tradition. It goes back to the revolution. Americans have always had a long history of protesting in fact, protesting is actually guaranteed in our constitution in the first amendment, allowing the people to peacefully assemble," Holyoke said. Advertisement Advertisement Advocacy groups in the Valley are calling for accountability of aggressive raids, racial profiling and deadly force. For news and weather updates, follow Brisa Colon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Just a few months after the last government shutdown, another partial one began on Saturday, Jan. 31, after lawmakers failed to pass a funding package by a Jan. 30 deadline. It's unclear how long the lapse in appropriations will last. But it's unlikely to drag on as long as the last one, given momentum in recent days between Senate Democrats, Republicans and the White House. The Senate passed a spending bill Friday evening that extends spending for the Department of Homeland Security which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for two weeks while lawmakers negotiate over ICE reforms, and funds other government agencies through September. President Donald Trump (C-L) speaks during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. (L-R) U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Eric Turner, and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins look on during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. A name card for U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem sits on the table during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. (L-R) White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Eric Turner, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance look on during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. (L-R) U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi look on during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (R) during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. Also pictured from L/R are Attorney General Pam Bondi, US secretary of Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and US Vice President JD Vance. As shutdown threat looms, Trump meets with Cabinet 1 of 10 President Donald Trump (C-L) speaks during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is holding the meeting as the Senate plans to hold a vote on a spending package to avoid another government shutdown, however Democrats are holding out for a deal to consider funding for the Department of Homeland Security. DHS and ICE has been mired in controversy after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Democrats in recent days have demanded changes to immigration enforcement, risking a shutdown in the process. Advertisement Advertisement The bill now moves to House of Representatives, which is in recess. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Monday likely is the earliest the chamber will vote. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Funding deadline passes, triggering government shutdown All five injured have been admitted to a hospital in Bidar. The cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained, officials said. Dr. Shivayogi Baili, a surgeon at Breams Hospital, speaking to ANI, said, "Five people were injured due to the blast that happened on the highway. The place is named Molakera, Humnabad taluk. Two people were severely injured, named Anwar Saab, 18 years old, who got a crush injury to the foot and eye injury with the left hand. The other injured person got a head injury. We have addressed the primary issue. Jabbar Saab, who is the 65 year male, got left and right hands with eyeball injury and head injury. " Bidar Superintendent of Police Pradeep Gunti has reached the site of the mysterious explosion and is actively conducting an investigation. Further details are awaited. (ANI) Israeli air strikes killed 32 people including children in Gaza on Saturday, according to the Palestinian territory's civil defence agency, as the military said it had attacked in response to a Hamas ceasefire violation. Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase earlier this month, violence in the Palestinian territory has continued, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the agreement. The latest bloodshed comes after Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday for the "limited movement of people". Advertisement Advertisement "The death toll since dawn today has risen to 32, most of them children and women," said the civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, updating an earlier toll of 28. "Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in the statement. A unit in an apartment building of Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood was left entirely destroyed, and blood spatters were visible on the street below, an AFP journalist reported. "Three girls died while they were sleeping. We found their bodies in the street", Samer al-Atbash, a relative of the family, told AFP. Advertisement Advertisement "What truce are you talking about? Everyone is deceiving everyone else," added Nael al-Atbash, another relative. One strike hit the police station in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre. Gaza's general police directorate said seven people were killed in that attack, while Bassal said the dead included four female police officers. - Ceasefire violations - About a dozen first responders rushed to the devastated building and pulled bodies from the rubble, an AFP journalist reported. Another Israeli attack hit a shelter in Al-Mawasi, an area of south Gaza where tens of thousands of displaced Gazans live in tents and makeshift shelters, an AFP journalist reported. Advertisement Advertisement Large plumes of smoke rose above the thousands of densely pitched tents. The number of casualties from this strike was still not known. Although people have been killed almost daily in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on October 10, Saturday's toll was particularly high. Israel's military said that the air strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, which it said violated the fragile ceasefire. It said forces "struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations across the Gaza Strip". Advertisement Advertisement Hamas political bureau member Suhail al-Hindi rejected the military's claims. "What happened today is a fully fledged crime committed by a criminal enemy that does not abide by agreements or respect any commitments," he told AFP. The health ministry, which operates under the Hamas authority, has said Israeli attacks have killed at least 509 people in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect. Israel's military says four soldiers have been killed in the same period in Gaza in suspected militant attacks. - Rafah reopening - Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have meant that AFP has been unable to independently verify casualty figures or freely cover the violence. Advertisement Advertisement Key mediators Egypt and Qatar condemned what they said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire. Egypt demanded that all parties "exercise the utmost restraint" ahead of Sunday's reopening of Rafah crossing, while Qatar said it denounced the "repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire". The violence was a "dangerous escalation that will inflame the situation and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at consolidating the truce," the Qatari foreign ministry said. Israel has said reopening of the Rafah crossing will only allow the "limited movement of people". Advertisement Advertisement The reopening is a key element in the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Israel had previously expressed its unwillingness to reopen the gateway until it received the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage to be held in Gaza, who was recovered earlier this week and laid to rest in Israel on Wednesday. The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel's retaliation flattened much of Gaza, which was already suffering from previous rounds of fighting and from an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007. The two-year war has left at least 71,769 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. burs-az-lba-jd/dc A "Youth Against ICE" rally at the Eugene Federal Building, at the intersection of Pearl and Seventh streets, ended in more chemical deterrents and flash bangs deployed by police. The protest was part of the Jan. 30 general strike dubbed "National Shutdown." Activists around the country urged people not to attend school, work, or shop in a call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In Eugene and Springfield, most public K-12 schools were out for the day. Eugene School District 4J, Springfield Public Schools and Bethel School District all had grading day on Jan. 30 with no classes. University of Oregon and Lane Community College were both in session. Advertisement Advertisement At the start of the protest, Sarah Hartman, a 30-year-old fifth grade teacher, said she was at the Eugene Federal Building to support her students. Theres not any room to think about learning fractions when theyre worried about their family members being taken, Hartman said. The crowd at the Eugene Federal Building approaches the front entrance on Jan. 30, 2026. Chalk writing covered nearly every available inch of sidewalk, with phrases denouncing ICE. For the first hour, almost all protesters clustered along the intersection, encouraging cars to honk in support. Some protesters could be seen leaning over the railing on the Lane County Courthouse, waving signs. A group of drummers beat out a rhythm that echoed around the plaza. University of Oregon students flock to ICE protest Some parents brought young children, but the largest group at the rally were University of Oregon students. The Register-Guard spoke with 10 of them throughout the afternoon. Advertisement Advertisement Alexis Herndon and Kylee Wittwer, both 19 and UO students, said their professors werent allowed to cancel classes for the National Shutdown. But many said students wouldnt be marked absent if they didnt show. Im glad theres something that they can do or theyre giving us the room to do it, Herndon said. It shows that our generation cares and because I feel like a lot of people at some point think this doesnt affect us yet, but it does. Mylie Peterson Antin, a University of Oregon student from Minnesota, was at the rally at the Eugene Federal Building. She said she'd been following the news in Minneapolis, including the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Eugene and Springfield Police Officers stand guard at the Eugene Federal Building after a window was broken by protesters on Jan. 30, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon. "I feel like every day in the news, there's something more horrific than the last," Peterson Antin said. "As an immigrant and someone who is from Minnesota, it's just been absolutely heartbreaking." Advertisement Advertisement The 18-year-old said many younger people show their activism on social media, but not as many take real action. Her friend Maggie Mauney, a 19-year-old UO student, called the current political climate awful, disgusting and exhausting. Mauney said at other protests they've attended, older generations have praised them. "We need to keep fighting, keep showing resistance. All of us are in it. It's not over until we end it," Peterson Antin said. Jake Mall, 20, also a UO student, came to the gathering at the protest because he wanted to feel like hes doing something. He said it was scary to see the violence that occurred earlier in the week, referring to the multiple arrests and use of chemical deterrents on protesters. Advertisement Advertisement Im not comfortable being complicit, he said. Grace Mangali, a 20-year-old journalism student at UO who was working the protest for Eugene Weekly, said it was important for her to be there to capture the events that unfold. "It's my job to stay updated with things that are happening in the community and it's documented as well," Mangali said. "I think reporters are an integral and controversial part of this conflict. It's just as important for reporters to participate and tell stories that are objective, but backed up by the facts." On Jan. 29, former CNN reporter Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents after covering immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota. Lemon was charged along with another journalist and several activists. He was released on Jan. 30. Advertisement Advertisement In Eugene, the Eugene Weekly reported that one of its reporters as well as a reporter from the Lane Community College's student paper The Torch, were struck by pepper balls on Jan. 27. Eugene Weekly's article states the journalists were clearly marked as press and announced themselves to federal agents. Rally and caravan: Hundreds gather for National Shutdown Day protest in Springfield Protest pushes toward federal building with vandalism A bit after 3 p.m., the crowd began migrating toward the front entrance of the federal building as protesters murmured about federal agents being inside. At the peak, approximately 300 were gathered around the courtyard with another couple hundred hanging back. As the sky grew dark, the crowd began to thin, but hundreds remained in the area, chanting and waving signs. One protester sprayed graffiti on the building. Advertisement Advertisement The crowd began banging on the windows at the entrance of the federal building, eventually breaking at least one. Just before 6 p.m., federal agents deployed a flash bang out of the broken window, which was to the right of the door. Eugene Police, which had been stationed in riot gear in a parking lot across the street intervened. They created a wall between protesters and the Eugene Federal Building entrance. Eugene Police and Springfield Police vehicles created a blockade, closing off Pearl Street at Sixth Street. A Eugene Police vehicle with a long range acoustic device, which can emit loud, cannon-like sounds to deter crowds, played a recording: "This is the Eugene Police Department. You are engaged in an active riot. You are ordered to disperse from the area immediately. Failure to disperse will result in the use of tear gas and/or impact munitions. You may be subject to arrest." At approximately 6:30 p.m., a similar message played out of loudspeakers at the top of the federal building, warning protesters they were engaging in "unlawful assembly" and directing them to exit the courtyard toward the Seventh and Pearl streets intersection, then continue west. Federal agents clear the ground of the Eugene Federal Building during an anti-ICE protest on Jan. 30, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon. At approximately 7 p.m., four SUVs entered the federal parking lot. Protesters speculated they held reinforcements. Thirty minutes later, Eugene Police left and federal agents deployed more flash bangs and tear gas. Advertisement Advertisement Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on X @mirandabcyr. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Youth Against ICE protest in Eugene ends in more chemical deterrents While Punxsutawney Phil gets much of the national Groundhog Day spotlight, many of his weather-forecasting animal counterparts have proven much more accurate with their predictions. Though Phil hails from Pennsylvania, other popular groundhog forecasters include Buckeye Chuck in Ohio, General Beauregard Lee in Georgia and Staten Island Chuck in New York, among dozens of others. Across the U.S. and Canada, where Groundhog Day is primarily celebrated, there are 88 weather-forecasting groundhogs in total, according to groundhog-day.com, which bills itself as the leading data source for the holiday that falls on Feb. 2. Advertisement Advertisement Some of those include "alternative" groundhogs, which the site says includes other species, taxidermized groundhogs, plush stuffed animals or people in costume. In 2025, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranked the accuracy of some of these groundhogs, and the results showed many outranked Punxsutawney Phil. How accurate is Punxsutawney Phil? NOAA graded and ranked each groundhog based on their accuracy using the March temperature averages for the U.S. each year from 2005 to 2024. According to NOAA's data, Punxsutawney Phil's early spring/longer winter forecasts were accurate just 35% of the time. Which groundhogs are most accurate? See list Aside from Phil, NOAA ranked 19 annual groundhog prognosticators with the criteria that they must have been forecasting for at least 20 years as of February 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Here's a look at the results: Staten Island Chuck - 85% General Beauregard Lee - 80% Lander Lil - 75% Concord Charlie - 65% Gertie the Groundhog - 65% Jimmy the Groundhog - 60% Woodstock Willie - 60% Buckeye Chuck - 55% French Creek Freddie - 55% Malverne Mel - 55% Octoraro Orphie - 52.63% Dunkirk Dave - 50% Holtsville Hal - 50% Poor Richard - 50% Uni the Groundhog - 47.37% Schnogadahl Sammi - 38.89% Punxsutawney Phil - 35% Woody the Woodchuck - 35% Mojave Max - 25% Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com. (This story was updated to add a video.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Which groundhog forecasters are most accurate? Phil isn't top. The Grand Canyon National Park is reportedly planning to open the North Rim in the summer of 2026. The North Rim was severely damaged in 2025 by the Dragon Bravo Fire, which burned over 145,000 acres. Knowing how devastating it was, officials are evaluating the winter weather impacts and park infrastructure before potentially opening the park on May 15. Our goal is to provide access to the North Rim as quickly and responsibly as possible with an emphasis on safety. We are committed to keeping the public and our partners informed as we learn more about the impacts of winter weather and the Dragon Bravo Fire," said Superintendent Ed Keable. Advertisement Advertisement The popular North Kaibab Trail and portions of the Arizona Trail within the park have been closed ever since the Dragon Bravo Fire, which burned for several months. According to the park, they are prioritizing visitor safety, resource protection and operational readiness. The park said they are committed to providing specific details about the "2026 North Rim season no later than April 1." Wildfire Go-Kit: Residents in wildfire-prone areas are urged to have an emergency supplies kit to bring with them of they are evacuated from their homes, especially as Arizona residents are beginning to see early widespread fire activity throughout the state. Advertisement Advertisement An emergency supply kit should be put together long before a wildfire or another disaster occurs. Make sure to keep it easily accessible so you can take it with you when you have to evacuate. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that residents near a disaster store emergency supplies in a plastic tub, small suitcase, trash can, backpack, or other containers. Residents should make sure they have the necessities, such as three gallons of water per person and a three-day supply of ready-to-eat food, the NFPA said. A first-aid kit, prescription medications, contact lenses, and non-prescription drugs should also be taken into account. Copies of any important family documents, including insurance policies, identification, bank account records, and emergency contact numbers should also be taken and put into a waterproof, portable container in your kit, the NFPA said. Advertisement Advertisement The association lists other items that would help in a disaster, including: Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person Battery-powered or hand-cranked radio and a NOAA weather radio to receive up-to-date information Dust mask or cotton T-shirt to filter the air Matches in a waterproof container Complete change of clothing including long pants, long sleeve shirts, and sturdy shoes stored in a waterproof container Signal flare The entire NFPA checklist of supplies can be found here. Those in Arizona who have been affected by a wildfire or other natural disasters can seek assistance from the American Red Cross by calling 1-800-842-7349. GRAFTON, Va. (WAVY) A 65-year-old Hampton man was arrested Wednesday after deputies said he threatened a grocery store employee with a gun during a robbery at a Kroger on George Washington Memorial Highway. Winston Tracy Lewis faces a felony robbery charge following the Jan. 28 incident. Investigators with the York-Poquoson Sheriffs Office used automated license plate recognition technology to locate Lewis hours after he allegedly fled the store with a cart of stolen merchandise. The Sheriffs Office also linked Lewis to a separate shoplifting incident reported at a nearby Walmart earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement The robbery occurred at approximately 6:15 a.m. at the Kroger located at 6500 George Washington Memorial Highway. According to the sheriffs office, a store employee confronted a man as he attempted to exit the building with a grocery cart full of merchandise. During the confrontation, the suspect told the employee he had a firearm. Investigators said the man threatened to shoot the worker if he didnt get to leave with the stolen items. The suspect then loaded the merchandise into a vehicle in the parking lot and drove away. The store employee obtained the vehicles license plate information and provided it to responding deputies. Authorities utilized the Flock ALPR system to identify the owner and track the vehicle. At approximately 3:38 p.m. the same day, the system alerted deputies that the car had entered Isle of Wight County. Deputies with the Isle of Wight County Sheriffs Office were notified of the alert. They located the vehicle and arrested Lewis shortly after the notification. Advertisement Advertisement Following the arrest, deputies determined Lewis was the same suspect involved in a shoplifting incident at the Walmart located at 2601 George Washington Highway on Jan. 7. He was subsequently charged with misdemeanor shoplifting in addition to the felony robbery charge. Lewis is currently incarcerated in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A year ago, Environmental Services Commissioner Bob Scott warned the Republican-led Legislature in writing that they risked losing in federal court and could face financial penalties if they pressed ahead without federal permission to get rid of annual inspection and emissions testing for all cars and trucks in New Hampshire. New Hampshire legislators were warned of car inspection repeal chaos Abdullah Idan of Manchester arrives at Manchester Gas & Auto while scrambling to get a state inspection on Friday before it expires Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Should New Hampshire repeal or even alter the program requirements without obtaining (Environmental Protection Agency) approval it could, if not rectified, subject the state to federal sanctions, Scott wrote House Transportation Committee Chairman Thomas Walsh, R-Hooksett, last Feb. 10. A month later, EPA Region 1 Administrator Mark Sanborn penned his own letter to lawmakers that if this law was not timely corrected, the agency could consider using its sanctioning authority that could lead to a loss of federal highway funding. Gordon-Darby, the inspection program vendor, tacked Sanborns letter onto its notice in October that it would sue the state if it followed through on plans to end all inspections after Jan. 31. U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCaffertys issuance of a preliminary injunction in favor of Gordon-Darbys claim this past week sent state regulators and lawmakers scrambling to inform the public what comes next and try to craft a fallback strategy. Advertisement Advertisement Inspections were to have gone away for good this weekend until McCafferty ruled the federal Clean Air Act required the state to get federal signoff on any change to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for an enhanced inspection and emissions program that the EPA first approved in 2001. Late Friday afternoon, Attorney General John Formella advised all who needed a new inspection sticker through the end of March that they now will have until April 10 to get one. This gives someone who, under existing law, had to get a vehicle inspected by the end of February another six weeks to get into compliance. State intends to appeal ruling Advertisement Advertisement Formella advised his office will appeal the courts ruling and ask McCafferty to pause the impact of her decision until the appeal is decided. We understand that these changes may be confusing or frustrating for New Hampshire drivers, Formella said. He also advised drivers to pay attention to actions at the State House as well. Future legislative action or court developments could change the status of the inspection program, Formella added. House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, is preparing his Live Free and Drive amendment that would keep inspections in place but subject a violator who fails to get one to a $1 fine. Advertisement Advertisement The proposal would not allow police to pull over a motorist solely because the car lacked an inspection sticker and would prevent insurance companies from raising rates for anyone whos driving an uninspected vehicle. I think they all finally understand what a popular issue this is. Everywhere I traveled around the state during the offseason, people would come out of their way to thank me for repealing the inspections, Osborne said. I visited a factory one day and the workers all got in line to shake my hand. One said, This is the first time we have seen government do anything for us. I havent seen any issue like this in my House tenure. New Hampshire legislators were warned of car inspection repeal chaos Advertisement Advertisement Kerners Car Care Center on South Willow Street in Manchester has a sign for state inspections on Friday. During an interview, Osborne said he believes the state Senate next Thursday will act first by adopting provisions such as the ones he has proposed and add them to a pending bill (SB 649) on a topic that a Senate panel had endorsed last week. NH Senate likely to take the lead The Senate bill would make changes Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn and Formella had asked to retain. Even without annual inspections, state and local law enforcement officers would have the authority to cite a motorist for driving an unsafe car. Advertisement Advertisement It would list in detail the defects in car and truck equipment that would define any vehicle as unsafe to drive. Police could cite that motorist for a violation and $100 fine. The measure also would protect consumers by requiring used car dealers to disclose any serious defects in the car they are selling unless both parties agree to an as-is sale. If the Senate passes the bill, Osborne said, the House could agree with the changes and quickly get it to the desk of Gov. Kelly Ayotte. To keep all options available, Osborne also plans to offer his proposal as an amendment to a pending House bill. Some critics maintain the fix still wouldnt supersede the judges decision. Advertisement Advertisement It was completely foreseeable that this could happen, said Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, alluding to the warnings about the state acting alone on inspection repeal. Catherine Corkery with the New Hampshire Sierra Club had also testified that EPA powers exceed any actions the state tries to take independently. In his letter, DES Commissioner Scott had advised the House committee that if the inspection repeal was passed it should make any change effective on the date that the EPA gave its OK. Fleet inspection law contingent on feds Another bill from the 2025 session (SB 157) that made changes to how rental vehicle fleets get inspected had that contingency language in it, Scott said. Advertisement Advertisement Ayotte signed into law the fleet inspection bill, which said it took effect only when the commissioner of the (state) Department of Environmental Services certifies to the director of the office of legislative services and the secretary of state that the United States Environmental Protection Agency has approved amendments to the state SIP. Meanwhile, Executive Councilor John Stephen, R-Manchester, has called on Ayotte to call an emergency meeting of the Executive Council so it can vote on the future of any contract with the vendor who sued the state. Under our Constitution, not one dollar leaves the Treasury without Executive Council approval, Stephen said. Gordon-Darby can wave their court order around all they want, but they cannot compel the Council to authorize payment. The council needs to meet immediately so we can chart a course forward that protects New Hampshire taxpayers not an out-of-state vendor that chose litigation over cooperation. Advertisement Advertisement In the lawsuit, Gordon-Darby lawyers said the company would lose $4.1 million if the state was allowed to end the program Jan. 31 and not honor the contract that was to have run through all of 2026. Last fall, state officials informed Gordon-Darby of their intent to terminate the contract. The vendor receives no revenue from the state under the contract but has instead been paid by the inspection stations that use their emissions testing equipment. klandrigan@unionleader.com CONCORD, N.H. (ABC22/FOX44) On Tuesday, a judge ruled that New Hampshires plans to end its mandated vehicle inspection program were unlawful. The company that administers the program had sued, arguing that if the inspections were no longer required, New Hampshire wouldnt be in compliance with the federal Clean Air Act. Federal judge: vehicle inspections in New Hampshire must continue, for now Now, state officials are saying that drivers will at least have until April to get an inspection while New Hampshire appeals the court order. Advertisement Advertisement Due to the publics reasonable expectation that the program was ending on January 31, 2026, the Department of Safety is extended the deadline to obtain a state inspection to April 10, 2026, wrote state Attorney General John Formella. The extension applies to all vehicles due for inspection before the coming March. Formella added that the State of New Hampshire disagrees with the judges decision and said the program could also end sooner than April depending on legislative action. See more about how to stay safe when driving at our video below. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC22 & FOX44. Harris County commissioners approved hiring 131 additional jailers to help bring back more than 1,200 inmates from out-of-state facilities, but mothers who lost loved ones in custody argue it's the wrong priority. They say the county should focus on medical and mental health staff to prevent future deaths. Overcrowding has forced the jail to outsource inmates to places like LaSalle and Natchitoches in Louisiana, plus Beaumont. That's 1,238 inmates total now, down from Mississippi facilities they stopped using in November. Officials note they've already returned hundreds, including 300 from Mississippi that required more supervision. Commissioners say staffing is the bottleneck despite enough space to house everyone locally. They blame court backlogs, arrests and bail decisions for delays, with hiring phased to wrap by June. Advertisement Advertisement But Sarah Knight, whose son Jaleen Anderson died at a Louisiana facility, calls it misguided. "Jailers are not equipped to handle mental illness," she said. Knight blames Harris County for shipping him there, where he suffered six seizures back-to-back. "Harris County is responsible you guys shipped him there." Commissioner Briones pushed back: "This is necessary to make the jail safe and to bring people home." Officials note 20 jail deaths last year below the national average, mostly natural causes and two so far this year. Commissioners also plan investments in programs to cut overcrowding long-term and end outsourcing for good. Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at newstips@khou.com or call 713-521-4310 and include your name and the best way to reach you. OTTAWA The Ohio Supreme Court has declined to exercise it jurisdiction in the latest appeal of Travis Soto, a Napoleon man who faces a charge of aggravated murder in Putnam County in the 2016 death of his young son. The high courts ruling sends Sotos case back to Putnam County Common Pleas Court for a new trial, pending the resolution of several other outstanding issues in the 20-year case. Soto has already served a five-year prison term for what he originally claimed was the accidental death of his son in an all-terrain vehicle. Soto eventually entered into an agreement with the Putnam County Prosecutors Office and pleaded guilty to child endangering in exchange for the dismissal of an additional charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to a five-year prison term. Advertisement Advertisement In 2016, years after Soto had served the resulting prison sentence in its entirety, he admitted he actually had beaten his son to death and staged the ATV accident. The state indicted him on additional charges arising out of the same incident, including aggravated murder. Sotos attorneys claimed the new charges were a violation of their clients legal rights against double jeopardy, maintaining the earlier plea agreement prevented the state from filing the new charges. Putnam County Common Pleas Court Judge Keith Schierloh disagreed and allowed the state to indict Soto on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Sotos legal team appealed that ruling to the Ohio Third District Court but the appellate court supported Schierlohs conclusion that the state was within its rights to file a new charge of aggravated murder against Soto. With its latest ruling the state supreme court has opted not to intervene. During an appearance in court earlier this month, Schierloh heard motions by Sotos legal team seeking a mental health evaluation and from Soto himself asking for a change of venue in the case. NEED TO KNOW Along with the Somali population of Minneapolis, Hmong citizens have also found themselves targeted by ICE agents in recent weeks The Twin Cities in Minnesota are home to the most concentrated Hmong population in the United States Many Hmong came to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, with an expedited path to citizenship after fighting for the U.S. during the Vietnam War While President Donald Trump and his administration have been particularly vocal about targeting the Somali population with the federal immigration operation in Minnesota, ICE raids have impacted other ethnic groups with notable populations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, including the Hmong. The Twin Cities share the largest urban Hmong community in the United States, and recent actions by federal agents plus the election of a new Hmong American mayor in St. Paul have put a spotlight on the Asian group. Advertisement Advertisement Video went viral on Jan. 19 of ICE agents dragging a shirtless man, identified as 56-year-old Chongly "Scott" Thao, out into the freezing temperatures to detain him. The man, who is Hmong, said he was driven to the "middle of nowhere" before ICE finally reviewed his legal identification and brought him home. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement at the time that ICE was conducting a targeted operation of two convicted sex offenders. "The U.S. citizen lives with these two convicted sex offenders at the site of the operation," McLaughlin claimed. "The individual refused to be fingerprinted or facially ID'd. He matched the description of the targets. As with any law enforcement agency, it is standard protocol to hold all individuals in a house of an operation for safety of the public and law enforcement." One of the men ICE was reportedly looking for, 52-year-old Lue Moua, was later located at Minnesota Corrections Facility-Faribault, where he has been serving time since September 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Of his shocking mistaken detainment, Thao later said, "I was hoping God would save me. They didn't say anything. No sorry, anything." Chongly "Scott" Thao AP Photo/Jack Brook Days prior, newly elected St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her testified in an immigration hearing, in which she said St. Paul residents have reported ICE agents targeting Asian, and specifically Hmong, residents. "We've received reports of federal law enforcement officers going door-to-door asking people where the Asian people live right in our very own city," Her, 52, said. "I myself have received advice to carry my passport with me because they may try to target me based on what I look like as well." The St. Paul mayor was born in Laos and is the first woman, Asian American and Hmong American to serve in the role. Her first year as mayor has been a trial by fire, as she fights to protect members of her own community from being targeted by ICE. Advertisement Advertisement Saint Paul has been under siege by ICE starting back in June already," Her recently told The Guardian. "Were home to one of the largest Hmong communities in the country, but when the ICE raids started, they flew under the radar. Theyve only come to light recently since the shooting of Renee Good, and its escalated since." Kaohly Her was elected the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, on Nov. 4, 2025, the first woman, first Asian American, and first Hmong American to hold the position Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Who are the Hmong? The Hmong people are an ethnic group from East and Southeast Asia. They are one of four modern groups that are classified as Miao in China, with the others being the Hmao, the Hmu, and the Xong. Despite being grouped together under the Miao umbrella, the four groups have little in common today, and their languages are different enough as to be unintelligible between groups. Today, the Hmong people live mostly in Southwestern China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. Diaspora communities also exist in the United States, Australia, France, and South America, with large groups of Hmong leaving Asia in the 1970s following the Vietnam War and Laotian Civil War, and another wave following after the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. Advertisement Advertisement Many Hmong at that time were granted special immigration status, having fought for the U.S. in the "Secret War" in Laos. In a Jan. 21 thread on X about the importance of the Hmong American community, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse wrote, "Our U.S. military attache in Laos Gen. Dick Trefry said after the war that were it not for the Hmong troops operating in Northern Laos, 'thered be a thousand more names on the Vietnam Memorial.' " An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Hmong soldiers lost their lives in the war and, after the U.S. withdrew, became targets for retaliation by the remaining communist forces. Thousands made the treacherous and often deadly decision to escape to Thailand and, from there, resettled in other countries. "Grateful officials who had served with them worked to expedite their passage from the camps to the U.S.," Whitehouse wrote. "Rhode Island and Minnesota were the two of the most welcoming states to Hmong refugees, and Im proud to represent my Hmong constituents... ICE should learn a little history." Notable Hmong celebrities include former Disney Channel actress Brenda Song and U.S. Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee, who grew up in St. Paul and became the first-ever Hmong American Olympian in 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Google reported a spike in trending searches for "Hmong" during Lee's Olympic run in 2021, in which she won the all-around gold medal. She also made the gold medal-winning women's gymnastics team in 2024. I cant find the words to express how happy we are, how important that was to me and my family and to the whole Hmong community throughout the world, her father, John Lee, told The Associated Press in 2021. At the time, Her was serving as a state representative in Minnesota, and expressed to the AP what it meant for Hmong Americans to share their accomplishments with their community something she would go on to do herself when she was elected mayor of St. Paul in 2024. Every other Hmong person who has done something as a first is literally living out the dreams of our ancestors, she said. Read the original article on People BRS party leaders have called for massive protests across Telangana on Sunday to condemn the undemocratic and politically motivated actions being pursued by the current government against Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, the first Chief Minister of Telangana state and BRS party president. Senior party leaders, including former ministers Madhusudhanachari, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Sabitha Indra Reddy, Padmarao Goud, Prashanth Reddy, Satyavathi Rathod, Balamallu, Karne Prabhakar, MLA Vivek, Krishna Rao, and others, issued this call to the party cadres, according to a release. They strongly condemned the government, stating that it is deliberately harassing KCR and behaving inhumanely and insultingly towards him as part of a political vendetta. They described the creation of fabricated stories under the guise of telephone tapping and the subsequent issuance of notices under the name of SIT (Special Investigation Team) inquiry as a wicked and despicable act, the release stated. As part of tomorrow's protest programs, they instructed that effigies of the government be burned in over 12,000 villages across the state. Similarly, they called for protests to be held in every municipal and constituency centre, including motorcycle rallies, demonstrations with black flags, sit-ins, and road blockades, to make the government feel the heat of the protests. The release further stated that the party leaders and elected representatives were instructed to remain in their respective districts and ensure the success of these programs. They urged that the protests be democratic and peaceful, avoiding any clashes with the police, and that the people be informed about the conspiracies being hatched by the government. Earlier today, BRS Working President KT Rama Rao slammed Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy after the State police refused a request by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's (KCR) to examine him at Erravelli residence in connection with the alleged phone tapping case. KTR called it Revanth Reddy's "arrogance" and said the police are violating the rules by not questioning a person over 65 years old at their residence. In an X post, KTR wrote, "What is this despicable attitude towards KCR, the architect of Telangana, the Leader of the Opposition, and former Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy? Even after KCR himself replied to your police with his residential address, where he is staying, it is deplorable that they came to a residence where he is not staying in the middle of the night and pasted notices on the gate to derive demonic pleasure from it. If this is not arrogance, then what is it?" "Your police are also violating the rule that individuals over 65 years old should be questioned at their actual place of residence. Do your police even have any awareness of Standard Operating Procedures? Or are they mere puppets in your hands, tasked only with harassing opposition leaders in this manner?" he added Further, the BRS leader said that the party will challenge the phone-tapping case against KCR, calling it "illegal." "You may have no respect for the law, justice, or righteousness, but we have complete faith in them. We will challenge all these illegal cases. We will expose every wrongful act of yours and place it before the people of Telangana. The people are watching how many harassments you are resorting to. Without fail, when the time comes, they will teach you a lesson in the court of the people," he said. (ANI) Hundreds of Holocaust-related documents whose planned auction in Germany sparked international outrage have been handed over to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. According to a statement issued by the foundation on Friday, 433 historical documents were formally transferred during a ceremony at the state parliament of Germany's western North Rhine-Westphalia region. The collection includes camp postcards, letters written by perpetrators and camp-issued currency, the regional government said in a press release. Advertisement Advertisement "I am grateful that we have found a way to hand over the documents to the archives of the memorial sites concerned. Remembrance in archives and museums preserves the dignity of the victims and serves further research and education about the inhuman National Socialist persecution and extermination processes," said State Parliament President Andre Kuper. An auction house in Neuss, near Dusseldorf, had previously scheduled a sale of the items for November 2025, but cancelled it after international protests. According to the International Auschwitz Committee (IAC), letters from concentration camps, Gestapo index cards and other perpetrator documents were to be auctioned. Many items contained personal information and names of those affected. Advertisement Advertisement The online online catalogue also listed an anti-Jewish propaganda poster and a Jewish star from the Buchenwald concentration camp with "signs of use." Some of the artefacts have since been taken over by a foundation that runs a Holocaust museum in the Israeli port city of Haifa. The Central Council of Jews in Germany has welcomed the handover. Vice President Abraham Lehrer said it was vital for survivors and for the memory of those murdered during the Holocaust that the documents end up in the right places and hands, where they can be protected and preserved for future generations. PANAMA CITY, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court of Panama said a contract held by a Hong Kong company to operate ports at the Panama Canal failed to serve the public interest and social welfare, in its decision on Thursday voiding the contracts. While the court announced the decision on Thursday, it had not released the ruling explaining its rationale. The decision was obtained by local television station TVN and a court official confirmed its veracity. Panama Ports Company (PPC), a subsidiary of Hong-Kong based CK Hutchison subsidiary, has held contracts since the 1990s to operate container terminals at the canal's Pacific and Atlantic entrances. Advertisement Advertisement The court said the contract violated Panamas constitution because it gave the company exclusive privileges and tax exemptions unavailable to other competitors, lacked environmental impact assessments and required the government to seek the companys approval before granting future concessions. (Reporting by Elida Moreno, Additional reporting by Natalia Siniawski and Kylie Madry; Editing by Emily Green) Jan. 30BEMIDJI When Chirag Patel purchased the Hotel Bemidji at 2422 Ridgeway Ave. NW two years ago, he knew it needed a new look and a new brand. After several months of renovations, the 70-room hotel that opened in 1994 as a Holiday Inn Express has been reborn as City Express by Marriott Bemidji . "Everything is new," Patel said. "We did not leave a single 12-by-12 washcloth in the hotel." Advertisement Advertisement Patel and his wife, Sweta, own three hotels under the DCP Investments partnership based in Rochester, Minn. The others are in Albert Lea, Minn., and Waterloo, Iowa. "The skeleton of the building was good," Patel said. "But (the former owner) didn't really want to put money into it, which is why it kind of went downhill for a long time. So we decided to take the plunge and buy it. We wanted to upgrade, but we didn't know what route or what brand to do." The Patels considered keeping it as an independent hotel. "And then Marriott came along," Patel said. "Their loyalty program is really strong, and I feel like it should work well for this property revenue-wise." The renovation project was extensive. Advertisement Advertisement "We replaced carpets, wallpaper, furniture, beds, drapery, TVs, the IT system, toilets, tiles, showers, vanities," Patel said. "We have all new beds, all new TVs, all new furniture." The hotel's conference center is currently being used for storage. "Since Covid, conferences and meetings have gone down," Patel said. "We're thinking that we might be able to do some kind of other adaptive use for (the conference center). I'm actually asking the community to give me suggestions." City Express by Marriott Bemidji is separate from another Marriott that is being planned here. In October, Advertisement Advertisement GoodNeighbor Properties announced its intent to construct a $22.5 million Marriott hotel and restaurant space in Bemidji's downtown Rail Corridor. GoodNeighbor Properties is a real estate agency based in Alexandria, with properties throughout northwestern Minnesota. Its Bemidji project is planned to be a 98-room hotel. City Express by Marriott is a midscale, affordable hotel brand acquired by Marriott International in 2023. More than 200 people lined up to celebrate the grand opening of the new Bricks & Minifigs store in Newberry Square. Weve got so many people out there!" one employee said. Hundreds more continued to arrive well after the store opened at 1281 NW 76th Blvd. Owner Kurt Kazlauskas, 49, said he was overwhelmed by the turnout. Im thrilled that there were about 200 to 300 people out there waiting for us to open, Kazlauskas said. Advertisement Advertisement The business buys, sells and trades new and old Legos. Customers appeared energetic and excited as they entered the store, with many knowing exactly what they wanted to buy. I like the idea of getting used Legos that are still quality products, said 22-year-old Ashton Corddry, who planned to purchase a Lego Speed Champion set and some minifigures. Bricks and Minifigs celebrated its grand opening on Jan. 31, 2026, in Newberry Square at 1281 NW 76th Blvd. in Gainesville. Corddry said he has been a Lego fan for about 10 years. Jeff Phillips, 36, of Gainesville, also arrived with a specific goal purchasing a Christmas 3-in-1 Lego set and a Japanese Cherry Blossom Landscape set. There is a great variety of new stuff and old stuff here that you cant find anymore," he said. Advertisement Advertisement The grand opening featured a live radio broadcast, free doughnuts and coffee, and an appearance from Batman and the Batmobile. Kazlauskas said he was able to bring Batman to the grand opening through connections from his job as a nurse at UF Health Childrens Hospital. Bricks and Minifigs celebrated its grand opening on Jan. 31, 2026, in Newberry Square at 1281 NW 76th Blvd. in Gainesville. He said he loves the stores location because it sits in the center of Gainesville and off Interstate 75, and customers pass by it on their way to Splitz Bowling and Skate Station Funworks. Kazlauskas said it took about 10 months to build the stores inventory, much of which came from Facebook Marketplace and vendors associated with Bricks & Minifigs, which has operated more than 100 locations across the U.S. and Canada since 2010. Advertisement Advertisement Prices at the Gainesville location range from 25 cents to $700, Kazlauskas said. Kazlauskas said he became a fan of Legos as a child, got away from them as a teen, and got back involved with them after having children of his own. Bricks & Minifigs is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit bricksandminifigs.com/gainesville-fl. This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Bricks and Minifigs Lego store opens in Gainesville, Florida Several hundred students at Detroits Cass Technical High School joined a nationwide day of protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, marching out of school and into the bitter cold in a walkout. The students left class for their final period Friday, Jan. 30, carrying signs that read Colonizers dont get to decide who is foreign!! and Fight ignorance not immigrants. Students at Groves High School in Birmingham and Rochester High School also staged walkouts. Advertisement Advertisement With a megaphone, Cass Tech protest organizer Hailee Hallman led the crowd in chants and pointed them to snacks and handwarmers. We know people whove been affected by this, the 12th grader told the Free Press, referencing Cass Tech alumni and students at a Southwest Detroit high school who she says have seen family members swept up in a federal immigration crackdown. Its our responsibility to speak out and make sure people know that we dont stand for this students have been at the center of every single movement. A group of girls in a vehicle trailed hundreds of classmates protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Detroit on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, part of a nationwide showing of opposition to the agency. Simon Montez, 73, cheered the protesters on from his balcony off of Cass Avenue as they marched toward Woodward. A Mexican American, he has been incensed by President Donald Trump's crackdown, saying it's rooted in vengeance for those who did not support him. I think its great, Montez said of the scale of the march. These young kids know whats going on and they know its wrong what [ICE is] doing. Advertisement Advertisement Another man shouted his support from a neighboring balcony: Stop ice! Carrying a sign that read No one is illegal on stolen land! Cass Tech senior Khloe Travis, said she also knows teens affected by the crackdown. Its just so sad to see, Travis said. Its so dehumanizing. The only people who belong to this land are Native Americans period. The walkouts were part of a nationwide day of strikes against ICE after the January killings of two demonstrators in Minneapolis. Protests were held throughout metro Detroit. Dozens of area businesses participated with closures, fundraisers, or by issuing public statements opposing the agency. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cass Tech students protest ICE with walkout BLOOMINGTON More than 500 people shouting anti-ICE chants and sentiments filled the Showers Plaza and spilled into the parking lot outside Bloomington's city hall Jan. 30 as part of a nationwide protest. The message of the day: "F--- ICE." Participants yelled out the phrase in unison throughout the event, which started at noon. Many protest signs had just those two words. A few blocks away at Badknees shirt shop on West Kirkwood Avenue, proprietor Jim Beck was screen printing less-volatile two-word messages for free onto shirts and signs customers brought in before the protest. Advertisement Advertisement "I wanted to do something," he said 15 minutes before the protest, applying black ink onto a screen. "I know how to print T shirts." Owner Jim Beck prints a shirt with the "ICE Out" logo at BadkneesT's store on Kirkwood Avenue on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. He offered two options: "ICE OUT" and "more empathy." Bloomington resident Katherine Miller got one of each. She said she wants to look back someday and know she did something to counter President Trump's immigration policies and the resulting violence and deaths. "I want to be on the right side of history," she said. "I don't believe what they are doing is right. "I'm trying to rise my young son in this broken world." Advertisement Advertisement Kristy Tillman and her 17-year-old son Oliver stopped by the store on their way to the city hall protest. The Gosport residents are upset about ICE enforcement efforts and the recent killings in Minneapolis. Beck inked his messages on their cardboard signs and they bought a preprinted "more empathy." tee. Kristy and Oliver Tillman Jan. 30 at BadkneesTs in Bloomington where owner Jim Beck was screen printing shirts and signs at no cost for ICE protesters. He's offering the same on Jan. 31 from noon until 2 p.m. for people who bring in a shirt or sign. This was the mother and son's fifth protest event challenging Trump's immigration policies. "I don't think ICE should be here in the U.S. at all," Tillman said. "They can't treat our friends, our families and our neighbors like this. It's not OK what they've been allowed to do." Advertisement Advertisement She said it's important to stand up for what you believe. "I want to be able to say I was a part of standing up against that, that I used my voice," Tillman said. "In 20 years, if someone asks what part did I play, did I keep my mouth shut or stand up, I'd hate to say I didn't do anything." Oliver said speaking out matters. "You use your voice for those who don't have one," he said. "I'm here to see if there's some hope in the world. To make a difference while I can." Protesters gather at City Hall in response to recent actions by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as "ICE," and the presence of Flock cameras in the community and Indiana University campus on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. They stood in solidarity with the others at the rally as speakers made impassioned pleas for justice. Advertisement Advertisement Erin Aquino from Exodus, a Bloomington nonprofit that helps refugees, urged protesters to pressure Thomson to end the city's contract with Flock, a camera surveillance system that tracks vehicles with unmarked roadside cameras. "We call upon city leadership to end the contract with Flock and have these cameras removed," she shouted to loud cheers from the crowd and the waving of signs that said "F--- Flock." Mayor speaks via video In a video posted on the city's Facebook page the night before the protest, Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson welcomed people to congregate outside city hall to let their feelings be known. A screenshot from a video of Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson speaking to residents from Washington, D.C. Jan. 29, 2026 "I am so proud of our residents for showing up and expressing yourselves," Thomson said from a national mayors' conference in Washington D.C. Advertisement Advertisement "You will be welcome at city hall. ICE must have accountability for the actions that they are taking in killing citizens, intimidating residents and suppressing freedom of speech." She assured citizens the city doesn't share Flock data with immigration police. She said she will meet with Flock representatives in two weeks to learn more about their practices. A Flock camera is positioned on a pole along State Road 46 west of Ellettsville on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. "We must ensure this information is not released by the Flock company or anyone else that does not share our values of safety for our residents and care for our community," she said in response to recent complaints about the license plate tracking system. Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967. This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Hundreds gather at Bloomington city hall to protest ICE Protesters gather in downtown Milwaukee to voice opposition to the actions of federal immigration agents. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner) Hundreds of people marched up State St. Friday from the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to the Wisconsin State Capitol to protest federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota and across the country. The anti-ICE protest was part of a day of action across the country organized in reaction to the recent killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis, and the ongoing federal crackdown in Minnesota. Fridays national shutdown a day of no school, no work and no shopping was called for by student groups and immigrant rights advocates in Minnesota. Protesters outside the Wisconsin State Capitol. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) What do we want? ICE out. When do we want it? Now, protesters bundled in coats, scarves, gloves and hats chanted as they marched in the 13-degree weather. Advertisement Advertisement This month, I watched our neighbors in Minneapolis fight ICE on days colder than this one with love and solidarity, Halsey Hazzard, a co-chair of Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America and a UW-Madison library employee, told the crowd gathered on the steps of the Capitol. Hazzard said the Trump administration fears people coming together, reaching out to one another and learning that love is stronger than fear. Dozens of businesses in Wisconsins capital city showed solidarity by closing up shop or donating proceeds to advocacy groups in Minnesota and Wisconsin. People carried signs expressing their opposition to the actions federal immigration agents have taken in Minnesota and elsewhere, including detaining children. Children arent criminals. Trump is, one sign declared. People carried signs expressing their opposition to the actions federal immigration agents have taken in Minnesota and elsewhere, including detaining children. Children arent criminals. Trump is, one sign declared. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) Recently, the Trump administration came under fire for its detainment in Minnesota of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and Vice President J.D. Vance defended the action. Ramos remains in a detention facility in Texas. Advertisement Advertisement No fear! No hate! No ICE in our state! the Madison marchers chanted. Immigrants Make America Great, another sign stated. One sign called out the only Republican in the open race for governor of Wisconsin, stating Tom Tiffany Likes ICE. Tiffany, the congressman who represents the Northwoods, said in the wake of the shooting of Pretti, who was an ICU nurse from Green Bay, that he would work with local, state and federal law enforcement to remove criminal illegal aliens. He urged Minnesota leaders to do the same. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) Cooperation is how you avoid tragic consequences. Deporting illegal aliens is how you make America safer. And waiting for the facts is how you avoid escalating the situation, Tiffany said. Advertisement Advertisement Prettis death prompted protests across the country, including in Green Bay, last weekend. Once the group made it to the Capitol, a number of speakers criticized the Trump administration and called for the elimination of ICE. Today, we are standing together to demand defund ICE, Hazzard said. Defund ICE, protesters echoed. Not another dollar for ICE to terrorize our communities. We must strip ICE of its funding for both enforcement and detention. Abolish ICE. End the occupation of Minneapolis and all other cities, Hazzard said. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) A big crowd descends on Milwaukees Cathedral Park Hundreds of people raised their voices in Milwaukee on Friday in opposition to a federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Trudging through a fresh coat of snow, protesters streamed into Cathedral Square Park by the dozens. Activists from various local groups charged the crowd with a short round of speeches before taking to the streets for a march. Protesters gather in downtown Milwaukee to voice opposition to the actions of federal immigration agents. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner) Chanting move ICE, get out the way; no ICE, no KKK, no Fascist USA, and the names of Renee Good and Alex Pretti two Minneapolis residents who were killed in separate incidents involving federal agents the marchers filled the streets of downtown. The crowd of people of all ages from young children to older seniors, passed the Federal Building of Milwaukee and City Hall before returning to the park. Protesters gather in downtown Milwaukee to voice opposition to the actions of federal immigration agents. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner) No violence, conflicts, or destruction occurred. A single drone was seen hovering over the march, and police presence was minimal. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Hundreds of Texas public school students walked out of classes on Friday as part of a national movement protesting immigration enforcement in the wake of the fatal shootings of two American citizens in January by federal agents in Minneapolis. Students in Austin, Waco, San Antonio and elsewhere wielded signs and flyers protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as they walked out of classes. In downtown Austin on Friday afternoon, dozens of students could be seen heading toward the state Capitol down Congress Avenue before the start of a 5:30 p.m. protest. Austin Independent School District officers were nearby monitoring the students. Gov. Greg Abbott condemned the Austin walkout and use of school officers in a social media post Friday evening and directed the Texas Education Commissioner to investigate the matter, stating school resources are not for political indoctrination. Advertisement Advertisement [Austin ISD] gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest, Abbott said. The New Braunfels Independent School District released a statement acknowledging walkouts at their campuses, and said students would be marked absent if they participated and disciplined for actions that disrupt instruction or pose safety concern. A few hundred students from the University of Texas at Austin also walked from their campus to the Capitol, joining the high school students and other citizens who were already protesting there. Speakers during the protest, many of whom called for the dismantling of ICE, repeatedly condemned federal immigration officers for the two separate occasions in which Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37-year-old Minneapolis residents, were killed. Good was shot on Jan. 7 while attempting to drive away as ICE agents tried to get her out of her vehicle. Pretti was tackled and fatally shot on Jan. 24 by a Border Patrol officer as Pretti was helping a civilian up off the ground during a protest. Advertisement Advertisement Some Republicans, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and House Rep. Michael McCaul, have called for investigations into Prettis killing. At least two people were detained by Department of Public Safety officers on Capitol grounds early on in the protest, but most of the demonstration and subsequent march through downtown Austin occurred without issue. For Austin Community College student Maya Escamilla, the Capitol rally was her first. She said she had to take action after hearing concerns from her family about ICE. After seeing just one thing after another, its just getting worse and worse and worse, Escamilla said. Its so out of hand. Its not even about politics, and just [about] morals at this point. Advertisement Advertisement UT Austin professor Zenzi Griffin joined protesters at the Capitol with a sign describing ICE as new slave patrols and called the Trump administrations immigration policy the most pressing issue amid so many horrible things. I feel like I cant just sit by, its time to act, Griffin said. A couple protesters got killed, but people are dying in detention, families are being ripped apart, and this is not the first time the U.S. government has attacked people in the same way. The protests were coordinated as part of the National Shutdown movement nationwide, with listed endorsements from hundreds of groups including several in Texas like the North Texas Area Labor Federation and the Southeast Texas Impact Initiative. Students from San Antonios Thomas Jefferson High School walk out in protest against ICE on Jan. 30, 2026. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune Two students at Young Womens Leadership Academy in San Antonio join a walkout protesting ICE on Jan. 30, 2026. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune Students gather during a walkout in San Antonio on Jan. 30, 2026. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune More than 200 students from University High School in Waco join a walkout in protest against ICE in Waco on Jan. 30, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America Advertisement Advertisement Memorial High School students walkout in protest against ICE in San Antonio on Jan. 30, 2026. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune Students from Waco High School in Waco walk out in protest against ICE on Jan. 30, 2026. Samuel Shaw/The Waco Bridge Students from San Antonios Thomas Jefferson High School march down a street in protest against ICE on Jan. 30, 2026. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune Students from University High School in Waco walk out in protest against ICE on Jan. 30, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America Advertisement Advertisement More than 200 students from University High School in Waco walk out in protest against ICE ion Jan. 30, 2026. Justin Hamel/The Waco Bridge/CatchLight Local/Report for America Students from Travis High School and Lively Middle School in Austin walk out of their classes to protest ICE at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 30 2025. Manoo Sirivelu/The Texas Tribune Protesters arrive at the Texas Capitol after marching from the University of Texas in Austin, joining in solidarity during the nationwide demonstration on Jan. 30, 2026. Manoo Sirivelu/The Texas Tribune Texas state troopers detain a person during a protest against ICE at the Texas Capitol in Austin on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune Advertisement Advertisement Protesters gather at the Texas Capitol in solidarity with demonstrators across the United States on Jan. 30, 2026. Manoo Sirivelu/The Texas Tribune People protest into the evening in Austin on Jan. 30, 2026. Joel Angel Juarez for The Texas Tribune Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Jan. 30Ohio lawmakers are urging the Federal Aviation Administration to position Ohio agencies as key players in a new federal effort to encourage production of a new kind of aircraft. The letter signed by Sen. Jon Husted and U.S. Reps. Mike Turner and Warren Davidson, with 14 others urges the FAA to consider DriveOhio and Ohio Department of Transportation's application for the FAA's Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Integration Pilot Program. The federal effort, announced last September, is meant to speed the testing of electric airplanes, rotorcraft and other "advanced air mobility" aircraft in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement "Ohio has a robust aviation and aerospace ecosystem, built on a long history of aviation innovation," the lawmakers said in the letter, which was released Wednesday by Husted's office. "With a proven and unique model for cross-sector and state collaboration, Ohio has seen over $1.2 billion invested over the past decade by industry partners, including the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), GE Aerospace, Joby Aviation, Beta Technologies, and JobsOhio." The Dayton-Springfield area has generated a growing share of attention in this arena. Greene County is home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where key decision-makers plan the arming and equipping of the Air Force. Joby Aviation, a designer and producer of eVTOL aircraft, began production of propeller blades at a Concorde Drive facility near Dayton International Airport in November. Advertisement Advertisement And earlier this month, Joby said it had agreed to buy a 728,000-square-foot building at 1669 Capstone Way in Vandalia, a concrete step toward plans to double production to four aircraft a month in 2027, while also providing space for "significant future growth," the company said. In Springfield, the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport has the technology to allow drone pilots to fly their craft beyond a controller's line of sight, enabling crucial research and testing of drone sensor arrays. Springfield's unique capabilities are in place as the Department of Defense last year pledged to focus on production and fielding of low-cost drones to maintain battlefield prowess, with help from private industry. A Guatemalan man who has been deported from the United States three times is federally charged in Connecticut with returning to the country. Mario Ramiro Aragon-Ruano, 38, who also goes by Mario Ramiro Aragon and Jose Juana-Zapata, is charged by federal criminal complaint with illegally reentering the U.S. after having been deported. According to a report from the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut on Friday, Aragon-Ruano has been deported to Guatemala three times in the past. Advertisement Advertisement If he is found guilty of returning to the U.S. again, he faces up to 20 years in prison. RELATED: Guatemalan arrested by ICE in Connecticut is charged with illegally returning to US again Prosecutors noted in court that in August 2006, Aragon-Ruano was using the alias Jose Juana-Zapata when he was found in Arizona by U.S. Border Patrol personnel. He was deported to Guatemala later that month and told he could not return to the U.S. for at least five years. However, prosecutors say Aragon-Ruano came back to the U.S. and was arrested in 2007. In August 2008, Aragon-Ruano was convicted, while using the name Mario Ramiro Aragon, in New York on a federal charge of murder for hire. He was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison. Advertisement Advertisement Sign up for the FOX61 newsletters: Morning Forecast, Morning Headlines, Evening Headlines Aragon-Ruano was subsequently deported to Guatemala again in September 2013 after being released from prison. In July 2019, he was discovered again by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona. The following January, Aragon-Ruano was convicted in that state for illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported. He was sentenced to 13 months and one day in prison and was deported to Guatemala for a third time in July 2020. Prosecutors say Aragon-Ruano once more entered the U.S. illegally and was arrested by Waterbury police on Jan. 10. He was charged with first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree breach of peace. RELATED: Guatemalan sentenced in Connecticut for illegally reentering US after deportation After he was released on bond on the state charges, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcements Enforcement and Removal Operations team arrested Aragon-Ruano on Jan. 12 in Waterbury. Advertisement Advertisement On Friday, Aragon-Ruano appeared in Hartford federal court and was ordered detained by a judge. Prosecutors stress that a compliant is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. To be sentenced, Aragon-Ruano must first be found guilty in court beyond a reasonable doubt. The case is being investigated by ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations team and is part of Operation Take Back America, a national effort to use U.S. Justice Department resources to slow the amount of undocumented people entering the country, curb cartel activity and limit violence locally. ---- Dalton Zbierski is a story desk editor and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com. Advertisement Advertisement ---- Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com. ---- HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS Download the FOX61 News APP iTunes: Click here to download Google Play: Click here to download Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61. Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search FOX61 and click Get to download. FOLLOW US ON X, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Trinamool Congress and said that people of West Bengal will not forgive Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her party's opposition to the national song Vande Mataram. Addressing party workers meeting in Bagdogra, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "It is unfortunate that when Vande Mataram was discussed in Parliament, these Trinamool Congress people were opposing it. I asked one of their MPs why they were opposing Vande Mataram. Bankim Chandra was from Bengal. He said that our vote bank of infiltrators is offended by Vande Mataram, which is why we oppose it. Shame on you, Mamata. You are opposing Vande Mataram for the sake of vote-bank politics. The people of Bengal will not forgive you. The people of Bengal will give you a fitting reply for this in the 2026 elections." Shah further alleged that women are unsafe in West Bengal and accused the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government of failing to protect them. He claimed that a BJP tribal MP was attacked and false cases were being filed against party leaders, urging people to bring "Parivartan" by removing TMC from power. "Women are not safe in Bengal today. Mamata Didi, you have completely failed to protect them. Our tribal MP was attacked, and false cases are being filed against our leaders. I appeal to the people of Bengal wipe out TMC from this state. This year will be the year of Parivartan," he said. He also highlighted the BJP's growing vote share in Bengal and cited recent electoral successes across the country, asserting that change is inevitable in the state. "After Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, the BJP formed many governments, including those in Tripura and Assam. Similarly, the BJP's vote share in Bengal has increased four times. Change is coming," he said. (ANI) When John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1955, the price of gas was 29 cents per gallon, McDonalds had just franchised its first store and the polio vaccine was just introduced. Dingell served for the next 59 years, until 2015, when he was 88. Dianne Feinstein was 90 years old and had been serving in the U.S. Senate for 30 years when she died while she was still in office. Advertisement Advertisement Robert Byrd of West Virginia served in the Senate for 51 years, from 1959 until 2010, when he died at the age of 92. He, too, was still in office when he died. Former Sen. Strom Thurmond got elected in the 1954 and served until 2003; he won reelection in South Carolina in 1996, when he was 93. My goodness, is the job so easy that you can keep doing it right up until the day you die? Apparently so. But now, a state lawmaker wants Idaho to join other states in calling for term limits for Congress, according to Idaho Statesman reporting. Rep. John Shirts, R-Weiser, introduced a resolution that, if passed, would put Idaho on record as supporting the position that U.S. senators and representatives should be allowed to serve only a certain number of years in office. Shirts bill does not identify what that total should be but requires Congress to begin the formal process of setting limits. Advertisement Advertisement We wholeheartedly support this resolution as Idahoans have done in the past and encourage Idaho legislators to pass it. Congress is broken, and career politicians have failed to solve this countrys problems. Ensuring that they have to leave office after a certain period of time will have multiple benefits. Keep in mind that we already have term limits for the president. Why not for Congress, as well? Idahos own U.S. Sen. Jim Risch will be seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate this year at the age of 82. If he wins and serves out the full term, hell be 89 years old when the term ends in 2032. Advertisement Advertisement And hes Idahos junior senator. Mike Crapo, 74, has been in the U.S. Senate even longer, since 1999. U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, 75, has been in the House since 1999. Talk about career politicians. Meanwhile, we still have a broken immigration system, a broken health care system, and a national debt of $37 trillion and growing all issues that have spanned years and years of both parties being in control. Its clear Congress isnt working. Its certainly not working for the people. Term limits would ensure that elected officials are working to solve problems based on their conscience not constantly looking over their shoulder for a primary opponent or bending to pressure from special interest groups. Advertisement Advertisement Take, for example, Thom Tillis, the Republican senator from North Carolina. He announced that hes retiring from the Senate to remove himself from any boundaries I should have in expressing my concern and creating complications for my campaign, according to an article in Roll Call titled Tillis Unleashed. Unfettered by the prospect of an election, Tillis has since been critical of federal immigration agents killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and on Thursday called for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem. I think what it comes down to is, obviously, I dont have to look through a political lens anymore, he said to Roll Call. Once a politician is unburdened by the necessity of having to raise outlandish amounts of money from special interest groups for reelection over and over again, they tend to vote and govern the right way and not the politically expedient way. Advertisement Advertisement Incumbents have a distinct advantage over challengers due to name recognition. When an incumbent announces theyre running for reelection, it deters would-be candidates from throwing their hat in the ring. But when an incumbent announces theyre not running, a wave of candidates with different ideas and different philosophies floods into the race, and thats good for democracy. Whatever happened to the quaint notion of a citizen legislature? Say what you will about the Idaho Legislature, but our lawmakers mostly have to work for a living, whether its teaching, banking, farming or running a business. Not so with career politicians. After spending 50 years in Washington, D.C., with very little fear of losing your seat, career politicians become out of touch with the people they are supposed to be representing. They dont know what its like to worry about health care, see their premiums rise every year or fear a medical emergency that could bankrupt them. This is not a partisan position at all. We support term limits for Nancy Pelosi (85), Chuck Schumer (75), Bernie Sanders (84) and Maxine Waters (87) just as much as we support them for Mitch McConnell (83) and Chuck Grassley (92). Combined those six members of Congress have spent well over 200 years in Washington. Advertisement Advertisement We understand the argument that elections are the time and place to remove a lawmaker, but given the amount of money involved in campaigns and how inert so many of our elder statesmen have become, its clear that we need a change. The average age of a U.S. House member is 57.5. The average age of a Senate member is 64.7. Think about that. The average age of a U.S. senator is ... retirement age. The median age in America is 39.1. This country will never, ever impose a mandatory maximum age, even though we have minimum ages for everything. But term limits would not only apply a correction to the famously old Congress, but also to the career of politician. Hard to think of anything better than that. Advertisement Advertisement And that, of course, is the primary goal of such a movement: to make it so you cant put the job title politician on your tax return decade after decade. Statesman editorials are the opinion of the Idaho Statesmans editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, assistant editor Jim Keyser and community members John Hess, Debbie McCormick and Julie Yamamoto. The recent IDF airstrikes in Gaza killed 32 people, according to Hamas-run health authorities cited by Reuters. The IDF struck military infrastructure in Gaza on Saturday, in response to ceasefire violations by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the military said. "In response to the violation of the ceasefire agreement yesterday (Friday), in which eight terrorists were identified exiting the underground terror infrastructure in eastern Rafah, the IDF and ISA have, thus far, struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across the Gaza Strip," the IDF said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement According to the IDF, the targets of the operation were a weapons storage facility, a weapons manufacturing site, and two launch sites belonging to Hamas in the central Gaza Strip. "The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip systematically violate international law, brutally exploiting civilian infrastructure and the Gazan population as human shields for terrorist activities," the military added. The recent airstrikes targeted a Hamas-run police station in Gaza and killed 32 people, according to Hamas-run health authorities cited by Reuters. Palestinians search for casualties as they inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a Hamas police station on Saturday, in Gaza City, January 31, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/DAWOUD ABU ALKAS) Later on Saturday, the IDF announced that struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the Markaba area in southern Lebanon in response to a ceasefire violation. IDF captures one of Hamas' key commanders remaining in Gaza The Friday ceasefire violation mentioned by the IDF led to the capture of a key Hamas commander in Gaza, who was trying to flee a tunnel near Rafah. Advertisement Advertisement After striking the area where the eight terrorists were spotted, the IDF performed searches and apprehended one of the fleeing terrorists. He was later identified as a key commander in Hamas Eastern Rafah Battalion. "IDF troops, together with the ISA, continue searches and additional activities in the area in order to locate and eliminate the additional terrorists," the military said. WASHINGTON (AP) Aggressive immigration enforcement in Minnesota, which resulted in the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal agents, and this week's FBI search of the election office in Georgia's most populous county have Democratic election officials concerned about what could be in store for this fall's midterm elections. During an annual gathering of state election officials on Thursday, several Democratic secretaries of state said they had begun planning for a range of ways the Trump administration might seek to interfere with voting or how they run elections. Immigration agents near polling places or attempts to seize voting equipment are among the concerns, they said. Its no longer just about making sure everyone gets their ballots and those ballots are counted securely. Theres now an election security component that involves this type of scenario planning, also in response to the fact that the Trump administration, very clearly, is planting seeds to potentially interfere in our elections in the future, said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is running for governor. Advertisement Advertisement Those officials said they are increasing their preparations for potential steps the Trump administration could take following Thursday's search of the Atlanta-area election center, in which federal agents took ballots and other records related to the 2020 election. The FBI search renewed President Donald Trump's longstanding grievances over the 2020 presidential election, which he falsely claims was marred by widespread fraud. Benson said her office is planning for various crisis scenarios with officials across the state, training that now includes the possibility of bomb threats and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents appearing at polling places. This is how we deter, this is how we mitigate, this is when we go to court, this is when we need law enforcement to show up and help us protect, this is when we dont, Benson said of her instructions to local election officials. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is preparing for this year's midterm elections by revamping previous years contingency plans and running disaster simulations with the states governor, attorney general and county clerks. Advertisement Advertisement In an interview ahead of the conference, she said one of the most worrisome changes under the Trump administration has been its dismantling of efforts to track election interference and foreign meddling. She also worried about whether the Trump administration would make changes through the U.S. Postal Service, which already has taken some steps that concern officials in states that rely heavily on mail ballots. The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the election officials' concerns. Trump has made his interest in overhauling elections clear since early in his second term, signing a wide-ranging executive order that has been largely halted by the courts. The Constitution gives states and, to an extent, Congress authority over elections. Advertisement Advertisement Recently, administration officials connected the president's deportation agenda to election administration, an unusual move that alarmed democracy advocates. Attorney General Pam Bondi recently wrote to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, urging him to share the states voter rolls as part of a way to help bring back law and order in the state, which has seen widespread protests over increased immigration enforcement and the deadly shootings by federal immigration agents. The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against at least 23 states and the District of Columbia seeking detailed voter information that includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, drivers license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. State election officials who have resisted, most of them Democrats, have said the request violates state and federal privacy laws. That idea of using police force to push policy is un-American, Griswold said. Advertisement Advertisement Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said federal law will be on the side of the states to constrain the most extraordinary conduct, especially if armed federal agents show up around polling places. That wont be a hard case, she said. But she is worried the show of force by immigration officers, arrests and deportations in various cities might deter some people from going out to cast a ballot. If people are too afraid to leave their homes to go get groceries, theyre going to be too afraid to go vote if ICE or other federal agents are patrolling the streets, Bellows said. Scenes of violent arrests by ICE agents and protests on the streets of American cities over the last year also have raised concerns among lawmakers in Congress about how the administration's aggressive approach to law enforcement might collide with the midterm elections. Advertisement Advertisement I dont want roving gangs of ICE showing up at polling stations. That would obviously intimidate voters, said Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat. ___ Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report. Live coverage will start again at 5 a.m. on Feb. 1. For more weather content, go to citizen-times.com. Another winter storm has descended onto the North Carolina mountains Friday night into Saturday morning, Jan. 30-31. This one brought snow ... and it is expected to be a lot before the day is out. Asheville and Western North Carolina are under a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 1, with predictions of upwards of 7 inches of snow for parts of the area and possibly even more in some elevations, according to the National Weather Service. Advertisement Advertisement The weather service also urged people to remain cautious as snow is expected to accumulate quickly and stick to roads due to the cold weather the area has been experiencing throughout the week. "Snow is expected to rapidly stick to roads and other surfaces due to temperatures in the 20s. Travel conditions could deteriorate rapidly as early as Friday evening. Very gusty winds on Saturday could result in areas of blowing snow, causing very poor visibility," read the forecast from the weather service. Keep up to date with the latest information that is happening in Asheville and Western North Carolina for today, Jan. 31. Weather alerts via text: Sign up to get updates about current storms and weather events in your area Advertisement Advertisement Download the free Citizen-Times app and turn on Notifications to get breaking news updates on the winter storm. Prefer email news alerts? Sign up for those here. Winter weather warning, extreme cold warning in effect overnight on Jan. 31 into Feb. 1 Snow poured down on Western North Carolina communities on Saturday, Jan. 31, bringing multiple inches of snow after last weekend's ice storm. Asheville and surrounding areas remain under a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1, along with an extreme cold warning and wind advisory until 1 p.m. on Feb. 1, issued by the National Weather Service. Heres a look at the forecast for Sunday, Feb.1, into Monday, Feb. 2. Advertisement Advertisement Tonight, Jan.31: A 30% chance of snow, mainly before 8 p.m. Patchy blowing snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 6. Wind chill values as low as -15. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 20 to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. Sunday, Feb. 1: Patchy blowing snow before noon. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 21. Wind chill values as low as -15. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 15 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 6. Wind chill values as low as -3. North northwest wind 7 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Monday, Feb. 2: Sunny, with a high near 36. Wind chill values as low as -4. Northwest wind around 6 mph. Advertisement Advertisement Monday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 18. Northwest wind 3 to 6 mph. WNC Nature Center closed, animals are 'curious' The Western North Carolina Nature Center is closed this weekend, but for some of the 60 species of wildlife that call it home, its a true snow day. Erin Oldread, curator of animal programs, said they find a lot of the animals are very curious in the snow and dont mind being out in it. Most of the centers animals are native to WNC. The otters were definitely exploring, but some animals, like the bears, prefer to stay in their dens, she said. All of the animals have a den or shelter to stay dry from the weather. Depending on individual needs, supplemental heat is provided through heat lamps and heated floor mats. Staff also provide additional bedding such as hay or pine straw for extra warmth. WNC Nature Center's red panda in the snow Jan. 31, 2026. WNC Nature Center's otters in the snow Jan. 31, 2026. Update on Asheville city roads With snow continuing to fall, the city urges people to stay home and not travel on roadways, said Asheville police spokesperson Samantha Booth. Advertisement Advertisement Public Works crews are working diligently to clear priority one roads, she said. People can access the city's snow removal map to see where service is prioritized: ashevillenc.gov/department/public-works/street-services/snow/, Downtown Asheville shop still selling sandwiches Though Wall Street downtown was still snow-covered this afternoon, Asheville Forager was open for business. The grocery store and deli is open every day. Co-owner Paddy Collins said it was part of their commitment to the community. It is open 7:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. today (Jan. 31) and Sunday (Feb. 1). People come for last-minute groceries, pantry staples, a warm place to get out of the cold or somewhere to shake the cabin fever. Advertisement Advertisement Its beautiful to us. Its what were here to do. Were not just a grocer or a business or a restaurant, were also neighbors. And we feel that that is our job to be here for them, Collins said. Behind the deli counter, Collins was serving up fresh sandwiches. What has he heard from people today? Thanks for being here. Thanks for being open. Do you have wine? Collins said they unfortunately dont have their license yet, but hopefully by the next disaster. Wall Street in downtown Asheville Jan. 31, 2026. Walgreens, Target, Walgreens closing early Many chain retail stores in the Asheville area are set to close early because of winter weather. Target in Asheville at 115 River Hills Road was scheduled to close Jan. 31 at 4 p.m., according to its website. The location in Arden at 15 McKenna Road was set to close at 4 30 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Ingles locations on Tunnel Road, Haywood Road and Hendersonville Road are set to close at 5 p.m. Jan. 31, employees there told the Times-News. They said it was their understanding that many other locations in the Asheville metro were likely to close around the same time because of disruptions to staffing from weather. The Walgreens on Tunnel Road closes at 5 p.m. Jan. 31, an employee there told the Times-News. The Walgreens on Patton Avenue was closed as of around 4:30 p.m. Jan. 31. The Ace Hardware on Haywood Road was scheduled to close early at 5 p.m. Jan. 31, an employee there told the Times-News. Multiple other Asheville-area Ace hardware locations didnt pick up. Downtown Ambassador Team check on people, shovel snow Chris Sherbert, a supervisor with the Asheville Downtown Improvement District Community Ambassador team, was doing the rounds downtown with fellow ambassadors, Darius Barnes and Alias Siegler. Advertisement Advertisement The team is responsible for cleaning up downtown as part of the business improvement district created by City Council in June 2024. They sweep, landscape, pick up litter and more. They also provide directions and information, working with city agencies and service providers where needed. Sometimes that means calling the community paramedics or Asheville Fire Departments REST team and sitting with someone until help arrives. As snow fell Jan. 31, they were shoveling and salting sidewalks. But the biggest thing was checking in on people, Sherbert said. They made stops at AHOPE and Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, doing what Sherbert called site checks. We got to get out here rain or shine. Hopefully we can help some folks out you, you know, and do what we can, Siegler said. Asheville Downtown Improvement District ambassador Darius Barnes shoveled snow downtown Jan. 31, 2026. DoorDash suspends operations in Asheville DoorDash has activated its Severe Weather Protocol and temporarily suspended operations in Asheville and the surrounding areas in response to Winter Storm Gianna, bringing snow and ice to the Southeast, according to a 2 p.m. news release. Advertisement Advertisement DoorDash has suspended operations in Asheville, and the surrounding areas. Operations will remain suspended until at least Sunday, Feb. 1, depending upon conditions on the ground.Due to hazardous conditions, including snow and ice brought by this winter storm, weve activated our Severe Weather Protocol and temporarily suspended operations in Asheville, said DoorDash spokesperson Jenn Rosenberg. We encourage everyone in affected areas to follow local guidance and take necessary precautions, and we will resume operations as soon as its safe to do so. DoorDash will continue to closely monitor the conditions on the ground, guidance from local officials, and will communicate additional changes to with Dashers, merchants, and customers as needed. Learn more here about DoorDashs response to severe weather, and our efforts to help local communities stay safe. Lack of Asheville shelter beds 'heartbreaking' After putting out a call for volunteers, AHOPE Day Center, in downtown Asheville, opened as a warming center over the weekend. At night, it activates as Code Purple emergency shelter, with 20 beds for couples and people with pets. Code Purple and winter shelters, which open nightly, have been at or near capacity in recent weeks, providers have said. So much so that an overflow shelter opened earlier this month. There were about 60 people at AHOPE around 1 p.m., Jan. 31. Alanna Kinsella, director of homeless services at Homeward Bound, said they are seeing people who have been outside and dont usually utilize services coming in. Alanna Kinsella, Homeward Bound's Homeless Services Director at AHOPE on Jan. 31, 2026. Thats where I know its bad, she said. Its hard. There arent enough beds. We need more space. We need a true low barrier (shelter), because we cant keep all these people here, she said. The shelter hit capacity the night before. Read full story here: More: How one man living on Asheville streets is surviving the snowstorm Is power out anywhere? Power outage map Asheville, Western North Carolina A handful of power outages are being reported in Jackson and Haywood counties in Western North Carolina as a winter snowstorm continues to move through the state. Power outages as of 11:45 a.m. on Jan. 31: Haywood: 23 Jackson: 11 More outages are being reported in the eastern part of the Tar Heel State. Keep up to date with the latest outages below. This USA TODAY map below updates every 15 minutes. South Slope coffee shop brings neighborhood together on snowy day Inside Farewell in South Slope on Jan. 31, 2026. In South Slope and downtown, many shops were quiet, and closed signs hung in windows. But Farewell, a cafe in South Slope, was open one of the few respites on snowy Southside Avenue. Owner Max Puterbaugh was clearing parking spaces with a snow shovel outside. His son, Weston, 8, was gleefully jumping into the piles his dad created, outfitted in a cap and mittens. Puterbaugh said any time theres a holiday or snow day like this, he asks staff if anyone wants to work and, if so, theyll open. Hes also an Asheville firefighter. He just got off shift and picked up one of his employees on his way into downtown. Though much of South Slope was quiet, there were plenty of people approaching the coffee shop on foot. Weve been open now six years. When stuff like this happens, theres people who live in downtown neighborhoods and people are always walking around, so we try to open for that. And theres a lot of familiar faces, too, he said. Max Puterbaugh, owner of Farewell, with son, Weston, 8, on Jan. 31, 2026. What are people drinking? The cafe has seasonal house-made syrups that have been popular, he said: cardamom, peppermint and toasted marshmallow lattes. He said Farewell will likely be open until the afternoon of Jan. 31. Maybe 1 or 2 p.m. Theyre all in good moods, Puterbaugh said of the people making the journey there. When snow like this comes to Asheville, it doesnt happen often. When it does, its fun. Sarah Honosky See photos of Downtown Asheville and Arden As Asheville woke to a blanket of snow Jan. 31, the roads of Southside and downtown were quiet, only a few vehicles navigating the snow-covered streets. On the trek through South Slope, there were a handful of people braving the cold. A snowplow prepared to clear parking lots and a lone dogwalker made their way down South Lexington Avenue. Its largely a ghost town in Arden, with minimal traffic on neighborhood streets. A few vehicles are traveling along Hendersonville Road, but drivers are moving slowly and cautiously as snow continues to fall. Check out our photo gallery: A lone dogwalker makes their way down South Lexington Avenue in the snow on Jan. 31, 2026. Is the Blue Ridge Parkway open Jan. 31? A majority of the N.C. section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed due to winter weather. Recreation is authorized in sections closed due to winter weather, though recreation in any areas still closed for Helene-related damage remains forbidden. For more information on parkway closures, visit nps.gov. For information on other road closures throughout the state, visit the N.C. Department of Transportation page at drivenc.gov. Buncombe County parks, libraries, landfill and transfer station closed Jan. 31 Buncombe County parks, libraries, landfill and transfer station will be closed Jan. 31. County parks will remain closed on Feb. 1. Emergency services continue to coordinate with the National Weather Service and municipal partners and maintain 24/7 operations, according to a county news release. FCC Environmental, which provides residential garbage and recycling services for the county, was on a delayed schedule from last weekends storm and Friday, Jan. 30, collections that were scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31, are shifted to Monday, Feb. 2, at this time. Feb. 2 collections will shift to Tuesday, Feb. 3, and so forth, for a one-day delay next week. Any additional impacts to Monday, Feb. 2, will be communicated as soon as possible, the release said. Mountain Mobility is currently on a delayed opening schedule for noon. ART buses will not run Saturday, Jan. 31 In a Facebook post, the Asheville Police Department shared that ART buses will not be running on Jan. 31, which includes all routes and all stops. "ART service will remain suspended all day today, January 31. Updates about tomorrows service will be provided when available," read the transit website. You can check for updates on when buses will be running again here. Asheville, Western N.C. sees snowfall on Jan. 31. Here's the latest predictions for the area Snow has come to Western North Carolina. After last weekend's ice storm that dumped ice, freezing rain and sleet on the area, the appearance of actual snow is a new treat. Western North Carolina is under a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1. The region will also be under an extreme cold warning starting at 1 p.m., which will be in effect through 1 p.m. on Feb. 1. The National Weather Service's latest predictions indicate that snowfall will continue throughout the rest of today, Jan. 31, with an expected accumulation of 3 to 5 inches of snow during the daytime. In the mix for the day is also a chance for patchy freezing fog from 1 to 2 p.m. for the Asheville area and other parts of the mountains. Temperatures are expected to stay around 22 degrees throughout the day. The wind coming from this storm will make it feel like -1. "Gusty winds combined with very cold temperatures will lead to dangerously cold wind chills today through Monday. The bitterly cold wind chill could result in hypothermia or frostbite if precautions are not taken," the forecast discussion from the weather service read. Snow will begin to taper off in the evening around 9 p.m. Temperatures are expected to drop even further into the single digits with wind chill values as low as -14. Winds are also predicted to pick up between 21 to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. Western North Carolina winter weather forecast In the Western North Carolina region, two weather alerts are active including a winter storm warning and an extreme cold warning, according to an outlook posted by the National Weather Service on Friday, Jan. 30. The winter storm warning will be in effect until 7 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 1. Heavy snow is expected, with total accumulations in affected regions between 4-8 inches, and winds gusting as high as 55 mph. Heavy snow will make many roads impassable and could produce isolated power outages. Saturday, Jan. 31 - Snow, mainly before 2 p.m. Patchy fog before 11 a.m. High near 24 degrees. Light north northwest wind increasing to 11-16 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 2-4 inches possible. Overnight, a 20% chance of snow before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 5 degrees. Wind chill values as low as -14 degrees. Blustery, with a northwest wind 18-20 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Sunday, Feb. 1 - Sunny, with a high near 24 degrees. Blustery, with a northwest wind 16-21 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Overnight, mostly clear, with a low around 6 degrees. Extreme cold to come with snowstorm The extreme cold warning will be in effect 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, through 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1. Dangerously cold wind chills as low as -22 degrees are expected in the N.C. mountains, with highest peaks seeing wind chills as low as -25-30 degrees. These conditions could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes, and pets and livestock will be endangered by the conditions if left unprotected for extended periods. How much snow will North Carolina get? Here are the latest predictions from the National Weather Service as of Friday, Jan. 30: Mountains: Snow likely Friday afternoon, with at least 3 inches and higher totals in upslope areas. On Saturday, Jan. 31, snow accumulation could be between 3-5 inches Foothills and Piedmont: Widespread warning-level snow Friday night into Saturday. Total accumulation prediction is between 4- 7 inches. Eastern North Carolina: Heaviest snowfall expected, 812 inches common, with localized amounts above 15 inches possible. While formal blizzard warnings havent been issued for most areas, isolated blizzard-like conditions may occur late Saturday into Sunday, especially in northeastern North Carolina, where strong winds and drifting snow could reduce visibility and make travel extremely dangerous. Where is the storm now? Asheville, Western North Carolina weather radar Is power out in Asheville, Western NC? North Carolina power outage map Stay informed. Get weather alerts via text This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville, Western NC winter storm live coverage for today, Jan. 31 SOUTH BEND An inmate in the St. Joseph County Jail died Jan. 30 after being found unresponsive during routine rounds. Indiana State Police were asked to investigate, and they announced that afternoon that the investigation found no signs of foul play in the death of 34-year-old Dustin Pate. Shortly after noon, St. Joseph County Corrections Officers found Pate unresponsive in a cell. Officers initiated emergency procedures and requested assistance from medical staff. Staff performed life-saving measures for about 40 minutes, but Pate was pronounced dead, according to a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Indiana State Police investigated as part of the state's death in custody reporting protocol, and Pate's family was notified, according to ISP. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 1 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where the cause and manner of the death will be determined, ISP reported. This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: St. Joseph County inmate found unresponsive and dies at jail Jan. 30AUSTIN, Minn. An Iowa man was killed in a crash on Interstate 90 in Mower County Thursday night. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, an Iowa couple was heading west in a Subaru Outback on I-90 when they struck a deer at mile marker 182 shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday night. Another driver heading west, a 36-year-old Austin woman, then collided with the Subaru that was stalled in the lane, according to the report. Advertisement Advertisement A passenger in the Subaru, Kent Joel Shultz, 61 of Osage, Iowa, was killed in the crash. The driver of the Subaru, Sarah Jean Shultz, 60, also of Osage, was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System Austin with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the other vehicle was not injured, according to the report. Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The Iranian military intends to conduct two days of live-fire naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, starting on Sunday, despite warnings against it from the U.S. military. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is conducting the drills amid civic unrest and U.S. President Donald Trump deploying a "massive armada" to the area, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. "U.S. forces acknowledge Iran's right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters. Any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation, and destabilization," CENTCOM officials said in a statement on Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement "CENTCOM will ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, ships, and aircraft operating in the Middle East. We will not tolerate unsafe IRGC actions, including overflight of U.S. military vessels engaged in flight operations, low-altitude or armed overflight of U.S. military assets when intentions are unclear, high-speed boat approaches on a collision course with U.S. military vessels, or weapons trained at U.S. forces," CENTCOM said. The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, with Iran situated along its northern shore and Oman and the United Arab Emirates along its southern shoreline. More than 100 merchant vessels per day sail through the strait, which makes it an "essential trade corridor" that supports the region's economy, CENTCOM said, as reported by Fox News. The deployment comes as the Trump administration considers potential military intervention in the Iranian unrest. Advertisement Advertisement Various estimates place the number of protestors and other civilians killed at between 6,000 and more than 30,000 since protests began on Dec. 28. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman attended a private briefing in Washington, D.C., on Friday and warned that Iran would grow stronger if the United States does not act in Iran is warranted if military action is warranted, Axios reported. Trump has threatened to target Iran's leadership with military strikes if widespread killings of protesters continued, but he delayed any strikes after Saudi leaders cautioned against it. Salman's comments on Friday indicate a change among Saudi Arabia's leadership regarding potential military action in Iran. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday accused the U.S. military of trying to dictate how the Iranian military conducts "target practice on their own turf." "Freedom of navigation and safe passage of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are of vital importance for Iran, as much as it is for our neighbors," Araghchi added. "The presence of outside forces in our region has always caused the exact opposite of what is declared: promoting escalation instead of de-escalation," he said. The pending military exercise also is scheduled after Iranian state media reported an explosion damaged a nine-story residential building and killed a young girl and injured 14 in Bandar Abbas, which is an Iranian port city located on the Strait of Hormuz. Advertisement Advertisement Iran's Fars News Agency denied reports that IRGC Navy leader Brigadier Gen. Alireza Tangsiri died in the blast, which local officials said likely was caused by a gas leak. "The initial cause of the building accident in Bandar Abbas was a gas leak and buildup, leading to an explosion," Bandar Abbas Fire Chief Mohammad Amin Lyaghat told Iranian state media. He called the explanation an "initial theory." Iran's top security official said Saturday that progress had been made towards negotiations with the United States, even as the Islamic republic's army chief warned Washington against launching military strikes. US President Donald Trump confirmed the two sides were talking, while keeping the threat of an attack in the foreground. Washington has deployed warships led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off Iran's shores, after Trump threatened to intervene in the wake of Tehran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests. Advertisement Advertisement "Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing," said Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. He was speaking a day after the Kremlin said he held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday a broader conflict would hurt both Iran and the United States. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought, and in no way seeks, war and it is firmly convinced that a war would be in the interest of neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region," he said in a call with Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to the Iranian presidency. Advertisement Advertisement Later Saturday, Trump confirmed that there was a dialogue between Washington and Tehran. "(Iran is) talking to us, and we'll see if we can do something, otherwise we'll see what happens... we have a big fleet heading out there," he told Fox News. "They are negotiating," he added. Qatar's foreign ministry said its premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, held talks in Tehran with Larijani on Saturday to try to "de-escalate tensions in the region". - Fears of conflict - The arrival of the US flotilla has raised fears of a direct confrontation with Iran, which has warned it would respond with missile strikes on US bases, ships and allies -- notably Israel -- in the event of an attack. Advertisement Advertisement Trump has said he believes Iran will make a deal over its nuclear and missile programmes rather than face US military action. Tehran has said it is ready for nuclear talks if its missiles and defence capabilities are not on the agenda. Iranian army chief Amir Hatami has warned the United States and Israel against any attack, saying his forces were "at full defensive and military readiness". "If the enemy makes a mistake, without a doubt it will endanger its own security, the security of the region, and the security of the Zionist regime," Hatami said, official news agency IRNA reported. Advertisement Advertisement Iran's nuclear technology and expertise "cannot be eliminated", he added. With tensions heightened, Iranian authorities rushed to deny that several incidents on Saturday were linked to any attack or sabotage. They included an explosion in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas that local firefighters said was caused by a gas leak. - Naval exercise - On Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) would conduct "a two-day live-fire naval exercise" in the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit hub for global energy supplies. CENTCOM warned the IRGC against "any unsafe and unprofessional behaviour near US forces", drawing a sharp response from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Advertisement Advertisement "The US military is now attempting to dictate how our Powerful Armed Forces should conduct target practice in their own turf," he wrote on X. The United States designated the IRGC a terrorist organisation in 2019, a move the European Union followed on Thursday, prompting angry reactions from Tehran. The United States carried out strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites in June when it briefly joined Israel's 12-day war against its regional foe. Nationwide protests against the rising cost of living erupted on December 28, before turning into a broader anti-government movement that peaked on January 8 and 9 in what authorities called "riots" blamed on the United States and Israel. Advertisement Advertisement - 'Serve the people' - The official death toll from the authorities stands at 3,117. However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,713 deaths, including 137 children. On Saturday, Pezeshkian urged his government to heed public grievances and "serve the people". Some Iranians at the Kapikoy border point separating Iran and Turkey, where a little over 100 people crossed on Saturday, said they wanted to be free of the clerical leaders in Tehran. "They were shooting us in the back. We were even targeted through our windows," said Shabnan, using a pseudonym. "Everyone has lost loved ones, friends, neighbours, acquaintances." burs-jj/acb/abs/mtp Israels reliance on minimal Liquified Petroleum Gas reserves leaves its economy vulnerable, and winter could bring serious supply issues. Despite recognizing worst-case scenarios, Israel now confronts a minimal security stockpile, particularly concerning its gas supply. The government has assured that there are no reported shortages in supply. However, concerns have been growing, especially among businesses that rely on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, commonly known as cooking gas) for heating, energy production, and manufacturing processes. Advertisement Advertisement Industries such as food production, agriculture, petrochemicals, printing, restaurants, and hotels are racing to secure enough gas to keep their operations running. During times of scarcity, priority is given to businesses and institutional consumers that rely on cooking gas, which pushes private consumers to the back of the line. However, the state appears to be significantly unconcerned. Fire rises from the Bazan power plant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, June 15, 2025. (credit: Mordekay Baliti/Flash90) Despite the anticipated shortage worsening with the arrival of winter, preparations have been insufficient, if not negligent. In early January, after substantial amounts had already been drawn from emergency reserves and the situation had become critical, a gas ship arrived at the Ktsaa terminal, which was expected to alleviate some pressure, but it wont fully resolve the issue. Approximately 60 trailers are en route to Ashkelon Port to unload gas containers, but sources familiar with the situation indicate that a single late shipment is insufficient. Israelis could run out of cooking gas With no reserves and limited imports, Israelis could wake up one morning to discover they are out of cooking gas. Advertisement Advertisement This unusual shortage is not a sudden or isolated event; it results from a long-standing trend over the past decade, during which Israel's LPG market has operated with very limited security stock, relying heavily on local refinery production, particularly from the Bazan complex in Haifa Bay. This structural decision was based on the assumption that imports could quickly fill any gaps during shortages. In practice, this assumption has left the economy with thin margins, making it highly vulnerable to disruptions. Bazan supplies a significant portion of the countrys cooking gas and has long been considered a critical infrastructure facility. Emergency preparedness documents and scenarios developed over the years identified damage to the complex as a risk with potentially widespread consequences, especially for the LPG market. That risk materialized in June 2025, when an Iranian missile struck the Bazan complex, causing major shutdowns and operational disruptions, including damage to the internal power station that supplies electricity and steam to the facilities. Tragically, three workers lost their lives in the attack, and the facility was temporarily shut down. Since the impact, the LPG market has been operating under tension. Advertisement Advertisement While it is possible to fill the gap through imports, it is expensive, depends on ship availability, and is hindered by limited unloading infrastructure, which significantly reduces operational flexibility. At the same time, demand for gas has remained high, and in some periods, even increased, partly due to changes in consumption habits and the onset of winter. The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure responded in early January that no disruption to LPG supply in Israel is expected and that new LPG imports were being unloaded to meet demand. "The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure is working continuously to ensure the availability of LPG to consumers. The Ministry is collaborating closely with all companies in the economy to ensure a continuous supply without disruptions. The claim that the LPG supply has been damaged is incorrect. There has been no shortage of supply to consumers during the fighting or at any other time. "The Ministry, along with other partners, is swiftly advancing the construction of dedicated LPG storage facilities, and recently published a draft of new regulations for public comment that require companies to maintain operational inventory to prevent shortages. Regarding the claims about shortages, the LPG ship has already arrived at the Israeli coast and is expected to unload its cargo throughout the day. At this stage, there are no known shortages in supply. The Ministry will continue to monitor the situation closely and on an ongoing basis." Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Israel on Saturday launched airstrikes at targets in Gaza, with Palestinian authorities reporting that at least 30 were killed in the attacks. The strikes come after Israel accused Hamas of violating a shaky cease-fire in Gaza ahead of the expected reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. The strikes hit an apartment building, tent camp and a police station, hospital officials told the Los Angeles Times. Advertisement Advertisement Ten officers and detainees were killed in the police station strike in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood outside Gaza City. Officials are searching the rubble for bodies and said the number of dead could increase, The Guardian reported. The outlet added that three children and two women were killed in the apartment building in Gaza City, in addition to seven who died in strikes in the Khan Younis tent camp. In a statement, Israel said the strikes were in response to militants leaving a tunnel in Rafah, which is controlled by Israel and would constitute a violation of the cease-fire. The latest outbreak of violence comes one day before the land crossing between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah is due to reopen, part of the multi-part cease-fire that Israel and Hamas agreed to last October. Advertisement Advertisement Israeli officials said the crossing would be open to a "limited" number of people and that all individuals entering or exiting Gaza will be required to obtain a security clearance from Israel in coordination with Egypt, NBC News reported. Hospitals and ambulances in Egypt already have been preparing to receive sick and injured Palestinians from Gaza when the crossing opens on Sunday morning. Despite the both Israel and Gaza accusing each other of violating the cease-fire, an Israeli official told The New York Times that Israel will not alter plans to open the Rafah border crossing. Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan have become good mom friends decades after feuding. Photo: Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan The 44-year-old socialite and the 39-year-old actress famously locked horns throughout the noughties, but they buried the hatchet once and for all and are hoping to organise for their children to meet. Appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen this week, Paris - who has Phoenix, three, and London, two, with her husband Carter Reum - said: We are planning to get the kids together. I am so happy for her. She is glowing. We love being moms. As for the Freaky Friday star, she has a two-year-old son, Laui, with her spouse, Bader Shammas. Paris previously offered some advice on motherhood to Lindsay. She told Access Hollywood: Im so excited for her. I just feel so happy for her and its just exciting to see all of my friends growing up and starting families on their own, and my advice is just to soak in every moment. Its just so precious. Paris added: Everyone is just saying they grow so fast. So just to enjoy the little baby moments when were just, like, snuggling and hes just a little, tiny angel. The high-profile duo endured a much-publicised feud that dates back to 2006, when Paris laughed as her pal Brandon Davis rubbished the actress in an interview. At the time, Brandon said: "I think she's worth about $7 million, which means she's really poor. It's disgusting. She lives in a motel." Brandon also made disparaging remarks about Lindsay's body, describing her as a "fire crotch". He asked: "Who would want to f*** her?" However, a spokesperson for the heiress subsequently denied that she shared Brandon's views. He said: "It is unfair to characterise Brandon's statements as being reflective of Paris' feelings about Lindsay. We're dealing with two different people. "It was Brandon who was speaking, of course there are moments when Paris was laughing, but she never said anything." But their feud escalated shortly afterwards, when Lindsay shamed Paris for her infamous sex tape. She quipped: "Obviously, she's very comfortable making videos." AIADMK General Secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Saturday said that several industry representatives from Tamil Nadu have contacted him and expressed confidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government after the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA). AIADMK is an alliance partner of the BJP for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Palaniswami said that industrialists have also expressed confidence that the "forthcoming AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu will effectively complement" the central government's initiatives in the state. "In the wake of the historic trade agreement signed between India and the European Union, several industry representatives from Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, and surrounding districts personally contacted me to share their enthusiasm and to explain the far-reaching benefits this agreement will bring to their respective sectors," he said in a post on X. "They expressed firm confidence that the BJP-led Central Government will continue to deliver such growth-oriented reforms, and conveyed their belief that the forthcoming AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu will effectively complement these initiatives by creating a robust, trade-friendly ecosystem in the State," he added. https://x.com/EPSTamilNadu/status/2017491567901348157 EPS further lauded PM Modi's efforts to make this "Mother of all deals" a reality. "At this historic moment, I extend my heartfelt congratulations and sincere appreciation to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Thiru. Narendra Modi Avl, and the Central Government for their decisive leadership in making this landmark trade agreement a reality," he said. The India-EU FTA was jointly announced on Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Antonio Costa at the 16th India-EU Summit, held during the visit of European leaders to India. The European Union is one of India's largest trading partners, with bilateral trade in goods and services witnessing steady growth over the years. In 2024-25, India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU stood at Rs 11.5 lakh crore (USD 136.54 billion), with exports valued at Rs 6.4 lakh crore (USD 75.85 billion) and imports at Rs 5.1 lakh crore (USD 60.68 billion). India-EU trade in services reached Rs 7.2 lakh crore (USD 83.10 billion) in 2024. (ANI) Relentless Israeli bombardment has killed at least 31 Palestinians, including six children and several police officers, in Gaza, a day before the Rafah border crossing is due to reopen. An Israeli air strike on Saturday on a tent sheltering displaced people killed at least seven Palestinians, including three children, in the al-Mawasi area to the northwest of Khan Younis, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Their bodies were taken to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. Advertisement Advertisement In Gaza City, emergency services reported that an Israeli air attack killed at least five Palestinians, including three children, in an apartment building in the Remal neighbourhood to the west of the city. We could feel the shockwaves of the explosions, followed by a huge, dark, dusty cloud that filled the area, leaving at least five people killed inside the residential flat, including a mother and children, Al Jazeeras Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City. Eight Palestinians were also injured in an Israeli bombing of an apartment building in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. All of this is happening inside the yellow line, Mamhoud said, referring to the demarcation line where the Israeli army withdrew to under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire that came into effect in October. He added that in Khan Younis, a building had been hit by fighter jets and destroyed completely after it was pre-warned by the Israeli military. Advertisement Advertisement The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, condemned the latest Israeli attacks, describing the truce as a ceasefire in name only. A ceasefire means guns fall silent and give way to efforts to end the war, Philippe Lazzarini posted on X. People in Gaza deserve a genuine ceasefire a much overdue ceasefire. Egypt and Qatar, the key mediators for the ceasefire, also condemned the latest Israeli violations. Egypt demanded that all parties exercise the utmost restraint ahead of Sundays planned reopening of the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza and Egypt. Qatar said the violence was a dangerous escalation that will inflame the situation and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at consolidating the truce. Advertisement Advertisement Israels military said its latest strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in Rafah, which Israel said violated the ceasefire. It said forces struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations across the Gaza Strip. Hamas political bureau member Suhail al-Hindi rejected the Israeli armys claims. What happened today is a fully fledged crime committed by a criminal enemy that does not abide by agreements or respect any commitments, he told the AFP news agency. Gazas Government Media Office says at least 524 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the United States-brokered ceasefire came into effect. Rafah reopening Residents in the border town of Rafah also reported several air attacks in areas under Israeli control. Israel is due to reopen the Rafah crossing on Sunday for the first time since May 2024. Advertisement Advertisement The opening of the key entry point is part of the second phase of Israels ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It was meant to open during the first phase, but Israel refused to do so until the body of its last remaining captive held in Gaza, Ran Gvili, was found and laid to rest earlier in the week. Israel on Saturday said it would only allow a limited movement of people who have received security clearance by Israel to enter and exit. No aid or humanitarian supplies will be allowed to enter. Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that the health situation in the territory is extremely dire, noting that medical supplies are rapidly running out. Advertisement Advertisement He called for the entry of medical supplies and the facilitation of evacuations for wounded Palestinians to receive treatment outside the Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing will be overseen by multiple parties, including Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and a European Union mission, but Israel retains control over who is allowed to enter and exit. Only those who fled during the past two years are allowed to come back, Mahmoud explained. Those who are born outside the Gaza Strip are not going to be allowed to come back. Hamas responded to the Rafah announcement by calling for Israel to allow movement in and out of Gaza without restrictions, and urged it to adhere to all aspects of the ceasefire agreement. Israels genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 71,600 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Israel pounded Gaza on Saturday with some of its most intense airstrikes since the October ceasefire, killing more than 30 people including three girls from one family, in attacks on houses, tents and a police station, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said it was responding to a breach of the ceasefire the previous day, in which its troops had identified eight gunmen emerging from a tunnel in Rafah, an area in southern Gaza controlled by Israeli forces under the truce. Advertisement Advertisement It had targeted commanders, weapons caches and manufacturing sites belonging to Palestinian militant group Hamas and its ally, Islamic Jihad, the military said. Hamas, which retains control of just under half of Gaza where nearly all its more than 2 million residents live mainly in makeshift tents and damaged buildings, said Israel had violated the truce. It did not say whether any of its members or sites were struck in Saturday's attacks. On Sunday, Israel is due to reopen the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war. The war began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli officials have said the war could resume if Hamas does not lay down its weapons. Advertisement Advertisement FIGHTERS STILL IN TUNNELS Israeli warplanes bombed the Sheikh Radwan police station west of Gaza City, killing 13 people, including five officers, police in Gaza said. Rescue teams were searching for more casualties at the site, said the Hamas-run police. Other airstrikes hit at least two houses in Gaza City, in northern-central Gaza, and a tent encampment sheltering displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis further south, local officials said. Video footage from Gaza City showed charred, blackened and destroyed walls at an apartment in a multi-storey building, and debris scattered inside it and outside on the street. Advertisement Advertisement Samer al-Atbash said the bodies of his three small nieces had been found in the street. "They say 'ceasefire' and all. What did those children do? What did we do?" he said. The Gaza civil defence rescue service put Saturday's death toll at 32. Israel said that in Friday's encounter with fighters in Rafah its soldiers killed three and arrested a fourth, described as a Hamas commander. Hamas did not comment on the incident. Dozens of its fighters have been trapped in tunnels under Rafah since the ceasefire and some have since been killed in clashes with Israeli forces. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE KILLED SINCE CEASEFIRE Advertisement Advertisement Violence has repeatedly shaken the ceasefire. Israeli fire has killed over 500 people, most of them civilians according to Gaza health officials, and Palestinian militants have killed four Israeli soldiers, according to Israeli authorities. The two sides have traded blame over truce violations, even as Washington presses them to proceed to the next phases of the ceasefire deal, meant to end the conflict for good. The next phase of Trump's Gaza plan calls for resolving complex issues such as Hamas disarmament, which the group has long rejected, further Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. Reuters reported on Monday that Hamas is seeking to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into the new U.S.-backed Palestinian administration for Gaza, a demand likely to be opposed by Israel. (Additional reporting by Dawoud Abu Elkas in Gaza City, Nuha Sharf in Jerusalem and Menna Alaa El Din in Cairo; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Timothy Heritage) TOKYO (AP) Japan and Britain agreed Saturday to accelerate cooperation on cybersecurity and the supply of critical minerals, as Chinas influence grows in the region. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his visit to Japan comes at a time when geopolitical, economic and technological shocks are literally shaking the world. Starmers overnight Tokyo visit comes on the heels of his trip to Beijing, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to seek a long-term, stable strategic partnership." Japan has faced growing tension from China since a comment by the country's leader Sanae Takaichi about a possible Japanese involvement in the case of Chinese military action against Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own. Advertisement Advertisement He told a joint news conference that he and Takaichi agreed during their talks to strengthen collective security across the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific, while boosting growth and economic resilience, and to launch a new cyber strategic partnership to improve our cybersecurity to protect our economy. Japan has been stepping up its cybersecurity as experts have raised concerns about its vulnerability, especially as the country accelerates its military buildup and works more closely with the United States and other partners. Meanwhile, Takaichi, noting a growing concern about the global export restrictions on critical minerals, said we agreed that it is urgent for the like-minded countries to work together to strengthen supply chain resilience. Critical minerals include rare earth elements. While 17 elements are classified as rare earth, the U.S. government has identified 50 minerals overall that are labeled critical minerals, which also include a number of other minerals that are seen as essential to the economic and military strength of the nation. Advertisement Advertisement Japan's only treaty ally is the U.S., and, in response to uncertainty over Washingtons security commitment in the region, the East Asian country has been expanding and stepping up its partnership with other friendly nations, such as Australia and Britain. As major trading and defense partners, Japan and Britain agreed to cooperate in building more diversified supply chains in critical minerals and other areas, he said. The two sides will work together to support institutions for a free and predictable multilateral trade system, including expanding the 12-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and its collaboration with the EU. I hope to elevate Japan-British relations even higher, Takaichi said. ___ Associated Press video journalist Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report. A federal judge has halted the Trump administrations plan to strip deportation protections from thousands of Ethiopians living in the United States. Judge Brian Murphy in Boston issued the order on Friday, delaying a February 13 deadline that would have forced more than 5,000 Ethiopians to leave the country or face arrest. The ruling represents the latest legal setback to the administrations broader push to end temporary protections for more than one million people across multiple countries. Advertisement Advertisement Murphys decision came during a virtual hearing, where he said the delay would provide time for the Department of Homeland Security to produce records explaining its decision-making process before he considers blocking the move for longer. I want to do everything I can to keep this case going, the judge said. The case was brought by three Ethiopian nationals and the advocacy group African Communities Together, who filed suit after the DHS announced in December it was terminating the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) first granted to Ethiopia in 2022. The lawsuit argues the administration unlawfully ended the protections with just 60 days notice despite ongoing armed conflict in the African nation. Advertisement Advertisement Plaintiffs also claim Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted based on an unconstitutional animus against non-white immigrants. The move came even as the State Department continues urging Americans to reconsider travel to Ethiopia due to sporadic violent conflict, civil unrest, crime, communications disruptions, terrorism and kidnapping. The DHS defended the termination by pointing to recent peace agreements, including a 2022 ceasefire in Tigray, despite renewed fighting in the region this month. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said TPS was never intended to be a de facto amnesty programme, yet thats how previous administrations have used it for decades. Advertisement Advertisement The ruling follows a similar decision a day earlier when a federal appeals court found the administration unlawfully ended protections for 600,000 Venezuelans. That three-judge panel said Noems actions were based on racist stereotyping and left people in a constant state of fear that they will be deported, detained, separated from their families. About a dozen countries now face TPS terminations as part of Trumps immigration crackdown. Some 350,000 Haitians are set to lose protections on February 3, while Somalis face a March 17 deadline, despite the State Department maintaining a Do Not Travel warning for Somalia. The legal battles come as protests rock the US against the Trump administrations deportation drive, following the killing of two American citizens by immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota this month. ATHENS, Ga. (AP) A judge considering whether to grant a new trial to the Venezuelan man convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley heard testimony Friday from a DNA expert retained by his attorneys to analyze evidence in his murder case. Jose Ibarra's trial attorneys had asked the judge to delay a hearing set a few weeks before his November trial after the expert told them she would need six weeks to review the data and complete a report. The move would have pushed back the trial. Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard ultimately proceeded with the trial as scheduled. Advertisement Advertisement The expert, Ruth Ballard, said during Friday's hearing that she could not rule out the possibility that Ibarra's DNA was transferred onto a jacket and other evidence she reviewed indirectly. Under questioning by a prosecutor, Ballard acknowledged she had not finished a complete review of the case. She also acknowledged writing that a reasonable explanation for the crime lab findings in the case was that Ibarra's DNA got onto the evidence when he killed Riley. Ibarra, dressed in a white jumpsuit, sat at a table with his attorneys. Haggard did not rule immediately on Ibarra's request to vacate his guilty verdict and life sentence and grant him a new trial. He gave attorneys another month to file legal arguments. Advertisement Advertisement Haggard found Ibarra guilty of murder and other charges in November after Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial. He sentenced Ibarra to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors decided before trial not to seek the death penalty. Ibarra, 28, had entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay while he pursued his immigration case. Rileys killing in February 2024 heightened tensions in the national debate over immigration. The first bill President Donald Trump signed upon taking office last year, the Laken Riley Act, was inspired by the 22-year-old's killing. It requires the detention of people who are in the country without authorization and are accused of theft and violent crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said Ibarra encountered Riley while she was running on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on Feb. 22, 2024, and killed her during a struggle. Riley was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing, which has a campus in Athens, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Atlanta. Ibarra's lawyers argue that his constitutional rights were violated by the judge's denial of the request for a delay and by the admission of cellphone evidence the defense sought to exclude. Under Georgia law, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of a conviction becoming final, which is the date of sentencing or the date of the denial of a motion for a new trial, whichever is later. The filing of a motion for a new trial effectively extends the deadline to file an appeal. Ibarra's trial attorneys filed a motion for a new trial within weeks of his conviction. New lawyers have since taken over his case and filed an amended motion for a new trial earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Before trial, Ibarra's lawyers had asked the judge not to allow evidence stemming from the search of two cellphones the state believed belonged to Ibarra. They argued that the search warrants used to seize and search the phones were not valid because police lacked probable cause to obtain the warrants. Haggard rejected those arguments. Ibarra's trial attorneys had also asked the judge to exclude evidence and expert testimony based on the use of TrueAllele Casework, software that is used to analyze DNA. ___ Associated Press writer Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report. The Brief In December 2022, Brevard County Sheriffs deputy Andrew Lawson shot and killed his best friend and roommate, another deputy named Austin Walsh. Lawson said he pointed the gun as a joke, and thought it was not loaded. Lawson pleaded guilty to manslaughter, with an agreement on a 7-year maximum prison sentence. The judge rejected the cap. VIERA, Fla. - Former Brevard County sheriff's deputy Andrew Lawson left court Monday without a sentence after a judge rejected a plea deal in the fatal shooting of his best friend. Advertisement Advertisement The judges decision came after the victims family pushed for a harsher punishment than the maximum seven-year sentence allowed under the agreement. The backstory In December 2022, Brevard County sheriff's deputies Andrew Lawson and Austin Walsh were playing Call of Duty, when Lawson picked up a gun and pointed it at his best friend. He says he was merely doing that as a joke, and he did not believe the gun was loaded. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX LOCAL APP He pulled the trigger, and it didnt fire. So he says he cocked the gun, pulled the trigger again, and shot his 23-year-old roommate in the face, then called 911 to report what hed done. The arguments The defense spent a lot of time in Fridays sentencing hearing trying to emphasize to the judge that Lawson thought the gun was not loaded, and this was an accident. Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors say he went through extensive training and should have known to never point the gun at someone, let alone pull the trigger. The impact Walshs friends and family members pleaded with the judge to not accept the deal that would give Lawson a 7-year maximum sentence. They argued that as a deputy, he should be held to a higher standard, not granted extra leniency. The plea Lawson pleaded guilty to manslaughter, with a deal that capped his possible sentence at 7 years. He asked the judge for no prison time. SIGN-UP FOR FOX 35'S BREAKING NEWS, DAILY NEWS NEWSLETTERS After hearing the evidence and arguments presented in Fridays sentencing hearing, then listening to victim impact statements, the judge chose not to accept the plea due to the 7-year-cap. What's next The judge gave Lawson the option to withdraw his plea and go to trial or attempt to plead again later after renegotiating with the state, or enter an open plea where she could sentence him with no limitations. He chose to withdraw. The Source This story was written based on information shared by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and from court proceedings on Jan. 30, 2026. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Jupiter moon Europa was captured by the JunoCam instrument aboard NASAs Juno spacecraft during the missions close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022. The images show the fractures, ridges, and bands that crisscross the moons surface. | Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing: Bjorn Jonsson (CC BY 3.0) After years of debate, NASA researchers have zeroed in on the thickness of the Europa's ice shell. We first discovered that the Jupiter moon's surface looked icy in 1979, when Voyager 2 flew by . Another NASA mission, the Galileo Jupiter orbiter, later confirmed the ice shell while it inspected the giant planet, Europa , and other Jovian moons during the 1990s. Advertisement Advertisement Since then, scientists have been in two camps, championing conflicting theories on the thickness of Europa's ice shell. One theory holds that the shell which is thought to hide a huge, buried ocean of liquid water is less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) thick, while the other posits that it spans tens of miles. Now, we appear to have an answer. Using data the Juno Jupiter orbiter gathered in 2022 using its Microwave Radiometer instrument, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California calculate that the shell is about 18 miles (28.9 km) thick. "The 18-mile estimate relates to the cold, rigid, conductive outer layer of a pure water ice shell," Steve Levin, Juno project scientist and co-investigator from JPL, said in a NASA statement on Tuesday (Jan. 27). "If an inner, slightly warmer convective layer also exists, which is possible, the total ice shell thickness would be even greater," Levin continued. "If the ice shell contains a modest amount of dissolved salt, as suggested by some models, then our estimate of the shell thickness would be reduced by about 3 miles [5 km]." Advertisement Advertisement Understanding the makeup and structure of Europa's icy surface is important, because NASA researchers and many other scientists around the world want to find out if the moon hosts alien life . Previous research suggests that the ingredients for life could exist in the moon's subsurface ocean. "How thick the ice shell is and the existence of cracks or pores within the ice shell are part of the complex puzzle for understanding Europa's potential habitability," Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said in the NASA statement. And a thick ice shell might not be great news for Europa's life-hosting potential. This feature "implies a longer route that oxygen and nutrients would have to travel to connect Europas surface with its subsurface ocean," NASA officials wrote in the statement. This new insight into Europa will provide helpful context for the two spacecraft that are en route to the Jovian system right now. NASA's Europa Clipper should arrive in orbit around Jupiter to investigate Europa's habitability in 2030, and the European Space Agency's Juice (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) will get there a year later. PROVO A man who fired shots at a Provo Black Lives Matter protest, hitting and injuring a man driving a car, was found guilty of attempted aggravated murder on Friday. Jesse Taggart was charged with attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; felony discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony; plus aggravated assault and riot, third-degree felonies. On Friday, a jury found him guilty of attempted aggravated murder, aggravated assault, discharge of a firearm and riot. Advertisement Advertisement The decision came after four days of testimony and several discussions between the attorneys and judge on the charges that stemmed from a shooting at a Provo protest in June 2020. Part of the trial included lengthy discussions on how state law defines dangerous weapon in regards to the charges. Fourth District Judge Kraig Powell said the state was arguing Taggart used deadly force while the defense argued he used deadly force but it was justified. Powell said those are both very serious statements with very serious allegations. During closing arguments, prosecutor Spencer Wyatt reviewed several videos from the day of the protest, trying to prove that Taggart was acting intentionally with lethal force and recklessness against multiple protestors. Wyatt then showed text messages from Taggart later that day to try to prove that Taggart did not feel remorse for the shooting but instead bragged about killing a nazi. Advertisement Advertisement In his mind, he is the hero. One nazi down, Wyatt said, quoting one of Taggarts texts. He was shooting to kill, both times. Wyatt concluded by sharing parts of Taggarts testimony in which he claimed he was trying to defend others from dangerous drivers and said Taggarts story was a direct contradiction to the evidence. He said Taggarts claim that he saw a driver he fired toward had a gun was added later and not part of his initial story. Nathaniel Johnson, Taggarts attorney, argued Taggart was justified because he thought people were going to die. He encouraged the jury to pay attention to a video from near Taggarts point of view and said from that perspective, it seemed the car was going to hit pedestrians. A sentencing date was set for Monday, March 16. Taggarts previous testimony In the audio played for the jurors on Wednesday and Thursday, Taggart testified about firing the gun at the car and claimed he was defending people around him from someone he thought had a gun as well. Advertisement Advertisement Taggart talked about how his role at Black Lives Matter protests gradually changed as he went to maybe 27, spending nine to 12 hours a day there. He said after the first week, he began taking on a support and safety role encouraging demonstrators to be safe and not approach vehicles. He said he witnessed multiple vehicle attacks. At the Provo protest on June 29, 2020, he said one woman drove past multiple times yelling racially charged things and later drove into peoples shins multiple times. At the University Avenue and Center Street intersection the day of the shooting, Taggart said there were a lot of screams as the Ford Excursion driven by Ken Dudley approached the intersection. He said the man did not have a blinker, and it looked like he was communicating it was his way or the highway. When he said he saw through the windshield from behind the car that the car was making contact with people, he knew it was a problem. Advertisement Advertisement As he was in the sidewalk or crosswalk, Taggart said he almost got hit by the trucks mirror and then saw into the vehicle that the man was waving a black object around that he believed was a gun. I felt that because of the given circumstances if I didnt shoot that he was going to shoot us within the next millisecond, Taggart said. When he fired the gun, he said his intention was to stop him. He said he was aiming for his elbow on the first shot and was confident in his aim and planned to fire only one shot testifying he was not there to kill anyone. He said the man accelerated, and he followed him. When he saw hair fly up over the hood and then a body go flying, Taggart testified that he aimed a second time and fired, this time aiming for the knee the man was using to turn the steering wheel. He denied seeing people swarm the car as Dudley testified on the first day of the trial. Taggart also said he did not see anyone knocked to the ground or bleeding because of the drivers actions. Advertisement Advertisement Taggart also testified about police eventually arriving at the scene and telling protestors to leave over 15 minutes after the shooting. He said he was acting as a barrier between the police and other protestors until eventually he left the protest. Although over an hour of his previous testimony was played, Taggart chose not to testify directly at his jury trial. His attorneys did call two expert witnesses, who added critiques to the police investigation in the case. New legal question for Utah On Wednesday, a legal question came up regarding a law passed by the state Legislature in 2021. The question hinged on whether Taggarts testimony during a previous hearing could be played in his jury trial. The 2021 law allows defendants who wished to claim self-defense to ask for a justification hearing, during which the judge is able to dismiss the case if the defendant is able to prove they acted in self-defense. The judge said it was surprising the Legislature did not anticipate an issue would always happen when the law passed. Advertisement Advertisement In this case, prosecutors said they wanted to use Taggarts testimony from his justification hearing during his jury trial, but his attorneys claimed that would infringe on his constitutional right to not testify. Johnson said justification hearings are unique because they require a defendant to admit they did what they are charged with doing but that they were justified in those actions. He said if the only way to take advantage of the right to a justification hearing is to testify and risk having that testimony played at trial, no defendant would seek a justification hearing the risk so seriously outweighs the benefit, he said. Powell ultimately decided the audio could be played for the jurors, over his objection. He noted that the prosecutors had given notice they planned to play it and agreed with Deputy Utah County attorney Meghann Mills that Taggarts statement was voluntary. At some point this issue will probably be decided in Utah ... but I am unable to wait for that day, Powell said, saying appellate courts or the Legislature could address it. Contributing: Curtis Booker Kenneth Simpson, the man convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a Hermann police officer, is expected to face the death penalty. Friday, a jury unanimously agreed that Simpson should be sentenced to death, according to Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's office. Todays verdict brings accountability, but it does not bring closure. We remember two law enforcement officers one who made the ultimate sacrifice and another whose life is forever changed. We continue to hold their family, loved ones, and fellow brothers and sisters in blue in our thoughts and prayers, said Hanaway. Throughout this process, our responsibility has been to pursue justice with care and resolve. We honor these heroes by standing with those who serve and by upholding the rule of law even in the hardest moments. Advertisement Advertisement The attorney general's office said Judge Craig Hellmann will issue Simpsons formal sentence on the first-degree murder conviction, and will sentence Simpson on the remaining counts, at a later date. Saturday, Jan. 24, Simpson was found guilty for first-degree murder and first-degree assault. On March 12, 2023, Det. Sgt. Mason Griffith and officer Adam Sullentrup responded to a disturbance at the Casey's gas station on Missouri Highway 19. Simpson shot the two officers and fled the scene. Griffith and Sullentrup were transported in serious condition to area hospitals, where Griffith later died. The jury also found Simpson guilty of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the agency had probable cause when executing a warrant at a Fulton County election hub. Patel said investigators conducted an "extensive" investigation before action was taken. The warrant covered materials connected to the 2020 election, court records show. President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed fraud tainted the Georgia results, a state he narrowly lost to former President Joe Biden. Advertisement Advertisement "The FBI follows the facts and the law, and President Trump and the attorney general have given us a clear mandate to reduce crime in this country and investigate anything that rises to the level of probable cause," Patel said on "Saturday in America." Fbi Busts Latin Kings Gang Nationwide, Nearly 50 Arrested In Sweeping Crackdown FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, Dec. 4, 2025. (Getty Images) "The FBI and the DOJ went in and collected numerous pieces of evidence that the judge authorized us to collect," Patel later added. Read On The Fox News App Trump Seeks More Than $6M From Fani Willis' Office In Wake Of Election Interference Case Advertisement Advertisement Fox News Digital reported the warrant allowed agents to collect physical ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images and voter rolls from the 2020 election. The search came days after Trump again called for prosecutions related to the 2020 election. In Davos, Switzerland, the president said, "People will soon be prosecuted for what they did." FBI Director Kash Patel, joined by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, speaks to the media after the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2025. Patel said investigators are reviewing a "voluminous" amount of information collected during the search, adding that the investigation remains ongoing. Mike Davis: After Trump Case Collapses, Time For Fani Willis To Lawyer Up Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was at the site as agents executed the warrant. Her presence prompted criticism from Democratic lawmakers, who said it was unusual for her to attend a domestic warrant operation. Advertisement Advertisement Trump addressed Gabbards presence on Thursday, saying, "She's working very hard on trying to keep the election safe, and she's done a very good job." FBI Director Kash Patel Click Here To Download The Fox News App He also confirmed that the FBI had a signed judges order, adding, "You're going to see some interesting things happening. They've been trying to get there for a long time." A Georgia grand jury indicted Trump and more than a dozen other defendants over alleged efforts to undermine the 2020 election results. The case was dismissed in November 2025 by a Fulton County Superior Court judge. Original article source: Kash Patel confirms FBI had 'probable cause' for Fulton County election hub raid Prior to her departure, the NCP-SCP leader paid a visit to Asha Pawar, the mother of late Ajit Pawar, at her residence in Katewadi village. Speaking to reporters here, Sule said, "Since the Budget Session is tomorrow, I am going to Delhi. I met Asha Kaki and took her permission, asking whether I should go to Delhi for the Budget Session. She said yes, it's the country's budget, and I should go. As the NCP's floor leader, my presence there is necessary." Regarding Sunetra Pawar's oath-taking ceremony and other questions, she responded with folded hands, "Ram Krishna Hari." NCP leader Supriya Sule will attend the Union Budget 2026-27, to be presented on February 1 in the Parliament. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present a record ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1 (Sunday). On Wednesday, Supriya Sule paid her respects to her late cousin Ajit Pawar, who died after the plane he was travelling in from mumbai crash-landed in Baramati on January 28. The last rites of the 66-year-old Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra was performed with full state honours at Vidya Pratishthan Ground in Baramati. Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash while travelling from Mumbai to Baramati on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Pawar's widow Sunetra Pawar took oath as the state's first woman Deputy Chief Minister at a ceremony in Lok Bhavan in Mumbai. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Maharashtra State President of NCP, Sunil Tatkare, NCP Working President Praful Patel, and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal were also present at the occasion. (ANI) Residents of the Lakecrest subdivision in Katy say 18-wheelers parking along their street are creating safety concerns, prompting them to seek help from local authorities and KHOU 11. The issue has persisted for more than a year, according to neighbors. Gina Simmons, who has lived in the area since 2009, reached out to KHOU 11 looking for solutions. "This has been going on for over a year," Simmons said. Advertisement Advertisement She said the trucks create an unwelcome atmosphere for the residential neighborhood. "This is just an invitation for everybody to park here. It's like, hey, look at all these trucks that are parked here," Simmons said. After Simmons contacted Precinct 4, officials responded quickly by conducting a traffic study and installing a no parking sign near the neighborhood entrance in December. However, residents say the problem continues, with some trucks parking beyond the sign. "He's already violating a sign," Simmons said. The main concern for neighbors is traffic safety. They say when the road narrows into the neighborhood, the parked trucks block visibility for drivers. Advertisement Advertisement Roxana Gopinath, a resident since 2008, pointed out the visibility issues caused by the trucks. "On that side for example, I don't see anything you know," Gopinath said. The concern is particularly acute during busy traffic times, according to Karla Keley, who has lived in the area for 18 years. "This comes from four lanes into two lanes real quick, right where these trucks are parked," Keley said. Gopinath added that the visibility problems could lead to crashes. "You can have an accident because with the trucks you don't have visibility," she said. When asked what solution they would like to see, residents said they simply want the trucks banned from parking in the area. Advertisement Advertisement Sergio Castellano, a 20-year resident, suggested a specific remedy. "The solution is that Harris County puts the good signs like no commercial trucks," Castellano said. Fed up with the situation, residents called the sheriff's office. On the evening the story was reported, one truck that was not following the no parking sign was towed away. Residents say they want the trucks out of the area entirely. Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at newstips@khou.com or call 713-521-4310 and include the best way to reach you. FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mo. Following the end of closing arguments in the case of the State of Missouri vs Kenneth Lee Simpson, jurors have now returned their sentence recommendation Friday evening, which would seal the 38-year-olds fate after he was found guilty in the murder of a Hermann Police Sergeant. Sources tell FOX 2 that jurors have returned their verdict in favor of Simpson being sentenced to death for the 2023 killing of Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith. Court records say the shooting death happened on March 12, 2023, in Hermann, Missouri, after Detective Griffith and Officer Adam Sullentrup were called to a convenience store for reports of a person who was described as irate. (From left to right: Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith & Officer Adam Sullentrup) Advertisement Advertisement Officials learned that Simpson had a warrant for arrest, and then an altercation ensued when the 38-year-old began shooting, killing Griffith and injuring Sullentrup. Simpson was found guilty of nine charges, including armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree murder, which made him eligible for the death sentence. Defense attorneys pleaded for jurors to spare Simpsons life for parole, arguing that he dealt with depression and struggled with substance abuse. However, prosecutors rebutted that argument, claiming that Simpson was aware of the consequences of his actions, even saying that he bragged about the killing. Kenneth Lee Simpson comforts his defense attorney Patricia Poe, right, after the jurys punishment recommendation was read in Simpsons death penalty trial at the Franklin County Judicial Center in Union, Mo., on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Simpson was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Hermann police Det. Sgt. Mason Griffith, and the shooting of officer Adam Sullentrup. The jury ruled in favor of the death penalty for Simpson. Family and friends of Keneth Lee Simpson react after the jurys punishment recommendation was read in Simpsons death penalty trial of Simpson at Franklin County Judicial Center in Union, Mo., on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Simpson was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Hermann police Det. Sgt. Mason Griffith, and the shooting of officer Adam Sullentrup. The jury ruled in favor of the death penalty for Simpson. Todays verdict brings accountability, but it does not bring closure. We remember two law enforcement officers one who made the ultimate sacrifice and another whose life is forever changed. We continue to hold their family, loved ones, and fellow brothers and sisters in blue in our thoughts and prayers, said Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway. Throughout this process, our responsibility has been to pursue justice with care and resolve. We honor these heroes by standing with those who serve and by upholding the rule of law even in the hardest moments. Advertisement Advertisement Simpsons formal sentencing will happen on June 12. Missouris last execution was Lance Shockley in 2025 for the killing of Sergeant Carl Dewayne Graham. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Public Health- Seattle & King County reported a potential exposure of measles at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) last month. The exposure was reported on Jan. 22 between 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Those who were at A Concourse (specifically A12), Transit to International Arrivals Hall (baggage claim 22), and those who left the airport on the lower level of baggage claim may have been exposed. If you were at the locations during the time mentioned and you are not immune, the most likely time you would get sick is between Jan. 29 and Feb. 12. Advertisement Advertisement As of Jan. 9, there are zero cases reported in King County. Snohomish County has declared an outbreak of measles, with up to six cases reported. Theses cases were all reported in unvaccinated children, who were exposed to an unvaccinated family visiting from South Carolina. Measles is a serious and very contagious disease that causes rash and fever. It can cause serious health problems like pneumonia, permanent brain damage, and immune amnesia, which means the measles virus can cause your bodys immune system to forget how to fight off diseases it has run into before. In rare cases, measles can be deadly. Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself against measles, the King County health department explained. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, again has become a focus of tensions as Iran prepares to launch a military drill that could see fire into a lane crucial for global shipping. Iran has warned ships that it will conduct a live fire drill Sunday and Monday in the strait, which sees a fifth of all oil traded pass through the tight corridor between the Islamic Republic and Oman. The U.S. military's Central Command issued its own warning early Saturday, telling Tehran that any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation and destabilization. Advertisement Advertisement Here's what to know about the drill, the U.S. warning, what caused the tensions and what might happen next in the Strait of Hormuz. A key waterway for global shipping The Strait of Hormuz resembles a bend looking down from space. Its narrowest point is just 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide. It flows from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Oman. From there, ships can then travel to the rest of the world. While Iran and Oman have its territorial waters in the strait, its viewed as an international waterway all ships can ply. The United Arab Emirates, home to the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, also sits near the waterway. The strait long has been important for trade Advertisement Advertisement The Strait of Hormuz through history has been important for trade, with ceramics, ivory, silk and textiles moving from China through the region. In the modern era of supertankers, the narrow strait proved deep and wide enough to allow for oil to pass through it. While there are pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that can avoid the passage, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says most volumes that transit the strait have no alternative means of exiting the region. The vast majority of the oil and gas moving through the strait goes to markets in Asia. Threats to the route have spiked global energy prices in the past, including during the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June. Iran plans drill that could enter trade route A notice to mariners sent Thursday by radio warned that Iran planned to conduct naval shooting in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and Monday. The coordinates provided by the message put the drill potentially going into what is known as the Traffic Separation Scheme a 3.2-kilometer- (2-mile-) wide, two-lane system in which ships coming into the Persian Gulf go north and ships exiting onto the Gulf of Oman go south. That northern lane is within the coordinates of the drill. While Iran has provided no other public details about the drills, it will likely involve the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The Guard operates a fleet of small fast-attack vessels in the strait that routinely has tense encounters with the U.S. Navy. US issues warning over the Iranian drill Advertisement Advertisement Early Saturday, the U.S. military's Central Command issued a strongly worded warning to Iran and the Revolutionary Guard over the drill. While acknowledging Iran's right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters, it warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels. The command, which oversees the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said it will not tolerate unsafe (Guard) actions that could include its aircraft or vessels getting too close to American warships or pointing weapons toward them. The command added that the U.S. military has the most highly trained and lethal force in the world. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi late Saturday mocked the U.S. demand in a post on X, saying that CENTCOM is also requesting professionalism from a national military the U.S. Government has listed as a terrorist organization, all while recognizing the right of that same terrorist organization to conduct military drills! This is the level of absurdity the world is now facing." Tensions high over Iran's protest crackdown, nuclear program U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to launch a military strike against Iran after its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. He has laid down two red lines the killing of peaceful protesters and Iran launching a wave of mass executions of those held. In recent days, he's also included the fate of Iran's nuclear program. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and supporting guided missile destroyers are now in the Arabian Sea where they could launch an attack if Trump calls for it. Iran has warned it could launch its own preemptive strike or target American interests across the Middle East and Israel. While the 12-day war saw Iran fire off ballistic missiles and Israel target its stockpile, Tehran maintains an arsenal of short- and medium-range missiles that could hit surrounding Gulf Arab states. Ashtabula County Commissioner Casey Kozlowski was recently elected vice president of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio by his fellow members of the organization, according a press release from the commissioners office. Kozlowski will have a key leadership role in the organization helping guide the associations priorities, as well as advancing issues impacting local governments, including public safety, infrastructure, workforce development, and fiscal responsibility, the release states. Im honored and grateful for the confidence my colleagues across Ohio have placed in me, Kozlowski said in the release. Counties are on the front lines of delivering services to our residents, and CCAO plays a critical role in ensuring our voices are heard at the Statehouse. I look forward to working with commissioners from every corner of Ohio to advocated for policies that strengthen our communities and serve our residents well. Advertisement Advertisement Kozlowski said he remains engaged in community organizations and regional initiatives, with a strong focus on responsible governance, transparency, and collaboration among local, state, and regional partners. He said he will be able to advocate for Ashtabula Countys perspective and experience statewide. CCAO represents Ohios 88 county boards of commissioners, and serves as the leading statewide organization advocating for counties at the Ohio General Assembly and with state agencies. The association provides legislative advocacy, policy development, legal support, and professional education to help counties deliver efficient and effective local government services, the release states. Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev has returned to the United States ahead of another round of Ukraine-Russia peace talks scheduled for Sunday in Abu Dhabi. "Back in Miami," Dmitriev wrote on Instagram on Saturday, ending his post with a dove of peace emoji. He did not provide further details. In previous meetings, Dmitriev has negotiated with US envoy Steve Witkoff. The talks in Abu Dhabi, which resumed last weekend after a long hiatus, aim to explore a possible end to the war. While both warring parties described the discussions as constructive, no agreement on a peace treaty has yet been reached. Advertisement Advertisement A key sticking point remains Russia's demand that Kiev withdraw from parts of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region that is primarily focused on the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Moscow claims the entire province of Donetsk, and controls just under 80% of it. Kiev has so far refused to withdraw voluntarily. The neighbouring Luhansk province is almost completely controlled by Russian troops. At the request of US President Donald Trump, Russia has agreed to temporarily pause attacks on energy infrastructure, citing extreme cold and extensive existing damage in Kiev and other cities. Strikes on other targets have continued. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the limited ceasefire will last only until Sunday and is intended to provide a "good basis" for the peace talks. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was no formal agreement on such a ceasefire but pledged that Ukraine would not attack Russian energy targets if Russia honoured its announcement. Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia's full-scale invasion for nearly four years with Western support. QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced a new agreement on Friday with the country's central government in Damascus to stabilize a ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting and to lay out steps toward integrating the two sides. The development is the latest as Syrias new leaders have struggled since toppling former President Bashar Assad in December 2024 to assert their full authority over the country torn by nearly 14 years of civil war. An agreement was reached in March that would merge the Kurdish-led SDF with Damascus's new security forces, but it didnt gain traction. Advertisement Advertisement The SDF lost most of its territory in northeast Syria to a government offensive after intense clashes erupted in the northern city of Aleppo on Jan. 6, following months of failed negotiations to implement an integration deal. A new agreement According to the SDF, the new agreement says that fighters from both sides will pull back from the front lines, while Syrian Ministry of Interior's security forces would go into the cities of al-Hassakeh and Qamishli in the Kurdish heartland, which they had previously been barred from entering. Local Kurdish police forces would also continue to patrol there. Then the process of integrating SDF and Syrian government forces would begin. Advertisement Advertisement This would include the formation of a new military division consisting of three brigades from the SDF in Hassakeh province, in addition to the formation of a brigade of SDF fighters within a division in Aleppo province. Local institutions in the Kurdish-led government of northeast Syria which has operated as a de facto autonomous zone for years and their employees would be integrated into state institutions. It was not clear how quickly the integration would take place. Kurdish rights and Syrian integration The agreement also includes civil and educational rights for the Kurdish people, and guaranteeing the return of the displaced to their areas, the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement The agreement aims to unify the Syrian territories and achieve the full integration process in the region by enhancing cooperation between the concerned parties and unifying efforts to rebuild the country, it said. The Syrian government confirmed the agreement in a statement. The state-run SANA news agency said that while the former SDF fighters would form brigades in the Syrian army, the fighters would be integrated on an individual basis after conducting necessary security checks." The distinction appears to be an attempt to balance the SDF's demand that its forces remain as distinctive units with the government's demand that they should be dissolved and that SDF members then join the army as individual troops. Advertisement Advertisement There was no reference in the agreement to the future of the SDF's all-female fighting units a sensitive point as much of the Damascus leaders come from a conservative background and are opposed to women in combat. Elham Ahmad, a senior official with the de facto autonomous administration in the Kurdish-led northeast, said in a call with journalists that the future of the women's fighting units had not been discussed in detail but that she expected they would be folded into the SDFs brigades in northeastern Syria. She said the United States and France would guarantee the deal and that the SDF has also been in discussions with Turkey. Ankara has long regarded the SDF as a terror group because of its ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. The US realignment Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile the U.S., which had long been the main backer of the SDF as the group fought against Islamic State militants, has moved closer to Damascus under new interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The U.S. did not intervene militarily in this month's fighting but pushed the two sides to make a deal. The truce that was reached last week between the two sides has been largely holding, with Friday's announcement appears to be a step toward solidifying the ceasefire. U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack called the new agreement in a post on X a profound and historic milestone in Syrias journey toward national reconciliation, unity, and enduring stability. He lauded the Kurdish people, whose extraordinary sacrifices and steadfast resilience have played a pivotal role in defending Syria against extremism and safeguarding vulnerable populations. Advertisement Advertisement He also praised a recent decree issued by al-Sharaa to strengthen the rights of the Kurdish minority in the country, including recognizing Kurdish as a national language along with Arabic, and adopting the Nowruz, a traditional celebration of spring and renewal marked by Kurds around the region, as an official holiday. The decree also annulled measures resulting from a 1962 census in the northeastern al-Hasakeh province that stripped tens of thousands of Kurds of their citizenship. Protestors clashed with authorities outside federal buildings during an anti-ICE demonstration in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 30, in a scene that revealed not all protestors were going to be deterred by the deployment of chemical irritants or a dispersal order. But earlier in the day, a different scene played out through the streets of Los Angeles. It began with a demonstration planned outside Los Angeles City Hall, where the USA TODAY Network spoke with Hacks star Meg Stalter and others whod gathered for it. Soon, it transformed into a march where hundreds upon hundreds of people walked through the streets of the city the latest Southern California protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Protestors' signs also made it clear they were marching against President Donald Trump. ICE protestors in Los Angeles marched from city hall to the federal detention center before clashing with agents in the evening on Jan. 30, 2026, forcing LAPD to issue a dispersal order. The rally was part of the ICE Out of Everywhere movement and a nationwide Jan. 30 shutdown in response to the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Protestors gather outside of city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Hacks actress Megan Stalter holds up a protest sign outside of city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor dressed in a costume of President Donald Trump walks amongst fellow protestors in front of city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Emily Vazquez of Los Angeles gives advice to fellow protestors drawing from her experience having been arrested at a previous protest in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor walks with an Abolish ICE cube sign in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor dressed in an inflatable frog suit walks along North Springs Street in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor with the Black Lives Matter of Los Angeles organization raises a fist to the crowd from the back of a work truck in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor blows a whistle in support of a speaker in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. California State Assemblymember Isaac Bryan speaks from the back of a truck before protestors in front of city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. State Sen. Sasha Renee Perez speaks to a crowd of protestors from the back of a work truck parked on North Spring Street near city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Protestors gather in front of city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Thousands of protestors begin to march away from city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Thousands of protestors begin to march away from city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Yellow tape, styled to look like police crime scene tape, reads equity is not a crime in front of city hall in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor writes make your mark in history in chalk on the sidewalk in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Protestors wave flags and hold up signs to cars on U.S. Route 101 in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A young man waves a half-American and half-Mexican flag while chanting abolish ice in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Homeland Security agents clash with protestors at the back side of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A Department of Homeland Security agent holds a less-lethal firearm as protestors clash with agents in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor records federal agents as they establish a line of defense outside of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor is shoved by a federal agent after getting face-to-face with the agent, who stood among a line of agents blocking off the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters stands near the front line of protestors as they clash with federal agents at the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A federal agent stands as a part of a line of agents outside of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Department of Homeland Security agents clash with protestors outside of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Federal agents briefly retreat into the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Federal agents come back out of the federal detention center in an attempt to push protestors back in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A man rubs his face after being targeted with tactical gas by federal agents in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Federal agents aim their weapons at protestors from behind a chainlink gate at the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Federal agents fire less-lethal weapons at protestors from behind a chainlink gate at the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Protestors take cardboard and other items from a nearby dumpster to protect themselves from federal agents as they have retreated into the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor reacts to being hit by tactical gas used by federal agents in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor is targeted by a federal agent appearing out of a side door after other protestors blocked off the agents main vantage point at the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Federal agents struggle through a barricade of cardboard boxes and other items from a nearby dumpster created by protestors at the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Protestors wave flags, hold up signs and chant together between clashes with federal agents outside of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A Los Angeles Police Department helicopter circles the area over protestors outside of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Protestors block the loading dock of the federal detention center that agents were using as their primary vantage and egress point in their clash with the protestors in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor designated as a medic helps a fellow protestor overcome wash his face after coming into contact with tactical gas in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A uniformed protestor holds their sign outside of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A tow truck pulls up and honks its horn to get the attention of protestors to deliver cases of bottled water near the federal detention center protest in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Los Angeles Police Department officers come to the aid of federal agents to push back protestors down North Alameda Street from outside the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Los Angeles Police Department officers run down North Alameda Street to establish a blockade at the intersection of East Temple Street in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A Los Angeles Police Department officer stands guard with a line of officers to attempt to control and disperse protestors from the area of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Los Angeles Police Department officers form a line in an attempt to disperse protestors from the area of the federal detention center in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestor ollies his skateboard in front of a line of Los Angeles Police Department officers while leaving the protest area in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. A protestors left-behind sign reads got democracy? at a U.S. Route 101 overpass in Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Protesters rally against ICE in Los Angeles, clash with federal agents 1 of 46 ICE protestors in Los Angeles marched from city hall to the federal detention center before clashing with agents in the evening on Jan. 30, 2026, forcing LAPD to issue a dispersal order. The rally was part of the ICE Out of Everywhere movement and a nationwide Jan. 30 shutdown in response to the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. At the demonstration outside Los Angeles City Hall was Hacks star Meg Stalter, who told the USA TODAY Network that people are getting brutally attacked and pulled off our streets. Its why strikes and protests are important, though she knew not everyone could make it out. Advertisement Advertisement The L.A. demonstrations came as various organizations called for a national shutdown on Jan. 30, urging people to not attend school, work and skip out on shopping in the aftermath of the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, and continued federal immigration enforcement operations nationwide. Two days prior, federal immigration enforcement operations reportedly hit Boyle Heights, prompting another anti-ICE protest that saw protestors briefly hold up an intersection in the Los Angeles neighborhood. LA marcher says her mother faces deportation, and it'll affect her son Along a stretch of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in Los Angeles, a woman walked through the throng of marchers selling churros. On the same street were two street vendors cooking up hot dogs, a move that felt distinctly Los Angeles. Cristal Lopez, 30, was out marching with her son on Friday, Jan. 30. Advertisement Advertisement Lopezs mother, Enedina Lopez, faces deportation, Lopez told the USA TODAY Network. Lopez said it's "devastating" and it has been greatly affecting her 60-year-old mother who has been in the U.S. nearly her whole life. Cristal Lopez and her son hold a sign calling attention to their relative facing deportation, according to Lopez. They were among the hundreds of people marching in Los Angeles as part of a wider protest over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, 2026. She has a court date, and we went to lawyers and everything to see if we can get her not deported because she is the caregiver of my son, Lopez said. My son is autistic, and the most important thing for autistic children is routine and their loved ones there supporting, and grandma is one of the main persons shes pretty much mom to him. Lopezs mother is really the main support system in helping her raise her son, she said. Why are we here trying to deport older ladies? she said, talking about the impact this could have on her son. And why are we not getting the people that are actually the problem? What happened at a Los Angeles protest on Friday, Jan. 30? Protestors and federal agents clashed near the Edward Roybal Federal Court Building and the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. Thing escalated at a loading dock, with many pressing into the vehicle entryway despite two warnings from authorities to leave the federally controlled area. Advertisement Advertisement What followed was back-and-forth efforts between protestors and federal agents to force the opposite party to retreat. During the clash, protestors threw water bottles and blocked the garage area in the loading dock with a dumpster as some form of chemical irritant was repeatedly deployed. Just before 6 p.m., LAPD issued a dispersal order for a stretch of Alameda Street, including the area near the federal buildings, and soon authorities moved in to push a large crowd of protestors back past the intersection of Temple and Alameda streets in downtown Los Angeles. By around 6:30 p.m., more Los Angeles Police Department vehicles arrived at the intersection, which had grown somewhat quieter with less protestors and likely, the presence of authorities. But by 7 p.m. protestors hadnt fully dispersed in the wider area, with people still gathered near Alameda and Commercial streets amid authorities presence. Advertisement Advertisement Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at pbarraza@usatodayco.com. (This story was updated to add a video.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anti-ICE protests in LA take over streets, clash with authorities A sheriff's officer in Lake County, Indiana is facing charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Indiana State Police arrested 33-year-old Thaddeus Bilski overnight, officials said Friday. Officials have shared few details, but they said he was off duty at the time. Bilski has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the investigation, Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said. No further information was immediately available. TOMS RIVER - A judge on Jan. 30 sentenced a 21-year-old Lakewood man to concurrent five-year prison terms in connection with two car crashes, including one that seriously injured an off-duty Lakewood police officer while the defendant was driving at 106 mph, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch imposed the prison terms on Edwin Ramirez-Carranza for aggravated assault and eluding police, which the defendant pleaded guilty to in December. Ramirez-Carranza must serve 85 percent of the five-year term imposed for aggravated assault before he can be considered for release on parole, under the state's No Early Release Act. Advertisement Advertisement In pleading guilty to the assault, Ramirez-Carranza admitted he was driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck at speeds up to 106 mph when he ignored a red traffic light and collided with a Honda Civic at New Hampshire and Cedar Bridge avenues in Lakewood about 12:10 a.m. on April 19. The driver of the Honda was a Lakewood police officer who just got off his shift, a news release issued by Billhimer said. The police officer was seriously injured and taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment. The victim was ultimately released. In the separate incident, Ramirez-Carranza admitted fleeing from the scene of a three-car crash on Route 70 in Lakehurst on Oct. 8, 2024. In that crash, the drivers of all three vehicles fled the scene, Billhimer said in the news release. Police tried to stop Ramirez-Carranza's pickup truck, but he fled, the news release said. Police later encountered Ramirez-Carranza's vehicle when it became disabled, the release said. Advertisement Advertisement In that incident Ramirez-Carranza also pleaded guilty to underage driving while intoxicated, for which Fritch suspended the defendant's driver's license for 30 days, Billhimer said. Senior Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke handled both cases. Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Judge sentences Lakewood man to five years in prison in 106 crash In a powerful reflection of India's enduring communal harmony, a Muslim wholesale vegetable trader from Cuddalore has made a massive donation of food supplies worth several lakhs of rupees to the historic Vallalar Sathya Gnana Sabha at Vadalur, ahead of the Thaipusam Jyothi Darisanam festival. The Vallalar Sathya Gnana Sabha, founded by Saint Ramalinga Adigal (Vallalar), witnesses the grand Thaipusam Jyothi Darisanam festival every year, drawing devotees from across India and several foreign countries. An estimated 3 to 5 lakh devotees visit Vadalur annually to witness the sacred Jyothi Darisanam, and annadhanam (free community meals) is a key spiritual practice during the festival. Continuing his long-standing tradition of service, Bakki Ram, a Muslim wholesale vegetable merchant from Cuddalore town, has once again extended generous support for the annadhanam. This year, his contribution has reached unprecedented levels. The donation included 18 tonnes of vegetables, 100 sacks of rice, essential grocery items required for large-scale cooking, and 7,500 bottles of drinking water. GRK Thambu Durairaj, president of the Cuddalore Chamber of Commerce, applauded the efforts of Bakki Ram, saying that he has been donating essential groceries for the last 20-25 years. He said that his act denotes the communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims of the area. "Due to Vallalar Thaipusam function, our member Bakki Ram, who's a Muslim by birth, has been sending everything, from pickles to vegetables, and whatever groceries are necessary. He has been sending everything for the past 20-25 years to Vallalar Sabha, where 2-3 lakh people have meals, annadhanam is being done, and food is being provided by the government and the presiding officers. His actions relate to the bond between Hindu and Muslim communities here. It shows that we all live together..." he said. The supplies have been sent in advance to meet the needs of devotees attending the festival scheduled on February 1. Bakki Ram has been contributing vegetables for the Sathya Gnana Sabha's annadhanam for several years, but his expanded donation this year has drawn widespread appreciation. His gesture of a Muslim philanthropist supporting a Hindu spiritual institution has been hailed by locals as a shining example of social unity and mutual respect beyond religious boundaries. Meanwhile, in view of the massive influx of devotees for the Thaipusam Jyothi Darisanam, the Cuddalore district administration has declared a local holiday to facilitate the smooth conduct of the festival and ensure public convenience. As Vadalur prepares to welcome lakhs of devotees, Bakki Ram's act of generosity stands out as a reminder that humanity and harmony remain at the heart of Tamil Nadu's cultural fabric. (ANI) It's a California law, federal law enforcement officers are banned from wearing masks while on duty, but the Los Angeles Police Department doesn't plan to enforce it. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that, while he is frustrated by the way immigration enforcement has been handled, one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict doesn't make sense. Chief McDonnell said that the state's federal mask ban is not a good public policy decision, and it wasn't well thought out. Advertisement Advertisement The ban on face coverings, known as the "No Secret Police Act," was introduced following immigration raids across Southern California that began last summer. The Trump Administration is also challenging the ban, which went into effect on January 1. So far, the judge presiding over that case has indicated that the federal government has a strong argument that this could be discrimination against federal agents since some California state law enforcement is exempt. "We are in line with our federal partners on everything except immigration enforcement," said Chief McDonnell. "What we've seen since June here in Los Angeles and seen across the country, we're as frustrated as everybody else -- about the way that's being done." The police chief said there were concerns that, because of these raids, people wouldn't call LAPD when they need help from the police. However, he said that data so far shows no significant increase or decrease when it comes to calls. Los Angeles police are searching for several suspects following a shooting in Vermont Knolls Thursday afternoon. LAPD says they received a call at 1:40 p.m. about an assault with a deadly weapon shooting in the 8200 block of South Vermont. When officers arrived, they reportedly located a victim down, suffering from a gunshot wound. Sky5 was over the scene of a shooting in Los Angeles Vermont Knolls neighborhood on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (KTLA) Three male suspects were seen running from the scene, according to police. Theyre described as wearing dark clothing. Advertisement Advertisement LAPD is investigating. Theres no word on the condition of the victim. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An illustration shows a quark racing through the primordial soup or quark-gluon plasma that filled the early universe, creating a wave. | Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares/ MIT Using the world's most powerful particle accelerator, CERN's Large Hadron Collider, scientists have discovered that the trillion-degree hot primordial "soup" that filled the cosmos for mere millionths of a second after the Big Bang actually behaved like a liquid, making it akin to a literal soup. This primordial soup was composed of a plasma of particles called quarks and gluons that rapidly cooled, causing these two types of particles to fuse and create fundamental particles like protons and neutrons, which today sit at the heart of all atoms that make up the matter all around us. Today, quarks and gluons are only found locked up in the particles they comprise, with one exception. By smashing together heavy atoms of lead traveling at near-light speeds using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scientists can create a high-energy environment that briefly frees gluons and quarks from this atomic bondage, recreating the quark-gluon plasma of the early universe . Advertisement Advertisement Using the 17-mile (27 kilometers) long accelerator located near Geneva, Switzerland, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) generated quark-gluon plasma. Within this pseudo-primordial soup, they observed quarks creating "wakes" as they raced through the plasma, akin to the trail created by a boat as it travels through water. This is the first evidence that this quark-gluon plasma reacts to particles speeding through it in the same way that liquid does, splashing and rippling, acting as a single unified liquid rather than randomly scattering as individual particles would. This cohesion means the plasma-quark gluon wasn't just a fluid, a term which can include a liquid or a gas, but acted as a liquid. Scientists say it could settle some long-standing questions about what the universe's earliest 'stuff' was like. "It has been a long debate in our field on whether the plasma should respond to a quark," team member Yen-Jie Lee, professor of physics at MIT, said in a statement . "Now we see the plasma is incredibly dense, such that it is able to slow down a quark, and produces splashes and swirls like a liquid. "So quark-gluon plasma really is a primordial soup." To observe the wakes created in quark-gluon plasma by travelling particles, Lee and colleagues used the LHC's Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector to develop a technique that also allowed them to measure the size, speed, and extent of these wakes, and how long it takes for them to ebb and dissipate. This information could be critical to better understanding both the properties of quark-gluon plasma and how it behaved during the first microseconds of the cosmos. "Studying how quark wakes bounce back and forth will give us new insights on the quark-gluon plasma's properties," Lee said. "With this experiment, we are taking a snapshot of this primordial quark soup." You might want to blow on this soup for a while The quark-gluon plasma wasn't just the first liquid to have existed in the universe, but with a temperature of many trillions of degrees, it is also the hottest liquid that ever existed. The primordial soup is considered to have been a near-perfect liquid, which means its quark and gluon contents flowed together as a smooth, frictionless fluid. Advertisement Advertisement Though there are many models of quark-gluon plasma, one theory, dubbed the "hybrid model," suggests that this primordial soup should react like any other liquid when particles pass through it at speed. In the hybrid model, a jet of quarks moving through the quark-gluon plasma should create a wake as it causes this plasma ocean to ripple and splash. There have been many experiments at the LHC and other particle accelerators that have attempted to see this effect in action. Those experiments are only made possible through slamming heavy charged atoms, or heavy ions, together at near light-speed, which can generate a droplet of primordial soup that lives for no more than a quadrillionth of a second. Scientists continue to attempt to take snapshots of this primordial soup to understand the characteristics of quark-gluon plasma. An image of the CMS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. | Credit: CERN In the attempt to identify wakes in the quark-gluon plasma, scientists have been hunting for pairings of quarks and their antimatter counterparts known as anti-quarks. When a quark races through plasma, an anti-quark should exist, travelling at precisely the same speed but in the opposite direction. Both particles, according to the hybrid model, should create detectable wakes. Sounds simple enough, but there's a fly in this soup. "When you have two quarks produced, the problem is that, when the two quarks go in opposite directions, the one quark overshadows the wake of the second quark," Lee explained. This team realized that finding the wake of a quark would be simpler if there were no second quark obscuring it. Advertisement Advertisement "We have figured out a new technique that allows us to see the effects of a single quark in the quark-gluon plasma, through a different pair of particles," Lee added. Boson croutons Instead of hunting for quark pairs, Lee and colleagues looked for quarks travelling in unison with a neutral elementary particle called a Z-boson, which has little effect on its surroundings. The benefit of Z-bosons is that they have a specific energy, and that makes them comparatively easy to spot. "In this soup of quark-gluon plasma, there are numerous quarks and gluons passing by and colliding with each other," Lee said. "Sometimes when we are lucky, one of these collisions creates a Z boson and a quark, with high momentum." In these circumstances, the quark and Z-boson should slam into each other and bounce off in opposite directions, with the quark leaving a wake, but with the Z-boson not leaving one due to its lack of impact on the surrounding quark-gluon plasma. That means any ripples spotted in this situation are made by a quark alone. Advertisement Advertisement After observing 13 billion LHC collisions, Lee and the team identified around 2,000 instances in which a Z-boson was produced. During these events, the scientists consistently observed a fluid-like pattern of splashes travelling in the opposite direction of the Z bosons they detected. That, they determined, was the sought-after quark wake effect. Indeed, the patterns observed conformed to ripple-predictions made by the hybrid model of quark-gluon plasma. "We've gained the first direct evidence that the quark indeed drags more plasma with it as it travels," Lee concluded. "This will enable us to study the properties and behavior of this exotic fluid in unprecedented detail." A Las Vegas auto repair shop owner is facing criminal charges after Nevada DMV investigators say he used forged documents to unlawfully seize and sell a customers BMW through the states lien sale process. According to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles Compliance Division, the case began in August when the vehicles owner left his BMW at Star Auto Care for service. Several months later, the owner learned the car had been legally seized and sold after the shop claimed unpaid repair costs through a lien sale filed with the DMV. Investigators said the vehicle owner was first alerted when his finance company contacted him about a pending lien sale. The repair shop allegedly claimed the customer failed to pay for an engine replacement. However, during the investigation, the customer told DMV officials he never authorized an engine replacement and was unaware of any such work being performed. Advertisement Advertisement DMV investigators reviewed the lien sale paperwork submitted by the shop and later located the BMW. Upon inspection, investigators determined the engine had not been replaced and did not require replacement. Officials said this contradicted the documentation used to justify the lien sale. Authorities allege the shop owner, Khaldoun Ezam, completed the lien sale and then transferred the vehicles title to his brother. The title was later sold again, this time to Ezams wife. DMV officials said the sequence of transfers raised further concerns during the investigation. Under Nevada law, repair shops and towing companies are permitted to apply for ownership of a vehicle through a lien sale if a customer fails to pay legitimate repair costs. Investigators said that process was abused in this case through false claims and forged documents. Ezam was arrested and now faces charges including forgery and theft. DMV officials said lien sale fraud is more common than many consumers realize and often goes undetected without formal complaints. Advertisement Advertisement The BMW has since been recovered and returned to its owner. Court records show Ezam has posted bail and is scheduled to appear in court next month. His attorney did not respond to requests for comment. DMV officials said four additional lien sale cases connected to the same repair shop are now under investigation. To reduce the risk of fraud, the DMV advises consumers to use licensed repair shops, monitor repair progress closely, and avoid paying the full cost of repairs upfront. The agency also maintains a public list of licensed repair facilities. Source At least 30 Palestinians are dead following Israeli strikes in several locations in Gaza on Saturday. Multiple sources say strikes hit northern and southern Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes are in response to a violation of the ceasefire agreement agreed to last year. "8 terrorists were identified exiting the underground terror infrastructure in eastern Rafah," the IDF posted. "The IDF and [Israeli Security Agency] have struck 4 commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across Gaza." Advertisement Advertisement Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, condemned the strikes, saying the current ceasefire is "in name only." "A ceasefire means guns fall silent and give way to efforts to end the war," he said. "Enough. People in Gaza deserve a genuine ceasefire - a much overdue ceasefire." Mahmoud Shinnar was one of the people killed by the airstrikes on Gaza City. His mother spoke with the Associated Press. "War is full of horrors, and death is difficult. You don't understand me," she said. The strikes occurred as phase two of the 20-point peace plan is expected to begin. The second phase focuses on further prisoner exchanges, a further or possibly complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and establishing permanent border arrangements. Advertisement Advertisement It also calls for creating an international stabilization force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas. Saturday's strikes come one day before the border crossing at Rafah is set to open. On Friday, Israel announced they will reopen the crossing following the return of the remains of 24-year-old Ran Gvili. He was the last missing hostage, recovered Monday. However, during the first phase of the opening only a few will be able to cross. All of Gaza's border crossings have been closed since the start of the war. An Israeli official told the Associated Press earlier this week that 50 Palestinians will be allowed in and 50 out daily. Another person familiar with discussions told the AP 50 would be allowed in daily and 150 out. Advertisement Advertisement Gaza's Health Ministry has recorded more than 500 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire was announced on Oct.10. More than 71,000 have been killed since the conflict began on Oct 7, 2023. The ministry is part of the Hamas government. The post At least 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes as ceasefire tensions rise appeared first on Straight Arrow News. Related Links The following article contains graphic depictions of violent situations. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, you can find help and resources by calling Utahs 24-hour Sexual Violence Crisis and Information Hotline at 1-888-421-1100. You can also click here for a list of Rape Crisis Resources in Utah. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A man is behind bars under suspicion of kidnapping and aggravated assault after neighbors heard a woman screaming from inside his apartment Wednesday evening. Advertisement Advertisement Demian Edgar Austin Robbins, 55, was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on two charges including kidnapping, a second-degree felony and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. Officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department say a witness reported hearing a woman screaming, let go of me, youre hurting me, from inside Robbins apartment. The witness also heard him tell someone one to get back inside before slamming the apartment door shut. After arriving, police say they knocked on the apartment door where Robbins allegedly refused to open up telling the officers that there was no woman inside. How to make ABC4 your preferred news source on Google Advertisement Advertisement Documents show the woman began yelling from inside the apartment before Robbins opened the door. The woman then ran outside the apartment saying, help me. Her face was reportedly covered in blood with visible bruising to the right side of her face and nose. According to SLCPD, Robbins barricaded the door with a trash can and a bicycle. When the woman tried to leave, he allegedly grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her head against the ground. Documents say the woman grabbed Robbins in a sensitive area to stop the assault. Police say the woman had visible scratches on her neck and cheek and may have a broken nose. She reported Robbins also elbowed her during an escape attempt. Advertisement Advertisement SLCPD confirmed to ABC4.com that the incident was not domestic violence. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Latest headlines: Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ATLANTA - Parts of metro Atlanta and North Georgia saw accumulating snow, just one week after a winter storm left parts of the area coated in ice. Many counties affected by the snow reported traffic issues as it was falling and afterward. Snow, freezing air in North Georgia What we know Additionally, a rare Extreme Cold Warning has been issued for every county in north and central Georgia, including Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Fannin, Gilmer, Union, Towns, and dozens more extending down through Macon and Columbus. This warning runs until 1 p.m. Sunday. Sunday, Feb. 1 | Live updates Noon Alex Forbes updated with the coldest wind chills around North Georgia. Chatrsworth was the coldest listed at -19, followed by Ellijay at -15. Atlanta was at -6. Advertisement Advertisement 9 a.m. Hall County deactivated its emergency operations center. The county said it saw a maximum of 4 inches of snow. In total, the county saw 43 roadway incidents from Saturday into Sunday. 8:37 a.m. Habersham County officials urged people to stay off the road. 8 a.m. Gwinnett County Government announced that their warming centers will reopen tonight at 6 p.m., staying open until 7 a.m. on Monday. 7:45 a.m. Gwinnett County officials asked people to avoid travel today if possible. They posted on Facebook saying that there are "hazardous driving conditions around the county." 6:30 a.m. Flurries began falling again in Blairsville. 5:30 a.m. Temperatures are in the teens around metro Atlanta and North Georgia. Wind chills are in the negatives in some parts. Saturday, Jan. 31 11 p.m. After a day of significant snowfall across much of North Georgia, bitterly cold temperatures and high winds are drifting into the region. Here is your latest weather update. Advertisement Advertisement 9:55 p.m. A large tree fell on a house and trapped two people inside in the 1700 block of Lizzie Lane on Saturday night. Emergency crews freed the two people who were trapped and they were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, according to Cobb County Fire officials. SEE MORE: Tree falls on Cobb County home trapping 2 A tree fell on a home trapping two people inside on Lizzie Lane. (Photo: Cobb County Fire) 8:45 p.m. Several thousand customers were without power Saturday night. Below are the numbers reported in North Georgia at 8:45 p.m. DeKalb County: 4,921 Cobb County: 2,512 Cherokee County: 2,328 Fulton County: 1,808 8:40 p.m. EE Butler Pkwy/Athens Hwy is closed from I-985 to Martin Luther King Boulevard in Gainesville is shut down as it is reportedly a solid sheet of ice, police say. Advertisement Advertisement 8:20 p.m. GDOT is deploying 50 additional crews from other regions in the state to help plow snow and clear the roads in North Georgia. Motorists are still urged to avoid driving as crews work to keep roads clear of black ice and snow. RELATED: GDOT requests additional crews to keep roadways clear after snow 7:36 p.m. Now that the snow has stopped for most of North Georgia, here's how much major areas saw fall, according to FOX 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Jonathan Stacey: Clayton: 7 in. Buford: 5 in. Mulberry: 5 in. Dacula: 4.75 in. Athens: 4.5 in. Jefferson: 4 in. Dawsonville: 4 in. Maysville: 3.5 in. Jackson: 3.5 in. Winder: 3 in. Gainesville: 3 in. Statham: 2.5 in. Advertisement Advertisement 7:21 p.m. As the snow stops and the night begins to set, several areas, including Washington County and Duluth, are warning motorists of the increased risk of ice developing on roadways. If you have to drive, make sure to slow down, increase following distance and avoid sudden breaking or sharp turns. 4:55 p.m. Murray County Search and Rescue says they have rescued 13 people who slid off Grassy Mountain on Saturday. Motorists are advised to stay off the mountain. Murray County Search and Rescue crews on Grassy Mountain. (Photo: Murray County Search and Rescue) 4:08 p.m. Zoo Atlanta has announced it will be closed on Sunday, Feb. 1 "due to extreme cold temperatures forecasted through the weekend." 3:11 p.m. Fulton County Police gave an update on current conditions, telling residents it is a "good day to stay home." 2:20 p.m. Emergency officials across North Georgia, including Rabun, Forsyth, Franklin and Clayton counties, are urging motorists to stay off the roads as snow continues to fall, creating unsafe driving conditions. Advertisement Advertisement 2:16 p.m. Two Cumming police cruisers have been hit in weather-related accidents after vehicles lost control due to unsafe road conditions. Police are urging drivers to stay off the road. Two Cumming police cruisers were hit due to unsafe driving conditions as snow falls across the region. (Cumming Police Department) 1:37 p.m. I-985 northbound at the Hall-Gwinnett County line is backed up due to a wreck involving multiple vehicles. 1:09 p.m. Gov. Brian Kemp posted on Facebook to tell Georgians to stay home. 1:02 p.m. The Georgia State Patrol said it is working multiple crashes on Interstate 985, but only one has minor injuries. The agency said it is partnering with Hall County on several of the crashes. 1 p.m. The Lawrenceville Police Department said State Route 316 has turned into ice. Advertisement Advertisement 12:42 p.m. FOX 5's Rey Llerena and Billy Heath were driving from Hall County to Atlanta when they found a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 985 near the Hall/Gwinnett County line. FOX 5 has reached out to police for information on the crash and if there were any injuries. 12:10 p.m. A large backup was reported on State Route 316 near Buford Highway due to a crash. Police said the crash was caused by the snow-covered roads. FOX 5's Rob DiRienzo was there working to find out the latest. 12:05 p.m. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department issued an advisory on deteriorating road conditions. "Deteriorating Road Conditions due to snow. Visibility is also low. Please stay off the roadway unless it is for emergency travel," the alert read. 11:52 a.m. State Route 316 is closed at Buford Drive NE in Gwinnett County, according to officials. Crews are working to treat the road. 11:48 a.m. Snellville police said a water line break at old Summit Chase is causing issues. Officers expect the road to freeze sometime soon due to the temperatures. Advertisement Advertisement 11:36 a.m. Cherokee County EMA posted a road update saying several roads were impacted due to the snow. 11:20 a.m. The Habersham County Sheriff's Office said the number of crashes and stranded vehicles in the area are increasing. Officials said some of the hardest hit roads were throughout the cities. 11:15 a.m. Georgia State Troopers in Rabun County measured four inches of snow in the county. 10:45 a.m. More than 500 cancellations were reported at the Atlanta airport. 10:33 a.m. Paudling County Sheriff Ashley Henson went live on Facebook showing the snow-filled streets. He also made a snow angel in a parking lot. The office urged anyone out in the snow to be careful. Advertisement Advertisement 10:07 a.m. The Hall County Sheriff's Office said drivers are getting stuck on hilly roads across the county. They asked for people to stay home. 10 a.m. The FOX 5 Storm Team said the snow is running a couple of hours behind schedule. Alex Forbes said the snow is still "spilling" over the area. 9:50 a.m. The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office posted a video on Facebook to show road conditions. You can see the snow is covering the roadways. Deputy First Class Brandon Keenan told people to stay home where it is "warm and safe." 9:03 a.m. The Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office said an 18-wheeler is hanging off the embankment at South Chestatee Street and Flanders Road. The truck jack-knifed in the area, according to officials. Drivers should avoid the area. Advertisement Advertisement 9 a.m. Cherokee County EMA posted on Facebook, saying that accumulations were beginning on roads in the county. They said several roads have slick spots and advised people to stay at home. 8:15 a.m. GDOT Spokeswoman Natalie Dale joined Good Day Atlanta to discuss road conditions. She said crews are working for their third weekend straight to stage ahead of snow moving into metro Atlanta, and they're already working in far northern Georgia to get snow-covered roads treated. She said the best way to support the GDOT crews is by staying off the road. 8:03 a.m. FOX 5 Photojournalist Eli Jordan reported snow-covered roads in Cumming. Jordan was driving through the area and said even GA 400 had snow on it. 7:45 a.m. A FOX 5 crew in Blairsville reports multiple vehicles, including a truck, are stuck in the snow on Cleveland Street. Snow on GA 400 in Cumming 7:10 a.m. The FOX 5 Storm Team said snow is starting to "dip" into parts of metro Atlanta. 6:15 a.m. A FOX 5 crew saw snow plows staging at Interstate 85 at the State Route 400 exit as snow moved closer to metro Atlanta. Snow plows at GA 400. 6:07 a.m. The Hall County Emergency Operations Center is active and provided its 6 a.m. update. In the update, officials said people should prepare for an accumulation of three to five inches of snow. 5:45 a.m. FOX 5 cameras caught snow falling hard in Blairsville. Snow in Blairsville 5:30 a.m. A FOX 5 viewer sent in a picture of snow sticking in Dahlonega. Snow in Dahlonega Georgia at 5:30 a.m. January 31st 5 a.m. FOX 5 viewers and a FOX 5 crew in Dahlonega started reporting snow. Snow in Rome. 4:49 a.m. A FOX 5 viewer sent in video of snowflakes in Rome. 1 a.m. A Winter Storm Warning has gone into effect for most of North Georgia and metro Atlanta. The Source Information in this article comes from the FOX 5 Storm Team, the National Weather Service, and previous FOX 5 reporting. FOX Weather contributed to this report. The winter weather and below-zero temperatures impacted many local residents and institutions throughout the week. The cold week began with several inches of snow from Winter Storm Fern Sunday, keeping Ohio Department of Transportation crews busy. ODOT District 4 Public Information Officer Ray Marsch said there were an average of 22 crews out in Ashtabula County because of the storm. County crews worked from Saturday, pre-treating roads, to Monday, clearing snow from the Sunday storm, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Marsch said Ashtabula County had lower amounts of snow than other parts of Ohio, an inverse of the usual situation. During the week of frosty temperatures, local ODOT staff monitored bridges and overpasses, making sure they did not freeze over, while clearing snow from later batches of lake effect snow. ODOT crews in Ashtabula County drove 271,000 miles, worked 9,500 hours and used 13,700 tons of salt and 14,000 gallons of brine in January, Marsch said. ODOT will continue to monitor for winter weather next week, Marsch said. If anything does come through, were ready to go, he said. All county school districts closed for most or all of the week because of the below-zero temperatures. Advertisement Advertisement The Conneaut Area City Schools organized a lunch distribution for students across the district. CACS Superintendent Lori Riley said distribution sites included the former Optimist Club, the former Astatic property and the Monroe Township Fire Department. We just appreciate everybodys patience, she said. Riley said she was thankful for the district staff members and administrators who took their time to help with the food distribution. Loading lunches for Monroe, Conneaut High School head custodian Karen Warren said she felt awesome to take part. CACS bus aide Jennifer Jones said she was hoping a distribution would happen. Advertisement Advertisement [The students] need it, she said. CACS bus driver Brandon Jones said he was glad to be a part of it. Conneaut students came back to class Thursday, where they were given lunches for the weekend before classes were cancelled again Friday because of the low temperatures. We were glad the weather cooperated Thursday, Riley said. The Buckeye Local Schools, which had no classes all week, organized food distribution for students Thursday at Edgewood High School. Its just an amazing community I work for, Superintendent Patrick Colucci said. He said the food distribution was made possible through the work of district food service, other staff and administration. Advertisement Advertisement Colucci said the district is a well-oiled machine. I cannot say enough about the people I work with everyday, and how great they are, he said. Colucci said he hopes for slightly warmer weather next week. Its about the kids and the safety, he said. The Geneva Area City Schools distributed food to district students Friday at Geneva High and Platt R. Spencer Elementary schools. GACS Superintendent Paul Lombardo said he saw around 75-100 students at GPS and around 30-40 students at GHS. It looks like we had a good stream of parents and students coming, he said. Lombardo said he hopes the weather is better next week. Advertisement Advertisement Ashtabula County Sheriff Bill Niemi said deputies responded to a few calls for stranded motorists to make sure people were safe. Were just doing what we have to out there, he said. Niemi said he worried about the road conditions deputies encountered when responding to calls. [The week] went extraordinarily well, considering the elements we were facing, he said. Ashtabula County Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Fitchet said the agency promoted winter preparedness information on its Facebook and X accounts. Fitchet said people can also go to ready.gov to learn emergency preparedness tips, follow the Cleveland National Weather Service updates and download the OHGO app to stay up to date on road conditions on local highways. Advertisement Advertisement People should still be cautious next week as temperatures rise into the 20s, he said. The colds not going away next week, Fitchet said. He said people should make sure to check their smoke detectors and car batteries, and not leave household equipment running unattended. What do you do when you find a giant lizard struggling on the street during a snowstorm? You call the New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth, of course. Frank Hardy couldn't believe his eyes when he looked out on a Providence, Rhode Island, street after the weekend's big snowstorm and saw the reptile in the road. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" he said to himself. Hardy had been inside his home on Tuesday, Jan. 27, but his attention was drawn outside when he saw a woman had stopped her SUV near Broad and Morton streets, gotten out and was looking down at something. Advertisement Advertisement At first, Hardy thought it was an iguana. It turned out to be a tegu, a large species of lizard native to South America and sometimes kept as a pet. Either way, Hardy knew a snowy street on a freezing cold day was no place for a lizard. Hardy brought the lizard into his home and began warming it. He eventually contacted ET Reptiles, a reptile pet store in Warwick, Rhode Island, and the store arranged to pick it up. Owners Taylor Faria and Emily Arpin warmed the lizard at their store and scheduled a visit with their veterinarians at the Odd Pet Vet clinic at the New England Wildlife Center. This tegu rescued from a Providence, Rhode Island, street was brought to the clinic at New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth. What shape was the lizard in? At the clinic, veterinarians Greg Mertz and Tess Gannaway "found the tegu to be extremely weak, underweight, and not moving well. He had suffered frostbite to his tongue and showed signs of significant muscle weakness after prolonged exposure to the cold," the wildlife center said in a Facebook post. "A lizard in a blizzard?" says the post's first sentence. Advertisement Advertisement "Reptiles are cold blooded, meaning they rely on their environment to regulate their body temperature. When temperatures drop too low for too long, their metabolism slows, blood flow is compromised, and cells begin to fail," the post said. "In this case, the cold likely led to tissue damage and a cold-induced myopathy, essentially muscle injury caused by inadequate circulation and energy at low temperatures." The clinic amputated "a small portion of nonviable tissue from the tongue and provided supportive care, including steroids, to help address inflammation and generalized weakness," according to the post. This tegu was found outside on a Providence, Rhode Island, street after the snowstorm in late January and was nursed back to health at the New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth. What are tegus? Tegus are large, intelligent and curious lizards that can be "tamed and trained with regular handling and interaction," according to the Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. Native to South America, they are sometimes kept as pets and have established wild populations in Florida and Georgia. Tegus are popular pets, and the clinic often treats them, according to Zak Mertz, chief operating officer at the New England Wildlife Center. Advertisement Advertisement "They're amazing lizards. They're one of my favorites, because they have the best personalities. They like to be held," said Mertz, who had a pet tegu as a child. Depending on the species, tegus grow to be between 24 to 60 inchs long, weighing 8 to 15 lbs pounds, according to the Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. 'Were beyond thankful' The reptile would have died if Hardy hadn't rescued it, according to Mertz. It's unclear whether the lizard was abandoned or escaped from a home. Mertz said reptiles are sometimes abandoned, but tegus are also "escape artists. It wouldn't be the first tegu escapee we've had." Advertisement Advertisement Now the tegu is recovering at ET Reptiles. "The past 24 hours at ET Reptiles have been nothing short of intense," ET Reptiles said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "Thanks to an amazing local resident, we were alerted to a tegu found in the snow. Were beyond thankful to have been able to intervene and give this sweetheart the care it needed." This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island man shocked to discover 'giant' lizard in snow A Louisiana teacher at Broussard Middle School who was previously named Teacher of the Year in September 2025 has been arrested and charged with child sex crimes. Christie Oster was arrested on Wednesday, January 28, and charged with indecent behavior with juveniles and carnal knowledge of a juvenile, according to online records viewed by Us Weekly. She was released one day later on a $50,000 bond. Lafayette Police said that Oster, 38, allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a former student, according to KLFY. However, no other details have been shared about the alleged relationship or how old the victim is. Advertisement Advertisement The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to Us Weeklys request for comment. It is not currently clear if Oster has entered a plea or retained legal representation following her arrest. Oster is an eighth-grade math teacher at the middle school and she was named the 2025-26 Teacher of the Year just four months before she was arrested. An LPSS spokesperson confirmed to KLFY that Oster has been placed on leave in light of the arrest. Math Teacher Accused of Having Sexual Conversations With Student Under Age of 12 Following news of her arrest, resident Rebekah Vallot shared her frustration with the ongoing reports of abuse in educational settings while speaking to KATC. Initial reaction is anger and frustration. I'm tired of opening the news and reading about professions taking advantage of our children, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Vallot added that the crime should still be considered serious even though it was reported that Oster was involved with a former student. She said, You put the word former in front of a student and it still is a student. Former, current, future it doesn't matter, it's wrong. Osters arrest has reignited calls for increased classroom surveillance, while Vallot urged school officials to install cameras to ensure the safety of the students. It is far beyond time. We have the technology to do so, we have the funding to do so the cameras need to go in now, she said. Vallot also encouraged parents to have open communication with their children in order to prevent instances like this. The best advice I can give parents is you are the number one advocate for your child. No one else will do that for you, she said. Those who are found guilty of indecent behavior with juveniles in Louisiana state can be fined up to $5,000, imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than seven years or both, according to the Louisiana State Legislature. Advertisement Advertisement Married Former Kansas Teacher Accused of Grooming and Having Unlawful Sexual Relations With Student, 17 Meanwhile, the sentence for those found guilty of the carnal knowledge of a juvenile charge depends on whether the offense is classified as a felony or a misdemeanor. That will ultimately be determined based on the age difference between the parties. According to the Louisiana State Legislature, a misdemeanor carnal knowledge of a juvenile is committed when a person who is seventeen years of age or older has sexual intercourse, with consent, with a person who is thirteen years of age or older but less than seventeen years of age, when the victim is not the spouse of the offender, and when the difference between the age of the victim and age of the offender is greater than two years, but less than four years. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Gaurav Gogoi on Saturday accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of misusing the name of the Supreme Court to defend his remarks on illegal immigration and "Miya Muslims", saying that wrongly attributing the language of an executive report to the apex court amounts to contempt of court. "The Chief Minister has become quiet after I raised his contempt of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Of course the rest of the BJP just runs on rhetoric and screenshots. They run the risk of contempt too. When a court cites a report relied on by a party it does not make the language of the report the court's "own words". Attributing it to the Hon'ble Supreme Court is a clear case for contempt," Gogoi wrote on X. https://x.com/GauravGogoiAsm/status/2017510329115422878 This comes amid the sharp criticism against the Assamese CM's recent comments on 'Miya Muslims' to refer to the influx of immigrants from Bangladesh. Sarma had defended his remarks, stating that he had not coined the term "Miya Muslims" and that it had been in vogue within the community itself, which had migrated from Bangladesh to refer to themselves. In a post on X, CM Sarma said those attacking him for his remarks on "Miyan" should note the Supreme Court of India's observations on Assam and illegal migration. "Those who are attacking me for my remarks on "Miyan"--a word used in Assam in the context of Bangladeshi Muslim illegal migration--should pause and read what the Supreme Court of India itself has said about Assam. This is not my language, not my imagination, and not political exaggeration," he said. Quoting the apex court, the Chief Minister highlighted its warning on demographic changes in the State. "These are the Court's own words: "The silent and invidious demographic invasion of Assam may result in the loss of the geostrategically vital districts of lower Assam. The influx of illegal migrants is turning these districts into a Muslim-majority region. It will then only be a matter of time before a demand for their merger with Bangladesh may be made. Loss of lower Assam will sever the entire land mass of the North East from the rest of India, and the rich natural resources of that region will be lost to the Nation," Assam CM said in his post. Sarma also said that acknowledging such concerns does not constitute communalism or hatred. (ANI) Ukraine and Moldova experienced mass power outages on Saturday after a "technical malfunction" caused electrical lines between the two countries and Romania to fail, according to officials. The outages knocked out water supplies to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and prompted a rare shutdown of the city's metro network, paralysing transport for thousands of residents. Authorities restored power to most critical infrastructure in Kyiv by around 1200 GMT, Ukraine's energy minister said, but he warned Ukrainian households may have to wait longer for it to return. Advertisement Advertisement Moldova's energy minister said the power would return in his country in "an hour or two". The issue adds further pressure to Ukraine's already fragile energy grid, which has suffered weeks of intense Russian bombardment. Here's what we know: - What happened? - Officials suggested the power cut was accidental. The issue began at around 10:42 am (0842 GMT), when a 400-kilovolt line between the power grids of Romania and Moldova and a 750-kilovolt line between western and central Ukraine shut down, Ukraine's energy minister Denys Shmygal said on Telegram. Ukrainian authorities did not say what caused the lines to fail. Advertisement Advertisement But they have ruled out Russian cyberwarfare. "As the President (Volodymyr Zelensky) announced, the accident occurred due to technical reasons on the lines between the power grids of Ukraine and Moldova," Ukraine's ministry of digital transformation said. The Kremlin, which has bombarded Ukraine's energy grid for weeks, said on Friday it was refraining from attacks on Kyiv until Sunday following an appeal from US President Donald Trump. - Effect on residents - The shutdown immediately knocked out power in Kyiv and the surrounding area, as well as in the Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions. Advertisement Advertisement The outage disrupted water supply in "all city districts of Kyiv", according to municipal utility firm Kyivvodokanal. The Kyiv metro shut down all its lines, a rare occurrence in its 65-year history. Around 800,000 passengers use the system daily, according to data published last year. Many of them rely on it to commute to work. Residents also use its 52 stations as bomb shelters during Russian attacks. A major part of Moldova's capital, Chisinau, was left without electricity, Mayor Ion Ceban said. Traffic lights also stopped working, prompting police to deploy to intersections. The power cuts also affected the operation of Ukraine's three operational nuclear plants, which had to "unload" their capacity following the outage, the energy ministry said. Advertisement Advertisement "Gradually loading nuclear power plant units to their nominal capacity takes time," it added. The site of Ukraine's defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant briefly lost off-site power in the shutdown, the UN atomic energy watchdog said. "No direct impact on nuclear safety expected, but overall situation remains precarious," it added. - Restoring power - Zelensky called the outage an "emergency". Ukraine's largest private energy firm DTEK said it had already restored electricity to critical infrastructure in Kyiv around three hours after the outage. "Restoration is proceeding in stages. This approach is required to avoid overloading the networks and to prevent new accidents," it added. Advertisement Advertisement But Ukraine's state-owned grid operator expressed caution, saying shortages remained "very high". "Emergency power cuts are currently in effect in Kyiv city, Kyiv region, Cherkasy region, Chernivtsi region, Zhytomyr region, and Kharkiv region," it said at 1146 GMT. burs-cad/rmb A 48-year-old Maynard man has been arrested and charged with numerous assault and firearm-related offenses, the Maynard Police Department announced. The man faces the following charges: Assault to Murder a person 60 or older with a firearm Possession of a large capacity firearm (Felony) Strangulation or Suffocation Assault and Battery on a person 60 older or disabled person Intimidation of a Witness (Two counts) Possession of a large capacity feeding device Possession of a firearm without a license Possession of ammunition without an FID card Possession of a firearm in a home or business Improper storage of a large-capacity firearm Advertisement Advertisement The incident occurred on Wednesday, January 28, when police were dispatched to an apartment complex on Dawn Road for reports of an assault. Once on the scene, officers found the suspect, the 48-year-old man, who was refusing to leave the apartment; however, police were able to safely de-escalate the situation and arrest the man. An initial investigation revealed that the man allegedly threatened the victim and attempted to suffocate and strangle the victim. It was later revealed that the man threatened other apartment residents with a gun, which led police to execute a search warrant, where they found a Taurus 9mm handgun with a fully loaded magazine. This incident underscores the professionalism, restraint, and high level of training demonstrated by our officers. Faced with a volatile and potentially dangerous situation, officers relied on communication and de-escalation techniques to bring the situation to a safe resolution, said Chief Troiano. Their actions prioritized the safety of the victim, nearby residents, and the suspect, and reflect the standards we expect and continually train for at the Maynard Police Department. Advertisement Advertisement The man is scheduled to be arraigned in Concord District Court Thursday, and is being held pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Monday. 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 WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. A convicted sex offender is facing a number of new charges, including sexual assault and sexual interference, after he allegedly abused two teenagers after building trusting relationships with their families. Ryan James Knight, 44, a convicted sex offender who also goes by the name Ryan James Gabourie, was arrested on Sunday at the Headingley Correctional Centre, just west of Winnipeg. Advertisement Advertisement Police launched a child exploitation investigation in March, after officers were told a teenage boy had been groomed and abused by a man starting in August 2024. Knight had been hired by the boy's family to do renovation work, and over 11 months, he formed a trusting relationship with them, police said in a news release Friday. Knight gave the teenager a cellphone so they could stay in touch, police said. Police allege during this time, Knight sexually assaulted the boy at Knight's home. The family cut all ties with the man after learning about his past, and he left Winnipeg. He repeatedly tried to contact the family and they reported the harassment, police said. Advertisement Advertisement A warrant for criminal harassment was issued and Knight was arrested in Calgary. Several electronic devices were seized, and Knight was returned to Winnipeg then released, police said. A forensic examination of the devices revealed child abuse material, police allege. Knight was arrested again on July 27 near Mountain Avenue and Aikins Street and charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual interference and possession of child pornography. 2nd boy identified Winnipeg police searched a home on Atlantic Avenue near Arlington Street, where they found data storage devices. Police identified a boy they believed was another survivor. Advertisement Advertisement Knight was an acquaintance of that teenager's family and built a trusting relationship with the boy's parent, police said. This teen was sexually assaulted during a sleepover at Knight's home on Aug. 24, 2024, police allege. A forensic review of all the seized devices revealed additional child sexual abuse material, police said. In consultation with the Crown, some of the charges Knight faced in July were stayed, but they were relaid along with new ones stemming from the alleged sexual assault of the second teenager. Knight was rearrested at Headingley Correctional Centre on Sunday. He was charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference, two counts of possession of child pornography, criminal harassment, access to child pornography and making, printing or publishing child pornography for the purpose of publication. Advertisement Advertisement Knight remains in custody, police said. The Manitoba Justice Department has issued at least two separate sex offender notifications about Knight in the past. The province told the public in June 2011 and in January 2014 about Knight's criminal past. Previous convictions Knight, who also goes by the last name Gabourie, was previously convicted of sexual assault, break and enter committing sexual assault, possession of child pornography and other offences. The government advised the public at those times that male and female children were at risk. The investigation continues and anyone who might have any information is asked to contact police at 204-986-3296. For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database . If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. Corrections A man has been sentenced to multiple decades in prison for the Chinatown shooting death of a 71-year-old man who was out for a walk nearly four years ago. Alphonso Joyner was found guilty after a trial in October for the 2021 murder of Woom Sing Tse's Chinatown. Joyner was sentenced to 65 years in prison on Friday, according to court documents. His attorneys have filed an appeal, arguing the sentence is excessive. Woom Sing Tse was shot to death in 2021, not far from an elementary school in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood. Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors did not claim any motive for the shooting during court proceedings. "This senseless act of violence robbed Woom Sing Tse's family of a beloved and doting grandfather, and it traumatized the entire Chinatown community. While today's guilty verdict cannot erase the pain and grief of Tse's loved ones, we hope this outcome provides some comfort in knowing that justice has been served," an October statement from Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke read. The shooting of the 71-year-old man in the middle of the day across the street from an elementary school angered many in the community. Tse was taking a walk in the 200-block of West 23rd Street in the heart of Chinatown. That's when police said Joyner, who was 23 years old at the time, fired numerous shots from a car in the street. Then, he got out of the car and stood over Tse before firing more shots. Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said a total of 22 rounds were fired. The Chinatown neighborhood watch responded quickly that day, providing police with numerous videos from security cameras. Police used license plate identification to locate the suspect within an hour of the shooting. Tse's family spoke out on their hopes for justice in October before the trial began. The victim's son, William Tse, provided the following statement following the guilty verdict in October: "I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to the media, community members, and everyone who has supported and amplified my father's story. Your coverage, compassion, and persistence have helped keep his memory alive and brought continued attention to the pursuit of justice for him. Advertisement Advertisement "It has been four long years since my father's murder, and this journey has not been easy. But knowing that so many people still care, still speak his name, and still stand with our family gives us strength. Your dedication has made a real difference - not just in seeking accountability, but in honoring the kind, hardworking man my father was. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you for standing with us, for sharing his story, and for helping ensure his life and legacy are never forgotten." JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP A new manufacturing lab has opened up doors for dozens of county students at A-Tech. The lab opened last fall after a two-year building project that included the manufacturing lab, a fire department lab and a police lab. The expansion project was made possible by state grants to help better meet the job needs of area companies and first responder organizations. Tracey Britt is in her first year teaching at A-Tech. Advertisement Advertisement The large well-lit lab provides hands-on educational learning opportunities that carry over a lot of different disciplines and potential companies. Students have already earned credentials for their work. Britt said it is the largest manufacturing lab in the state of Ohio. JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP A huge manufacturing lab at A-Tech that was previously just a dream has opened its doors to students. The lab opened this fall after years of planning and construction at the school, and seeks to meet the needs of area students who are looking for skills to move quickly into the work force. A-Tech has been a focal point for adult education in the manufacturing field. Area companies have had significant input into the development of that program, and the creation of one for high school students, A-Tech Superintendent Scott Wludyga said. Advertisement Advertisement The state-of-the-art facility was constructed, along with a law enforcement and firefighting lab, as part of a major emphasis, statewide, to provide technical education for interested students. A-Tech received state grants to build the facility, and procured another grant to pay for machinery in the labs. Tracey Britt has been a teacher for 30 years, and has taught advanced manufacturing for seven. She said it has been a great experience to develop the program with such excellent facilities. Britt said area companies have been able to check out the facility, but a more formal open house for manufacturers is planned this spring. Manufacturing students are all sophomores, and didnt know exactly what facilities they would be working in when they signed up for the program. Advertisement Advertisement Britt said there has been a lot of learning already occurring, and students have achieved industry certificates, speaking to their competence in particular areas of work. Many of the students will go directly into the work force, and may also be challenged to go on to further training, or university studies from lessons learned through the program, she said. Large banners surround the lab area, focusing students on a variety of accreditation options available through the Smart Automation Certification Alliance. The organization was formed years ago by numerous industries trying to provide standards for training. Students at A-Tech are receiving aneducation that provides the training needed to prove their competency in different disciplines including electronics, pneumatics and engineering, Britt said Advertisement Advertisement The new facilities have opened up opportunities for more students in a variety of fields of study, but there will be a waiting list for students interested in programs at the school. In addition to helping students gain meaningful experience and certifications, we hope this will help build a skilled workforce for our local businesses to help Ashtabula County grow, Wludyga said. He said the process started when sophomores ended up on waiting list for the Career Tech Exploration program, and wanted to give them an opportunity. Wludyga said Ohio ranks third in the nation for total manufacturing employment. We looked at the jobs that are in-demand and examined the Industry Recognized Credentials identified by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Wludyga said. He said a Career Technical Education Equipment grant of $486,000 was used to furnish the lab with the most recent equipment. Advertisement Advertisement The students are building confidence to be problem-solvers and leaders, Wludyga said. It puts them on the path to a great job, and gives them hands-on experience. Tristan Okron-Jimenez, a sophomore at A-Tech, said he chose the program to experience a hands-on approach to learning. I wanted a different view of education, he said. The lab is located next to classrooms where the students learn the importance of showing up on time, wearing the proper equipment, staying off their phones and other necessary attitudes that need to be exhibited in the working world, Britt said. Wludyga said local companies have been very supportive. They help us shape the curriculum and expectations for the program, he said. Representatives of area companies sit on A-Tech advisory committees and the countywide Business Advisory Council. CHICAGO Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Saturday directing Chicago police to collect evidence, investigate and potentially refer for felony prosecution criminal charges against federal immigration agents accused of misconduct. Johnsons decree dubbed the ICE on Notice order also states that any Chicago Police Department recommendations for felony charges against agents will be made through his office. The announcement comes days after Johnson, during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, said he would prepare the city for the future prosecution of federal agents and marks what the mayor says is a major escalation in the citys response to President Donald Trumps controversial, aggressive deportation efforts. The mayor touted the order as a first-of-its-kind effort to set the groundwork to prosecute ICE and Border Patrol agents. Advertisement Advertisement These rogue federal agents are taking us backwards as a city, Johnson said as he signed the order in his wood-paneled ceremonial office. The people of Chicago asked me to do more, so Ive done more. But Johnsons celebration was quickly complicated by pushback from Cook County States Attorney Eileen ONeill Burke, whose office would actually be responsible for filing any charges against federal immigration agents. Johnson told reporters Burke was in complete support of the measure, but she wrote in a statement that her office had not reviewed it and called Johnsons description not true. The CCSAO did not receive the Executive Order until it was released to the public. We do not provide legal approval of any matter until weve reviewed it, she wrote in a post on X, the social media site. On such a critical issue, its important we get it right. The order is one of several efforts by Johnson in recent months to push back against Trump via executive decree. Past orders have made it illegal for immigration agents to stage on city property and directed city agencies, including the police department, not to cooperate on immigration enforcement with Trumps administration. Advertisement Advertisement The mayor has defended those efforts as major acts of resistance, even as some appeared largely symbolic steps by a city government that has little, if any, ability to counter the federal agencies actions. Even as Johnson has punched back at Trump with forceful rhetoric and calls for agents who break laws to be prosecuted, he has largely danced around questions about how such legal action would unfold. But he argued his order Saturday issued months after major federal deportation raids hit Chicago and the suburbs but in the wake of two recent fatal shootings by federal agents of protesters in Minneapolis gave an answer. The order also notably places the power to at least spark these prosecutions squarely in his own hands. It directs police to recommend felony charges against agents to Burke at the direction of the Mayors Office. The clause means Johnson would get a final sign-off before any felony referral is made. Advertisement Advertisement Johnson said his team worked on the order alongside Burkes office, one of the claims Burke later said on X was not true. Neither Burke nor police Superintendent Larry Snelling attended the news conference, though roughly three dozen supporters aldermen, activists and staffers crowded behind Johnsons desk as he signed the order Saturday morning. Her office has said repeatedly, the reason why she has not moved forward with prosecution is because no evidence has been provided to her, Johnson said of Burke. Before Burke on X more directly challenged Johnsons account, Burkes office had issued a tempered response in a statement Saturday that did not express clear support for the measure. We look forward to reviewing the Mayors Executive Order now that we have received it, the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Burkes stance will ultimately prove critical in any efforts to prosecute federal agents since only her office, and not Johnsons, has the power to file charges, even if police and the mayors team recommend them. Asked if he would pressure Burke to file charges should a disagreement arise, Johnson said he would use the pulpit of the community. Its not just on the mayor of Chicago. This is a nationwide effort to hold an authoritarian effort, to hold an authoritarian regime, he said before directing his comments directly about Trump, who has repeatedly insulted Johnson. Listen, the mayor said, if this was just about me, I would have beat him a long time ago. Advertisement Advertisement The order would apply to all federal immigration agents, including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Border Patrol. Johnson defended his decision to implement the new order only now, months after the Trump administrations Operation Midway Blitz wound down following more than two months of intense raids and deportation sweeps. His office is constantly evolving in this unprecedented moment, he said. He also echoed many at City Hall who have warned that a flood of federal agents is likely to return to Chicago in the near future, making it critical to bolster the citys response. We have learned, and now, as we have learned, we are putting forth this executive order at the very time as we prepare for what could be a surge in the spring, he said. Advertisement Advertisement In addition to its felony referral process, the executive order directs police to verify the names and badge numbers of immigration agents in leadership roles when responding to the scene of immigration enforcement actions. If federal agents do not comply, police should capture that denial with their body cameras, the order states. It also orders police to preserve and document body-camera footage, notify supervisors if people on site allege immigration agents broke the law and complete more reports that Johnsons team says would build a foundation for prosecution. The order would apply to past cases, meaning it could clear the way for prosecution of alleged misconduct that occurred during Operation Midway Blitz, Johnson said. Asked if there was a specific case he wanted to see prosecuted, the mayor said, there are too many to count. The evidence, I believe, is very clear, not just in Chicago, but across this country, he said. The expectation is that this is one more step closer to justice for families. Advertisement Advertisement Johnsons strategy chief, Sheila Bedi, shot back at the Trump administrations claim that federal agents have broad immunity to prosecution for their actions. Thats not the law, said Bedi, a civil rights attorney. What the law says is that federal agents can be held accountable for state and local crimes if their actions were not necessary to further their federal obligations. Bedi said the mayors final say on felony charge referrals would not be influenced by politics, but based on the facts. The mayors administration will begin meeting on Sunday to discuss implementing the policy, she added. Theres all this evidence that CPD has, Bedi said. Theres going to be somewhat of a process to pull that all together, but we dont anticipate it being, you know, a six-month process. By Sarah Morland and Adriana Barrera MEXICO CITY, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Mexico will seek diplomatic solutions and alternatives to help Cuba, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on countries supplying the Caribbean island with oil. The White House executive order on Thursday could prove devastating for Cuba, while also backing Mexico into a tight corner as one of its last remaining oil suppliers. Advertisement Advertisement "We do not want tariffs on Mexico, but we will always look for diplomatic channels to seek solidarity with Cuba," Sheinbaum said at her daily morning press conference, highlighting the humanitarian risks of cutting off shipments. Sheinbaum has repeatedly said the decision of whether to send oil to Cuba is a sovereign one, but the country's economy is heavily dependent on exports to the United States and therefore vulnerable to tariffs. Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez declared an "international emergency" in response to the U.S. tariffs which he said on X constitute "an unusual and extraordinary threat". Sheinbaum said cutting off oil shipments to Cuba could trigger a "far-reaching humanitarian crisis" on the island, affecting transportation, hospitals and access to food. Advertisement Advertisement She did not say whether Mexico would cut shipments of oil or refined products to Cuba, which she said accounted for 1% of Mexico's production, but emphasized the government is looking at alternatives to help the island. "Our interest is that the Cuban people don't suffer," Sheinbaum said, adding that she had instructed her foreign minister to contact the U.S. State Department to better understand the scope of the executive order. Sheinbaum said she had spoken to Trump on Thursday morning, hours before the tariff announcement, but he had not mentioned the measures. In 2024, Gasolinas de Bienestar, an affiliate of Mexico state oil firm Pemex, exported 20,100 barrels per day of crude and 2,700 bpd of oil products to Cuba, up 20% from the prior year and for a sum equivalent to $600 million, a securities filing last year showed. Advertisement Advertisement Venezuela, once its top supplier, has not sent crude or fuel to Cuba for about a month, shipping data and internal documents from state company PDVSA show, with cargoes falling off due to a U.S. blockade even before Nicolas Maduro's capture on January 3. Venezuela's government said the U.S. decree violated international law and expressed its solidarity with Cuba (Reporting by Sarah Morland, Adriana Barrera, Kylie Madry and Inigo Alexander; Editing by Emily Green and Alexander Smith) Millions of new files relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the largest number of documents shared by the government since a law mandated their release last year. Three million pages, 180,000 images and 2,000 videos were posted publicly on Friday. The release came six weeks after the department missed a deadline signed into law by US President Donald Trump that mandated all Epstein-related documents be shared with the public. Advertisement Advertisement "Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. The files include details about Jeffrey Epstein's time in prison - including a psychological report - and his death while incarcerated, along with investigative records on Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's associate who was convicted of helping him traffic underaged girls. They also include emails between Epstein and high-profile figures. Advertisement Advertisement Many of the emails and documents go back more than a decade, showcasing Epstein's relationships amid his legal troubles. He was convicted in 2008 in Florida for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl after coming to a controversial plea agreement with prosecutors. He died in August 2019 while in jail on charges in a sprawling sex trafficking case. [Getty Images] Epstein invited 'The Duke' to meet Russian woman The documents shed light on the disgraced financier's close association with Britain's elite. They include emails between Epstein and a person named "The Duke" - believed to be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor - discussing having dinner at Buckingham Palace, where there was "lots of privacy". Advertisement Advertisement Another message from Epstein includes an offer to introduce "The Duke" to a 26-year-old Russian woman. The emails are signed "A", with a signature that appears to read "HRH Duke of York KG". They were exchanged in August 2010, two years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor. In the latest file release, there is also a photo that appears to show the former prince kneeling on all fours over a female lying on the ground. There are also emails between Epstein and Mountbatten-Windsor dated February 2011 - putting more holes in Andrew's assurances that he had cut off any contact with Epstein the previous year. Advertisement Advertisement The emails do not indicate any wrongdoing. The BBC has contacted Andrew, formerly known as the Duke of York, for a response. Mountbatten-Windsor has faced years of scrutiny over his past friendship with Epstein. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Some emails in the latest release appear to be between Epstein and Sarah Ferguson, Andrew's ex-wife. One email dated 4 April 2009, was signed "Love, Sarah, The red Head.!!" It says that she was going to be in Palm Beach and wanted to have tea. The email goes on to discuss ideas for Ferguson's company, Mother's Army. The former Duchess of York refers to Epstein as "My dear spectacular and special friend Jeffrey". Advertisement Advertisement She calls him a "legend" and says "I am so proud of you". The financier was still under house arrest for his 2008 conviction when the email exchange was sent. There are also hundreds of mentions of Richard Branson, the British founder of Virgin Group, in the files. In an email exchange from 2013, Branson appears to tell Epstein that it was "really nice" seeing him, adding: "Any time you're in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!" Virgin Group clarified that "harem" referred to three adult members of Epstein's team, adding: "Any contact Richard and Joan Branson had with Epstein took place on only a few occasions more than twelve years ago, and was limited to group or business settings, such as a charity tennis event." Advertisement Advertisement Other foreign figures were named as well, including the national security adviser to Slovakia's prime minister, Miroslav Lajcak. He resigned after text messages between him and Epstein came to light in the files, including from 2018, when the two lightheartedly discussed women and a forthcoming meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. After Epstein sent an image, which cannot be seen in the record, Lajcak replies: "Why don't you invite me for these games? I would take the 'MI' girl". Being featured in the files is not an indication of any wrongdoing. Lajcak initially denied discussing women with Epstein when the files were released on Friday, according to Slovak media. He later reportedly said he had decided to resign to avoid damaging Fico politically. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing [US Department of Justice] Epstein paid money into accounts linked to Mandelson Epstein made $75,000 (55,000) of payments to accounts connected to Lord Mandelson, bank statements released in the files suggest. Advertisement Advertisement Between 2003 and 2004, Epstein appears to have sent three separate $25,000 payments referencing Lord Mandelson. Lord Mandelson said he had no record or recollection of receiving the sums and did not know whether the documents were authentic. In another batch of emails, Lord Mandelson asks to stay at one of Epstein's properties. The emails are from 16 June 2009, when Epstein was serving a prison sentence for soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. For much of his sentence, Epstein was allowed to work from his office during the day and returned to jail each night. In December 2024, Lord Mandelson was appointed as the UK's ambassador to the US, but was sacked less than a year later when it emerged he had sent supportive messages to Epstein following the conviction. Advertisement Advertisement Lord Mandelson has repeatedly said he regrets his past friendship with Epstein, which has long been public knowledge. He has said he never saw any wrongdoing while with Epstein and "fell for his lies". Trump mentioned hundreds of times The US president is mentioned hundreds of times in the newly released files. Trump had a friendship with Epstein but he says it soured many years ago and has denied any knowledge of his sex crimes. Among the new documents is a list compiled by the FBI last year of allegations made against Trump by callers to its national Threat Operation Center tip line. Many of these appear to be based on unverified tips received by the agency and were made without supporting evidence. The list includes numerous allegations of sexual abuse made against Trump, Epstein and other high-profile figures. Advertisement Advertisement Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has not been accused of any crimes by Epstein's victims. When asked about the latest allegations, both the White House and justice department pointed to a line in a news release accompanying the new batch of files. "Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election," the US Justice Department said. "To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already." The director of the new documentary on First Lady Melania Trump also appeared in a photo embracing a young woman in the files. Brett Ratner, who also directed the Rush Hour films and X-Men: The Last Stand, can be seen sitting on a sofa beside Epstein and two women whose identities have been obscured. There is no indication of wrongdoing from the files. The BBC has contacted Ratner's representative for comment. Elon Musk asked Epstein when 'wildest party' on his island will be The documents also include email correspondence between Epstein and tech billionaire Elon Musk. Musk, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case, has previously said that Epstein had invited him to his island but he had declined. The new emails show Musk had discussed travelling there on more than one occasion - including a proposed 2012 trip - in which he asked Epstein: "What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?" The emails from November 2012 show Epstein asked how many people Musk would need transporting on a helicopter to the island and Musk replies that it would only be himself and his then-wife, Talulah Riley. An email from Musk to Epstein on Christmas in 2012 includes Musk inquiring whether the financier had any parties planned because he needs to "let loose". "I've been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose," he writes, adding that a "peaceful island experience" is the opposite of what he's wanting. In another batch of emails from the end of 2013, Musk and Epstein discuss a visit to the financier's island and are working on logistics and dates. There is no evidence that Musk ever did end up taking a trip to Epstein's island. Musk said in an X post on Saturday that he was "well aware that some email correspondence with [Epstein] could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name". He added: "I don't care about that, but what I do care about is that we at least attempt to prosecute those who committed serious crimes with Epstein, especially regarding heinous exploitation of underage girls." Bill Gates dismisses lurid claims by Epstein as 'absurd and false' A spokesperson for Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has responded to lurid allegations contained in the latest Epstein files including that he caught a sexually-transmitted disease calling them "absolutely absurd and completely false". Two emails from 18 July 2013 appear to have been drafted by Epstein but it is unclear if they were ever sent to Gates. Both were sent from Epstein's email account and back to the same account, while no email account associated with Gates is visible and both emails are unsigned. One email is written as a resignation letter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and complains about having had to procure medicine for Gates "to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls". The other, which begins "dear Bill", complains about Gates having ended a friendship and makes more claims about Gates having tried to cover up a sexually transmitted infection, including from his then-wife, Melinda. A spokesperson for Gates told the BBC: "These claims from a proven, disgruntled liar are absolutely absurd and completely false." They added: "The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame." Criticism over identification of victims Gloria Allred, a women's rights lawyer who has represented many of Epstein's victims, told the BBC that numerous survivors' names had been disclosed in the latest release, including some who had not been previously identified publicly. "In some cases... they have a line through the names but you can still read the names," she said. "In other cases, they've shown photos of victims - survivors who have never done a public interview, never given their name publicly." Many of the documents released on Friday include heavy redactions. The law mandates that redactions can only be made to protect victims or information currently under investigation. It also mandates a summary of the redactions made and the legal basis for them. The justice department said it was "working around the clock to address any victim concerns, additional redactions of personally identifiable information, as well as any files that require further redactions under the Act, to include images of a sexual nature". Allred said that while her legal team was working to inform the department of where further redactions were needed to protect survivors' identities, "many people have already downloaded the files". Have all the Epstein files now been released? It is uncertain if this is the end of the road for the Epstein documents release saga. Blanche said Friday's drop "marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process" signalling that as far as the US justice department is concerned, it's job over. However, Democrats continue to argue that the department has withheld too many documents possibly around two-and-a-half million without proper justification. Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who spearheaded the Epstein Files Transparency Act alongside Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, said he's wary. "The DOJ said it identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages but is releasing only about 3.5 million after review and redactions," he said. "This raises questions as to why the rest are being withheld." The DOJ had been under heavy scrutiny after missing the 19 December deadline to release all files as mandated in the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed Congress and was signed into law in November. But still, whether this saga is over remains to be seen. Many - including within Trump's base - have long believed there was a conspiracy to protect the rich and powerful who were connected to Epstein. Speaking to ABC on Sunday, Blanche said that apart from a "small number of documents" that may be released if a judge approves it - the DOJ's review of Epstein-related files "is over". Additional reporting by Jack Fenwick, Chi Chi Izundu and Amy Walker Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins admitted to a court his ballot language for a referendum on redistricting is unfair and he wants a chance to revise it. Hoskins is shown in a May 2024 photo when he was a member of the Missouri Senate. (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). Secretary of State Denny Hoskins wants another chance to write the ballot language for a referendum on Missouris gerrymandered redistricting map after admitting that the first version he prepared was unfair. And he doesnt want to answer any questions about how the first version was crafted or who advised him on what it should say. Advertisement Advertisement In a court filing this week that surprised advocates for a statewide vote on the new map Republicans forced through the General Assembly, Hoskins attorney wrote that accusations the original ballot language was argumentative and likely to create prejudice were true. There is no longer an active controversy sufficient to support a hearing, wrote Madeline Lansdell, an assistant attorney general. The filings, taken together, show Hoskins wants to hide how he is handling the referendum, said Richard von Glahn, director of People Not Politicians, the PAC that gathered 300,000 signatures to force a statewide vote on the new congressional map. They were going to try to play games with the ballot summary, and theyre admitting as much, and now they dont want to have to answer what games they were playing, he said. Advertisement Advertisement The filing follows a Jan. 9 hearing where Kathleen Hunker of the attorney generals office told Cole County Circuit Judge Brian Stumpe that Hoskins had decided the language did come close enough to the line of being inherently argumentative to be rewritten. The surrender on the referendum ballot summary challenge is the latest move in the legal fights over redistricting. There are 10 lawsuits at various stages in five state and federal venues that, among other issues, will determine whether the special session was legal, whether lawmakers had the power to change the congressional maps and when a referendum campaign can begin after a bill is passed. Missouri lawmakers passed a revised map in a September special session called by Gov. Mike Kehoe in response to pressure from President Donald Trump. Republicans are hoping to protect their slim majority in the U.S. House by changing the Missouri map to give the GOP an edge in seven of the states eight districts instead of the six they currently hold. The intended result from the new map is to flip the 5th District to the GOP. The district, based in Kansas City, has been represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver since 2005. Advertisement Advertisement People Not Politicians launched the referendum campaign the day the Missouri Senate held a final vote on the bill and, on Dec. 8, turned in more than 300,000 signatures seeking a statewide vote on the map. The trial over the ballot language is scheduled for Feb. 9. Stumpe will hold a hearing Wednesday on the motion to accept that the current version is unfair and to block the depositions. In his ballot summary, Hoskins wrote: Do the people of the state of Missouri approve the act of the General Assembly entitled House Bill No. 1 (2025 Second Extraordinary Session), which repeals Missouris existing gerrymandered congressional plan that protects incumbent politicians, and replaces it with new congressional boundaries that keep more cities and counties intact, are more compact, and better reflects statewide voting patterns? Advertisement Advertisement In the filing, Lansdell wrote that Hoskins accepts that in the context of this statement, the term gerrymandered and the phrase protects incumbent politicians are argumentative and likely to create prejudice. The admission misses an important distinction about the original version, von Glahn said. Hoskins called the map approved by lawmakers in 2022 the existing map and the plan approved in September as replacing it. That is the opposite of what Hoskins office is saying about the law, which he contends took effect Dec. 11 despite the filing of petition signatures, von Glahn said. They are admitting, yes, we wrote something that was misleading, and now theyre saying, we dont want to have to explain what it is that it is misleading, von Glahn said. Advertisement Advertisement If depositions go forward, Lansdell wrote, attorneys for People Not Politicians should be barred from asking questions related to the preparation, communication, methodologies and bases of the summary statement (for the referendum petition) or any other summary statement as well as questions related to the signature counting efforts, the secretarys position on the referendum, or any topic related to other cases pending between the parties to this proceeding. While the case has been pending, the law governing challenges to ballot language has changed. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Jan. 23 that a law passed last year taking revisions out of the hands of judges was part of a bill that violated procedural rules for legislation outlined in the constitution. The ruling overturned a Cole County decision upholding the law on ballot language revisions, which allowed the secretary of state three chances to rewrite it. Prior to the law, and now that it is no longer in effect, when a judge rules ballot language is unfair or insufficient, the court has revised the wording with input from both parties. In the filing, Hoskins asked Stumpe to give him another chance. The bill ruled invalid wasnt unconstitutional in contents, just the way it was passed, Lansdell wrote. Advertisement Advertisement The court is not prohibited from following this approach, she wrote. Chuck Hatfield, who represents People Not Politicians, said Hoskins is seeking a do-over that could mean a reignited case when it is presented. They invited the court to give it back to them, even though theres no authority for that now, Hatfield said.But I think theyre wanting to do something completely different than what they did the first time. The filings need no explanation for Hoskins giving up the defense of his language, Rachael Dunn, spokeswoman for Hoskins, wrote in an email to The Independent. Secretary Hoskins is following the courts process and hopes for clear judicial guidance that reduces confusion for voters rather than amplifying it through misplaced or misguided media interpretations, Dunn wrote. Redistricting cases Once Stumpe rules on the motions and new ballot language is written, it could be appealed and a final version would not be ready for several weeks. Advertisement Advertisement The other legal cases surrounding the redistricting plan are: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Sana Malik on Saturday hailed the appointment of Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, calling it a historic moment for the state. Speaking to ANI, Malik said, "History has been written as Sunetra Pawar has taken oath as the first woman deputy CM of the state. Maharashtra will get a lot of benefit as she has always been working for social causes and the upliftment of women." State Minister Hasan Mushrif also welcomed Sunetra Pawar's elevation, saying, "Sunetra Pawar has become the first woman deputy CM of the state." On the absence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar from the swearing-in ceremony, Mushrif added, "How will he come, his party is different, ours is different." Sunetra Pawar who was chosen as the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party today after the tragic demise of her husband Ajit Pawar, took oath as the state's Deputy CM at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai amidst chants of 'Ajit dada amar rahe'. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. She stepped into fill the post that became vacant following the demise of NCP chief Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28 in Baramati. With this, Sunetra Pawar becomes the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Maharashtra State President of NCP, Sunil Tatkare and NCP Working President Praful Patel, and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal were also present at the swearing-in ceremony. She was elected leader of the NCP Legislative Party earlier today. NCP leaders then met with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis to finalise Sunetra Pawar's appointment as Deputy CM. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. As a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress. Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday when a chartered plane carrying him crashed-landed in Baramati. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. (ANI) Moldova's Ministry of Energy has reported that the serious problems in Ukraine's power system have caused a drop in voltage on the Isaccea-Vulcanesti-MGRES high-voltage line. Source: Moldova's Energy Ministry on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda Details: The incident on the Isaccea-Vulcanesti-MGRES high-voltage line has damaged the energy system and led to disruptions. The electricity transmission system operator, Moldelectrica, is working to stabilise the situation, and the power supply has already been restored in some areas. Advertisement Advertisement Moldovan news outlet NewsMaker reported that Chisinau and its suburbs are known to have been affected, as well as Taraclia, Cahul and Anenii Noi. Background: This news was reported at the same time as it emerged that metro services in Kyiv had been temporarily suspended and escalators were not operating due to a loss of voltage from external power supply centres. Kyiv City State Administration said there were emergency power outages in Kyiv, as in many other Ukrainian cities. It also reported disruptions to the water supply and heating in some districts of the capital. It is worth noting that US President Donald Trump said on 29 January that he had asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to pause strikes on "Kyiv and various towns" for a week on humanitarian grounds, and that Putin had apparently agreed. Trump did not specify when the conversation took place or when the week was supposed to start. A new round of talks on a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is expected to begin on 1 February. US State Secretary Marco Rubio has said that US Special Representative Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will not be attending, but there "might be" a US presence. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Neanderthals carefully placed the skulls of steppe bison (a f), aurochs (g), rhinos (h, i) and red deer (j, k) in a cave in what is now Spain. | Credit: Baquedano et al. Nature Human Behaviour (2023) CC-BY-4.0 Neanderthals purposefully collected and positioned horned and antlered animal skulls in a cave in what is now Spain, suggesting that these extinct human relatives had complex cultural practices over 43,000 years ago, a new study finds. Des-Cubierta cave in central Iberia was initially discovered in 2009. In 2023, researchers announced the unusual discovery of an assortment of 35 large mammal skulls inside the cave. Most jaw bones were missing, but all skulls came from horned or antlered species like steppe bison and aurochs . Over 1,400 stone tools were uncovered in the same level, all in the Mousterian style typical of Neanderthals . Advertisement Advertisement "At first glance, the deposit appears chaotic," study first author Lucia Villaescusa Fernandez , a doctoral researcher in archaeology at the University of Alcala in Spain, told Live Science in an email. "What initially looked like a disorganised accumulation of materials turned out to preserve a clear record of both geological processes and human activity," she said. The cave experienced many rockfalls in the millennia following its use, so Villaescusa Fernandez and her team teased the role of these disturbances apart from the Neanderthal activity. This confirmed the Neanderthals were collecting animal skulls over a long period of time in particularly cold periods between 135,000 and 43,000 years ago, according to a study published Jan. 3 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences . "This distinction is essential in archaeology because understanding past human behaviour requires first identifying which parts of the archaeological record were created by people and which were shaped by nature," Villaescusa Fernandez said. To fill this gap, Villaescusa Fernandez and her colleagues carefully mapped the location of all the archaeological remains. They then compared the rockfall debris distribution with that of the animal bones and stone tools. It became clear that the bones had been purposefully positioned within the cave. "These materials had different origins and were not introduced into the cave by the same processes," Villaescusa Fernandez said. Advertisement Advertisement Although the timescale cannot be directly measured, and the precise duration of the practice remains uncertain, the team also found the animal skulls had been placed in specific areas of the cave repeatedly over a prolonged period of time. This suggests that this practice may have been maintained over generations and was not directly tied to economic or subsistence needs, Villaescusa Fernandez said. RELATED STORIES Crimean Stone Age 'crayons' were used by Neanderthals for symbolic drawings, study claims Paleolithic 'art sanctuary' in Spain contains more than 110 prehistoric cave paintings Advertisement Advertisement 125,000-year-old 'fat factory' run by Neanderthals discovered in Germany Exactly why Neanderthals collected the skulls is unclear, but the selection, treatment and placement of horned animal skulls in a cave they did not live in "highlights their capacity for cultural practices that are not directly related to survival," Villaescusa Fernandez said. "This has important implications for how we understand Neanderthal societies, particularly in terms of cultural transmission and shared traditions," she added. "Too often, discussions of Neanderthal symbolism rely on fragile evidence or optimistic interpretations," Ludovic Slimak , an archaeologist at the University of Toulouse in France and author of the book " The Naked Neanderthal " (Penguin, 2024) who was not involved in the study, told Live Science by email. "Here, the authors take a more grounded approach, testing whether the spatial organization of the remains could be explained by natural processes alone," he said. Slimak said that the findings of this study add new evidence to the debate over Neanderthal symbolism . "Rather than asking whether Neanderthals were 'symbolic like us,' we should ask what kinds of meaningful behaviors they developed on their own terms. This site suggests that Neanderthal worlds of meaning existed, but they may have been structured very differently from those of Homo sapiens ," he said. Neanderthal quiz: How much do you know about our closest relatives? FALL RIVER A shooting that left a mother and her son dead Friday night in Fall River is under investigation. Fall River Police received a 911 call to 431 Barnes Street Jan. 30 shortly after 8 p.m. for a double shooting. Upon arrival police located 25-year-old Nicholas Almeida and his mother 54-year-old Elizabeth Almeida both suffering from gunshot wounds. They were taken to a nearby hospital where they were pronounced deceased, according to a statement from District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn, III's office. . The alleged suspect, 54-year-old Arlington Cole, who was in a dating relationship with Elizabeth Almeida, according to the DA's office press release, was located at the scene along with a firearm. Advertisement Advertisement Cole has been charged at this time with two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. The fatal shooting is being investigated by the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office along with the Fall River Police Department. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River double fatal shooting under investigation The initial production representative MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone for the U.S. Navy has completed its first low-speed taxi test. The service has said it is now targeting a first flight for the uncrewed aircraft early this year, after missing a self-imposed deadline to reach that milestone before the end of 2025. The taxi test took place at Boeings facility at MidAmerica Airport, situated outside of St. Louis, Missouri, according to social media posts from the company and Naval Air Systems (NAVAIR). Navy personnel from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 24 (UX-24), the latter of which is focused specifically on supporting the development of uncrewed aerial systems, participated in the event, per NAVAIR. The first operational MQ-25A Stingray for the @USNavy has successfully completed its first taxi test. At the push of a button from Air Vehicle Pilots the Stingray autonomously taxied and executed a series of maneuvers to validate its functionality. pic.twitter.com/bNHGKIYsPa Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) January 30, 2026 Taxing testing, with the drone moving under its own power, is a critical step toward a first flight. When exactly this milestone was achieved is not immediately clear, and TWZ has reached out to NAVAIR and Boeing for more information. Advertisement Advertisement Boeing had previously announced the start of ground testing of the production representative MQ-25 last summer. A flying MQ-25 demonstrator, also known as T1, has been used in flight and ground testing in support of the Stingray program for years now. However, it is a test article that is not fully reflective of the production-standard aircraft. The footage released today provides new views of the drones exotic top-mounted flush air inlet and its engine exhaust inset inside the fuselage, as seen at the top of this story and below. TWZ has drawn particular attention to the inlet in the past, which speaks to the designs other low observable (stealthy) features, as well as its overall design, despite this not being an explicit focus of the MQ-25 program. One of the new top-down views of the production representative MQ-25 showing its flush inlet. Boeing capture A view of the drones inset exhaust arrangement. Boeing capture Advertisement Advertisement Boeing has previously confirmed to us that the MQ-25s design was influenced by the companys submission to the Navys abortive Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. UCLASS envisioned a stealthy carrier-based drone capable of performing kinetic strikes and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Despite significant work toward fielding that capability, including ground-breaking flight testing using a pair of X-47B drones built by Northrop Grumman, the Navy subsequently abandoned the UCLASS plans in favor of an uncrewed tanker. That decision, in turn, led to the MQ-25. The video also offers a new look at the production representative Stingray configurations retractable sensor turret under the nose. Turrets like these typically contain a mixture of electro-optical and infrared cameras, and sometimes also have laser range finders, laser spot markers, and laser designators. In addition to its primary role as a pilotless aerial refueling platform, the Navy says the MQ-25 will have a secondary ISR function. The Stingrays overall design opens up the possibility that it could take on other missions, including kinetic strike, in the future, as TWZ has previously explored in detail. A look at the retracted sensor turret on the production-representative MQ-25. A buddy refueling store, which is how the drone will perform its primary tanking mission, is also seen here under the drones left wing. Boeing capture Boeing has otherwise been working in recent years to deliver nine pre-production Stingrays, five of which will be used for fatigue and other static testing work. The Navy plans to eventually acquire a total of 76 Stingrays, and has been most recently targeting 2027 for reaching initial operational capability (IOC) with the type. #MQ25 on the move! The first @USNavy MQ-25 Stingray recently moved off the production line to our static test facility. This is the first of nine Stingrays to be put through static, fatigue and flight tests to ensure durability and airworthiness. pic.twitter.com/2UvYoKnK7G Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) September 14, 2023 The MQ-25 program has been beset by delays and cost growth in recent years. The original goal had been for the initial batch of pre-production Stingrays to be delivered in 2022 and for the type to reach IOC in 2024. Last year, the Navy repeatedly stressed that it was working hard to finally get to first flight before 2026. Advertisement Advertisement We will fly MQ-25 in 25. You can quote me on that, Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, Commander of Naval Air Forces, said in January 2025. We will fly that platform in 25 and get that thing on a carrier in 26 and start integrating that thing. Theres a lot of confidence in MQ-25 and [20]25. There is a ton of work to get MQ-25 and 25, now-retired Navy Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, then head of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), had also said last April. 70% of the capability that we deliver, [that] industry delivers to us, is late. So were pushing hard. Needless to say, the first flight schedule subsequently slipped into 2026. These hurdles aside, Navy officials continue to be outspoken in their support of the MQ-25 program, which they see as offering critical range extension for current and future aircraft embarked on the services carriers. The Navy also wants the Stingrays so it can stop flying crewed F/A-18F Super Hornets in the tanker role, which makes up a significant number of their sorties while deployed, helping free up those aircraft for other missions and reducing the wear and tear on those airframes. An F/A-18F seen carrying a buddy refueling store and underwing drop tanks for tanker duty. USN The Navy also regularly talks about the MQ-25 being a pathfinder for other future carrier-based uncrewed aviation capabilities. As far back as 2021, the service has been talking about a goal to eventually see 60 percent or more of the aircraft in carrier air wings become uncrewed. Advertisement Advertisement Last year, the Navy announced a new surge in efforts to acquire a fleet of carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, hiring four companies (Anduril, Boeing, General Atomics, and Northrop Grumman) to develop conceptual designs. Lockheed Martin is also now under contract to the Navy to develop an underlying common control architecture. NAVAIR has now also established a CCA-focused Future Advanced Capability (FAC) program office. The Navy previously entered into a formal agreement with the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps to work together on CCA developments to ensure interoperability, including the ability to seamlessly exchange control of drones during future operations. In the meantime, beyond just getting the MQ-25 flying, the Navy still has much work to do in integrating the Stingray into routine operations. As noted, critical command and control architectures, along with related tactics, techniques, and procedures, are still being developed. The Stingrays will also have to be woven into the existing cadence of flight deck operations, including just figuring out how to move them around amid the hustle and bustle of other activity. Carrier decks are very constrained environments physically, and present very different conditions to operate in compared to bases on land. This is true even for crewed aircraft operations, where individuals onboard can provide additional situational awareness. A wearable glove-like system that personnel could use for deck handling was notably used during testing of the X-47B. A different kind of portable control device has been used in testing of the T1 MQ-25 demonstrator in the past, as well. The video released today does not appear to offer any major new insights into how the Navy plans to maneuver the Stingray around on carrier decks. The glove-like system used during testing of the X-47Bs. USN A look at a deck control device that has been used in previous testing involving the T1 MQ-25 demonstrator. USN The Navy has also been developing new force structures and training pipelines to support the MQ-25 program. Advertisement Advertisement With the start of taxi-testing, the MQ-25 is at least now one step closer to its first flight. Update: 3:12 PM EST Boeing and the Navy have now confirmed to TWZ that the first taxi test occurred yesterday. The first U.S. Navy MQ-25A Stingray is in the final stages of ground testing and completed its first taxi test yesterday, a company spokesperson told us in a statement. Boeing and the Navy will now conduct additional taxi tests and then complete deliberate systems level testing and review and approve the final airworthiness artifacts needed for a flight clearance. Once thats complete and we have a suitable weather window, the aircraft will fly. Advertisement Advertisement The [MQ-25] aircraft is now in the final stages of ground testing and successfully completed its first low-speed taxi test [on] January 29, Navy Rear Adm. Tony Rossi, Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO U&W), also told TWZ in a statement. The team is finalizing systems testing and flight clearance, with the first flight planned once certification is complete and weather permits. The MQ-25A NavyBoeing team continues to make progress toward first flight, Rossi added. Over the last several months, the team has completed MQ-25A Stingray structural testing on a static aircraft, conducted initial engine runs, completed its flight-certified software, and commanded the vehicle from the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System (UMCS). Contact the author: joe@twz.com As much of the United States still freezes, parts of the South are set to see snow and powerful winds with potential blizzard conditions in coastal areas. A major winter storm warning is in effect from Georgia through Virginia, the National Weather Service said Saturday, Jan. 31. Heavy snow and gusty winds are expected from the southern Appalachians in Georgia through coastal regions of the Carolinas and southeastern Virginia. Snowfall and wind gusts are forecast to be strongest in North Carolina, where forecasters have warned a bomb cyclone will cause dangerous conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Potential for snow inland could reach 8 to 12 inches, with snow drift from winds, the weather service said. Near the Outer Banks, the region could see gusts up to 70 mph, approaching hurricane-force winds, albeit with less snow but with warnings for coastal flooding. Nows the time to hunker down, Scott Kennedy, a weather service meteorologist in the agencys Morehead City office, in North Carolina, told USA TODAY, adding snow already started to accumulate Saturday morning. Later, the weather service forecasts that Arctic air is set to bring record cold temperatures and wind chills, near and below 0 degrees, to the Southeast through Tuesday. More than 130 million people are under cold and winter storm alerts over the weekend, Brandon Buckingham, an AccuWeather meteorologist, said in a statement. How much snow has fallen? What is the weekend winter storm forecast? The coastal cyclone is expected to bring moderate to heavy snow, along with high winds and possible blizzard conditions for the Carolinas through Saturday night, the weather service's Weather Prediction Center said in a forecast discussion. The Eastern Seaboard is set to experience high winds and coastal flooding. Advertisement Advertisement The core of the Arctic air is forecast to dive "unusually far south" into lower portions of the Southeast for the remainder of the weekend. By Sunday morning, southern Florida could see below-freezing temperatures. Daily low temperatures are expected to be challenged or broken from the Mid-Atlantic southward through the weekend into early next week. A Jan. 31 National Weather Service forecast shows snow forecasts of up to 12 inches at the North Carolina coast. Elsewhere, the Plains and Great Lakes are set to have a mix of rain and snow on Jan. 31 into Feb. 1 with frigid temperatures. A major winter storm is underway over the southern Appalachians and will spread across the Southeast to the southern Mid-Atlantic states today. See our Key Messages for more information. Check out your local forecast at https://t.co/pGx1JRZdMa. pic.twitter.com/WAcDt6YVpB NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 31, 2026 How to stay safe in winter storms If you have to go outside, make sure to wear waterproof boots and bundle up with loose layers, so air between them keeps you warm plus a hat, scarf and gloves to retain body heat, according to the National Institute on Aging. Advertisement Advertisement You should also know the signs of frostbite and hypothermia that can be life-threatening, as Ready.gov explains. If you have to drive, be sure to drive slower and be aware that black ice is difficult to see. Make sure to check to make sure the car is in proper condition; check fluid levels, windshield wipers and gas levels. Let someone know your timing and routes and keep a survival kit, just in case. Gusty winds and heavy snow can also cause power outages, so prepare with extra supplies. When it's time to get outside to shovel, make sure to take steps to do so safely. Snow shoveling can result in injury and heart attacks due to increased heart rate and blood pressure in the cold, according to the American Heart Association. USA TODAY has an explainer for when the storm passes. Advertisement Advertisement Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Melina Khan and Janet Loehrke of USA TODAY (This story was updated to change or add a photo or video.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How much snow? Forecast says bomb cyclone focuses fury on Carolinas. Jan 30 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military-backed party completed a sweeping victory in the country's three-phase general election, state media said, cementing an outcome long expected after a tightly controlled process held during civil war and widespread repression. The final round of voting in late January concluded an election that began on December 28, more than four years after the military seized power in a coup that overturned the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The Union Solidarity and Development Party dominated all phases of the vote, winning an overwhelming majority in Myanmar's two legislative chambers. It secured 232 of the 263 seats up for grabs in the Pyithu Hluttaw lower house and 109 of the 157 seats announced so far in the Amyotha Hluttaw upper chamber, according to results released on Thursday and Friday. Advertisement Advertisement PARLIAMENT EXPECTED TO ELECT PRESIDENT IN MARCH Myanmar's parliament is expected to convene in March to elect a president, with a new government set to take over in April, pro-military Eleven Media Group reported earlier this month, citing junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in political turmoil since the coup, with the crushing of pro-democracy protests sparking a nationwide rebellion. Around 3.6 million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations. CRITICS SAY MILITARY STILL IN CHARGE The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has said it would not endorse the process, and human rights groups and some Western countries have also denounced the election as a sham. Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, which has muted its critiques of foreign elections in the second Trump administration, said it was monitoring the situation closely. Washington "will assess the military regime's next steps, including whether it takes tangible measures to de-escalate violence, ease restrictions on civil and political freedoms, and allow humanitarian assistance to reach those in need." "We continue to call on all parties to enter into a meaningful dialogue to foster a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Burma while addressing fundamental questions relating to the political representation and participation of all people in Burma," the spokesperson added, when asked for a reaction to the announced results. The U.N. human rights office said that large segments of the population, including minorities such as the ethnic Rohingya, were excluded from voting since they lack citizenship or were displaced outside the country. Advertisement Advertisement It also said it has so far verified the death of at least 170 civilians from airstrikes during the election period and about 400 arrests. "Many people chose either to vote or not to vote purely out of fear," said U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk. Myanmar's military government insists the polls were free and fair, and supported by the public. It has not responded to Reuters requests for comment on electoral violence. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was dissolved along with dozens of other parties, and some others declined to take part, drawing condemnation from critics who say the process was designed to entrench military rule. Advertisement Advertisement Under Myanmar's political system, the military is also guaranteed 25% of parliamentary seats, ensuring continued control even after power is formally transferred to a civilian-led administration. PROXY FOR THE ARMED FORCES The USDP was founded in 2010 after decades of military-led rule in the Southeast Asian country, with the aim of serving as a proxy for the armed forces, also known as the Tatmadaw. The party is chaired by a retired brigadier general and packed with other former high-ranking officers. It contested the poll with 1,018 candidates, a fifth of the total registered. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is also expected to play a central role in the next administration. Advertisement Advertisement He has defended the polls as a step towards stability, rejecting criticism from opponents and foreign governments and affirming that state responsibilities would be transferred to the elected government. "Regardless of any changes among political parties or organisations in the country, Tatmadaw continues to carry out its responsibilities for national defence and security faithfully and without neglect up to the present day," he was quoted by state media as saying on Monday. TURNOUT DOWN AS FIGHTING HALTS VOTES Turnout reached around 55% over all three phases, lower than the figure of around 70% in previous elections, including a 2015 vote that brought Suu Kyi to power, as well as the ill-fated 2020 poll, the results of which were cancelled by the junta before staging the coup. Advertisement Advertisement Voting took place in 263 of Myanmar's 330 townships, some of which are not under the complete control of the junta. It was cancelled in many areas due to fighting between the military and armed ethnic groups, as well as local resistance forces that emerged after the 2021 coup. (Reporting by Reuters staff; Additional reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by David Stanway and Alex Richardson) Nasa has been forced to delay its first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years due to unseasonably cold weather in Florida. The US space agency said that a rare arctic outbreak at the launch site meant that the timeline for the Artemis II mission had to be pushed back. The launch of the first Artemis moonshot with a crew is now targeted for no earlier than 8 February, two days later than planned. Advertisement Advertisement Nasa was all set to conduct a fueling test of the 98-metre (322-foot) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on Saturday, but called everything off late Thursday because of the below-freezing conditions forecast. The critical dress rehearsal is now set for Monday, weather permitting. Teams and preparations at the launch pad remain ready for the wet dress rehearsal, Nasa said in a statement. However, adjusting the timeline for the test will position Nasa for success during the rehearsal, as the expected weather this weekend would violate launch conditions. The Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion spacecraft atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, on 29 January, 2026, at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida (Nasa) Nasa has only a handful of days in any given month to launch its first lunar crew due to a narrow Earth-Moon alignment window. Advertisement Advertisement The latest change leaves Nasa with only three days in February to send four astronauts around the Moon and back, before slipping into March. "Any additional delays would result in a day for day change," Nasa said in a statement on Friday. Heaters are keeping the Orion capsule warm atop the rocket, officials said, and rocket-purging systems are also being adapted to the cold. The crew remain in quarantine in Houston and their arrival at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is uncertain. The four astronauts Nasas Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch , and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are supposed to spend roughly 14 days in quarantine to limit their exposure to illnesses. Advertisement Advertisement The crew will still be able to contact friends, family and colleagues, but they will avoid public places, wear masks, and maintain distance from anyone they come in contact with. The 10-day Artemis II mission will be the furthest humans have travelled since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, which was also the last time an astronaut walked on the Moon. There will be no Moon landing on this mission, with the objectives being to test the systems and hardware needed to return a crew to the lunar surface for the upcoming Artemis III mission in 2027. Additional reporting from agencies. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) With more cold and wet weather on the horizon, crews are preparing to retreat roads theyve already cleared. Nashville Electric Service officials claim theyre prepared for the inclement weather threat coming this weekend. And theyre on the move, hauling in salt for the roads. The Nashville Department of Transportation and the Tennessee Department of Transportation have 46 crews working days, nights and weekends to assess damage and transport people to warming shelters. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts NDOT is still assessing damage to transportation infrastructure, but a bulk of its resources have been dedicated to power restoration. Advertisement Advertisement Crews are in a hurry to clear roadways and start treating the roads before temperatures plummet. Nashville Mayor Freddie OConnell said more plows are in the fleet. NDOT is still making its rounds to repair traffic lights. Officials are reminding residents that NDOT does not remove limbs on private property, so they must be moved to the curb. Theyre also warning residents of a new problem: generators being wired improperly. When residents use generators after the powers been restored, it starts back feeding into power lines. NDOT Deputy Director Phillip Jones is asking residents who have generators wired into their homes to make certain its correctly installed. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com If these generators are not wired into the home properly, they back feed through those wires, which create electricity where they run it across the trees, and they have downed lines, Jones said. Were having those issues. We just ask if you have a generator wired into your home, its been properly wired in. Advertisement Advertisement Both NDOT and TDOT are staying in close contact with NES on their progress and throughout the weekend Arctic blast. NDOT is planning to schedule a special vegetation to pick up debris. They have not announced the date yet. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday filed a civil rights complaint against Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, claiming he discriminated against Armenians in Los Angeles County by accusing them of hospice fraud. The complaint argues that Oz spewed baseless and racially charged allegations that put hospices at risk of not receiving patients. Newsoms office said Ozs claims already caused real-world harm on Armenian businesses. Our office is reviewing reports that Dr. Mehmet Oz targeted the Armenian American community in Southern California recently making racially charged claims of fraud outside Armenian-owned businesses, including a popular bakery, Newsoms press office wrote Wednesday on the social platform X, prior to filing the complaint. Advertisement Advertisement Given the historic sensitivities involved, we are taking these allegations seriously, the press office added. Any and all acts of hate have no place in California. Newsoms press office mocked Oz on X, twice calling him a fraud. One post shared a montage of videos of Oz making various health-related claims, including congressional testimony and claims made when he was a television show host. A second post shared an AI-generated image of Oz resembling fictional secret agent Austin Powers with the caption, Sold fake miracle pills to dying grandmas. Newsoms image appears next to Ozs with the caption, BANNED ALL NEW HOSPICES IN 2021 TO STOP FRAUD. Newsoms press office also shared an ABC 7 Los Angeles report about an Armenian bakery in Van Nuys, Calif., whose owner told the outlet that Ozs video posted Tuesday contributed to a 30 percent decline in business. Newsom called it disgusting and added, Real people get hurt when powerful people spread garbage! Advertisement Advertisement Oz claims in the video that there is roughly $3.5 billion of fraud taking place here in LA in hospice and home care. He pointed to the lettering outside the bakery and said, Its run, quite a bit of it, by the Russian Armenian mafia. You notice the lettering and language behind me is of that dialect. I am really disappointed, Movses Bislamyan, who operates Sherman Way Marketplace, told the local outlet. Recording my signs, my location, and talking about some kind of fraud going on here. We have nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do whatsoever with the grocery store. Bislamyan defended his bakery, telling ABC 7 that theres no Armenian mafia going on here. Were just hard-working businessmen. I dont understand why hes mentioning just Armenians especially Russian Armenians, he added. Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration froze more than $10 billion in child care funds to blue states, including California and Minnesota. The president claimed earlier this month that fraud in California is worse than the widespread welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota and that an investigation into alleged fraud in the Golden State was underway. The president has directed all agencies across the board to look at federal spending programs in not just Minnesota, but also in the state of California to identify fraud and to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all those who have committed it, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously told reporters. The Associated Press contributed. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Jay Mitchell, left, director of FEMAs Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire claims office, received $266,000 for smoke and ash cleaning at his home in Angel Fire, right, according to documents Source NM and New Mexico PBS obtained. Members of New Mexicos congressional delegation on Jan. 30, 2026, called on Mitchell to resign. (Photo illustration by Danielle Prokop/Source NM) Members of New Mexicos congressional delegation on Friday called on the federal official overseeing a multi-billion dollar wildfire compensation fund to resign, following Source NMs reporting this week that the official had applied for and received a six-figure payout. According to documents obtained by Source NM and New Mexico PBS, Jay Mitchell, who oversees the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Claims Office, and his wife received more than $500,000 in compensation for their home and business far from the wildfire perimeter, even as some victims who were in the direct path of the wildfire remain awaiting compensation. Advertisement Advertisement In the letter Friday afternoon, U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, along with U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, all New Mexico Democrats, do not mention the $500,000 payments explicitly. But they allege Mitchell continuously failed to report to Congress on his activities or focus on wildfire victims who needed the most help. Jay Mitchell has lost the trust of Northern New Mexico, the lawmakers said in an emailed statement to Source NM on Friday afternoon. He must resign. In addition to Mitchells resignation, the statement calls for an independent review of the Claims Offices administrative management of the funding. Along with the delegation, New Mexico Rep. Martin Zamora (R-Clovis), earlier on Friday called on Mitchell to resign. He is running against Leger Fernandez, who just started her third term representing the 3rd Congressional District. Zamora specifically cited Source NMs reporting of the Mitchells payouts. Advertisement Advertisement This corruption is unacceptable, Zamora said. New Mexicans who lost homes, businesses, land, and livelihoods have waited years for fair treatment. Learning that a federal official overseeing this program personally profited from it undermines public trust and calls the entire process into question. Zamora also criticized Leger Fernandez in his statement, saying she had failed to demand answers and accountability as problems emerged in the office. When New Mexicans were desperate for answers, Washington went quiet, Zamora said in a statement. Congress has a responsibility to demand accountability from federal agencies. That oversight did not happen here, and wildfire victims were left paying the price. Leger Fernandez, Lujan and Heinrich all took the lead in crafting the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, which established a fund and claims process aimed to fully compensate victims of the fire, which the Forest Service ignited in 2022 in two botched prescribed burns. Since the offices creation, the delegation has sent repeated letters and issued other public criticism, including most recently in November. As authors of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, we have been clear that the Claims Office must prioritize working with local communities to restore trust, communicate effectively, and get money out the door as soon as possible to those who suffered most, the trios statement said. The Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, IPS, has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of CJ Roy, Chairman of the Confident Group. Roy allegedly died by suicide in Bengaluru on Friday, according to officials. The SIT will be led by Joint Commissioner of Police, West Zone, C. Vamshi Krishna, IPS, while Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Division, Lokesh Jagalasar, IPS, will serve as the Investigating Officer. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division, Akshay Hake, IPS, along with senior officers from various divisions and special units, will also be part of the team. The SIT has been authorised to bring in additional officers and resources as required for the investigation. All concerned officers have been instructed to extend full cooperation to ensure that a lawful, prompt, and effective investigation is conducted. All aspects of the case will be thoroughly examined, and relevant information will be communicated to the public in the coming days. The police said that all aspects of the case will be thoroughly examined, and relevant information will be communicated to the public in the coming days. Earlier in the day, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said that Roy's company had been raided by the Income Tax Department in December 2025 and was given 60 days to file a chargesheet. Speaking to mediapersons in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said the deadline to file the chargesheet was February 4, and Roy had returned from Dubai three days ago. He added that Roy cooperated with the Income Tax officials who visited his office to record his statement. "His (CJ Roy) company was raided by the IT department in December. They were given 60 days to file a charge sheet. The deadline was set for the February 4 and he arrived from Dubai three days ago. The officials (Income Tax) went to his office to record his statement. He (Roy) responded to that," Parameshwara told reporters. Meanwhile, officials said forensic teams, including the Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) teams, are investigating the case. Officials said Income Tax raids had been conducted at Roy's premises over the past two days. Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said, "An incident occurred today within the limits of Ashok Nagar police station, where the chairman of the Confident Group (CJ Roy) shot himself. The SOCO and FSL teams are investigating the matter. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead." (ANI) A few hundred people gathered under the light of the Hamilton County courthouse in sub-freezing temperatures, chanting power to the people, no one is illegal! Many people held signs, some cursing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The Jan. 30 protest is a part of a nationwide effort to protest ICE activity including an economic blackout effort. The Party for Socialism and Liberation was an organizer for the event and passed out red cards that provide information on how people can exercise their rights. What started as a protest in front of the courthouse became a march as the group walked down Main Street, crossing Central Parkway East. The protestors made their way to Walnut Street before returning to the courthouse. I feel like weve kind of normalized institutional violence when it came to police violence for decades, said Chauncey Grandison, whose family came from the Dominican Republic. Coming from someone who grew up in a Black household, we had the talk. We understand people in positions of power and government positions can be a threat to us. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Hundreds of people protest ICE in front of Hamilton County Courthouse Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attempted damage control on Thursday as Fox News Sean Hannity pushed her to address the fallout from the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Patrol agents. The DHS head has faced increased scrutiny over her inflammatory claims about Pretti, which led to her ultimately getting sidelined from immigration operations in Minnesota in favor of border czar Tom Homan. Politicians from both sides of the aisle continue to call for her to be removed from her position, while Noem tried to defend her comments by passing the blame along to Stephen Miller. Hannity asked the secretary to address the criticism surrounding her actions in Minnesota: HANNITY: There seems to be two criticisms that have emerged, and I want to give you a chance to address them. One was an X post two and a half hours after the Pretti shooting that an individual approached an officer with a 9 millimeter semiautomatic. Officers feared for their safety and thats why the shooting occurred. It seems as you look at videos that the weapon may have been stripped though before that happened. And I guess my question is, you know, was that statement premature? NOEM: Well Sean, I know you realize that that situation was very chaotic and that we were being relayed information from on the ground from CBP agents and officers that were there. We were using the best information we had at the time, seeking to be transparent with the American people and get them what we knew to be true on the ground. So we will continue to follow the investigation that the FBI is leading and giving them all the information that they need to bring that to a conclusion and make sure the American people know the truth of the situation and how we can go forward and continue to protect the American people. Homan admitted on Thursday that mistakes had been made by federal authorities in Minneapolis, while Miller said Tuesday that agents may not have been following proper protocol when they shot Pretti. Advertisement Advertisement Hannity asked Noem about Millers concession and whether she planned to handle things differently going forward. The president has called for a full investigation. Stephen Miller seemed to concede that maybe some protocols werent followed. You know, again, everything is hindsight 20/20, and these things go down very quickly. Any lessons to be learned, handle things differently going forward? he asked. Well, Sean, thats part of the reason why we have several layers of an investigation here, said Noem, claiming the agency believed we can always do better and that DHS could improve protocols on the ground in chaotic and volatile situations like this. Hannity also asked the secretary to address her use of the term domestic terrorism in the case of both Pretti and the fatal shooting of Renee Good. Some Trump administration officials were reportedly concerned with the speed at which Noem used the term in the aftermath of Goods death. Advertisement Advertisement I think in the Renee Good case it was more clear-cut because we had the video, clearly she accelerated towards an officer, injuries were incurred by the officer, internal bleeding as I understand it if Im wrong, correct me on that, said Hannity. I think in this case its a little bit different, although I dont know why he was there with a loaded gun and this other incident raises questions I will ask you about in a minute here. But people seem to be upset over the term domestic terrorism. Why do you believe that is appropriate? Because you used it in both cases. Noem said that the FBI was still gathering information. We will continue to get to the truth of all of this, she said. Watch above via Fox News. The post Noem Attempts Damage Control on Fox News, Where Hannity Asks, Any Lessons To Be Learned? first appeared on Mediaite. A New London Superior Court jury has found a Norwich man guilty of murdering a woman from the city in 2022. Twenty-five-year-old Atlantik Balidemaj was convicted on Friday of both murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm, according to a report from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. The four-week trial stemmed from the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Norwich resident Jashira Pagain in a cul-de-sac near her home on West Thames Street in the early morning hours of Nov. 5, 2022. Advertisement Advertisement RELATED: Norwich man arrested for shooting death that stemmed from argument: Police Balidemaj was found to have killed Pagan after the two engaged in a heated argument. During trial, prosecutors showed surveillance footage of Balidemaj leaving the scene of the shooting. They also noted that Balidemaj gave police several contradictory statements and falsehoods when interviewed. Sign up for the FOX61 newsletters: Morning Forecast, Morning Headlines, Evening Headlines Balidemaj faces a maximum prison sentence of 60 years and three months when he is sentenced in New London Superior Court on May 20. Advertisement Advertisement States Attorney Paul Narducci shared his condolences with Pagans family and hopes this development offers them some closure. RELATED: Arrest made in Norwich fatal stabbing We hope that this verdict brings them some peace after the suffering they have endured, Narducci said. We want to thank the Norwich Police Department, the Town of Groton Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Division of Scientific Services and the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Narducci described their assistance as being invaluable. ---- Dalton Zbierski is a story desk editor and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com. Advertisement Advertisement ---- Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com. ---- HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS Download the FOX61 News APP iTunes: Click here to download Google Play: Click here to download Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61. Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search FOX61 and click Get to download. FOLLOW US ON X, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM ALBANY - Attorneys for New York Attorney General Letitia James are opposing the U.S. Justice Department's request for a stay pending the outcome of its appeal of a judge's decision invalidating two grand jury subpoenas that had been served on the state attorney general's office last summer. The Jan. 6 order from U.S. District Senior Judge Lorna G. Schofield had also determined that acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III had been unlawfully appointed to his position by U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Attorney's Office in Albany contends Schofield got it wrong, although federal courts in California, Nevada, Virginia and New Jersey have reached similar conclusions in invalidating the appointments of acting U.S. attorneys. In a response filed late Friday, the state attorney general's office asserted that the motion submitted last week by federal prosecutors in Albany is no more than a "rehashing of arguments that have already been soundly rejected by multiple courts (and they) cannot establish a likelihood of success on the merits or a serious question of law." "Second, DOJ's generalized appeals to the separation of powers come nowhere close to establishing that DOJ will be irreparably harmed absent a stay," they wrote. "Third, DOJ entirely ignores the grave harm that would be inflicted on (the attorney general's office), and on the state of New York, by allowing John Sarcone to resume his politically motivated criminal investigations to further President (Donald J.) Trump's campaign of retribution against his political opponents - especially when the administration has brazenly continued that campaign against N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James and her office even after this court issued its order." Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard D. Bellis wrote a letter to the judge in January saying their office "adheres to the position that Mr. Sarcone is validly serving as acting U.S. Attorney and is authorized to supervise the subject investigations and the U.S. Attorney's Office generally pursuant to an express delegation of such authority by the attorney general." Advertisement Advertisement Bellis added that the "government respectfully disagrees with the court's decision to the contrary and submits that the government has a strong likelihood of success on appeal. At the very least, this case presents 'serious questions' about separation of powers, the scope of the (Federal Vacancies Reform Act), the attorney general's authority to delegate her authority to supervise criminal prosecutions on behalf of the United States, and the validity of grand jury subpoenas - all legal questions that will be reviewed on appeal." The judge had ruled that Sarcone is "not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney." Schofield's 24-page ruling also invalidated two subpoenas that were issued as part of a federal grand jury investigation into whether James may have violated federal statutes by pursuing politically motivated lawsuits against the National Rifle Association and Trump. The ruling has raised questions about whether Sarcone will be able to continue serving as acting U.S. attorney in Albany. Advertisement Advertisement "U.S. attorneys must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate," Schofield wrote in her recent ruling. "When a vacancy arises, federal law provides limited alternatives to fill the position temporarily. None authorized Mr. Sarcone to serve as acting U.S. attorney when he relied on the authority of the office to request the subpoenas." The decision does not mean that the federal grand jury investigation of James' office will not go forward. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Albany previously noted it could simply reissue new subpoenas that are not signed solely by Sarcone. The Times Union first reported in December that federal prosecutors in Albany had started adding the name of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to criminal court filings in what appeared to be a preemptive move in anticipation of Schofield potentially disqualifying Sarcone from his position - or at least invalidating court records and applications filed with his signature line. The addition of the name of Bondi's second-in-command to plea agreements and other court documents began days after attorneys for the Justice Department and the state attorney general's office argued on Dec. 4 in front of Schofield over whether Sarcone had been lawfully appointed. Although Sarcone's name is still listed on many of the office's court records, including criminal case filings, the addition of Blanche's name is apparently being done to ensure that the documents won't later be determined invalid. Advertisement Advertisement Bondi appointed Sarcone as a "special attorney to the United States attorney general" in July after a panel of judges in New York's Northern District declined to appoint him - or anyone else - to the position. Their decision came after his 120-day maximum period for serving as the district's interim U.S. attorney was set to expire. That move by Bondi was intended to allow Sarcone, who was subsequently appointed first assistant U.S. attorney, to become the acting U.S. attorney for the district due to the vacancy. But under "the federal government's interpretation, the attorney general can use the (Federal Vacancies Reform Act) to install anyone as acting U.S. attorney for up to 210 days simply by designating that person as first assistant," Schofield wrote. "Carried to its logical extreme, such a reading would allow the attorney general to install repeatedly the same or different people as first assistant each time an interim U.S. attorney's term expires - keeping the office continuously filled without Senate confirmation." The 210-day limit for Sarcone to serve as acting U.S. attorney is set to expire in February. It's unclear whether Bondi will try to extend that deadline or move Sarcone to a different position. Advertisement Advertisement The attorney general's office, in its opposition papers submitted Friday, urged Schofield to reject the Justice Department's request for a stay. Their opposition memo said "the public record leaves no doubt that these grand jury subpoenas were motivated by retaliation for (the attorney general's) good-faith efforts to enforce the law against Mr. Trump, as a private citizen, and his allies. And the subpoenas unreasonably interfered with the state of New York's sovereignty and infringed on (the attorney general's) First Amendment rights." This article originally published at NY attorney general opposes stay of ruling invalidating Sarcone appointment. Road rage is on the rise in Ohio, with new data from the Ohio State Highway Patrol showing an increase since 2021. Road rage incidents statewide have seen an increase of up to 13% as a whole over the last five years, according to our CBS news affiliate, WOIO. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Each year, Ohio sees an average of 2,307 road rage incidents. Sergeant Jeremy Kindler, the Public Information Officer for the Ohio State Highway Patrol, said there could be even more incidents that havent been reported. Road rage continues to be an upward trend. Its important that those statistics are reported to the highway patrol. Local agencies may also be getting these calls, said Kindler. Many cases of road rage go unreported or lack the evidence to be considered a road rage case. The trooper gets the call, we respond to the area, and theres no one there anymore, Sergeant Kindler said. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] OREM, Utah (ABC4) Orem Police Department (OPD) is investigating a fatal collision involving an adult male who was struck by a vehicle. According to OPD, they responded to the area of 700 North State Street around 7:30 p.m. for calls of an accident. A 46-year-old man was reportedly crossing the street and was hit by a vehicle. The driver of the vehicle stopped and called emergency services, who transported the pedestrian to a local hospital. Unfortunately, he died as a result of his injuries. Advertisement Advertisement How to make ABC4 your preferred news source on Google The Orem Police Major Accident Investigation Team was called out to conduct an investigation and closed the roadway during that investigation. Reportedly, OPD does not believe alcohol or other substances were factors in the crash at this time. Additionally, the driver is reportedly fully cooperating with the investigation at this time. OPD is not disclosing the driver or the pedestrians identities at this time and say this is an active investigation. They did state, The Orem Police Department extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased during this difficult time. Latest headlines: Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Colombia abruptly agreed to accept US deportation flights on Friday, an olive branch days before the countries' dueling presidents meet face-to-face for the first time, at the White House. One is an alleged "racist" and "authoritarian," the other a "low rated" "drug leader" who should "watch his ass." After months of trading insults from their very active social media accounts, presidents Donald Trump and Gustavo Petro will hold an unlikely summit in Washington on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Trump and Petro come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, and have sparred over everything from Israeli operations in Gaza to jailed migrants to Venezuela. Petro will have a US visa ban suspended for the visit -- which comes after months of US sanctions, funding cuts and threats to bomb targets in Colombia. That the meeting is happening is a sign of improved relations, but in Bogota there is deep nervousness about what might happen. The Colombian leader is an ardent leftist, an ex-guerrilla and prone to long monologues laden with references to history and mythology. Trump rarely likes to share the spotlight and has admitted to having a short attention span. Advertisement Advertisement Diplomats joke darkly about Petro being "Zelenskyed" -- receiving an Oval Office dressing down like the Ukrainian president. "Both Trump and Petro are volatile," said Felipe Botero, a political expert at the University of the Andes. "The meeting could easily go off the rails." - 'It will work out' - The meeting is likely to focus on drugs: Colombia is the world's biggest producer of cocaine, and the United States by far its largest consumer. For decades, Colombia has been Washington's closest partner in Latin America, with billions of dollars flowing to Bogota to boost the country's military and intelligence services in the drug fight. Advertisement Advertisement But under Petro, coca production and cocaine exports have surged. Critics blame the end of eradication programs and his policy of negotiating with an alphabet soup of drug-running guerrillas, cartels and paramilitaries who still control swaths of the country. A January 7 phone call appears to have been a turning point between the two leaders. "I appreciated his call and tone," Trump said after the call. "I am sure it will work out very well for Colombia and the USA." Petro leaves office later this year, but for Colombia, the stakes are huge: hundreds of millions of dollars a year in military and other aid and the country's most important trading relationship. Advertisement Advertisement Ahead of the meeting, Petro took steps to please Washington, announcing the resumption of migrant deportation flights to Colombia, the original trigger of the PetroTrump conflict. There will be 20 flights, averaging "one a week," according to Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio. Colombia will also restart glyphosate fumigation to destroy coca crops, a practice halted since 2015 and strongly opposed by Petro as a senator. The government says Petro also agreed with Trump to act jointly against the ELN -- Colombia's largest guerrilla group -- near the Venezuela border, after failed peace talks. Advertisement Advertisement The visit comes before Colombia's May elections, where left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda leads polls to succeed Petro. Cepeda recently accused the United States of trying to "influence" the election. das-arb/acb "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Heres what youll learn when you read this story: While most estimates place the current human population at around 8.2 billion, a study suggests we might be vastly underrepresenting rural areas. By analyzing 300 rural dam projects across 35 countries, researchers from Aalto University in Finland found discrepancies among these independent population counts and other population data gathered between 1975 and 2010. Such underreporting could have consequences in terms of resource allocation within a country, but other experts remain skeptical that decades of population counting could be off by such a wide margin. Homo sapiens is the most successful mammalian species in Earth history, and its not even close. The species thrives on nearly every continent, in a variety of adverse conditions, and outnumbers the second-place contenderthe rat by at least a cool billion . However, a new study suggests that the impressive nature of humanitys proliferation may have been vastly underreported. Advertisement Advertisement Most estimates place Earths human population at around 8.2 billion, but Josias Lang-Rittera postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University in Finland and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Communicationsclaims that these estimates could be underrepresenting rural areas by a significant margin. We were surprised to find that the actual population living in rural areas is much higher than the global population data indicatesdepending on the dataset, rural populations have been underestimated by between 53 percent to 84 percent over the period studied, Lang-Ritter said in a press statement. The results are remarkable, as these datasets have been used in thousands of studies and extensively support decision-making, yet their accuracy has not been systematically evaluated. How exactly do you test the accuracy of global datasets used to derive population totals in the first place? Well, with a background in water resource management, Lang-Ritter looked at a different kind of population data gathered from rural dam projects300 such projects across 35 countries, to be precise. This data focused on the years 1975 to 2010, and these population tallies provided a significant dataset to check against other population totals calculated by organizations like WorldPop, GWP, GRUMP, LandScan, and GHS-POP (which were also analyzed in this study). When dams are built, large areas are flooded and people need to be relocated, Lang-Ritter said in a press statement. The relocated population is usually counted precisely because dam companies pay compensation to those affected. Unlike global population datasets, such local impact statements provide comprehensive, on-the-ground population counts that are not skewed by administrative boundaries. We then combined these with spatial information from satellite imagery. Advertisement Advertisement Part of this discrepancy likely stems from the fact that many countries dont have the resources for precise data collection, and difficulty traveling to far flung rural areas only exacerbates census-counting discrepancies. A widespread underrepresentation of rural populations across the world could have profound impacts on those communities, as censuses are central to figuring out how to divvy up resources. However, not everyone is convinced by this research. Stuart Gietel-Basten from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology told New Scientist that while increased investment in rural population data collection would be beneficial, the idea that Earth could contain a few billion more human inhabitants that we thought is extremely unlikely. If we really are undercounting by that massive amount, its a massive news story and goes against all the years of thousands of other datasets. When trying to count such a massive population, a few hundred or maybe even a few thousand may slip through the cracks. But a few million or even billion would upend our understanding of human occupation on this planet. Scientists will need a bit more evidence before rethinking decades of dataset research. You Might Also Like Firefighters work the scene of an explosion at Horizon Biofuels in Fremont, following the explosion on July 29, 2025. (Fred Knapp/Nebraska Public Media News) LINCOLN The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Friday it had fined Horizon Biofuels, a wood refining facility in Fremont that exploded in July, killing a worker and his two preteen daughters. OSHA would not immediately disclose the amount of the fine or its exact reason for citing the facility. OSHA has six months to cite a facility following an incident, the agency confirmed. Advertisement Advertisement That six-month anniversary was Thursday. Despite OSHA closing its case, at least two other agencies still have open investigations. In September, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board found the incident to be preventable, in a preliminary report. This terrible tragedy should not have happened, CSB Chair Steve Owens said in a release. Preliminary evidence points to a combustible wood dust explosion, a well-known and completely avoidable hazard in wood processing. The board also discovered the worker, 32-year-old Dylan Danielson, initially survived the explosion. Danielson was trapped and able to call his wife and the plant manager working from home. The resulting fire and possible collapse of the facility prevented neighboring workers and emergency personnel from immediately entering. Advertisement Advertisement Nebraska State Fire Marshal Doug Hohbein said his office was on site the day of the explosion and in the days after but hasnt been back since. At this point, the investigation is still open, ongoing, Hohbein said. Were limited to what we can do there because of the structural instability of the building, to do anything more than enter the exterior part. The fire marshals investigative division is in standby mode, Hohbein said. Its not unusual for investigations to be open for multiple years, he said. As far as any inspection prior to the incident, Hohbein said his office only inspects new buildings, plus businesses that require a license, such as hospitals, nursing homes, daycares and places with liquor licenses. Inspections of other enterprises would need to be initiated by a complaint. The Nebraska Department of Water, Environment and Energy had investigated a dust complaint last February after being contacted by a surrounding business. Dust covered vehicles parked outside of Horizon Biofuels, the report found. Advertisement Advertisement The department did not hear back from Horizon on measures to correct the dust buildup, NDWEE said in August. Former OSHA compliance officer and assistant regional administrator John Newquist said he used to receive reports from state agencies frequently. He said the administration has a combustible dust emphasis program. A state Water, Environment and Energy spokesperson said it didnt report the issue to OSHA, because the plant wasnt operational at the time of its investigation, and the department only looks into issues with outside air, not indoor. Many state agencies are unaware of the dust program through OSHA, Newquist said. Advertisement Advertisement I dont know if its leniency, its more ignorance, Newquist said. From my experience, they dont know that OSHA investigates combustible dust, so therefore they never think about even making a call to OSHA. The fire marshals office was also not aware of the dust complaint, Hohbein said. Examining communication and reporting procedures between agencies wouldnt be off the table for the fire marshal. If there are improvements to be made, thats certainly something we can look at and are not opposed to at all, Hohbein said. In an interview with Nebraska Public Media News last year, State Sen. Dave Wordekemper of Fremont said he hopes facilities will better monitor their housekeeping following the tragedy at Horizon, which killed Danielson and his 8- and 12-year-old daughters, who were at the plant waiting for their dad to get off work to take them to a medical appointment. Advertisement Advertisement Its an unfortunate situation, and you feel for the families and everything, and you hate to have a tragedy like that happen, Wordekemper said, but maybe its a sign (to) other people to be aware of the situation. The former firefighter stopped short of saying new laws would be introduced as a result of the explosion. I dont know at this point if there needs to be any legislative changes, Wordekemper said. Industrial facilities have to decide how they want to run their business, he said. Thats their choice. You can have all the regulations you want and all the state statutes you want, but its up to the individual to do what he sees fit to mitigate any hazards, the state senator said. Advertisement Advertisement On Thursday, Nebraska Public Media News reached out to the senators office to see if anything changed. A staff member said there were no updates. National legislation was proposed to be more strict on combustible dust, Newquist said. Unfortunately, it didnt happen because of the politics of trying to get in a new OSHA regulation, he said. It takes years, and Congress does not usually like new OSHA regulations. Those types of regulations are often seen as big cost burdens on small businesses, Newquist said. He added that many members of the public hope agencies can perform hazard and safety checks periodically, but the resources arent there in smaller communities. Advertisement Advertisement At least one other plant in Fremont struggled to keep dust under control. In 2022, a local Archer Daniels Midland facility caught fire, due to grain dust buildup. Newquist said 99% of industrial facilities dont have cleaning or housekeeping issues. He strongly believed any citation would be a housekeeping violation. Just on my history of dealing with wood dust, its everywhere, and thats on them, Newquist said. I mean, they have a responsibility to do basic housekeeping, not have this place so filled with wood dust that it blows up the facility and kills three people. Newquist said a housekeeping citation could be up to $16,000. Its unlikely the local fire department or fire marshal would issue a citation, since OSHA holds jurisdiction over worker safety issues, he said. Advertisement Advertisement And then theres issues of, is there going to be outside litigation or not? Newquist said. Since its a worker-related injury, usually not, but because we have the two daughters die, there could be litigation. Based on his experience with workplace incidents, a court case would likely be civil, not criminal. Shortly after the explosion, Horizon Biofuels general manager Chad Shoeneck expressed his grief toward the tragedy and said hes committed to a complete investigation. He told Nebraska Public Media News this month he wouldnt comment further. NPM editors note: Nick Loomis contributed to this story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The owner of a Wichita accounting business, who previously faced scrutiny for her business practices, has now been charged in federal court with 50 crimes, including using her clients money for concert tickets, travel, landscaping, and credit card payments, court records show. Nicole Clem, the owner of Bookkeeping N Beyond, was charged Wednesday with 19 counts of wire fraud, 21 counts of failure to pay employment taxes, seven counts of money laundering and three counts of aggravated identity theft, federal court records show. The business is located at 10333 E. 21st in north Wichita. A message left at the business on Friday was not returned. The business was formed in 2017, but was no longer registered in Kansas as of July 15, 2025, after the necessary paperwork was not filed, according to the Kansas secretary of states website. Advertisement Advertisement For each count of wire fraud, the 42-year-old Augusta woman faces up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. Each of the other counts carries between two and 10 years in prison and fines between $10,000 to $250,0000. Clem is accused of failing to make over $1.5 million in tax payments on behalf of her clients, the documents allege, according to the U.S. District Attorneys Office in Kansas. Here is what court documents say are personal expenses Clem paid with client money meant for taxes: $11,147.50 to the Plastic Surgery Center in October 2022 $39,000 to Something White Bridal in April 2021 More than $15,000 each to Chase Credit Card and Discover in February 2023 $21,900 to Wichita Wind Surge in March 2022 and $15,000 in July 2023 About $27,500 to Commerce Construction in February 2021 Advertisement Advertisement The court documents also allege Clem, after having her electronic filing number revoked, started using her employees number to file more than 300 1040s and more than 30 business tax returns. That happened between October and November 2022. That number is assigned to workers who prepare and file tax information for others. In December 2023, Clem agreed to pay $120,000 in penalties and other fees after delaying or not filing taxes for at least 16 customers, court records show. Court records do not show if any or all of that money has been paid. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchand Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar on Saturday congratulated on taking oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. In a post on X, Rohit Pawar said, "I am delighted that Hon. Sunetrabai has taken the oath as the state's first female Deputy Chief Minister. Truth be told, no one can truly take Hon. Ajitdada's place, but at least in the form of Sunetrabai, we can see Ajitdada there somehow!" "With a mountain of grief weighing on our heads and all of us immersed in mourning, we don't even know how to offer them congratulations!" he added. https://x.com/RRPSpeaks/status/2017571950705709179?s=20 Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami also congratulated Sunetra Pawar, expressing confidence that she will take Maharashtra's development journey to new heights. "Sunetra Pawar, hearty congratulations and best wishes on taking the oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Certainly, under the guidance of the esteemed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the able leadership of the honourable Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, you will take Maharashtra's development journey to new heights," Dhami said. https://x.com/pushkardhami/status/2017577531172659544?s=20 Sunetra Pawar, who was chosen as the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party today after the tragic demise of her husband Ajit Pawar, took oath as the state's Deputy CM at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai amid chants of 'Ajit dada amar rahe'. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. She stepped into fill the post that became vacant following the tragic demise of NCP chief Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28 in Baramati. With this, Sunetra Pawar becomes the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Chandrashekhar Bawankule, State President of NCP, Sunil Tatkare and NCP Working President Praful Patel, and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal were also present at the swearing-in ceremony. Sunetra Pawar is known for her work in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. As a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, she has emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress. Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday when a chartered plane carrying him crashed-landed in Baramati. Among the deceased were his personal security officer, a flight attendant, and two pilots. (ANI) PANAMA CITY (AP) Panama's president moved to assure the public on Friday that critical ports at both ends of the Panama Canal will continue to operate without interruption a day after the countrys Supreme Court ruled that the concession held by a subsidiary of Hong Kongs CK Hutchison Holdings was unconstitutional. The court's decision late Thursday advances a U.S. aim to block any influence by China over the strategic waterway and immediately drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said that until the court's ruling is executed a period of time he did not specify Panama's Maritime Authority would work with Panama Ports Company, the CK Hutchison subsidiary, to ensure continuing operations at the port. Advertisement Advertisement Once the concession is formally ended, a local subsidiary of Danish logistics company A.P. Moller-Maersk will operate the ports in a transitional phase until a new concession can be bid and awarded, Mulino said. Panama moves forward, its ports will continue operating without interruption and we will continue serving the world at the logistics center of excellence that we are, Mulino said in a recorded video address. The courts ruling followed an audit by Panamas comptroller, which alleged irregularities in the 25-year extension of the concession, granted in 2021. The Trump administration made blocking Chinas influence over the Panama Canal one of its priorities in the hemisphere. Panama was U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubios first overseas stop as the United States top diplomat. On Friday, Rubio said on X that the United States is encouraged by the recent Panamanian Supreme Courts decision to rule port concessions to China unconstitutional. Advertisement Advertisement Despite the insistence by Panamas government and the canal authority that China has no influence over its operations, Rubio made clear that the U.S. viewed the operation of the ports as a national security issue. U.S. President Donald Trump had gone so far as to say Panama should return the canal to U.S. control. The courts brief statement gave no guidance on what would happen to the ports now. The ruling draws backlash from Hong Kong CK Hutchisons subsidiary, Panama Ports Company, said it has not been notified yet about the decision but insisted its concession was the result of transparent international bidding. Advertisement Advertisement It said in its statement that the ruling lacks legal basis and jeopardizes not only PPC and its contract, but also the well-being and stability of thousands of Panamanian families who depend directly and indirectly on port activity, but also the rule of law and legal certainty in the country. It said that it reserves all rights to proceed legally in Panama or elsewhere, but gave no more details. The Hong Kong government firmly rejected the ruling in a statement, saying it strongly opposes any foreign government using coercive, repressive or other unreasonable means to seriously harm the business interests of Hong Kong enterprises. It said the Panamanian government should respect the spirit of contracts and provide a fair business environment. Given the current situation in Panama, Hong Kong enterprises should carefully review their existing and future investments there," it said. Advertisement Advertisement In Beijing, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, told reporters that China would take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese company, without elaborating on the potential steps. Political analyst Edwin Cabrera said once the parties are notified, the issue of what to do with the ports goes to Panamas executive branch, specifically the Panama Maritime Authority. I have the impression from conversations that I have had with some people that the operation (of the ports) will not stop, Cabrera said. A sale deal that apparently angered Beijing Advertisement Advertisement CK Hutchison Holdings announced a deal last year to sell its majority stake in the Panamanian ports and others around the world to an international consortium that included BlackRock Inc. But the deal appeared to stall over objections by the Chinese government. The company said last July that it was considering seeking a Chinese investor to join as a significant member of the consortium, a move that some interpreted as way to please Beijing, but CK Hutchison hasn't said more since. The awkward position the company found itself in highlights the challenges Hong Kong business elites face in navigating Beijings expectations of national loyalty, especially when relations between China and the United States are strained. CK Hutchison is owned by the family of Hong Kongs richest man, Li Ka-shing. Last year, Panamas comptroller audited the concession to the Panama Ports Company, which had held the contract to operate the ports since 1997. The concession was renewed in 2021 for 25 years, during the prior Panamanian administration. Advertisement Advertisement Comptroller Anel Flores said the audit found payments that were not made, accounting errors and the apparent existence of ghost concessions operating within the ports since 2015. The company denied those allegations. The audit determined that the irregularities had cost the government about $300 million since the concession was extended and an estimated $1.2 billion during the original 25-year contract. Flores also said the extension was granted without the required endorsement of his office. On July 30, the comptroller challenged the Panama Ports Companys contract to operate the ports before the Supreme Court. ___ Associated Press writer Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report. Pennsylvania stargazers can soon see a full snow moon peak, along with a planetary parade later in February. Februarys full moon is called the snow moon because the month can be the snowiest of the year across the U.S., according to the popular Old Farmers Almanac. This January has proven particularly snowy in Pennsylvania and across several states, however. State College received 13.1 inches of snow from Winter Storm Fern, along with extremely cold temperatures. Other names for Februarys full moon include the bald eagle moon, black bear moon, raccoon moon, groundhog moon and more. Advertisement Advertisement Full moons have multiple names, and many come from Indigenous cultures. The Old Farmers Almanac uses Indigenous moon names, along with monikers from colonial America and other North American sources. The snow moon will peak at 5:09 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Sunday, Feb. 1, according to astronomy publication Space.com. Since the moons peak will take place before sunset, you may get a better view later that evening. The sun will set over State College at 5:29 p.m. Sunday, online clock Time and Date reports. State College stargazers can expect mostly clear skies Sunday night, according to the National Weather Services forecast, although it will be cold, with a low around 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Longer days are coming to central Pennsylvania soon as daylight saving time approaches, although some lawmakers have advocated for stopping the practice. By the end of February, State College will see the sun set at 6:01 p.m., with sunsets reaching 7:35 p.m. by the end of March. Along with the upcoming snow moon, Pennsylvania stargazers can look forward to a planetary parade Saturday, Feb. 28, which NASA describes as one of the top astronomical events happening this year. Advertisement Advertisement The astronomical event will feature six planets in the evening sky, with Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter appearing shortly after sunset, according to NASA. Youll need a telescope to see Uranus and Neptune, but the other four planets should be visible to the naked eye, weather-permitting. Full moons in 2026 After the snow moon, stargazers will have 11 more opportunities to see a full moon this year. Heres when to look, from Astronomy.com: TOMS RIVER - An Ocean County grand jury has charged a Pennsylvania woman with aggravated arson, accusing her of deliberately setting a fire in Surf City that injured a firefighter, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. In addition to aggravated arson, the indictment the grand jury handed up on Jan. 28 also charges the defendant, Juliette Tournier, 30, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, with eluding Ship Bottom police, Billhimer said. The incidents contained in the indictment both took place on Feb. 19, 2025, according to a news release issued by Billhimer. Advertisement Advertisement About 8:40 p.m. that day, Surf City police and firefighters were dispatched to a fire at a house on North Central Avenue, the release said. During efforts to extinguish the blaze, a firefighter suffered injuries for which he was transported to Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford Township, the news release said. The firefighter was treated for his injuries at the medical center and subsequently released. An investigation of the fire by the arson squad of the prosecutor's major crimes unit, the Ocean County Sheriff's crime scene investigation unit, Surf City police and the Ocean County Fire Marshal's Office revealed two separate areas of origin of the fire - one upstairs and one downstairs. Detectives determined the fires at both locations were incendiary, started by someone introducing an open flame to ignitable liquids, the news release said. Advertisement Advertisement As the fire was under investigation, detectives learned that Ship Bottom police tried to stop a vehicle about 8:20 p.m. the same day on westbound Route 72. The driver of that vehicle, a Honda HRV, initially pulled over in an unsafe location and was asked to drive over the bridge and pull over in a safe area, according to the news release. When the officer attempted to safely stop the vehicle up the road, the vehicle sped off, the release said. The police officer ended the pursuit of the vehicle for safety reasons. Subsequent investigation revealed the license plate on the fleeing vehicle had been stolen from a similar Honda in Cherry Hill, according to the news release. Tournier was identified as the person who allegedly stole that license plate, the release said. She was charged on Feb. 20, 2025, with eluding police and receiving stolen property, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. The continuing investigation revealed she set the fires at the Surf City residence, the prosecutor alleged. Police charged her with aggravated arson on Feb. 25, 2025, and she surrendered herself to Surf City police the following day. Advertisement Advertisement Tournier was taken to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River, but subsequently released under bail reform to await trial. Senior Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Kate Burke presented the case to the grand jury. Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Surf City arson leads to indictment against Pennsylvania woman Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says President Donald Trump and his administration are on the back foot following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, highlighting some very rare signs during an appearance Wednesday on MS NOW. Buttigieg joined The Briefing with Jen Psaki to discuss the administrations disastrous response to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Minnesota shooting Pretti on Jan. 24, including White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller calling him a would-be assassin on social media. Politics: Veteran Senator Destroys JD Vance After He Compares Her To Forrest Gump Pretti, who was shown in eyewitness videos filming an altercation involving federal agents 11 days before his death, was wrestled to the ground, disarmed and fatally shot. Psaki noted that Vice President JD Vance has been largely silent on the issue since the incident. Advertisement Advertisement She then asked what Buttigieg hopes people might learn about who the vice president is. I think the Trump administration is so far on the back foot that youre seeing two things that are very rare: Donald Trump backing down and JD Vance shutting up, he said. When you see those two things happening at the same time, clearly something big is afoot. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota were directed Wednesday to stop engaging with so-called agitators, marking a potential departure from the behavior that has fueled fraught tensions between federal agents and local protesters. Pretti died mere weeks after an ICE officer, identified as Jonathan Ross, shot Renee Good. The 37-year-old Minneapolis woman was trying to turn and move her SUV on a street with ICE officers on it, and as she was appearing to leave, three shots were fired through both the drivers window and windshield, according to videos from witnesses. Advertisement Advertisement Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem baselessly claimed after both incidents that Good and Pretti were committing domestic terrorism before they were shot. Vance called Goods death a tragedy of her own making for supposedly engaging in classic terrorism. Buttigieg said Wednesday that Vance has repeatedly revealed himself as a political opportunist willing to say anything, do anything and embrace any narrative that might be advantageous in the moment as he wants to be the heir to MAGA when Trump is gone. Politics: FBI Raid In Georgia Highlights Trump's 2020 Election Obsession Buttigieg argued that Prettis death, however, has turned out not to be one such opportunity. Advertisement Advertisement But this is something that even he cant defend, at least not without knowing that it will undermine his chance of ever being taken seriously by anyone outside that bubble in the future, he told Psaki. So I think it is telling that hes gone uncharacteristically silent. Watch the full Briefing conversation with Buttigieg on his official YouTube account. Related... Read the original on HuffPost The city of Philadelphia is seeking a preliminary injunction to restore interpretive panels at the President's House, arguing it has a legal right to be involved in decisions about the historic site. In court Friday, attorneys for the federal government countered that they control the property and acted within their authority. The lawsuit centers on the Trump administration's removal of panels that told the stories of nine people enslaved by President George Washington at the site. City officials say the administration lacked the authority to take them down. READ MORE | Group launches 30day campaign to restore slavery exhibit at President's House According to the city's complaint, the panels were removed under an executive order directing the elimination of displays considered "disparaging" of America's history. People visit the President's House: Freedom and Slavery in Making a New Nation exhibit in the historic district of Philadelphia, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010. (AP Photo) Chief Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett Harley said the case carries deep significance for Philadelphia. Advertisement Advertisement "I'm actually here because this case matters. It matters to us tremendously, it matters to the city, and it matters to the people in the city because our history must live on," she said. Three witnesses testified for the city, including two people who served as chief of staff under former mayors Michael Nutter and John Street. SEE ALSO | Philadelphia sues over removal of memorial honoring people enslaved by George Washington Philly sues over removal of slavery exhibits at President's House The city argues that the removal violated a 2006 cooperative agreement requiring collaboration between the city and the federal government on any changes to the site. Government attorneys responded that the agreement expired in 2010. Advertisement Advertisement "Ultimately, the National Park Service is the decision maker when it comes to what it displays and places on its property," a government lawyer said in court. City officials also argued that Philadelphia invested millions of dollars into the site and that removing the panels causes "irreparable harm." City Solicitor Renee Garcia said the city wants the panels restored and fears additional changes may be coming. "I want to be very clear that we want those panels back up, but we also do not want anything else to come down," she said. "As you saw in the declaration, that the United States before, they were planning on taking more down." Advertisement Advertisement Government attorneys argued the case belongs in a court of federal claims and maintained that the Trump administration has the right to change displays at national parks. The judge pushed back, saying such a position "creates a dangerous precedent." "It's frightening to think that the citizenry would not be involved in such an important change," the judge said. The hearing ended with tense exchanges as the judge pressed government attorneys to confirm that no further changes to the President's House are planned. She said that if they cannot provide that assurance, she will issue an order preventing additional removals until she rules on the injunction. A decision could come early next week. City police attempting to arrest a Scranton man after he stole food from a supermarket Jan. 26 were met by an uncooperative suspect who tried to retreat back into his house, according to a criminal complaint. Because it was his third retail theft offense, John Sweeney, 41, of 1029 Oak St., was charged with a felony, police said. According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to Gerritys on North Keyser Avenue for the report of retail theft. Advertisement Advertisement Dispatchers informed officers a man, later identified as Sweeney, fled and headed toward Oak Street, but they could not find him. A manager at the store told officers Sweeney was caught on camera hiding three hoagies under his coat. Supermarket staff provided officers with Sweeneys address gleaned from the customer loyalty card he used but not his name. Officers were able to identify Sweeney through his address at 1029 Oak St. As police were en route, dispatchers informed them Sweeney had a warrant out for his arrest. When Sweeney answered the door, police informed him they were there to take him into custody on the warrant. Advertisement Advertisement I aint going nowhere with you guys, Sweeney said, and attempted to retreat inside his residence, according to police. When officers attempted to put Sweeney in handcuffs, he resisted and refused to put his hands behind his back. But he was eventually placed in handcuffs. Sweeney also faces misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He remains at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $1,500 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Feb. 3 before District Judge Paul Ware. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Emergency power cuts swept across several Ukrainian cities as well as neighboring Moldova on Saturday, officials said, amid a commitment from the Kremlin to U.S. President Donald Trump to pause strikes on Kyiv as Ukraine battles one of its bleakest winters in years. Ukraines Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the outages had been caused by a technical malfunction affecting power lines linking Ukraine and Moldova. The failure caused a cascading outage in Ukraines power grid, triggering automatic protection systems, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Blackouts were reported in Kyiv, as well as Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions, in the center and northeast of the country respectively. The outage cut water supplies to the Ukrainian capital, officials said, while the citys subway system was temporarily suspended because of low voltage on the network. Moldova also experienced major power outages, including in the capital Chisinau, officials said. Due to the loss of power lines on the territory of Ukraine, the automatic protection system was triggered, which disconnected the electricity supply, Moldovas Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu said in a post on Facebook. I encourage the population to stay calm until electricity is restored. Weaponizing winter Advertisement Advertisement The large-scale outage followed weeks of Russian strikes against Ukraines already struggling energy grid, which have triggered long stretches of severe power shortages. Moscow has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as weaponizing winter. While Russia has used similar tactics throughout the course of its almost four-year invasion of Ukraine, temperatures throughout this winter have fallen further than usual, bringing widespread hardship to civilians. Forecasters say Ukraine will experience a brutally cold period stretching into next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit), Ukraines State Emergency Service said. Advertisement Advertisement Trump said late Thursday that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a temporary pause in targeting Kyiv and other Ukrainian towns amid the extreme weather. I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold, Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Putin has agreed to that, he said, without elaborating on when the request to the Russian leader was made. The White House didnt immediately respond to a query seeking clarity about the scope and timing of any limited pause. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Trump made a personal request to Putin to stop targeting Kyiv until Sunday in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations. Advertisement Advertisement Talks are expected to take place between U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials on Feb. 1 in Abu Dhabi. The teams previously met in late January in the first known time that officials from the Trump administration simultaneously met with negotiators from both Ukraine and Russia. However, it's unclear how many obstacles to peace remain. Disagreement over what happens to occupied Ukrainian territory, and Moscows demand for possession of territory it hasnt captured, are a key issue holding up a peace deal, Zelenskyy said Thursday. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on social media Saturday that he was in Miami, where talks between Russian and U.S. negotiators have previously taken place. Russian state news agencies later reported that he was meeting with an American delegation but did not provide further details. A pause in strikes Russia struck Ukrainian energy assets in several regions on Thursday but there were no strikes on those facilities overnight, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday. Advertisement Advertisement In a post on social media, Zelenskyy also noted that Russia has turned its attention to targeting Ukrainian logistics networks, and that Russian drones and missiles hit residential areas of Ukraine overnight, as they have most nights during the war. Trump has framed Putins acceptance of the pause in strikes as a concession. But Zelenskyy was skeptical as Russias invasion approaches its fourth anniversary on Feb. 24 with no sign that Moscow is willing to reach a peace settlement despite a U.S.-led push to end the fighting. I do not believe that Russia wants to end the war. There is a great deal of evidence to the contrary, Zelenskyy said Thursday. In the streets of Kyiv Saturday, many Ukrainians shared Zelenskyy's skepticism. Advertisement Advertisement On the banks of the Dnipro River in the northern part of the city, several hundred people gathered to unwind and enjoy a DJ set. The river is frozen solid enough for people to run, dance and ride sleds across its surface. Some have brought their dogs, while others have set up picnics and lit grills. At the same time, their homes remain cold, often without water or electricity. Speaking with The Associated Press, Serhii Kupov, 57, said he did not believe peace could be achieved through negotiations as Russia was "putting forward unrealistic demands. Gathered around a small camping table, Kupov and his friends raised glasses of alcohol and said they were ready to endure the temporary lack of heating in their homes. Albina Sokur, 35, has also been without heating for nearly three weeks. She is the mother of six-year-old Tymur and is originally from Donetsk, a city Russia occupied in 2014 at the start of its military aggression against Ukraine. She says that despite the constant instability, she still tried to live life to the fullest. Sokur said that she hoped peace could be achieved through negotiations, but said she did not believe that she would ever be able to return home. Advertisement Advertisement I think there could just be a freezing of the front line, like it was before 2022 ... It would only give the other side time to build up strength. This needs to be finished once and for all, she said. ____ Associated Press writers Kamila Hrabchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, contributed. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Hundreds gathered outside the Rhode Island State House on Friday afternoon as part of a nationwide resistance effort against the Trump administrations mass immigration enforcement operation. Following the deaths of multiple American citizens at the hands of federal agents, advocates have organized a National Shutdown on Friday, calling for No Business as Usual! No School, No Work, and No Shopping. (Story continues below slideshow.) People march to Rhode Island State House in Providence for anti-ICE protest Jan. 30, 2026 People outside Rhode Island State House in Providence for anti-ICE protest Jan. 30, 2026 People outside Rhode Island State House in Providence for anti-ICE protest Jan. 30, 2026 Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos attends anti-ICE protest in Providence (Barbara Ron/WPRI-TV) Organizers said the entire country is shocked and outraged at the recent killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Illinois, and Keith Porter Jr. in Los Angeles. They urged leaders to vote no and block federal funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Advertisement Advertisement While Trump and other right wing politicians are slandering them as terrorists, the video evidence makes it clear beyond all doubt: they were gunned down in broad daylight simply for exercising their First Amendment right to protest mass deportation, they wrote. Sign posted on front door of Rise n Shine Coffee Bar in Providence Jan. 30, 2026. Every day, ICE, Border Patrol and other enforcers of Trumps racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear, they continued. It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough! This comes one week after a historic general strike in Minnesota. More than 100 organizations, churches, businesses, unions and student groups were expected to participate in the Providence protest. Student groups also organized walkouts to join the demonstration. Advertisement Advertisement We are educated. A lot of people think just because we are youth, because we are young, because we are in school, that we dont know whats going on, we are uneducated, were just coming out here for a field trip, Aneiya Sangster, student organizer at Trinity Academy, told 12 News. This is not a field trip. This is real life. This is democracy. Im scared. You know, I was there at the shooting last semester. I was in Minneapolis and Im seeing our country like falling apart before our eyes, Brown University student Simon Aron said. Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos also attended the protest and believes ICE has gone too far. What we have seen happen in Minneapolis is just too much. I think its time for us to stop this madness, Matos said. The president should honestly dismantle ICE and let the law enforcement do law enforcement and get rid of this masked terror that is coming to our street. Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app. Follow us on social media: Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. PG&E is rushing to bury power lines in rural Napa, an area where wildfire danger is never far from mind. Residents are turning their attention now to the power poles that are left behind that still carry other utilities. Two major players, AT&T and Comcast aren't budging. As you drive up the Mount Veeder area in Napa, you quickly grasp the challenges of undergrounding power lines. Poles here zig-zag to accommodate the winding road. Advertisement Advertisement It's a terrain of green hills that turn dangerously dry in the warmer months. High winds in those conditions could knock down wires, starting a wildfire. PG&E will spend about $3 million per mile to put their power lines in the ground, a distance of 57 miles. Do that math: $171 million. We found a PG&E team explaining their plan to neighbors here, including Daniel McLoughlin. "I think this will significantly reduce the fire risk at least from starting from these wires because they'll be underground, expressed McLoughlin. But McLoughlin's positive attitude has diminished because he's been told those old wooden poles aren't going anywhere even after the work is done. MORE: Undergrounding all utilities in SF is nearly impossible, according to officials: Here's why In wildfires, those poles often come down and end up blocking access to roads for firefighters and evacuees. Advertisement Advertisement "That's what has gotten me a little riled up because it does seem kind of, well... it just seems it's a common sense in a regulatory gap, something is missing in the picture," added McLoughlin. Missing are AT&T and Comcast which share the poles with PG&E but according to McLoughlin, they refuse to underground their wires even though PG&E is already doing much of expensive heavy lifting. "t seems to me it's leaving the job half done. The poles, these are from the 1940s and 50s okay, and so why are we keeping them when there's an opportunity to do much better than that?" he asked. AT&T never responded to our calls and Comcast refused to comment. Advertisement Advertisement The Supervisor representing the area believes it's a matter of funding and coordination by the California PUC. "Would i like it to be done all at once? Absolutely. Do I want people to clean up after they go, take their poles and remove the wires once those telecommunications are underground? Absolutely. So I'm continuing to push for this," assured Liz Alessio, Napa County Supervisor for District 2. This scenario has played out before, in places like Paradise, 90 miles north of Sacramento. We recently visited. MORE: PG&E bills to go down for most customers in the new year: Here's how much The Mayor of Paradise showed us an area where the PG&E, AT&T and Comcast lines are buried. Advertisement Advertisement "It's all underneath right here along where the roadway is," said Mayor Steve Crowder. On November 8, 2018, 90% of the homes and businesses here were leveled by a fire which started 7 miles away in Pulga, by downed power lines due to high winds. Eighty-six people died, some trapped because fallen power poles obstructed their escape route. The poles went down across evacuation routes and actually shut down roads, so if you were heading in that direction, you would have to turn around and find another way out," explained Crowder. The people of Paradise were clear, no more poles. PG&E vowed to underground their lines, but, like in Mount Veeder area, there was resistance from the telecommunications companies, AT&T and Comcast. Advertisement Advertisement "They felt that they had restored their equipment and didn't feel they wanted to invest anymore money to go underground. They believed that PG&E should pay for it," revealed Mayor Crowder. MORE: PG&E working to curb growing number of wildfires started by own equipment Paradise fought back hard and filed a complaint with the California PUC. "With Comcast, the CPUC told them you might think about voluntarily undergrounding because if you don't, there's a good chance we'll rule against you," he added. It took a few years but in the end, the PUC persuaded these companies to do the right thing for the people of Paradise which, back then, had suffered so many loses. Advertisement Advertisement "Population wise we were 26,500 pre-fire, we're now pushing 12,000," said Crowder. Today, Paradise has 21 siren towers throughout the town. "It's been seven years, we figure this is a 20-year project before we are finally rebuilt totally. The people is what made people come back, the community," said Mayor Crowder. Back to Mount Veeder, McLoughlin has reached out to the PUC in hopes of being heard. "Leaving these half-empty poles with 1950s communication lines, if we can't do better than that, then something is wrong, that's all," said McLoughlin. As of this week, PG&E, Comcast and AT&& have been invited to a round table discussion by Supervisor Alessio on how they can all collaborate and make this work. If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live New Hampshire prides itself on our states high living standards and clean air legacy. But we havent maintained our states health and natural beauty by doing nothing. Decades ago, in response to the national Clean Air Act, New Hampshire established a motor vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program to evaluate vehicles and ensure they were not polluting our air, while an Ozone Transport Region (OTR) was created across many states in the Northeast to prevent non-compliant vehicles from contaminating across state lines. These strategies have proven successful, which is why the Legislature's recent decision to repeal these programs through the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) is so troubling. Advertisement Advertisement Motor vehicles are the single largest source of air pollution in New Hampshire, responsible for roughly half of the emissions that form ground-level ozone, which harms human health. Even short-term exposure to ozone is linked to affecting the respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive, and central nervous systems, as well as overall mortality. This can manifest in coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath as well as resulting in asthma attacks, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. The scientific evidence of ozones effects is clear. It exacerbates existing asthma, can contribute to the development of new asthma cases, and harms even the non-respiratory systems of the body. Even worse, the effects of being subjected to ozone are cumulative, meaning that repeated and prolonged exposure only worsens outcomes. Even the current federal ozone standard, 70 parts per billion, isnt exactly safe - with research showing that levels as low as 60 parts per billion resulting in inflamed lungs in healthy adults. The burden of ozone pollution is not shared equally. Children, older adults, pregnant people, outdoor workers, and those living with asthma or other lung conditions are especially at risk. Communities of color and economically disadvantaged populations face high exposure levels coupled with fewer resources to deal with their health consequences. Hotter days amplify these health impacts. To roll back this Clean Air Act program would be to deepen current inequalities and put the most vulnerable among us in harms way. Despite what some may say, the I/M program and our states participation in the OTR are not ineffective, outdated, bureaucratic solutions. They are successful, proven, commonsense tools that have helped reduce harmful emissions and protect New Hampshires public health. The I/M program ensures vehicles on our roads arent excessively polluting, while the OTR exists due to a fundamental reality: air pollution does not obey state boundaries. Coordinated, top-down action is necessary to deal with a problem so widespread and dangerous. Advertisement Advertisement As we face summer after summer of record high temperatures, abandoning the emissions inspection program is a shortsighted conclusion. Climate change and increased ozone formation are already threatening our air, so why are we chasing shortterm convenience over the long-term health of our populace? The Sierra Club urges state legislators to reject the elimination of the emissions inspections and the departure from the Ozone Transport Region. For decades, this program has helped keep our state clean and beautiful, and protecting them is an investment in the health and well-being of all that call the Granite State home. Catherine M. Corkery Catherine Corkery, Chapter Director of Sierra Club New Hampshire. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rolling back emissions testing is bad for New Hampshire air: Corkery Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday launched a sharp attack on Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi, alleging that Congress leaders only "care about illegal Bangladeshi migrants" and not about the interests of indigenous Assamese. Responding to Gogoi's allegations against him, Sarma said, "They only care about illegal Bangladeshi migrants and have no concern for local Assamese people. Thousand Gaurav Gogoi and Rahul Gandhi will be able to do nothing as far as I am concerned. Right now, the situation is very crucial for Assamese people, and it is about their existence in the state." The Chief Minister's remarks come amid an ongoing political row over his recent comments on illegal immigration and the use of the term "Miya Muslims". Earlier today, CM Sarma had defended his remarks, stating that he had not coined the term "Miya Muslims" and that it had been in vogue within the community itself, which had migrated from Bangladesh to refer to themselves. In a post on X, CM Sarma said those attacking him for his remarks on "Miyan" should note the Supreme Court of India's observations on Assam and illegal migration. "Those who are attacking me for my remarks on 'Miyan'--a word used in Assam in the context of Bangladeshi Muslim illegal migration--should pause and read what the Supreme Court of India itself has said about Assam. This is not my language, not my imagination, and not political exaggeration," he said. In his post, the Chief Minister also highlighted the apex court's warning on demographic changes in Assam. "These are the Court's own words: The silent and invidious demographic invasion of Assam may result in the loss of the geostrategically vital districts of lower Assam. The influx of illegal migrants is turning these districts into a Muslim-majority region. It will then only be a matter of time before a demand for their merger with Bangladesh may be made. Loss of lower Assam will sever the entire land mass of the North East from the rest of India, and the rich natural resources of that region will be lost to the Nation." Sarma also said that acknowledging such concerns does not constitute communalism or hatred. Reacting to this, Gogoi accused CM Sarma earlier today of misusing the name of the Supreme Court to justify his remarks, claiming that attributing the language of an executive report to the apex court amounted to contempt of court. "The Chief Minister has become quiet after I raised his contempt of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Of course the rest of the BJP just runs on rhetoric and screenshots. They run the risk of contempt too. When a court cites a report relied on by a party it does not make the language of the report the court's "own words". Attributing it to the Hon'ble Supreme Court is a clear case for contempt," Gogoi wrote on X. (ANI) Russia has lost 880 soldiers killed and wounded over the past day, bringing its total number of personnel losses to 1,239,590. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Details: The total combat losses of the Russian forces between 24 February 2022 and 31 January 2026 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses ed.]: approximately 1,239,590 (+880) military personnel 11,619 (+5) tanks 23,977 (+8) armoured combat vehicles 36,768 (+20) artillery systems 1,632 (+1) multiple-launch rocket systems 1,290 (+1) air defence systems 435 (+0) fixed-wing aircraft 347 (+0) helicopters 119,928 (+694) operational-tactical UAVs 4,205 (+0) cruise missiles 28 (+0) ships/boats 2 (+0) submarines 76,377 (+58) vehicles and fuel tankers 4,054 (+0) special vehicles and other equipment. The information is being confirmed. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! MOSCOW, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Russia is ready to evacuate its staff from Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant if necessary, Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation, was cited as saying on Thursday by the state news agency TASS. President Vladimir Putin said last year that hundreds of Russians were working at the facility, Iran's only operating nuclear power plant, which Moscow built for Iran. More nuclear facilities are currently being built at the Bushehr site by Russia. Advertisement Advertisement A U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities in June last year did not target Bushehr. Likhachev warned at the time that an attack on the site could trigger a catastrophe comparable to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. On Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to come to the table and make a deal renouncing nuclear weapons, or the next U.S. attack would be far worse. Likhachev was quoted as saying: "We sincerely hope that the parties to the conflict will uphold their commitments regarding the inviolability of this territory (Bushehr). "But, as they say, we are keeping our finger on the pulse and, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence, we will be ready to carry out evacuation measures if necessary." Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, and Russia says it supports Tehran's right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Thousands across San Diego County took part in a national shutdown Friday and demanded an end to the recent federal immigration crackdown. Organizers in Minneapolis started the push and called for people to stay home from work and school and avoid shopping to protest recent ICE activity. We are here because Minnesota called and weve answered, said one man at a rally in City Heights. Advertisement Advertisement San Diegans stood in solidarity for a common cause. We are out here rallying as part of the nationwide shutdown in protest of ICE terror, said El Cajon Mayoral candidate Alexander Kraft. Workers, students, activists, and others all flooded the streets to demand ICE out of their neighborhoods. Meanwhile, some organizations and businesses that wanted to take a stand found alternative ways to do so without going on strike. The community was telling us that you know they might need a place to come and really gather strength and have a place of solace and also of just rest, and were a place to do all those things and more, said James Haddan, Senior Director of Development and External Communications for the Museum of Us. Advertisement Advertisement Haddan said rather than close their doors, they welcomed everyone in for free. It just reminds you that were all a part of that larger human story and even on a scale locally thats all part of a national and an international story and a world story, said Haddan. On social media, several other restaurants and shops voiced where they stand and what they did to bring about change. Mujeres Brew House closed for the day on Friday, like many others. However, Park & Rec, San Diego Costumes, Good Omen Coffee, and many others posted that they would donate funds to different organizations. While we completely support the efforts and stand by anybody who decided to participate in the walk-out, we felt that we were in a position to do a little bit to contribute to the solution, said Leonela Martin, Partner and General Manager for Richs San Diego. Advertisement Advertisement Martin said 100% of their Friday night proceeds will go to the ACLU. We just feel like its our responsibility to our community and to our fellow San Diegans, being that we are an immigrant city, so many of our brothers and sisters are being affected by this, said Martin. There were also protests in Coronado, Carlsbad, National City and more. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NEED TO KNOW Omar Padilla Velez died on Jan. 22, three weeks after he was shot during an early morning drive His fiance Kelly Crispin says the shooters at some point sounded like they made a mistake One of the attackers then directed them on how to get out of the neighborhood safely A Pennsylvania couple was met with a horrific fate while on a Caribbean vacation in early January, the surviving fiance says, according to several news outlets. Omar Padilla Velez and Kelly Crispin, of Philadelphia, were visiting family in San Juan, Puerto Rico visiting family when they were attacked, Crispin said, according to the The Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC Philadelphia and FOX 29. Advertisement Advertisement Early in the morning of Jan. 3, the couple, accompanied by a friend in the backseat, were returning to Velez's family's home after dinner at a friend's place, Crispin says, FOX 29 and the Inquirer reported. They then turned onto a side street, initially thinking it led to the highway, Crispin told the Inquirer. That's when about a dozen men carrying AR-15-style rifles surrounded their car. When Padilla Velez tried to drive away, they began shooting. As bullets riddled the car, amid the chaos of glass exploding and pain in her shoulder, Crispin heard Padilla Velez say he'd been shot. He had been shot in the head, and would die three weeks later on Jan. 22, NBC Philadelphia reported. Omar Padilla. Omar Padilla/Instagram No person of interest has been named and no arrests have been made nearly a month since the shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Crispin alleged to the Inquirer that San Juan police did not visit the scene until five days after the crime, and did not interview her until Jan. 21. San Juan police did not respond to several calls for comments on Friday. Questions still linger in the investigation. Crispin says at one point during the ordeal, she heard some of the attackers yell at others to stop shooting because there was a woman in the car, giving her the impression that they may have made a mistake. They searched her purse, took nothing and returned her phone, she told the Inquirer. Perhaps most surprising of all, she says one of the attackers gave them directions to get out of the neighborhood while Crispin tended to the victim. 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. Padilla Velez was an accomplished scientist with publications in various prestigious science journals and platforms. Advertisement Advertisement In a moving tribute on Facebook, Crispin mourned the future that was snatched away from them. "So much was stolen from us in just a moment. Our promise of marriage, children, and growing old together," she wrote. "But what can never be stolen from us is the beautiful life we built together, full of laughter and love." Read the original article on People The Florida Board of Governors has given each of the state's university boards the opportunity to choose a new metric for their institutions to be graded by. Although the change won't have an impact on university funding this year, it will later play into how much money each school is allocated in 2027 to fund operational costs, student success efforts and faculty retention among other key initiatives. As part of a performance-based funding (PBF) metrics change, each trustee board in the State University System of Florida was able to choose a new Metric 10 for their university out of eight options to be part of a PBF 2.0 Model based on the governing boards SUS 2030 vision and goals. Advertisement Advertisement The 12 SUS institutions chosen metrics were all approved by the Board of Governors during a Jan. 29 meeting on Florida State University's campus, and they go into effect next year. The State University System of Florida Board of Governors met in the student union at Florida State University on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. While FSUs Board of Trustees chose a metric related to shared initiatives savings, Florida A&M Universitys board chose to be graded by the percentage of bachelors degree completers they produce who have internships making it one of six SUS universities to choose that category as their 10th metric. What were seeing more than ever is that being able to graduate with career-ready skills and immediately add value to a company is a key element of success for our graduates, FAMU President Marva Johnson told the Tallahassee Democrat Thursday following the board meeting. Internships dont just mean something on paper they have a grand impact. To commit to improving this is evident to our students success not just on campus, but also when they walk off the stage. FAMU President Marva Johnson. The approvals of the universities chosen metrics come after the board approved changes to the PBF model during a November meeting. The Metric 10 options that each university Board of Trustees was allowed to choose from were: Advertisement Advertisement Annual Giving Shared Initiatives Savings Percent of Bachelors Degree Completers with Internships Professional Licensure & Certification Exam Pass Rates Faculty in the Top Quintile of their Field National Academy Members Total Research Expenditures Number of Licenses/Options Executed Annually Related news: Florida Board of Governors OKs new six-year graduation rate threshold among metric goals PBF metrics were established for the 12 universities in the SUS to be judged on how well they perform in 10 categories designated by the board for a possible 100 points, which determines how much money they are allocated every year. Last year, FSUs chosen Metric 10 measured the number of bachelors graduates who passed an entrepreneurship class while FAMUs metric had to do with the number of bachelors degrees awarded to transfers with associate degrees from colleges in the Florida College System. Advertisement Advertisement FSUs chosen metric on shared initiatives savings this year will track cost savings through efforts to maximize efficiencies and reduce costs. In addition, the metric encourages the university to reinvest savings into mission-critical priorities and continuous improvement, according to a Board of Governors report. A chart shows the Board of Governors' PBF Model 2.0 when it comes to university Board of Trustees' Metric 10 Choices. In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, FSU identified $5.1 million in savings through shared initiatives an increase from $3 million the year prior and its goal is to reach $6.4 million by 2030. "Efficiency is part of Florida State Universitys DNA, and the university has long been recognized as one of the most efficient universities in the nation," FSU's Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration Kyle Clark said in a prepared statement sent to the Democrat. "FSU also has played a leading role in the State University System of Floridas shared savings initiative for more than a decade." "This metric aligns squarely with FSUs priority to become a national leader in operational excellence in the administration of the university," he added. Board of Governors Chair Alan Levine speaks to the members of the Board of Governors during a meeting in the student union at Florida State University on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. Regarding FAMUs percent of students who complete a bachelors degree with an internship, the goal is to help ensure workforce readiness. The universitys most recently recorded percentage in the category for 2023-2024 was 23.3% a decrease from 24.8% in 2022-2023 and 29.7% in 2021-2022 while it has the goal of reaching 33.3%. Advertisement Advertisement I hope theyll push themselves hard on leadership and practical experiences for their students, because I think thats critically important in terms of job placement, Board of Governors chair Alan Levine said, referring to the six universities that chose the internship-related metric. Besides FAMU, the others are Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Polytechnic University, New College of Florida, the University of North Florida and the University of West Florida. While the new metric choices have been approved, the boards current PBF metrics model will continue to be used this year to determine 2026-2027 funding allocations. However, the new model will be placed alongside the current one this year for the board to examine results and make any revisions necessary ahead of its official implementation next year. Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network Florida. She can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: State updates how it measures success at public universities Sen. Mark Kellys campaign raised more than $12.5 million in the final months of 2025 after the illegal orders video controversy with President Donald Trump effectively made the Arizona Democrat the center of opposition to the administration. Kelly may have set a quarterly fundraising record for senators not facing reelection during an off-year period, and he spread $1 million of his campaigns cash to other Democratic candidates in Arizona and across the country during the same time. Kellys current term doesnt expire until after the 2028 elections. The flood of money reflects both the significance of his standoff with Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, as well as Kellys ability to harness the national outrage as he says he is considering a run for the Oval Office in 2028. Advertisement Advertisement Last year, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, raised $11.6 million at the start of 2025, when the former presidential candidate drew crowds across the country including in Arizona for a tour with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, signaling liberal resistance to Trump. Jacob Peters, a Kelly campaign spokesperson, sidestepped the scale of its fundraising and instead focused on some of the themes Kelly has hammered since Trump reentered the White House. As Mark fights every day to lower costs, keep Arizonans safe, and defend their constitutional rights, he is boosted by the massive grassroots support that has shown up to have his back, Peters said in a statement. Five, ten, twenty bucks at a time, these patriots are joining his effort to elect Democrats, hold this administration accountable, and create a better future for Arizona and the country that puts hardworking people ahead of billionaires. Advertisement Advertisement His campaign, always among the most prolific in Congress, raised more money in the final three months of the year than it did in the first nine months. The quarterly haul, that ended with $14.9 million in cash, too, will likely increase speculation that Kelly could mount a presidential run in 2028. In one measure of Kellys fundraising standing, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, who is also mentioned as a presidential possibility, raised $817,000 for the quarter. Top stories: Pinal County conflict over ICE agreement grows with vote to OK lawsuit The controversy over a video he made with five other Democrats telling military personnel they must refuse illegal orders undoubtedly drove the fundraising frenzy. Advertisement Advertisement From Oct. 1 through Nov. 17 the day before the video came out and roughly the midpoint of the three-month quarter Kellys campaign raised $1 million from individual donors. From Nov. 18 through the end of that month, the campaign took in another $2.2 million. In December, individuals sent in another $3.3 million. There was a modest uptick in donor refunds after the video for Kellys campaign. Before the video, the campaign refunded $2,700. Afterward, it gave back $53,000. During the final days of 2025, the Kelly campaign gave the Democrats national House and Senate committees $100,000 each. It gave the Democratic National Committee and the Arizona Democratic Party $25,000 each. Advertisement Advertisement The committee sent $5,000 each to 25 state party committees across the country, from Maine to Alaska. It also made contributions to individual Democratic campaigns across the country, from Sen. Jon Ossoffs reelection battle in Georgia to JoAnna Mendozas bid to unseat Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Arizona, in the Tucson area. While the uproar over the video has proven a financial boon to the campaigns of Kelly and other Democrats, he still faces Hegseths censure and the move to demote him, which would lower his Navy pension. Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot, has sued to halt the disciplinary action. There is a hearing in that case next week that could indicate whether the federal judge sees the matter as the broad First Amendment case Kelly and his supporters have made it. The government has said Kelly has failed to appeal the actions through the Pentagons administrative process and maintains that Kelly undermined Hegseths authority with the message to troops. Kelly points out the video only states longstanding military policy. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sen. Mark Kelly may have set fundraising record. Here's why The Senate passed a compromise spending package Friday, clearing a path for Congress to avert a lengthy government shutdown. The 71-29 vote came a day after Senate Democrats and President Donald Trump struck a deal to attach two weeks of Homeland Security funding to five spending bills that will fund the Pentagon, State Department and many other agencies until Sept. 30. Only five of 53 Republicans voted against it after Trump publicly urged lawmakers Thursday to approve the legislation. Democrats were split, with 24 of 47 caucus members opposing the package. Advertisement Advertisement The Senates vote wont avert a partial shutdown that will start early Saturday morning since House lawmakers are out of town and not scheduled to return until Monday. During a private call with House Republicans Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson said the likeliest route to House passage would be bringing the package up under a fast-track process Monday evening. That would require a two-thirds majority and a significant number of Democratic votes. The $1.2 trillion package could face challenges in the House, especially from conservative hard-liners who have said they would vote against any Senate changes to what the House already passed. Many House Democrats are also wary of stopgap funding for DHS, which would keep ICE and Border Patrol funded at current levels without immediate new restrictions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he had been in constant contact with Johnson for better or worse about getting the funding deal through the House, predicting that the Louisiana Republican is prepared to do everything he can as quickly as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Hopefully things go well over there, he added. If the Trump-blessed deal ultimately gets signed into law, Congress will have approved more than 95 percent of federal funding leaving only a full-year DHS bill on its to-do list. Congress has already funded several agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and Justice. These are fiscally responsible bills that reflect months of hard work and deliberation from members on both parties and both sides of the Capitol, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said before the final vote. The Office of Management and Budget has issued shutdown guidance for agencies not already funded, which include furloughs of some personnel. Advertisement Advertisement Republicans agreeing to strip out the full-year DHS bill and replace it with a two-week patch is a major win for Democrats. They quickly unified behind a demand to split off and renegotiate immigration enforcement funding after federal agents deployed to Minnesota fatally shot 37-year-old U.S. citizen Alex Pretti last week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who helped negotiate the final deal, took a victory lap after the vote, saying the agreement we reached today did exactly what Democrats wanted. But Democrats will still need to negotiate with the White House and congressional Republicans about what, if any, policy changes they are willing to codify into law as part of a long-term bill. Republicans are open to some changes, including requiring independent investigations. But theyve already dismissed some of Democrats main demands, including requiring judicial warrants for immigration arrests. I want my Republican colleagues to listen closely: Senate Democrats will not support a DHS bill unless it reins in ICE and ends the violence, Schumer said. We will know soon enough if your colleagues understand the stakes. Advertisement Advertisement Republicans have demands of their own, and many believe the most likely outcome is that another DHS patch will be needed. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), for instance, wants a future vote on legislation barring federal funding for cities that dont comply with federal immigration laws. Other Republicans and the White House have pointed to it as a key issue in the upcoming negotiations. I am demanding that my solution to fixing sanctuary cities at least have a vote. You're going to put ideas on the floor to make ICE better? I want to put an idea on the floor to get to the root cause of the problem, Graham said. The Senate vote caps off a days-long sprint to avoid a second lengthy shutdown in the span of four months. Senate Democrats and Trump said Thursday they had a deal, only for it to run into a snag when Graham delayed a quick vote as he fumed over a provision in the bill, first reported by POLITICO, related to former special counsel Jack Smiths now-defunct investigation targeting Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Senate leaders ultimately got the agreement back on track Friday afternoon by offering votes on seven changes to the bill, all of which failed. The Senate defeated proposals to cut refugee assistance, strip out all earmarks from the package and redirect funding for ICE to Medicaid, among others. Graham raged against the Houses move to overturn a law passed last year allowing senators to sue for up to $500,000 per incident if their data had been used in former special counsel Jack Smiths investigation into the 2020 election. But he backed off his threats to hold up the bill after announcing that leaders had agreed to support a future vote on the matter. You jammed me, Graham said on the floor Friday. Speaker Johnson, I won't forget this. Meredith Lee Hill and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report. Danish firm Maersk will temporarily operate two ports on the Panama Canal after a court ruled that contracts given to a Hong Kong firm were unconstitutional. The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) announced the changes on Friday, a day after the Central American countrys Supreme Court invalidated port contracts held by Hong Kong-based firm CK Hutchison. The court ruling followed repeated threats from United States President Donald Trump that his country would seek to take over the waterway he claimed was effectively being controlled by China. Advertisement Advertisement According to the court ruling that annulled the deal, CK Hutchisons contract to operate the ports had disproportionate bias towards the Hong Kong-based company. On Friday, the AMP said port operator APM Terminals, part of the Maersk Group, would take over as the temporary administrator of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on either end of the canal. Maersk takes over from the Panama Ports Company (PPC) a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings which has managed the ports since 1997 under a concession renewed in 2021 for 25 years. The canal, an artificial waterway, handles about 40 percent of US container shipping traffic and 5 percent of world trade. It has been controlled by Panama since 1999, when the US, which funded the building of the canal between 1904 and 1914, ceded control. Advertisement Advertisement Washington on Friday welcomed the decision, but Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing will take all measures necessary to firmly protect the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies. For its part, PPC said the ruling lacks legal basis and endangers the welfare and stability of thousands of Panamanian families who depend on its operations. Tens of thousands of workers dug the 82km- (51-mile-) passageway that became the Panama Canal, allowing ships to pass from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic without having to travel around the northernmost or southernmost ends of the Americas. Panama has always denied Chinese control of the canal, which is used mainly by the US and China. Five people, including a six-year-old child, have been wounded in a shooting during a parade in Louisiana, sending people in the crowd fleeing for cover, authorities say. The shooting occurred shortly after the midday start of the Mardi Gras in the Country parade in Clinton, East Feliciana sheriff Jeff Travis told reporters. Travis said three people in the area who had firearms were taken into custody but that it wasnt clear whether they were involved in the shooting. Advertisement Advertisement The Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, reacted to the shooting in a post on X, calling it absolutely horrific and unacceptable and urging people to pray for the victims. Details about them and their conditions werent immediately released. But chief criminal deputy Bill Cox from the sheriffs office told The Advocate that everyone was expected to survive. The sheriffs office asked for anyone with photos or video of the shooting or nearby areas to share those with investigators. The local news outlet WBRZ reported that the Louisiana state police has taken over the investigation. Clinton has a population of about 1,300 people. It is part of the metropolitan area surrounding Louisianas capital city, Baton Rouge. Advertisement Advertisement At the time of the shooting in Clinton on Saturday, there had been at least 24 mass shootings in the US so far in the year, according to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive. The archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are wounded or killed. Constantly high rates of mass shootings in the US have led many to call on Congress to enact more meaningful gun control measures. But Congress over the years has been unwilling or unable to heed such calls. With Associated Press Six bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of a plane linked to a Houston law firm five days after it crashed Sunday in Maine, officials said Friday. In a one-paragraph update, the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that two of the bodies have been identified, but that their names would not be immediately released. The office said it was continuing efforts to ID the other bodies. Advertisement Advertisement MORE ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Everything we know so far about the deadly Maine plane crash tied to Houston law firm Arnold & Itkin On Sunday night, a Bombardier Challenger 600 jet linked to Houston-based law firm Arnold and Itkin crashed on the runway at Bangor International Airport as it was trying to take off, according to reports. The plane flipped over and caught fire, according to the FAA. The cause of the crash has not been announced, but the attempted takeoff came amid a snowstorm that blanketed much of the United States over the weekend. While officials have not publicly confirmed who was on the plane, multiple people have been identified. Advertisement Advertisement Lakewood Church said Shawna Collins, who worked for the church and was an event planner, was aboard. A verified GoFundMe also named Nick Mastrascusca as being on the plane. On Monday, Houston Chronicle news partner ABC13 confirmed that Tara Arnold, the wife of Arnold and Itkin co-founder Kurt Arnold, and pilot Jacob Hosmer were also killed in the crash. The removal of the bodies came a day after the aircraft was moved to a secure location, allowing the airport to be reopened. An initial report about the crash is expected in February from the National Transportation Safety Board, but a final report could take up to two years to complete, officials said. This article originally published at Six bodies recovered from wreckage of plane linked to Houston law firm days after crash in Maine. BJP MP Sambit Patra on Saturday accused the Congress of spreading falsehoods by allegedly editing an email linked to the Jeffrey Epstein files to falsely suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken advice from the disgraced financier. Speaking to ANI here, Patra said the Congress had carried out what he described as a "fraudulent act" by manipulating the contents of an email attributed to Epstein. "I want to expose the kind of tweet that has been made by Congress about Prime Minister Modi ji - a fraudulent tweet. As you all know, there's a person named Jeffrey Epstein, after whom the Epstein Files are named. Those Epstein Files were revealed. Jeffrey Epstein was a child trafficker, a sex offender, a person with no credibility, who was ultimately convicted and committed suicide by hanging himself," he said. Patra alleged that Congress had deliberately added the words "his advice" to an email where such wording was not present, to create the impression that Prime Minister Modi had taken advice from Epstein. "An email from this person, Jeffrey Epstein, where he is talking to someone else - both individuals are of questionable character, and we don't know much about them - that email has been edited by the Congress party. In that email, where the word 'his' is not present, the Congress party has tried to add 'his advice,' making it appear as if Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji took advice from Jeffrey Epstein. It's not even in the email, but the Congress party has edited it, committed fraud, and added the word 'his.' This is the true face of the Congress party," he said. He went on to accuse Congress of historically compromising India's national interests. "This is the same Congress party whose entire Gandhi family was sitting in a tent with China, the enemy of our country, during the Doklam standoff, plotting against India. This is the same Congress party whose mother and son, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, went to China and signed secret documents and MOUs. There will be consequences," Patra said. Patra warned that the Congress's actions would not go unnoticed and that such actions would have consequences. "Fraud has consequences. You have tried to spread falsehoods and misleading information, and the way you have twisted and distorted facts, the people of India will give you an answer," Patra added. The BJP's response comes after the Congress party had sought to raise the issue of the Prime Minister being named in a purported email that is part of the documents released from the Epstein estate. Congress leader Pawan Khera had claimed that the Prime Minister's alleged proximity to Epstein raised concerns of judgment and transparency. "It is a matter of national shame that Jeffery Epstein - a convicted human trafficker, child sex offender and serial rapist from the USA - wrote that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his "advice and danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president...That India's PM could have a proximity to such a disgraced figure raises serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety." alleged Congress leader Pawan Khera in a post on X. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday dismissed the references made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel in 2017 in an email that is purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files. The MEA dubbed the reference as the trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal. "We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel. Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister's official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. The US Department of Justice on Friday (local time) released a major batch of investigative material linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, making public more than three million pages of records along with over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images. (ANI) During the frigid winter of 2010, Floridas revered American crocodiles and its reviled invasive Burmese pythons were felled by a double shot of unyielding Arctic air. University of Florida researchers chronicled 151 dead crocodiles and nearly 40 Burmese pythons whose demise could be directly linked to the sting of glacial temperatures that spilled into the Everglades that January, and then lingered. Whether the imminent cold blast, which is forecast to hit Florida beginning on Friday, Jan. 30, will tally a similar death toll for good and bad is unlikely because of its expected shorter duration and forecast mostly sunny skies, one expert said. Advertisement Advertisement But invasive green iguanas may succumb to the cold permanently, especially in their northern ranges. And a southwest Florida researcher said he expects to see some python deaths as the cold turns the tables on the apex predator, weakening them so they are easier prey. I would be surprised if we dont document mortality in some of our snakes after this event, said Ian Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist and science project manager with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Not that theyll die straight out from the cold, but it could allow a native predator to attack them. Bartoszek, who is tracking 40 tagged pythons with radio telemetry, said a near freeze a few years ago is believed to have so weakened a 50-pound snake that a bobcat was able to kill it and make it a meal. Theres also evidence that a bear feasted on a python in a cold-crippled state. Advertisement Advertisement The potential is there, Bartoszek said for some python deaths. Cold and cloudy days killed Burmese pythons in 2010 Florida chill Meteorologists are warning that the approaching cold weather will be the most extreme since 2010. During January of that year, the eastern part of the country was trapped behind a blocking area of high pressure over Greenland and in the grip of the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation. The combination forced the jet stream to dive deeply toward the equator, allowing a wallop of frigid air to leach south. The historic cold snap began in South Florida on New Years night with an Arctic front that left ice and snow in its wake as it plunged toward the Caribbean. A second blast, which skimmed over the frozen landscape paved by the first, slid through South Florida in the pre-dawn darkness of Jan. 9. Advertisement Advertisement In Miami, the average 12-day temperature between Jan. 2 and Jan. 13 was 52.7 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. That ranked it the 10th coldest 12-day period on record and the coldest since 1940. Overnight lows dipped into the 30s for three straight nights in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. West Palm Beach experienced nine nights in the 30s between Jan. 2 and Jan. 13. In the gut of South Florida's sawgrass marshes and and cypress swamps, some areas measured temperatures in the 20s. There was ice in Everglades National Park, said University of Florida wildlife ecology Professor Frank Mazzotti. Advertisement Advertisement Mazzotti, who oversees UFs Croc Docs, published research in 2011 about the previous years cold snap and its effects on South Floridas pythons. He followed it up a few years later with a paper that included how American crocodiles, alligators and native snakes fared through the same prolonged chill. Biscayne National Park is one of the few places in the country where there is a possibility of seeing an American crocodile. National Park Service photo He said 2010 was rare in that there was a hard freeze where temperatures dropped below 28 degrees in some areas of inland South Florida. Also, the deep chill was preceded by a series of abnormally cold and cloudy days. Pythons and American crocodiles get warm by basking in the sun. So, there was not a chance for the animals to warm up during that week, Mazzotti said. They went into the hard freeze already cold. No alligators or native snakes were found dead as a result of the 2010 cold snap. Unlike American crocodiles, Mazzotti said alligators will retreat to warmer, deeper water when temperatures drop. Even if their snouts are above the water, the rest of an alligators body will float below in temperatures warmer than the air. Advertisement Advertisement Iguanas also rely on basking for warmth, so prolonged days of cold and clouds can be a death sentence for them too. How cold will it get in Florida this weekend? A similar weather pattern to 2010 is causing the current spat of chill. The National Weather Service in Miami said temperatures could get near freezing to below freezing in a large area of South Florida late Saturday Jan. 31 into Sunday. Wind chills below Lake Okeechobee and along the normally Atlantic-warmed coast will be in the low to mid 20s. That is expected to repeat Monday morning. By Tuesday, temperatures start to warm with Miami forecast to reach a high in the mid-60s with sunny skies. Advertisement Advertisement An occasional animal might succumb to the cold, but Im not expecting any kind of mass mortality, said Mazzotti, who noted that while pythons can shiver to produce a tiny amount of heat, the practice is usually reserved for warming a clutch of eggs. Bartoszek said pythons in the southwest part of the state have an added cold-weather advantage because the landscape has natural cavities and gopher tortoise burrows where pythons can shelter in cold weather. Trail camera photo of a Burmese python leaving a gopher tortoise burrow in Southwest Florida. Weve put temperature loggers on the surface and in the burrows. There can be a freeze on the surface and at the bottom of the burrow, its 66 degrees, he said. Not all pythons appear to have shelter-seeking survival skills or are in areas where they can find burrows to temporarily co-opt. But gopher tortoises and burrow-digging armadillos live in northern reaches of the state and southern U.S., Bartoszek said. Advertisement Advertisement Theoretically, there presence may allow pythons, with the inclination to find shelter, to expand their reach north. They really are creatures comfortable in subterranean cavities, Bartoszek said. Most of my male snakes we tracked this last week were underground or very close to one of their burrows. Kimberly Miller is a journalist for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA. She covers weather, the environment and critters as the Embracing Florida reporter. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. You can get all of Floridas best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Weekend cold front in Florida but will it kill invasive Burmese pythons? Police in New Castle County say a man forced his way into a neighbor's home and assaulted two people after an argument over snow shoveling, leading to an hourslong standoff before officers arrested him. Authorities said the confrontation began in the Concord Trace Townhomes community on Wednesday when a male resident and a woman, identified by police as the suspect's mother-in-law, argued over snow being shoveled into an assigned parking space. The resident allows the woman to use a spot that belongs to him, police said. Advertisement Advertisement "He believed that the dispute was over. Later in the morning, he found that it evidently, it wasn't," Sgt. Andrea Botterbusch of the New Castle County Police said. Police said 33-year-old Ras Loyd forced his way into the man's home, assaulted him and another neighbor who was present, and threatened them with a gun. One victim lost consciousness, according to investigators. SEE ALSO | Brawl over snow-cleared parking spot critically injures man in Philadelphia Both men were treated at the hospital and released. Officers initially responded but were unable to locate Loyd. They returned the next day with a warrant, prompting an eight-hour barricade situation. Advertisement Advertisement A neighbor recorded video of SWAT officers leading Lloyd out of his home after the standoff. Police later discovered he had broken through attic drywall to hide inside an adjoining townhome. Some residents were evacuated during the standoff and expressed disbelief that the incident stemmed from a dispute over shoveling. Police said disagreements over parking and snow removal are not uncommon, but the violence in this case was unusual. "But not to this level of assault where a victim is knocked unconscious and the threat of a firearm occurs," Botterbusch said. Neighbors described the winter weather as a source of tension. Advertisement Advertisement "The weather, plus the snow, it just got everybody frustrated. You know, people can't get to work and stuff," said resident Travion Woods. Thomas said the situation never should have escalated. "I feel like if it takes that much anger to where you want to punch somebody and fight somebody, maybe you shouldn't be outside. Maybe you need to hire somebody. I honestly don't think it was that deep and it needed to be that escalated," she said. Loyd faces charges related to the assault as well as resisting arrest and criminal mischief, police said. Iguanas stunned by cold temperatures dropped from trees in usually balmy Florida on Sunday as icy conditions blasted southern US states, dumping nearly a half-meter of snow in some areas and whipping up high winds that caused traffic chaos. The heaviest snows were reported in North Carolina -- a state that rarely sees snow other than in its highest elevations. The city of Lexington saw 16 inches (40 centimeters), and Faust in the state's Walnut Mountains got 22 inches (56 centimeters). State Governor Josh Stein reported 1,000 road collisions and two fatalities on Saturday and Sunday, and urged people to stay off the roads. He also advised citizens to be aware of the symptoms of frostbite. Advertisement Advertisement The latest bout of extreme weather came about a week after a monster storm pummeled a wide swath of the United States, killing more than 100 people and leaving many communities struggling to dig out from snow and ice. While Florida did not see snow like the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and the southern part of Virginia, it saw record low temperatures, with the mercury touching 24F (-4C) in Orlando, the lowest recorded in February since at least 1923. Typically at this time of year, the temperature ranges between daily lows of 12C and highs of 23C. Florida's WPLG 10 TV network, based in Miami, reported that it was "raining iguanas" on Sunday morning, as the cold-blooded reptiles fall from trees when the temperature gets too low. Videos posted on social media showed the stunned creatures on sidewalks after falling from trees in southern parts of the state. Advertisement Advertisement Jessica Kilgore, who runs a service called Iguana Solutions that removes invasive species, told WPLG 10, she has collected hundreds of pounds worth of the lizards, both alive and dead, during the cold snap. Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an executive order, seen by AFP, allowing people to transport iguanas -- which run wild in the state but can't be owned without a permit -- to commission offices. The National Weather Service predicted that heavy snows would taper off in the Carolinas on Sunday but forecast high winds to spread up the east coast of the United States as an intense cyclone "slides out to sea." Governor Stein said that the highway running through North Carolina's Outer Banks -- a sliver of land filled with beach homes that juts out from the Atlantic coast -- saw overwash from the ocean due to heavy winds and high tides and could take a while to reopen. Advertisement Advertisement The weekend storm forced more than 800 flight cancellations on Sunday at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a major hub for American Airlines, data from the tracker FlightAware showed. About 158,000 customers remained without power Sunday, mostly in the south, according to poweroutage.us, with Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida and Louisiana hardest hit. msp/md (Getty Images) Free speech is often celebrated in theory and resisted in practice. At its core, the First Amendment is not meant to protect speech that is popular, polite, or affirming. It exists to protect speech that challenges authority speech that makes people uncomfortable, exposes misconduct, and forces public officials to answer questions they would rather avoid. If free speech only protected viewpoints everyone agreed with, it would be worthless. Advertisement Advertisement That principle matters now more than ever, as government officials increasingly rely on social media to conduct official business. Facebook pages, X accounts, and similar platforms have become the modern public square where policies are announced, decisions are defended, and citizens engage directly with those in power. Yet too many officials treat these spaces as carefully managed environments rather than constitutional forums. At the Liberty Justice Center, we have seen the consequences of that misunderstanding firsthand. Joel Peyton, a resident of Simpson County, Kentucky, spoke out after uncovering troubling conduct related to a proposed industrial development near his neighborhood. Through open-records requests and a formal ethics complaint, he helped expose conduct that was later confirmed by the regional ethics board. His speech was lawful, fact-based, and directed at matters of public concern. The response was not transparency. It was censorship. Advertisement Advertisement After the ethics ruling, Mr. Peyton was blocked from the county judge/executives official social media page a page used to communicate county business and public information. His comments were not obscene or threatening. They were critical. His speech alone was enough to silence him with Simpson County Judge Executive Mason Barnes blocking him on his official social media page. That kind of retaliation strikes at the very heart of the First Amendment. Government officials do not get to decide which viewpoints are acceptable in forums they themselves create. The Constitution does not permit officials to shield themselves from criticism by muting dissenting voices. Courts across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have made this clear: when officials use social media to conduct official business, those accounts function as public forums. Blocking constituents or deleting lawful comments because of disagreement is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. In Peyton v. Barnes, we challenged that censorship in federal court and secured relief for Mr. Peyton. But the deeper problem remains. Free speech rights should not depend on a citizens ability to file a lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement The purpose of the First Amendment is not to guarantee comfort or consensus. It is to ensure that citizens can hear opposing views, challenge those in power, and hold government accountable. A government that permits only praise is not engaging in dialogue it is suppressing debate. Social media has made censorship easier, faster, and quieter. One click can erase a voice. That is precisely why legal clarity matters. Kentuckys newly introduced House Bill 323 reinforces a fundamental constitutional rule: when government opens a forum for public discussion, it must remain open to viewpoints officials dislike, not just those they welcome. It does not expand speech rights it enforces them before abuse occurs rather than after a court intervenes. A healthy democracy depends on dissent. The First Amendment was written to protect the speech that tests power, not the speech that flatters it. Advertisement Advertisement The legislation would affirm that principle clearly and proactively. As our experience shows, protecting free speech online is not abstract or theoretical it is essential to ensuring that the modern public square remains open to all, especially those brave enough to speak when it matters most. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Bruce Springsteen performs at the AFI Fest 2025 in Hollywood, California. | Credit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for AFI Bruce Springsteens new anti-ICE anthem is no Blowin in the Wind. And thats OK. Jeff Slate at MS NOW Bruce Springsteens new anti-ICE anthem isnt quite as bad as Paul McCartneys ghastly post-9/11 anthem Freedom, but hes arguably done more than any other major artist to speak out against the Trump administrations draconian policies, and maybe thats enough, says Jeff Slate. The songs lyrics are clunky and the production is unsophisticated, presumably due to the fact that it was written and produced less than a week after Prettis death. But maybe, in fact, its exactly what we need right now. Advertisement Advertisement Read more California is failing its homeless students Margaret Olmos at the San Francisco Chronicle Nearly 300,000 California students are trying to learn without a stable place to sleep, and Gov. Gavin Newsoms budget failed to include dedicated funding for students experiencing homelessness, says Margaret Olmos. The consequences of inaction are profound. This moment presents a clear budget choice. California lawmakers can continue relying on inadequate and unstable federal funding, or they can deepen investment in what works. Education is one of the most effective tools for preventing homelessness. Read more If Cuba falls, the Global South is to blame, too Belen Fernandez at Al Jazeera The U.S. has effectively been trying to destroy Cuba for no fewer than 67 years, says Belen Fernandez. This time around, however, the threat carries a bit more weight in light of the Trump administrations abduction earlier this month of Nicolas Maduro. One would hope, then, that other countries particularly the self-declared allies of Cuba might step up to defend the island against U.S. predations or at least credibly register their opposition to imperial impunity. Advertisement Advertisement Read more Starlinks internet from space works astonishingly well. But theres a catch. Alex Beam at The Boston Globe A Starlink hookup affords more or less anyone ample bandwidth to bypass state-controlled or utility-controlled networks, says Alex Beam. But users are at the whim of Starlinks owner, the mercurial Elon Musk, who has been accused of blacking out the service at key moments. Where goes Musk, there goes controversy and fulmination, and where goes Starlink, there goes friction. That being said, it is kind of amazing high-speed internet beaming down from flashing boxcars in the sky. Read more Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics. Don Lemon To Don Lemon and other insurrectionists: You do not get to commit crime and claim you were just exercising your constitutional rights. Lemon arrest Journalists do not get license to conspire with fellow agitators, storm churches, and terrorize worshippers. Trumps America A federal judge and an appeals court both declined to approve an arrest warrant for Don Lemon due to a lack of evidence. The Trump Administration went ahead and arrested him anyway. That was fast They went after Don Lemon faster than anyone on the Epstein files. Unhinged The Georgia Fulton County election results were recounted and validated three times. Both Republicans and Democrats conducted the audit which included a handcount. President Trump has now had the ballots confiscated. This is another planned action to incite MAGA to challenge the upcoming elections. Mississippi I do not understand why people who live in Mississippi spend time and energy focusing on other states. What Virginia does is Virginias business as is true with California and every other state. If you are looking for a problem to fix Mississippi, where we live, has plenty of them. Pretti and Rittenhouse In the discussion about Alex Prettis possession of a gun while protesting, people are confusingly thinking that noticing a double standard between Prettis rights and Kyle Rittenhouses means that someone is now an advocate for the same. Noticing a double standard does not indicate a position either way. Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com. CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) South Africa ordered Israel's deputy ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours on Friday, accusing him of undermining relations between the countries with social media posts that insulted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and violating diplomatic protocols. The South African Foreign Ministry said that it was expelling Ariel Seidman, the charge daffaires at the Israeli Embassy, and declared him persona non grata a diplomatic term indicating the person is no longer welcome in a country. Seidman is the most senior Israeli diplomatic figure in South Africa after Israel recalled its ambassador in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Hours later, Israel's Foreign Ministry said on X that it was expelling a senior South African diplomat, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, in response and ordered him to leave Israel within 72 hours. Diplomatic relations between South Africa and Israel were already severely strained after South Africa a longtime supporter of the Palestinian people accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in a case at the United Nations top court. Israel has strongly denied the allegations and accused South Africa of acting as the legal arm of the Palestinian militant group Hamas by bringing the highly emotive case before the International Court of Justice. Seidman's expulsion was likely to provoke a strong reaction from the United States, a close Israeli ally that under President Donald Trump has already been especially critical of South Africa. Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration has characterized South Africa as a supporter of Iran and Hamas and said it is pursuing an anti-American foreign policy, which South Africa denies. Last year, Washington also expelled South Africas ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, over comments he made about the Make America Great Again movement, which he said was partly a response to a supremacist instinct. The South African Foreign Ministry said expelling Seidman follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa's sovereignty. It said official Israeli social media platforms had been used to launch insulting attacks against Ramaphosa. The ministry did not give any details on the posts it referred to, and it wasn't immediately clear what they contained. Advertisement Advertisement The ministry also said there had been a deliberate failure to inform South Africa of visits by Israeli officials. It also gave no more detail on that, but David Saranga, an official at the Israeli Foreign Ministry tasked with promoting Israel's image on social media, was in South Africa this week. South Africa said that it had informed the Israeli government of the decision to expel Seidman and urged it to ensure its future diplomatic conduct demonstrates respect for South Africa. Some members of the Jewish community in South Africa criticized the decision to expel the diplomat. Karen Milner, the chairperson of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, said it was a drastic move on the basis of a few tweets. ___ Associated Press writer Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa Sir Keir Starmer has invited Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to visit the UK following talks in Tokyo, saying the relationship between the countries was the "strongest" it has been "in decades". The prime minister arrived in Japan after his four-day trip to China, in which he attempted to reboot the UK's relationship with Beijing. The leaders of UK and Japan said they had discussed their "joint values" and set out plans to strengthen trade and security ties, including boosting defence and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region. Advertisement Advertisement Any UK visit will depend on the results of snap elections on February 8, with Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party seeking a return to power. But the meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo comes at a tense moment for the region, following controversial comments from Takaichi suggesting that Japan could be drawn into conflict between China and Taiwan. Sir Keir said he and his Japanese counterpart agreed on the need to respond with "strength and clarity" to increasing instability in the world, and thanked her for "steadfast leadership in supporting Ukraine". Ahead of a working dinner, the Japanese PM said that Sir Keir "looked well", adding she had been invited to his Chequers country estate later this year. Advertisement Advertisement "I look forward to our dinner in a moment, and to the meeting that I hope we will have," Sir Keir said following the 20-minute meeting between the leaders. He added that the UK and Japan "share vital interests and principles" and that he looked "forward to driving that forward together." He went on to say that the two countries "have a clear interest in free and predictable trade", saying they aimed to improve supply chains in "key areas such as critical minerals". Sir Keir attending a ceremonial guard of honour with Prime Minister of Japan Sanae Takaichi at her office in Tokyo [Reuters] Japan's leader said she hoped to "build a new era of Japan-UK relations amid the complex crises facing the international community in the 21st Century". Advertisement Advertisement Defence, including the trilateral fighter jet programme the UK and Japan have with Italy and joint military exercises, were expected to be high on the agenda. Japan, the world's fourth-largest economy, is one of Britain's biggest investors outside Europe. For Sir Keir, his East Asia trip was about balance - resetting relations with China, while reassuring Japan and other allies that Britain remains committed to regional security and clear-eyed about the risks China poses. While Takaichi's comments on Taiwan angered Beijing, they are expected to give her a boost in next week's polls. Advertisement Advertisement Jeffrey J Hall, a lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies, said that Sir Keir's stopover in Tokyo was doing her an "enormous favour". "I think the most important thing from the Japanese perspective is the timing of this visit, which is right in the middle of a major election," he said. "And Prime Minister Takaichi is basically running on the popularity that she received being the first female prime minister and also being successful at diplomacy." The Tokyo trip marks the end of Sir Keir's diplomatic meetings in East Asia in which he secured a reduction in tariffs on whisky and the introduction of visa-free travel to China for British citizens. Downing Street said the China visit had also secured 2.2bn in export deals. Advertisement Advertisement After a meeting between Sir Keir and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing also agreed to lift sanctions on British parliamentarians. The American people regularly list the United Kingdom as our closest ally, and for good reason. We dont just talk about being allies; we actively work together to protect each others interests. Thats why the United Kingdoms possible transfer of the Chagos Archipelago, including the joint US-UK military base on the island of Diego Garcia, to Mauritius is so deeply concerning. Any deal that jeopardises the security of Diego Garcia would not only threaten our shared military installation, but it would also undermine the very idea that the United Kingdom is the type of friend Americans can trust to have our backs, and vice versa. Since the 1970s, Diego Garcia has been the crown jewel of the United Kingdoms military assets. Together, American and British forces have used Diego Garcia to conduct training missions, reload submarines, and respond to tensions throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Most recently, the United States has relocated several B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia to help deter Irans aggression toward demonstrators. Advertisement Advertisement Perhaps the only person who truly understands just how valuable Diego Garcia is to the shared security interests of American and British forces in the Indo-Pacific is Chinese president Xi Jinping. Chinese forces have been trying to infiltrate our military installations on Diego Garcia for years, and its no coincidence that China has been aggressively pursuing a relationship with the Mauritian government during that same timeframe. The deal could allow Xi Jinping to gain a military foothold in the Indian Ocean - Vincent Thian/Reuters President Xis charm offensive in Mauritius is fuelled by two significant deals that position the island nation as the final stepping stone to Diego Garcia. Mauritius is a signatory to the Chinese-backed Pelindaba Treaty, otherwise known as the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone treaty, which prohibits the research, stockpiling, and possession of nuclear weapons across the African continent. Mauritius is also a partner to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation trade and security agreement between China and 53 African nations. The Forums 2024 Beijing Action Plan reinvigorated its commitment to building nuclear-weapon-free zones. As a result of these agreements, Mauritius, at minimum, will be under intense pressure and likely a binding legal obligation to provide China with the opportunity to force inspections of the military equipment on Diego Garcia. President Xi has been so eager to see Mauritius take possession of the Chagos Archipelago that he has already been caught floating Chinese spy balloons in the airspace above Diego Garcia in hopes of catching a closer glimpse of the operations underway by American and British troops on the island. The Royal Navy has managed to fend off similar espionage missions by Chinese spy boats along the coast of Diego Garcia, but the effort to deter Chinese intelligence operations would become nearly impossible with Mauritius in control of the surrounding islands. Advertisement Advertisement The United Kingdom cannot cede the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius without handing the keys of Diego Garcia to the Chinese Communist Party. The Chagos Islands transfer of sovereignty to Mauritius raises important concerns about military base Diego Garcias long-term security - APFootage / Alamy Stock Photo Even under the best circumstances, the hypothetical 99-year lease of Diego Garcia from Mauritius would drain British taxpayers of millions of pounds per year for a military base so swarmed by Chinese spies that it renders the islands strategic value worthless. Under the worst-case scenario, British taxpayers realise theyre paying billions of pounds for a base we cannot secure and elect a government that will hand over Diego Garcia to Mauritius entirely. Mauritius is our friend, but few countries could withstand the amount of pressure China would exert to dominate Diego Garcia entirely. I have yet to hear a compelling reason as to why the British people should cut ties with the Chagos Islands. In fact, the entire deal with Mauritius only came to fruition because the United Nations kangaroo court issued a non-binding advisory opinion to shame the United Kingdom for its presence in the Indian Ocean. At a time when our adversaries in Russia, China, and Iran are testing the true strength of our military alliances, we cannot allow a United Nations smear campaign against the British people and their territories become yet another fissure in the special relationship that Americans and Britons share. Advertisement Advertisement Fortunately, the United Kingdom has time to work with the Trump administration to halt this deal and ensure that the Chagos Archipelago remains a British territory. The Prime Minister can remind the American people why they have so much faith in our British allies by standing strong against the United Nations and protecting our shared national security interests on Diego Garcia. John Kennedy is a US Senator for Louisiana Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays. Michigan's Department of Treasury said residents should make good use of National Unclaimed Property Day on Sunday, Feb. 1, and check its website for potential lost or unclaimed property that the state is holding. "I encourage Michiganders to take a moment to see if they have lost or unclaimed property, said Terry Stanton, overseer of Michigans Unclaimed Property Program, in a Jan. 28 release. Even if youve checked recently, visit our website again our database is updated multiple times throughout the year. You might discover money or assets waiting for you, and my team is ready to help you claim whats yours." On Sunday, Feb. 1, people across the United States are urged to review state databases and claim forgotten properties otherwise it will be turned over to the state in which they reside. Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Treasury holds billions of dollars in lost or forgotten assets, and approximately 33 million people in the United States have unclaimed property, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. "In Michigan, $164 million was returned to rightful owners and heirs last year (2025) and more than $675 million over the last five years," the release said. People often have claims to property such as dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, valuables in safe deposit boxes, and stock certificates, so NAUPA created National Unclaimed Property Day to encourage people to check. Michigan's Treasury recommends going to the state's unclaimed property website and entering information (last name, or business name) to get started. The website also includes steps on how to claim property, how to check the status of a claim and how to contact the department for assistance. How do I know if I have unclaimed property in Michigan? Residents may contact the U.S. Department of Treasury, or Michigan's Treasury for unclaimed property. In 2025, the Michigan Department of Treasury posted an explainer video on unclaimed property and how to check your status online. Advertisement Advertisement As part of the claims process, those seeking to obtain unclaimed property will need to upload documents to support the claim. When does unclaimed property get handed over to the state? After three years of dormancy, property types will be turned over to the state government and declared as abandoned, according to the state's unclaimed property website. More: Michigan state park, recreation area campground closures in 2026 More: Michigan auditor general to look into child care program performance Unclaimed property is turned over to the Department after there has been no owner-generated activity on the account for a specific length of time and attempts to contact the owner have failed. How to assert a claim to property There are several ways to maintain ownership of your property, according to the state's unclaimed property website, including: Advertisement Advertisement Make a deposit or withdrawal at least once a year to create activity. Cash all checks received in a timely manner (including cashiers checks and money orders). Return due diligence letter/notice of abandoned property by its due date. Holders are required to have their reports of unclaimed property submitted by July 1 of each year. Notify companies who are holders of your property whenever you move or change addresses. Notify a family member or another trusted person of the location of your financial records such as bank accounts and safe deposit boxes. What is unclaimed property? Unclaimed property is cash and other items of value that have been reported to the Department of Treasury because they have gone unclaimed by the owner beyond a dormancy period. Here are examples of unclaimed property, according to the state's unclaimed property website: Checking and savings accounts. Certificates of deposit (CD). Overpayments. Uncashed checks (payroll, refunds, money orders, cashier checks, insurance benefits, etc.) Dividends. Stocks and bonds. Contents of a safe deposit box. Advertisement Advertisement Such items hold value, and under Michigan's Unclaimed Property Act, the department acts as a holder until the owner or heir makes a claim. Contact Sarah Moore @ smoore@lsj.com This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Unclaimed property in Michigan. How to check, claim what's owed to you Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today congratulated the Department of Digital Technologies and Governance (DDT&G), Government of Himachal Pradesh, for receiving national recognition at the 6th Governance Now Digital Transformation Summit & Awards held in New Delhi. The award was conferred recently during the summit and was formally handed over to the Chief Minister by Gokul Butail, Principal Advisor (Digital Technology, Innovation and Governance) to the Chief Minister, yesterday. He said the state was honoured for its flagship initiative 'HimParivar', which has been appreciated for its innovative use of data analytics and digital technologies to strengthen governance and improve public service delivery. He said that such technology-driven interventions enhance transparency, improve efficiency and support the government's vision of effective last-mile delivery of benefits. The Chief Minister lauded the dedicated efforts of the Department of Digital Technologies and Governance in developing citizen-friendly digital services and strengthening digital governance across Himachal Pradesh. He expressed confidence that the department would continue to work with the same commitment and innovation to further expand digital initiatives for the benefit of the people of the State. On Friday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expressed concern over the Centre's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) policy, saying the reduction in import duty on apples coming from foreign countries would adversely affect apple growers in the state and disrupt the local fruit market. The Chief Minister said the state government would send a team to discuss the issue with the Union government. "I will send a team to discuss the matter with the Union government," Sukhu said, referring to the impact of FTAs on Himachal's apple economy. The Chief Minister said apple growers across Himachal Pradesh are worried that the Centre's policy of reducing import duties on apples under various FTAs would make foreign produce cheaper and uncompetitive for local farmers. He said he had recently met Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and other senior Union ministers, during which the issue was raised in detail. Sukhu said the Centre has already constituted a team to assess how the reduction in import duty would affect domestic apple growers, and that the state government's representatives would also be part of the exercise. (ANI) Gov. Kevin Stitt has ordered all law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma to start reporting what assets they've seized from members of the public. Oklahoma law allows police agencies to take and keep private property if that property is used in the commission of a crime, or if it was purchased with illegally obtained funds. This practice is called civil asset forfeiture, and that property is often kept by police even when the owner isn't convicted or even charged. Common types of property seized are cash, vehicles, firearms, personal valuables like art or jewelry, or even real estate. Advertisement Advertisement More: Oklahoma lawmakers want changes to civil asset forfeiture, parole: What to know How Stitt's executive order on civil asset forfeiture will work While agencies are required to keep records of what they seize, there is no central, publicly accessible database that lists what was taken. Stitt's executive order issued Jan. 30 changes that. The executive order requires detailed annual reports on civil asset forfeitures to be made available to the public. In a news release, Stitt said his executive order addresses longstanding concerns about government overreach while preserving forfeiture as a key tool against crime. "Members of our law enforcement put their lives on the line every day to protect Oklahomans. Civil asset forfeiture is a powerful tool, so it needs to be wielded with maximum transparency to ensure individual property rights are respected," Stitt said. "Increased transparency in this practice will protect against abuse, real or perceived, and will build greater trust between our dedicated officers and the communities they serve." Advertisement Advertisement As part of the directive, all law enforcement agencies across the state will be required to submit annual records to the Oklahoma commissioner of public safety, detailing the property seized during the previous year. The commissioner will then compile this information and publish it on a public website. The first annual report is due in April 2027. Lauren Krisai, executive director of Justice Action Network and a frequent collaborator on criminal justice legislation in Oklahoma, said this is the first time she's seen a governor issue an executive order on civil asset forfeiture. "I think that shows Gov. Stitt's leadership on criminal justice issues. It's just great to see this at the executive level," Krisai said. "I personally would love to see this codified in legislation, but it's a great first step in just taking a look at how forfeiture is used in Oklahoma." Advertisement Advertisement The Justice Action Network is a national bipartisan organization that has advocated for criminal justice reforms in Oklahoma since 2016. What must be published online? Law enforcement agencies will be required to report the following to be published online: A description of the seized property Estimated value Its disposition (whether it was returned to the owner, sold, destroyed, etc.) Whether the property was retained, and if so, why and how it would be used Total value of all property seized by that agency over the past year This isn't a new issue for Stitt. In 2024, he called for more transparency around forfeiture in his State of the State speech. Advertisement Advertisement "Its crazy to me that somebody can be pulled over and have their cash and truck taken for an alleged crime, get acquitted of that crime, but they still never get their property back," Stitt said in 2024. "That isnt fair and we need to make sure it isnt happening anywhere in Oklahoma." An investigation by Oklahoma Watch found that two-thirds of forfeiture cases in Craig County did not coincide with any criminal charges. Between 2023 and 2024, law enforcement in that county alone seized at least $1.5 million in cash. There has been no comprehensive effort to examine statewide forfeiture data since 2018, when the Institute for Justice found $9.5 million in cash and property seized in Oklahoma. Krisai said she hopes the executive order, and publication of the database, will add more transparency and accountability into the criminal justice system that can sometimes be abused. "The one thing that's always concerned me is that Oklahoma doesn't have even basic information about how forfeiture is being used," she said. "They don't actually have to file charges against you or a conviction doesn't have to be reached for them to take your property. And so there's a real concern and potential of abuse around that." Advertisement Advertisement When state lawmakers return to the Capitol in February, they will consider a bill that would require prosecutors to present "clear and convincing" evidence that seized property is connected to criminal activity, rather than only a preponderance of evidence. In U.S. law, "preponderance of evidence" means that something is more likely to be true than not true, and is a much lower bar to clear when seizing a person's property. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Gov. Kevin Stitt orders creation of civil asset forfeiture database Atlanta police said they have a suspect in the killing of two dogs found in a Atlantic Station parking deck. Police told Channel 2s Michael Seiden it is one of the most disturbing animal cruelty cases theyve ever investigated. Two dogs were found dead inside an Atlantic Station parking garage, discovered by a man when he showed up to clean last summer. The suspect has been identified. We want to thank our community for sharing the BOLO, calling in tips, and going above and beyond in assisting us with getting justice for these innocent dogs. We will provide additional details when available, APD said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Police didnt identify the suspect. Police say last summer, an unidentified man seen walking two dogs along 16th Street NW took them inside the parking garage. Investigators said those dogs were later found dead, their leashes tied together, along with other evidence too graphic to talk about. About 20 minutes later, cameras captured him again without the dogs. Investigators said they worked with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the University of Georgia, where necropsies confirmed both dogs were strangled to death. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] From restaurants to museums, dozens of businesses across Tacoma closed as part of a general strike Friday to recognize the National Shutdown protesting the Trump administrations actions in Minneapolis and beyond. A general strike is an action where workers from various industries cease economic activity, whether by not working or not purchasing anything, to catalyze change in their society. Fridays National Shutdown called for people to pause working, spending money or going to school to stand against Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, according to the movements website. Advertisement Advertisement But for some small businesses, an entire day off spells a crucial loss of revenue they just cant afford to take. So, despite remaining open, many local haunts are showing their solidarity through different approaches. Three Hearts Cafe in Hilltop announced on Instagram it is donating $500 to La Resistencia Northwest, a pro-immigrant activist organization, and encouraged customers to use cash to keep money out of credit card companys pockets, the post read. Were a small business so we cant afford to close for the day, cafe owner Will Eder said. But we very much stand in solidarity. After posting in support of the strike on Instagram, the cafe lost several followers. To that, Eder says good riddance. Advertisement Advertisement The store has been packed this Friday, and he hopes its support of the strike inspires conversations among customers. I want to be a place thats able to stand up against injustices like this, he said. The Jade Lounge, a bubble tea store in central Tacoma, also remained open today. The small family-owned business is not in the financial position to close on a weekend day, said co-owner Kelly Tran. The business encouraged customers to treat the store as a safe space, and urged people to create posters and call their representatives, it said in a post on Instagram. For us, its more so having a safe space where people feel comfortable enough to make change, but also just sit with their thoughts, Tran said. Advertisement Advertisement Tran and many other employees at The Jade Lounge are children of immigrants, making the strike hit even closer to home. It is a bit scary, because my parents literally have been calling me this week being like, Hey, you need to carry your passport on you, Tran said. It doesnt really matter what your status is because, at the end of the day, theyre profiling you, and it is really heartbreaking. Another open business offering support is Howdy Bagel in south Tacoma. The shop is staying open Friday and providing printed materials for customers informing them of their rights and ways to deal with ICE in their neighborhoods, it shared on Instagram. Howdy was really born from the idea of creating a space where everyone is welcome, safe and celebrated, no matter who they are or who they love, Madison Frambes, an employee at Howdy Bagel, said. And so as such, we feel that it is also our responsibility to create and maintain a safe space by speaking out when there are injustices occurring in our communities. Advertisement Advertisement Many of Howdy Bagels customers are paying in cash and taking the informational pamphlets the store is providing. They even had a couple of people visiting from Minnesota come in today, Frambes said. [The Minnesotans] were just talking about how stressful things are back home and how really theyre grateful that Tacoma is rallying like this and people are standing up in solidarity, she said. Were really grateful to be a part of this community. Thousands attend a protest against the violence in the Arab community, in Tel Aviv. January 31, 2026. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90) Demonstrators waved black flags and held signs reading Stop the war of crime, We are with you, you are not alone, and This isnt helplessness, its policy. Tens of thousands of people gathered at Habima Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest the governments handling of violent crime in Israels Arab society, with Arab and Jewish Israelis marching together and calling for stronger law enforcement and safer streets. Many demonstrators waved black flags and held signs reading Stop the war of crime, We are with you, you are not alone, and This isnt helplessness, its policy. The rally followed a protest march from Hostages Square to Habima Square. Advertisement Advertisement A bereaved mother whose son was murdered addressed the crowd in tears, shouting: Enough of the injustice, enough of the loss. 'Do not impose collective punishment' Talal al-Krenawi, the mayor of Rahat, criticized what he described as daily home demolitions and threats facing Bedouin communities in the Negev, and warned against broad measures that would punish entire communities. The government should enforce the law the way it does everywhere, he said. Do not make generalizations. Do not impose collective punishment. Do not close communities. Do not provoke young people. Thousands attend a protest against the violence in the Arab community, in Tel Aviv. January 31, 2026. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90) Al-Krenawi rejected claims that Bedouin residents are defined by crime, saying they include doctors, nurses, lawyers, judges, teachers, public transportation drivers, and contractors who help build infrastructure and develop agriculture in the region. He also criticized plans he said would establish new Jewish communities in the Negev without recognizing Bedouin localities or providing adequate housing solutions. Calls for solidarity and equal protection Prof. Barak Medina, former rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the rally aimed to show solidarity with Arab citizens facing pain, fear, and frustration, and accused the government and police of failing in their basic duty to protect life. Advertisement Advertisement The struggle is a shared struggle, Medina said, describing it as a joint effort of Arab citizens and Jewish Israelis, and urging a commitment to equal protection and equal rights in security, education, health, housing, budgets, and infrastructure. Veteran actress Rivka Michaeli told demonstrators she came because she felt afraid, warning that the ongoing disregard for deadly violence in Arab society was spreading across the country. Michaeli spoke about coexistence in Israels hospitals and said an Arab surgeon had saved her life. She also cited figures she said she received from an AI tool about Arab representation in medicine and pharmacy, while arguing that many Arab professionals are also being killed by criminal organizations. Michaeli also referenced Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice, adapting a well-known passage to emphasize shared humanity, and invoked Theodor Herzl while expressing concern that Israel is drifting away from the promise of equality. After the protest dispersed, a 26-year-old man from Baka al-Gharbiya was arrested for threatening a protester with pepper spray. Shooting near Lod courthouse Later on Saturday, a man was killed, and two people were wounded in a shooting near the district court in Lod. The victim was identified as Omar al-Shamli. The wounded, Basel al-Shamli and 19-year-old Louay al-Shamli, were taken to Shamir Medical Center with penetrating injuries, with one listed in serious condition and the other in light condition. The incident was reported as the 23rd murder victim from Israels Arab society since the start of 2026. A Michigan-based outfitter who was guiding waterfowl hunts in Rhode Island in 2025 was caught on video by game wardens rallying sea ducks for his clients. The practice, which involves using a boat to stir up, push, or flush birds to waiting hunters, is illegal at both the state and federal level. The guide, Craig Macphee, was caught on video by Sgt. Joshua Beuth, an environmental police officer with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Beuth, who is also an avid waterfowler, says it was one of the more clear-cut cases of rallying hes witnessed. Macphee did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Outdoor Life. As Beuths body cam footage shows (see below), Macphees hunting party had set up multiple layout boats and decoy spreads on the Sakonnet River near Portsmouth. At one point during the hunt, Macphee uses his tender boat to circle and push a group of buffleheads toward one of his paying clients. The client then shoots one of the birds over the decoys from a layout boat. It was so crystal clear and concrete that every movement of that boat, and the intent of that guide [Macphee], was to drive [birds] to that hunter and provide a shot opportunity. Which is exactly what happened, Beuth tells Outdoor Life, referring to the hunt he observed and filmed from shore on Jan. 7, 2025. This case was so crystal clear that its forever ingrained in my memory. Advertisement Advertisement The footage also shows that later on during the same hunt, Macphee used the same approach to stir up a raft of scoters. He drives his boat slowly and methodically to circle around and then push the birds toward the same hunter in the layout boat. After some of the scoters flush wide, a lone drake surf scoter is left swimming toward the decoys. Again, Macphee operates his boat to intentionally flush the duck in the direction of the decoys and the layout boat. Driving straight at the swimming scoter, he keeps using the boat to squeeze the bird until it finally flushes and flies over the decoys. The hunter then kills the duck with one shot. Textbook rally, shoot, kill, Beuth says in the video. Soon after, Beuth explains, Macphee wrapped up the hunt and collected his decoys, and the party headed back to the boat ramp. At that point, Beuth had all the evidence he needed to charge Macphee and the client with rallying waterfowl. He had also noticed while watching the hunt from a distance that Macphees hunting party included a total of eight people Macphee himself, plus five clients and two assistant guides. This is also illegal according to Rhode Island regs, which prohibit hunting parties larger than five. Macphee, who operates Tail Annihilators out of Bad Axe, Michigan, had been traveling to Rhode Island to guide sea duck hunters for the last several years. Beuth had heard reports during past seasons from other local guides, who had reported negative or less desirable interactions with Macphee at the boat ramp or on the water. Beuth had also seen social media photos from past hunting seasons that appeared to show Macphee with a party of more than five hunters. Advertisement Advertisement He was on my radar, you could say, says Beuth. So once I knew where he was that day, and I found him and his hunting party, thats when I settled in to monitor him and observe how he conducted his hunt. Body cam footage shows Craig Macphee being interviewed at the boat ramp. Photo courtesy Rhode Island DEM Upon contacting the hunting party at the boat ramp, Beuth learned that the five clients were also from Michigan. They were all young men and women, and experienced duck hunters, and they booked with Macphees guide service because they had never hunted sea ducks before. According to the arrest report provided to Outdoor Life, Beuth and the other game wardens present identified Toby Macphee, Craigs son, and Brandon Echtinaw as crew members of the operation. The wardens checked the group for compliance, and found that two of the clients did not have an HIP permit. Echtinaw also did not have a state or federal duck stamp. The three men were charged accordingly with civil infractions. Based on the video evidence Beuth obtained, he charged both Macphee and the client who had shot the two rallied birds with three crimes apiece: two charges of rallying waterfowl, and one charge of hunting with more than five people. He also seized their shotguns and the two sea ducks (a drake bufflehead and drake surf scoter). Advertisement Advertisement While interviewing the party at the boat ramp, Beuth says he found the one client whod shot the two ducks to be very honest and forthcoming. The client could tell by Beuths description of the hunt that he had been monitoring them from afar. He confirmed Beuths observations about what all had transpired and how Macphee was operating his boat to rally birds. Game wardens seized two sea ducks from the hunting party, along with two of their shotguns. Photo courtesy Rhode Island DEM He also seemed incredibly frustrated, both at Mr. Macphee and himself, for not realizing in the moment that what was occurring was illegal, says Beuth. He adds that some of the clients contacted him the next day on the groups behalf to genuinely express how sorry they were. They were seemingly ashamed of themselves for not realizing what exactly they were participating in. And they felt that they had let their guard down and put their trust in Mr. Macphee. Beuth says Macphees responses during the interview were the direct opposite of his clients. He repeatedly denied Beuths accusations, and he refused to take responsibility for the actions that Beuth had witnessed and caught on video. I found him to be pretty standoffish, and, I would say, arrogant, Beuth says. But his failure to acknowledge his actions wasnt going to change this case. I didnt need him to [admit to] what he did I was going to proceed with the charges no matter what. Advertisement Advertisement The criminal charges filed against Macphee and his client were later forwarded to RIDEM prosecution officers. From Beuths later interactions with a prosecution officer, he learned that the charges against the client were reduced to warnings. Beuth says he and the prosecuting officer felt this was a fair deal because the client owned up to his mistakes, made a donation to a conservation organization, and was to some degree a victim of the circumstances he was put into. He says Macphees case was handled very differently. This was partly because of his attitude when charged. But it was mostly because, in Beuths eyes, hunting and fishing guides should be held to a higher standard when they are profiting off a public resource. Beuth says he wanted to see Macphee convicted, and that personally, he would have liked to see his hunting license suspended. The boat Macphee was running when he was filmed rallying birds on the Sakonnet River. Photo courtesy Rhode Island DEM That did not happen. Beuth says Macphees attorney pushed for the case to go to trial. And while Beuth was confident he could prove his case in court, it is his understanding that the prosecutor in the state attorneys general office did not wish to go to trial due to all the other criminal cases on their docket. Those prosecutors have immense caseloads. They are dealing with domestic assault cases and homicides, and some ugly stuff, Beuth says. And [when its] a guy shooting a duck from a boat theyre very unlikely to actually bring that case to trial. Advertisement Advertisement Court records obtained by OL show that Macphee and his attorney reached a plea deal with the state on May 6, 2025. Macphee entered a no contest plea to one of the rallying charges, and the other two criminal charges were dismissed by the prosecution. Macphee did not receive any kind of license suspension, and he was fined $641.75. His seized shotgun, a Benelli Super Black Eagle II, was also returned. While a no contest plea is not an explicit admission of guilt, it is treated the same as a conviction under Rhode Island law. That conviction will remain on Macphees record. And although he will still be able to obtain a hunting license in the Ocean State, Beuth says Macphee will not be able to obtain a Rhode Island waterfowl guide license for at least three years from the date of that conviction. Beuth explains that the states waterfowl guide license was established in 2025, when Rhode Island issued its updated hunting regulations for the year. Beuth says the guide license, which requires passing an in-person exam along with other stipulations, is meant to level the playing field by ensuring that all guides understand and abide by the same laws. He says the new license will also help with monitoring harvest and gauging hunting pressure. It wasnt to prevent people from guiding here, he says. Its more to just set a standard and make sure we can hold people accountable to that. Advertisement Advertisement Read Next: Poachers Who Shot 100-Plus Wood Ducks Over Bait Get Caught After Posting to Social Media Beuth says the states fish and wildlife commission had been discussing the creation of a waterfowl guide license since long before 2025. He says theyve seen an increasing number of waterfowl guides operating in Rhode Island during the 15 years hes been with the agency. Our charter fishing fleet, those captains are required to have a license as well, Beuth says. This is a similar thing. Were regulating people who are fishing and profiting off the resource. So [we decided] lets do the same for wildlife. It is also Beuths understanding that Macphees ability to legally guide waterfowl trips in his home state of Michigan could be (or could have been) affected by his conviction in Rhode Island. Outdoor Life reached out to the Michigan DNR for clarification on this, but did not get a response by press time. Nearly a week after last Sundays snowfall, many sidewalks across central Indiana remain covered in snow, creating challenges for pedestrians and families trying to get around safely. One Fishers resident said even after clearing his walkway, city plows left behind new piles of snow that blocked the sidewalk once again. Phil Ackerman, 78, said the storm was one of the biggest he has seen in decades. Advertisement Advertisement We haven't had a snow like that in ages, Ackerman said. Back in 1978, when we had the blizzard, my family and I were down in Florida, so we missed it. This time, he was home and is dealing with the aftermath firsthand. RELATED: Indy DPWs private contractors released from snow plowing duty Friday Ackerman has a heart condition and said he was unable to do heavy shoveling himself. After the snow stopped, neighbors stepped in to help clear his driveway and sidewalk. They just come over with their snow blower, and they had my sidewalk clean and the driveway clean, he said. That was before the plows came through. Advertisement Advertisement But Ackerman said plows later pushed snow back onto the sidewalk, leaving what he described as a mountain too large to remove with a shovel or snow blower. I was a little disappointed, Ackerman said. I know theyre just doing their job. I'm not a complainer, but my concern was that the kids need to walk on the sidewalk to get to the school bus, and theres no way that I could remove that much snow. Ackerman said he hopes the city can find a better way to clear cul de sacs without piling snow onto sidewalks. RELATED: 'It's a mess' | Indianapolis residential, side streets still covered in snow despite city plows Advertisement Advertisement 13News reached out to the City of Fishers for comment. In a statement, the city spokesperson Ashley Elrod said large snow piles are an unavoidable result of major winter storms and emphasized that homeowners are responsible for clearing sidewalks. We are incredibly proud of the hard work of the men and women of Fishers DPW for working tirelessly to make our roadways safe especially during a storm of this magnitude. Unfortunately, large snow piles from plows are an inevitable byproduct of a large snowfall like the one we experienced. In our city and in others across Indiana, property owners are ultimately responsible for clearing sidewalks and preserving pedestrian access following snowstorms, Elrod also told 13 News the city is working on a future volunteer program that could help residents who are unable to shovel their sidewalks on their own. Advertisement Advertisement I think its an excellent idea, Ackerman said. There are a lot of people like me, older, with heart conditionsthey warn you not to get out there and shovel the snow, especially when its piled up like that. For now, Ackerman said hes hoping warmer temperatures and sunshine will help take care of whats left behind. To sign up to be alerted about the volunteer program when it's available, click here. Jan 31 (Reuters) - Shwe Theingi was instantly drawn to Wutt Yee Aung when they met at the start of their second year at Myanmar's Dagon University in 2019. The 19-year-old zoology major stood out with her boyish clothes, short hair and a friendly but outspoken personality, Shwe Theingi said. The two young women, who were active in the student union, quickly became friends. At about the same time and in the same city, Khant Linn Naing was working at a printing press. He was also pursuing a degree in history at a different university and involved with a student union. Advertisement Advertisement All three students were part of the first generation in decades to come of age in a quasi-democratic Myanmar, enjoying newfound freedoms in the commercial capital of Yangon before the February 1, 2021 military coup. And all three were caught up in a brutal crackdown against the tens of thousands of young people who took to the streets in support of democracy five years ago. Many of those protesters took up arms against the junta. Others fled or were detained in prison, where some of them died. At least 74 political prisoners aged between 18 and 35 have died in detention since the coup, according to previously unreported data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, whose information on Myanmar is often cited by United Nations agencies. Advertisement Advertisement The tally was corroborated with the Political Prisoners Network of Myanmar (PPNM), which monitors the country's prison system. A total of 273 people charged with public incitement and insurrection after the coup have died while incarcerated, according to PPNM. Reuters interviewed three associates and relatives of detained students and the two prison monitor groups, and reviewed letters sent by inmates and correctional authorities. Together, they provide the fullest account to date of the conditions experienced by Wutt Yee Aung and Khant Linn Naing and the circumstances of their deaths. The news agency could not independently verify all the accounts, but they echo allegations made by U.N. investigators last year of "systematic torture, killing and other serious abuses during interrogations and in detention facilities operated by the security forces of Myanmar." The junta information ministry did not return multiple requests for comment about the allegations of mistreatment. Advertisement Advertisement The military government's foreign ministry last year denied U.N. reports of torture and abuse, without addressing specifics. "These one-sided and unfounded allegations are persistently advanced based on such unverified data," it said in October. LOST GENERATION Arrests, torture and conscription, as well as displacement within and outside Myanmar, "have disproportionately affected the younger generation," the U.N. said in a report last year. An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 young people have fled the country, which has a population of about 51 million, since the coup, according to the U.N. Development Programme. Advertisement Advertisement When the 2021 crackdown began, Shwe Theingi left Yangon. Wutt Yee Aung remained, participating in the anti-junta resistance until she was arrested in September 2021. After a junta court convicted her on charges that included insurgency and incitement, she was sentenced to seven years in Yangon's notorious Insein prison. Through letters and the occasional phone call, she stayed in touch with her family and Shwe Theingi. "Mother, I hope you are well," Wutt Yee Aung said in a letter from prison in February 2024. "I have run out of snacks and medicine, so please transfer 200,000 kyat." Advertisement Advertisement The hand-written plea for around $100 at official exchange rates also contained a list of medicines, including some for treating nerve damage and asthma. It was during interrogation in the fortnight after her arrest that Wutt Yee Aung sustained head injuries, according to Shwe Theingi and the Dagon University Students' Union, which also said that she had no health problems prior to her imprisonment. Her health eventually deteriorated so severely that she was hospitalised inside prison at least once in mid-2025, Shwe Theingi said. In one undated letter intended for Shwe Theingi, Wutt Yee Aung asked for about $150 for a medical test. "Please don't tell my mother about this," she wrote, "I miss everyone." Advertisement Advertisement Wutt Yee Aung died in prison on July 19, 2025, at age 25. Authorities told her family that the cause of death was a heart condition, Shwe Theingi said. The student union challenged the junta version of her death in a statement. "Due to political prisoners not being given adequate medical treatment, the lack of medicine and restrictions on contact with her family, Ma Wutt Yee Aung died in prison at around 9.30 p.m. on July 19, 2025," it said, using an honorific for her name. FATAL TRANSFER Khant Linn Naing's family learnt of his arrest on television news. The 19-year-old was picked up in December 2021 and accused of inciting people to commit offences against the state and insurrection. He was held at Daik-U prison, some 110 km from Yangon, and sentenced by a junta court to 15 years. Advertisement Advertisement In July 2023, his family was jolted again, this time by a letter from correctional authorities, which said Khant Linn Naing had been shot and killed while trying to escape during a prison transfer. The contents of the letter were described to Reuters by a family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation. Reuters also viewed a letter sent in June 2023 by prison authorities to the family of another inmate at Daik-U, which said he was killed after "security personnel fired warning shots" when he attempted to escape during a transfer. A colonial-era rule book that a lawyer and a prison monitor said is still used by correctional authorities allows officials to use weapons like firearms against inmates who are attempting to escape only when "there are no other means available to prevent the prisoner from escaping," according to a section of the manual reviewed by Reuters. Advertisement Advertisement Neither death notice provided more information about the circumstances of the alleged escape attempts and the junta information ministry did not respond to requests for specific details. Khant Linn Naing's parents were not given access to his remains and, over two years after receiving the notice, they have not conducted a funeral, the relative said. "Because that letter was so unclear, we don't believe he is dead," the person said. PPNM spokesperson Thaik Tun Oo said he found it implausible that Khant Linn Naing had been trying to escape because prisoners are typically restrained and paired with police officials during a transfer. Advertisement Advertisement He added that his organization had been informed by prison sources that Khant Linn Naing had been subject to harsh interrogation shortly before the alleged transfer. In the years after Wutt Yee Aung and Khant Linn Naing protested the junta, youth uprisings have upended politics and ousted governments elsewhere in Asia, including Bangladesh and Nepal. Myanmar's generals, however, have endured. While they have lost territory in their borderlands, the junta has fought back by introducing conscription and expanding aerial power. This month, it concluded a three-phase election that will likely see a military-backed party take power. "I wanted to become a news presenter. Wutt Yee wanted to do more volunteer work," Shwe Theingi said. "Each of us had different dreams." (Reporting by Reuters Staff, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Katerina Ang) The South is about to be walloped with more winter weather, less than a week after an ice storm ripped through the region, closing highways and taking down power lines and trees. The National Weather Service has issued cold weather alerts from Texas to Tennessee and Florida, warning that prolonged exposure to the bitter cold could lead to hypothermia if proper precautions are not taken. Several dozen people have died in multiple states as a result of the winter storm that stretched across the South and eastern U.S. last week, according to The Associated Press. The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed 21 weather-related fatalities on Saturday morning, Mississippi reported at least 16 and Louisiana confirmed nine, according to state officials. Advertisement Advertisement In addition to hypothermia, the fatalities occurred as a result of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and accidents involving cars, sleds and snowplows. States are still working to restore power and clear the roadways of snow and ice that remained in the wake of the storm. As of Saturday morning, more than 1,500 flights have been cancelled.. Not surprising, the airports seeing some of the most impacts are located in the Winter storm zone and where states have declared a state of emergency: ATL, Charlotte, Raleigh and Charleston. At least 85 deaths reported as bitter cold grips South in wake of winter storm Advertisement Advertisement Here is what to expect in the next round of inclement weather. Southern states bracing for cold blast while thousands still without power Temperatures are expected to plunge across the South again as a new arctic blast moves into the region, bringing dangerously cold conditions while tens of thousands in multiple states remain without power. On Friday night, temperatures are expected to fall into the teens across much of Tennessee and northern Mississippi, with lows in the 20s from southern Mississippi into Louisiana. Gusty winds will make the bitter cold feel even colder for anyone outdoors, with wind chills near or a few degrees below zero from central Tennessee to northern Mississippi by Saturday morning. Travis Loller/AP - PHOTO: A tree downed by ice rests in a front yard just feet from a house in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 26, 2026. Temperatures on Saturday afternoon will only reach a high of 21 degrees in Nashville and 26 degrees in Oxford, Mississippi. Thousands of people in both states have been without electricity for nearly a week, exacerbating the danger presented from the frigid temperatures. Advertisement Advertisement States like Tennessee and Mississippi don't necessarily design their infrastructure to withstand ice storms -- they are instead engineered to handle hurricanes and extreme heat, more common regional threats, said Sara Eftekharnejad, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science in Syracuse University's College of Engineering and Computer Science. Brett Carlsen/Getty Images - PHOTO: In this aerial view, ice accumulates on utility lines on January 26, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. Restoration after an ice storm is often more challenging, because when trees fall, they tend to take down multiple power lines at one, Eftekharnejad said in a statement. "An equal concern is the frigid Arctic blast and the blustery winds," Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia and former president of the American Meteorological Society, told ABC News. Heavy snow and blizzard conditions are also possible for the Southeast this weekend. Advertisement Advertisement Snow will become widespread Friday night across much of eastern Tennessee, southern Virginia, nearly all of North Carolina, northern South Carolina and northeastern Georgia, Residents in Georgia are "excited about the snow," Shepherd said, but emphasized the overall concern for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and homeless. ABC News - PHOTO: Weather Map The bitter cold is expected to ease by early next week with highs in the 40s and 50s from Texas to Tennessee on Monday. It will be even milder by Tuesday, with afternoon temperatures in the 50s and 60s in many areas. Tuesday's highs will be near 50 degrees in Nashville and reach the mid-50s in Oxford, Mississippi. Advertisement Advertisement However, it will still be cold at night for those that still have to cope with no electricity. Both Tennessee and Mississippi experienced widespread power outages as a result of the storm. What to know about ice storms, the dangerous winter conditions coming for much of the US Freezing temperatures heading toward Florida The Sunshine State will not be spared from the winter weather this time around, the forecast shows. Temperatures remained mild in Florida last weekend while the massive ice storm inundated its neighboring states to the north. The state will face a brief but potent blast of extreme cold, bringing the coldest temperatures in more than 15 years to parts of Florida. Advertisement Advertisement Actual air temperatures are forecast to dip into the 20s across much of the state by Sunday morning, including Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Orlando, potentially challenging daily record lows in all three cities. "Freeze conditions will likely kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing," the National Weather Service said. Juan Castro/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: An iguana which fell from a tree climbs a rock in Miami on January 8, 2010 as an unusual cold spell has hit the normally balmy southern state of Florida. On Sunday, a low temperature around freezing is possible in Tampa, with temperatures dipping into the mid-30s across southern Florida, including Miami. Miami could also challenge a daily record low on Sunday. If the low temperature in Miami on Sunday morning dips into the upper 30s, that would be the coldest temperature the city has experienced since December 2010. On Dec. 28, 2010, the low temperature in Miami was 39 degrees. The current forecast has lows at 36 degrees. Advertisement Advertisement The coldest recorded temperature ever recorded in Miami occurred on Feb. 3, 1917, when the temperature dropped to 27 degrees. Records go back to 1895. In Orlando, the current low temperature forecast is 24 on Sunday morning. This could be the coldest temperature that the city has experienced since Dec. 29, 2010, when the low temperature in Orlando was 24 degrees. The coldest recorded temperature in Orlando occurred on Dec. 28, 1894, when the temperature dropped to 18 degrees. Records go back to 1892. How Florida farms, groves are preparing Florida's agricultural industry is preparing for the freezing temperatures. The state exports crops such as leafy greens, strawberries, tomatoes, bell peppers and blueberries to the rest of the country during the winter, according to ATTRA, a sustainable agriculture information source. Advertisement Advertisement However, the wind chills will be even lower. It will potentially feel like the single digits in North Florida on Sunday morning, the teens in the central peninsula and in the 20s in South Florida. Farmers have already been reporting frost damage in crops such as snap beans, sweet corn, squash and bell peppers. Cold exposure in southern counties has caused leaf burn and flower drop, which, depending on the crop stage or duration of exposure, can cause reduced yields or complete field losses. Florida citrus growers have activated established frost protection practices to protect root systems and help moderate air temperatures around trees in anticipation of cold and potential freeze conditions, Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus, told ABC News. Leaders in Florida's citrus industry hope that years of deployed treatments, therapies and replanting efforts to strengthen tree health will allow the groves to withstand the cold and freezing temperatures coming their way, Matt Joyner, executive vice president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual told ABC News. Advertisement Advertisement "As is typical in these situations, it remains too early to estimate potential impacts, as effects will vary based on location, duration, and severity of cold temperatures," Shepp said. Florida growers are "experienced" in managing weather-related challenges and have navigated freeze events "many times before," Shepp added. Its cold outside, what happened to global warming? Meteorologists explain climate versus weather. The National Weather Service warned that strong, gusty winds accompanying the cold front on Saturday could create additional hazards and potentially disrupt final preparations to protect sensitive vegetation and pipes. The NWS advised people to ensure that any tarps, blankets or coverings around sensitive plants or pipes are properly secured. Preparations should be completed by Saturday morning at the latest to avoid the strongest winds. Reptiles could be 'cold-stunned' Reptiles in the state will likely become cold-stunned as a result of the temperatures. In the past, iguanas have been seen falling out of trees, and alligators appeared motionless in frozen waterways. At ZooMiami, keepers are most concerned about its reptile residents, Ron Magill, ZooMiami's communications director, told ABC News. All of the zoo's giant land tortoises and lizards that have access to the outdoors will be secured indoors in a heated structure, while the crocodilians will have access to constantly flowing water, Magill said. Smaller, more sensitive mammals, like sloths, porcupines will be brought indoors and kept in a heated structure as well. ABC News - PHOTO: Weather Map The primates, like the chimpanzees our orangutans, are given blankets that they wrap themselves up in, Magill said. The animals are also given more food, since it takes more calories to fight the cold, Magill said. At Jungle Island, an eco-adventure park on Miami's Watson Island, most of the animals come from tropical or sub-tropical climates, and therefore are brought inside as well, Jon Joyce, the animal care curator at Jungle Island, said in a statement. Some animals, like the tigers, bask in the below-normal temperatures, and become more active and playful, Magill said. "It's something that invigorates them," he said. The massacre of protesters in Iran is a crime that the West has a moral obligation to stop. Donald Trump told those taking to the streets that help is coming, and threatened Tehran with consequences should the bloodshed continue. Buoyed by his words, many took the courageous step of showing their displeasure with the regime, and many died wondering when the promised help would arrive. The formidable build-up of American forces in the region suggests that Mr Trump is belatedly considering acting on his words. If he does so, it will be for the good of the wider West. The Iranian regime has absolutely no intention of changing its ways at home or abroad. It will continue with bloody repression, the pursuit of nuclear weapons and the financing of terrorism until it is brought to heel. Today, the Iranian state is weakened. Its proxy militias have suffered heavy losses in Syria and Lebanon; the United States levelled parts of its nuclear programme in surgical strikes; an exchange of fire with Israel ended in humiliating defeat, as scarce missiles were used to little effect, and Israeli jets were able to operate with apparent impunity inside Iranian airspace. Advertisement Advertisement Yet it intends to rebuild these capabilities. Satellite imagery shows that work is already under way at the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities in what appears to be an attempt to recover assets which survived the bombing. Missile stockpiles are being assembled. And Iranian naval exercises planned in the Persian Gulf are intended to signal the regimes willingness to shut down the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, should a wider conflict break out. American assets are in place and ready to strike, Israel has used the waiting period to ready its air defences, and Tehran has been clear that it does not intend to end the slaughter of its own citizens, scrap its nuclear programme, or desist from stockpiling missiles. The only way to change the intolerable situation in the Middle East is to take the initiative. There is unlikely to be a better opportunity to deliver a lethal blow to the regime. The Iranian people are looking for change. Mr Trump must respond to the breaching of his red lines with force, or suffer the same loss of credibility and prestige that Barack Obama did in Syria. Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays. Tucked away in the rugged Victorian bushland lies the tiny outpost of Licola, population: five. Consisting of a couple of weatherboard buildings, a general store, a caravan park and a petrol station grouped around a modest main street, Licola is one of Australia's smallest towns. And if you have a spare couple of million dollars, you can buy it. The entire village - a three-hour drive from the city of Melbourne - is now up for grabs, much to the shock and ire of tight-knit locals. Advertisement Advertisement Privately owned by a local community club, Licola has long been a guaranteed pit stop for fuel, food and rest for travellers on their way to the Alpine National Park. It also has a 50-year legacy of hosting outreach programmes for young people. But the local branch of the Lions Club says it can't afford to run the town anymore, and late last year quietly listed it for sale online. The sale has raised alarm bells for Licola's few passionate residents, locals in surrounding areas and even other Lions Clubs state members, who say they weren't fairly consulted and now hold grave fears for the future of the town. 'A home away from home' Nestled beside the banks of the mighty Macalister River in Victoria's high country, Licola was originally a timber mill, built in the 1950s with a few buildings for those working there. Advertisement Advertisement After it closed in 1968, the Lions Club acquired the whole site and turned it into a camp where disadvantaged young people and children, and groups with special needs, could stay during school holidays. Just around the corner from the camp, they also snapped up land which now hosts Licola's General Store and Caravan Park. Today, Leanne O'Donnell - who runs the General Store - and her family are the only full-time residents of the town. She lives there with one of her children, along with her best friend and her two kids. "It's just an amazing place," O'Donnell tells the BBC. "When I first moved here, people would come into my store and say, 'You're not going to make a million dollars in Licola.' And I'd say, 'Who said I'm here to make a million dollars?'." Advertisement Advertisement O'Donnell purchased the business in 2022 but doesn't own the buildings, signing a lease she says she was led to believe would be extended to a 15-year term. Licola is located on the banks of the Macalister River in the Gippsland region [Getty Images] From day one, O'Donnell wanted Licola to be "a home away from home" for people. Nearly every person who visits, works or passes through Licola has O'Donnell's number even truck drivers and the Country Fire Authority. "I'm the main point of contact for them, regardless of whether it's three in the afternoon or two in the morning," she said. O'Donnell is extremely passionate about the town and serving its surrounding community - but she now faces eviction. Advertisement Advertisement "I absolutely love this town... if it gets into the hands of a developer and turns into something that it's not, it [will] just break my heart." O'Donnell first learned Licola was headed for the market in January 2025, from the Lions Village Licola board, which is appointed to manage the town on behalf of the charity. "They told me that their business had been running at a loss for the last five or six years and I asked them, 'so how can I help you?'," O'Donnell says. "They turned around and said, unless you get a couple of million dollars, there's nothing much you can do." Advertisement Advertisement But O'Donnell persisted, offering to run fundraisers for the village and telling the board that the broader community will want to help. The board wouldn't budge, O'Donnell says. Eventually she said: "So you're going to buy my business?" "And they said, no, we're just going to take your business because we own the land and we own the buildings," she says. "And you just need to pack up and leave. I couldn't get it in my head and understand it at the time." After seeking legal advice, O'Donnell quickly realised that because she was signed to a lease, the board could do just that. Advertisement Advertisement "In the real world, I could take my business and put it in another building... that's not a problem at all anywhere else except for Licola." Here, there is nowhere else to go. By December, O'Donnell found a real estate listing online for the sale of the town, with an asking price of between A$6m (3m, $4.3m) and $10m. Petitions and threats The sale has been met with intense backlash online from locals in the surrounding areas. Many are upset over the way O'Donnell has been treated and are concerned the beloved town could die out or be commercialised. One user's comment on the Licola Caravan Park & General Store official Facebook page says: "People rely on the store in town, and closing in the middle of peak season is stupidity at its best." Advertisement Advertisement Another person says selling the town "impacts MANY Victorians that come to Licola and have camped [there] for years". "There are some great past leaders of Lions and leaders of the Licola village and camp whom I know are turning in their graves," another comment says. Other Victorian Lions members wrote to the Lions Village Licola Board, accusing it of acting without due process and consultation with the broader Lions Club members it is supposed to represent. An online petition to save the store, "renew the lease and let Leanne stay", has more than 8,000 signatures. The Licola Wilderness Village, where the Lions Club has run camps for disadvantaged young people [Licola Wilderness Village/Google Maps] As outrage grew, the Lions Village Licola board said its staff were receiving threats and it was considering withdrawing them from the town. Advertisement Advertisement In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson said the sale was prompted by a review into the town's operations, which was provided to all Lions in Victoria. After the review, the board decided it was no longer sustainable for the Lions Club to own the village, listing rising costs and insurance prices, aging accommodation, and a decline in camp attendance as the main reasons. "The decision to sell was not made lightly," the statement said. Chairman Denis Carruthers has said the board has a responsibility to protect the mission of the Lions Village - supporting disadvantaged youth - not just the physical space. Advertisement Advertisement "The Lions District Governors have been briefed and are supportive," he told the BBC. The board also said in their statement that O'Donnell's lease "was not renewed in order to consolidate revenue during a period of financial stress". O'Donnell has been told she has to vacate the premises by 31 January this year. All proceeds of the sale of the Licola properties and future business profits will be reinvested into a new foundation, which will continue to pay for children to attend camps run professionally across Victoria, it said. Whether future camps will continue to run in Licola is unknown at this stage, Carruthers added, with a planned camp for January cancelled due to low numbers. It remains unclear who the new owners will be or what they will want to do with the town. But, he said, there is "considerable interest in the property". The BBC has pledged to better reflect groups and communities across the UK. The BBC commissioned an independent review The broadcaster made the commitment following an independent review across all BBC content, which found that "further steps" should be taken to improve the representation of working-class people outside London, and older women. The report read: "The two most persistent issues that we identified are the need for the BBC to focus on and connect better with working class audiences and those based outside London and the south of England." The report recommended that "geographical background of presenters and contributors should in future be monitored as a diversity characteristic" for all BBC programmes. It continued: "Looking at the review year, across the board, we believe the BBC does represent working-class people. "However, it varies by genre and, according to audience groups and people we interviewed, more could be done, particularly in the choice of presenters in news and factual content. "We believe it is not so much the quantity of working class representation which is the issue but the way working-class communities are portrayed and understood that needs further consideration." The review observed that too many BBC shows are inauthentic. The report explained: "Audiences are particularly unforgiving of this if it challenges their expectations of what they have switched on to see. "If there's an Agatha Christie murder mystery over the Christmas period, they won't expect to be taken into anti-colonial struggles, alongside the country-house murder. "Unless it's very skilfully done, there is a danger it will feel overly didactic and preachy, as if the viewer is being lectured or a point is being made heavy-handedly. A vital component of quality for the viewer is authenticity." What's more, the report noted that "there appears to be less positive portrayal of white, working-class men and women in BBC output". The report continued: "Portrayal of working-class communities can often rely on the themes of poverty, crime, addiction and de-industrialisation with an absence of role models." President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday greeted fellow citizens on the eve of the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas Ji. In a message, the President said, "On the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas Ji, I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all Indians. Guru Ravidas Ji was a revered saint and social reformer. He conveyed the message of equality, social justice and love through his teachings. By following the path of simplicity and moral discipline, he worked tirelessly to eliminate discrimination based on caste and religion. The teachings of Guru Ravidas Ji will remain relevant and continue to guide us in embracing human values. Let us integrate his teachings into our lives and actively contribute to nation-building." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab on February 1. As per the offical release, at around 3:45 PM, the Prime Minister will visit Adampur airport, where he will unveil the new name of the Airport as 'Sri Guru Ravidas Ji Airport, Adampur. He will also inaugurate the Terminal Building at Halwara Airport in Ludhiana, Punjab. On the occasion of the 649th Birth Anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidas Ji, the renaming of Adampur Airport honours the revered saint and social reformer whose teachings of equality, compassion, and human dignity continue to inspire India's social ethos. Further advancing aviation infrastructure in the state, the Terminal Building, to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister at Halwara Airport, will establish a new gateway for the State, serving Ludhiana and its surrounding industrial and agricultural hinterland. Located in the Ludhiana district, Halwara is also home to a strategically important Indian Air Force station. Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated on Magh Purnima, the full-moon day of the Magh month in the Hindu calendar. (ANI) Alongside the famously brilliant warplanes, there was a gang of unlikely heroes. These may not have been the fastest, the most advanced, or available in the greatest numbers, but somehow through clever tactics, sheer bravery or good luck achieved remarkable things. Some appeared totally obsolete yet took part in some actions of pivotal importance. Here are 10 World War 2 warplanes that punched well above their weight: 10: Polikarpov I-153 Polikarpov I-153 The Soviet I-153 was so good that even in the time of monoplanes, it persisted in frontline service until 1945. The Soviet Union was the first nation to introduce a modern monoplane fighter, but Soviet tactical thinking foresaw a combat situation wherein monoplane fighters would break up a force of incoming bombers, leaving the biplane I-153s to deal with them, and any escorts, individually. Advertisement Advertisement In reality, this didnt work. Nonetheless, 3437 I-153s were built and were heavily used, mostly in a desperate rearguard action against the invading Germans in 1941. Whats more, back in 1939, the brand-new I-153 was rushed to the Mongolian front to replace the I-16 monoplane. 10: Polikarpov I-153 Polikarpov I-153 The Japanese were fielding the Nakajima Ki-27, which possessed the sparkling agility to outmanoeuvre the faster I-16. The I-153 offered near parity in performance and manoeuvrability terms, and combat performance against the Ki-27 quickly improved. Interestingly, the I-153 is also one of a handful of fighters that fought itself. In March 1943, two Soviet I-153s clashed with three Finnish I-153s, with one aircraft forced to land after suffering damage in the ensuing melee. The Finns, never ones to ignore a decent aircraft, operated about a dozen captured I-153s against their former owners until February 1945. By then, the eight surviving aircraft were the last biplane fighters flying on operations anywhere in the world. 9: Fiat G.50 Freccia Fiat G.50 Freccia Which Italian fighters achieved a 33-1 victory-loss ratio? The Freccia achieved this in service with the Finns, who operated 33 G.50s from the end of the Winter War, through the Continuation War and on until 1944 when these now quite aged aircraft were withdrawn from the front line. Advertisement Advertisement Finnish Fiat pilots shot down 99 Soviet aircraft for the loss of only three of their own, representing what may be the best ratio of victories to losses achieved by any single fighter type in the service of a specific air arm during the war. 9: Fiat G.50 Freccia Fiat G.50 Freccia Despite this amazing achievement, Finnish pilots apparently still preferred the MS.406, Hurricane and Brewster Buffalo, not least as the open cockpit of the G.50, whilst pleasant on a Spring day over the Mediterranean was not a particularly attractive place to be in the depths of a Finnish winter at least they didnt have to worry about opening the canopy to bale out though. After the G.50s were phased out of service, they remained operational as trainers until the end of 1946 when the spare parts supply ran out. The G.50 was, in fairness, a lacklustre aeroplane but who could reasonably ignore that insane 33 to 1 success rate? 8: Westland Lysander Westland Lysander Designed by the genius **Teddy Petter** (1908-1968, whose other designs include the Whirlwind, Canberra, Gnat and Lightning), the **Lysander** was built, after much consultation with aircrew, to emphasise extremely **short take-off and landing** and good **visibility** from the cockpit. Though not elegant, it was an imposing aircraft with advanced features, and the rather stylish feature of machine guns mounted on the undercarriage spats. Advertisement Advertisement The Lysander was designed for the Army Co-operation role, which included **artillery spotting and reconnaissance**. Experience in France was brutal, of the 170 plus Lysanders sent in 1939, around **120 failed to return**. After the Fall of France, the Lysander was largely relegated to anti-invasion reconnaissance patrols. 8: Westland Lysander Westland Lysander Though the Lysander proved less than ideal in its intended role, once it turned to the exciting (often rather too exciting) world of **running agents** in and out of occupied Europe it proved **excellent**. Flying deep into occupied territory, often under cover of darkness, to insert or extract agents or equipment, the Lysander was the **James Bond** of Second World War aircraft. No. 161 (Special Duties) Squadron was a secretive unit of the Royal Air Force, carrying out **shadowy missions** as part of the Royal Air Force Special Duties Service; From 1942-44 they used the Lysander. Their Lysanders (alongside Hudsons) delivered and extracted agents on the ground (the other aircraft types in 161 were utilised for parachute delivery). It is impossible to calculate the full effect of agents on the war, but it is sizable, and the Lysander was a **key part of these special operations**. 7: Gloster Gladiator Gloster Gladiator The **Gladiator** was from an earlier generation than the Spitfire and Hurricane, despite predating the latter by only 14 months. The **biplane** Gladiator was little more than a **convenient stopgap** to keep up the numbers until the Hurricane and Spitfire came on stream in sufficient quantity, so it was released for export at a fairly early date. Advertisement Advertisement The Gladiator pops up in an unusual number of **imbalanced conflicts** far from its home where it was forced to operate in the face of **numeric and technological superiority** invariably heroically and to great propaganda value thus pithily illustrating the general experience of the biplane fighter in the Second World War. 7: Gloster Gladiator Gloster Gladiator The Gladiator **stoically defied the odds** with the RAF against the Italians over **Malta**. More prosaically, when operated in numbers against a similarly equipped enemy it performed **excellently**, and a situation developed over Africa similar to the CR.32I-15 one in Spain: it clashed regularly with the Fiat CR.42, which, though slightly faster, did not handle as well as the Gloster. Despite being the RAFs last biplane fighter, it was also that services first fighter to sport an **enclosed cockpit**. Not many aircraft have been simultaneously in the vanguard of development while also totally obsolete. Despite it being such a dated design, it scored **304 victories** in RAF service. 6: Polikarpov Po-2 Polikarpov Po-2 You dont need the highest performance or technology to get results, something the **Po-2** proved time and time again. This simple aircraft was a **small biplane**, far more significant than its rather unassuming appearance might have you believe. Deployed at night at low altitude, with little engine sound it flew **below the stalling speeds** of German fighters. Advertisement Advertisement Due to its flight profiles, size, and **wood and canvas** construction, it was virtually **undetectable** to contemporary radar. The **Night Witches** were an all-female bomber regiment much hated by the Axis forces that endured their sleep-depriving harassment raids. The Night Witches flew the Polikarpov Po-2. To frozen bewildered Axis ground forces, the Night Witches seemingly appeared from nowhere, dropped their bombs, strafed, and disappeared. 6: Polikarpov Po-2 Polikarpov Po-2 Just before sunset, Po-2s (initially known as U-2) were deployed to forward operating bases, under cover of darkness, and the aircraft then performed their short-range harassment raids. They then returned to re-arm and then re-deploy; on one occasion U-2 crew **Yekaterina Ryabova** (1921-1974) and **Nadezhda Popova** (1921-2013) flew **18 missions in one night** The Po-2 had excellent **short take-off and landing (STOL)** performance and was **easy to manufacture**, both extremely useful in a huge, desperate war. No biplane has been produced in greater numbers than the Po-2, with estimates of the total number-built ranging from **20,000 up to 30,000**. The Po-2/U-2 is often overlooked but was a significant aircraft of the Great Patriotic War. 5: Curtiss P-36 Hawk Curtiss P-36 Hawk By far the **best American fighter** in operational service in 1939, and by far the **shiniest aircraft** on this list, the **Hawk 75A** scored the **first aerial victory on the Western Front** of the Second World War. Two years later, the Curtiss made history again by scoring the **first aerial victory for the US over Pearl Harbor**. Advertisement Advertisement Despite seeing very little service with US forces, the Hawk 75 flew **successfully over France**, scoring a third of all French victories though making up only 12% of the fighter force. Survivors were then used to great effect by **Finland**. In the RAF Mohawks fought the Japanese until the end of 1944 and Argentina only withdrew theirs in 1954. 5: Curtiss P-36 Hawk Curtiss P-36 Hawk The determined **Finnish Air Force** may not have had the best fighter aircraft in the world, but what they did have, they used **extremely effectively**. The Hawk was much loved in Finnish service, earning the nickname **Sussu** ("Sweetheart"). Finnish Hawks claimed **190 kills** between 1941 and 1944, for the loss of only **fifteen**. Finnish Hawk pilots included **Altto Kalevi "Kale" Tervo** (1919-1943), with 14 victories in the Hawk. **Kyosti "Kossi" Karhila** (1921-2009, scored 13 victories in the Hawk. The Hawk 75 was **tough and nimble** notably **more manoeuvrable than a Spitfire or Hurricane** at high speed. It was well-armed but never quite fast enough. It did far better than many expected. 4: PZL P.24 PZL P.24 The **P.24** was a Polish **gull-wing all-metal fighter** that first flew in 1933, armed with two Swiss 20-mm Oerlikon cannon and two 7.92 mm Colt-Browning machine guns. One of the most successful Polish aviation exports, it was sold to Bulgaria and Greece, alongside a production license to Romania and Turkey. Advertisement Advertisement **Romanian** P. 24 aircraft fought against the Soviet Union. **Greek** PZL P.24 fighters saw a **great deal of action**. When Fascist Italy attacked Greece on 28 October 1940, a force of 24 serviceable planes (out of 36) rose to repel Italian bombers and fighters. The Greek air defenders, seemingly outmatched, proved **surprisingly effective**. 4: PZL P.24 PZL P.24 On November 2 1940, 15 Italian bombers, with fighter escorts, were intercepted by Greek PZL P.24s and three of the bombers were shot down. When the surviving bombers turned to return to base, Greek pilot **Lieutenant Mitralexis**, out of ammunition, **intentionally rammed one**, sending it out of control. Forced to make an emergency landing himself near the crashed bomber, he **captured four enemy aircrew using his pistol**! The Greek P.24s shot down a total of **37 Italian and three German aircraft**. Mitralexis's ramming of an Italian Z.1007 bomber became immortalised in Greek history books. In total, **97 P.24 production aircraft were built in Poland and 52 abroad** under license. The only survivor can be found in a museum in **Turkey**. 3: Vickers Wellesley Vickers Wellesley It is widely acknowledged that cracking Germanys **Enigma code** was hugely important to the eventual Allied victory. Key to cracking the code was obtaining a codebook and an Enigma machine, both of which were recovered from the German submarine **U-559**, thanks to a dramatic combined operation which featured an RAF Sunderland and four Royal Navy destroyers, and of **pivotal importance** a **Wellesley**. Advertisement Advertisement At 12:34 p.m. on 30 October 1942, the **47 Squadron Wellesley** spotted the periscope of the U-559 and attacked with **depth charges**. The submarine crew eventually surrendered without having time to destroy the coding equipment, providing the greatest **intelligence windfall** of the War. 3: Vickers Wellesley Vickers Wellesley And thats not all, two years earlier it had also performed a **vital mission**. When Italy declared war on Britain and France in 1940, it left Egypt extremely vulnerable. The Italians had an alarming local naval force which was composed of nine destroyers and eight submarines, as well as a squadron of fast torpedo boats. Though the British lacked the most advanced warplanes in this region, there was a Wellesley force. On 11 June 1940 **nine aircraft from No. 14 Squadron** mounted an audacious raid against the Italian naval base at **Massawa** in Eritrea. The resultant fire destroyed an estimated **800010,000 tons of fuel**. The nine plucky aircraft and their extremely brave crews achieved a **great deal** in their bold **sunset raid** on Massawa. 2: Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Described by Churchill (perhaps apocryphally) as the **scourge of the Atlantic**, the **Fw 200**, did much to **disrupt vital supplies to the Allies**. With the Fw 200 the Germans **sank over 300,000 tons of shipping** in less than a year. This modern but fragile machine proved alarmingly effective thanks to its excellent **range** a legacy of its pre-war role as an **airliner**; in August 1938 it once flew non-stop from Berlin to New York City. Advertisement Advertisement As well as destroying shipping, its presence, which was never in large numbers, meant the Allies had to devote precious resources to creating **catapult aircraft merchant ships (CAM)** and **escort carriers**. In terms of money spent to economic damage both in destruction and investment in countermeasures by the Allies, it is likely among the **most effective aeroplanes of the war**. Yet it was vulnerable and weak. 2: Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 It was intended to be the U-boats **eye in the sky**, spotting merchant ships and vectoring the submarines to their targets. However, interservice **rivalry** between the Luftwaffe (air force) and Kriegsmarine (navy) meant that Fw 200s were often directly assigned to the targets. This won **Goring** kudos but was perhaps less effective than if submarines had been sent. Author of Focke-Wulf 200, **Matthew Willis** noted, It was also successful as a **transport aircraft**, making Rommels Spring 1942 advance possible through petrol deliveries across the Mediterranean, and airlifting critical supplies to Axis troops in the Kuban pocket in 1944. It was also a popular **VIP transport** in Nazi Germany: **Hitler** had his own personal modified Fw 200 with an escape system; other senior leaders to have a personal Fw 200 were armaments minister **Albert Speer** and SS chief **Heinrich Himmler**. 1: Fairey Swordfish Fairey Swordfish Somehow a small number of **slow, open-cockpit biplanes** with the top speed of a modestly souped-up Vauxhall Corsa, managed to deliver a **crushing blow to the Italian Navy**. The **Battle of Taranto** took place on the night of 11 November 1940. It was the **first all-aircraft ship-to-ship attack in history**, using 21 **Fairey Swordfish** from the aircraft carrier **HMS Illustrious**. In this audacious raid, the British **disabled three battleships**, damaged one heavy cruiser and two destroyers and destroyed two fighters, for the loss of two aircrew. The Fairey Swordfish had **exceeded all expectations**. The raid likely had further implications, as it likely **inspired the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack**. 1: Fairey Swordfish Fairey Swordfish This would be enough for any other aircraft, but the **plucky Swordfish did more**. The Swordfish is credited with **25 submarine kills** (the ninth greatest submarine-killing aircraft in history). Additionally, its ability to operate from **escort carriers** and the even smaller flight decks on **Merchant Aircraft Carriers (MACs)** enabled them to provide a continuous aerial escort across the Atlantic. MACs had a wooden flight deck, a modest 410 feet by 62 feet, a limited top speed of around 14mph, and carried at most four Swordfish. Despite this limited capability, their presence forced the opposition underwater, preventing them from closing on the convoy. Perhaps this explains why, in the **207 convoys escorted by Swordfish operating MACs, only nine ships were lost to U-boats** despite none having been sunk by the embarked aircraft. Follow Joe Coles on Substack, Twitter X or Blue Sky. His superb Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is available here. If you enjoyed this story, please click the Follow button above to see more like it from Autocar Photo Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en ]]> From tank columns rumbling across battlefields to the whisper-quiet hover of rotor blades overhead, drones (advanced military UAVs) are reshaping modern warfare with precision strikes, high-altitude reconnaissance, and stealth surveillance. Platforms like the MQ-9 Reaper, Bayraktar TB2, and RQ-4 Global Hawk showcase how cutting-edge aerospace engineering and tactical innovation deliver unparalleled situational awareness and strike capability. In this fast-paced guide, the top unmanned aerial vehicles dominating todays conflict zones come alive through detailed specs, real-world mission profiles, and frontline case studies. Prepare to uncover how these airborne game-changers are forging the next era of combat. MQ-9 Reaper Image Credit: Richard Whitcombe / Shutterstock. From long-endurance strike missions at 50,000 feet to real-time surveillance feeds, the MQ-9 Reaper sets the benchmark for armed military drones. It pairs precision-guided Hellfire missiles with advanced sensors to deliver pinpoint strikes and constant situational awareness. Advertisement Advertisement U.S. forces rely on their hours-long loiter time to monitor insurgent movements and support ground troops. Its blend of range, payload capacity, and data-link reliability cements its role in modern aerial warfare. Bayraktar TB2 Image Credit: Army.com.ua - CC BY 4.0/Wiki Commons. According to BAYKAR Technology, Turkeys Bayraktar TB2 medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV has proven its tactical value in conflict zones from Libya to Ukraine. Equipped with laser-guided munitions (such as Roketsans MAM-series) and an EO/IR sensor suite, it delivers cost-effective strike capability alongside real-time reconnaissance. Its relatively small logistical footprint and rapid setup help commanders deploy it efficiently from conventional airfields on dynamic battlefields. The TB2s export success underscores its growing influence on drone warfare worldwide. RQ-4 Global Hawk Image Credit: Bobbi Zapka - Public Domain/Wiki Commons. Soaring above 60,000 feet, the RQ-4 Global Hawk can remain airborne for 30+ hours while carrying electro-optical/infrared sensors and radar (including SAR) payloads. This super-persistent surveillance drone provides commanders with uninterrupted, real-time imagery and signals intelligence. Advertisement Advertisement Although unarmed, its unmatched situational awareness shapes mission planning and threat assessment. The Global Hawks endurance and high-altitude vantage deliver a strategic edge in any theater. MQ-1C Gray Eagle Image Credit: U.S. Army - Public Domain/Wiki Commons. Building on the Predator lineage, the MQ-1C Gray Eagle extends range, boosts payload, and offers beyond-line-of-sight control for U.S. Army operations. It excels in artillery spotting, convoy security, and close air support by streaming live video directly to forward units. Its armament options, including Hellfire missiles and precision-guided munitions such as the GBU-44/B Viper Strike, enable precise engagements in contested areas. The Gray Eagles rugged airframe and modular sensors keep it flying even in harsh environments. IAI Heron TP Image Credit: Andre Gerwing, CC BY 4.0/WikiCommons. Israel Aerospace Industries Heron TP blends long endurance with multi-mission flexibility, from maritime patrol to electronic warfare. Its turboprop powerplant and modular payload bay adapt easily to surveillance and SIGINT roles. Operators prize its easy-to-integrate ground station and rapid deployment time. Advertisement Advertisement The Heron TPs reliability and capability have earned it a spot in several NATO and Middle Eastern air forces. CH-4 Rainbow Image Credit: Infinty 0, CC BY 4.0/WikiCommons. Chinas CH-4 Rainbow offers medium-altitude, long-endurance performance with both reconnaissance and strike capabilities at an export-friendly price. Export sales across multiple countries have expanded its operational footprint. Armed with laser-guided munitions and capable of long-endurance patrols (depending on payload), it provides persistent coverage for diverse missions. The CH-4s balance of affordability and functionality makes it a go-to choice for emerging air forces. Drones Defining Tomorrows Battlefields Image Credit: Shutterstock. From precision strikes to persistent surveillance, todays top military drones have proven theyre far more than experimental tech. Theyve become an indispensable force multiplier, delivering real-time intelligence and surgical firepower across every conflict zone. As unmanned aerial vehicles continue to evolve, expect even greater endurance, stealth, and AI-driven autonomy to redefine combat. Stay tuned for the next generation of UAVs that will push the boundaries of air power and reshape the art of modern warfare. Intelligence Committee Democrats are demanding Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard appear before both chambers respective panels after she was present during the execution of an FBI search warrant at an election center in Atlanta. Gabbard was photographed at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operations Center, a location President Trump falsely claimed was central to voter fraud that robbed him of a 2020 victory. Democrats have been highly critical of her appearance, noting Gabbard oversees intelligence agencies largely focused on foreign threats and would not typically be involved in the domestic execution of a search warrant. Advertisement Advertisement It is also deeply concerning that you participated in this domestic law enforcement action. The Intelligence Community should be focused on foreign threats and, as you yourself have testified, when those intelligence authorities are turned inwards the results can be devastating for Americans privacy and civil liberties, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat in each chambers intelligence panel, wrote to Gabbard. Given the politically fraught nature of elections for federal office, any federal efforts associated with combatting foreign election threats necessitate public transparency, prompt updating of Congressional intelligence committees, and clear commitment to non-partisan conduct. Your recent actions raise foundational questions about the current mission of your office, and it is critical that you brief the Committees immediately. Gabbard has made investigating the 2020 election a central part of her role as director of national intelligence, an unusual approach as the job is traditionally focused on current and future threats facing the U.S. from largely foreign actors. She has produced various reports claiming Obama-era officials committed treason in their response to investigating the 2020 election, but those memos largely show emails of her predecessor discussing how Russia was not able to actually change any vote totals. Advertisement Advertisement Gabbards office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fulton County played a pivotal role following President Trumps loss in the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) indicted Trump on racketeering charges in 2023 for allegedly conspiring to subvert the election results and win Georgia to stay in office. The case was dropped in 2025 ahead of the presidents return to the White House and after Willis was disqualified from the case. The FBI said agents executed a court authorized law enforcement action at the countys main office in Union City. FBI spokesperson Jenna Sellitto said boxes loaded on the trucks contained ballots. Agents sought 2020 election records, Fulton County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt-Dominguez said. Advertisement Advertisement We dont know why they took them, and we dont know where theyre taking them to, county board of commissioners Chair Robb Pitts said. The letter from Warner and Himes asks Gabbard to testify on a variety of elements about her presence in Georgia, including your reasoning for attending the FBI operation in Fulton County and what role you or any other [intelligence community] employee has played in the conduct of this operation. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. About a week ago, meteorologists at the Triangles local television stations were warning viewers of a significant winter storm, one that could bring enough ice accumulation to cause widespread power outages and hazardous travel conditions. The weekend progressed, and precipitation fell across central North Carolina. But it came more as sleet and less as freezing rain. While black ice remained a concern for several mornings and nights, power outages were isolated. Many on social media thanked meteorologists for their work before, during and after the storm. But other people seemed upset that the forecasts werent manifested, that the impacts werent as significant as meteorologists warned. Advertisement Advertisement Cant predict whats happening in 12 hours yet folks like yall tell us what gonna happen to the world 50 years from now...do better or reimburse me and the linemen for our time and money prepping for the inaccuracies, one person commented on a Facebook post by WRALs Chris Michaels. When can we admit that all forecasters were horrible? another wrote on a post by CBS 17s Wes Hohenstein. Hearing mixed reviews from viewers and other people after a weather event isnt unusual, meteorologists who spoke with The News & Observer said. Weve gotten some pretty thick skin over the years as meteorologists, said Hohenstein, the chief meteorologist at CBS 17. Advertisement Advertisement But recently, the feedback has been different. Don Big Weather Schwenneker, the chief meteorologist at ABC11, gives a forecast for the Triangles upcoming snow storm. (Courtesy of ABC11) Don Big Weather Schwenneker, the chief meteorologist at ABC11, was hearing from people after last weekends storm blaming him because they didnt see a foot of snow an amount Schwenneker never had in his forecasts. This past storm was the worst example Ive seen, because theres so many more non-qualified people just giving a forecast online, that it all kind of gets lumped together, he said. Just days ago Schwenneker saw, in around 15 minutes, 53 people on TikTok giving inaccurate forecasts. None of them were meteorologists. And the reason people do this, Schwenneker said, is for engagement views and, consequently, money. I think people need to realize that when theyre seeing someone in their feed, whether its TikTok, Instagram, whatever, they could be putting out a terrible forecast just so youll watch, Schwenneker said. Advertisement Advertisement The quantity of bad forecasts led Schwenneker to post a rant on Facebook, highlighting his qualifications and those of other meteorologists. And he wasnt the only one. Michaels, a WRAL meteorologist, also took to social media to address the criticism, in the form of one of his letters to Dearest Mother. Most villagers express kindness and understanding toward the delicacies of such a prognostication. A small minority choose to unfurl inner anger onto our predictions, Michaels wrote. Nevermind that, Mother. Why forecasts arent always accurate Michaels has a degree in meteorology from N.C. State and has worked as a meteorologist for more than a decade. Schwenneker has been a meteorologist for 30 years and holds the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist seal from the American Meteorological Society and a Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association. Hohenstein, who has been a meteorologist for nearly 30 years, including 20 in central North Carolina, has a degree in meteorology and a Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society. Advertisement Advertisement The minutes-long forecasts viewers see on TV take hours to produce. Meteorologists look at a variety of sources including data from weather balloons, computer models and climatology. They also rely on their own experience. We know what happens a lot. We know what happens most times, Hohenstein said. We know what to watch out for that could ruin our forecast. Don Big Weather Schwenneker, the chief meteorologist at ABC11, gives a forecast for the Triangles upcoming snow storm. (Courtesy of ABC11) Still, forecasts arent always 100% accurate. Ahead of last weekend, for example, Schwenneker predicted ice accumulation totals of 0.5 inches to 0.75 inches, but noted that more sleet would drive down the ice accumulation totals. The Triangle didnt get that much ice because more sleet than originally expected fell. Advertisement Advertisement We do a 10-day forecast on TV every day so thats 10 high temperatures, 10 low temperatures, 10 precipitation chances, Hohenstein said. And to have all of that be 100% correct for our little part of this planet thats spinning on its axis, 70% water and rotating around a giant ball of fire called the sun, its hard to do. Weve gotten really good at it over the years, but its still not perfect. Snow coming to the Triangle this weekend With snow in the weekend forecast, some in the Triangle are using Friday, Jan. 30 to prepare. Earle Whitsett loads a shovel into his vehicle after purchasing supplies at Woods Farm & Garden in Hillsborough. (Kaitlin McKeown/The News & Observer) Within the next 24 hours, snow will have started falling across central North Carolina, meteorologists say. Forecasters continue to fine-tune their expectations for snowfall totals throughout the weekend. Schwenneker is predicting something else: a repeat of the feedback received after last weekend. Advertisement Advertisement Some people will get 3 inches, and some people will get 12 inches, Schwenneker said Thursday. And the people who get three will say, You guys were totally wrong. And the people who get 12 will say, I thought we were supposed to get 16. So its all part of the job. Ask the North Carolina Service Journalism Team Questions about life in North Carolina? Or have a tip or story idea youd like to share? The service journalism teams at The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer want to hear from you. You can submit your question by filling out this form. Snow, extreme cold & gusty winds expected in the Triangle. Weekend forecast Phone apps may show many inches of snow. Are those Triangle forecasts true? An immigration agent facing criminal charges in Cook County told Brookfield police officers that he tried to grab the phone of an individual who was filming him at a gas station in the western suburb, according to body camera footage released Friday. Adam Saracco is charged with misdemeanor battery in one of the first known instances in Cook County of an immigration officer brought to court in connection with encounters with protesters. He is scheduled to make a first appearance in March. I dont want anybody sticking their camera in my face. I dont know what hes trying to do with this, Saracco said, according to police body camera footage. I tried to grab his phone. Advertisement Advertisement The Brookfield Police Department released partially redacted police reports and body camera footage to the Tribune following a Freedom of Information Act request, shedding more light on the Dec. 27 confrontation. The complaining witness in the case is Robert Held, a local attorney who has often protested at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in nearby Broadview. Held reported that Saracco threw him to the ground at a gas station after Held followed him from the processing facility, according to police reports and Helds account. He started walking toward me and then he increased his pace and threw me to the ground, Held previously told the Tribune. And he was on top of me and he grabbed my phone and I had to use all my might to hold onto my phone. A statement from Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the arrest gross and defended the actions of Saracco. Advertisement Advertisement We wont accept this stay tuned, the statement said. DHS accused Held of harassing Saracco and called him a known ICE agitator. While off duty and driving home in his personal vehicle, the officer was stalked by this individual to a local gas station. The agitator confronted the officer, filmed him at close range, and recorded the officers (sic) personal license plate, the statement said. These were clear attempts to dox our officer. The officer, who was alone and without protective equipment, acted to protect himself when faced with this threatening behavior. Held, though, hit back on the accusations with his own statement, saying of the statement, every word of that is a lie. Advertisement Advertisement What she calls malicious rhetoric, I call documentation. What she calls agitation, I call accountability. What she calls a threat, a local police department and prosecutor call battery. McLaughlin knows the difference. Shes lying, he said. Body camera footage captures the responding officers trying to make sense of the situation, going back and forth between Held and Saracco asking if anyone involved is a federal agent. A police report says all parties initially denied being employed by the federal government. Nobodys like law enforcement or anything? Wheres the federal agent thing coming into play? an officer asked. He said Im a federal agent, Saracco replied, referring to Held. Hes filming me while Im trying to pump my gas. Hes got the camera in my face. Advertisement Advertisement Later, another officer asks: Do you work for the government or no? After a redacted portion of the video, Saracco replies: He followed me from my work. Asked to describe what happened between him and Held, Saracco said he started hollering at Held, asking why he was filming him. I tried to grab his phone to get the images and videos off his phone, Saracco said. At the scene, officers interviewed Held, sought to collect video and interviewed multiple witnesses, in addition to taking a statement from Saracco. He got very angry that I was filming him. He ran up to me and grabbed me and threw me on the ground and he tried to grab the phone out of me, Held told an officer. Advertisement Advertisement A witness told police she was stopped at a light and pulled around when she saw this old man being tackled to the ground. I started beeping my horn and I said get off him! the woman said. Saracco has been named in lawsuits filed against the Department of Homeland Security, including in a 2017 amended complaint that accused him and other agents of battering a man at a Chicago field office. The suit was later settled. Protesters, advocates and members of the public have called on local authorities to investigate and bring charges against immigration agents accused of battering people they encounter on the street. Advertisement Advertisement In October, a left-leaning voters rights group wrote to Cook County States Attorney Eileen ONeill Burke, Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, asking their offices to launch investigations into the conduct of immigration agents. In a previous statement to the Tribune, Brookfield police officials said they initially sought a felony charge. The states attorneys office said in a statement last week that it reviews the available facts and relevant law when making charging decisions. Eric Phillip, the boardwalk foreman for Kongiganak, Alaska, surveys infrastructure damage caused by Typhoon Halong, Oct. 18, 2025. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Moon) The Trump administration has denied Alaskas request for full reimbursement for disaster relief efforts immediately following last Octobers devastating Western Alaska storms, despite the Dunleavy administrations claim that the federal disaster declaration meant the state would be fully reimbursed. Gov. Mike Dunleavy arrives in Bethel after visiting the storm-damaged villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok on Oct. 17, 2025. (Photo by Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media) That leaves the state on the hook for millions of dollars for disaster recovery, however the full amount is still unknown. Advertisement Advertisement The states request for federal support for 100% of disaster relief efforts in the first 90 days after the storms hit was denied on Dec. 20, according to a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on Thursday. The state appealed the denial on Jan. 15, and asked for a 90% federal cost reimbursement, but has not yet gotten a response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. We have not heard back from FEMA on approval or denial and there is no timeframe requirement, said Jeremy Zidek, public information officer for the division, by email. A spokesperson for Dunleavys office did not respond to a list of questions, but confirmed the appeal on Friday. An appeal has been filed and the administration will await the federal governments decision, said Jeff Turner, Dunleavys communications director. Advertisement Advertisement In the meantime, the federal government is reimbursing Alaskas disaster recovery efforts at roughly 75%, leaving the state to cover 25% of its costs, with some exceptions for certain relief programs, Zidek said. Following the West Coast storm disaster in October, Dunleavy quickly declared a state disaster emergency. On Oct. 22, his office announced that the Trump administration approved the states request for a federal disaster declaration, and the states full costs would be covered immediately following the storms. President Trump was deeply concerned with the wellbeing of Alaskans who lost their homes and livelihoods to this historic storm, Dunleavy said in a statement along with the announcement. I want to thank him and his administration for approving the disaster declaration because now Alaskan families have local, state and federal support for rebuilding their lives in the months ahead. The federal disaster declaration authorizes a 100 percent federal cost share for all categories of relief assistance for the next 90 days, the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Dunleavys office did not respond to questions about his previous statement or whether his office had communication from the Trump administration about why the request was denied. Alaskas Republican U.S. congressional delegation applauded the federal disaster declaration and Trumps support for the Western Alaska disaster response last year. All three members said through spokespeople Friday that they support the states appeal. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been actively engaged with FEMA and state officials throughout the disaster relief efforts, said her communications director, Joe Plesha, in a statement on Friday. Alaskas vast geography and many rural communities make disaster response more challenging and recovery efforts significantly more costly, he said. She supports the states appeal and will work to secure the maximum amount of federal support available to Alaskans who have suffered so much from this devastating storm. A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, Amanda Coyne, said the senator has advocated for the 100% federal cost share, as well as organized a delegation of FEMA and other Trump administration officials to visit Western Alaska. Advertisement Advertisement Given the severity of the storm and its devastating impacts on communities in Western Alaska, Senator Sullivan believes an increased federal cost share is warranted, Coyne said. He will continue strongly advocating with FEMA and other senior officials in the Trump Administration for an increased federal cost share as the states appeal goes through the process. A spokesperson for Alaskas lone U.S. Representative, Nick Begich III, said on Friday that he supports the appeal and will continue to advocate for those impacted by Typhoon Halong at the Congressional level. Our office is in communication with the Administration to ensure recovery efforts in Western Alaska remain a priority, spokesperson Silver Prout wrote. Western Alaska storm recovery is ongoing The Western Alaska storms and particularly ex-Typhoon Halong brought record-breaking winds and flooding damaging thousands of structures, roads, boardwalks, airports and other critical infrastructure. It prompted the states largest mass evacuation of residents from their homes to other villages, Bethel and Anchorage. Evacuees of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok wait to board an evacuation flight from Bethel to Anchorage on Oct. 15, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon) While some Western Alaska residents are continuing to rebuild through the winter, other residents who evacuated to Anchorage are living in temporary housing. As of Thursday, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management reports that 471 residents are still sheltering in hotels in Anchorage. Advertisement Advertisement The state is administering public assistance programs, which reimburse costs of repairing public infrastructure and utilities, as well as provide individual disaster assistance, in partnership with other agencies, including FEMA. FEMA has awarded $31.2 million in individual assistance to date, Zidek said. More than 2,000 residents have been awarded state individual assistance, and 1,794 households have registered for federal assistance from FEMA. Those applications for state and federal assistance are still open until Feb. 20. State disaster relief funding under debate The states disaster relief funding is a point of ongoing debate among lawmakers and the governor, as they kick off discussion of Dunleavys proposed $7.75 million budget and its $1.5 billion deficit. Advertisement Advertisement Last year, legislators approved $23.3 million in state disaster relief funds, but Dunleavy vetoed $10.3 million of that sum last summer, leaving $13 million in the budget. In November, following the federal government shutdown, Dunleavy announced a state disaster to help provide food aid, transferring $10 million to the states disaster relief funding from the Department of Environmental Conservations Village Safe Water and Wastewater Infrastructure program. This year, the governor has requested an additional $40 million in the states supplemental budget, which is a routine ask for additional money to pay the states bills for the previous year. Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, didnt mince words about the governors back and forth with disaster spending. Ill-advised and foolish, he said. It makes no sense what he did to me, frankly, and its embarrassing for him, his veto. But Stedman said he hopes the states federal appeal is approved, and expects legislators to pass the governors request for the additional $40 million. Obviously, 100% is better than 90 and 90 is better than 75, Stedman said of the federal cost share. So thats pretty much a given there. But we will fund the disaster request as the governor puts it on the table, through next weeks amendments. Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, also a member of the Senate Finance Committee, commended the governor for his record on disaster response, and echoed hope for the appeal to move forward. Theres no question in my mind that this is exactly what the federal disaster relief programs exist for. So I think the governors request was the right thing, and if it came back at less than full funding from the feds, thats the wrong call, Kiehl said. Kiehl described the states fiscal picture, with rising costs and ongoing debates on how to raise more revenues, as bleak. So there isnt cash just sitting around for disaster assistance, he said. We have to step up for western Alaska financially. Thats going to stink, but we have to do it, as far as Im concerned. A typical cost share between the federal government and a state for disaster relief efforts is a 75% federal and 25% state cost split. We have dozens of federal declared disasters we are currently working on that have the 75/25 cost share structure, said Zidek, with agency. Large disasters are occasionally given a modified cost share structure adjustment, but it is not guaranteed. When we have a large disaster, we ask for modification to reduce the amount of state funding needed because as managers of state funds it is the responsible thing to do. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The fallout from a Jan. 18 protest at a Minnesota church continues following the arrests of Black journalists and activists critical of the Trump administrations immigration crackdown. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Friday morning that, at her direction, federal agents had arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon, independent journalist Georgia Fort, and activists Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy. Fort is also the vice president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. By Friday afternoon, a federal judge released Lemon. Advertisement Advertisement Lemon was released on a personal recognizance bond and appeared outside a Los Angeles courthouse, saying the prosecution will not stop him from reporting news. I will not stop ever, he said. He added, The First Amendment of the constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists. I will not be silenced. Minnesota-based journalist Fort, Crews and Lundy were also released on Friday. The four face charges of conspiracy and violating worshippers First Amendment rights. Fort posted a video showing federal agents at her home before the arrest, advising her to go with them: This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media, Fort says in the video. I dont feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press. Advertisement Advertisement The National Association of Black Journalists echoed these concerns in a statement. The First Amendment is not optional and journalism is NOT a crime, the statement read. A government that responds to scrutiny by targeting the messenger is not protecting the public, it is attempting to intimidate it, and considering recent incidents regarding federal agents, it is attempting to distract it. A federal magistrate judge on Jan. 22 refused to sign a complaint charging Lemon, who was broadcasting and interviewing protesters who breached Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. President Donald Trump and other allies had called for Lemon to be arrested. The magistrates decision enraged Bondi, according to multiple news outlets. Advertisement Advertisement Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards, Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Lemon, said in a statement. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. Lowell said that Lemon would fight the charges. In a statement to Capital B, Jin Hee Lee, the director of strategic initiatives at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, criticized the administrations actions. While its unclear on what grounds the arrests were made, in a statement to Capital B, Jin Hee Lee, the director of strategic initiatives at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, criticized the administrations actions. Advertisement Advertisement The administration is watchlisting people for protesting and has shown little to no respect for peoples First Amendment rights, including journalists reporting on the administrations abuses and concerned community members expressing support for their neighbors amid DHSs [the U.S. Department of Homeland Security] attacks on Black and brown immigrant communities, Lee said. This arrest of Don Lemon is another such example. Two Black women were taken into custody last week along with a man who goes by the username DaWokeFarmer on social media. On Jan. 22, Bondi announced the arrests of Nekima Levy-Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, and William Kelly on X. Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP, she wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Levy Armstrong, Allen, and Kelly were arrested for their role in the protest. Protesters entered the church, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as a pastor, the Associated Press reported. They were charged with conspiracy to deprive others of their constitutional rights. All three were later released. Levy-Armstrong, a Minneapolis civil rights activist and lawyer, and other protesters were at the church to point out what they say is a contradiction between working for ICE and preaching the Christian Gospel. But in the aftermath of the protests and the arrests, residents and civil rights leaders are also questioning whether protesters constitutional rights had been violated. Were watching in real time as the Department of Justice, once responsible for upholding the law, is being twisted into the Department of Vengeance, attacking anyone who displeases the president, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement ICE agents cover their faces, terrorize our neighbors, and attack anyone who gets in their way, he continued. The demonstrators were there because the pastor, David Easterwood, is an official with ICE. He is also a named defendant in a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Minnesota seeking redress for ICEs aggressive tactics. Easterwood was not leading the service that day. Levy-Armstrong is the past president of the Minneapolis NAACP and an ordained minister. Allen is a St. Paul school board member. I believe that if someone professes to represent the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to preach it, that they should not be allowing ICE agents to drag people out of their homes, she told Democracy Now before her arrest on Jan. 22. Advertisement Advertisement Levy-Armstrongs husband, Marques Armstrong, told the Sahan Journal that the women cooperated with federal agents. My wife wasnt taken, she gave herself up, Marques said of his wifes demeanor during the arrest. She is fierce, she is strong and she is powerful. That is how she stood. Jacob Davis, who lives in a suburb of Minneapolis, told Capital B that the scrutiny over the tension between Easterwoods work for ICE and his role as a pastor came as no shock. To him, this clash felt inevitable. A lot of people say that they like this administration because of its Christian values, he said. But whats been happening in Minneapolis, to many, is the exact opposite of what we should be doing in terms of helping those who are the most vulnerable. Advertisement Advertisement Davis also pointed to the anger and heartbreak that spread throughout the community after residents learned that federal agents on Jan. 20 took a 5-year-old boy and are holding him with his father at a detention facility in Texas. Exhaustion, sadness, misery, he said, referring to the prevailing mood in Minneapolis since thousands of federal agents were deployed to the Twin Cities at the start of the month. A lot of us are sharing in that myself included. An altered photo, and a question of whether rights were violated The White House admitted it digitally altered an image of Levy-Armstrong to show her crying as she was being detained by a federal officer. Her skin tone also appears to have been darkened in the image. When the White House was asked by news outlets about the doctoring, Kaelan Dorr, deputy communications director, wrote on X, Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Advertisement Advertisement The arrests likely violated their First Amendment their right to peaceful protest and free association, Fourth Amendment their protection against illegal searches and seizures, and Fifth Amendment their right to due process under the law, NAACP General Counsel Janette McCarthy-Wallace said in a statement. The NAACP is not aware of any alleged federal crime they committed; neither the FBI nor DHS has issued a warrant for these arrests, and there have been no related indictments, she continued in the statement. Tensions between local and federal officials in the Twin Cities have continued to deepen since the start of the year after the ICE shooting of Renee Good. The mother of three was in her car on Jan. 7 when an ICE officer opened fire. Cellphone videos posted online showed the 37-year-old poet turning her vehicle away from the agent. He continued to shoot at her. On Jan. 24, U.S. Border Patrol agents fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, during a protest. This Administration wants you to believe our community is afraid, but we will never be shaken. And we will never be broken, Johnson said in the NAACP statement. This story has been updated. The post Don Lemon and Black Critics of the Trump Administration Released appeared first on Capital B News. AP Photo/Evan Vucci President Donald Trump alleged on Friday night that the criticisms lobbed against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are sexist in nature. Noem has come under intense scrutiny amid a deadly and tumultuous month in Minnesota, as immigration agents have killed two people, detained children, and arrested asylum-seekers. The secretary is facing calls to resign from Republicans and at least two Republican senators. Amid the fallout, a Noem associate relayed a remark from Noem to Axios, in which she pinned responsibility on the president and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Advertisement Advertisement Everything Ive done, Ive done at the direction of the president and Stephen, Noem reportedly told the person. This week, the Trump administration withdrew Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino from Minneapolis and dispatched Border Czar Tom Homan to the city, ostensibly to calm down matters. On Thursday, Trump held a televised cabinet meeting, which Noem attended, but did not speak. Hours later, she attempted damage control on Fox News. On Friday, Trump fired off a defense of Noem on Truth Social, claiming the attacks on her are gender-driven: The Radical Left Lunatics, Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Thugs, are going after Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, because she is a woman, and has done a really GREAT JOB! The Border disaster that I inherited is fixed, the violent criminals that were allowed into our Country through Sleepy Joes sick Open Border Policy, are largely gone, or being strongly sought for purposes of removal, and the Murder Rate in the USA just reached the lowest level in history, 125 years! Washington, D.C., is now one of the safest cities in America Likewise, numerous other once very dangerous cities! Republicans, dont let these Crooked Democrats, who are stealing Billions of Dollars from Minnesota, and other Cities and States from all over the Country, push you around. They are using this aggressive protest SCAM to obfuscate, camouflage, and hide their CRIMINAL ACTS of theft and insurrection. They should all be in jail. I was elected on Strong Borders, and Law and Order, among many other things. Thank you to Secretary Kristi Noem. Remember, ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP The post Trump Insists Kristi Noem Is Taking Heat Because She Is a Woman first appeared on Mediaite. President Donald Trump indicated Thursday night that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was in Georgia this week for election security-related reasons. At the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's movie "MELANIA" at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the president was asked what Gabbard was doing at an election center in Georgia. Gabbard was at an election facility in Fulton County where the FBI executed a search warrant on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Fbi Agents Search Election Hub In Fulton County, Georgia Newly sworn-in Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard shakes hands with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 12, 2025. (Getty Images) "She's working very hard on trying to keep the election safe. And she's done a very good job," Trump said. "And they, as you know, they got into the votes, you got a signed judge's order in Georgia," the president added. "And you're going to see some interesting things happening. They've been trying to get there for a long time." Read On The Fox News App The Wall Street Journal has reported that according to White House officials, Gabbard has been probing the 2020 White House contest results for months. Advertisement Advertisement Trump Mountain? Georgia Lawmaker Introduces Resolution To Rename Atlanta-area Landmark After President Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential contest. But Trump has claimed that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud and that he actually won. "Tulsi Gabbards job is to keep us safe from foreign adversaries. Instead, shes spending her time raiding the Fulton County, Georgia election center to feed Donald Trumps delusion. Trump LOST the 2020 election," Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., declared in a Thursday post on X. Gabbard Slams Democrats' 'Hostility Towards God,' Condemns Anti-ice Agitators Who Stormed Church Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. "Director Gabbard recognizes that election security is essential for the integrity of our republic and our nations security. As DNI, she has a vital role in identifying vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure and protecting against exploitation," an Office of the Director of National Intelligence spokesperson noted, as Fox News has previously reported. Advertisement Advertisement "We know through intelligence and public reporting that electronic voting systems have been and are vulnerable to exploitation. President Trumps directive to secure our elections was clear, and DNI Gabbard has and will continue to take actions within her authorities, alongside our interagency partners, to support ensuring the integrity of our elections," the DNI spokesperson asserted. Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch, Ashley Oliver and Alec Schemmel and Fox News' David Spunt contributed to this report. Original article source: Trump confirms what Tulsi Gabbard was doing at Georgia election center President Donald Trumps pick to chair the U.S. Federal Reserve has a connection to one of the leading candidates for the GOP nomination to U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Kevin Warsh, who was announced as Trumps selection to chair the independent central banking system Friday, served on the advisory board of a company run by Nate Morris, a Lexington entrepreneur who is running for the Republican nomination to fill Sen. Mitch McConnells seat this year against former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Rep. Andy Barr. Warsh was on the advisory board of Rubicon Global for several years, according to a 2016 Vanity Fair article and Morris campaign. Advertisement Advertisement The company, which hailed itself as an Uber for trash, sought to disrupt the incumbent-driven waste business, focusing on a model akin to rideshare app Uber and sustainability. Rubicon hit highs and lows before Morris departure. Morris founded Rubicon in 2008, shepherding it to a public offering valuation of $1.7 billion. The company faced serious issues when it went public, with stocks plummeting from $7.55 per share to about $1 in just two months; Morris stepped down as CEO at that time with a $40 million compensation package. He left the board in June 2023. Warsh was quoted in the Vanity Fair article speaking highly of Morris ability to cut through political debate. Advertisement Advertisement In the political sphere, the left and the right might have disagreements over climate change and global warming and the immediacy of those challenges, board member Kevin Warsh said. But Nate persuaded me that the immediate issue was increasing amounts of waste, uses of landfills that were counterproductive, and to communities and the broader environment. Warsh, a bank executive and financier praised by Trump, was on the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011. According to the New York Times, he was something of a liaison to Wall Street during the global financial crisis of 2008. He would need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to replace the current chair Jerome Powell. Trump has continually clashed with Powell and tried to fire him. Another quote from that Vanity Fair article came from David Plouffe, the famed campaign manager for former Democratic President Barack Obama. Advertisement Advertisement Plouffe, who, along with famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio, was a member of Rubicons board of directors, lauded Morris passion for the environment and understanding of Middle America. Its so fascinating where he comes from. Hes a Kentucky Republican. Hes one of the most compelling people Ive heard talk recently about the environment. He brings a practicality to it. I think hes very groundedhes got a very innate understanding of Middle America, Plouffe said. Morris has used the story of Rubicon on the campaign trail. He launched his run to replace McConnell with an ad pledging to take out the trash, riding in a garbage truck and throwing a cardboard cutout of McConnell into the truck. Warsh is not the only connection Morris has to Trump world. Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, news broke that Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and richest man in the world, gave $10 million to a political action committee supporting Morris. He was also the last candidate for U.S. Senate to be endorsed by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who helped Morris launch his campaign. Morris official campaign has been primarily fueled by the candidate himself thus far. As of Sep. 30, when the last public financial records are available, Morris had loaned his campaign more than $3 million. Morris is also close with Vice President JD Vance, whom he calls a friend, and has appeared multiple times on a podcast hosted by the presidents son, Donald Trump, Jr. According to the latest publicly available polling, Morris who has never held elected office is in a distant third place among Kentucky Republicans, trailing Cameron in first and Barr in second. Every public poll has pegged Cameron as the leader, though Cameron is fundraising significantly less than both of the others. A Baba, identified as Narsaiah Maharaj, was found cultivating Ganja plants in the middle of his cotton plants, an excise official said. The officials seized 685 Ganja plants, weighing around 17.741 kgs, worth approximately Rs 70 lakhs. Narsaiah Maharaj was arrested and handed over to Narayanked Excise police. Investigations revealed that he was selling the Ganja to consumers. According to an Excise official, "On credible information, Excise officials conducted raids on agricultural land and found Ganja plants being cultivated in the middle of a cotton plant by a Baba named Narsaiah Maharaj in Panchgaon village of Narayanked Mandal in Sangareddy district. The accused, Narsaiah Maharaj, was cultivating Ganja plants in his field and selling them to consumers. The excise police seized 685 plants, weighing around 17.741 kgs, worth approximately Rs 7 lakhs, and arrested him, handing him over to Narayanked Excise police." Further investigation is underway in the case. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad Zonal Unit, mounted surveillance at the Airport Arrival Village, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, and recovered 27.15 kilograms of marijuana from the possession of seven passengers, according to a release. The press release stated that at around 01:15 am on Friday, four Indian international passengers arriving from Bangkok by airline were intercepted along with three other persons during the process of handing over their check-in baggage. On systematic examination of the check-in baggage of the passengers, multiple packets containing greenish-brown lumpy substance concealed inside trolley bags were recovered. The recovered substance, weighing a total of 27.15 kilograms (gross), tested positive for Ganja (Marijuana) using a Narcotic Drug Detection Kit. The estimated value of the substance stands at Rs. 9.5 crore. (ANI) President Donald Trump rose to power on his immigration agenda. Now, its threatening to box him in. After months of aggressive enforcement actions meant to telegraph strength on one of the Republican Partys signature issues, the White House has had to backtrack in the face of Americans backlash to its approach particularly after two protesters were killed by federal law enforcement agents in Minneapolis. But the calculus that forced the Trump administration to change course is a double-edged sword: If the administration appears to ease up on its maximalist stance against illegal immigration, it risks leaving its hardcore MAGA base disenchanted at a moment when Republicans cant afford to lose support. And if it doesnt, it risks alienating moderate Republicans, independents, young voters and Latinos who support the administrations immigration enforcement in theory but dislike how its being executed. Advertisement Advertisement I worry because if we lose the agenda, were done and people dont fully appreciate how big of an issue this is, said Sean Spicer, Trumps former press secretary. When you have a two-seat majority in the House or a two- or three-seat majority in the Senate, youre on a razors edge. To not acknowledge that is ridiculous. For Trump, a midterms rout means the last two years of his administration will be eaten up by Democratic stonewalling, investigations and likely impeachment inquiries, rather than his own agenda a situation the administration desperately wants to avoid. The result is a rare moment of vulnerability on Trumps strongest issue, one that has exposed fault lines inside the Republican Party, sharpened Democratic attacks, and forced the White House into a defensive crouch it never expected to take. Some Trump allies insist the GOP shouldnt be scared of their best issue, blaming Democrats for putting them on the back foot. This has been President Trumps area of greatest success, said Trump pollster John McLaughlin. Youre looking at the Republicans be defensive on something they shouldnt be defensive about. Advertisement Advertisement A recent POLITICO poll underscores the administrations delicate balancing act: 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024 say Trumps mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, and more than 1 in 3 Trump voters say that while they support the goals of his mass deportation campaign, they disapprove of the way he is implementing it. The administration this week struggled to manage the political fallout from demonstrator Alex Prettis killing, where even typically loyal Republicans criticized the president and others called for the ousting of his top officials, namely Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The White House softened its hardline rhetoric, and Trump shifted his personnel in charge of Minneapolis operations, sending border czar Tom Homan to the state to deescalate tensions on the ground. A subdued Homan told reporters Thursday that he had productive conversations with state and local Democrats and that federal agents operations would be more targeted moving forward. He vowed to stick by the administrations mission, but said he hopes to reduce Immigration and Customs Enforcements presence in the city if federal officials get access to state jails. The president doesnt want to be dealing with clashes between protesters and federal agents on the ground in Minnesota, said one person close to the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly. If Trump was more invested in the outcome of this, he would have sent in the National Guard. He would declare martial law. He would be more aggressive. Advertisement Advertisement White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, in a statement, said that the administration is always looking for the most effective way to implement what it sees as a mandate from voters to carry out mass deportations. Our focus remains the same: prioritizing violent criminal illegal aliens while also enforcing the law anyone who is in the country illegally is eligible to be deported, she said, adding that includes the Presidents continued calls for local Democrat leaders to work with the Administration to remove illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from their communities. Some Trump allies, fearful the aggressive tactics will isolate crucial swing voters in November, have argued that Republicans have to keep the focus on criminal arrests, public safety and the Trump administrations success in securing the southern border, which are more popular with voters across the board. But immigration hawks in the Republican Party have grown increasingly apoplectic over the administrations moves this week, including an apparent openness to compromise with Democrats on policies to boost the oversight of federal immigration officers. They argue the administration is paying too much attention to cable news coverage and donor anxiety and not enough to the voters who propelled Trump back into office. Advertisement Advertisement The upshot of the lame duck second Trump term was supposed to be that he was going to get things done regardless of the pressure from consultants, pollsters and left-wing Republicans. That doesnt seem to be happening and its disappointing, said Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, a conservative group. Im dumbfounded that CNN coverage seems to have more influence over the White Houses immigration enforcement agenda than the base that stood by Trump through everything over the last decade. Even so, some of the more hardline elements of the presidents base acknowledge that the splashy optics of the administrations immigration enforcement actions have introduced a vulnerability. The big muscular show of force you invite too much confrontation, said a second person close to the White House, also granted anonymity to speak candidly. Lets try to be quieter about it but deport just as many people. Be a little sneakier. Dont have the flexing and the machismo part of it. Theres a certain element of that thats cool but as much as we can, why cant we be stealthy and pop up all over Minnesota? We were almost provoking the reaction, the person added. Im all for the smartest tactics as long as the end result is as many deportations as possible. Advertisement Advertisement But the person warned that any perception of backtracking could depress a base already uneasy about the economy. Our base is generally not wealthy and theyre not doing well, the person said. Theyre struggling. If you take away immigration if they dont believe he means it holy cow, thats not good. Calls for President Donald Trump's impeachment are rolling in amid his own fears of getting impeached for a third time if Republicans lose the midterms. Here's what the president said about canceling 2026 midterm elections and what his latest approval ratings show. During a debate event this week, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas said she would support impeachment proceedings against Trump, beginning with his use of tariffs. "I think that there is more than enough to impeach Donald Trump," according to officials. "Ultimately, do I think we should go through the formal process? Absolutely." Advertisement Advertisement Crockett's comments come days after Sen. Ed Markey also called for Trump to be removed in a social media post on Jan. 19. "Invoke the 25th Amendment" attached to image of a New York Times article that referenced the president's efforts to take over Greenland. Non-partisan group, Blackout The System, is also circulating a petition to impeach Trump over "greed, corruption, and a lack of accountability in leadership," among other accusations, according to Change.org. It has collected more than 146,000 signatures so far. Earlier this month, the president himself during a House GOP retreat said, "You got to win the midterms because if we don't win the midterms, it's just going to be I mean, they'll find a reason to impeach me. I'll get impeached." Impeachment requires a majority vote in the House to approve charges against a government official for treason, bribery or other serious abuse of power or misconduct, and then a two-thirds majority in the Senate to convict and remove the official from office. Advertisement Advertisement Trump was impeached twice during his first term, the first in 2019 over dealings with Ukraine and the second at the end of his term over accusations of him inciting the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. He was acquitted in the Senate both times. Here's what to know about Trump impeachment, what he said about cancelling 2026 midterms elections this year and what latest polls show about Trump's approval rating. Is Trump getting impeached? Trump 2026 impeachment odds While Trump is not currently being impeached, there are discussions and proposed House resolutions for a third impeachment effort introduced, such as the most recent H. Res. 939 on Dec. 10, 2025. It was tabled by a vote of 237-140. A third impeachment would likely face significant political barriers due to the current Republican-controlled House and Senate. Advertisement Advertisement According to the Polymarket, betting odds show a 15% chance that Trump will be impeached by end of 2026. Meanwhile Kalshi betting odds show a growing 7% chance he'll be impeached by Jun. 1, 2026; 18% chance by Jan. 1, 2027 and 66% chance by Jan. 1, 2028. What is Trump's current presidential approval rating? Trump's presidential approval rating declined from an initial high of 50.5% approval and 44.3% disapproval rating when he took office one year ago, to the current low of 42.6% approval and 55.1% disapproval, according to RealClearPolling. It has recently dropped below his first term average approval numbers of 42.8% and close to former President Joe Biden's overall approval rating of 43.2%. According to Rasmussen Reports daily polling on Jan. 30, Trump's approval is edging higher at 46%, up from his recent all-time low of 43% on Dec. 3-4. The Economist/YouGov poll taken Jan. 23-26 found a 41% job approval rating versus 57% that disapprove. The latest Morning Consult poll ending Jan. 25, found a 45% approval rating versus 52% that disapprove. RealClear Polling which takes the average of over 14 pollsters including Reuters/Ipsos, CBS News, Quinnipiac, Gallup and more, shows Trump's overall favorability is currently at 42.6% as of Jan. 30, up ever so slightly from his second term low of 42.2% in mid-January. Note: Polls are constantly changing and different pollsters ask opinions of different segments of the population. These numbers reflect polling as of Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Is Trump cancelling the 2026 midterm elections? While speaking to Republicans last week about the importance of winning the midterms, Trump mentioned cancelling elections and in the same sentence, said that he was not actually calling for such a move. Advertisement Advertisement He said "They had the worst president, did the worst job. They had the worst policy. We have to even run against these people. Now, I won't say cancel the election, they should cancel the election, because the fake news will say, 'He wants the elections canceled. He's a dictator.' They always call me a dictator." Trump noted the slim Republican majority in the House ahead of this year's midterm elections and the importance of a win. The president went on to encourage House Republicans to campaign on his priorities and avoid shedding seats in the midterms. "They say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterm. So, you're all brilliant people. Most of you are in this business longer than me. That makes me smarter than you, because look where I am right? No, it doesn't. But I wish you could, explain to me what the hell's going on with the mind of the public. Because we have a we have the right policy. They don't. They have a horrible policy. They do stick together." The midterm elections are Nov. 3, 2026. 2026 Midterms predictions: Who is favored to win 2026 midterm elections? According to the latest Economist/YouGov poll, 38% said they'd vote for a Democratic Party candidate, 35% said Republican, and 27% said other, not sure or no vote if midterms were held today. Advertisement Advertisement The Polymarket betting odds Friday, Jan. 30, on who will win the 2026 Midterms, 43% favor a Republican win for the Senate and Democratic win for the House. Currently, the Republican party controls both the Senate and the House. 81% favor a Democratic Party win for the House in midterms 2026 65% favor a Republican Party win for the Senate in midterms 2026 Maria Francis is a Pennsylvania-based journalist with the Mid-Atlantic Connect Team This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: What Trump said about midterm elections; Trump impeachment 2026 update President Trumps massive armada of warships and fighter planes near Iran mirrors the military buildup of assets in the Caribbean as the president weighs greenlighting strikes against the Islamic Republic. The military buildup, bolstered with the recent arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group in the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) area, has swelled with additional destroyers approaching Iran, expanding Trumps attack and defensive options in the region. The administration dispatched dozens of warships and stationed about 15,000 U.S. service members in the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) area, which culminated in an early January operation in which Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife were snatched by U.S. Special Forces. Advertisement Advertisement Similarly to Venezuela, the U.S. has at least 10 warships near Iran, and the administration has sent additional fighter jets, air defense systems and drones to the region. Just like Maduro, Iranian officials are not acquiescing to Trumps demands. He has called on Iran to halt the enrichment of uranium, place limits on its ballistic missile program and end ties with terror proxy groups. There are also some crucial differences between the buildups in Venezuela and Iran. The U.S. has a lot more basing in the Middle East region, with service members deployed in Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Israel, among others. Irans presence in the region also differs from Venezuelas presence in the Caribbean. Tehran maintains close ties with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Shiite militia groups in Iraq, according to former Defense officials and analysts. Advertisement Advertisement I would say the U.S. has certainly more assets in place and that can be used for offensive purposes, said Seth Jones, a former U.S. special operations and Pentagon official. But he said those assets also give Iran more targets. Also, Iran has more offensive capabilities than Venezuela and the proclivity to use them, Jones said. If Trump greenlights strikes, the U.S. military could target Irans air defense infrastructure, which was damaged during the 12-day war with Israel, as well as its ballistic missile protection and launch capabilities, its drone manufacturing sites, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces or even its leadership, said Richard Y. Newton, the former U.S. Air Force assistant vice chief of staff. Michael Eisenstadt, the director of the Washington Institutes Military and Security Studies Program, said going after Irans ballistic missile program and drones represents a large target set and that Tehran probably has more than a thousand of the short-range variety that reach targets throughout the Gulf. Advertisement Advertisement Eisenstadt said that while the U.S., along with its allies, was able to help defend Israel from Iranian drones in previous conflicts, defending various U.S. bases in the region could be a whole different challenge. In the Gulf, its a much larger problem, and drones can come from multiple directions at the same time and would spread us really thin, he said in an interview with The Hill on Friday. The U.S. has boosted its militarys regional firepower with the Lincoln, which can carry squadrons of bombers, early warning planes and is equipped with Mk 57 Mod3 Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile launchers. Three complementary destroyers the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., USS Spruance, and USS Michael Murphy are equipped with long-range Tomahawk missiles. The USS McFaul and the USS Mitscher, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, were near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, while two other destroyers, USS Bulkeley and USS Roosevelt, were in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The USS Delbert D. Black, an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer, is currently deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area, according to Centcom. Advertisement Advertisement The Lincolns air wing is made up of F-35C Lightning II, E-2D Hawkeyes, which are early warning jets able to notify U.S. forces of any incoming Iranian missiles, fighters or drones F/A-18 Super Hornets, which can be used for precision strikes, MH-60R/S Sea Hawks and CMV-22B Ospreys. Three Osprey aircraft were at the Duqm Airport in Oman on Friday, according to a Planet Labs commercial satellite image, which was shared with The Hill. The F-35s, the most advanced jets on the ship, are able to fly generally undetected through adversary territory, carry long-range anti-ship missiles and can act as battle management systems. They can pull off intelligence from their sensor packages and bring it in from other types of ground and air, maritime platforms and push it out, said Jones, the president of the Defense and Security Department and the Harold Brown chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Advertisement Advertisement Its what I would call a force multiplier Newton added. Washington has also sent additional F-15s and cargo planes to the region, expanding the presidents strike options, according to flight-tracking data. Trump said Friday that he gave Iran a deadline and reiterated that Tehran wants to strike a deal with the U.S. When asked by a reporter if the president has a timeline for potentially pulling back the U.S. presence near Iran, he said, No, well see how it all works out. You know, they have to float someplace, so they might as well float near Iran. But its a rough situation going on, Trump told reporters at the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday during a press conference alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that Iran is ready to negotiate over its nuclear program, but it will not negotiate over its ballistic missile program. He added that Washington needs to stop threatening Tehran. There is an appetite among Trumps base to conduct strikes against Iran, with 50 percent of those who voted for the president in the 2024 election saying the U.S. should take military action against Tehran, according to a Politico poll that was published Wednesday. Whether the U.S. has sufficient military capabilities in the region for a protracted campaign against Iran would depend on what the administration wants to achieve. The U.S. has enough firepower in the region for limited operations, such as striking IRGC core locations or even nuclear sites, but if the goal is regime change, then it becomes a lot more difficult, said Jones. Im not sure that the U.S. would have enough for very maximalist objectives, Jones said. Advertisement Advertisement We have a vast array of military capabilities for a somewhat sustained military campaign, short of, I think, putting, the traditional terminology, boots on the ground and so forth, Newton said, noting that if the president or the Centcom commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, envision this being a sustained campaign, the U.S. may add another carrier strike group. But should the U.S. vie to just go this one alone, theres plenty of firepower from a variety of sources, he said. Some U.S. allies in the region, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have openly said their waters and airspace would not be used for any attack against Iran. The U.S. would likely have Syrian, Iraq and Jordanian airspace available to get to the target area in Iran, which adds to complexity for the air campaign planners and the military planners, according to Newton. But its not necessarily a showstopper, per se, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts. These were the words of the senior White House aide Kellyanne Conway on NBC televisions Meet the Press in January 2017. Alternative facts instantly set a template for the era of Donald Trump. So when Alex Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, was shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis last Saturday, White House officials immediately moved to brand him a would-be assassin and domestic terrorist who had been brandishing a gun. This time, however, the tried and trusted playbook did not work. In the ensuing hours, multiple witness videos emerged showing that Pretti held only a phone in his hand when border patrol agents pushed him to the ground. They also made clear that an agent found Prettis gun near his waist and removed it seconds before another agent shot a restrained Pretti in the back. Advertisement Advertisement Facing a widespread backlash from the public, Democrats and even his own Republican party, Trump was forced into a partial retreat, distancing himself from efforts by aides such as Stephen Miller and Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, to demonise Pretti, and shuffling leadership of immigration operations in Minneapolis. For once, the presidents reality distortion field which promised Mexico would pay for his border wall, claimed Covid would disappear like a miracle, insisted the 2020 election was stolen, and rewrote the history of the January 6 insurrection had met its match. Rupert Murdochs New York Post warned: Mr President, the American people didnt vote for these scenes, and you cant continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes. White House aides had already tried to deny the video evidence when 37-year-old Renee Good was shot three times in her vehicle by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis. If anything, the footage of Prettis killing was even more comprehensive, damning and ubiquitous, ensuring the quick collapse of the official narrative. Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, told reporters: Thank God, thank God we have video. Advertisement Advertisement The anger at ICE broke through to online spaces that normally avoid politics. The Washington Post noted that the moderator of r/catbongos, an 800,000-member subreddit featuring videos of people playing their cats like drums, wrote: If you still support Trump/ICE even slightly, youre not welcome in this sub. The post received more than 40,000 Reddit upvotes. In addition, an older video emerged showing Pretti giving a final salute to a military veteran he treated at a hospital, a display of compassion that rendered the domestic terrorist claim even more preposterous. And pro-gun Republicans took exception to the idea that Pretti made himself a legitimate target simply by carrying a gun. All these elements combined to make this a rare case perhaps even a turning point in Trumps decade-long effort to emulate authoritarian leaders who demonstrate their power by requiring citizens to accept lies as truth. Charlie Sykes, a conservative broadcaster and author of How the Right Lost Its Mind, said: This was dramatic. This is an administration that had become extremely cocky to the point of hubris about its ability to bend truth, and suddenly they come up to this particular case, and what made this different was they were telling Americans to ignore the evidence of their own eyes. That turned out to be the bridge too far for them. Advertisement Advertisement Sykes added: Stephen Miller seems to think that he can pull off that Jedi mind trick: you are not seeing what you think you are seeing; the reality is completely different from what is being documented here. Obviously that failed rather spectacularly. Im interested in trying to figure out why. The murder of Renee Good and the murder of Alex Pretti broke through in a way that few, if any, other stories of the Trump era have broken through. They broke through the information bubbles and were disseminated whether its Reddit or websites devoted to rock climbing and people were talking about it. It made Stephen Millers counter-reality utterly unsustainable. Typically, when Trump and his allies make an assertion, a Maga media machine swings into action to flood the zone and overwhelm the doubters. This time, however, the tools of social media, streaming and viral videos turned against them. Rick Wilson, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, said: I expected the Maga influencers were going to do the full-court press and stick with the administration, but they bailed on it. They punched out pretty early in this process. Its a very interesting moment and not great for the Trump org. Advertisement Advertisement I have a sense that they felt a great disturbance in the Force, that they thought they could always control the narrative that was being mediated through these technologies, and I know they dont feel that today. Since Trump came to power in 2017, perhaps no author has been cited by political commentators more often than George Orwell, and no book more often than his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which begins: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. The administrations effort to manipulate the deaths of Good and Pretti prompted numerous commentators to draw comparisons with the Ministry of Truth and its constant rewriting of historical records. Laura Beers, author of Orwells Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the 21st Century, said: The administration is saying dont believe your own eyes is about as Orwellian as you get. This idea that the regime can make you see reality as they want you to see it, and not as it actually is, is one of the scariest themes from not just Nineteen Eighty-Four but also Animal Farm and all Orwells writing. Its very apropos to our current moment. But Beers, a history professor at American University in Washington, noted that the Pretti case in Minneapolis felt different. The thing is that people are willing to go along to get along until theyre not. And maybe, just maybe, this is the moment where people are not, where theyre saying that 2+2=4, and you cant make me believe otherwise. I hope so at least. Advertisement Advertisement The mobile phone made all the difference. Walz has encouraged residents to film ICE agents to help create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not only as a record for posterity but to bank evidence for future prosecution. Tragically, Pretti was holding up a phone when he was assaulted. Such technology did not exist when Orwell was covering the Spanish civil war and saw newspaper reports that bore no relation to the facts. Beers added: Thats not the world that we live in any more. The availability of video has made it harder to convince people that 2+2=5 or get them to accept it even if they know that its not true. That is the way in which the world of 2026 is pretty different from the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four and 1948 when the book was being written. What is less certain is whether Trumps shift in tone on the death of Pretti represents a profound shift or merely a temporary setback. As the week wore on, he was soon back to attacking the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, and pushing baseless conspiracy theories that the protesters are being paid and the 2020 election was stolen. His mirror world may have a crack but it is far from shattered. Reed Galen, president of the Union, a pro-democracy coalition, said he expected Trumps lies to continue. Hes not capable of anything else, he said. Im so far beyond the kicking and screaming; thats just the reality as an observer. Hes not capable of telling the truth. Hes given his people lots and lots of leash to be crazy and say things that are demonstrably untrue, so thats not going to change. President Donald Trumps increasingly overt attempts to bring down the Cuban government are forcing Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum into a delicate diplomatic dance. Mexico is the U.S.s largest trading partner. It is also the primary supplier of oil to Cuba since the U.S. seized control of Venezuelas crude. Now, Sheinbaum must manage her relationship with a mercurial Trump, who has at times both praised her leadership and threatened to send the U.S. military into her country to combat drug trafficking all while appeasing her left-wing party Morena, factions of which have historically aligned themselves with Cubas communist regime. Advertisement Advertisement That balance became even more difficult for Sheinbaum this week following reports that Mexicos state-run oil company, Pemex, paused a shipment of oil headed for Cuba, which is grappling with shortages following the U.S. military action earlier this month in Venezuela. Asked about the suspension, the Mexican president said only that oil shipments are a "sovereign" decision and that future action will be taken on a humanitarian basis. On Thursday, Trump ramped up the pressure, declared a national emergency over what he couched as threats posed by the Cuban government and authorized the use of new tariffs against any country that sells or provides oil to the island. The order gives the administration broad discretion to impose duties on imports from countries deemed to be supplying Cuba, dramatically raising the stakes for Mexico as it weighs how far it can go without triggering economic retaliation from Washington or worse. Its the proverbial shit hitting the fan in terms of the spillover effects that would have, said Arturo Sarukhan, former Mexican ambassador to the U.S., referring to the possibility of a Pemex tanker being intercepted. Sheinbaum still refuses to hit back too hard against Trump, preferring to speak publicly in diplomatic platitudes even as she faces new pressure. Her posture stands in marked contrast to Canadas Mark Carney, whose speech at Davos, urging world leaders to stand up to Trump, went viral and drew a swift rebuke from the White House and threats of new tariffs. Advertisement Advertisement But the latest episode is characteristic of Sheinbaums approach to Trump over the last year one that has, so far, helped her avoid the kinds of headline-grabbing public ruptures that have plagued Carney, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron. Still, former Mexican officials say Trumps threats though not specific to Mexico have triggered quiet debate inside the Mexican government over how much risk Sheinbaum can afford to absorb and how hard she should push back. My sense is that right now, at least because of what's at stake in the counter-narcotics and law enforcement agenda bilaterally, I think that neither government right now wants to turn this into a casus belli, Sarukhan added. But I do think that in the last weeks, the U.S. pressure on Mexico has risen to such a degree where you do have a debate inside the Mexican government as to what the hell do we do with this issue? A White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the administrations approach, said that Trump is addressing the depredations of the communist Cuban regime by taking decisive action to hold the Cuban regime accountable for its support of hostile actors, terrorism, and regional instability that endanger American security and foreign policy. Advertisement Advertisement As the President stated, Cuba is now failing on its own volition, the official added. Cubas rulers have had a major setback with the Maduro regime that they are responsible for propping up. Sheinbaum, meanwhile, responded to Trumps latest executive order during her Friday press conference by warning that it could trigger a large-scale humanitarian crisis, directly affecting hospitals, food supplies, and other basic services for the Cuban people. Mexico will pursue different alternatives, while clearly defending the countrys interests, to provide humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people, who are going through a difficult moment, in line with our tradition of solidarity and respect for international norms, Sheinbaum said. The Mexican embassy in Washington declined further comment. Advertisement Advertisement Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in a post on X , accused the U.S. of resorting to blackmail and coercion in an attempt to make other countries to join its universally condemned blockade policy against Cuba. The pressure on Sheinbaum to respond has collided with real political constraints at home. Morena has long maintained ideological and historical ties to Cuba, and Sheinbaum faces criticism from within her coalition over any move that could be seen as abandoning Havana. At the same time, she has come under growing domestic scrutiny over why Mexico should continue supplying oil abroad as fuel prices and energy concerns persist at home, making the humanitarian framing both a diplomatic shield and a political necessity. Amid the controversy over the oil shipment, Trump and Sheinbaum spoke by phone Thursday morning, with Trump describing the conversation afterward as very productive and praising Sheinbaum as a wonderful and highly intelligent Leader. Advertisement Advertisement Sheinbaums remarks after the call point to how she is navigating the issue through ambiguity rather than direct confrontation, noting that the two did not discuss Cuba. She described it as a productive and cordial conversation and that the two leaders would continue to make progress on trade issues and on the bilateral relationship. With the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade looming, even the appearance of defying Trumps push to cut off Cubas oil lifelines carries the potential for economic and diplomatic blowback. It also could undo the quiet partnership the U.S. and Mexico have struck on border security and drug trafficking issues. Geronimo Gutierrez, who served as Mexican ambassador to the U.S. during the first Trump administration, described Sheinbaums approach as squish and muddle through. She obviously is trying to tread carefully with Trump. She doesn't want to irritate him with this matter, Gutierrez said, adding that she knows that it's a problem. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Cubas vulnerability has only deepened since the collapse of Venezuelas oil support following this months U.S. operation that ousted President Nicolas Maduro. For years, Venezuelan crude served as a lifeline for the island, a gap Mexico has increasingly helped fill, putting the country squarely in Washingtons crosshairs as Trump squeezes Havana. With fuel shortages in Cuba triggering rolling blackouts and deepening economic distress, former U.S. officials who served in Cuba and regional analysts warn that Trumps push to choke off remaining oil supplies could hasten a broader collapse even as there is little clarity about how Washington would manage the political, humanitarian or regional fallout if the island tips over the edge. Trump has openly suggested that outcome is inevitable, telling reporters in Iowa on Tuesday that Cuba will be failing pretty soon, even as he pushed back on Thursday that the idea he was trying to choke off the country. "The word choke off is awfully tough, Trump said. It looks like it's not something that's going to be able to survive. I think Cuba will not be able to survive." Advertisement Advertisement The administration, however, has offered few details about what would come next, and Latin American analysts warn that the U.S. and Mexico are likely to face an influx of migrants including to Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula seeking refuge should Cuba collapse. There is no evidence that the Trump administration has formally asked Mexico to halt oil shipments to Cuba. Trumps executive order leaves it to the presidents Cabinet to determine whether a country is supplying oil to Cuba and the rate at which it should be tariffed an unusual deferral of power for a president for whom tariffs are a favorite negotiating tool. But former U.S. officials say that absence of an explicit demand to Mexico does not mean the pressure is theoretical. Lawrence Gumbiner, who served as charge daffaires at the U.S. embassy in Havana during the first Trump administration, believes Washington would be far more likely to lean on economic pressure than the kind of military force it has used to seize Venezuelan oil tankers. Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, the administrations push on Venezuela began with a similar executive order last spring. Theres no doubt that the U.S. is telling Mexico to just stop it, Gumbiner said. I think theres a much slimmer chance that we would engage our military to actually stop Mexican oil from coming through. That would be a last resort. But with this administration you cannot completely discount the possibility of a physical blockade of the island if they decide that its the final step in strangling the island. President Donald Trump attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in an early morning rant suggesting she be jailed or sent back to Africa just days after she was attacked onstage. Trump was up early Saturday morning to continue his long-running barrage at Omar, writing on Truth Social: The Theft and Fraud in Minnesota is far greater than the 19 Billion Dollars originally projected. The Biden Administration knew this FRAUD was happening, and did absolutely nothing about it. Scammer Illhan Omar and her absolutely terrible friends from Somalia should all be in jail right now or, far worse, send them back to Somalia. Governor Waltz is either the most CORRUPT government official in history, or the most INCOMPETENT. Even a very low IQ person, of which there are many, should have known what was going on in Minnesota!!! President DJT Congresswoman Omar was assaulted live on video Tuesday night with what turned out to be a syringe of vinegar, after which Trump blurted out a conspiratorial rant suggesting she orchestrated the attack. Advertisement Advertisement She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her, Trump said. Rep. Omar responded by questioning Trumps decency and his sanity, telling CNN that The difference between the President and I is that I was raised to be a decent human being, and my faith teaches me to have compassion, and he lacks both of those things. She went on to add that this is also somebody who was talking about me in his town hall, in Iowa, and then seems to exhibit some sort of dementia when he says he doesnt think about me. Maybe it is time for us to for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, because he certainly cannot remember what he has said and has done, an hour ago. Trump has consistently peppered his rants about Congresswoman Omar with suggestions that she return to Somalia, where she was born. The post Trump Rages At Ilhan Omar In Early Morning Rant Days After Attack Demands Sending Her To Jail Or Back To Africa first appeared on Mediaite. President Trump on Saturday reinforced his criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) over the states welfare fraud scandal, while also calling out the Biden administration for doing absolutely nothing about it. The Theft and Fraud in Minnesota is far greater than the 19 Billion Dollars originally projected, Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Biden Administration knew this FRAUD was happening, and did absolutely nothing about it. Scammer Illhan Omar and her absolutely terrible friends from Somalia should all be in jail right now or, far worse, send them back to Somalia, the president continued. Governor Waltz is either the most CORRUPT government official in history, or the most INCOMPETENT. Advertisement Advertisement He added, Even a very low IQ person, of which there are many, should have known what was going on in Minnesota!!! Trump and Omar have been at odds since she entered the House following the 2018 midterms. The president has often attacked her faith as a Muslim and her heritage as the only Somali American in Congress. She often claps back at him in posts online. The Minnesota Democrat recently slammed Trumps claim that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating her income and that she, a Somali refugee who fled with her family, is worth over $44 million. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the DOJ is looking into whether Omar is connected to the fraud detected across Minnesotas social services programs. Sorry, Trump, your support is collapsing and youre panicking, Omar wrote Monday on the social platform X. Right on cue, youre deflecting from your failures with lies and conspiracy theories about me. Years of investigations have found nothing. Get your goons out of Minnesota. Advertisement Advertisement Following an attack on Omar, when a man sprayed an unknown substance on her during a town hall, Trump called the progressive lawmaker a fraud and claimed to ABC News that she probably had herself sprayed. Walz defended Omar, saying the president was certainly responsible for the attack because of his rhetoric. This is the thing that theres no tone, Walz said in an interview on Wednesday. And I said that the president constantly attacks Rep. Omar, attacks her citizenship, attacks the very decency of it, and weve asked him time and time again to stop it. I dont believe hes capable of stopping it. Trump has frequently lambasted Walz in the months after news broke of the states welfare scandal. The president froze Minnesotas federal funding to child care providers and sent 2,000 federal officers to the state as part of his immigration crackdown after residents of Somali descent were charged in connection with or convicted over different fraud cases. Advertisement Advertisement The administration also recently moved to strip Somali Americans in the North Star State of protections against being deported. Walz is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in March as part of its fraud probe. Omar and Walz have defended Minnesotas Somali community and clapped back at Trumps reprehensible rhetoric. Not only is the federal occupation hurting businesses, the presidents reprehensible rhetoric has let right-wing grifters to show up here to terrorize our community, Omar said Wednesday, a nod to the spraying incident from the day before. It is indefensible. Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Trump held talks with Iran in recent days, telling Tehran "no nukes, and stop killing protesters," KAN News reported on Friday morning. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he planned to speak with Iran, even as the US dispatched another warship to the Middle East and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the military would be ready to carry out whatever the president decided. Speaking to reporters, Trump did not elaborate on the nature or timing of any dialogue or say who from Washington would lead the negotiations. Advertisement Advertisement "I am planning on it, yeah," Trump said when asked about possible discussions with Tehran. "We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didnt have to use them," Trump told reporters Thursday at the Kennedy Center. Trump was attending the premiere of the "Melania" movie when he made the comments. His statement follows a new US naval destroyer entering the Middle East, according to what a US official told Reuters on Thursday, as Iranian officials prepare for military confrontation with the US. L to R: Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, US President Donald Trump against backdrop of respective flags and missile strikes. (credit: ILLUSTRATION, REUTERS/Majid Asgaripour/WANA 2, Shutterstock/noamgalai, Getty Images/Iranian Leader's Press Office - Handout) The USS Delbert D. Black entered the region sometime in the past 48 hours, bringing the number of destroyers in the Middle East to six, along with an aircraft carrier and three other littoral combat ships. Advertisement Advertisement The destroyer anchored on Friday at the Port of Eilat. The IDF claimed that the ship's arrival was due to routine operations which had been planned beforehand, as part of the cooperation between the US military and the IDF. The IRGC received a batch of 1,000 new drones while Iran prepares for a military confrontation, as Tehran believes that coming to an agreement that meets demands put forth by the US would be more costly than war, informed sources in Tehran told the Hezbollah-aligned Al-Akhbar on Thursday. Trump: 'No nukes, stop killing protesters' - KAN Trump stated that he had held talks with Iran in "recent days," Israel's public broadcaster KAN News reported on Friday morning. "I have had talks with them, and I intend to hold talks," Trump was cited as saying. Advertisement Advertisement "I told the Iranians two things - no nukes, and stop killing the protesters. They will have to do something," he affirmed. The New York Times reported that Trump was weighing multiple options for military action against Iran, though his preference is to strike the Iranian leaders who threatened him personally. These included sending commando units to Iranian nuclear sites which had not already been destroyed, or launching attacks against Iran's military and leadership in order to cause upheaval, leaving a path for a new regime to take over. The report also stated that Israel is pushing the US to join it in a widespread attack on Iranian ballistic missile capabilities. Middle East allies urge Trump not to attack - CBS The US's Middle East partners, including Turkey, Oman, and Qatar, are urging the Trump administration to divert from military options for strikes on Iran towards the possibility of brokering diplomatic talks, several regional officials told CBS News on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement The opportunity for direct diplomacy to discuss Tehran's nuclear program and ballistic missile capacity "has not gained traction," according to three regional officials who spoke to the outlet anonymously in order to talk freely. Citi expects limited US-Israel action on Iran to avoid escalation Citi expects the US and Israel to take limited actions against Iran in the near term that avoid an escalatory response to push the country into a deal over its nuclear program, the bank said in a note on Thursday. The smaller steps likely include limited US military actions and oil tanker seizures that are expected to keep the risk premium in oil markets elevated, especially over concerns Iran would shut the key Strait of Hormuz transit point, the bank said. Oil prices climbed 3% to a five-month high on Thursday on rising concerns that global supplies could be disrupted if the US attacks Iran, one of OPEC's biggest crude producers. Advertisement Advertisement US President Donald Trump is weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces and leaders to inspire protesters, multiple sources said, even as Israeli and Arab officials said air power alone would not topple the clerical rulers. The bank's base case for limited actions, which it gives a 70% probability of occurring, "reflects US sensitivity to higher energy prices" because of domestic political considerations, "President Trump's preference to avoid war and the likelihood that ongoing domestic pressures within Iran provide potential for changes that could lead to a deal," it said. Citi does not expect a large response from Iran "as it does not want war either, as it is facing a faltering economy and civil unrest." The bank sees a 30% chance of heightened but limited conflict and internal political instability in Iran causing intermittent disruptions to oil production and exports, and a 10% risk of substantial regional supply losses driven by civil unrest with US and Israel. Advertisement Advertisement In its base case, Citi expects a USIran deal and a de-escalation at some point in 2026, which would reduce the Iran-related geopolitical risk premium, currently at $710 a barrel with Brent near $70. On Thursday, Brent futures settled at $70.71 a barrel. Sam Halpern contributed to this report. A Panamanian court has voided a port contract held by a Hong Kong subsidiary, prompting assurances from President Jose Raul Mulino that canal traffic will not be disrupted. The court ruled Thursday that the port concession granted to Panama Ports Company a subsidiary of Hong Kongs CK Hutchison Holdings was unconstitutional. The decision was welcomed by the U.S. and criticized by Beijing, according to The Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement "Beijing plays rough. Trump plays rougher," China expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital in an email. "The American president just showed the Chinese who's boss in the Western Hemisphere. Maduro Met Chinese Envoy Hours Before Us Capture From Caracas As Beijing Slams Operation An aerial view of the port of Rodman in Panama City Jan. 30, 2026. (Getty Images) "President Trump, by extracting Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Caracas, ended Chinese influence in Venezuela," Chang added. "With the termination of the Hutchison port concessions in Panama, countries are getting the message that Trump is determined to drive China out of the region and that they should get on board with the American president." Read On The Fox News App Advertisement Advertisement Mulino said Friday that port operations at both ends of the canal will continue as the ruling is carried out, adding that Panamas Maritime Authority will work with Panama Ports Company to keep the ports running, the AP reported. Once the concession is formally terminated, Mulino said, a local subsidiary of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk will temporarily operate the ports while the government opens a new bidding process for a long-term concession. Trump Ousting Of Maduro Draws Parallels To Us Raid In Panama But There Are Some Major Contrasts Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino waves before giving a speech at his swearing-in ceremony at the Atlapa Convention Centre in Panama City July 1, 2024. The court decision followed an audit by Panamas comptroller that identified irregularities in a 25-year extension of the concession granted in 2021, according to the AP. Advertisement Advertisement The ruling aligns with long-standing U.S. concerns over Chinas presence near the Panama Canal. Limiting Beijings influence in the region has been a priority of the Trump administration, and Panama was the first overseas stop this year for U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the AP reported. The Panama Canal Proves One Lesson America Needs Now: Never Quit Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jan. 28, 2026. "The United States is encouraged by the recent Panamanian Supreme Courts decision to rule port concessions to China unconstitutional," Rubio posted to X on Friday. Click Here To Download The Fox News App Panama Ports Company said it has not been formally notified of the ruling and argued it lacks legal basis, warning it could harm thousands of Panamanian families and undermine legal certainty. The Hong Kong government also rejected the ruling, according to the AP. Original article source: Trump scores strategic win as Panama court ousts Hong Kong firm from canal ports WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion, as he accuses the federal agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president's tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020. The suit, filed in a Florida federal court Thursday, includes the president's sons Eric Trump and, Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump organization as plaintiffs. The filing alleges that the leak of Trump and the Trump Organizations confidential tax records caused reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs public standing. Advertisement Advertisement In 2024, former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn of Washington, D.C. who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense and national security tech firm was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking tax information about Trump and others to news outlets. Littlejohn, known as Chaz, gave data to The New York Times and ProPublica between 2018 and 2020 in leaks that appeared to be unparalleled in the IRSs history, prosecutors said. The disclosure violated IRS Code 6103, one of the strictest confidentiality laws in federal statute. The Times reported in 2020 that Trump did not pay federal income tax for many years prior to 2020, and ProPublica in 2021 published a series about discrepancies in Trump's records. Six years of Trump's returns were later released by the then-Democratically controlled House Ways and Means Committee. Advertisement Advertisement Trump's suit states that Littlejohns disclosures to the news organizations caused reputational and financial harm to Plaintiffs and adversely impacted President Trumps support among voters in the 2020 presidential election. Littlejohn stole tax records of other mega-billionaires, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. The president's suit comes after the U.S. Treasury Department announced it has cut its contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, earlier this week, after Littlejohn, who worked for the firm, was charged and subsequently imprisoned for leaking tax information to news outlets about thousands of the countrys wealthiest people, including the president. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time of the announcement that the firm failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service. Representatives of the White House, Treasury and IRS were not immediately available for comment. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday hit out at the INDIA bloc over attempts to seek bail for those who raised slogans about cutting the "chicken neck corridor", saying their efforts failed as the Supreme Court rejected the bail pleas and that such intentions against India would never succeed. Addressing party workers meeting in Bagdogra, Amit Shah said, "Some people in Delhi chanted slogans saying they would cut the chicken neck corridor. How will you cut it? Is this your father's land? This is the land of India, and no one will be able to touch it. Delhi Police arrested them and sent them to jail. The INDI Alliance members were working to secure their release. Their MPs even went to the Supreme Court to plead their case, but ultimately, truth prevails. The Supreme Court also rejected their bail application, and their intentions will never, ever succeed." The Siliguri Corridor, or "Chicken's Neck," is a narrow (20-22 km wide) strip of land in West Bengal, India. The corridor acts as the sole land bridge connecting mainland India to its eight northeastern states. Shah's remarks come in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling, which denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The court, however, granted bail to five other co-accused: Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd. Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad. However, the SC granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, and Mohd. Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad. The Court noted that Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stand on a "qualitatively different footing" in both the prosecution and the evidence. It noted that their roles were "central" to the alleged offences in relation to these two, though their incarceration remains ongoing and lengthy, it does not violate the Constitutional mandate or override the statutory embargo under the laws. Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others were arrested in January 2020 under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Delhi riots case in February 2020. (ANI) Airport security saw several changes in 2025, and another one is about to happen. Starting in July 2025, the Transportation Security Administration allowed travelers to keep their shoes on when passing through checkpoints. It also banned some items, including certain cordless hair tools and external batteries, from checked luggage. As of Feb. 1, 2026, a new TSA policy may require you to pay a fee to get through security. Here's what to know, and how to pay for it ahead of time. TSA may charge $45 to get through security without Real ID, passport In November 2025, TSA revealed it would start requiring non-Real ID travelers to pay an $18 fee to get through security at the airport. The administration later increased the fee to $45, effective Feb. 1, 2026, according to the TSA website. Advertisement Advertisement Under the new rule, travelers without the required identification, such as a Real ID or passport, will have their identity verified by TSA at security checkpoints. The fee would cover the costs and resources used to verify someone's identity, according to ABC News. How to pay $45 TSA fee online before you travel Travelers don't have to wait until their travel day to pay the new fee. TSA offers an online portal, TSA ConfirmID, where travelers can pay the $45 fee before arriving at the airport. Passengers can then pass through a checkpoint without an approved ID for 10 days (based on the date of payment) if they travel again within that timeframe. Travelers can give a ConfirmID receipt to TSA officials and proceed through the security checkpoint as usual after presenting their non-compliant documents and proof that they completed the ConfirmID process. However, the process doesn't guarantee TSA's ability to verify a traveler's identity. So, even if you paid the fee, you could be denied boarding. How long does it take to get a Real ID in Ohio? On the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles website, it says you will receive your new ID card by mail within 10 business days of visiting a deputy registrar location. Advertisement Advertisement However, if you don't receive it within 28 days, you should contact the BMV. Want to avoid TSA's $45 security fee? Make sure to have these acceptable forms of ID If you don't have a Real ID, here are some backup IDs you can show to TSA to avoid the $45 charge. Other acceptable forms of identification include: U.S. passports U.S. passport cards State-issued Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID) Foreign passports Permanent resident cards Border crossing cards A temporary drivers license is not accepted for domestic air travel. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: TSA $45 fee starts Feb. 1. What to know, how to pay ahead of time Two former Indiana fire chiefs were arrested on theft-related charges stemming from the fire departments they served after allegedly embezzling over $110,000. Early in 2025, Detective Tim Denby from the Indiana State Police-Special Investigations Section was requested to investigate allegations that two former Montgomery Township Volunteer Fire Chiefs had stolen funds from the department between 2021 and 2024, according to a spokesperson. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement During the investigation, it was found that Bradley T. Jacobs, 56, from Paris Crossing, Indiana, had allegedly embezzled over $70,000 from the Montgomery Township Fire Department between January 2021 and January 2023. The investigation also found that a second fire chief, Brent A McInteer, 29, from Bedford, Indiana, had allegedly embezzled over $40,000 from the same department between February 2023 and April 2024. The two chiefs had accessed the departments bank account and had allegedly used the departments credit card to transfer money to their personal accounts and make multiple personal purchases. The Jennings County Circuit Court issued arrest warrants for both men on felony charges of two counts of theft, official misconduct, and corrupt business influence. McInteer was arrested in Lawrence County, Indiana, on Jan 21, and Jacobs was arrested on Jan. 30. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] The Washington State Department of Transportation told drivers to expect delays during the Friday evening commute. Two of the northbound I-5 express lanes in Seattle were closed because of a significant debris spill. Just before 6 p.m. WSDOT said a second sweeper was on scene to help. As of 6:50 p.m., WSDOT cleared the scene and the lanes were reopened. UPDATE: Crews continue to make progress removing debris from the NB I-5 express lanes, where a second sweeper is now on scene. https://t.co/dLGiUmpTmw pic.twitter.com/yGz4v4KUds WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) January 31, 2026 At 4:30 p.m. the backups reached upwards of three miles. WSDOT said the debris was up to two inches thick in areas. No word on what the debris is. Ukraine's power grid experienced mass outages for several hours on Saturday after a "technical malfunction" caused electrical lines between Moldova, Romania and Ukraine to fail, Ukraine's energy minister said. By Saturday evening, the power companies had restored power to all regions of Kyiv, said Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmygal. Kyiv's metro system had completely suspended operations during the power cut, paralysing transport for thousands. The emergency services helped evacuate almost 500 passengers stranded in the network when the power went down. Advertisement Advertisement It was the first time that has happened since the 2022 start of the war with Russia. The network resumed operations after several hours. Shmygal said on Telegram that a "technical malfunction" caused "a simultaneous shutdown of the 400-kilovolt line between the power grids of Romania and Moldova and the 750-kilovolt line between western and central Ukraine" had caused the shutdown. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the incident an "emergency". In his evening address he said: "The causes are being investigated in detail." But he added: "As of now, there is no evidence of external interference or cyberattacks. More data indicates that weather conditions caused the lines to freeze, resulting in automatic shutdowns." Advertisement Advertisement - Chernobyl 'precarious': IAEA - Most of the Moldovan capital Chisinau was temporarily without power, though it was largely back on line by 3:40 pm, according to the Moldovan energy ministry. Moldova produces its own power but also imports some, mainly from Romania, as well as Ukraine. The site of Ukraine's former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which still requires electricity, particularly to keep its cooling and control systems operating, experienced a brief power outage, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported. "No direct impact on nuclear safety expected, but overall situation remains precarious," the IAEA posted on X. Advertisement Advertisement The incident piles further pressure on Ukraine's energy grid, which was already in a fragile state due to weeks of intense Russian bombardment. Russia has targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure throughout its nearly four-year invasion but Kyiv says this winter has been the toughest yet, with attacks cutting power and heating to millions during sub-zero temperatures. The Kremlin, which has bombarded Ukraine's energy grid for weeks, said on Friday it was refraining from attacks on Kyiv until Sunday following an appeal from US President Donald Trump. Around 800,000 passengers use the Kyiv metro system daily, according to data published last year. Residents also use its 52 stations as bomb shelters during Russian attacks. bur-jj/gv US President Donald Trump claimed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to a week-long pause in attacks on major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, as the country grapples with plummeting winter temperatures, with the Kremlin appearing to at least partially confirm Trumps words. Trump made the claim during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists Friday that Moscow had agreed to a personal request from Trump to stop striking the capital city of Kyiv until Sunday. The US presidents request was made in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations, Peskov said. Advertisement Advertisement Trump did not say when the conversation with Putin took place. There were no strikes on Kyiv overnight into Friday. Peskov did not elaborate on whether the agreement stretched to other cities in Ukraine, however. He also declined to comment on whether the pause will encompass all strikes, or only those targeting energy infrastructure. During the Thursday Cabinet meeting, Trump said that he had personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that, citing the extreme cold Ukraine is facing. Trumps comments come as Russia stepped up attacks on Ukraines energy infrastructure, leaving large parts of the country facing power shortages and outages. Advertisement Advertisement Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Trump and said a possible temporary halt in attacks during the extreme winter period could help protect Ukraines critical energy infrastructure, calling power supply a foundation of life. We value the efforts of our partners to help us protect lives. Thank you, President Trump, Zelensky said in a post on X, adding that Ukraine expects the agreement to be implemented. In remarks issued by his office on Friday, Zelensky reiterated that if Russia does not strike Ukraine, Ukraine would not take corresponding steps. He said that the push to pause the fighting was an initiative from the American side, adding that there hadnt been any direct dialogue or agreement between Kyiv and Moscow on the issue. We can regard it as an opportunity rather than an agreement, the Ukrainian leader added. Advertisement Advertisement If Russia does not strike our energy infrastructure generation facilities or any other energy assets we will not strike theirs, Zelensky said in Fridays remarks. Meanwhile, Zelensky confirmed that discussions about a temporary halt in attacks on energy infrastructure took place during trilateral meetings between US, Ukrainian and Russian officials in Abu Dhabi last week. A person familiar with the discussions said American officials raised the idea of such a pause in fighting, though it wasnt clear at the time whether Moscow would agree. On Friday morning local time, Ukraines Air Force said Russia had fired a missile and dozens of drones at targets across the country overnight. Advertisement Advertisement One missile and 25 drones struck in 15 regions and 80 drones were shot down, according to the air force. Zelensky said Friday that none of the overnight strikes had hit Ukraines energy facilities, although energy infrastructure was hit in several regions on Thursday afternoon. The Ukrainian leader noted a shift by the Russian army towards strikes on logistics. He added that drone attacks targeting residential areas in cities was continuing. While there were no strikes on energy facilities overnight Friday, Russia has continued to strike logistics routes and transport infrastructure, according to Ukrainian leadership. Advertisement Advertisement Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said Friday evening that there were seven drone attacks on railway facilities over the past 24 hours. While there were no casualties, train cars, freight cars, tracks, power lines, and administrative and production facilities at a station in Dnipropetrovsk were damaged, leading Ukraines national railway company to restrict some rail traffic. These attacks are designed to paralyze civilian life, but Ukraine continues to restore critical infrastructure and ensure people can move safely, even under constant fire, Svyrydenko posted to X. Zelensky said there were also attacks that hit a warehouse in the Kharkiv region, and strikes on Nikopol, Kherson, and the border areas of the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions. Previous attempts at a temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine have all failed to hold. Ukraine accused Russia of violating a planned three-day ceasefire in May of last year, which Moscow announced it would hold for humanitarian considerations. While Russian state media said that the ceasefire went into effect, Ukraines military said attacks continued throughout the period. But the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its troops ceased all hostilities and accused Ukraine of continuing to strike. It said Russia would mirror Ukraines actions. Advertisement Advertisement And earlier in the war, Ukrainian authorities had to put plans to evacuate civilians from Mariupol on hold, citing Russian violations of an agreed pause in March 2022. Status of peace talks Russias special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is expected to visit the United States on Saturday for meetings with members of the Trump administration in Miami, sources told CNN on Friday. The news comes as Zelensky said earlier Friday that the next trilateral meeting between Ukrainian, Russian and US officials, which were originally planned to take place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, could be postponed, or in a new location due to escalating tensions between the US and Iran. In his post thanking Trump, Zelensky said such de-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war. And Trumps Special Envoy Steve Witkoff expressed similar optimism, saying on Thursday that the administration was making a lot of progress in negotiating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, adding that following the Abu Dhabi meeting he believes the people of Ukraine are now hopeful and expectant that were going to deliver a peace deal sometime soon. Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the territorial claim on Donetsk is the key remaining issue in talks to end the war in Ukraine. Its still a gap, but at least weve been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one, and it will probably be a very difficult one, but nonetheless, its one that work is going on, he told lawmakers. But on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov tempered Rubios assessment of where negotiations stand. I think not, Ushakov told Rossiya-1 TV in response to Rubios remarks, Russian state outlet TASS said. Earlier, Ushakov told Russian media that territory was the biggest of many issues still on the agenda, according to TASS. Advertisement Advertisement The reported pause in Russian attacks comes at a critical time, when Ukraine is facing below freezing temperatures, made worse by repeated Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. Russian strikes on energy infrastructure have caused significant electricity shortages in Kyiv, according to the countrys energy minister, with multiple other regions including Odesa, Kharkiv and Donetsk also suffering outages. CORRECTION: This story has been updated with the correct number of missiles Russia is said to have launched into Ukraine overnight into Friday. Sebastian Shukla, Daria Tarasova-Markina, Jennifer Hansler, Moriah Thomas, Victoria Butenko, Svitlana Vlasova and Anna Chernova contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com CAIRO (AP) Houthi rebels in Yemen removed U.N. equipment and assets and took them to an undisclosed location without explanation, the world body said Friday, the latest in a series of restrictions by the Iran-backed group. Julien Harneis, the United Nations' resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said the Houthis entered at least six unstaffed U.N. offices in Sanaa on Thursday and removed most of the telecommunications equipment and several U.N. vehicles without U.N. authorization. The move will likely further hinder urgently needed humanitarian assistance in Houthi-controlled areas and marks the latest escalation in the Houthis crackdown on U.N. staff and aid groups. Advertisement Advertisement Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for more than a decade, with Iran-backed Houthi rebels controlling much of the north and a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in the south. The equipment removed Thursday was essential to carrying out U.N. programs and had been brought into Yemen in compliance with local protocols and with the necessary permissions, the U.N. said. The Houthis, without explanation, have also not authorized United Nations Humanitarian Air Service flights to Sanaa for more than a month, or to the internationally recognized government-controlled Mareb province for over four months, the U.N. said Friday. The flights are the only means for international nonprofits to enter and leave Houthi-controlled areas to operate and deliver aid. Advertisement Advertisement The Houthi decisions were made without discussion or an opportunity to reach a mutual agreement to set arrangements for aid delivery, Harneis said. This confiscation of UN assets and the blocking of UNHAS flights by the Sanaa DFA (Houthis), comes at a time when humanitarian needs in Yemen, particularly in areas under their control, are increasing. This will make the humanitarian situation worse in those parts of Yemen controlled by the DFA, the Friday statement read. U.N. officials said Thursday that the World Food Program will shut down operation in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen due to Houthi restrictions and 365 staffers will lose their jobs by the end of March. Aid operations in northern Yemen have long been hindered by Houthi-imposed constraints. Seventy-three U.N. staffers have been detained in recent years as well as staffers from other nonprofits and civil society groups in areas controlled by the rebels. The detentions have severely restricted aid delivery in areas that account for around 70% of humanitarian needs nationwide, the U.N. said. They intensified their crackdown by storming into U.N. facilities in Sanaa and elsewhere accusing staffers, without evidence, of espionage, allegations the U.N. rejected. A Dorset university has announced talks on a collaboration with a college in Malaysia. Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) said it would hold discussions with University College Fairview in Malaysia over "future creative and arts education engagement". AUB specialises in courses in the creative industries such as acting, computer animation, graphic design and fashion. It follows Bournemouth University launching its first Joint Institute in China earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding, a joint statement by the two universities said the goal was not to "not to recreate AUB in Malaysia". "While the creative industries operate globally, educational collaborations need to be locally grounded and adaptable to be successful," it said. Leaders from the two universities will hold talks in the coming months to explore "emerging opportunities" in the region. Meanwhile, Bournemouth University's partnership with Tianjin University of Technology will enable students in China to study four Bournemouth undergraduate degrees from its campus on the country's northeastern coast. Advertisement Advertisement Up to 1,000 students a year will study courses including data science and artificial intelligence, delivered by academics from both institutions. In September, the first students enrolled on two degrees provided by the university - in tourism and event management - at British University Vietnam. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. See also Related Links A Chinese national received a 46-month (Nearly 4 years) federal prison sentence for his role in laundering over $36.9 million stolen from American victims through a sophisticated crypto investment scam operated from Cambodia. According to a DOJ release, Jingliang Su, 45, was also ordered to pay $26,867,242 in restitution following his guilty plea to conspiracy to operate an illegal money transmitting business. United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner handed down the sentence, marking another victory in the Justice Departments escalating campaign against international scam center operations. Romance Scams and Fake Trading Platforms Trap Victims The fraud began with overseas co-conspirators contacting U.S. victims through unsolicited social media interactions, telephone calls, text messages, and online dating services. Advertisement Advertisement After gaining their targets trust, the scammers promoted fraudulent digital asset investments that appeared legitimate. Co-conspirators created fake websites that resembled legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms and convinced victims to send funds to these counterfeit sites. The scammers would then falsely inform victims that their investments were appreciating in value, when in fact the money had already been stolen. This defendant and his co-conspirators scammed 174 Americans out of their hard-earned money, said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Advertisement Advertisement In the digital age, criminals have found new ways to weaponize the internet for fraud. $37M Laundered Through Bahamas to Cambodia The stolen funds followed a carefully orchestrated path designed to obscure their criminal origins. More than $36.9 million in victim funds were transferred from U.S. bank accounts controlled by co-conspirators to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas. Su and other co-conspirators then directed Deltec Bank to convert the victim funds into the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and transfer the converted cryptocurrency to a digital asset wallet controlled in Cambodia. Source: TRM Labs From there, Cambodian-based co-conspirators distributed the USDT to leaders of scam centers throughout the region. Advertisement Advertisement New investment opportunities may sound intriguing, but they have a dark side: attracting criminals who, in this case, stole and then laundered tens of millions of dollars from their victims, said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. I encourage the investing public to be cautious. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Eight Defendants Sentenced as Crackdown Intensifies Su has been in federal custody since December 2024 and is one of eight co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty so far. Jose Somarriba and ShengSheng He each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, receiving sentences of 36 months and 51 months in prison, respectively. Advertisement Advertisement The sentencing is the latest outcome of the Criminal Divisions ongoing work to investigate, disrupt, and bring to justice individuals who facilitate scam center operations worldwide. DOJs Broader War on Crypto Crime Sus case arrives amid intensifying federal enforcement against cryptocurrency-related fraud. Just one day earlier, the US Department of Justice completed the forfeiture of more than $400 million in assets tied to Helix, a darknet cryptocurrency mixer used to launder proceeds from illegal online marketplaces between 2014 and 2017. According to the DOJ Criminal Division Fraud Section 2025 Year in Review, published on January 23, prosecutors accused 265 defendants of a cumulative alleged loss in fraud cases exceeding $16 billion, nearly twice the amount reported the previous year. Advertisement Advertisement Source: DOJ The DOJ noted that cryptocurrency is increasingly becoming a preferred payment rail, laundering mechanism, and asset category for illicit funds. The Criminal Division plans to leverage its network of International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property prosecutors strategically posted worldwide to coordinate with foreign law enforcement partners. Since 2020, the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section has secured convictions of more than 180 cybercriminals and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds. Read original story US Court Sentences Chinese National to Nearly 4 Years for $37M Crypto Fraud by Anas Hassan at Cryptonews.com By Nate Raymond BOSTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from ending protections from deportation that had been granted to thousands of Ethiopians living in the United States. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston said he would issue an order delaying the February 13 effective date of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's termination of the Temporary Protected Status granted to over 5,000 Ethiopians in order to provide more time for a legal challenge to be heard. Advertisement Advertisement Murphy, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, during a virtual hearing said an order administratively staying the effective date would allow DHS time to produce records detailing how it made its decision so he can then consider whether to block the agency's action for even longer. The U.S. Department of Justice had requested more time to respond to the lawsuit filed by immigrant rights advocates before Murphy, after he set the case down for arguments on Tuesday. At the same time, it opposed even a temporary court-ordered delay in the expiration of the protections the Ethiopians had from deportation. Murphy said he would schedule further arguments after the agency's records are produced, which a government lawyer suggested could be done within weeks. "I want to do everything I can to keep this case going," Murphy said. Advertisement Advertisement DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that TPS "was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that's how previous administrations have used it for decades." Under federal law, TPS is available to people whose home countries have experienced natural disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary events. It provides eligible migrants with work authorization and temporary protection from deportation. DHS has moved to end the status for about a dozen countries as part of Trump's crackdown on immigration. The case before Murphy was filed last week by three Ethiopian nationals and the group African Communities Together after DHS said on December 12 it was ending the TPS designation for Ethiopia, citing improved conditions in the African nation. Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit argues DHS unlawfully terminated the TPS designation first granted to Ethiopia in 2022 by the Biden administration with just 60-days notice, even though armed conflicts there continue. The plaintiffs say Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took that action based on an unconstitutional animus against non-white immigrants. Ethiopia's population is predominantly Black. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Franklin Paul and Bill Berkrot) By Nate Raymond Jan 31 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court judge has dismissed a judicial misconduct complaint by U.S. Justice Department against a judge who clashed with President Donald Trump's administration over its move to deport several Venezuelans to El Salvador. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi took the rare step in July of announcing the complaint against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., alleging he made improper comments about Trump during a meeting of the judiciary's policymaking body, the Judicial Conference. Advertisement Advertisement Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in a newly-released order dated December 19 said the alleged statements, even if true, would not violate judicial ethics rules. The Justice Department did not respond on Saturday to requests for comment. Boasberg, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, declined to comment. Bondi announced the complaint days after Boasberg said he might initiate disciplinary proceedings against Justice Department lawyers for their conduct in a lawsuit brought by Venezuelans challenging their removal to a Salvadoran prison. Boasberg in April concluded the administration appeared to have acted "in bad faith" when it hurriedly assembled three deportation flights on March 15, at the same time that he was conducting emergency court proceedings to assess the effort's legality. Advertisement Advertisement The DOJ's complaint focused on comments attributed to Boasberg by the conservative media outlet The Federalist during a meeting of U.S. Judicial Conference in March that was attended by Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. The Justice Department alleged Boasberg expressed his concern to Roberts and others that the administration would disregard court rulings and trigger "a constitutional crisis." The DOJ argued those comments ran afoul of the judicial code of conduct, and that Boasberg wrongly acted on his belief in the litigation over the Venezuelans, who were removed from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act. Due to potential conflicts among judges in D.C., Roberts transferred the complaint to the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit's Judicial Council. Advertisement Advertisement Sutton said the DOJ lacked proof Boasberg made such statements, which even if uttered would not be improper during the judicial policymaking body's closed-door meeting. "In these settings, a judges expression of anxiety about executive-branch compliance with judicial orders, whether rightly feared or not, is not so far afield from customary topics at these meetingsjudicial independence, judicial security, and inter-branch relationsas to violate the Codes of Judicial Conduct," Sutton wrote. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alistair Bell) Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke to former minister Ambati Rambabu over the phone after he was targeted in a deliberate murder attempt by TDP goons, according to an official statement. YS Jagan enquired about Rambabu's safety, condemned the attack and assured him of the party's full support at every step, the statement added. YS Jagan said Andhra Pradesh has slipped into a state of "jungle raj" and that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is presiding over an atmosphere of lawlessness and political vendetta. According to the release, he stated that acts of violence and murder attempts against opposition leaders are increasing by the day and are being carried out deliberately to intimidate voices questioning the government. He expressed serious concern that police, who are duty-bound to provide protection, instead acted like mute spectators during the attack. Stressing that the people of Andhra Pradesh are watching everything closely, YS Jagan warned that such anarchic governance will not be tolerated for long. He asserted that the public will respond decisively to this misrule and made it clear that the entire YSR Congress Party stands firmly with Ambati Rambabu in this difficult moment, both politically and personally. Earlier today, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers staged a violent protest at the office of the Guntur district YSRCP president, Ambati Rambabu, in Vikas Nagar, triggering a heavy police deployment and tense scenes in the city. A large group of TDP cadres reached the YSR Congress Party district office and the residence of the former minister, pelting stones and attacking the premises with sticks and other objects. The protest was launched in response to alleged abusive remarks against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu attributed to Ambati Rambabu. TDP workers demanded that Ambati Rambabu tender an immediate public apology, warning that failure to do so would prompt them to urge police to file a formal case against him for the alleged abuse. Amid rising tensions, a significant contingent of police personnel was dispatched to the scene to restore order. YSR Congress Party has expressed serious concern and called it a "murder attempt" on former minister Ambati Rambabu, stating that his life is under grave threat following the attack by TDP followers, in their release. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Botcha Satyanarayana, tried to contact the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to bring the situation to their immediate attention. However, both senior officials reportedly did not respond to his calls, raising serious questions about the government's response to a life-threatening incident, it added. (ANI) A US Air Force plane has landed at an American airbase in Britain, as tensions continue to escalate with the Iranian regime. Dubbed the nuke sniffer, the USAF WC-135R Constant Phoenix jet is used to detect radioactive particles in the atmosphere and was reportedly deployed to the Middle East days before Donald Trump bombed Irans nuclear facilities last year. While the reason for its latest trip to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk is unclear, defence sources told The Telegraph that its presence did not indicate that military action was imminent. Advertisement Advertisement Speculation is continuing to grow that Washington is considering a strike on Iran, with the US president warning that a massive armada had been dispatched to the Middle East, as part of a build-up of American forces in the region. In his latest comments at the premiere of his wife Melanias documentary, Mr Trump said the Iranian regime had to do two things to avoid military action, after weeks of demonstrations against the clerical leadership had seen a brutal crackdown on protesters. The USAF WC-135R Constant Phoenix jet is used to detect radioactive particles in the atmosphere (Stephen Huntley) Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters, the US president said, adding that they are killing them by the thousands. We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didnt have to use them. Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, he also warned the regime in Tehran that it must come to the table to make a fair and equitable deal, including abandoning its nuclear weapons programme, or the next attack will be far worse. Donald Trump has warned that a massive armada has been dispatched to the Middle East (AP) The fleet, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, is bigger than that assembled for the operation in Venezuela, which led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro, Mr Trump also said on his Truth Social platform. Irans foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said armed forces were ready with their fingers on the trigger to immediately and powerfully respond to any aggression. On Thursday, the European Union added the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its list of designated organisations in response to Tehrans deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters in recent weeks. Thousands have been killed during anti-government protests in Iran, though internet blackouts make the real number difficult to estimate (Getty) Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the brutality of the Iranian regime was an affront to humanity as she renewed calls for a UK ban following the move. Advertisement Advertisement Speaking during his visit to Beijing, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was asked about the situation in Iran. Sir Keir said: Well, the big issue, the big challenge here, is to ensure that Iran doesnt get a nuclear programme and we all absolutely agree on that, and were working with allies to that end, and that is the central focus Im doing with our allies. Asked if Mr Trumps actions were right, Sir Keir said: We all agree that ensuring that Iran doesnt get that nuclear programme is the number one priority, and thats what were working on. Thousands of people have been killed in recent weeks as the Iranian authorities have responded to protests in cities across the country with a brutal crackdown. Advertisement Advertisement The number of those who have died and been injured is not easy to estimate because of an ongoing internet blackout in Iran. US-based organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran, also known by the initials of its news agency HRANA, believes the number of confirmed deaths is 6,126, of which 5,777 were protesters. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Four children who were allegedly abducted by their Utah mother in December and traced to an orphanage in Croatia will be returning home on Friday, according to an updated post on GoFundMe. Kenneth Seymour, the father of the children, announced that they would be coming home on a GoFundMe: After so much work from SO many people, the Social Services employees informed us that the police had finished their investigation, returned the childrens passports, and gave us the go ahead to pick up the kids from the childrens group home in the morning! We are all excited to get back to (mostly) normal life. Advertisement Advertisement Seymour thanked everyone who helped in the search for his children: Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has helped us locate and fight for these kids. In no way, shape, or form could we have done this without all of you and our amazing network of family and friends. We dont even know where we would be (or where the kids would be) without you all. Elleshia Anne Seymour. Courtesy/DPS Search for the children and arrests An endangered missing alert was initially issued for the children on Dec. 10, 2025, for the four children, who are 11, 8, 7, and 3 years old, and Elleshia Anne Seymour, the mother. Elleshia Anne Seymour was charged for unlawfully removing the children from the country. According to court documents, Seymour told the fathers of the children that she was taking the kids, because the end times are coming and law enforcement determined that she appeared to have no intention of returning the children to the United States. Kendall Seymour, the childrens grandfather, told ABC4 that Elleshia Anne Seymour has been taken into custody. Advertisement Advertisement According to WJPD, the investigation has been turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). ABC4 reached out to the FBI, who said they are unable to comment currently. Latest headlines: Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. There are a number of states in the U.S. that recognize Good Friday as a legal holiday, but Utah is not one of them. That could soon change. A bill sponsored by Sen. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, SB193, would add Good Friday to the list of official state holidays in Utah. Stratton said this bill is the second of a two-session effort to recognize the great religious diversity that we have here in the state. Advertisement Advertisement Last year, Stratton passed a bill that created a number of state holy days recognizing and honoring traditions from different cultures and religions. One of the reasons Stratton has supported these pieces of legislation, he said, is because he believes in the importance of religious liberty. What it would look like for Good Friday to be a holiday According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Good Friday commemorates the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His death at Calvary. It is solemnly observed in many Christian religions through fasting and formal services. Good Friday takes place on the Friday before Easter Sunday. If the bill passes, Good Friday would be like any other state holiday, where it would be designated as a day off for companies and institutions that decide to take it off. Advertisement Advertisement Currently, we have 12 state holidays and it would add another day. You know, you have Thanksgiving and Christmas, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, July 24, July 4. Some of those, many of those are state and national holidays, Stratton said. He added that having the Friday off before Easter could combine with some schools spring breaks to help families have that time together. Stratton said that this is a holiday that would be family friendly and help strengthen the traditions that hold us all together, knit us as a society. There are currently 12 states that designate Good Friday as a legal holiday, including Hawaii, Texas, Indiana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Florida, Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey, as previously reported by the Deseret News. Why Good Friday is significant Stratton said that Good Friday is a traditional sacred and holy day for those associated with the Christian faith, and added that a majority of people in the state belong to Christian denominations. Advertisement Advertisement Last year, the Deseret News spoke to the Rev. Stephen Tilley, a Catholic priest at St. John the Baptist Parish in Draper about what the day means for Catholics. Good Friday is not a day of obligation for Catholics, the Rev. Tilley said. It is a very sacred day for us, you know, all the diocese employees would receive the day off. Its a day dedicated to fasting and prayer. The name Good Friday comes from the definition of good that means holy. Its a Holy Friday, the day the Savior gave His life for the world, according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Rev. Tilley also explained that Good Friday is part of the Paschal Triduum, which also includes Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement He added that Good Friday is a day where we reflect deeply on the selfless and sacrificial love that Jesus Christ gave us on the cross. An emphasis on religious liberty Stratton said that he believes emphasizing Good Friday as a holiday and elevating a variety of holy days helps strengthen religious liberty in the state. Religious liberty is the taproot of all our freedoms and as we honor that we really strengthen our society, Stratton said. The senator also shared that he believes this will help strengthen Utahs families. The strength of society is found in our families, the senator said. In our society the family and the family structure is under attack and religious liberty is under attack. Advertisement Advertisement Stratton said that when we focus on religious liberty and respect people of all religions, it helps society have sound discussions from different points of view in a respectful, kind, charitable way that help lead to the best solutions. What are the state holy days? Last year, Stratton sponsored a bill to create official state holy days recognizing a number of important days from different cultures and religions. The bill ended up passing. That legislation added 12 holy days: Holi Lunar New Year Good Friday Easter Sunday Eid al-Fitr Passover Vesak Day Eid al-Adha Rosh Hashana Yom Kippur Diwali Christmas These holy days are not all legal holidays but are recognized as days with religious significance that the states employers and schools should take note of when creating schedules. Advertisement Advertisement Stratton said he is open to adding more holy days to this list. The door is open; we want to be sensitive to that. If anybody is feeling like we have a gap, lets talk about it, the senator said. The creation of these holy days allows Utahs state employees to take one of these days off each year to observe the state holy day. It does not require schools or workplaces to close on holy days, but advocates suggest the state should at least require that schools and workplaces accommodate observants. What other days could potentially become holidays? Whenever the discussion of a new legal holiday comes up, people always have suggestions for other days that could also become holidays. Advertisement Advertisement Some suggestions that people make include the day after the Super Bowl and the day after Halloween. Another bill is currently moving through the Legislature to add a different state holiday. HB104, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, would add Election Day, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill Saturday that expands the state Supreme Court from five justices to seven as frustration has mounted among Republican lawmakers over a string of defeats before the tribunal. Republican advocates for the change argued that it would help improve the court's efficiency. But legal experts said it could have the opposite effect and set a dangerous precedent at a time of tension between the branches of government. The state's judiciary did not ask for more justices on the high court. Democrats, who were united in opposition to the bill, called the timing suspicious. Last week the Legislature asked the court to overturn a redistricting ruling that gave Democrats a strong shot at picking up one of Utahs four Republican-held congressional seats in the fall. Advertisement Advertisement New justices could be in place when the court decides the fate of the congressional map. Because the bill received approval from more than two-thirds of legislators, it took effect immediately after the governor signed it, allowing him to bypass a several-month waiting period to start adding justices. In Utah, justices are appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate. Justices in many other states are elected. Most states have five or seven Supreme Court justices, but a few have nine. Cox, a Republican, has said the additions would put Utah in line with other states of its size. He has denied that the policy is politically motivated, noting that Republican governors and senators have made all recent appointments. Advertisement Advertisement Once he fills the new seats, Cox will have appointed five of the seven sitting justices. Last month Republican lawmakers took authority from state Supreme Court justices to select their own chief justice and gave that power to the governor. Seven sets of eyes reviewing the most complex and difficult issues our state has ever faced is better than having only five sets of eyes, said House Majority Leader Casey Snider, a Republican sponsor of the bill. John Pearce, who recently retired as associate chief justice, said this month that he doubted the change would make the court more efficient. The more sets of comments you have to take into account, the longer the process takes, Pearce said. If what the Legislature is hoping to do is speed up the work of the court, it's going to be counterproductive. Advertisement Advertisement Two states Arizona and Georgia have added justices in the past decade after making similar arguments about efficiency. In the first few years after Arizona grew its court in 2016, several past and present justices said it made things less efficient because more people had to review opinions before they could be published. Arizona's court now issues slightly more rulings per year, while Georgia's issues slightly fewer than before. Utah Chief Justice Matthew Durrant told legislators on the opening day of the 2026 session that the court had essentially no backlog and urged them to add judges to lower courts, where the need is greater. Bill sponsors responded by adding some lower court judges and clerks. Advertisement Advertisement The Utah State Bar has raised concern over the expansion and other proposals that it said would weaken the judiciary's independence. Among them is a bill that would create a new trial court with exclusive jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges. The proposal would limit the ability of other judges and courts to block potentially unconstitutional state laws with injunctions. Republicans have also been collecting signatures to try to place on the November ballot an initiative that would restore their ability to draw voting districts that deliberately favor a political party, a practice known as gerrymandering. ___ Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Greenville residents woke up to a sea of white on Jan. 31, but city and police officials are asking people to stay off the roads so they can get to work. Public works crews spent Friday, Jan. 30 preparing for the winter weather by brining primary routes, connector streets, bridges and slopes. Snowflakes started to fall about 8 a.m. in the city of Greenville, accumulating quickly through the morning hours. Beth Brotherton, communications director for the city, said in a live stream that while the snow is beautiful, officials want people to stay off the roads so that the plows and first responders can quickly get around. Advertisement Advertisement While the city does not have any road closures listed on its active closures map, there are a handful of accidents posted. One road obstruction was reported near Ridgecrest Drive and Wellington Avenue. Much of the map is lit up in red and orange, which indicates slow and stop and go traffic. More: Upstate snow totals increase as winter storm bears down. Live updates The city encourages people to get outside and see the snow on foot, so roads can stay clear for emergency crews and plows. Brotherton said the city was having issues with cars in ditches and warned that the snow was falling quickly. According to a post by the city around 11:30 a.m., the Greenville Police Department responded to eight wrecks in 25 minutes. GPD also posted to its Facebook page that officers will not dispatch officers to single-vehicle crashes with no injuries. Advertisement Advertisement "We again urge everyone to stay off the roads, as conditions are extremely unsafe," GPD stated in the post. According to Greenville County Communications Specialist Bob Mihalic, the county will start plowing its 1,800 miles of mostly secondary or rural roads once the snow stops. He said the county is fully staffed and equipment is prepped and ready to go. The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (DPS) also encourages everyone to stay off the roads, but the agency offers safe driving tips if travel is necessary. Drivers should take a few minutes to heat up and defrost their cars before leaving for their destination. This can be done by letting the heat run for a few minutes and applying a solution one-third cup cool water and two-thirds cup rubbing alcohol to your windows. Make sure the car battery, wipers, tires, brakes, heating, defroster and lights are in good condition before driving in the storm. Reduce driving speeds, increase following distances, avoid abrupt acceleration and use brakes gently. If a car starts to skid, take your foot off the accelerator, steer in the direction you want the car to go and gently pump the brakes. Advertisement Advertisement Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Police officials report vehicle crashes, urges public to say off roads Venezuela's acting president announced on Friday a proposal for mass amnesty in the country, in her latest major reform since the US toppling of Nicolas Maduro just weeks ago. Delcy Rodriguez, in a speech at the Venezuelan Supreme Court attended by top government officials, said she will propose a "general amnesty law covering the entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present." Leftist revolutionary Hugo Chavez assumed the presidency in 1999, and was succeeded upon his death in 2013 by Maduro, who oversaw an increasingly authoritarian government and whose two re-elections were widely dismissed as fraudulent. Advertisement Advertisement "This law will serve to heal the wounds left by political confrontation, fueled by violence and extremism. It will allow us to put justice back on track in our country," Rodriguez said, also announcing a "major national consultation for a new judicial system." She also announced plans to close the notorious El Helicoide prison in Caracas, where rights groups say political prisoners were tortured by Maduro's intelligence services. The massive facility, originally built as a shopping mall, will be turned into a "sports, cultural and commercial center for police families and neighboring communities," Rodriguez said. A mother interviewed by AFP near El Helicoide was overjoyed that her son, imprisoned inside, may soon be released under the law. Advertisement Advertisement "It's wonderful! I haven't heard from my son in six months, so, damn it, this is a huge joy, it's an amnesty, my God, it's total liberation," said Betsy Orellana, 63. - Wary opposition - Formerly Maduro's vice president, Rodriguez, 56, has quickly moved in less than four weeks in power to overhaul Venezuelan society in ways sought by the United States, earning high praise from US President Donald Trump. Along with her brother, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, she has passed a new law opening up the country's critical oil sector to private investments -- a key demand of Trump. Advertisement Advertisement The move on Thursday was almost immediately followed by a rollback on US sanctions targeting Venezuela's oil industry. The government also agreed on January 8, five days after Maduro was seized in a deadly US military operation, to free inmates considered political prisoners by rights groups. Families -- many of whom began camping outside the prisons -- and rights groups have criticized the slow pace of the releases, with the Foro Penal NGO counting less than 300 in total released since January 8. Opposition figures in Venezuela have voiced reserved optimism at the changes taking place, wary that Maduro's closest allies still remain in power. Advertisement Advertisement Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said Friday that Rodriguez's amnesty proposal came only after she was pushed by Washington. "This is not a voluntary gesture by the regime, but a response to pressure from the United States government. And I hope that the prisoners will soon be able to be with their families," she posted on social media. Opposition lawmaker Tomas Guanipa, whose two brothers are imprisoned, said he hope the amnesty would end "an era of repression." "May this be the beginning of a path that leads us to freedom and democracy, definitively and forever," he told AFP in an interview at his home in Caracas. Advertisement Advertisement - Americans freed - US authorities on Friday announced that all Americans known to be held prisoner in Venezuela had been released. The announcement came hours after the release of Peruvian-American political prisoner Arturo Gallino Rullier, whom the Foro Penal group said was on his way to the United States. For years, Venezuela has routinely arrested foreigners and domestic opposition actors on a range of charges from spying to plotting attacks -- charges critics dismiss as fabricated. In a sign of Trump's satisfaction with the new Venezuelan authorities, his administration lifted a ban on US flights to the South American country. Advertisement Advertisement And after years of the US embassy being shuttered, Washington is also preparing to re-establish its diplomatic presence in Caracas. Seasoned diplomat Laura Dogu was recently named US charge d'affaires for Venezuela -- the highest level representative below an ambassador. Dogu is expected to arrive in Caracas on Saturday, diplomatic sources told AFP. bur-des/sla Venezuelan lawmakers have approved a law change that will make it easier for foreign companies to take part in the countrys oil industry, in a move by Caracas to meet the demands of US President Donald Trump. The reform, backed by acting President Delcy Rodriguez, will open up the Venezuelan oil industry, at present largely controlled by state-owned company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and allow foreign companies to manage oilfields at their own risk and cost. It comes as Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba, declaring a national security emergency over the issue. Advertisement Advertisement Since the US captured Rodriguezs predecessor, President Nicolas Maduro, at the beginning of January it has repeatedly made clear it wants American companies to invest in Venezuelas oil industry. Venezuela has more proven oil reserves than any nation on the planet. The new law could help the country maximize its profits from them, Rodriguez said Thursday night. This law allows us to make a true historic qualitative leap to turn those oil reserves, the largest on the planet, into the greatest happiness a people can have, with the Venezuelan people as the rightful owners of that happiness, she told a crowd at an event celebrating the move. National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of the acting president, echoed that sentiment and said the move will boost the energy sector, promoting oil production in undeveloped fields. Advertisement Advertisement Venezuelas legislature unanimously approved the reform Thursday afternoon in a second reading. It now must be signed by Rodriguez and published before coming into force. That same day, Trump signed an executive order threatening to impose additional tariffs on any country that directly or indirectly provides oil to Cuba. In the order, Trump said the policies and actions of Cubas government constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy. This includes Cubas alignment with hostile nations such as Russia and its harboring of transnational terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas as well as its persecution of political opponents, suppression of free speech and corruption, according to the document. Advertisement Advertisement Maduros capture removed the Cuban governments closest ally from power and severed its supply of fuel perhaps permanently from the oil rich South American nation. Havana depended on Venezuela for more than one third of its oil needs, according to energy industry analysts. The US attack disrupted those shipments of oil and now both blackouts and gas lines across Cuba have grown longer and longer in recent days. Speaking ahead of the Melania premiere Thursday night, Trump told reporters he is not trying to choke out Cubas economy. Cuba is a failing nation, and you have to feel badly for Cuba, he said. Theyve treated people very badly. Many Cuban Americans were mistreated and would probably like to return. I dont think Cuba will be able to survive. Advertisement Advertisement The Cuban government on Thursday condemned Trumps tariff threat, with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez calling it a brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people. The US also resorts to blackmail and coercion, in an attempt to get other countries to join its universally condemned blockade policy against Cuba, Rodriguez wrote on X. We denounce to the world this brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people. Regarding Venezuela, two sources told CNN earlier this month that the Trump administration is planning to use private military contractors to protect oil and energy assets in the country. However, some oil executives have expressed discomfort with the idea of sending capital into Venezuela. The CEO of Exxon Mobil said at a White House meeting shortly after Maduros capture that the country is uninvestible in its current state. Easing restrictions Venezuelas new law was approved on the same day that the US Treasury eased some sanctions on Venezuelas oil industry. It issued a general license authorizing US companies to carry out certain activities with the Venezuelan government related to the export, purchase, sale, storage, and transportation of the countrys oil, among other operations. Advertisement Advertisement It marked the latest easing of restrictions by the Trump administration since the acting Venezuelan government signaled it would cooperate with the US and meet many of its demands. Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he had informed Rodriguez that the US would be opening up the commercial airspace above Venezuela, even though it is not technically considered closed. It comes two months after Trump issued a broad directive on social media, warning airlines, pilots and criminal networks to avoid Venezuelan airspace. American citizens will be, very shortly, able to go to Venezuela, and theyll be safe there, and be safe. Its under very strong control, Trump said Thursday at a meeting of his Cabinet. Jorge Rodriguez credited Trumps announcement to his sisters diplomatic efforts. Advertisement Advertisement I believe it is very positive. I think it is a direct consequence of the peace diplomacy that has been carried out by the presidency, he said. CNNs Sol Amaya contributed to this report. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com FIRST ON FOX: A Trump-aligned lawfare group filed records requests attempting to uncover the "harm" that Democrat-led states said was being incurred as a result of President Trump's executive order banning sex changes for minors. However, those states either ignored their requests or said they could not find any responsive records documenting the harms their lawsuit warns are already happening . After 15 states, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro sued the president and his Department of Justice over the executive order Aug. 1, America First Legal filed records requests to those states suing in an attempt to uncover whether the claims of injury are true and accurate. Advertisement Advertisement Trump Admin Finds California Ban On Notifying Parents Of Gender Transitions Violated Federal Law Only three states Massachusetts, Illinois and Nevada have provided any sort of response thus far. Furthermore, the responses that did arrive indicated there were no responsive records relating to AFL's request even though they asked for documents pertaining to precisely what the lawsuit in question alleges. "States suing the Trump administration appear to lack evidence of actual harm supporting their allegations," said Dan Epstein, vice president of America First Legal. "The Trump administrations executive order sought to protect minors from permanent physical damage. Protecting children should not be subject to politics." Read On The Fox News App Advertisement Advertisement A nationwide preliminary injunction was issued just a few months after the issuance of Trump's executive order prohibiting physicians from performing sex change surgeries on individuals under the age of 19. And, according to Epstein, the plaintiffs still must show "standing" for a court to provide a remedy, and just because the plaintiffs filed their suit early does not mean this responsibility disappears. "Because standing is necessary for any federal court to provide a remedy, plaintiffs must plead concrete evidence of harm in their complaint," Epstein asserted. "Here, plaintiffs' complaint failed to show an actual, traceable loss tied to the federal action, beyond merely speculative claims of harm or generalized concerns. Filing suit early does not eliminate this requirement to establish standing." Fox News Digital reached out to the health departments and attorneys general offices in Massachusetts, Illinois and Nevada, to request information about the documents being relied upon by plaintiffs in their suit against Trump's executive order. In particular, Fox News Digital also asked if the state health departments had no responsive records or whether there might be anywhere else they could be kept. Again, it did not receive a response. In the lawsuit challenging Trump's Executive Order 14187, which bans federal taxpayer dollars from being used to "fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called transition of a child from one sex to another," the blue state plaintiffs allege the executive order was fostering "an atmosphere of fear and intimidation experienced by transgender individuals, their families and caregivers, and the medical professionals who seek only to provide necessary, lawful care to their patients." Advertisement Advertisement Privacy Concerns, Discrimination, Doctor Pushback: The Compliance Traps Looming Behind Sex-separated Sports AFLs records requests sought any documents showing the states had actually experienced the harms they claim in their lawsuit against Trumps Executive Order 14187, including evidence of prosecutions or penalties for providers, clinic closures, reduced services and increased medical or mental-health crises for transgender adolescents. The group also asked for records showing higher costs for services like counseling, crisis intervention or hospitalizations, worsened mental and physical health outcomes or the states inability to meet legal obligations to provide medical care for minors in state custody. AFL also asked for any internal communications specifically referencing the executive order and its alleged effects. Massachusetts and Nevada said they had zero records pertaining to any of their requests, while Illinois responded that it had no records responsive to every one of AFL's requests except for the last and most broad one that asked for records and communication mentioning the terms "Executive Order 14187," the order's formal title or "affect shape harm." Advertisement Advertisement The records handed over by Illinois' public health department included notices that agency personnel received notifying them that funds could not be used for services that violate President Trump's Executive Order 14187 and notices to grantees telling them they may incur new costs that support programs or activities in conflict with the executive order. Illinois' records also showed that a program director at a nonprofit healthcare group expressed concern about an inability to register new clients because the president's directive prevented staff from asking a patient's gender identity or preferred pronouns, which were required fields in the healthcare group's client database. Because clients have to be enrolled in the database to receive Hiv/aids services, the director feared this could affect those services. Click Here To Download The Fox News App Illinois records showed a slowdown in grant releases as well, while everyone got up to date with the new requirements of Trump's executive order. Advertisement Advertisement Fox News Digital reached out repeatedly to the public health departments and the offices of the attorneys general for comment on AFL's accusations that their lawsuit is without evidence but only received a response from Massachusetts' Department of Public health, which referred Fox News Digital to the state's Attorney General office. "AFL has previously exposed other states lack of standing in their own respective cases against the Trump administration. Specifically, AFL uncovered Colorado, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Arizonas lack of evidence supporting their claims of injury in an attempt to block the Trump Administrations sharing of Medicaid beneficiary data with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security," a press release from the lawfare group said. "These states responses to AFLs records requests repeatedly reveal a lack of standing. AFL will continue to expose baseless litigation efforts aimed at undermining the America First agenda." Trump's Executive Order 14187 is also being challenged for alleged discrimination in a lawsuit against the Health and Human Services Department led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Original article source: Watchdog claims proof of 'harm' nonexistent in suit against Trump's ban on trans surgeries for minors Business Insider watched NATO soldiers train this week in Arctic warfare and cold-weather survival. Operating in these conditions creates major challenges for soldiers, from deep snow to wet clothes. Just surviving the Arctic environment could be half the battle for NATO in a future war. SODANKYLA, Finland Deep snow. Fleeting daylight. Wet clothes. Frozen weapons. Sub-zero temperatures. NATO soldiers training in Arctic warfare are learning that in a future conflict, fighting the enemy may be only half the battle. The other would be surviving the region's harsh winters. Advertisement Advertisement "The environment can be hard for someone who is not used to it," said Finnish Lt. Laura Lahdekorpi, bundled up and dressed in camouflage to blend in with the snow. Lahdekorpi is among roughly 20 NATO soldiers participating in an Arctic warfare training and cold-weather survival course led by the Finnish Army's Jaeger Brigade, which specializes in winter combat. The monthlong course is conducted far above the Arctic Circle, in Finland's snow-covered Lapland region, where soldiers see just a few hours of sunlight each day and experience temperatures that regularly drop well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. With growing Russian and Chinese activity across the Arctic, NATO officials are stressing the need for greater readiness in the region. The training course helps Western soldiers sharpen their ability to fight on frozen battlefields, where the military alliance could find itself at war next amid rising competition. The course led by the Jaeger Brigade teaches soldiers how to fight and survive in cold-weather environments. Jake Epstein/Business Insider Soldiers learn skills such as navigating terrain, staying dry, and fighting in harsh conditions. Jake Epstein/Business Insider "The Arctic, overall, is changing," Canadian Cpt. Vincent Lemelin, another soldier participating in the course, told Business Insider during a visit to Lapland this week. "So we need to know much more expertise to be able to face these changes." Biting cold temperatures The first of the Arctic warfare training course's three phases focuses on how to move and survive in winter conditions, teaching soldiers skills such as drying wet clothes, crossing the forest on skis, and preventing their weapons from freezing. Advertisement Advertisement Maj. Mikael Aikio, the Arctic section leader of the Jaeger Brigade who oversees the course, said some of the biggest challenges soldiers face in this environment are maintaining combat readiness in extreme temperatures (below -14 degrees Fahrenheit) and moving around in the deep, soft snow that blankets Lapland this time of year. Cold temperatures can make it hard to keep equipment functioning properly and strain soldiers' physical and mental well-being. After a long day of exertion, even simple tasks like eating and drinking, which are critical in these conditions to replenish calories and stay hydrated, may feel daunting. The unforgiving Arctic environment can be as dangerous as the enemy, especially for soldiers who aren't trained for such conditions, Aikio told Business Insider, warning that unfamiliar terrain and extreme cold can have a huge impact. Even well-trained units aren't immune, he added. In severe cold, the environment still takes a heavy toll. Soldiers in the Arctic face harsh conditions, as well as the threat of enemy strikes. Jake Epstein/Business Insider As part of the course, soldiers participated in a combat exercise that included a ski assault. Jake Epstein/Business Insider Lahdekorpi, the Finn, said the cold weather could distract soldiers in combat, leaving them more focused on getting warm than on fighting the enemy. Slow movements The persistent deep snow in the winter creates significant mobility challenges for soldiers. In the course, they learn to traverse the forest on skis and snowmobiles, even using these tools to conduct an assault against a simulated enemy force during the second phase of the training. Advertisement Advertisement Lemelin, the Canadian, said survival in the Arctic is directly linked to movement. Mobility is far slower and more physically demanding than in other places, he said. Snow is constant and effectively part of the enemy. That slower pace isn't a drawback. Sweating in extreme cold can be dangerous, as moisture can freeze, so soldiers are trained to move deliberately, take frequent breaks, and wear layers they can remove as conditions change. When soldiers start moving, they should be a little cold, Aikio said. After roughly 15 minutes on skis, units typically stop to shed layers. Soldiers make a fire and hang their clothes to dry. Jake Epstein/Business Insider Soldiers train for the Arctic with skis to traverse the snowy forest. Jake Epstein/Business Insider Keeping clothes dry Keeping clothes and gear dry is another challenge soldiers face in the Arctic. Getting wet a frequent occurrence in this region with all the snow and hidden sources of water forces them to expend more energy to warm up. Advertisement Advertisement Soldiers wear fishnet fabric and wool as their layers and carry extra clothing in their backpacks. They dry clothing by hanging it on makeshift wooden tripods or placing it near the fire or in warm tents. For wet boots, which Lahdekorpi said are the hardest to dry, soldiers crumple up newspaper and shove it inside to absorb moisture. While the harsh environment poses a different threat to soldiers than enemy artillery fire, it's still treacherous because cold-weather casualties before the fight even starts can put one side at a significant disadvantage, Lemelin said. Considering the substantial challenges of operating in the Arctic, soldiers and course leadership view the training as a critical means of preparing them for the frozen battlefields NATO forces could one day face. The cold is an obstacle, but not an insurmountable wall; the aim is to learn to adapt and ultimately thrive in these brutal conditions. "Embrace the cold," Lemelin said, "and then warm up when there's the opportunity." Read the original article on Business Insider Plans are still in motion for a quantum development project in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood. More than $1 billion has already been committed to the 128-acre Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, or IQMP. Most of that funding is from the state. The hope, political leaders have said, is for IQMP to grow into another Silicon Valley, a global center for emerging technology. However, some residents remain skeptical of the benefits for the surrounding community. Advertisement Advertisement Illinois Answers Project is conducting a three-part explainer series, with a data-driven look at public and private investment for the project. You can read more of their reports by visiting www.illinoisanswers.org. Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw discussed opportunities for upskilling railway staff in collaboration with France, underlining the long-standing cooperation between the two countries in the railway sector. In a post on X on Friday, Vaishnaw said, "Discussed opportunities for upskilling railway staff in collaboration with France. Bharat and France share a long history of cooperation in the railway sector. Had a productive discussion with Mr. Philippe Tabarot, Minister of Transport, France, on maintenance, cleaning and quality in manufacturing." https://x.com/AshwiniVaishnaw/status/2017270232004604321?s=20 The interaction reflects growing engagement between India and France, as bilateral cooperation continues to deepen across multiple sectors, including infrastructure, manufacturing and skills development. Against this backdrop of expanding ties, French President Emmanuel Macron on January 9 announced that he would visit India next month, with New Delhi set to host the AI Impact Summit. Macron made the remarks while addressing the Diplomatic Corps, according to France 24. President Macron, while speaking about the successes of French diplomacy in 2025, referred to the world coming together for the Artificial Intelligence Summit in Paris and the progress made on the front. "Let's finally look at what we have managed to achieve together, the successes of French diplomacy last year -- the Artificial Intelligence summit. The whole world came to Paris. We made progress on this, and we co-chaired it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and next month, I'll be in India to follow up." Following this, the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, announced by Prime Minister Modi at the France AI Action Summit and scheduled for February 19-20 in New Delhi, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South, as noted by the official website. Ahead of President Macron's visit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during an earlier meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Nol Barrot, had also mentioned that India would be expecting President Macron soon. Speaking about how the two countries are active in the international arena, Jaishankar said they are committed to multipolarity and that working together is important not only for the bilateral relationship but also for stabilising global politics. "Apart from our bilateral ties, we are both very active in the international arena. This year we chaired the BRICS, you chaired the G7. We are both members of the G20. We are also otherwise active in a number of international organisations. So as two nations committed to multi-polarity, I believe that working together is important for ourselves, also for stabilising the global politics at this stage," EAM Jaishankar said. He added, "Let me conclude that by adding that we are expecting President Macron in India very soon. So part of what we would be devoting ourselves to is to prepare for that." (ANI) What if everything currently being said about the collapsing world order is wrong? Fact: the United States has unquestionable military superiority which is currently relied upon by the European nations who can shelter under its protective (and expensive) capability. Questionable conclusion: the president of the United States has a moral right to dictate the foreign policy of the West and to interfere in its decisions on domestic spending. Indeed what the US government decrees on these matters is not even considered to be a matter for debate. It is taken as fact that the inclination of those countries which have chosen to elevate social programmes and infrastructure improvements over defence spending is selfish and dangerously naive. Advertisement Advertisement Those nations are wilfully ignoring what must be regarded as inevitable: that there will be another major war on European soil in which they will be totally unequipped to defend themselves. Under the terms of Article 5 of the Nato treaty, they will then demand rescue from the well-armed US government who will be obliged to defend them. Hence, US military superiority and the legal obligation to use it in the defence of its allies gives President Trump (or any Washington administration) the authority to dictate the priorities of democratically elected foreign governments. In effect, the US, by virtue of its military strength, has the right to interfere in domestic European political policy. There are a number of things that are rather disturbing about this reasoning. First, the brute power afforded by military strength does not necessarily equate to moral authority, does it? Being well-armed does not automatically make you right about everything especially when your own experience is utterly unlike that of those whom you are presuming to judge. Leaving aside the obvious doubts about this particular presidency and its on-again, off-again intentions, European countries have unique collective memories which affect their attitudes to military spending. Germany, for sound historical reasons, was forbidden to re-arm for generations, and is still wary of doing so. Second, the resistance to rebuilding military force in Europe was not insouciant selfishness. It was a repudiation of the reckless warmongering and febrile nationalism that had characterised the previous century. The economic cooperation and interdependence of the West European nation states was deliberately engineered to make war between them impossible. Later on, after the end of the Cold War, this was extended to East European states which saw in it a protection from Russian revanchism. Nor were the social welfare programmes to which most European countries diverted their spending simply vote-winning, self-indulgent extravagance. The welfare and support schemes that followed the Second World War were deliberately devised as testimony to the sacrifices of working-class people who had endured extraordinary privations and personal sacrifice with courage and tenacity. Advertisement Advertisement There is no real equivalent of this in the American 20th-century experience. What regrets the US has about its military interventions in Vietnam or Iraq tends to produce isolationism, an aversion to any foreign military activity, rather than a sense of increased responsibility to its own population. If Europe were not so trapped in self-loathing, it might be capable of seeing the ethical superiority of its own position. The US has built up its offensive and defensive assets in the Middle East - Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/AP So here is the big question which no one seems to contemplate: what if there is, in the foreseeable future, no large-scale war in Europe? What if the 20th century was unique in its peculiarly hideous indulgence in huge conflagrations which eventually involved almost every nation on the continent? In truth, the First and Second World Wars were really parts one and two of the same conflict, the second widely held to be a consequence of the bitterness engendered by the terms of settlement of the first. But, you may say, there is war in Europe right now. Russia has invaded Ukraine on a bizarre historic pretext which is actually motivated by old-fashioned imperialism and fury at the dismantling of its Soviet empire. Couldnt that be the harbinger of a greater conflict which will eventually absorb all the European nations, if only out of legitimate outrage at Russias brazen actions? Couldnt Ukraine be the new Sudetenland? Perhaps. But there are good reasons why this is unlikely, the most important of which is that unlike Hitlers annexation of Czechoslovakias German-speaking border region, Russias attempt to take over the parts of Ukraine which it considers to be its own are not succeeding. Advertisement Advertisement This is proving to be a cautionary tale for Putins militaristic ambitions rather than a triumphant power grab. If the West holds its nerve and just sustains Ukraine against the onslaught, this will not turn into World War Three and Russia will learn a useful lesson. In fact, Putin is paying a huge price for this aggression in wealth and manpower. His regime may well pay the ultimate price and Russia may once again subside into post-Soviet quietude. Then again, perhaps the new front of international aggression will not involve guns and rockets. What if the modern form of aggression is all about trade, tariffs and industrial espionage? Instead of dropping bombs to achieve world domination on the quaint 20th-century model, maybe todays aspiring world rulers will simply steal every idea and technical innovation they can lay their hands on and reproduce them so cheaply that they will undermine the economies of all their competitors. You know who I have in mind here, dont you? This is almost certainly Chinas plan. The 21st century is to be the Chinese century just as the 20th was the American century and this will be accomplished by the ruthless theft of ideas and competitive undercutting. World domination will be achieved without firing a shot. But wait a minute. China is not a Communist country in the old fashioned Soviet sense with phoney internal markets for absurdly outdated products. It is fully engaged in the global capitalist game. So heres a lesson about capitalism for those who are new to it. You cannot afford to bankrupt your customers. If China undermines the economies of the West, it will be destroying its most valuable consumer base. This is a lesson Europe could teach the world, if it ever regains its confidence. Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays. After a final failed attempt to delay justice even longer, Cassidy Gonzalez learned her fate on Friday. A judge sentenced her to 19 years and four months to life in state prison for the 2022 fentanyl murder of Jade Dreith. "This is completely avoidable, and that's what's so frustrating for me as a judge," Fresno County Superior Court Judge Alvin Harrell III said. Gonzalez has been convicted of murder for nearly a year. Advertisement Advertisement Last March, a jury sided with prosecutors in a first-of-its-kind case, agreeing that Gonzalez sold the fentanyl that killed Dreith even when she knew it was deadly. "Jade didn't poison herself. She didn't want to die," the victim's sister, Sage, said. "Death was brought to her by Cassidy Marie Gonzalez." Sage believes Gonzalez used Jade's kindness and their friendship to kill her. "You looked at a person who trusted you, and you decided her life was worth less than your comfort, your impulses, and your habits," Sage said. Through it all, Gonzalez has denied wrongdoing. Advertisement Advertisement On Friday, her mom tried to cover, saying the case was motivated by unfair connections to the District Attorney's Office. "The power that they have. The people that they know, that's why we are here today," Gonzalez's mother told the judge. "That's why my daughter's in this situation." "Stop," the judge replied. "This has nothing to do with influence (or) favor," Judge Harrell III said. "It has to do with the rule of law in the state of California." Gonzalez, who was largely unmoved through it all, broke down as she offered an apology, promising to get counseling in prison. Advertisement Advertisement The victim's sister called it an act. "I see your self-pity and your terrible little tears. I don't see a victim at all," Sage said. "I see someone who took a life and then expected to get sympathy for the consequences." For news updates, follow Gabe Ferris on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. CHEYENNE The Wyoming Business Council is facing an uncertain future after lawmakers on the Joint Appropriations Committee passed a 59-page draft bill to dismantle the entity at a meeting Jan. 15. Since then, some members of the public have had questions regarding the WBCs future, including what could be done to keep the entity going and what would make it more effective in the eyes of legislators. On Thursday, WBC CEO Josh Dorrell held the councils first open mic virtual meeting, where Wyoming residents could ask any questions with no limits. Advertisement Advertisement Almost 100 people attended the meeting. Dorrell began by giving participants a general overview of what the WBC is and what it aims to do. The Wyoming Business Council is more than anything here to help our state compete in the economy, but also to make sure that we have those strong communities where businesses can thrive and families can stay together, Dorrell said. We have the highest outmigration of any state in the nation, and were twice the national average. Chances are pretty good youre tired of hearing that. I am, too. Im tired of saying it. And thats why were here is to change that. Advertisement Advertisement The first to ask a question was Brenda Schladweiler, a Gillette resident who lives in a wealthier county, she said. Schladweiler asked Dorrell to explain the work the WBC does in smaller Wyoming counties, because she said she thinks the need for the council varies, depending on the resources within that area. Dorrell agreed, and said no matter the wealth in a county, the WBC staff will ask the same question: What is stopping that areas economic growth? I do think that its important for all of us to realize we all need that help, and we all should look at what is the barrier to growth, Dorrell said. And if the state can play a role to help out, I would like to be here to do that. Advertisement Advertisement State Rep. J.R. Riggins, R-Casper, asked Dorrell what would happen to the WBCs in-progress projects if the council were dismantled, and what would happen to planned projects. The answer to this one is simple, Dorrell said. In-progress projects would be switched to other state agencies, and planned projects would not happen. Money for WBC projects comes from its Business Ready Community Program (BRCP) funds, Dorrell said. Any loans the WBC utilizes get paid back into the BRCP account so the money can be used again and again. Dorrell said if the WBC ceases to exist, those funds would be given to the state, and someone would have to be appointed to administer them. Advertisement Advertisement Some people in attendance did not have questions, but rather wanted to make suggestions to Dorrell for how the WBC could operate more efficiently. One of those was Gail Symons, who has an undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Wyoming, she said. Symons said she thinks the biggest hurdle for WBC is not operational or financial; it is actually more related to its marketing strategies, or lack thereof. You all have been putting your heads down and getting the work done and making a difference, and those people who have felt it really know about it, Symons said. The problem is that theres a lot of people who have benefited who have no idea that theyve benefited. Lucas Wall, a recent UW graduate who works for a company that has used the WBCs services, gave an additional suggestion relating to marketing: For the WBC to consider posting testimonials from people who have benefited from its services, to which Dorrell said hed be happy to do that. Advertisement Advertisement Toward the end of the meeting, Dorrell shared with participants that his two main goals for WBC are to propose statutory changes through the Legislature, and create his own standing legislative committee that is locked into the economy. Rather than defunding the entire agency and getting rid of us, how about instead we work together, Dorrell said. ... We have a lot of knowledge that we know will help us get to where we want to be. We need a good nexus with the Legislature, he continued. So, when it comes to critique, I think we definitely need to change our statutes, and we need to really be more focused on whats going to move the needle in Wyoming. A recording of WBCs open mic can be found at teamof1000s.wyomingbusiness.org/events-and-activities. Chinas emergencies minister Wang Xiangxi is the latest to be investigated by president Xi Jinpings anti-corruption watchdog, part of a growing purge of senior officials. The Chinese Communist Partys Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Saturday it has launched a probe into Wangs conduct for serious violations of discipline and law, a euphemism used in China for suspected corruption, abuse of power, or related offences. Wang Xiangxi, party secretary and minister of Emergency Management, is suspected of serious violations of Party discipline and law, and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, the watchdog said. Advertisement Advertisement Wang, 63, took charge in July 2022 following a stint as chairman of state-owned power generator National Energy Investment Corp. The latest probe is part of a broader pattern of disciplinary action against senior officials in China, including top figures close to president Xi himself. Chinese president Xi Jinping attends the 7th formal meeting of the Franco-Chinese Business Council in Beijing (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Last week, Chinas defence ministry announced it was investigating the countrys top general Zhang Youxia, who is second in line only to Mr Xi himself in terms of the militarys leadership. General Liu Zhenli, head of the Peoples Liberation Army joint staff department, was also subject to investigation in the same probe. Advertisement Advertisement Official Chinese sites do not publicly detail the specific charges against the officials. But in a front page editorial last week, the PLA claimed the probe was a major achievement, adding that the two generals had "seriously undermined and violated" the Chairman Responsibility System, which vested Xi with "supreme military decision-making. Some experts have drawn a link between these latest purges and Beijings ambition to take control of Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Xi has threatened to reunite with the mainland by force, if necessary. Analysts say the officials involved may have questioned or criticised Xis goal of being ready for a military invasion of Taiwan by 2027. And while their removal will have an impact on the functionality of the Chinese armed forces in the short term, they are likely to be replaced by officials loyal to Xi and willing to accept his vision for Taiwan. Advertisement Advertisement A record 115 officials were placed under investigation in China last year, with more than 65 receiving discipline penalties as scrutiny expanded to former leaders of universities and state-owned enterprises. Sun Yuning, a top official who was part of the customs department, was expelled from the Communist Party and sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery tied to his roles. While the numbers reflect systematic anti-corruption activity across Chinas bureaucracy, experts say it also puts even more power in Xis hands, making the already secretive structure of command within Chinas military even more opaque. The purges within the countrys top leadership have also raised questions among critics about internal cohesion within the Communist Party and the direction of the countrys future military leadership. ELKHART For the past two decades, Memorial Medflight, part of Beacon Health, has provided critical care air medical transport to or from any hospital or emergency room. On Friday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym came to Hangar 30 at the Elkhart Municipal Airport to celebrate not only the mission of Memorial Medflight, but also the men and women who play a vital role in its success, including nurses, paramedics, pilots and ground crew. As part of his presentation, Yakym read his entry into the Congressional Record, the official accounting publication of the U.S. House of Representatives, documenting the occasion of the milestone anniversary. When I think about what I hear from my constituents that I serve, the 755,000 people in this district, they often talk about access to health care, particularly in rural Indiana, Yakym said in his address to the assembled audience. The services you provide is such a huge issue for access to rural healthcare, so let me start by saying thank you. Advertisement Advertisement Since the very beginning of Congress, weve been keeping records in the House of Representatives, and oftentimes, when historians go to do research on a particular time in American history, they will first turn to the Congressional Record to see what was important at that time. In honor of your 20th anniversary, I have made an entry into the Congressional Record to forever memorialize this moment for you all. And so it says: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the important milestone for our region. On Jan. 1, 2026, Memorial Medflight celebrated its 20th anniversary of service to the people of northern Indiana and southwest Michigan. For two decades, Memorial Medflight has provided lifesaving medical air support to our communities, often responding in the most critical moments when every second matters. Their pilots, flight nurses, paramedics and support teams have demonstrated extraordinary skill, professionalism and courage, day and night, and in all weather conditions Thousands of families across our region have been touched by the fast, expert care this team delivers. Their work has strengthened our emergency response system, expanded access to an advanced medical care and saved countless lives. Today we honor Memorial Medflights dedication, their unwavering commitment to the people they serve and the strong partnerships they have built with hospitals, first responders and local communities. We celebrate 20 years of excellence, and we express our deepest gratitude for the lives they have protected, and hope that they will continue to protect and provide for. Congratulations to Memorial Medflight on this remarkable anniversary, and thank you for your continued service. Advertisement Advertisement On behalf of the 755,000 residents of Indianas 2nd District, thank you for the work that you all do every day, Yakym concluded. Prior to Yakyms address, Ben McFarland, director of transport for Beacon Health System, introduced the men and women who make up the Medflight team, including some who have served since its inception in 2006. The assembled audience also included members who were no longer actively service with Memorial Medflight, but who have played important roles throughout its 20-year history. The group included the flight nurses, paramedics, pilots and ground crew that make the work possible. We are proud of the past 20 years, and were committed to serve our patients in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan with the same dedication and excellent care for many years, McFarland said. At the end of the ceremony, McFarland presented specially made Memorial Medflight challenge coins to the team members, as well as to Yakym. Advertisement Advertisement These coins are a big thing to represent the milestone that you have accomplished, McFarland said. Stacey Laubach has been with Memorial Medflight since its inception in 2026, serving as a flight nurse. We are constantly in touch with our medical director, she said. We are looking at what the best practices are and that gives us our standards of care. Weve seen technology come to the forefront with charting. Weve seen lots of changes in operations with the aircraft and how safety is at the very forefront of that. When I was just starting out as a nurse, I always wanted to reach for something bigger. I wanted to do something more, and I wanted to be in a discipline that would challenge me to the core, that would push my education and offer me the experiences with the different patient populations that we serve. I still love coming to work! These people go out and take care of people, oftentimes in their time of deep and desperate need, Yakym said. To have people like this who are willing to put their lives on the line for the people that I serve, its really an honor just to be here today, to celebrate their 20th anniversary. MILITARY AFFAIRS: A hero shows up when there is no applause, and the work is heavy, unseen, and costly, a description embodied by IDF soldiers whose job is to search, identify, and return the dead. The term hero is used liberally to describe a multitude of people, but what is a hero? A hero is someone who chooses responsibility when it would be easier to turn away. Someone who steps forward into fear, pain, or loss so that others dont have to carry it alone. Advertisement Advertisement A hero shows up when there is no applause when the work is heavy, unseen, and costly. Heroes act not because they are fearless, but because something matters more than their fear. Compassion, loyalty, love, faith, or duty pulls them forward. They honor life, and even in death, they refuse to let others be forgotten. This description truly embodies the IDF soldiers whose job is to search, identify, and return the dead. One of the units tasked with this sacred work is YASAR the Southern Command Scanning Unit whose members have quietly gone about their mission since the October 7 massacres. Yosef, a member of the unit, shared with me his own harrowing experiences. His team is tasked with entering enemy territory to locate and identify fallen soldiers a mission that demands not only physical courage but immense emotional strength. The weight of what he sees never leaves him, yet his commitment to bringing closure to grieving families pushes him forward. Devastation inside a home on Kibbutz Nir Oz from the October 7, 2023, massacre. (credit: ISAFRIR ABAYOV/FLASH90) Scenes of destruction, terror Soft-spoken, Yosef described the unimaginable task his unit faced on October 8, when they were sent to Kissufim military base to search for human remains: Advertisement Advertisement My units job was to check the womens quarters to make sure there were no human remains. It was terrible. There was blood everywhere. There were clear signs of rape and torture. In addition to the bullet holes and scenes of destruction and terror, there were photos of the women on the walls and cupboards photos of birthdays, celebrations, and certificates of appreciation from the army. As a father of girls, it was extremely difficult for me to see this and not be overwhelmed by my emotions. Yosef described the tasks his unit faced: identifying and packing bodies, cleaning army bases where the unspeakable horrors of October 7 had unfolded. He spoke of hessed shel emet (true kindness) the mitzvah of caring for the dead with no expectation of reward. It is this sacred obligation and the faces of families waiting for answers that compel him to continue, despite the heavy toll on his heart. His words hang heavy because they carry not just memory but grief, rage, and love all at once. Since that unimaginable day, YASAR has entered the worst battlefields imaginable to search for the fallen, identify them, and bring them home for burial in Israel. It is work that breaks the heart and leaves images that are impossible to unsee. Since the beginning of the war, often under fire, the unit members have located, identified, and retrieved more than 600 soldiers who died in service. Advertisement Advertisement In a historic mission this week, the YASAR unit, with Yosef present, was tasked with searching a graveyard in a cemetery in northern Gaza for the body of the final hostage, Ran Gvili. Yosef told me that this macabre job required the unearthing of 250 bodies, with the assistance of embedded forensic dental specialists, until they located and positively identified the body of the last hostage held in Gaza. It took them a week to find Rans body. His was the 250th body they found. (In Hebrew 250 is the numerical value of Rans name.) He shared with me the wave of emotion after Rans remains were positively identified. Soldiers were openly weeping. He told me of how the weeping changed to song, and to utter relief and joy that this grim chapter has finally been brought to a close. After an agonizing wait of over two years, this historic mission tragically ended a nations anguish, as Israelis waited and prayed for the return of their last remaining hostage. As former prime minister Naftali Bennett so powerfully expressed: Advertisement Advertisement Now that they have completed their holy work, we need to bow our heads and thank them. They have performed an act of true hessed for the families of the fallen and indeed for the entire nation of Israel. Thank you for bringing our fallen sons and daughters home. These soldiers do not ask to be seen, but we must see them. We must remember that amid destruction, there are those who choose humanity, honor, and mercy, and who carry our fallen home with trembling hands and steadfast hearts. Jan 31 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukraine was waiting for more information from the United States about further peace talks and expected new meetings to take place next week. Zelenskiy's statement during his nightly video address appeared to suggest that a meeting scheduled for Sunday in the United Arab Emirates between representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the United States would not take place. The three sides held a round of talks a week ago. "We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings," Zelenskiy said. Advertisement Advertisement "Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats. It is important that there be results and that the meetings take place. We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them." U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff led a team of representatives in talks in Florida on Saturday with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev and described the discussions as "productive and constructive." The U.S. has been spearheading diplomatic efforts to end the war, launched nearly four years ago by the Kremlin's invasion of its smaller neighbour. Witkoff has singled out the question of territory as the key to making progress in the negotiations, with Kyiv rejecting Moscow's demand that it cede all of the Donbas region, including areas its army has not captured. Advertisement Advertisement Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said this week that land was not the sole key issue under discussion but did not identify other unresolved issues. (Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; editing by Diane Craft, Rod Nickel) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to the Kremlin's persistent invitations to visit Moscow for talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Source: Zelenskyy during a conversation with journalists Quote: "It is absolutely impossible for me to meet with Putin in Moscow. That would be the same as meeting with Putin in Kyiv. I can just as well invite him to Kyiv let him come. I am publicly inviting him, if he dares, of course." Advertisement Advertisement Details: Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine wants to reach a constructive agreement on a real end to the war and hold a productive meeting, where existing issues can be discussed and resolved. "But if someone does not want to meet and, for some reason, cannot say so directly, then such invitations to Moscow appear. It is clear what is happening," the president said. At the same time, Zelenskyy emphasised that any real format for a meeting between the leaders is acceptable to the Ukrainian side. "I do not know what result it will bring, but it will certainly produce more than what is happening today," he said. "I have always said that I am ready for any format aimed at ending the war that actually works. But in Moscow or in Belarus, this is simply impossible and it is absolutely clear why: because one of these countries is the aggressor that started and is waging the war against us, killing us, while the other country is its partner in these actions," the president concluded. Background: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Zelenskyy is ready to meet with Putin in person to resolve two key issues within the framework of peace talks: territories and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. After that, Kremlin propaganda media reported Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov as saying that if Zelenskyy wanted to meet with Putin, he could come to Moscow. Later, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the repeated invitation for Zelenskyy to negotiate with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, criticised the Ukrainian president for not responding to it. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon! The U.S. Coast Guard has announced that the search for survivors on a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts with seven aboard has been suspended The United States on Friday imposed fresh sanctions on Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and several other officials, citing Tehran's violent response to recent anti-government protests. Announcing the measures, the US Treasury Department said Momeni "oversees the murderous Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF), a key entity responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protesters." The sanctions package also targets multiple senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with Iranian investor Babak Morteza Zanjani, who is accused of having "embezzled billions in funds from the Iranian people." In a first-of-its-kind move, Treasury also imposed restrictions on digital currency exchanges connected to Zanjani "that have processed large volumes of funds associated with IRGC-linked counterparties." Despite already maintaining extensive sanctions on Tehran, the United States said it "supports the Iranian people in their protests against the corrupt and repressive regime in Tehran," the agency added. Under US sanctions rules, any assets held within the United States by designated individuals or entities are frozen. The measures also bar American companies and citizens from conducting business with those listed, with violations carrying the risk of further penalties. The US action comes as European Union foreign ministers agreed to designate Iran's IRGC as a terrorist organisation, placing the powerful force in the same category as Islamic State and al Qaeda, The Times of Israel reported. Reacting to the decision, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X, "Repression cannot go unanswered." She added, "Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar described the move as "historic," while an Israeli official said the designation would make it easier to prosecute IRGC members. Momentum for the decision grew following a violent crackdown on nationwide anti-regime protests earlier this month that reportedly killed thousands, according to The Times of Israel. Against this backdrop, Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said, "It's important that we send this signal that the bloodshed that we've seen, the bestiality of the violence that's been used against protesters, cannot be tolerated." France and Italy, previously reluctant, backed the move this week, while Israel welcomed what it called the culmination of years of diplomatic effort. Highlighting Israel's role, Sa'ar wrote on X, "For years Israel has worked toward this outcome, and in recent weeks with even greater intensity," calling the IRGC "the number one force behind the spread of terror and the destabilisation of the region" and saying the decision would curb such activity in Europe while sending "an important message to the men and women of the Iranian people who are fighting for their freedom." Iran reacted sharply to the designation, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi calling it a "major strategic mistake" that would fuel conflict. "Several countries are presently attempting to avert the eruption of all-out war in our region. Europe is instead busy fanning the flames," Araghchi said in a post on X. "After pursuing 'snapback' at the behest of the US, it is now making another major strategic mistake by designating our National Military as a supposed 'terrorist organization,'" he added. From Israel's perspective, the designation carries concrete legal implications. An Israeli official said the move would give the EU stronger tools to act against Iran, noting that authorities would now only need to prove affiliation with the IRGC rather than involvement in a specific terror plot. Assets could also be frozen more easily. Expanding on operational impacts, the official said, "The linkage between law-enforcement bodies within Europe sharing information and cooperating through Europol will be easier," adding that criminal networks would think twice about assisting the IRGC once they realise European agencies are closely watching. Alongside the IRGC listing, the EU also imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and six entities over serious human rights violations in Iran, including senior officials and IRGC commanders. Additional measures targeted organisations linked to censorship and online disinformation, as well as entities associated with Iran's drone and missile programmes, with the bloc extending restrictions on exports of components used in UAV and missile production, The Times of Israel reported. (ANI) Bystander video shows U.S. Border Patrol agents kneeing a man several times in the face as others hold him down in Minneapolis on Jan. 9. Violence on behalf of the Trump administrations immigration crackdown is on the rise. Get the day's news. Sign up for our Daily Headlines newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning at 7 a.m. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced that the family of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan would be provided a copy of his medical report after the party staged a day-long sit-in outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan, according to Dawn. Speaking to reporters outside the apex court on Friday, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja stated, "As you know, we have been outside the SC building all day." He was joined by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas. Raja said PTI lawmakers also participated in the sit-in and noted that a similar protest had been staged outside Adiala jail on Thursday night, lasting until 3 am on Friday. Stressing the party's concerns, he remarked, "There is nothing more important for us than Imran Khan Sahib's health," adding that reports circulating about the former premier's condition were "unsatisfactory". He alleged that Imran had been taken to hospital without the family being informed. "And then lies are told. For five days, they say that no such incident has happened," Raja told the media. The protest followed confirmation by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar that Imran had undergone treatment for an eye ailment last week at Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was taken for a "20-minute" medical procedure on the night of January 24, Dawn reported. Raja said he remained in contact throughout the day with the chief justice, court staff and the attorney general. However, he described the outcome as "unsatisfactory". He explained that Imran's medical records -- including details of the examination at Pims and earlier jail diagnostics -- would be handed over to Imran in a sealed envelope, with a copy provided to his sisters. "When this report comes in front of us, then the family will decide whether the medical treatment being provided is satisfactory or not," he said, adding that future treatment decisions would rest with the family. Calling Imran's detention wrongful, Raja said the party would continue protests to secure visitation rights. He also announced consultations with Senate opposition leader Abbas and National Assembly opposition leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai to determine the next steps. "So with their consultation, the PTI's political party will decide the future course of action. We do not accept this current situation. Receiving the medical report is necessary," Raja said. However, no concrete plan emerged after PTI's political committee met leaders of the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP). In a video statement issued later, Achakzai described the health reports as a "diversion" from the nationwide protest scheduled for February 8, saying, "I can say for certain that Imran Khan's health is not as bad as it is being portrayed. Propaganda is being carried out," while urging supporters not to back away from the planned mobilisation, Dawn noted. Earlier in the day, PTI workers and lawmakers camped outside the apex court, with Afridi arriving in the morning after leading a sit-in outside Adiala jail through the night. Addressing reporters, Afridi said, "The whole nation is concerned about the health of the country's most popular leader, Imran Khan," and added that efforts were underway to arrange a meeting between Imran and his personal physicians. Afridi also claimed that Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi's cases had not been listed for a year, asserting, "Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi's cases have not been listed for one year. If the cases are listed today and we are provided justice, Khan Sahib and Bushra Bibi, along with other leaders, will be released from prison within half an hour." After reaching the Supreme Court, Raja and party lawmaker Sardar Latif Khosa met the registrar and the attorney general, seeking access to Imran's medical report. Khosa later told the media that he had reminded officials of their constitutional obligations, stating, "He (CJP) has taken an oath that implementation of the Constitution and basic rights [of people] is his basic responsibility. He is the protector of basic rights of Pakistanis." Khosa also disputed the duration of the eye procedure, claiming it lasted "2.5 hours", and warned that Imran's health was PTI's "red line". ". Separately, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and party leader Babar Awan addressed reporters at KP House, saying their sole focus was Imran's health. Referring to his brief hospitalisation, Gohar said, "Secrecy is cancer to democracy. His (Imran Khan's) family is worried due to his health," and demanded that doctors from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital be allowed to examine him. Awan warned that if Imran's medical report was not made public, "it will have grave consequences", adding that party workers and supporters remained deeply anxious over the former premier's condition, Dawn reported. (ANI) UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, on Saturday arrived in New Delhi for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Randhir Jaiswal, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said that his visit aims to strengthen the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with a focus on mutual interests and cooperation. The meeting provides a platform to discuss regional and global issues, further strengthening bilateral ties. "A warm welcome to H.E. Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE, on his arrival at Delhi, for India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting today. His visit will further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE," he posted on X. Earlier, Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, arrived in New Delhi on Friday for the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' meeting. His visit aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between Qatar and India, with a focus on shared interests and cooperation. In a post on X, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said, "Warm welcome to H.E. Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, on his arrival in New Delhi to attend the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' meeting. His visit will further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries." The meeting comes amid growing diplomatic efforts to strengthen India-Arab relations, with a focus on economic, energy, and security partnerships. The second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting kicks off today in New Delhi, co-chaired by India and the UAE. This meeting, happening after a decade, brings together 22 Arab nations to boost ties. Key focus areas include economy, energy, education, and culture. India-Arab trade is robust, totalling $240 billion, with hydrocarbons accounting for $107 billion. The Arab League is crucial for India's energy security, accounting for 95% of LPG, 60% of LNG, and 47% of crude oil imports. The partnership spans energy, finance, healthcare, IT, and infrastructure, with 9 million Indians living in Arab nations. The Foreign Ministers' meeting is taking place after a 10-year hiatus. The first meeting was held in 2016 in Bahrain. At the first FMM, the Ministers identified five priority verticals of cooperation: economy, energy, education, media and culture and proposed a set of activities across these verticals. The 2nd India-Arab FMM is expected to build on the existing cooperation, expanding and deepening the partnership. The India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002 when India and the League of Arab States (LAS) signed an MoU institutionalising the process of dialogue. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed to establish the Arab-India Cooperation Forum during the visit of the then Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa to India in December 2008, and was subsequently revised in 2013 to reflect a revised structural organisation. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan Arab body with 22 member States. This is the first India-Arab FMM to be hosted by India in New Delhi and will see participation by all 22 Arab countries by Foreign Ministers, other Ministers, Ministers of State and other Senior Officials and the Arab League. (ANI) New Delhi: Bhumi Pednekars Daldal premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, January 30, and audiences have already delivered their verdict. The crime-thriller web series, directed by Amrit Raj Gupta, is now streaming on the platform. Starring Bhumi Pednekar, Samara Tijori, Aditya Rawal, Geeta Agarwal, and Sandesh Kulkarni, the series has received largely positive responses from viewers. Heres how netizens have reacted to the show. Daldal X Review Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Netizens are showering praise on Bhumi Pednekars comeback performance, saying the series has managed to keep them hooked. One user wrote, How does someone stay this captivating on screen? #SamaraTijori completely nails her role in #Daldal a star in the making for sure. #Daldal, streaming on #AmazonPrimeVideo, is a dark, gritty and psychological crime thriller set in Mumbais underbelly. As a social drama, the series is effective, addressing issues like child abuse, drug abuse, patriarchy, and trauma with seriousness and intent. However, as an pic.twitter.com/wpP3qmmh3p Neeti Roy (@neetiroy) January 29, 2026 Another said, One female actor who has always chosen the less-travelled path and yet built a glowing reputation for herself is #BhumiPednekar. A powerful performer whose body of work is immensely diverse. #Daldal is another feather in her overflowing cap. Amazing acting chops. A third user added, #BhumiPednekar delivers a sincere performance, portraying a complex grey character with internal conflicts, while #SamaraTijori and #AdityaRawal leave a strong impression, particularly in vulnerable moments. Overall, Daldal is engaging and layered but uneven worth a watch if you enjoy psychology-driven thrillers, though it doesnt fully satisfy as a classic crime thriller. Another user wrote, Bhumi Pednekar is outstanding in #Daldal. The series is intense, well-written, and among her best performances. Do watch Daldal on #AmazonPrime. Such talents who stand firm for people even off-screen truly deserve appreciation. About Daldal The story revolves around ACP Rita Ferreira, played by Bhumi Pednekar. Rita is a strict and disciplined police officer for whom work is everything. She rarely smiles and carries hidden childhood trauma linked to her strict mothers upbringing. The plot takes a turn when the police commissioner promotes four women officers, including Rita, to the post of DCP. The promotion is based largely on appearance and public image, which soon complicates matters. As more murders occur, pressure mounts on the police force, and the investigation turns into a race against time to uncover the truth. Daldal is based on author Vish Dhamijas novel Bhendi Bazaar. When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rises to present her ninth consecutive budget on Sunday, February 1, farmers across India look ahead for a mix of assurances that range from subsidies, a guarantee on a profitable Minimum Support Price (MSP), expanding credit access, investing in modern technology and infrastructure, to providing climate-resilient support. She has repeatedly assured that Prime Minister Narendra Modi firmly believes to focus on four major castes Garib (poor), Mahilayen (women), Yuva (youth), and Annadata (farmer). India protects its farmers through a mix of budgetary support, targeted schemes, and institutional reforms. The agriculture budget has steadily increased over the past decade, and most farmers benefit from direct income transfers, crop insurance, access to credit, and subsidised inputs. Budgetary allocations to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) have risen from Rs. 21,933 crores in 201314 to Rs. 1.27 lakh crore in the Budget Estimates (BE) for 202526. Agricultural expenditure is also channelled through several ministries, which include irrigation, renewable energy, fertilisers, rural employment, and research. This demonstrates consistent fiscal commitment and highlights an evolving whole-of-government strategy. Allocation has more than doubled since 2018, underscoring the governments priority to strengthen farm incomes and resilience. However, agricultures share within the growing public expenditure framework is steadily declining. Well build up our ongoing demand for MSP. Meanwhile, fertiliser subsidy is going down, irrigation facilities need improvement; also, farmers are not being compensated for crop loss due to natural disasters like flood and drought, stated P. Krishnaprasad, a Left-leaning farmer leader associated with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). Add Zee News as a Preferred Source When pointed out that the PM Fasal Bima Yojana was launched specifically for this purpose, to provide affordable insurance against crop loss due to droughts, floods, and pests, he cited instances where the scheme is lacking in delivery. Insisting on a price guarantee, Krishnaprasad cited a recent incident in which growers were forced to sell onions for between 50 p. and Rs. 2, claiming he was buying the same product in Delhi for as much as Rs. 35-50 a kilo. The government should monitor and assure farmers a profit, rather than the middlemen benefitting, he urged. Incidentally, onion is not among the 22 crops covered under MSP. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) is demanding easier and wider market access for growers, rather than a guaranteed base price. The average input expense of, say, farmers in Odisha or West Bengal will not be the same as that in Punjab, for example. In case of uniform MSP, what may profit the former may not even meet the expenses of the latter, argued BKS General Secretary Mohini Mohan Mishra. Rather open market access so that they can have easy means to sell their produce, and have more options, he added. The farmers body affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also seeking a review of GST on pumps and pipes used in irrigation, support for organic farming, and controlled imports of pulses and oilseeds to ensure India's self-sufficiency in these products. Additionally, the BKS wants the government to encourage smallholding or landless farmers to diversify into animal- and bee-keeping or mushroom cultivation to sustain themselves. It has also sought budgetary allocation for agri education and research, rather than depending on global tie-ups. Despite the government supporting its farmers through MSP, affordable insurance cover, subsidies, and direct income transfers, small and marginal farmers owning less than 2 hectares, who comprise over 80 per cent of Indias farmers, face unique vulnerabilities. The way forward may lie in broader policy changes rather than dole-outs. Indias farmers now wait for Sundays budget pledges. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said on Saturday that the state government, under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has urged the Central government to transfer the investigation of the death of a NEET aspirant at a Patna hostel on January 11 to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The BJP leader stressed that the matter should be investigated with complete transparency. "Honorable Chief Minister of Bihar Shri @NitishKumar ji has urged the Government of India to hand over the investigation of the NEET student's murder case in Patna (Case No.- 14/26) to the CBI. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source "The incident must be thoroughly uncovered in a transparent and just manner". As per the police, a NEET aspirant died during treatment in Patna. There were reports of an alleged sexual assault that led to her death. However, the police said that the doctors have not confirmed sexual or penetrative assault in the case. Meanwhile, Patna Police on Sunday suspended two police officers in the death of a NEET aspirant in a Patna Hostel. The suspended officers are the station house officer of Chitragupta Nagar police station, Roshni Kumari, and the additional station house officer of Kadamkuan police station, Hemant Jha. In a press statement Patna Police said the suspension is a result of delayed action and failure to collect intel in a timely manner. Senior officers of the Patna Police suspended both the officers on these mentioned grounds. "During the examination conducted by the FSL, traces of human sperm were found on an undergarment allegedly worn by the deceased at the time of the incident. A DNA profile is being prepared from this sample," the press release read earlier. The sample will be used to match the DNA of the accused, who has been arrested, as well as the suspects identified by the Special Investigation Team to uncover further details. "This DNA profile will be matched with the DNA of the accused who has been arrested, as well as with the DNA of other suspected individuals identified by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), as part of the ongoing investigation," the police said in a press statement. The Bihar Police have set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter. In January, parents gathered outside the Patna hostel, claiming that hostel authorities were not cooperating and that students were unable to continue their studies after the incident. Delhi-NCR weather alert: Parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) on Saturday morning witnessed a layer of thick smog as the air quality in the national capital remained in the 'poor category', with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 271 around 7 am, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Also Check- IMD weather update: 3 western disturbances to bring rain and snow to north India; check forecast Delhi AQI Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Several monitoring stations across the city reported AQI levels in the 'poor' to 'very poor' range. Check AQI of different areas here: Ashok Vihar stood at 309. Bawana reported an AQI of 271, Burari 246, and Chandni Chowk 285. Dwarka Sector 8 registered 329, and ITO 279. While Mundka and Wazirpur recorded 331 each. Okhla Phase-2 logged an AQI of 323, Rohini 312, Punjabi Bagh 318, and RK Puram 322. Notably, lower readings were recorded in Narela (232) and Alipur (227). According to the AQI classification, readings between 0 and 50 are 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'. Watch visuals here Visuals around the Mahipalpur area and the AQI in the area recorded at '233' in the 'poor' category, according to CPCB. #WATCH | Delhi: A layer of smog covers parts of Delhi-NCR. Visuals around Mahipalpur area. AQI in the area recorded at '233' in 'poor' category, as claimed by CPCB. pic.twitter.com/Ahz6EH4TMZ ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 Visuals around Ghaziabad as the AQI in the area recorded at '328' in 'very poor' category, according to the CPCB data. #WATCH | Uttar Pradesh | A layer of smog covered parts of NCR this morning. Visuals around Ghaziabad earlier this morning. AQI in the area recorded at '328' in 'very poor' category, as claimed by CPCB. pic.twitter.com/tsUzGEjsFg ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026 North and central India flight operations Several airports across north and central India witnessed varying fog conditions, as very dense to shallow fog was reported between 6 am and 6:30 am IST, ANI reported, citing the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Fog in parts of North India The data from the weather agency showed very dense fog, with visibility dropping below 50 metres, at multiple locations. Ambala in Haryana and Agra, Bareilly, Saifai, and Hindon in Uttar Pradesh, along with Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, reported 'zero' visibility, categorising them under very dense fog conditions. In the dense fog category, where visibility ranged from 50 metres to 200 metres, Varanasi and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh recorded 50 metres, while Prayagraj reported 100 metres. Moderate fog was observed at Jorhat in Assam, with visibility at 200 metres, and at Bagdogra in West Bengal, with visibility at 400 metres. Adampur in Punjab recorded visibility of 500 metres; Bhatinda reported 600 metres; and Halwara in Punjab and Gaya in Bihar registered 800 metres each. (with ANI inputs) A 30-year-old man from Nalasar village in Banaskantha is fighting for his life at the Palanpur Civil Trauma Centre. He is suffering from a suspected rabies infection, which has left the local community in panic. The patient, a father of three who works as a labourer, was bitten by a rabid dog about three months ago. He did not receive the important post-exposure vaccination at that time. Violent outbreak causes local panic The situation escalated this week when the man showed severe neurological symptoms linked to the "furious" form of rabies. Terrified villagers reported that the man started barking, ran on all fours, and acted with extreme aggression. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Local reports say that the man attacked his wife during a violent episode at their home. Family members had to restrain him with ropes before taking him to the hospital in Palanpur around 3:00 AM on January 30, 2026. Forest department called for hospital restraint The chaos continued at the medical facility. Hospital staff said the patient broke free from his restraints, bit a metal bed frame, and shouted at other patients. Due to his extreme aggression, the Palanpur Civil Hospital authorities notified the District Collector, the Superintendent of Police, and the Forest Department. Experts from the Forest Department used specialised nets to safely restrain the man so medical staff could provide sedatives and IV fluids. "He was brought in a highly aggressive state. We had to involve multiple agencies, including the Forest Department, to ensure the safety of our staff and other patients," said Dr. Sunil Joshi of Palanpur Civil Hospital. "Blood tests and treatment are ongoing, but the situation remains critical." Medical warning: The fatal window Medical experts stress that rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, such as hydrophobia (fear of water), aerophobia (fear of drafts), and extreme irritability. Incubation Period: Rabies can stay dormant for weeks or even months. In this case, symptoms appeared 90 days after the initial bite. Transmission: The virus infects the central nervous system through saliva from a bite or scratch. Prevention: Doctors urge the public to seek immediate medical help for any animal bite. The standard PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) regimen requires shots on days 0, 3, 7, and 14/28. As of Sunday, the patient is still in isolation under heavy sedation. Health officials are using this tragic case to raise awareness about the urgent need for immediate vaccination after stray dog encounters. ALSO READ | Operation Herof 2.0: Baloch rebels seize banks and overrun police stations in massive escalation | SHOCKING VIDEO Sunetra Pawar oath ceremony highlights: Sunetra Pawar took oath as Maharashtras Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday. With this swearing-in, she become the first woman to hold the position in the state and succeed her husband, the late Ajit Pawar. Meanwhile, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has clarified that he was not consulted on Sunetra Pawars elevation as Deputy CM. The development comes just days after Ajit Pawars tragic death in a plane crash. Earlier on Saturday, leaders of the NCP (SP) gathered at Sharad Pawars residence in Baramati to chalk out the partys future strategy, according to ANI. The meeting followed Sharad Pawars dismissal of speculation surrounding a possible merger between the two NCP factions after his nephews demise. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Reports had suggested that merger talks involved multiple meetings between senior leaders, including Jayant Patil and Supriya Sule, with a tentative roadmap prepared for a unified party. Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar who recently passed away in a tragic plane crash in Baramati, is in the spotlight as Maharashtra politics is heating up. She is reportedly set to take on the responsibilities as the NCP legislature party leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and succeed her husband. Sunetra Pawar is affectionately called 'Vahini' and according to IANS, when she takes over the position and takes the oath on Saturday, will become the first woman deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. Also Read- Sunetra Pawar likely to script history: Maharashtra set to welcome its first woman deputy CM; timing and venue revealed Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Sunetra Pawar's political background Sunetra Pawar was elected as a Rajya Sabha member unopposed on June 18, 2024. Notably, she is not a member of either state assembly or council. According to an IANS report, Sunetra Pawar is set to be elected from the Baramati assembly seat in the by-election. This comes as Ajit Pawar was elected from there to the state assembly in November 2024. A passionate environmentalist, she has led extensive grassroots campaigns focusing on biodiversity conservation, protection of endangered species, water resource management, and drought mitigation. Sunetra Pawar has been engaged in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and rural empowerment. She emerged as a driving force behind several initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable progress in India. In 2010, Sunetra Pawar founded a non-governmental organisation dedicated to raising environmental awareness and fostering eco-conscious communities. Under her leadership, the organisation pioneered the concept of the eco-village model in India. Sunetra Pawar also plays a pivotal role in the field of education as a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan. Her global engagement is equally noteworthy - she has been a Think Tank member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum (France) since 2011, representing India in international discussions on sustainability and social innovation, as per IANS. 'Will stand with NCP's decision,' CM Fadnavis Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday stated that the Mahayuti alliance will back the NCP's decision on the vacant Deputy CM post. According to ANI, Fadnavis told reporters, "The decision will be taken by the NCP. We will stand by whatever decision the NCP takes... We are standing by the family of Ajit Pawar and the NCP." NCP high-level meeting All of the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) representatives in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will gather at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday at 2 pm. (with agencies' inputs) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated on Saturday that the Middle East exemplifies the ongoing upheaval in the global order. Speaking at the opening of the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Jaishankar noted that these regional developments directly affect India as a neighboring power. He welcomed delegates, emphasising the transformative global shifts driven by politics, economics, technology, and demographics. "Nowhere is this more evident than in West Asia and the Middle East, where the landscape has dramatically shifted over the past year," he said. "This impacts us all, especially India as a proximate neighbor, and holds significant implications for our ties with Arab nations." Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Jaishankar highlighted the Middle East's pivotal role in world affairs, including the Gaza crisis. Over recent years, multiple high-stakes events in the region have rippled globally, he observed. The Gaza situation has drawn intense international focus, from the October 2025 Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit, attended by many present, to UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in November 2025. "Advancing a comprehensive peace plan for Gaza is now a shared global priority, with nations issuing individual and collective policy commitments," he added. He also addressed other global crises, Sudan's devastating conflict, Yemen's threats to maritime security, where India has troops, Lebanon's instability with Indian forces in UNIFIL, Libya's need for national dialogue, and Syria's trajectory, all critical for regional stability. Terrorism emerged as a mutual threat linking the Middle East and India. "Cross-border terrorism is unacceptable, as it undermines international norms," Jaishankar asserted. "Targeted societies have the right to self-defense, and we must bolster global cooperation against this scourge. Zero tolerance for terrorism should be a universal principle." India's longstanding ties with League of Arab States (LAS) nations have evolved into strategic partnerships, rooted in historical exchanges of goods, people, and ideas, now encompassing energy, trade, expatriate communities (India's largest abroad), technology, connectivity, food, and health security. The meeting would shape bilateral relations too, Jaishankar said, with the India-Arab Cooperation Forum providing a practical platform. The 2026-28 agenda spans energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, HRD, culture, and education, plus emerging areas like digital tech, space, startups, and innovation. Additional focuses include counter-terrorism, parliamentary exchanges, and the newly launched India-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture. As India builds tech-driven, people-centric capacities, sharing best practices would benefit all, he suggested. Jaishankar anticipated productive, outcome-focused discussions before inviting co-chair Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marad of the League of Arab States for remarks. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Arab foreign ministers' delegation, the league Secretary General, and heads of delegations attending the meeting, per the PMO. (with ANI inputs) Russia-India negotiations for licensed production of the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter, aimed at modernising the Indian Air Force squadrons, are now in an advanced "deep technical stage," United Aircraft Corporation CEO Vadim Badekha revealed. Talks center on manufacturing at existing Su-30 facilities in India, maximizing local components and industry involvement for long-term strategic ties. Russia's United Aircraft Corporation CEO Vadim Badekha announced that technical negotiations for a landmark Su-57 joint production contract have reached an advanced stage, as shared with reporters on the sidelines of the Wings India air show at Hyderabad's Begumpet airport, earlier this week, according to a report by the Economic Times. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Such contracts, given our experience, determine the trajectory of our cooperation for several decades to come, he added, while emphasizing that such deals shape decades of cooperation, coinciding with recent SJ-100 airliner production pact and Il-114 sales, signaling broader aerospace synergy. This builds on prior deep-tech talks for local Su-30 facility production using Indian systems. In July last year, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh confirmed ongoing Su-57 procurement negotiations, saying, These are sensitive talks, media will know at tangible stages like Acceptance of Necessity, RFP, or final contract. In November last year, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov highlighted intensive work on Su-57E license production to strengthen Indias fifth-gen fighter program, stressing Russias edge in deep tech transfer and localization for Make in India and self-reliance goals. The Ministry of Defence eyed the Su-57 since early 2025, particularly after the May 2025 'operation Sindoor', compounded by the Indian Air Force's critical fighter aircraft shortage. The Indian Air Force currently operates around 30 squadrons versus the sanctioned 42 needed for two-front threats from China and Pakistan. While Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is set to hand over indigenous Tejas Mk1A fighters to the Indian Air Force soon, following successful missile firing trials on the Light Combat Aircraft, the delayed procurement has added to the fighter jet crunch in the IAF. The Peshawar High Court sought clarification from the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments regarding a military operation in Tirah Valley, reported Dawn. On Friday, the governments denied approving the operation, with the KP Advocate General stating that no approval was given to the military. The denial from both federal and provincial governments came before a bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprising Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Mohammad Faheem Wali at the hearing of a petition filed by Barrister Saud Javed Dawar, a member of the National Democratic Movement (NDM). The court has directed the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to provide relief to displaced people and summoned IDP representatives on Feb 12. The petitioner, Barrister Saud Javed Dawar, claims that the operation is unconstitutional because it lacks provincial assembly approval under Article 232. Barrister Dawar who appeared along with his counsel Mohammad Yaseen Orakzai sought from the court multiple relief, including declaration that any 'order and action' of launching Tirah military operation was "unconstitutional, unlawful and violative of fundamental rights," reported Dawn. The Peshawar High Court is examining the case, focusing on constitutional provisions (Articles 232 and 245) and relief for displaced persons. The federal government cites Article 245, which empowers it to deploy the armed forces for internal security. The court will review the case, focusing on constitutional provisions and relief for displaced persons, reported Dawn. A single-page reply from the interior secretary was also submitted to the court, stating that the deployment of the armed forces for internal security purposes was governed by Article 245, which empowers the federal government to employ the armed forces in aid of civil power. "The Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control has not initiated, directed, commanded or operationally supervised any such operation, nor has it issued any formal order, directive or requisition in this regard," the interior secretary added. Without the passage of a resolution by the KP Assembly under Article 232 and Parliament's approval, the military operation couldn't be launched, the petitioner reminded the PHC. The ministry explained that the constitutional framework clearly distinguishes between emergency powers under Article 232 and the deployment of forces under Article 245, Dawn reported. "Deployment under Article 245 does not require a proclamation of emergency, a resolution of the provincial assembly or approval of either House of the Parliament. "Matters concerning the protection, rehabilitation, repatriation, financial assistance, health, education, shelter and welfare of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are primarily managed by the Provincial governments, NDMA, PDMA and other relevant civilian departments," the reply said. Over 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled Tirah, a remote region in northwestern Pakistan near Afghanistan, in a military operation against the Pakistan Taliban. The exodus began after mosque loudspeakers urged residents to leave by January 23 to avoid potential fighting, Al Jazeera reported. Military officials maintain they will continue targeted intelligence operations against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). They claim many TTP fighters have found refuge in Afghanistan since the Afghan Taliban's 2021 return to power, with hundreds crossing into Tirah and using residents as human shields during raids. (ANI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Manns sustained push to attract global investment is beginning to yield tangible results, with South Korea stepping forward to extend technological support to Punjabs agriculture sector. Following the Chief Ministers recent visit to South Korea, a delegation from the country held detailed discussions in Chandigarh on cooperation in smart farming, advanced agricultural machinery and biotechnology, reflecting strong interest in partnering Punjab as it moves towards technology-based solutions for small farmers. The Chief Minister emphasised that South Koreas vertical farming models and expertise in automation, seed technology and small agricultural machinery can play a decisive role in making farming a profitable and future-ready profession in the state, a positive outlook that was warmly welcomed by the visiting delegation. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Sharing a few snippets from the meeting on X, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann stated: Today in Chandigarh, a meeting was held with a delegation from the Republic of Korea. Comprehensive discussions were held on smart farming, agricultural machinery, and biotechnology. The primary goal is on enhancing mutual cooperation between Punjab and South Korea to make agriculture a profitable enterprise. The delegation also appreciated Punjabs rich heritage and the conducive working environment. Additionally, the Korean Delegation was warmly invited to participate in the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit 2026, scheduled to be held in Mohali from 13 to 15 March 2026. Interacting with a visiting delegation from South Korea, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann stated Punjab is predominantly an agrarian state and has played a historic role in making the country self-reliant in food production. He noted, however, that shrinking landholdings had made agriculture increasingly unviable for small and marginal farmers, adding, Because of fragmentation of land, farming is no longer a profitable venture for a large section of our farmers. Emphasising the need for technological intervention, the Chief Minister said, Punjab is keen to attract investment from South Korea in the small agriculture machinery sector, as South Korea has vast experience and proven expertise in this field. He pointed out that vertical farming and efficient mechanisation had emerged in South Korea precisely because of small landholdings, making its experience highly relevant for Punjab. Drawing a historical parallel, the Chief Minister said, Both India and South Korea attained independence around the same time, and poverty was the foremost challenge before both countries. He added that Punjab overcame this challenge by becoming a food-surplus state with the support of Punjab Agricultural University, stating, Today, Punjab is one of the biggest contributors of food grains to the central pool. Highlighting Punjabs eagerness to adopt global best practices, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, South Korea has already demonstrated its strength and innovation in the agriculture business, and Punjab wants to benefit from these technological advancements. Recalling their visit to Pang-yo Techno Valley, often referred to as the Silicon Valley, he said, We are keen on collaboration in automation of agri farm machinery, adoption of smart apparatus, biotechnology and seed technology, smart combine harvesters, transplanters, seeds and allied sectors. Batting strongly for bilateral cooperation, the Chief Minister said, It is a matter of great honour for Punjab to host a delegation from such a vibrant and technologically advanced country. He extended a formal invitation to the South Korean delegation to participate in the Progressive Punjab Investment Summit scheduled to be held in Mohali from March 13 to 15, saying, This summit will provide an ideal platform to take our cooperation forward in a structured and mutually beneficial manner. Meanwhile, responding positively to the vision outlined by the Chief Minister, the visiting South Korean delegation expressed keen interest in collaborating with Punjab, signalling the possibility of concrete partnerships in the near future. Focused outreach to bring cutting-edge agri and industrial technology to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann visited South Korea on December 8 and 9, 2025, as part of a targeted effort to position Punjab as a serious, forward-looking destination for global investment. During the visit, the Chief Minister held structured engagements with industry leaders and technology firms, centring discussions on collaboration in agriculture, advanced manufacturing and technology-driven solutions. The emphasis was firmly on outcomes, with a clear focus on leveraging South Koreas strengths in smart farming, automation and agri-technology to boost farm productivity, improve profitability for small farmers and drive sustainable economic growth in Punjab. The Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) has been rocked by two separate, chilling cases of domestic violence in which stepfathers are accused of murdering their young stepsons. These incidents, reported in Delhi's Shastri Park and Haryana's Faridabad, have left local communities in a deep shock due to the extreme brutality involved. In Northeast Delhi's Shastri Park area, a 12-year-old seventh-grade student named Altamash was discovered dead in a forested area. His stepfather is accused of luring the boy away from school before brutally attacking him with a sharp weapon. According to police sources, the victim suffered fatal injuries, including having his eyes gouged out and a fractured hand. The victims mother said the suspect had repeatedly threatened to kill her children, but she initially dismissed the threats as empty words. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source "He had always had a problem with my children," she said. "He brought my son from school and killed him. He even informed me after the act via a video call." The victims brother, Aman, learned of the crime after the suspect allegedly shared a photograph of the body at around 3:00 am. The body has been sent to the Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examination, while the suspect remains at large. Delhi Police have deployed forensic teams and are questioning several associates in an effort to locate the absconding accused. Similarly, in Haryana, police in Faridabad's Sector 58 have detained a man for the brutal murder of his two-year-old stepson on January 25. The toddler victim was one of the three children from his mother's first marriage. Investigators said the stepfather had a documented pattern of hostility toward the child and frequently assaulted him over trivial matters. On the day of the incident, the toddler was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness. Despite being rushed to the hospital by family members, he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police confirmed that the childs body showed multiple injuries indicative of a prolonged and violent assault. A murder case has been filed, and the accused is being interrogated to ascertain the full motive. Both incidents have caused widespread outrage in their respective neighborhoods, with residents calling for the harshest possible legal action against the perpetrators. India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday dismissed the email referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Epstein Files regarding PM Modis 2017 Israel visit as mere "allusions." The MEA branded the Epstein Files email's reference to PM Modi's 2017 Israel visit as "trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal," deserving "utmost contempt." "We have seen reports of an email from the so-called Epstein files referencing the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel. Beyond the fact of the PMs official July 2017 trip, the rest are trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, deserving utmost contempt," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Our statement to clarify certain reports https://t.co/WvcGHeA01D pic.twitter.com/thmZFcNWsM Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 31, 2026 Congress earlier sought to highlight PM Modi's name in a purported Epstein Files email from the estate documents. "That India's PM could be linked to such a disgraced figure raises serious questions on judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety. The Prime Minister's direct, unexplained association with Jeffrey Epstein, whose elite client list has caused havoc since the files' release, is now clear," alleged Congress leader Pawan Khera, quotes ANI. Opposition lashed out on X at PM Modi's mention in the Epstein Files email, calling it "Extremely shameful!!" Congress questioned his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. This is a matter of national dignity and international reputation, for which Prime Minister Modi must answer, added Congress. The US Justice Department released the final batch of Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday, with over 3 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images, completing disclosures under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Friday's document batch as the final release from the Trump administration under the law mandating public disclosure of Epstein files. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist and Nobel Laureate who has inspired millions of girls across the world. She became a global symbol of strength and resilience. She was born in Mingora in the Swat Valley of Pakistan and fought against the Taliban for the right to education. Her father ran a school and encouraged her learning. In 2012, the Taliban made an assassination attempt on her while she was returning from school for her activism, when she was just 15 years old. The attack shocked the world and brought global attention to her cause, but Malala survived and continued her fight for the right to education for girls. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source After her recovery, Malala moved to the United Kingdom. In 2014, she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of seventeen, recognised for resisting the suppression of children and for advocating the right of all children to education. In 2013, she co-authored I Am Malala, an international bestseller, with British journalist Christina Lamb. Quote of the Day: When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. Meaning of the Quote Malala Yousafzais quote means that when everyone remains silent in the face of injustice or fear, even a single person who dares to speak out becomes powerful and influential. That one voice can challenge wrongdoing, inspire others, and bring attention to important issues that might otherwise be ignored. It shows that change does not always begin with a crowd; sometimes it starts with one brave individual who refuses to stay silent. Malala later studied at the University of Oxford, where she completed a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. She founded the Malala Fund, through which she works to ensure that girls across the world can access safe, free, and quality education for 12 years. Malala Yousafzai continues to inspire millions, proving that even a single young voice can stand up against injustice and bring about meaningful change. Following a series of serious allegations levelled against Salman Khan by filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap, the Bombay Civil Court on Friday issued restraining orders barring Kashyap and several others from making or publishing defamatory statements against the actor and his family on any platform. The order reportedly came after Salman Khan filed a defamation suit against Abhinav Kashyap, Komal Mehru, Khushnoo Hazare, Ashok Kumar (John Doe), and multiple social media platforms. Court Observations on Freedom of Speech Add Zee News as a Preferred Source According to a report by Free Press Journal, the court observed that freedom of speech does not grant individuals the right to use abusive, threatening, or defamatory language against others. The court further noted that such statements, if left unchecked, could cause irreparable harm to a persons reputation. The report added that Salman Khan approached the court after what were described as scandalous, false, and grossly defamatory remarks made by Kashyap in several recent interviews. Salman Khan Seeks Damages and Ban on Interviews Representing Salman Khan, advocate Pradeep Gandhy requested the court to restrain the airing and publication of the said interviews. The suit also seeks damages amounting to Rs 9 crore for the alleged defamatory statements made against Khan and his family members. Abhinav Kashyaps Career Before the Controversy Before his association with Salman Khan, Abhinav Kashyap had already spent over a decade working in the film industry. He began his career as a writer, contributing to films such as Jung and Yuva. He later wrote dialogues for Manorama Six Feet Under and 13B. In 2010, Kashyap made his directorial debut with Dabangg. The film launched Sonakshi Sinha, revitalised the masala entertainer genre, and introduced Salman Khan as Chulbul Pandey, a character that went on to become a cultural phenomenon. Fallout After Dabanggs Success Despite the films massive success, Kashyap chose not to return as director for Dabangg 2. In an interview with SCREEN, the filmmaker spoke candidly about his experience of working with Salman Khan, making several controversial remarks. Salman is never involved. He is not even interested in acting, and he hasnt been since the last 25 years. He does a favour by turning up to work. He is more into the power of being a celebrity, but he is not interested in acting. He is a gunda (goon). I was not aware of this before Dabangg. Salman badtameez hai, ganda insaan hai (Salman is ill-mannered, he is a bad person), Kashyap said, adding a remark that later became part of the defamation suit. New Delhi: Actor Vijay Deverakonda is all set to impress audiences with two contrasting and powerful roles in his upcoming films Rana Baali and Rowdy Janardhana, both inspired by real individuals and lesser-known true incidents. Known for his compelling screen presence and memorable performances, Vijay Deverakonda has emerged as one of the most bankable pan-India stars in recent years. The actor will be seen exploring two completely different character arcs across these highly anticipated projects, reaffirming his versatility and commitment to meaningful cinema. Fiercest fellows Mad passionate storytellers https://t.co/sAaiIPHzS1 Vijay Deverakonda (@TheDeverakonda) January 29, 2026 Add Zee News as a Preferred Source In Rana Baali, Vijay reunites with acclaimed director Rahul Sankrityan, with whom he previously delivered the hit film Taxiwaala. The film is rooted in a real story and draws inspiration from an underreported incident, with Vijay portraying a layered and intense character shaped by real-life experiences. The project also marks his reunion with Rashmika Mandanna after their successful collaborations in Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade, bringing back one of Telugu cinemas most loved on-screen pairings. Rana Baali promises scale and grandeur. The film features music composed by the renowned duo AjayAtul, adding to its cinematic appeal. On the other hand, Rowdy Janardhana will see Vijay Deverakonda in a completely different narrative space under the direction of Ravi Kiran Kola. The film, also inspired by a real-life figure, explores another lesser-known incident and presents the actor in a strikingly distinct role, further showcasing his range as a performer. Both films are deeply rooted in real stories and focus on characters shaped by events that have largely remained under the radar. With strong storytelling at their core, the projects aim to shed light on powerful human experiences while delivering impactful cinema. Vijay Deverakonda recently took to social media to express his excitement about collaborating with two passionate filmmakers on these projects. He wrote, Fiercest fellows. Mad passionate storytellers, reaffirming his dedication to films driven by purpose and emotion. With Rana Baali and Rowdy Janardhana, Vijay Deverakonda is poised to deliver two compelling performances inspired by real-life narratives, setting the stage for an exciting phase in his career. More than 200 people have been killed after a landslide struck the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during the rainy season, with the death toll still rising. The mine, which produces about 15% of the worlds coltan and is controlled by the AFC/M23 rebels, has been linked by the UN to funding the groups insurgency. The BLA further alleged that more than 200 members of the Pakistan Army, police, and Frontier Corps were killed in the offensive, and that at least 17 people were taken captive. Whats the first thing that pops up in your mind when you read or hear that a few people pay hefty amounts to keep themselves away from their phones? You may wonder why anyone would spend money on something that could be easily done on their own simply switching off the phone or putting it away could seem like a simple solution. However, in parts of Europe and the United States, a new trend is gaining attention, with people paying to keep themselves away from constant digital noise. Instead of scrolling through social media or checking messages all day, some people are paying to disconnect completely, even for several days at a time. These experiences are often called digital detox retreats, which let participants lock away their phones and stay offline in exchange for a fee. Why people do this? Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Many people and travellers admit that they check their phones several times a day, even when it is not necessary. With world news, work messages, social media alerts, and endless apps demanding attention, people say they often feel stressed or distracted. Digital detox experiences are designed to help people step away from this constant stimulation and focus on real-life activities. One popular version of this trend is the luxury digital detox holiday. At some resorts and retreat centres in Mexico and New York, travellers opt to pay thousands of dollars to have their phones taken away or locked away by staff for the duration of their trip. No Instagram. No emails. Just peace, nature, and calm. (Also Read: Drawer full of old tech gadgets? Youre not alone: Check 5 simple ways to clean this like a pro) How detox retreats work? At many of these retreats, participants hand over their phones and devices as soon as they arrive. Some places even lock them in safes, making it impossible to reconnect until the retreat ends. Guests stay in quiet cabins or scenic locations with no Wi-Fi or mobile service. The idea is to force a break from screens so people can rest, engage in outdoor activities, or spend uninterrupted time with companions. Other types of offline experiences include organised group events in major cities. For example, social meet-ups in London and other European cities have attracted thousands of people willing to leave their phones at the door and enjoy board games, conversations and real-world connections without screens. Growing popularity Experts say this trend reflects a larger shift in how people think about technology. Rather than rejecting digital tools completely, many users want the option to use them more mindfully, reducing screen time and stress while boosting real-life engagement. Some travellers find that being offline for a few days refreshes their perspective and helps them return to their routines with better balance. From smartphone-blocking apps to weekend-long retreats, the digital detox movement is expanding fast. According to reports, this trend is gaining popularity in many other parts of the world as well. Bangalores food culture is shaped by regional flavours, traditional recipes, and neighbourhood restaurants that value consistency over hype. Zomato helps diners identify these reliable local eateries through transparent ratings and customer reviews. Instead of international fast-food chains, many Bangalore residents prefer restaurants known for dependable taste, portion value, and authenticity. This article focuses only on local Bangalore restaurants that are actively available on Zomato, maintain at least 4 ratings, and are widely appreciated for their signature dishes and overall dining experience. MTR is a legendary Bangalore restaurant known for time-tested South Indian recipes, disciplined preparation methods, and consistently high Zomato ratings built on decades of customer trust. MTRs masala dosa is crisp, evenly roasted, and filled with mildly spiced potato masala prepared using traditional techniques. Zomato reviewers consistently praise its balanced flavours, ghee aroma, and dependable quality. The dosa maintains its texture well, making it one of the restaurants most ordered items and a benchmark dish for classic Bangalore-style breakfasts. MTRs khara bath is prepared using roasted semolina, vegetables, ghee, and mild spices, resulting in a soft yet flavourful texture. Highly rated on Zomato, diners appreciate its comforting taste, consistent preparation, and authentic aroma, making it a popular choice for those seeking a traditional South Indian breakfast option. Meghana Foods is a popular Bangalore restaurant recognised for bold Andhra flavours, generous portions, and strong Zomato ratings earned through consistent food quality. Meghanas boneless chicken biryani is known for its intense spice profile, fragrant rice, and tender chicken pieces. Zomato users frequently highlight its strong aroma, satisfying heat level, and generous serving size. The dish remains one of the restaurants highest-rated and most repeatedly ordered items among biryani lovers. This dish features crispy fried chicken tossed in a spicy, tangy sauce with onions and green chillies. Highly rated on Zomato, reviewers appreciate its crunchy texture, bold flavour, and balanced seasoning. It is commonly ordered as both a starter and side, contributing to its popularity among regular customers. Nagarjuna is a long-established Bangalore restaurant celebrated for authentic Andhra meals, strong spice control, and consistently high Zomato ratings among local diners. Nagarjunas Andhra meals offer a complete traditional spread featuring rice, lentils, vegetable curries, chutneys, and spicy accompaniments. Zomato diners praise its authenticity, portion value, and bold regional flavours. The meal delivers a satisfying balance of heat and comfort, making it a preferred choice for traditional lunch and dinner dining. Prepared using traditional Andhra spices, Nagarjunas chicken fry is dry, flavourful, and aromatic. Highly rated on Zomato, customers highlight its crisp texture and spice depth. It pairs well with meals or rice dishes, making it one of the restaurants most consistently ordered non-vegetarian items. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Rameshwaram Cafe is a well-known Bangalore restaurant admired for premium South Indian preparations, generous ghee usage, and strong Zomato ratings across its outlets. The idli vada combo includes soft idlis and crisp vadas served with rich coconut chutney and aromatic sambar. Zomato diners frequently praise its freshness, indulgent ghee flavour, and filling portions. It remains a dependable option for breakfast and evening meals among South Indian food enthusiasts. Rameshwaram Cafes filter coffee is strong, aromatic, and brewed using quality coffee beans. Highly rated on Zomato, customers appreciate its robust flavour and smooth finish. It complements the restaurants rich food offerings and remains one of the most ordered beverages on the menu. Nandhana Palace is a Bangalore-based restaurant specialising in Andhra-style cuisine, known for bold flavours, generous portions, and consistently strong Zomato ratings. Nandhana Special Andhra Single Meal features a traditional spread including rice, sambar, rasam, vegetable curries, and spicy Andhra preparations. Zomato diners frequently praise its authenticity, portion size, and flavour balance. The meal offers a wholesome dining experience and is commonly ordered for satisfying lunch or dinner meals. This dish includes tender boneless chicken cooked with Andhra spices, curry leaves, and a dry-roasted finish. Highly rated on Zomato, reviewers highlight its bold aroma, crisp texture, and balanced heat. It is often paired with meals, making it a popular supporting dish. Bangalores local dining scene thrives on restaurants that prioritise flavour consistency, traditional techniques, and customer satisfaction. Zomato helps diners identify these trusted eateries through ratings and verified reviews. The restaurants listed above stand out for maintaining quality across time, locations, and orders. From classic South Indian breakfasts to robust Andhra meals, each option reflects Bangalores diverse food preferences. Choosing these 4+ rated local restaurants ensure a dependable dining experience supported by strong customer approval and proven reliability. Disclaimer: At IDPL, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. It should not be construed as an endorsement to buy. IDPL may make a very small commission from its sale if one chooses to buy the product from any of the links in this article. The MND said they responded accordingly. In a post on X, the MND said, "3 sorties of PLA aircraft and 8 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and responded." https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2017402457270456499?s=20 Earlier on Friday, Taiwan detected 26 sorties of aircraft, six naval vessels and an official ship operating around itself. Of the 26, 19 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern, central and southwestern ADIZ. In a post on X, the MND said, "26 PLA aircraft, 6 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 19 out of 26 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern, central and southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded." https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2017040194088948133?s=20 Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te visited Hualien on Friday to see troops in the area. In a post on X, the MND said, "President Lai Ching-te visited Hualien today to encourage troops stationed in the area, emphasizing that the government will continue to provide the ROC Armed Forces with its strongest support and work to secure greater defense budgets and resources." https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2017154763658612980?s=20 Meanwhile, as per Xinhua, Japanese public figures across the political and academic spectrum gathered in Tokyo on Thursday (local time) to protest Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan, warning that her comments and her administration's push for military expansion risk heightening regional tensions and drawing Japan into war. At the gathering, former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama said Takaichi's actions undermine the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, which led to a serious deterioration in bilateral relations. "Japan has historically learned a great deal from China and absorbed much of its culture. That deep connection is the foundation of today's Japan," Hatoyama told reporters. (ANI) Chennais food culture is shaped by tradition, flavour, and strong local loyalty, and Zomato plays a key role in helping diners discover trusted restaurants across the city. From heritage eateries serving time-tested recipes to modern cafes offering creative Indian plates, Zomato ratings highlight places consistently loved by customers. This article features five Chennai restaurants actively available on Zomato, along with their most ordered and highly rated dishes. Each restaurant reflects authenticity, consistency, and genuine local popularity. Broken Bridge Cafe is a contemporary Chennai cafe known for experimental Indian plates, premium ingredients, and artistic presentation, earning consistently strong Zomato ratings for both food quality and ambience. Beetroot Galouti at Broken Bridge Cafe features soft, melt-in-mouth patties prepared using slow-cooked beetroot and aromatic spices. Zomato reviews frequently praise its delicate texture, balanced seasoning, and modern interpretation of classic galouti kebabs, making it a standout vegetarian option for diners seeking refined Indian flavours. This dish features soft, freshly crumbled paneer cooked to highlight its natural richness and texture. Highly rated on Zomato, it stands out for its balanced seasoning, creamy mouthfeel, and simple yet thoughtful presentation, appealing to diners who enjoy refined, minimalist Indian flavours. Thenmanam Restaurant is a long-established local favourite in Anna Nagar, appreciated for generous portions, comforting flavours, and consistent Zomato ratings across its South Indian and Mughlai offerings. Poricha Parotta is a popular local speciality made by shallow-frying layered parottas until crisp on the outside while remaining soft inside. Zomato diners often highlight its flaky texture, rich aroma, and perfect pairing with gravies and salna, making it a frequently ordered comfort dish. Nool Parotta features ultra-thin strands of layered parotta skillfully rolled and cooked to achieve a light yet indulgent texture. Highly rated on Zomato, it is praised for its softness, visual appeal, and ability to absorb flavours when paired with curries, making it a standout choice for parotta lovers. Buhari Hotel is one of Chennais most iconic restaurants, widely listed on Zomato and celebrated for classic Indian dishes that have remained popular across generations. Buharis Chicken 65 is a legendary Chennai dish featuring deep-fried chicken tossed with spices, curry leaves, and chilli. Zomato reviewers consistently praise its crisp exterior, bold flavour, and nostalgic appeal, making it one of the most ordered starters at the restaurant. Prepared using fragrant rice and well-seasoned mutton, Buharis Mutton Biryani is valued for its balanced spice profile and dependable taste. Zomato ratings frequently highlight its consistency, making it a trusted choice for regular diners. Sangeetha Veg Restaurant is a trusted vegetarian chain across Chennai, highly rated on Zomato for cleanliness, consistency, and authentic South Indian and North Indian preparations. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source The Mini Tiffin platter includes idli, dosa, pongal, vada, chutneys, and sambar, offering a complete South Indian meal. Zomato users appreciate its freshness, portion balance, and traditional flavours, making it a popular choice across Sangeetha outlets. Masala Dosa at Sangeetha Veg Restaurant is a crisp, golden dosa filled with mildly spiced potato masala and served with fresh coconut chutney and sambar. Highly rated on Zomato, it is known for consistent texture, balanced seasoning, and authentic South Indian flavour across locations. Dindigul Thalappakatti is a well-known Tamil Nadu restaurant brand, actively listed on Zomato and recognised for preserving traditional biryani recipes and regional flavours. Prepared using seeraga samba rice and signature spice blends, this biryani is highly rated on Zomato for its aroma, tender meat, and authentic Dindigul-style flavour that remains consistent across outlets. Pepper Chicken Barbeque in half portion features juicy chicken pieces marinated with crushed black pepper, herbs, and spices, then grilled to retain smokiness. Zomato reviews praise its bold flavour, tender texture, and controlled heat, making it a popular starter. Chennais dining scene thrives on restaurants that maintain authenticity, consistency, and customer trust on Zomato. From innovative plates at Broken Bridge Cafe to iconic dishes at Buhari and Thalappakatti, each restaurant featured reflects a unique aspect of Chennais culinary identity. Vegetarian comfort at Sangeetha and hearty meals at Thenmanam further showcase the citys diversity. Zomato ratings and reviews help diners confidently choose places that deliver flavour and value. Exploring these local eateries ensures a reliable, satisfying, and genuinely Chennai-style dining experience. Disclaimer: At IDPL, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. It should not be construed as an endorsement to buy. IDPL may make a very small commission from its sale if one chooses to buy the product from any of the links in this article. Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit defended Arab states' decision to support the US-led Board of Peace on Gaza, saying it offered a rare opening for a ceasefire after repeated diplomatic efforts had failed to stop the fighting. Setting out the Arab League's broader regional approach during the interaction, Aboul Gheit, speaking on Friday at a public event hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs and moderated by former diplomat Talmiz Ahmad, said Gulf countries have consistently opposed military escalation and advocated diplomatic solutions. Providing context for Arab backing of the Gaza initiative, he said, "We have had a president in Washington who admitted that he was a Zionist himself. He supported Israel directly as a Zionist." Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Referring to former President Joe Biden, he added, "Four times there have been calls in the Security Council and draft resolutions presented calling for a ceasefire in Palestine, and the American administration at the time vetoed them all." Against this backdrop, most Gulf Arab states signed on to the Board of Peace last week in Davos, despite scepticism over its framework. Several European countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden, have declined, citing concerns that the body could undermine the United Nations. Responding to those reservations, Aboul Gheit defended Arab participation, saying, "When I heard for the first time that the American president himself, in person, was committing himself to lead a council or a board to supervise a settlement, well, welcome!" He added, "Between someone who was saying, 'I am the strongest adviser and supporter to Israel, I am a Zionist' and a president who says, 'I am for peace and for the ending of the killing and ending the conflict', if we are logical, we have to try." At the same time, he acknowledged unresolved questions surrounding funding, oversight, coordination with the United Nations, and the absence of the Palestinian Authority from the executive committee, stating, "How the implementation will proceed remains to be seen." Turning from Gaza to wider regional security concerns, Aboul Gheit warned that any military action against Iran would have serious consequences for the region and beyond. Referring to a potential strike, he said, "If such an event happens, it will be negative for the region and for everyone else," adding, "It will be a disaster for the peace of the world." His remarks came in response to a question on US President Donald Trump's announcement that a naval armada had been dispatched to the Gulf, raising fears of possible military action against Tehran. Placing the deployment in historical context, Aboul Gheit noted that the US Fifth Fleet has been based in Bahrain since 1995 and that American forces have maintained a presence in the region since 1945. "The presence of the American troops in the Gulf, Bahrain, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean is not a new development," he said, adding that what had changed was "the politics and policies" in Washington. Questioning recent US statements in this context, the former Egyptian foreign minister said, "I am not taken in by [the] declarations of Americans." He added, "Yes, they want to settle from that point of view, thinking that Iran is a nuclear country." Broadening the discussion to the Palestinian issue, Aboul Gheit addressed Israel's opposition to Palestinian statehood, saying occupying powers rarely concede political demands voluntarily. "An occupying power will never tell you, 'Yes, sir, you are permitted to do so,'" he said, drawing parallels with colonial rule. Linking regional tensions to wider global shifts, he also warned of increasing international instability, saying, "I claim that we are in the midst of a Cold War," while arguing that the American empire was facing decline. Reflecting on historical precedents, Aboul Gheit said, "There is no way for a new order to emerge without war," citing the formation of the United Nations after the Second World War. Asked how the current turbulence might be resolved, he said, "In all honesty, I don't know. The situation is very fluid." Earlier in the day, Aboul Gheit met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi. In a post on X, Jaishankar said the two held a "warm" meeting and exchanged views on "recent developments in the region". Touching on bilateral relations during the interaction, Aboul Gheit expressed optimism about India-Arab ties, praising India's achievements and highlighting the large Indian workforce across Gulf countries. "The Arabs understand the potential of India," he said, while noting that momentum in ties had slowed in recent years. Aboul Gheit is in New Delhi to participate in the second Arab-India foreign ministers' meeting, taking place today after a ten-year hiatus. He also inaugurated the Arab-Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday. A series of coordinated attacks hit Pakistans southwestern province of Balochistan on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of at least four police officers and causing several districts to go on high alert. Ethnic Baloch separatists claimed responsibility for these synchronized strikes, which aimed at security installations and government centers. Security forces targeted in multi-district strike A senior security official in Quetta stated that the attacks involved gunfire and suicide bombings. The coordinated offense struck multiple key locations at the same time, including: Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Quetta (Provincial Capital) Gwadar (Port City) Pasni Mastung Nushki "At least four policemen were killed in Quetta alone," the official told AFP under the condition of anonymity. Local authorities in at least four districts confirmed that the situation remained unstable and was not fully controlled as of Saturday evening. Military labels attacks 'poorly executed' In Islamabad, military officials acknowledged the scale of the operation but minimized its effectiveness. While they confirmed that the attacks occurred in various areas, a senior military source referred to the militants' efforts as "ineffective." "The attacks were coordinated but poorly executed," the official said, noting that the limited damage resulted from "poor planning and a quick collapse under effective security response." The military has not yet provided an official casualty count from their side. BLA claims responsibility for insurgency The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the areas most notable separatist group, released a statement claiming responsibility for the violence. The group said its fighters targeted military outposts, police units, and government officials as part of their ongoing push for provincial autonomy. Balochistan, a mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, has faced a decades-long insurgency. Militants often attack security forces and foreign nationals, citing complaints about the exploitation of the region's natural resources. ALSO READ | 'We feel ashamed when we go begging': Shehbaz Sharif big acknowledgement amid Pakistan's socioeconomic crisis The province of Balochistan experienced chaos on Saturday, January 31, as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) launched "Operation Herof 2.0." This coordinated attack hit over 12 locations and shocked both Islamabad and the military headquarters in Rawalpindi. The BLA has called this operation the "next phase" of their fight for independence. They are targeting military posts, ISI offices, and civil administration centres in districts like Quetta, Gwadar, Nushki, and Mastung. Banks looted and buildings destroyed In one of the most daring acts of the offensive, BLA fighters reportedly took over the Faysal Bank building in Quettas Hazar Ganji area. After allegedly stealing millions in cash and grabbing weapons, the militants used mortar shells and rockets to demolish the building. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Eyewitnesses described a frightening scene. "The explosion was so powerful I thought the house would fall on us," said Rubina Ali, a resident of Kali Deeba. In the city center, office worker Ayaz Ahmed noted that the blasts shook entire buildings, leaving streets covered in dust and civilians fleeing. PAKISTAN Quetta: Attack with mortar shells at the entrance of Faysal Bank in Hazar Ganji, armed men entered inside. pic.twitter.com/oFXf4nMK7F OSINT PAKISTAN (@OSINT_Pak_) January 31, 2026 Coordinated attacks across 12 districts BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch confirmed that the attacks are a continuation of the "Black Storm" campaign (Operation Herof 1.0), which began in August 2024. Saturday's assaults included: Overrunning police stations: Police stations in Sariab, Eastern Bypass, and Mastung were reportedly captured, and police vehicles were set on fire. Escapes reported: In Mastung, several prisoners escaped after rebels took control of the local jail. CTD headquarters taken: In Nushki, militants claimed to have taken over the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) office. BLA leadership issues defiant message After the attacks, BLA Commander-in-Chief Bashir Zeb Baloch released a video statement. Zeb, who has led since 2018, has guided the BLA toward high-profile, coordinated urban warfare. In his message, he promised to escalate the conflict to compel the Pakistani state to end its "occupation" of Balochistan. Heavy casualties and state response Conflicting reports about the death toll have emerged as the conflict continues. Official Claims: Pakistans military wing, the ISPR, reported that security forces successfully repelled the attacks, killing between 58 and 60 militants. They also confirmed the deaths of 10 security personnel. Casualty Details: Four policemen were confirmed dead in Quetta alone. Reports indicate that at least 11 civilians, including women and children, were caught in the crossfire. Communications Blackout: The government has shut down internet services in several districts and stopped train services across the province as a security precaution. As of Sunday morning, the situation remains dynamic, with Pakistani officials stating that "clearance operations" are still ongoing to neutralize the fleeing militants. ALSO READ | Pakistan: Multiple casualties as Baloch separatists launch coordinated attacks across Balochistan Fresh claims from the latest Jeffrey Epstein-related documents reveal an FBI report quoting a credible confidential human source (CHS). The source alleges that US President Donald Trump has been "compromised by Israel." These explosive accusations add to the ongoing scrutiny of Epstein's network and high-profile connections. The FBI report further claims that Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, exerted outsized control over both Trump Organization operations and key decisions during Trump's first term as president. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source The explosive document further alleges Kushner family ties to corruption, Russian money laundering, and the ultra-Zionist Chabad network. It also spotlights Kushner's family past, his father was convicted on financial charges before receiving a presidential pardon from Trump. The CHS alleged that Kushner funneled substantial Russian investment funds while failing to disclose ties to Russian state-linked entities. The memo flags his stake in Cadre, a real estate platform, as a red flag, questioning whether Russian money has flowed into U.S. projects via hidden intermediaries. The FBI report also revisits Trump's real estate history, spotlighting the Beverly Hills mansion deal, which Trump bought for $41 million, then flipped it for $95 million to a foreign-linked shell company. The CHS highlighted "oddities and red flags," tying it to a pattern of murky financial dealings. The report names Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer Alan Dershowitz, with the CHS telling the FBI he was "co-opted by Mossad." Files claim Dershowitz leveraged elite institutions to groom wealthy, politically connected students for Israeli intelligence aims. The files also mentioned that Epstein himself was suspected of being leveraged by intelligence agencies, citing his vast access to global political and financial elites. The U.S Justice Department released over three million Epstein investigation pages, alongside 2,000+ videos and 180,000 images. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said it followed rigorous internal vetting. US president Trump was connected with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s before falling out, but has faced no formal charges tied to Epstein's crimes. He insists he knew nothing of Epstein's illegal acts. Transatlantic relations within NATO are currently facing one of their most severe tests in decades. Amid recent upheavals in Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron has positioned Paris as a vocal champion of European sovereignty, portraying the United States under President Donald Trump as a growing risk to the continent's autonomy and territorial integrity. This tension stems from longstanding French advocacy for greater European "strategic autonomy" and has been amplified by Trump's assertive demands on NATO funding. Historically, France has been skeptical of over-reliance on US leadership in NATO. Even, France withdrawn from the integrated military command in 1966 before rejoining in 2009. Paris has long pushed for Europe to build independent defence capabilities. President Macron has repeatedly framed this as essential to prevent "vassalisation" or subordination to external powers. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Trump's assertive nature on funding and security Trump has persistently maintained that the US bears an unfair burden in NATO, providing security. In 2025, Trump secured a major NATO summit agreement in the Hague, where allies committed to increase defence spending from 2 % to 5% of GDP annually by 2035, crediting his pressure for this as big win. Trump also suggested that the US may not defend allies that do not adequately fund their own security unsettled the alliance and pushed European leaders to commit significant boost in military spending. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned Europe can not defend itself without US, saying "European leader need the US in order to defend themselves. He said, "If anyone thinks here again that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You cant. We cant. We need each other." The statement by NATO chief supported the Trump's rhetoric of US being ultimate security provider to Europe. Trump has also cast doubt on his willingness to defend Washington's NATO allies. He questioned whether the US would honour Article 5 mutual defence commitments, saying the US has "never gotten anything from helping NATO" and expressing uncertainty about allies standing by US. This stance of security in exchange for funding and alignment has fueled European concerns that US protection could be conditional, especially amid Trump's broader "America First" policies. Trump fiery response and France resistance French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticised Trump's approach as undermining European sovereignty. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Macron said Europe would not "give in to bullies" or accept the "law of the strongest," warning that US tariffs and leverage tactics aimed to weaken and subordinate Europe. Macron described endless US tariffs as "fundamentally unacceptable." particularly when used against territorial sovereignty, and cautioned against a shift to a "world without rules." The flashpoint has been Trump's aggressive push to acquire Greenland, a Danish territory and NATO ally's asset citing US national security and Arctic interests. Macron even called the Greenland standoff a "strategic wake-up call for all of Europe," urging other European leaders to safeguard sovereignty, Arctic security, countering foreign interference. France advocates for a stronger European pillar within NATO to balance this, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot pushing back against Rutte's warnings by insisting Europeans "can and must take charge of their own security." Even in 2018, Macron said that the European Union must stop depending on the United States for security and must now rely on its own military forces for protection. He also called on EU member states to back large-scale, joint funding to mobilise hundreds of billions of euros in investment for European defence and security, as the United States shifts its focus away from Europe. Macron's push for a more sovereign Europe bolstered by unity against US coercion highlights Paris's view that over-dependence on a transactional US undermines NATO's credibility and Europe's long-term security in a multipolar world facing Russia and other threats. More than 200 people have been killed in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local authorities, in one of the deadliest mining disasters in the region in recent years. The incident occurred on Wednesday during the rainy season, when unstable ground gave way at the mine, which lies in a province controlled by the AFC/M23 rebel group. The exact death toll remains unclear. More than 200 people were victims of this landslide, including miners, children and market women, said Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesperson for the rebel-appointed provincial governor, speaking to Reuters on Friday. Some people were rescued just in time and have serious injuries. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Muyisa said around 20 injured people were receiving treatment at nearby health facilities. He attributed the collapse to fragile ground conditions caused by heavy rains. We are in the rainy season. The ground is fragile. It was the ground that gave way while the victims were in the hole, he said. An adviser to the governor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media, said the number of confirmed dead had reached at least 227. Rubaya is one of the worlds most important sources of coltan, producing about 15% of the global supply. The mineral is processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal widely used in mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. At the site, local residents dig manually for a few dollars a day. The mine has been under the control of the AFC/M23 rebel group since 2024. The United Nations has accused the group of exploiting Rubayas mineral wealth to finance its insurgency, which it says is backed by neighbouring Rwanda, an allegation Kigali has denied. The AFC/M23 rebels, who say they aim to overthrow the government in Kinshasa and protect the Congolese Tutsi minority, expanded their control over mineral-rich areas of eastern Congo during a rapid advance last year. (With agency inputs) A large collection of newly released U.S. Department of Justice records has reignited the controversy surrounding Prince Andrews relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The documents, spanning millions of pages, include suggestive photographs and emails about "private" meetings at Buckingham Palace. The release was required by federal law to provide transparency about the governments knowledge of Epsteins sex-trafficking ring and his influence over high-profile figures. Photographs of the Duke Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Among the most shocking disclosures are photographs showing the Duke of York on all fours over an unidentified woman lying on the ground. The woman in the images appears to be fully clothed, but the photos capture Andrew looking directly at the camera and, in two frames, touching the woman on her stomach. The context of the images is still under scrutiny, but they have intensified public concern regarding the Prince's behavior during his friendship with Epstein. The Russian connection The documents also reveal a 2010 email exchange in which Epstein offered to introduce a 26-year-old Russian woman to the Prince. Addressing him as "The Duke," Epstein wrote on August 12, 2010, that he had a "friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with." Andrews replies show him asking what the woman had been told about him and whether she was carrying a "message" from Epstein. Although Andrew noted he would be in Geneva during her London visit, he expressed he "would be delighted to see her." While Epstein shared the Prince's email address with her, the records do not confirm if a meeting ever happened. 'Privacy' at Buckingham Palace Perhaps the most damaging evidence is the logs suggesting that Epstein and Andrew planned a dinner at Buckingham Palace, the late Queen Elizabeth II's official London residence. In a September 2010 exchange, Epstein requested "private time," to which Andrew reportedly replied, "we could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy." A follow-up email from the Prince invited Epstein to the Palace, stating he would be "free from 1600ish to 2000." It is unclear if the dinner took place, but the invitation sharply contrasts with Andrew's previous attempts to distance himself from the financier. PRINCE ANDREW IN THE FILES Epstein files claim that former Prince Andrew engaged in torture and was an accessory to the death of a young girl. According to the email, he tortured her before forcing another individual to carry out the murder. Ghislaine Maxwell recruited pic.twitter.com/xoCZVZexL2 National File (@NationalFile) January 31, 2026 History of denials Prince Andrew, also known as Mountbatten-Windsor, has consistently denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epsteins crimes. The Giuffre Case: Andrew famously reached a multi-million-pound settlement in 2022 with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual abuse when she was a minor. The settlement involved no admission of guilt. The Aftermath: Virginia Giuffre died by suicide at her home in Australia in April 2025. Official Stance: Andrew has maintained he never witnessed or suspected the behavior that led to Epstein's conviction. The Duke of York was stripped of his military titles and royal roles in 2022 and has since lived a largely private life away from official royal duties. ALSO READ | Iran live-fire drills in Strait of Hormuz: US issues warning amid rising gulf tensions US President Donald Trump has said a settlement to end the RussiaUkraine war may be very close, while acknowledging that deep personal animosity between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to complicate negotiations. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said relations between the two leaders remained strained. Zelenskyy and Putin hate each other, and it makes it very difficult, he said, adding, But I think we're getting very close to getting a settlement. I think that we have a good chance of getting it settled. Trump revealed that he had recently spoken directly with Putin and had requested a temporary pause in attacks on Kyiv and other cities, citing severe winter conditions across the region. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that, Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. He described the exchange as positive, noting that some had advised against making the call. A lot of people said, Dont waste the call, youre not going to get that. And he did it. The US President said his request was driven by extreme weather affecting both Ukraine and Russia. Its extraordinary cold. Record-setting cold, he said, comparing the conditions to a recent cold snap in Washington. Despite these remarks, fighting has continued. Ukrainian officials said on Thursday that three people were killed in an overnight Russian drone attack in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Zelenskyy has also warned that Russia may be preparing for another large-scale offensive. The developments come ahead of US-mediated peace talks expected to take place over the weekend. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has formally invited Zelenskyy to Moscow for negotiations aimed at ending the nearly four-year-long conflict. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow was being considered as the venue for the talks. The proposal follows last weeks first trilateral meeting involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi. Speaking to the Russian news agency TASS, Peskov said Moscow was ready to host further discussions. Senior Kremlin officials have now signalled for a second consecutive day that Zelenskyy would be welcome in the Russian capital. Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia would guarantee Zelenskyys security and make all necessary arrangements should he agree to attend, according to Russia Today. (With ANI inputs) In a significant leap, the United States approved two major arms deals with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US State Department approved a $6.67 billion arms sale to Israel and $9 billion to Saudi Arabia late Friday. Sales coincide with the Trump administration's Gaza peacekeeping efforts and looming U.S strike threats against Iran. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Israel's package highlights 30 Apache helicopters equipped with rocket launchers, plus 3,250 light tactical vehicles, armored personnel carrier power packs, and light utility helicopters. The department said that the arms sale will boost Israel's defences for its borders, infrastructure, and population centers against current and future threats, according to a report by Fox News. The report further stated that the US vows unwavering support for Israel's security, stressing its vital role in American national interests through bolstering robust self-defence capabilities. Saudi Arabia gains 730 Patriot missiles and gear, advancing US foreign policy and security goals by strengthening a key non-NATO ally's role in Gulf stability and economic growth, per the State Department. The much-anticipated deal comes amid rising US-Iran tensions in the Middle East. Earlier, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that the kingdom will not permit its airspace or territory to be used for any military actions against Iran, amid U.S naval buildup and Trump's strike considerations. The deal comes after Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which he shared on X, where he shared insights of the meeting saying both the nations discussed strategic relations. Met with @SecRubio, @SecWar, and @SEPeaceMissions to review the strategic relations between our countries and explore prospects for enhancing our cooperation. We also discussed our efforts to advance regional and global peace and stability. pic.twitter.com/RKf9ySKIf2 Khalid bin Salman (@kbsalsaud) January 30, 2026 While the greenlight to the Israel and Saudi defence deal will change Saudi Arabias stance against the US with regard to escalating Iran-US tensions. Recently, in a private Washington briefing, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman warned that U.S. President Donald Trump failing to act on Iran threats would embolden the regime, per four Axios sources on Friday. This marks a shift from Saudi Arabia's public de-escalation stance and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's prior concerns to Trump, which had prompted a strike delay. Mary Berry is "absolutely delighted" that Nigella Lawson has joined The Great British Bake Off. Photo: Avalon After Dame Prue Leith, 85, left the beloved Channel 4 programme earlier this month, Nigella, 66, has stepped in to join Paul Hollywood, 59, as his new co-judge, and Mary, who had the role between 2010 and 2016, has had her say. Speaking at the Radio Times Covers Party 2026, she said: "Ive also recently heard Nigella Lawson is the new Bake Off judge, and Im absolutely delighted. "It will give Bake Off a wonderful new flavour, and Paul and her will get on like a house on fire." Offering her advice to Nigella, she said: "The skill to be the judge and to be fair, be kind and encourage everyone to enjoy baking." Nigella will leave all the technical judging to Paul and focus on the eating", as she does not look for fault. Speaking on Thursday's (29.01.26) episode of This Morning, she said: I feel that I'm not someone who looks for fault. I look for pleasure as a basic. That is my basic - I wouldnt say it's philosophy - my basic attitude in life. And I feel that Paul Hollywood is, you know, Mr. Technical. I'm all about the eating. You know, if I see my job as eating, I feel it's not so it's not too daunting. I can eat. When asked whether she would be a good contestant on Bake Off, Nigella admitted her clumsiness might prevent her from ever finding victory in the tent. She said: Well, I am the clumsiest person in the world, you know, so as long as I don't knock any of their cakes off a table, or a stand Nigella added she wouldnt be very good competing on Bake Off as she often gets derailed in the kitchen. She explained: Because I like just enjoying things, and I get derailed as I'm now chatting, but what I feel is, is that they're mixing the coziness of baking with this, if you like, this adrenaline of competition, and it is drama. And I feel that, in a way, it's what's important is not to lose either. And I think that's what people love about it. Even so, Nigella emphasised Bake Off was a very different beast when compared to simple home cooking. She noted: The thing is, all how you cook at home or how you bake them like, it's not the same as how you would bake in Bake Off, of course. So, it's this coming together, of the excitement of competition. I mean, I will be terrified. As well as Paul, Nigella will be joining presenters Noel Fielding, 52, and Alison Hammond, 50, and the How To Be A Domestic Goddess writer said she was really looking forward to being a part of the team. She shared: Well, I'm really looking forward to it. Listen, I think Prue is just fantastic, and Mary Berry was fantastic before. So if I think about it like that, I do, then I feel like, Oh no, you know, I get really frightened. So I've just got to say, you know, that they have given me the honour of offering me this, and I just want to do it as well as I can, and just, you know, become a part of it and enjoy it. I'm very excited about meeting all these new bakers to come. And that's it. It is very much about them [on] the show, and that's how that's what I love about it as well. You know, lots of competition programmes can be a bit hard edge, and it's [not that]. Former US Army Colonel and Political commentator, Douglas Macgregor, has described the proposed "Board of Peace" as a mechanism driven by corruption and personal enrichment, alleging that it has little to do with resolving the Gaza crisis. He described the situation in Gaza as a "tragedy and an atrocity," while alleging that influential financial interests surrounding US President Donald Trump are using the proposed "Board of Peace" as a cover for graft rather than a genuine effort to address the crisis. In an interview with ANI, Macgregor said, "The board of peace is a large exercise in graft and corruption. President Trump has appointed himself the chairman of the board for life. And he's bringing in his billionaire friends, who are creating an enormous slush fund with no accountability and no obligation to respond to anyone. This doesn't have much to do with Gaza. If you read most of it, Gaza's never mentioned. It only comes up in a certain subsection. This is all about a group of excessively rich people who want to be richer yet. They're setting up a board of directors to sort of guarantee the continued flow of capital into their pockets. This is not a serious effort whatsoever in connection with Gaza." "Gaza is a tragedy and an atrocity. We should be ashamed of ourselves for supporting it. But you have to look again at the people surrounding President Trump. Who are they and the enormous wealth they represent? These are financial capitalists. These are not capitalists who built anything. This is not JD Rockefeller, who built the world's largest oil industry, or Carnegie, who built the steel industry or Vanderbilt, who built railroads. They make money from transaction fees, moving money around. Their world is about to end because we're close to bankruptcy. And I think all of these notions of the Board of Peace, which is just a cover story for graft," he added. Macgregor alleged that Pakistan joined the proposed "Board of Peace" by paying an entry fee, claiming the move was aimed at gaining access to the process rather than taking a principled stand on Gaza. "I think Pakistan is much like Egypt, many countries. They say, let's pay the entrance fee, so at least we're in on the graft. Let's be part of this so we at least know what's being done. It's not a question of whether they support the partitioning or the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. It's well, you know, this is the richest, most powerful state in the world. They're forming this with other rich people. Let's pay the entrance fee and see if we can find out what's happening. I don't think the Pakistanis are serious at all about whatever we want to do," Macgregor said. The "Board of Peace" was unveiled as part of phase two of the fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas to end the Israel-Gaza conflict. US President Trump signed the charter for his Board of Peace on January 22 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, calling it "one of the most consequential bodies ever created". (ANI) The United States government entered a partial shutdown on Saturday after Congress failed to pass the 2026 federal budget before the midnight deadline, triggering a temporary lapse in funding for large parts of the public sector. The disruption is expected to be brief. Lawmakers indicated that the House of Representatives could approve a Senate-backed funding package early next week, following late-night action in the upper chamber aimed at limiting the shutdowns impact. Budget negotiations broke down amid anger among Democrats over the deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis during operations by federal immigration agents. The incident derailed talks on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a central point of contention in negotiations, and ultimately prevented an agreement before the deadline. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source As a result, non-essential government operations were suspended overnight. Departments affected include education, health, housing and defence, among others. Officials said roughly three-quarters of federal operations are impacted, and if the shutdown continues, tens of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed or required to work without pay until funding is restored. Instead of going after drug smugglers, child predators, and human traffickers, the Trump Administration is wasting valuable resources targeting peaceful protestors in Chicago and Minneapolis, said Senate Democratic Minority Whip Dick Durbin. This Administration continues to make Americans less safe. Late on Friday, the Senate passed a package covering the remaining five funding bills needed to finance most federal agencies through September. It also approved a two-week stopgap measure for DHS, giving negotiators additional time to resolve disputes over immigration enforcement. President Donald Trump backed the Senate deal and urged the House to move swiftly, signalling his intention to avoid a prolonged shutdown. If confirmed, this would be the second government shutdown of his second term, following last autumns record-length closure that brought federal services to a standstill for more than a month. (With IANS inputs) The United States on Friday imposed fresh sanctions on Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and several other officials, citing Tehran's violent response to recent anti-government protests. Announcing the measures, the US Treasury Department said Momeni "oversees the murderous Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF), a key entity responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protesters." The sanctions package also targets multiple senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with Iranian investor Babak Morteza Zanjani, who is accused of having "embezzled billions in funds from the Iranian people." Add Zee News as a Preferred Source In a first-of-its-kind move, Treasury also imposed restrictions on digital currency exchanges connected to Zanjani "that have processed large volumes of funds associated with IRGC-linked counterparties." Despite already maintaining extensive sanctions on Tehran, the United States said it "supports the Iranian people in their protests against the corrupt and repressive regime in Tehran," the agency added. Under US sanctions rules, any assets held within the United States by designated individuals or entities are frozen. The measures also bar American companies and citizens from conducting business with those listed, with violations carrying the risk of further penalties. The US action comes as European Union foreign ministers agreed to designate Iran's IRGC as a terrorist organisation, placing the powerful force in the same category as Islamic State and al Qaeda, The Times of Israel reported. Reacting to the decision, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X, "Repression cannot go unanswered." She added, "Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar described the move as "historic," while an Israeli official said the designation would make it easier to prosecute IRGC members. Momentum for the decision grew following a violent crackdown on nationwide anti-regime protests earlier this month that reportedly killed thousands, according to The Times of Israel. Against this backdrop, Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said, "It's important that we send this signal that the bloodshed that we've seen, the bestiality of the violence that's been used against protesters, cannot be tolerated." France and Italy, previously reluctant, backed the move this week, while Israel welcomed what it called the culmination of years of diplomatic effort. Highlighting Israel's role, Sa'ar wrote on X, "For years Israel has worked toward this outcome, and in recent weeks with even greater intensity," calling the IRGC "the number one force behind the spread of terror and the destabilisation of the region" and saying the decision would curb such activity in Europe while sending "an important message to the men and women of the Iranian people who are fighting for their freedom." Iran reacted sharply to the designation, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi calling it a "major strategic mistake" that would fuel conflict. "Several countries are presently attempting to avert the eruption of all-out war in our region. Europe is instead busy fanning the flames," Araghchi said in a post on X. "After pursuing 'snapback' at the behest of the US, it is now making another major strategic mistake by designating our National Military as a supposed 'terrorist organization,'" he added. From Israel's perspective, the designation carries concrete legal implications. An Israeli official said the move would give the EU stronger tools to act against Iran, noting that authorities would now only need to prove affiliation with the IRGC rather than involvement in a specific terror plot. Assets could also be frozen more easily. Expanding on operational impacts, the official said, "The linkage between law-enforcement bodies within Europe sharing information and cooperating through Europol will be easier," adding that criminal networks would think twice about assisting the IRGC once they realise European agencies are closely watching. Alongside the IRGC listing, the EU also imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and six entities over serious human rights violations in Iran, including senior officials and IRGC commanders. Additional measures targeted organisations linked to censorship and online disinformation, as well as entities associated with Iran's drone and missile programmes, with the bloc extending restrictions on exports of components used in UAV and missile production, The Times of Israel reported. US Justice department on Friday released over 30 lakh pages of documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The latest release includes over 2,000 videos and more than 180,000 images. It occurs six weeks after the 19 December deadline established by legislation signed into law by US President Donald Trump. A new batch of files connected to the investigation of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein includes documents that mention President Donald Trump and other prominent figures, such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and British billionaire Richard Branson. Names like Elon Musk, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and Steve Tisch also appear in the files. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Official cited the delay happened dur to reviewing and accessing millions of materials and redacting anything that could reveal the identity of victims. Earlier, Justice department made thousands of pages public, including photos of high-profile people, emails, and text, messages on December 20, 2025. Appearing in the documents does not indicate any wrongdoing on their part, and many of those named have denied any involvement with Epstein. Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche has announced fresh release of Jeffrey Epstein files in a press briefing. Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), the government was required to release all Epstein-related files in its possession, subject to certain specified exceptions. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the Department of Justice holds a total of 6 million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. However, not all of these are being released in the current disclosure. According to the DOJ, nearly 3 million pages are being withheld for several reasons, including the presence of child sexual abuse material and the need to safeguard victims' rights. An additional 200,000 pages are being withheld due to legal privileges. President Donald Trump's name appears thousands of times in the Epstein documents released so far, including instances where Epstein directly mentioned him. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche rejected notions that the Justice Department may have shielded or protected President Trump by limiting or redacting references to his name in the files. He said Justice department did not protect Trump and denied claims that it doesnt take child exploitation seriously, mentioning that 293 offenders were recently arrested. Fridays release includes numerous FBI interview records known as 302s from alleged Epstein victims, containing detailed witness statements given to authorities about their experiences with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell between 2013 and 2021. Any material showing victims, child sexual abuse, death, or matters affecting ongoing investigations has been removed. Faces of women except Epstein's partner Ghislaine Maxwell have been blurred, while male faces were redacted only when necessary to protect the women. The files released in December last year included images of prominent figures such as former US President Bill Clinton, pop star Michael Jackson, actor Chris Tucker, and Britains Prince Andrew. Some photographs showed Clinton swimming and socialising with girls in a pool. The images were initially released in four batches, with a fifth batch published several hours later. The United States, which last year imposed tariffs on India due to its purchases of Venezuelan oil, has told New Delhi that it can soon resume such imports. This step is intended to help offset the reduction in India's purchases of Russian crude, Reuters reported citing three sources speaking on condition of anonymity. In response to additional US tariffs linked to its Russian oil imports, India has committed to significantly cutting back on those purchases. The country is expected to reduce its Russian crude imports by several hundred thousand barrels per day over the coming months. In March 2025, President Donald Trump announced a 25 % tariff on trade with any country that buys Venezuelan oil, including India, and his administration intensified pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was captured by US forces on January 3. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source India emerged as a major purchaser of Russian crude oil following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which led to Western sanctions on Moscow and the availability of steep discounts on Russian supplies. Subsequently, under President Donald Trump, the United States imposed tariffs on Indian goods, escalating them to as high as 50% by August 2025. This increase resulted from an initial levy combined with an additional 25% tariff specifically tied to India's continued purchases of Russian oil. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas las week said, "India is diversifying its crude sources as Russian oil imports fall." However, he did not address any details of Venezuelan supplies. Analytics firm Kpler's data shows that in the first half of January, India imported an average of 1.18 million barrels per day from Russia. This is nearly 30% lower than the same period last year and below the 2025 monthly average. Compared with December 2025, imports are down by around 3%. US sanctions have reduced the number of Indian companies purchasing Russian crude oil. So far this month, only three refinersIndian Oil Corporation (IOC), Nayara Energy, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) have imported Russian crude. Reliance Industries has not imported any Russian crude oil this month. Other Indian refiners that have abstained from purchases include Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL). In response to reduced demand from certain buyers in India and China, Russian oil suppliers have significantly widened discounts on their crude grades. Industry sources report that the current discount on Russian Urals crude delivered to Indian ports has increased to approximately $56 per barrel. This compares with a much narrower discount of around $2 per barrel prior to the US sanctions imposed on Rosneft and Lukoil in October. From Gaza to Ukraine, and from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, the world is divided into conflicts that refuse to come to an end. Ceasefires are fragile, peace talks are delayed, and wars that once might have ended decisively now drag on indefinitely with a huge cost of human life. This pattern of prolonged conflict raises a question: are endless wars becoming the new normal? Understanding why wars no longer end is critical because the never-ending conflicts reshape global stability and political decision-making. Endless wars drain economies, fuel crises, destabilise regions, and normalise violence and emergencies. According to Dr. Aparaajita Pandey, Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Amity University, modern warfare has fundamentally transformed, and with the possibility of clean endings. Todays conflicts are no longer defined by clear battlefields, fixed enemies, or achievable short-term goals. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Also Read- Trump's Next Global Target: After Venezuela, Is Iran Next On US' Radar? Explained Why modern wars dont end Dr. Pandey explained that modern conflicts differ sharply from traditional wars. The rise of non-state actors, propaganda networks, and advanced technologies has made conflicts easier to sustain and harder to resolve. Unlike conventional wars, todays battles rarely have clear or achievable end goals. "The Israel Gaza conflict that began as a retaliation against Hamas is not just a land-based conflict; It is rooted in the fundamental fissure between Judaism and Islam. The Russia Ukraine conflict is not just about Russians wanting more land and access to warm water ports, it is also about not allowing NATO forces on their border, and about keeping Europe dependent on Russian gas as well as the Russian notion that they still consider erstwhile territories of the Soviet Union as their own," she said. The tensions between Iran and the United States are equally layered. Beyond ideological hostility, a nuclear-capable Tehran would fundamentally alter the balance of power in the Middle East, affecting Shia-Sunni relations and creating a region with two nuclear powers, Israel and Iran, aligned on opposing sides. These problems are intertwined with history, identity, and future aspirations, Dr. Pandey explained. They have no definitive solutions, just pathways that prevent further escalation. There is also the problem of a multiplicity of actors involved in every conflict, which adds to their sheer complexity and prolongs the conflict. The role of proxy wars Proxy dynamics further complicate the ongoing conflicts. It adds layers to existing disputes by introducing additional players and spreading violence across regions. Rather than addressing root causes, they divert attention, dilute accountability, and prolong instability. Dr. Pandey stated, "Proxy wars are problematic because they add to the original conflict and do nothing to resolve it. They add more players, state and non-state, spread insecurity and armed conflict to more regions, and do nothing to address the root cause of the problems. There is also not much that you can do diplomatically to minimise such conflicts since these are seen as individual events and have no seemingly long-standing problem behind them." Failing global institutions? The persistence of endless wars also reflects the declining influence of international institutions. Bodies like the United Nations (UN) derive authority from collective respect for international law. However, as more states openly disregard these norms without facing consequences, institutional credibility is in question. 'International institutions and global policy regimes build their credibility and legitimacy from the countries that are willing to look at them as pillars of authority, however, in the recent past as more and more countries have disregarded international law and its potential implications, it is becoming increasingly clear that their clout and power is waning and the world will have to look beyond established international institutions to find ways to implement some semblance of world order," Dr. Pandey emphasised. What lies ahead? Looking forward, Dr. Pandey believed such conflicts could increase, and the competition would expand from crude oil to rare earth minerals. Climate change will drive mass displacement and refugee crises. The West, particularly the United States, will attempt to preserve an old world order, while emerging powers push for a more equitable one, a clash likely to manifest violently. Meanwhile, evolving warfare technologies, including AI-driven systems and cyber warfare, will make conflicts more unpredictable and long-lasting. Wars that refuse to end are symptoms of a deeply transformed global order. As power diffuses, institutions weaken, and warfare evolves, the idea of a decisive victory or lasting peace grows distant. National unity is not a thing that happens by accident; it is built slowly, brick by brick, on a foundation of shared memory and collective purpose. In Bangladesh, a nation that rose from the ashes of a brutal war, this unity is the most valuable asset the state possesses. Yet, today, we are witnessing a strange and dangerous phenomenon: a deliberate pivoting of foreign policy towards Pakistan that threatens to undo fifty years of social cohesion. This is not just about diplomats shaking hands or signing trade deals; it is about the internal soul of the country. When a government decides to embrace the very state that tried to erase its people, it drives a wedge right through the heart of the society. To understand why this fractures the nation, one must look at the sheer scale of the history being ignored. In 1971, the Pakistani military launched Operation Searchlight, a campaign of calculated slaughter that resulted in the deaths of three million Bengalis. This is not a statistic that can be filed away; it is a lived reality for millions of families who still carry the scars. By warming up to Islamabad now, without any apology for these crimes, the government is telling the majority of its population that their pain does not matter. The families of the freedom fighters, the intellectuals who were dragged from their homes and killed just two days before victory, the women who survived the camps; they are all being alienated. You cannot build a unified nation when the government is actively disrespecting the foundational trauma of its people. It creates a situation where the state is pulling in one direction, towards a revisionist friendship with Pakistan, while the people are pulling in the other, towards the truth of their history. This fracture is not just emotional; it has hard, practical consequences for Bangladeshs global standing. For the last decade, Bangladesh has carefully built a brand as a rising, secular democracy; a stability anchor in a chaotic region. This reputation has attracted billions in investment from Japan, the European Union, and the United States. These partners put their money in Dhaka because they see it as distinct from the instability of its neighbours. But now, by aligning with Pakistan, a country that is currently surviving on yet another IMF bailout, Bangladesh risks tainting its own brand. Pakistan is frequently associated with the financing of non-state actors and with a foreign policy that relies on proxy wars. If Dhaka is seen as moving into Islamabads orbit, global investors will start to ask difficult questions. Add Zee News as a Preferred Source They will wonder if the stability of Bangladesh is an illusion, and they might decide that their capital is safer elsewhere. It is a classic case of bad company ruining a good reputation, and for a country that relies heavily on exports and foreign investment, this is a risk that is simply too high to take. Furthermore, this policy exposes Bangladesh to external pressures that it has successfully avoided for a long time. Pakistans history is defined by its conflicts with India, with Afghanistan, and with its own internal militants. By getting closer to Pakistan, Bangladesh effectively invites these conflicts to its own doorstep. We have seen, in the past, how diplomatic missions can be used as covers for other activities, for the distribution of counterfeit currency, or for the support of radical groups. Opening the door to Islamabad means opening the door to these risks. It means that the security forces in Bangladesh, who should be focused on protecting the citizens, will have to spend their resources monitoring the activities of their new "friends". This diverts attention and resources away from the real development goals of the country. It entangles Bangladesh in the complex and often violent security architecture of South Asia; instead of allowing it to remain a neutral; trade-focused nation. There is also the issue of the message this sends to the younger generation. For years, the youth of Bangladesh have been taught that their country fought for the right to speak their own language and to govern themselves. They have been raised on the stories of the Mukti Bahini and the sacrifices of 1971. When they see their leaders courting the successors of the oppressive regime, it creates a deep cynicism. It suggests that principles are for sale, and that history is just a tool to be used or discarded when it is convenient. This kind of cynicism is poison for national unity. It makes young people feel disconnected from the state and less willing to contribute to the nations future. If the government does not respect the past, why should the youth respect the government? The economic contrast between the two nations makes this pivot even more baffling. Bangladesh has foreign reserves that are the envy of the region; its GDP growth has consistently outpaced its neighbours; and its social indicators, like life expectancy and women's literacy, are miles ahead of Pakistan. Pakistan, by contrast, is struggling to keep the lights on; quite literally. Why would a successful, rising nation want to tie itself to a failing state? It is like a successful business owner deciding to take advice from a bankrupt competitor. There is nothing to be gained here; no technology transfer, no significant investment capital, no lesson in governance. The only thing Pakistan can export to Bangladesh is its ideology of instability, and that is the last thing Dhaka needs. In the end, national unity is the only thing that will protect Bangladesh in a volatile world. But unity requires consistency. You cannot ask people to be patriotic and then embrace the country that tried to destroy the nation. You cannot promise stability and then import the politics of chaos. The government needs to realize that this pro-Pakistan tilt is not just a foreign policy mistake; it is a domestic disaster waiting to happen. It is fracturing the consensus that holds the country together, and once that consensus is broken, it is very, very hard to fix. The path forward must be one of strategic autonomy; standing tall on the global stage; not as a partner to a failing regime, but as a proud, independent nation that knows its own worth; and honours its own history. ALSO READ | Who was CJ Roy? Confident Group chairman found dead in Bengaluru; suicide suspected Nikita Bier, the Head of Product at X (formerly Twitter), has accused the Chinese government of using "pornographic spam" to drown out real-time information on the platform during times of political unrest. The allegations come as users report major disruptions to the platforms search function, especially concerning Chinese-language content and news about regional protests. Disrupting the information flow Add Zee News as a Preferred Source Bier addressed the problem directly in response to growing user frustration over "broken" search results. He stated that the flood of explicit content is a tactic by Beijing to stop citizens from getting uncensored updates. "The Chinese government floods X search results with porn whenever there is political unrest to prevent their citizens from finding out real-time information," Bier said. He recognised the technical challenges this campaign has caused for the platform and added, "This has been a difficult problem to solve, but we are aware and working on it." Chinese search on X is broken. Its filled with spam and illicit ads, making it impossible to find useful info. Also, when using the 'from:' filter to search my own posts, many from the last 48 hours are missing from the results. Given the surge in Chinese-speaking users, (@fxtrader) January 30, 2026 Users report 'impossible' search conditions The controversy began when an X user tagged both Bier and Elon Musk, describing a total breakdown of the platform's search system. The user mentioned that Chinese-language searches are currently "filled with spam and illicit ads," making it nearly impossible to find trustworthy information or even see recent posts. The user warned that the rise in Chinese-speaking users makes fixing these indexing and spam issues an "urgent matter" for keeping users. Scepticism and backlash follow allegations Biers comments have sparked mixed reactions from the global community. While some users compared the alleged bot activity to "digital book burning," others quickly asked for proof. Supporters: Many users shared concerns about the sophistication of the bot networks. One commenter pointed out that mobilising millions of accounts to clutter results is like "burying scholars" in the modern age. Critics: Other responses sharply challenged Biers claims. A Chinese journalist rejected his narrative, labelling the accusations as "B.S." and arguing that the actual issue is the "shadowbanning" of genuine Chinese accounts on the platform. As of press time, X has not provided technical data or a formal report to support the connection between the spam surge and Chinese state actors. ALSO READ | Pakistan: Multiple casualties as Baloch separatists launch coordinated attacks across Balochistan Reports of armed confrontations, blasts and assaults on security facilities surfaced from several districts of Balochistan early Saturday, soon after the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) declared it had initiated the second phase of "Operation Herof", according to a report by The Balochistan Post (TBP). The outfit had earlier stated briefly that the new phase was being launched to "protect the motherland." Residents described the security environment as extremely tense in Quetta, Nushki, Kalat, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kharan, Gwadar, Pasni, Tump, Buleda and Dhadar, with reports of intense gunfire, explosions and assaults on police and military locations, TBP reported. In Quetta, residents reported firing and explosions in multiple areas, including the highly sensitive Red Zone. On Sariab Road, armed attackers targeted a police mobile, killing two personnel and torching the vehicle, residents said. Gunfire was also reported from the direction of the railway station. Separate visuals circulating from Quetta showed a Pakistani forces' vehicle destroyed. In Nushki, heavy firing was heard near the Central Jail. Some unverified local reports claimed BLA fighters had seized control of sections of the facility. Confrontations were also reported near the Frontier Corps headquarters in Nushki, where residents described hours of continuous firing and explosions. Sources said the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) office had also been taken over and several personnel detained, as cited by the TBP report. Dozens of armed individuals reportedly entered Dhadar city and assaulted police positions, setting multiple police vehicles ablaze. Local sources said several officers were injured. In Kalat, an explosion struck the main gate of a forces' camp. Residents said a vehicle loaded with explosives was used to breach the installation, adding that armed clashes were ongoing. Gunfire and explosions were also reported in Dalbandin, where locals said confrontations took place near military facilities, TBP reported. Similar accounts of armed activity and explosions were received from Kharan, Pasni, Gwadar, Tump and Buleda. The scale of the clashes remained unclear at the time of publication. In a new statement sent to media outlets, the BLA said it had launched "simultaneous, coordinated attacks" in Quetta, Nushki, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kalat, Kharan, Gwadar, Pasni, Tump and Buleda as part of the second phase of "Operation Herof", as noted by the TBP report. BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the group had targeted "military and administrative structures," restricted the movement of "enemy forces" and "pushed back" troops in several areas. The statement said "Fidayeen attacks" were carried out against army and ISI camps in Quetta, Pasni, Gwadar, Noshki and Dalbandin, claiming that the group's Majeed Brigade had "successfully entered army camps and captured large sections of them," with "intense fighting" continuing. It said attacks along the Coastal Highway had disrupted military logistics, adding that BLA units, including the Fateh Squad, the Majeed Brigade, the intelligence wing ZIRAB and the Special Tactical Operations Squad (STOS) were operating jointly across different districts. The BLA said "dozens" of military personnel had been "neutralised" so far, adding that more details would be released to the media soon, TBP report highlighted. In a separate message released through the BLA's media wing, Hakkal, the group's commander-in-chief Bashir Zeb Baloch, urged the Baloch public to "come out of their homes and fight against Pakistani forces." "This struggle does not belong to any single individual but to collective consciousness," he said. "When a nation stands united, the enemy cannot avoid defeat despite its power. The Baloch nation is urged to step out and become part of Operation Herof", as cited by the TBP report. (ANI) Scores of displaced people from the Tirah Valley held a protest in Bara on Friday over delays in the payment of transport fares, amid reports that the number of arriving families had dropped sharply, according to a report by Dawn. Irate demonstrators began throwing stones at the gates of the Alamgudar Registration Centre after running out of patience due to the slow pace of cash disbursement. They said Friday saw a surge of displaced families at the Alamgudar Centre, as they were keen to receive the assured transport fare, while staff struggled to manage the heavy influx of newly arrived internally displaced persons. Turab Ali, a resident of Sipah, said most displaced families had already endured serious difficulties while travelling from Tirah to Bara in severe cold and could not tolerate any further delay in receiving money after reaching Bara. Lal Zamir, another newly arrived resident from Tirah, said the registration centre staff kept IDPs waiting for long periods without any "valid" reason, prompting many frustrated people to protest by pelting stones at the centre's main gate and several official vehicles parked outside, Dawn reported. The centre was closed later in the evening, with the district administration deciding to announce a revised schedule for cash distribution among tribesmen from Tirah to avoid overcrowding and mismanagement. They said that although the administration had opened four points in Bara last week to facilitate newly arrived Tirah IDPs, cash distribution was being carried out only at the Alamgudar Centre, leading to a buildup of impatient displaced persons. The other centres in Shalobar, Malakdinkhel and Qambarabad remained relatively empty due to a decline in IDP arrivals from Tirah, as cited by the Dawn report. The inflow of fresh IDPs from Tirah had slowed significantly after the district administration suspended the evacuation on Jan 23, when heavy snowfall hit most parts of the valley, making travel on slippery roads almost impossible. Members of a 24-member Tirah Jirga were also advising remaining residents against leaving their homes due to both harsh weather conditions and confusion created by statements from federal ministers regarding a "military operation" against militants in the valley, Dawn reported. The district administration has not announced a new date for the evacuation from Tirah to resume. Only a few families reached Bara on Thursday and Friday following an improvement in weather conditions. Meanwhile, officials in Bara said that 13,725 families, comprising nearly 70,000 individuals, had arrived in Bara from various parts of Tirah since the evacuation began in late December, as reported by Dawn. They added that all those families were issued mobile SIM cards after completing biometric verification at Paindi Cheena and three other registration centres in Bara. Officials said the remaining families would be registered upon arrival in Bara over the coming days, Dawn reported. (ANI) Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Araghchi said that Iran is protecting peace and stability in the region. In a post on X, he said, "Always pleased to engage with President Erdogan and FM Fidan on Iran-Turkiye bilateral relations and regional issues of common concern. In our conversations, I reiterated that Iran has never sought nuclear weapons and is ready to embrace a fair and equitable nuclear deal that meets the legitimate interests of our people; this includes ensuring 'No Nuclear Weapons' and guaranteeing the lifting of sanctions. Along with other brotherly neighbors, Turkiye has extended its good offices in pursuit of peace and stability in the region. The Islamic Republic of Iran is grateful for such efforts and welcomes them. Iran always stands ready to engage with regional states to protect peace and stability in our region and shield it from unlawful aggression," he said. https://x.com/araghchi/status/2017458448514884081?s=20 Araghchi said that Iran is ready for "fair and equitable" talks with the United States amid soaring tensions, as US President Donald Trump refused to rule out taking military action against Tehran, Al Jazeera reported. On a visit to Turkiye on Friday, Araghchi told reporters that, "Iran has no problem with negotiations, but negotiations cannot take place under the shadow of threats". "I should also state unequivocally that Iran's defensive and missile capabilities - and Iran's missiles - will never be the subject of any negotiations," Araghchi said during a news conference alongside his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. "The security of the Iranian people is no one else's business, and we will preserve and expand our defensive capabilities to whatever extent is necessary to defend the country," Al Jazeera quoted him as saying. Tensions have been rising for weeks between Tehran and Washington amid Trump's repeated threats to attack Iran over a recent crackdown on anti-government protests and his push to obliterate the Iranian nuclear programme. (ANI) The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday dismissed the references made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel in 2017 in an email that is purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files. The MEA dubbed the reference as the trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal. "We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel. Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister's official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Earlier, the Congress party had sought to raise the issue of the Prime Minister being named in a purported email that is part of the documents released from the Epstein estate "That India's PM could have a proximity to such a disgraced figure raises serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety. It is now clear that the Prime Minister had a direct unexplained association with Jeffery Epstein whose infamous list of elite clients has wreaked havoc ever since the Epstein files began to be released," alleged Congress leader Pawan Khera. The US Department of Justice on Friday (local time) released a major batch of investigative material linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, making public more than three million pages of records along with over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images. Announcing the disclosures at a news conference, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the release fulfils a transparency mandate passed by Congress last year. "Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act," Blanche said. Epstein died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. He had earlier served 13 months in custody in Florida following a controversial plea deal in 2008. (ANI) Junaid Qureshi, Director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), has received a direct death threat from The Resistance Front (TRF), a terror outfit identified as an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, even as he asserted that intimidation will not silence his voice against terrorism. The threat, intercepted on the encrypted messaging platform Element X, explicitly stated that the group "will not hesitate in eliminating" him, marking a departure from routine warnings aimed at forcing ideological compliance. "I am not afraid of these threats. What I write, I will keep writing. What I say, I will keep saying. If the result is death, it is in the hands of God," said Junaid Qureshi. Qureshi warned that Pakistan continues to rely on terror proxies to destabilise Kashmir while attempting to shift blame onto local populations. He said recent attacks, including in Delhi, were part of an effort to create the impression that Kashmiris, and not Pakistan-backed groups, are responsible for terrorism. He described the growing use of educated professionals in terror networks as a deliberate narrative tactic. "The idea that education or a stable job prevents radicalisation is false. Radicalisation may take longer, but it eventually happens," he said, citing global terror figures who were well-educated and economically privileged. Highlighting the drug menace in Kashmir and Punjab, Qureshi said narcotics are being used as a currency to fund terrorism in conflict zones. He termed this phenomenon narco-terrorism, adding that digital tools and alternative financial channels are now being used to sustain terror operations. Qureshi noted that banned terror outfits continue to reinvent themselves under new names, pointing to TRF as a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot that has already been designated by India and the United States. He warned that sleeper cells pose a significant challenge, as individuals can lead normal lives while receiving online training and carrying out attacks discreetly. "This model is far more dangerous than traditional infiltration," he said. Despite the risks, Qureshi said he would continue his work without compromise. "Speaking the truth is my responsibility. Silence only helps extremism," he said. (ANI) The Baloch Liberation Army said on Saturday that under the second phase of Operation Herof, it carried out coordinated attacks at 48 different locations across 14 cities in Balochistan, where strong control by BLA fighters has remained in place for the past ten hours. The statement said, "In Quetta, Noshki, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kalat, Kharan, Panjgur, Gwadar, Pasni, Turbat, Tump, Buleda, Mangochar, Lasbela, Kech and Awaran, the enemy's military, administrative and security structures were simultaneously targeted. During this operation, a total of 84 occupying Pakistani army personnel, police, intelligence agencies, and CTD personnel were neutralized dozens were wounded and 18 personnel were captured alive and are currently in BLA custody. BLA fighters successfully took control of multiple enemy posts, including the central military headquarters and continue to hold strong positions at these locations. Enemy movement has been severely restricted across various cities, while Baloch fighters have consolidated their presence at key points". It further noted that during the operation, more than 30 government properties were taken under control and destroyed, including banks, government offices and prisons. In addition, more than 23 "enemy" vehicles were set on fire. "Due to direct pressure on administrative structures in multiple cities, the enemy's routine operations and decision-making processes have been paralysed, while in urban areas, enemy army and police forces were forced to retreat and adopt defensive positions," the statement said. It added, "During these operations, seven BLA freedom fighters were martyred, including four Fidayeen of BLA's elite unit Majeed Brigade after entering enemy camps and targeting enemy forces. As a result of the sacrifices of these martyrs, control was gained over large sections of sensitive enemy military installations, where positions were consolidated following intense battles. These sacrifices played a crucial role in sustaining the momentum and impact of operation. " The statement said that in Operation Herof 2.0, multiple units of the Baloch Liberation Army are participating in an organised and coordinated manner. "Fateh Squad, the Majeed Brigade, intelligence wing " ZIRAB", and STOS are advancing across various cities and areas with mutual coordination, placing multiple enemy structures under simultaneous pressure." According to the statement, it has received public support and noted that popular unity has been a key factor in sustaining the operation. The statement, based on initial details, said that Operation Herof Phase II is continuing and expects that figures on the ground will increase as the situation evolves. "This statement is based on initial details. Operation Herof Phase II is ongoing across different parts of Balochistan at the time of writing, and further increases in figures are expected as the ground situation evolves. Final details, losses and other aspects of the operation will be released to the media at an appropriate time. Across Balochistan, strong control by BLA freedom fighters remains in place and operations against the enemy will continue", the statement by Jeeyand Baloch, spokesperson for the Baloch Liberation Army, said. (ANI) According to Fars, citing provincial crisis management officials, emergency and operational teams were dispatched immediately after the explosion, and the injured were transferred to medical centres. As per Fars, the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. CNN reported that a US official told CNN the explosion was not related to any US military action, and an Israeli official said Israel was not involved either. The blast comes amid heightened tensions in the region after US President Trump hinted warned towards a possible military action against Iran. Further details are awaited. (ANI) The Tibetan community living in exile is preparing for the first phase of elections to choose the Sikyong (President) and members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, scheduled to be held on February 1. Termed a "unique election" by the Tibetan Election Commission, the voting process will take place simultaneously in 27 countries across the world, involving more than 91,000 registered Tibetan voters. Speaking to ANI, Chief Election Commissioner of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Lobsang Yeshi, said the elections are unique not only for their global scale but also because they are not intended to govern a nation in the conventional sense. "We are not electing political leaders for the governance of a nation, but representatives who can lead the struggle for the freedom of Tibet," he said. According to the Election Commission, more than 80 regional election commissioners have been appointed, and nearly 309 polling booths have been set up worldwide. Around 1,800 personnel, including election officials, observers, and volunteers, have been deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls. The number of candidates is yet to be finalised, as this is a preliminary round. The final phase of elections is scheduled for April 26, 2026. Yeshi also said that the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, may cast his vote in South India, where he is currently residing. "We are not very sure at the moment, but in the past, His Holiness has participated in the elections. We will provide instructions to regional election commissioners to make special arrangements if required," he added. Addressing concerns about potential interference, Yeshi said that while China had attempted to influence the process in the past, those efforts had failed. "They have tried earlier and failed, and we are confident that this time too the elections will be held smoothly," he said, adding that some polling booths in politically sensitive countries have been marked as sensitive due to external pressures. Exiled Tibetans expressed pride and enthusiasm ahead of the polls. Environmentalist Tempa Gyaltsen said the elections demonstrate the strength of Tibetan democracy despite decades of exile. "One-day elections will happen in 27 countries across the globe. We are ahead of China when it comes to democracy, people's rights, and freedom," he told ANI. Another exiled Tibetan, Thubten, working with the CTA's finance department, said the election sends a strong message to Beijing. "People inside Tibet do not have the right to decide their own future. The democratic process we follow here shows that the CTA is the genuine and legitimate representative of the Tibetan people inside and outside Tibet," he said. He added that despite attempts to suppress voices within Tibet, the people's allegiance remains with the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration. "Their hearts and minds will always be with His Holiness and the leadership in exile," he said. The Tibetan Election Commission reiterated that the election symbolises the continued aspirations of the Tibetan people and their commitment to democratic values, even as they live in exile worldwide. (ANI) India and Arab States held the 4th Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum, where senior officials from both sides reviewed progress across multiple sectors of cooperation and identified new areas of engagement that were placed before the Second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in the national capital. In a post on X, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the meeting, held on Saturday in the national capital, was co-chaired by Secretary (South) in the MEA, Neena Malhotra, and the Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the League of Arab States, Ambassador Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi. During the SOM, the two sides reviewed the status of ongoing cooperation under the India-Arab Partnership, discussed implementation mechanisms, and deliberated on expanding collaboration in emerging priority areas. "The SOM reviewed progress on various sectors of cooperation of India Arab Partnership and identified newer areas of engagement and implementation mechanisms for presentation to the Second India Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting," the MEA post read. The SOM discussions took place on the same day as the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. EAM Jaishankar said during the meeting that India places high importance on its ties with the Arab world, highlighting cooperation in trade, energy, emerging technologies, connectivity, and people-to-people relations. He also underscored the common threat of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, reiterating zero tolerance towards terrorism, and pointed to avenues for deeper engagement in business, skilling, innovation, and artificial intelligence. The External Affairs Minister, in a post on X, further highlighted the importance of sharing best practices in digital governance, supporting capacity-building initiatives, and strengthening cultural cooperation rooted in historic civilisational linkages. "Underlined the importance India places on its ties with the Arab world. Highlighted: The significance of our cooperation in trade, energy, emerging technologies, connectivity and people to people ties. The common threat of terrorism in all forms and manifestations; as well displaying zero tolerance towards it. Avenues for deeper engagement in business, skilling, innovation and AI. Sharing best practices including in digital governance and support for capacity building. The importance of closer cultural cooperation building upon our historic linkages," the EAM's post read. Following the meeting, India and the League of Arab States adopted the Delhi Declaration and the Executive Programme for 2026-28, which, according to the EAM, "will go a long way in strengthening India-Arab partnership." According to the 'New Delhi Declaration', both sides reaffirmed a "zero tolerance" approach to terrorism and called for an urgent overhaul of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to reflect contemporary global realities. Both sides have agreed to significantly deepen their strategic partnership under the Executive Program, with an ambitious target of doubling bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030, up from the current level of USD 240 billion. (ANI) A federal jury in San Francisco has found a former Google software engineer guilty of economic espionage and stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets, marking the first US conviction tied directly to AI technology theft. The verdict came after an 11-day trial and centers on claims that the engineer took sensitive Google data to benefit Chinese companies. The jury ruled Thursday that Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, committed seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors said Ding stole thousands of pages of confidential Google documents while working at the company. Authorities say the information was taken to help China gain an edge in the fast-moving AI race. "In today's high-stakes race to dominate the field of artificial intelligence, Linwei Ding betrayed both the US and his employer," said Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI's espionage unit, NY Post reported. He added that the stolen data involved Google's advanced AI technology. According to the Justice Department, Ding worked at Google from 2019 and began taking files between May 2022 and April 2023. He uploaded more than 2,000 pages of secret material to his personal Google Cloud account. Less than two weeks before leaving Google in December 2023, he also downloaded the files onto his personal computer, court records show. Former Google Engineer Found Guilty of Economic Espionage and Theft of Confidential AI Technology https://t.co/RZcsxwdDoV@FBISanFrancisco pic.twitter.com/Ey5oskdACU FBI (@FBI) January 30, 2026 Ex-Google Engineer Worked With Chinese Tech Firms Prosecutors said Ding secretly worked with two Chinese technology firms during this time. He was also in talks to become a chief technology officer for a China-based company and was planning his own startup. In messages to potential investors, Ding claimed he could build an AI supercomputer using the stolen information, according to the Justice Department. The stolen documents included details about Google's Tensor Processing Unit chips and its SmartNIC network card. Officials said this technology helps train large AI models and gives Google an advantage over rivals like Amazon and Microsoft. "This case involved some of the most advanced AI technology in the world at a critical moment in AI development," said Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg. According to SCMP, Ding now faces serious penalties. Each economic espionage charge carries a possible 15-year prison sentence, while each trade secrets charge can lead to up to 10 years behind bars. Fines could also reach millions of dollars. A status conference is scheduled for February 3. Ding's attorney argued that Google failed to properly protect its information, saying the documents should not count as trade secrets. The jury rejected that claim. Originally published on vcpost.com Toyama, Jan 31 (News On Japan) - A yellow, diamond-shaped sign depicting a cane-carrying elderly woman has drawn attention online as a rare and mysterious road sign, only for it to emerge that even local authorities have no record of who installed it and say it is not an official traffic sign. The unusual sign, which appears to show an elderly woman attempting to cross the road, was spotted on a municipal street in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, and has been described on social media as extremely rare. Closer inspection shows that while the sign resembles an official warning sign used to alert drivers to potential hazards, its design does not match any symbol authorized under Japans road traffic regulations. Mayu Kuroda, a road sign enthusiast who posted the image on social media, said the post had been viewed more than 580,000 times. Ive seen many types of pedestrian crossing and caution signs before, but this is the first time Ive ever seen one with an elderly woman illustrated on it. I thought it was extremely rare, Kuroda said. She has previously traveled to around 100 locations in Japan and overseas to photograph unusual road signs. Seeking clues to the signs origin, reporters spoke with a woman who had operated a nearby shop until about two years ago. She recalled that a similar sign may have stood slightly further forward and suggested it could be linked to a welfare facility that once operated nearby, possibly to help elderly residents crossing the road to shop. However, a representative of the former welfare facility said they had no knowledge of when, how, or by whom the sign was installed. Takaoka city officials responsible for road management also said they were unaware of the signs origin. Shinichi Nakazawa, head of the citys civil engineering maintenance division, explained that warning signs are strictly defined by law. The types of warning signs are set by regulation, and there is no officially recognized warning sign depicting elderly people. That means this is not a formal traffic sign, and there is no record of its installation. We do not know who put it up, Nakazawa said. Legal experts warn that installing such signs without authorization could be illegal. Lawyer Takashi Matsukuma of Hashimoto Sogo Law Office noted that only road administrators, such as local governments, and public safety commissions are permitted to install traffic signs on public roads. Even if the intention was well-meaning, placing something similar without permission is highly likely to be unlawful, he said. If deemed a violation, penalties could include a custodial sentence of six months or more or a fine of up to 100,000 yen. Takaoka city has said it is unlikely the sign was officially installed by the municipality and plans to investigate its origins further. Source: FNN TOKYO, Feb 01 (News On Japan) - Even as they continue working, a growing number of people in non-regular employment are unable to escape poverty, widening inequality across Japan and raising questions over whether politics has truly confronted the problem head-on. At the end of the year in Tokyos Ikebukuro district, where temperatures had fallen below seasonal averages, a noticeable change was seen at a food distribution event for people struggling to make ends meet. I work in construction, but because I dont have enough money, I often rely on soup kitchens, one man said quietly. Although he had a job, he was among a rising number of people who cannot survive on their income alone. After the New Year, a weekly food distribution held in front of a station drew a record 962 people. Many of those lining up were non-regular workers. Organizers said they were seeing more people who had been just barely managing but were now unable to cope as prices continued to rise. How to deal with higher prices and how to deliver support quickly is an urgent issue, one staff member said. According to available data, the number of non-regular workers who remain in financial hardship despite working has reached 8.9 million. The poverty of non-regular workers is becoming a defining feature of Japans widening inequality. Todays non-regular workers in Japan can fairly be described as an underclass, one expert said. Japanese society is in a truly critical state. A 55-year-old man living in Fukuoka Prefecture knows this reality firsthand. He had been earning about 140,000 yen a month as a non-regular employee before his contract was terminated in June last year. Since then, he has survived on part-time work at a bread factory earning 8,000 yen a day. Unable to pay repair costs, his bathroom has gone largely unused and now serves as a place to hang laundry. He bathes at a public bathhouse three times a week. Inside his refrigerator are discounted items marked with half-price stickers. He has about 3,000 yen in cash, a total of just over 4,000 yen on hand, and a bank balance of 589 yen. Until my next paycheck comes in, I have no choice but to scrape by, he said. His struggles began during his job-hunting days as a university student in the mid-1990s, when companies sharply reduced hiring after the burst of the bubble economy. He failed more than 60 job applications by the time he completed graduate school. He eventually joined a company but quit at age 40 due to power harassment and what he described as a rigid corporate culture. Since then, he has moved from one non-regular job to another. I wonder if this poverty will just continue, he said. Thinking about having to keep living like this makes me feel faint. Single and approaching old age, he worries about the future. I cant get married because Im poor, he said. Theres no family to take care of me. I worry Ill just die quietly one day without anyone noticing. Kenji Hashimoto, a professor at Waseda University who analyzes inequality using data, warns that Japans workforce is effectively being split into two groups. Excluding part-time workers supported by a spouses stable income, the number of non-regular workers now stands at about 8.9 million, roughly one in seven people in the labor force. Hashimoto refers to this group as the underclass. In principle, the working class should earn enough to form families and raise children, he said. But most non-regular workers today do not earn such wages. As a result, the majority remain unmarried because they cannot afford marriage or child-rearing. This is fundamentally different from past forms of labor. Hashimotos research shows that the average annual income of underclass workers under age 59 is about 2.16 million yen, less than half that of regular employees. No matter how hard they work, escaping poverty is difficult, and inequality tends to become entrenched. As this group grows larger, he warns, social cohesion erodes. In a society with widening inequality, solidarity disappears, hostility increases, and people stop helping one another. Society as a whole becomes sick. The impact is also visible among families. At a childrens cafeteria that provides free breakfasts every Wednesday, a woman in her 30s raising two children alone said the support was invaluable. She divorced her husband, who had been a regular employee, last year. While life had been comfortable before, it became difficult almost overnight after the divorce. Working from home on outsourced jobs while caring for her children, she earns up to 150,000 yen a month at best, with some months bringing no income at all. Rising food prices have forced her to rely on food banks. Although she receives some child support and public assistance, unstable income remains her greatest concern. Despite applying for more than 20 full-time positions, she has not been hired, often feeling that being a single mother works against her in interviews. Another woman, now in her 50s, still keeps a letter written by her child more than a decade ago thanking her for working so hard. After divorcing in her 30s due to domestic violence, she developed PTSD and depression and left her full-time job. She later worked short-term positions and even night shifts at a snack bar to support her children. Although she eventually obtained social welfare qualifications and increased her annual income to just under 2 million yen, she still sends more than 1 million yen a year to support her children in university and continues to rely on sex work during periods of heavy expenses. Sometimes I think it would be fine if I just quietly died one day, she said, adding that she no longer expects much from politics. A large-scale survey conducted by Hashimoto in 2022 found that the voices of the underclass rarely reach the political system. Many lack the time or energy to engage in politics, and voter turnout among them is low. By contrast, a small but affluent group that opposes income redistribution and accepts inequality tends to vote consistently and wields disproportionate political influence. Some companies have begun addressing inequality on their own. Aeon Retail, which employs more than 90,000 non-regular workers, has introduced a system allowing experienced non-regular employees to gain equal treatment with regular staff or transition to full-time status after passing exams. So far, 350 workers have qualified. One single mother working in a liquor section said her income had increased by about 1.5 times, allowing her to take out a car loan for her son, something she could not have done before. Experts warn, however, that relying on isolated corporate efforts is not enough. Kohei Komamura, a professor specializing in social security, cautions that postponing decisive action will only deepen dissatisfaction and anxiety, potentially fueling populist politics and creating a vicious cycle of instability. As political parties promote measures such as equal pay for equal work and higher minimum wages, the question remains whether politics can finally confront inequality in a sustained and meaningful way. For years, non-regular work was framed as a personal choice, Hashimoto said. But surveys show that more than 70 percent of those labeled freeters actually wanted regular jobs. Leaving this issue unaddressed for so long is a major political failure. With Japans economic growth slowing, the population shrinking, and inequality deepening, experts argue that neither quick fixes nor complacency will restore stability. They say politicians must focus on balancing interests and maintaining social cohesion, while voters themselves must face reality and engage rather than leaving politics to others. Source: TBS TOKYO, Feb 01 (News On Japan) - With eight days remaining until votes are cast in the House of Representatives election, concerns are mounting over future strains on Japans power supply, prompting renewed attention to how political parties position their energy policies, particularly on nuclear power. About an hours drive from central Tokyo, the cityscape of Inzai in Chiba Prefecture has been rapidly transformed, as rows of gray, box-like buildings dominate what was once a quiet residential area, housing data centers that support internet servers and AI computing. These buildings werent here before. Everything has completely changed, a local resident said, reflecting unease at the pace of development. Around 30 data centers operated by companies including Google and Amazon are now clustered in the city, and their rapid expansion is reshaping Japans energy outlook. According to Atsushi Sakurai, head of KDDIs service platform planning office, data centers and servers consume enormous amounts of electricity, making power supply a growing challenge. The facilities require large amounts of electricity for cooling alone, with a single data center consuming as much power as up to 12,000 households, while further expansion of AI is expected to push overall electricity demand up by as much as 20% over the next two decades. Against this backdrop, political parties are sharpening their positions. The Liberal Democratic Party has reiterated its stance on promoting nuclear power, saying it will continue to restart reactors with the understanding of local communities, while Nippon Ishin no Kai has also voiced strong support for reactor restarts. In addition to the ruling parties, the Democratic Party for the People, Sanseito, the Conservative Party of Japan, and Mirai have all argued that nuclear power remains essential. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which previously called for a nuclear-free Japan, has shifted its position after merging with Komeito to form a centrist reform alliance, now allowing reactor restarts under strict conditions. Party officials stressed that the requirement for effective evacuation plans remains unchanged, but critics say the revised wording effectively opens the door to restarts. Public confidence in power utilities, however, has been shaken. Fifteen years after the Fukushima nuclear accident, Tokyo Electric Power Company restarted the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant earlier this month, only to suspend operations again after a malfunction occurred five hours later. In another case, Chubu Electric Power admitted to falsifying data during the screening process for restarting the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, prompting its president Shingo Hayashi to issue a public apology. The Japanese Communist Party has taken a firm stance against nuclear power, pledging to oppose restarts and new construction while aiming for a nuclear-free Japan, a position echoed by Reiwa Shinsengumi, the Social Democratic Party, and Yukoku, all of which advocate the expansion of renewable energy. Yet renewables face their own hurdles, as rising material costs have forced major companies to withdraw from offshore wind projects, while solar power developments have increasingly run into environmental concerns. As energy policy becomes ever more closely tied to daily life, voters are being asked to weigh difficult trade-offs between nuclear power, renewable energy, and the growing electricity demands driven by AI. Source: TBS LONDON, Feb 01 (News On Japan) - The SAMURAI exhibition, which opens at the British Museum in London next month, traces the roles, traditions, and rise and fall of the warrior class through around 280 objects, including a suit of armor presented by the Tokugawa family to Queen Victoria in 1860. Alongside historical artifacts, the exhibition also features contemporary artworks inspired by samurai culture, showing how samurai ideals and aesthetics continue to influence people around the world today. Explanations are also provided on how samurai culture shaped modern popular media, including the character designs of the American film series Star Wars. Curator Rosina Buckland said interest in the samurai has endured globally, adding that while the fascination is widespread both inside and outside Japan, the many different roles samurai played throughout history are still not well understood overseas, and the exhibition aims to address that gap. The special exhibition runs from February 3 through May 4. Source: TBS Once again, Moroccan expertise stands out on the international stage in the fight against cross-border terrorism. On Friday, January 30, 2026, Austrian authorities arrested a national suspected of links to the ISIS group and of planning imminent attacks in Austria. This major operation was made possible thanks to the direct and decisive security support of Moroccos General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST). Austrias Ministry of the Interior, through its senior officials, including the State Secretary in charge of protecting the Constitution, Jorg Leichtfried, and the Director General of Public Security, Franz Ruf, officially praised the crucial and determined role of Moroccan intelligence services, whose contribution helped neutralize a concrete threat, particularly targeting law enforcement forces in Austria. The Ministry of the Interior also emphasized, in a statement relayed by the Austrian press, that cooperation between the Austrian Directorate for State Protection and Intelligence (DSN) and the DGST was particularly decisive for the success of the investigations, highlighting the importance of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The investigation revealed the existence of advanced terrorist plots, supported by the seizure of electronic media containing jihadist propaganda and a video pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. Austrian authorities indicated that the analysis of the seized material is ongoing and that the investigations are still underway. This fruitful cooperation between Austrias DSN and the DGST highlights Moroccos position as a key and reliable strategic partner for global stability. As digital data analysis continues, this new success confirms the effectiveness of Moroccos proactive approach, which has become an essential bulwark against the expansion of extremist networks in Europe and beyond. This week, the World Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation announced that they will funnel tens of millions of dollars into the budding African solar power sector. The two major global funding bodies are investing in non-profit organizations across the African continent to expand solar power projects with the tandem goal of helping to boost the agricultural sector through solar-powered technologies. The initiative will support the rollout of solar-powered cold storage facilities, refrigerators, water pumps and grain mills in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Business Insider reports. The move comes at a pivotal time for Africa, which is facing skyrocketing population growth and therefore huge increases in demand for both energy and food. It also comes at a time when the African solar sector is just starting to take off. Thanks to its sunny skies and large tracts of undeveloped land, the continent boasts 60 percent of the planets best solar power potential, but generates just 2 percent of its electricity from solar. However, falling hardware prices and rising efficiency have led to a boom in microsolar projects across the continent, according to a recent report from Semafor. A flood of cheap solar panels from China has enabled a renewable revolution in Africa, with the continents solar panel imports nearly tripling over the last two years. The growing affordability of this solution is proving pivotal to Africas ability to leapfrog over fossil fuels and straight to economic development powered by clean energy. In order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change on a global scale, all nations rich and poor need to undertake the costly and difficult process of transitioning their economies toward low- and zero- emissions energy sources. But some countries including many in Africa are still concerned about developing their economies at any cost, with little to no bandwidth or budget to consider making sure that such a development is just and eco-friendly. Moreover, in a cruel irony, many of the poorest nations in the world will experience climate change earliest and most catastrophically, all while having contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions. In an attempt to redress some of these imbalances, and to address decarbonization as a problem without borders, rich nations have forged agreements to funnel climate financing to poor nations to advance their clean energy transitions. But many of those promises have been broken, and what has been delivered has, in large part, been too little, too late. Leaders of small island nations in the South Pacific, the most vulnerable countries to climate change, have been outspoken on these injustices. "It is past time for the rich world to meet its obligations and get money to where its needed most, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine told the United Nations General Assembly last September. Weve heard the promises - but promises dont reclaim land in atoll nations like mine." "Those who shoulder the blame must foot the bill," Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka went on to add. However, in Africa, the calculus is complicated. While the continent dearly needs backing to develop massive renewable energy potential, African leaders do not want to fall into a familiar trap, in which the continents riches are exploited and exported to wealthy nations while Africans reap few of the benefits. While Chinese solar panels have helped the African solar sector get off the ground, climate finance initiatives like this one from the World Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation could help fortify local supply chains. In a 2025 report on African-made solar panels, Clean Technica writes that African climate leaders say the continent, which holds more than 30 percent of the worlds critical minerals, should be an industrial actor not an importer in the clean energy transition. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The 56th World Economic Forum, also known as Davos 2026, was held in Switzerland in January, allowing world leaders and business representatives to meet with the aim of shaping global, regional, and industry agendas, with 60 heads of state, more than 400 political leaders, and 830 CEOs and Chairs in attendance this year. This years forum came at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States and its NATO allies, including Canada, Greenland, and Europe. Addressing Global Risks and, to a Lesser Extent, Climate Change Before the event, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published a list of global risks ranked by severity as part of its Global Risks Report 2026. In the short-term (2 years), extreme weather events were ranked forth and pollution came ninth. However, in the long-term, severe weather events came first, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse came second, critical change to earth systems third, natural resource shortages fifth, and pollution tenth. This demonstrates the importance of immediately addressing climate change and the future of global energy. During the conference, several country leaders discussed the climate crisis and the need for investment in renewable energy. Mexicos Environment Minister Alicia Barcena called for an accelerated green energy transition and the expansion of the circular economy, saying that current efforts are not enough to tackle the global climate crisis. We have an urgent need to move faster and on a larger scale, said Barcena. The scale at which we are currently working is insufficient. However, compared to previous years, climate change took somewhat of a back seat, with geopolitical concerns overshadowing the issue. In previous years, world leaders have used Davos as a platform to make national pledges to tackle climate change. However, politicians at the conference this year seemed more concerned about cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and geopolitics, leaving just activists and climate scientists to discuss progress on climate action. The shift away from a focus on climate change reflects the broader shift by multinational corporations that have watered down their decarbonisation pledges in recent years. The leader of the World Economic Forums centre for nature and climate, Sebastian Buckup, stated, The Davos programming is a reflection of what chief executives want to talk about, ultimately. And what CEOs want to discuss has changed. Boosting Energy Security The International Energy Agencys (IEA) Executive Director, Fatih Birol, said at the conference that he had never seen the energy security risks multiplying (like this)... energy security should be elevated to the level of national security. Countries should generate their own energy, which will give a boost to renewables, according to Birol. Birol also raised concerns over the need to expand energy capacity to meet the growing demand for power from data centres and electric vehicles. This could potentially lead countries to rely more heavily on fossil fuels in the coming years. U.S. Oil Push The United States has pursued a national energy policy of fossil fuel expansion over the last year, under the Trump administration, which was reflected in U.S. discourse in Davos. The U.S. Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, stressed that he thought Europe and the U.S. state of California were wasting too much money on green energy investments. Wright also told a panel that global oil production needs to more than double to meet rising energy demand, contrary to IEA advice to reduce production in favour of renewable alternatives and industry predictions of a fossil fuel demand peak within the next two decades. Meanwhile, President Trump said that oil and gas production and a nuclear renaissance were evidence of U.S. energy dominance. Trump criticised Biden-era climate policies as the Green New Scam. He also criticised wind energy for being inefficient and expensive and suggested that Europes reliance on renewables had led it to be less competitive. By contrast, one of Trumps former allies, Elon Musk, said that the U.S. could produce enough solar power to meet all of its electricity needs, including for the rising demand from data centres. This, he said, would depend on the U.S. reducing its trade tariffs. A New Era of Nuclear Power There was a consensus among several world leaders at Davos that nuclear power will play a major role in the future of global clean energy. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted nuclear energys role in lowering prices and cutting dependencies, while U.S. representatives discussed the major investment earmarked for the development of U.S. enriched uranium production, which is expected to reduce reliance on Russia. There was emphasis by several leaders on the need to work together to strengthen countries energy independence through the deployment of nuclear power. Regional and bilateral alliances, such as the EU nuclear alliance, Nordic-Baltic cooperation, renewed Japanese investment, and civil nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and Canada, are expected to enhance cooperation. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Trinidad and Tobago is once again trying to bring its long-idled one-and-only oil refinery back to life, but this time the government is talking to Indian Oil Corp about making it happen. The 165,000-barrel-per-day Guaracara refinery sits in southern Trinidad, near the town of Point-a-Pierre, along the Gulf of Paria and within sight of Venezuelas coast on a clear day. It has been shuttered for yearssince 2018 when the previous government pulled the plug, citing mounting losses, runaway upgrade costs, and a balance sheet that had gone well past the point of salvage. Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal says discussions with Indian Oil Corp are focused on a new commercial structure that could allow at least partial operations to restart by late 2026. That would be a notable shift for a country whose crude output has fallen below 55,000 barrels per day and which has been importing all of its refined fuels since the refinery closed. Guaracara previously processed a mix of African, Russian, and Venezuelan crude, and Moonilal made clear that Venezuelan oil could again be on the table if the plant restarts. That said, Trinidad and Tobagos immediate priority with Caracas is gas, not oil. Trinidad is backing requests by Shell and BP for U.S. authorization to develop cross-border gas fields, including one that extends into Venezuelan waters. Boosting gas supply is critical for keeping the countrys LNG export and downstream petrochemical plants running, many of which have been starved of feedstock. The refinery talks fit into a broader shift in Trinidads energy strategy. The government now prefers direct negotiations over formal bidding rounds for offshore blocks, arguing that the approach is faster and more flexible. Exxon Mobil secured an ultra-deepwater block this way last year, and discussions are ongoing with Chevron and TotalEnergies. None of this guarantees Guaracaras revival. The refinerys troubled history, ballooning upgrade costs, and shifting political winds are still very much in play. But after seven years of dormancy, Trinidad is clearly betting that a strategic partner and a different structure can turn a national liability back into a working asset. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com If global heating reaches the 2-degree-Celsius mark, we can expect living conditions to change dramatically, according to the broad scientific consensus. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has repeatedly called for countries to decarbonise and shift to renewable energy to control global warming in the coming decades before it causes irreparable damage. However, with recent forecasts suggesting that several countries are going to fall short of their climate pledges, it is important to understand what that could mean for the world. The Paris Agreement, signed by most countries in 2015, aims to limit global warming to below 2C above pre-industrial levels, with a target established to keep warming at or below 1.5C. The aims of the agreement would only be missed if that level of temperature increase is sustained over a couple of decades. Driven by a strong El Nino weather pattern, 2024 was the first single year to record temperatures above the 1.5C. threshold. Leon Hermanson at the United Kingdoms national meteorological service, the Met Office, explained, Where we were in 2015 with 1.5C is where we are now with 2C If things continue the way they are, the chance of that will also increase very steeply. Meanwhile, Chris Hewitt at the UNs World Meteorological Organisation believes there is still a window of opportunity to avoid some of the most dangerous effects of climate change. Achieving this, however, will require countries to significantly and rapidly cut emissions, to hold temperatures as close to the 1.5C threshold as possible. Every fraction of a degree matters, said Hewitt. According to a study published in Nature Sustainability in January, the number of people living in extreme heat will more than double by the mid-century if global heating hits the 2-degree-Celsius mark. This will increase the global demand for air conditioners, driving up the demand for power and leading to rising consumer energy bills. The study is the most extensive assessment of the anticipated impact of a meaningful rise in temperature over the coming decades. It suggests that some areas of the world, such as the tropics and the southern hemisphere, will be more affected than others. However, even countries in the northern hemisphere are expected to feel the change and will likely find it hard to adapt without the infrastructure required to deal with hotter temperatures. If the world heats by 2 C above pre-industrial temperatures, the study suggests the number of people experiencing extreme heat will increase from 1.54 billion people (equivalent to 23 percent of the global population in 2010) to 3.79 billion (roughly 41 percent of the worlds population in 2050). The majority of people affected will be in India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Philippines. However, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, South Sudan, Laos, and Brazil are expected to experience the biggest rise in temperature. The study suggested that the global shift will commence rapidly once the world hits the 1.5-degree warming mark, meaning that countries must already be prepared to adapt their infrastructure, energy sector, and health systems to prepare for the impact of this heating. One of the papers authors, Radhika Khosla, stated, This is a really core finding because it tells us that we need to act much earlier in supporting measures for adaptation and mitigation. Khosla added that overshooting 1.5 C of warming will have an unprecedented impact on everything from education and health to migration and farming. Net-zero sustainable development remains the only established path to reversing this trend for ever hotter days. It is imperative that politicians regain the initiative towards it. Khosla highlighted the lack of preparedness, particularly in the global north, where governments may assume that they have more time to prepare for the shift. In the United Kingdom, for example, much of the infrastructure is old and inefficient, mainly designed to cope with cold temperatures. Brits have become acutely aware of this during the recent summer heatwaves, as houses are unprepared for the 30+ Celsius temperatures. The rapid rise in temperatures could also lead the U.K. and other northern countries to turn to fossil fuels, such as coal-fired power plants, to meet the energy demand, as they gradually ramp up their renewable energy capacity. In addition to people living in hotter conditions, the rising global temperature is expected to have a wide range of repercussions. Surpassing the 1.5 C threshold will lead to more frequent severe weather events, including heatwaves, droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones. It could also shift climate patterns, such as rainfall and ocean currents. It will also lead to sea levels rising and will harm the worlds ecosystems. Despite repeated warnings from the IEA and climate scientists worldwide, we are well on our way to surpassing the 1.5 C global warming threshold in the coming years, which will have a significant impact on human life and environmental health. The new study suggests just how far-reaching the temperature change could be, with people in countries in both the northern and southern hemispheres expected to feel the effects. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Hyundai Motor America is recalling nearly 569,000 Palisade SUVs in the US due to a potential safety issue with their third-row air bags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Thursday. The side-curtain air bags for third-row passengers may not deploy properly during a crash, putting occupants at risk. The recall affects Palisade models from 2020 through 2025. NHTSA said the SUVs fail to meet federal safety standards because of the air bag problem. Hyundai identified the issue during compliance testing conducted in December 2025 and quickly notified regulators. A fix for the air bag issue is currently being developed. Hyundai plans to cover any out-of-pocket costs for affected vehicle owners once the remedy becomes available. According to CBS News, the automaker will begin sending notification letters to owners by March 23, 2026. The company's official recall number is 292. "The safety of our customers is our top priority," Hyundai said in a statement. "We are working to provide a solution as quickly as possible and will reimburse owners for any costs associated with this recall." Hyundai issues recall for hundreds of thousands of popular SUV model over faulty feature https://t.co/t3I7hPtMYz pic.twitter.com/UDTzs98aXw New York Post (@nypost) January 29, 2026 Hyundai Warns Palisade Owners The air bags in question were supplied to Hyundai by Sweden-based Autoliv, the world's largest producer of airbags and seatbelts. NHTSA's notice emphasizes that third-row passengers may face increased risk if the air bags fail to deploy in a crash. In addition to the Palisade air bag recall, Hyundai is also recalling 41,651 vehicles in the US due to a separate instrument panel display failure, CNA reported. That issue will be resolved through a software update. Hyundai Palisade owners are advised to check whether their vehicles are affected as soon as possible. Owners can visit NHTSA's website or contact Hyundai directly to confirm if their SUV is included in the recall. The recall highlights the ongoing importance of vehicle safety checks and manufacturer vigilance. For families who rely on the Palisade's third-row seating, the air bag issue could be especially concerning. Hyundai is urging customers to take the matter seriously while assuring them that a remedy is forthcoming. Originally published on vcpost.com By Oregon Freedom Coalition, Today, Oregon Freedom Coalition (OFC) is proud to announce it will partner with several initiative petitions to further tax reform in Oregon. OFC, through No Tax Oregon, will be partnering with End the Death Tax (IP 51) the effort to eliminate Oregons estate tax. Oregon is one of only 12 states that still levies an estate tax, a burden that can force families to move or restructure their lives simply to protect what theyve built. Furthermore, Oregons $1 million threshold for the estate tax, set in 2002, is the lowest in the nation. Today, with high median home prices in Oregon, that threshold is met far more often than at any point in Oregons history, meaning more and more Oregonians are paying taxes upon the death of a family member each year. Representative Kevin Mannix, one of the Chief Petitioners on IP 51, explained why he and the other Chief Petitioners decided to start the IP: Ending the Oregon Estate Taxwe call it the Death Taxpromises Oregonians that their families and businesses will not face another tax upon the death of a dear family member. We want Oregon to join the 38 other states which already eliminated estate taxes. This is for the benefit of families, our businesses, and our economy. Rep. Mannix expressed excitement over the partnership with OFC and No Tax Oregon: We are excited to partner with Oregon Freedom Coalition and their project No Tax Oregon, who have done a magnificent job of putting the gas tax/transportation fee increase referendum on the ballot. In 38 days, they gathered over 250,000 signatures. We are happy to partner with such a successful organization. Nick Stark, Executive Director of Oregon Freedom Coalition and Director of No Tax Oregon, commented on the partnership and why sights were set on the estate tax: No Tax Oregon has a simple mission: lowering Oregonians taxes one bad tax at a time. The estate tax was an obvious next target in our mission. Its an unfair burden that gets placed on families that are already dealing with so much. Frankly, the estate tax is a cruel and unusual punishment for losing a loved one. It has to go, and we are excited to work with Representative Mannix and his team who have done a stellar job at laying the groundwork for us to defend grieving families. No Tax Oregon will be organizing volunteers to help with IP 51 as well as other IPs that further the mission of tax reform. Those IPs will be announced in the coming weeks. By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation, In Salem a road rage incident turned into chaos as one man rammed his car repeatedly into another. This was followed by the man getting out with a rifle, breaking the car window, and demanding their money. Salem Police report, On January 29, 2026, Salem Police Violent Crimes Unit detectives, in collaboration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Nathan Johnathan Muniz, 29, of Salem, and seized a firearm related to a road rage incident that escalated into robbery and assault. The arrest stems from an incident on January 16, 2026, when victims reported being menaced with a firearm during a road rage encounter near Sunnyside Road and Boone Road SE. According to the victims, Muniz repeatedly rammed their vehicle with his white Toyota Tundra before stopping, breaking the drivers window with an AR style carbine rifle, and pointing the weapon at them while demanding money. The victims drove away and contacted police. Violent Crimes Unit detectives identified Muniz as the suspect after locating the vehicle he used. A search warrant was executed at Munizs residence on Sunnyside Road SE, where detectives and ATF agents recovered an AR style carbine rifle with a collapsible stock matching the victims description and damaged vehicle body parts consistent with Munizs Tundra. By Taxpayers Association of Oregon OregonWatchdog.com Governor Tina Kotek issued an Executive Order related to immigration enforcement. It aims to protect immigrants, but does not detail whether that entails illegal migrants or migrants that have have outstanding warrants for their arrest. Kotek mentions federal abuses but does not explain what those are. The order is woefully short on details, which seems to be the norm for Kotek press announcements. This is her executive order: Governor Tina Kotek signed an executive order establishing a new Interagency Council for Immigrant and Refugee Coordination to ensure state agencies are aligned, responsive, and consistent in supporting immigrant and refugee communities amid escalating and abusive federal immigration enforcement tactics that are destabilizing Oregon communities and spreading fear among families across the state. The executive order follows a series of conversations with community leaders, including a roundtable convened by Governor Kotek with community leaders, advocates, and state legislators, where participants shared concerns about heightened enforcement actions, community fear, and disruptions to access to essential services for immigrants and refugees. No one should be afraid to go to work, take their child to school, or ask for help because of who they are or where they come from, Governor Kotek said. This executive order builds on the work agencies have been doing and takes the states response to the next level in order to protect families, support communities, and live up to Oregons values during a deeply uncertain moment. Expanding on coordination the Governor spearheaded prior to President Trumps inauguration, the executive order establishes a formal Interagency Council led by the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement (OIRA), housed within the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), and composed of key state agencies, including education, health, housing, and transportation. The Council will inventory current agency protocols and practices related to reports of immigration enforcement activities and identify opportunities to improve the state response and support for communities impacted. Oregon has been a sanctuary state since 1987 and strengthened those protections with the Sanctuary Promise Act in 2021. The new council will ensure state agencies continue to meet those legal obligations while responding to evolving federal actions in a coordinated way. Erratic driving lands Cancun Safe Taxi on top of concrete posts Cancun, Q.R. Cancun firemen assisted Municipal Police this morning in a single vehicle accident. The driver of a Cancun Safe Taxi ended up over a set of concrete posts allegedly due to erratic driving. Emergency services were summoned to the scene early Saturday morning where they found the taxi hung up on the posts. At least two were holding the car in place and preventing it from rolling onto its roof when authorities arrived. The car hit the posts, along with other city infrastructure at the intersection of Xcaret Avenue and Tankah Avenue. According to available information, the driver of the Safe Taxi was taking a corner at a high rate of speed when he lost control and ended up on top of the posts. A Cancun fireman inspects the car for fluid leaks before having it towed Saturday January 31, 2026. Area residents who heard the commotion outside on their avenue called police. An ambulance was brought in to evaluate the driver who did not require medical assistance. Officers from the Municipal Traffic Department arrived to secure the area while firemen okayed the vehicle for towing. Police did not comment on possible charges for city property damage. Mexican Navy performs medical evacuation of malaria patient from Harmony of the Seas Isla Mujeres, Q.R. The Mexican Navy assisted cruise ship doctors with the medical evacuation of a man. The cruise man was diagnosed with malaria, fever and a low platelet count Friday. Mexican Navy personnel met the ship Friday night January 30, 2026. On Friday night, personnel from the Mexican Navy met ship Harmony of the Seas off the coast of Isla Mujeres for the medical evacuation. On Saturday, the Fifth Naval Region of the Navy reported yesterday, naval personnel from the Search and Rescue Station (ENSAR) in Isla Mujeres evacuated a patient from the cruise ship Harmony of the Seas by sea aboard an MLB-103 vessel. This operation was carried out after receiving an emergency call from the Chief Officer of the Harmony of the Seas, which was 35 minutes from Isla Mujeres. The man was diagnosed with malaria and transferred to a Cancun hospital January 30, 2026. The officer requested assistance in transferring an Indian male, diagnosed with malaria, fever and low platelet count, to Puerto Juarez. Therefore, an MLB-103 type vessel was immediately dispatched to the cruise ship to disembark the patient. Subsequently, a Defender BR-01 type vessel, with specialized naval medical personnel on board, transferred the individual to Puerto Juarez where a private ambulance met them and transported them to a local hospital for further specialized medical care. Puerto Aventuras taxi driver treated for bullet wound after being shot by passengers Puerto Aventuras, Q.R. A Puerto Aventuras taxi driver is recovering after being shot Friday night. The male driver was shot by his passengers after providing a ride to a ranch outside Puerto Aventuras. The driver was able to get himself to hospital after being hit in an arm. Initial reports say a group of passengers were exiting the taxi at their destination of the San Josesito ranch located south of the Puerto Aventuras when they opened fire against the cab. Police found three bullet holes in the outside of the taxi. One of those bullets hit the driver in his arm. Police found three bullet holes in the outside of the taxi January 30, 2026. After the attack, the driver was able to get himself to the Puerto Aventuras Health Center where he received initial medical attention. He was subsequently referred to the State Health Services (SESA) for further evaluation. The taxi was impounded at the Puerto Aventuras taxi drivers union headquarters for further investigation. A police search for those responsible came up empty handed. Authorities did not comment on a possible motive for the Friday night shooting against the Playa del Carmen cab driver. California tech leaders, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former CEO Eric Schmidt, are mobilizing against a proposed billionaire tax as the state prepares for a high-stakes November ballot. The group, Building a Better California, aims to influence policy by backing political candidates and initiatives that align with pro-business interests, Bloomberg News reports. According to the NYPost, a top target for the organization is a one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaires, which critics say could force founders to sell significant portions of their companies, destabilizing stock prices and harming employees and ordinary investors. "This has the potential to strip the founders of some of the world's largest companies of their controlling interests and force them to sell off a significant portion of their shares," the nonprofit Tax Foundation warned. Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya has voiced similar concerns, noting on X that the measure could expand to affect non-billionaires. "California isn't coming just for the rich," he said. "This bill, while disguised as a tax on the wealthy, is actually the infrastructure to tax everyone in California even morebut now on everything you own." Despite the looming tax, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has expressed confidence that the proposal will fail, citing an exodus of wealthy residents from the state. Google co-founder teams up with ex-CEO, rich techies to fight California's 5% billionaire tax https://t.co/2DjNMJ7Pvb pic.twitter.com/5n7iKI2Sex New York Post (@nypost) January 29, 2026 Peter Thiel Expands Florida Holdings Many billionaires, including Brin and Google co-founder Larry Page, have relocated business entities to other states such as Nevada and Florida, while venture capitalist Peter Thiel has increased his presence in Florida. Some, like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and real estate developer John Sobrato, have indicated they plan to stay, though Huang acknowledged he would pay the tax if required. Building a Better California has already raised $35 million, including a $20 million donation from Brin, to support pro-business ballot initiatives and expand middle-class homeownership. According to Newsbytes, other prominent donors include Eric Schmidt, Michael Moritz, Max Levchin, DoorDash co-founder Tony Xu, Stripe's Patrick Collison, and The Wonderful Company co-owner Stewart Resnick, whose $2 million contribution was the largest from outside tech. Abby Lunardini, spokesperson for Building a Better California, emphasized that the group has not taken a formal position on the wealth tax yet, calling it "early days" and highlighting their broader mission to expand homeownership. The organization has also spent $11 million supporting measures to reform environmental review laws in California. The proposed tax, backed by the Service Employees International UnionUnited Healthcare Workers West, would apply retroactively to anyone residing in California as of January 1 and could generate $50 billion to $60 billion if passed. Originally published on vcpost.com Quintana Roo man wanted for trying to set woman on fire captured in Yucatan Jose Maria Morelos, Q.R. A Quintana Roo man wanted for the attempted murder of a woman has been captured in the neighboring state of Yucatan. Yucatan police say 64 year old Abraham N was arrested by their investigative agents on Thursday. He was wanted for the February 2025 attempted murder of a Jose Maria Morelos woman after dousing her with gasoline and trying to set her on fire. In a statement, the SSP Yucatan reported that investigative agents from the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP), in coordination with the Attorney Generals Office of the State of Yucatan (FGE), the Attorney Generals Office of the State of Quintana Roo, and with the support of federal forces, arrested Abraham N, 64 years old, originally from the state of Quintana Roo, in Yucatan. The man had an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in the crime of attempted femicide against a woman in the municipality of Jose Maria Morelos, Quintana Roo. According to the evidence gathered by the investigating authorities, the events occurred on February 6, 2025, when the victim was summoned to make a delivery. Upon arriving at the agreed-upon location, she was allegedly violently attacked by an individual who attempted to kill her with a sharp object. Later, the assailant allegedly attempted to douse her with a flammable liquid with the intention of setting her on fire, however, the victim managed to escape and take refuge in a nearby house, preventing the attack from being completed. Following investigative work and information sharing between state and federal authorities, the accused was located in Yucatan, where the arrest warrant was executed. He has since been returned to Quintana Roo to face charges. Patrick James and Edward James, the founders of auto parts maker First Brands, are facing serious federal charges after being indicted on fraud and conspiracy counts. Prosecutors say the brothers secretly carried out years of financial schemes that helped drive the company into bankruptcy while allowing them to collect millions of dollars for themselves. The indictment was unsealed Thursday in federal court in New York. It accuses the brothers of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and related crimes. According to the filing, Patrick and Edward James used false records and hidden debts to mislead lenders and financing partners from 2018 to 2025. Prosecutors claim these actions helped First Brands secure billions of dollars it was not entitled to receive. "These schemes yielded billions of dollars in financing to First Brands and enabled Patrick James and Edward James to reap millions of dollars in proceeds derived from their fraud," the indictment states, Yahoo reported. First Brands filed for bankruptcy in September 2025. At the time, more than $2 billion in company funds could not be explained, leaving lenders and investors scrambling for answers. The Justice Department said the company had only $12 million in cash left but more than $9 billion in liabilities. Patrick James resigned shortly after the bankruptcy filing. FBI New York, @IRS_CI Washington, D.C. Field Office, @HSIDetroit, and @SDNYnews, announced today that two former executives of First Brands Group, LLC, Patrick James and Edward James, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money pic.twitter.com/drYYQln7Pd FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) January 29, 2026 First Brands Vows Legal Action Prosecutors allege the brothers inflated invoices tied to accounts receivable and payable, created false financial statements, and hid major liabilities from lenders. These steps, they say, made the company appear healthier than it truly was. The indictment claims their actions badly damaged First Brands' finances and directly led to its collapse. A spokesperson for First Brands said the company plans to pursue all legal options against the brothers and that its board has started an independent review of past business practices. "This is a tragic situation that has disrupted the lives of employees, families, and communities who depend on this business," the spokesperson said. "We recognize the very real human toll of these events." According to CBS News, Edward James' attorney, Seth DuCharme, strongly pushed back on the charges. He said his client has "conducted himself with integrity and dignity over decades of hard work," adding that the government has not shown evidence to support the accusations. Patrick James founded First Brands in 2013 and quickly expanded the Cleveland-based company into a major name in automotive parts. The business sells products like brakes, spark plugs, and windshield wiper blades. Edward James served as a senior executive, according to the Justice Department. Originally published on vcpost.com This is a newsletter bonus question. Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here. Dear Care and Feeding, My sister-in-law, Tricia, recently acquired a parrot from a relative who could no longer keep it. Now she is insisting that my husband and I take it because our 8-year-old son, Finn, has allegedly ruined him by teaching the bird to swear. Finns usual after-school sitter wasnt available for three weeks, and during this time Tricia watched Finn at her house for us. According to her, the parrots use of profanity coincided with our sons visits. Finn swears (pardon the pun) that he didnt teach the bird any profanity and that the parrot curses when it gets upset. My husband is starting to think that taking the parrot is the right thing to do. But Ive known people who have owned parrots, so I know what a major commitment they are. We simply dont have the time, and frankly, I think Tricia is looking for an easy way of dumping the bird because she has also come to this realization. How can I tell my sister-in-law its not going to happen without souring our relationship? Polly Stays Put Dear Polly, Girl, no. Tell your husband and Tricia that you are NOT up for the challenge of rehoming a parrot. Whether or not your son taught the bird the curse wordsand I truly doubt he added several words to this birds vocabulary in three weeksyou shouldnt be forced into caring for a bird you dont want. This parrot deserves a loving home with people who want him. Put your foot down and keep it there. Tell Tricia to read up on the creature that SHE chose to adopt and to figure out how to clean up his potty mouth. Or suggest that she find an organization that can help her find a new owner for the bird. I agree with you; it sounds like she wasnt equipped for the work of caring for a parrot and is looking for a smooth way outdo not give her one. Jamilah Classic Prudie My daughter is getting married to a nice enough guy whose parents are from a conservative, old-fashioned background. That hadnt been an issue before now, but wedding planning has become extremely contentious. Were doing OK? financially. Our home isnt paid off, but we dont have a lot of debt and are trying to think ahead to retirement, not that retirement is in the cards for most people anymore. But her fiances family has made it clear that they expect us to pay for the kids entire wedding, which they have very particular plans for. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Recipe for Disaster is Slates column about the things recipes get wrongand how to fix them. If youve noticed a recipe annoyance, absurdity, or outright lie, file your complaint here and we will investigate! A while back, I was tasked by the Kitchn with testing and rating six of the most popular online recipes for lentils. Though I already knew the basics of lentil cookery, I knew very little about how to actually make them delicious, so I was excited to sink my teeth into this assignment. And as I reached the finish line, having tested and tasted recipes that drew on a range of culinary traditions, two surprising things happened: One, I fell in love with lentils, having finally been initiated into the secrets to infusing this ancient, spirited legume with immense flavor. Secondly, I realized that Americaor at least white Americahas no clue how to cook them. For too many of us, lentils are mostly an afterthoughtthe kind of healthy thing you might tolerate in a bland soup in January, but then forget the rest of the year, as resolutions quickly shed their resolve. This is cattle country, after all, a meat-eating nation. Just look at our newly unveiled upside-down food pyramid, where our brain-wormed secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has declared protein and saturated fat our saviors. And while I certainly dont disagree with the idea that we should be eating less processed food, this new food pyramid sure seems to be propaganda for big beef and dairy. We are ending the war on protein, proclaimed the White House. Of course, anybody with eyes can see that, as with Christmas, there is no war on protein. If anything, were awash in a swirling protein vortex. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whats interesting about lentils in this context, though, is that they are an excellent source of protein (about 12 grams per cup of cooked). They contain fiber and vitamins, too. Not to mention theyre easy to grow and cheap as hell (for this exact reason they have sustained civilizations for thousands and thousands of years). But our current food pyramid, with a slab of cartoon steak crowning the top-heavy structure, makes a pretty clear statement: You only get your protein from meat, buddy. Well, call me a radical, but Id like to change that. If lentils have any hope of truly catching on here, weve got to make these legumes radiate with flavor like the glimmering jewels they are. I first suspected that we might be a lentil-deficient culture when I started testing the aforementioned recipes. Most of the recipes called for the most readily available grocery store lentilsred, green, and browneach one containing a mildly sweet, nutty flavor and creamy yet firm texture once cooked. In other words, the ultimate blank canvas for flavor. One recipe in particular was stunningly flat: Ina Gartens lentil sausage soup, which is a mix of soup vegetables (carrots, leeks, onion), chicken broth, and kielbasa. There was also the issue of too much broth, a ratio of 1 pound of lentils (about 2 cups) to a whopping three quarts of chicken stock. Meaning the lentils just sort of swam around aimlessly, separate from the other ingredients, resulting in watery spoonfuls of, well, chunky broth instead of creamy lentils. I had to be tactful in my write-up for Gartens recipe, in keeping with the publications tone, otherwise I would have said that its an underwhelming disastertasteless and, even worse, thoughtless. Why was her lentil soup so bad? Because she cooks her lentils through an American lens. She treats them like chicken noodle soup. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres another haunting example: The lentil soup from the blog Cookie and Kate, written by Kathryne Taylor. Her recipe for lentils calls for kale, vegetable broth, cumin, curry powder, and 1 measly tablespoon of lemon juice. It was depressingly mediocre, what amounted to kale soup with some lentils and sparse amounts of spice sprinkled in. Compare this to a Lebanese soup stained yellow with turmeric, spiked with mint, paprika, cumin, and cayenne, and served with a slice of fresh lemon meant to be squeezed on at the end, which awakens the palate and cuts through the creamy, nourishing combination of blended and whole lentils. Or this recipe from the Mediterranean Dish, which uses six different spices, but also asks you to finish each bowl with lime juice. I was astonished at just how necessary the lime juice was, how it shook the lentils alive, and how the combination of myriad different spices completely dwarfed the flavor of both Cookie and Kates and Ina Gartens lentil dishes. Not to mention, the ratio of lentils to broth in both of these recipes was much lower, and as a result, the lentils felt creamier. There was more of their wonderful texture, more earthy flavor, more lentil. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lentils are not just for soup, I declared to myself, mouth full and happy. We should stop treating them as such. Stop shoving bland and blended lentils in cans and slapping them with the Amys logo. Lentils simply need more than many of us have been willing to give. Shuba Shekar, a writer and cook I met in Detroit, is a vegetarian who grew up in Mumbai, India. More specifically, she was raised in a Brahmin household where they didnt eat things like garlic or onion. For Shekar, lentils are a constant source of protein. But the lentils she eats are not at all like the lentils most people are used to eating here in America. Advertisement I tell Shekar, who now lives in the Bay Area, that I fear too many cooks are treating lentils like a soup filler, and she responds by telling me a story about when she used to make meal plans for Detroiters. Most of them were born in America with no Indian heritage, she says. She would make them flavorful versions of South Indian dal, vegetable curries, and other plant-based dishes rich in protein and nutrients. Her customers gushed over how flavorful each meal was, which at first struck her as unusual. Then, she realized, I think they kept coming back to me because they didnt know veggies could have this much flavor. If you grow up in a white family, chances are youre not inducted into the wonderful world of tasty lentils. Advertisement Advertisement Shekar states lovingly that lentils need acid, often tamarind or lemon juice, depending on where you are in India. We use a lot of citric base, she says, meaning lots of tamarind, lemon, lime, vinegar, and oranges often get squeezed and mashed into the lentils vegetable base. We cook our vegetables in a tamarind paste. The lentils kind of neutralize the [tamarind] taste. So no, Ina Gartens two tablespoons of red wine (her gesture toward acidity) to quarts of chicken stock is a laughable ratio, creating nowhere near enough tangy flavor to set off the lentils earthy funk and mild taste. Shekar brings up dal tadka, a type of dal where stewed lentils are finished with a tempering of sizzling spices in ghee, a technique that she likens most to a chili oil. If youve ever had dal tadka, you know that sizzling ghee is a total flavor bomb and exactly the type of fat and spice that differentiate drab lentil soup from lentils as an exciting comfort food. Shekar starts spouting off spices to put into tadka: Mustard seeds and cumin, green chile, crushed garlic, chili powder, cumin seeds, curry leaves. I get the sense that if I had let her keep talking, she would have just kept naming spices, and I would have kept dreaming about how it all tasted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now compare the dal that Shekar loves to most American recipes you find on the internetIm talking lentil soup recipes that are rife with kale, brothy with low-sodium broths, built with celery, and featuring very little spice or tasty garnish. I fear this is symptomatic of the oft-disappointing American lens of cooking, which tends to fail vegetarian food. Of course, not all Americans get lentils wrong, and Im very thankful that we have so many chefs and home cooks of color in the U.S. trying to spread lentil awareness. For the best results in your kitchen, you should follow their lead. Start with India, traverse its regional flourishes for each lentil dish, experiment with coconut milk, curry leaves, tadka, and a range of spices. Follow the Silk Road to South Asia, to the Mediterranean, to Northern Africa. Speaking of, this Americas Test Kitchen recipe for red lentil soup with North African spices really nails how to make lentils so damn flavorful. Erin McMurrer uses black pepper, ground ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, coriander, and cumin. She spikes the soup itself with lemon juice. North Africans, they use a lot of lemon juice, she says in a video accompanying the recipe, nudging the viewer not to be shy with their squeeze. To finish, she makes a tadka of ghee, dried mint, and paprika, then drizzles it on top. Its plain as day to see this soup carries an immense number of flavors, layered on top of one another, from the base to the garnish. I mean, goodness, compare Ethiopian berbere spice (which can contain up to 20 different spices) to Ina Gartens cumin only interpretation of lentils. Its not even fair. There is no comparison. One carries true depth of flavor, while the other does not. Advertisement Advertisement Heres a good rule Ive formulated through my research: Follow lentil recipes that acknowledge the area of the world from which theyve received inspiration, like the ATK example above. African, Ethiopian, Lebanese, etc. in the title signals that the recipe developer is aware of or staying true to the techniques of another country. Id thumb through the NYT Cooking site for lentils riffs, which seem to be written thoughtfully and with the basic tenets of flavor in mind. Look to chefs of color (Padma Lakshmis sambar looks incredible) to guide you, and avoid cutesy blogs written by white chefs that list only one or two spices in the ingredients. Lentils go back 13,000 years. A staple food of ancient Egypt and Rome, a legume thats fed civilizations for millennia, and somehow theyre still ignored by most people in America. Its time we understand that with the right cooking methods, lentils can be everything we need them to be. Heck, one day, maybe theyll even take their rightful place at the top of that food pyramidif we can ever get it, and this country, turned around. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. On a winter morning in early 1995, three women and five men sat nearly elbow-to-elbow at a round wooden table in an office on the Brooklyn waterfront as rain battered the windows. In front of them were canisters, spoons, spittoons, and myriad teacups. A kettle steamed nearby. Tea soon began to flow, and the group got to work. These assembled were the Board of Tea Experts: a cohort of tea industry professionals who were summoned once a year by the United States Food and Drug Administration to meet in New York and choose the teas that would serve as standards by which all other imported tea would be judged. The standard for each tea category was chosen based on leaf size, stem count, color, taste, and other criteria. Over the course of a few hours, the board tasted dozens of teasrolling each sip on their tongues and then spitting it out to avoid overcaffeinationand deliberated until they could unanimously agree on one benchmark product for each category. Specialty tea hadnt taken off yet with American consumers, so the categories were broad: formosa oolong, all green teas, all scented black teas, and not many others. But that day, as the board members worked and enjoyed the camaraderie of colleagues they only got to see once a year, they did not know it would be the last time. Soon, the chair of the board, Supervisory Tea Examiner Bob Dick, would be forced by an act of Congress to vacate this office, where he had taste-tested thousands of teas over more than 40 years. After a 99-year run rife with controversy, the FDAs tea program would be defunded and cease to operate. The consequences of that decision still linger today, dictating how tea is imported and ultimately affecting how it is experienced by the Americans who drink itand not necessarily for the better. In the 19th century, much of the tea coming to the U.S. was the low-quality leftovers that British tea sellers did not want, or it was compromised for the sake of profit. Imported teas were often mixed with spent and redried leaves, colored with toxic dyes, mixed with lead filings to weigh them down, or otherwise altered to imitate higher grades. This was a public health concern, and it threatened the reputation of legitimate importers. The Tea Importation Act of 1897 arose as a governmental effort to protect consumers, but it was also strongly supportedand in part shapedby those in the U.S. tea trade, who saw it as a way to protect themselves from unfair competition by those selling cheap or adulterated teas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The act prohibited the importation of teas unfit for consumption, defined the Board of Tea Experts, and established the relationship between the board and the tea examiners, who at that time were U.S. Customs officials. The program became more sophisticated after the FDA was established and oversight of the tea examination passed from Customs to the FDA. Advertisement Bob Dick started his work with the FDA in 1937 as a seafood inspector in New Orleans, but because that was only a seasonal role, he was assigned to the New York office for the other half of the year to inspect tea samples. A tea examiner was stationed at each of the major port citiesNew York, Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The inspectors would go onto a ship, use a special tool to bore into the wooden tea chests, take out a sample from each chest, put the samples in bags and label them, then plug the holes in the chests with corks. They hauled the samples back to their labs in suitcase-type sample carriers, as Dick described them in a 1984 interview produced by the FDA, and inspected them by comparing their quality and taste with those of the standard teas that had been chosen for that year. Depending on how they measured up, they would either be deemed acceptable for import or rejected and sent back to their place of origin. Advertisement Advertisement After more than a decade of inspecting various products for the FDA, Dick was promoted to Supervisory Tea Examiner in 1953, making him the thirdand, unbeknownst to him at the time, finalhead of the tea program. He relocated permanently to New York. Advertisement You might think that tea tasting would be a relaxing, if somewhat stimulating, profession, and it might have been at times. But the program was also a source of tension throughout the 20th century. In 1940, Congress tried to repeal the act as a money-saving move. Then tea industry lobbyists appeared before a congressional committee and vowed to subsidize the program in order to save it. The act protected them, so it was well worth whatever they would have to pay. Congress agreed, and the subsidies began. Advertisement Advertisement Then in 1970, the Nixon administration proposed budget cuts in several areas. Nixon publicly stated that cutting the tea program would save $1 million, which made it a popular idea, but he was incorrect: The programs actual cost was only $60,000 at that time, and the tea industry subsidies covered it. The administration also was unaware that the program was protected by a congressional act, and therefore only Congress could repeal it. Tea industry leaders once again lobbied to keep the act in place, and their efforts were successful. Advertisement Advertisement The cycle continued: The same thing happened again later on during the Carter administration, Dick said. They found out too, the same thingthat Congress must act. In the following decade, members of Congress called the program nonsense and unnecessary. Former Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, was particularly vocal about his position in several speeches on the Senate floor throughout the early 90s. I also, Mr. President, want everyone to know here that I think that the Tea Board that was established in 1897 is one of the biggest wastes that I could have imagined in government, he said during a 1993 speech on the Senate floor addressing the president of that body. What we need, I think, is a congressional tea party, and we should dump the whole Board of Tea Experts overboard. It seems inappropriate, Mr. President, and I think morally inappropriate to expend taxpayer money for such a program. Advertisement Opponents of the program finally succeeded in 1996. Bob Dick packed up the tea and paraphernalia from his office. He died a few months later at age 82. As president of a tea importing company called G.S. Haly, Mike Spillane was among the final board members in 1995. When the Tea Act was repealed, he had mixed feelings. Advertisement Advertisement It was like a watchdog of the industry. I was for that, he says. But I also did not mind that once it was gone, I could save four or five days of delay on my shipments because it wasnt held up by the tea examiner anymore. Advertisement Advertisement But things got complicated. In the absence of the Tea Act, tea was now subjected to the same inspections as any other imported food products. There were at least two big problems: Many of the tea importers didnt understand the new rules they had to operate under, and Maximum Residue Limits of various agrochemicals had never been set for tea products before. Because of the lack of clarity, a lot of tea was rejected on arrival and sent back to its origin. Peter Goggi, a former president of the Tea Association of the USA who retired only earlier this month, served multiple terms on the Board of Tea Experts in its active years. When the Tea Act was repealed, he was working with Lipton. For more than a decade following the repeal, only three chemicals were allowed, while Goggi and others advocated for the need to expand the list. Then in 2008, after 40 shipping containers of tea were rejected, the Tea Association started working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency to identify safe levels of common agrochemicals specifically applicable to tea. Since then, the FDA has updated their list to allow more than 50, which has solved the over-rejection issue. Advertisement Goggi says this system is mostly sufficient, though its still missing a key element that the Tea Act used to sanction: the taste test. Now imported teas might check all of the boxes for purity and safety, but still taste bad. There is no check for whether the teas aroma has dissipated, or maybe was never there at all; no judgment of whether it has a taste that properly represents the way it is labeled. Perhaps the import of poor-tasting tea is one of the reasons so many modern Americans say tea is bitter or bland. Advertisement The demise of the Tea Act was an instance of men in power deeming a program unnecessary without adequately taking into account the complexity of the consequences. As we see today in examples like the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Science Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control, and many other agencies, slashing funding while experts on the ground sound the alarm about detrimental effects has been the norm since Donald Trumps administration took office last year. Though cuts to these programs have been more severe and the subsequent implications for peoples health and well-being are more serious than anything related to the Tea Act, their demise was brought on by similar forces, leaving those closest to the work to pick up the pieces themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its one thing to sit on high and say, What could this possibly do? Lets cut it down, Goggi says. But nobody is aware of the knock-on effects. We had a process that was in place for 100 years and worked very well. We ended up with a much more cumbersome kind of process. That, and quite possibly a worse cup of tea. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Next to Renee Goods memorial sat flowers, candles, and a crumbling cardboard tray with the label Whistles (take one). Dozens of multicolored whistlesteal-and-pink, yellow-and-blue, and many other combinationssat on the tray in a pile. The whistles had come from Bree Bridges, a romance author based in McCalla, Alabama. In her spare time, she has been 3D printing thousands of whistles, which she sends to any location in the country that is occupied by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, increasingly, really could be anywhere. In Minneapolis, where Good was killed, whistles have become a cheap and accessible community-defense system against federal agents. Local businesses are giving them away for free. Community members are buying them in bulk off Amazon and eBay. And across the country, organizers like Bridges are mass-producing them for cheap at home. The result is a decentralized movement of people distributing hundreds of thousands of whistles. The idea behind the whistle is simple: If you see ICE agents, you let out three short tweets to alert people in the area of the presence of federal agents. If you see ICE agents detaining someone, you let out three prolonged tweets to call witnesses to the scene. Witnesses are legally permitted to document arrests; this evidence can be used later in court or to find detainees after arrest. People in Chicago started making whistles this fall in response to ICEs Operation Midway Blitz. Now the DIY whistle effort has gone national: Bridges is part of a loose network of some 40 printers (they dont have a formal name but can be found on Linktree) that ship community-protection whistles for free. Bridges job is to connect printers with people who want to implement or strengthen whistle systems in their communities. She had initially invested in a 3D printer, which can cost about $200, to create merch for her website, but she says some people in the movement bought their first printers just for whistles. As for those requesting whistles, Bridges has heard from everyone from large churches to concerned neighbors to PTA groups. Organizing the requests and getting them to the people who can fill them is a lot of work, but it has also been like wading through a sea of hope, she says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Don Lemons Arrest Is a Five-Alarm Fire Moment Read More Most of the people printing whistles dont know one anothers real names, says Bridges, but so far, they have collectively sent out over 200,000 to 48 states. All printers either are self-funded or rely on donations to pay for whistles. (A GoFundMe set up to cover the costs has raised tens of thousands of dollars.) But, as it turns out, producing them is exceptionally cheap. According to some estimates, it can cost as little as 2 cents to 3D print one whistle. The hope is that with enough education and enough whistles, community members will be better able to protect their neighbors from inexperienced and violent agents. As people have begun to print more and more whistles, theyve also tacked on their own unique touches to the designs: messages of protest, information about immigrants rights hotlines, special filament colors. Organizers at Migra Whistle, a Portland, Oregonbased organization fighting against ICE, say the community response to the whistles has been overwhelming. Migra Whistle offers online resources for 3D printing, coordinates whistle-packing events, and sends printed whistles to community members. We want to make noise about the harm thats happening to our families, says Veronica, a member of the organization. (I got in touch with her over a secure call after reaching out to the groupmembers of Migra Whistle I spoke to declined to share their full names out of concern for their safety.) Once we started conversations, it just took on a life of its own. People were so jazzed about protecting each other, she says. Making lanyards or whistle information kits isnt dangerous. Its a different thing to ask, Will you show up to this protest, where police might come and tear-gas us? versus Were getting whistles. Do you think you could help us with some extra baggies? Advertisement Advertisement Organizers say accessibility is the No. 1 reason the distribution of whistles has been successful so far. When Teresa Magana, a founder of a local community arts center in Chicago, first saw ICE raids happening in Los Angeles, she wasnt sure what to do. I was really conflicted by the question Do I have the capacity to be out there in person and be part of a protest? And the reality was that I did not have that capacity, she says. Instead, she used her skills to create an educational zine about whistles, with simple instructions on what to do if you spot ICE; she distributes the zine to local businesses. Organizations across the country have since adapted Maganas zine for their own purposes. Whistles simplicity is even inspiring people who left activism long ago to come back and organize. A man who identified himself as Arana told me he had been out of activism for over two decades before recently joining Migra Whistle. He says seeing people get involved so readily gives him a lot of hope. I had been feeling pretty dejected, he says. But when Chicago started using whistles to push back against ICE, I saw the first really effective activism that gave me hope that we could do something worthwhile. The Trump administration announced a major milestone for its new Trump Accounts program, reporting that roughly 1 million families have signed up after a high-profile White House event featuring rapper Nicki Minaj. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared the figures during a Cabinet meeting Thursday, highlighting a surge in enrollment following Wednesday's summit, which the administration said was designed to raise awareness about the initiative. "We've now had a million people sign up for Trump Accounts just this week," Bessent told President Donald Trump, noting that an estimated 25 million families nationwide could be eligible for the program, FoxBusiness reported. The summit brought together celebrities and political figures, including Minaj, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and "Shark Tank" judge Kevin O'Leary, to promote what the administration calls a "signature family-focused policy." Minaj celebrated the milestone on social media, emphasizing its impact on families and children. "This is the best news. Wow. God is good," she wrote on X. "So happy for the children this will help & the burdens that will be lifted from all the hard-working parents in this country." Trump Accounts, part of the administration's tax legislation, are designed to give every eligible newborn $1,000, which is then invested in the stock market through private firms. The funds will be accessible when the child turns 18 and can be used for education, starting a business, or buying a home. Families, employers, and other contributors can add money to the accounts over time, with annual contribution limits in place. BREAKING: The most groundbreaking rapper of the 21st century, Nicki Minaj, has declared herself as President Donald JaQuan Trumps NUMBER ONE SUPPORTER. Yet another iconic moment added to her resume as the most authentic, unapologetic and culture-shifting A-lister today! pic.twitter.com/Eivd54XUsb Xaviaer DuRousseau (@XAVIAERD) January 28, 2026 Trump Accounts Open for Kids Born 20252028 The program applies to children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, with the formal launch scheduled for July 5, 2026. While the federal government provides the initial $1,000, several major companiesincluding Uber, Intel, IBM, Nvidia, and Steak 'n Shakehave pledged to contribute to Trump Accounts for their employees' children through what Treasury Secretary Bessent calls the "50 State Challenge." According to AP News, billionaires have also contributed. Michael and Susan Dell donated $6.25 billion to provide $250 seed money for eligible children under 10, while Ray Dalio pledged $75 million for kids in Connecticut. Investor Brad Gerstner committed to adding $250 per child under 5 in Indiana. These contributions are meant to extend benefits to children who may not receive the full $1,000 from the federal program. The Trump administration hopes the accounts will encourage early saving, financial literacy, and long-term investment habits. "We're doing something much better than giving the next generation a handout," Trump said at the summit. "We're giving them ownership of America's future." Originally published on vcpost.com From the street, the only indication Ive found Physical Intelligences headquarters in San Francisco is a pi symbol thats a slightly different color than the rest of the door. When I walk in, Im immediately confronted with activity. Theres no reception desk, no gleaming logo in fluorescent lights. Inside, the space is a giant concrete box made slightly less austere by a haphazard sprawl of long blonde-wood tables. Some are clearly meant for lunch, dotted with Girl Scout cookie boxes, jars of Vegemite (someone here is Australian), and small wire baskets stuffed with one too many condiments. The rest of the tables tell a different story entirely. Many more of them are laden with monitors, spare robotics parts, tangles of black wire, and fully assembled robotic arms in various states of attempting to master the mundane. During my visit, one arm is folding a pair of black pants, or trying to. Its not going well. Another is attempting to turn a shirt inside out with the kind of determination that suggests it will eventually succeed, just not today. A third this one seems to have found its calling is quickly peeling a zucchini, after which it is supposed to deposit the shavings into a separate container. The shavings are going well, at least. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Think of it like ChatGPT, but for robots, Sergey Levine tells me, gesturing toward the motorized ballet unfolding across the room. Levine, an associate professor at UC Berkeley and one of Physical Intelligences co-founders, has the amiable, bespectacled demeanor of someone who has spent considerable time explaining complex concepts to people who dont immediately grasp them. Image Credits:Connie Loizos for TechCrunch What Im watching, he explains, is the testing phase of a continuous loop: data gets collected on robot stations here and at other locations warehouses, homes, wherever the team can set up shop and that data trains general-purpose robotic foundation models. When researchers train a new model, it comes back to stations like these for evaluation. The pants-folder is someones experiment. So is the shirt-turner. The zucchini-peeler might be testing whether the model can generalize across different vegetables, learning the fundamental motions of peeling well enough to handle an apple or a potato its never encountered. The company also operates a test kitchen in this building and elsewhere using off-the-shelf hardware to expose the robots to different environments and challenges. Theres a sophisticated espresso machine nearby, and I assume its for the staff until Levine clarifies that no, its there for the robots to learn. Any foamed lattes are data, not a perk for the dozens of engineers on the scene who are mostly peering into their computers or hovering over their mechanized experiments. The hardware itself is deliberately unglamorous. These arms sell for about $3,500, and thats with what Levine describes as an enormous markup from the vendor. If they manufactured them in-house, the material cost would drop below $1,000. A few years ago, he says, a roboticist would have been shocked these things could do anything at all. But thats the point good intelligence compensates for bad hardware. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Levine excuses himself, Im approached by Lachy Groom, moving through the space with the purposefulness of someone who has half a dozen things happening at once. At 31, Groom still has the fresh-faced quality of one of Silicon Valleys boy wonders, a designation he earned early, having sold his first company nine months after starting it at age 13 in his native Australia (this explains the Vegemite). When I first approached him earlier, as he welcomed a small gaggle of sweatshirt-wearing visitors into the building, his response to my request for time with him was immediate: Absolutely not, Ive got meetings. Now he has 10 minutes, maybe. Groom found what he was looking for when he started following the academic work coming out of the labs of Levine and Chelsea Finn, a former Berkeley PhD student of Levines who now runs her own lab at Stanford focused on robotic learning. Their names kept appearing in everything interesting happening in robotics. When he heard rumors they might be starting something, he tracked down Karol Hausman, a Google DeepMind researcher who also taught at Stanford and who Groom had learned was involved. It was just one of those meetings where you walk out and its like, This is it. Groom never intended to become a full-time investor, he tells me, even though some might wonder why not given his track record. After leaving Stripe, where he was an early employee, he spent roughly five years as an angel investor, making early bets on companies like Figma, Notion, Ramp, and Lattice while searching for the right company to start or join himself. His first robotics investment, Standard Bots, came in 2021 and reintroduced him to a field hed loved as a kid building Lego Mindstorms. As he jokes, he was on vacation much more as an investor. But investing was just a way to stay active and meet people, not the endgame. I was looking for five years for the company to go start post-Stripe, he says. Good ideas at a good time with a good team [thats] extremely rare. Its all execution, but you can execute like hell on a bad idea, and its still a bad idea. Image Credits:Connie Loizos for TechCrunch The two-year-old company has now raised over $1 billion, and when I ask about its runway, hes quick to clarify it doesnt actually burn that much. Most of its spending goes toward compute. A moment later, he acknowledges that under the right terms, with the right partners, hed raise more. Theres no limit to how much money we can really put to work, he says. Theres always more compute you can throw at the problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What makes this arrangement particularly unusual is what Groom doesnt give his backers: a timeline for turning Physical Intelligence into a money-making endeavor. I dont give investors answers on commercialization, he says of backers that include Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Thrive Capital among others that have valued the company at $5.6 billion. Thats sort of a weird thing, that people tolerate that. But tolerate it they do, and they may not always, which is why it behooves the company to be well-capitalized now. So whats the strategy, if not commercialization? Quan Vuong, another co-founder who came from Google DeepMind, explains that it revolves around cross-embodiment learning and diverse data sources. If someone builds a new hardware platform tomorrow, they wont need to start data collection from scratch they can transfer all the knowledge the model already has. The marginal cost of onboarding autonomy to a new robot platform, whatever that platform might be, its just a lot lower, he says. The company is already working with a small number of companies in different verticals logistics, grocery, a chocolate maker across the street to test whether their systems are good enough for real-world automation. Vuong claims that in some cases, they already are. With their any platform, any task approach, the surface area for success is large enough to start checking off tasks that are ready for automation today. Physical Intelligence isnt alone in chasing this vision. The race to build general-purpose robotic intelligence the foundation on which more specialized applications can be built, much like the LLM models that captivated the world three years ago is heating up. Pittsburgh-based Skild AI, founded in 2023, just this month raised $1.4 billion at a $14 billion valuation and is taking a notably different approach. While Physical Intelligence remains focused on pure research, Skild AI has already deployed its omni-bodied Skild Brain commercially, saying it generated $30 million in revenue in just a few months last year across security, warehouses, and manufacturing. Image Credits:Connie Loizos for TechCrunch Skild has even taken public shots at competitors, arguing on its blog that most robotics foundation models are just vision-language models in disguise that lack true physical common sense because they rely too heavily on internet-scale pretraining rather than physics-based simulation and real robotics data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a pretty sharp philosophical divide. Skild AI is betting that commercial deployment creates a data flywheel that improves the model with each real-world use case. Physical Intelligence is betting that resisting the pull of near-term commercialization will enable it to produce superior general intelligence. Whos more right will take years to resolve. In the meantime, Physical Intelligence operates with what Groom describes as unusual clarity. Its such a pure company. A researcher has a need, we go and collect data to support that need or new hardware or whatever it is and then we do it. Its not externally driven. The company had a 5- to 10-year roadmap of what the team thought would be possible. By month 18, theyd blown through it, he says. The company has about 80 employees and plans to grow, though Groom says hopefully as slowly as possible. Whats the most challenging, he says, is hardware. Hardware is just really hard. Everything we do is so much harder than a software company. Hardware breaks. It arrives slowly, delaying tests. Safety considerations complicate everything. As Groom springs up to rush to his next commitment, Im left watching the robots continue their practice. The pants are still not quite folded. The shirt remains stubbornly right-side-out. The zucchini shavings are piling up nicely. Advertisement Advertisement There are obvious questions, including my own, about whether anyone actually wants a robot in their kitchen peeling vegetables, about safety, about dogs going crazy at mechanical intruders in their homes, about whether all of the time and money being invested here solves big enough problems or creates new ones. Meanwhile, outsiders question the companys progress, whether its vision is achievable, and if betting on general intelligence rather than specific applications makes sense. If Groom has any doubts, he doesnt show it. Hes working with people whove been working on this problem for decades and who believe the timing is finally right, which is all he needs to know. Besides, Silicon Valley has been backing people like Groom and giving them a lot of rope since the beginning of the industry, knowing theres a good chance that even without a clear path to commercialization, even without a timeline, even without certainty about what the market will look like when they get there, theyll figure it out. It doesnt always work out. But when it does, it tends to justify a lot of the times it didnt. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: PNDbotics. Retrieved from Youtube. In a striking display of agility and grace, a humanoid robot named "Adam-U Ultra" has danced its way through a complex, highly energetic routine without faltering, slipping or missing a beat. In a new video released by the Chinese robotics firm PNDbotics, the bot which builds upon the company's original Adam robot, unveiled late last year is seen performing a sequence of complicated steps. The dance is remarkably nuanced and human-like, and it includes complicated arm, waist and feet movements all perfectly coordinated with accompanying music. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to PNDbotics representatives, such complicated motion is possible because of the model's 41 independently controllable joints or actuators. These provide Adam with a huge range of flexibility and motion, enabling it to mimic human motion even in something as challenging as freestyle dancing. Although the video refers to the dance sequence as the Charleston, it's really more akin to a hip-hop dance routine. All of those actuators are coordinated by PNDbotic's advanced control system and communication architecture. These include an artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform built around Nvidia's Jetson Orin module a system-on-module (SoM) that combines a CPU, GPU and other components to create a "brain" for AI platforms. The robot is constantly iterating and improving on things like stability and balance by combining whole-body control and model predictive control systems built on large-scale simulated environments and neural network training. Adam-U Ultra also includes a sophisticated vision-language-action (VLA) model, an embodied AI system that sees the world, understands instructions and directly controls actions, enabling robots to perform real-world tasks through natural language guidance. Essentially, you can speak to it to tell it what to do and it will respond accordingly. It's backed up by 10,000 samples of real-world behavior designed to help the platform learn and adapt its movement to changing conditions on the fly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The vision element of Adam's VLA is driven by an Intel RealSense D455 depth vision sensor, which enables precise 3D environment modeling and real-time spatial awareness, as well as a number of lidar and standard cameras. The fully humanoid robot shown dancing is being developed in parallel with PNDbotics' Adam-U robot, a stationary model designed primarily as a data collection platform. According to the company's website , four fully mobile humanoid robots are also in development, with varying levels of freedom of movement, sensory capabilities and computing power. Credit: PNDbotics. Retrieved from Youtube RELATED STORIES Watch this humanoid robot perform a side flip for the first time Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Intrepid baby-faced robot dons a jetpack for its next adventure becoming the first humanoid robot to fly Bizarre robotic chair concept looks like a crab and can carry you around the house it can even help you into your car One of the keys to Adam's fluid movement is how relatively lightweight the platform is. Even the heaviest model, the Adam Pro, only clocks in at 139 pounds (63 kilograms), while the lightest is a scant 132 pounds (60 kg). All the models stand 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) tall. PNDbotics claims that Adam can fulfil a multitude of potential roles, ranging from research and laboratory work to medical assistance and rehabilitation scenarios. It says its robots could help train medical personnel in rehabilitation exercises, monitor patient recovery or even collaborate in surgeries. The company's website also suggests that Adam could be deployed in traditional industrial roles on manufacturing lines, or in service industries as a concierge or receptionist. Apple's iOS operating system continues to evolve with each update, and the upcoming iOS 26.3 release brings a fresh wave of features designed to enhance privacy, improve cross-platform compatibility, and refine the iPhone experience. As users anticipate this new version of iPhone iOS, understanding what's coming can help you prepare for the transition and get the most out of your device. Understanding iOS 26.3: What's New This Time iOS 26.3 represents Apple's latest incremental update to its iPhone iOS platform, with a strong focus on interoperability, user privacy, and regulatory compliance. Unlike major releases that introduce sweeping visual overhauls, this update prioritizes functionality and behind-the-scenes improvements that make your iPhone work better with other devices and services. The update comes following successful beta testing phases, with the third beta released in late January 2026. Apple designed iPhone iOS 26.3 through collaboration with partners like Google and with careful attention to European Union regulations, particularly the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This means users, especially those in Europe, will see features that break down barriers between Apple and third-party devices. Seamless Device Switching: Transfer to Android One of the most significant additions in iPhone iOS 26.3 is the new "Transfer to Android" feature, developed jointly with Google. This tool makes switching from iPhone to Android devices remarkably simple and straightforward. When activated, users can place their Android device next to their iPhone, and the two will automatically establish a connection. The system then wirelessly transfers photos, messages, notes, apps, and contact information to the new Android device. The iPhone iOS 26.3 update also ensures that your phone number transfers seamlessly to your new device, maintaining continuity across your digital life. Apple notes that certain sensitive data won't transfer through this process, including Health information, Bluetooth-paired devices, and locked notes. However, both Apple and Google indicate that additional data types will be added as beta testing progresses, expanding what users can transfer in future iterations. Taking Control of Location Privacy Privacy-conscious users will appreciate the new location control feature arriving with iPhone iOS 26.3. This update introduces a "Limit Precise Location" option that gives users more power over how carriers track their location. Rather than allowing your carrier to pinpoint your exact street address, this new iPhone iOS 26.3 feature limits that precision to neighborhood-level accuracy. The toggle sits in Settings under Cellular > Cellular Data Options, making it easy to find and enable. However, this feature requires specific hardware and carrier support. Your device needs to be an iPhone Air, iPhone 16e, or iPad Pro (M5) with cellular capability, and you'll need a carrier that supports the feature. Supported carriers include EE and BT in the United Kingdom, Telekom in Germany, Boost Mobile in the United States, and AIS and True in Thailand. It's worth noting that this privacy control doesn't affect app-based location services or emergency calling capabilitiesit specifically addresses carrier-level tracking precision. Easier Pairing for Third-Party Accessories Also exclusive to European Union users is proximity pairing for third-party audio devices and accessories. iPhone iOS 26.3 brings an AirPods-like pairing experience to products from other manufacturers. With this feature, pairing third-party earbuds, headphones, or other compatible devices becomes as simple as bringing them near your iPhone and completing a one-tap NFC-based process. Gone are the days of navigating through multiple Bluetooth settings to get a device connected. While this won't provide the seamless switching between devices that Apple's ecosystem offers, it significantly streamlines the initial connection process. Customizing Your Homescreen: New Wallpaper Options Apple has reorganized the wallpaper menu in iPhone iOS 26.3 by splitting the previous "Weather & Astronomy" category into two separate sections. While the actual wallpapers remain the same, the reorganization allows Apple to add new weather-themed options that display live conditions for your location. This seemingly small change reflects Apple's commitment to customization, giving users more granular control over how they personalize their iPhone experience. Users can now more easily browse weather wallpapers separately from astronomy options, each offering different visual styles and information displays. Which iPhones Get iPhone iOS 26.3 Support iPhone iOS 26.3 compatibility extends to a wide range of devices. The update supports all phones that run iOS 26, including iPhone 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11 series models, as well as iPhone SE (second generation and later). However, certain features carry additional hardware requirements. The Limit Precise Location feature, for instance, requires a device with the C1 or C1X modem, which means newer iPhone models like iPhone Air and iPhone 16e are necessary for that specific capability. When to Expect iPhone iOS 26.3 in Your Hands Based on historical release patterns, iPhone iOS 26.3 is expected to roll out in early February 2026. Previous point releases like iOS 18.3 arrived in late January, giving Apple a consistent schedule for these smaller updates. The beta versions serve as Apple's testing ground, with beta 3 released in late January. A release candidate should follow shortly, with the public launch anticipated within the next few weeks. Apple typically spaces the release candidate and public launch by approximately one week. Performance and Battery Life: What Users Report Testers of the iPhone iOS 26.3 beta have reported notable improvements in battery life and overall performance. Users indicate that screen-on time has increased, with some reporting 7-9+ hours of active use on devices that previously achieved less battery longevity. The update also addresses several longstanding issues, including CarPlay connectivity problems that plagued earlier iOS 26 versions and camera issues affecting certain models. While a few minor bugs remain under investigationincluding occasional keyboard lag and app crashesthe overall stability trajectory has improved significantly from earlier beta versions. Making the Switch: Is iPhone iOS 26.3 Worth Updating? The decision to update depends on your priorities and device model. Battery improvements alone make iPhone iOS 26.3 attractive for users frustrated with drain issues. The cross-platform switching features benefit anyone considering leaving the Apple ecosystem or helping friends transition from Android. Privacy-conscious users with compatible devices and carriers should appreciate the new location controls. Europeans will find the most value in the third-party device support features, finally breaking down the walls that have historically locked them into Apple's ecosystem for notifications and accessory compatibility. For stability-focused users, waiting for the public release in early February makes sense rather than jumping into the beta. However, once released, most iPhone users will likely find meaningful improvements in their daily experience with iPhone iOS 26.3. Frequently Asked Questions 1. Will iOS 26.3 slow down older iPhone models like iPhone 11 or iPhone 12? No. Beta testers report that iPhone iOS 26.3 actually improves performance compared to iOS 26.2, with smoother animations and reduced lag across compatible devices, including iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models. 2. Can I use the Transfer to Android feature if my Android device doesn't have Wi-Fi turned on? It's recommended to enable Wi-Fi on both devices. The Transfer to Android feature in iPhone iOS 26.3 relies on high-bandwidth peer-to-peer Wi-Fi technology to complete the data transfer successfully. 3. If I enable Limit Precise Location on my iPhone, will emergency services still know my exact location? Yes. The Limit Precise Location feature only affects carrier tracking and does not impact emergency services. When you call 911, your device will still transmit your exact location to first responders. 4. Will third-party smartwatch notifications work with all Android Wear OS devices? Most Wear OS, Fitbit, and major wearable brands should work, but older or budget devices may lack support. Apple will publish a list of officially compatible devices as the feature rolls out. Originally published on Tech Times CMCThe Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has hailed its former president Dr William Warren Smith as a distinguished Caribbean citizen, development practitioner and proud son of Jamaica after he died on Friday. He was 72 years old. Smith served as the fifth president of the regions premier financial institution, from May 1, 2011 to April 30, 2021, following his election in October 2010 and re-election for a second term in 2015. U.S.-Iran tensions raise regional concerns as Tehran signals willingness for talks Xinhua) 09:16, January 31, 2026 This photo taken on Jan. 27, 2026 shows a view in Tehran, Iran. (Xinhua/Shadati) CAIRO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Rising tensions between Iran and the United States have alarmed regional leaders and sparked urgent calls for renewed diplomacy. Tehran on Friday signaled a conditional willingness to return to the negotiating table to ease the escalating confrontation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye is prepared to facilitate dialogue between Tehran and Washington. In a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Erdogan underscored Ankara's commitment to constructive diplomacy and offered to act as a mediator in efforts to de-escalate the crisis. Pezeshkian reiterated Iran's commitment to "dignity-based diplomacy" grounded in international law, mutual respect, and dialogue and rejected threats or the use of force. In remarks to Erdogan, he stressed that successful diplomacy depends on abandoning hostile actions and fostering goodwill. In a separate call with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Pezeshkian emphasized that Iran seeks engagement, not conflict. "Iran prioritizes safeguarding security and establishing lasting peace and stability in the region," he said, while criticizing Western powers for what Tehran sees as a lack of genuine diplomatic commitment. Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, on a diplomatic visit to Istanbul, reiterated that Tehran is prepared for talks with the United States but only if they are fair and not conducted under threat. This photo taken on Jan. 24, 2026 shows a street view in Tehran, Iran. (Xinhua) Speaking at a press conference alongside his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Araghchi said that while Tehran remains open to all diplomatic avenues, arrangements for the format, location, and agenda of talks have yet to be agreed. He stressed that Iran will not negotiate its defensive capabilities. Araghchi also said Iran is prepared for all scenarios, including military conflict, and claimed that its readiness now surpasses its preparedness during last year's Israeli and U.S. airstrikes. He reaffirmed that Iran has never sought nuclear weapons but will maintain and expand its defense capabilities. Fidan urged both nations to return immediately to negotiations, asserting that diplomacy is the only viable path to prevent further escalation. Meanwhile, Iran's Ali Larijani, the country's top security official, visited Moscow, where Russian President Vladimir Putin received him. According to the Iranian embassy in Moscow, the talks focused on economic cooperation and significant regional and international issues, though details were limited. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi warned that the crisis threatens broader regional stability. Speaking at the Egyptian Military Academy, Sisi highlighted concerns that a military confrontation could have severe security and economic repercussions. Vehicles pass in front of a tax administration building damaged during recent unrest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 21, 2026. (Xinhua/Shadati) Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, in a call with Araghchi, affirmed that Azerbaijan will not allow its territory or airspace to be used against Iran or any neighboring state, underscoring that disputes should be resolved through dialogue under international law. At the same time, the United States has bolstered its military presence in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump said that a "massive armada," led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and larger than the fleet sent to Venezuela, is heading toward Iran. The deployment reflects the heightened risk of confrontation, even as Washington publicly holds out the possibility of diplomacy. On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces reported that the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black made a routine stop in Eilat on the Red Sea, underscoring ongoing U.S.-Israeli military cooperation. Later, Trump said he has given a deadline directly to Tehran, while refusing to disclose its specifics. The United States has insisted that any agreement must include a ban on uranium enrichment, removal of enriched material, limits on long-range missiles, and a rollback of support for regional proxies -- conditions Tehran has rejected. For regional observers, the current tensions do not necessarily mean that direct military conflict between the United States and Iran is inevitable. "So far, it cannot be said that the United States has made a definitive decision to wage war against Iran. Indicators suggest that the Trump administration is using time as a weapon, brandishing force to raise the cost of Iran's refusal," Faleh Al Hajri, a Qatari political analyst, told Xinhua. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) New York, US (PANA) - Military tensions in South Sudan are rapidly expanding between government forces and opposition militia as fighting continues in restive Jonglei state A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the latest Game of Thrones series, doesnt depend on swooping dragons or conniving royals to tell its story. We have one guy and some horses and a few nice trees, says creator Ira Parker. It was very important for us to feel earthy and to feel intimate came very easily because we are just following one persons story and were seeing it through his eyes. That one person is Ser Duncan the Tall, a low born hedge knight who longs to claim his place in a world of Targaryens. After burying his mentor, Dunk enters a tournament and, along the way, comes upon a boy, Egg, who wants to be his squire. Quickly, they become friends and the journey begins. Dunk is such an immediately likable human being, Parker says. Hes earnest and honest and he has a lot of self-doubt and anxieties. Hes just a kid with a silly dream who wants to go out and be a knight, but he doesnt quite know how to achieve that. Peter Claffey, who plays Dunk, worried about measuring up. I really admire his moral compass and his black-and-white sense of chivalry, he says. But Ive learned a lot from the character and, in a world as ruthless as Westeros, its quite a beautiful and endearing thing to see a character like Dunk, whos trying to navigate it in a moral way. Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell, who plays Egg, bonded at arcades in Belfast. Were like brothers, not only like our characters, but in real life, Ansell says. We were lucky to have about two months preparation before we got into shooting, Claffey says. We did horse riding every day and combat training. Im so glad to be his friend now, and Im very, very close with him and his family, and theyre really, really good, lovely people. Those two months could have been quite nerve-racking. But something clicked in that chemistry read, and we havent looked back since. Ansell, whos the only child in the series, says it wasnt difficult to feel accepted by the adult actors. Ive only been (acting) for two years, but thats like, what, a fifth of my life? But it feels like Ive been with these guys for my whole life. Im so close to them all, and we just feel like buddies. As secrets are revealed, Dunks journey becomes one viewers can relate to. Bertie Carvel, who plays Prince Baelor Targaryen, heir to the Iron Throne, says, Its very relatable in our own world. Were all asking ourselves whether you can find the moral courage to do the right thing, whether it feels like a wasted effort. Thats why its good television, its good storytelling, and I think a story that we have a real thirst for right now, in a sort of darkening world. We dont have that roving epic scale of going from family to family and the dead coming to kill mankind and dragons, Parker says. Claffeys body language and sense of humor contribute to the overall feeling. Without that, we never would have been able to get out Dunks inner monologue, which is so important to this series, Parker says. When Carvell read the story, then watched it on screen, he realized viewers are reminded of Dunks humanity, mortality and limitations. He looks around and sees knights who seem more capable and grander and thats why its relatable, Carvel says. Its a heroic story because its sort of grounded in something quite humane and mortal. It would be good if we would all ask ourselves the question, What would it mean to be more heroic? A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airs on HBO. PHOENIX Someone who tries to lure an "underage" person into a sexual act can be convicted and required to serve a longer sentence even if there was no minor to begin with, the Arizona Supreme Court says. In ruling Friday, the court rejected arguments by defendant Hanees Haniffa that the fact that the "girl'' he was communicating with actually was an undercover officer meant he could not be found guilty of the crime he was charged with in 2024 of luring a minor for sexual exploitation. The justices agreed unanimously that state lawmakers wrote the law to specifically say it is not a defense that the intended victim was not a minor. The court split, however, on the question of whether Haniffa could be subject to another part of the law which spells out that anyone convicted of the crime must also serve the full sentence without possibility of probation, pardon or release. Justice Maria Elena Cruz, writing for the majority, argued that the same logic applies to sentencing as to what is required for conviction: there need not be an actual minor. But Justice Clint Bolick, in a dissenting opinion, said a strict reading of the statutes shows that the Arizona Legislature, while clarifying years ago that an undercover officer can be a victim to allow conviction for the offense, never wrote into the rest of the law that the same wording applies to sentencing. He said that means the state, to seek the harsher sentence, needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim was younger than 15, which it could not prove here. With Bolick alone in his objection, the majority ruling prevails, overturning a contrary conclusion reached by both Pima County Superior Court Judge James Marner and the Arizona Court of Appeals. That, in turn, sets the precedent that will govern all future cases. Cruz acknowledged that the state Supreme Court reached a contrary decision in a 2017 ruling. But she said the Legislature has since clarified the law, making the distinction between a real or fictitious victim "legally irrelevant.'' Anyway, Cruz said, it makes sense to interpret the law in that way. She said that "promotes protection against the threat of substantial harm to minors and the public.'' "The spirit and purpose of the statute penalizing the luring of children for sexual exploitation targets predators who prey on minors and those whose efforts are intercepted by undercover officers,'' Cruz wrote. "As charged, the defendant here set out to intentionally harm a minor,'' she continued. "He should not escape enhanced sentencing intended to deter and punish harm against minors merely because his intended victim was, unbeknownst to him, a law enforcement officer.'' Beyond that, Cruz said public policy considerations support Friday's ruling. "Effecting harsh punishment on persons who intend to prey on minors but fail to do so based on factual impossibility is a rational goal of criminal deterrence and is consistent with the legislature's foundational public policy concerning criminal law,'' she wrote. Cruz said lawmakers have consistently expanded laws designed to protect children to also include threat-based and risk-based offenses. "Luring exemplifies this shift: It criminalizes conduct at the solicitation stage, before physical harm occurs,'' she said. Cruz said that means the law is worded in a way so that "the relevant 'harm' became the creation of imminent risk to children as a class, not injury to a particular child.'' The justices also rejected a plea by Haniffa to apply "the rule of lenity'' in this case. That rule says that any doubts should be resolved in favor of a defendant. Cruz said there's no basis for that claim here, as no "reasonable doubt'' exists about how the law works and how sentencing is to be imposed. At Tucsons top outdoor destination, you can enjoy sweeping vistas, seasonal waterfalls and occasional wildlife encounters along more than 30 miles of trails for hikers and cyclists of every skill level. The only thing missing from Sabino Canyon is a fancy front porch. Coronado National Forest and the nonprofit Friends of Sabino Canyon have teamed up on an ambitious plan to transform the entrance to the recreation area with a new $32.8 million visitor center and expanded parking lot. Under the proposal, the existing collection of nine buildings, some of them dating back more than 60 years, would be replaced by a single modern structure with almost triple the floor space. The parking lot would be enlarged and reconfigured to add up to 122 spaces, along with desert landscaping, solar panels and dedicated walking paths to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. The design for the reimagined visitor center blends indoor and outdoor space into a crescent-shaped structure that opens toward the mouth of Sabino Canyon and the Santa Catalina Mountains beyond. Covering up to 29,000 square feet, the facility would include dedicated exhibit space with new interactive displays, a gift shop and bookstore, a small cafe, a multipurpose room, dozens of offices for Forest Service employees and volunteers, and an improved ticketing and boarding area for the Sabino Canyon Crawler tram service. It's a generational project, said Friends president Jim Darling. I tell folks we're not building it for us. Quite frankly, we're not building it for our kids. Were building it for our grandchildren, that couple of generations away. It's ambitious, there's no question about it, but I think it makes sense. Before they can roll out the welcome mat, though, they have to find the money to pay for it. Cash for canyon Local U.S. Forest Service officials have requested funding for the project through the agencys internal competitive process, said Adam Milnor, recreation, heritage and lands staff officer for Coronado National Forest. The most likely funding source is the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, an almost $10 billion program created by Congress in 2020 as part of the Great American Outdoors Act and proposed for renewal as part of the America the Beautiful Act now under consideration in the Senate. Darling said projects with strong community financial support tend to move to the top of the list for Legacy Restoration Fund consideration, so the Friends of Sabino Canyon have committed to raising almost $5 million for the new visitor center, 15% of money needed. According to its website, the Friends have raised more than $1 million for past projects in Sabino Canyon, but this will be the largest fundraising campaign yet for the volunteer group founded in 1993. Darling isnt worried. He said their board includes several members with experience in big institutional fundraising, and they have also hired a part-time staff member who worked on the successful capital campaign for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. So we've got a pretty sophisticated crew put together to do it, and we're optimistic, he said. Coronado National Forest completed its environmental review and signed off on the master plan for the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center Reimagined Project in December, capping a two-year process that included community workshops and public meetings. Darling expects the Friends to officially launch their fundraising campaign sometime in 2027, with a goal of collecting their share of the project costs within two to three years. Out with the old Sabino Canyons current visitor center was built in 1963 and expanded in 1996, with some additional improvements in 2002. Darling said Forest officials have done their best to keep it in working order, but its useful life is over, and it doesn't meet the needs of future generations. The facility is cramped and showing its age, with interpretive displays relegated to hallways next to the front door, he said. The water and sewer lines serving the site are old and prone to problems, and the air conditioning system has been known to stop working in the heat of summer. Staff members from the National Forests Santa Catalina District work inside the rotting wood walls of adjacent modular office buildings that were installed in 1991 and never meant to last 35 years in the desert sun. Meanwhile, visitation has surged by 50% or more at the recreation area in recent decades, fueled by an increase in tourism to Southern Arizona and housing development near the canyon. According to the master plan for the new visitor center, there are now roughly 2,000 residential lots within a mile of the entrance to Sabino. Getting exact visitor counts is difficult due to multiple access points and growing walk- and bike-in traffic, Milnor said, but the recreation area easily ranks as the most popular spot in Coronado National Forest, drawing between 1.1 million and 1.4 million people a year. Thats several hundred thousand more than Saguaro National Park sees annually. The main parking lot at Sabino Canyon with its 378 spots tends to fill to capacity on 40 to 50 days a year, Milnor said. And on the 10 to 15 busiest of those days, the parks nearby overflow lot fills up, too. The idea of replacing the old visitor center has been in the works since at least 2016. The Forest and the Friends agreed to share the $250,000 cost of a master plan for the project in 2022. The 58-page plan was developed by Weddle Gilmore Architects, a national firm with studios in Scottsdale and New York City and experience with park visitor centers and other public facilities. Its stated goal: to deliver an architectural design that achieves "the vision of the visitor center being the 'front porch' for Sabino Canyon." The firm's renderings for the project show a modern structure built to the latest energy-efficiency and sustainability standards, but using materials with natural finishes to match the colors and textures of the surrounding landscape and the historic stone bridges and dams within the canyon. For an example of another Weddle Gilmore design with a similar look, Darling pointed to the Gateway to McDowell Sonoran Preserve at the eastern edge of Scottsdale. Still years away The plan for Sabino Canyon calls for the new center to be built to the north of the current complex, which would remain open throughout construction. Once the new facility is finished, the existing buildings are to be demolished to make way for additional parking. A community-based steering committee identified early that maintaining public access during construction was essential, Milnor explained. Designing the project this way minimizes impacts on regular visitors and high year-round use of the main parking area. See the full plan The full master plan design report for the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center Reimagined Project is available to download and read on the Friends of Sabino Canyon website at sabinocanyon.org. Just click on the "Master Plan Design Report" link on the nonprofit group's homepage. Work on the new building is unlikely to begin until 2028 at the earliest. Milnor said it would take about 12 months to complete the construction drawings, followed by additional time to solicit competitive bids, select a contractor and procure materials. The construction itself is expected to take another 18 months at least, he said. But visitors wont have to wait for some upgrades at Sabino Canyon. Work is scheduled to begin in the coming months on several smaller projects, including reconstruction of the stone stairs at Sabino Dam, installation of a permanent restroom at the overflow parking lot and construction of a new and improved Bajada Loop trail. Darling said the old trail has deteriorated and needs to be moved to make way for visitor center construction. It will be replaced with an accessible interpretive trail that has already been designed and is ready to be installed later this year, he said. Ultimately, money will determine how much of the reimagined visitor center gets built and how soon. If full funding is not secured, the plan could be scaled down or implemented through interim repairs and smaller improvements, Milnor said. But Darling is confident that the project will get built and not just because hes the self-described optimist of the group. Oh, it'll get done. There may be some modifications to it, but I think the need is there. The physical and financial need is there, and the community support is huge to do it, he said. If you look at the great visitor centers around the country, at either national parks or in the forests, they were all ambitious for their time, and they all got built. Organizers nationwide are calling for a "National Shutdown Day" on Friday, January 30, urging millions of Americans to boycott work, schools, and businesses in protest of federal immigration enforcement operations. The nationwide protest was sparked by a series of deadly incidents involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in recent weeks. An ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen, on January 7 while she was driving in South Minneapolis. Additional deaths linked to federal agents have been reported in Chicago, Los Angeles, and other locations, according to activist statements. These incidents have triggered coordinated demonstrations across the country, beginning with a statewide strike in Minnesota on January 23 that drew thousands of participants. Growing Movement With Business and Student Support The "No Work, No School, No Shopping" campaign, promoted through the National Shutdown website, has gained momentum with endorsements from student organizations, labor unions, and community groups, according to ABC7. Student leaders at the University of Minnesota, including representatives from the Black, Ethiopian, and Somali student associations, are helping spearhead the nationwide effort. Major celebrities, including actor Edward Norton and hip-hop artist Vic Mensa, have publicly supported the action, with Norton calling for a "national general economic strike." Participants include hundreds of small businesses and worker cooperatives. In Los Angeles, Proof Bakery, a worker-owned cooperative in Atwater Village, announced it would close in solidarity. Restaurants, tattoo shops, and other local establishments across the country have made similar commitments. However, participation remains uncertain. Chicago Public Schools stated that students participating will not receive an excused absence, and in Illinois, private employers can legally terminate workers who take part in the protest, Axios reported. Read more: Four Children Arrested by ICE at Columbia Heights Minnesota School District as Tensions Ramp Up Concerns Over ICE Enforcement Tactics The protests reflect broader concerns about ICE's enforcement methods during Trump's second term. Federal agents have been accused of conducting home raids without warrants, separating children from families, and establishing checkpoints in busy streets. According to local accounts in Minneapolis, more than six people were detained from Boyle Heights in a single day, including a flower vendor and a father delivering meals to his children at school. Some lawmakers from both parties have expressed support for limiting ICE operations. Congresswoman Ayana Pressley, a Democrat, has reiterated her longstanding opposition to ICE, while Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, has called for ICE to withdraw from Minnesota and Maine, as per NewArab. Activists emphasize that economic action has proven effective historically. "We've seen strikes work," said Daniela Diaz of Proof Bakery, expressing hope that the coordinated action will lead to an end to ICE operations in American communities. When a few thousand protesters marched through downtown Tucson streets Friday, not much bad happened. Based on recent experience, Darrell Hussman could have predicted that. Hussman is one of the officers on TPD's rapid-response team that shows up for demonstrations that need monitoring. He's also president of the officers' bargaining unit, the Tucson Police Officers Association, and thus gets a wider view of how things are going. So far in this season of regular protests on Tucson streets, at parks, schools and streetcorners, things have gone pretty well, he told me Wednesday. Aside from the occasional harsh word and a blast of pepper spray that Hussman received in June, "99%" of the protesters he's encountered have been decently behaved and often appreciative of the police presence, he said. But as ICE operations pop up in Tucson amid surging hostility toward that agency, he and other officers worry the same hostility could shift onto them. As we spoke in their police-station office he spun out a worrisome scenario. "Big picture, they (immigration agents) come into town, create a mess, and we're sucked into it, and now we are a part of ICE in the community's eyes when our whole goal is to keep Tucsonans safe," he said. "It's going to be hard when we're called to protect federal agents as well, and it's just a mess that we would like to avoid at all costs." These are among the issues that police and protesters are sorting through as ICE activities spread, and the movement against the federal mass-deportation effort grows larger and more passionate due especially to two killings by immigration agents in Minnesota. My hope is that people's anger can remain focused where I think it belongs: On immigration enforcement operations. It's better for everybody, protesters and local law enforcement, if those two sides can remain at relative peace. It helps isolate the real problem, which I believe is the sweeping immigration actions not focused on arresting criminals but on meeting quotas and punishing communities that didn't vote for Trump. And it lets police do their main jobs, which are big enough in Tucson without political flare-ups. Mistaken protests In the year since Pres. Trump took office, Tucson rapid-responders have been actively showing up where ICE is reported, to observe or protest. While doing good work, they have made some mistakes. The one most relevant to local police is that because the rapid-response network relies on witness reports of immigration operations, sometimes the witnesses are wrong. By accident, they've responded to protests or observe non-immigration operations by agencies like the U.S. Marshals Service, Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Pinal County Sheriff's Department and Tucson police and others. On Tuesday, demonstrators protested a shooting by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Arivaca before it emerged that the shooting victim was a convicted people-smuggler named Gary Schlegel, whom the FBI accused of shooting at agents, who subsequently shot him. Schlegel's sister called him a "violent person" and asked people not to pity him. As justified as it is to observe and nonviolently protest immigration agents, in my opinion, it is undesirable to do the same with Tucson police. Part of isolating ICE for their negative impacts on our communities is to ensure that the other law enforcement agencies aren't unfairly painted with the same brush. "My concern is that not everyone knows the difference between federal agents and local police," Hussman said. "They think law enforcement is law enforcement, and my concern is, is that people will start to impede our ability to do our day to day job, which is to keep the city of Tucson safe and hold people accountable for their actions." Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar expressed much the same concern when I spoke with him Thursday. "One of the main issues is that now my police resources can be out in tactical vests doing a search warrant on narcotics or violent crime, and we have rapid response coming there and having conflict or confrontations because they think it's immigration," he said. Both Hussman and Kasmar noted that what they've seen from recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement deviates from their own practices and training. Tucson police are trained to be clearly identifiable, for example, in part so they're not confused with home invaders when they go to a door, Kasmar said. "Police officers across the country and in our own community wear identifiable uniforms with name tags and badges, agency-identifiable tactical gear when necessary, and body-worn cameras so the community knows who we are," Kasmar said via a later text. Hussman also noted Tucson is heavily trained in de-escalation. "The federal ICE agents I'm not trained in their stuff, I haven't been doing their training but just seeing it, they have different tactics and different ways of doing business," he said. When protesters seek cops' aid Protesters and rapid-responders also have some asks of police. Alba Jaramillo, a lawyer who helps lead the rapid-response group, said she's been in close contact with Tucson Mayor Regina Romero's office. As to Tucson police, Jaramillo said "I think we need communication before they show up. We need our protesters to understand theyre not there to arrest them or to collaborate with ICE." "Speaking for myself, I do believe they are not collaborating (with ICE) and they are looking out for the interests of the immigrant community and the activists." Where push may come to shove is if either immigration agents or protesters, or both, ask local police for protection from the other. "What Id like to see is our protesters or immigrant community or anyone who witnesses abuse by ICE is to call 911 and have the police show up and protect our own community," Jaramillo said. "And if there is any violence perpetrated by ICE, that they use state law to arrest them." Across the country, some local agencies have been preparing to take or are taking legal action against federal agents who may have committed crimes, especially the killings in Minneapolis. In Philadelphia, a rumored future target of federal action, the sheriff and district attorney issued federal agents dire warnings. Pima County Attorney Laura Conover has joined a group of prosecutors called Fight Against Federal Overreach, "a national coalition of District Attorneys collaborating to ensure federal officials are held accountable when they exceed their lawful authority." Still, on the ground, intervening is a big request, because it means a local agency's officers deciding they know what's going on better than a federal agency's officers who were there first, Kasmar explained to me. But it's what policies demand in certain situations. "If we come upon a situation with any law enforcement whether it's our own, it's a neighboring jurisdiction, or it's our federal partners and we saw what we deemed to be inappropriate levels of force being utilized, we would we have a duty intervene," Kasmar said. "Our general orders are clear that we have a duty to intervene. And I would expect my officers to jump in and take control of the environment and take custody of an individual." For now, the work in Tucson has been more mundane and successful. It would be great if it stays that way. Each week Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include: Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and leaders of the six other Western states that rely on the Colorado River ended a Friday meeting in Washington, D.C. with no deal to end a stalemate over rights to the river's dwindling water supply. Hobbs indicated that progress was made thanks to newfound flexibility from upstream states over their willingness to make commitments to cut some of their river water use, as the Lower Basin states, including Arizona, have already done. But Colorado officials all but directly contradicted Hobbs' comments, saying they and Upper Colorado River Basin states were sticking to their position opposing any mandatory water use cuts on their part. The meeting was hosted by U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. I was encouraged to hear Upper Basin governors express a willingness to turn water conservation programs into firm commitments of water savings, Hobbs posted on social media after the two-hour meeting. "Arizona has been and will continue to be at the table offering solutions to the long-term protection of the river so long as every state recognizes our shared responsibility. "I look forward to continued discussions and hope that we can work across state and party lines to find a fair deal that protects Arizona farmers, families and businesses, and Americas national security and resilience," Hobbs wrote. Among the Upper Basin governors at the meeting was Colorados Jared Polis, who sat next to Hobbs at the Department of the Interior offices. But while Polis said in a statement after the meeting that his state remains committed to working collaboratively to find solutions to the river's chronic supply-demand deficit, Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell said in her own statement after the session that the state is sticking to its guns in being unwilling to commit to any mandatory conservation measures. Polis said in his statement, We have offered sacrifices to ensure the long-term viability of the Colorado River and we remain committed to working collaboratively to find solutions that protect water for our state, while supporting the vitality of the Colorado River and everyone who depends on it." Mitchell said, "Colorado is committed to being part of the solution, and with our Upper Basin partners, we have offered every tool available to us. This includes making releases from our upstream reservoirs and establishing a contribution program as part of a consensus agreement. However, any contributions must be voluntary, and we have real ideas and plans to achieve the goals. "As several upper basin governors clearly stated at the meeting, we cannot and will not impose mandatory reductions on our water rights holders to send water downstream," she wrote. "Our water users are already facing uncompensated reductions through state regulation. In many cases, these reductions impact 1880s water rights that predate the (Colorado River) Compact. Any contribution program must recognize our hydrologic realities: we simply cannot conserve water that we do not get to begin with. An Arizona source familiar with the negotiations, however, told the Arizona Daily Star that at Friday's meeting, some Upper Basin governors did appear to be open to possible mandatory conservation measures and indicated they realized "it's not a good look" to offer only voluntary conservation measures. "I think the other Upper Basin states expressed a willingness to put water on the table in a way that Colorado has not," said the source late Friday, requesting anonymity to protect their ability to continue to participate in interstate river discussions. Mitchell spoke in even stronger terms earlier in the week at a public talk she gave in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. She spoke at the annual meeting of the Colorado Water Conference, a professional association that advocates for policies and laws that protect the states waters. For more than a century, we built a system on optimism and entitlement. We planned for abundance, labeled it normal, wrote it in the law, and when the water showed up, we spent it, Mitchell told the gathering, in remarks reported by the Colorado Sun news website. When it didnt, we blamed the weather, climate change or each other. Anything but the simple math. The seven states need to tie reservoir releases more closely to the actual amount of water coming in, Mitchell said in an interview after the speech. That was a nonnegotiable for the Friday meeting, she said. Overuse by the Lower Basin is draining the system, Colorado officials say. In the 1980s, Lake Powell was overflowing with water. As of Tuesday, it stored 6.2 million acre-feet, or about 25% of its capacity. The basin has been using the reservoirs like credit cards, rather than savings banks, Mitchell said. In the negotiations, Colorado cant agree to another set of rules with reservoir release plans that will drain Powell over time, Mitchell said. Nor will the state agree to mandatory conservation, she added. The fight over potential cuts is at the center of the dispute between basin states. The Upper Basin Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming says it already has had to limit its water use in dry years and cannot commit to mandatory conservation. The states have committed to voluntary water-saving efforts. The Lower Basin Arizona, California and Nevada has said future water restrictions should be shared among all seven states. The downstream states have promised 1.5 million acre-feet in water cuts and called for Upper Basin states to commit to some form of mandatory cutbacks. Mitchell said in her Aurora talk that mandatory conservation for Colorado is a no-go. The states constitution preserves the right for Coloradans to put available water to beneficial use. Mandatory conservation would go against that, the states lawyers argue. We cant do it constitutionally within the state of Colorado. There is more flexibility with a voluntary program, she said. We cant bend on that. Well get sued. Doug MacEachern, the Arizona Department of Water Resources' communication administrator, said the Lower Basin states have offered 1.5 million acre-feet of cuts from the outset of talks, but the Upper Basin states hadnt budged. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land with water 1 foot deep. Thats about 325,851 gallons. A million acre-feet could fill nearly 500,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Theyre not interested in any kind of mandatory cuts, MacEachern said ahead of Fridays meeting. Thats pretty radical. Its not exactly what one would call a negotiating posture, but thats where were at. The river supplies nearly 40 million people in seven states. A 1922 compact signed when populations were far smaller allocated 7.5 million acre-feet annually to each basin. Arizona is entitled to 2.8 million acre-feet. But in the last decade, the total supply has only reached 12.5 million acre-feet on average, with the totals falling well below that in the past five years. The states have spent two years trying to update a 2023 plan that authorized short-term Lower Basin cuts. After they missed a November 2025 deadline, the federal government gave them until Feb. 14 to avoid a settlement imposed by Washington. With time running out, Interior Secretary Burgum summoned the governors to his office for Fridays meeting. This is one of the toughest challenges facing the West, but the Department remains hopeful that, by working together, the seven basin governors can help deliver a durable path forward, Burgum said in a statement after the meeting. Looking at this as a former governor, the responsibility each of them carries to meet the needs of their constituents cannot be understated, and we are committed to partnering with them to reach consensus. Six of the governors attended. California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent his states natural resources secretary. Hobbs praised Burgum for stepping in. That level of leadership is necessary, overdue and essential if we are going to break the logjam and reach a durable agreement, she said ahead of the meeting. Hobbs has been critical of the Upper Basin states, which have blamed shortages on hotter temperatures, drought and reduced overall supply. The downstream states largely blame overuse and want all states to absorb cuts. Ahead of the meeting, Hobbs, a Democrat, pitched Arizonas case in a way that might win sympathy from Republican President Donald Trump. She stressed the states key role in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, winter agriculture and advanced manufacturing as reasons to maximize its share of the river. The AI and chip industries, in particular, are high priorities for the president. Much of Arizonas population relies on the Central Arizona Project, a $4 billion, 336-mile system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants and pipelines that delivers water from Lake Havasu, which is downstream from Lake Mead on the Colorado River. Andrea Gerlak, a University of Arizona professor and director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, said little Band-Aids like the 2023 deal have bought time, but a long-term solution is still needed. Dog Park Don't look for gags in ABC's dramedy about a grumpy dad who needs to reconnect through the world of doggy devotees. One of the reasons Bluey has been so successful, and only one, is the healthy relationship between father and daughter. Its rarely expressed so candidly as in ABCs animated dog show. But in its newest doggie offering Dog Park its the complete opposite. Roland (Leon Ford) is a fumbling, inexpressive parent to teen daughter Mia (Florence Gladwin). Hes a cold, grumpy husband to wife Emma (Brooke Satchwell). And hes a pretty lousy dog walker to the family pooch Beattie (Indie). Just what does he have going for him? Not much it seems in this new series created by Amanda Higgs and Leon Ford. So why would I want to spend any time with him? I didnt at first. There were no punchlines in what I had anticipated was an ABC comedy. But with a second viewing and shifting my expectations to dramedy I found more to like. Roland works as a careers counsellor at a local TAFE, which is somewhat ironic, given he has zero people skills and seems to detest most of the world. When wife Emma heads to New Mexico for a work opportunity, it leaves father, teen daughter and dog home alone. Roland begrudgingly agrees to walk the dog in her absence but its a chore, especially unwelcomed when he encounters the local dog park group. Socialising? No thanks. Self-appointed ambassador for this group is the always-agreeable Samantha (Celia Pacquola), an optomist with a loveable border collie, and time for everyone. Shes a close pal of Emmas who agrees to bring Beattie to the Dog Park for frisbee and frolicking -after all dogs need friends too, right? But just managing his day, interrupted by doggie needs, a high-maintenance teen, annoying dog walkers, insipid work colleagues and tense long-distance calls with his wife, constantly drags Roland down, and in many ways the mood of the opening episode. Thank Dog for Samantha. Her group of diverse doggie owners includes Penny (Elizabeth Alexander), Pamelia (Grace Chow), Jonah (Ras-Andrew) and Samuel (Ash Flanders) an eclectic family who regularly socialise and support one another while their dogs run amok in an inner Melbourne park. On the domestic front, Mia shuns her father to the point of having her space violated if he steps inside her bedroom. When the smoke signals from Emma suggest she may be staying longer in the US than expected, Roland finds himself drinking red wine and listening to Nik Kershaw. Forced to look inward, his needy pooch becomes both a point of distraction and a step forward to socialisation. The dynamic between Roland and Samantha is both awkward and evolving is an affair on the cards? It could certainly lighten the mood for both Roland and us as audience. Yet having an abrasive lead can also be very successful as shows such as Doc Martin, House, Breaking Bad demonstrate. The key is whether they are interesting and showing us why they behave as they do. On that front Dog Park is just setting up its universe. Ford as Roland maintains all the grumpiness required of a husband / father on the brink while Pacquola imposes the perfect amount of levity to challenge and disarm him largely without him realising it. Its also great to see thespian Elizabeth Alexander in a supporting role as the groups senior member who, in episode two, offers some wise counsel about how to break through to a disengaged teenage daughter. The canine characters also collectively bring moments of joy, facial expressions and spontaneity without ever requiring a line of dialogue. On a chilly Melbourne morning no wonder their personalities win out over near-Antarctic chills. Dog Park presents as a character study and social observation rather than a gag-fest. I wish Id known that from the outset. Dog Park screens 8:30pm Sundays on ABC. Renewed: Austin Comedy with Michael Theo is headed to a third season -and a wedding. Comedy series Austin has been renewed for a third season by ABC. ABC Director Screen Jennifer Collins told TV Tonight, Austin is an audience favourite with Michael Theo, Ben Miller, Sally Phillips, an extraordinary cast who have really cemented our partnership with Northern Pictures. This one goes on to the BBC, which is really fantastic for our international co productions as well. And theres a wedding! Commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A Northern Pictures production with Lincoln Pictures, in association with and distributed by ITV Studios. Catherine Nebauer and Darren Ashton are Executive Producers from Northern Pictures, with Rachel Okine as Executive Producer for ABC. By Yuliia Dysa and Alexander Tanas KYIV/CHISINAU, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Parts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the neighbouring countries' capitals, were plunged into blackouts on Saturday caused by a malfunction of high-voltage power lines, officials said. Power was restored later in the day. Officials did not directly link the accident to war damage, although Ukraine's power grid has suffered from the accumulated impact of Russian airstrikes, leading to severe restrictions on electricity supplies in recent weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blamed ice buildup on power lines and ruled out a cyberattack. "In the morning, a technological accident occurred on the power grid: two lines between Romania and Moldova and within the territory of Ukraine stopped operating," he said in his nightly video address. "The causes are being thoroughly investigated." He said Ukraine had increased power imports to meet demand. MOLDOVA: DISRUPTION TRIGGERED BY UKRAINE PROBLEMS Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said the two incidents occurred within a minute of each other, "leading to a cascade of shutdowns in seven regions of the country." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moldova's Energy Ministry said the disruption there was triggered by problems in Ukraine's grid that led to a voltage drop on the line connecting Romania and Moldova. Romania's Energy Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The system is under greater pressure as forecast night-time temperatures of -13 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) in Kyiv are due to sink to -22 C on Monday. Zelenskiy said nearly 3,500 apartment buildings lack heating in the capital. "The city and utilities and energy experts are promising to fix the heating situation by tomorrow morning," he said. "But the pace should be faster." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure until Sunday at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump. Kyiv said it would reciprocate, and the countries did not report major attacks. Regions in both Ukraine and Moldova were affected after the malfunction at 10:42 a.m. Kyiv time. Officials in both countries said power was restored later in the day following efforts to stabilise interconnected grids. Officials in Moldova said it took 3-1/2 hours for power supplies to return to normal in the country lying between Ukraine and Romania. PASSENGERS LED OUT OF METRO STATIONS The metro in Kyiv suspended operations and water supplies in the city were cut temporarily. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state emergency service said its teams led 500 stranded passengers out of metro stations. Some passengers were seen waiting at a station with dimmed lights in anticipation of electricity being restored. Traffic lights and some public transport in Chisinau were not working, according to the city's mayor, and most districts did not have electricity. The accident caused a shutdown on Ukraine's side, triggering automatic protection at substations and the temporary disconnection of nuclear power plant units from the grid, Shmyhal said. (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv and Luiza Ilie in Bucharest; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Hugh Lawson, Peter Graff, Ron Popeski, Rod Nickel) Through the Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) for the north central region, hundreds of billions of dong have been allocated, helping link forest conservation with sustainable livelihoods for communities in mountainous areas. Linking forest protection with livelihood improvement With more than 841,000 hectares of forest and a forest coverage rate exceeding 61%, Quang Tri is among the provinces with the largest forested areas and carbon stocks in the north central region. Beyond their ecological and environmental value, these forests are gradually being transformed into an economic resource through payments for greenhouse gas emission reductions from forests - a new pathway for sustainable forest management, protection and development. As one of five provinces benefiting from ERPA during the 20232025 period, Quang Tri has been allocated more than 364 billion VND (14 million USD) of the central budget, based on verified emission reduction results and the area of natural forests under protection. To date, over 349 billion VND, equivalent to more than 95% of the plan, has been disbursed to State-assigned forest owners, including forest management boards, agro-forestry companies, communal authorities, armed forces units, enterprises, households, and individuals. According to Tran Quoc Tuan, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, Quang Tri currently has more than 596,000 hectares of natural forest and nearly 245,000 hectares of planted forest. These forests represent a valuable green asset as Vietnam pursues its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Traditionally, forest value has been measured mainly through timber and forest products. ERPA has introduced a new approach by recognising forests capacity to absorb and store carbon as a payable environmental service, directly linking forest protection responsibilities with economic benefits for forest managers and local communities. ERPA revenue has provided an important financial supplement for forest protection and development. Funds have been used for emission reduction activities, direct protection of natural forests, prevention of deforestation and forest degradation, silvicultural measures, forest patrols, wildfire prevention and control, and capacity building for forest management, said Tuan. After three years of pilot implementation, ERPA payments in Quang Tri have been carried out transparently and in line with regulations. Income from forest carbon has contributed to improving livelihoods and increasing incomes for communities, households and grassroots authorities directly involved in forest protection. The programme has also helped maintain stable natural forest areas, protect ecosystems and keep the provinces forest coverage at 61.47%, creating a foundation for sustainable socio-economic development in mountainous and remote areas, the official added. According to emission reduction assessments for the region, Quang Tri achieved net emission reductions of more than 7.3 million tonnes of carbon, of which 3.4 million tonnes were transferred to the World Bank - the highest among participating localities. Overall, the programme transferred 10.3 million tonnes of carbon, generating financial resources worth 51.5 million USD. Recently, the Government approved an additional transfer of one million tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 5 million USD, for distribution to North Central provinces, including Quang Tri. The province is currently implementing payments in line with Decree No. 107/2022/ND-CP, with additional funding exceeding 37.9 billion VND. Thai Van Son, Director of the Thach Han River Basin Protection Forest Management Board, said ERPA has placed strong emphasis on supporting local livelihoods. Many forest owners have used the funds to contract forest protection tasks to communities living near forest areas, creating jobs, raising incomes and improving on-site forest protection effectiveness. Challenges remain Despite positive results, challenges remain. Tuan noted that the legal framework for the carbon market and forest carbon credits is still being refined, with key issues such as ownership rights, benefit-sharing mechanisms and links between domestic and international carbon markets yet to be fully clarified. In addition, forest carbon projects require robust measurement, reporting and verification systems that meet international standards, while initial investment resources and technical capacity remain limited. In the future, the province will focus on strictly protecting existing forests, boosting forest quality and carbon storage, enhancing monitoring systems, and encouraging sustainable forest management along with forest certification. Effective ERPA implementation is contributing to Vietnams climate commitments while opening a new pathway for forestry economics, linking forest protection with sustainable livelihood improvement and long-term development goals./. VNA The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has formally requested the citys Food Safety Authority to inspect the entire supply chain of semi-boarding school meals following the Sago Food scandal, in which expired meat was found in lunches served to students. Parents taking their children home for lunch after the Sago Food incident. Photo: Phuoc Sang The Education Department noted that it has recently received a growing number of complaints and reports concerning potential food safety risks in school meals - particularly with industrially prepared meals and pre-cooked portions provided by centralized catering services for educational institutions. While many meal suppliers hold proper legal permits and documentation, actual operations often reveal inadequate hygiene conditions and unsafe practices in food preparation, storage, transportation, and delivery. These risks have caused widespread concern among parents, schools, and the broader community. The Department warns that if left unaddressed, these lapses could directly affect student health. It is now calling for stronger coordination with the Food Safety Authority to urgently implement several key measures: First, conduct in-depth and realistic inspections - not only of legal paperwork but also of actual hygiene conditions and food handling processes at every stage. Inspections should be both periodic and unannounced, especially for large-scale suppliers serving multiple schools. Second, apply stringent controls throughout the entire school meal supply chain - from ingredient sourcing, processing, and storage to transport and final delivery. Inspections must verify the three-step food checking protocol, proper food sample retention, and measures to prevent cross-contamination. Cooking oil, packaging, and food-contact tools and equipment must also be monitored. Third, ensure swift enforcement and early risk alerts. If any food safety violations are detected, authorities must impose strict penalties within their jurisdiction. In cases of potential danger, the Food Safety Authority is asked to promptly inform the Department of Education and Training so schools can be directed to suspend the use of affected suppliers immediately. Inspection findings should be shared with the education sector to inform school decisions and help maintain an up-to-date list of qualified, at-risk, or non-compliant meal providers. The Department emphasized that this food safety control effort must be preventive in nature - aiming to detect and eliminate risks before incidents occur - in order to protect the health and lives of students, who are a highly vulnerable population. Le Huyen WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Capstone LLC, a leading policy analysis and investment research firm, has released its financial services sector preview for 2026, highlighting regulatory shifts and policy priorities expected to reshape banking, insurance, housing finance, and education markets. Capstone anticipates the Trump administration will pursue dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau while advancing deregulatory rulemaking. As federal enforcement recedes, Democratic-led states are expected to intensify oversight, creating a fragmented regulatory landscape across consumer finance. The firm expects prudential regulators to ease regulatory burdens for banks through a "capital neutral" Basel III Endgame proposal while introducing new stablecoin regulations that may pose competitive challenges for smaller institutions. Housing policy will emerge as a major federal and state priority, with lawmakers likely reshaping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's roles and pursuing supply-side reforms to address affordability. Algorithmic pricing tools in the rental and real estate markets continue to face scrutiny. In insurance, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners will tighten scrutiny of investment strategies and AI applications, while state policymakers pursue affordability reforms amid catastrophe risk concerns. Education markets face mixed prospects, with federal funding stability offset by state budget pressures affecting K-12 vendors and international enrollment policies creating headwinds for universities. Please access the following links to read Capstone's outlook on developments for 2026: Consumer Finance Insurance Housing Banking For more information contact Daniel Kruger by phone at (917) 566-8220 or E-mail: [email protected] About Capstone Capstone is a leading global policy analysis and regulatory due diligence firm with locations in Washington, DC, New York, Houston, London, Paris, Mumbai, and Sydney. As developments in Washington, London, Brussels, and other centers of government become more crucial to investment strategies, legislation, regulatory reforms, and new federal oversight are affecting industries in evolving ways. We advise institutional investors and companies on how changes in state, federal, and international policy impact investments. Capstone has established leading coverage of public policy investments affecting financial and business services, energy and environment, healthcare, national security, TMT, and more. Our professionals analyze policy to uncover risks, opportunities, and, in the process, unique business and investment strategies for our clients. Contact: Daniel Kruger, Capstone Phone: 917-566-8220 Email: [email protected] SOURCE CAPSTONE LLC Every Tet (Lunar New Year) season, the national costume of Vietnam - the ao dai - returns to the spotlight, not only as a fashion choice but as a cultural symbol. This year, however, discussions go far beyond debates about modesty or elegance. A wave of mass-produced, foreign-inspired designs featuring Chinese-style frog buttons and qipao-like silhouettes has sparked concern about the slow erosion of Vietnams cultural identity. The quiet invader in your shopping cart A quick stroll through Tet markets or e-commerce platforms reveals a flood of so-called modern ao dai priced as low as $4$8. But beneath the affordability lies a deeper issue. These garments often bear features like diagonal collars, central frog-button closures, and synthetic brocade fabrics associated with Chinese manufacturing. For many retailers, these design elements are not deliberate cultural choices but economic decisions. Chinese textile factories offer ultra-low-cost production, and Vietnamese vendors under pricing pressure are left with few alternatives. Rather than investing in artisanal craftsmanship and traditional tailoring techniques, many opt for off-the-shelf patterns and foreign details that are easier - and cheaper - to replicate. The result? When young Vietnamese post Tet photos wearing these garments, even local viewers might struggle to recognize the attire as distinctly Vietnamese - let alone foreign audiences. This is soft cultural erasure, not through war or politics, but through convenience. Lessons from East Asias cultural battleground BlackPink members in traditional Hanbok attire. Photo: Archives. The danger of diluted cultural symbols isnt theoretical - its been fiercely contested in East Asia. At the 2022 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, the sight of a performer in hanbok - claimed by China to represent its ethnic Korean minority - triggered uproar in South Korea. The Korean public saw it as a blatant cultural appropriation. In response, Korea did more than protest. Through initiatives like the Hanbok Promotion Center, it modernized the hanbok, funding designers to adapt traditional attire for everyday and global use. Pop icons like BTS and BlackPink helped normalize hanbok in the modern wardrobe, turning it into a fashionable, recognizable emblem of Korean identity. Today, the jeogori (jacket) and chima (skirt) are as synonymous with K-culture as kimchi or K-pop. Meanwhile, Japan took a different path -economically re-embedding kimono into daily life. Facing a 90% industry decline since its 1981 peak, Japan launched the Kimono Passport in Kyoto. Tourists wearing kimono receive discounts at museums and cafes, making the attire a living part of the citys ecosystem, while sustaining local artisans. Where to draw the line between innovation and distortion? Vietnams own history is rich with ao dai innovation. The raglan-sleeved ao dai of the 1960s and the Lemur-inspired versions of the 1930s were modern for their time. But their strength lay in enhancing the form and function of ao dai - improving fit, comfort, and feminine elegance - while preserving its symbolic essence: the split flaps, upright collar, and silhouette. In contrast, the recent influx of designs with large Chinese frog buttons and cheongsam cuts solves no functional problem. It doesnt reflect a cultural exchange - it reflects economic laziness and design shortcuts. These foreign details, when they dominate, turn ao dai into a theatrical costume rather than a piece of heritage. In todays globalized fashion landscape, this isnt just a question of style. Its a question of intellectual property and cultural sovereignty. Mexico fought back when Zara appropriated Mixe tribal embroidery. Romania forced Louis Vuitton to remove and apologize for a blouse copied from Sibiu folk designs. In a flat world, uniqueness is power - and culture is capital. Toward a flexible preservation strategy for ao dai Vietnamese women in the past wearing Raglan-style ao dai. Photo: Life. Vietnam cannot afford to simply lament each cultural misstep. Whats needed is a flexible preservation strategy that integrates identity, economy, and education. First, the Ministry of Culture should collaborate with scholars and designers to establish voluntary recognition standards for authentic Vietnamese ao dai. This could follow Indias successful Handloom Mark model, offering consumers a clear way to identify heritage-respecting products. Second, rather than enforcing ao dai as a mandatory school uniform, cultural education should be integrated into curricula. Students should learn why the ao dai is designed as it is -why the side flaps matter, why the collar stands tall -so pride replaces obligation. Third, let culture feed on commerce. Imagine a Ao dai Passport in Hue, Hoi An, or Hanoi Citadel: tourists wearing verified traditional ao dai get free entry or discounts. This would create market demand for high-quality designs and reduce reliance on fast-fashion knockoffs. Fourth, heritage advocates must shift from outrage to outreach -arming the public with knowledge rather than condemnation. Celebrities and filmmakers, whose fashion choices shape public perception, should treat each ao dai worn on screen or stage as a cultural statement, not a costume. South Korea turned hanbok into a global fashion icon. Japan transformed kimono into a tourism asset. With its rich history and visual poetry, Vietnam can do the same for ao dai -if it chooses to innovate with care, not imitate without thought. Let ao dai breathe with modern life -but make sure it breathes as Vietnam. Not as a blurred shadow of someone elses past. Nguyen Phuoc Thang (Hoa Binh University) During the visit, Binh paid courtesy calls on Swiss President Guy Parmelin and President of the National Council of Switzerland Pierre-Andre Page. He also held working sessions with leaders of the Swiss National Bank, UBS Group, Sygnum Bank, and Safra Sarasin Bank, and representatives of the Swiss Business Federation, Switzerland Global Enterprise, and Swissmem - the leading association for both SMEs and major corporations in the Swiss technology industry. At the meetings, Swiss leaders, business associations and enterprises highly appreciated the visit, noting that it took place at a meaningful time as the two countries mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2026. Both sides agreed that VietnamSwitzerland relations have developed positively across many fields, especially since the two countries elevated ties to a Comprehensive Partnership in early 2025 during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs visit to Switzerland. Binh briefed the Swiss leaders on major outcomes of the 14th National Party Congress, reaffirming Vietnams consistent policy of valuing and strengthening friendship and cooperation with Switzerland. On this occasion, he conveyed invitations for official visits to Vietnam from Party General Secretary To Lam and State President Luong Cuong to President Guy Parmelin, and from National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to President Pierre-Andre Page. Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh holds a working meeting with the leadership of UBS Group. (Photo: VNA) The two sides discussed specific measures to bring bilateral relations into a more effective and substantive new phase, particularly through enhanced exchanges of delegations at all levels. They stressed effective implementation of the Comprehensive Partnership framework to generate fresh momentum for cooperation in trade, investment and finance, and welcomed Switzerlands consideration of establishing a parliamentary friendship group with Vietnam. Vietnam will closely coordinate with Switzerland and other members of the European Free Trade Association to conclude a free trade agreement in 2026, meeting expectations of businesses in both countries and creating new drivers for bilateral economic cooperation, he said. Representatives of the Swiss National Bank and Swiss enterprises expressed strong impressions of Vietnams development goals, including its ambition for double-digit growth set by the 14th National Party Congress. They congratulated Vietnam on emerging as an attractive destination for Swiss and international investors. They also noted that Vietnams establishment of an international financial centre would further enhance its appeal to global investors. Leaders of Sygnum Bank, the worlds first digital asset bank founded in 2018, shared experience in building regulatory frameworks and infrastructure for digital banking ecosystems, and affirmed their continued interest in investment opportunities in Vietnam. Deputy PM Binh stressed that developing an international financial centre is a strategic step to attract long-term capital, advanced technologies and deepen Vietnams integration into global financial value chains. He also outlined Vietnams policies on developing the digital asset market and efforts to soon operationalise the international financial centre in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Following Switzerland, Binh will pay a working visit to Kazakhstan from January 31 to February 3./. VNA On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and Party General Secretary To Lam, Trung expressed sincere thanks to leaders of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) for their messages congratulating the success of the 14th National Party Congress. He also conveyed thanks to Acting President Delcy Rodriguez and PSUV Secretary General Diosdado Cabello for their separate congratulations to General Secretary To Lam on his re-election for a new term. During the call, Trung updated his counterpart on the key outcomes of the 14th Congress and stressed that Vietnam continues to closely monitor situation in Venezuela while sharing the challenges confronting its people. He reaffirmed the Vietnamese Party, State, and peoples stance on valuing the traditional friendship and solidarity with the PSUV, the Government, and people of Venezuela. Vietnam seeks to further consolidate and deepen the traditional bilateral relationship, making it more substantive and effective, he said. Gil, for his part, congratulated Vietnam on the success of the 14th Party Congress and conveyed greetings from Acting President Delcy Rodriguez and PSUV Secretary General Diosdado Cabello to General Secretary Lam and the CPVs leaders elected by the Congress. The Venezuelan minister voiced admiration for Vietnams major socio-economic achievements and its growing global stature and prestige throughout the Doi Moi (renewal) process. The Venezuelan Government and the PSUV attach great importance to solidarity and cooperation with Vietnam, he said, wishing to further tighten and expand bilateral ties within the framework of their Comprehensive Partnership in the new context. The two ministers shared views on recent developments in their respective parties and countries. They agreed to resume and effectively maintain bilateral cooperation mechanisms, beginning with the fourth meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee and political consultations between the two foreign ministries. Both sides vowed to jointly review existing agreements and joint projects, while exploring potential initiatives and projects aligned with each sides strengths and needs, with a view to building a new bilateral agenda that contributes to advancing the Comprehensive Partnership for the benefit of both peoples and for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in their respective regions and the world./. VNA Of the total, key agricultural and food products accounted for about 1.4 billion USD, representing the largest share of the sectors export turnover. The result reflects the effectiveness of Hanois efforts to expand overseas markets, improve quality standards, strengthen traceability systems and promote international-standard production models to meet increasingly stringent import requirements. Alongside export growth, Hanois agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector continued to post solid performance. In 2025, the sectors gross regional domestic product (GRDP) was estimated to grow by 3.55% year on year. Output at constant prices reached over 44.24 trillion VND (more than 1.7 billion USD), up 3.55%, with agriculture remaining the main driver at more than 40.3 trillion VND, an increase of 3.52%. At current prices, total production value of the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector in 2025 was estimated at nearly 70.4 trillion USD, with agriculture accounting for 91.02% of the total. These results provide a solid foundation for Hanoi to further restructure its agricultural sector toward a modern, sustainable and higher-value model, enhance competitiveness, and expand export markets in the coming years./. The 100-year master plan opens a new horizon for Hanois future. Photo: Hoang Ha To realize a master plan with a 100-year vision, Hanoi must build on existing urban plans to trigger breakthroughs without generating conflict, secure resources for large-scale projects, and strengthen its regional connections with neighboring provinces. The Hanoi Peoples Council recently passed a resolution outlining the core elements of the capitals comprehensive master plan, which carries a transformative vision for the next century. According to the plan, Hanoi seeks to fundamentally restructure its urban framework - marking a revolution in architecture, urban landscapes, housing, heritage, and preservation. The city also aims to introduce a new planning structure to unlock land potential, generate new growth values, and address long-standing infrastructure bottlenecks. The broader goal is to gradually shape Hanoi into a green, smart, and sustainable metropolis. Speaking with VietNamNet, architect Tran Huy Anh, a standing member of the Hanoi Association of Architects, said that drafting a century-long master plan is a necessary step under current conditions. It also aligns with directives from General Secretary To Lam. As directed, Hanoi must take the lead and play a guiding role, despite constraints and limitations inherited from older planning documents. This demands a new vision and fresh approach, Anh emphasized. He added that early insights from the draft plan suggest a clear departure from previous iterations, particularly in setting urgent timelines to implement the vision - moving beyond general long-term orientations. From another perspective, architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem - former Director of Hanois Department of Planning and Architecture and current Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association - noted that Hanoi has undergone nine planning cycles. After expanding its administrative boundaries in 2008, the city initiated a new master plan in 2011. In recent years, Hanoi has worked on two key plans: the Capital Planning for 20212030 with a vision to 2050, and the General Plan to 2045 with a vision to 2065. Both were approved by the Politburo and the Prime Minister in December 2024. The city is now integrating these two plans into one unified master plan. The Party Committee has requested that the new plan extend its vision to 100 years and include broad, strategic orientations, Nghiem said. He pointed out that while the 2024-approved plan identified five growth poles, five spatial axes, and five economic corridors, the new plan expands these to nine growth poles and nine economic corridors. Several large-scale projects are included in the plan, such as the Red River landscape boulevard and population redistribution efforts. This marks Hanois first attempt at a highly integrated planning framework, spanning all sectors while aligning with the national master plan. This is a plan that opens up a new vision for Hanoi. I hope it will offer a unified outlook and reshape how we envision the capital - especially in the lead-up to the 100th anniversary of national independence, Nghiem expressed. How to realize a century-long vision? Architect Tran Huy Anh. Photo: N. Huyen Cai Mep Thi Vai port area in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuan Kiet The project will be developed by a consortium of three investors: Geleximco Group, the International Transport and Trading Joint Stock Company, and the State Capital Investment Corporation. According to the decision, the port complex will span a total area of 351.2 hectares, with the container port occupying 229.4 hectares - including 121 hectares of reclaimed land. The facility is designed to international standards, with nearly 7.5 kilometers of berths capable of accommodating container vessels up to 250,000 DWT (24,000 TEU), as well as 120,000 DWT vessels, feeder ships, and barges for coastal and inland waterway transport. The water area in front of the berths will cover 121.8 hectares, ensuring safe navigation for maritime traffic. Beyond the quay infrastructure, the project will feature container yards, cold storage, general warehouses, a consolidation and distribution (CFS) facility, a radiation inspection zone, and various supporting facilities to optimize operations. The development will take place in three phases: Phase 1 is expected to begin operations in Q4 2028, Phase 2 in Q1 2035, and Phase 3 in Q1 2045. Once fully operational, the port aims to handle up to 10.8 million TEU annually. Investors will contribute 15% of the capital (approximately $300 million), while the remaining funds - over $1.7 billion - will be raised through other sources. The main services offered will include cargo handling, storage, customs clearance, international transshipment, multimodal transport, and container repair. According to Ho Chi Minh City authorities, the project aligns with Vietnams national port development master plan and the countrys marine economic strategy through 2030 with a vision to 2045. Once operational, Cai Mep Ha port is expected to become a logistics catalyst for the southern region, enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnamese exports and imports, generating jobs, and contributing to state budget revenues. Tuan Kiet This strategic shift aims to uplift living standards while elevating the regions status on the international tourism map.Spanning nearly 40,000 sq.km, the Mekong Delta is the nations agricultural powerhouse, contributing 50% of rice output, 65% of aquaculture, 70% of fruit production, 95% of rice exports, and 60% of fish exports. Beyond being a "national food basket," the region serves as a strategic gateway to the East Sea and the Mekong Sub-region. This dense network of rivers and canals provides an unparalleled foundation for riverine, agricultural, and community-based tourism. Dr Tran Huu Hiep, Vice Chairman of the Mekong Delta Tourism Association, asserted that the region is a unique ecological and cultural space. The core issue is not just having resources, but how to exploit them sustainably while balancing economic benefits with environmental responsibility, he noted.He emphasised that the regions indigenous knowledge and rich agricultural ecosystems allow for a natural transition to integrated green tourism models. In Vinh Long, located in the heart of the Delta, the shift is tangible. Ho Trung Nhan, Director of the Vinh Long provincial Tourism Promotion Centre, highlighted that modern travellers now seek environmental commitment over mass commercialism. The province is developing a "Green Heritage Corridor," linking the lush orchards of Vinh Long, the red ceramic heritage of Mang Thit, the coconut groves of Ben Tre, and the ancient Khmer pagodas of Tra Vinh.Innovative models are already gaining international recognition. These include Sokfarms plastic-free organic coconut flower nectar tours and the "Net Zero tours" in Ben Tre. Notably, the Con Chim (Bird Islet) community tourism model recently secured the ASEAN Community Tourism Award 2025 for its "nature-compliant" approach. The Ao Ba Om National Scenic Area is an attractive tourist destination in former province of Tra Vinh ( now Vinh Long province). (Photo: VNA) Vo Van Phong, Director of C2T Tourism and Media, suggested that green tourism is about "doing things differently," ensuring that resources like forests and water continue to generate value after every visitor experience. Meanwhile, Can Tho, the regional hub, is focusing on its 12 traditional craft villages to diversify its offerings. Destinations such as the Thuan Hung rice paper village and the Pho Tho - Ba Bo flower village are being upgraded to meet green standards. Sam Long Giang, Deputy Director of the Can Tho citys Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, stated that the city is actively creating a friendly investment environment to attract strategic partners. By integrating traditional crafts with professional tourism services, the city aims to provide sustainable livelihoods for locals while maintaining its reputation as a safe, hospitable destination. As the country enters a new era of development, experts shared the view that green transformation is no longer optional but a necessity for the region that is heavily impacted by climate change. By repositioning its image through conservation and high-value experiences, the Mekong Delta is choosing a path of "slow but steady" growth. This strategy ensures the region remains distinct and competitive, preserving the soulful identity of Southern Vietnam's riverine culture for generations to come./.VNA General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam has received numerous congratulatory letters and messages from leaders of political parties, countries and international organisations over the past days, including those from Russia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Jordan, and Turkiye. Chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov warmly congratulated General Secretary Lam on his re-election, affirming that the outcome reflects his sound leadership and selfless dedication in recent years in the interests of the country and the Vietnamese people, as well as the strong recognition of the CPVs leadership role amid the current complex global landscape. Zyuganov said he is confident that under the leadership of General Secretary Lam, the CPV would guide the country along the path chosen by President Ho Chi Minh, build a socialist rule-of-law state and an effective national governance system, and further strengthen the Partys leadership role and combat capacity. Chairman of the A Just Russia For Truth party Sergei Mironov also said the outcomes of the 14th National Congress of the CPV affirmed the General Secretarys strong political reputation, unity within the CPV, and the sound development path chosen by Vietnam. Mironov expressed his belief that the Party chief would lead Vietnam in achieving its goal of building a prosperous socialist state. Mironov affirmed that General Secretary Lam has made major contributions to strengthening the RussiaVietnam comprehensive strategic partnership, and noted his hope that the A Just Russia For Truth party and the CPV would maintain their effective cooperation in the time ahead. Chairman of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Shii Kazuo also affirmed his partys support for Vietnam playing an increasingly important and active role on the international stage toward peace and prosperity on the basis of the UN Charter and international law, and expressed his hope that the traditional friendship and solidarity between the two parties would continue to grow strongly and sustainably. In his congratulatory message, US President Donald Trump said General Secretary Lams continued leadership role comes at an important time, as Vietnam and the US are pressing ahead with the positive outcomes achieved in bilateral relations in recent years. The President also expressed his hope that the two sides would soon make positive progress in negotiations on a reciprocal, fair and balanced trade agreement, thereby further promoting shared prosperity. He welcomed Vietnams decision to join the Peace Council initiative, and thanked and highly valued Vietnams role as well as VietnamUS cooperation in promoting peace and safeguarding freedom, sovereignty and independence of countries in the Indo-Pacific and the world at large. President Trump said he is confident that VietnamUS relations would continue to deepen across all fields, from economy and trade to security, defence and people-to-people exchanges, and expressed his hope to welcome General Secretary Lam to the US at an appropriate time. Extending congratulations to General Secretary Lam and the 14th National Party Congress, Secretary-General of the Peoples Action Party (PAP) and Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong noted confidence that Vietnam will continue to prosper in the new era under the General Secretarys steadfast leadership. The PM said the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the General Secretarys official visit to Singapore in March 2025 marked an important milestone, creating fresh momentum to expand cooperation, and expressed his wish to continue working closely with Vietnam in advancing bilateral relations as well as in addressing regional and international issues. In his letter, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he believes that under General Secretary Lams strong and visionary leadership, Vietnam will continue to prosper and play an increasingly important role in the region and the world. The Thai PM expressed his wish to work closely with General Secretary Lam to further strengthen the VietnamThailand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as the two countries mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2026, for the shared interests of both nations and their peoples. Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta also praised the CPVs leadership associated with modernisation, effective governance and the promotion of socio-economic progress in Vietnam, describing it as a source of inspiration in the region. The leader affirmed his wish to continue strengthening bilateral friendship and cooperation in the time ahead. In his congratulatory message, the RoKs President Lee Jae Myung highlighted that the VietnamRoK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has grown ever closer and more substantive through vibrant exchanges of delegations, as well as the strong support of the two peoples. He said he is confident that General Secretary Lams re-election would provide a solid foundation for high-ranking leaders of both countries to continue implementing reached agreements, thereby further deepening bilateral cooperation. The President expressed his hope to meet General Secretary Lam in Vietnam at an early date. Congratulations were also extended by King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan./. VNA Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for accelerated digitalisation, greening efforts, resource optimisation, smart governance, and balanced interests among private firms while chairing the fourth session of the National Steering Committee for the implementation of the Politburos Resolution 68-NQ/TW on private sector development in Hanoi on January 31. Ministries, agencies, and local authorities must foster open mechanisms and streamlined administrative procedures, deliver synchronous and seamless infrastructure, cultivate smart workforce and governance, pool all possible resources for private firms, and share trials and tribulations faced by them. Private firms, in turn, were assigned to spearhead sci-tech, innovation, digital transformation, green transition, and economic restructuring; workforce training, job creation, social welfare; institutional and mechanism building, alongside full compliance with legal regulations; fostering a culture of integrity and humanity in production and trade; and pooling all resources for national development. Praising the momentum generated since Resolution 68s launch eight months ago, PM Chinh declared that it has propelled the private sector to its rightful place as the economys most critical growth engine while instilling renewed confidence among enterprises, entrepreneurs, and society at large in both the sector and the nation itself. As Vietnam sets its sights on double-digit growth and a trajectory of rapid yet sustainable development, the private sector must rise to the occasion with matching vigour, playing its pivotal role in building a strong, civilised, prosperous, and happy country that steadily advances toward socialism, he said. The PM instructed ministries, agencies, and local authorities to sustain their pursuit of the resolution, in line with the 14th National Party Congresss and the Politburos resolutions, especially those concerning the private sector. Endorsing proposals to entrust major, challenging, and breakthrough tasks to private firms, including the settlement of long-stalled projects to unleash development resources, he assigned specific responsibilities to ministries and agencies. These include a thorough review of legal regulations governing private-sector activities to ensure Partys guidelines are enshrined in law; amendments to the Law on support for enterprises; upgrades to the monitoring system for Resolution 68 implementation; and revisions to the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations to fully translate the Politburos guidelines into enforceable legislation. The Government leader also requested a review of domestic market development schemes and national trade promotion programmes, with practical and effective orientations and solutions for the next phase; and a a careful examination of the Civil Law and Land Law to propose relevant tasks. PM Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting (Photo: VNA) He urged enterprises to support one another, with larger firms assisting smaller ones in integrating into their ecosystems, enabling business households to evolve into small enterprises, small enterprises into medium-sized ones, medium-sized into large, and large enterprises into globally competitive players. To propel Resolution 68 forward, the Government assigned 69 tasks to ministries, agencies, and local authorities. To date, 41 out of 43 tasks for 2025 have been completed. Since May 2025, Vietnam has averaged around 18,000 new enterprise registrations per month, while more than 8,300 others resumed operations. By late 2025, the nationwide total of active enterprises surpassed 1 million. On the stock market, the VN-Index closed near 1,785 points at year-end, with average daily trading value around 29.5 trillion VND (1.14 billion USD); market capitalisation approached 10 quadrillion VND, equivalent to roughly 70% of 2025 GDP. Total exports-imports reached 930 billion USD in 2025, placing Vietnam among the worlds top 25 trading economies. Particularly noteworthy, state budget revenue from the non-state sector in 2025 was estimated at over 497 trillion VND, or 134% of the target and 127% higher year-on-year. Revenue from household and individual businesses surged more than 36%, recording the highest growth rate observed throughout the 20212025 period./. VNA The meeting reviewed major projects, including Component Projects 1 and 2 of the Lao CaiHanoiHai Phong standard-gauge railway; negotiations on a cross-border rail connection agreement with China; surveys and feasibility studies for the NorthSouth high-speed railway; urban railways in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; and other lines such as Ben ThanhCan Gio, HanoiBac Ninh, Yen TuHa Long, and Lang SonHanoi. Participants also discussed the development of a railway industrial complex, institutional and policy frameworks, workforce training, technical standards, technology selection, and investment models involving the State, enterprises, and publicprivate partnerships. Since the fifth meeting on January 6, the PM, who is also head of the committee, and deputy prime ministers have assigned 36 tasks to ministries and localities to remove obstacles and speed up investment preparation. Most tasks are on schedule, with only one delayed due to procedures involving foreign partners. Key decrees guiding railway projects have been issued, while Ho Chi Minh City broke ground on Metro Line No.2 (Ben ThanhTham Luong) on January 15. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the sixth meeting of the Steering Committee for national key railway projects. (Photo: VNA) Concluding the meeting, PM Chinh called on ministries, sectors, localities, and steering committee members to act proactively within their authority, uphold self-reliance, and strictly apply the six clarities: clear responsibilities, tasks, timelines, accountability, outputs, and authority. He stressed resolute action, focusing only on implementation, not retreat. Regarding land clearance, the PM instructed localities to step up the work, ensure lawful and fair compensation, improve resettled residents living conditions, and prevent corruption. He also directed coordination with the Ministry of Finance to secure funding. For the Lao CaiHanoiHai Phong railway, he ordered faster construction of Component Project 1, prompt completion of feasibility studies, timely selection of design consultants, acceleration of loan negotiations if needed, and progress in cross-border railway agreement with China. Localities were encouraged to take the lead in the HanoiLang Son and Hai PhongMong Cai lines. On the NorthSouth high-speed railway, PM Chinh underscored its urgency for achieving double-digit growth, urging rapid completion of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, parallel land clearance, and consideration of all three investment modelsState, private, and PPPensuring balanced interests. He also highlighted urban rail development, called for national technical standards, and emphasised the five transformations: digitalisation, green growth, efficiency optimisation, smart governance, and harmonised interests. The implementation of these projects is required to ensure benefits of the State, the people, and businesses, while must avoid corruption or negative practices, loss or waste of public assets, effort, or money./. VNA Donation helps hospitalized students stay on track academically PHOENIX, Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- When Justin Ramirez was diagnosed with leukemia at age 13, his days quickly filled with hospital rooms, IV medications and long stretches of treatment at Phoenix Children's. In the middle of all of it, one thing helped him feel like himself again: school. To support that sense of normalcy for children like Ramirez, Desert Financial Foundation and Desert Financial Credit Union donated $1.425 million to the 1 Darn Cool School at Phoenix Children's during a special ceremony Thursday, Jan. 29. The fully accredited K-12 program provides bedside and classroom instruction to any school-aged kids, both in-patient and out-patient receiving care at Phoenix Children's. Each year, more than 2,000 children benefit from the program. Eight master's-level teachers help students stay on track academically while maintaining routine, connection and hope during hospital stays and visits to outpatient facilities. Ramirez became a 1 Darn Cool School student shortly after his diagnosis in November 2024, spending months in the hospital and continuing treatment through clinic visits multiple times a week in 2025. Teachers worked with him during admissions, infusions and recovery periods to help him complete coursework, earn credits and promote from eighth grade to begin high school in person in January 2026. "They helped me with my school credits, because to be able to graduate you need enough credits," Ramirez said. "They would first focus on my schoolwork, and if I needed help, they were always there." Ramirez's experience reflects the mission of 1 Darn Cool School: bringing structure, connection and familiar routines to children whose time is shaped by medical care. During his hospital stays, teachers met with Ramirez in a shared classroom space when he felt well enough or at his bedside when he didn't. "It made me feel free because you could go outside your room instead of feeling isolated," Ramirez said. "They would sit next to you at your bed, and that made me feel like a regular, normal human being." Ramirez worked closely with Lydia Smith, a 1 Darn Cool School teacher who helped coordinate with his home school, adapt lessons and advocate for his academic progress while he underwent treatment. "1 Darn Cool School brings a sense of normalcy into a not-so-normal time for patients," Smith said. "We are able to be the bridge between school and hospital and ensure that patients are still engaged with their education. That sense of consistency can be a beacon of hope." Desert Financial Executive Vice President Ron Amstutz said supporting that bridge is at the heart of the credit union's long-standing partnership with the program. "As a credit union founded by teachers, education is part of who we are," Amstutz said. "This commitment ensures children receiving care at Phoenix Children's can continue learning, stay connected to their peers and focus on their future, even during the hardest moments of their young lives." 1 Darn Cool School is fully funded by contributions from Desert Financial Foundation, Desert Financial Credit Union, its members and its employees. The $1.425 million donation is part of a five-year, $5 million commitment to 1 Darn Cool School announced by Desert Financial in 2024. With this year's gift, the credit union has reached 70% of its fundraising goal in just two years. "Desert Financial Credit Union's generosity continues to open doors of possibility for the children and families we serve," said Tim Harrison, vice president, corporate partnerships, special events & grant philanthropy at Phoenix Children's. "Their commitment to 1 Darn Cool School ensures that every patient can stay connected to their education and their future. We are deeply grateful for this partnership and for the heart they bring to our mission year after year." 1 Darn Cool School supports patients with individualized instruction that helps them remain on grade level so they can more easily reintegrate into their schools when treatment allows. For Ramirez, that support made it possible to return to school alongside his peers after more than a year of hospital-based learning. "I'm looking forward to getting to know more people and being social again," he said. "They helped me get here." # # # About 1 Darn Cool School The 1 Darn Cool School is a fully accredited K-12 school with eight full-time master's level teachers. The program provides patients at Phoenix Children's with a traditional classroom setting or bedside instruction to learn, play and discover while receiving medical treatment. About Desert Financial Foundation Founded in 2015, Desert Financial Foundation supports organizations and individuals in Arizona to strengthen financial capability through education and scholarships. To learn more about how Desert Financial Foundation gives back or donate, visit DesertFinancial.com/Foundation. About Desert Financial Credit Union For over 85 years, Desert Financial has been Arizona's most trusted local credit union with over $9 billion in assets, 500,000+ members and over 50 branches. Membership eligibility is open across Arizona with contactless solutions making it easy to click, call or come in. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Desert Financial takes pride in sharing success. In 2025, members received $16 million in dividends via the Member Giveback Bonus. Desert Financial is the official retail banking partner of Arizona State University and the official banking partner of the Arizona Cardinals, NAU Athletics and the NAU Alumni Association. Federally insured by NCUA. Learn more at desertfinancial.com. SOURCE Desert Financial Credit Union Concluding the 23rd meeting of the state steering committee for nationally important and key transport projects, held online with 27 provinces and cities, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh underscored the priority of implementing expressway projects in the Mekong Delta, northern mountainous provinces, the Central Highlands, and routes connecting Vietnam with China, Laos and Cambodia. PM Chinh, also the head of the committee, directed the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction to coordinate in identifying key projects under the medium-term public investment plan, ensuring that by 2030 Vietnam achieves the target of completing at least 5,000 km of roads as set out in the 14th National Party Congress Resolution. Priority must be given to expressway sections in the Mekong Delta, with 600 km to be completed by the end of 2026 and another 600 km by 2030, he noted. For provinces such as Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Lai Chau and Son La, which still face difficulties, relevant agencies were asked to identify the shortest and most feasible routes for expressway investment linking lowland areas with these mountainous areas. The leader ordered the completion of such key projects as the Dong Dang (Lang Son) Tra Linh (Cao Bang) expressway, routes connecting with Laos such as Vinh Thanh Thuy and My Thuy La Lay, and connectivity projects in the Central Highlands. He stressed the need for ministries, sectors and localities to effectively implement his dispatch on urgently reviewing and upgrading expressways built under phased investment schemes. At the 23rd meeting of the state steering committee for nationally important and key transport projects, held online with 27 provinces and cities, in Hanoi on January 30. (Photo: VNA) Regarding airport construction and expansion projects, including Long Thanh, Ca Mau, Quang Tri, Gia Binh, Phu Cat, Phu Quoc and Con Dao, the PM Chinh called for decisive leadership, stronger inspection and supervision, and strict handling of violations without causing project delays, while expanding capacity and flight networks. Son La province was asked to continue studying the restoration of its Na San airport. For seaports, particularly Cai Mep-Thi Vai, Lach Huyen, Hon Khoai and Lien Chieu, he urged accelerated investment and expansion, alongside the development of airport and aviation-related economic ecosystems. The Government leader also highlighted the need to fast-track transport links connecting seaports and airports, especially the Long Thanh airport and the road linking the Gia Binh airport with Hanoi. On construction materials, the PM requested close and flexible coordination among ministries, localities and units to avoid bottlenecks. An Giang province was encouraged to expand local quarrying to supply the Mekong Delta, while other localities with sand, stone and gravel resources should proactively coordinate with contractors and investors to meet project demands. He urged localities to make greater efforts to complete the remaining five pending tasks, and asked Cao Bang, Phu Tho, Quang Tri and Quang Ngai provinces to expedite approval of assigned projects. He added that Deputy PM Tran Hong Ha will continue to directly oversee implementation and resolve obstacles, while projects serving APEC 2027 must be accelerated. PM Chinh affirmed the spirit of the four nos: no wasting a day, no delaying a week, no missing opportunities in a month, and no being passive for a year. He stressed that projects must ensure the five requirements of digitalisation, green development, optimised efficiency, smart governance, and harmonised interests among the State, citizens and businesses. According to the steering committee, at its 22nd meeting on December 9 last year, the PM assigned 31 tasks to ministries, sectors, and localities, with the core objective of completing 3,000 km of expressways and coastal roads, Phase 1 of Long Thanh International Airport. Agencies and localities then made strong efforts, completing 13 out of 18 tasks on schedule. Achievements include the technical opening of 3,345 km of main expressway routes, 458 km of interchanges and access roads, the entire NorthSouth expressway from Cao Bang to Ca Mau provinces, completion of 1,701 km of coastal roads and Phase 1 of Long Thanh International Airport, the inauguration of several projects, and the launch of the first flight on December 19./. VNA According to experts, the process requires not only active participation from enterprises, but also close coordination of the State and strong support from credit institutions. Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment show that Vietnam exported 7.9 million tonnes of rice in 2025, earning 4.02 billion USD, down 13.1% in volume and 29.1% in value year on year. Do Ha Nam, Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said that despite falling global rice prices and export difficulties faced by most countries, Vietnams rice export turnover still surpassed 4 billion USD, a result he described as noteworthy. Despite the decline from 2024, Vietnam overtook Thailand to become the worlds second-largest rice exporter, trailing only India. A new harvest (Photo: VNA) Notably, while global white rice prices stood at just 350400 USD per tonne, Vietnams average export price reached 510 USD per tonne, underscoring the gains from its shift toward fragrant and specialty rice. However, Nam warned that Vietnams heavy dependence on the Philippines, which absorbs 4050% of its rice exports, leaves exporters highly vulnerable to abrupt policy changes. Nam said that after intensive negotiations, the Philippines has reopened its market to rice imports, but its governments monthly import quota system has slowed market momentum. He noted that piecemeal quota allocations prevent enterprises from planning shipments, creating a chain reaction that puts pressure on procurement, paddy prices, and farmers incomes, especially as the WinterSpring harvest enters its peak. According to Nam, Vietnams long-term strategy in the rice sector is to shift decisively toward high-quality rice production, focusing on markets with strong purchasing power willing to pay premium prices. With rice markets expected to remain volatile in 2026, increasing the share of fragrant and specialty rice is seen a right direction, but market access and financing challenges must be addressed in tandem. In the short term, to ensure timely procurement of the WinterSpring crop, the VFA recommended banks flexibly raising credit limits for enterprises. Meanwhile, businesses have been encouraged to store dry rice, preserving quality for six months to a year, especially as many have already invested in silos and specialised storage facilities. The association also called on the Government to boost national rice reserves to support prices while market levels remain low, particularly given the high quality of the WinterSpring crop, and to expand government-to-government (G2G) contracts. Recently, Vietnam has signed several G2G contracts with Singapore and Senegal, with the VFA authorising Vinafood 1 and Vinafood 2 to implement them. For traditional markets such as Iraq and Syria, where Thailand currently dominates, the VFA urges Vietnamese overseas missions to continue building connections to restore and expand Vietnams rice market share. Huynh Van Thon, Chairman of Loc Troi Group, said Vietnams rice sector is on the right track, shifting to high-quality varieties and adopting modern cultivation techniques, which has enabled the country to meet the standards of even the most demanding markets. A case in point is Vietnamese Jasmine rice, which has successfully entered Japan and the Republic of Korea despite significant barriers. However, Thon stressed that capital flows will only be unlocked if banks act as full members of the rice production-to-market chain, not just as support partners, requiring government mechanisms tailored to seasonal production. In line with this approach, Agribank, as a leading state-owned agricultural bank, has partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to support the project on developing 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice linked with green growth in the Mekong Delta region. Agribank has launched a linked lending programme for the production, processing, and sale of high-quality and low-emission rice in the Mekong Delta, with a total scale of up to 30,000 billion VND. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien said the ministry will work with banks to expand agricultural credit for timely rice procurement. Enterprises need to proactively plan capital use for each harvest, while industry associations and exporters must focus on building the Vietnam rice brand to enhance recognition and economic value along the supply chain, he added./.VNA Though unfamiliar to foreign travelers, roasted pigeon is a well-known delicacy among Hanoi locals. During a recent trip to the city, Max Herzberg from Germany and his group of friends embraced the vibrant street food scene - and found themselves especially surprised by this unique dish. Max and his German friends enjoy roasted pigeon on a Hanoi sidewalk, praising its flavor and texture. Alongside familiar Vietnamese staples like beef pho, boiled snails, fried spring rolls, banh mi, fried rice, and bun cha, Max and his friends were introduced to roasted pigeon - a dish that was new to their palates but deeply rooted in local culture. Commonly served at eateries across Hanois Old Quarter, roasted pigeon is often enjoyed as an afternoon snack, a drinking side dish, or simply a treat to savor with friends. Max and his group stumbled upon a humble food stall at the intersection of Hang Buom and Hang Giay Streets, a bustling area beloved by locals and tourists alike. There, they ordered a portion of roasted pigeon - two birds for 300,000 VND (approximately $12). Yet only Max and one other friend dared to try it, while the rest hesitated, not quite ready to sample a dish made from whole pigeons. I was really curious to see what it would look like, Max admitted. When the dish arrived, he was struck by how visually appealing it was. Covers content Not interested Inappropriate Seen too often ADBRO is the full service ad network for high impact contextual advertising with direct access to the exclusive in-image inventories across major local publishers. We provide free creative adaptation into rich media, interactive and playable ads formats. Campaigns in our channel are delivered under guaranteed prices for actions with programmatic & managed delivery. We provide contextually segmented in-target audiences for over 60 industries with a full range of brand safety solutions. ADBRO operates across SE Asia, including Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. To test our channel for your advertising campaigns or consider partnership programs for publishers, please contact us at www.adbro.me A serving of roasted pigeon - two birds for $12 - served with herbs and dipping sauces at a Hanoi street eatery. Each bird had been halved for easy eating and was served with dipping sauces and fresh herbs on the side. Without delay, the German visitor took his first bite - and was instantly won over. Its so good, he exclaimed repeatedly as he chewed. Though the head had less meat, Max found it delicious and easy to chew through, praising the flavor and the well-crafted preparation. The outer skin was golden and crispy, while the meat inside was tender and richly seasoned. Even after sitting out briefly, the dish remained hot and aromatic, steam rising with every bite. Two German tourists dive into roasted pigeon in Hanois Old Quarter, repeatedly complimenting its taste. Photo: AdlerssonReview The pigeon meat is really delicious, Max said. The side dishes are tasty too. His companion nodded in agreement, visibly pleased as he continued eating. Max also noted that although the pigeons looked small, the serving size was generous enough for them to savor the full experience. By the end of the meal, Max declared it a lavish feast. For those hoping to sample this dish in Hanoi, several go-to spots in the Old Quarter include: Chim quay 7C Nguyen Cong Tru; Chim quay goc cu 80 Hang Buom; Chim quay Hoang Dung 14 Gia Ngu; and Nam Bit Tet Chim quay 20 Hang Bai. Thao Trinh A concept render of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung has long held a dominant position in the global smartphone market, often outselling competitors like Apple, Google, and Motorola. But dominance doesn't mean complacency. Now is the time for Samsung to prove it still leads the innovation race. As anticipation builds around the S26 Ultra, heres what users are hoping to see in Samsungs next superphone. Bigger camera sensor for Ultra-level photography Samsungs Ultra line has consistently ranked among the best in mobile photography. Galaxy S models are known for impressive night shots and pioneering telephoto zoom that once left users in awe. However, recent Ultra models havent brought much change to hardware. As competitors take bold steps forward, Samsung needs to respond. Take the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which stunned users with its photography - thanks largely to its 1-inch image sensor, significantly larger than the typical smartphone camera sensor. Larger sensors capture more light, improving dynamic range and detail while reducing the reliance on software processing. While the S25 Ultra offers excellent zoom and a higher-resolution ultra-wide camera, its time for a breakthrough. A bigger main sensor could bring the S26 Ultras photo quality closer to mirrorless cameras - an upgrade that would set it apart from models like the S25 Edge or Z Fold 7, which currently share the same main camera hardware. A smaller version of Ultra, please The S25 Ultra is a powerful beast - but also a bulky one. Its 6.9-inch screen makes one-handed use nearly impossible, and slipping it into tight jeans can be awkward. Users with smaller hands often opt for compact phones like the iPhone 17 Pro, which has a more manageable 6.3-inch display. Unlike Apple, Samsung typically reserves its best features for its largest phones, forcing users to choose between performance and usability. Fans would love to see a smaller S26 Ultra - one that packs the same flagship chipset and camera power into a more compact frame. Many are even willing to give up the S Pen for it, admitting they rarely use it anyway. Bring back bold, fun colors When it comes to design, users want Samsung to be bolder with color. The S22 Ultra once came in a vibrant orange, but later generations played it safe with mostly muted tones. Many admired Apples Cosmic Orange on the iPhone 17 Pro - a cheerful, playful color that stood out without being flashy. After all, phones are personal accessories, not just business tools. If Samsung dares to release the S26 Ultra in a metallic pink or another bold hue, theres a good chance many wont hesitate to pull out their credit cards. Bigger battery, faster charging The S25 Ultra features a 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging - specs that havent changed since the S22 Ultra, four years ago. Meanwhile, the battery tech race has moved on. Many rivals now use silicon-carbon batteries and offer 80100W charging. The OnePlus 15, for instance, boasts a massive 7,300mAh battery and 80W charging - delivering impressive endurance. While the S25 Ultras battery isnt bad, Samsung needs to update the Ultra line if it doesnt want to fall behind. Price hike likely - but users hope it stays fair If all these wishes come true, the Galaxy S26 Ultra may inevitably see a price increase. Economic uncertainty, global RAM shortages, tariffs, and rising component costs all factor in. Still, fans hope Samsung can keep pricing reasonable - offering advanced tech without turning the Ultra into a luxury item inaccessible to most users. Hai Phong The results were unveiled at the UniVentures Gala Dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 29. BLOCK71 is a global start-up accelerator network operating in 11 cities worldwide, including Ho Chi Minh City, and serves as a key pillar of the start-up ecosystem at the National University of Singapore (NUS). BLOCK71 Vietnam is a strategic collaboration between the NUS and Becamex IDC, Vietnam's leading industrial park developer. UniVentures seeks to nurture high-potential founders from Vietnamese universities, spanning students, alumni and researchers, who are developing practical, market-ready solutions to urgent regional challenges. Priority areas include healthcare access, environmental sustainability, workforce productivity and skills enhancement, and financial literacy. UniVentures drew more than 1,400 applications nationwide through a stringent, multi-stage selection process. From this pool, 30 teams advanced to a closed pitching round to compete for the UniVentures Prize sponsored by Golden Gate Ventures, with total awards worth up to 250,000 USD. Ten standout teams were ultimately chosen to receive 25,000 USD each and to join a three-month incubation programme at BLOCK71 Vietnam, offering intensive mentoring, tailored support and market access opportunities. A subsequent phase will target start-ups ready to scale regionally, with prospects for continued incubation at BLOCK71 Singapore. The selected projects share a strong technology-driven orientation, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), digital solutions and advanced materials. Their innovations address large-scale, real-world issues across sectors including healthcare, education, legal services, agriculture, energy, environmental protection and public governance. Among the highlights is EggVision, developed by Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in collaboration with the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, which uses non-invasive computer vision to identify chick sex at the egg stage, reducing the culling of male chicks and cutting costs for hatcheries. MediPath, an AI-powered healthcare start-up founded by a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Da Nang, is building an AI operating system for hospitals to ease administrative workloads and help tackle overcrowding. Another example is Selformy, an AI-enabled learning platform created by alumni of the University of London and Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, designed to help language centres attract learners and streamline operating costs. Assoc. Prof. Benjamin Tee, Vice President for Innovation and Enterprise at NUS, said every start-up begins with a team of talented and driven individuals. He noted that beyond innovation, the selected projects demonstrate a strong emphasis on sustainability, operational efficiency and commercial viability, underscoring the growing role of universities in generating ideas, talent and technology start-ups in Vietnam. By running early-stage incubation programmes in Vietnam while opening pathways for scaling in Singapore and beyond, UniVentures is further deepening SingaporeVietnam cooperation and strengthening bilateral innovation flows. Edward Lim, Country Director of BLOCK71 Vietnam, said UniVentures is founded on the belief that university-born founders are a vital engine of the start-up ecosystem. With the right capabilities, mindset and networks, he said, they can build businesses that create substantial economic value for Vietnam and the wider region. The strong response to the programme, he added, reflects the expanding role of universities as hubs of innovation. Meanwhile, Vinnie Lauria, Founding Partner of Golden Gate Ventures, remarked that Vietnams start-up ecosystem is moving into a new phase of maturity, marked by a stronger focus on market-driven, practical solutions. UniVentures, he said, offers a structured platform that brings together capital, mentorship and regional market access, enabling start-ups to scale beyond the domestic market./. The agreement was inked on January 29 in Maputo by Vietnamese Ambassador to Mozambique Tran Thi Thu Thin and Mozambican Minister of Education and Culture Samaria Tovela. The deal concretises cooperation in education outlined in the 2007 VietnamMozambique agreement on education and culture, while responding to the growing demand for deeper and more substantive collaboration. It is expected to contribute to fostering the two countries traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation. Under the agreement, the two sides will promote diverse forms of cooperation, including teaching, scientific research, academic exchange, human resource training, student exchanges and other related areas. Notably, Vietnam and Mozambique agreed to offer each other 15 student exchange scholarships annually. Tovela welcomed the establishment of the new cooperation framework, noting that it aligns well with the practical needs of both countries. She expressed confidence that the agreement would serve as a catalyst for concrete and effective cooperation, particularly in facilitating Mozambican students study in Vietnam in priority fields where Vietnam has strengths, such as agriculture, agro-processing, aquaculture, medicine, engineering, and science and technology. For her part, Thin thanked relevant agencies of both countries for their close coordination and efforts in negotiating and preparing for the signing of the agreement. She highlighted education cooperation as a bright spot in bilateral relations, reflected in the effective support provided by Vietnamese education experts in Mozambique in earlier periods, as well as the student exchange scholarship programmes that have been maintained for many years. The ambassador described the agreement as vivid evidence of the commitment of the two Parties and Governments to further deepen the traditional friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Mozambique. The agreement is expected to bring tangible benefits to its beneficiaries, especially students of both countries, thereby contributing to the training of high-quality human resources for Mozambiques priority development sectors. The signing and implementation of the agreement are anticipated to significantly strengthen higher education cooperation and elevate VietnamMozambique relations to a new level./. VNA Vo Quang Ha, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Structure Architecture Wood Association (SAWA), noted that, of more than 17 billion USD in Vietnams wood and wood product exports, raw materials and sawn timber account for only about 45 billion USD, while the rest comes from furniture and interior products. This highlights the significant potential for value-added growth in the sector. However, Ha stressed that export expansion must be accompanied by responsible forest management and a long-term vision, supported by clear policy orientation and appropriate mechanisms to engage all stakeholders. Developing large-timber plantations was identified as a key solution to increasing value added. Large timber generates higher economic returns for forest growers, provides greater economic value and enables longer carbon sequestration, contributing to climate change mitigation. Instead of early harvesting for low-value products such as wood chips, forest owners should be encouraged to extend rotation periods to support deep processing. Residual wood can be utilised for engineered wood products, while plantation timber in Vietnam has the potential to be processed into construction materials. Internationally, engineered wood has already been applied in high-rise buildings and large-scale, environmentally friendly projects. To Xuan Phuc, Executive Director of Forest Trends Forest Products Trade Policy Programme, said global wood markets are rapidly shifting from voluntary to mandatory requirements on legality and sustainability. While voluntary certification schemes such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) were once the main tools to ensure sustainability, major consumer markets have since introduced binding regulations, including the EUs Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA), the US Lacey Act and Australias Illegal Logging Prohibition Act. Since the 2010s, market demands have continued to rise, with legality seen as a necessary but insufficient condition. Consumers and importers increasingly require deforestation-free supply chains, respect for community rights, labour standards, and contributions to emission reduction and climate change response. Many large corporations have committed to sourcing only sustainable wood products with transparent supply chains. Vietnams key export markets apply different levels of requirements, but the overall trend is tightening. The US, accounting for over half of Vietnams wooden furniture exports, focuses strongly on legal origin and high-risk timber imports. Although the EU represents a smaller market share, it leads regulatory innovation, notably with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires traceability and proof of deforestation-free production. Compliance is considered feasible as most exports to the EU already hold FSC or PEFC certification. Meanwhile, China remains a relatively stable market with lower requirements, mainly importing wood chips. Japan and the Republic of Korea continue to demand pellets, chips and plywood, though with stricter criteria on legality and climate impact. Overall, trade regulations are increasingly shaping forest governance and supply chains in producing countries like Vietnam. Phuc noted that with over 1.1 million forest-growing households, fragmented landholdings and complex supply chains, Vietnams wood industry needs a more comprehensive approach. Key solutions include expanding certified forest areas, enhancing supply chain transparency, supporting smallholders livelihoods and reducing reliance on high-risk imported timber. From a policy perspective, the States leading role was underscored through public procurement policies prioritising legal and sustainable wood products, helping reduce trade risks, stimulate the domestic market and improve forest growers livelihoods. The private sector is also expected to proactively implement sustainability commitments in response to evolving global consumption trends. Addressing wood use in construction, Lu Thi Hong, Deputy Director of the Institute for Building Materials under the Ministry of Construction, said wood is increasingly recognised as a renewable, low-carbon material supporting green transition goals. She recommended restructuring technical standards to integrate quality, origin, sustainability and carbon emissions, while incorporating life cycle assessment and environmental product declarations to align with green building standards and national emission reduction strategies./. VNA The Sydney Morning Herald on January 29 published an article by Brian Johnston, an Irish travel writer now based in Australia, describing Vietnam as one of the most popular travel destinations, with the number of Australian visitors to the S-shaped country surging sharply in recent years. However, he wrote that there are still many things about this endearing nation that continue to puzzle and fascinate international travellers. According to the article, one of the first things that most impressed Johnston was Vietnams street food, which he described as fabulous. What he found almost impossible to understand was how such fresh, flavoursome and extraordinarily diverse dishes could be produced from the smallest and most primitive kitchens, in sweltering heat, by such unassuming cooks. He also marvelled at how Vietnamese chefs manage to balance flavours and textures so magnificently, and even wondered how baguettes in Vietnam could be better than anywhere else outside France. Johnston was also delighted by the way Vietnams famous street food is served on what he jokingly called the worlds smallest tables, where diners must hunch over on tiny plastic chairs, their knees almost up to their ears, as if playing restaurant in a kindergarten. The Irish writer was also struck by the friendliness of the Vietnamese people. However, what truly amazed him were Vietnams traffic skills. He described how countless motorbikes, growing numbers of cars, street vendors with carts and pedestrians all move together through narrow streets and intersections that sometimes lack traffic lights, yet the flow continues without chaos. To him, it was a brilliant showcase of zig-zagging, dodging and split-second decisions that somehow works. He was also fascinated by what Vietnamese people can transport on motorbikes, from gas cylinders and livestock to bags of clothes and groceries enough to stock a corner store or feed a family. He could hardly believe how riders are able to balance both themselves and their cargo with circus-like skill. Another mystery, Johnston wrote, is how Vietnamese identify one another, given that about 40% of the population share the surname Nguyen, while Tran and Le follow far behind at around 10% each. He joked about how difficult it would be to address people or make restaurant reservations if everyone were called by their family name, as in Australia./. VNA According to Hanois comprehensive master plan with a 100-year vision (20262045), the city is preparing to relocate over 860,000 residents currently living within Ring Road 3. The move is part of a major urban restructuring strategy aimed at removing key development bottlenecks. The restructuring process will be closely tied to the preservation and enhancement of areas and structures with historical, cultural, and architectural significance. These include Ba Dinh -the capitals political and administrative center (approximately 134.5 hectares); Hoan Kiem Lake and its surroundings; the Old Quarter (36 streets); the French-style old streets; the West Lake area and nearby neighborhoods; both sides of the Red River; and other unique urban spaces. Land and spatial restructuring will prioritize using central land banks for high-value commercial and service developments such as financial centers and premium office complexes. Hanoi will also implement a Dense and Green development model -favoring vertical construction to reduce surface land use. The freed-up land from lower density will be used to expand parks, green spaces, water surfaces, and public amenities. In the 20262035 phase, the city plans to relocate around 200,000 residents from the Red River area, 200,000 from the West Lake vicinity, and approximately 42,000 from selected streets within the Ring Road 3 boundary. From 2036 to 2045, another 26,730 people from the Old Quarter, 23,000 from the French-style old streets, and around 370,000 residents from other inner-city zones will be relocated for continued restructuring. In total, over 860,000 residents are expected to be moved between 2026 and 2045. Where will residents be relocated? Some affected residents will be resettled on-site, while others will move to newly developed urban zones in high-growth areas such as Dong Anh, Gia Lam, and Hoa Lac. These resettlement zones are planned with complete social infrastructure including schools, hospitals, parks, and modern amenities -offering an improved standard of living. Specifically, in the Red River scenic axis, around 200,000 people will be relocated, with 30% resettled on-site and 70% moved to new urban areas in Dong Anh and Long Bien. In the West Lake area and its surroundings, a similar pattern applies: 30% of the 200,000 relocated residents will stay nearby, while 70% will move to new districts. For select pilot street blocks within Ring Road 3, about 42,000 residents will be relocated -half resettled on-site and half relocated to new urban areas in the south. In the Old Quarter and French-style streets, the numbers are 26,730 and 23,000 respectively. As for the remaining zones within Ring Road 3, about 370,000 residents are to be relocated, with 70% to be resettled in place and 30% moved to southern suburban areas. Those resettled on-site will be housed in high-quality apartment units with full amenities. Meanwhile, the city aims to encourage voluntary relocation to suburban zones through attractive incentives, including compensation rates of 1 to 2 times current property values. 5 new urban zones to support relocation As part of its strategic development plan for 20262035, Hanoi aims to establish five new large-scale urban areas covering a combined 49,700 hectares. The total estimated investment for these projects is about USD 160 billion, expected to provide ample resettlement space and relieve pressure on the inner city. Details of the five strategic urban projects: Hong Khanh W.W Grainger Inc, a distributor of a broad range of maintenance, repair, and operating products, failed to provide employees with legally required meal and rest breaks. This, allegedly, resulted in inaccurate wages paid to employees. **THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT** RIVERSIDE, Calif, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Los Angeles employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action complaint alleging that W.W Grainger Inc. violated the California Labor Code. The W.W Grainger Inc. class action lawsuit, Case No. CVRI2506938, is currently pending in the Riverside County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here. The Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP Speed Speed According to California Labor Law, companies are required to pay employees for all time worked, meaning the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, including all the time the employees are permitted or suffered to permit this work. Allegedly, Defendant required their employees to work off the clock without paying them for all the time they were under Defendant's control. To the extent that the time worked off the clock does not qualify for overtime premium payment, Defendant, allegedly, failed to pay minimum wages for the time worked off the clock in violation of Cal. Lab. Code 1194,1197, and 1197.1 California Labor Code 226 provides that every employer shall furnish each of his or her employees with an accurate itemized wage statement. According to the Complaint, Plaintiff was paid on an hourly basis. Therefore, Plaintiff's wage statements should reflect all applicable pay periods in which the wages were earned pursuant to Cal. Lab. Code section 226 (a). Allegedly, the wage statements Defendant provided to Plaintiff failed to identify such information. For more information about the class action lawsuit against W.W Grainger Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago that dedicates its practice to helping employees, investors and consumers fight back against unfair business practices, including violations of the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act. If you need help in collecting unpaid overtime wages, unpaid commissions, being wrongfully terminated from work, and other employment law claims, contact one of their attorneys today. **THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT** Media Contact Nicholas De Blouw Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP (800) 568-8020 [email protected] https://www.bamlawca.com/ SOURCE Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. today issued the following statement: "Today marks a grim milestone for press freedom around the globe. On Jan. 31, 2026, journalist and media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai will have spent 1,862 days in detention in Hong Kong, now awaiting a potential life sentence. Mr. Lai, the founder of Apple Daily, was convicted under Hong Kong's national security law in December following a trial conducted without a jury. His publishing activity and public commentary were central to the case. At 78 years old, after years in custody and amid publicly reported health concerns, the possibility that Mr. Lai could face life imprisonment underscores the gravity of today's milestone and of the sentencing outcome. Let us be clear: Journalism is not a crime. How journalists and publishers are treated remains one of the clearest measures of a society's commitment to transparency and the rule of law. That Mr. Lai has spent 1,862 days in detention, much of it in solitary confinement, shows a disregard for independent journalists whose job it is to hold the government to account for its people. A free press is a cornerstone of public accountability and an essential element of any open society. Both the closure of Apple Daily and the prosecution of Mr. Lai have been widely followed since his arrest in 2020 as indicators of how press freedom and judicial safeguards are being applied in Hong Kong. Trials that criminalize reporting raise fundamental questions about due process and the future of independent media. The National Press Club strongly urges sustained international engagement and diplomatic efforts on behalf of Mr. Lai as his sentence is considered." About the National Press Club Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With 2,500 members, the Club, through its Press Freedom Center , is a leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide. Contact: Beth Francesco, [email protected], for the Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club SOURCE National Press Club LONDON, Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has teamed with Heidrick & Struggles, a premier provider of global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions, and the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre to publish a new report examining how boards in emerging markets are governing in an era of sustained uncertainty. Governing Under High Uncertainty: Opportunities for Emerging-Market Boards explores how directors are responding to the growing interaction of geopolitical volatility, economic disruption, technological change, climate-related risks, and evolving societal expectations. Individually and collectively, these forces are reshaping agendas, governance practices, and the role of the board itself. Based on a series of roundtables and interviews with over 100 senior directors from emerging markets worldwide, the report highlights how uncertainty today differs from traditional risk. Rather than being episodic or predictable, uncertainty is broader in scope, faster moving, and increasingly driven by "unknown unknowns" that defy conventional forecasting and risk-management approaches. The report finds that boards in emerging markets experience a compounding effect of global and local pressures. International shocks such as geopolitical tensions, trade disruption, and technological change do not replace domestic challenges but intensify them, placing additional strain on governance systems that are often still maturing. Despite these challenges, the report identifies opportunities for improvement. Many boards are reinforcing foundational governance disciplines, such as role clarity, risk oversight, and contingency planning, while also paying greater attention to trust, culture, and collective behavior. Together, these "hard" and "soft" levers are enabling boards to remain composed, cohesive, and forward-looking when uncertainty peaks. The study also points to the distinctive role that boards in emerging markets can play beyond the company itself. By engaging constructively with regulators, policymakers, and industry peers, boards can help strengthen governance standards across their markets, contribute to institutional resilience, and build trust with stakeholders. In doing so, governance becomes not only a corporate responsibility but a broader contribution to economic and societal stability. Burak Tansan, Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG and Chair of the firm's Turkiye office, said: "In an era of 'sustained uncertainty', effective corporate governance depends not only on formal processes, but on board composition and the quality of debate in the boardroom. Boards that combine diversity, independence, and balanced strategic and sector expertise, and are supported by timely, high-quality information, are better positioned to anticipate emerging risks and opportunities. Regularly refreshing board composition in line with strategic priorities is therefore critical to sustaining strong governance." Commenting on the findings of the report, Jeremy Hanson, partner in Heidrick & Struggles' Chicago office and a member of the global CEO & Board of Directors Practice, said: "Boards today are operating in an environment where uncertainty is no longer an exception but a defining condition. This research underscores the growing importance of governance that combines discipline, foresight, and constructive challenges. Creating arenas for constructive debate and decision making has never been more important. Boards and companies are learning to harness the power of colliding boundaries and views. This is the new reality, and for boards in emerging markets in particular, the ability to remain composed, aligned, and forward-looking amid complexity is becoming a critical source of resilience and long-term value." Annet Aris, Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy and Academic Director of the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre, added: "Governing under high uncertainty and complexity requires boards to move beyond reactive oversight toward deeper learning, dialogue, and engagement. By anchoring decisions in purpose and values, while remaining open to diverse perspectives, boards can build the resilience needed to thrive in unpredictable environments." The report concludes with a practical framework designed to help boards assess their readiness for high uncertainty. The framework invites boards to evaluate their governance across three dimensions: hard levers of structure and process, soft levers of trust and behavior, and ecosystem stewardship beyond the firm. Together, these elements provide a roadmap for boards seeking to govern more effectively in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. For more information, visit www.bcg.com ; www.heidrick.com ; www.insead.edu For more, visit www.insead.edu/centres/corporate-governance Education leaders from across Europe descend on Wrexham for student expo Education leaders from across the UK and Europe were welcomed to Wrexham as Coleg Cambria hosted a landmark international conference powered and delivered by its students. From catering and media production to delegate engagement, learners were central to the success of the College Alliance International Conference, gaining first-hand experience working at the heart of a major global event. Held over two days at Yale campus, the expo brought together more than 90 attendees from all over the UK and Europe including Switzerland, Austria and Belgium to explore best practice in academia, employment and wellbeing while experiencing the culture of the college, which is focused on a people- and learner-centred environment. Senior policymakers, college leaders and international practitioners examined how FE (further education) can support learners and communities particularly those furthest from opportunity through education, employment and social inclusion. Sessions focused on tackling unemployment, improving wellbeing and strengthening pathways into work. Addressing delegates, Yana Williams, Chief Executive of Coleg Cambria, highlighted the value of real-world learning. Coleg Cambria is a college at the heart of its community, and events like this show how powerful education can be when students are trusted with real responsibility, said Ms Williams. Our learners didnt just attend this conference, they helped organise it, host it and deliver it. That real-time, real-life experience is transformational and prepares young people for their future careers. Students were involved throughout, from planning and logistics to delivery and evaluation. The colleges Ial Restaurant provided all catering, including a Taste of Wales meal for the evening networking dinner, showcasing the Welsh language and culture and local produce while managing front-of-house operations in a high-pressure environment. Media students also supported the programme, developing confidence, technical expertise and professionalism while contributing directly to its success. The agenda also featured interactive, student-led workshops on employability, learner wellbeing, inclusive education and widening participation. Delegates included senior leaders from colleges, national education bodies and international organisations such as the European Association for the Education of Adults and the OECD. The conference also celebrated alumni success, with Deeside Sixth Form alumnus Jonathon Dawes, from Rhyl, returning as a speaker. Im incredibly proud to be a former Coleg Cambria student and to be involved in an international conference of this scale, he said. The college played a huge role in shaping my confidence and ambition, and its inspiring to see current students gaining such meaningful experience and contributing in such a professional way. Those in attendance also heard from senior figures across the sector, including a keynote contribution from the Association of Colleges, highlighting the importance of international collaboration and the role of colleges in building inclusive economies. Lewis Cooper, Director of the College Alliance, said: Its been fantastic to have college leaders, policy makers and experts from across the four nations of the UK and internationally all focused on discussing the role colleges play in supporting people of all ages into work. We have a huge amount to learn from the different policy approaches taken across the different national systems, and its been great to have colleagues from Welsh Government and Medr sharing the approach taken here in Wales. Weve learnt too from outstanding work from the colleges represented here, not least from Coleg Cambria and the important role it plays for people and employers across the region. He added: Its been particularly good to have Coleg Cambria students playing such a central role across the three days, with delicious food, great hospitality, great speeches from recent alumni and hugely impressive event management skills. So particular thanks to all the students involved, and to everyone at Coleg Cambria for making it happen. Visit http://www.cambria.ac.uk for the latest news and information from Coleg Cambria. For more on the conference, visit Association of Colleges | The College Alliance International. On Friday January 30, 2026, members of the Nevada Violent Offender Task Force arrested Devon McMillin, 28, on an outstanding felony warrant. The warrant was issued in October 2024 out of Nye County, from a charge of sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14. The arrest resulted from an ongoing investigation conducted by members of the Regional Sex Offender Notification Unit (RSONU). During an unrelated investigation, detectives found out that McMillin may be hiding in the Reno-Sparks area. Once his suspected location was confirmed in Sparks, McMillin was taken into custody. He was booked into the Washoe County Detention Facility. He will be transferred to Nye County to face the charges from that jurisdiction. The Regional Sex Offender Notification Unit is comprised of members from the Washoe County Sheriffs Office, Reno Police Department, Sparks Police Department, Nevada Parole and Probation, and the United States Marshals Service. NEW YORK (AP) The Justice Department on Friday released many more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier's sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with rich and powerful people such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, posted to the departments website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release in December. Included were documents concerning some of Epstein's famous associates, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Britains Prince Andrew, and email correspondence between Epstein and Elon Musk and other prominent contacts from across the political spectrum. The documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Lawmakers complained when the Justice Department made only a limited release last month, but officials said more time was needed to review additional documents that were discovered and to ensure no sensitive information about victims was released. Friday's disclosure represents the largest document dump to date about a saga the Trump administration has struggled to shake because of the president's previous association with Epstein. Criminal investigations into the financier have long animated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and others who have suspected government cover-ups and clamored for a full accounting, demands that Blanche acknowledged might not be satisfied by the latest release. Theres a hunger, or a thirst, for information that I dont think will be satisfied by the review of these documents," he said. After missing a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress to release all the files, the Justice Department said it tasked hundreds of lawyers with reviewing the records to determine what needed to be redacted, or blacked out. It denied any effort to shield Trump, who says he cut ties with Epstein years ago after an earlier friendship, from potential embarrassment. Epstein's famous friends The latest batch includes correspondence either with or about some of Epstein's friends. The records have thousands of references to Trump, including emails in which Epstein and others shared news articles about him, commented on his policies or politics, or gossiped about him and his family. Also included was a spreadsheet created last August summarizing calls to the FBIs National Threat Operation Center or to a hotline established by prosecutors from people claiming without corroboration to have some knowledge of wrongdoing by Trump. Mountbatten-Windsor's name appears at least several hundred times in the documents, sometimes in news clippings, sometimes in Epsteins private email correspondence and in guest lists for dinners organized by Epstein. Some records document an attempt by prosecutors in New York to get the former prince to agree to be interviewed as part of their Epstein sex trafficking probe. The records also show Musk, the billionaire Tesla founder, reached out to Epstein on at least two occasions to plan visits to the Caribbean island where many of the allegations of sexual abuse purportedly occurred. In a 2012 exchange, Epstein asked how many people Musk would like flown by helicopter to the island he owned. Probably just Talulah and me, Musk responded, referencing his then-partner, actress Talulah Riley. What day/night will be the wildest party on our island? Musk messaged Epstein again ahead of a planned Caribbean trip in 2013. Will be in the BVI/St Barts area over the holidays, he wrote. Is there a good time to visit? Epstein extended an invite for after the New Year holiday. Its not immediately clear if the island visits took place. Spokespeople for Musks companies, Tesla and X, didnt respond to emails seeking comment. Musk has said he repeatedly rebuffed Epstein's overtures. Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED, he posted on X in 2025 when House Democrats released an Epstein calendar with an entry mentioning a potential Musk visit. Epstein also appears to have tried to connect New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch with women, according to emails. In one exchange, Tisch told Epstein he had had lunch with one of Epsteins assistants friends. He described her as a very sweet girl, and asked if Epstein knew anything about her. no, but i will ask, said Epstein, before inquiring if Tisch had contacted another woman, crudely describing her physical features. Tisch said in a statement that he had a brief association with Epstein where they emailed about adult women and other topics. He said he never went to his island and that he deeply regrets the association. The documents show that Steve Bannon, a conservative activist who served as Trumps White House strategist earlier in the presidents first term, bantered over politics with the financier, discussed get-togethers with him over breakfast, lunch or dinner and, on March 29, 2019, asked Epstein if he could supply his plane to pick him up in Rome. Epstein told him his pilot and crew are doing their best to arrange that flight but if Bannon could find a charter flight instead, Im happy to pay. Apparently in France at the time, Epstein sent a text message saying: My guys can pick you up. Come for dinner. The exchange did not show how that played out. In December 2012, Epstein invited Howard Lutnick, now Trump's commerce secretary, to his private island for lunch, the records show. Lutnicks wife accepted the invitation and said they would arrive on a yacht with their children. On another occasion in 2011, the two men had drinks, according to a schedule shared with Epstein. Lutnick has said he cut ties with Epstein long ago. A Commerce Department spokesman said Lutnick had limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of wrongdoing. Another Epstein contact surfacing in the records is former Obama White House general counsel Kathy Ruemmler. In one of several exchanges, Epstein emailed Ruemmler to advise that Democrats should stop demonizing Trump as a Mafia-type figure even as he derided the president as a maniac. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, where Ruemmler is general counsel and chief legal officer, said in a statement that Ruemmler had a professional association with Jeffrey Epstein when she was a lawyer in private practice and "regrets ever knowing him. Building on the earlier release The tens of thousands of pages released last month included previously released flight logs showing Trump flew on Epsteins private jet in the 1990s, before their falling-out, and several photographs of Clinton. None of Epsteins victims who have gone public with their stories have publicly accused Trump, a Republican, nor Clinton, a Democrat, of wrongdoing. Both have said they had no knowledge he was abusing underage girls. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. In 2008 and 2009, Epstein served jail time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. At the time, investigators had gathered evidence that Epstein had sexually abused underage girls at his Palm Beach home. The U.S. attorney's office agreed not to prosecute him in exchange for his guilty plea to lesser state charges. A draft indictment from that period released Friday shows prosecutors contemplated federal charges against not just Epstein but three others who were his personal assistants and were suspected of participating in a conspiracy to recruit underage girls to perform lewd acts with Epstein. In 2021, a federal jury in New York convicted Maxwell, a British socialite, of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of his underage victims. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence. U.S. prosecutors never charged anyone else in connection with Epstein's abuse of girls. One victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, accused him in lawsuits of having arranged for her to have sexual encounters at age 17 and 18 with numerous politicians, business titans, academics and others. They all denied her allegations. Among those accused was Britain's Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles amid the scandal. Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre but settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum. Giuffre died by suicide last year at age 41. Tucker and Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists from around the country contributed to this report. Follow the AP's coverage of Jeffrey Epstein at https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein. Residents Can Access On-Site Showers and Tide Loads of Hope Laundry Services in Oxford and Ripley, MS OXFORD, Miss. and RIPLEY, Miss., Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- WHO: Families, individuals, and responders in need of personal care items, cleaning products, laundry services, and shower services in the wake of the severe winter storm in Mississippi. WHAT: The P&G Disaster Relief Program is activating to support recovery efforts in Oxford, MS and Ripley, MS, in collaboration with Walmart and Matthew 25: Ministries, an international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization. As part of our disaster response efforts, P&Gs Tide Loads of Hope Mobile Laundry Unit, powered by Matthew 25: Ministries, will provide free, full-service laundry to affected residents and responders. People can bring clothes (up to two loads per household) to be washed, dried, and folded free of charge. All washable clothing types will be accepted, except for heavy bedding. Shower trailers will also be available to provide residents with hot showers. Each trailer has five private bathroom/shower units, one of which is ADA-compliant, and a Pampers diaper changing station. Individual personal care products including shampoo, conditioner, and body wash from P&G brands such as Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Olay, and Old Spice, and freshly laundered towels will be available for use on-site. All units are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected following each use. In partnership with Matthew 25: Ministries, P&G will also distribute free personal care kits with trusted everyday essentials and cleaning products to meet basic hygiene and home care needs directly in impacted neighborhoods.* WHY: A severe winter storm recently swept across the U.S., dumping sleet, freezing rain, and snow, causing subzero temperatures and widespread disruption. Mississippi has been particularly hard hit, with extensive power outages due to ice and snow accumulation, leaving many communities without essential products and services. The storm has caused significant challenges, including hazardous travel and extended power loss. P&G is working with Walmart and Matthew 25: Ministries to continue its long-standing commitment to help restore a sense of normalcy to communities most impacted by major disasters. Together, they assist people in need of clean laundry, showers, and personal care items in communities recovering from major disasters. These services are free and available to local families and first responders while supplies last. WHERE: Beginning on the afternoon of Friday, January 30, 2026, the team will collect laundry and deploy disaster relief vehicles providing shower and bathroom services at the below locations and times, until daily capacity has been reached. Oxford, MS: Walmart Supercenter #699. 2530 Jackson Ave W., Oxford, MS 38655 Tide Loads of Hope laundry unit + shower trailer available Ripley, MS: Walmart #176. 822 City Ave S., Ripley, MS 38663 Tide Loads of Hope laundry unit + shower trailer available WHEN: 2pm to 5pm on Friday, January 30 9am to 5pm operating daily (or until daily capacity is reached) For the most up-to-date information, please visit: Tides Instagram: @tidelaundry Matthew 25: Ministries website: https://m25m.org/disaster *Personal care kits contain products from P&G brands such as Always, Crest, Ivory, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Old Spice, Oral-B, Pantene, Secret, Tampax, and Venus. Home and cleaning product brands include Bounty, Charmin, Dawn, Febreze, Mr. Clean, Pampers, Swiffer, Tide and Zevo. ABOUT P&G: P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always, Ambi Pur, Ariel, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Dawn, Downy, Fairy, Febreze, Gain, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Lenor, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene, SK-II, Tide, Vicks, and Whisper. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. ABOUT THE P&G DISASTER RELIEF PROGRAM: For decades, P&G has played a leading role in supporting communities impacted by natural disasters by mobilizing essential products and services from trusted P&G brands, in close partnership with nonprofit and retail partners. This includes Tide Loads of Hope, P&G's mobile laundry program launched in 2006, which offers free laundry services to families affected by disasters. Tide Loads of Hope has become a core component of P&G's disaster response efforts, with deployments in response to major emergencies across the United States. Please visit https://us.pg.com/ for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. ABOUT TIDE LOADS OF HOPE: For more than 15 years, Tide Loads of Hope has provided free laundry services to families affected by disasters. Created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Tide Loads of Hope is a mobile laundromat that can complete hundreds of loads of laundry per day. In partnership with Matthew 25: Ministries, an international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization, the program has benefitted over 90,000 people across the U.S. and Canada. For more information, please visit Tide's Instagram: @tidelaundry. As a key component of Tide Ambition 2030, Tide has committed to expand its Loads of Hope program tenfold, providing clean clothes to millions of people in times of need, with a focus on communities most impacted by climate change. Learn more at https://tide.com/en-us/our-commitment/loads-of-hope . Media inquiries for P&G and Tide: Rachel Stand, [email protected] ABOUT MATTHEW 25: MINISTRIES: Matthew 25: Ministries rescues and reuses approximately 25,000,000 pounds of products each year and redistributes them to the poorest of the poor and disaster victims. Each year, Matthew 25: Ministries impacts the lives of more than 30,000,000 individuals throughout the United States and around the world. Matthew 25: Ministries is the TIME101 Honoree for 2025. Matthew 25 is included on Forbes' 2025 list of America's Top 100 Charities, is a 4-star nonprofit on Charity Navigator and has earned a Platinum-Level Candid Exchange seal. Matthew 25: Ministries is accredited by the Better Business Bureau through the "Wise Giving Alliance Standards." For more information/media inquiries, contact Michelle Jones ([email protected]) at Matthew 25: Ministries (513) 793-6256, or visit https://m25m.org/. ABOUT WALMART: Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer helping people save money and live better anytime and anywhere in stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, approximately 270 million customers and members visit more than 10,750 stores and numerous eCommerce websites in 19 countries. With fiscal year 2025 revenue of $681 billion, Walmart employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy, and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/walmart, on X (formerly known as Twitter) at twitter.com/walmart, and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/walmart. Media inquiries for Walmart.org: Contact media relations SOURCE Procter & Gamble He says refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security would be "beyond reckless." Quarterly Activities Report Adelaide, Jan 30, 2026 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Resolution Minerals Ltd ( ASX:RML ) ( NC3:FRA ) ( RLMLF:OTCMKTS ) provided its Quarterly Activities Report for the period ended 31 December 2025. Resolution Minerals Executive Director, Aharon Zaetz, commented: "The Horse Heaven Project is emerging as a multi-commodity, district-scale opportunity. Positioned at the intersection of US critical minerals policy, private capital inflows, and national defense priorities, and now with a gold discovery underpinning its tremendous economic potential, the Horse Heaven Project is emerging as a generational opportunity and globally important asset for Resolution." HIGHLIGHTS - Resolution Minerals Ltd ("RML" or the "Company") announces major gold discovery at Golden Gate. - The Company intersects very significant gold mineralisation during its maiden drilling program at Golden Gate. The gold discovery is called the Golden Gate North Prospect (or "Golden Gate North"). - All diamond core holes drilled at Golden Gate North reported this Quarter host significant gold mineralisation. - HH-GG25-003C: Down hole interval of 253.0m @ 1.50 g/t gold from surface to 253.0m (open ended), including: 111.9m @ 2.31 g/t gold from 130.5m and 18.3m @ 3.98 g/t gold from 149.4m (with the highest assay result of 5.91 g/t gold over a down hole width of 1.5m). - HH-GG25-002C: Down hole interval of 265.2m @ 0.60 g/t gold from surface to 265.2m (open ended), including 89.9m @ 1.15g/t gold from 121.9m. - HH-GG25-004C: 240.8m @ 0.64 g/t gold from surface to end-of-hole ("EOH") 240.8m (open ended), including:61.6m @ 0.98 g/t gold from 40.5m; and 35.8m @ 0.83 g/t gold from 119.5m. - HH-GG25-005C: 283.5m @ 0.36 g/t gold from surface to EOH 283.5m (open ended), including: 4.7m @ 1.18 g/t gold from 10.1m; 42.5m @ 0.72 g/t gold from 65.7m; 4.2m @ 1.14 g/t gold from 131.1m; and 4.9m @ 0.76 g/t gold from 176.8m. - HH-GG25-001C 189.2m @ 1.30 g/t Au from 34m, ending in mineralisation, in HH-GG25-001C, including: Down hole interval of 12.9m @ 2.32 g/t Au from 94.4m; and down hole interval of 70.8m @ 2.24 g/t Au from 128.8m (reported in previous quarter). - As at end of the quarter, Golden Gate North remains open in all directions. - A shallow, three-hole reverse circulation (RC) drill program completed at Golden Gate North, designed to follow-up the diamond drilling. - Entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement to acquire 25 acres of private land adjacent to Horse Heaven, known as the Johnson Creek Tungsten & Antimony Mill and Antimony Camp properties. - Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc. (KPM) engaged to deliver critical characterisation, concentration and pyrometallurgical support test work on high-grade antimony samples from Antimony Ridge as part of a wider metallurgical test work program. - Appointment of Chief Metallurgist, Dr. Adam Roper, to lead metallurgical studies. - Independent Metallurgical Operations (or IMO) engaged to deliver critical characterisation and concentration test work on low-grade antimony samples from Antimony Ridge, Tungsten samples from Johnson Creek and gold samples from Golden Gate as part of a wider metallurgical test work program. - Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation's Minerals Department (or ANSTO Minerals) engaged to deliver hydrometallurgical test work on high-grade antimony samples from Antimony Ridge as part of a wider metallurgical test work program. - Tribeca Capital (Tribeca) appointed Corporate Adviser to assist RML with further developing its U.S. critical minerals strategy. - RML briefs Australian Embassy in Washington, DC on Horse Heaven ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump Critical Minerals meeting in Washington DC. Overview In the Quarter, the Company has evolved rapidly from a critical minerals explorer to a critical minerals developer. Among the many headline results, is the discovery of very significant gold mineralisation at the Golden Gate Prospect. In the previous quarter, the Company released the results of its first hole (HH-DD25-0001C) at Golden Gate. This Quarter's drilling results greatly expanded on the first hole results. Consequently, the Company announced the discovery of a gold deposit at the Golden Gate North Prospect. Resolution also materially progressed as a critical minerals developer, with fast-tracked metallurgy and appointment of Chief Metallurgist; and the announcement of an option to acquire tungsten stockpiles and mill facilities; and the appointment of on critical minerals developer strategist. This quarter may fairly be considered a seminal period in RML's history underscored by the very significant Golden Gate North gold discovery coupled with record gold prices, it is a period that has seen the beginning of the transition from explorer to developer for Resolution. *To view the full Quarterly Report, please visit: https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/789I025E About Resolution Minerals Ltd Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML) (OTCMKTS:RLMLF) (FRA:NC3) is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious and battery metals - such as antimony, gold, copper, and uranium. Resolution Minerals Ltd Listed on the ASX in 2017 and has a broad portfolio of assets, such as the Drake East Antimony-Gold Project in north-eastern NSW and George Project prospective for silica sand and uranium. Related Companies AceShowbiz - This week on Chicago Fire, sparks fly as Sam Carver, portrayed by Jake Lockett, returns to Firehouse 51. His unexpected visit comes while he is passing through with his new squad from Denver, and he stops by to reconnect with the teamespecially Violet. To recap, the last time viewers saw Carver, he confessed his feelings for Violet, culminating in a kiss before abruptly relocating to Denver. Now, the atmosphere is undeniably tense, especially since Violet has been growing closer to the new firefighter, Vasquez, creating palpable chemistry between them. Carver quickly notices their bond and feels threatened by the relationship that has developed during his absence. During a confrontation at Molly's, Carver expresses his disapproval of Vasquez, claiming he isn't what Violet needs. He tries to undermine the new firefighter by suggesting she can do better than some tough guy with a chip on his shoulder. While some may agree with him, its important to acknowledge that Carver has little standing to dictate Violets choices, especially after leaving her at a critical moment. Fortunately for Violet, she seems uninterested in rekindling their romance. She is put off by Carver's emotional detachment during their reunion, as he fails to offer any affectionate parting words or gestures. Ultimately, Carver's surprise visit strengthens the connection between Vasquez and Violet, leading to a sweet moment where the two finally share a kiss. Are you glad to see Violet moving on with Vasquez, or did you hope for a reunion with Carver? Share your thoughts in the comments! AceShowbiz - Mad Men has long been celebrated for its deep storytelling and character exploration. However, behind the scenes, there was significant tension regarding one character's development that sparked 'fighting' among the creators and the network. The acclaimed series, which premiered on AMC, was a pioneering effort in original programming for the network. Despite its eventual success, it faced skepticism from major networks like HBO and Showtime, which had previously rejected the show. The series was a period piece without any major stars, featuring a lead actor, Jon Hamm, who was not widely recognized at the time. Initial casting discussions had favored more established actors, such as Thomas Jane, known for his role in early superhero films. As Kevin Beggs, chairman of Lionsgate TV, recalled in a 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, creator Matthew Weiner employed a "deliberate, extended" narrative style that contrasted sharply with the fast-paced dramas dominating television. Weiner insisted on taking his time to develop the story, stating, "I'm going to parse the story out slowly and savor it and not overload." One of the significant points of contention arose during the second episode of the series, where Weiner focused on the character of Betty Draper, Don Draper's wife. The network was resistant to this slower narrative approach, preferring to keep the storyline centered around the office environment. Weiner, however, believed that exploring Betty's character was essential to understanding Don Draper's complexities and motivations. "They were really annoyed that I was paying attention to [Betty]," he noted, emphasizing his desire to expand the story beyond traditional confines. Betty Draper's character serves as a poignant lens through which to examine the societal expectations placed on women during the era. Her scenes often unfold at a deliberate pace, mirroring the monotony and isolation that many housewives experienced while waiting for their husbands to return home. Far from being inconsequential, her storylines are integral to the show's narrative, representing the themes of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, which critiqued the limited roles available to women in the 1960s. Throughout the series, Betty grapples with her lost identity, reflecting on her past experiences at Bryn Mawr, her time in Italy, and her modeling careerelements of her life that she sacrifices for the role of wife and mother. This struggle is not merely a subplot but an essential aspect of the narrative, illustrating the conflict between personal fulfillment and societal expectations. While some fans may dismiss later storylines involving Betty Draper's body image issues as unnecessary, it is crucial to recognize her role as a reflection of the family life that Don Draper both yearns for and sells to others. Her character encapsulates the broader social transformations that women underwent during the 1960s, making her an indispensable part of the Mad Men narrative. AceShowbiz - Catherine OHara passed away at the age of 71 on January 30, leaving behind a remarkable legacy filled with laughter and unforgettable musical moments. Her unique performance style and musical talent are sure to be cherished by fans for generations to come. The news of the actresss death was reported by TMZ and confirmed by her agent at CAA, who stated she passed away in her Los Angeles home following a brief illness, according to the Associated Press. She is survived by her husband, Bo Welch, and their two sons, Matthew and Luke. OHara began her career at the Second City in Toronto, where she collaborated with Eugene Levy, her longtime screen partner in many iconic projects. She gained fame through several classic films, including Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas during the late 80s and early 90s. Her roles in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries such as Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind further solidified her status as a comedy legend. OHaras talents extended beyond acting; many of her characters showcased her lesser-known musical abilities. From her memorable debut on Saturday Night Live with a spectacular musical number in 1991 to her role as a member of the Jazzagals in Schitts Creek in the late 2010s, Catherine OHara effortlessly integrated music into her performances. In tribute to OHaras remarkable life and career, we look back at some of her best musical moments. Below is a chronological roundup of her most notable performances. Beetlejuice (1988) features one of OHaras most iconic scenes, where her character, Delia Deetz, performs Harry Belafontes Day-o (Banana Boat Song) at a dinner party, while possessed by ghostly spirits. Although OHara doesnt sing in this scene, her physicality and commitment make it a memorable moment in spooky film history. To watch the scene, click here. AceShowbiz - On January 29, 2026, the Recording Academy held a special event honoring the Black Music Collective at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, California. A standout moment of the evening was the unexpected Grammy Award presentation to Eve, the renowned rap artist. Eve was recognized for her significant contribution to The Roots' iconic track You Got Me. This recognition comes 26 years after the song originally won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2000, featuring both The Roots and artist Erykah Badu. Originally released as a single in 1999, You Got Me was co-written by Jill Scott, who provided the chorus for the initial version. However, Erykah Badu re-recorded the chorus for the version featured on The Roots acclaimed studio album Things Fall Apart, which also includes Eve rapping the second verse. The original version with Scott was later included in the 2005 compilation album Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding the Roots, Volume One. During the ceremony, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. spoke about the importance of acknowledging the story behind You Got Me. He stated, It was really simple. It was really clear that we needed to make it right; it was a chance for us to make it right. He then invited the audience to welcome Eve to the stage to receive her award. As she accepted the award amidst enthusiastic applause and the familiar sounds of her hit song playing in the background, a radiant Eve expressed her gratitude and disbelief. Im still processing this situation. This is actually for Little E from Philly. Im truly, truly grateful to be in this room with all of you; all of the great people who inspired me, my peers, everyone, she said. She continued with a humorous reflection on how she received the call about the award while enjoying a few martinis with a friend, adding, What is yours never can miss you. In her speech, Eve also acknowledged the support of her husband, describing him as my biggest cheerleader, along with her team and friends. She made a special mention of Ebro Darden, the Apple Music 1 host, who she credited for not giving up on her recognition. And a shout-out to the Grammy Association for making this happen. And love all yall, she concluded, highlighting her appreciation for the community around her. This newly awarded Grammy is a testament to Eves enduring legacy in the music industry, a moment that not only celebrates her past contributions but also solidifies her relevance in contemporary music culture. AceShowbiz - Stephen Colbert is once again making headlines, as his comments regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have sparked significant reactions. Despite the impending conclusion of his show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, in May 2026, his remarks continue to stir debate among viewers and public figures alike. Colbert, the host of The Late Show, which premiered in 2015, is known for his sharp political satire. Recently, CBS announced that the show will air its final episode on May 21, 2026, marking the end of an era for the late-night franchise. On January 26, 2026, during an episode of The Late Show, Colbert drew ire after comparing ICE agents to Nazis. This comment was made in reaction to a clip featuring Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who expressed concern over the portrayal of Border Patrol and ICE agents as equivalent to the Gestapo during a CNN interview. The context of Bovinos remarks followed a tragic incident involving the shooting of a nurse in Minnesota, which occurred on January 24, 2026. Colbert's controversial statement, Yes, do not compare ICE or Border Patrol agents to the Nazis. Thats an unfair comparison. The Nazis were willing to show their faces, was met with applause from some audiences online but drew sharp criticism from others. Responses to Colbert's comments have been mixed. Actor Michael Rapaport condemned the comparison as a vile, ridiculous cheap joke. He expressed that while the events in Minnesota were indeed tragic, Colbert's remarks were inappropriate, questioning, Whats more offensive, Colbert? Or the crowd laughing? Furthermore, Iranian-American columnist Sohrab Ahmari criticized Colbert's comments, labeling them as obscene, ahistorical, and illiterate. Musician John Ondrasik added his voice to the dissent, calling the joke an evil act that could endanger both protesters and law enforcement. On social media, reactions have continued to unfold, with many discussing the incident on platforms like X. Some users vehemently disagreed with Colbert's remarks, while others came to his defense, with comments highlighting the chilling nature of his statement about Nazis. As the final season of The Late Show approaches, it is evident that Colbert's commentary on pressing social issues remains polarizing. The fallout from his remarks on ICE reflects the broader divide in public opinion regarding immigration policies and the role of enforcement agencies. With the segment now available on the shows YouTube channel, discussions surrounding Colbert's remarks are likely to persist, demonstrating the power of late-night television in shaping public discourse. SHANGHAI, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid the surging wave of innovation in China's biopharmaceutical industry, a decade is long enough to witness the full evolution of a sectorfrom its initial emergence and growth to fundamental transformation. In 2015, as regulatory reform ignited local innovation, Lang Guojun, after earning his PhD from Zhejiang University and gaining several years of experience in pharmaceutical companies, foresightedly focused on the core upstream segment of the industry value chain and founded Sanyou Biopharmaceuticals (hereinafter referred to as "Sanyou Bio"). Standing at a new starting point ten years later, Lang Guojun reflects, "Time has passed incredibly fastit feels like just the blink of an eye." Yet within this "blink of an eye," Sanyou Bio has achieved a leapfrog development, rapidly evolving from a startup with an initial antibody library at the 10^10 scale and a laboratory space of just 100 square meters into an industry front-runner. Today, Sanyou Bio has established an Intelligent Super-Trillion Antibody Library (STAL), the R&D platforms of super-trillion, intelligence and integration, as well as more than 20,000 square meters of operational and planned R&D and GMP-compliant facilities. Building on this foundation, in 2026, Sanyou Bio will officially launch its Innovation Hub for Original Drug Discovery (ClickLinks). At its core, the platform integrates global innovative drug R&D resources and leverages the Intelligent Super-Trillion Antibody Library to deliver a one-stop solution spanning drug discovery, preclinical development, and industrialization, while building an ecosystem network for original drug innovation. in collaboration with ecosystem partners, the platform will jointly fulfill the mission of "To provide solutions to accelerate biological drugs innovation globally." Lang Guojun admits that a decade ago, he never imagined Sanyou Bio would reach its current scale. His original intention was simply "to do whatever I can to contribute to new drug development." Perhaps this illustrates a simple truth: when one persists in doing the right thing, time often delivers rewards beyond expectation. 01 A Decade to Build a 10-TrillionScale Molecular Library Before founding Sanyou Bio, Lang Guojun had already spent many years in the pharmaceutical industry. He first worked at Henlius, a subsidiary of Fosun Pharma, holding positions across R&D and quality control. He later joined another company, focusing on product and marketing functions. This rare combination of experience across R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization endowed him with a multidimensional and holistic view of the industry. Thanks to this background, Lang Guojun keenly identified a critical "gap" in China's biopharmaceutical value chain around 2015. "At that time, commercialization, process development, and even clinical capabilities had already made solid progress," Lang Guojun recalls. "But at the very sourcedrug discovery and preclinical researchthere was a severe shortage of platform-based companies." As China's pharmaceutical industry struggled to transition from generics to innovation, most players held a wait-and-see attitude. Lang Guojun, however, recognized both the core bottleneck and the greatest opportunity of the next decade: solving the fundamental challenges of drug discovery, which he believed represented the true value of platform companies. Looking back at the turbulent decade of innovative drug development, countless companies emerged and then faded away. Sanyou Bio, by contrast, advanced steadily and prudently. According to Lang Guojun, the company's ability to navigate industry cycles safely stems from its unwavering commitment to a dual-engine strategy of "R&D innovation" and "commercial operations," avoiding the fragility of a single-track model. "Many companies focus solely on R&D," he observes. "Once their funding dries up, even the best projects come to a halt." This dual-engine strategy has demonstrated remarkable resilience amid the recent capital crunch in the industry. "In 2024, we achieved break-even; in 2025, we built a solid profit base with sustained positive cash flow," Lang Guojun shares. "This not only ensures survival, but healthy survival." Survival is merely the prerequisite for the future. What truly anchors Sanyou Bio's position is its formidable technological moat. Over ten years, Sanyou Bio has built a 10-trillionscale Intelligent Super-Trillion Antibody Library, which serves as the cornerstone of its competitiveness. Today, most domestic molecular libraries range from 10^10 to 10^11 in size. Sanyou Bio's library, at 10^13, is 100 to 1,000 times larger. "A 10^11-scale library may yield only dozens of candidate molecules," Lang Guojun explains. "A 10^13-scale library can theoretically generate thousands or even tens of thousands of lead candidates. This means that for any target, we can provide a rich pool of high-quality candidates, significantly increasing downstream R&D success rates from the very beginning." Yet even 10 trillion is not the endpoint. Sanyou Bio plans to continue expanding and upgrading its libraries. With the integration of AI technologies, next-generation libraries will move beyond randomness toward rational design, proactively selecting molecules and constructing optimal sequences to make libraries smarter and more efficient. In parallel, Sanyou Bio continues to expand molecular modalitiesfrom full-length antibody libraries, to leading single-domain antibody libraries, and now trillion-scale peptide librariesconstantly pushing the boundaries of molecular forms. Looking ahead, the company also plans to explore the integration of peptides with nucleic acids to create the next generation of molecular libraries. 02 A Paradigm Shift in Innovation The confidence behind the Innovation Hub for Original Drug Discovery and its ambition to build an industry ecosystem extends far beyond Sanyou Bio's ultra-large molecular libraries. Over the past decade, Sanyou Bio has successfully delivered more than 2,000 projects for over 2,000 clients, building a deep and reliable customer network that underpins its strategic evolution. At the heart of this transition is a shift from traditional one-way CRO services to an open, efficient, and mutually beneficial ecosystem network. The Innovation Hub is designed as an open platform that integrates upstream and downstream resources to provide ecosystem-based comprehensive solutions. Its fundamental value lies in deeply engaging with and systematically empowering clients' innovation processes, thereby enhancing partners' long-term core competitiveness. This "deep empowerment" manifests across multiple layers of value creation, beginning with Sanyou Bio's role as a hub of resources and trust. Lang Guojun shares an example: a U.S.-based biotech company newly entering China urgently needed to connect with local CDMOs and safety evaluation institutions but faced delays due to unfamiliarity with the market. Leveraging its deep local insights and partnership network, Sanyou Bio not only precisely matched and introduced suitable partners, but also accompanied site visits and supported negotiations, ultimately ensuring successful project implementation. In this process, Sanyou Bio provided far more than technical servicesit bridged information gaps and established trust. Moreover, through deep, mutually endorsed ecosystem relationships with strategic partners such as leading CDMOs, Sanyou Bio has embedded itself within a powerful industrial credit network. Strategic partners vouch for Sanyou Bio's technical expertise, while Sanyou Bio ensures the quality of recommended projects and clients, enabling more efficient access to premium resources and forming a virtuous cycle. On this foundation, the Innovation Hub assumes a dual empowerment role by systematically connecting critical breaks along the innovation chain. On one hand, it serves as a catalyst for translating scientific discoveries into development programs. Many academic laboratories hold promising early-stage targets but lack pathways for translation, while pharmaceutical companies often lack the bandwidth to evaluate and incubate such early projects individually. Sanyou Bio positions itself as a reliable bridge between upstream innovation and downstream development. "Sanyou Bio has built a drywet integrated intelligent platform, over 10,000 square meters of R&D facilities, and a comprehensive service chain spanning raw material preparation, antibody screening, antibody engineering, in vitro pharmacology, animal models, cell line development, purification process development, formulation development, and quality control," Lang Guojun notes. "While we do not engage in large-scale manufacturing, we have established a complete closed-loop capability from discovery through preclinical research." On the other hand, the Innovation Hub also functions as a matchmaker connecting capital and industry. Drawing on deep insights accumulated through extensive early-stage R&D involvement, Sanyou Bio can efficiently help investors screen and connect with high-quality projects, significantly reducing due diligence costs and information risks. After investment decisions are made, Sanyou Bio continues to provide professional R&D support, safeguarding projects from matchmaking through execution. In this sense, the Innovation Hub represents Sanyou Bio's strategic elevation of a decade of accumulated technology, experience, and networks into a dynamic ecosystem. Lang Guojun envisions Sanyou Bio evolving beyond a technical service provider into a central hub linking academia, industry, and capitaldriving the new drug R&D ecosystem toward greater openness, efficiency, and shared success through resource connectivity, trust endorsement, and end-to-end technical support. 03 A First Look at the Innovation Hub: One-Click Access to R&D Resources In 2026, the Innovation Hub for Original Drug Discovery will officially go live. Presented as an integrated portal, the platform consolidates over 70 specialized service platforms or product pages into a unified interface, enabling clients to access required technical services or industrial resources through a single interface, dramatically reducing the complexity and cost of managing multiple vendors. At the same time, tools such as the OneClick+ Online Design Platform and the CRS marketplace, transform deep expert knowledge into standardized, user-friendly products and services, significantly shortening project initiation cycles. According to Lang Guojun, of the first 39 service modules launched, most are based on Sanyou Bio's proprietary end-to-end technology platforms. Moving forward, the Innovation Hub will selectively introduce and deeply integrate technology platforms from external strategic partners. Sanyou Bio will provide partners with free product definition, interface design, and content restructuring services, aiming to standardize technology modules from diverse sources and ensure a clear structure, seamless experience, and unified visual identity for users. As the central hub for all collaborations, the Innovation Hub will naturally accumulate interaction data from all projects, forming a globally scarce multimodal biopharmaceutical R&D data asset. This will lay a unique foundation for training proprietary AI-driven drug discovery algorithms and predictive models, establishing a long-term competitive moat. The platform's ecosystem value proposition operates on two levels. First, it serves as an open innovation platform that continuously aggregates and disseminates deep industry insights through its "Frontier Innovation" module, aiming to attract and retain high-value clients while building thought leadership. Building on this, the platform aims to unlock network value effects by systematically linking clients, suppliers, scientists, and innovators to promote efficient collaboration. Its long-term vision is that, through deep connectivity and trust-based mechanisms, the platform will ultimately enable direct partnership matchmaking, address long-standing trust and efficiency bottlenecks in the traditional value chain, and transform collaborative relationships into measurable "brand synergy" assetsculminating in a brand-new platform-based, network-collaborative business model. 04 "Don't Think About 20 Years AheadFirst Make 2026 the Best It Can Be" Standing at the threshold of the next decade, Lang Guojun describes his current mindset as a complex mix of "excitement" and "cautious vigilance." "Reaching where we are today has not been easy," he says. "We've grown from a team of three to more than 200 people. These ten years have laid a very solid foundation for the company." The caution stems from his clear understanding of business survival dynamics. "Ninety-five percent of companies don't survive beyond ten years, and even fewer last more than fifteen. Sustaining long-term success is extremely difficult." This acute sense of crisis keeps Lang Guojun grounded and pragmatic. "Rather than thinking about what things will look like in 15 or 20 years, our priority is to make 2026 the best version it can be." Going forward, Sanyou Bio will continue to uphold its dual-engine strategy of R&D innovation and commercial operations, striving to strike a balance between short-term growth imperatives and long-term sustainable development. In Lang Guojun's vision, Sanyou Bio will become one of China's key sources of innovative drug developmentand the fundamental driving force behind it all remains the simple mission that inspired him at the very beginning: "To provide solutions to accelerate biological drugs innovation globally." About Sanyou Sanyou Biopharmaceuticals is a high-tech biopharmaceutical enterprise driven by its super-trillion molecule library and artificial intelligence technology, with the mission of "making innovative biologics R&D easy for clients worldwide". Sanyou Bio has been dedicated to developing a world-class innovative biological drug R&D hub. The company is centered on its AI-driven super-trillion antibody library (AI-STAL) and supported by its world-leading, integrated and intelligent R&D platform for innovative biologics development that seamlessly combines in silico and wet-lab capabilities. Sanyou drives the global development and industrialization of innovative new drugs through diversified business models. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Sanyou has established global business centers across Asia, North America, and Europe, forming an international business network. The company currently operates and has planned over 20,000 square meters of R&D and GMP facilities. Sanyou has established strong collaborations with more than 2,000 pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide, empowering over 1,200 new drug discovery and development projects. It has completed more than 50 collaboration projects, over 10 of which have advanced to IND approval and clinical development stages. The company has filed over 130 invention patents, with more than 30 granted. It has also obtained over 10 national and international qualifications and system certifications, including National High-Tech Enterprise, Shanghai "Specialized and Innovative" Enterprise, ISO9001, and ISO27001. SOURCE Sanyou Bio AceShowbiz - The highly anticipated 2026 Grammy Awards are just around the corner, with Kendrick Lamar leading the nominations this year with an impressive nine nods. Meanwhile, the teams at Billboard Latin and Espanol are keenly analyzing the potential outcomes for Latin artists during this prestigious event. Among the nominees, Bad Bunny stands out with six nominations, following closely behind Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga, who has received seven nominations. The Puerto Rican sensation is recognized in several major categories, including album of the year for his project Debi TiRAR MaS FOToS, as well as both record of the year and song of the year for his hit single DtMF. In addition to these key nominations, Bad Bunny is also up for best musica urbana album, best global music performance for his track EoO, and best album cover. Given his success at the 2025 Latin Grammys, where he clinched five awards, including the coveted album of the year, expectations are high for a triumphant evening for Benito, Bad Bunny's real name. As we approach the ceremony set for February 1, excitement builds around which Latin artists will take home the coveted golden gramophone. Billboards Latin and Espanol editors have made their Predictions for the winners in each Latin category, and the anticipation is palpable. The 2026 Grammy Awards will air live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Sunday, February 1. Fans can catch the event on CBS and stream it on Paramount+ Premium. Most winners, including those in the Latin categories, will be revealed during the Grammy Premiere, a pre-show that will also be available for online streaming. In the Best Latin Pop Album category, the nominees include: Cosa Nuestra by Rauw Alejandro by Rauw Alejandro BOGOTA (DELUXE) by Andres Cepeda by Andres Cepeda Tropicoqueta by KAROL G by Cancionera by Natalia Lafourcade by Natalia Lafourcade Y Ahora Que? by Alejandro Sanz Jessica Roiz expresses her desire for Rauw Alejandro to win for his album Cosa Nuestra, which draws inspiration from the classic salsa album by Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe. This album showcases a unique blend of perreo, electro-funk, and R&B with traditional sounds like bomba, salsa, and bachata, making it a standout in the category. However, she notes that a win could also go to one of the talented female artists, either KAROL G or Natalia Lafourcade. As the event approaches, all eyes will be on these remarkable artists, and the excitement for the night of celebration grows. Who will emerge victorious? Only time will tell! The Alabama prison system has moved three well-known inmate activists who supported a 2022 prison strike and were featured in an Oscar-nominated documentary about the troubled system to isolated cells with little contact with others, family members and attorneys said. Family members of the three men said they fear for their loved ones safety and are concerned the moves to solitary confinement are a form of retaliation for outspokenness about problems within the prison system. Robert Earl Council, Melvin Ray and Raoul Poole were transferred two weeks ago from their existing prisons to solitary confinement at Kilby Correctional Facility outside Montgomery, Alabama, their lawyers said. The transfers come as some groups have encouraged a new prison labor strike this year. This is straight-up retaliation, said Julie Sledd, who is close to Poole and spoke to The Associated Press about his situation. Theyve all three been very involved in standing up for the rights of incarcerated citizens. Council, Ray and Poole were featured in The Alabama Solution, a documentary about the state prison system that relied heavily on cell phone footage from inmates. The film has been nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary category. Sledd said she has been able to talk to Poole once since the transfer and he told her the men are being held in separate cells on an isolated and closely guarded floor. Since their arrival, the men have been cut off from contact with their families and are being held in isolation with no contact with other prisoners or prison staff except for a small group of guards and supervisors, lawyers representing the three men said in a statement. The attorneys said the prison system did not provide a reason for the move and said the restrictions far exceed standard administrative segregation protocols. Given ADOCs decade-long documented history of excessive force against prisoners and its pattern of retaliation against these specific individuals including a prior 2021 incident in which four guards nearly killed Robert Council their attorneys fear for the activists safety and well-being," the lawyers wrote. The Alabama Department of Corrections cited security concerns as the reason the men were moved, but did not elaborate. The transfer of inmates is based on intelligence that they are engaged in activity that is detrimental to the safety and security of the facilities and the public, prison officials said in an statement emailed by spokeswoman Kelly Betts. The statement added that all inmates are safe, secure, and receiving regular meals and other services as needed, and that they have had legal visits and phone service. Earnestine Council said Wednesday that she has gotten little information about her son and has not been able to speak with him. Ann Brooks, Rays mother, said she hasnt been able to reach her son, although he was able to make one call to his brother. I dont know what is going to happen or what could happen, Brooks said. The moves come as some have pushed for a new prison labor strike this year similar to one in 2022 that drew national attention. Thousands of Alabama inmate workers went on strike that year, refusing to labor in prison kitchens, laundries and factories to protest conditions in the state lockups. Several inmates told The Associated Press that prisons have recently reduced the amount of food and other items they can purchase each week at the prison commissary, a move that could prevent items from being stockpiled ahead of any strike. The prison system said in a statement that food service has been contracted out to a new vendor, Aramark, but didnt elaborate. Were really concerned because theyve had retaliation and abuse in response to all of their activism, said Andrew Jarecki, director of The Alabama Solution. Its particularly ironic that these men who are incredibly brave and frankly, scholars and have learned the law and have been leaders and always observe nonviolent means of protest, are always met with violence by authorities." The last few days have heaped more burden on a small town already struggling to meet basic municipal needs amid political and economic instability. The political and legal crisis that has crippled the town of Lipscomb is heading to the state supreme court. Meanwhile, tensions flared at a recent town hall meeting that culminated with the mayor storming out the gathering at an area church. At the same time, volunteers continue to pick up trash because the town has failed to pay months of overdue sanitation bills. Members of the Lipscomb City Council are asking the Alabama State Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that keeps them from their jobs. A Jefferson County judge in Bessemer tossed three of the five council members, which ended the possibility of a quorum and prevents the city from having official meetings. Mayor Rob Sims went to court on claims that three of the five council members did not live in the newly drawn districts they represented. Barbara Moore, Vanessa Reed and Christine Burrell filed their appeal Jan. 27 to challenge the decision of Judge David Hodby that they should not hold office. Their lawyer argues that Hodbys ruling was incorrect. Because the redistricting map was never lawfully adopted by the City of Lipscomb, the Board of Registrars lacked authority to implement it and the trial court lacked authority to enforce it or to rely upon it as a basis for declaring appellants ineligible for office, council attorney Wayman Newton wrote in his court filing seeking an appeal. The councils position is that the city leaders had rejected proposed new district lines that drew three incumbents out of their previous districts. Mayor Sims, on the other hand, insists that the new lines were lawful. The ongoing litigation, tumultuous town meeting, and loss of trash service are the latest in a series of troubles for the town of 2,000 people just outside Bessemer in west Jefferson County. As a result of the lawsuit, there are not enough council members to legally hold a council meeting. The council has not held a full meeting since December. Newton called the paralysis of municipal government an emergency that has already had negative effects for residents, including no resolution to the $106,859 in overdue bills to Amwaste for trash service. Each day the city remains without the ability to conduct lawful municipal action, it faces the risk of additional service disruptions affecting sanitation, utilities, vendor services, and other core municipal functions that require governing body approval by law, Newton wrote. Sims and members of the city council took to the airwaves, including the Gary Richardson Show on WJLD 104.1 FM to give dueling versions of the events that led to the stalemate in city government and the ongoing financial crisis. Speaking to host Richardson on WJLD on Wednesday, Sims said the issue of district lines began before he took office. He said council members had a responsibility to know their status. Sometimes complacency where its always been done this way, we dont follow up and see where we stand in our districts or if anything has changed, Sims said. On the other side, William Baylor, the former city clerk who was fired by Sims, joined with council members in calling for a restoration of the previous map. When the city makes a decision that affects peoples rights, especially voter rights, there has to be a lawful paper trail, Baylor said during an earlier interview on WJLD radio. It cant be a rumor, it cant be a backroom understanding. It has to be a real decision made in the sunlight and recorded for the people to see. Regarding city finances, Sims said he inherited the dysfunction, including the overdue Amwaste bills that have not been paid since June 2025. Sims said a previous check to pay Amwaste was instead used to pay city employees. There has been mismanagement of funds, overpayment of funds, some people being paid more than they should, and were correcting that, Sims said on WJLD. The money was not reinvested back into the city. Sims said the city is currently undergoing an audit. Everyone involved will be held accountable, he said. Trash service for now is being handled by a team of volunteers. Volunteers with the Lipscomb Strong Foundation Inc. for several days have filled in to grab bags and empty cans for residents. Sims, who took office as mayor in November, founded the Lipscomb Strong Foundation as a domestic non-profit corporation in late January. Sims said the volunteers are a temporary solution that is not sustainable for the long-term. Frustration from residents and leaders erupted at a gathering at Wheeling Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Wednesday. Sims left in anger. He later took to social media to apologize. You observed your mayor become frustrated in a public setting and walk away from a moment that was emotionally charged. For that, I take full responsibility, and I apologize, he wrote. Sims said the meeting was not an official gathering and he had told organizers that he would attend, but questions should be sent to city hall during business hours. Unfortunately, those boundaries were not honored, tensions escalated, and the environment became emotionally charged, Sims wrote. While I believe expectations were misaligned, I want to be clear: I am still responsible for how I responded. In that moment, I should have honored my boundary and exited sooner. I did notand for that, I apologize. The family of an Alabama prisoner who died in 2021 was too late in filing its lawsuit that says UAB stole his organs after an autopsy, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday in dismissing most of the claims in that lawsuit. The family of Charles Singleton was among several families that filed lawsuits in 2024 making claims about the harvesting of organs without their permission. Singleton, 74, was incarcerated at the Hamilton Aged and Infirmed prison and died at a Tennessee hospital in 2021. His daughter said in a sworn statement that following his death, Singletons body was taken to UAB for an autopsy. After the autopsy and when his body was sent to a Pell City funeral home, the funeral director found that Singleton was missing his brain and other organs. In April 2024, the Singleton family filed a lawsuit against the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections, the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama, and a doctor. The lawsuit was consolidated with similar lawsuits filed by families of other prisoners who also had died and had their organs removed. In December 2024, the university filed a motion to dismiss the Singleton familys case. The Singleton familys fraud claim is barred because the complaint was filed more than two years after plaintiffs were aware of the facts forming the basis of their claims, lawyers for the university and other defendants argued. The Singleton family had initially argued that the statute of limitations for their claims did not begin to run when their family discovered that the prisoners organs were missing or when defendants falsely told them they had the right to keep the organs, according to the Alabama Supreme Courts ruling. Rather, it began when the Singleton [family] discovered that they did have an interest in the retained organs/tissues and that Defendants retention of the organs was illegal. Plaintiffs assert that they first learned of the fraudulent nature of Defendants statement on December 13, 2023, when a news report revealed that Defendants organ retention was neither standard practice nor lawful. The lawsuit was filed within two years of that date in 2023 and a judge initially agreed it was within the statute of limitations based on those calculations. UAB, the doctor and ADOC appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, asking it to order the judge to reverse that ruling and dismiss the Singleton case. The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday sided with UAB and the other defendants and in Fridays ruling ordered the judge to dismiss all but one of the claims in the Singleton lawsuit one that alleges violation of the Alabama Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (AUAGA). The Singleton familys claims against the petitioners are each barred by the statute of limitations that applies to each claim. Accordingly, we issue the writ of mandamus directing the circuit court to dismiss the Singleton familys amended complaint, except with regard to the Singleton familys AUAGA claim, insofar as the complaint pertains to the petitioners, the supreme court explained. UAB and the other defendants never moved to dismiss the AUAGA claim, although they indicate in their mandamus petition that they intend to do so. Because the petitioners do not seek mandamus relief regarding that claim, that claim is not before us. Efforts to reach attorneys for UAB and the Singleton family were unsuccessful prior to publication of this story. A month after the lawsuits were filed in 2024, UAB announced that its pathology department will no longer be conducting the autopsies of dead state inmates after UAB severed its contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections. Alabamas senior senator backed the federal charges against former CNN journalist Don Lemon, saying the reporter NEEDS TO GO TO JAIL. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., made the remark on in a social media post from his gubernatorial campaign account responding to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemning Lemons arrest. What a joke, Tuberville, who is running for Alabama governor instead of reelection to the Senate, said of Schumer likening the Trump administrations arrest of Lemon to police states and authoritarian regimes. What a joke. Democrats weaponized the DOJ to go after a former President on made-up charges, bullied companies into silencing and debanking conservatives, and threw anyone in jail who was even near the Capitol on January 6th. Don Lemon interrupted a church service.violating https://t.co/8JVWWYPoOw Tommy Tuberville (@CoachForGov) January 30, 2026 Lemon was indicted on civil rights crimes for covering an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minneapolis church. Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, was due to appear Friday in federal court in Los Angeles. He has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and he was there as a solo journalist chronicling protesters. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done, his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. Tuberville claimed there was no comparison between Lemons alleged conduct and the Democrats that weaponized the DOJ to go after a former President on made-up charges, bullied companies into silencing and debanking conservatives, and threw anyone in jail who was even near the Capitol on January 6th. Don Lemon interrupted a church service.violating the congregants Constitutional rights to worship freely," Tuberville tweeted. He and everyone else involved NEEDS TO GO TO JAIL. Tuberville was not the only elected official representing Alabama to support Lemons arrest. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., claimed Lemon participated in a cowardly ambush during the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. Don Lemon knowingly disrupted an active church service, intimidating churchgoers seeking to worship in peace and likely violating the FACE Act, Britt tweeted. He and the other agitators should be held accountable for this cowardly ambush on people of faith, she continued. The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15, 2026. While it is too late to create a new category for the Awards, there is one gaining recognition due to the actors who have so far qualified for a nomination. The category is for the best performance by a Somali immigrant seeking to pull the wool over the eyes of the American public. Several of these nominees have displayed their talents at press conferences. Let us examine some of these performances: Advertisement As the noose tightens on the Somali fraudsters who cheated social and child welfare out of billions of dollars, business financial records will become important to investigators. However, in the first known theft ever of its kind, a Somali daycare manager is claiming someone broke into his office and stole all the employment records and lists of the children who were attending. As the manager spoke, it was interesting to note he was wearing a $3,000 pair of designer glasses. Our next nominee is a Somali Minnesota mom, complaining over the criticism her community was receiving about committing fraud. She panicked at her press conference after saying, Im unable to work or go to school. I understand fraud is bad. Suddenly, experiencing an uh oh moment, she seemed to realize she should not put fraud in a bad light; after all, fraud has been good to Somalis in America. But after saying fraud is bad, she immediately placed her hand over her mouth, looked around and stopped speaking. Making this faux pas failed to set off an alarm for leftists attending the conference as they apparently still did not get it, evidenced as they foolishly applauded her. Interestingly, however, as she put her hand to her mouth, one could see a five karat diamond on her finger. Nasra Ahmed, 23, alleged at a press conference she was kidnapped and brutalized, apparently by two ICE agents. Seemingly hard pressed to remember if one or two men were involved, she claimed, "That man, he called me the N-word...and then he arrestedthey arrested me. It was multiple people. They used a lot of force...I actually got a uh...scab Two small bandages were visible on her forehead as she spoke. However, she was arrested days later, having allegedly violated federal law for impeding ICE officers by making a false statement. Interestingly, no bandages or scabs appeared on her forehead in her arrest photo. BREAKING: Nasra Ahmed, the bananas and rice Somali, has been ARRESTED by DHS at the direction of Pam Bondi for obstructing ICE operations This is just too perfect Ahmed LIED about being brutalized by ICE. Notice how the band-aid is gone and theres no wound! Loser! pic.twitter.com/BI2oS0inYP Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 28, 2026 Against this backdrop, we see a video circulating of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) being attacked as she spoke at an event attended by a number of anti-ICE protesters. A man, conveniently seated in the front row just steps away from her, suddenly stood up as Omar suggested Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem should resign or be impeached. He sprayed her with a liquid the mainstream mediawithout any evidenceinitially claimed was a chemical liquid. It was not. turning out to be something totally harmlessapple cider vinegar. The attacker has since been identified as Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, who has a criminal record. While the attack against Omar may be real, but based on previous hoaxes pulled off by Somali community members, there is always the possibilityas was the 2019 alleged racist attack actor Jussie Smollett claimed was made against him which he had actually coordinated with his assailantsthis could be a hoax as well. Advertisement Ones curiosity is raised in the video by Omars immediate reaction. What is the first thought a victim who had suddenly been sprayed with an unknown liquid, as was Omar, would logically have? The immediate concern would be the content of the spray and whether it was something that could do bodily injury, such as an acid, if the affected clothing was not quickly removed. But Omar failed to show any such concern over the attack and the spray contents. Instead, she headed directly toward her assailant, not even gazing down at her clothing to see if the liquid posed any danger to her. Seemingly unfazed by the attack, she continued talking totally unflustered for an additional 25 minutes after her attackerwho now has charges filed against himwas taken away. It is clear he could have used a much more toxic liquid against Omar than vinegar if he truly intended to make headlines by doing her harm. Advertisement Late night television hosts were impressed enough by Omars unhesitating reaction to comment on it as well. The fact that she may have defrauded the U.S. governmentby allegedly marrying her brother to enable him to immigrate here and by her wealth as a legislator skyrocketing 3,500% in the one year between 2023 and 2024only adds to the curiosity concerning this incident. If Omar has committed such criminal actions, an attack hoax is well within the parameters of what she is fully capable of doing. While Kazmierczak is already being identified as a MAGA supporter, a detailed investigation needs to be undertaken to determine if he benefitted from any sort of payment, as was the case with Smolletts alleged attackers who received $3500for the staged attack? Advertisement While the media says the attacker has pro-Trump posts online, it would be interesting to see whether these posts started recentlyperhaps as part of a grooming effort to give him MAGA credibility by the time of the assaultor not. Additionally, for most crazies committed to making a public attack against a politician, their weapon of choice seems to be one capable of causing harm of some type to their target. We need to understand where Omars interests truly are. She has made it clear the Somali community in the U.S. will dictate what foreign policy is pursued by our government when it comes to the interests of Somaliaa statement that conflicts with her oath of office. Undoubtedly such a declaration seeks to motivate the army of Somali immigrant voters keeping her in office today. And why would they not vote for her? They enjoy a much better quality of life than ever beforesome at immense cost illegally obtained from U.S. taxpayers. Advertisement As a Muslim, Omar made her hatred of Israel well known. It was a hatred prioritized over U.S. interests and which, accordingly, resulted in her removal from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee in February 2023 for making antisemitic comments. She had also shown her disdain for America by comparing it and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. Decades ago, President Ronald Reagan made a phrase famous during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The phrase was a principle he had ironically taken from a Russian proverb. Concerning the Soviets willingness to abide by nuclear agreements, Reagan said we must trust but verifya reference to ensure compliance. Dealing with the likes of Omar makes it difficult to embrace trust but imperative we embrace verification. Advertisement Image generated by ChatGPT. The FBI raided Fulton Countys Election Hub and Operations Center. The raid was authorized by a judges warrant, which is under seal. However, some news organizations have gotten a copy and are reporting that the FBI is seeking several types of records. Advertisement ABC News reports: The search warrant authorized the FBI to search for all physical ballots from the 2020 General Election, in addition to tabulator tapes from voting machines and 2020 voter rolls, among other documents. Advertisement It is likely that the warrant also includes items that were requested by the Department of Justice in December. Those items were all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files. On Wednesday (January 28), the FBI filled three large trucks with 700 boxes of ballots and other seized documents. Advertisement The warrant was signed by magistrate judge Catharine Salinas, and it states that the FBI is seeking material that constitutes evidence of the commission of a criminal offense and evidence used as the means of committing a criminal offense. According to ABC News, the warrant lists possible violations of two specific statutes. One pertains to the required retention period for election records, and the other specifies criminal penalties for people, including election officials, who intimidate voters or knowingly procure false votes or false voter registrations. Advertisement The reference to the first statute (required retention period) suggests that the FBI has possibly learned that someone in Fulton County is destroying records. Because of ongoing litigation, those records should have been retained. The second statute (knowingly procure false votes) suggests that the FBI may have uncovered some sort of ballot-harvesting scheme, where registrations were stolen or fabricated so that votes could be rendered by made-up people, illegal aliens, or out-of-state voters. Advertisement Could there be a whistleblower in Fulton County? Of course, many news organizations reported the story with typical left-wing spin: Advertisement Reuters: The FBI is pursuing U.S. President Donald Trumps false claims... PBS: Baseless claims of voter fraud have been a focus of President Trump... Georgia Recorder: The County was at the center of President Donald Trumps baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen in Georgia and other swing states. Politico: Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that former President Joe Biden did not actually win the 2020 presidential election. We can expect those media organizations to reject anything the FBI finds. In addition, Democrats are already making excuses. Some of them seem to imply that the FBI will manipulate the findings. Fulton County commissioner Marvin Arrington (Democrat) stated, These are the original voting records, original absentee ballots. Once that stuff leaves our custody, where is the chain of custody? How can we know if were going to get everything back? How can we know if they might do something mischievous? Robb Pitt, chairman of the Fulton Board of Commissioners, expressed these concerns: I can no longer as chair of this board, satisfy not only the citizens of Atlanta, but also the citizens of this world, that those ballots are still secure. So that is a major concern that I have right now. Trump critics have expressed surprise that the FBI would seek election documents, since 2020 election results have already been audited several times. However, those were not real audits. They were merely counting exercises. A true audit also entails authentication. For example, were ballots submitted in a timely manner, and were they properly signed? Are the voters registered citizens, and are they voting from the proper jurisdictions? Are there chain of custody records that can be used to trace the vote to each person between the voter and the final tabulation records? The self-audits conducted by Fulton County have not answered any of those questions. Recently, I had a conversation with Garland Favorito, a co-founder of VoterGA, which is a nonprofit organization promoting election integrity. Although the raid had not taken place at that time, Favorito identified several issues that might explain why the FBI is now seeking records. Immediately after the 2020 election, six poll-watchers claimed that several ballots contained anomalies. The signature ink appeared to be toner, abnormal paper was used, or the ballots lacked creases, even though they had to be folded to fit in the mailing envelope. Most of these ballots lacked markings for any of the down-ballot races. As a result, Mr. Favorito filed a lawsuit, seeking the right to inspect the paper ballots. He was denied access because, according to lower courts, he lacked standing. In 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that he did have standing. Nevertheless, Fulton County has refused to give access to the ballots. Other problems in the election records include the following: Fulton County has acknowledged that, contrary to legal requirements, 315,000 early vote ballots were unsupported by signed poll worker tabulator tapes. Garland Favorito also noted that thousands of scanned ballot image files were impossible. For example, the tif image files were dated hours or days in advance of the SHA authentication files, even though the two files are produced simultaneously. 4,000 image files had precisely the same timestamp, even though it takes about 1 second to scan each one. 130,000 mail-in ballots had no SHA file whatever, even though SHA files are required by Georgia law. For almost 18,000 votes, there are no paper or image files whatever. There was a report (from an election staffer) that signatures were not reviewed in Fulton County, despite a legal requirement. Additional issues are identified here. President Trump is watching these operations with great interest. While in Davos last week, he vowed that people will soon be prosecuted for what they did regarding the 2020 presidential election. Lets hope that is the case. Joe Fried is an Ohio-based CPA and the author of Debunked? An auditor reviews the 2020 election and the lessons learned. In that book, Joe argues that the 2020 election should not have been certified. In addition, Joe has assisted various attorneys representing January 6 defendants. His totally free Substack account is found at joefriedcpa.substack.com. Image: cagdesign via Pixabay, Pixabay License. Every society, at every stage of history, has required some means of transferring value. Trade, wages, taxation, savings, and debt all depend on a shared understanding of what represents value and why others will accept it. Money exists to overcome the limits of direct exchange to allow value to be stored, measured, and transferred across time and distance, even when goods are not immediately needed or equally desired. Advertisement Early barter systems were not chaotic or primitive. They often relied on goods with broad utility tools, livestock, textiles, alcohol, or other items in steady demand. But barter still struggled with durability, divisibility, transport, and consistent valuation. As societies grew larger and more complex, these limits became binding. From Commodity Money to Representational Value Advertisement Commodity money followed. Gold and silver possessed scarcity, durability, and intrinsic usefulness, making them reliable stores of value. Yet physical metals were heavy, difficult to divide precisely, and impractical for large-scale commerce. To solve this, societies adopted commodity-backed currencies paper claims redeemable for metal held in reserve. The decisive break came later. Sovereign-backed currency replaced metal backing with institutional promise: money supported by the full faith and credit of a nation. Even here, a tether remained. Currency still represented a claim, however indirect, on something tangible. Advertisement Fiat currency severed that link entirely. Modern money no longer represents a claim on anything of independent practical use. Its value rests on legal tender laws, taxation authority, central banking, and confidence in political and institutional stability. Instruments such as checks, certificates of deposit, and electronic balances did not change what money was; they changed how claims on money were recorded and transferred. Value became increasingly representational, anchored not in usefulness, but in shared belief and enforcement. This evolution was not a mistake. It was a response to scale, speed, globalization, and the need for elastic money supplies. Modern economies could not function without abstraction. But abstraction carries risks. Advertisement Cryptocurrency as the Farthest Extension Cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, extended this transition. Advertisement Bitcoin is not backed by a commodity, nor redeemable for anything tangible. A bitcoin is not a thing, but a record an entry on a distributed ledger governed by rules rather than institutions. Ownership is control of a cryptographic key. Trust is shifted from banks and governments to code, consensus, and economic incentives. In that sense, Bitcoin represents the furthest extension of representational value yet. Advertisement For its advocates, this offers clear advantages: transactions without intermediaries, resistance to censorship, final settlement without institutional discretion, and independence from sovereign monetary policy. In countries with unstable currencies or weak rule of law, these features can be essential. Even in developed economies, Bitcoin appeals to those wary of centralized control or discretionary expansion of the money supply. But Bitcoin also introduces new risks. It is volatile, irreversible, energy-intensive, and increasingly concentrated among early adopters and large holders. It offers no recourse for error and depends entirely on digital infrastructure. Bitcoin does not relocates trust from institutions to systems that are difficult to understand and impossible to unwind. Why Physical Gold Refuses to Disappear Against this increasing abstraction stands an apparent contradiction: There remains a robust market for physical precious metals. Individuals continue to buy gold and silver coins and, increasingly, large bars. Bar purchases reflect a desire for exposure to physical value itself, whereas coins introduce additional volatility through collectible premiums and numismatic demand. More striking still, national central banks have been increasing their gold reserves in recent years. This behavior, documented by organizations such as the World Gold Council, is strategic. Gold is inefficient. It does not yield interest and plays little role in everyday commerce. Yet it retains one unmatched characteristic: It exists outside the financial system. It carries no exposure to default, policy change, or intervention by governments or institutions, no issuing authority, no software dependency, and no political jurisdiction. Gold is held because performs when systems fail. Institutions responsible for managing systemic risk do not optimize for averages. They hedge against tail events wars, sanctions, financial freezes, and collapses of confidence. From that perspective, gold is insurance against scenarios in which representational systems, however efficient, become unreliable. Bitcoin, Gold, and Sovereign Digital Currency At the same time that physical gold is being accumulated, governments are exploring another path: sovereign digital currency. A central bank digital currency promises the efficiency of digital payments combined with state authority. It borrows technical features from cryptocurrency while rejecting decentralization, anonymity, and independence. A sovereign digital currency seeks to preserve fiat authority by embedding state control directly into the digital form of money itself. Seen together, these trends are revealing. Gold, Bitcoin, and sovereign digital currency are responses to different fears. Gold answers the fear of systemic collapse. Bitcoin answers the fear of institutional overreach or exclusion. Sovereign digital currency answers the fear of losing monetary control in a fully digital world. Each reflects a different theory of risk. None fully replaces the others. A Fragmented Monetary Future Rather than converging on a single form of money, we appear to be entering an era of monetary pluralism. Physical metals, fiat currency, crypto assets, and proposed sovereign digital currencies coexist, each compensating for perceived weaknesses in the others. Individuals hedge against control. Institutions hedge against collapse. Governments hedge against irrelevance. The debate over cryptocurrency, then, is not really about technology or speculation. It is about trust where it resides, how it is enforced, and what happens when it erodes. Money has always reflected the moral and institutional foundations of a society. The fact that we are simultaneously reaching backward to gold, outward to code, and inward to sovereign digital control tells us something important about our moment. We are no longer willing to place all our trust in one place. That may be the most honest signal our money has sent in a very long time. Dave Ball is a retired business executive and former elected official who writes on economics, business, energy, and politics. Image via Pexels. Contrary to repeated assurances by the Federal Chancellor, the German state apparatus is growing at an accelerating pace. What we are witnessing before our eyes is the transformation of the economy into a command economy. Advertisement You may recall: In the days between last years federal election and the appointment of the new government, a political window opened in which Germany committed fundamental breaches of its own fiscal rules. The outgoing Bundestag decided on a redefinition of the debt brake and ultimately executed its substantive demise by outsourcing massive new debt. The legitimization of financing gimmicks, the establishment of sectoral exemptions and special funds constitutes a fiscal original sin. It opens the door wide for the state to finance administration, the welfare system, and economic policy interventions with ever more debt. Taxpayers are left holding the bag for this budgetary deregulation, while capital markets -- thanks to the hypothetically unlimited backstop of the European Central Bank -- remain wide open. Fiat credit flows freely, the state sector expands, and in doing so crowds out the productive forces of society. Advertisement The Classic Bureaucracy-Reduction Rhetoric Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz used this phase of political power vacuum in April to offer glimpses into his political agenda. Alongside well-worn political platitudes such as switching into growth mode and launching an investment offensive, one familiar media trope made its appearance: cutting bureaucracy. Advertisement At first glance, cutting bureaucracy sounds citizen-friendly and suggests a responsible approach to public finances. A lean state would be tangible proof of serious fiscal policy and a guarantee that the private sector -- the true engine of societal performance -- is not burdened unnecessarily with documentation requirements and bureaucratic drudgery. Friedrich Merz knows this. Cutting bureaucracy sounds good. It sounds reasonable. And it has devolved into a hollow political phrase -- cheap to invoke while, at the same time, a veritable hyperstate is being constructed. Advertisement For it is public administration itself -- now employing 5.5 million people -- that exposes the political rhetoric as fiction. The gigantic special fund, adding 50 billion in new debt annually, must be administratively distributed. Thousands of individual subsidy projects must be reviewed, approved, and monitored. This requires massive bureaucratic expansion. Merz and Klingbeil were well aware of this when they wove the narrative of a lean state into their media messaging. Moreover, since it has become clear that the conflict in the Donbas is not going away anytime soon, the build-up of a substantial military-industrial production system has emerged -- under the shadow of stoked fears of Russia -- alongside the green art economy. This year, Germanys defense budget amounts to 120 billion. Distributing these additional funds equally necessitates additional layers of public administration, from ministerial departments down to local governments. Advertisement A Man of the Strong State Friedrich Merz is by no means a man of the lean state. He is a committed advocate of centralized industrial steering under political primacy. He believes Germany can successfully pursue its transformation toward a green and militarized command economy through massive borrowing. Advertisement Politics now interprets the decline of German industrial production as a mandate to deliberately repurpose empty factories for arms manufacturing. At the same time, the deep economic crisis -- having already cost Germany 400,000 industrial jobs since 2019 -- is largely kept out of public debate. Meanwhile, the public sector is being transformed into a buffer for an impending labor market catastrophe, expanding its workforce by roughly two percent annually. By the end of the third quarter of 2025 alone, employment in public services, education, and healthcare increased by 205,000, according to Focus. Without disparaging these jobs, it must nonetheless be emphasized that they represent social services that must first be financed by value creation in the private sector. In manufacturing -- the core of Germanys economic strength -- around 143,000 jobs were cut last year. Fewer than eight million people now work in this fundamental sector. The automotive industry alone laid off more than 60,000 workers last year -- six percent of its total workforce in Germany. This reflects a dramatic collapse in production activity, which has lost more than 15 percent of its volume across all industrial sectors since 2018. The causes of this economic decline are well known: a self-inflicted energy crisis, high fiscal burdens, and mounting competitive pressure from China, India, and the United States -- countries not subjected to the same regulatory pressure continuously imposed by the German state and the European Union. We recall what Friedrich Merz promised in April of last year: to reduce bureaucratic costs -- estimated by the ifo Institute at around 146 billion annually -- by 25 percent, while simultaneously shrinking public-sector employment by eight percent over the coming years due to demographic effects alone. A Distorted Reality Ignorance or deception? The brazenness with which Merz distorted political reality at precisely this point is striking when viewed against the continued expansion of the public sector. People are migrating out of the productive parts of the economy into the state apparatus out of sheer self-preservation -- the very apparatus that represents the greatest destroyer of economic performance. Germany is facing a profound economic asymmetry that is being deliberately intensified by political action. The expansion of the German state apparatus, which has pushed the government share of GDP above 50 percent, reveals one thing clearly: the social dislocations caused by a politically engineered energy crisis and subsequent deindustrialization are being papered over with cheap credit. More state, less private economy. New government debt is nothing more than confirmation that policymakers are rejecting reform pressure and shifting the costs of delay onto future generations. If this debt camouflage succeeds -- leading to net new borrowing exceeding 5.5 percent this year once the finance ministers accounting tricks are included -- politics buys time. Time it urgently needs in its battle against the economic reality of the green transformation. The question is: how long can the federal government postpone unavoidable reforms through the credit pump? The social costs of open-border policies and the delayed adaptation of the welfare state to economic reality are accumulating into a socioeconomic fiasco -- one that will unfold abruptly once capital markets begin to question Germanys creditworthiness. Symmetry unveils comprehensive AI-powered features and taxonomy integrating sensitive data identifiers, data types, and privacy frameworks; plans open source release to drive vendor consistency and industry collaboration. SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Symmetry Systems, the Data+AI security company, today unveiled its AI-Powered Classification taxonomy that fundamentally transforms how organizations classify and secure sensitive data, as well as new capabilities for large enterprises to "Bring Your Own AI". A Unified Taxonomy for Modern Data+AI Security The comprehensive taxonomy and Symmetry DataGuard itself supports classification and categorization of data with over 400+ sensitive data identifiers (PII, PHI, PCI, financial data, IP, credentials, etc), 500+ semantic data types (categories including contracts, board documents, financial records, healthcare documents, legal filings), regulatory classifications (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, emerging AI governance, etc), and privacy data elements integrating into a unified model as the backbone for modern Data+AI Security programs. The company also announced plans to open source the taxonomy to drive industry-wide standardization and evaluations. "The industry desperately needs open standards for data classification and categorization," said Sameer Sait, Sr Director, Information Security at Stanley 1913. "Vendor-specific taxonomies force organizations to maintain multiple overlapping frameworks and create unnecessary friction in security programs. Symmetry's vision for an open, standards-based taxonomy and supporting test data addresses a fundamental problem the entire industry faces. This is exactly the kind of leadership and collaboration we need." In a significant step toward industry collaboration, Symmetry has also integrated the Fides privacy-by-code taxonomy into it's broader taxonomy and plans to release the combined taxonomy and supporting corpus of data, as an open source project. This addresses a critical gap in the data security industry: the lack of consistent classification standards across vendors, which forces organizations to maintain multiple mapping frameworks and slows adoption of comprehensive data protection programs. The new taxonomy is available now to Symmetry Systems customers. The Vision: Creating Open Source Industry Standards "The data security industry has a taxonomy problem," said Dr. Mohit Tiwari, CEO of Symmetry Systems. "Every vendor has their own classification scheme, sensitive data identifiers, regulatory mappings, and policy language. Organizations waste resources translating between incompatible approaches instead of securing data." "Think of this as the PyTorch moment for data security," added Dr. Tiwari. "PyTorch succeeded because it gave AI/ML domain experts a compact specification layer to define models, while abstracting away implementation complexity the same model specification can target GPUs, TPUs, or CPUs without rewriting. Similarly, an open taxonomy and policy language lets privacy and data security experts express compact policies once, then automatically generate implementations targeting Unity Catalog in Databricks, IAM policies in AWS, OPA rules in Kubernetes, or access controls in Snowflake. Write the policy once in simple understandable terms, deploy it everywhere as technical enforcement." The vision extends beyond classification to bridging business policy and technical enforcement. When a CPO says "vendors cannot access customer data," that should automatically generate Databricks Unity Catalog permissions, Open Policy Agent (OPA) policies, DLP policies, network segmentation rules, and audit configurations. Today, organizations manually translate requirements across disconnected systems. An open standard taxonomy provides the common language and technical mapping layer that makes this policy-as-code translation work at scale. By open sourcing the taxonomy and leveraging the well established privacy engineering taxonomy by Fides, Symmetry aims to enable vendor interoperability, accelerate compliance with automated policy generation, foster community innovation through benchmark datasets, and drive AI governance with common classification language creating reproducible performance testing just as the AI community benchmarks models. "Pytorch enabled rigorous performance testing benchmarking which models excel at specific tasks and driving the entire field forward through reproducible results. Data security needs the same approach," Dr. Tiwari continued. "We're creating a comprehensive, open taxonomy integrating frameworks, with evaluation datasets so the community can test, benchmark, and continuously improve classification and categorization accuracy. This isn't about competitive advantage it's about enabling the rigorous evaluation and continuous improvement that drove AI forward." The company will announce timing, governance structure, and initial benchmark datasets in the coming weeks. "Bring Your Own AI" Infrastructure Flexibility Complementing the new taxonomy, Symmetry announced expanded "Bring Your Own AI" (BYOAI) infrastructure support, allowing customers to power their classification using their own enterprise AI subscriptions (Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI), or their own private GPU infrastructure for data sovereignty. This eliminates vendor lock-in and allows organizations to apply the industry-standard taxonomy using their own AI infrastructure that meets their specific security and compliance requirements. These capabilities reinforce Symmetry's unique position as the only Data+AI security platform delivering comprehensive classification without requiring data to leave their custody and control. Unlike cloud-dependent Data Security Posture Management solutions that require data to flow through vendor infrastructure, Symmetry's architecture can bring the taxonomy and AI-powered classification to wherever data lives delivering modern AI intelligence without the security and compliance compromises of cloud-only approaches. The platform enables security and data teams to apply consistent classification using a unified taxonomy across all data systems, deploy in airgapped environments with full AI-powered functionality, leverage existing AI investments, maintain complete data sovereignty, accelerate compliance reporting with built-in regulatory mappings, enable responsible AI training with consistent taxonomy, and prepare for open standards designed to incorporate community contributions. The BYOAI infrastructure support is available now to Symmetry Systems customers. Organizations can learn more and request a demo at https://www.symmetry-systems.com/get-started. Press Contact Claude Mandy Symmetry Systems [email protected] About Symmetry Systems Symmetry Systems is the Data+AI security company, providing organizations with the industry's only comprehensive Data + AI Security Platform that discovers, classifies, protects, and monitors sensitive data across. Born from award-winning DARPA-funded research at UT Austin, our AI-powered platform delivers comprehensive Data+Ai security across all major cloud environments, SaaS applications, on-premise data stores, legacy systems, and airgapped environments. Our "get everywhere" philosophy continuously expands connector coverage to secure data wherever it livesin all major cloud environments, SaaS applications, and on-premise data stores-including mainframes, legacy systems and airgapped environments By uniquely merging both identity and data context, Symmetry provides what other DSPM vendors cannot : complete visibility where data exposure meets agentic identities. Organizations use our platform to eliminate unnecessary data, remove excessive permissions, accelerate compliance and cloud migration, and reduce attack surfaces while safely enabling agentic AI systems with the identity-aware data context they require. Innovate with confidence with Symmetry Systems. SOURCE Symmetry Systems, Inc An important book makes a vital comeback at the right time. Advertisement When United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny, Terror, and Hamas first appeared, the Obama era was only beginning, Obamas New Middle East was still far on the horizon, and the Iran Deal had yet to be dealt. What made Jamie Glazov's magnum opus so remarkable was how thoroughly it not only recapitulated the ugly history of communism, but anticipated what was only an emerging alliance between two terrible ideologies united by their hateful mutual ambition to destroy civilization as we know it and love it. Even as it connected the dots between the two totalitarian ideologies, United in Hate also helped conservatives bridge the Cold War era and the 9/11 period. Many conservatives were struggling to understand the nature of the new Jihadist enemy and how it differed from the old communist foe. The Carter and Reagan era flirtations with the Afghan Mujahadeen was only one manifestation of deeper links that had been built with the Saudis, the Pakistanis, and other players in Al Qaeda during the Cold War, and some conservatives continued to defend Islam. Advertisement Even though the Obama era is in the rearview mirror, the situation today is not so different. Some conservatives view Islamists as natural allies against woke leftists the way that some foolishly believed that Islam was a natural opponent, rather than a partner, of communism. In doing so, they ignore much of history, including the vital role communists played in spreading and supporting Islamic terrorism, and the Marxist-Islamist riots taking place in major cities now. Advertisement Including in Minneapolis. That is why the return of United in Hate is badly needed. The books vital dive into the bloody murk of communist brutality and evil, and the ideological underpinnings of Islamic mass murder, is supplemented by a new section of Oct 7 which chillingly and recently brought Marxists and Islamists together with the common aim of not only destroying Israel, but America, and the entire civilized world (the Columbia University pro-Hamas encampment insisted it was fighting for the total eradication of western civilization) that connects it to the current events of the moment. Advertisement And from Minneapolis to the Hamas riots, the moment couldnt be more relevant. "The believer has filled the void left by communism's disappearance with radical Islam. Instead of living vicariously through the oppression imposed by the KGB or the Red Guards, the believer now satisfies his yearnings through the violence perpetrated by suicide bombers, Glazov warns in United in Hate. We can see a balance in this scale. The less brutal an ideology is, the less interest the average believer has in it and the less praise he is inclined to give it. By contrast, when the death cult is in full gear, the believer supports it most strongly." Advertisement That is what we have seen in the embrace of the BLM riots, the riots for Hamas and now for illegal alien murderers and pedophiles in Minneapolis. The more evil and violent the cause, the more enthusiasm there is for it. Hamas became far more popular after Oct 7. The BLM race riots and the riots in defense of illegal aliens only took off once they became truly violent. Thats why the abortion rallies petered out and #NoKings recorded sizable crowd sizes, but no real enthusiasm and fire. Its why the violence of Jihad will always attract the most leftist support. Nothing today can quite compare to the untarnished brutality and genocide of Islam. Advertisement That is why Islam and the Left are natural allies. Both seek to realize a utopia tabula rasa through revolutionary violence. Violence in this scenario is not just a means, its an end in and of itself, a cleansing ceremony that transforms the world, and makes the otherwise unworkable communes and caliphates seem more real, while excusing the inability to maintain them. What cannot be achieved can always be exterminated. And that is what the triumphs of communism and Islam come down to, not triumphs of civilization, but conquest and destruction. A new and better world never came into being, whether it was given 70 years in the USSR or over 1,000 years under Islam, Homo Sovieticus and Homo Islamus led only to barbarism. Those on the right who seek to make common cause with Islam are either fundamentally naive about Islam or are telling on themselves about what sort of new world order they envision. The destruction of America, specifically, and western civilization in general, unites the two terror ideologies profiled in United in Hate. Both Marxism and Islam represent warped religions, heresies promising a kingdom of heaven on earth that is to be realized through the gross material agency of the sword, not by heaven. America is everything they resent and are jealous of. Its perfect imperfection must be shattered and torn apart so that everyone can see once and for all that their way is the only right one. As Glazov writes in United in Hate, radicals "gravitate toward genocide because believers consider themselves higher life forms, their inferiors become not only expendable but necessary waste... this is where the Western Left and militant Islam (like the western Left and Communism) intersect: human life must be sacrificed for the sake of the idea." The pursuit of the idea killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Just as it licensed the murder of thousands in Tehran. Reasonable causes, right or wrong, fight for realizable benefits, from territory to individual rights, but the fanatical causes depicted in United in Hate fight for the supremacy of their ideology, and whether they are Nazis and communists or Marxists and Islamists, horseshoe theory draws them together, at least for a time, because their governing monad is ideology, the transcendence of the real by the unreal, the limitations of the world by the unlimited will of the ego through the medium of unlimited power to build a new world order. What we call extremism is really the desire to unmake the real world for an unreal one. That is why the reemergence of United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny, Terror, and Hamas is worth celebrating. A book too long absent returns now at just the right time. Image: Bombardier Books In the heated arena of immigration enforcement, where passions run high and tactics often veer into the unethical, a recent incident out of Massachusetts serves as a stark reminder of the old adage with a twist. Two wrongs dont make a right, but sometimes they do make a point. Advertisement The story revolves around two women who allegedly took it upon themselves to doxx high-ranking ICE officials, only to find the tables turned in a clever, if controversial, countermove. Although doxxing remains a dangerous and reprehensible practice on any side, this episode highlights the hypocrisy and risks inherent in such vigilante justice, especially when aimed at those sworn to uphold the law. The saga began when Heidi Scholes of Groveland, Massachusetts, and Jennifer Johnson of West Newbury, Massachusetts, reportedly shared the home address of ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons, encouraging protesters to show up at his residence, where he lives with his wife and children. According to reports from Blue Lives Matter, a prolaw enforcement advocacy group, Scholes described herself on social media as radicalized by basic decency, an ironic self-portrait given the indecency of exposing families to potential harm. This wasnt an isolated act of online bravado; it was part of a broader wave of anti-ICE activism that has seen thousands of agents personal information leaked, leading to harassment and protests at their homes. Advertisement Blue Lives Matter, in a post that quickly went viral, detailed how the script flipped. Under the banner of #operationfakeout, someone emphatically not Blue Lives Matter, they insist reported to anti-ICE report activity hotlines that certain ICE officers were being hidden at addresses in Groveland and West Newbury. Lo and behold, those addresses matched the homes of Scholes and Johnson. In the dead of night, far-left protesters allegedly descended on these locations, blowing whistles, banging pots, and honking horns, demanding that the hidden agents leave the state. The result? A dose of their own medicine, with the doxxers becoming the doxxed. Is this report verified? Blue Lives Matter cites sources on the ground for the protest details, and though the groups accounts have been echoed across conservative outlets like Twitchy and RedState, independent mainstream verification remains limited. The doxxing by Scholes and Johnson appears verifiable through their own social media activity, as documented in Blue Lives Matters exposes and subsequent updates. Scholes, for instance, announced in a private community group that she had lost her job after being dimed out, a consequence that aligns with the backlash against her actions. The exact events of the nighttime protests, however, while plausible, given the heated climate, rely on anecdotal reports and havent been corroborated by law enforcement statements or video evidence from neutral parties. In an era of misinformation, its wise to approach such claims with caution, though the pattern of retaliation fits into a larger narrative. Advertisement This isnt the first time turnabout has been fair play in the doxxing game. Operation Fakeout itself is an ongoing campaign by Blue Lives Matter to counter anti-ICE tactics through deception. Earlier phases involved feeding false tips to hotlines and sending protesters to unlikely spots like biker bars and liberal coffee shops, where they found no ICE activity but plenty of surprised patrons and, reportedly, some rough receptions. Decoy operations using off-duty officers and veterans have also been deployed to distract agitators, allowing real ICE teams to operate unimpeded. On the flip side, anti-ICE groups have escalated their own efforts, with reports of license plate scanning and follow-home tactics against counter-protesters, blurring the lines between enforcement and intimidation. Similar situations abound in recent history: Radical activists have targeted the homes of Supreme Court justices postRoe v. Wade, leading to federal protections under 18 USC 119, which criminalizes doxxing federal officials with intent to threaten or incite violence. In 2025, a leftist activist doxxed an ICE agent and his wife, urging followers to catch him alone, prompting calls for FBI intervention. These cycles of retaliation underscore a troubling trend: When one side weaponizes personal information, the other responds in kind. Advertisement The point here isnt to celebrate vigilantism, but to expose its folly. Doxxing endangers lives, erodes civil discourse, and invites chaos. In this case, it seems, it backfired spectacularly, costing at least one woman her job and subjecting both to the very harassment they sought to inflict. It also shines a light on the vital work of ICE agents, who face daily threats while enforcing laws that protect our borders and communities. As Americans, we should support or oppose lawful immigration enforcement without descending into mob tactics. Scholes ironically warned, So be smarter than me. There are a lot of truly evil people out there, and obviously a few of them are lurking here. One cant read her warning seriously, clueless as she seems to her own participation in what she decries as evil, without being reminded of an idea often attributed to Joseph Goebbels. Though its exact wording and origin are debated, it is widely cited in political and propaganda contexts as always accuse your enemies of your own sins. Carl Jung had a more intellectual take on the deeper psychological root in his work on the shadow (the repressed, darker aspects of the self): The most dangerous psychological mistake is the projection of the shadow onto others; this is the root of almost all conflicts. The irony is undeniably delicious: Those who plead decency while endangering families now taste the bitterness of their own brew. It shouldnt, however, inspire imitation. Advertisement Dont try this at home. While the creativity of Operation Fakeout may amuse, engaging in doxxing, false reporting, or any form of harassment can violate federal and state laws or create civil liabilities. It risks escalating conflicts into violence and undermines the rule of law we all depend on. Leave the protection of our borders to the professionals, and channel your energy into voting, advocacy, and supporting organizations that back law enforcement. Two wrongs may make a point, but they rarely make progress. Advertisement Image via PickPik. Down in Mexico, the talk on the street is: Who forced Claudia to dump Fidel? Of course, Fidel Castro died ten years ago, but he is still the face of the failed state with the Mexican left. Advertisement President Sheinbaum is having a hard time explaining how the whole thing happened. She explains that it was a routine matter, i.e., the contract expired. However, most Mexicans are asking: Why now? I should add that Ive seen news segments of Mexicans pumping gas, asking why theyre paying so much for fuel while giving free oil to Cuba? Even Jorge Ramos, former face of Univision, is now asking why is Mexico continuing to support a dictatorship? This is the AP story: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday her government has at least temporarily stopped oil shipments to Cuba, but struck an ambiguous tone, saying the pause was part of general fluctuations in oil supplies and that it was a sovereign decision not made under pressure from the United States. Advertisement Sheinbaum was responding to inquiries on whether the state oil company Pemex had cut off oil shipments to Cuba in the wake of mounting pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump that Mexico distance itself from the Cuban government, though U.S. officials have not publicly requested that Mexico stop the oil. Pemex makes decisions in the contractual relationship it has with Cuba, Sheinbaum said in her morning news briefing. Suspending is a sovereign decision and is taken when necessary. Advertisement Sovereign decision? Well, not so fast Senora Presidenta. The story is more complicated than, well the contract expired and it wasnt renewed. Sort of like the electricity contract that you didnt renew? According to rumors in the Mexican media, the U.S. discovered that former President Lopez-Obrador had formed a private company (Gasolinas del Bienestar) that delivered oil to Cuba; it was his way of delivering oil without having Pemex do it. The rumor goes on to say that Secretary Rubio brought the receipts to President Sheinbaum and told her to cut it out. He also reminded her that a trade agreement is pending renewal, and giving oil to Cuba was making The Orange Gringo very unhappy. So the oil deliveries are out and President Sheinbaum looks confused and weak. She has always loved the Cuban regime, but now must choose between her late bearded hero Fidel or trade with the U.S. Advertisement P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos. Advertisement Image: Public domain. Great civilizations rarely fall in a single, cataclysmic event. Instead, the gradual loss of virtue, collective memory, and adherence to objective truth erodes them. As the saying goes, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times, and hard times create strong men. Much of Western civilization exemplifies this pattern. Were seeing decadence and complacency settling in, driven by unprecedented ease and luxury. Yet underneath this veneer, corruption festers, with new scandals emerging on a near-daily basis. Demographic shifts also threaten us as nations with plummeting fertility rates import vast numbers of people from the Third World, many of whom have little to no interest or ability in assimilating. Advertisement America grew from a small agrarian society to an economic and industrial powerhouse. This was no accident. It came about through the foundational principles of personal liberty, free-market capitalism, entrepreneurship, and relentless innovation. These propelled our nation forward, fostering ingenuity and resilience. Still, our path was not without severe challenges. The Civil War ripped the country apart; the 1929 stock market crash plunged us into economic despair; World War I and II tested us on the world stage; and the Korean and Vietnam wars likewise exacted heavy tolls. The civil rights struggles of the 1960s exposed profound injustices; assassinations of leaders like Kennedy and Martin Luther King shook us to our core; and 9/11 exposed our vulnerabilities to external threats. Presidential scandals under Nixon, Clinton, Obama, and Biden eroded our trust in our institutions. Despite these hardships, America achieved remarkable triumphs. The Greatest Generations victory in WWII demonstrated courage and sacrifice. The postwar economic boom of the 1950s brought prosperity to millions, and technological leaps like the telephone, television, airplanes, and computers have transformed daily life. The moon landings symbolized human ambition at its peak. Advertisement But now were grappling with issues that seem ridiculously straightforward. People are acting confused (they cant be serious!) over basic questions: What is a woman? Can a man have a baby? Should we open our borders to military-aged men from hostile countries? Ought we tolerate foreign enclaves and no-go zones in our cities? Is it ethical to administer hormone-blockers to prepubescent children or perform genital surgeries on minors? Should we place graphic pornography in K12 classrooms? These debates reflect deeper societal changes. Fertility rates are collapsing. Many people are choosing pets over children animals demand less commitment, no college tuition, no long-term ties. This aversion to obligation mirrors declining marriage rates. Reading habits have withered; social media have shorted our attention spans to the point that TL,DR (Too Long, Didnt Read) has become a common reply to social media posts. Our high schools are graduating quasi-functional illiterates while our colleges offer remedial basics. Young Americans often cant find their own state on a map, name Revolutionary War adversaries, or recite any constitutional rights. But they can name myriads of genders! Advertisement Even worse, many are deliberately embracing evil over good. Historical icons like Jefferson, Lincoln, and Washington are set aside in favor of Marx, Stalin, and Chomsky. Free speech gives way to censorship. Masterpieces such as Michelangelos David or Pieta are overshadowed by provocative works like Mapplethorpes photographs or banal offerings like a banana duct-taped to a wall. Traditional families mother, father, children are replaced by advocacy for abortion. This divide raises a stark question: How do we reconcile with those whose values clash so fundamentally? Conservatives love America and desire its safety, security, and prosperity. By contrast, the left consistently demonstrates its loathing for Americas history and people and seems bent on dismantling society, culture, and sovereignty. If we replaced todays Democrat politicians and bureaucrats with Iranian mullahs, Chinese Communist Party members, or MS-13 gangsters, how would their policies and actions differ? The divide appears irreconcilable and makes unity elusive. Advertisement Can those intent on Americas destruction still legitimately claim American identity? At this point, I see the options for resolution as limited. We must not let the Democrats start another Civil War. Balkanization dividing into red and blue states is impractical; uprooting lives based on ideology is unfeasible. The path forward lies in restoring foundational integrity. We need secure elections to ensure fair representation and an impartial justice system to hold all accountable. Census counts must record legitimate citizens only, and federal funds disbursed only on that basis. Advertisement Citizens lawfully arrested for actual crimes must face consequences whether theyre at the lowest or the highest level of society. Those found guilty must face indictment, trial, conviction, and sentencing. Only through these mechanisms can we rebuild trust in our institutions, reclaim virtue, and break the cycle of decadence turning hard times back toward strength. Advertisement Image: JSMed via Pixabay, Pixabay License. President Donald Trump has never minced words about NATO. In recent weeks, he has bluntly stated what many Americans have long suspected: Europe cannot be relied upon to defend itself, let alone come to Americas aid in a crisis. From questioning whether NATO allies would be there for us if we really needed them to highlighting their minimal contributions in past conflicts like Afghanistan, Trump has exposed the uncomfortable truth: The United States shoulders the overwhelming burden of the alliance while many European members fall short on commitments. Advertisement Trumps point is simple and substantiated: Despite years of promises, not all NATO allies consistently meet even the modest 2% GDP defense spending target, and the U.S. still accounts for the lions share of the alliances capabilities. NATO secretary general Mark Rutte himself recently delivered a brutal reality check, warning that Europe is dreaming if it thinks it can defend itself without massive American support, including nuclear deterrence. Europe lacks the industrial base, the firepower, and the will to go it alone. Trumps skepticism isnt isolationism; its realism. One might expect Europes response to this wake-up call to be a surge in defense investment, a redoubling of efforts to prove their reliability as partners, and a unified front against common threats. After all, if the U.S. cant fully count on Europe, shouldnt Europe step up to change that? Advertisement Instead, what do we see? European leaders, and even close allies like the UK and Canada, are running straight to China. Unnerved by Trumps pressure on trade, tariffs, and alliance commitments, a parade of Western leaders has been beating a path to Beijing. British prime minister Keir Starmer just completed a high-profile visit to Xi Jinping, declaring it vital to build a more sophisticated relationship with China. Leaders from Finland, Canada, and others have followed suit or are planning trips. The goal? To reset relations, strike business deals, and secure economic ties with the very regime that poses the greatest long-term threat to Western security. Advertisement This isnt subtle. Reports make it clear: Trumps tough stance, threatening tariffs, questioning NATO burdens, and prioritizing America First, has pushed these allies to pivot toward China for trade and influence. As one analysis put it, a succession of Western leaders is heading to Beijing and reviving ties precisely because they feel alienated by Trumps demands. Trump has even warned against it, calling closer UK-China deals very dangerous and threatening punitive measures if allies cut side deals with Beijing. What a revealing choice. Faced with Trumps call for Europe to take more responsibility for its own defense, these nations arent rushing to build armies, navies, or missile defenses. Theyre not scrambling to hit higher spending targets or develop independent capabilities. No, theyre courting the Chinese Communist Party, deepening economic dependencies on a totalitarian state that bullies Taiwan, steals intellectual property, floods markets with subsidized goods, and undermines the rules-based order that NATO supposedly defends. Advertisement This is the height of hypocrisy. European nations demand American protection, often lecturing the U.S. on solidarity, while freely trading with our primary geopolitical adversary. China is NATOs self-declared systemic challenge, yet when push comes to shove, economic convenience trumps security principles. Germanys lingering reliance on Chinese markets, Frances flirtations with strategic autonomy that somehow always spares Beijing criticism, and now this rush of visits, all while defense budgets lag. Trump is right: America cannot indefinitely subsidize allies who wont defend themselves and who actively undermine our interests by empowering China. The U.S. provides the nuclear umbrella, the intelligence, the troops, and the treasure that keep Europe safe from threats like Russia. It is primarily American troops who put their lives on the line. In return? Freeloading and fraternizing with the dragon in the room. Advertisement This rush to Beijing isnt strength, its surrender dressed as pragmatism. It proves Trumps point: Europe isnt ready to stand on its own, and its certainly not prepared to stand firmly with America against real threats. Until that changes, the America First approach isnt just justified, its essential. Protecting American taxpayers and security means demanding better from so-called allies. If Europe prefers Xis handshake over honoring its commitments, perhaps its time for the U.S. to reconsider just how much were willing to give. Trump sees it clearly. The rest of Washington should, too. Advertisement Image: Dati Bendo/EU Audiovisual Center The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America isnt complicated: Advertisement Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. We all understand the First Amendment, but clearly, the left does not. Yes, there is freedom of the press, but that comes after the religion clause. If you use your press freedoms to aid and abet the interruption of church services, well, you should be in a heap of troubleand it appears Don Lemon is, in fact, in a heap of trouble. Advertisement Now, we cant get over our skis on this thing, as was so ably explained to us yesterday in these pages, but we can hope. The indictment is damning. Count 1 (18 U.S.C. 241) is the conspiracy charge, a conspiracy against rights. Its a felony charge that Don Lemon engaged in a conspiracy against the right of religious freedom at a place of worship. Advertisement Count 2 (18 U.S.C. 248) is the so-called FACE Act violation. The Democrats know that the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act protects abortions, but they forget that it includes a place of worship provision. This is a felony charge that Don Lemon did injure, intimidate, and interfere with exercise of right of religious freedom at place worship. Advertisement X screen grab. For openers, the indictment alleges that Lemon met the group of 30 or so co-conspirators for a pre-op planning session in which the leaders of the group provided instruction on how the operation would be conducted once they arrived at the church. Later that morning, Don Lemon began live-streaming and explained to his audience he was with a group about to perform a resistance operation, but he did not mention that it was in church. He kept that part secret. That decision on his part, the government alleges, was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. (Overt Act #5). Advertisement As someone on X observed, if its okay for Don Lemon to disrupt church services and physically block parishioners trying to exit while trying to educate them on immigration law, then its okay for a pro-lifer to enter an abortion clinic and intimidate and harass the pregnant patients there waiting for their abortions while trying to educate them on the baby theyre carrying. Of course, we would never do that, but thats the flip side of this coin. So lets be clear where his mind is. He doesnt say they are about to do this thing. He says we. Don Lemon in his own words: Advertisement after we do this operation Don Lemon pic.twitter.com/KxvTKOyjMC Matt Martens (@martensmatt1) January 31, 2026 And what did he do? Here are some highlights from the indictment that are very damning indeed: Lemon, in his own words, knew what the protesters were going to do, and agreed that traumatic and uncomfortable was exactly what these white (as he observed later in an interview) parishioners, coming from an entitled place of white supremacy, needed to experience. I sincerely hope they add a hate crime to this thing. Im not fond of hate crime laws as a general matter, but if we got em, we should use em. You cant go into a church and disrupt services. Thats flat-out illegal. And he knew from the pre-op meeting thats exactly what they (we) were going to do. And it stopped being him just being a journalist when he did the following: Thats a big no. Its one thing to stick a microphone in somebodys face. But to physically obstruct a terrified parishioner? Thats criminal. As for Count 2, Ill just let the indictment speak for itself: (Theyre basically saying everything weve already alleged in Count 1 applies to Count 2, too.) Don Lemon is in trouble. At the very least its expensive trouble. His lawyer aint cheap. Oh well. (Note from Andrea: Regarding Don Lemons problem with entitled white people and their supremacist yearnings, that doesnt seem to extend to his husband, the very white Tim Malone. As others have noted, a lot of these race hustlers have white spouses.) M. Walter blogs at www.mwalterwriter.com. As recently as a few weeks ago, I would never have believed that Minnesota could play the role of South Carolina in a second American Civil War, but now Im not so sure. Advertisement KEYC-TV of Mankato, Minnesota reports: According to a post on the Minnesota Department of Public Safetys (DPS) X account, the Minnesota National Guard has been mobilized and are staging to support local enforcement, under the direction of Governor Tim Walz. Advertisement The states National Guard has not been deployed as of yet, but will reportedly be readied to help support public safety. If that were true, the Guard would help ICE rid the North Star State of illegal alien thugs, thieves, rapists, and murderers. But nothing could be further from the truth. Advertisement Walz genuinely appears to be trying to start a civil war in an evil and pathetic effort to protect himself from potential consequences of the massive fraud he has overseen, the laws he has broken, and the bald-faced lies he has told. He is simply trying to stay in office and out of jail. If he manages to achieve either of those things it will be a staggering miscarriage of justice. Advertisement Trump encouraged his supporters to peacefully and patriotically walk to the Capitol, but Walz just essentially declared war on the federal government. See the difference? And yet it is Trump and his supporters who are smeared as dangerous insurrectionists. The utterly insufferable Jim Acosta recently interviewed the unspeakably vile Jennifer Welch. Welch made it abundantly clear that, after the mid-term election Blue Tsunami, Democrats will have to go after Republicans with a f*ck you mentality. She said that Democrats will need to go to any length to prosecute Elon Musk, Trump and all the bottom-feeding morons surrounding him, and a bunch of others. Acosta and Welch agreed that holding the Trump administration properly accountable means adding seats to the Supreme Court. Welch added, Congress is going to haul Elon Musk and a bunch of other peoples asses in front and say what crimes did you commit and its going to get really serious. Advertisement Show me the man and Ill show you the crime. That should be much easier with Democrats, though. At least it would be if Republicans had determination, commitmentand balls. Democrats have been going after Trump and his supporters with a f*ck you mentality since before he first took office. Advertisement Holding the Trump administration 'accountable' is beyond laughable after the Obama-Biden era. And Trump and the Republican Congress havent held a single significant Democrat criminal accountable thus far! Not for Crossfire Hurricane, not for Russia-Collusion, not for election malfeasance, not for trying to get him assassinated. Obama, Hunter and Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Peter Strzok, Adam Schiff, John Brennan, Alejandro Mayorkas and now Jacob Frey and Tampon Tim Walz are all still free and mostly unscathed despite their heinous and treasonous actions. Were this a few hundred years ago, words like guillotine might be thrown around. But, nothing. Just pointing out a historical fact, not saying Im a fan. If Republicans dont nuke the filibuster immediately and pass the Save Act banning mail-in ballots and mandating I.D. to vote, they will have sentenced themselves and the union to a slow but certain death. Image: Picryl // public domain With some sympathy, I have been contemplating the sorry lot of anti-ICE activists in a non-sanctuary state with a government rated as the least corrupt in the nation. Braving near Minnesota temperatures, a half dozen Mesozoic creatures stood out in the latte town of Exeter Sunday morning, holding ICE = GESTAPO and TRUMP = HITLER signs. Upon the recommendation of a friend in law enforcement, I did not go join them, without identification and carrying a loaded 9 millimeter with extra magazines. Advertisement In Minnesota, youthful members of Antifa and Democratic Socialists of America man the barricades, but here in New Hampshire, the activism seems left to some Pete Seegerinspired relics whose most subversive membership is in the Episcopal Church. They struggle to keep their banjos in tune. The Wobblies are not their union, but what they suffer from when they get out of bed. Their machines that fight fascists are not guitars, but walking sticks, waved forcefully at federal authorities. Advertisement It appears that a state that does not have industrial-scale corruption or sanctuary jurisdictions is conducive to peaceful and efficient implementation of the immigration laws that were the product of erstwhile bipartisan consensus. Hence, here the protests are left to retrograde elements, for whom any cause of the moment is a source of nostalgia, romance, and the bonhomie of the old left. So why is New Hampshire comparatively quiescent? Why are there fewer illegal aliens here? Why is finding and prosecuting them managed without imminent secession? Advertisement It turns out the recipe is simple. In New Hampshire, federal authorities are typically notified when an illegal alien is scheduled to be released from state or county custody. The alien with a criminal record can be picked up when leaving the lockup, without stakeouts, car chases, horns and whistles, angry mobs, performative pantomimes, or tragic misperceptions or misunderstandings. Contrary to some mainstream mediaabetted narratives, most illegals detained in the interior of the country, as opposed to at the border, are what their supporters call justice-involved individuals (AKA bad guys). Using releases from jail, court hearings, parole visits, and other events attendant to their justice involvement presents opportunities for immigration enforcement without havoc. When used prudently, these methods obviate the need for the kind of operations roiling Minnesota. Advertisement Ironically, our homegrown protesters desire to chant ICE Out! in New Hampshire may go unrequited, because state policies have made an extensive presence of federal authorities unnecessary. Not to worry, because an analogue to the body politic of Minnesota exists right next door to us in Maine. There, big game trophy RINO Sue Collins has already purportedly forced a modest curtailment of ICE activity, but there remains plenty of opportunity for ICE in a state where illegal alien coddling is matched only by the loving embrace of welfare fraud. If your home state is too well run to support your need to protest, there are always plenty of other locales managed poorly enough to promote grievance tourism. Advertisement Rather than travel halfway across the country to Minnesota, our local hereditary activists, unencumbered by employment or informed opinions, will soon be able to make a quick jaunt to Maine, to fight imaginary fascism like a pretend Lincoln Brigade. Our creaky-boned expeditionary force will do New Hampshire proud. Advertisement Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. A Virginia Commonwealth University nurse recently instructed her TikTok followers to contaminate ICE agents food or render them lethally paralyzed. Advertisement She did this through a series of social media posts, calmly and with a little smirk on her face. If people can no longer trust nurses or food service personnel, the economy will eventually crash and the country will come apart. Advertisement A Miami nurse recently allegedly put up a Facebook post stating: I will not perform anesthesia for any surgeries or procedures for [Make America Great Again]. It is my right, it is my ethical oath, and I stand behind my education. I own all of my businesses and I can refuse anyone! I stand behind my education? Terrifying. If First, do no harm is replaced by First, find out if they disagree with you politically, we are obviously done as a society. Advertisement And they believe MAGA folks are mean? Twenty-one-year-old Grace Carol Brown faces arson and burglary charges in New Braunfels, Texas, after she allegedly tried to burn down a county Republican Party headquarters. But Im sure she was planning to burn it down in a tolerant, mostly peaceful way. At least shes not MAGA! Advertisement The Jackson County, West Virginia, Sheriffs Office recently announced that a 39-year-old librarian had been arrested following an investigation of a social media recruitment of individuals to pursue and assassinate President Trump. She has been charged with one count of terroristic threats. In a recent interview with somebody named Tim Miller on something called The Bulwark, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz actually stated of Vice President J.D. Vance, "I would beat the sh*t out of him now if I could." Advertisement Tampon Tim, who has said one outrageously false thing after another, was recently upbraided by the Holocaust Museum for comparing the situation in Minneapolis to the Holocaust. That could be a first for a sitting governor. Even one who has done everything in his power to foment an insurrection. It may also be the first time a governor openly stated that he wanted to assault the vice president of the United States. But Trump is a fascist! Advertisement Elliot Forhan, a Democrat Ohio Attorney General candidate, recently took to X to announce his plan to someday execute President Donald Trump, but only following a hypothetical trial and guilty verdict, of course! Gotta be reasonable and fair! Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner apparently heard of these threats and essentially said, Hold my beer! In a chillingly psychotic speech outside city hall, Krasner said of ICE members (and by extension Trump administration supporters, "This is a small bunch of wannabe Nazis. That's what they are. The Soros-funded lunatic then told the cheering crowd, "If we have to hunt you [them] down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities. For emphasis, he added, "We will find you. Got it. Krasner is vowing that he and his ilk will pursue their erstwhile political opponents across oceans -- and decades -- once they regain power. And then what? Re-education camps? Concentration camps? Not because we wanted to exterminate the Jews, but because we wanted to protect American citizens from illegal alien rapists and murderers and to Make America Great Again. Also, it seems like you guys are pro-Hamas and anti-Jewish, what with the college rallies and rhetoric. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free? And little Israel will be gone. But Trump and his supporters are cruel and violent Nazis! The number of people who want to assault or kill Trump and his supporters is staggering. There has already been at least two assassination attempts on the president. And Charlie Kirk was murdered for politely debating with college kids. Others have been attacked or killed simply for being a Republican or conservative (which are by no means necessarily the same thing.) Its a good thing for these violent, mentally ill insurrectionists that Trump is demonstrably not a violent dictator or fascist bent on torturing and exterminating his opponents. It is a remarkably sad thing that so many Americans cannot -- or will not -- see this. For disagreeing with Leftists politically, Trump supporters have had their hats stolen or knocked off and been kicked out of restaurants. We are often shunned, cancelled, investigated, mocked, or assaulted. And occasionally shot at. So, who are the Nazis? Maybe none of us. But Krasner and company share far more fascist traits and tendencies than do conservatives or Trump and his supporters. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License Amazon recently reported child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while reviewing AI training data to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The official authority received more than a million reports related to the CSAM, and a huge chunk of them were reported by Amazon alone. However, some critics have raised questions about the lack of clear details in the companys official report. Amazon reports CSAM in AI training data to the child safety authority An investigation reported by Bloomberg reveals that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than one million AI-related CSAM reports in 2025. Most of those reports came from Amazon. The tech giant said it detected the material while scanning data from outside sources used to train its AI systems. The company further stated it could not identify the source of the content. The officials at NCMEC says number of reports from Amazon stood out. The Executive Director, Fallaon McNuty, adds that other companies usually provide enough detail for law enforcement to act. However, Amazon failed to attach the source information, which made the reports difficult to use. She further says that this raises serious questions about how AI training data is gathered. The report also emphasizes the need for proper safety checks and how they can be used across platforms. Increasing AI demand highlights the need for proper law enforcement To clarify its stand, Amazon says it used broad scanning rules when reviewing training data. This method can sometimes lead to many false positives. Also, the company says it has found no evidence that CSAM was used in the training of its AI-model. Moreover, the giant says it submitted reports through a separate system because the data comes from third parties and does not include user-level details. Amazon says it remains committed to the responsive use and development of AI and child safety protections. Moreover, this is not the first time that the moral values of AI firms and developers have questioned. Several lawsuits have been filed against companies, including OpenAI, Character.AI, and Meta, for related offenses. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Dreame Robotic Vacuum hosted its launch event, The Age of Dreame Intelligence, in the heart of Silicon Valley's Stanford area, a premier global hub for technological innovation. Dreame Robotic Vacuum officially announced that it has secured the top market share in 30 countries and regions as of 2025. The event not only highlighted Dreame Robotic Vacuum's pioneering technological advancements in the global smart cleaning sector, but also underscored its visionary strategic direction and leadership within the industry. Dreame Robotic Vacuum Hosts The Age of Dreame Intelligence Launch Event in Silicon Valley Dreame Robotic Vacuum products showcased at the Silicon Valley launch event As a core hub for global innovation, Silicon Valley's technological trends often reflect global market trends, with Stanford serving as a symbol of cutting-edge technological advancements. At this event, Dreame Robotic Vacuum showcased a range of high-end intelligent products, including the X60 Ultra robotic vacuum, CyberX stair-climbing robot, Cyber10 Ultra robotic arm, and Aqua10 Ultra Roller, marking a significant presence at the heart of global innovation. These innovations highlight Dreame Robotic Vacuum's leadership in the intelligent cleaning field and demonstrate its investment potential. Just weeks before this launch event in Silicon Valley, Dreame Robotic Vacuum had made a major splash at CES 2026, where the X60 Ultra vacuum won 10 prestigious awards, once again becoming the focal point of the exhibition. The vacuum's ultra-slim 7.95cm profile offers unprecedented cleaning coverage, while its ultra-wide-angle binocular dynamic navigation and obstacle avoidance system accurately detects obstacles and quickly adapts to changes in its environment. Through these groundbreaking innovations, Dreame Robotic Vacuum has attracted substantial global investment, especially from Silicon Valley investors, accelerating the global rollout and expansion of its technology and products. Dreame Robotic Vacuum has achieved remarkable success in the global market. During the event, it was announced that Dreame Robotic Vacuum has secured the leading market share in 30 countries and regions, earning widespread recognition and demonstrating strong competitiveness. In key markets such as Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, its market share has consistently exceeded 40%. Meanwhile, its expansion across North America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and South America is accelerating. As of now, Dreame operates in over 120 countries and regions, with more than 6,500 retail outlets worldwide. The Silicon Valley launch event not only reinforced Dreame Robotic Vacuum's position as a trailblazer in global innovation but also highlighted its continued deepening of strategic market and capital initiatives. Looking ahead, Dreame Robotic Vacuum is poised to continue spearheading high-end, forward-thinking innovations, offering sustained value and confidence to both consumers and investors. CONTACT: Angie Zhang, [email protected] SOURCE Dreame Technology Talks about the upcoming iPhone 18 are growing louder after a new report says the phone wont launch until 2027. Apple is expected to change the release timeline of its smartphones. Instead of releasing every model at once, the company plans to spread launches across two different periods. The base flagship will no longer launch in September. Heres why the iPhone 18 is coming in 2027, and not in 2026 Several tipsters and rumors had earlier claimed that Apple is planning to split its smartphone launch timeline into two. Reports from Ming-Chi Kuo, Bloomberg, and The Information suggest Apple is planning to release the top-of-the-line models in late 2026. These include iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the new iPhone Fold. The base variant will no longer be launched alongside the Pro models. Similar sources say that the iPhone 18 will arrive later in 2027. Now, fresh information from the known media outlet, Nikkei Asia, supports this timeline. As per the source, Apple has at least five iPhone models in development. Three of them are planned for a late 2026 release, while the remaining two are scheduled to launch on first half of 2027. The report further claims that the successor of the iPhone Air is in the works, though its launch plan remains unclear for now. The new strategy reflects the companys plan to simplify supply and marketing One of the main reasons behind Apples new strategy of splitting the launch into two parts seems to be the supply chain control. By spreading releases out, the tech giant can better manage parts shortages, especially memory components. This approach also gives the company more time to work with the suppliers. Nikkei Asia also claims that Apple is soon to begin expanded meetings with partners at Apple Park to ensure steady production throughout the year. Apart from this, launching Pro models at first also helps the firm in marketing. The company can first shift the buyers attention to Premium models. The regular iPhone 18 then gets its own spotlight months later. In the current tech industry, most streaming devices are considered old after just two years. However, the Nvidia Shield TV has achieved the impossible: staying relevant for over a decade thanks to impressive update support. Recent insights from Andrew Bell, Nvidias Vice President of Hardware Engineering, confirmed that the company has no intention of abandoning its legendary set-top box. In fact, support remains as strong as ever, and the door to a successor is wider than many expected. in the interview with Ars Technica, Bell says that the Shield TVs long life isnt a fluke. It comes from Nvidia engineers wanting to build a high-performance streamer that they could actually use. CEO Jensen Huang made a rare promise to support the streaming device as long as we shall live out of pure passion. Maintaining a 2015 device in 2026 is a massive technical challenge. After all, the company must compete against much newer devices like the Google TV Streamer. Nvidia has had to rebuild entire security stacks and source new components when original parts went out of production. This dedication ensures that even the first-generation units can still handle 4K DRM content today, far outlasting any other Android-powered device on the market. The possibility of a new model The current hardware is still good, but tech fans want a new version. The last internal update came out in 2019, and since then, the industry has moved toward newer standards that the current Shield cant handle on its own. Bell confirmed that Nvidia is constantly playing in the labs with new concepts for the Shield. While there is no official release date, the team continues to explore what a next-generation model would look like. A theoretical successor would prioritize modern video technologies. The list could include AV1 decoding, HDR10+, and the latest Dolby Vision profiles, among others. Of course, we can expect Google TV as the core OS. These upgrades would ensure the Shield remains the gold standard for high-end home theaters. Interestingly, a hardware refresh could also fix smaller user complaints. Bell mentioned the desire to redesign the remote, specifically the oversized Netflix button. If youre not aware, this big button was a result of a strict certification requirement in 2019. In a potential new controller, we could get a more discreet and user-friendly design. Shield TV Pro still in production For now, Nvidia continues to manufacture and sell the 2019 Shield TV Pro with remarkable consistency. Nvidia has found a loyal audience that values a premium, high-performance experience over cheaper alternatives. Whether you are a long-time owner or a potential buyer, the message is clear: the Shield TV ecosystem is here to stay. Lets hope that firmer news about a potential new model will not take long to arrive. After all, the wait has already been long enough. The tech sector, like many other business sectors, goes through cycles of growth. Sometimes we see a boom in the industry, such as during COVID-19, when more people were staying home, resulting in a rise in demand for apps and games and work-from-home solutions. Then the AI hype train pulled into the station. This led to the growth of a new industry, but at the same time, it started replacing jobs that were previously done by humans. We also shouldnt forget that economic and political situations play a role, too. Tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump meant that importing from certain countries became more expensive. Companies now had to prioritize. They could either absorb those costs or close down those regional offices and bring back production to the US. In our tech layoffs roundup, we take a look at some of the job cuts weve seen in the industry so far. Intel Intel led the tech layoffs roundup in 2025 with an estimated 33,900 job cuts. The company revealed plans to reduce its workforce from around 109,000 employees to 75,000 as part of a major restructuring effort. Intels struggles stem from increased competition in the AI chip market, where NVIDIA dominates, plus slower progress in mobile chips compared to TSMC and Qualcomm. The companys CPU controversies in recent years havent helped either. Apple Apple conducted a rare round of layoffs in November 2025, cutting dozens of jobs across its sales division. The cuts specifically targeted account managers serving major businesses, schools, and government agencies, plus staff who operate Apples briefing centers for institutional meetings. One major target was the government sales team working with agencies, including the US Defense Department and Justice Department. Affected employees received until January 20, 2026, to find another position within Apple or receive a severance package. Some impacted workers had been with the company for 20 to 30 years. Amazon Amazon just announced its latest round of cuts in January 2026, laying off 16,000 employees as part of what the company calls an anti-bureaucracy push. This marks the second major reduction since October 2025, when Amazon cut roughly 14,000 corporate employees. The layoffs span multiple divisions and come as Amazon intensifies its focus on AI development while streamlining operations across its corporate workforce. Meta laid off approximately 1,500 employees from its Reality Labs division in January 2026, representing about 10% of that teams workforce. The cuts come after Reality Labs accumulated over $70 billion in losses since 2021. Meta is shifting focus away from its expensive metaverse obsession toward AI-powered wearables like Ray-Ban smart glasses. Earlier in 2025, Meta cut roughly 3,600 employees, about 5% of its workforce, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg directed executives to reduce 2026 budgets. Microsoft Microsoft cut approximately 9,100 jobs across multiple departments in July 2025, with significant impacts to its Xbox division. The layoffs affected studios including Candy Crush developer King, Zenimax, Turn 10 (Forza Motorsport), and The Initiative (Perfect Dark). Xbox boss Phil Spencer said the cuts were meant to position the company for enduring success and focus on strategic growth areas. This followed earlier cuts of over 6,000 employees between May and June 2025. Google Google slashed hundreds of jobs across its Android and Pixel divisions in April 2025 following the merger of Android and Chrome teams. The cuts came after Google offered voluntary buyouts in January as part of restructuring efforts. Google also continued its cost-cutting strategy through 2025 with Voluntary Exit Package offers to employees in Search, Ads, marketing, research, and engineering departments. Back in 2023, Google laid off around 12,000 employees, setting the stage for continued reductions. Verizon Verizon confirmed 13,000 layoffs in November 2025, accounting for 13% of its roughly 100,000-person workforce. Every department faced changes as the company cut headcount and reduced outsourcing expenses. Verizon closed one store and converted 179 company-owned retail stores into franchised operations. CEO Dan Schulman said the cuts were part of taking bold steps and fiscally responsible action to redefine Verizons trajectory. Over the past three years, Verizon has cut about 20,000 jobs total. Salesforce Salesforce laid off approximately 5,000 employees in 2025. The company notably slashed its customer support workforce by about half, replacing human workers with AI agents capable of handling customer inquiries more efficiently. The cuts reflect a broader industry trend of companies using AI to reduce headcount while maintaining or improving service capabilities. IBM IBM went through around 9,000 layoffs in 2025. Like Salesforce, IBMs cuts were partly driven by AI adoption as the company looked to cut costs and streamline operations. The layoffs are part of IBMs ongoing efforts to reshape its workforce around cloud computing and AI services while reducing expenses in legacy business areas. Sonos Sonos cut over 200 jobs from its workforce in February 2025 as the companys situation continued to deteriorate. The audio equipment maker faced mounting challenges and used layoffs as one tool to address its financial pressures and operational difficulties during a tough period for the business. Pinterest Pinterest recently announced it is laying off 15% of its workforce. This is part of the companys attempt to focus and prioritize its AI efforts. As of the end of 2024, Pinterest had 4,666 full-time employees. Slashing its workforce by 15% means that about 700 employees are expected to lose their jobs. The company wants to reallocate its resources to AI-focused roles and develop new AI-powered products and capabilities. The recent Verizon network outage is drawing new attention as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins collecting complaints from the affected customers. After millions of users lost service for hours in mid-January, the federal authority says public safety concerns require a closer review of how and why the network failed. The commission aims to understand the impact caused by the disruption. FCC begins collecting complaints from users affected by Verizon outage The major Verizon outage on January 14 left many customers disconnected from the internet. Some were not even able to make a basic phone call or send SMS. The blackout continued for about ten hours, which disrupted the day-to-day communications of the users. Phones across the United States showed SOS alerts, signaling a complete loss of network. FCC says the disruption was especially serious for people who tried to contact emergency services and could not get through when they needed help the most. The FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is currently examining the outage and its impact. It is looking for the ground impact and whether proper safety measures were in place. The commission further wants to understand how Verizon handled the situation and what steps it took afterward to prevent such future disruptions. Heres how you can submit an official complaint to the FCC As said earlier, the FCC is collecting complaints from the impacted users as a part of its ongoing investigation. It has opened up a special email address ([email protected]) for consumer complaints tied to the outage. Impacted users are requested to provide details such as what services stopped working, how long the issue lasted, and whether calls or text messages were accessible. The authority is more concerned about the reports involving 911 calls or other emergency numbers. FCC is also seeking the customers view of the after-outage service provided by Verizon. Users are advised to take part and submit the detailed report to the authority. Once submitted, it becomes part of the official case record. If regulators find Verizon not complying with the commands of those in authority, the carrier could face a fine. Actress Jessie Buckley has said making her film Hamnet, which has seen her nominated for an Oscar, has been a life-changing experience. The 36-year-old from County Kerry in Ireland, who is nominated for best actress for the film, said she did not expect the nod, while speaking at an in conversation event at Londons BFI Southbank. She said: I dont think you have any idea of an aftermath before you start, never, and if you do, you know that its going to be the opposite of what you think its going to be. So just better not think about it at all. No, I mean, I had an emotional reaction when I read the book first. Buckley said she felt she was at the right moment in her life to tell the story of Hamnet (Ian West/PA) (Ian West) I think we all (the cast) felt like making it was such a special experience, but its so vulnerable that first moment when you share something that has really been such a personal, life-changing experience, its so vulnerable. Its like giving birth, youre like, no, my baby, and then, its OK, but Im so thrilled and proud that a film like this and a story like this, and protagonists like this can have such an impact, that really its kind of taken its own course in a way that I didnt know. She went on to say that she felt the film was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Buckley added: I may never do anything like this ever again sometimes just theres this collision, and this story met me at a point in my life, and I feel like theres something about Hamnet, which in my work, was kind of leading me to tell this story at this moment in my life. The star also revealed she had not written an acceptance speech for if she wins an Oscar (Ian West/PA) (Ian West) Hamnet, directed by Chloe Zhao, tells the story of William Shakespeares (Paul Mescal) wife Agnes Hathaway, played by Buckley, and the couples reaction to the loss of their son. The film has broken the record for the most nominations for a female-directed film in Bafta history, with 11. Asked how she was dealing with her success with the film, Buckley added: I think Im OK. People are asking me, Im a new mum, I had a baby six months ago, so Im also changing nappies at 3am, and I think its a gift. My works done, this bit is about sharing it with the world, and the other stuff is something that I guess, going into those rooms and places, I still am in awe that Im around artists that have inspired me in ways that I couldnt even tell you because I would make an absolute fool of myself. Buckley, who lives in Norfolk in England, was later asked by an audience member if she had already written an acceptance speech, and the actress revealed she had not before asking him if he had any tips. The actress, who has also starred in Beast (2017), Women Talking (2022) and The Lost Daughter (2021), has secured a string of trophies including the Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for her role as Agnes, for which she is nominated in the leading actress category at the Baftas. Buckley is set to play The Bride, based on the Bride Of Frankenstein, in Maggie Gyllenhaals gothic crime film The Bride! when it is released later this year. Salisbury Cathedrals copy of the Magna Carta sealed in 1215 by King John. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP (Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP) Security cameras guarding Magna Carta are provided by a Chinese CCTV company whose technology has allegedly aided the persecution of Uyghurs and been exploited by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine, it has emerged. In letters seen by the Guardian, campaigners called on Salisbury Cathedral, which houses one of four surviving copies of the powerful symbol of social justice, to rip out cameras made by Dahua Technology, based in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. They have also written to the authorities responsible for the Parthenon temple in Greece, which is monitored by cameras produced by another Chinese company, Hikvision. Related: Keir Starmer opens door to UK visit by Xi Jinping after bilateral talks Cameras made by the firms have already been removed from sensitive UK government sites, over concerns that they could be remotely accessed by China and used to spy on sensitive sites. Now fresh concerns about the two companies roles at sites housing foundational symbols of democracy and human rights have been raised by the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and a Ukrainian organisation called Dont Fund Russian Army. Dahua Technology boasts on its website that its low-light surveillance cameras help ensure the safety of a copy of Magna Carta, sealed by King John at Runnymede, England, in 1215. The document established limitations on feudal powers and is widely seen as a precursor to later formulations laying down democratic values and human rights protections. Salisbury Cathedrals website calls the 811-year-old document a powerful symbol of social justice that has inspired and encouraged freedom movements around the world. But in a letter that has emerged during Keir Starmers visit to China, the WUC said Dahua was implicated in genocide or crimes against humanity. The organisation, which represents the persecuted minority ethnic group from Chinas Xinjiang region, cited the companys alleged involvement in facial recognition systems designed to identify Uyghurs and automate police reporting. The WUC said Dahuas CCTV systems had played a role in control and surveillance mechanisms in Xinjiang designed to persecute the primarily Muslim group. For us, it is particularly painful that the technologies of such companies are being used to protect one of the most prominent symbols of democracy and freedom, the WUC wrote, in a letter emailed to the cathedrals head of security. A spokesperson for the cathedral said it had not received the email. The Guardian has seen evidence that appears to show that the email was sent on 22 December. The cathedral spokesperson added: We also do not comment on security matters; however, our systems and suppliers are regularly reviewed, working with external advisers. Dahuas technology was installed by a UK security firm, ARC Fire Safety & Security, according to the Chinese companys website. The UK company did not return a request for comment. The WUC raised the same concerns in an email to authorities in charge of the Parthenon temple in Greece, which uses cameras made by Hikvision, urging it to remove the CCTV. It called for the technology to be removed at both sites. The WUC, which operates from Munich, also pointed to reports that the companies cameras have systemic vulnerabilities that allowed them to be hacked by Russia in reconnaissance during the invasion of Ukraine. Oleksii Kuprienko, of the Ukrainian organisation Dont Fund Russian Army, said there had been several incidents where footage from surveillance cameras appeared to have been accessed and even broadcast online during Russian missile strikes. Such footage can be used to analyse the effectiveness of strikes and, at the same time, to intimidate civilians by openly showing the power of Russian weapons, he said. Kuprienko referred to an incident in early 2024 when footage from a camera believed to have been made by Hikvision broadcast the operation of a Ukrainian air defence system. Shortly afterwards, that position was struck, he said. Grigory Mamka, a Ukrainian MP who sits on a parliamentary committee scrutinising law enforcement, confirmed that cameras made by Dahua and Hikvision were being removed. [The security services] established that entrance codes were hacked and connection was made to equipment installed by these two companies, Mamka said, in an interview mediated by a translator. Mamka said security services identified in 2024 that the cameras had been hacked, apparently by the Russian army, to spy on defensive positions. Footage of missile strikes, apparently from CCTV cameras, has also appeared on video streaming sites, which Kuprienko said was part of Russian psychological warfare, designed to intimidate Ukrainian civilians. A spokesperson for Dahua said: Dahua never has, and never will, develop a product or solution designed to identify or otherwise target any specific ethnic, racial or national group, including the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. The company has investigated these allegations and found no evidence that our products have been used to this end. Cybersecurity is a global challenge that affects all internet-connected devices, regardless of their origin, and it is impossible to entirely exclude the possibility of data breaches. All Dahua products and solutions adhere to the highest international standards of cybersecurity, and are certified by globally recognised standards organisations. Following Russias invasion of Ukraine, Dahua immediately suspended shipments to Russia and does not supply any surveillance equipment to the country. Hikvision did not return requests for comment. An email to a representative of the authority responsible for stewardship of the Parthenon went unanswered. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, pictured in 2021, also had an email exchange with Epstein about meeting a 26-year-old Russian woman. Photograph: Steve Parsons/AP (Photograph: Steve Parsons/AP) Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor invited Jeffrey Epstein to meet him at Buckingham Palace after the child sex offender was released from house arrest, new documents show. The latest tranche of releases from the US Department of Justice include an email exchange in 2010 between the financier and the then prince. Another email thread from the same year shows Epstein offering to set Andrew up to meet a 26-year-old Russian woman whom he describes as clever and beautiful. In an email exchange on 29 September 2010, Epstein said he was in London and asked Andrew what he was doing, suggesting they meet and that they needed private time. Andrew replied that he was having lunch with a Saudi prince and a secret intelligence firm, but said: We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy. He later emailed Epstein: Delighted for you to come here to BP. Come with whomever and Ill be here free from 1600ish to 2000. BP is thought to refer to Buckingham Palace. Epstein had been released from house arrest earlier that year, as part of his sentence after pleading guilty to child sex offences. Another 3m pages relating to the case were released on Friday. One of the files shows a photograph of Andrew, clothed, on all fours, over a female lying supine on the floor. In a separate email exchange in December 2010, Epstein tells Andrew he has a female friend he thinks the then prince will enjoy meeting. Andrew replies saying he is unable to meet as he is in Geneva, Switzerland, but would be delighted to see her. He later asks what information about himself Epstein has given to the woman. Epstein replies: She 26, russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy. He adds he has given her Andrews email address. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles in October last year amid continued headlines about his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019 while facing new child sexual abuse charges. He will also have to move out of the Royal Lodge in Windsor, after his brother, King Charles, initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Andrew. The tranche of messages also show Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known. Emails from 2013 appear to show the two cordially messaging each other to make plans for the entrepreneur to visit Epsteins island Little St James. Related: Emails reportedly show Epstein scouted women for New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch It also emerged that Epstein transferred thousands of pounds to Peter Mandelsons husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, after his release from prison in 2009, according to the emails published by the justice department. Da Silva emailed Epstein on 7 September 2009, about two months after Epsteins release, asking him to fund an osteopathy course and other expenses. Mandelson said on Friday: I was never culpable or complicit in his crimes. Like everyone else, I learned the actual truth about him after his death. Da Silva has not yet commented. Andrew should testify before US Congress over links to Epstein, says Starmer Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be prepared to testify before the US Congress about his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the prime minister has said. Sir Keir Starmer suggested the former prince would be failing victims if he continues to refuse to do so. He called for a victim-centred approach to dealing with the Epstein case, saying that anybody whos got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form theyre asked to do that. But the government has dodged the question of whether the UK would comply with an extradition request from the US for the former duke, should one be made. It comes after pictures which appear to show Andrew crouched over an unidentified woman were among three million documents related to the disgraced financier were released by the US Department of Justice on Friday. As he arrived in Japan for the final leg of his visit to East Asia, Sir Keir was asked if Andrew should apologise and testify to the congressional Epstein investigation. Andrew has been accused of hiding from US officials on the House Oversight Committee, which in November asked him to sit for a transcribed interview regarding his connections to Epstein. A photo appearing to show Andrew crouched over a woman was included in the latest Epstein files release (US Department of Justice/PA Wire) The prime minister said: Firstly I always approach this question with the victims of Epsteins in mind. Epsteins victims have to be the first priority. Whether there should be an apology, thats a matter for Andrew. But, yes, in terms of testifying, Ive always said anybody whos got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form theyre asked to do that because you cant be victim-centred if youre not prepared to do that. Asked if the government would comply with an extradition request from the US for the former duke, should one be made, communities secretary Steve Reed told Sky News on Sunday: Youre asking me now details of legislation that would depend on the type of offence that may or may not have been committed. Its entirely hypothetical. I dont think its sensible for me to come on here and start talking hypothetically about situations that may or may not exist. But the principle here is very, very clear: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor clearly has insight into what was going on, and he should testify, because the victims deserve and need him, and anybody else who may have witnessed things, to do that. Mr Reed added that he had no idea if the government could compel Andrew to take part in the congressional investigation. This undated photo released by the US Department of Justice appears to show Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell near Balmoral (DOJ) The latest pictures, released in a document of 100 pages of photographs, also appear to show the former duke touching the womans abdomen. Another unidentified persons feet are up on a table in the background. They have no captions and it is not known where they were taken. Elsewhere in the document dump, screenshots and scans appear to show the former prince exchanged emails with Epstein about a beautiful Russian woman and invited him to Buckingham Palace. Andrew has previously vehemently denied any wrongdoing and being named or pictured in the Epstein files does not suggest any criminality. Lord Mandelson, the former ambassador to the US, also features in the release of files. The peer was sacked as the chief envoy to Washington DC after revelations of his continued contact with Epstein following his guilty plea in 2008 to soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor. Lord Mandelson has offered an unequivocal apology to Epsteins victims. But there are now growing calls for Lord Mandelson to be expelled from the Labour Party after the tranche of newly released documents suggested the convicted sex offender sent 10,000 to his husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva. According to the exchange of emails, published by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Mr da Silva had asked Epstein for money to fund an osteopathy course and other related expenses in September 2009. Sir Keir Starmer said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be prepared to testify before the US Congress investigation into Jeffrey Epstein (PA Wire) Lord Mandelson has been on a leave of absence from the House of Lords since he took up his role as US ambassador, meaning he does not currently have the Labour whip. But the party has refused to say whether or not it would be restored if he applied to return to the Lords. Sir Keir was asked if the payment, apparently made while Lord Mandelson was serving as business secretary, fell below the standards of a peer of the realm. The prime minister replied: In relation to Peter Mandelson, obviously he was removed as ambassador in relation to the further information that came to light in September of last year and Ive nothing more to say in relation to Peter Mandelson. Cabinet minister Steve Reed also declined to say whether Lord Mandelson should be stripped of the Labour whip if he returns to the Lords, telling Sky News: "Before taking any action like that, we need to understand exactly what's happened. You're asking me here about something that happened nearly 20 years ago. I don't know the full detail of it." He added: I wasn't in the government 20 years ago." People at an anti-ICE protest in Los Angeles on Friday. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images (Photograph: VCG/Getty Images) Thousands of protesters hit the streets in cities across the United States on Friday to protests to demand the withdrawal of federal immigration agents from Minnesota following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The demonstrations were part of a nationwide day of action, advocating no work, no school, no shopping in a protest against the Trump administrations sweeping immigration crackdowns. Protesters in Philadelphia, New York, Boise and Columbus gathered at city halls, courthouses, statehouses and legislative buildings, according to an action tracker. Students at high schools and colleges in Florida, California and other states staged walkouts. In Milwaukee and in Buffalo, Wyoming, people are gathering at parks and on street corners. In Minnesota, where tens of thousands turned out for economic actions and a rally last Friday to protest ICEs surge in the city, some businesses closed for the day while others stayed open under different models, either donating revenue from the day or providing free coffee and a place for people in the community to rest safely. In New York, thousands chanted and marched in frigid temperatures. Among the protesters were young and old people in thick coats, hats and gloves. In California, people hit the streets of cities including San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles. By Friday evening, demonstrations in Los Angeles had turned heated. Some protesters gathered in front of a downtown federal building, throwing bottles and other debris, spray painting anti-ICE slogans on the walls of the building. Authorities activated a tactical alert. Law enforcement officers sprayed chemical irritants into a crowd of about 200 protesters outside the Metropolitan detention center, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Bureau of Prisons facility, which ICE uses to detain immigrants, has become a site of repeated demonstrations. Video footage circulated on X appeared to show a group of demonstrators topple a small structure, then drag a large, red dumpster and push it to block the entrance. Protesters lobbed water bottles at law enforcement officers held clear shields that read police. Organizers said Fridays blackout or general strike, as some are calling it is part of a growing nonviolent movement to combat ICEs aggressive enforcement tactics. Those deaths include Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Keith Porter in Los Angeles and Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Illinois. Fridays national protest leaders, many of them students at the University of Minnesota, are calling for ICE to leave the city after its nearly month-long operation. They say economic pressure through work stoppages and consumer boycotts is just one way to demand accountability and reform. We are calling for this strike because we believe what we have been doing in Minnesota should go national, said Kidus Yeshidagna, president of the Ethiopian Students Union at the University of Minnesota and one of the students organizing the strike. We need more people and lawmakers across the country to wake up. Yeshidagna is part of a coalition of student groups that organized the Minnesota shutdown last Friday, in which thousands of people flooded the streets in sub-zero temperatures and hundreds of businesses shut their doors to demand justice for Good, who was shot by an ICE agent while trying to protect a neighbor. Last weekend, agents killed Pretti, another resident who was observing agents activities. The student groups including the associations representing Black, Somali, Liberian, Ethiopian and Eritrean students and the graduate labor union first gathered on 21 January to plan the calls for local and national strikes. We came out in huge numbers despite the cold, he said, referencing last weeks actions. We are now doing it again. From restaurants and clothing retailers to bookstores and coffee shops, businesses across dozens of cities stayed closed. Bench Pressed, a letter press and retail shop in Minneapolis, stayed open and donated all profits from Friday to people in the community who need help paying rent, which is due this weekend for February. Little Joy Coffee in Northfield, south of Minneapolis, sold a $5 Fuck ICE honey and cinnamon latte with all proceeds going to mutual aid funds, and has supplies for people to screen-print items with anti-ICE messages and to reach out to their representatives. Modern Times, a cafe in Minneapolis, has indefinitely switched to a free, donation-based model and was closed on Friday to join the general strike. The business said it would be referred to as Post Modern Times until the ICE surge is over, refusing to generate taxable income to fund the government that is brutalizing the city. Elliott Payne, the Minneapolis city council president, posted a video after stopping by a local high school walkout, writing: Our kids are leading the way and its our job to stand with them and make a better world possible for them. Students in Knoxville, Tennessee, walked out of their classes this morning to join an ICE Out protest, organized by Indivisible Knoxville. In a video originally posted by the Democratic representative Gloria Johnson, students and adults chant and hold signs with messages saying Defund ICE and Skipping Our Lessons to Teach You One. Sophie Pedigo, a senior at South-Doyle high school, told the Knoxville News Sentinel: I fully believe in freedom of speech. And whats happening is so wrong, and I feel like education, the place where you get your education, should not be somewhere that you should be scared of being ripped from your family. Thats just not right. And thats why Im here today, because Im fully against that. Over 20 Tucson, Arizona, schools closed today, as several staffers participated in the strike. Online, footage spread of high school students in places including San Antonio, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, participating in the walkouts. Hundreds of New York City high school students marched toward a downtown park as a part of the day of action. Volunteers with the Peoples Forum, a New York-based non-profit centered on political education and organizing, have been shoveling snow in preparation for the thousands of attendees anticipated to show up at todays protest in New York Citys Foley Square. Three weeks ago, no one considered, or even thought of the word general strike as having any relevance in the US context, and now its the one thing on everyones minds, said Manolo De Los Santos, executive director of the Peoples Forum. Not just as a figment of imagination, but as a real tool for how people fight back against this fascist regime in Washington. Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), spoke to the Guardian on his way to attend the New York City ICE protest in Foley Square. This [administration] has never been about safety and security, and its simply always been about cruelty, he said. The neighbors and family members of Good and Pretti contacted the student organizations to share their support for the protests, Yeshidagna said. We want to obstruct the pillars that are upholding the Trump administration, Gloriann Sahay, a national coordinator with 50501, said. Yeshidagna, who grew up in St Paul, said he was in high school and 15 minutes away from where George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. Since Trump sent ICE officers to Minnesota, he and his peers in the student organizations have watched his friends and family members be targeted. Fridays protests coincided with the looming prospect of a government shutdown as Senate Democrats and some Republicans cobbled together a last-minute deal that funds virtually all government agencies except Homeland Security. Democrats are limiting DHS funding to give them leverage to push for a variety of reform measures, including banning agents from wearing masks and having ICE obtain warrants to make arrests. The House will have to pass the $1.2tn funding package on Monday to avoid a prolonged shutdown. Breaking the deadlock: Noni Madueke and Martin Zubimendi combined for Arsenals first goal at Leeds (Arsenal FC via Getty Images) Daniel Farke hailed Arsenal as Europe's best side and worthy favourites in the Premier League title race. Leeds were beaten at home for only the third time this season as the Gunners eased to a 4-0 win at Elland Road. Farke's side struggled to cope with Arsenal's aerial dominance and were then cut apart in the second half as the visitors brought on the likes of Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli. Reflecting on the match, Farke admitted there was little to overthink about Leeds' defeat as Arsenal "always had answers". "Of course, we were also realistic before," the German said. "We faced the best side currently in Europe. "There are reasons why this team is sitting on the top of the table in the Premier League and why this team is the best team currently in Europe with eight wins out of eight Champions League games. "And of course, you need a perfect day in order to give yourself a chance, and also a bit of luck that this side is then perhaps not there with their best day, and not super effective. "But today, sadly, we didn't have our very best day, and they were on it from the first to the last second, and for that they deserve to win this game, and we have to accept their quality today. "They were better, and for that there's not too much to overinterpret into this game. Whatever we did, they always had answers." Arsenal now sit seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, at least until Manchester City and Aston Villa play Tottenham and Brentford respectively on Sunday. This was an impressive response to a three-match winless run from Mikel Arteta's side and one that went some way to answering recent questions about their mentality. Asked if he thought Arsenal would go on to win the league, Farke replied: "That's difficult to say. "It's just obvious that if you are top of the league after this many games, there are reasons for it. You deserve it. In Europe and in the Premier League. "For that at the moment they have the best possible solution. But it's also important to keep the nerves in the run-in and to show this consistency also when Champions League games will be on." Interview: With multi-bln dollar investment, AstraZeneca reaffirms confidence in China: CEO Xinhua) 09:48, January 31, 2026 BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China has become a critical contributor to scientific innovation and advanced manufacturing, as well as a driving force for common prosperity worldwide, Pascal Soriot, CEO of British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, told Xinhua on Friday. Soriot made the remarks in an interview in Beijing, a day after the firm pledged to invest 15 billion U.S. dollars in China through 2030 to expand medicines manufacturing and R&D facilities. China's evolving scientific achievements, optimizing opening-up policies and steadfast support for international collaboration have fueled the firm's continued confidence and investment in the Chinese economy, Soriot said. "In the last five to six years, China has become a fundamental part of innovation in global pharmaceuticals," Soriot said, adding that this investment marks a new chapter for AstraZeneca in China and will strengthen its contribution to China's high-quality development. In addition to the firm's strategic R&D centers in Beijing and Shanghai, the investment will further expand its existing manufacturing facilities in Beijing and in east China's Wuxi, Taizhou and Qingdao, along with the establishment of two new plants focusing on cell therapies and radioconjugates, the latter being a new modality for cancer treatment. These investments will grow AstraZeneca's highly skilled workforce in China to more than 20,000 and create thousands of additional jobs across the healthcare ecosystem, the company said. China is AstraZeneca's second-largest market and a strategic hub for global innovation, supplying its medicines to more than 70 markets. Since entering China in 1993, the company has introduced more than 40 innovative medicines, covering therapeutic areas including oncology, respiratory diseases, rare diseases, as well as vaccines and immunology. In 2024, the firm announced to invest 475 million U.S. dollars in its Wuxi factory, followed by an investment of 2.5 billion dollars in Beijing under an agreement signed in 2025, spanning the next five years. China has encouraged global business leaders to come to China, invest in China and support the common prosperity agenda, and AstraZeneca is honored to respond to this call by contributing to the global development of life sciences, Soriot said. "Investing for patients in China is also investing in innovation, manufacturing and the export of these medicines to the rest of the world," he added. As a member of the delegation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ongoing visit to China, Soriot reaffirmed his optimism about China's future development and bilateral cooperation prospects between the two countries. Beyond the life sciences sector, there is also enormous potential for collaboration in artificial intelligence, green energy and many other fields, Soriot said. "We want to collaborate with Chinese companies, and we also welcome competition, as it leads to more products that benefit patients around the world," he added. 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One wealthy businessman who had a wine collection worth hundreds of thousands of pounds was so furious his wife would get half of it in their settlement that he decided to drink the lot. What he didnt realise was that, under English law, it didnt matter that the wine was gone. The value of the cellar from before hed drunk its contents was added to his overall assets, half of which went to his wife. Its just one of many of the high-value cases shes dealt with and the number is growing thanks to her setting up a new office in Milan. When shes not trying to win a fair deal for a divorcing wife, Ayesha Vardag loves to curl up with her Saluki hounds, Sarab and Hala - Clara Molden for The Daily Telegraph Ms Vardag is cashing in on the legions of the ultra-rich who are abandoning high-tax Britain for Italys more favourable tax regime, in which the wealthy pay a fixed 200,000 (about 175,000) to the tax authorities each year, regardless of their earnings and assets. As the well-heeled leave London and move to Italy, principally Milan, a whole ecosystem of services follows them. Relocation experts, estate agents, international schoolteachers, a new private members club. Ms Vardags legal practice has followed, too. Her high-profile cases and multimillion-pound settlements have earned her the soubriquet the diva of divorce. She calls her team divorce detectives because they spend much of their time untangling complex webs of offshore companies, trusts and charities. Forensic accounting skills are required. Its like a cryptic crossword with Sudoku on speed, she once said. b' Biggest wealth exodus in a decade ' With so many wealthy families relocating from the UK to Italy, Ms Vardag saw an opportunity and decided to set up shop in Milan, opening her office there in early January. She said: We have been surprised by how much take-up there has been. What started as a trickle of the ultra-rich leaving Britain has turned into a flood, she said: It is just an absolute deluge of people coming in. There is no doubt there has been a shift in the past year of people upping sticks and leaving London. They came to the UK because it was an attractive tax regime and now they are going because it is not any more. London was the capital of the world everybody wanted to be there. Now it is becoming sadder and sadder as people are leaving. Italy is saying, Your loss is our gain. The shift began with Britains decision to end the non-dom tax regime, which exempted from taxation the overseas income of UK residents with a foreign domicile. Ms Vardag said: With the Labour Government, and the death knell of the non-dom arrangements, people have been leaving in droves. I see it among my clients and friends people deciding between Dubai and Monaco and Italy. For people who want to be in a substantial European city with lots going on, then Milan is the place. It feels as though it is becoming the new London really. We are finding people coming to Florence quite a lot as well. If they need to be in an office, they go to Milan, but if they dont need to be in an office, if they have sold their business, then the whole dream of Tuscany and Florence holds a strong attraction. Ms Vardag knows the charms of Tuscany well for the past three years she and her husband and two young children have lived in Florence, having previously had homes in Monte Carlo and Dubai. They have an opulent apartment in the heart of the city, its walls decorated with oil paintings, Laotian textiles and an antique wedding kimono. It looks out on to Piazza de Pitti, which is dominated by the Palazzo Pitti, the largest palace in Florence. On a cold and rainy Florence day, she sits on a sofa in front of a roaring log fire, her two Saluki hounds Sarab and Hala curled up next to her. The cases Ms Vardag takes on typically involve assets of hundreds of millions of pounds. Her fee? 1,200 an hour. Its a great deal of money but the potential gains are substantial. Her company, Vardags, has handled the divorces of celebrities, athletes, tycoons and royalty. She helped Pauline Chai, a former Miss Malaysia, win 64m in her divorce from Khoo Kay Peng. In 2010, she was named the UKs star divorce lawyer by the Law Society after a Supreme Court case that resulted in pre-nuptials becoming enforceable in England and Wales. She tells the story of a rich businessman who told his wife he was bankrupt. Ms Vardag and her team did some digging and discovered he had at least 50m in assets so his ex-wife received 25m. Ms Vardag is now taking those credentials to Italy, and believes that Giorgia Meloni, Italys prime minister, has brought political stability to the country, improving business confidence. She said: I think she has done fantastic things for Italy. It was getting more and more depressing when it was one government after another. She is making the country prosperous and getting it recognised on the world stage. I know there are concerns about Melonis historic far-Right connections and, as someone who is extremely liberal, this concerns me, too, but she doesnt seem to be living that through. Maybe it is good that its a coalition government she has to compromise. But maybe it is also the fact that when you are actually in power, most people, apart from Donald Trump, have to become realistic and pragmatic and sensible and so it tempers things. The two women have a few things in common. Ms Meloni and her sister were brought up in Rome by their mother after their father abandoned the family and ran off to the Canary Islands. Giorgia Meloni, Italys prime minister, has improved business confidence, says Ayesha Vardag - AFP Ms Vardag was brought up by her mother, who is from Northumbria, after she left her Pakistani husband when she was still pregnant with Ayesha whose name comes from the heroine in an H Rider Haggard novel called She. Ms Vardag barely knew her father during her childhood. Like Ms Meloni, she and her mother had a tough time financially. Brought up in Oxford, where her mother worked for New College, she said we didnt have two beans to rub together. It was a far cry from the aristocratic origins of her father. He descends from a Pashtun tribe called the Lodhi, who were a force to be reckoned with in northern India until they were defeated by the Moghuls in the 16th century. They retained some of the trappings of power, however. Her paternal grandmother was carried around in a palanquin. She said: Its said that the furthest she ever walked was up the hall to her wedding. Otherwise, she was carried everywhere. Having been through a divorce of her own and litigated countless others over the years, Ms Vardag has a few ideas about how to avoid a painful, traumatic and costly split. She said: I think one of the overarching things is that you have to try to remember who you were when your partner fell in love with you and try to keep that person alive. Another crucial factor is sex. Its very important that people keep having sex, even if it can get a bit samey. I think it was in Men Behaving Badly when someone said: Its a bit like tobogganing very exciting at first, but theres a limit as to how many times you want to do it. But the fact is, people need it and they need that connection. You just have to do it. Stick the kids in front of the television on a Sunday morning and make sure it happens. Some couples start being determined to separate but then have a change of heart. It is something Ms Vardag encourages. Not all divorce lawyers are in it for the court victories and big bucks, she insists. She added: If you choose to become a family lawyer, its because you are interested in families, so in terms of job satisfaction it is great if you can bring people back together. But, yes, a divorce lawyer who helps someone towards reconciliation is a bit like a turkey voting for Christmas. Dr James Fadiman wasnt always a psychonaut the term for someone who uses mind-altering substances to explore human consciousness. Back in 1961, as a straight-laced PhD candidate who wouldnt even drink coffee, he visited a friend studying in Paris. Here, he would try psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical compound found in magic mushrooms, for the first time a moment that would upturn the trajectory of his life and work. Over the next few decades, he became one of the giants of the field of psychedelics. If you have ever heard of the term microdose, its likely because of him. Psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD are among the most researched emerging compounds in psychiatric treatment. While pharmacologically distinct, these substances are increasingly associated with processes linked to enhanced neuroplasticity. For illnesses like depression and PTSD, where rigid patterns of thought and behaviour often dominate, this temporary increase in plasticity can help the brain become more malleable and less constrained by past trauma or entrenched mental states. (Getty Images/500px) Fadiman thinks that psychedelics and microdosing should not just be limited to those suffering from mental illness. Many people are taking it for specific medical or mental conditions, he says. But possibly even more for improved day-to-day functioning. For people who are well, it can help them function more effectively, both physically and mentally. A Rand survey published just last week estimates that 10 million people in the US microdosed psychedelics last year. Riding the crest of this wave of popularity, after decades of beating the drum, Fadimans latest book, Microdosing for Health, Healing and Enhanced Performance, is a comprehensive guide to microdosing for all, from the most experienced trippers to those who have never tried a psychedelic. Right now, physicists, hedge fund managers, kindergarten teachers, parents, auto mechanics and physicians are microdosing and living their normal lives They are generally happier, more centred and easier to communicate with, Fadiman says. In the correct dose range, there are no restrictions on what people may do in their day-to-day lives. So what actually qualifies as a microdose? If they feel a little high and have any kind of visual enhancement, thats too large a dose, he explains. A microdose is usually 1/10th to 1/20th of a full recreational psychedelic dose and leaves you in a non-intoxicated state. Its an important distinction to make considering the negative press psychedelic substances have gotten in recent years, such as the tragic death of actor Matthew Perry who was on an enormous dose of ketamine when he died a compound that is a dissociative rather than a psychoactive, but is still often lumped into the same category. (Getty Images) While psychedelics are still illegal in the UK in the US there are some states with more relaxed legislation Fadiman actually believes the UK could be a leader in the space of microdosing. A great deal of good research has been done and is underway in the UK, he says. Given the incredible safety profile of microdoses, and the UKs governmental supported medical system, it is likely that microdoses will be approved for use sooner than in the United States. Perhaps were not as far away from Fadimans microdosing utopia as we might think. Microdosing for Health, Healing and Enhanced Performance by James Fadiman and Jordan Gruber (St Martin's Essentials) is out on February 17. Fadiman is the latest guest on the Brave New World podcast, available from February 3 Cracker Barrel orders its employees traveling for work to only eat at its restaurants Cracker Barrel is serving up a new rule for employees hitting the road: When it comes to meals, the company wants them to stick to its own restaurants. In an internal message obtained by the Wall Street Journal, the company said that employees are expected to dine at a Cracker Barrel store for all or the majority of meals while traveling, whenever practical, based on location and schedule. The guidance also bars the company from reimbursing alcohol purchases on business trips unless workers pay out of pocket or get preapproval for special occasions from senior leadership. The Independent has contacted Cracker Barrel for comment. The travel meal policy comes as Cracker Barrel continues efforts to trim expenses amid sagging traffic and revenue growth that has slowed in recent years. Cracker Barrel is also still feeling the effects of its disastrous 2025 rebrand efforts, and now customers are turning their ire toward changes in its menu. Cracker Barrel told employees to eat at its restaurants on work trips and said alcohol will not be reimbursed unless preapproved (Getty Images) In December, regular diners complained about recent menu changes, including batchmade cookies instead of freshly rolled dough and green beans and sides prepared in ovens rather than on the stovetop. Some customers have gone as far as bringing their own maple syrup to the restaurant because they disapprove of the new offerings. The backlash against the chain began with a botched rebrand that caused Cracker Barrel to lose an estimated $94 million in market value in a single day after the chain unveiled a new logo and branding strategy in August. The companys removed its longtime mascot, the man leaning on a barrel, known as Uncle Herschel, from its logo as part of a broader minimalist rebrand. MAGA influencers and conservative commentators branded the redesign as woke, and even former President Donald Trump publicly urged the company to revert to its classic look. (Getty Images) Around the same time, Cracker Barrel also announced plans to modernize the interiors of its more than 650 locations, which critics claimed stripped away the chains nostalgic identity. The company quickly acknowledged the backlash in a statement announcing it would scrap the revamps. If the last few days have shown us anything, its how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel. Were truly grateful for your heartfelt voices," the statement read. Youve also shown us that we couldve done a better job sharing who we are and who well always be. It went on assuring Cracker Barrel diners that "the things people love most about our stores arent going anywhere: rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table, unique treasures in our gift shop, and vintage Americana with antiques pulled straight from our warehouse in Lebanon, Tennessee. Later, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino said the backlash made her feel fired by America. Presenter Dermot OLeary has paid tribute to Sir Terry Wogan on his BBC Radio 2 show by playing a song recorded by the former Eurovision commentator. The 52-year-old, who replaced Sir Terry on BBC charity variety show Children In Need in 2015, said its been 10 years since we lost him, before adding that he had to play Sir Terrys 1978 hit single The Floral Dance in tribute. Before playing the song, OLeary asked fellow radio presenter Romesh Ranganathan if he had ever met Sir Terry, to which he replied: I didnt, unfortunately, but I regularly go back to watch him hosting Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Because it was so good, because that was such a comedy, comedy show, and obviously Terry is so funny you basically feel like you could drop him into any environment or scenario and hell be absolutely brilliant. Presenter Dermot OLeary replaced Sir Terry on Children In Need (David Jansen/PA) (David Jensen) It comes after Sir Terrys son, Mark Wogan, described him as the least showbiz person in showbiz while speaking on Jeremy Vines BBC Radio 2 show on Friday. Wogan said: He loved what he did. As he said, Ive got the best job in the world. I go into work every day and laugh for two hours. Wogan said Sir Terry was a family man who made a conscious decision that he was public property but did not want his family to be bothered by his fame. He added: He was very private and when he clocked off at Radio Two, he genuinely went home. And he was a family man. Dermot OLeary played The Floral Dance in tribute on his BBC Radio 2 show (Ben Whitley/PA) (Ben Whitley) He was the least showbiz person in showbiz. And, you know, if you talk about the Wogan years, where, I think there were two-and-a-half thousand people he interviewed over that period, he became friends with two of them, really. Various people came through the door, but, I mean, it wasnt kind of like a sort of showbiz extravaganza at home. Asked what Sir Terry was like when he was not working, Wogan said: He was exactly the same, but at home, the volume was turned down. He was a man who, if he wasnt working, he was very much relaxing. Sir Terry was also known for his own Radio 2 show, which he stepped down from in November 2015 as he battled prostate cancer, and his chat show, Wogan, which ran from 1982 to 1992. He died on January 31, 2016. A documentary about a community resisting a Home Office immigration raid has won an award at a major film festival. Everybody To Kenmure Street was recognised with the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance at the Sundance Film Festival in the US. The film documents events on May 13 2021 when hundreds of people gathered in Kenmure Street in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow to prevent two of their neighbours being detained. The two men were released after protesters surrounded the immigration enforcement van for several hours, with one person lying underneath the vehicle. The enforcement van in Kenmure Street, Glasgow, was surrounded on May 13 2021 (Supplied by Conic/PA) The documentary combines crowd-sourced footage filmed on the day with set-designed scenes and archive material. It was directed by Scotland-based, Chilean-Belgian filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra who said: I am so delighted. As filmmakers we are only vessels for what happened on Kenmure Street. Its a joyful, vibrant film because it was a joyful, vibrant protest and I cannot wait to watch it in a cinema with Scottish audiences. The film premiered earlier this month as part of Sundances World Cinema Documentary Competition and was screened on the opening day of the festival. The Special Jury Award recognises films that demonstrate exceptional courage and impact in documenting civil resistance around the world. The documentary was produced by Ciara Barry of Glasgow-based production company barry crerar. She said: This is such an amazing honour. We are so proud of the film, all its collaborators and its message of peaceful protest and our collective power to be the change that we want to see in the world. Thanks to everyone who supported, believed in and funded the film. Dame Emma Thompson, who was an executive producer on the film, has previously described the documentary as beautiful and powerful. Everybody To Kenmure Street will have its UK premiere as the opening gala of the Glasgow Film Festival on February 25 and will then be released in selected cinemas in the UK and Ireland from March 13. Scottish distributor Conic are releasing the film. Jen Davies, co-founder of Conic, said: This is a very well-deserved moment for the whole Everybody To Kenmure Street team and a powerful recognition of the films message on an international stage. Elon Musk (PA Wire) Elon Musk emailed paedophile Jeffrey Epstein asking which day would be best to visit the financier's notorious island for a "wild party", according to government files. "What day/night will be the wildest party on our island?" Musk emailed Epstein on 25 November 2012, according to Department of Justice documents released on Friday. "Probably just Talulah and me," Musk added, referring to British actress Talulah Riley, his ex-wife. The Tesla chief's inquiry came in response to an email Epstein sent the previous day asking: "How many people will you be for the heli to island?" At the time Musk contacted Epstein, the financier had already been convicted of sex crimes against minors in Florida. Musk's appearance in the files comes after he accused President Donald Trump over the summer of covering up the documents to protect himself - a claim that caused a high-profile rift between the two. The world's richest man's relationship with the deceased paedophile was revealed on Friday as part of the Justice Department's release of more than three million documents relating to Epstein. Musk emailed Epstein again in December 2013 to arrange a trip to the Caribbean island. "Will be in the BVI/St Bart's area over the holidays," Musk wrote to Epstein. "Is there a good time to visit?" Epstein responded by assuring Musk that the beginning of the new year would work, adding: "always space for you". The pair communicated again on Christmas Day with Epstein writing: "The 2 or 3 would be perfect. I will come and get you." Musk noted he would need to travel back to Los Angeles on 2 January 2013, before claiming he could delay his departure. "When should we head to your island on the 2nd?" Musk concluded. It remains unclear whether Musk ultimately visited Epstein on his island, but their email communications indicate they maintained a friendly relationship. The latest DOJ release is expected to contain previously unseen material from the investigation into Epstein, who was found hanged in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls. Previous releases have shed light on Epstein's ties to the global elite, including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates. In an email obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail on Friday, it was revealed that Epstein astonishingly claimed Gates caught a sexually transmitted disease from "Russian girls". Epstein attacked Gates in July 2013 for breaking off their friendship, writing: "TO add insult to the injury you them implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis." Only one person - Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell - has ever been charged in connection with his crimes. The names of the alleged "co-conspirators" are redacted from the emails. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein, whose death was ruled a suicide. Musk's naming in the files comes after the tech mogul started a public feud with the Trump administration over the summer, claiming the president was in the Epstein files. "@RealDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public," Musk wrote on 5 June 2025. "Have a nice day, DJT!" "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out," Musk said in another post at the time. Musk claimed then that Trump was covering up the files to protect himself, as the Tesla chief alleged the president was named in the documents - a claim that ultimately proved true. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing. The tech entrepreneur's claim, which he broadcast to his over 200 million followers on X, immediately angered the president and a war of words erupted. "I asked him to leave," Trump said in a statement, noting how Musk unceremoniously departed the Department of Government Efficiency, adding: "He just went CRAZY!" Elon Musk has hit out at filmmaker Christopher Nolan, claiming the Oscar-winning director has lost integrity because of his casting choices. Nolan is currently in post-production on The Odyssey, his adaptation of the ancient Greek epic by Homer. The film will feature an all-star cast that includes Matt Damon. Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Mia Goth and Benny Safdie. Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo, who is Black, also reportedly joined the cast. It was reported on social media she has been cast as Helen of Troy. In response to the news, a user on Musks platform X wrote: Helen of Troy was fair skinned, blonde, and the face that launched a thousand ships because she was so beautiful that men started a war over her. Casting choices that make the premise incoherent are admissions that the story was never the point and an insult to the author. Elon Musk has claimed that director Christopher Nolan has lost 'integrity' over The Odyssey casting choice (Getty) Lupita Nyong'o is reportedly set to play Helen of Troy in Nolan's 'The Odyssey' (Getty Images for Kering) Musk, who has more than 233 million followers on the platform he owns, amplified the post with his response: Chris Nolan has lost his integrity. Several users disagreed with Musk, with one writing: The Odyssey is a myth. There is no historical evidence to suggest that Helen of Troy actually existed, hence she can be beautiful in any color. Casting a beautiful black woman does NOT go against what was written in any way, shape, or form thousands of years ago. Just ask Homer. Another pointed out Helen of Troys outlandish mythological background, writing: I want everyone to go google who Helen of Troys parents are, how they met, how they had sex, how Helen was born, come back, and just try to talk to me about historical accuracy with a straight face. The same user continued: Im saying if an immortal God turned himself into a Swan, raped a white or whatever woman and that woman laid an egg, and that egg hatched into Lupita, her being black would not be my first question. In new footage revealed earlier this week, it emerged that rapper Travis Scott will make his acting debut in The Odyssey. A teaser trailer shows Bernthals Menelaus and Hollands Telemachus holding a meeting in a mess hall, when Scotts bard-like character stands up and taps a staff to the ground to warn them about an imminent war. A war, a man, a trick to break the walls of Troy and burn it straight into the ground, he announces. The Odyssey, in theaters July 17, follows Damons Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he journeys home after the Trojan War. Paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein wanted Sarah Ferguson, the then-Duchess of York, to release a statement saying he was not a pedo, newly released emails appear to show. He also wanted her to say that she had been duped into believing false allegations about him after she told a newspaper she wanted nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again, according to the emails released in the latest tranche of Epstein files containing more than three million documents. Also released among the files are undated images of Sarahs ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor appearing to crouch over a woman on a floor, as the former prince faces further questions over his connection to the late financier. In one document an email from Epstein revealed him asking publicist Mike Stikrick to draft a statement that in an ideal world Fergie would put out in March 2011, three years after he was convicted for prostituting minors. Days beforehand, Sarah had given an interview to the Evening Standard in which she apologised for accepting 15,000 from Epstein, and said she abhored paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. Epsteins email to Mr Sitrick said: I think that Fergie can now say, I am not a pedo.. She was DUPED into believeing false stories, by Civil Plaintiffs Attorneys from Florida. They represented themselves as law enforcment (fisten), and she was told horrible things and she reacted. She now knows that what she was told was based on false hoods, and fabrications desiened to enhance their civill suit. She should out the newspaperes on the offering of money for stories. Sarah Fergusons ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly the Duke of York Mr Sitrick replied: Agree, quite frankly whatever her excuse she needs to say she was mistaken, she apologizes, feels terrible. Jeffrey is not a pedophile. The you woman who was the source of the conviction for solicitation of prostitutions for someone under 18 was 17-3/4 and she is very sorry. We need all those components. She created this problem. She needs to fix It and as I know everyone knows time is of the essence here. Epstein responded saying that they cannot depend on her doing as we would wish We need an alternative, adding Fergie and Hope is not sufficient. Mr Sitrick replied to Epstein saying: The Fergie retraction is critical. One of your good friends, a member of the Royal family, is calling you a pedophile. If gentle persuasion doesnt work, it is my view that we need to turn up the heat even to the point of sending her a draft defamation lawsuit. As I said yesterday, this would be a major turning point and be picked up everywhere. This is about your name and your reputation. You really cant worry about her, in my view, you need to worry about you. The following day, Epstein emailed Mr Sitrick saying: I would like you to draft a statement that in an ideal world Fergie would put out, to which the publicist responds saying With pleasure. The newly released documents also reveal Epstein told others Fergie said she could organise tea in Buckingham Palace apts.. or Windsor Castle in 2009. Other files suggest Andrew invited Epstein for dinner at Buckingham Palace in 2010. Also, the files show someone referred to as just Sarah thanked Epstein for being the brother I have always wished for and she has never been more touched by a friends kindness in August 2009. A few months earlier, Sarah emailed Epstein calling him my dear spectacular and special friend Jeffrey and a legend, adding that she is so proud of him. The US Department of Justice has released more documents related to Jeffrey Epstein (AP) Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2019 after an interview on BBC Newsnight but the publication of Ms Giuffres posthumous memoir, and the US governments release of documents from Epsteins estate, brought more scrutiny over his relationship with the financier. It led to the King officially stripping his disgraced brother of both his HRH style and his prince title. Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The loss of Andrews titles meant Sarah reverted back to her maiden name of Sarah Ferguson. The former duchess has been contacted for comment. Fourteen people were arrested at a pro-Palestine demonstration in central London on Saturday, according to the Metropolitan Police. Thousands of protesters marched through central London today, calling on the UK government to stop supplying arms to Israel. Many demonstrators carried placards reading End the occupation now and Stop arming Israel. Police said 13 arrests were made during the Palestine Coalition protest, with one arrest linked to a Stop the Hate counter-demonstration. Among those detained was human rights activist and campaigner Peter Tatchell, his foundation said. Tatchell was arrested while carrying a placard that read: Globalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israels occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. In a statement released by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, the 74-year-old said the arrest was "an attack on free speech". He said: "The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law. Thousands marched through the streets of central London for a pro-Palestine rally (PA Wire) "The police are engaged in over-reach by making it an arrestable offence. "This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalise peaceful protests. "The Arab word intifada means uprising, rebellion or resistance against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. "It does not mean violence and is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against Jewish people." A spokesperson for Met Police said: There have been 15 arrests as part of todays policing operation. One from the Stop the Hate counter protest, 13 from the Palestine Coalition protest and one that was unrelated to protest. Mr Tatchell was taken to Sutton police station to be detained, according to his foundation. A protester takes a selfie as he holds a Palestinian flag in Whitehall during a national march for Palestine (Getty Images) The Metropolitan Police said in December that protesters chanting "globalise the intifada" will now be arrested because the "context has changed" in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack. In a post on X, the Met said: "Officers policing the Palestine Coalition protest have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offence. He was seen carrying a sign including the words 'globalise the intifada'." Mr Tatchell had been marching near to police officers and with the sign on display for about a mile from Russell Square to the top of the Strand when the group came across a counter-protest, according to a witness. At that point, he was stopped and "manhandled by 10 officers", according to photographer Jacky Summerfield, who was with him. "I was shoved back behind a cordon of officers and unable to speak to him after that," she said. "I couldn't get any closer to hear anything more than (that) it was for Section 5 (of the Public Order Act). Counter-protesters hold up placards and Israeli flags (AFP via Getty Images) "There had been no issue until that, he was walking near the police officers," she added. "Nobody had said or done anything." Two more people were arrested at the protest on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation, the Metropolitan Police said. The force said the two were spotted by officers carrying a banner with the words "we are all Palestine Action", a group which was banned by then-home secretary Yvette Cooper last July. Protesters gathered in Russell Square on Saturday afternoon before marching towards Whitehall for a rally. A small group from the pro-Israel Stop The Hate group protested near the march route in Aldwych. The opposing rallies shouted at one another and some made gestures but the groups were kept separate with barriers and a row of police officers. Meanwhile, a group of United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) protesters gathered in nearby Trafalgar Square after being banned from assembling in Whitechapel, east London, over fears there could be "clashes" with locals. Some held St George's flags while others had wooden crosses as they watched the party's leader Nick Tenconi give a speech to the small gathering. As crowds dispersed at around 4.30pm, Scotland Yard said a woman was arrested in Whitehall after she was seen wearing a T-shirt with the words "Globalise the intifada" on. The snow-dusted city of Sisimiut, sitting just north of the Arctic Circle, feels largely devoid of US influence. This is Greenlands second largest city, but save for a lone Burger King there are no large chains on the main street. No Starbucks, no MacDonalds, no Apple store. Instead youll find a local cafe illuminated by strip lighting, a childrens playground with a mini ski slope, and locals driving ATVs through the icy streets. Yet, despite the quiet resistance to US culture not to mention months of living under President Donald Trumps increasingly erratic threats of a takeover Sisimiut locals feel surprisingly warmly towards America. One man who has lived in the city his whole life tells The Independent: Its not America that is scary to us, it is the president. This is not about the American people. Another Sisimiut local who works with children in the city agrees: Its the president and the rich people in America who are the problem. Sisimiut on the west coast of Greenland is the second largest city on the Arctic island with a population of around 5,500 (Annabel Grossman/The Independent) This small city on the west coast of Greenland, home to around 5,500 people, has been spared much of the attention shone on the capital Nuuk over the past couple of weeks, with residents quietly going about their daily lives. Usha Vance, wife of JD Vance, had planned to visit Sisimiut on her trip to Greenland in March last year to attend the famous Avannaata Qimussersua dogsled race and visit cultural sites, but made a last-minute alteration to her plan and headed straight from Nuuk to the American Pituffik Space Base in the remote northwest of Greenland. This abrupt change of schedule was partly attributed to a planned protest in which locals said they would turn their backs on the American visitor in silent resistance to the Trump administrations attempts to annex the territory. When Nuuk held protests on 17 January, Sisimiut held a smaller version with residents gathering in the town centre holding Greenlandic flags and Stop Trump signs. Americas military relationship with Greenland stretches back to the Second World War, and today the United States retains that one base, Pituffik, where the US Department of Defense says around 130 active members of the US military are permanently stationed. Former MP Tillie Martinussen says she loves Americans but doesnt want to be one (Tillie Martinussen) Former Greenland MP Tillie Martinussen, who lives in Nuuk, tells The Independent that her father worked on the US base in Pituffik in the 1970s back when it was called Thule (the name was changed in 2023). He loved Americans, she says. Martinussen says she respected the Americans who were working at the Pituffik base in often brutally harsh conditions. You had to be incredibly badass to work at Thule, she says. You can go outside in the cold and die because your lungs are freezing in minus 50 degrees Celsius. In the winter there, you sometimes have storms that are so massive and so long that you will have three or four days where nobody can go outside. The former politician says she has visited the United States around 18 times, most often to the South, and that she is incredibly fond of America and the American people. She says: I grew up pledging allegiance first to my own people to Greenland secondly, the Queen of Denmark (now the king), and then third to the American president. This [Donald Trump] is the only president Ive ever criticised in any way. There are so many things about America that I love. Its the birthplace of JFK and Martin Luther King thats beautiful. And Im fascinated by the space programme. US vice- president JD Vance tours the Pituffik Space Base in March 2025 (POOL/AFP via Getty) I love Americans, theyre so open and funny. But, she adds: I still don't want to be a part of America at all. At all. Martinussen says she finds it hard to contain her anger that Trump is so focused on Greenland rather than caring about his own people and taking care of ordinary Americans. Give people the Epstein files. Stop shooting your own citizens in the face, she says. Stop bullying the world. Youre ruining it for your citizens. Paarnannguaq Tiitussen, a Nuuk resident who owns a traditional Arctic jewellery store in the city, says Greenlanders do not have a problem with America itself, but feel they have the right to make decisions themselves. We need a relationship with America and we already have a relationship with America but it should to be on our terms, she says. Kristina Spohr, professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), says its not surprising that some Greenlanders feel a warmth towards Americans as there is an ancient cultural and historical link, with Inuit people still living in Arctic Alaska. Donald Trump has said a framework for a Greenland deal is in place - but it is not yet clear what that means (AFP/Getty) But it doesnt mean that they want to be led by an American president, or a mining company from the United States, or a Louisiana governor, she adds. She points out that because Greenland Inuits have associated with a European power rather than an American one, their culture has been able to survive, compared to indigenous groups in the United States. Following talks with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte last week, Trump claimed there was a framework for a future Greenland deal, but it is not clear what had been agreed. Both Greenlands prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen have said there are red lines that cannot be crossed, and that includes Greenlands sovereignty. Martinussen said children in Greenland will now grow up thinking of Americans as their enemies (Tillie Martinussen) The US military presence in Greenland dates back to an agreement that allowed America to establish military bases on the Arctic island following the Nazi occupation of Denmark in 1940. Through the Second World War and Cold War, the US assumed the role of defender of the island, and Martinussen explains that many Greenlanders viewed the American soldiers as heroes. She says she remembers as a little girl her grandmother telling her about the Americans dropping food and presents, and she loved her grandparents giving her Wrigleys gum that came from the States. Martinussen adds: Im so sad that so many children are going to grow up now and think America is the enemy, or at least they cant be trusted. I cant believe that Donald Trump is dismantling everything. U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino mocked a Jewish prosecutors faith during a recent phone call, a new report claims. During a January 12 phone call, The New York Times reports Bovino mocked the faith of Daniel N. Rosen, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota and an Orthodox Jew. The outlet cited multiple sources with knowledge of the call. Bovino reportedly requested a call with Rosen to push his office to seek more criminal charges against people accused of impeding federal immigration agents. But Rosen delegated the call to a deputy, the outlet reports. During the call, Bovino used the phrase chosen people in a mocking way and complained he couldnt get in contact with Rosen during part of the weekend, because he was observing Shabbat, the outlet reports. Shabbat is a Jewish period of rest between Friday and Saturday evenings. It often includes refraining from certain activities, including driving and using electronic devices. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino mocked a Jewish prosecutors faith, a new report claims (Getty Images) Bovino also sarcastically asked if Rosen knew Orthodox Jewish criminals dont take weekends off, according to the outlet. Bovino did not respond to requests for comment from The New York Times, and Rosen reportedly declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Border Patrol, accused the outlet of reporting on gossip. Instead of focusing on gossip, why dont you focus on something actually important like the victims of illegal alien crime or the criminals taken out of Minneapolis communities? DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the outlet. The Independent has requested comment from DHS and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Minnesota. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen reportedly had his Jewish faith mocked by Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino (U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota) Over the last year, Bovino has helped lead the Trump administrations high-profile immigration enforcement operations across the country. He was also stationed in Minneapolis for several weeks this month, and defended the federal agents who shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in separate incidents. However, Bovino was reportedly demoted and dispatched back to California just days after Pretti was killed on January 24. The move came after Bovino claimed, despite footage showing otherwise, that Pretti wanted to massacre law enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has similarly falsely claimed Pretti was brandishing a gun at officers. Footage of the incident shows agents pulling Pretti to the ground, seizing a weapon from him and then shooting him multiple times. Local officials have said Pretti was a lawful gun owner and had a permit to carry. A preliminary review by a Department of Homeland Security internal watchdog also made no mention of Pretti brandishing a weapon. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has since announced a federal investigation into Prettis shooting, which he described as standard procedure. President Donald Trump has dispatched border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, where hes now managing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Tributes have poured in for Catherine OHara following her death, with the actresss co-stars remembering how she brought love and light to the screen and beyond. The Canadian-American actress, known for roles in Home Alone, comedy TV series Schitts Creek and the Beetlejuice films, died on Friday at the age of 71 at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, according to her agency CAA. OHara was honoured by current and former leaders of her home country, hailed as a beloved Canadian icon. Catherine OHara with her Schitts Creek co-stars, from left Eugene Levy, Annie Murphy and Daniel Levy in 2018 (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) (Willy Sanjuan) Her role as eccentric Moira Rose in Schitts Creek, starring opposite Eugene and Daniel Levy, earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Meryl Streep was among the famous faces remembering OHara and what it was like to work with her. Having acted alongside her in the 1986 comedy Heartburn, Streep said: Catherine OHara brought love and light to our world, through whipsmart compassion for the collection of eccentrics she portrayed such a loss for her family and friends, and the audience she graced as friends. Macaulay Culkin, who played OHaras son in the 1990 classic Christmas movie Home Alone, said: Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later. OHara played Culkins mother Kate in the film, in which he starred as youngster Kevin McCallister, who outsmarts two bumbling intruders after his family accidentally go on holiday without him. Culkin reprised the role in 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost In New York alongside OHara. In 2024, the actress reprised her role as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, having starred in the first film in 1988. Michael Keaton, her co-star in the original film, said: We go back before the first Beetlejuice. Catherine OHara attending the UK premiere of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at Cineworld Leicester Square, London, in 2024 (Yui Mok/PA) (Yui Mok) Shes been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend. This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her. Alec Baldwin, who also starred in the original film, described OHara as one of the greatest comic talents in the movie business who possessed a quality that was all her own. Seth Rogen, her co-star in the Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio for which OHara received both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations called the news of her passing devastating. He said in an Instagram post: I told OHara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person Id ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. From SCTV to Home Alone to her unforgettable role as Moira Rose on Schitts Creek, Catherine OHara was a beloved Canadian icon with a rare gift for comedy and heart. She made people laugh across generations and helped bring Canadian storytelling to the world in a way only she pic.twitter.com/tO72Xy3yqp Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 30, 2026 Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. Were all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it. Another recent role saw her starring in the second season of The Last Of Us, alongside Pedro Pascal, who paid tribute to her, saying: Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau called her a beloved Canadian icon while the countrys current premier Mark Carney said: Canada has lost a legend. In a statement, Mr Carney said he joined all Canadians in mourning, adding: Over five decades of work, Catherine earned her place in the canon of Canadian comedy. OHara is survived by her husband Bo Welch and sons Matthew and Luke, the statement said, and her family will hold a private celebration of her life. A satellite image shows the damaged building (centre) at Irans Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Dec 3, following the US attack. It appears to have since been repaired - Planet Labs PBC/AP Iran has attempted to salvage material from its bombed nuclear sites, new satellite images suggest. Aerial pictures from Planet Labs PBC, a US earth-imaging company, show roofs have been rebuilt over two damaged buildings at the Isfahan and Natanz facilities, the first significant activity observed there since the end of the war. Experts said the construction could indicate Iranian scientists attempting to recover key nuclear assets that may have survived the bombing without detection by Israel or the United States. The activity at the sites occurred since the beginning of December, during which time Iran was gripped by protests and faced subsequent threats of US military action. b' Iran\'s Natanz nuclear enrichment site ' Since the end of Israels 12-day war in June, which concluded following the US intervention, Iran has focused on rebuilding its ballistic missile arsenal. On Saturday, multiple explosions rocked Iran, fuelling rumours of military strikes targeting senior military commanders. In the port city of Bandar Abbas, at least one person was killed and 14 injured, while four people were killed in Ahvaz, near the Iraqi border. Israel immediately denied knowledge and Iranian state media dismissed the blasts as gas explosions. No evidence suggests they were deliberate attacks. Later on Saturday, Irans top security official said negotiations with the US were progressing. Ali Larijani said in a post on X: Contrary to the atmosphere being created by artificial media warfare, the formation of a structure for negotiations is under way. In a show of defiance, Iran is also set to hold live-fire naval exercises in the Persian Gulf within miles of two US destroyers in one of the worlds busiest sea lanes. Fast-attack boats capable of firing missiles at warships are expected to spearhead two days of drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy choke point, on Sunday. The exercises raise fears of a showdown with US warships that have moved into the region after Donald Trump ordered naval and air assets to deploy within striking distance of Iran. The US military warned the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the naval wing of which is expected to lead the drills, not to attempt any overflights or high-speed boat approaches. We will not tolerate unsafe IRGC actions, said US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East theatre. The US military has the most highly trained and lethal force in the world. b' ' When under pressure, the IRGC has often sought to demonstrate aggression in the Persian Gulf, leading to a series of tense encounters with US and Royal Navy warships. In 2023, IRGC fast boats shadowed a US destroyer and a British frigate through the Strait of Hormuz with their machine-gun nests uncovered. The US has now signalled it would not tolerate such a threatening posture. Raising the stakes further, Tehran issued radio warnings to mariners announcing it would conduct drills in the main northern shipping lane of the strait, which is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. About 100 vessels carrying roughly 20 per cent of the worlds daily oil production pass through the waterway every day. The drills appear designed to project resistance and send two clear messages. First, that Iran could fulfil its long-standing threat to seal the strait in response to any strike on its territory, potentially crippling global energy supplies. While experts debate Irans ability to sustain a full blockade, even the threat of one could be enough to trigger market turmoil and send prices soaring. Second, the exercises are a reminder that Iran, despite its battlefield reversals over the past year, retains an anti-ship cruise missile capability. These weapons pose a direct threat to the US armada assembling in the region. This includes the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea, two guided-missile destroyers patrolling the strait and three littoral combat ships positioned inside the Gulf to counter asymmetric swarm attacks. Arab states attempt to avert war Irans maritime force is staging the show of defiance as Arab and Muslim states mount last-ditch efforts to avert a war they would once have quietly welcomed. Officials in Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have all attempted to mediate between Tehran and Washington in recent days, but there has been no sign of a breakthrough. Believing the Iranian regime to be tottering after last years 12-day war and this months ruthlessly suppressed protests, Mr Trump is demanding more concessions than ever before. Under US terms, the ayatollahs would not only have to agree to cease all uranium enrichment. But they would also need to accept limits on Irans ballistic missile programme including surrendering warheads capable of reaching Israel and end support for regional proxies such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Far from signalling any willingness to compromise, however, Iran has adopted an increasingly bellicose posture. It has warned that it is prepared for war and ready to retaliate against any attack. Analysts fear that a regime that has slaughtered its own people on an unprecedented scale may have decided to abandon restraint abroad as well, signalling a readiness to set the region alight in a bid for survival. Arab states worry that Iran could respond to an attack by targeting both US military bases and their own oil and gas infrastructure. Beyond a symbolic and carefully calibrated strike on a US base in Qatar, Iran responded to American attacks on its nuclear facilities in June with restraint, an approach some analysts believe Tehran has now concluded was a mistake. Israeli airstrikes kill 27 Palestinians in one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire: Where is the truce? Israeli airstrikes killed 27 people in Gaza on Saturday in one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire, Gaza officials have said. The IDF claimed that it was targeting commanders and sites belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad when it struck a police station, residential homes and tent encampments across the beleaguered strip. A fragile ceasefire has been continually undermined by violence, with more than 500 people killed in Israeli assaults since October. Palestinian militants have killed four Israeli soldiers, according to Israeli tallies. Israeli warplanes struck the Sheikh Radwan station west of Gaza City earlier Saturday, killing ten police officers and detainees, medics and police in Gaza reported. Smoke rises from the site of an airstrike west of Khan Yunis on Saturday (AFP via Getty Images) Further airstrikes hit at least two houses in Gaza City and a tent encampment housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, further south, local officials said. The strike on an apartment building in Gaza City killed three children, their aunt and their grandmother, according to Shifa Hospital. Samer al-Atbash, uncle to the young victims, said: We found my three little nieces in the street. They say 'ceasefire' and all. What did those children do? What did we do? The three girls are gone, may God have mercy on them, he said, adding that the family were civilians with no connection to Hamas. Names were written on body bags lined up at the foot of a wall. Video footage from Gaza City depicted charred, blackened walls and widespread destruction at an apartment within a multi-storey building, with debris strewn both inside and on the street outside. Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp in Khan Younis caused a fire, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Palestinians search for bodies and survivors from the rubble of a police station in Gaza City (AP) Atallah Abu Hadaiyed said he had just finished praying when the explosion occurred. We came running and found my cousins lying here and there, with fire raging. We don't know if we're at war or at peace, or what. Where is the truce? Where is the ceasefire they talked about? he said. The Israeli military said it was responding to a breach of the US-brokered ceasefire. Hamas said that Israel had violated the truce. It did not say whether any of its members or facilities had been hit. The IDF said that it struck weapon caches and manufacturing sites, in addition to targeting Hamas commanders. It said the strikes were carried out in response to an incident on Friday where troops identified eight gunmen emerging from a tunnel in Rafah, where Israeli forces are deployed under the truce agreement. Three of the gunmen were killed by the forces, and a fourth, described by the Israeli military as a Hamas commander in the area, was apprehended. Smoke rises after a projectile fell on a building in Gaza City on Saturday (via REUTERS) In response to the violation of the ceasefire agreement, in which eight terrorists were identified exiting the underground terror infrastructure in eastern Rafah, the IDF and ISA have struck four commanders and additional terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across Gaza, it said. The IDF also struck a weapons storage facility, a weapons manufacturing site, and two launch sites belonging to Hamas in central Gaza. The latest strikes came a day before the Rafah border crossing, connecting Gaza with Egypt, is set to reopen under a US-backed plan aimed at ending a war that has devastated much of the territory. Hamas did not comment on the incident. Dozens of its fighters have remained trapped in tunnels under Rafah since the ceasefire, though some have since been killed in clashes with Israeli forces. Both sides have exchanged accusations over truce violations, even as Washington is pressing them to advance to the next phases of the ceasefire deal, which is intended to permanently end the conflict. A federal agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 21 January. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters (Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters) A federal judge has denied a request by Minnesotas state government to end the federal immigration operation in Minneapolis that has resulted in government agents killing two people, sparking weeks of protests. The state, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, had lodged a lawsuit after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent this month, demanding an end to the Trump administrations Operation Metro Surge in the city. Since that time, a second person protesting ICEs presence, Alex Pretti, was shot and killed by federal agents. The shootings have provoked a furious wave of condemnation in Minneapolis and beyond. However, on Saturday, federal judge Kate Menendez denied a request by the state and cities to end the operation and send the 3,000 ICE agents home. The plaintiffs had argued that the Trump administration violated the 10th amendment of the constitution, which enshrines states autonomy from federal intervention beyond powers outlined in the constitution, through the ICE operation. But these claims provided no metric by which to determine when lawful law enforcement becomes unlawful commandeering, simply arguing that the excesses of Operation Metro Surge are so extreme that the surge exceeds whatever line must exist, wrote Menendez, who was nominated to the bench during Joe Bidens presidency in 2021. A proclamation that Operation Metro Surge has simply gone so far on the other side of the line is a thin reed on which to base a preliminary injunction. Menendez acknowledged that the operation has had a profound and even heartbreaking impact upon Minneapolis and that along with the shootings there was evidence that ICE and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) agents have engaged in racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other harmful actions. But the judge said that she was not ruling on the tactics of the operation itself, only that the state and cities had failed to show that the administration had violated the 10th amendment. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that he was disappointed by the ruling. This decision doesnt change what people here have lived through fear, disruption, and harm caused by a federal operation that never belonged in Minneapolis in the first place, Frey said. This operation has not brought public safety. Its brought the opposite and has detracted from the order we need for a working city. Its an invasion, and it needs to stop. Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, posted on X that the ruling was a HUGE win for the administration. Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from enforcing federal law in Minnesota, Bondi wrote. Related: Eight people have died in dealings with ICE so far in 2026. These are their stories Brian Carter, a lawyer for Minnesota, had said that this situation is unprecedented in the 250-year history of our country and that the agents were essentially an army sent to Minneapolis to undertake widespread illegal violent conduct. Trump himself has said that Ice is going to de-escalate a little bit in the wake of the shootings, with the president sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to oversee the operation. But the administration has insisted the ICE agents are acting legally to uphold federal immigration laws. The ruling comes as more than 300 demonstrations are expected to take place across all 50 states and Washington DC on Saturday in what organizers are calling ICE Out of Everywhere. Organizers, led by the national grassroots organization 50501, say todays protests are a response to a series of recent deaths involving federal immigration agents, including the fatal shootings of Pretti and Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, the homicide of Geraldo Campos in an immigration detention facility in Texas and the shooting of Keith Porter Jr by an off-duty ICE officer in Los Angeles. Judge quotes Bible and Thomas Jefferson as he orders release of 5-year-old and father detained by ICE A federal judge has ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father who were detained by federal immigration agents from their driveway in suburban Minneapolis and sent to a detention center in Texas. In his ruling on Saturday, District Judge Fred Biery delivered a brutal assessment of President Donald Trumps mass deportation campaign and an ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas that appears to require traumatizing children. Liam Conejo Ramos was taken into federal custody from the driveway of his familys home last week after officers arrested his father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who is seeking asylum in the United States. They were sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Texas, where the preschooler is reportedly sick, lethargic and asking for his mother, according to his family and lawmakers who visited him this week. The judge condemned the administrations apparent ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jeffersons warnings against a would-be authoritarian king over our nascent nation. He signed his three-page order with a now-viral image of Liam standing in his frozen driveway wearing a Spider-Man backpack and blue cap that has fueled outrage against the presidents anti-immigration agenda. Judge Biery also listed two Bible verses below it: Matthew 19:14 and John 11:35. A federal judge has ordered the release of a 5-year-old boy and his father who were detained by federal officers in Minneapolis, an incident captured in a now-viral image emblematic of the Trump administrations surge into the city (Columbia Heights Public Schools) The verse from Matthew states roughly that Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, while the verse from John is Jesus wept. Judge Biery also delivered a civics lesson to the federal government as he quoted the Fourth Amendment and noted that administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse, he wrote. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer. That constitutional safeguard trumps the governments ongoing detention of the boy and his father, the judge wrote. Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency, he wrote. And the rule of law be damned. While the family may decide through the arcane nature of the countrys immigration system to return to Ecuador, where they are from, that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place, he added. He then referenced Benjamin Franklins response when asked what came out of the Constitutional Convention in 1787: A republic, if you can keep it. Judge Biery then signed the order with a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, with Liams photo and the two Bible verses beneath his signature. The boy and his father must be released as soon as practicable but no later than February 3. Officials must then file a status report no later than February 4 confirm their release from custody. Liams image has become emblematic of sweeping arrests in Minneapolis, which has emerged as the latest backdrop to Trumps mass deportation efforts and drawn several lawsuits and demonstrations across the country. Federal courts in the state are swimming in cases alleging unlawful arrests and abusive and illegal use of force from immigrants and citizens alike swept up in the dragnet. Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro visited with Liam and his father at an ICE detention center in Texas (Congressman Joaquin Castro/AFP) Days after Liam and his father were detained, a two-year-old girl and her father were brought into federal custody after immigration officers broke the mans car window and arrested them on their way home from the grocery store, according to Minneapolis officials. Chloe and Liam were among at least seven Minneapolis-area children detained by federal agents in recent days, according to Zena Stenvik, the superintendent for Colombia Heights public school district. Speaking to The Independent, she welcomed the news of Liams release and thanked the community for the outpouring of support for him. But she warned that children in her district remain at risk, saying teachers and students feel hunted. We have had several ICE agents driving up and down, and around our schools, circling throughout the day over the last few weeks, she continued. We have staff members stationed at arrival and dismissal times at every corner of every school, even a couple of blocks away as constitutionally-trained observers to look after the children, she said. We feel hunted, she said. We feel under siege. Protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center demanded the release of Liam Conejo Ramos and his father January 28 (REUTERS) Jason Kuhlman, the principal of Liams school, told The Independent that two other students were detained by ICE on Thursday alone. They now have a system where teachers walk children from at-risk communities to school, and are running ride-share programs to try to keep people safe because parents are too afraid to do the journey to school. Dozens of students are now learning online because they are too afraid to leave their homes. This is not political. This is about little humans wanting to come to school, he said. Education is being interfered with kids cant learn ... Racial profiling, terrorizing families and children, pulling Black and Brown people out of cars: I call it a snatch and grab. He added that when Liam is ready to return to his classroom, everything is there waiting for him. The scenes mirrored arrests during other immigration enforcement operations around the country that have interrupted schools and put families, teachers and administrators on edge as they brace for officers showing up on campus and at home. ICE official Marcos Charles said last week that officers were targeting Liams father during an arrest operation January 20. Neighbors and school officials accused federal officers of using the boy as bait by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer, which Homeland Security officials called an abject lie. Officials claim Liams father fled on foot and left the boy in a vehicle in their driveway. The officers abided by the fathers wishes to keep the child with him, according to Homeland Security. Homeland Security has also characterized Liams father as an illegal alien, though the familys attorney Marc Prokosch told reporters this month that the family came legally and are pursuing a legal pathway. Labour has named Manchester city councillor Angeliki Stogia as its candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election as the party attempts to defend the seat and avoid an embarrassing defeat. The selection of the relatively unknown candidate comes just days after mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was denied permission to stand for the party sparking anger among Labour backbenchers and growing fears that the party will struggle to keep hold of the seat. Critics have accused Sir Keir Starmer and his allies of preventing Mr Burnhams candidacy for factional reasons, fearing a leadership challenge from the mayor as both Labours poll ratings and his personal approval ratings flounder. Ms Stogia, who has served as the Manchester city councillor for Whalley Range since 2012, was revealed as the partys candidate for the seat on Saturday afternoon, saying she is standing to be the MP for Gorton and Denton to unite our community and stand up to the divisive politics of Reform. Flanked by Labour party chair Anna Turley and deputy leader Lucy Powell, the councillor told a crowd of Labour activists at a launch event in the constituency on Saturday she was a proud Mancunian woman, adding: I have walked the streets of this constituency. Manchester city councillor Angeliki Stogia has been named as Labours candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election (Getty) As Labour attempts to roll the pitch for a straight fight with Reform UK, Ms Stogia added: This is about Manchester. Manchester is a city united; we are rejecting division. I am so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning this for Labour. Reform UK has chosen GB News presenter and former academic Matt Goodwin to contest the seat for them a candidate who has since been endorsed by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Meanwhile, councillor and plumber Hannah Spencer will run for the Greens and the Liberal Democrats have named local campaigner Jackie Pearcey. In a statement, Ms Stogia who stood at the general election in Chester South and Eddisbury but placed second behind the Conservatives said: I have devoted my life to working and campaigning for the people of Manchester and Greater Manchester. In the last 12 years alone, I have campaigned for good homes, better transport, and a greener Manchester. Now Im standing to be your member of parliament to unite our community and stand up to the divisive politics of Reform. She added: This is a moment of choice for Gorton and Denton between a community that stands united or politics that divides neighbour from neighbour. Im on the side of unity, fairness and hope. Ms Stogia, who is originally from Greece, moved to the UK in the Nineties and has lived in Manchester since 2004. The by-election was prompted by the resignation of former MP Andrew Gwynne, who stood down citing health reasons. Mr Gwynne was sacked as a health minister and suspended from the Labour Party in February last year over offensive comments made in a WhatsApp group. He won the seat for Labour with more than half the vote 18,555 in 2024 while Nigel Farages Reform UK came second on 5,142 votes, narrowly beating the Greens with 4,810. The race is likely to be closely fought by all three parties, although Sir Keir Starmer has insisted it is a straight fight between Mr Farages party and his own. The race to win the Gorton and Denton seat is likely to be closely fought by all three parties (Getty) But in the wake of the decision to block the Manchester mayor from standing, it has emerged that despondent Labour MPs are reluctant to campaign in the crucial by-election because they fear the party could face an embarrassing defeat amid growing concerns over the prime ministers leadership. Sir Keirs MPs are under strict instructions to offer their support in the constituency and all of them are expected to campaign at least once in the seat before next months vote amid growing fears that Reform UK or the Green Party could snatch the historically safe seat. It comes after an early opinion poll has suggested Labours support could crumble in the seat, with Reform and the Greens picking up a larger share of the vote. The Find Out Now poll shows Mr Farages party is set to beat Labour by three percentage points, with Reform on 30 per cent, Labour on 27 per cent and the Green Party on 17 per cent. However, the sample size in the survey was small polling just 143 voters in Gorton and Denton meaning it is likely to have a larger-than-usual margin of error. A number of backbenchers have told The Independent they are unenthusiastic about the prospect of heading to Gorton and Denton, particularly after Mr Burnham was blocked from standing in the seat. We would have won with Andy Burnham, but I know activists from my constituency dont exactly feel inspired to go and campaign there now, an MP noted. Big decisions: Arne Slot (London Standard) Liverpool tonight welcome Ibrahima Konate back to the squad as they face Newcastle in the Premier League. The Frenchman has missed the last three games after his father passed away, but Arne Slot confirmed the central defender has since returned to training and he starts this evening. FOLLOW LIVERPOOL VS NEWCASTLE LIVE! Ibou trained with us yesterday and trains with us today and will be in the squad tomorrow, Slot told reporters on Friday morning. Curtis Jones will also return after missing the Qarabag game in midweek through illness, but he is named on the bench. However, Joe Gomez, who was taken off injured in the 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth last weekend, remains sidelined. Jeremie Frimpong limped off inside the opening five minutes on Wednesday night and will play no part against Newcastle, though his injury is not as bad as initially feared. "He will definitely not be in the squad tomorrow so he's out for a few weeks, Slot revealed. "It's not as bad as we [first] thought, so something positive from something not so positive. Curtis is again available, he was sick as I said but he is available. Joe will not be available but that does not have to take much longer anymore, but he will not be available for the weekend. Sidelined again: Jeremie Frimpong (Peter Byrne/PA Wire) With no senior right-back available, it will be Dominik Szoboszlai tasked to fill in. Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni are the two longer-term absentees for the Reds, while Federico Chiesa returned to action off the bench against Qarabag, marking his comeback with a goal. Starting Liverpool XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Djik, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike Subs: Mamardashvili, Endo, Chiesa, Robertson, Jones, Nyoni, Ramsay, Ngumoha, Nallo Injured: Bradley, Frimpong, Gomez, Isak, Leoni Venue: Anfield Date and time: 8pm on Saturday, January 31, 2026 How to watch: TNT Sports The Met Police could spend 5 million on transgender toilet facilities (Alamy/PA) The Met Police could spend 5 million on new toilets and changing rooms to accommodate its 12 transgender members of staff. Britain's biggest police force has assessed the cost of transgender facilities following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on the definition of "woman" under the Equality Act last year. Pro-trans organisations such as The Good Law Project argued against interim guidance that suggested transgender people use the toilets of their biological sex. While full government guidance on the issue has yet to be published, the Met Police has determined the cost of fitting new facilities to accommodate transgender people. An insider told The Sun: "The overall cost of providing new toilets and changing spaces for transgender people at stations and main police buildings is conservatively estimated to be 5million. "There would also be a 300,000-a-year bill for maintenance." Earlier this month, an employment tribunal found a group of nurses in Darlington had suffered harassment after being forced to share a changing room with a transgender colleague who was biologically male. The Equality and Human Rights Commission warned employers to review their policies on single-sex spaces after the ruling, which stated that sharing single-sex changing rooms with a trans colleague had created "a hostile, intimidating, humiliating and degrading environment" for the nurses. Eight members of the Day Surgery Unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital brought a claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust after Rose Henderson, who was born male but identifies as a woman, was allowed to use the women's changing facilities. An EHRC spokesperson said the equality regulator would consider the tribunal decision. The spokesperson said: "Employers especially those that offer changing facilities for their staff should also be considering the issues raised in this ruling for their own policies and practices. "This would include being aware of the kind of actions found to constitute indirect discrimination and harassment of staff in this particular case." The EHRC has shared an updated services code of practice with the minister for women and equalities Bridget Phillipson for approval, although it said the issues raised by the tribunal were more closely related to the existing employment code of practice which it is planning to update. "We hope that the updated code can be laid in Parliament without delay, so that statutory guidance is made available to those that need it as soon as it can be," the spokesperson said. Ms Phillipson recently acknowledged people want "clarity" on the subject but said there is a balance to be sought between ensuring safe spaces for women and trans people's access to the services they need. Nearly 35 million under weather alerts across US as another bomb cyclone barrels in A powerful noreaster is hitting the Southeast and East Coasts this weekend, threatening 35 million people with heavy snow, freezing temperatures and a bomb cyclone off North Carolina. The storm is set to intensify Saturday night, bringing major winter weather from Georgia to Massachusetts. Millions more could face bitter cold, including areas still recovering from last weekends deadly storm. Once again, residents should prepare for travel disruptions, power outages and unsafe conditions. Snow has already fallen in parts of the southern Appalachians, and forecasters warn that some areas of the Carolinas could see more than half a foot of snow as the storm worsens Saturday night and into Sunday. Blizzard conditions are expected along the coast, including the Outer Banks, where strong winds could combine with snow to create extremely hazardous conditions. Bomb cyclones are storms that rapidly strengthen as their central pressure drops, producing stronger winds. The storm could bring strong winds along the East Coast from the Carolinas to New England, causing power outages and tree damage. The storm is going to develop Saturday off the Carolina coast, and then as it moves to the northeast, it is going to rapidly strengthen, AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys told The Independent on Wednesday. Thats where the term bomb cyclone is from. What were looking at is unlike the previous storm that we just experienced last weekend, where most high-accumulating snow happened to be north and east of the city, Roys added. The winter storm will intensify Saturday, spreading snow and extreme cold from Georgia to Massachusetts, with travel and power risks for millions (Getty Images) Southern and eastern cities, including Atlanta, Raleigh, Charleston and Virginia Beach, are also bracing for winter weather. Tennessee, still recovering from last weeks deadly ice storm, faces subzero wind chills and frigid temperatures. The Arctic air and snow are expected far beyond usual winter zones, stretching into states unaccustomed to severe cold. Officials are warning of unusual winter weather in Florida, where Gulf of Mexicoeffect snow could occur as cold air passes over unusually warm waters. Record-breaking low temperatures are expected in up to 18 states and Washington, D.C., potentially breaking daily cold records over a century old. The list includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, according to the Washington Post. Ice floats cover part of the Hudson River along the Manhattan shoreline of New York City (Getty Images) Snow and ice packed up in front of the Congress in Washington, D.C. (REUTERS) The storm is compounding challenges in already hardhit areas. More than 170,000 homes and businesses remain without power in parts of Mississippi and Tennessee from previous storms. Emergency officials continue to warn residents about travel hazards, frostbite and hypothermia risks as the deep freeze settles in. Coastal flooding is also a major concern, especially during high tides this weekend. Powerful winds and storm surge could lead to beach erosion and damage in vulnerable seaside communities. Authorities in multiple states have issued warnings and urged residents to prepare for prolonged disruptions before the storm moves back out to sea early next week. The police were guiding me to believe it was suicide, Abdullah Koker says of his daughters death. Photograph: Bradley Secker/The Guardian (Photograph: Bradley Secker/The Guardian) Almost nothing seemed to scare Sebnem Koker. With her hair dyed fire-engine red, the 29-year-old nurse lived life by her own rules. Friends say she was so headstrong, shed be getting ready for a night out in their home town, the Turkish coastal city of Izmir, and suddenly suggest a change of plan to a last-minute trip away. Even a prospective move to Canada didnt seem to daunt her. But there was one thing that had terrified Sebnem: heights. Her father, Abdullah, says she was afraid to even tiptoe on to the slim balcony that wraps around the third-floor apartment they shared in Izmir. She wouldnt even have a cigarette or eat out there. She wouldnt hang laundry on the balcony, he says, sitting on the sofa in the darkened living room they once shared. A pouting portrait of Sebnem is tucked into the frame of a mirror on the opposite wall. So when police implied she had killed herself by jumping out of a hotel window, Abdullah was stunned. She was my daughter for 29 years its impossible she jumped from that height, he says. If she had wanted to kill herself, she would have taken pills or something else. Theres no way she would have done this. What the police hadnt mentioned was that there was another person in the hotel room at the time his daughter had allegedly hurled herself to her death. * * * Sebnem had told her father she was going to visit friends in Istanbul. To her friends she had mentioned a married man she was going to meet not for anything serious, just a weekend of fun. He was a commercial ship captain shed seen off and on for about a year. Abdullah was a little perturbed when she called from an unknown number to say she had lost her phone: his normally confident daughter sounded out of sorts. He laughed and gently told her to call her phone on the one in her hand. It was the last time they would ever speak. The next thing Abdullah remembers is being shaken awake around dawn on the day his daughter was due to return. His distressed brother-in-law said Sebnem had been in an accident. Within minutes they had piled into the car, starting a frantic five-hour journey to Istanbul. Abdullah remembered the call from the unknown number as he crossed into Istanbul, and dialled it. I couldnt hold her; she died in my arms, an unfamiliar male voice said, before abruptly hanging up. This was how Abdullah learned his daughter was dead. The police had failed to disclose a key detail to Sebnem's father: she was not alone on the night she died He was shown Sebnems body in a municipal morgue; he could see blood seeping on to the metal table. Mortuary workers handed him a document saying she had fallen 9 metres (30ft) from a hotel window on to metal railings below. Abdullah was too deep in shock to read it, let alone understand what it implied. The moment he entered the local police station, officers asked if Sebnem had been suicidal, then bombarded him with questions about her mental health but he got the feeling they had already made up their minds. They were guiding me to believe it was suicide, he says. But they never provided any evidence if they had, I would have taken it and moved on. There was a lot Abdullah didnt yet understand as he sat in an Istanbul police station on that hot day in June five years ago. Prosecutors in Turkey hold the power to judge whether any death warrants investigation in the crucial initial hours; in Sebnems case, police visited the scene, but the prosecutor did not, indicating the authorities didnt see any need to investigate whether she had been pushed to her death. But even as Abdullah was forced to field questions about his daughters mental health, the police had failed to disclose a key detail. Sebnem was not alone on the night she died. The man in the hotel room with her, the last person to see her alive, was also at the police station, to give a witness statement he was not yet considered a suspect. Commercial captain Timucin Bayhan told police he didnt see her fall as he was asleep in another room in the hotel suite: I heard a thud I thought she might have fallen down the stairs as she was drunk. An autopsy would show Sebnem had significant alcohol in her blood. A hotel worker would give evidence that Sebnem appeared to be drunk on the day she died. But Yunus Gencay, who had worked with her from 2016 to 2019 and who accompanied Abdullah to the morgue and police station, later testified that she wasnt known as a big drinker. He also said when they met in the police station yard that day, Bayhan gave him a different account: that he had gone down to the hotel reception to collect a beer delivery when he heard a noise. After returning to find their room empty, he ran downstairs, where Sebnem passed away in his arms. He and his lawyer deny this exchange ever happened. In his initial statement to police, Bayhan said he warned Sebnem she might fall. Dont sit by the window, something will happen to you, he recalled telling her. * * * Hundreds of women are recorded in Turkish government data every year as having taken their lives by throwing themselves from a high place. The numbers have grown exponentially: one in every four female suicides in Turkey is now attributed to this cause, compared with one in five 10 years ago. State records for 2024 state more than 250 women died this way. Their grieving families, along with campaigners against gender-based violence, say these figures conceal cases where women did not jump but were pushed. Many say they have struggled for years to get justice and claim officials are ignoring or obscuring femicides murders of women targeted because of their gender. Autopsies start at the crime scene: police must treat these cases as suspicious and collect all the evidence available, says doctor and womens rights campaigner Gulsum Kav. But even if they do, prosecutors can still decide its an accident or a suicide and close the case. The increase in these cases, she says, is linked to improved forensic techniques. We used to see women dying due to poisoning, but now, with blood tests, you can see if someone was poisoned. So we see a decrease in that and an increase in deaths by falling. Its harder to prove if these are a suicide, an accident or a femicide. Kav has spent much of her professional life trying to get the Turkish state to take gendered violence seriously, founding the group We Will Stop Femicide (WWSF) 15 years ago. Turkey discloses official statistics on femicide in an annual statement by interior minister Ali Yerlikaya, who last year declared triumphantly that only 217 women had been killed in the first 10 months of 2025. (In 2024 he was criticised for citing 32 cases in which he claimed female victims had not complied with restraining orders against violent partners: They did not obey our warning, opened the door to a man, and he shot her inside.) But Kav says the Turkish government systematically undercounts femicides. WWSF collect its own data and says 2024 was a record year for violence against women, recording 394 femicides and 258 suspicious deaths, 40 of which were attributed to falling. What frustrates Kav is that forensics experts have ways to judge whether someone was pushed or fell. Researchers from the Netherlands developed computer modelling several years ago to answer this question. Campaigners in Turkey scored a landmark victory in 2019 with the conviction of businessman Cagatay Aksu for the killing of Sule Cet, a 23-year-old student, after a physics report by a forensics expert proved he had pushed her from the 20th floor of an Ankara high-rise. In Kavs view, suspicious deaths by falling could be conclusively investigated with proper forensics. * * * It was at Sebnems funeral, the day after her death, that doubts began to increase. As friends and family gathered in the Kokers apartment, Abdullah and Sebnems childhood best friend, Nevraz Sgn, shared their rising scepticism about the idea that she had killed herself. A family friend who is a police officer joined them. He asked Abdullah for Sebnems details to access the witness statements gathered in Istanbul, then told him, I read the statements. This is a homicide. This was how Abdullah learned Sebnem was not alone before she died. He called Bayhan again, to go over what happened. The way he told the story was very different from what I heard at the police station, Abdullah says. He described it more like she fell or there was an accident. After that conversation, we noticed contradictions. That Sebnem would sit near an open window high up, let alone jump from there to her death, made no sense to Sgn. The pair were lifelong friends who grew up on the same street in Izmir. A bond formed during childhood sleepovers became a teenage alliance, planning nights out and battling anyone they felt might hold them back. Sgn recalls her friend as a social butterfly who liked to party but never overdid it, fond of spontaneous trips to a nearby beach town. She had a softer side, though often tucking her father in when he fell asleep on the sofa after a few drinks and was weighing a move to join her mother and brother in Canada. She was always going to do exactly what she wanted to do, Sgn says, proudly. Usually she was dating several people at the same time, and this guy happened to be one of them; it wasnt a serious thing. Still reeling from her loss, Sgn, a lawyer, stepped up to represent the Koker family. First, she visited the little three-storey hotel where Sebnem fell to her death. When local media released security camera footage of the couple fighting on a dark street outside it Sebnem in a summer dress, squaring her shoulders at Bayhan Sgns suspicions grew. She spoke with waiters in a nearby fish restaurant, who recalled the pair angrily leaving what was meant to be a romantic dinner there. Sgn also got access to the police records, including a video they took inside the hotel room the morning after Sebnems death. This appears to show evidence of a clash: large spots of blood on the floor and a torn dark green-painted fingernail tangled in the bedsheet. Then there were Sebnems conversations with her friends. In a text, she told one, Hatice, that Bayhan had been reading her messages. Then she overheard him on the phone talking to his wife, using the same nicknames as he did for her. I couldnt have learned a better lesson, she said. This entire fling had been a waste of her time. The day before she died, Sebnem called another friend, Ufuk Kose, who works just outside Istanbul. Kose later told police she had sounded anxious. She said, Im in a bit of a tight spot. If I call you, can you come and pick me up? Sebnem never called back. Sgn hounded the prosecutor and the authorities interviewed Bayhan again this time as a suspect. A week after Sebnems death, Bayhan told the prosecutor the pair had been drinking since the early afternoon before arguing over his refusal to leave his wife; she tore off her fingernail by tugging on his arm. Then he offered new information he hadnt mentioned when interviewed as a witness: that day, Sebnem had discussed a suicide attempt from over a decade earlier, by taking pills. She took antidepressants for a while, he said, but disliked the weight she gained. The prosecutor wouldnt say why he thought it was a suicide. He was supposed to go to the scene, but he didnt After this conversation he fell asleep in another room, he said, before waking to a loud noise. The window was open and he peered out to see Sebnems body on the railings below. I had no motive to kill Sebnem or to encourage her to commit suicide, he said. I didnt see how she fell. I dont know if she committed suicide. When the prosecutor sought arrest, compelling him to appear in court, Bayhan maintained his innocence. Witnesses had heard shouting but only because he had to yell at Sebnem to get her to listen after a day of drinking, he said. I kept my distance I warned her that she could fall out of the window because she was drunk, he added. He was released on bail to await trial. Sgn began to fixate on crime scene photographs so gruesome that the first time she saw them she fainted. They show the contorted position Sebnem landed in, arched away from the window, red hair skimming the ground. The railings on which she was impaled circle a patio below, covered in netting. When investigators threw a weighted mannequin from the hotel window to simulate Sebnems fall, the results suggested her body must have fallen rather than been pushed. When asked about the earlier suicide attempt, Sgn is dismissive. She was a character who wanted things to happen on her schedule, she says, so one time she took some of Abdullahs pills in a show of defiance. Sebnem hadnt taken antidepressants for years, she adds. * * * Three years earlier, in February 2018, two passing medics spotted a group at the side of a busy highway on the outskirts of Istanbul and went to help. The group were gathered around the still-warm, motionless body of Aysun Yldrm, debating what to do after finding her on concrete steps below the three-storey office block she worked in. Alarmed, the medics called an ambulance. For her mother Husniye, life is split into before and after she got the call to say Aysun was in hospital. She had called her sister to say shed be late for dinner a couple of hours before, she says. Then her friend called. Husniye and her husband Ibrahim raced to the hospital, where they were told Aysun was in a critical condition. She was pronounced dead soon after. They believe if she had been taken to hospital earlier, she might have lived. Retelling the worst evening of her life in the familys living room, Husniye describes it as an out of body experience. The prosecutor assigned to the case told Ibrahim he was so confident Aysun had jumped 17 metres (56 feet) from her office window to her death that they would release her body for burial only if he signed a document attesting she had taken her own life. Husniye begged her husband not to sign and eventually a workaround was found. The prosecutor wouldnt say why he thought it was a suicide, Ibrahim says. He was supposed to go to the scene, but he didnt. Ibrahim kneels on the living room rug to demonstrate the strange position his daughter was found in. It makes them doubt whether she fell at all. I didnt believe it was suicide There was no blood, he says. An autopsy showed Aysun died from internal organ damage and a brain haemorrhage due to the impact of the fall. When Husniye and Ibrahim talk about their daughter, they describe a young woman on the brink of achieving her dreams. Sociable and hard-working, the 26-year-old had taken a job in a shipping office as she prepared for an exam to become a customs official. Husniye knew she had gone out for coffee a few times with a client, but felt her daughter wanted to end the relationship. When they spoke the night before she died, Aysun was also talking about quitting her job to focus on her exam. After she fell, Husniye and Ibrahim began visiting the prosecutor to press him for details of the investigation. They grew frustrated at the slow pace. Ibrahim describes chasing forensic authorities, and being handed a bag of his daughters belongings. They could see where she died from the prosecutors window. The Yldrms believe there was evidence to cast doubt on Aysun having died by suicide, if prosecutors were willing to examine it including that she may not have been alone when she fell. They point to messages Aysun had sent to the client she had been seeing, politely but firmly asking him to stop contacting her. Perhaps when he ended his marriage they could talk: Until then, dont write to me. Take care of yourself I entrust you to God, she wrote, employing a common Turkish phrase used to let someone down gently. Aysuns client was interviewed by police as a witness in the hours after she died. He described how he grew worried after she didnt answer his texts, before arriving at her office to see the lights were on. Distressed, he called her boss, who he says found her body on the steps. In later statements he describes visiting the offices, but waiting in a friends car. His friend also spoke to police, but in his account he says he discovered Aysuns body on the concrete steps below her office. He recounted checking for a pulse, and finding she was still alive. Years later, standing outside the office block, there is little sign of what happened there. The steps where Aysuns body was found have been smoothed over with concrete. There is a large dent in some railings, caused when police hurled a mannequin from the window to try to verify how Aysun could have fallen. But the mechanics whose workshops sit below Aysuns office remember her and one recalls the night she died. Car painter Orhan Harman peers into the distance and scratches at his chin as he tells the story he has clearly told and retold. He was working late that night when he heard a scream and a noise like the thud of something heavy. Thinking there had been a car accident, he walked out of his workshop and peered round the corner, but saw nothing. He went back to work. There were two people in a room: one became a witness and the other a corpse. Why? Harman recalls another detail: a familiar face had shown up that night, a long-haired man whose car hed spotted Aysun getting into a few times: Maybe it was her boyfriend. Harman had got the impression Aysuns bosses liked this man, so when he asked for the key to the building, Harman, seeing the lights on, let him in. Theres an extra door upstairs. If there was any danger, she could have just not let him in. He didnt look like a guy whod do anything, he muses. But eight years later, Harman struggles to remember if he opened the door before or after he heard the scream. He gave the police a statement at the time, he says, but never thought about it after and no one had asked until now. The only reminders of what happened here are when occasional protesters show up. She was so friendly, so nice, we were always saying hello. Im glad I didnt see her body; it would have hit me so hard, Harman says. In December 2018, the prosecutor closed Aysuns case after concluding it was a suicide. Husniye and Ibrahim were distraught. In their view, the justice system they once believed in had betrayed them. Searching desperately for help, Ibrahim remembered Kav, the doctor and campaigner he once worked with at a public hospital. He picked up the phone and called her. By chance she was sitting next to Leyla Suren, one of WWSFs lawyers, who agreed to take on Aysuns case. Sitting in her wood-panelled office in central Istanbul, Suren describes her shock when she opened the case file. Police had collected plenty of evidence, but Suren felt the prosecutor had ignored key parts of it, including the messages on Aysuns phone. There was enough evidence for a criminal case, she says. Forensic evidence had sat unexamined: it showed Aysun had DNA under her fingernails that matched the client she had been texting the night she died. Suren requested phone location data, which showed he was at the crime scene within four hours of Aysuns death. Police had also found a footprint on a couch in her office. There were no fingerprints on the narrow window she allegedly jumped from. But you cant jump from there youd have to hold on to the window, Suren says. After she applied to Turkeys constitutional court to get the case reopened, a new prosecutor took it up and arrested Aysuns client in late 2019. Things finally seemed to be moving forward until the world was shut down by Covid-19 . The client was held in pre-trial detention for five months, before being released. Little has changed in the years since, despite Surens efforts. Progress has been so slow, Suren says, that no matter what happens, she intends to take Aysuns case to the European court of human rights. She believes the Turkish authorities discriminated against Aysun by failing to investigate her death because of her gender. Husniye and Ibrahim are still groping in the dark, trying to figure out what happened. Their pain is palpable as we talk in their sweltering living room, a portrait of Aysun smiling from the wall above the television. It feels like there is only justice for the powerful, Husniye says. Even if it comes late, justice must be served. * * * Progress was similarly slow in the investigation into Sebnems death. Abdullah grew so desperate that he went on a local daytime television show that specialises in unsolved crimes. As its investigators got close to giving their account of what happened that night, he got a call from the prosecutor, inviting him to a meeting. Bayhan would be indicted on murder charges, he said, but he would issue a gag order meaning Abdullah could no longer appear on television in his search for answers. Still, Abdullah used the meeting to ask questions such as why the prosecutor had declined to visit the crime scene. There were two people in a room: one became a witness and the other a corpse. Why? Turkeys justice ministry declined to comment for this article on either Sebnems or Aysuns cases. Bayhans case finally made it to court in early 2022. His lawyer said he was innocent, pointing out if Sebnem had felt in danger, she could have told someone, and adding that Bayhan was consistent in his statements to prosecutors and the court. Bayhan said theyd argued but had no physical contact other than when Sebnem tore her nail on his arm. Asked about his varying accounts of that night, he said prosecutors hadnt written down everything hed said, and accused Gencay and Abdullah of lying in their testimonies. If anyone has been involved in a struggle for justice, it is me. I understand the familys pain, but I will not allow them to ruin my life. I did not kill Sebnem, Bayhan said. Sgn asked the court to consider that hotel staff had entered the room after the police left, potentially interfering with key evidence such as fingerprints on the window frame. She also demanded a physics report be commissioned from a forensics expert to analyse how Sebnem fell, just like in the Sule Cet case from 2019 this would show definitively, beyond the mannequin test, whether she was pushed. Her request was denied. Bayhan was acquitted in late 2022. The court found that, while it had heard many witnesses, there was a lack of concrete evidence to prove beyond any doubt that he committed murder. The judge highlighted Sebnems high level of intoxication. The couple arguing was part of the normal course of life and witness testimony, plus the mannequin test, were not consistent with the idea that Bayhan pushed or threw Sebnem out the window. The judgment also cited the Turkish constitution, which obliges the state to treat women and men equally. Both Abdullah and Sgn believe evidence to show Bayhan pushed Sebnem was available, if only the court had agreed to examine it. Bayhans lawyer disagrees. This was a tragic incident. Whether Ms Koker fell or jumped is something we do not know. What we do know, according to the findings examined by the court, is that my client did not harm Ms Koker. Sgn appealed against Bayhans acquittal twice until it reached Turkeys highest appeals court. In June 2024, its chief public prosecutors office said the initial trial failed to interview key witnesses and examine evidence tampering and that to understand what happened, the authorities should commission a physics report by a forensic expert, as Sgn had demanded. Bayhans lawyer maintains this would still exonerate him. Sgn and Abdullah still hold out hope that Sebnems death could be re-examined at the top appeals court. But, as with Aysuns case, months have become years of waiting. Sgn has begun working as a lawyer for WWSF. When we meet in a sunlit rooftop restaurant in Izmir, she has just come from a court appearance. Some prosecutors in Turkey take violence against women seriously, she says, but its a struggle against a system. She carries the gruesome crime scene pictures of Sebnem on her phone, ready to work on the case at a moments notice. She wants to ensure that Abdullah never sees them. Abdullah, meanwhile, remains trapped in the apartment he once shared with his daughter, fixating on the details of her death. He longs to join his wife and son in Canada, but fears if he leaves, prosecutors will close Sebnems case. Instead he spends his days with Pera, the ageing King Charles spaniel she left behind, who whines in distress at even a minor separation. Sebnems room remains a shrine, a copy of the graphic novel Persepolis on the bookshelf waiting to be read, her scrubs laid out on the bed as though she might return. Her cherry-red sneakers from the night she died lie nearby, near a door she never used, leading to the balcony she feared to stand on. Additional reporting: Nevin Sungur Omid Djalili: Iranians will fight to the very end against this regime On a late January afternoon, British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili arrived at The Independents offices wearing a navy blue military-style jacket. Im dressed like Zelensky, the 60-year-old says, in the playful manner seen in his stand-up comedy and acting roles in blockbuster films including The Mummy and Gladiator. More recently, since the start of the protests in Iran, and the deadly crackdown by the Islamic regime, Djalili has been fighting for Irans freedom. Djalili has given over his social media to the voiceless, as he describes them, the Iranians stuck in an internet blackout imposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Protests had initially been triggered by soaring prices and a collapsing currency but quickly escalated into nationwide demonstrations demanding an end to the government. Omid Djalili has given over his social media to the voiceless in Iran stuck in an internet blackout imposed by the Islamic Republic (The Independent) An hour after the internet shutdown began, at around 8pm on 8 January, the regime began firing lethal rounds at protesters. The internet blackout was an attempt by the Iranian leadership to cover up the massacres that took place across 8-9 January, according to human rights organisations including Amnesty International. As a result, the death toll has been impossible to verify. According to medical reports collected by The Sunday Times, at least 16,500-18,000 people have died to date. Djalili references the research of the International Centre for Human Rights (ICHR), a New York-based advocacy group. The ICHR estimates that, since the start of the protests on 28 December over 43,000 people have been killed by the regime and 350,000 injured 10,000 of whom have been blinded. A protester lights a cigarette off a burning poster of Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in Berlin ((AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)) The ICHR says that its estimates are based on investigations, field research, verification of received images and videos, and interviews with multiple sources inside Iran. Born in London to Iranian parents, Djalili has only been to Iran twice in his life. Once when he was three and the final time in 1971 when he was just six years old. Ever since his rise to fame in the mid-1990s with his breakthrough stand-up show Short, Fat, Kebab Shop Owners Son which won critical acclaim and led to regular TV and film work he has remained one of the most recognisable British-Iranians in the UK. As a result, he has always kept a watchful eye on the country of his parents birth, and has been an outspoken voice on human rights abuses in Iran. It seems that every time theres an uprising, the people are not just crushed, theyre clobbered and killed, he says. Djalili has spoken out about human rights abuses in Iran (PA) He was particularly moved by the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement that was sparked by the police killing of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini. Amini had been arrested for failing to wear a hijab properly and died in police custody. Amini was Kurdish, part of a minority in Iran that has been historically persecuted. Djalili and his family are followers of the Bahai faith. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahais have faced systematic persecution at the hands of the state. Some Bahais are blocked from jobs and universities. Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has confiscated properties from Bahai families. As tensions continue to simmer between Washington and Tehran, President Donald Trump has ordered a massive Armada of US Navy ships off the coast of Iran. The USS Abraham Lincoln is part of Donald Trumps massive armada in the Middle East (US Navy) Iran has warned that it will retaliate against any US attack instantly. Trump has said he wants to negotiate with Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear programme. For Djalili, the time for negotiation with the Iranian regime is over; it is anathema to try to make deals with a regime that massacres its own civilians. Its really important that the armada is there right now, Djalili says, but he believes its not just for America or Israel to intervene; this is a time when the whole world should be standing up. He was glad to see Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) placed on the European Unions terrorist list following the deadly crackdown. This will make it more difficult for countries to have any dealings with the regime, he suggests. Members of Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps march during ab annual military parade (AFP/Getty) When considering previous US military campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, Djalili recognises that fears around intervention not necessarily leading to democracy are legitimate. But, Iranian people are not going to say no if anyones going to stand up for them, he says. Djalili doesnt see himself as a political figure; he says he is merely relaying what he observes from the people of Iran. From the videos he has seen, he believes exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah, has the support of the Iranian protesters. If foreign intervention were to come and the regime were toppled, he would welcome Pahlavi as a custodian of transition towards a new, democratic government. Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah who was toppled in 1979 (AP) He seems like a very reasonable, educated person, and his heart is in the right place, Djalili says. Being a prominent voice for the Iranian people in Britain does take a toll. The day Djalili spoke with The Independent, he had driven four hours from Bridport, Dorset, where he had been performing on his stand-up tour. Before starting his shows, Djalili goes out to speak with the audience to highlight that this is a very difficult time for Iranians and humanity as a whole. Many are not even aware of what is happening in Iran, or they struggle to believe it. People dont believe that security forces in another country can just go up to unarmed civilians and shoot them in the head, Djalili says. But, at the same time, you see the unbelievable courage of Iranians. Theyre still fighting back and theyre saying, We will fight you to the very end, youre going to have to kill us all. Djalili explains to his stand-up audiences what is happening in Iran before the shows (Omid Djalili) Some Iranian friends have called him to suggest that maybe he should be working less. Its true, sometimes he struggles to balance his day job as a comedian alongside his role fighting for the rights of Iranians. Trying to be funny when so many terrible things are happening in Iran can feel like a contradiction. But then he considers those people in Iran who continue to protest in the face of inordinate risks to their lives, and those of their family and loved ones. When people are together and were joyful and were laughing and were discussing these things, that is exactly what the regime does not want us to do, he says. Then Djalili pauses and shifts in his chair defiantly. And you know what? Im going to do it, he says. It cannot be right that there are still 2,400 prisoners in Britain who are detained, with no date given for their release, under a law that was repealed in 2012 because it was so self-evidently cruel and counterproductive. The coalition government scrapped the law allowing judges to impose sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) for offenders who were neither guilty of murder nor mentally ill, but who were regarded as a danger to the public. It was widely regarded as a mistake, including by Lord Blunkett, the home secretary who introduced it, by many of the judges who imposed IPP sentences, and by Lord Thomas, the former lord chief justice of England and Wales. It was used more often than Lord Blunkett intended, including for relatively trivial offences such as stealing a mobile phone or a laptop. It had a disastrous effect on the mental health of many of those who felt they had been jailed without hope for whom the only way out was to prove a negative to the Parole Board: that they were no longer a threat to society. Some of these prisoners have now served nearly 20 years, while thousands of people convicted of more serious offences have long since been released. In the 18 months of the Labour government alone, thousands more prisoners, many of them also guilty of more serious offences than IPP prisoners, have been released early to ease overcrowding. Simply stating the facts of the injustice suffered by these prisoners ought to be enough to persuade Lord Timpson, the prisons minister, David Lammy, the justice secretary, and Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to end it. Unfortunately, the fear of being blamed for the release of someone who then goes on to commit a terrible crime has prevented them from doing the right thing. This is understandable but illogical. The government is releasing thousands of other prisoners early, any of whom could reoffend. And, as Lord Thomas says, it is wrong in principle to imprison anyone for what they might do rather than for what they have done. We hope, therefore, that ministers will read Amy-Clare Martins powerful account of Haroon Ahmeds experience of the IPP system. It does not seek to portray Mr Ahmed as blameless. He was given an IPP sentence at the age of 19 for his part in a robbery, after what was already a long history of offending since the age of 12. He reacted badly when the Parole Board refused, without interviewing him, to release him after he served the minimum of two-and-a-half years. He escaped several times, each time landing himself in more trouble with the courts. He says he was fighting the system as he refused to accept the open-ended sentence. He was eventually released after 12 years, but he was returned to jail a year later after he was convicted of actual bodily harm and his indefinite sentence resumed. Unlike some other IPP prisoners who were driven ever deeper into despair, however, Mr Ahmed matured, completing GCSEs and A-levels behind bars and finally, three years ago, launching an appeal against his original sentence. In November last year, by which time he was aged 37, the Court of Appeal freed him, concluding that the imposition of the sentence of second-last resort on this young applicant was not justified. His IPP sentence the sentence of second-last resort was quashed and replaced with a five-year term, which he had already served. After 18 years he returned home to Derby a free man. His is just one mans story, but it shines an unforgiving light on hundreds of similar cases. We are basically hostages, Mr Ahmed told The Independent. We have grown from teenagers to men, and we are watching people with much worse offending come to custody and be released. It is time for Lord Timpson, Mr Lammy and Sir Keir to right this terrible wrong. Liudmylas granddaughter Khrystyna, 36, wraps her in a warm blanket she has brought on one of her regular visits to the pensioner stranded high in a tower block - Iva Sidash for The Telegraph Liudmyla Oleshko has not left her freezing apartment in Kyiv for two months, resorting to using six jumpers and a battery pack to warm up as Russian air strikes leave her without electricity and water for days on end. The 75-year-old spends her days shuffling around, swaddled in several layers and three pairs of socks as temperatures outside plunge to as low as -20C. In the past two months, Russia has ratcheted up its strikes on Ukraines energy grid, cutting off power and heating to much of the country during a bitterly cold winter. Liudmyla, who lives alone on the 12th floor of her block, has not been able to tackle the flights of stairs since the attacks cut power to the lift and plunged the stairwell into darkness. It is the second time war has rendered her life in Ukraine unbearable. She was forced to flee her home in Mariupol in February 2022 before a months-long Russian bombardment of the city eventually led to its occupation. She is one of millions living in Kyiv and beyond without access to light, heating and water after Russia repeatedly hammered the energy grid in an effort to force Ukrainians into submission. Yet, in her frost-bitten home, Liudmyla remains defiant: We are Ukrainians. We are strong people. Thats all. The unusually cold winter and the toll of nearly four years of war have made the impact of Vladimir Putins attacks that much worse this time. On Thursday, Donald Trump declared with fanfare that Putin had agreed to a one-week cessation of its long-range strikes on Ukraines energy grid, saying it was very nice of the Russian president to acquiesce to the request. But relief in Ukraine was short-lived after Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the pause would only last until Sunday, just as temperatures are set to plummet once again as low as -22C. Putin is hoping that plunging the Ukrainian capital into unbearable cold will crush morale, forcing Ukraine to surrender its land, resources and people. But Ukrainians like Liudmyla are refusing to be deterred, and resorting to unusual methods to stay warm. Credit: X/@JayinKyiv Some are using heating bricks on gas stoves as improvised radiators and pitching tents in their own homes to trap warmth. Liudmyla told The Telegraph that in the few hours she gets electricity each day, she becomes a hive of industry, washing her hair, cleaning the apartment and frying as much food as she can before the power turns off again. This month, following a Russian attack, she was left with no electricity or water for three days. As I felt the frost strike, I sat down and I made 120 varenyky dumplings. Then at least Im doing something. She keeps her food warm all day by putting it on top of a battery. And she keeps fresh food brought to her by her granddaughter in containers balanced on her balcony. Credit: X/@JayinKyiv Sometimes other unorthodox solutions present themselves. When she wakes up freezing, she dances to warm up. When I get too cold, I just drink a glass of vodka or cognac, she says as she laughs. When her flat flooded with icy water from an upstairs flat, she rubbed her hands and feet with vodka to stop herself from getting sick from the cold. Liudmyla spends her days swaddled in several layers of clothes to keep out the biting cold - Iva Sidash for The Telegraph Liudmyla is not always in such a buoyant mood. She sometimes calls her granddaughter Khrystyna in tears, talking about how she wishes she could return home to Mariupol and see the sea again. But what remains of her city, now under Russian occupation, will be unrecognisable. Credit: X/@EuromaidanPR For those with young children, the struggle to keep going can become unbearable. One such resident is Iryna Makarchuk, a 33-year-old mother to 13-month-old Marko who lives in the affluent commuter city of Vyshneve, two kilometres south of Kyiv. Ms Makarchuk told The Telegraph that with only intermittent electricity and water in short supply, she has been bathing her young son using bottled drinking water, and bought a generator on credit so she could keep refrigerated food cool and turn the lights on at night. Living high up in an apartment block, she has to carry Marko in her arms up nine flights of stairs in the pitch black, sometimes donning a head torch. Iryna Makarchuk has to carry her son Marko in her arms up nine flights of stairs in the pitch black, sometimes donning a head torch - Iva Sidash for The Telegraph After an attack in mid-January, she only had one hour of electricity every day for a week one hour a day to cook, bathe Marko and herself, charge all of her devices and consider the laundry. I had to stay in a good mood because of my child, Ms Makarchuk said as she fed Marko hot chicken and rice cooked on top of a gas cylinder. But as a mother, its difficult for me. She lamented that the lack of electricity means it is hard to cook fresh, nutritious meals for her son. You scroll on Instagram and see these meals for babies, toddlers, with fresh fruits and vegetables. And you think, wow and hes eating something from a restaurant, or leftovers from yesterday, she said. At least, with their new thick, insulated windows, the overnight attacks are less likely to jolt them awake in the small hours, though they still have to hide in the bath or basement when Russia fires missiles and drones towards the city. The Russians want to destroy us as people And when it comes to the one-week ceasefire agreed by Putin, Ms Makarchuk says she has little faith because its Russia. They have never done what they promised, what they told us. Its going to be -22 degrees at night. And the Russians, they want to kill us, they want to destroy us as people. Not even as a country, but as people, she said. We saw it every year. You think, how can this get worse. And then every year, it gets worse. Liudmylas granddaughter Khrystyna also says nobody in Kyiv believes that the ceasefire will last. Were all preparing for another attack in the next few days. Khrystyna, who delivers food and warm clothing to Liudmyla while caring for her young child, said it was heartbreaking to see her grandmother stranded in her freezing apartment. Its unfair, she told The Telegraph while putting a shawl around her grandmothers shoulders. She doesnt have a place to go back to, because her house [in Mariupol] was bombed by Russia people like that, they have this big trauma already, and now they have to be reborn again because of this crisis in Kyiv. In response to the crisis, the Ukrainian capital has opened 1,300 so-called invincibility points heated tents, rail carriages and public buildings where residents can charge devices and receive hot food while curfews have been relaxed to allow travel to the refuge points during the freezing nights. Yet many elderly and infirm residents, like Liudmyla, remain effectively marooned in high-rise buildings without lifts or heating, unable to reach shelter. At one heated tent in the Voskresenka neighbourhood, nestled between a cluster of blacked-out apartment blocks more than 20 storeys high, The Telegraph saw volunteers serving hot tea and ladling out servings of bohrach, a hearty meat stew with root vegetables. Children sat at long tables with crayons and games, still wearing bobble hats and layers of jumpers underneath puffer coats, while queues of elderly and parents piled in, their shoes squeaking on the canvas floor awash with icy black sludge. Its the coldest winter Ive ever known. Mostly we have just two, three hours of power. We wear the same clothes inside that we wear outside and we come here for hot food, said 27-year-old Tetiana as she left the tent with her five-year-old son Andriy to trudge home down a road without street lighting. We thought about leaving Kyiv, but theres nowhere to go. It feels like we will stay here until we freeze to death. On Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky cast new bitter recriminations at Europe for what he saw as a failure to safeguard Ukraines shattered energy infrastructure with adequate air defence provisions, as huge attacks on January 9, 20 and 24 left extensive damage across the grid. Imagine this: I know that ballistic missiles are incoming against our energy infrastructure, I know that Patriot systems are deployed, and I know that there will be no electricity, because there are no missiles to intercept them, the Ukrainian president said. Credit: X /@IAPonomarenko Energy repair workers have become local heroes for their rapid round-the-clock work, but Denys Shmyhal, the energy minister, said on Jan 27 that 710,000 people remained without electricity. A spokesman for DTEK, Ukraines largest private energy company, told The Telegraph that its operators were forced to restore 277 substations, transformer and distribution points and 2,426 power lines with a length of more than 8,000 kilometres in 2025 after they were damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks. Several of the workers have died throughout the war in the process of restoring the strained, precious grid. And the week-long ceasefire is only a small reprieve during the sub-zero conditions. Kaja Kallas, the EUs top diplomat, told reporters on Thursday that Ukraine was facing a humanitarian catastrophe. Its a very hard winter and Ukrainians are really suffering. There is a humanitarian catastrophe coming there, she said at a meeting in Brussels. As the city awaits the resumption of bombardment, Kyivs residents know they are facing more grinding months ahead with no way out, only forward. I wish I could just go home, Liudmyla told The Telegraph, gazing out of the window at the dark, towering clusters of apartment blocks all around. I want to see the sea. Renowned activist Peter Tatchell has been arrested at a pro-Palestine march in central London, his foundation said on Saturday. Mr Tatchell, 74, was arrested, it said, over a placard reading: Globalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israels occupation of Gaza & West Bank. In a statement released by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, Mr Tatchell said Saturdays arrest was an attack on free speech. He said: The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law. The police are engaged in overreach by making it an arrestable offence. This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalise peaceful protests. Police speak to a protester at a pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday (Yui Mok/PA Wire) Mr Tatchell said intifada, an Arab word, means uprising, rebellion or resistance against Israels occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. He added: It does not mean violence and is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against Jewish people. Mr Tatchell was taken to Sutton police station to be detained, according to his foundation. The Metropolitan Police said in December that protesters chanting globalise the intifada would be arrested because the context has changed in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack. In a post on X, the Met said: Officers policing the Palestine Coalition protest have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offence. He was seen carrying a sign including the words globalise the intifada. Peter Tatchell insisted that his placard was not antisemitic (PA) Mr Tatchell had been marching near police officers and with the sign on display for about a mile from Russell Square to the top of the Strand when the group came across a counterprotest, according to a witness. At that point, he was stopped and manhandled by 10 officers, according to Jacky Summerfield, who was with him. I was shoved back behind a cordon of officers and unable to speak to him after that, she said. I couldnt get any closer to hear anything more than that; it was for Section 5 [of the Public Order Act]. There had been no issue until that, he was walking near the police officers, she added. Nobody had said or done anything. The Senate voted on Friday afternoon to avert a government shutdown while also passing a stopgap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security as Democrats and Republicans negotiate guardrails for immigration enforcement agencies. The Senate voted 71-29 to pass five of the major funding bills in a package known as a minibus. Those bills will fund the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Defense, Labor and Transportation. In addition, the legislation includes a two-week stopgap to fund the Department of Homeland Security as the Senate begins negotiations to enact guardrails for the department. This comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed Renee Good earlier this month and Customs and Border Protection shot and killed Alex Pretti. The agency is being run by people who have no idea what they're doing and don't seem to give a s**t about the constitutional rights of the American people, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told The Independent about ICE. The Senate passed legislation to fund most parts of the government until the end of the fiscal year, except for the Department of Homeland Security, which will be funded for two weeks. (AFP/Getty) But because the legislation changed since it passed the House of Representatives last week, it will have to go back to the House next week for a final vote before it goes to President Donald Trumps desk. The president has indicated he would sign the legislation. I'm very optimistic, I think there's a lot of consensus that we need to make some reforms, Sen Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, told The Independent. Democrats hope to enact a series of reforms to both agencies, such as ending roving patrols in cities, removing masks from ICE officers, forcing them to wear body cameras and obtaining a judicial warrant before going into peoples homes. The vote is a sign that Republicans understand their increased unpopularity when it comes to immigration and deportations. During the 2024 election, Trump pledged mass deportations of immigrations who came to the United States illegally. But a poll from Fox News released this week showed that 55 percent of Americans disapprove of how Trump has handled immigration. At the same time, the poll showed that 52 percent of Americans think Republicans would do a better job handling immigration. Multiple Republicans have called for an investigation into Alex Pretti and two Republican senators called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to step aside, which earned the ire of Trump. Because government money runs out at midnight, the government will go into a shutdown this weekend. The House of Representatives is set to have a vote on the legislation early next week. But the legislation does not guarantee that ICE will be reined in. The Homeland Security spending bill would have given ICE $10 billion, but ICE already received $75 billion in mandatory spending outside of appropriations last year, thanks to the One Big, Beautiful Bill Republicans passed along party lines. Well, one of the things we want to do is to make sure that the reforms we have apply to all the money that ICE is now spending, no matter where it comes from, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told The Independent in his press conference after the vote. During the amendment process, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed an amendment that would have rolled back the $75 billion for ICE. Every Democrat voted for the legislation. In a sign of how difficult reining in ICE will be, only two Republicans voted for the amendment: moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. The Prime Minister can remind the American people why they have so much faith in our British allies - Carl Court/Getty Images The American people regularly list the United Kingdom as our closest ally, and for good reason. We dont just talk about being allies; we actively work together to protect each others interests. Thats why the United Kingdoms possible transfer of the Chagos Archipelago, including the joint US-UK military base on the island of Diego Garcia, to Mauritius is so deeply concerning. Any deal that jeopardises the security of Diego Garcia would not only threaten our shared military installation, but it would also undermine the very idea that the United Kingdom is the type of friend Americans can trust to have our backs, and vice versa. Since the 1970s, Diego Garcia has been the crown jewel of the United Kingdoms military assets. Together, American and British forces have used Diego Garcia to conduct training missions, reload submarines, and respond to tensions throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Most recently, the United States has relocated several B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia to help deter Irans aggression toward demonstrators. Perhaps the only person who truly understands just how valuable Diego Garcia is to the shared security interests of American and British forces in the Indo-Pacific is Chinese president Xi Jinping. Chinese forces have been trying to infiltrate our military installations on Diego Garcia for years, and its no coincidence that China has been aggressively pursuing a relationship with the Mauritian government during that same timeframe. The deal could allow Xi Jinping to gain a military foothold in the Indian Ocean - Vincent Thian/Reuters President Xis charm offensive in Mauritius is fuelled by two significant deals that position the island nation as the final stepping stone to Diego Garcia. Mauritius is a signatory to the Chinese-backed Pelindaba Treaty, otherwise known as the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone treaty, which prohibits the research, stockpiling, and possession of nuclear weapons across the African continent. Mauritius is also a partner to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation trade and security agreement between China and 53 African nations. The Forums 2024 Beijing Action Plan reinvigorated its commitment to building nuclear-weapon-free zones. As a result of these agreements, Mauritius, at minimum, will be under intense pressure and likely a binding legal obligation to provide China with the opportunity to force inspections of the military equipment on Diego Garcia. President Xi has been so eager to see Mauritius take possession of the Chagos Archipelago that he has already been caught floating Chinese spy balloons in the airspace above Diego Garcia in hopes of catching a closer glimpse of the operations underway by American and British troops on the island. The Royal Navy has managed to fend off similar espionage missions by Chinese spy boats along the coast of Diego Garcia, but the effort to deter Chinese intelligence operations would become nearly impossible with Mauritius in control of the surrounding islands. The United Kingdom cannot cede the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius without handing the keys of Diego Garcia to the Chinese Communist Party. The Chagos Islands transfer of sovereignty to Mauritius raises important concerns about military base Diego Garcias long-term security - APFootage / Alamy Stock Photo Even under the best circumstances, the hypothetical 99-year lease of Diego Garcia from Mauritius would drain British taxpayers of millions of pounds per year for a military base so swarmed by Chinese spies that it renders the islands strategic value worthless. Under the worst-case scenario, British taxpayers realise theyre paying billions of pounds for a base we cannot secure and elect a government that will hand over Diego Garcia to Mauritius entirely. Mauritius is our friend, but few countries could withstand the amount of pressure China would exert to dominate Diego Garcia entirely. I have yet to hear a compelling reason as to why the British people should cut ties with the Chagos Islands. In fact, the entire deal with Mauritius only came to fruition because the United Nations kangaroo court issued a non-binding advisory opinion to shame the United Kingdom for its presence in the Indian Ocean. At a time when our adversaries in Russia, China, and Iran are testing the true strength of our military alliances, we cannot allow a United Nations smear campaign against the British people and their territories become yet another fissure in the special relationship that Americans and Britons share. Fortunately, the United Kingdom has time to work with the Trump administration to halt this deal and ensure that the Chagos Archipelago remains a British territory. The Prime Minister can remind the American people why they have so much faith in our British allies by standing strong against the United Nations and protecting our shared national security interests on Diego Garcia. John Kennedy is a US Senator for Louisiana People, including students, attend a rally protesting against ICE, on Friday in lower Manhattan, New York City. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images (Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Thousands chanted and marched in New York City on Friday to protest the Trump administrations escalating mass deportation campaign. Among the protesters were young and old people, all braving plunging cold temperatures in thick coats, hats and gloves. As the sun began setting, demonstrators chanted against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), referring to that agency, the Ku Klux Klan, and fascism in the same breath. Abolish ICE! and No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA! the crowds chanted. They also chanted, Chinga la migra which is a colloquial way to say fuck immigration enforcement in Spanish. Related: Anti-ICE protests being held across US as organizers urge national strike The demonstration in New York was part of a nationwide day of action advocating for no work, no school, no shopping to protest the Trump administrations brutal immigration crackdowns. After a series of speeches at Foley Square, demonstrators began marching north through the ice-covered streets of Manhattan. Brad Lander, a congressional candidate and former New York City comptroller who unsuccessfully ran for mayor, was among those demonstrating after spending days in Minneapolis, where federal agents ignited public outrage after shooting Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti to death on 7 January and 24 January, respectively. People in Minneapolis are heartbroken and they are enraged, Lander said of the two 37-year-old US citizens killings. Lander, who in 2025 repeatedly protested at the New York City ICE office, where immigrants recently detained by the agency are held, also said: They are organizing to protect their neighbors, and they know the eyes of the world are on them. Young people and students led many of the chants on Friday. John Eddy, a student from Las Vegas, came to the anti-ICE protest after refusing to attend class all day. Were students we took the full day off of school, Eddy said. We havent been to any classes at all. We are out here. His friend, Abdou Seye, had just arrived from Minneapolis, where he is from and where his family is based. Really its Fuck ICE, Seye said. You have to do what you have to do. Referring to Pretti and Good, he continued: The thing is, if its them today, its us tomorrow, so we have to keep going. We have to keep this up. Throughout the protests in Minneapolis, Seye observed how officials confronted demonstrators there aggressively. He said his mother, working behind the city hall building, was stuck there for nearly two days because of authorities tactics. Another protester, Julia Parris from Brooklyn, decided to come protest on Friday after watching the mass demonstrations across the country. She had participated in other demonstrations during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests that spread after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd there. I am disgusted, Parris said. There are no strong enough words to describe how I feel about this administration. We are fed up. As demonstrators marched through the streets of New York City, stalling traffic, people in their cars began honking in solidarity. At one point, one man blasted music from his stereo and sat on top of his car, waving and smiling. Beside Good and Pretti, immigration agents under the Trump administrations command have killed Keith Porter in Los Angeles and Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Illinois. Fridays national protest leaders, many of them students at the University of Minnesota, are calling for federal immigration agent to leave Minneapolis after a nearly month-long operation there. The organizers say economic pressure through work stoppages and consumer boycotts is just one way to demand accountability and reform. Sabina Khan (centre) has been campaigning in Sylhet, a city in Bangladesh A London councillor has continued to earn 20,000 from the taxpayer despite campaigning for political office in Bangladesh. Sabina Khan is seeking to represent the Bangladesh National Party in the Golapganj-Beanibazar constituency in national assembly elections in February. Yet she continues to serve Tower Hamlets in east London as a councillor, earning 20,600 a year. This includes 11,898 a year as a councillor plus an extra 8,702 for her role as scrutiny lead for resources, a position that requires her to examine the councils decision-making. Ms Khan is not planning to stand for re-election in Tower Hamlets in May, The Telegraph understands. Tower Hamlets council has previously said that UK law does not automatically disqualify a person from being a councillor solely because they are running for elected office in another country. Ms Khan attended a recent council meeting on Jan 21, according to Tower Hamlets records. However, she has failed to show up for several recent committee meetings, sometimes sending a proxy representative in her place or dialling in remotely. Ms Khan earns 20,600 a year for her role on Tower Hamlets council Social media posts showed Ms Khan campaigning in Sylhet, a city in Bangladesh, earlier this month. Other Tower Hamlets councillors have called for Ms Khan, who represents a ward in Mile End, to resign. In a written question, Amy Lee, a Tower Hamlets Labour councillor, asked at a November committee meeting: Does the Mayor agree with me that Councillor Sabina Khan should resign from her role as lead scrutiny member for Finance and Resources, now she has declared her intention to stand for election in Bangladesh so that someone who is actually spending their time in Tower Hamlets can undertake this important role? At a town hall in January, the council said in response that seeking political office in other countries was unacceptable but that Ms Khan remained committed to her constituents. The council said: Relevant councillors have been informed by the councils monitoring officer that seeking political office in other countries while serving as councillors is unacceptable, and that councillors must focus solely on the residents they represent and on the roles they undertake in the council. Councillor Khan has assured the Aspire Group whip that she remains committed to her constituents and her duties to the council. Ms Khan was elected as a Labour councillor in Tower Hamlets but later defected to the Aspire party. Aspire has controlled Tower Hamlets council since 2022. The party was founded by Lutfur Rahman, the Tower Hamlets mayor, who was banned from public office in 2015 after he was found guilty of electoral misconduct by an election court. He was re-elected in 2022 after the ban expired. The Government sent three ministerial envoys to the town hall in January 2025 after an inspection in 2024 found that a lack of trust and respect between political parties meant the executive at Tower Hamlets remained unchallenged. Ms Khan and Aspire were contacted for comment. Protesters hold signs outside the US Capitol in Washington. Photograph: Zuma via Alamy (Photograph: Zuma via Alamy) The US justice department has released more than 3m pages of documents related to its investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a long-awaited announcement that appears to represent the bulk of the so-called Epstein files that have dogged Donald Trump politically. While an analysis is still under way, the release exposes previously unknown financial ties and social connections between Epstein and prominent figures in the US and UK including some in the presidents orbit. One back-and-forth email chain between Epstein and Elon Musk in 2012 appears to show the worlds richest billionaire responding to the question how many people will you be for the heli[copter] to the island with what day/night will be the wildest party on =our island? Musk, you may recall, formerly served as an unelected official in the Trump administration, running the department of government efficiency (Doge). Documents also revealed that Howard Lutnick, Trumps commerce secretary, planned a visit to Epsteins private island in December 2012, despite claiming last year that he and his wife had been so revolted by Epstein around 2005 that they decided to never be in a room with that disgusting person ever again. A day after the planned meeting, the emails appear to show that Epsteins assistant forwarded Lutnick a message from Epstein that read: Nice seeing you. US justice department releases more than 3 million new pages of Epstein files A group of Epstein survivors released a statement condemning the justice department for naming victims while in some cases redacting the names of the accused. The justice department also established an email inbox for victims to report redaction concerns and will allow members of Congress to view unredacted portions under confidentiality agreements. Democratic congressman Ro Khanna, who co-authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act to secure their official release, said the redactions are potentially suspicious. Read the full story US Senate approves deal to fund government and discuss ICE restrictions In a 71-29 tally, the Senate overcame opposition from a handful of Republicans to rally behind a deal the president struck with Democrats, an unusual display of bipartisanship as tensions rise nationally over the presence of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents in US cities. The package still needs approval by the House of Representatives, which is out of session and not scheduled to return until Monday, meaning a partial shutdown of the federal government was expected to begin when funding lapses at midnight Friday. Read the full story DoJ opens federal civil rights investigation into killing of Alex Pretti Were looking at everything that would shed light on that day, Todd Blanche, deputy to the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said at a press conference on Friday morning in Washington. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also said the FBI would lead the investigation into Prettis killing. Read the full story Ex-CNN anchor arrested over anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church, later released Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, was released on Friday after being arrested late on Thursday on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month. Outside a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles after his release, Lemon vowed not to be silenced, saying: I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now. Read the full story Mexico president says Trump tariffs on Cubas oil suppliers could trigger humanitarian crisis Mexicos president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has warned that Donald Trumps move to slap new tariffs on countries sending oil to Cuba could trigger a humanitarian crisis on the island, which is already suffering from chronic fuel shortages and regular blackouts. The US president signed an executive order on Thursday declaring a national emergency and laying the groundwork for such tariffs, ratcheting up the pressure to topple the communist government in Havana. Read the full story Trump says he believes Iran wants to make deal as he extols size of US armada We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now, even larger than what we had in Venezuela, the US president told reporters on Friday. Hopefully well make a deal. If we do make a deal, thats good. If we dont make a deal, well see what happens. Read the full story What else happened today: Catching up? Heres what happened on 29 January 2026. Warmer weather means drinkers are seeking lighter, fruitier bottles in France as well as Britain, consumption of red wine is falling. Photograph: Evgeny Petukhov/Alamy (Photograph: Evgeny Petukhov/Alamy) Bordeauxs wine industry has historically adapted to consumer habits. In the 1970s the region leaned towards white, but by the 2000s was famed for powerful oak-aged reds. Now its turning to a much older form of red with a name familiar to anglophones: claret. With origins in the 12th century, when it was first shipped to Britain, claret was soon our favoured wine, an unofficial byword for bordeaux red, which in recent decades has become increasingly full-bodied. The Bordeaux protected designation of origin has now formally validated bordeaux claret, linking it to the existing Bordeaux appellation. Yet the bottles, available from the 2025 vintage, will differ from what many in Britain consider claret lighter, less tannic and lower in alcohol. Related: French winemakers battle for survival as minister prepares for crisis talks Bordeaux has been greatly affected by climate breakdown. Some impacts have been a positive challenge, said Stephanie Sinoquet, the managing director of the Bordeaux growers association, with producers turning to untraditional, heat-resistant grape varieties. Warmer conditions were allowing grapes to reach a better and more consistent ripeness. Consequently, ever-rising alcohol levels were of concern 15% is now common. For Jean-Raymond Clarenc, the director of the Bordeaux branch of the Grands Chais de France, the new classification is a strategic response to these environmental shifts. By opting for shorter macerations and a profile that values freshness over power, we can produce balanced, elegant wines even in warmer vintages. Its a way of turning a climatic challenge into an oenological opportunity. Wine consumption habits are changing for several reasons. Warmer weather means drinkers are seeking lighter, fruitier bottles in France as well as Britain, consumption of red wine is falling. Lighter, chillable reds have become de rigueur bordeaux claret is designed to be consumed at 8-12C, experts told the Guardian. Fresher and fruitier styles are perceived as more relaxed and inclusive, said Sinoquet, adding they were more versatile and easier to drink outside meals. While lighter claret (and the even lighter clairet, a dark rose) never fully disappeared, Bordeaux producers turned to powerful reds that earned international acclaim and appealed to wealthy collectors, and their prices soared. Classic bordeaux reds will continue to offer the structured, age-worthy styles, said Sinoquet. Many cited bordeauxs spiralling prices as a reason for its struggles. A 50-year boom is over, vineyards are being abandoned, weve even ripped out a few plots ourselves, said Tony Laithwaite, the founder of the wine retailer Laithwaites. He cited collapsing demand in key markets including China, sales in France dropping and a swing towards white wine. Bordeauxs posh and pricey image just doesnt fit any more, in these times of straitened circumstances for everyone. For Jonathan Kleeman, a sommelier and wine consultant, millennials are less likely to collect expensive wines than previous generations, preferring wines that are ready to drink. The new category is going to be interesting, Kleeman said. It actually harks back to the old days. Bordeaux didnt used to be the big wines they are today. Its actually bringing an old English term back. Could it confuse drinkers? Not really, these wines are aimed at younger generations who dont really use the word claret, he said. Kleeman cited other old wines now fashionable again, from petillant naturel or pet-nat, a traditional form of sparkling wine, to the use of amphorae, ceramic storing vessels popular with natural wine producers. It could be a very good move, and people in the know might like the irony of calling it claret. Today, Burgundy is widely considered the worlds most expensive wine region. Will claret be more in line with its pinot noir reds? I dont think so, said sommelier Tom Claxton. I think the similarities will be a lighter body, but Id expect these to be more playful or fun wines. Ahead of the possible talks, there has been a notable reduction in attacks by Russia and Ukraine against each other as Ukraine continues to experience one of its coldest winters in decades, with many people living without electricity and heating. The Ukrainian capital is bracing for an especially cold spell from Sunday, with temperatures forecast to fall as low as -26C. Zelenskyy said he was waiting to see if Russia would observe a proposed pause in strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, saying on Friday there was no formal ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia, Pjotr Sauer writes. But Zelenskyy said Kyiv would halt such strikes if Moscow did the same. Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that Vladimir Putin had agreed to halt strikes on Ukraines energy infrastructure for a week. The Kremlin has acknowledged the request but declined to say whether the Russian president had agreed to it. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicated the measure would end on Sunday. Samuel De Vere-Hunt (Met Police) A drug kingpin who was caught leaving his home with more than 160,000 of cash in a carrier bag has been jailed after police uncovered his multi-million-pound role in an organised crime group. Samuel De Vere-Hunt, 30, was responsible for laundering over 6 million in cash and supplying hundreds of kilos of MDMA, ketamine and cannabis destined for London. He was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court on Friday. Rosie Wise (Met Police) His girlfriend and accomplice Rosie Wise, 25, was sentenced to one year and nine months' imprisonment, suspended for two years. Metropolitan Police officers conducted a thorough investigation, painstakingly trawling through thousands of messages on encrypted communication service EncroChat. This identified an individual using the operating handles "Modernfeet" and "Immaculatetractor", who was seen to move millions of pounds in cash and multi-kilo amounts of ketamine and cannabis. Through their work, this user was identified as De Vere-Hunt. Despite attempts to remain hidden and conceal his identity, officers were able to establish De Vere-Hunt was in a relationship with Wise and tracked their address in Brentwood through various methods including phone data and food deliveries. This case is just one example of the Met's work to tackle serious and organised crime groups, with these gangs disrupted more than 21,230 times in London last year - a 63 per cent rise on the previous year. PC Bob Rosie from the Specialist Crime Developing Threats Team, who led the investigation, said: "Investigating De Vere-Hunt was like finding a needle in a haystack. He has been brought to justice today thanks to thorough detective work which was able to identify him as the owner of two Encrochat handles. Ultimately leading us to his house in Essex where he had over 33kg of Class A and B drugs. "This investigation shows the Met's relentless pursuit of organised crime and displays a key data-led approach to tackling offenders. Criminals should be in no doubt that we will identify them, track them and bring them before the courts. "Our work dismantling networks like this directly reduces the serious violence and exploitation that drug supply fuels on the streets of London with a number of other offenders having been identified through this investigation and put before the courts. Every seizure, every arrest and every conviction undoubtedly makes London safer." Following an investigation into conversations on EncroChat, a user with the handles "Modernfeet" and "Immaculatetractor" was shown to be directly involved in the laundering of millions of pounds. Investigators established the unnamed user was a trusted member of an organised crime group. Messages showed that between March 2020 and June 2020 alone they had been involved in moving 3.5 million in cash and deals of cannabis and ketamine. Detailed work identified De Vere-Hunt as this EncroChat user, with locating his address then becoming the priority. Officers were led to an address in Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, and plans were made to execute a search warrant. Before plans could be finalised, it was discovered that De Vere-Hunt had checked in for a flight out of the UK and officers quickly carried out a warrant at his address on the morning of Thursday, 9 January 2025. At the property they found a haul of drugs and cash, including 15kg of ketamine, 12kg of cannabis and over 6kg of Class A drugs made up of MDMA and 2C-B. More than 179,000 in cash was also found throughout the property and seized. De Vere-Hunt was arrested as he walked out of his address with two boxes containing 160,000 in criminal cash. Once in custody, officers analysed De Vere-Hunt's phone and evidenced a separate period of offending from September 2024 to January 2025 when he had moved a further 2.8 million in cash and supplied over a quarter of a tonne of ketamine and cannabis. In just five months the street value of this alone was 6 million. Over several years, the couple were able to live an extravagant lifestyle, including luxury holidays in Portugal, Ibiza, Los Angeles and Mykonos, as well as owning designer items such as a Rolex watch. This is despite De Vere-Hunt being unemployed and Wise working as a receptionist earning 13 an hour. EncroChat was an encrypted communications platform used by organised criminals who believed the system was secure from law enforcement detection. The service offered modified mobile devices with encrypted messaging that allowed offenders to coordinate drug supply, violent crime and wider criminal operations. European agencies cracked the platform in 2020. De Vere-Hunt, of School Road, Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, 27 March 2025 to two counts of conspiracy to conceal criminal property, two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs, three counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, four counts of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs and possession of criminal property. Wise, also of School Road, Kelvedon Hatch, initially pleaded not guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and possessing criminal property at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, 27 March 2025. Following further evidence being served from Wise's phone, she later changed her plea to guilty on Wednesday, 25 June 2025 at the same court. British institutions, such as the monarchy, will sacrifice toxic individuals with theatrical finality - Mark Harrison/BBC More than six years have passed since Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself in his Manhattan prison cell. Epstein knew plenty of powerful people, many of them household names. Of these A-listers, only three have paid a truly significant price for their association with a convicted sex offender. Ghislaine Maxwell went to prison. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lost his title and his house, Lord Mandelson his job. One striking link connects them all: they are all British. American heavyweights, by contrast, have suffered no such consequences. Donald Trump remains president of the United States. Bill Clinton has not faced serious social ostracism. Bill Gates continues to run his philanthropic foundation. All deny any impropriety in their dealings with Epstein. Some reasons for this discrepancy in standards are obvious. Andrew and Lord Mandelson held public office or quasi-public positions, so defenestrating them was easier. Many Americans linked to Epstein are private actors, insulated by wealth, contracts and distance from office. But there are also cultural reasons. Britain does shame differently. Many Britons relish a scandal; there is particular glee when the rich and powerful get their comeuppance and the greater the spectacle, the better. Like Voltaires Lisbon mob, we on these islands appreciate a good auto-da-fe. Perhaps shaped by such expectations, the British establishment responds to scandal differently, too. Operating under a Burkean logic, British institutions the monarchy in Andrews case, the political establishment in Lord Mandelsons will sacrifice toxic individuals with theatrical finality to preserve themselves. In the United States, by contrast, elite networks instinctively protect their own. Americans close ranks; Britons feed their Jonahs to the fishes. When scandal touches the powerful, such as Lord Mandelson, Americans close ranks; Britons feed their Jonahs to the fishes That is not to say Epsteins American acquaintances have gone entirely unscathed. Some have paid a price though, in terms of name recognition, at least on this side of the Atlantic, none are in the first rank. Even here, however, the differences remain revealing. Jes Staley, Epsteins former banker, was forced to quit as chief executive of Barclays in 2021 but only after being pushed out of a British bank by British regulators, who concluded that he had misled them about the extent of his relationship with Epstein. In other words, he fell foul of British standards of probity. Had he been running an American bank, Mr Staley might still have his job. Alexander Acosta, the Florida prosecutor who granted Epstein a plea deal that allowed him to serve just 13 months of day-release incarceration following a child-prostitution conviction, resigned from Donald Trumps cabinet in 2019. But rather than forcing him out, Mr Trump reportedly tried to persuade him to stay. Mr Acosta, like Mr Staley, denies wrongdoing. Jes Staley, Epsteins former banker, was pushed out of a British bank by British regulators - Carl Court/Getty Others have relinquished positions, too. But unlike in Britain, most have lost a role rather than their standing. This may yet change. Earlier this month, the House oversight committee voted to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress after he declined to comply with subpoenas seeking further detail about his association with Epstein, including his travel on Epsteins plane. The Democratic Party has quietly distanced itself from the former president. Yet even when it comes to social ostracism, Americans do things differently. Alan Dershowitz, the celebrity lawyer who once represented Epstein, has written of being treated like a pariah at parties after Virginia Giuffres later-withdrawn claim that she was trafficked to him as a minor but, tellingly, he was still being invited to them. One imagines that Andrews mantlepiece is barer. Perhaps the lesson of the Epstein affair is that Britain still wields a mechanism of disgrace sometimes effective, occasionally arbitrary while in the United States there are suspicions it may be rusting away. Keira Knightley plays the titular novelist in the 2018 biopic Colette. (TCD/Prod.DB, TCD/Prod.DB) Brits waste hundreds of hours every year scrolling through streaming services looking for something to watch. Each Friday, Yahoo wants to save you a scroll by recommending one movie around two hours long to watch over the coming week. Here's our one to watch for this week. Keira Knightley was once the queen of the British period drama. She got an Oscar nomination for leading the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice the one with Matthew Macfadyen and then went on to star in costume dramas like Atonement, The Duchess, and Anna Karenina. Her most famous role, as Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, notably featured her character grappling with a painfully tight corset. For a while, it seemed as if Knightley's corset days were behind her. She had taken on a series of more contemporary roles in the 2010s, but returned to the world of corsets and frocks in 2018 for Colette. This time, though, things were very different, and the result is one of the most fascinating and underrated period movies of recent years. With the revisionist history of Bridgerton returning to Netflix for its fourth season this week, there's no time like now to experience another slice of sharply written and beautifully costumed romance. Thankfully, Colette is streaming on Prime Video for your viewing pleasure. What is Colette? Directed and co-written by Wash Westmoreland, Colette is a biopic of the titular French writer who became famous for spinning her own parochial upbringing into a series of novels around the character Claudine. The story takes place at the turn of the 20th century, following Colette's complex relationship with her husband Willy (Dominic West) who owned the copyright to her work and her subsequent romances with women. It's a tale of unusual and unconventional relationships, whether it's Willy's professional and personal exploitation of Colette or the way she explores her sexuality amid Parisian high society. Eleanor Tomlinson appears as the socialite Georgie Raoul-Duval, who attracts the eye of both Colette and Willy, while Andor star Denise Gough delivers a very special performance as the masculine-presenting artist Missy. There's a strong feminist core to the story, with Colette fighting to have her name and her creativity known amid the sexist structures of the time. For Knightley, it was a very happy return to the world of corsets, helping her embrace the genre again. Need to know Movie: Colette (2018) Runtime: 112m Actors: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Denise Gough, Eleanor Tomlinson, Fiona Shaw Genre: Drama Similar to: Love & Friendship, Emily, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Streaming service:Prime Video Ratings:87% on Rotten Tomatoes, 3.4/5 on Letterboxd, 6.7/10 on IMDb "For years I felt quite guilty about it, like it was something that I should try to shake off," she explained to Variety. "Then I realised that these were the films Ive always loved watching. I think some people find escapism through science fiction or fantasy, and I suppose my escapism into another world has always been through period drama. Its nice that in my 30s I can finally admit that." The film was a passion project for its director, too. Westmoreland had been working on the movie for years with his husband and collaborator Richard Glatzer they wrote and directed films like Still Alive together until Glatzer's death in 2015. They had been trying to make the film for more than a decade, but it was the impact of the #MeToo movement that allowed Colette to finally secure funding. Why we love it Denise Gough and Keira Knightley form a romance in 20th century France in Colette. (TCD/Prod.DB, TCD/Prod.DB) Much like Bridgerton, Colette works by embracing the style and storytelling of the period drama while bringing a very modern feel to its politics and approach. Westmoreland's script, co-written with Glatzer and She Said scribe Rebecca Lenkiewicz, is sparky and energetic in every way, gifting Knightley with some deliciously quotable one-liners. "I can read you like the top line of an optician's chart," she quips at one stage. Knightley's performance simmers with barely repressed fury throughout as she rails against the male establishment that holds her down and takes credit for her genius. This is perfectly characterised by West, who delivers a performance hammier than a festive roast as the endlessly braggadocious Willy an obvious scoundrel who responds to allegations of cheating with the words "you have to understand this is what men do". As much as this is a movie with serious ideas at its heart, it is first and foremost devilishly fun. It wields its progressive sexual politics with a sense of glee, foregrounding female pleasure above that of men at every possible turn. At times, the movie is a silly, sexy delight as it gambols through the salons and soirees of French society. Dominic West is a very hammy lover and adversary for Keira Knightley in Colette. (TCD/Prod.DB, TCD/Prod.DB) The movie has joy in its bones as much as it does that bristling anger, with Westmoreland showing a real mastery of tone. This is a film with serious discussions about gender roles and sexist power dynamics, but it also allows composer Thomas Ades to give the central character something akin to wrestling entrance music or the Imperial March for her toughest moments. Everyone's having a lot of fun Knightley included. Sadly, given its quality and a string of decent reviews, Colette remains a mostly unseen chapter in its star's filmography. Indeed, LGBTQ+ culture ceremony the Dorian Awards nominated the film for its "Unsung Film of the Year" category, where it lost out to the equally brilliant Booksmart. Colette only grossed a fairly meagre $14.3m (10.3m) worldwide and has largely been forgotten in the eight years since its release, which is a shame given how rewarding it is as a viewing experience. In the post-Bridgerton era, it's ripe for rediscovery and will reward those who dive into its various charms. Colette is streaming now in the UK via Prime Video. Xi Jinping sits next to Prince Andrew during a state visit to Britain in 2015 - Gareth Fuller/PA Wire Prince Andrew spent a great deal of time with Xi Jinping, Chinas Communist leader, new documents claim. Emails released by the US department of justice as part of its investigations into convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein claim the former Duke of York, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being stripped of his titles, had significant exposure to senior Chinese officials. The latest revelations raise further questions over whether his relationship with the Chinese state at the highest levels posed a national security risk. According to an email Epstein sent in November 2015 to Reid Hoffman, the billionaire investor and co-founder of LinkedIn, Andrew enjoyed a close rapport with Mr Xi. Epstein told Mr Hoffman: Prince andrew is off to china , he spent a great deal of time with Xi. In an apparent offer to broker a meeting between Mr Hoffman and the former prince, Epstein adds, if you would like to meet up, . let me know. The correspondence is among more than three million Epstein-related files that the department of justice published on Friday. In an earlier email to Jes Staley, the American banker and former chief executive of Barclays, Epstein appeared to suggest that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was keen to represent the wealth management firm JP Morgan Cazenove in China. He wrote in September 2010: Prince Andrew would like much more to represent casanov [sic] in china than tim collins [an American financier]. The former prince is known to have held formal meetings with Mr Xi in Beijing on at least two occasions, in April 2016 and May 2018. The then Duke of York shakes hands with Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, May 2018 - Thomas Peter/Getty Images Pictures published by Chinese state media show the pair shaking hands and smiling during the meetings. These both took place in the Grand Hall of the People in Chinas main government building. The Chinese premier praised Mr Mountbatten-Windsor on both occasions for enhancing a golden era of UK-China relations, according to accounts of the events on the Beijing government website. Andrew is also alleged to have sent letters directly to Mr Xi each year to mark the Chinese presidents birthday. In documents made public last year, his former senior aide Dominic Hampshire claimed Andrew had always had a communication channel with Mr Xi that Buckingham Palace accepted and potentially even encouraged. Andrew with Xi Jinping at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, November 2018 - Li Tao/Xinhua/Alamy Live News The Kings brother has previously set alarm bells ringing because of his repeated meetings with the suspected spy Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK in 2023. The Telegraph revealed last October that concerns about the Prince were raised by the security services as long ago as 2021 and reached the highest levels of government. Ministers were also warned by the security services of concerns that he could be endangering national security by meeting suspected spies when he promoted a now-defunct charity. The then prince held at least three meetings with Mr Yang, the Chinese official at the centre of the collapsed trial of two suspected British spies working for Beijing. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor became close to Mr Yang, who set up a consultancy firm called Hampton Group International in the UK. Mr Yang helped Andrew to found a Chinese branch of his Pitch@Palace charity, which connected entrepreneurs with investors, and has since been wound up. He invited Mr Yang to Buckingham Palace, St Jamess Palace and Windsor Castle in 2020. The following year Mr Yang was stopped at the UK border under powers to investigate suspected hostile activity and surrendered his mobile phone, which contained documents relating to Andrew. One of them, titled main talking points for a call with the Prince, stated that Andrew was in a desperate situation and will grab on to anything. In 2023, the then home secretary Suella Braverman barred Mr Yang from entering Britain because he was considered to have carried out covert and deceptive activity on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. Mr Yang appealed the decision but it was upheld by judges, who said Mr Mountbatten-Windsor could have been made vulnerable by his association with him. The then prince, who had given up his official role as a trade envoy in 2011, said via a statement from his office at the time that nothing of a sensitive nature was ever discussed between them and that he had cut off contact with Mr Yang after the government raised concerns. Mr Yang has always denied spying. Cai Qi, one of the most senior members of the Chinese Communist Party, met Mr Mountbatten-Windsor in London and Beijing in 2018 and 2019, when Mr Cai praised his work on Pitch@Palace. Andrew served as the UKs Special Representative for International Trade and Investment from 2001 until stepping down in July 2011 following increasing concerns over his relationship with Epstein. The fund was thrown into the spotlight after students staged a pro-Palestine encampment outside Kings College in 2024. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA (Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA) Cambridge academics have accused the university of maximal obfuscation in a row over its 4bn investment fund and how it profits from investing in arms manufacturers. The universitys governing body is expected to meet on Monday to consider a report on its financial ties to the defence sector, but some senior staff have said investments cannot be properly scrutinised because the institution has not been transparent about the companies involved. The focus of Mondays discussions will be the universitys endowment fund, worth about 4.2bn. The fund was set up to ensure the organisations long-term financial security and is managed by the University of Cambridge Investment Management Limited (UCIM), a private company owned by the university. The company operates as a fund of funds a complex financial structure that means its money is spread across a wide range of sectors and overseen by an investment manager. The fund was thrown into the spotlight after students staged a pro-Palestine encampment outside Kings College in 2024, demanding that the university sever any financial ties with Israel. The students agreed to disband the encampment when the university committed to reviewing its links to the arms and defence industry. UCIM told a working group established to examine its financial interests that it has no direct investments in weapons. However, it admitted that a small proportion of its investments about 1.7% are held in the aerospace and defence sector. So far, it has refused to reveal which companies these investments relate to. An open letter shared by the universitys students union claimed this could mean up to 70m is invested in arms manufacturers. Jason Scott Warren, an English professor, said: As they did when they were pressed to divest from fossil fuels some years ago, the universitys investment managers are claiming that their fund of funds model will not allow them to reveal which companies they invest in or to perform even the most commonplace forms of ethical screening. The structures that have been set up around the endowment are clearly designed to create maximal obfuscation and to prevent any troublesome democratic interference with the technocratic decisions of the university administration. Cambridges university council which includes vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice, some college heads and elected staff and students will discuss a report commissioned after calls to pull investments from the arms industry, compiled by the working group. The working group expressed frustration at the fact it did not receive a complete list of the companies the fund invested in, saying: We acknowledge the commercial importance of confidentiality, but the fact that the members of the working group do not know the extent of the universitys investments in companies which manufacture weapons has made the formulation of our recommendations significantly more difficult. Its members are understood to have been divided on how the fund should approach investments involving arms manufacturers. Some opposed arms divestment, but suggested a transparency report including details of the companies involved should be produced if these investments exceed 1% of the fund. Others suggested a policy of limiting arms investments so they remain below 1% of the fund at all times. Another section of the group thought the fund should not invest in any company producing arms. This tallies with the position of the students union, which has been calling on students to ask members of the council to push for full arms divestment. Monica Moreno Figueroa, a sociology professor, said: The University of Cambridge has an ethical obligation to ensure that its investments do not contribute directly or indirectly to genocide, militarised violence, ethnic cleansing, and collective punishment. Continued financial ties to the arms industry render the university institutionally complicit in these harms. Peach Hoyle, a postgraduate student and pro-Palestine campaigner, said: Financial transparency and divestment are essential steps if this university wants to be accountable to its students, staff and community, rather than corporate interests and government agendas. However, other academics have said they support the fund investing in the defence sector given the UKs precarious national security situation. Richard Penty, an engineering professor, said: The investment fund does not invest in weapons illegal under English law. The UK needs to be able to defend itself, so the idea that the university should turn its back on UK national security, particularly at a time of increased global turmoil, is dangerous and unethical. The reports authors said they did not think investments in arms companies contradicted Cambridges charitable purposes but said the university should have regard to ethical considerations. Cambridge University declined to comment. Some Romans have complained that a restored angel looks like Giorgia Meloni, but the church rector does not understand what all the fuss is about - Alessandro Serrano/AGF/Shutterstock Italian authorities have opened an investigation into claims that an art restorer painted the face of Giorgia Meloni on to a winged angel in a fresco in one of Romes most historic churches. After undergoing restoration to repair water damage, the painting of a cherubim in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, a few hundred yards from the Italian parliament, bears a striking resemblance to the prime minister. Senior figures in the Catholic Church are reported to be furious and opposition politicians have said that it is inappropriate for religious artwork to be used for political purposes. Alessandro Giuli, the culture minister, has ordered an investigation and the church was inspected on Saturday by Daniela Porro, a senior cultural heritage official for Rome. They said in a statement that they want to get to the bottom of the nature of the restoration carried out on the painting in one of the chapels of San Lorenzo in Lucina. The angels face is said to bear a striking resemblance to Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister - Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Ms Meloni posted an image of the artwork on social media, with the caption: No, I definitely dont look like an angel. The painting, which serves as a monument to Umberto II, who reigned as Italys final king for just 34 days, originally showed two angels watching over him. Now, a winged female figure holding a scroll depicting a map of Italy appears to have the facial features of the prime minister. The basilica is one of the oldest in Christianity and stands in a square that has long been a point of reference for Italys Right-wing parties. Ms Meloni leads the conservative Brothers of Italy party. Its definitely Meloni, Fabrizio, a 63-year-old businessman who was inspecting the painting on Sunday, told The Telegraph. I dont know whether the restorer did it as a tribute or a joke. Maybe he just likes the prime ministers face, he said. People have been coming into the church all morning to have a look at it. The fact that the angel is holding a map of Italy seems to be symbolic Meloni is in charge of the country, after all. Francesco, 52, another Rome resident, said he did not initially believe reports in the Italian media that the angel bore the face of the prime minister. But having come and seen it for myself, I can say for sure that its Meloni, he said. The restored fresco in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina - Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty The artwork was restored by Bruno Valentinetti, 83, the custodian of the basilica, who has denied that the angel bears any resemblance to Ms Meloni. The fresco was very damaged and the images were almost unrecognisable. The rector asked me to restore them, he said. You think there is a resemblance? Well, thats up to you. Asked whether he was a supporter of Ms Meloni, he said: Ive not voted for years. Whoever has been in government, my pension of 600 (520) a month has remained the same. Monsignor Daniele Micheletti, the rector of the church, acknowledged that the restored figure bears a distinct resemblance to Ms Meloni after inspecting the artwork on Saturday. Not such a bad thing But he said he did not understand what all the fuss was about. I dont see why it is a big deal. In the past, painters were often inspired by people they knew, he said. Caravaggio put the face of a prostitute in one of his paintings. I didnt ask for the [angel] to be given the face of Meloni but even if there is a resemblance, I dont think its such a bad thing. Have you come here to pray or for Meloni? he joked with people entering the church at the weekend. He quipped that the other angel in the tableau should be made to look like Elly Schlein, the leader of the main centre-Left opposition party, in the interests of political balance. The church of San Lorenzo in Lucina is one of the oldest in Rome - Fabio Cimaglia/EPA/Shutterstock But his parishioners were less amused. This is our church. We come here every Sunday to pray. For me, as a believer, this is an insult, a woman told La Repubblica newspaper. What has Meloni to do with a sacred place like this? I hope they change it as soon as possible. A male parishioner said: Its shameful. We already have to put up with Meloni on every TV channel. Now we have to see her even when we pray. Under Italian cultural heritage law, restorations on protected sites, including the basilica, must be carried out or authorised by qualified professionals. They must also be approved by Italys state authority responsible for protecting cultural heritage. Tool for propaganda The authority said: After the inspection, we will compare it with archive materials to determine not so much who the restoration resembles, but whether any changes have been made, because the restorer would have had to follow the original lines. If the investigation confirms the likeness with Ms Meloni, the artwork will be reinstated to its original condition, with those behind the work at risk of facing penalties. The opposition Five Star Movement said: We cannot allow art and culture to risk becoming a tool for propaganda or anything else, regardless of whether the face depicted is that of the prime minister. People place flowers at a makeshift memorial for Alex Pretti outside the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System in New York. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian (Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian) For Nolan Lee, it felt like Minnesota in Washington DC on Wednesday night. Despite the most extreme cold in 150 years, about a thousand people gathered in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) headquarters, a block from the White House, to remember Alex Pretti and demand an end to funding for US immigration and border agencies. The killings by federal agents of Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a veterans hospital, and Renee Good, a poet and mother of three, rocked Minneapolis and reverberated throughout the nation, with the future of US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) up for debate as a key funding bill that would increase the agencys spending failed to pass the US Senate on Thursday. DC has been locked in ice and below-freezing temperatures after a major winter storm, and the city has been occupied by federal agents and the national guard since August. Even so, residents gathered to hold candles and lay flowers at a memorial to Pretti in front of the VA building, at one of dozens of events organized by National Nurses United (NNU) across the country this week. On Tuesday, a mid-afternoon vigil in Portland, Virginia, stretched along the road for about a quarter-mile, and there was a candlelight vigil in Eugene, Oregon. On Wednesday, people gathered in Chicago. On Thursday night, people gathered for vigils in New York and San Diego. The crowd in DC chanted, No more funding for CBP, no more funding for DHS! Stop killing our neighbors! Some vigil attendees sobbed as they laid offerings at the memorial. Lee is a college student who grew up blocks from where George Floyd and Renee Good were murdered. He checks with his friends and family in Minnesota every day to make sure theyre safe and havent been detained. Both of his parents are nurses who have worked in Minneapolis their entire careers. When I got the news on Saturday morning that Alex Pretti had been executed by federal agents on the street as a legal observer, it broke me, Lee said. Its been really difficult and isolating not being at my home right now. Minneapolis is really hurting. Its not only Minneapolis targeted by federal agents in an operation that goes far beyond immigration, he said, adding: People are going missing in the suburbs. People are going missing in rural communities. It is not isolated to just the city of Minneapolis. It is an attack on the state of Minnesota. It felt comforting to be surrounded by Minnesotans and supporters at the DC event, Lee said. Im really here right now just to hold community and honestly pray that we collectively do something, he said, noting that whats happening in Minnesota is only a starting point for a total federal takeover. A key spending package passed the House but failed to pass the Senate on Thursday after Democratic opposition to funding for DHS. Senate Democrats negotiated a deal to pass five of six spending bills, but the sixth funding for DHS has been given a two-week funding extension as negotiations continue. The fight against DHS funding is a key issue for Americans, said James Walkinshaw, a Democratic congressman from Virginia, at the Wednesday gathering. The agency has failed to protect the American people from the Trump administration, said Walkinshaw, who voted against the House bill. This week, we need the United States Senate to take a stand to protect the American people from the brutality that ICE and CBP and the Department of Homeland Security are engaged in. The opposition in Minnesota and across the country is a critical fight for democracy and American values, Walkinshaw said. Elizabeth Coughlin, a graduate student at George Washington University who attended Wednesdays demonstration, said: People of the US are united in this cause across the country. She wants to show leaders that people care and people know that whats going on in the government is wrong, she said, adding: ICE should be abolished I want them to not give DHS any more money. College student Lee believes the resistance in Minnesota shows a path for the rest of the nation: I believe that Minneapolis is leading the way by showing us what we need to do, which is hold community and a general strike. A general strike materialized on Friday, when activists held a nationwide shutdown that advocated no work, no school, no shopping in a protest against the Trump administrations sweeping immigration crackdowns. Susan Benesch, founder and director of the Dangerous Speech Project, felt an enormous duty to protest this week, to mourn Pretti and Good and others who have been injured and killed by federal agents, and to defend my country, she said. Im proud of it, still, she said, but it feels like the last minute for American democracy. These terrible events have galvanized people in a way that, honestly, Ive been longing to see, she said. The Rev Chris Antal, a Unitarian Universalist minister who served as a VA chaplain, led the crowd in a moment of silence on Wednesday, followed by three long mournful keens of a whistle, which has become the nationwide sound of warning about the presence of federal agents. Then the crowd burst into a death wail, the primal keening echoing across the concrete facade of the VA buildings. Staff at the VA say Doug Collins, the VA secretary, has not communicated with them about Prettis killing. He confirmed in a post on X that Pretti was an employee and offered condolences, but he also placed the blame on state and local officials refusal to cooperate with the federal government. Doug Massey, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 17, pushed back on Collins assertions. Collins does not care about VA employees. He does not care about veterans. He is here because he cares about himself, Massey said on Wednesday. We need to write our congressmen and let them know that he needs to be fired. He needs to resign. Christine Grant, a nurse at the Washington VA Medical Center and a member of NNU, said: Its a nurses job to ask: how may I serve? It is up to us to extend a hand. We have to stand up and say: enough. This is not who we are! Enough! After Prettis killing, Daniel Amyx, a nurse at the Minneapolis VA, made hundreds of lapel buttons to commemorate his colleague, and there was a line longer than the line at Starbucks to get the pins and share stories about Prettis outstanding work in the intensive care unit. But when Amyx offered a button to a senior VA official, he shook his head, Amyx said. The button said Remember Alex Pretti, RN but the official told him, I better not, Amyx said. Fighting back tears, Amyx said he wanted to address the nurses in the crowd: Remember, in our shift work, we do our best to set up our relief for success, but we also know that if we dont get it done, the next shift will bring the care our patients need. Alex Pretti has been relieved. Those of you standing here are the next shift. We need to get that work done. Going to the airport can be a stressful experience for anyone, but its often worth it, if it means a wonderful vacation is waiting for you on the other side. Unfortunately, however, not all journeys are full of excitement. Sometimes people have to board a plane on the absolute worst day of their life. Airport employees have been sharing heartbreaking stories on Reddit of the most upsetting goodbyes theyve ever witnessed on the job. From people breaking down because they have to leave their loved ones to parents mourning the sudden loss of a child, we'll warn you right now that these stories may be hard to get through with dry eyes. So get your tissues ready, and upvote the responses that read like a tear-jerking movie scene. #1 Not a worker but the most heartbreaking airport goodbye I had was after visiting my girlfriend in England for the first time. She is British, I'm Canadian and we met online through a mutual friend and immediately clicked. I was only 18 at the time and had no idea how I was going to fly to Europe to meet her. Eventually, after 18 months of online dating I managed to save up enough to stay in the UK with her and her family for a month. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. Visiting London and seeing the sights was incredible and first meeting her in the airport was such a relief. Seeing her not as a picture in my phone, voice in my headset or face on my computer chat but as a real person lead to so many emotions. we did everything together and were inseparable and her family loved me, just like I loved them. They were so great to me and I'll never thank them enough. Eventually the time came and I had to leave. The final few days of the trip turned from excitement and happiness to curled up in bed watching movies and lots of crying. It was heartbreaking holding her in her room and assuring her that I would see her again but the truth was I couldn't guarantee that. This trip cost me thousands of dollars and I had no idea when or if i would ever see her again. Squeezing her hand at the airport and comforting her took all of my emotional energy and I nearly broke but I had to be strong for her. She needed me to be her rock and I did the best that I could. Once luggage was checked and I had to go through security that was when the sobbing really started. Forcing myself to walk away from her as her parents took her sobbing back to the car was one of the hardest things I've done in my entire life. Long distance is brutal and I don't wish it on anybody. I know i wouldn't do it again. I managed to go twice more: i spent 6 weeks in England the next year and then flew again before Christmas to propose. We've been married for nearly two years now and she's the love of my life. She lives with me in Canada because it was easiest for us while I finish my degree but if she wants to move back home then I'll follow her anywhere. Its the least I could do. Photo: talimus96 #2 Im not an airport worker, but the worst thing that I have ever seen was at the San Diego airport. I was waiting in line behind a dad, his two kids, and a dog at the cargo area where you take you pets (before you get mad, Reddit, this was like 15 years ago before I knew how horrible airline transport is for animals). Everyone was crying. I couldnt help but overhear the whole story. Family was down to their last dollar after moving to california for a now failed business and was flying home. The dad has no idea that he needed a health certificate for his dog to fly. Their flight was leaving soon, and they had no family or friends in the area and no money to wait a few days for a vet appointment. I was there to send my cats home to Maryland ahead of me. I had to drive my car across country. So... I asked where the dog needed to go. Ohio. So I drove the dog home. They were so desperate that they just handed their dog to a stranger. One of the weirdest things Ive ever done. I love dogs, and that was a sweet dog, but three long days in the back of my little Dodge Neon and we were very happy to be rid of each other. I still think about him though. We had a few adventures but that was a rough trip. Photo: EverybodyRelaxImHere #3 Not an airport worker. When I was 19 my twin brother was moving to Canada for his last year of university and my dad and I saw him off at the airport. When it came time to leave him, we both hugged him. Told him we loved him. And he walked off up the ramp with his ticket. I looked at my dad and he just held both of his hands to his chest and tears were rolling down his cheek. Second time I had ever saw him cry. My brother stayed for 2 years in the end before coming home. Sadly, the year after he came back my dad passed away suddenly. That day at the airport was 15 years ago now and I'll never forget the look on my dad's face. How much he loved us. Letting him go and be free, even though it hurt him so much. Photo: winters0084 #4 I was a wheelchair attendant at the airport. I got used to carrying tissues in my bag because of the many tearful good-byes I witnessed. Often, children of parents from another country would order a wheelchair for their parents because they didn't speak English and the children wanted to make sure they made it to the correct gate. There were lots of tears because of the distance and expense of international travel and how long it would be before they saw each other again. However, there are two that stick out: #1: Mother and daughter saying good-bye, the daughter, who looks pregnant, is my wheelchair passenger. I figure she is having some complications with the pregnancy. There are more than the usual amount of tears. When they are done, I am taking the daughter through TSA, asking normal questions about liquid in her bag, electronic devices in her pocket, etc. I phrased the question something like, "are you carrying anything else, besides the baby," in a lighthearted tone. She says "No baby." My heart just dropped. Turns out Mom literally had to pick her up from the hospital and driven her directly to the airport. After we got through TSA, she got out a small stuffed animal, obviously meant for her infant, and cried silently into it the rest of the way to the gate. #2: woman traveling back to the Ukraine. The passenger, clearly ill, sits down in the wheelchair and I step back to let the family say good-bye. Of course there are a lot of tears. The adult daughter is inconsolable. As I am pushing the passenger to the gate, I'm chatting with my passenger's traveling companion who is walking with us. The companion reveals that my wheelchair passenger is terminal. It was likely the last time the daughter would see her alive. Photo: Dragainin #5 My family is based in the Philippines but my dad was British and he had to go home because of his cancer. My sister was denied a passport/citizenship by the UK so she needed a visa with my mom. I didnt need one. We sent him ahead and were soon to follow him to the UK as we were just waiting for my sisters visa. My mom and sister were denied by the embassy for a visa. The look on my sisters face when she said goodbye to my father at the airport broke me. She couldnt let go of his hand and the security had to follow her and gently tell her to return to us as she had run to follow my dad. Her wails when she had to learn she couldnt see my dad broke me more when the letter of denial arrived . I had to fly alone to take care of my dad. They never got to say goodbye properly when he died because the cancer took him so quick. My sister was 8 years old when that happened two years ago. Until now it breaks my heart. Edit: I didnt expect this to blow up! Thank you everyone for the lovely comments. Sadly yes, even my mum was denied. My uncles said it was probably because of the issue of brexit? I am unsure.. Another thing is, I was granted a passport when I was young. But my sister wasnt when she was about 5 years old. And yes, we had to pay thousands because we applied for the 24 hour application as we were in a rush. We had all the documents prepared. Everything. From sponsors ( my uncles), to proof of my sister enrolled here in the Philippines for school, our lease, even a letter from the hospital as an appeal that my father was dying! Icouldnt understand. My sister is a kid. I couldnt fathom why she was denied. People can be so...heartless. Until now the loss of my father is still painful sadly. All I could do was bring home my fathers ashes to them. Photo: willowlillyy #6 Not a worker, but me saying goodbye to my 7 year old daughter as I left for a 10 month deployment. I deployed fairly often in our marriage and when the kids were little; those were somewhat easy. The wife understood and the kids were so young they got through it fairly easy. This deployment was right after our family spent 18 months living in an RV (while I was in grad school) and spending every moment together on the California coast hiking up and down miles and miles of trails. My daughter and I had grown particularly close; I taught her to read, I walked her to school each day, we spend evening on the beach, and rainy days coloring together or watching Dr Who. The trip in question (that really hurt), was virtually a no notice trip. One moment we are back in North Carolina (on another camping trip) and two weeks later, I am leaving for 10+ months. This was the first time she understood (albeit in a limited way) some of the dangers associated with the trip and the length of time. I will always remember her soul wrenching sobbing as I left... as a follow up, I helped her over the trip by writing her (and her sister and her mother) daily. I even got access to several dozen children's books and read them to her (on a DVD) and then sent them to her as a package weekly. Even though she is now turning 16, I occasionally see her looking through them from time to time... Photo: GreenSalsa96 #7 Man. Being from Venezuela, I've seen a fair share of goodbyes. Including my own. Its heartbreaking. Families being torn apart because you're searching for a better future. I remember when I first left my mom was falling apart watching her little boy disappear behind airport security. I remember being numb. Like I was watching my life from the outside. I visited about 7 months later. I had difficulty adjusting to the US and the cultural shock hit me pretty hard. I remember hugging a friend goodbye when I had to catch my plane back and sobbing, saying between my wallowing that I didnt want to be alone anymore. Goodbyes are hard, man. Photo: XtremeConfusion #8 Before I was born, my mom had breast cancer. When I turned 7, she was told she had uterine cancer (by the grace of God, they caught it SUPER early). My parents were in the midst of a divorce but obviously put it on pause so my dad could help my mom in every way. He was working for Rubbermaid at the time and used **all** of his time off to take care of mom and take her to treatments and such. Rubbermaid decided that dad needed to go to China to take care of some issues that had arose with a product he had designed. My sisters and I took him to the airport and my dad started tearing up and told us to take care of mom and each other while he was gone. Apparently the look on my sisters and I faces was pretty upsetting to other people around us because dad said on the flight, a lady stopped him and hugged him saying she was praying for our family. He came home 2 weeks later, mom went into remission (and has remained cancer free for 20 years!), they did end up getting a divorce but it was pretty amicable. Oh, and he quit Rubbermaid after he got home and was offered a general manger position of a plant of a smaller company where he has stayed since. He **strongly** dislikes Rubbermaid (he missed several of our birthdays due to work, traveling for work and last minute "crises" that would arise). Photo: schuser #9 I saw a person get deboarded on the tarmac in a casket that was draped in an American flag and rolled over to their crying parents - So heartbreaking that I'm actually tearing up remembering it. #10 Met the love of my life just a couple months before moving to New Zealand. For a whole bunch of seemingly valid reasons he couldn't come and we said goodbye at Belfast Intl. I had already rebooked to stay longer while drunk in a pub a week earlier, so 8 was flying back to have 12 hours , over night, to empty out my apartment and then fly to New Zealand. That goodbye nearly destroyed me. Knowing that I loved him so much, but we had been together such a short time that long distance would be a struggle... It was awful. We cried and held each other until it was almost too late and then I cried through security and the whole flight. Super heart breaking. Happy ending though. Due to not having a car that day his dad dropped us off at the airport and when he saw how devastated my boyfriend was upon returning to the car he basically said, if she's so important to you, why aren't you going to New Zealand? And there we were, barely a month later he had a flight, a visa and we were apartment hunting. I know in my heart we could've survived the distance, but I'm glad we didn't have to try. #11 I dont work at an airport. But I once saw a teen (prolly 17-19) getting on a plane to go to college. one of their parents was obviously terminally ill or something. I over heard them a little too intentionally while in line for a cinnamon bun or something. lots of, "I dont want you to put your life on hold for me" and "I dont want you to see me when i get worse" comments in-between sob-crying-hugs. tbh i bit my lip when going through security so I wouldn't tear up. Photo: MisterErieeO #12 I worked airport security. Saddest one for me was this young lady who came through with her baby. She had clearly been crying heavily and was sniffing, we dont have tissues but we had hand towels (like the ones in bathrooms) so I offered her a bunch when she got to the recheck station. She kind of broke down and told me that shes not leaving by choice, her partner and babys father lives in this country but she couldnt stay because of visas which meant the baby had to go with her (maybe 3mos old). Ended up going around to her side of the recheck and taking the baby off her so she could clean herself up in the bathroom, then when she came back we kinda just hugged it out for a few mins until she felt a bit better. Luckily is was super quiet so I was able to give her my full attention. Baby Liam youre still our official baby mascot! And if shes reading this then I hope you got back here ASAP and they treated you well on the way in. #13 I work in a gift shop thats right in front of the TSA checkpoint. An older woman was saying goodbye to someone who I assume was her grandson or son and broke down on the floor after he left sobbing and screaming that shes never going to have a chance to see him again. On the upside, I get to see a lot of reunions and a lot of people bring big ole doggos to pick up their humans. Its absolutely adorable. Photo: littytittykittycat #14 Not heart breaking, but and interesting perspective... When I was 21, I moved to the UK for 4 years. I remember being very excited and a little irritated with my Mom for being so emotional and making a big deal out of it. In January, my Son moved to Spain, I watched him in tears go through security until I couldn't see him anymore. As soon as I got in the car, I called my Mom and apologized for my actions 34 years earlier. #15 Happened to one of my employees: He went back to his home country which he hasn't visited in many years. His elderly father insisted on coming to the airport with his brother to pick him up. While going through customs his dad had a heart attack in the arrival waiting area and passed away. Photo: Demokrates #16 I'll always remember my family friend tell me this (he worked in one of those gift shops) where this woman came in with her tween daughter and got her a tee. Once she paid, she asked for a pen and wrote on the label where the price and size is on "Because I cannot buy you more clothes while you are away: wear this when you miss me". Apparently daughter broke down in tears just outside the store and took a good half an hour to be calmed down again. Mother's love and and a good bond always gets me. Photo: Whavey #17 Once saw a little girl who was trying to run after her father when he entered the security. Her mother held her back, the sound of her crying will always stay with me. It was really heartbreaking. Photo: Yeezus-of-Nazareth #18 Saying goodbye to my boyfriend at the airport a couple weeks ago was the first time I've ever seen him cry. I was already a sobbing mess but seeing him sob was the most heartbreaking moment for me. Won't be able to meet again for another year or two when I can move there more permanently. #19 Not a airport worker, but leaving my family/friends to go to college in the US (originally from Europe) when I was 17. I knew I wouldnt see any of my family or friends for 9months, that I would celebrate Christmas, new year, and my 18th birthday without them. Hugging my family before going through security, seeing and hearing my little sister sobbing and my mom (who is really tough and barely shows any emotion) cry was so so so hard. (And I was a sobbing mess myself for the whole 8h plane ride ). #20 I'm not an airport worker. I'm an expat, and have been living abroad for little over 5 and half years. Strangely enough for me the first trip was not insanely bad on either sides. Everything was new so I got that rosey buzz of adventure. This spring my mother and sister came to visit me here for the first time. It's quite expensive for them, so they could only afford to stay for 4 days. When they were leaving I could only see them up to the subway taking them to the airport because I had work. That goodbye was heart wrenching. I balled my eyes out. I didn't even realize just how much I miss them both. We stood there in one of the busiest subway stations in town, hugging and crying for a good 20 minutes. My mom had to slowly push me away because I was late and they were gonna miss the flight. #21 I, and my husband, were the ones leaving. I have anxiety, don't do great on planes, but manage ok 99% of the time. But this one was different. We'd basically done a semi last minute to Australia to visit and be with his father before he passed. The cancer was in his lungs now, and he stopped all but palliative care. After 2 years fighting, he was tired. It was getting closer to the time to go through customs and immigration on the way out, plus security, then to our gate. That's when the panic started to set in. I needed to get in line, to shut up the anxious brain. But I was basically telling my husband, say one last goodbye to your Dad, cuz this is it. I felt terrible, and have myself a panic attack coupled with bawling my eyes out. Saying our goodbyes, his Dad have me a big hug, told me he understood my stress, and said he wished I was his daughter. He passed about 10 days after we landed home. Added heartbreaker: I fell pregnant the day before his funeral service. #22 I am once a airport ground staff in the Philippines. The most heartbreaking ones are when the children were crying because their parents are leaving to work overseas. It is not easy, parents would stay 6 months to 1 year abroad before their next vacation. #23 Not a worker, but when I put my 7 year old step-son on a plane to visit his mom for the summer. I didn't know it was the last time I'd get to see him for a year because his dad and I were divorcing, but my son must have. He tried to jump out of my arms and kept yelling for 'Mister' ( that's what I called his brother). #24 Mine would have to be saying goodbye to my boyfriend. We had been stationed together for about a year and were going to new vases on opposite sides of the world. We had spent two weeks together in his hometown and I was going back to my base before he was heading to his. We said goodbye at the airport not know when we would be able to see each other again. I was in tears and could barely hold it together as I waited in line for TSA. Hes not a very expressive guy and doesnt really react in emotional ways, but he waited in one spot and I zigzagged my way up the queue. It was such a small gesture but meant so much that he would wait until he could catch me a few more times before leaving. Im tearing up just thinking about it. I love him so much. #25 Not a worker but when I got married to my wife in the Philippines. When we said goodbye at the airport I cry before we even got out of the taxi. The whole way to the entrance of the airport I cried to and just sat there holding her not able to let go for about 10 minutes. My mom who is with me was bawling to and my wife was actually the stronger one and said it would be okay and we'd see each other in a year (how long the spousal Visa takes). But then she started crying too. You could tell it must be a relatively common thing because there were people staring, even airport security guard had look on his face a recognizing that pain from past people who had to go through the same thing. #26 Not a worker, but my experience. A week ago I had to leave my boyfriend after meeting him for the first time (we met on a video game almost 2 years ago) and we're pretty much each other's only best friend. After seeing him for 2 weeks laughing, smiling, and being so much happier than he usually is, when I left to security and saw him crying and hugging his coat to his chest I could hardly look back at him. I think it's the saddest thing I've ever been through so far. Even harder knowing it'll be a long time before we can see each other again since I have to finish school. Edit: I just remember a little girl staring at me while we were hugging each other goodbye. I just looked back at her and hoped she doesnt have to go through the same thing for a long time. #27 Am a worker and a few years back I had a guy come into my bar with what I assume was his girlfriend or fling, whatever. At one point he was asking me how do you do it? Its gotta be sad watching people say goodbye all the time and I truthfully told him that not many people make a big scene about goodbyes at this airport. I havent seen any that have stuck with me. Eventually his girlfriend leaves to get on her plane and he continues drinking a bit. Im friendly and keep talking to him. Eventually he goes to leave, but not after writing a laughably long note on the receipt about how that was a married woman that he sleeps with whenever shes in town and shes going to tell her husband she wants a divorce To this day, that is the most memorable goodbye Ive seen and I dont even remember him saying goodbye to the woman, just that there was a goodbye. Photo: bz71 #28 "I am not an airport worker but..." One time I was sitting waiting for my flight and these two police officers were waiting by a gate. The flight gets in and the people start filing out. A mom and a younger daughter come out an the daughter bursts into tears when she sees the police officers. The officers talk to what I assume was the grandmother. I don't really know. I don't know how any of them were related really, I just know the oldest lady was taken away to be talked to and the other two were behind talking with the other cop while the younger girl was sobbing. So that was pretty (weird) and sad to see. #29 Not as tragic as the other responses, kind of ironically funny. A long-distance relationship fell apart for various reasons during a visit and she took me back to the airport. We both looked understandably distraught. The guy at the gate thought we were sad about saying goodbye, so he was *so happy* to announce that we were in the only airport in the US that allows non-passengers to accompany people to the gate, so she could come with me to my flight. I said that it wouldn't be necessary and he insisted very enthusiastically, "Are you sure? You can spend more time together!" After him insisting several times I had to spell it out, "Dude... she. is. not. coming. with. me." He finally got it and went "Oh..." The rest of check-in took on a somber tone. #30 There was a guy that was the regional manager at some paper company and he was moving to Colorado. One of his employees that he didnt get to say goodbye to drove all the way to the airport just to say goodbye. It made me shed a tear. Photo: Musty-laegs January 29, 2026: Over twenty years ago, Russia and Sweden signed a trade agreement that included coil bearings used in the axles and wheels of railroad cars. Railroad coil bearings are more expensive than the ball bearings formerly used for rail car axles, but are so much more durable, reliable and cheaper to install, maintain and replace that overall lifetime purchase and operation of them is at least 10% cheaper. Russia could not manufacture its own railroad coil bearings because it could not manufacture the technologically sophisticated high-alloy steels those required. This agreement included sale of Swedish-manufactured railroad coil bearings and some of the necessary special high-alloy steels to Russia, and licensed Swedish computer programs for Russia to assemble its own railroad coil bearings. Russia then stopped training new personnel to pack, install and maintain the old-style ball bearings it was then using, and let them gradually age out of the work force as more and more of its rail cars were converted to coil bearings. Germany and some other countries also manufacture railroad coil bearings, and Germany did sell those to Russia among others. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Sweden joined the nations imposing economic sanctions on Russia, and those included assembled coil bearings, the high quality alloys those required, and the computer programs Russian factories required to assemble their own. Sweden issued a kill code to wipe out the coil bearing software in Russia, and terminated all coil-bearing related exports to Russia. So did all the other countries which sold them to Russia. That put Russia in a world of hurt as most of its rail car & engine fleet had converted to coil bearings, while it no longer produced enough sufficient quality ball bearings for railroad cars. Plus it no longer had enough trained personnel to install and maintain those. Basically the Russian railroad system was on borrowed time from the onset of sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine. Railroad coil bearings do wear out. Russias entire railroad system would have begun collapsing last year and its ability to continue the war would probably be over now. But in early 2023 Sweden quietly resumed exports of railroad coil bearings to Russia. Russias rail system has many problems, but lack of coil bearings isnt one of them. China produces its own rail axle coil bearings, but those arent anywhere near as good as Western ones, and China hasnt sold any to Russia because of the sanctions. During World War II Sweden, while technically neutral and anti-Nazi, did trade with the Germans. Exports included metals and ball bearings essential to the German war effort. Meanwhile, Sweden has continued to prepare for a possible Russian attack. Eight years ago, for the first time since 1961 Sweden sent to all 4.7 million households a brochure describing what they should do in the event of war as in a Russian invasion. Reflecting the sharp political differences on the possibility of war, the brochure will also cover similar actions Swedes should take if the catastrophe is some aspect of the Climate Change threat or a massive hacker or terror attack. Neighbors of Sweden have played down Climate Change, hackers and terrorists and concentrated on the Russian threat. Across the Baltic Sea NATO members Lithuania and Latvia had issued similar publications to all their citizens. Lithuania led the way when, in late 2016, when a 75 page manual on how to survive another Russian occupation appeared. What all citizens received was called Prepare to Survive Emergencies and War. Lithuania has plenty of experience with being invaded and occupied by Russia and wants to remind its citizens what works, especially now that Lithuania has a mutual defense treaty with the United States and all other NATO members operates not fast enough to keep the Russians out. The prepare to survive guide provides tips on how to behave when dealing with the invader while also spying on the occupation force. The manual provided illustrations and description of most Russian weapons and details of how the Russians use secret police, local informants and special operations troops to try and control an occupied population. The manual also pointed out that Russia would send in agents or activate ones it has already recruited before an invasion and provides tips on how to detect the presence of these agents, especially in preparation for an imminent invasion. Getty Images Keeping your freezer stocked with frozen foods is a smart way to extend the shelf life of your groceries and ensure you always have meals on hand for busy weeknights. However, sometimes items get left behind or forgotten about and should be thrown away to avoid safety risks. We spoke with food safety educators to identify which items in your freezer should be tossed ASAP, along with tips for keeping an organized freezer to reduce food waste and prevent the spread of foodborne illness. Meet Our Expert Shannon Stover, MS, RD, food safety educator at Michigan State University Extension Erica Reister, food safety educator at Michigan State University Extension Related: 11 Freezer Storage Mistakes That Are Ruining Your Frozen Food Cracked Glass Containers or Jars According to Shannon Stover, a food safety educator at Michigan State University Extension, improperly stored food in glass containers poses one of the biggest freezer safety risks. When checking your freezer, inspect glass jars and containers for cracks, which can lead to glass shards contaminating food. "If you try to open the jar to check, you take the risk of the jar exploding and glass getting everywhere," Stover says. When freezing foods with liquid in glass jars or containers, leave 1 to 3 inches of headspace at the top to allow for expansion. "If you can use a straight-edge jar instead of a jar with shoulders, that is a better option," she says. "It is also recommended to let the food cool in the refrigerator prior to placing it in the freezer to help minimize the risk of the jar cracking." Freezer-Burned Food Food with freezer burn isn't a food safety hazard, but it can affect quality, says Stover. "Freezer burn happens when the food loses moisture and has been exposed to extreme temperature changes or the food has been in the freezer for too long and exposed to air," she says. While freezer burn doesn't cause foodborne illness, it can impact recipes due to changes in color and texture. If you find freezer-burned foods, assess them carefully before tossing them to avoid unnecessary food waste. If only a small portion is affected, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends cutting off the freezer-burned area before using the rest. Food With Ice Crystals Ice crystals form on frozen foods when temperatures fluctuate. "Either the product was not cooled enough prior to being placed in the freezer, or it was thawed and frozen." If you can't confirm that a food stayed above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for less than two hours, it should be thrown away. To reduce ice crystal formation and freezer burn, use airtight packaging and avoid overfilling the freezer so air can circulate properly. Old Ice Cubes Ice cubes that have been sitting in the freezer for an extended period should be tossed, and the tray should be thoroughly washed before refilling. Over time, ice can absorb unpleasant odors from the freezer. While freezing slows enzyme activity, it does not stop odor transfer, making it best to discard old ice cubes regularly. Mystery Meat Exposed, unsealed, and non-labeled meat products in your freezer should be discarded immediately. "To help eliminate that risk, clearly label everything after it has been packaged to minimize freezer burn," says Stover. "Store-wrapped packages like chicken and ground beef on styrofoam are not intended for the freezer, so it is recommended to remove them and repackage." After repackaging, attach the original label with the weight, product name, and date so you can identify the product in the event of a food recall. Foods Exposed to Leaking Raw Meat If you notice raw meat has leaked in your freezer, discard any food that came into contact with the juices, says Erica Reister, a food safety educator at Michigan State University Extension. Disinfect the freezer as well. How to Keep Your Freezer Clean and Food-Safe Thaw your freezer once a year: To keep your freezer free of frost and food particles, Reister recommends thawing it once a year for a deep clean. After thawing, clean and sanitize all interior surfaces to maintain a safe food storage environment, she says. Label repackaged foods: Labeling frozen foods helps ensure you use them before they sit too long, reducing food waste and lowering the risk of unsafe storage. To know how long certain items last in the freezer, check the USDA list. Follow the first-in, first-out rule: To stay organized and minimize waste, keep an updated list of freezer contents and date each item so you can follow the first-in, first-out method. "When I am planning meals for the week, I take a look at the list and can easily see what I have and what I need to add to my shopping list," says Stover. Use baking soda to absorb odors: To reduce unpleasant freezer odors, Stover recommends keeping an open box of baking soda in the freezer to absorb lingering smells. Read the original article on Martha Stewart Using AI in breast cancer screenings results in fewer aggressive and advanced cancers, a study has revealed. It is estimated that routine screening prevents around 1,300 deaths from breast cancer each year in the UK. In the 1990s, more than one in seven people died from breast cancer. Today it is one in 20, according to Breast Cancer Now. Two specialists are currently needed per mammogram screening, yet some cancers still go undetected. But using AI to help could mean just one specialist is needed to complete the same screening safely and efficiently and it could even be more accurate. The world-leading trial tested the AI-supported mammography screening on 100,000 Swedish women over two years, and found cancer detection increased by almost a third without any increase in false positives. AI also helped to reduce the rate of breast cancer diagnosis by 12 per cent in the years following a screening. Using AI in breast cancer screenings results in fewer aggressive cancers, study finds (PA Wire) Dr Liz O'Riordan, a retired breast surgeon who has battled breast cancer, told The Independent: At the moment, every screening mammogram is read by two doctors. This takes time, and in some parts of the UK women are waiting two to three weeks to get their results. As a cancer patient, I know only too well how that feels. The anxiety can be crippling for women who are thinking the worst. If AI-reading is proven to be accurate, speeds up the process so women get their results quicker, and frees up radiologists to do other cancer-related tasks like image-guided biopsies, it can only be a good thing. For the randomised control trial, which was published in The Lancet journal, 100,000 women who were part of a mammography screening between April 2021 and Dec 2022 at four sites in Sweden were randomly assigned to either an AI-supported mammography screening or to a standard double reading by radiologists without AI. The AI system was trained and tested with more than 200,000 examinations from multiple institutions across more than 10 countries. It was then used to analyse the mammograms and triage low-risk cases to single reading and high-risk cases to double reading performed by radiologists. AI was also used as detection support to the radiologists, in which it highlighted suspicious findings in the image. During the two-year follow-up, there were 16 per cent fewer invasive, 21 per cent fewer large, and 27 per cent fewer aggressive sub-type cancers in the AI group compared to the group with two specialists. In the AI-supported mammography group, 81 per cent of cancer cases were detected at screening, compared to 74 per cent of cancer cases in the control group. Study author Jessie Gommers, from the Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said: "Our results potentially justify using AI to ease the substantial pressure on radiologists workloads, enabling these experts to focus on other clinical tasks, which might shorten the waiting times for patients. There is currently an ongoing trial of 700,000 women in the UK testing how AI tools can be used to catch breast cancer earlier. The cutting-edge trial, called Early Detection using Information Technology in Health, or EDITH, launched in February last year and if successful, AI could save more lives and cut waiting lists. Dr O'Riordan added: It's great to see the results of this trial that show AI-supported mammogram reading is comparable to the current standard of double reading, and that it is now being considered for widespread use in Sweden. I hope the results of the UK EDITH trial will be just as positive. Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: Breast screening saves lives and is helping the NHS catch more cancers early than ever before and we are currently participating in the world-leading EDITH trial to test how AI tools could support this programme. AI technologies could offer exciting steps forward for patients and doctors in the future, and our upcoming National Cancer Plan will ensure the NHS continues to be at the cutting edge of new cancer developments and innovations in the years to come. "In the meantime, we would encourage all women to attend breast screening when invited, and if anyone is worried about any possible symptoms of breast cancer, please visit your GP." Drivers beware: When crossing state lines, you may unknowingly face some pretty strict traffic laws. Driving too fast in Virginia has been known to land people in jail. Louisiana is implementing new fines for touching cell phones while driving. And in Utah, judges are now allowed to ban you from buying alcohol if you get caught driving while extremely drunk. Peter Savolainen, the chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University, said there isnt national data about whether states with stricter rules have safer drivers. But more enforcement is probably good for the roads overall, he said. 15 vehicles on scenic winter road trips Most drivers consider road tripping during the autumn and spring months when vibrant floral or foliage displays entice the senses. But in winter, when famed rock formations are coated with snow and many go-to destinations are crowd-free, drives through the snow can produce heavenly scenic shots of your car. Here are 15 photos to get your inspirational juices flowing, starting with this Plymouth Barracuda shot outside Stockholm. If we had states that had more rigorous enforcement, Im confident wed have more effectiveness there and lower (speeding) or lower alcohol consumption or lower cell phone use, or whatever the case may be, he said. Here's what to know about some of the strictest driving rules in the United States. This state is notably strict on speeding States have the ability to set their own speed limits, after a nationwide limit of 55 mph was reversed in the 1990s. Enforcement of speeding varies by state. In Virginia, speeding is a traffic infraction, but in some extreme cases, it is a criminal offense that can land you in jail. Going 20 mph over the speed limit, or 85 mph regardless of the limit, are both reckless driving misdemeanor criminal offenses. What's the speed limit? States with the fastest and slowest speeds Utah is the strictest state for drunk driving Utah has the most strict limit for blood alcohol content of any U.S. state. All other states set the legal limit at 0.08% of blood alcohol concentration (BAC). In 2018, Utah became the first state to lower that to 0.05%, a level the Cleveland Clinic says can cause you to "feel uninhibited and have lowered alertness and impaired judgment." Starting in 2026, Utah judges may impose a new sentence for drivers convicted of extreme drunk driving with a level of 0.16 or higher more than three times the limit. So-called interdicted drivers could be banned from purchasing alcohol for a time and receive a designation on their ID cards. Arizona is known to be a particularly tough state when it comes to its enforcement for driving under the influence. Even if under the legal limit of 0.08%, a driver could face charges if a police officer believes they are "impaired to the slightest degree, through field sobriety tests or observations. States crack down on texting while driving In some states, driving while using a cell phone is considered a primary offense, meaning police can pull you over just for that, Savolainen said. In other states, it's a secondary offense, and police need another reason to pull you over first. Nearly three dozen states and Washington, DC, ban handheld cell phone use while driving, and the majority consider it a primary offense, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Louisiana last year implemented a new hands-free law banning the use of cell phones except when their function is entirely hands-off. As of Jan. 1, a grace period is up and fines will start applying to violators. Its a primary offense in a school zone, where drivers can be fined $250, and a secondary offense in most other places, where fines are $100. In Oregon, a first offense can incur a fine of up to $1,000, which doubles if a driver has three or more offenses within 10 years. An especially severe punishment for texting and driving can be found in Alaska. Though the state doesn't ban just holding a phone, it has hefty penalties for texting while driving: up to $10,000 and up to one year in prison as a class A misdemeanor. Those penalties increase if any injuries or deaths are caused by a crash due to texting and driving. More: Is it legal to drive with earbuds or headphones? Buckle up, and make sure your passengers have seat belts, too Like driving while distracted, not wearing a seat belt can be treated as either a primary or secondary offense depending on the state, but laws vary widely. Some laws are specific to front-seat occupants; others differentiate between children and adults. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, 35 states, DC and four territories have primary laws for front-seat occupants. In 42 states, DC and two territories, laws also enforce rear seat belt use. Fines for drivers who violate seat belt laws in most states range from $10 to $200. The highest fines for first offenses, according to a tracker from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, can be found in Oregon ($115), Washington ($124) and Texas ($200). It can be confusing to understand the specific laws in each state, but the very safest bet is to have everyone in your car wearing a seat belt while driving. Of the 23,959 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2023, 10,484 (44%) were unrestrained at the time of the crash, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, citing data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. There's evidence the rules work: States with primary enforcement laws for seat belt use see higher seat belt use, Savolainen said. "If you plot fatalities from the early 1980s through the early 2000s, what you see is that belt use consistently goes up and fatalities consistently go down," he added. States are turning to automated enforcement for some traffic rules Drivers who speed or commit other traffic infractions are getting more difficult to crack down on with law enforcement agencies strapped for resources and overall conducting less traffic enforcement, Savolainen said. To help with that issue, some states have turned instead to automated enforcement methods like speeding cameras and red-light cameras. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, more than 300 communities across the United States use cameras to monitor speeding. Twenty-six states and DC use speed cameras. See a full list here. Fines can range from a nominal fee to a hefty chunk of change. Maryland's recently enacted fine structure for those caught speeding on a camera ranges from $40 to $425 depending on how much over the speed limit a driver was going. Cameras for speeding or running red lights are effective because if drivers are aware they're subject to fines, research shows that awareness can reduce crashes, Savolainen said. "I know when I drive through Chicago, they have a lot of red-light cameras," he said. "And so consequently, I'm probably a little more sensitive to going through just as it's about to turn red in those circumstances." These states have some less-strict rules of the road Texas allows drivers to go the fastest in the country, with up to 85 mph allowed on a segment of Texas State Highway 130, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. New Hampshire is the only state with no law requiring seat belts for adults, but it does have a seat belt law for those under 18. There are 14 states with mandatory seat belt laws for adult front-seat occupants, but they are secondary enforcement laws, meaning officers can't pull someone over just for that. Though Alaska has one of the harshest penalties for texting and driving, it doesn't enact a general handheld device ban the way 33 states do. Contributing: Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY; Elena Santa Cruz and Ray Stern, the Arizona Republic This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These are some of America's strictest traffic laws A week after federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, a federal judge in Minnesota ruled not to order a halt on President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement surge in the city on Jan. 31 as tensions remain high on the ground. U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez's ruling came as the result of a lawsuit by state officials accusing the federal government of an "unconstitutional and unlawful" deployments, calling it a "federal crackdown." The lawsuit accused immigration agents of civil rights violations, including racially profiling citizens and unlawfully detaining Minnesota residents. The Department of Justice in response to the suit said an injunction on federal immigration actions would "unduly interfere with federal immigration enforcement." Menendez, a Biden appointee, said in the ruling that a federal appeals court recently stayed much narrower injunction on federal immigration actions in Minnesota. If that injunction went too far, she said, "halting the entire operation ... certainly would." Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the ruling was disappointing, but the city would continue to pursue the lawsuit. This decision doesnt change what people here have lived through fear, disruption, and harm caused by a federal operation that never belonged in Minneapolis in the first place, Frey said in a statement. Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the decision in a post on X, calling it a "HUGE" win. "Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from enforcing federal law in Minnesota," she said. The news came as protests against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions are expected in communities across the country on Jan. 31, including in Florida, Vermont, Kentucky and Massachusetts, according to the USA TODAY Network. ICE Out protests spark marches, confrontations across US After the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by federal immigration agents (ICE), communities across the U.S. are protesting against Trump's surge of immigration enforcement actions. Pictured here, Demonstrators gather for a protest calling for the removal of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, 2026 in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Protests were held across the United States in response to ICE enforcement activity. Students at schools around the country staged walk-outs on Jan. 30 in protest of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. In Springfield, Missouri, more than 100 students gathered outside Kickapoo High School with anti-ICE signs, some proudly displaying a Mexican flag. Students in Knoxville, Tennessee, walked out of classes or skipped school to join a protest downtown. Later that night, a vigil for Pretti was held in Corpus Christi, Texas. In the Cincinnati area, local businesses closed as part of nationwide protests. Our country is built from immigrants from the ground up, Emma Noe, a 16-year-old high school sophomore, told the Knoxville News Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. Our ancestors would be disappointed. 'I'm appalled': Protesters decry ICE actions Hundreds showed up in cities including Indianapolis and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on Jan. 31 to protest the Trump administration's immigration actions. Several hundred gathered at Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, holding signs and chanting "ICE out!" as they marched. The rally was one of several planned across Indianapolis. "I'm appalled by what's been happening in our country," Jennifer Yumib, 64, of Indianapolis, told The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network. "Seeing people torn from their homes without cause. People shot in the streets for trying to help others. This is not what we should be as a country." Nearly 300 people lined sidewalks in Palm Beach Gardens, reported The Palm Beach Post, also part of the Network. "Immigration is America" and "United Against ICE," read signs. "We know people who are afraid to send their kids to school," said Lauren Furst, a Palm Beach Gardens resident who described a climate of pervasive anxiety. "We have a friend who was picked up while dropping his kids off at school." At one point during the rally, people in a passing vehicle yelled and gestured obscenities at the protesters, The Palm Beach Post reported. Other vehicles honked in support. -Jasmine Fernandez, The Palm Beach Post, and Tony Cook, The Indianapolis Star Don Lemon, others arrested after protest at Minnesota church Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested in connection with covering a protest at a church in Minnesota. The arrests stem from a federal investigation launched after protesters interrupted a church service at Cities Church in St. Paul where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as a pastor. A federal indictment unsealed on Jan. 30 shows Lemon, another journalist and several activists present at a protest at the church were charged with multiple counts related to interrupting religious freedoms at a place of worship. Lemon was released on his own recognizance with the promise to return to court, LA Mayor Karen Bass said. "I've spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now," Lemon said outside the courthouse in LA. "There is no more important time than right now, this very moment for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable." DOJ to investigate Alex Pretti shooting On. Jan 30, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a Department of Justice civil rights investigation into Pretti's shooting, which came after Homeland Security reversed course and handed the reins of a limited "use of force" investigation to the FBI. Initially, the Homeland Security Investigations unit was set to conduct its own probe, prompting calls from across the political aisle for an independent investigation "This is what I would describe as a standard investigation by the FBI when there's circumstances like what we saw last Saturday," Blanche said. Walz calls for independent investigation into Pretti shooting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for an impartial investigation into Pretti's death a week ago, and said that "Trumps right hand cannot be responsible for investigating his left hand." Demonstrators attend an "ICE Out" protest, after the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by U.S. federal immigration agents, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 30, 2026. In the aftermath of Pretti's death, state investigators sued the Department of Homeland Security, saying federal authorities had blocked them from the scene of the incident. A judge soon ordered DHS not to alter or destroy evidence. Walz has held talks in recent days with President Trump and Tom Homan, the White House border czar, and signaled hope that state investigators would be able to conduct their own independent investigation into the fatal shooting. Protesters, law enforcement clash in LA On the night of Jan. 30, a protest in Los Angeles grew heated as a clash broke out between protesters and law enforcement officers, who deployed chemical irritants on the crowd. The clash unfolded at the loading dock of a federal court building, where about 200 people had gathered despite warnings from police to leave. Protesters pulled trash from a dumpster to build a makeshift barricade against a door, attempting to keep federal agents inside. Officers then exited through another door and began kicking their way through the barricade. Anti-ICE slogans appeared to have been graffitied onto parts of the loading dock. Tensions spiked when DHS officers emerged from the loading dock. Demonstrators surged forward, walking the agents backward. In the back-and-forth that followed, officers repeatedly pushed protesters away. Just before 4:30 p.m., the crowd swelled even larger at the dock entrance. As officers again pushed forward, a chemical irritant was deployed. -Paris Barraza Contributing: Christopher Cann, Michael Loria and Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY; Reuters (This story was updated to add a video.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge declines to halt ICE actions in MN as national protests planned DELAND As Minnesota-like weather swept into East Central Florida Saturday morning, Jan. 31, some 100 people gathered at a busy intersection to protest ICE. The people there waved signs and spoke out against President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Minneapolis, where two citizens were killed by federal agents in January and a 5-year-old boy was taken into custody, all part of a nationwide hunt for people in the country illegally and a mass deportation effort. The protest followed Fridays National Shutdown Day, in which numerous Florida organizations, businesses and schools participated, including some students at Atlantic High School in Port Orange. Protests were scheduled nationwide Saturday. "ICE is not only attacking American citizens, but also attacking immigrants, most of which have no criminal records, and the current administration is spreading lies about our neighbors," said Bethany Dzekunskas, a DeLand resident. "And it deserves to be made known, and we need to stand up for each other." Trump's mass deportations weren't the only concerns on protesters' minds. "I'm just sick of the corruption, the lawlessness," said Ivan Clements of DeLand. "All the pardons for access to the president. His pardoning of the J-6 rioters, just everything, it's just ... Trump is not in it for the people. He's in it for himself. He doesn't care about me or you and I'm just sick of it." Ivan Clements of DeLand speaks at a protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in Minnesota during January. He joined about 100 others in DeLand on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. He was holding a sign reading: "Justice for RENEE GOOD, murdered by ICE. ALEX PRETTI, murdered by ICE. LIAM RAMOS, kidnapped by ICE." He compared the last month in Minnesota to the National Guard's killing of four student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio in 1970. "That's what I see here," Clements said. "You saw in fascist Italy during World War II, where they went after the lawyers. They went after the press. And then they went after the immigrants, and that was just the start of the fascism. I don't know if it's going to go that far here, but I think our democracy is being tested." Volusia residents protest for multiple reasons Kristi Brucker of Deltona wore a "Portland Frog" costume, saying it symbolizes anti-fascism and references an incident in Oregon, where a person wearing an inflatable frog costume was assaulted by a federal agent who deployed pepper spray into the suit last October. Kristi Brucker of Deltona wears a "Portland Frog" costume at an ICE protest in DeLand on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. A person wearing such an outfit during an anti-Trump protest was pepper-sprayed inside the costume, making it an anti-fascist symbol, Brucker said. She referenced her two daughters as part of her motivation for attending the protest. "I'm fighting for them to have a future that I had, that I thought I had, and for democracy," Brucker said. "If it takes a costume to get people's attention, and them looking and talking, I'll absolutely do it." Alicyn Dickey of Daytona Beach called the Trump presidency "an abomination," and cited concerns including health care, defunding education, breaking alliances with NATO and other friendly countries, in addition to the ICE actions. "It's like the Gestapo," Dickey said. "They're pulling people out of their houses. Arresting peaceful protesters. It's Nazi Germany. It really is." 'Enraged' protester ensures her voice is heard every Saturday morning Judy Hanel of Eustis said she's been "appalled" enough to join protests every Saturday morning in DeLand and elsewhere. "So many people being abducted by men in masks and the government sanctioning it. I'm just sick of it. I'm just out here very, very enraged," she said. Hanel held a sign reading: "PRETTI and GOOD were HEROS. How many more?" While the vast majority of people at the corner were in the anti-Trump category, there were a few indications that Volusia County has been reliably red for the Republicans. A few motorists yelled at the protesters. Also, a bearded counter-protester across the street wearing a red "MAKE ORWELL GREAT AGAIN" cap waved a sign reading: "Lenin's Useful Idiots aka Hussies for Hamas." He called himself "Ashley Biden," and declared himself: "The voice of reason." Protesters concerned about the Trump Administration's immigration enforcement hoist signs at a busy DeLand intersection on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. Ivan Clements of DeLand speaks at a protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in Minnesota during January. He joined about 100 others in DeLand on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida residents protest ICE, Trump in DeLand Hundreds of Danish veterans, many of whom fought alongside U.S. troops in the Middle East, staged a silent protest Saturday outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen in response to the Trump administration's threats to take over Greenland and belittling their combat contributions. "Denmark has always stood side by side with the USA and we have showed up in the world's crisis zones when the USA has asked us to. We feel let down and ridiculed by the Trump Administration, which is deliberately disregarding Denmark's combat side by side with the USA," Danish Veterans & Veteran Support said in a statement. "Words cannot describe how much it hurts us that Denmark's contributions and sacrifices in the fight for democracy, peace and freedom are being forgotten in the White House," it said. Danish Veterans gather for a (Emil Helms / Ritzau Scanpix /AFP via Getty Images) Danish veterans are furious at the White House's rhetoric, which disregards Greenland's right to self-determination, a territory of NATO ally Denmark. They also strongly object to President Trump's claim that Denmark is incapable of protecting the West's security interests in the Arctic. On Saturday, veterans first gathered at a monument honoring fallen Danish service members, then marched to the nearby U.S. Embassy, where they observed five minutes of silence one each for Denmark's army, air force, navy, emergency management agency and police. "We also want to tell Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and the values that we defended together," Soren Knudsen, vice president of Denmark's veterans association, told the Agence France-Presse. He added that the organizers were pleasantly surprised by the support they've received. "It all started within the association and grew into a large event," Knudsen said. Denmark's Veterans gather for a Danish combat veteran Martin Aaholm, who served in Afghanistan alongside U.S. troops and lost both of his legs to an improvised explosive device, told CBS News earlier this week that he feels "angry and betrayed" by Mr. Trump's comments about Greenland and Denmark. "I have sacrificed a lot of friends, family, girlfriends, all because I was placed on the path of helping America after 9/11," he said, adding that it was worth helping America. "I was amazed that we would answer the call, us little Denmark. I was amazed that we were able to fight with the big guys." "I think America has lost its soul. It's not the America I grew up with, where America was the defender of peace in the world and wanted to spread democracy," Aaholm added. Forty-four Danish soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces. Eight more died in Iraq. Tensions were further inflamed on Tuesday when 44 Danish flags one for every Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan that had been placed in front of the embassy were removed by embassy staff. Danish flags are placed in front of the US embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, on January 28, 2026. / Credit: Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/NurPhoto via Getty Images The embassy apologized and replaced them. "We have nothing but the deepest respect for Danish veterans and the sacrifices Danish soldiers have made for our shared security. There was no ill intent behind the removal of the flags," it said in a post on its Facebook page. The State Department later said that, as a general rule, guard staff remove items left behind following demonstrations and other "legitimate exercises of free speech." The flags were returned to those who left them, it said. Don Lemon arrested in Los Angeles, sources say Trump, Bill Gates and more referenced in more Epstein files released by DOJ Saturday Sessions: Courtney Marie Andrews performs "Everyone Wants To Feel Like You Do" A 16-year-old is accused of killing his mother in Edmond after she punished the teen and his brother for sneaking out, officials say. Jordan Weems was charged as an adult in Logan County District Court on Friday, Jan. 30 with first-degree murder, desecration of a human corpse and unauthorized removal of a dead body. According to Oklahoma law, a 16-year-old charged with murder is treated as an adult. The Oklahoman would not typically name a 16-year-old accused of a crime, but in this case, prosecutors are pursuing charges against him in open court as an adult. According to court documents, the teen admitted to killing his mother by beating her with a hammer at their northeast Edmond home. An arrest affidavit filed in the case says he confessed to standing in the hall between the laundry room and the kitchen and waiting until Spring Weems came out of the kitchen. More: Dead body found in Logan County dumpster, cause of death to be determined Spring Weems' body was found in the trash can on the street, according to the court filing. "The facts and evidence show that this was not a crime of passion or an instantaneous decision," prosecutors wrote in a motion denying bail. Teen described punishment from mother in days before killing in court documents Court documents say Spring Weems and her ex-husband adopted Jordan Weems and two other children 11 years ago. The couple also had two biological children. Court filings said one son, identified only by his initials, told authorities that he and Jordan Weems recently got into trouble for sneaking out of the house and running from law enforcement. The boy told investigators that Spring Weems made the brothers write apology letters to the police and others. He also said Spring Weems took Jordan's clothes and bedding and locked them in her room, and made Jordan wear an orange jumpsuit. The brothers were made to eat meals like ham and beans or chicken and beans to simulate a prisoner's meal, the affidavit said. Investigators wrote that Jordan Weems told his brother he was going to kill their mother in the days before the murder. According to the court filing, a second brother of Jordan Weems, who was also identified only by his initials, returned home after staying with some friends during the snowstorm to find that their mother wasn't there. According to the documents, Jordan Weems said Spring Weems was helping her daughter with her new baby, but when his mother didn't return the next day, the boy called his father, finding the situation suspicious. Spring Weems' bedroom door was locked, her car was in the driveway, and she was not answering her phone. The brother also learned Spring Weems was not helping her family with the new baby. The Logan County Sheriff's Department was called to the family's home on a report that Spring Weems was missing. After deputies left, one of the brothers disclosed what had happened, court documents say. Jordan Weems was arrested Wednesday, Jan. 28, and booked into a juvenile detention facility. The 16-year-old is expected to appear in Logan County Court for his preliminary hearing April 15. OSBI is leading the investigation, and agency officials said they plan to submit an investigatory report to Logan County District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas. She is also the chief prosecutor for Payne County and made headlines for a controversial decision to pursue youthful offender status against a teen accused of rape. No attorney was listed for Jordan Weems in online court records for the case. Spring Weems' ex-husband declined to comment. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Teen arrested in Logan County in connection with mother's murder A "Youth Against ICE" rally at the Eugene Federal Building, at the intersection of Pearl and Seventh streets, ended in more chemical deterrents and flash bangs deployed by police. The protest was part of the Jan. 30 general strike dubbed "National Shutdown." Activists around the country urged people not to attend school, work, or shop in a call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In Eugene and Springfield, most public K-12 schools were out for the day. Eugene School District 4J, Springfield Public Schools and Bethel School District all had grading day on Jan. 30 with no classes. University of Oregon and Lane Community College were both in session. At the start of the protest, Sarah Hartman, a 30-year-old fifth grade teacher, said she was at the Eugene Federal Building to support her students. Theres not any room to think about learning fractions when theyre worried about their family members being taken, Hartman said. The crowd at the Eugene Federal Building approaches the front entrance on Jan. 30, 2026. Chalk writing covered nearly every available inch of sidewalk, with phrases denouncing ICE. For the first hour, almost all protesters clustered along the intersection, encouraging cars to honk in support. Some protesters could be seen leaning over the railing on the Lane County Courthouse, waving signs. A group of drummers beat out a rhythm that echoed around the plaza. University of Oregon students flock to ICE protest Some parents brought young children, but the largest group at the rally were University of Oregon students. The Register-Guard spoke with 10 of them throughout the afternoon. Alexis Herndon and Kylee Wittwer, both 19 and UO students, said their professors werent allowed to cancel classes for the National Shutdown. But many said students wouldnt be marked absent if they didnt show. Im glad theres something that they can do or theyre giving us the room to do it, Herndon said. It shows that our generation cares and because I feel like a lot of people at some point think this doesnt affect us yet, but it does. Mylie Peterson Antin, a University of Oregon student from Minnesota, was at the rally at the Eugene Federal Building. She said she'd been following the news in Minneapolis, including the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Eugene and Springfield Police Officers stand guard at the Eugene Federal Building after a window was broken by protesters on Jan. 30, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon. "I feel like every day in the news, there's something more horrific than the last," Peterson Antin said. "As an immigrant and someone who is from Minnesota, it's just been absolutely heartbreaking." The 18-year-old said many younger people show their activism on social media, but not as many take real action. Her friend Maggie Mauney, a 19-year-old UO student, called the current political climate awful, disgusting and exhausting. Mauney said at other protests they've attended, older generations have praised them. "We need to keep fighting, keep showing resistance. All of us are in it. It's not over until we end it," Peterson Antin said. Jake Mall, 20, also a UO student, came to the gathering at the protest because he wanted to feel like hes doing something. He said it was scary to see the violence that occurred earlier in the week, referring to the multiple arrests and use of chemical deterrents on protesters. Im not comfortable being complicit, he said. Grace Mangali, a 20-year-old journalism student at UO who was working the protest for Eugene Weekly, said it was important for her to be there to capture the events that unfold. "It's my job to stay updated with things that are happening in the community and it's documented as well," Mangali said. "I think reporters are an integral and controversial part of this conflict. It's just as important for reporters to participate and tell stories that are objective, but backed up by the facts." On Jan. 29, former CNN reporter Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents after covering immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota. Lemon was charged along with another journalist and several activists. He was released on Jan. 30. In Eugene, the Eugene Weekly reported that one of its reporters as well as a reporter from the Lane Community College's student paper The Torch, were struck by pepper balls on Jan. 27. Eugene Weekly's article states the journalists were clearly marked as press and announced themselves to federal agents. Rally and caravan: Hundreds gather for National Shutdown Day protest in Springfield Protest pushes toward federal building with vandalism A bit after 3 p.m., the crowd began migrating toward the front entrance of the federal building as protesters murmured about federal agents being inside. At the peak, approximately 300 were gathered around the courtyard with another couple hundred hanging back. As the sky grew dark, the crowd began to thin, but hundreds remained in the area, chanting and waving signs. One protester sprayed graffiti on the building. The crowd began banging on the windows at the entrance of the federal building, eventually breaking at least one. Just before 6 p.m., federal agents deployed a flash bang out of the broken window, which was to the right of the door. Eugene Police, which had been stationed in riot gear in a parking lot across the street intervened. They created a wall between protesters and the Eugene Federal Building entrance. Eugene Police and Springfield Police vehicles created a blockade, closing off Pearl Street at Sixth Street. A Eugene Police vehicle with a long range acoustic device, which can emit loud, cannon-like sounds to deter crowds, played a recording: "This is the Eugene Police Department. You are engaged in an active riot. You are ordered to disperse from the area immediately. Failure to disperse will result in the use of tear gas and/or impact munitions. You may be subject to arrest." At approximately 6:30 p.m., a similar message played out of loudspeakers at the top of the federal building, warning protesters they were engaging in "unlawful assembly" and directing them to exit the courtyard toward the Seventh and Pearl streets intersection, then continue west. Federal agents clear the ground of the Eugene Federal Building during an anti-ICE protest on Jan. 30, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon. At approximately 7 p.m., four SUVs entered the federal parking lot. Protesters speculated they held reinforcements. Thirty minutes later, Eugene Police left and federal agents deployed more flash bangs and tear gas. Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on X @mirandabcyr. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Youth Against ICE protest in Eugene ends in more chemical deterrents Kaylee Goncalves smiles and poses in undated photo; photo shared to Facebook by Kaylee Goncalves' family shows her hairbrush, mouth retainer and sticky notes she wrote on before her murder in November 2022 Its a task no family ever wants to face. More than two years after University of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves was brutally slain, her loved ones are finally facing the unimaginable going through the belongings she left behind. Note: this is not all of it, this is JUST the beginning, a relative wrote in a Jan. 27 post on the Goncalves familys Facebook page alongside photos of cardboard boxes and plastic containers stacked inside their Idaho home, each labeled with a simple, devastating K. University of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves family is finally going through her belongings more than two years after her brutal murder. Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram There are boxes and boxes and boxes. Im just starting here, the family member added. The post explained that Kaylees things had been moved out of her childhood bedroom because it was just too much to go through them there. Im finally going through Kaylees things, reads the post. I am looking for several items, such as her orange Sublime T-shirt, her grey sublime crew neck, Black death row records shirt [sic], and the outfit she was wearing out that night. Wish me luck. Theres no turning back now, the tear-jerking post reads. It doesnt smell like her, it smells like the box it came out of, but it was definitely hers, Goncalves relative captioned the photos of her This while its still legal sweatshirt. Kaylee Goncalves/Facebook Goncalves, 21, was one of four students stabbed to death inside an off-campus Moscow home Nov. 13, 2022 a tragedy that stunned the nation. Since then, her life had remained boxed up, untouched and frozen in time until now. In a follow-up post, her family shared side-by-side photos of a white crewneck sweatshirt freshly pulled from a box bearing the phrase Think while its still legal, next to an undated image of Goncalves smiling ear-to-ear while wearing it. It doesnt smell like her, it smells like the box it came out of, but it was definitely hers, read the caption, accompanied by broken-heart and crying emojis. Other painful discoveries followed. On Friday, the family unearthed Goncalves mouth retainer and bright red hairbrush with strands of her long blonde hair still tangled in its bristles. The family unearthed Goncalves mouth retainer and bright red hairbrush with strands of her long blond hair still tangled in its bristles and sticky notes shed written on. The Goncalves Family Page/Facebook They also found pink sticky notes bearing everyday to-do lists she never got to finish. Curl hair, find stuff on amazon, take murph for a walk, cut nails, read one note, referring to Goncalves beloved pet golden doodle, Murphy. On the note, which was scribbled with small hearts, Goncalves had also written down the words manage and flexible, along with questions seemingly meant for a future employer plans for a life suddenly cut short. Another heart-clad note simply read, Hello my name is Kaylee. These items of Kaylees, hit me hard today, the family member wrote. I just want her back so bad!!!! The family member also expressed rage toward her killer, Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty in July to murdering Goncalves and her pals Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20. FU BK!!!!! I wish Steve could have 1 minute in that cell with him. 1 min, thats all it would take, the caption says, referring to Goncalves father, Steve Goncalves. The relative wrote that they wished Kaylees dad Steve Goncalves (right) could have 1 minute in that cell with his daughters murderer, Bryan Kohberger. Facebook/kaylee.goncalves The moving posts all feature the hashtags goncalvesarmyoflove, kayleejade4ever and neverforget. The familys heartbreaking work came just days after horrific autopsy reports revealed that Goncalves was knifed roughly 38 times when Kohberger, 31, targeted the King Road home. Kohbergers motive for the murders could remain a mystery forever, as he is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The Goncalves family did not respond to Post requests for comment. With the U.S. poised to attack Iran, diplomatic attempts to broker a deal appear to have withered. Israeli and Arab officials successfully united earlier this month to convince President Donald Trump to refrain from attacking Tehran, fearing a regional bloodbath. But earlier this week, a Gulf official who is familiar with discussions among U.S. officials told HuffPost the chances of avoiding a strike stood only at 50%. The odds look even worse heading into the weekend. The U.S. has amassed forces that Trump calls an armada in the region and he is considering possibly striking a wider range of targets than the U.S. did in its attack on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer, a U.S. official and another source familiar with administration conversations told HuffPost. The assault could include political targets, potentially even Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which would likely invite heavy Iranian retaliation and kill future diplomatic prospects. Politics: 'Crash And Burn': Critics Mock Trump After 'Humiliating' Decision About Key Landmark Trump says the alternative to the strikes are negotiations, but he and his aides have laid out preconditions for talks that few believe Iran is willing to meet. They want Tehran to first commit to limiting its uranium enrichment, ballistic missile program and support for militias across the Middle East. Trump and his aides, frustrated with attempted diplomacy last year, feel Iran should make extensive concessions, arguing it has no other option given the immense pressure it is under, the U.S. official and the other source said. Iran badly wants relief from U.S. economic sanctions, but its leadership is also wary of Trump and of negotiating from a position of weakness, after the government faced its biggest popular uprising in years and brutally suppressed it, killing thousands. The result, said Ali Vaez, an analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, is that Irans ceiling sits below Americas floor. I think its more likely than not that we do something very shortsighted within the weekend, said Reid Smith, the vice president of foreign policy at Stand Together, an organization founded by the right-wing billionaire Charles Koch that advocates for a more restrained U.S. position in global affairs. Skeptics of a strike say it could be costly noting there are tens of thousands of U.S. troops within striking range of Iran as well as the start of an unpredictable, prolonged war. While governments close to Trump, including Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, lobby against a possible strike, Trump is being encouraged to strike by influential hawks at home, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and pro-Israel donors who have long sought regime change in Tehran. Politics: The Crucial Window Of Diplomacy To Prevent A U.S. War With Iran Controversial old-school arguments for intervention are gaining ground in Washington given the military build-up and Trumps aggressive rhetoric: a GOP congressional aide argued to HuffPost that Theres a value in the legitimacy of doing a military strike because we said we would, we set conditions for what would happen if theres not a change in their behavior. They are pitted against officials inside the administration who are not enthusiastic about the idea of strikes, the official said, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who this week told Congress it is unclear what leadership would emerge in Iran if the government falls. Another source included Vice President J.D. Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles among the skeptics. Dalia Dassa Kaye, an expert on U.S.-Iran relations at UCLA, expressed concerns about the process by which Trumps policy is being crafted. I dont think thats a great thing, whether you like the outcome or no that the protection of U.S. national security is dependent on whether three Gulf states get [Trumps] ear on a given day or not, she told HuffPost. Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost. Iranians walk past a billboard showing Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with anti-U.S. rhetoric in Tehran on Jan. 27. ATTA KENARE via Getty Images Though Trump has continued saying his preference is an agreement with Iran, most recently on Thursday night, the administrations threats and demands have led Iranian officials to say they wont negotiate under duress. It seems were interested not so much in negotiations as capitulation, said Alan Eyre, a former State Department official and fellow at the Middle East Institute think tank. Weve stipulated that Iran has to forgo indigenous enrichment [of uranium], get rid of all their uranium, end their support for proxies and incapacitate their missile program, so our red lines have expanded and become more stringent. Politics: GOP STUNNED: Democrat Flips Reliably Republican Texas State Senate Seat The Trump administration is counting on Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer close to Trump and his special envoy addressing several other ongoing conflicts, to manage a resumed dialogue with Iran. In the Gulf officials view, the U.S. is seeking to use maximum pressure to make Tehran agree to several American demands, knowing that might not include all. Some believe simply restarting U.S.-Iran talks would enable a climb-down and stave off an attack. But that is so much harder now because of Americas preconditions for talks and Iranian reluctance to concede, Vaez said. Witkoff held talks with Iranians last year that produced little progress and were seen by some as a ruse, since they were quickly followed by joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. Since then, after the protests and alarm among Iranian officials about their possible overthrow, Tehran is unlikely to be more confident in such discussions. Politics: MAGA Was All A Lie: Marjorie Taylor Greene Torches Trump In Scathing New Interview Iran is quite convinced this administration is not seeking a win-win solution, Eyre said. Still, he recommended the Trump administration explore back-channel diplomacy while trying to limit mixed messages from the president about his stated goals, which have ranged from Iranian demonstrators taking over their countrys institutions to the longstanding U.S. aim of limiting Irans nuclear capabilities. There may be some type of military attack that prevents significant retaliation by Iran while also encouraging popular protest and decreasing the ability to suppress that protest, but thats a very fine needle to thread, Eyre continued. Related... Read the original on HuffPost January 31, 2026: The Right To Repair/RTR controversy has been going on for over fifty years. Manufacturers have a condition in contracts for sale of their products that buyers cant repair those, and that only the sellers own employees or licensed contractors may do so. On one side are manufacturers who oppose RTR because RTR means theyd sell fewer products and lose the money they make from making repairs to their products and charging whatever they want. RTR also keeps their products in use longer, costing the manufacturer additional sales. Enforcing RTR is a losing battle. Farmers, for example, cannot wait for authorized repairs to be made during planting or harvesting. The farmers either refuse to buy equipment that bans RTR or ignore it and make the repairs anyway. For the military, it is possible for manufacturers to enforce RTR bans in peacetime. But in wartime, the troops will repair broken weapons and equipment because its a matter of life and death. Ukraine has received billions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment from the United States. The manufacturers sent technical representatives to assist the Ukrainians with use of the equipment and enforce any RTR bans. The Ukrainian go along with this most of the time. But if it's a matter of life or death the American tech reps are either moved out of the area for safety reasons, or tech reps who understand the Ukrainian position remain and assist the Ukrainians in making repairs. RTR problems are one reason Ukraine builds most of the weapons it uses. These items are built to be easily repaired. Its the same with the Russians and their weapons. The Ukrainians consider RTR restrictions as some crazy American quirk that they have to live with and work around as needed. Meanwhile American consumers and businesses hurt by RTR rules pressure their politicians to outlaw RTR restrictions. There have been some laws passed to do this, but they face lawsuits from the firms opposing RTR bans. Officially, American military leaders say they will observe RTR bans. In reality, it is understood by all concerned that in a war American troops could and would make their own repairs. U.S. forces have been using 3-D printers and associated equipment to manufacture needed spare parts and make repairs. RTR bans are seen as unenforceable in wartime and a growing number of peacetime owners of equipment are ignoring RTR bans. The murder, which led to two separate trials, recently became the subject of a Dateline episode. A man who pleaded guilty to killing an openly gay University of Mississippi student has learned his fate. Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., 25, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the killing of 20-year-old Jimmie Jay Lee, a beloved member of Ole Misss LGBTQ+ community. Herrington pled guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence charges. Prosecutors say Herrington was attempting to conceal a relationship with Lee, though Herringtons lawyers dispute that notion. According to the Associated Press, Herrington, an Ole Miss graduate, was previously charged with capital murder but had the charge reduced by prosecutors. All of this happened to cover something up, and everyone found out anyways, Gwen Agho, the deputy chief assistant district attorney at the Hinds County District Attorneys Office, said. Investigators claimed they found sexually explicit messages exchanged between the two and at one point, Herrington searched how long it takes to strangle someone after Lee had visited him and then returned to his apartment. Lee went missing in August 2022, and his decomposed remains were found by deer hunters in February 2025. According to the Clarion-Ledger and WREG, Lees body was so decomposed that investigators were unable to determine how he was killed. Herringtons first trial, held in 2024, ended in a mistrial. He was set to be tried again over Lees death before pleading guilty. At sentencing, Lees father faced his sons killer and remarked on how difficult his loss had been for everyone. I knew from the beginning that you did this, and I believe your family knew, Jimmie Lee Sr. said, according to WLBT. I had to witness my sons skeletal remains. I touched his skull; no father should have to go through that. No family should have to go through that. The case was recently featured on a two-hour episode of Dateline. In it, Lees mother, Stephanie, remarked that her son disappeared on her birthday. He would call me and sing happy birthday, she said. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks at an election event in Las Vegas. Photo: Gage Skidmore / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Cropped from Original (The Center Square) Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued an initial list of interim charges for Texas Senate committees to pursue ahead of the next legislative session next year. At the top of the list is preventing Sharia law in Texas. Anti-Sharia law and targeting Islamic political ideology affiliated with terrorism is a common theme among Texas Republicans in the last few months, led by Gov. Greg Abbott and other lawmakers, The Center Square reported. The Texas legislature convenes every other year in odd years for roughly 140 days. Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, directs its agenda. Interim charges are issued when the legislature is out of session; legislative priorities are issued at the beginning of the legislative session. Last year, Patrick identified 40 legislative priorities, The Center Square reported. The majority passed and became law. Patrick asked senators to provide him with interim charge recommendations by Feb. 20. Upon review, he plans to announce a full list of interim charges by March, he said. As always, Texans can rest assured the Senate will hit the ground running on day one of the 90th Texas Legislature to ensure the priorities of the conservative majority of Texans are accomplished including, but not limited to, continued property tax relief via Operation Double Nickel, eliminating fraud and abuse in state government, strengthening the power grid, and promoting a Texas-first agenda across the board, he said. Patricks interim charges include: Preventing Sharia Law The State Affairs Committee has been tasked with evaluating Sharia Law in Texas, including examining entities like the proposed East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC City) development in Hunt and Collin counties to identify any violations of state or federal law; to evaluate large real estate acquisitions by entities like Community Capital Partners, among others. Only state and federal laws apply in Texas and Sharia law or other secondary judicial systems have no place in Texas, Patrick says. He did so after Abbott directed law enforcement to investigate a Sharia tribunal in north Texas, among other actions, The Center Square reported. State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, earlier this month called on House Speaker Dustin Burrow to hold interim legislative hearings to combat Sharia law in Texas. Property tax cuts Patrick is again pushing to reduce the Homestead Exemption to reduce property taxes, a move critics argue doesnt work as home prices increase. Homestead Exemption has proven overwhelmingly popular with voters, Patrick said. It has eliminated school property taxes for the average senior and reduced school taxes in half for those under 65. The charges direct the Finance Committee to study and report on the effect of increasing the exemption and dropping the eligible age to 55 from 65. Patrick proposed a property tax relief plan that competes with the governors, The Center Square reported. Both are running for reelection and their property tax plans are key to their campaigns. In the last several sessions, the state legislature has passed property tax reform bills that both Abbott and Patrick claimed were historic and homeowners would see the largest property tax decrease ever. Yet property taxes only increased every year. Texas has the seventh-highest property taxes in the country, based on 2023 data, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation. Securing critical infrastructure and supply chain integrity Patrick has tasked the Business and Commerce Committee with securing critical infrastructure, evaluating the supply chain and Texas electric grid for any foreign threats and make recommendations for improvements. Protecting taxpayer funds, preventing fraud and abuse After a national spotlight on Medicaid and other fraud in Minnesota, Patrick tasked the Health and Human Services Committee with identifying fraud and abuse in Texas human services programs. This includes Medicaid and childcare services, in line with executive orders Abbott issued this month addressing the same issue, The Center Square reported. Promoting American and Texas first in public schools Patrick tasked the Education Committee with evaluating public schools promoting events, partnerships, or associations with federal or state-designated hostile agents or their surrogates. He did so after Gov. Abbott lambasted two public schools for planning to host an Islamic event partially sponsored by an organization with alleged ties to terrorism in conflict with a foreign terrorist designation he issued last November. Patrick tasked the committee with providing recommendations to strengthen laws stopping hostile countries or related entities from infiltrating our classrooms. FILE PHOTO: Silhouettes of laptop users are seen next to a screen projection of binary code are seen in this picture illustration created on March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo By AJ Vicens Jan 30 (Reuters) - Russia's domestic spy agency was likely responsible for cyberattacks late last month on 30 Polish renewable energy facilities, a manufacturing firm and a plant supplying heat for nearly 500,000 customers, Polish officials said on Friday. A report by Poland's Computer Emergency Response Team on the incident - which a Polish minister said was the worst of its kind in years - pointed to a team of hackers from Russia's Federal Security Service, known by its Russian acronym FSB. The hacks were "purely destructive in nature," the report said, comparing them to arson. "It is worth noting that this period coincided with low temperatures and snowstorms affecting Poland, shortly before New Years Eve, the report said. The Russian aim was to irreversibly destroy data stored on devices within the combined heat and power plant but security software blocked that portion of the attack, according to the report. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. OTHER ANALYSIS POINTS TO RUSSIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE Poland says its critical infrastructure has been subject to a growing number of cyberattacks by Russia since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. Moscow regularly denies responsibility for malicious cyber activity. The report tied the incident to an FSB hacking operation tracked under several nicknames, including "Berserk Bear" and Dragonfly. An August 20, 2025 report from the FBI linked the groups to the FSBs specialised unit Center 16. While the group has historically had significant interest in the energy sector and the ability to attack industrial devices, this is the first publicly described destructive activity attributed to this cluster, the Polish cyber officials said, referring to the FSB hacking group. The reports verdict on the hacks involved partially backs an independent analysis published last week by researchers at the Slovakia-based cybersecurity firm ESET. ESET said that the malware involved in the Polish attack overlapped with prior destructive cyber operations tied to Russia, but linked it to a Russian military intelligence hacking unit known as Sandworm, not the FSB. ESET issued a second report Friday expanding on its analysis of the malware which again tied it to Sandworm, although it cautioned that other aspects of the operation might have been carried out by different hacking groups. John Hultquist, chief analyst at Google Threat Intelligence Group, said Friday that if the attack truly is Berserk Bear, the activity represents an escalation from its penetration of targets for long-term espionage towards damaging action. "They have the means, the question was always did they have the motivation, Hultquist said. "Now, potentially based on this attribution, proven to us that they do have the motivation, which puts us in a much more serious situation. Hultquist said the situation should raise concerns about the security of the Winter Olympics, set to kick off February 6. Russia has previously attempted to knock the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics offline, and they were extremely active during the last summer games," Hultquist said. Disruptive cyberattacks are a very real threat. (Reporting by AJ Vicens in Detroit; editing by Philippa Fletcher) Women exploring the wild beauty of Tasmania, Australia. - pixdeluxe/E+/Getty Images This week in travel news: Australian travelers descended on an imaginary tourist attraction, a woman recalls the night she unexpectedly bunked with a pair of traveling nuns, and the turning point for REAL ID has arrived. Getting into hot water Hundreds of tourists are flocking to hot springs in a small town in Tasmania, Australia. However, there was one small wrinkle in their trip planning. The hot springs are actually an AI hallucination that erroneously appeared on a travel advice website and was widely shared before people figured out what was happening. While this particular anecdote is funny, it speaks to a larger, more alarming trend in the travel industry. Anne Hardy, adjunct professor in tourism at Southern Cross University, Australia, told CNN that about 37% of tourists use artificial intelligence-powered large language models like ChatGPT for travel advice or itineraries. Are you thinking about using AI to plan your next vacation, but not sure how to tell whats real and whats fake? Five CNN Travel staffers in five different cities tried to follow AI-created itineraries in their own hometowns, with varying degrees of success. Follow their experiences and learn from their mistakes here. Sister Act, travel edition Great Escapes is a new CNN Travel series about how journeys sometimes dont go as planned and what happens next. Over the next few weeks, well be bringing you the first three articles in the series, which are also available in audio form. This weeks story is about Diann Droste, who in 1973 was a 16-year-old high schooler traveling around the US by Greyhound bus when a massive snowstorm threatened to strand her alone in a small town in Minnesota. Luckily, though, Diann wasnt alone. Two guardian angels emerged in the form of nuns. The two women saw broke, scared Diann alone in the lobby of a motel and invited her to stay with them. That night, the unlikely trio had dinner and the nuns taught Diann how to play the card game Canasta. These days, Diann is a mom whose kids cant believe she once roomed with total strangers. But, as she explains, thats the kind of thing people did before cell phones and the widespread use of credit cards. The next morning, the snow had cleared enough to let the bus continue on its journey, and Diann went home to her family. However, she has never forgotten even after all this time the kindness of the two women who made sure she was safe on that snowy night. Ready for REAL IDs? Starting this Sunday, February 1, the Transportation Security Administration says it will charge airline passengers who do not have a REAL ID $45 to verify their identity. CNNs Pete Muntean explains what this means for travelers. Unexpected ingredients One of the most fun parts of visiting a new place is trying the local specialties. That was certainly the case for actor Tony Shalhoub, who tried rye bread ice cream in Reykjavik, Iceland, during the Breaking Bread series that he hosted on CNN. The grain-meets-dairy concoction is topped with rhubarb syrup and house-made whipped cream. Although Shalhoub was skeptical at first, he ended up loving the surprising treat. And thats not all. Sometimes a simple ingredient like olive oil is best tried not as part of a bigger dish but as a tasty treat in its own right. Shalhoub and CNNs Anderson Cooper tried out olive oil shots thats right, drinking it straight, just like tequila or vodka. The verdict? Four thumbs up. In case you missed it More than 17,000 American military members and 570 of their Filipino counterparts are buried at this World War II cemetery in metro Manila. - Francis R Malasig/EPA/Shutterstock Americas largest World War II cemetery isnt in Europe. Its in Manila, capital of the Philippines. Frances high speed rail system is offering a kid-free cabin. It has stirred up plenty of controversy. A former flight attendant scammed a bunch of free flights. He did it by pretending to be a pilot. A major layoff. A death-defying climb. A panda farewell. What do you remember from the week that was? For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com A member of Iran's police special forces looks on as he holds a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a pro-Government rally in downtown Tehran, Iran, on January 12. - Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty Images It is bubble-gum foreign policy: one where the quick hit of flavor is the goal, rather than chewing a sticky mess for hours. US President Donald Trumps approach to global adventurism appears to adore a quick result and abhor a protracted crisis. Little is predictable with this White House, and that is perhaps the point. But the few lessons learned from Januarys whirlwind, and indeed Trumps previous entanglements with Iran, suggest his military options ahead in the Gulf are limited, and far from great. The buildup of naval assets off and around the coast of Iran is blunt and plodding. Trump has telegraphed potential military action for about 19 days, since he posted HELP IS ON ITS WAY and canceled meetings with Iranian officials because of their brutal slaughter of protesters. Back then, he lacked convincing firepower in the region to mount a sizeable assault. That calculus is slowly changing. His June assault on Irans nuclear facilities had two carrier groups in the region, more there as a counter-weight to any Iranian reprisals than to be directly involved in the attack. At present, the United States has one carrier group, and multiple other assets, many easily tracked by open-source monitoring. The buildup has robbed the Pentagon of the element of surprise, but that may not make a huge difference. The Iranian regime has been on high alert, surely, for the seven months since Israels wide-ranging and crippling 12-day assault. And while it has surely managed some sort of recovery, its stocks of missiles, and command structure, are without doubt depleted. Trump faces a weakened adversary, but that does not improve his choices. It may in fact complicate them. US Navy Captain Daniel Keeler, commanding officer of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, prepares to fly an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter on January 23. - Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/US Navy Post-Khamenei path would be far from clear Firstly, one lesson of January is that nothing at all might happen. Much analysis of Trumps outspoken and illegal claims to Greenland suggested he had boxed himself into a corner where he had to act. But his iron-willed position folded faster than NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte could whisper the fateful word: Daddy. Often with the 47th president, the show is the goal. He Truths the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in 74 words; he backs down on Greenland with a similar tap of his thumb. And for the fourth time in a month, the world is hanging on every Truth to see if this time, with Iran, it is a FAFO or a TACO. If Trump feels beholden to military action, the path is rocky. Singular, precise strikes fit the pattern of previous presidential behavior. When Trump takes the military action that his America-first MAGA base is so often averse to, it is usually a mix of impressive and bold execution, with an apparently sober and accurate grasp of the ensuing risks. Maduros capture, the assassination of Quds force chief Qassem Soleimani and the strikes on Irans nuclear program all correctly assessed their adversarys relative inability to defend themselves or strike back. These three operations flexed US military superiority over a brief, but highly potent window: a singular news cycle of undeniable action, seemingly without regard for the aftermath, because really that was not the US problem. Trump may have claimed they would run Venezuela after Maduro, but evidently had no real plan to do so, bar coercion over the same continued government in Caracas. His top adviser, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, openly admits they have no idea what could follow the demise of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, on January 17. - Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/AP So what would a singular night of targeted and contained US military action look like? They could target what remains of Irans leadership: hitting top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, perhaps Khamenei himself a form of retribution for the tens of thousands of protesters killed by the regime, who Trump incited to rise up and Make Iran Great Again, but who now appear less central to his demands of Tehran. But the IRGC has reconstituted itself quickly after the 12-day war decimated its ranks. And the path after Khamenei is far from clear. It is deeply unlikely that the octogenarian theocrat would be followed by a young, enlightened democrat. The regime will close ranks for its survival, and any successor will have to prove his anti-American mettle to seal his support from the base. What succeeds Khamenei would likely be worse, as one man is not the entire Iranian system alone. Another option is going after the remains of Irans nuclear program, and this would fit long-term US policy goals. But another strike would risk contradicting Trumps earlier assessments of success against these facilities in June: why bomb the same thing twice, unless you missed the first time? Would a wider series of strikes against military and security infrastructure be more effective? Possibly. But bombing campaigns can get less accurate the longer and broader they are. Tens of millions of Iranians rely on the regime for their livelihood, and tens of thousands of fathers and sons serve in the security forces that would be targeted. Orphans and widows do not often accept the wider geopolitical need for their immediate grief. The US risks infuriating a reasonable chunk of the Iranian population it wants to win over, and entrenching the regime it seeks to oust. An existential moment for Irans regime Armed members of Iran's police special forces monitor the area during a pro-Government rally in downtown Tehran, Iran, on January 12. - Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty Images The longer and more sustained any bombing campaign, the greater its limitations would be exposed. Irans leaders know this is an existential moment for their survival and theocracy, and will continue to prioritise that over all else. A surrender from the smoldering ruins of Tehrans government buildings remains unlikely: this is a murderous and brutal clan with a dwindling list of allies, whose backs are against the wall. It is also an enduring fallacy of armchair generals to believe a regime can be bombed out of power a fact the White House seemed to accept quite readily in the aftermath of Maduros capture, when it encouraged his deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, to take over. Currently Trump lacks the military hardware in theater to entertain weeks of intense bombardment. He may also lack the political will to effect real change by sending in ground forces a huge, years-long undertaking, which took months to prepare in the case of the ill-fated invasion of Irans neighbor Iraq in 2003. The longer-term and more sustained options unfavorable, Trump is faced with the usual choice between changing the topic and a flashbang moment of military might. He may choose the latter, sensing correctly a weakened Iran. But the good fortune he has enjoyed over the past three lightning strikes against Iran twice and Venezuela once risks giving way to hubris and miscalculation. A handful of American soldiers killed by one Iranian missile or drone could drag Trump into months of reprisal warfare, and create another foreign-entanglement headache with his MAGA base for a self-styled president of peace. And so the options outside of a swift strike narrow: an off-ramp or change the topic? Off-ramps are few here, with an Iranian regime so set on defiance. But Trumps foreign policy is in the eye of the beholder. His Greenland off-ramp has yet to yield an actual concrete change in the US position. But it did successfully kick the crisis out of the headlines, making space for Iran. These global crises rise and ebb, it seems, as a reminder of the pivotal nature of Trump the man in all things. We look to see whether the thumb goes up, or down, and that show, it appears, is often the goal. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com A jet is pictured at an aircraft assembly center in Ontario, Canada, on December 8, 2025. - Laura Proctor/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he is decertifying all aircraft made in Canada and threatened a 50% tariff on those planes until American-made Gulfstreams are certified in that country. Trump specifically said he was decertifying the Global Express, a business jet from Quebec-based Bombardier, along with all aircraft made in Canada. Canada is effectively prohibiting the sale of Gulfstream products in Canada through this very same certification process, Trump wrote on Truth Social. If, for any reason, this situation is not immediately corrected, I am going to charge Canada a 50% Tariff on any and all Aircraft sold into the United States of America. The threat is the latest episode in a prolonged spat between the US and its next-door neighbor since Trump took office last year. Just hours earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expects Trump to respect Canadian sovereignty after reports that Alberta separatists met with US officials. And a few days earlier, Trump threatened a 100% tariff on Americas second-biggest trading partner if it struck a trade deal with China. It is unclear whether Trump has the legal authority to decertify aircraft; the White House has not released an executive order on any Canadian aircraft tariffs. Trump did not specify any mechanisms to decertify the planes in his post. No president has ever decertified jets directly. The decision has always been left up to aviation safety experts at the Federal Aviation Administration, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of industry consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory. Using aircraft safety as a tool in a trade war is just an incredibly bad idea, he said. Bombardier issued a statement pointing out that it has 3,000 US employees spread across 9 US facilities as well as 2,800 US suppliers. One of such facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, recently announced plans to expand. Thousands of private and civilian jets built in Canada fly in the US every day, Bombardier said. We hope this is quickly resolved to avoid a significant impact to air traffic and the flying public. Trump didnt clarify whether the decertification action would apply to active or yet-to-be certified aircraft. But an industry source who spoke to CNN on background said that it was the industrys understanding that it would apply to new private aircraft. (There is) no indication from folks weve talked to that this would impact passenger aviation like Bombardiers that were manufactured 10+ years ago, the source said. Regional workhorse If Trump does ground all Canadian-made jets, it would be a blow to US airlines and passengers. In addition to business jets, Bombardier produces the CRJ regional jets used on so-called feeder flights. Those typically shuttle passengers from smaller airports to larger airports. United, Delta and American airlines all employ regional airlines for their feeder flights that use CRJ. So far, none of the regional airlines that provide those feeder flights have reported having planes grounded, Faye Malarkey Black, CEO of the Regional Airline Association, told CNN Thursday evening. There are 648 passenger CRJ jets that were made in Canada that are in use by US airlines, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Those planes are scheduled to make more than 2,600 flights daily, with a total of 175,000 available passengers seats every day. Grounding those planes would not only cause widespread disruptions to the US airline schedule, it could leave many smaller airports in rural areas without air service. Regional airlines are the only source of flights for 64% of US airports, according to the Regional Airline Associations data. I think this is aimed at business (jets), another industry source, who asked not to be identified, told CNN Thursday evening. Im well aware of what the (social media) post said, that it was all aircraft. But I would be really shocked if the intent was to ground the fleet that serves so many of the presidents supporters. A White House official told Reuters that Trump was not suggesting decertifying Canadian-built planes that are currently in operation. The White House didnt immediately respond to CNNs request for comment Friday. The FAA referred questions to the White House. Taking those CRJ jets out of the US air travel system would cause widespread chaos, Aboulafia said. It would be a transportation disaster, he told CNN. If its only the Global Express, its not that big of a problem. But if its all Canadian-made jets the (US air travel) system would be seriously impacted. Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly told the CBC on Friday that members of the Canadian government have reached out to their counterparts in the US government about Trumps post. When the president reacts, tweets, says something, we always take good note. We read, we listen and we dont panic, she said, adding that they believe this can be resolved. Steven MacKinnon, Canadas transportation minister, posted on social media that he had spoken with Bombardiers CEO as well as senior leadership with General Dynamics, its American corporate parent. Officials with Transport Canada are also in contact with the the US Department of Transportation, he said. Canadas aviation industry is safe and reliable. We will stand behind it, he wrote. Its also not clear from the Truth Social post if all aircraft refers to just planes or also helicopters. Canada is a major supplier of civilian helicopters, including medical evacuation helicopters used to move critically ill and injured patients. This story has been updated with additional context and developments. CNNs Pete Muntean contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks on the phone while standing inside a vehicle loaded with boxes outside the Fulton County Election Hub. - Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has taken the extraordinary step of inserting herself into a federal probe of the 2020 election as she hunts for elusive evidence of voter fraud. Gabbard was on the scene Wednesday after FBI agents executed a search warrant for the Fulton County elections office, near Atlanta. The search was related to an effort by the Justice Department to seize voting data and search for alleged fraud in the county, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The move appears to provide an opportunity for Gabbard to curry favor with President Donald Trump by supporting his false but unrelenting claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump on Thursday night praised Gabbard for working very hard to try to keep the election safe when asked by CNN why she was present during the search. Youll see some interesting things happening, Trump said. Theyve been trying to get there for a long time. There have been suggestions Gabbard had fallen out of favor with the president, and CNN previously reported that she was left out of at least one key discussion among senior officials over Iran last year as Trump saw her as off-message on Middle East policy. States run elections, not the federal government. The director of national intelligence oversees all foreign intelligence collection. Their traditional role in US elections is to protect them from foreign interference. Focus on Fulton County The strong suspicion among Georgia election officials, a source close to those officials told CNN, is that Gabbard is searching for a connection between the records the FBI seized in Fulton County and foreign interference in the 2020 election. Georgia officials are bracing for the possibility that Gabbard will try to resurrect dubious claims about Chinese interference in the 2020 election, the source said. If there is a foreign nexus to the Trump administrations probe of Fulton County, officials havent revealed it. Georgia was the centerpiece of President Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. We know through intelligence and public reporting that electronic voting systems have been and are vulnerable to exploitation, a DNI spokesperson said in a statement. President Trumps directive to secure our elections was clear, and DNI Gabbard has and will continue to take actions within her authorities, alongside our interagency partners, to support ensuring the integrity of our elections. The spokesperson did not respond when CNN asked what foreign nexus there was to the Fulton County probe. Federal law clearly assigns the DNI and her office with the statutory responsibility to lead counterintelligence matters related to election security, which includes assessing risks to election voting systems, software, voter registration databases and more and analyzing foreign interference, an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said. Gabbard was slated to speak to the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) on Friday afternoon but ultimately did not attend the conference due to scheduling conflicts, a NASS spokesperson said. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were also set to appear at the conference, a White House official said this week. But none ultimately showed. Anticipation had built throughout the day Friday among election officials of both parties that someone from the Trump administration would explain what the administration was doing in Fulton County. No explanation came. The NASS conference is normally a staid affair where election officials discuss best practices and hear about legitimate foreign threats to elections. Democrats are perplexed and angry Democratic election officials reacted with a mix of rage and bewilderment to Gabbards Fulton County visit. In what world would Tulsi Gabbard have any role in addressing us? Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold told CNN. And I think the answer is probably why shes in Georgia. Its probably some election denialism conspiracy BS that shes going to spout. Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas, another Democrat, told CNN on Thursday that she planned to boycott Gabbards appearance when it was still on the books. Thomas said she was angry that Trump cabinet members who had a history of questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election or attacking election administrators were even invited to the conference. Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray praised the Trump administrations work on elections when asked for comment about the Fulton County probe. Im going to talk with the DNI about that, and Im excited to hear their findings, Gray, a Republican, told reporters on Friday. Election experts said Gabbards trip to Fulton County could be a boon for any criminal defense. Director Gabbards presence, without any legal authority to be [in Fulton County], raises serious questions about this collection of alleged evidence, said David Becker, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, which works with election officials of both parties. If criminal charges are ever brought, and I think theres nearly zero chance of that, Id expect any defense counsel to make a significant issue of her presence and interference, Becker told CNN. Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, slammed Gabards presence in Fulton County. Either Gabbard believes there was a legitimate foreign intelligence nexus in which case she is in clear violation of her obligation under the law to keep the intelligence committees fully and currently informed of relevant national security concerns, Warner said. The other possibility, Warners statement continued, is Gabbard is once again demonstrating her utter lack of fitness for the office that she holds by injecting the nonpartisan intelligence community she is supposed to be leading into a domestic political stunt designed to legitimize conspiracy theories that undermine our democracy. Gabbards presence in Fulton County shouldnt be questioned because election integrity is a big part of her job, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche asserted at a press conference Friday when asked about Gabbards presence in Fulton County. This administration coordinates everything we do as a group, Blanche said. CNNs Marshall Cohen contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Bridget McDermott sued the Oregon Department of Corrections for $1.9 million in May 2025, alleging the department illegally incarcerated her past her release date and "abruptly" released her from custody at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility with no release plan. Now, McDermott's case is expected to go to trial for an estimated three days at the Lane County Courthouse on March 31, 2026. McDermott, a former veterinary hospital receptionist, was jailed in 2009 after she carried a loaded 9mm semiautomatic handgun into the Emergency Veterinary Hospital on West Q Street in Springfield and stole cash and drugs. McDermott was found guilty on three counts of first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, and felon in possession of a firearm. In 2010, she was sentenced in Lane County to 16 years in prison. Here's what you need to know about the lawsuit and McDermott's account. The Oregon Department of Corrections 'really screwed up' Bridget McDermott, a Eugene resident and U.S. Army veteran, is suing the Oregon Department of Corrections over alleged illegal imprisonment. McDermott was released from Coffee Creek on April 3, 2024, but argues her actual release date should have been Jan. 5, 2021. According to the case, after prison staff realized they'd kept her behind bars longer than she was required to serve, an ODOC staff member told her the agency "had really screwed up" and that she needed to "pack her bags and leave today." The news allegedly caused McDermott to panic, hyperventilate and nearly pass out due to shock, the lawsuit said. She had to beg to be allowed to stay one more night so she could scramble to make plans. McDermott is represented in court by attorneys with the Oregon Justice Resource Center. In a news release, they said the ODOC is required by law to help people in custody put together a release plan, covering issues such as housing and treatment programs. McDermott was not provided this assistance. "What assistance was provided to Bridget McDermott did not address many of her needs or was not joined up," the news release said. For example, McDermott was given a $100 debit card by her counselor, but could not use it because it required a validation, which she couldn't do without a phone. Oregon Justice Resource Center officials said people released from prison should have the opportunity to get a job and housing, getting entitlements like veteran's benefits restored, obtaining documents like a Social Security card and stocking up on necessary medication. McDermott did not have the opportunity to do any of this. McDermott was allegedly illegally confined for a total of 1,184 days, equivalent to three years, two months and 29 days. The ODOC is responsible for analyzing sentences handed down by judges, calculating release dates, and determining eligibility to earn credit for good behavior, and, according to the lawsuit, failed to do so adequately in McDermott's case. As of 2025, McDermott was living in stable housing and working as a city bus driver with hopes of going back to school to earn her master's degree. As a U.S. Army veteran, her benefits were also restored, the Oregon Justice Resource Center said. A day in custody feels like an eternity, McDermott said. When you find out youve been kept years longer than you should have been, the sense of betrayal and loss is hard to describe. I was honestly surprised the ODOC didnt just lie about it, and I wonder how many other people this happens to. More cases scheduled for trial: Murder, embezzlement, other Lane County cases going to trial in 2026 Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Bridget McDermott sues Oregon Department of Corrections Catherine O'Hara died on Friday, Jan. 30. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images) Catherine OHara may be best remembered for the way she yelled that immortal Kevin! but in real life, the legendary actress and comedian was known for her warmth, quick wit and wisdom. The shocking announcement of her death at age 71 on Friday afternoon reverberated across Hollywood and beyond. Fans fell in love with her through her work in Beetlejuice, Home Alone, Best in Show and as the ever-lovable matriarch Moira Rose in Schitts Creek during a career that spanned decades. Through countless interviews and acceptance speeches, O'Hara showed a more soulful side of herself, sharing honest truths but always with a healthy dose of self-deprecation. Here are some of her biggest life lessons and most notable quotes. On laughter "Everybody in my familys funny. Being funny was highly encouraged in our family, I think. My dad would tell jokes, and my mom would tell stories and imitate everyone within the stories. I think everyone is born with humor, but your life can beat it out of you, sadly, or you can be lucky enough to grow up in it." The New Yorker, January 2019 "My husband and I laugh about everything all day long. ... Thats the best. Or if we get into a fight, well actually make fun of each other to break the tension. It really helps. My parents were blessed they laughed until the end. Thats the best way to live, because theres so much sadness. Youre really lucky if your sense of humor is encouraged, because I think were all born with it, and if its encouraged in your life, thats a gift." Elle Canada, August 2024 On humility "I love playing people who have no real sense of the impression theyre making on anyone else. But the more I say it, the more I realize thats all of us, and the internet, social networking, is a desperate attempt to try to control what others think of you. But look, were all trying to do that all the time. Anyone who reads your Twitter account as a follower what the hell is that? Ive never been consciously aware that I was hiding myself, but I also have never thought, Im so interesting as myself. Ill have thoughts where I think, Oh, thats a good thought! Thats a good idea! Ill share this! But generally speaking, who does think that way? Really?" Vulture, June 2018 "Why work alone if you dont have to? ... Its all give and take. Its all about listening to others and contributing. Even if you didnt want to act, improv classes are great, because they teach you about conversation. Although Im talking an awful lot about myself right now." The New Yorker, January 2019 On aging "When youre on a set, youre equals, its just an equal playing ground. And then, every once in a while, Ill realize, Oh, yeah, Im a lot older than everybody. What the heck?" Vanity Fair, April 2025 "I do think of age, but otherwise, I rarely look in the mirror. ... I feel that now, stories about people my age usually have to do with death and divorce and disease. So Im really fortunate [to] have people around me who respect aging people and who give me new experiences." Elle Canada, August 2024 On death When asked in one interview how she would like to die, O'Hara said, "Laughing, surrounded by my old grandchildren, who are telling me to let go already, Grandma! Vanity Fair, Oct. 2013 If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Donald Trump will face some obstacles if he moves ahead with his plan to mine in Greenland. (TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images) Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he had established a framework surrounding a deal over Greenlands future, one that guarantees the U.S. will be involved in the islands mineral rights. But despite easing tensions with NATO countries after months of increasingly hostile rhetoric over ownership of the Denmark-administered territory, Trumps shrinking pool of friends in Europe could foil his plan to extract the valuable minerals hidden under the ice. Thats one of three crucial obstacles the U.S. would likely have to overcome to gain access to Greenlands resource wealth, according to Wood Mackenzie, an energy and mining research firm. Greenland ranks eighth in the world for rare earth reserves, essential materials to developing advanced electronics, electric cars and high-performance magnets. That wealth has made it a tantalizing target for a U.S. administration eager to diversify supply chains away from China, which is currently the dominant supplier behind several key minerals and controls the lions share of global processing capacity. In a brief published Wednesday, WoodMac analysts outlined the primary limitations of relying on Greenlands reserve in the U.S.s bid for rare earth dominance. Here are the three massive hurdles standing in the way of Trumps Greenland goals: 1. Logistical nightmares Arctic extremes would be a brutal adversary to any large-scale mining operation. Greenlands vast ice sheet limits exploration to the islands coastal fringes. But even there, freezing temperatures and minimal winter daylight make industrial operations nearly impossible. Equipment must endure subzero storage, while fuel and workers face remote transport via inadequate ports and nonexistent roads, WoodMacs analysts wrote. Even if a suitable site is found and manned, deposits lie under ice sheets up to a mile thick. Only one port in Greenland, in the southwestern capital of Nuuk, boasts modern infrastructure that could accommodate exports, the analysts added. In the rest of the territory, companies or nations attempting to mine would have to build their own energy grid and transport networks, given the interiors lack of either, as well as import an entire skilled labor force. All these issues can be overcome, but it will take time and money, the analysts wrote. How much money? WoodMac didnt specify, but experts previously told Fortune that the price tag would likely run up to the hundreds of billions of dollars over several decades. 2. Environmental and local pushback Opposition to mining and resource extraction runs deep in Greenlands political DNA. In a 2021 election, the leftist Inuit Ataqatigiit party won on a distinctly anti-mining message, specifically opposed to a planned rare earths mine. The party has passed several anti-mining laws, including legislation in 2021 that banned most uranium development. The government has instead prioritized small, sustainable operations. In last years election, Inuit Ataqatigiit lost seats to a pro-development opposition, but Greenlands mineral resources minister, Naaja Nathanielsen, remains affiliated with the leftist party. In an interview with Politico this week, she rejected U.S. threats and vowed to keep control over resources, pledging she and her party were not going to accept our future development of our mineral sector to be decided outside Greenland. Its unclear how future U.S.-led extraction would proceed. But under current laws and agreements, WoodMac analysts wrote, any development will need to meet high standards for environmental and social impact. 3. Alienating allies But possibly the most significant barrier Trump faces is the souring relationship that has festered between the U.S. and its European partners. The WoodMac analysts point out that Greenlands geographic position between the U.S. and Europe suggests rare earth mines on the island would benefit both regions. By sharing financing and risk, they wrote, both the U.S. and the EU could access a more secure supply of rare earths independent from China. This would require cooperation at a time when the relationship between the U.S. and the EU is under strain, they added. Trumps designs on Greenland have been widely criticized by the EU as well as the U.K., both of which recently sent a small number of troops to Greenlandostensibly for training purposes but it also symbolized their solidarity. Tensions seem to have eased somewhat after Trumps appearance at Davos last week, where he ruled out military action and walked back EU tariff threats. But transatlantic relations remain at a low point. And should Trump ramp up the bellicosity of his rhetoric once again, Greenland might even be pushed closer to China, the WoodMac analysts warned. While China currently has only a minor stake in Greenlands mining operations, and the islands government has stated that it favors partnerships with Western nations, it has also signaled openness to engaging with China if the conditions are right. In an interview with the FT last year, Nathanielsen, the minerals minister, criticized dwindling U.S. and EU investment. We do want to partner up with European and American partners. But if they dont show up I think we need to look elsewhere, she said. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com January 31, 2026: At the end of 2025, Japan launched the twelfth and last of the Mogami-class frigates. Until 2023 Japan planned to build 24 new FFM Mogami class missile frigates, to be procured in two batches of twelve each. These 3,900-ton FFM ships are an example of successful innovation and speed in implementing new concepts. Newer FFMs have similar capabilities as the Mogamis but carry more missiles The Mogamis take the multi-mission angle seriously. They are equipped for mine-hunting as well as mine-laying. In addition to a 127mm gun, each ship has eight anti-ship and/or cruise missiles in VLS cells. Mogamis also have eleven SeaRAM anti-aircraft missiles with a range of ten kilometers. Sixteen VLS cells carry larger Chu-SAM anti-aircraft missiles with a range of 50 kilometers as well as cruise missiles. There are also twelve lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes. There is a ramp in the rear for launching and recovering Unmanned Underwater Vessel drones, Unmanned Surface Vessel drones and Rigid Inflatable Boats, or RIBs for boarding parties. The ship can also lay naval mines. One helicopter is onboard that and that can be replaced by two or more drones. The Mogamis are stealthy, with a shape that makes it difficult to detect with radar, and carry active and passive-heat sensing sensors. There are anti-submarine warfare, ASW and mine-hunting sonars. The active radars can also carry out jamming and other EW Electronic Warfare tasks. All these sensors are integrated into a single fire control system. There are two autocannon RWS Remote Weapons Stations. For passive defense there are electronic and chaff decoys to defend against incoming missiles or aircraft. Top speed is 55 kilometers an hour and crew size is about half, at 90 personnel, what ships this size used to require. There is a lot of automation on the ship, which accounts for the relatively small crew. The Japanese automation works because, as a major civilian shipbuilder, crew automation is a key component of success in world markets. The Japanese FFM ships were originally designed to be destroyers but, while planning equipment and weapons layout, it was realized that these ships could be multi-mission ships and the designation was changed to frigate. The FFMs are being built in batches, with an initial batch of eight, followed by two or three more batches, each improving on the earlier batch. The first Mogami entered service in 2024. The new frigates are nearly as heavily armed as destroyers but are smaller and have smaller crews as well. The new ships carry more drones and missiles of various types. Japan still has 36 destroyers in service, which will, by 2030, be joined by at least twenty new frigates. Construction of the new frigates will continue into the 2030s. Japan pioneered many of the earliest ship automation technologies. The U.S. tried to use automation in their LCS type ship. The first of these entered service in 2008 and had so many problems that the LCS ships began retiring in 2021, before the first Mogami entered service. LCS was designed to replace the Perry class frigates, the last of the post-World War II American warship designs. The first Perry entered service in 1975 and 71 were built by 2oo4. About half the Perrys are still in service with export customers. Admitting the LCS was a failure, the U.S. Navy selected a European frigate design t0 replace the Perrys. That didnt work and was cancelled. The Navy proposes to try a third design because it is inconceivable that theyd build the foreign Mogami design in American shipyards. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods (far right) at a meeting with President Donald Trump and other oil company executives in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 9. (Brendan SMIALOWSKIAFP/Getty Images) U.S. Big Oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron said Jan. 30 they have no plans to increase their capital spending in Venezuela this year while they wait and see how legal and political reforms unfold to make the country more inviting to foreign oil investments. Since forcibly removing leader Nicolas Maduro from power, President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted U.S. oil companies will spend more than $100 billion in Venezuela to dramatically rebuild its dilapidated infrastructure. But Exxon Mobil chairman and CEO Darren Woods infamously drew Trumps ire earlier this month when he told the president that Venezuela is currently uninvestable until major reforms are enacted and the country sees real stability. After all, Exxon had its oil assets expropriated in Venezuela less than 20 years ago. Trump later said Woods remarks were too cute and that he may be inclined to keep the worlds largest Big Oil player out of Venezuela. Woods said Jan. 30 on his fourth-quarter earnings call that he does believe the Trump administration is committed to making the necessary changes to eventually turn Venezuela into a viable investment option. How soon remains to be seen. Venezuelas National Assembly began approving reforms to its oil and gas laws on Jan. 29. Venezuela has those challenges that I mentioned, which I believe in time will get addressed, Woods said, arguing the other challenge is the high cost of extracting and processing the extra-heavy grade of tar-like crude oil in Venezuela. He said Exxon already has the expertise in producing heavy oil sands in Canada that can translate. We think we bring an advantaged approach that will lead to lower-cost production, higher recovery, and therefore, more economic barrels onto the marketplace. Thats I think the opportunity set that will play out over time, Woods said, adding that Exxon is still committed to sending a small technical team to Venezuela to assess the situation in the near term. Chevron, on the other hand, is the only U.S. company currently producing oil in Venezuela, thanks to a special license. Chevron churns out nearly 250,000 barrels a day of oilabout a quarter of Venezuelas almost 1 million barrels of daily output. Chevron chairman and CEO Mike Wirth reiterated that his company could hike its oil flows by 50% in less than two years, but that would only mean raising Venezuelas overall output to just above 1.1 million barrels per day for a countrywith the worlds largest proven oil reservesthat peaked decades ago with an output of nearly 4 million barrels. Notably, Wirth said Chevrons Venezuelan activity is self-funded through its joint ventures with the state oil company PDVSA, and there are no current plans to add additional capital spending just yet. I think its a little early to say what our longer-term outlook is, Wirth said on his earnings call. You should expect us to remain focused on value and capital discipline. Its a large resource that has the opportunity to become a more sizable part of our portfolio in the future, but we also need to see stability in the country. We need to have confidence in the fiscal regime. Wirth said Chevron is reviewing the new hydrocarbons law that was tentatively approved and that there are a number of signposts Chevron will be watching. Like anywhere we invest, fiscal terms, stability, regulatory predictability are important. So it will have to compete in our portfolio versus attractive investments in many other parts of the world, Wirth added. With the right changes, we certainly could see our operations and the footprint expand in Venezuela. And were working with the U.S. government and the Venezuelan government to try to create circumstances that would enable that. Earnings beats Exxon and Chevron both posted quarterly earnings beats, but they also are both facing declining profits primarily owing to deflated crude oil pricesthe same lower prices that make Venezuelan investments more challenging for now. In spite of the weaker commodity environment, Chevron reported its largest oil and gas production volumes in its history, while Exxon touted its greatest output in more than 40 years. Exxons stock dipped slightly by 1%, while Chevron stock rose by more than 1%. More than half of Exxons production came from the still-booming Permian Basin in West Texas and its rapidly rising output from offshore Guyana, which borders Venezuela. Chevron, which is the second-largest Permian producer after Exxon, became Exxons top partner in Guyana after it closed its $53 billion acquisition of Hess last year. Woods said Exxon is awaiting an International Court of Justice arbitration ruling over an international waters border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela. A favorable ruling could unlock more offshore exploration for Exxon and Chevron. Obviously, with the developments in Venezuela, perhaps well see an opportunity with less naval patrols that will make it a little more friendly environment, Woods said, adding that hes optimistic. We will have an opportunity to do what we need to do in that portion of the [exploration] block when its available to us. Exxon reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.5 billion, down 15% year on year from $7.6 billion. Full-year 2025 earnings came in at $28.8 billion, down 14% from $33.7 billion in 2024. Chevron reported quarterly earnings of almost $2.8 billion, down year on year almost 15% from more than $3.2 billion. Full-year profits were $12.3 billion, down 30% from $17.7 billion the year prior. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Richard & Evelyn Shanklin (left) and during the rescue Acey Harper/Getty; The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock NEED TO KNOW Richard and Evelyn Shanklin were retirees and experienced sailors planning on taking a roughly 50-mile open-water journey from Spanish Wells, in the Bahamas, to the Abaco Islands However, weather and a series of technical issues forced them to abandon ship when their boat capsized PEOPLE detailed the story in an April 1991 article Richard and Evelyn Shanklin had grand plans to set off on a roughly 50-mile honeymoon cruise through the West Indies in their sailboat in March 1991. The vessel's name, Go For It, offered insight into the personalities of the adventurous couple, who had gotten married just two months prior after meeting at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., sailing club. Richard, then 51, was a retired clothing salesman, while Evelyn, then 49, was a former chemical company employee. After retirement, the two were more focused on traveling the globe by navigating the high seas. Sailing was a frequent pastime for both, with their planned open-water trip to the Abaco Islands from Spanish Wells, in the Bahamas, looking fairly straightforward. Until, that is, the wind shifted turning what should have been a 10-hour trip into a far more arduous journey. "Everything was going fine," Richard told PEOPLE in April 1991, until suddenly, a gust of wind hit the boat forcefully. Richard and Evelyn Shanklin Acey Harper/Getty Even after cranking the engine, he said they "were barely moving." Then, the navigational equipment began to malfunction, and they realized that they "might not make it to the Abacos by dark." By the time the boat struck a coral reef at 11 p.m., they realized they might not make it at all. As PEOPLE detailed at the time, water began rushing in, making its way up to the couple's thighs as they prepared to abandon the sailboat and hop onto their eight-foot emergency dinghy. They put on life vests, with Evelyn gathering supplies, while Richard tried to put out a Mayday call on the boat's radio but that wasn't working either. Evelyn recounted how the two then attempted to send distress signals on a portable two-way radio. ''Come back, come back,'' she remembered someone saying. She relayed the boat's position, but before she heard anything back, the boat began to sink, with Richard telling PEOPLE it "went straight down." As reported in 1991, Evelyn, then standing in the stern, "was catapulted into the air, striking the mast," before being caught in the ropes of the boat and choking on salt water. As she told PEOPLE, she began to calm down, assuming the worst was soon to come: "You relax when you know you're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it." But Richard, undeterred, frantically worked toward his wife, tearing the ropes away and untangling her. He had left the dinghy behind, however, and the two watched as it slid away into the ocean. Soon, they were left with nothing but their life jackets and an air-filled boat fender, which Evelyn strapped herself to. Her husband, meanwhile, strapped himself to her, as both did little more than bob in the water. At one point, they even saw a helicopter pass by overhead but it did not see them. Rather than being scared, Evelyn recalled feeling "angry." Richard on the Coast Guard rescue boat The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock "Here I was starting out a new life, and it was going to be taken away," she told PEOPLE. Minutes stretched into hours as Evelyn focused on ensuring her wedding ring didn't slip off her fingers, now waterlogged and wrinkled. Richard focused on the future, telling his new wife, "You promised me 39 years." "Can I yell at you every day for 39 years?" she replied. The jokes didn't last, however, with Evelyn at one point begging Richard to cut her loose so he could attempt to swim to shore. "You can let go," he told her, ''but I'm not letting go of you." Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. With the dawn of a new day, the couple found hope in the form of another helicopter. This time 24 hours after they set out and now with sharks visibly circling beneath them the rescuers in the helicopter saw them, too. Within minutes, they found themselves safe and aboard a Coast Guard cutter, two miles off the coast of the Abacos, and quickly flown to Miami. They were too weak to stand, but without any major injuries. After leaving the hospital, they checked into a hotel and watched the following morning's sunrise. As Evelyn told PEOPLE, "We're going to stay on land for a while," adding, "we're going to have fun but we'll go by train." Read the original article on People A Luxury Flagship That Isnt Going Fully Electric Weve known for a while that Toyotas new ultra-luxury division, Century, isnt going fully electric. That decision alone puts it on a different path from brands like Jaguar, which are moving toward all-EV lineups. For buyers who see internal combustion as part of what makes a luxury car special, Century is sticking to that formula. Even better, recent reports from Japan indicate that the upcoming Century Coupe, based on the car shown at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, will double down on that approach. Rather than downsizing or moving to smaller engines, the coupe is expected to use a V12. While that might seem unusual now, it actually follows the second-generation Century from the 1990s, which also used a V12. Its actually regarded as the smoothest V12 ever created. This was then replaced by a V8 in the third-gen model, and later by a V6 in the Century SUV. That said, this is more of a return to form rather than a new direction. Toyo (Toyo) Return to Form According to Magazine-X, a local automotive publication in Japan, the Century Coupe will use a plug-in hybrid system built around a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine. The report, brought to the surface by Creative Trends, suggests a total system output equivalent to roughly 800 metric horsepower, or about 789 hp. Reports say the Century Coupe will send power to all four wheels using Toyotas E-Four all-wheel-drive system, paired with either an eight-speed or ten-speed automatic. The hybrid system isnt there to replace the engine, but to make power delivery smoother and improve refinement at low speeds, while still keeping the car comfortable for long drives. Magazine-X adds that the V12 might be a completely new engine, not just a reworked version of Toyotas existing inline-six. That fits with Centurys focus as a low-volume, prestige brand, where engineering choices are made for the product rather than just to share parts across models. Toyota (Toyota) Where the Century Brand Is Headed Toyota launched Century as its own ultra-luxury brand, replacing Lexus as the top-dog Toyota brand and aiming to compete with names like Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Where the European brands focus on tradition and prestige, Century puts durability and long-term reliability at the center of its appeal, treating those qualities as part of what makes the car luxurious. Pricing is expected to match those ambitions, with reports pointing to a starting price around 30 to 40 million yen ($190,000 to $260,000). Highly bespoke versions could reach 50 to 70 million yen ($320,000 to $450,000). Production will likely stay low, focusing on exclusivity instead of high volume. The Century Coupe is expected to launch around 2027, which lines up with the 60th anniversary of the Century name. For now, the brand is focused on Japan, but as awareness grows, a US release could happen. Century View the 7 images of this gallery on the original article This story was originally published by Autoblog on Jan 31, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Stock image of horses Pixabay/patrick gantz A deadly barn fire tore through a farm in Branford, killing three horses and several other animals. Firefighters rushed to Fox Field Farm on Cherry Hill Road around 10 a.m. Friday, fire officials said. The barn was fully engulfed when crews arrived. Crews attacked the fire from outside and tried to get in, but the heat brushed them back. Four horses were trapped inside. The owner helped one horse escape the barn, but flames forced them back before they could get to the others. The owner was treated at the scene and taken to Yale New Haven Hospital. Several smaller animals, such as guinea pigs and cats, were also killed. The farm is also home to dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, and quail, according to its website. A firefighter sustained burns to his hands and arms and was taken to the hospital for treatment. He has since been released. Fox Field Farm is a family farm that provides animals for parties, riding lessons, events, classes, and other opportunities, according to its website. Authorities did not speculate on the cause of the blaze. Liang Sen / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom In recent weeks, new data has emerged from Canada showing the near-catastrophic consequences to American alcohol manufacturers from President Donald Trump's tariff wars. Yet despite clear signs that his tariff policies are backfiring, the president keeps doubling down. Last year, in response to the administration's tariffs on goods from Canada, provincial liquor stores in Quebec and Ontario enacted a boycott on American wine and distilled spirits. Because the government operates the liquor stores in those provinces, it was relatively straightforward to simply pull all American-based alcohol from store shelves, essentially zeroing out Canadian alcohol sales for American producers. Now, the data is starting to roll in concerning the impact of the boycott. Since 2024, there has been a jaw-dropping 91 percent decline in U.S. wine sales to Canada. In just October of last year, there was an 84 percent year-over-year drop in wine sales compared to the prior year and a 56 percent drop in distilled spirit sales. Prior to the boycott, Canada was one of the primary export markets for American wine. As reported by The Independent, large distilling companies like Brown-Forman Corporation (producer of Jack Daniel's) have seen their organic net sales to Canada plummet by 60 percent in the first half of the 2026 fiscal year. Jim Beam faced such a significant drop in sales from both the Canadian boycott and the general drying up of its international markets on account of the tariff wars that it suspended production entirely at its flagship plant. According to The Independent, smaller distillers in states like Minnesota have suffered 70 percent declines in sales and have been forced to ship production to Canada by working with Canadian contract distillers. The result, in turn, is fewer U.S.-based manufacturing jobs and more Canadian-based jobs. The pain extends throughout the broader drinks industry. A recent HuffPost report details a broad increase in prices at American cocktail bars nationwide due to current tariffs on products from the European Union and Mexico. Not only are drink prices rising, but many imported products are becoming harder to find as foreign makers of specialty liqueurs, spirits, and wine are increasingly limiting their exports to the U.S. An under-appreciated aspect of alcohol products is that many are beholden to so-called Standards of Identity rules. These rules dictate that products like Champagne can only come from France, tequila from Mexico, and scotch from Scotland. Given that there are no domestic substitutes for these products, bar owners must either raise prices or remove them from their menus entirely. Despite the crippling pain being borne by the industry, Trump has shown few signs of reconsidering. In response to news that French President Emmanuel Macron would not join Trump's newly minted "Board of Peace" to resolve the ongoing Gaza conflict, Trump told reporters: "I'll put a 200 percent tariff on his wines and Champagnes, and he'll join, but he doesn't have to join." In the meantime, the drinks industryand consumerswill continue to suffer. The post Trump's Tariff War Is Crushing American Alcohol Makers appeared first on Reason.com. The Philadelphia Auto Show returned to the Pennsylvania Convention Center with expanded exhibits, new testdrive experiences and a continued commitment to supporting the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. From high-speed demonstrations to classic cars and rugged off-road rides, visitors found a wide range of attractions on the show floor. "I love it. It's not the car show if you don't take a ride in the jeep," said Lora Lewis of Germantown. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Organizers said 27 global manufacturers are unveiling new products as part of this year's expanded layout. Joseph Gray of Germantown said the variety makes it easy for attendees to find the right fit. "You can really find one that matches your personality, your need. Whatever you want, I think it's here," he said. New features include two Etracks for test-driving electric and hybrid vehicles, a Kiddie Camp Jeep Course, Heroes Highway honoring first responders, and a display of exotic cars. Some of those luxury models drew laughs from visitors. "It literally says what we are. It says 'broke forever,'" joked Stephanie Feret of Bristol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Matthew Beswick, also from Bristol, called the event "just a great experience. Enjoy it with the family." Action News has partnered with the Auto Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia since the late 1990s to support the annual show. John Morris, the VP of Multiplatform Programming at 6abc, said the collaboration remains meaningful. "This show is one of our favorite events to cover every year. The special we do is so fun. It raises lots of money for a great cause," he said. Proceeds from Friday's Black Tie Tailgate will benefit the nursing department at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Monica Taylor Lotty, CHOP's executive vice president and chief development officer, said the support has a direct impact. "It's really a great way for them to use the funds to help advance a lot of the education they're doing in nursing, and so it means a tremendous amount for the hospital," she said. The event has supported CHOP for 40 years, typically raising about $350,000 annually. The Philadelphia Auto Show runs from January 31 to February 8. Click here to learn more. Sarasota Opera is marking its 67th season of bringing internationally acclaimed opera to audiences on Floridas Gulf Coast while celebrating the Centennial of its home, the historic Sarasota Opera House. The Companys Winter Opera Festival will take place at the Sarasota Opera House in February and March 2026, and will include 34 performances of four major operas: La boheme, The Merry Widow, Il trovatore, and Susannah. The Company was launched in 1960 in the historic 320-seat Asolo Theater on the grounds of Sarasotas Ringling Museum of Art. In 1984, the Company moved into the former A.B. Edwards Theater, now the Sarasota Opera House. The 1,119-seat Sarasota Opera House, which underwent a $20 million renovation and rehabilitation in 2007, has been named one of Americas finest venues for opera by Musical America. Since then, Sarasota Opera has gained an international reputation as one of the leading regional opera companies in the United States. The Companys major artistic initiatives have included the Masterworks Revival Series, the American Classics Series, and the Verdi Cycle. The Companys Sarasota Youth Opera is the most comprehensive youth opera program in the United States. Since 1983, Sarasota Opera has been under the artistic leadership of Victor DeRenzi. In 1989, the Company and DeRenzi launched a monumental Verdi Cycle. When the Cycle concluded in 2016, Sarasota Opera became the only opera company in the world to have performed every note composed by Giuseppi Verdi. Since 2012, the Companys administrative leader has been General Director Richard Russell. When Victor DeRenzi steps down as Artistic Director in May 2026, Richard Russellwill become General Director and Artistic Director. Sarasota Opera is governed by a Board of 28 and has a year-round staff of 30, which grows to 200 during the winter season. The Companys budget is $11 million. The Position The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the senior executive responsible and accountable for overseeing financial strategy, planning, and operations for Sarasota Opera. The CFO drives the processes of budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis; ensures the Companys compliance with government regulations, contracts, donor agreements, and reporting requirements; and ensures that controls are in place to protect the Operas assets and non-profit tax status. The CFO maintains the integrity of the Companys accounting systems and records, and ensures full and accurate integration of the accounting records with Tessitura and other applications in use by the Company. The CFO provides timely, accurate, and complete financial reports and information to the General Director, the Board, and the staff to guide and inform their decision-making. The CFO provides budgets, reports, and necessary financial data to the Development Department to support grant applications and fulfill reporting requirements. The CFO monitors the Companys bank accounts, cash flow, and investments and serves as liaison to the Companys investment advisors. The CFO reviews all invoices, contracts, and agreements. The CFO is the liaison with the insurance agency and ensures that the Company has adequate coverages. The CFO oversees the payroll process to ensure accuracy and timeliness, and oversees the administration of employee benefits. The CFO reports to the General Director, supervises the accounting staff, and works closely with the Treasurer of the Board and members of the executive management team. The CFO is the staff liaison for the Finance Committee, the Investment Committee; and the Audit Committee. The CFO provides reports and documents as needed for the annual audit and ensures that all tax filings are prepared correctly and in a timely manner. The ensures compliance with FASB and GAAP guidelines. As a member of the executive management team, the CFO attends performances and events and serves as an ambassador for the Company with donors, patrons, and audiences as well as external stakeholders throughout the greater Sarasota community. Candidate Profile The ideal candidate will have significant senior financial management experience; thorough familiarity with non-profit fund accounting; proven budgeting, forecasting, and cash management ability; and a genuine interest in connecting audiences with opera. Experience working with a not-for-profit organization is essential; experience working with an opera company or other performing arts organization will be a plus. The successful candidate will be thoroughly knowledgeable about, and experienced with, institutional planning and helping to shape, implement, and monitor strategic plans. The candidate will have a thorough working knowledge of the technology available to support finance and operations in a non-profit organization. Prior experience with Sage MIP Accounting and Tessitura will be viewed as an asset. The successful candidate will bring experience in human resources and benefits administration. The successful candidate will be a leader with strong supervisory skills and a management style that encourages collaboration and teamwork. The candidate will be able to manage multiple deadlines and competing priorities with grace and good humor. The candidate will be curious, persistent, and nimble. The successful candidate will be able to accept a work schedule that includes performances and events on nights and weekends during production periods. The candidate will welcome the opportunity to play a key role in the management of Sarasota Opera and become an active participant in the Sarasota community. Compensation Sarasota Opera offers a competitive compensation and benefits package. The annual salary range for this position is $110,000 to $125,000, plus a benefits package that includes paid time off; health insurance; life insurance; and a voluntary 403(b) retirement plan. Applications Sarasota Opera welcomes recommendations, nominations, and applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, religion, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender, national origin, or marital status, or any other basis protected by law. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Please submit a resume along with a cover letter that describes your specific interest in the mission and work of Sarasota Opera and your qualifications for the position as described in the candidate profile. On a separate sheet, provide the names and contact information for several professional references. All applications will be treated as confidential and references will not be contacted without the applicants knowledge and agreement. Electronic submissions are requested. Please send to: Chief Financial Officer Sarasota Opera c/o Catherine French Group applications@catherinefrenchgroup.com (Adobe Acrobat PDF attachments only, please) MORE Wharton Arts (https://whartonarts.org/) With a history spanning nearly five decades, Wharton Arts is New Jerseys largest independent non-profit community performing arts educator, serving nearly 2,000 students annually through a broad spectrum of musical programming. Four core programs the New Jersey Youth Symphony, New Jersey Youth Chorus, Paterson Music Project, and Wharton Performing Arts School provide exceptional performing arts education for students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Developed more than 45 years ago, the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS) is a tiered orchestral program that offers ensemble education opportunities for more than 500 students in grades 3 through 12. NJYS ensembles have performed at venues ranging from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Musikverein in Vienna to local assisted living centers, libraries, and street fairs in New Jersey. NJYS has received awards for adventurous programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and has been on six European tours, most recently to Italy and France in 2023. NJYSs flagship ensemble, Youth Symphony, will travel to Scandinavia, Finland, and the Baltics, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, in the summer of 2026. Paterson Music Project (PMP) is an El Sistema-inspired program that uses music to empower and inspire young people through the community experience of ensemble learning and playing. PMP provides accessible, affordable, and high-quality instrumental instruction and focuses on musical excellence, community, and life skills. Since its inception in 2013, the program has grown from one class of 24 third graders to nearly 350 students in first to twelfth grades, providing tuition-free musical training to students from more than 25 schools throughout Paterson. PMPs first class of third graders graduated from high school in June 2023. PMP now engages alumni as interns and leaders in the program. The New Jersey Youth Chorus (NJYC) merged with Wharton Arts in 2022 as the Chorus celebrated its 30th anniversary season. NJYC is an auditioned choral ensemble for students in grades 3 through 12. NJYC encourages a love and appreciation for choral music while nurturing personal growth and creativity. NJYCs more than 150 members regularly perform throughout the state and tour across the country. Past performances include the White House, the Super Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Radio City Music Hall. In the summer of 2025, 30 choristers toured Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, appearing at renowned venues including the Cologne Cathedral, Bonn Cathedral, and Menin Gate in Ypres. The Performing Arts School (PAS) provides instrumental and vocal instruction, musical theatre, drama, and other courses for students ages four through adult. PAS promotes personal growth through excellence in music education. PAS students have participated in music festivals and recitals in venues that include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Musik Quartier in Vienna. A member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, Wharton Arts offers private and group lessons, summer camp, and a CAFE (Creative Aging for Everyone) Choir for aspiring and accomplished musicians alike. Wharton Arts is governed by a Board of 17 Trustees, has an annual operating budget of approximately $4 million and a team of more than 100 artistic and administrative staff members. Trustee Erika Fanelle is Interim Executive Director; Helen Cha-Pyo is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. Wharton Arts operates three campuses located in Berkeley Heights, New Providence, and Paterson, New Jersey and draws students from twelve New Jersey counties. The Opportunity The President and CEO of Wharton Arts will assume a newly defined and expanded leadership role that includes responsibility for all aspects of the organization, both artistic and administrative. The CEO will have the opportunity to work with a dedicated and engaged board, faculty, and staff as they continue to expand the depth and reach of their education programs for children and adults. The CEO will take a lead role in developing the resources needed to secure a new shared music education facility for NJYS, NJYC, and the Performing Arts School. The CEO will ensure that Wharton Arts continues to represent the highest standards of excellence in music education programs and activities. The Position Reporting to the Board of Trustees through the Co-Chairs, the President and CEO provides leadership and vision to ensure that Wharton Arts fulfils its mission and achieves its goals for excellence in music education, community engagement, and long-term financial sustainability. The CEO is responsible and accountable for all aspects of Wharton Arts administration and operations, including: artistic planning and operations; budgeting and financial management; fundraising and external relations; program administration; marketing, promotion, and public relations; site development and facilities management; human resources; and community engagement. The CEO fosters an environment that allows Wharton Arts to recruit and retain the highest quality artistic and administrative staff. The President and CEO articulates the vision, mission, and goals of Wharton Arts to internal and external audiences. The CEO takes a leadership role in the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of donors. The CEO leads the planning and execution of a capital campaign for a new music education facility. The CEO serves as chief spokesperson for Wharton Arts and advocate for the importance and value of music education throughout the community. The President and CEO oversees the financial management of Wharton Arts, including budgeting, financial planning, and management of cash flow. The CEO assures that Wharton Arts achieves its annual and long-term budget goals for enrollment and earned and contributed income. The CEO maintains transparency in financial reporting to internal and external audiences and ensures that the Board and the Finance Committee have the information they need for sound decision-making. The President and CEO leads Wharton Arts strategic planning. The CEO ensures the effective development and utilization of the human resources needed to accomplish the organizations mission. The CEO oversees the recruitment and selection of faculty and the evaluation of faculty, programs, and curriculum. The CEO gives leadership and guidance to the artistic and administrative staff and provides a welcoming environment for students, parents, families, and other community stakeholders. The President and CEO represents Wharton Arts in New Providence, Berkeley Heights, and Paterson, in Union, Passaic, and neighboring counties, and is an active member of the arts and education community throughout the state and nationally. Candidate Profile The ideal candidate will be a proven leader with the ability to embrace and articulate the vision, mission, and goals of Wharton Arts with clarity and conviction. The successful candidate will have a passionate belief in the value and importance of music education and the role that a vibrant music education center plays in development of children and the cultural life of a community. The candidate will have significant successful leadership and management experience with performing arts and/or music education organizations. The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with the vision and imagination to chart future directions, recognize opportunities, forge consensus, and harness the energies of diverse constituencies to accomplish common goals. The CEO will be a good listener with excellent interpersonal skills. The CEO will be decisive leader and a fearless agent for change when change is needed. The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic fundraiser with the proven ability to achieve and exceed organizational goals for philanthropic support. The candidate will have strong experience in all aspects of fundraising, including annual giving, special events, and endowment campaigns. Experience achieving capital campaign goals of $10 million or more will be a plus. The candidate will be able to speak and write persuasively to diverse internal and external audiences. The successful candidate will be an experienced manager with the demonstrated ability to set expectations and assure both financial and operational accountability throughout the organization. The candidate will be able to lead staff in an environment that fosters creativity, a commitment to excellence, and teamwork. The candidate will be able to innovate, manage change, move an agenda forward, and resolve conflict. The successful candidate will be knowledgeable about facilities and project management. The candidate will bring successful experience working with local governments, developers, and community leaders to create alliances that achieve shared goals. The successful candidate will have an engaging public personality and presence, high energy, and excellent listening skills. The candidate will be a leader who fully embraces principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. The candidate will have the ability to interact effectively with stakeholders who represent every aspect of diversity in age, education, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. The successful candidate will be kind, creative, curious, and flexible. The candidate will have at least ten years senior executive experience and will possess common sense, sound judgment, and good humor in abundance. The successful candidate will be willing and able to maintain a schedule that includes frequent evening and weekend events. Compensation The salary range for this position is $150,000 to $185,000, depending on qualifications and experience. Wharton Arts offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes health insurance, a retirement plan, professional development opportunities, and paid time off. Applications Wharton Arts welcomes recommendations, nominations, and applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, religion, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender, national origin, or marital status, or any other basis protected by law. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Please submit a resume along with a cover letter that describes your specific interest in the mission and work of Wharton Arts and your qualifications for the position as described in the candidate profile. On a separate sheet, provide the names and contact information for several professional references. All applications will be treated as confidential and references will not be contacted without the applicants knowledge and agreement. Electronic submissions are requested. Please send to: President and CEO Wharton Arts c/o Catherine French Group applications@catherinefrenchgroup.com (Adobe Acrobat PDF attachments only, please) MORE Today's news: After Jakarta stock market plummets, the head of regulatory agency resigns. The number of Indian nationals arrested by ICE in the United States doubled in 2025, more than half for visa violations. In Japan, the working population tops 70 million for the first time, thanks to workers over 65. Hong Kong lifts its seat belt requirement on buses after just five days. GAZA - ISRAEL At least 19 Palestinians, including six children, were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip between last night and dawn today, according to medical sources who spoke to Al Jazeera. The violence comes a day before Israel is scheduled to reopen the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza with Egypt, on Sunday for the first time since May 2024. IRAN UNITED STATES Iran has announced two-day naval drills starting tomorrow in the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US military buildup in the region. The United States has warned Iran that it will not accept manoeuvres deemed dangerous near its ships. Meanwhile, countries in the region are heavily involved in trying to prevent a war between the adversaries, with Turkey, Qatar, and other states acting as mediators. INDONESIA The head of Indonesia's financial regulator, Mahendra Siregar, and two other senior officials resigned abruptly yesterday in a dramatic development following the US$ 80 billion crash this week at the Jakarta Stock Exchange and growing concerns over transparency and governance. The resignations came after MSCI, a major financial services firm, warned it may downgrade Indonesian stocks to "frontier market" status, a move that triggered the worst two-day selloff in Indonesian stock since April, intensifying pressure on authorities to restore investor confidence. INDIA UNITED STATES In 2025, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency arrested 1,993 Indian citizens in the United States, more than double the 820 arrests of the previous year. According to data analysed by Scroll, an Indian news website, of these 1,993 arrests, 1,669 people had no criminal records and 1,134 were classified as "other immigration violators, a category that generally includes those who overstayed their visas or entered the country unauthorised. Most cases concern the states of California, Texas, and New York. JAPAN In 2025, Japan's working-age population topped the 70 million mark for the first time, supported by the continued entry of seniors, women, and foreign nationals into the labour market, this according to a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Despite the decline in the working-age population (15-64 years) due to the low birth rate, the working-age population has been growing since 2012, when it stood at 65.65 million. Seniors represent a growing segment. In fact,26.5 per cent of people over 65 are working, up by 0.4 percentage points over 2024. Under the Stabilisation of Employment of Elderly Persons Law, adopted amid labour shortages, businesses must guarantee employment up to age 65 and are encouraged to offer employment opportunities up to age 70. HONG KONG Hong Kong Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan announced that a controversial law requiring bus passengers to wear seat belts will be "repealed as soon as possible" due to a "technical shortcoming in the regulation. The sudden reversal came just five days after the new legislation came into effect, sparking widespread public backlash. Under the law, bus passengers caught without seat belts faced a fine of up to HK$ 5,000 (about US$ 640) and up to three months in prison. RUSSIA The head of analytics at the Interior Ministrys migration service, Alexander Peregozhin, presented data on the number of foreign nationals in Russia, which dropped by 10 per cent in 2025, from 6.3 million to 5.7 million people, primarily due to lower number of minors (up to 25 per cent), difficulties in enrolling in Russian schools, and tighter controls on residency and work permits for all migrants. KAZAKHSTAN The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, signed orders expanding the state's powers to control money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As a result, the relevant agencies have received broader powers, particularly the Financial Monitoring Agency, which will be able to transfer data on "shadow" transactions directly to the judiciary. by Nirmala Carvalho The state government wants to address an inequality affecting women living in convents, monasteries, and ashrams who lack independent income. The decision is also linked to the case of Sister Ranit, a victim of violence, but it comes on the eve of state elections and will need to be monitored for implementation. Sister Nirmalini, president of the Conference of Religious Women of India, hopes that this is the beginning for other states to follow. Kochi (AsiaNews) On 28 January, the Kerala government approved a programme to provide social security benefits to women living in religious institutions and thus remove obstacles that previously prevented them from accessing financial assistance. All unmarried women over the age of 50 who reside in convents, monasteries, and ashrams and lack independent income or other government benefits will now be eligible for pensions. The decision was made at a cabinet meeting chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The state government wants to lift practical obstacles that have prevented many women, including nuns, from accessing financial support. Under the new arrangement, they will be classified as a special category. To facilitate their access to pensions made available by a previous government order of 31 March 2001, the cabinet decided to waive the requirement to submit income and marital status certificates. In their place, a special application form will be introduced, adapted to this group. Sister Julie George SSpS, a women's rights lawyer and member of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, who holds a master's degree in law with a specialisation in human rights and family law, spoke to AsiaNews about it. It is a very progressive move, she said. But it may only be an electoral stunt, we need to wait and see. I am glad that Sister Ranit has become an instrument for such a move. State elections are scheduled for next April. Sister Ranit, a rape victim in the case involving Bishop Franco Mulakkal, had publicly spoken about the serious difficulties she had to face, including a lack of support from institutions. Following her speech, the Kerala government provided her with ration cards. I welcome this initiative by the Kerala government not just for religious women but all women, said Sister Maria Nirmalini, president of the Conference of Religious Women India, which brings together Indian nuns, speaking to AsiaNews. I really hope that this is the beginning for other states to follow where there is no such provision. by Stefano Caprio Russian political scientist and ultra-Putinist Gleb Kuznetsov published an article in the magazine Gosudarstvo (The State) where he explicitly states that the separation of powers, competitive elections, and freedom of speech prevent the state from functioning effectively. He points to the example of Shenzhen, one of the most controlled cities in the world as a model. When the Soviet empire ended, 35 years ago, everyone was convinced that the communist ideology, which subordinates liberal principles to those of collective totalitarianism, had been shelved. Some leftovers remained from the 20th-century Red World, such as Cuba, Vietnam, and, of course, China, Mao Zedongs huge legacy, which was thought to be undergoing a capitalist and liberal "conversion, only to discover that Beijing's capitalism had become one of the dominant factors in the world economy, without Chinese citizens being granted personal rights and freedoms. The crisis of globalism, understood as the breaking down of borders and universal freedom of trade and interaction between the peoples of the entire world, began two decades after the "end of history, with the financial crashes of 2008 and the subsequent shocks that reshaped the geopolitical balance. While China sought to take advantage of the breakdown of Western power, inserting itself into the gaping holes of the global economy with new silk roads, Russia saw the opportunity to recover from the humiliation of playing a marginal role, and regain control of its empire not with money, but with weapons and the apocalyptic threats of its arsenals and ideological aspirations, inherited from centuries ago, more than ever appropriate for the new Middle Ages the world is facing as it tries to understand what future it must prepare for. Russia now takes credit for destroying the West's globalist domination and establishing the new multipolar world order, something obsessively repeated by President Vladimir Putin and all his minions, even if it remains to be seen how many "poles" have actually been created, in the global opposition between the North/West and the South/East, with the corridors in the Far Northern Arctic, the "middle" ones in Asia and the Caucasus, and the southern ones where the "pirate" ships of Russia's shadow fleet roam, now stopped by sovereign America, which is splitting from Europe, in an increasingly dizzy multipolar carousel. Beyond the unpredictable twists and turns of geopolitics, which provide commentators around the world with grounds for unbridled fantasies, a systematic factor now seems to be prevailing across the board: the end of liberal values, replaced by the "traditional values" on which the entire world was based before the modern degradation of democracy. The pro-Putin Russian political scientist Gleb Kuznetsov published an article along these lines in the journal Gosudarstvo (, The State), where he explicitly states that the separation of powers, competitive elections, and freedom of speech prevent the state from functioning effectively, an idea reiterated by ideologue Alexandr Dugin when he says that the era of democratic nation states is over. Thus, in radical ways typical of Russia, a new global ideology of sovereignism and traditionalism is emerging, reviving contemporary forms of autocracy in which the leader directs the will of the people in an illiberal mode the decisive term Putin has been repeating since his famous speech in 2007 at the Munich Security Conference, after listening to the many homilies of Moscow Patriarch Kirill against liberalism, the evil that has been destroying the world since the French Revolution, or rather, since the rise of Latin scholastic theology. Since then, Russia has begun to distance itself from Western powers, starting the war with Georgia in 2008, which has now been tamed according to the Kremlin's will, and since 2014 with Ukraine, torn apart by a seemingly endless symbolic conflict between different worldviews. Kuznetsov argues that 21st-century people are increasingly despising social and political freedoms in exchange for free digital services, marking the beginning of a "technological Middle Ages" that replaces personal responsibility with the artificial domination of minds. The Russian political scientist is not just expressing an isolated opinion, albeit one related to the official ideology, but rather summarising the work of one of the Kremlin's most important think tanks, the Eisi Group, led by one of Putin's key advisors and potential heirs, former Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko. Kutzentsovs article has been carefully analysed by one of Meduza's analysts, Andrey Pertsev, who sought to understand the secret to the success of the "illiberal systems" of Russia and China, which push the people of these countries to choose digital control over liberal values. The magazine Gosudarstvo was launched in 2025, precisely with the aim of expressing the principles of the new ideology in increasingly effective ways, thanks to the contribution of "political technologists, as the heralds of the dominant thinking are called in Russia. For example, Alexander Kharichev, another of Kirienko's men, writes about the "sacredness of power" supported by the capacity for sacrifice and the collectivism of Russians, combining the principles of Tsarism and Soviet communism. These aspects are underscored in an article by another member of the group, Boris Rapoport, titled Issues and tasks of the domestic policy of the Russian state in different historical eras, which states that the sparse population on Russia's vast territory and the harsh climate have forced Russians to embrace the idea of a strong state as one of the fundamental principles for ensuring their survival. Political technologist Andrey Polosin proposes a text on digital legitimacy, which aligns with Kuznetsov's thesis on the now unstoppable prevalence of illiberal regimes over liberal ones, as evinced above all by the systems of Russia and China. No specific "liberal regimes" are mentioned, generically referred to as Western states where legitimacy is based on the procedures and illusions of social control over institutions, while illiberals propose the alternative source of technological effectiveness. Periodic elections every four to five years are, in fact, deceptive, because the ruling regime is supposed to work for voters every day, when in fact this service can only be achieved in a visible and non-measurable way through digital structures. These technological services are so useful to citizens that they become a decisive argument in favour of the system, much more so than abstract discussions on democratic procedures," adds Kuznetsov. The advantage of illiberal states like Russia and China lies not in their control over the population as such, but in converting this control into true legitimacy, thanks to the provision of quality services in the most convenient forms, which make daily life simpler and more satisfying. For this reason, there is no need to manipulate public opinion, and the success of the illiberal approach is ensured by the "concentration of power, considered dangerous by decadent liberal regimes. The examples cited are the two megacities of Moscow and Shenzhen, both with approximately 13 million inhabitants, where city services provide the highest level of comfort compared to any Western metropolis, where it is clear that political decisions become technological responses, and the mayor assumes the role of "general director of the city, stripping himself of the explicit function of power and exalting that of service, whose boundary with supervision becomes entirely secondary and invisible. This is why Muscovites, and increasingly Russians in general, willingly accept total control by central and local authorities, because "the more they control, the more comfortable one lives," and if control were to be removed, it would not be a liberation, but a return to the risk of the unknown. Chinas experience arouses ever-increasing enthusiasm among Russian political scientists, as demonstrated by the example of Shenzhen, which in 40 years has morphed from a rural village to a technological capital thanks to the total absence of the traits deemed indispensable by Westerners: elections, independent media, and the separation of powers. One of the most controlled cities in the world functions very effectively, in a way that Western cities can only dream of, the specialist notes. Kuznetsov stresses that one of the main advantages of illiberal systems is independence from electoral cycles. In countries under this kind of rule, elections are held only to celebrate the regime in power, which can pursue its programmes "for decades, while systems based on liberal alternations prevent the fulfilment of the promises made to voters. Since parliamentary elections will be held in Russia in a month and a half, these explanations will undoubtedly help Russian citizens choose their representatives, who will be the guardians of their illiberal well-being. RUSSIAN WORLD IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO RUSSIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY SATURDAY? TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE. Champion local news. Join our community of readers who value daily beat reporting and in-depth stories alike. Your membership allows us to continue the legacy of local, independent journalism in the Roaring Fork Valley. With your support, we can remain a free and accessible source of news for everyone, always without paywalls or corporate influence. Together, we can ensure that vital local stories are told. Scout Motors now has over 150,000 reservations. Nearly all want the range-extending gas engine. Scout has collected over 150,000 refundable reservations to date, the company said. Roughly 85% of Scout Motors' reservations are for the extended-range "Harvester" versions, its CEO told InsideEVs. Scott Keogh originally expected around 60% of reservations to be for the EREV, with the remaining 40% going to pure-EV versions. Extended-range electric vehiclesEREVs for shorthave become the latest buzzword in an auto industry trying to navigate a messy transition away from fossil fuels. Scout Motors made an early bet on the technology, which pairs a classic electric platform with a gas-powered generator that feeds extra energy to the battery pack during longer trips. Unlike in a conventional plug-in hybrid, the gas engine never powers the wheels directly. And judging by the startup EV brands latest reservation figures, that move is paying off. Roughly 85% of the companys reservations to date are for extended-range variants of the rugged Terra pickup and Traveler SUV, Scout CEO Scott Keogh told InsideEVs in an interview. The other 15% are for pure-electric versions. Scout Terra - Int - 1 Since unveiling its first two vehicles in October of 2024, the independent Volkswagen subsidiary has collected over 150,000 refundable reservations, a company spokesperson said. Soon well learn how well that early intent translates into real sales; Scout's debut vehicles are set to go into production at a new plant in South Carolina by the end of 2027. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keogh said the interest in EREVs blew away his expectations. We felt very good about it, he said. Did I think it was 85/15? No. I thought it might be more 60/40, lets put it that way. The strong demand for gas-extended versions means the company will "most likely" launch the EREVs first, Keogh said on stage at the BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco this week, where InsideEVs caught up with him. Scout Traveler Electric SUV Scout began debating range extenders in the summer of 2023, Keogh told InsideEVs. His team looked at how EREVs were being received in Chinawhere the powertrain type is boomingand considered the performance requirements for their vehicles. They also clocked the noise around range anxiety and charging that was repelling buyers from EVs, despite the qualities people love about them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We said, boy, this takes all that drama away, he said. That is the EREV promise in a nutshell. They aim to provide the best of both worlds: the quiet operation, cheap refueling and instant torque of an EVplus the care-free road-tripping and towing you get in an internal-combustion car. Keep up with the latest EV news. Sign up for our newsletters today! back Subscribe For more info, read our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use. Scouts Harvester EREV modelsa throwback nod to Scouts roots as an SUV under the International Harvester brandwill offer around 150 miles of electric range from a roughly 63 kilowatt-hour lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery pack, Keogh said. Thanks to a four-cylinder generator, total range is expected to clock in at 500 miles, more than just about every all-electric vehicle on the market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scout's says its EVs will offer around 350 miles of range. Its trucks will start at under $60,000, though Scout hasn't shared whether the EREV or EV will cost more. The company didnt pioneer the EREV. The now-discontinued BMW i3 was Americas last range-extended option, and the vehicles have been booming in China. But it was among the first automakers to say its bringing the technology to the U.S. market in the modern EV era. Now, as demand for EVs softens in the U.S. and as regulations driving EV sales vanish, several automakers are adding the powertrain to their roadmaps. Ford is planning for the next-generation F-150 Lightning to feature a range-extender. Ditto for the upcoming electrified Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Ram 1500 truck, both hitting streets this year. Hyundai and Kia also have EREVs on the way. Apart from the reservations, that trend has provided Keogh a little extra validation that Scout is on the right path. We felt good about it, and we still do obviously feel good about it. We feel better about it now, because, let's be honest, when you're all alone, you feel good, but you're still a little bit alone, he said. Now that others have made similar announcements, he said, it's like, okay, yeah, people are jumping in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com 31 January 2026 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more Azerbaijan is quietly becoming a testing ground for Gulf capital looking to move beyond oil, as investors from the Persian Gulf funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into the South Caucasus state, drawn by its renewable energy ambitions, strategic geography and political stability. While Central Asia still absorbs the lions share of Arab investment across Eurasia, new projects in Azerbaijan suggest a recalibration is underway, one that places Baku at the intersection of energy transition, regional connectivity and the Gulfs search for long-term influence beyond hydrocarbons. By mid-2025, Gulf sovereign funds and firms had invested $606 million in Azerbaijan, part of a broader surge in capital flows from Persian Gulf countries into the wider Eurasian region. According to the Eurasian Development Banks latest investment report, total Gulf investments across Eurasia reached $23.9 billion in the first half of 2025, more than triple the level of 2016 and up 60 percent on 2023, underscoring the growing strategic significance Gulf investors place on the regions energy and infrastructure sectors. For Azerbaijan, the share is modest compared with Central Asian magnets like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which together absorb the lions share of funding. But the character of these investments reveals a deeper narrative: wealthy Gulf states are no longer merely investing in hydrocarbon extraction abroad; they are partnering in renewable energy and power-generation projects that align with Azerbaijans own diversification goals and broader global shifts toward cleaner energy. Much of the $606 million invested in Azerbaijan by Gulf capital has gone into solar power, with UAE-based Masdar standing out as the most prominent partner. Masdar is building two large solar photovoltaic plants: a 315 MW facility in Neftchala and a 445 MW project in Bilasuvar. Once fully operational, these will generate more than 1.7 billion kWh of electricity annually and are expected to be commissioned by 2027. These projects are not merely one-off investments. Masdar has signed a broader suite of agreements with Azerbaijani authorities that envisage up to 1 GW of new capacity and cooperation across renewables, including solar and wind, tying into larger strategic goals to develop a green energy corridor and even explore green hydrogen. Masdars total planned outlays in Azerbaijan could exceed $1.2 billion over time, reflecting a long-term commercial and strategic commitment. The Gulf interest dovetails with Azerbaijans own energy transition targets. Baku has articulated a plan to generate 6 GW of solar and wind energy by 2030, which would mark a significant shift for a country historically dominated by oil and gas exports. Partnerships with Masdar and others provide both capital and technology transfer, reinforcing Azerbaijans ambitions to reduce gas consumption domestically while freeing up hydrocarbons for export. The growing role of Gulf capital in Azerbaijan reflects broader structural shifts within Gulf economies themselves. Faced with the long-term imperative to diversify from hydrocarbon dependency, Gulf states, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are channeling funds into overseas energy projects that emphasize low-carbon and renewable infrastructure as well as conventional energy. Research shows that Gulf countries have sharply increased foreign investment into Eurasia over the last decade, with much of the recent growth driven by energy projects outside fossil fuels. The UAE alone accounts for about 68 percent of Gulf investment into the Eurasian region, followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. While Central Asia remains the main destination, especially for oil and power generation, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia are starting to benefit from a widening investor focus. Azerbaijans role is further enhanced by bilateral ties with the UAE that go beyond project financing. In the energy sector, Abu Dhabis ADNOC holds a stake in the Azerbaijani Absheron gas-condensate field, and joint ventures between SOCAR and UAE firms span upstream and downstream cooperation. These linkages create a more integrated energy partnership that encompasses fossil fuels, renewables and, potentially, electricity exports to regional grids. For Baku, Gulf investment serves multiple purposes. The inflows support Azerbaijans stated aim of economic diversification, anchored by renewable energy and infrastructure that can sustain growth irrespective of global oil and gas cycles. They deepen geopolitical ties with Gulf capitals and potentially offer a cushion against volatility in Western capital markets. This is important as Azerbaijan seeks to balance relationships with European, Asian and Middle Eastern partners. Moreover, the presence of international financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), co-financing Gulf-backed projects adds credibility and lowers risk for future investors. The combination of sovereign, multilateral and private capital is a powerful driver of project viability in a region where energy demand is rising and policy frameworks increasingly favor sustainability. The broader narrative is one of transition without rupture: Azerbaijan remains a significant oil and gas exporter while building a parallel green energy portfolio, and Gulf investors, once focused on hydrocarbons alone, are now ready to finance the cleaner side of that transition. 31 January 2026 01:46 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more A high-level panel discussion on Strengthening Environmental Governance and International Cooperation for the Protection of the Caspian Sea was held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, the Caspisnet Scientific Network and the Secretariat of the Tehran Convention. Addressing the official part of the event, Leyla Aliyeva, highlighted the global significance of the Caspian Sea, the environmental threats it currently faces, and the importance of the science-based cooperation to preserve it for future generations. Leyla Aliyeva emphasized that the ongoing shrinking in sea levels and the loss of biodiversity could result in increasingly severe consequences unless timely, coordinated measures are implemented. She urged the event participants to maintain discussions on the Caspian Sea, pursuing concrete steps that yield tangible results. Speaking at the event, Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, and Galib Israfilov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, underlined the paramount importance of such discussions in fostering dialogue between government agencies, international organizations, and the expert community. The speakers underscored that enhancing institutional collaboration in environmental governance, alongside the active exchange of information and experience, will significantly bolster collective efforts to protect the Caspian Sea. The discussions were followed by panel sessions featuring an exchange of views among key participants, including Arnold Kreilhuber, Regional Director of the UN Environment Programmes Europe Office, and Francesca Racioppi, Head of Office at WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, who were joined by leaders and representatives from the University of Geneva, the Geneva Water Hub, and Caspisnet, as well as several other international organizations and think tanks. The discussions focused on environmental governance, the critical role of scientific research, and the significance of international collaboration and water diplomacy in protecting the Caspian Sea, resulting in the proposal of various strategic initiatives. Afterwards, a short documentary highlighting the environmental challenges facing the Caspian Sea was screened. The event concluded with an interactive Q&A session. 31 January 2026 15:55 (UTC+04:00) On January 30, 2026, the President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Mrs. Aktoty Raimkulova, participated in the 6th Meeting of the Coordination Committee of the Cooperation Organizations of Turkic States, held at the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Istanbul. The meeting aimed to strengthen coordination among Turkic cooperation organizations, ensure mutual exchange of information on activities carried out, and discuss joint priority areas of cooperation for the upcoming period. In accordance with the agenda, the outcomes of the 2025 Action Plan were reviewed, and priority initiatives planned for 2026 were considered. In addition, an in-depth discussion was held on the mechanisms for the implementation of decisions and instructions adopted by the Heads of State at the 12th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, held in Gabala, as well as on further steps in this regard. Speaking at the meeting, the President of the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, Mrs. Aktoty Raimkulova, informed the participants about the key projects implemented by the Foundation in 2025. She also noted that cooperation with partner organizations is being consistently expanded in order to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of the Turkic world at the international level. Mrs. Aktoty Raimkulova emphasized that the Foundations priorities are shaped in line with the strategic documents of the Turkic world, and that the principles of integration, cooperation, and unity form the basis of all initiatives. She also highlighted that coordinated activities within this platform serve the achievement of common goals. The meeting was chaired by the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States and Chairman of the Coordination Committee, Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev. The event was attended by the heads of leading international organizations of the Turkic world: Secretary General of TURKSOY Sultan Raev, President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev, Secretary General of TURKPA Ramil Hasan, Senior Advisor for Economic Affairs of the Turkic Investment Fund Erhan Turbedar, and Secretary General of the Union of Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry Adem Kula. 30 January 2026 23:59 (UTC+04:00) Leyla Aliyeva met with Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. As reported by Azernews via Azertag, during the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the environmental problems of the Caspian Sea, focusing on environmental protection and the need for enhancing international collaboration. On the same day, a high-level panel discussion on Strengthening Environmental Governance and International Cooperation for the Protection of the Caspian Sea was held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, the Caspisnet Scientific Network and the Secretariat of the Tehran Convention. 31 January 2026 12:40 (UTC+04:00) Preparations are ongoing in Abu Dhabi for the Peace Shield 2026 joint operational-tactical exercise, involving personnel from the Azerbaijan Army and the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense. Military personnel were first briefed on safety rules, followed by a detailed overview of the exercises objectives, scenario, location, phased activity plan, and tasks. The exercise will take place in residential areas, mountainous terrain, and maritime environments. According to the plan, the drills will include: neutralizing illegal armed groups in mountains, regaining control of a captured vessel, eliminating terrorist elements and rescuing hostages, evacuating the wounded, preventing riots and sabotage in residential areas, and conducting firefighting operations. The Peace Shield 2026 exercise is scheduled for February 23, 2026. 31 January 2026 14:20 (UTC+04:00) On January 31, Azerbaijans Milli Majlis hosted a meeting with members of the professional staff of the majority of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. During the meeting, Samad Seyidov, Chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee on International Relations and Interparliamentary Affairs, head of the working group of Azerbaijan-U.S. interparliamentary relations, highlighted the history of the AzerbaijanU.S. relations, existing avenues of cooperation, and future development prospects. Touching upon the historic working visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to U.S. last August, the meetings held and the agreements reached during that visit, Samad Seyidov noted that those agreements had elevated the Azerbaijan-U.S. relations to qualitatively new level, also playing a crucial role in the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agenda, as well as ensuring stability and enhancing cooperation in the region. The meeting stressed the significance of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), adding that the implementation of this initiative supported by the U.S. will not only reshape Eurasias transport map, but also contribute significantly to deepening cooperation in the broader region. The discussions emphasized the importance of repealing the Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, with regard to Azerbaijan noting that this would serve the development of bilateral relations, the strengthening of mutual trust, and the expansion of cooperation. Members of the professional staff of the majority of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, hailed the recent positive dynamics in the U.S.Azerbaijan relations, which have entered a new stage of development, adding that maintaining this dynamics would serve both countries interests. 31 January 2026 18:35 (UTC+04:00) Any conflict in the Middle East would have serious regional repercussions, Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Irans Supreme Leader, said in an interview with Lebanons Al Mayadeen television channel, Azernews reports According to Shamkhani, any spark could quickly turn into a fire that spirals out of control. He stressed that Irans current priority is to be fully prepared to respond to any potential threat. The senior official noted that Tehran understands the geography of the region, its own capabilities, and its defense potential better than any external force. Shamkhani also warned countries adopting what he described as unfriendly positions toward Iran against provoking escalation. Any action reflecting hostile intentions toward Iran will be met with an appropriate, effective, and deterrent response, he said. He added that Iran does not limit the geography of a possible confrontation to the maritime domain alone, noting that the country has already prepared broader and more technologically advanced scenarios. 31 January 2026 21:50 (UTC+04:00) The US Embassy in Turkiye stated on Saturday that its social media channels will not be updated regularly until full operations resume, except for urgent safety and security announcements. The move comes as the US government entered a temporary shutdown after Congress failed to pass a funding law, Azernews reports, citing Yeni Safak. In a notice posted on its social media accounts, the embassy attributed the reduced online activity to the funding lapse but noted that scheduled passport and visa services in the US and at overseas diplomatic missions are expected to continue as conditions permit. The embassy directed those seeking information on services and operating status to the travel.state.gov website. The US government began a partial shutdown early Saturday after lawmakers did not reach an agreement on a spending bill before the deadline. Such shutdowns typically affect non-essential federal operations and can disrupt diplomatic communications and public outreach, though critical and security-related functions often remain active. 31 January 2026 22:25 (UTC+04:00) Pakistans security forces have killed more than 70 militants in operations carried out over the past two days in the Balochistan province, Azernews reports, citing Pakistani media outlets. Pakistani media noted that armed groups attempted to carry out attacks in several areas of the province, but these attempts were successfully thwarted by security forces. The Fitna al-Hindustan group, which authorities say is linked to India, carried out attacks at 12 locations across Balochistan. As a result of these attacks, 10 members of Pakistans security forces were killed. Citing a source within the security agencies, Dawn added that a total of 88 militants were killed in Balochistan over the past 48 hours. Production of Teslas first two mainstream models, the Model S saloon and Model X SUV, will end this summer. CEO Elon Musk said its time to discontinue the cars, the Model S having been launched back in 2012. This virtually halves the Tesla line-up, leaving only the smaller Model 3 saloon, Model Y SUV and Cybertruck pick-up on sale. The long-delayed Roadster is scheduled to be shown in production specification at last on 1 April this year, before the fully autonomous Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals arrives in 2027. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Model S and Model X factory in Fremont, California, will be converted to produce Optimus robots as Musk diversifies the business through heavy investment into artificial intelligence and automation. Although the Model S and Model X became technological flagships for Tesla, ultimately headlined by 1020bhp Plaid variants, they accounted for only a small slice of its annual sales. Last year, the company delivered less than 50,000 examples of the pair combined, compared with nearly 1.6 million Model 3s and Model Ys. The Model S was a game-changer when it first arrived, with the Performance variant offering 416bhp and 300 miles of range (on the outdated NEDC test cycle) for 68,700 (96,000 in todays money). Autocars 2013 road test found it to be the best car in its class. A 4.5-star rating put it ahead of the contemporary Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid, as well as hybrid versions of the BMW 7 Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Audi A8. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of the half-dozen electric cars that weve road tested during the re-emergence of the EV, only two have managed to complete our full set of track tests, photo shoots and road assessments without the assistance of a trailer, read our verdict. We continued: Finally, it seems, heres a company that understands the workings of the automotive consumer. Small cars are already cheap and use very little fuel. So making an electric one of those work for everybody is going to be a very hard task, as their sales, or lack of, demonstrate. With a luxury car, though, Tesla has found it easier to gain price and performance parity with its rivals. It has been able to offer a vast range by fitting vast batteries and has found a customer base more open to the new technology and with more resources at their work and home to counter the drawbacks. Practical, refined and, above all, desirable, the Model S is a triumph. The Model X was revealed in 2015 with unique falcon-wing doors and the option of seven seats. Although clearly a derivative of the Model S and not a class-leader in the same sense as the Model S (with a firm ride and rough build quality among its main deficiencies), it still ranked ahead of many mainstream alternatives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is necessary once again even with qualifications to acknowledge that there is nothing else like the Model X, read our road test verdict. The Model S Plaid arrived in 2021, with Musk claiming it to be the quickest production car ever made of any kind. Indeed, it could complete the 0-60mph sprint in just 1.99sec although this claim involved a small roll-out, meaning the car was already moving when timing began. Autocars stopwatch timed it at 2.4sec, which, while not as impressive as claimed, still made it the fastest-accelerating car we had ever tested by August 2023, beating even the Bugatti Veyron Supersport. It remains the quickest car to 60mph yet put through a full Autocar road test, despite stiff competition from the electric Lotus Evija (2.8sec) and hybrid Lamborghini Revuelto (2.5sec) supercars. ]]> An ongoing struggle between Iowa's government leaders including the governor and legislature and its education establishment over political indoctrination in public school curricula is set to enter a new phase. The education establishment had produced a new Social Studies curriculum that promoted the leftwing causes of open borders and climate alarmism. State officials demanded a rewrite to de-politicize the curriculum. The education establishment provided a rewrite that changed the wording some but not the overall tone. Now, the government leadership is mulling their next step. The Federalist has a great artcile urging the government leaders to go to the mat with the education establishment over their playing politics with the curriculum. https://thefederalist.com/2026/01/30/iowa-gop-should-fix-k-12-social-studies-rewrite-that-pushes-open-borders-climate-alarmism/ Meanwhile, on the climate alarmist front, the DOJ is probing an incident where a climate alarmist mob stormed a Jewish synagogue with a Democrat congressman. https://justthenews.com/government/security/doj-probing-incident-where-climate-group-stormed-jewish-synagogue-event https://dailycaller.com/2026/01/30/climate-activists-synagogue-diapers-kneepads-ice-democrat-jewish-temple/ Also, 27 Republican state Attorneys General have filed a complaint over a federal judicial manual that pushes the agenda of climate alarmism. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/federal-judicial-manual-contains-climate-advocacy-materials-biasing-judges Technology giant Meta is set to trial premium subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp users in the coming months, as it continues to experiment with paid services. The proposed subscriptions would offer access to additional features, including expanded AI tools, while the core services of each platform would remain free to use. Meta also plans to test paid access to specific AI-powered features, such as its Vibes video generation app, which it says can bring your ideas to life with new AI visual creation tools. Vibes was unveiled in September as part of the latest update to the Meta AI app. According to TechCrunch, which first reported the plans, Meta also intends to integrate technology from Manus, the Chinese-founded AI firm it agreed to acquire in December for a reported $2bn (1.46bn), into its subscription offerings. Meta will continue to offer standalone Manus subscriptions to business customers. At the time of the deal, Meta said the acquisition would strengthen its AI capabilities by giving users access to so-called agents tools designed to carry out complex tasks with minimal user input, such as planning trips or creating presentations. In a blog post, the firm said: Manuss exceptional talent will join Metas team to deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including Meta AI. Now based in Singapore after relocating from China, Manus has positioned itself as a more autonomous alternative to traditional chatbots, claiming its agents can plan, execute and complete tasks independently once given instructions. In January, Beijing said it would investigate Metas acquisition of Manus to assess whether it breached Chinas technology export laws or national security regulations. Meta has previously tested paid features across its platforms. Last year, some Facebook users in the UK and US were notified that they could only share a limited number of links in posts without a subscription a move the company described as a test to assess whether higher posting volumes provided additional value for paying users. More recently, UK users were informed of a 2.99 monthly subscription to access ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. Under changes announced in September, users outside the EU are prompted to either pay or continue using the apps for free with personalised advertising, while EU users are charged 5.99 a month for the same ad-free experience. In 2023, Meta introduced a paid verification service, allowing Facebook and Instagram users to obtain a blue tick for a monthly fee. Claire Byrne on leaving RTE: It felt like the organisation was wagging its finger at me, saying youve been a bad person - you need to have a pay cap to stop your gallop Tributes to Belfast music mogul known as the most influential woman in Irish pop after death aged 92 Tributes to Sixties impresario Dorothy Solomon, who helped The Dubliners, The Bachelors and Van Morrison find fame Dorothy Solomon Brett Campbell Sat 31 Jan 2026 at 08:24 The family of a Belfast music mogul who inspired Sharon Osbourne and helped launch Van Morrison into the limelight have paid tribute to the most influential woman in Irish pop following her death. Jessie Buckley has said Hamnet has been life-changing for her (Sthanlee Mirador/PA) Actress Jessie Buckley has said making her film Hamnet, which has seen her nominated for an Oscar, has been a life-changing experience. The 36-year-old from County Kerry in Ireland, who is nominated for best actress for the film, said she did not expect the nod, while speaking at an in conversation event at Londons BFI Southbank. I said Id write for six months: Andrea Mara on her road to becoming a bestselling author The Irish author shares how she went from being out of work to selling a million books, and speaks of the multiple pinch me moments surrounding the awards success of her adapted-for-screen smash-hit novel All Her Fault Andrea Mara at the New York premiere of All Her Fault. Photo: Getty Tanya Sweeney Sat 31 Jan 2026 at 06:30 When asking the writer Andrea Mara about the banner year she has just had, its hard to know where to begin. Among the highlights of Maras year was getting a phone call from her publishers to tell her that she had sold a monumental one million copies of her eight crime novels (its estimated that only around 0.02% of authors ever reach this milestone). Sitting on 4.9 acres of land, Glenlyon in Holywood is a rare find. This elegant unlisted Victorian Gentlemans residence is offered to the market for the first time in 50 years. The house extends over four floors and in excess of 5,000 sq ft, as well as multiple outbuildings. The property retains outstanding period features and craftsmanship in a location that offers tranquillity and privacy. Built in 1853, Glenlyon features abundant historical decorative touches, from double-height ceilings, wood-panelled inset doorways, wooden shutters and wall sculptures (and wine cellars). Feature fireplaces and bay windows ensure warmth and views, each enhancing the propertys grandeur and sense of character. The entrance hall leads to the drawing room and formal dining room, each with large windows and impressive ceilings. The former opens into a conservatory which is bathed in natural light. On this level there is an additional study/reception room. The kitchen is full of wooden low and high wall-mounted units, alongside Victorian tiled flooring and a classic oil-fired Aga. There is a bar for entertaining, utility rooms and storage areas. The first floor offers five generously proportioned bedrooms accessed via both the principal and scullery staircases, while the second floor contains four bedrooms. There is an attached two-bedroom cottage, stable, coal and boiler houses, plus a disused barn. Glenlyon is accessed via a private drive from Victoria Road. Belfast City Airport can be reached in under a 10-minute drive. Viewings by appointment with Savills Ireland on 028 9026 7824 or 028 9026 7829 Join Susi for a Coffee & Candle Making Workshop, the perfect chance to relax, get creative, and meet other small groups in a friendly setting (Credit: Getty) June Field with Laura Dern and framed Diane Ladd picture The UK winner of the world's best psychic competition, June Field, returns to Belfast to perform to her Up Close & Personal show. Her February 4 date at the Hilton hotel was rescheduled from November last year following the death of Junes close friend and Hollywood superstar Diane Ladd. During the performance, June will also raise money for The Donkey Sanctuary on the Isle of Wight with the raffle winner receiving a contact during the second half of the performance. June Field will be appearing at the Hilton hotel, Lanyon Place, Belfast, on Wednesday February 4 from 7:30pm. Tickets cost 28 plus booking fee. Doors open 7pm. Book tickets, via https://junefieldmedium.com/ Shine a light Candlelight concert Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never before. The Valentines Day Special at St Annes Cathedral on February 14 will feature a string quartet performing timeless love songs and iconic film themes, including Unchained Melody, La Vie En Rose, Cant Help Falling in Love and My Heart Will Go On, all reimagined in an intimate candlelit setting. Tickets via candlelightexperience.com/valentines-day-concerts/ Jazz it up The Jazz Room The Jazz Room transports guests to the heart of 1920s New Orleans. Set in an intimate jazz bar setting, this immersive live music experience at Empire Music Hall on February 15 celebrates the essence of jazz through masterful performances. Guests can sip cocktails while enjoying a one-of-a-kind journey through jazz history, where every performance is unique. Tickets via thejazzroomexperience.com/ Sample sale Erin Bunting, aka The Edible Flower An exciting free event at Coleraine Town Hall next month plans to bring history to life through food. Join Museum Services for a culinary adventure and drop in to Coleraine Museum at Coleraine Town Hall on Saturday, February 7, anytime between 1pm and 3pm. Visitors will be able to pop by and taste free samples of dishes from the past and learn more about what ingredients and recipes were enjoyed by our ancestors. Samples will be prepared by respected cook, food stylist and writer Erin Bunting, aka The Edible Flower. Please note, samples are likely to contain nuts so will not be suitable for those with a nut allergy. A lift, toilet and baby changing facilities are located onsite. Did you know? 69% of people in Northern Ireland say owning a pet boosts emotional wellbeing, according to Admiral. Concert date James Arthur James Arthur will be performing at SSE Arena in Belfast on January 31 with doors opening at 6.30pm. A service charge and facility fee will apply. Tickets can be purchased via ssearenabelfast.com. Music festival Music festival IMBOLC International Music Festival is a standout event in the North West's cultural scene and one of Ireland's premier music festivals. Since its inception in 2016, it has gained widespread acclaim, described as a boutique festival for a boutique city - eclectically curated and refreshingly analogue. Dedicated to fostering an inclusive music community, the festival celebrates tradition in its diverse forms while embracing variety. For further details visit discovernorthernireland.org Wonder time Tiny Wonders Little explorers, ready for an exciting adventure? Look closer and discover nature with five episodes of Tiny Wonders (BBC/CBeebies) on the big screen before hands-on exploration in the Mini Lab Zones. Led by scientists from Queen's University Belfast and CEDaR on February 11, kids will use real microscopes to take a closer look at fascinating little curiosities from nature. Visit ulsterfolkmuseum.org for further details. Aroma time Join Susi for a Coffee & Candle Making Workshop the perfect chance to relax, get creative, and meet other small groups in a friendly setting on February 1. The cost is 55 per person and includes a hot drink of your choice, which you can enjoy as you create your own soy candle: Choose your jar, create your own fragrance and name your candle. We use 100% soy wax and locally sourced fragrances from Ireland. Take home your creation: Leave with a beautiful handmade candle crafted by you. Bookings can be made via susistories.co.uk/ Quiz me Post House Quiz House The Post House in south Belfast is hosting a quiz night, sponsored by Jawbox, on Wednesday, February 4 starting at 9pm. First and second prizes on hand. Feet in the flames: Inside Michael Flatleys bruising Belfast court battle over his Lord of the Dance show Star alleged to be a Walter Mitty-type character who was living lavishly off borrowed money Michael Flatley speaks outside court after injunction overturned Shane Phelan Sat 31 Jan 2026 at 08:51 Michael Flatley may have won the first round of a legal dispute over control of the Lord of the Dance, but he risked his reputation taking a hell of a battering in the process. The only man to stand trial for the murder of Robert McCartney in a Belfast bar has died. Terry Davison had been acquitted of killing Mr McCartney in 2008. He was buried on Friday, the day before the 21st anniversary of the 33-year-olds murder. Mr McCartney was stabbed and beaten to death by a mob of at least 12 men, the majority of them IRA members, outside Magenniss bar in the city centre on January 30 2005. He died the next day. Mr Davison was the uncle of Gerard Jock Davison, the man that Mr McCartneys family claimed gave the order for the murder of their brother. Jock Davison was himself killed in 2015. It is understood Terry Davison died peacefully in hospital on January 23, surrounded by his family. Terry Davison in 2008. A death notice said he passed away peacefully and described him as a dearly loved partner, devoted daddy and "cherished grandfather. He will be sorely missed by his extended family and friends, it added. Requiem Mass was held earlier on Friday at St Malachys Church, with committal afterwards at Roselawn Crematorium. In a high profile court case in 2008, Mr Justice Gillen cleared Terry Davison, then 51, of murdering Mr McCartney after he allegedly refused to apologise for making a rude gesture to Davisons wife. He was also acquitted of two counts of affray. Delivering his verdict in the trial, the judge cast doubt over the evidence given by a key witness known as C. I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the witnesss evidence was reliable, the judge said, although he went on to praise witness C for being transparently honest. Two co-accused were also found not guilty of affray. One of them was acquitted on a further charge of assault. The judge had warned the three that they could yet be brought back to court if more evidence emerged. I have no doubt that the investigation into this crime will continue and if new evidence emerges in connection with this murder no one, including for that matter even the accused in this trial, will be beyond the reach of potential prosecution, he told the court at the time. Mr McCartneys four sisters and his fiancee had campaigned to bring those responsible to trial. They met then US president, George Bush, at the White House as part of their international campaign to demand that Sinn Fein members came forward as witnesses. Since Mr Davisons acquittal the McCartney sisters have repeatedly called for justice for their murdered brother. Last May they branded as shameful a commemoration for Jock Davison, the IRA commander they believe ordered their brothers murder. The memorial event for Jock Davison was held in the Markets area of Belfast with the sisters saying they were disgusted by comments from local Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey, who described it as a great event for our amazing friend. Robert McCartney News Catch Up - Friday 30 January They have consistently claimed that Jock Davison had drawn his finger across his throat to signal to other IRA men to kill Mr McCartney and his friend Brendan Devine a claim Jock Davison denied. After the commemoration event, Mr McCartneys sister said: We have no objection to any family regardless of their relatives role in the conflict commemorating their loved ones privately. They have every right to do so. However, we object to the public commemoration for Jock Davison which we see as effectively legitimising Roberts murder. China vows to protect Chinese firm's rights after Panama annuls port contract Xinhua) 10:23, January 31, 2026 BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday after Panama's Supreme Court annulled the contract granted to a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings Limited for operating the Panama terminals. Relevant company has stated that the ruling contradicts the laws under which Panama approved the relevant concession granted to the company, and the company reserves all rights, including legal proceedings, spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a press briefing. China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the just and legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese companies, Guo said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into an incident where a Waymo self-driving vehicle hit a child in California. According to Reuters, one of Waymo's autonomous vehicles struck a child Jan. 23 after they ran into the street, emerging from behind a vehicle that was double parked, outside a school during a time when children were being dropped off. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Our technology immediately detected the individual as soon as they began to emerge from behind the stopped vehicle," the company said in its corporate blog. "The Waymo Driver braked hard, reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made." After the child was struck, they got up and walked to the sidewalk while the Waymo vehicle followed protocol, remaining on the scene, but pulling over to the side of the road until police cleared it to leave. Waymo officials said the company is cooperating with the NHTSA investigation. Since then, the National Transportation Safety Board announced it will begin investigating the incident as well. Waymo officials appear to be confident in the performance of the vehicle, noting it handled the situation well. "Our peer-reviewed model shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph. This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver," the company said in the blog. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The incident is the latest in a string involving self-driving vehicles from Waymo, Tesla, and other test vehicles from other autonomous technology developers. The most prominent being an incident October 2023 when a self-driving vehicle from General Motors' subsidiary, Cruise LLC, hit a pedestrian that fell off her bike. The vehicle initially stopped but then attempted to follow protocol by pulling over to the side of the road, hitting the cyclist again and dragging her several feet before stopping. The Cruise vehicle wasn't involved in the first crash but was simply trying to navigate away from the scene. More and more autonomous vehicles are undergoing real-world testing in several cities around the U.S. including San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas, among others. [Images: Waymo, Cruise LLC] Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter. The chief executive of Belfast City Council has led condemnation after three workers were assaulted. The three were taken to hospital after being attacked in the early hours of Saturday morning. They were also verbally abused, police said. John Walsh, the council chief executive, said: This was an unwarranted attack on three council workers, simply out doing their job and delivering key services for our city. I condemn it completely and urge anyone with any information to help police with their enquiries. Police have appealed for information on the incident. Inspector Knowles said: We received a number of reports at around 12.40am that three men, believed to be council workers, had been attacked by two unknown males while carrying out their duties in the Little Donegall Street area. Officers spoke with all three of the injured men, who had been punched to the face and neck, with one of the men also sustaining an injury to his hand. It was reported that an unknown male had approached the council workers and began being verbally abusive towards them, before physically assaulting them. He was then joined by a second, unknown male, who also physically assaulted the men. One of the suspects was described as being of slim build with blond hair and was wearing a grey tracksuit. All three injured men subsequently attended the hospital for treatment to their injuries. Our council workers are a vital part of our community and assaults on them whilst doing their job will not be tolerated. I would urge anyone who may have been in the area and witnessed this to come forward and assist us with our enquiries, which are ongoing. DUP MLA Phillip Brett said it was a disgraceful attack on staff who were simply going about their jobs serving the public. I have spoken directly with the police about this incident. Those responsible must be identified and held fully accountable, he added. It is also vital that any motivation behind this attack is published. "Council staff deserve transparency, reassurance and the right to work without fear or intimidation. There can be absolutely no justification for targeting public sector workers. I stand firmly with the staff affected and their colleagues. Alliance councillor Michael Long said it was an utterly shocking incident. My thoughts are with the victims who were attacked, who were simply out doing their jobs, and I wish them a full recovery, he said. Those responsible must face the full consequences of their actions, and I would urge anyone with any information to contact the police to assist with their investigations. Sinn Fein councillor Ronan McLaughlin also condemned the attack. He said: This was a shocking assault on these workers simply carrying out their jobs on behalf of the people of our city. I condemn those involved and want to express my thoughts and solidarity with those injured. I hope they make a full and speedy recovery. Anyone with information should come forward immediately to the police. A son of Colin Howell has described how he received cringe letters from his father after he confessed to double murder. Seamus Howell had turned two on the day his mother Lesley was killed by his father and Hazel Stewart. The then lovers also killed Stewarts husband Trevor Buchanan. In a new interview with the Irish Times, Seamus said he has not seen or spoken to his father since he was jailed for at least 21 years in 2010. The bodies of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan were found in a fume-filled garage in Castlerock, Co Londonderry, in 1991. Colin Howell and Kyle Jorgensen. Photo: BBC/Below the Radar For years it was believed the pair died in a suicide pact after discovering their partners' affair. However, in 2009, Howell walked into a police station in Coleraine and confessed to the murders. Stewart was found guilty of both murders in 2011 after a trial, in which Colin Howell testified against her, and was jailed for at least 18 years. The double killing is back in the spotlight after the release of separate documentaries on the BBC and ITV in recent days. Seamus is now based in New York, where he works as a consultant in a public hospital. He told the Irish Times how he received some cringe letters from his father after he was detained in 2009, but has not talked to him or visited him in prison. I feel like I need to, he said, adding that it is his intention to. I dont know what it means to forgive him, however, I aspire to forgive him. I dont wish any harm on him, he added. I would really love to hear that he had learned the freedom that comes with being honest and also a little bit of humility. Lesley Howell In the interview, Seamus describes life with his father, who appeared a deeply religious man who regularly attended Coleraine Baptist church, where he met Stewart, a Sunday school teacher. He recalled how his father loved to goof around with us he would play his guitar and do singalong little Bible songs. In 1997 Colin Howell married Kyle Jorgensen. He had met the single mother, who had come to Northern Ireland from the United States to study Irish, at a prayer meeting. Seamus remembers how the house was dominated by his father and his evangelical Protestant beliefs, with everything framed in a very religious but punitive way. Trevor Buchanan After dinner, one of the children would regularly be summoned, he told the Irish Times. Often there would be shouting and screaming, there would be smacking for some sort of terrible way we had rebelled against Gods authority. He recalled when, aged 16, he wanted to attend a prayer meeting in a nearby town to hang out with some other kids from the church, he was told he was trying to sow division and that he was going against Gods plans to plant a church in Castlerock. The smallest little things were these huge fallouts from the Lord, he added. He also discussed the death of his older brother Matthew, who died in a freak accident in St Petersburg in 2007. Seamus said his brother had been deeply hurt by his mothers death, adding: One of the terrible injustices that can never be undone is that he went to his grave not knowing the truth, and thats very ... thats tough. Colin Howell News Catch Up - Friday 30 January After his sons death, Colin Howell also lost thousands in a failed gold investment in the Philippines. Seamus said his father was obsessed with the Biblical King David and felt he was being punished as God punished David. While he would like his father and Stewart to apologise, he adds: Its more than just for me. On a personal level, its not going to make a big material difference in my life, but Im talking about things from the perspective of my mother, and theres a whole other person there: Trevor Buchanan. Newly ratified Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows and newly ratified deputy leader Diana Armstrong after an EGM at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast (Mark Marlow/PA) The new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Jon Burrows has said he is aiming to grow the party until it becomes the biggest in unionism again. Speaking for the first time since becoming leader, Mr Burrows said he expected to deliver more seats in councils, more seats in the Assembly and more seats in Westminster. A former senior police officer, Mr Burrows was ratified as the party leader at a meeting in Belfast on Saturday. Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Diana Armstrong has become the partys deputy leader. Jon Burrows (right) arrives at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast as members of the Ulster Unionist Party hold an EGM to elect a new leader (Mark Marlow/PA) All of the partys MLAs and its only MP, Robin Swann, attended the meeting at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast. During the meeting, Mr Burrows set out his intention to turn the party into a winning machine. Mr Burrows has been a member of the party for less than a year and was co-opted into his Assembly seat in north Antrim last summer. He has become UUP leader without a contest after no other party members stood against him when Mike Nesbitt announced he was to stand down. The Ulster Unionists had been the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland until it was usurped by the DUP in 2003. But speaking to the media alongside Ms Armstrong, Mr Burrows said the party would now return to the front foot. He said: Politics has stalled in this place, Stormont is not delivering and keeping up with the advances that have been made elsewhere in Northern Ireland in our vibrant economy and we need to look at why that is. Diana Armstrong and Jon Burrows meet UUP members (Mark Marlow/PA) He added: This is a new chapter for the Ulster Unionist Party, we are going to confidently go out engage our communities, provide the leadership that unionism needs, be sure-footed, not make the strategic big mistakes and deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. Lead change in what needs to be done at Stormont and project Northern Ireland and its part in the United Kingdom to the global stage. Mr Burrows added: We are here to do business, to get things done, to find solutions and that is what you are going to have as we start preparing to lead unionism in Northern Ireland again. Mr Burrows pointed to the success of Reform UK which had come from nowhere to lead in the opinion polls. He said: That is an example of where you can go from a base to something very lofty. I have confidence because this party has a reservoir of trust and a deep legacy of service to the people of Northern Ireland. We now need to make that match for the next 10 years, next 20 and 30 years to start giving the people of Northern Ireland the politics and the public service and the solutions they need. MLA Mike Nesbitt arrives at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast (Mark Marlow/PA) The new leader pledged to build on the nine seats the UUP currently has at Stormont. He said: I think the first thing is to get new momentum. We want to start seeing that swing back to the Ulster Unionist Party again. Just in the last number of months, and they are only polls, but we were fifth and we are now third, from 11% to 13%. I want to keep building that and keep focused on delivering for the people of Northern Ireland, offering the best policies and I believe, in time, if we do that and communicate well, the votes will go up. I expect more seats, I have pledged that we will move forward and I want to see us with more seats in councils, more seats in the Assembly and more seats in Westminster. We are aiming to grow and grow continually until we are the biggest party in unionism again. Mr Burrows had earlier arrived at the Stormont Hotel accompanied by Ms Armstrong and said he was looking forward to the day. Jon Burrows arrives at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast (Mark Marlow/PA) Mr Nesbitt, who announced he was standing down as leader earlier this year, said he believed this was a line in the sand moment for the party. He said: We can now switch into an outward-looking election mode and go fishing for votes. Mr Nesbitt said he was not aware of reports that Mr Burrows does not have the support of his whole team of Stormont MLAs. He said: I have seen nothing but a cohesive team. There is no tension, there is no dissension that I have spotted. Former party leader Steve Aiken said Mr Burrows and Ms Armstrong would make a great leadership team. He said: This is a very bright day for the Ulster Unionist Party. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) walks the Shanghai Bund with Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle in Shanghai, China. (Carl Court/Getty) Sir Keir Starmer has criticised the politics of poisonous division of Reform UK after the partys candidate in a forthcoming by-election was endorsed by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The Prime Minister also refused to say whether he would personally join on-the-ground campaigning efforts in Gorton and Denton, a constituency in Greater Manchester which Labour hopes to hold when voters go to the polls. Labour announced on Saturday its candidate in the by-election would be Angeliki Stogia, a Manchester city councillor for Whalley Range. An early opinion poll has suggested Labours support could crumble in the seat, with Reform and the Greens picking up a larger share of the vote. However, the sample size in the survey was small, meaning it could have a larger-than-usual margin of error. Pollsters Find Out Now even apologised for confusion or misinterpretation which resulted from the poll of 143 people, which placed Reform in first place with 36% of the vote, Labour in second with 33%, and the Greens in third with 21%. In the final leg of his trip to east Asia, Sir Keir was asked if the by-election should be viewed as a referendum on his premiership. The Prime Minister said: It is very much and very clearly now a by-election between Labour and Reform on key principles. I see that Tommy Robinson, I think, has just come out in support of Matt Goodwin, the Reform candidate. That tells you everything about the politics they intend to inject into this by-election, the politics of poisonous division, so we can see exactly where thats going. Far-right activist Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted vote for Matt on X on Friday in reference to GB News presenter and former academic Mr Goodwin. Sir Keir insisted Labour was the only contender, adding: So, its Labour versus Reform and we will fight for renewal, for inclusive communities and bringing people together, and for true patriotism against the plastic patriotism of Reform. Hannah Spencer was unveiled as the Green Partys candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election (James Speakman/PA) But only Labour can beat Reform, and therefore its the only way to win this by-election. The Prime Minister also would not say whether he would join the campaign efforts on the ground in the by-election. Asked if he would be going to the constituency, Sir Keir said: Well, well set our campaign plan when weve got the candidates in place later on this morning, but I will be campaigning across the country, as I always do. Labour candidate Ms Stogia, who was first elected as a Manchester councillor in 2012, told a crowd of party activists at a launch event in the constituency on Saturday she was a proud Mancunian woman. And in an attempt to roll the pitch for a straight fight with Reform UK, Ms Stogia also said: This is about Manchester. Manchester is a city united, we are rejecting division. I am so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning this for Labour. Labour won the seat in Greater Manchester with more than half the vote 18,555 in 2024, with Nigel Farages Reform UK coming second on 5,142 votes, narrowly beating the Greens at 4,810. Green Party leader Zack Polanski said there were just days to stop Reform as he unveiled councillor Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber, as the Green candidate on Friday. Reform announced Mr Goodwin as its candidate earlier in the week. A Reform UK spokesman said the party has been consistently clear on its view on Robinson and that he isnt welcome in the party. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham posted on social media site showing his support for Ms Stogia on Saturday night. Big congrats Angeliki! I know you will do a great job. I will be there for you whenever you need me, he said. 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 But in a sign of the ongoing divisions within Labour after Mr Burnham was blocked from standing, Steve Rotheram, the Labour mayor of the Liverpool City Region, criticised a culture of anonymous briefings from within Government. He wrote on X that people within Government responsible for the whispering campaign against Mr Burnham were gutless. Mr Rotheram added: These anonymous attacks help nobody but our opponents. For the sake of our party, please just stop. Mr Burnham has complained that people just think they can say what they like to the media in the aftermath of his bid for the seat being blocked. The apartment building in Bandar Abbas, Iran, was severely damaged in the blast (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP) An explosion tore through an apartment building in Irans port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, killing a four-year-old girl as local media footage purportedly showed a security force member being carried out by rescuers. The blast happened a day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. Already, the US military had warned Iran not to threaten its warships or commercial traffic in the strait, on which Bandar Abbas sits. The blast in Bandar Abbas killed a young girl (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP) State television quoted a local fire official as blaming the blast on a gas leak. Media reported at least 14 others suffered injuries in the explosion at the eight-story building, which blew out windows and covered the street below in debris. A local newspaper, Sobh-e Sahel, aired footage of one of its correspondents speaking in front of the building. The footage included a sequence that showed a man in black boots and a green security force uniform being carried out on a stretcher. He wore a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, his left hand covering the branch insignia on his uniform. The local newspaper did not acknowledge the security force member being carried out elsewhere in its reporting. Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard itself did not discuss the blast, other than to deny that a Guard navy commander had been hurt in the explosion. Another explosion blamed on a gas explosion on Saturday in the southwestern city of Ahvaz killed five people, state media reported. It comes as Iran remains tense over a threat by US President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike on the country over the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations. Ali Larijani, a top security official in Iran, wrote on X late Saturday that structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing. However, there is no public sign of any talks with the United States, which Irans 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday called for de-escalation and said Egypt is working to bring the US and Iran to the negotiating table to achieve a peaceful and comprehensive settlement to the Iranian nuclear file, according to a statement on his phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Qatar in a statement said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani visited Tehran on Saturday and met Mr Larijani about efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region. It was as big as it gets for me in terms of sporting icons: Jamie Dornan more starstruck by Irish rugby heroes than Hollywood A-listers If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. Eagle Archives, Jan. 29, 1977: Ida Hall, proprietor of the New England Food Store in East Otis, raised the price of her coffee for the first time in 40 years, from 10 to 15 cents a cup, due to rising costs from international coffee markets. A guest speaker at Taconic High School was asked to leave Friday after she handed out materials linked to Charlie Kirk, which had not been authorized by the administration. PITTSFIELD Luke Marion says he doesn't cook for money he cooks because of his love for the craft and the impact it has on others. Theres a lot of hungry people out there, said Marion, co-owner of Ottos Kitchen & Comfort. I genuinely like the look on peoples faces when they have delicious food. On Thursday night, Marion saw firsthand the impact a hot meal can have, serving hearty beef stew and homemade mashed potatoes at a three-hour community dinner at his East Street restaurant. The evening was a pay-what-you-can event, meaning there was no obligation or judgment to pay. This is just kind of aligned with our beliefs that everybodys due food, whether they can afford it or not, because nobody should have to afford food, Marion said. Luke also credits his wife and co-owner Lindsey Marion for the community dinner idea and said that shes the brains behind the restaurant, which they purchased in 2015. The restaurant started by hosting a pay-what-you-can pancake Christmas about five years ago, he said, adding that they later expanded to include Thanksgiving meals and community dinners. For the meal on Thursday, Luke said that one of his friends pitched the idea for beef stew. He said that with a community dinner, it's important to make something approachable to a broad audience and to keep it simple. While some patrons offered donations on Thursday evening, others were told "put their money away" and simply eat. The restaurant, essentially, foot the bill. It was hard to estimate how many guests he was expecting on Thursday, but he said it could range from 50 to 75. Thanksgiving is their highest volume, he said, serving more than 200 plates of food. Michelle Mancivalano, whos worked at the restaurant for six years, said that given the current times, its important to help each other as much as we possibly can. Mancivalano and Lindsey made it a point to greet each customer when they entered and send them out the door with a smile on their face. We want them to have their dignity and feel like theyre welcome here, and its not like a hassle, Mancivalano said. Its why we use real bowls instead of plastic or [paper plates] because we want them to feel like theyre human beings and treated like human beings. The restaurant tries to do one community dinner a month, but sometimes they are unable to hit that mark, Luke said. Throughout the process, theyve adjusted the start time of the dinners to help those in shelters who need to get back in before dusk and held them at the end of the month to help people whose benefits are running out. The community dinner was the first one of 2026 and the first since their pancake meal for Christmas in December. Mancivalano said that is her favorite of the community meals because she likes seeing people happy to have somewhere to go on Christmas morning. Luke said he is unsure what they will do next month, but he is thinking of doing an online poll to gather interest. With over 45 years of combined experience in the restaurant industry, the Marions strive to make Ottos a beloved part of Pittsfield. We live here, and we want people to not only support us, but we want to support everybody else, Luke said. There is no greater sticking power in any town than investing yourself in that town. The Toyota Tundra has been part of the automaker's American-market offerings since 2000, when the first-gen Tundra debuted as a successor to the Japanese-assembled T100 pickup. Since then, it has carved out a solid niche for itself in the American trucking landscape and made the headlines a few times along the way. Be it competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, towing a space shuttle, or hitting a million miles on the odometer, the Tundra is definitely a capable truck, even if it has never been a massive seller compared to its American rivals. Toyota has opted to take it slow with the Tundra, with the pickup only in its third generation as of 2026. You would think that's a good thing, allowing Toyota engineers to ensure each iteration of the Tundra leaves the factory with few (or no) issues. Unfortunately, that's not the case: The third-gen Tundra is sometimes considered the worst generation yet, with the years since its 2022 debut characterized by quite a few issues, some of which severe. From failure-prone engines, noisy brakes, and iffy tonneau covers, here are some of the many problems the third-gen Tundra has faced in its short life. Read more: 5 Of The Most Reliable Engines Ever Put In A Pickup Truck Machining debris in the engine Toyota twin-turbo V6 engine in a Toyota Tundra engine bay - Toyota One of the third-gen Tundra's highest-profile issues is likely an engine problem, supposedly arising from leftover debris in the V6. The debris, which Toyota claims was left over from the manufacturing process, is allegedly responsible for several common problems with the Tundra's Turbo V6 engine, including knocking, a sudden loss of power, rough running, and an inability to start. Toyota has issued two recalls related to this debris, one in 2024 and another in 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For what it's worth, not everyone is buying Toyota's explanation: YouTube channel I Do Cars got hold of a wrecked Tundra V6 and noted that the wear patterns didn't necessarily match Toyota's claims of machining debris. Either way, the supposed debris led to a class action lawsuit being filed in December 2024. To be fair to the Tundra, the issue isn't exclusive to it; Toyota has also recalled certain Lexus GX and LX models. The pickup is, however, easily the most affected: Toyota recalled 98,600 Tundras in 2024, with 113,079 in the second round of recalls for the Tundra and Lexus SUVs. It's worth noting that the Tundra Hybrid has not been part of either recall, even though the engine similarities have caused some owners to express concern about the exclusion. Given that there is evidence of Tundra Hybrids exhibiting similar engine failures, the worry seems quite justified. Loose rear axle bolts Toyota Tundra TRD Pro undercarraige showing rear axle and suspension components - Toyota The third-gen Tundra ran into trouble soon after it started making its way to new owners: In June 2022, Toyota recalled 46,176 Tundras and Tundra Hybrids. These encompassed gas-powered Tundras built between November 2, 2021, and June 13, 2022, and Tundra Hybrids manufactured between March 15, 2022, and June 7, 2022. The vast majority (44,928) of these were standard gasoline Tundras. This issue first came to light in March 2022, when the automaker received two reports of Tundras with rear axle shafts that had completely detached from the main rear axle housing, resulting in damage to the parts. In both cases, the flange nuts that kept the assembly together were missing, although Toyota's investigation revealed that all fasteners were being torqued properly during assembly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eventually, the automaker figured out that the studs themselves were at fault: Some were not being installed properly into the rear axle assemblies. This weakened the joints and created just enough play for the nuts to come loose and allow the axle shaft to detach. To its credit, Toyota addressed the issue quickly and seemingly decisively the problem hasn't resurfaced, at least to our knowledge. A detaching tonneau cover White Toyota Tundra bed with OEM Toyota tri-fold tonneau cover installed - TheYotaGarage/YouTube Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tonneau covers for pickups can be quite useful, helping improve a truck's gas mileage and, in some cases, combat water accumulation using drain tubes. But while there are definitely plenty of reasons to use a tonneau cover, the 2022 and 2023 Tundra had a particular tonneau-related headache that resulted in 108,473 Tundras and 21,793 Tundra Hybrids being recalled in March 2023. The fault involved Toyota's official triple-fold tonneau cover, available as a standalone purchase or as a dealer-installed option. The cover could (and did) detach at highway speeds, posing a safety risk to other road users, and the issue was traced to a design fault: Essentially, the hardware Toyota used to keep the tonneau cover attached to the bed wasn't quite strong enough to keep it attached over time. Toyota's tonneau cover hardware included brackets, bolts, lock washers, and nuts. The nuts that Toyota used didn't apply enough force to keep the lock washers compressed, allowing the tonneau cover to fly off in certain situations. Toyota's immediate solution was for dealers to remove the tonneau covers for safety, with drivers instructed not to use them. A few months later, in June 2023, Toyota determined that the best solution was to replace the mounting hardware on the brackets and tonneau cover, with dealers replacing any damaged covers as necessary. A rattly interior Toyota Tundra interior looking out onto a city - Toyota Not all third-gen Tundra faults have required Toyota to recall its pickup, but that doesn't mean they're not annoying all the same. One common complaint that keeps coming up in online discussions is the fact that the third-gen Tundra's interior is particularly prone to rattles of all kinds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even a cursory look through Reddit and online forums shows that there are a number of sore spots for third-gen Tundra owners. These include a noise that comes from behind the dash, rattling from the sun visor area, noisy plastic trim in the window surrounds, an iffy sunroof, and even rattles caused by the JBL speakers. That's quite a lot of issues, especially for a truck that cost more than its more storied American rivals when it debuted in 2022. Given the anecdotal nature of most online complaints and the fact that there hasn't been and likely will never be an official recall for any of these issues, it's hard to say how many of the complaints are justified, or what the source of all these problems is. That said, some reviewers have pointed out the poor quality of the materials Toyota used for some trim levels, and that may play a part. The base SR5, for example, has been criticized for cheap plastics and rough edges, while even admirers of the Tundra TRD Pro have had to admit that the materials aren't particularly high-quality. A leaky fuel line Black Toyota Tundra cornering on a road - Toyota Some problems are more serious than others. A rattly interior, for example, can be annoying and hard to live with, but it is not dangerous or life-threatening. Unfortunately, the third-gen Tundra has had its fair share of potentially lethal faults, including a fire risk in 2022 and 2023 Tundras due to a problematic fuel line. In August 2023, Toyota announced that it was recalling 168,179 Tundra and Tundra Hybrid pickups from the 2022 and 2023 model years. The recall was due to a plastic fuel line near the fuel tank, which Toyota had clamped into place next to some metal brake lines. The clamp could loosen over time, allowing the plastic fuel line to contact the metal brake line and eventually wear away. This leaking fuel could then, of course, cause a fire. Advertisement Advertisement Toyota first became aware of fuel leaks in November 2022 and took nearly a full year to figure out the source of the problem and to announce a recall. Toyota's fix for potentially affected Tundras was a two-step job: Dealers were first instructed to wrap the fuel line in protective material, with new fuel lines installed once they became available in September 2024. Toyota didn't get away with this scot-free: a Tundra owner filed a class action lawsuit against the automaker in September 2023, although there don't seem to have been any updates since. Neutral creep Close-up of a Toyota Tundra front wheel in a studio - Toyota Toyota has had several bad recalls over the years, but one of the company's worst recalls ever happened in 2024, when gasoline and hybrid versions of the third-gen Tundra, alongside the Toyota Sequoia Hybrid and Lexus LX 600, had to go back to dealers. A significant number (242,114) of them were 2022 to 2024 models of Toyota's troubled pickup. This particular issue stemmed from faulty design in the transmissions Toyota used in these vehicles. Some components of the transmission, namely the brake clutch, did not disengage properly when the driver shifted into neutral. Neutral is supposed to decouple the wheels from the transmission, but this issue meant that engine power could potentially keep going to the wheels. If the Tundra was parked on flat ground and the driver didn't have either the foot or parking brake engaged, this could lead to the vehicle moving forward when it wasn't supposed to. Toyota's defect notice claimed that this creep would top out at about 4 mph, so it wasn't ruinously dangerous, but it was still a big problem nonetheless. Toyota resolved the issue by updating the transmission's ECU. Throttle lag Blue Toyota Tundra towing a trailer at sunset - Toyota Advertisement Advertisement A problematic, failure-prone engine isn't the only significant powertrain issue third-gen Tundra owners have faced, even if it is the one that seems to have received the most attention. Many owners have also complained about their pickups exhibiting throttle lag or delayed acceleration. The issue seems to affect all model years of the third-gen Tundra and is especially pronounced at low speeds and when setting off from a standstill. Claimed delays range from fractions of a second to as long as 5 seconds. It isn't clear what is causing this lag or hesitation, although it's worth pointing out that a class action lawsuit related to the alleged machining debris in the engine also cites throttle lag as one of the symptoms of the engine faults. Toyota hasn't issued a recall for this problem, but it did issue a technical service bulletin (TSB) in December 2022. The bulletin acknowledged that certain 2022 and 2023 Tundras had issues with hesitation when moving after a complete stop, as well as surging at part throttle in eighth gear. The automaker's solution was a transmission control update, although that wasn't the end of the issue. Owners have taken to Reddit to complain about dealers not honoring the TSB due to differing VINs, while the prevalence of issues on newer, post-2023 Tundras indicates that Toyota likely still has work to do. Reverse light failures Rear end of white 2022 Toyota Tundra in a studio setting - Toyota Not all of the third-gen Tundra's many faults have primarily caused grief for their owners. Some have instead made the Tundra more dangerous for pedestrians and other road users. Case in point: problems with the reverse lights that led to the recall of 443,444 Tundra and Tundra Hybrids produced for the 2022 to 2025 model years. Advertisement Advertisement Toyota announced the recall in May 2025, with affected models produced as recently as mid-March of that year. Toyota claimed that the issue only applied to certain models of the Tundra and Tundra Hybrid that used a particular adhesive to seal a vent patch for the reverse lights. The automaker made it clear that not all 443,000 Tundras had the troubled light assembly, but could not (or did not) determine how many of them did. The faulty adhesive allowed moisture to enter the reverse lights, eventually causing them to stop working. This, of course, was an issue for pedestrians and other cars, as they would have no indication that the Tundra was reversing. It was also a problem for the driver, admittedly, as they didn't have any lights to help them reverse. Toyota replaced the faulty light assemblies with improved ones and repaired any corroded wiring harnesses. Backup camera glitches Rear-view camera display in Toyota Tundra interior - Toyota Backup cameras are great to have, giving drivers a clear view as they parallel park or inch out of their driveway. These systems aren't foolproof, though, and there are often many reasons why a car's backup camera may develop issues. Some of these may be simple issues with maintenance, such as dirty lenses, but it's sometimes entirely out of the driver's hands like it is for some owners of the third-generation Tundra. Toyota's pickup has been recalled for many different rearview camera-related faults, not all of which are related. Regardless, they all affect the same functionality, so we'll cover them together. The first recall happened in April 2022, when 18,000 2022 Tundras were recalled because the parking ECU would prevent the screen from showing the reverse image in cold weather. Another recall happened in July 2022, with 31,428 gasoline and hybrid Tundras recalled because the cockpit screen would show the front camera feed instead of the rear one when reversing. Advertisement Advertisement The biggest of the bunch, however, was part of a double-whammy of Toyota recalls in late 2025. This particular one encompassed 393,838 Toyota Tundras and Sequoias, with 220,855 of them being the standard gasoline Tundra. This time, the fault was a software glitch that could cause the rearview display to show a black, half-green, or all-green signal in place of the rear camera feed. Non-functioning parking brake Black Toyota Tundra parked on dirt - Toyota There are many features on a vehicle that you expect to just work without issues. The parking brake, which stops a car from rolling away when parked on an incline, is one such feature. Unfortunately for some owners of the 2022 Toyota Tundra and Lexus NX, their parking brakes were found to potentially be far less reliable than one might expect. In September 2022, Toyota recalled 64,330 2022 Tundras and 19,395 Lexus NX SUVs due to an issue with the vehicles' electrical braking system. More specifically, one of the system's ECUs was found to be susceptible to mistakenly detecting an overload of the electronic parking brake actuator. This would then trigger a failsafe mode that brought up a "parking brake malfunction" error display on the vehicle's dashboard and also stopped drivers from engaging the parking brake. The issue was first brought to Toyota's attention in January 2022, with a second fault report making its way to the automaker in June before it figured the issue out. The fix, thankfully, was pretty simple: affected Tundras went back to dealerships, which reprogrammed the fault-prone ECU. Noisy brakes Close-up of 2025 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro front wheel - Toyota Advertisement Advertisement Even parts of the third-gen Tundra that, by most accounts, work perfectly fine, aren't immune to exhibiting issues that annoy the truck's owners. The brakes, for example, seem mechanically sound, never being identified as a weakness in reviews, including our review of the 2024 Toyota Tundra Platinum. But that doesn't mean the brakes are perfect, sadly. Many third-gen Tundra drivers have taken to the internet to complain about noise coming from their trucks' front brakes. It manifests as a squeaking sound when owners depress the brake at low speeds. Some owner complaints on the NHTSA website also indicate that their Tundras' brakes shudder and squeak when used, although the former doesn't seem to be nearly as widespread an issue as the squeaking on its own. Toyota hasn't deemed this issue severe enough for a recall, but it did release a service bulletin in November 2025 that acknowledged the noise. According to the bulletin, the issue is present on 2022 to 2026 Tundra and Tundra Hybrids, as well as 2023 to 2026 Sequoia Hybrids. The fix came in the form of new front brake parts, with an updated brake rotor and shim kit for the brake pads, which Toyota expected would reduce the likelihood of the brakes squeaking. Wind noise Person driving a Toyota Tundra on a dirt road - Toyota There are many bad car sounds you might hear while driving, many of which can indicate that there's a major fault with your vehicle. In other cases, though, the noise may be the direct result of the automaker's design decisions (or mistakes) and thus something you have to live with or get creative when trying to solve. Such is the tale of the current Toyota Tundra and its wind noise problems. As you might expect, this isn't something that Toyota has addressed in a service bulletin, let alone a recall, but there's plenty of evidence of this issue out there. Complaints on discussion forums and Reddit claim that road and wind noise in the third-gen Tundra is overly loud, with owners claiming that it's more noticeable on the driver's side (although the passenger side isn't trouble-free, either). There seem to be many potential culprits, with the driver's mirror and faulty door seals often considered the primary offenders. Some owners claim that the noise persists even after replacing the latter, though. One post on r/ToyotaTundra suggests that stuffing foam insulation between the sheet metal and the rubber seal fixes the issue, although owners' mileage seems to vary, especially if it's the side mirror causing the noise. Want the latest in tech and auto trends? Subscribe to our free newsletter for the latest headlines, expert guides, and how-to tips, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google. Read the original article on SlashGear. Dalton Delan can be reached at berkshireeaglereels@gmail.com and @UnspinRoom on X. His Eagle Reels conversations can be found on YouTube. India's Biosimilars Prowess: Transitioning to A Strategic Global Hub January 31, 2026 | Saturday | Features | By Ayesha Siddiqui Biosimilars are an important part of modern therapeutics and a central component of Indias shift beyond a generics-led pharmaceutical model. As of December 2025, India has approved 146 biosimilars, giving it one of the largest and most diverse biosimilar portfolios globally. This portfolio has been built by around 33 companies actively engaged in biosimilar development and manufacturing. The Indian biosimilars market was valued at approximately Rs 4.37 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.2 per cent, reaching around Rs 16.49 billion by 2034, according to Expert Market Research. Policy initiatives, closer regulatory alignment with global standards, and a growing emphasis on exports are reinforcing biosimilars as a core pillar of Indias evolving pharmaceutical landscape. Lets look at the current biosimilars landscape in India and how it is evolving. image credit- shutterstock Current Bisosimilars landscape in India Indias biosimilars landscape is at an advanced and rapidly scaling stage, with the country emerging as one of the worlds most active biosimilar hubs. By December 2025, India had approved a total of 146 biosimilar (recombinant therapeutic products), including insulins, growth factors, peptide hormones, fusion proteins, and monoclonal antibodies. India initiated the development and regulatory approval of recombinant therapeutics considerably earlier than many emerging markets, with the first approvals appearing as early as 2000. However, biosimilar activity remained limited during the initial decade, largely confined to relatively simple recombinant proteins such as erythropoietin, granulocyte colony-stimulating factors, insulin, and follicle-stimulating hormone. A gradual transition toward more complex biologics began after 2013, marked by the approval of Indias first biosimilar monoclonal antibodies, including rituximab, trastuzumab, and infliximab. From this point onward, the Indian biosimilar landscape expanded steadily, with increasing participation from domestic manufacturers and a diversification of therapeutic areas, particularly oncology, autoimmune disorders, and ophthalmology. The approval of biosimilars such as bevacizumab, ranibizumab, adalimumab, etanercept, and denosumab reflects a clear shift toward high-complexity antibody and fusion protein products. Biosimilar approvals accelerated notably after 2018, coinciding with the maturation of Indias regulatory guidelines for similar biologics and enhanced manufacturing and analytical capabilities within the domestic biopharmaceutical sector. Between 2020 and 2024, the approval volume increased substantially, driven by multiple approvals of monoclonal antibody biosimilars across oncology and immunology, as well as expanded approvals for insulin analogues and peptide hormones. Based on the approvals from the regulatory agency, Indias biosimilars approved between 2000 and December 2025 can be broadly classified into two major categories. Peptide- and protein-based biosimilars form the foundational layer of Indias biosimilar ecosystem and account for approximately 74 approvals during this period. These include insulins (regular, isophane, biphasic, and insulin analogs), erythropoietin and darbepoetin, filgrastim and pegfilgrastim, follicle-stimulating hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, teriparatide, somatropin, interferons, romiplostim, tenecteplase, and streptokinase. This category dominates the early phase of biosimilar development in India and continues to contribute substantially to cumulative approvals through 2025, driven in particular by repeated approvals of insulin formulations and hematopoietic growth factors. Antibody- and fusion proteinbased biosimilars represent the most rapidly expanding segment since 2013 and account for approximately 72 approvals till December 2025. These include monoclonal antibodies and related biologics such as rituximab, trastuzumab, trastuzumab emtansine, bevvacizumab, ranibizumab, adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, denosumab, cetuximab, nimotuzumab, tocilizumab, golimumab, ustekinumab, nivolumab, pertuzumab, omalizumab, aflibercept, and trinbelimab. While oncology accounts for roughly 40 per cent of approved biosimilars, indications are increasingly expanding into immunology, ophthalmology, and metabolic disorders. Key players such as Biocon, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Zydus Lifesciences, Reliance Life Sciences, Hetero Biopharma, and Lupin hold multiple approvals across diverse therapeutic areas. Indias biosimilar manufacturing base has expanded steadily since 2000 and now comprises around 33 companies with focus on three areas: insulin and insulin analogues, oncology biologics, and immunology. Insulins and insulin analogues form one of the most established segments, with around 1011 companies producing human insulin, insulin glargine, biphasic insulin, and insulin aspart, reflecting strong domestic capability in high-volume, chronic therapies. Oncology biosimilars, including monoclonal antibodies and supportive growth factors, represent the most developed and complex segment. Approximately 89 companies hold approvals for key reference products such as trastuzumab, rituximab, bevacizumab, filgrastim, pegfilgrastim, and darbepoetin, highlighting Indias growing competence in advanced biologics manufacturing. The immunology and autoimmune segment involves 67 companies active in TNF inhibitors and interleukin-targeting biologics, indicating expanding expertise in chronic inflammatory diseases. Ophthalmology biosimilars, largely centred on ranibizumab, are produced by 56 companies, while endocrinology and bone health products such as teriparatide, denosumab, and somatropin are manufactured by 45 companies. In addition, fertility and hormone therapies involve 34 companies, and infectious disease and other biologics, including interferons, rabies monoclonal antibodies, and thrombolytics, are produced by 34 manufacturers. Taken together, this distribution illustrates a diversified biosimilar ecosystem, with multiple companies participating across therapeutic areas rather than concentration in a single segment. Biosimilars in development Industry and market reports indicate continued expansion in biosimilar development activity in India. According to Market Data Forecasts, biosimilar clinical trial activity increased by approximately 25 per cent in 2023, signalling a sustained build-up of the development pipeline compared with earlier years (BIRAC reported around 40 biosimilars in clinical development in 2019). Based on this trajectory and available forecasts, the current biosimilar pipeline is widely estimated to include around 5070 biosimilars in clinical development. Indian Biosimilars in Foreign Markets Indias biosimilars industry is increasingly shaped by exports, with international markets driving scale, investment, and strategic focus. Indian manufacturers have built on their strengths in cost-efficient production, regulatory compliance, and large-scale manufacturing to supply both regulated and emerging markets. The US is the main market. Indian companies currently supply 47 per cent of all generic prescriptions filed in the U.S. and around 15 per cent of biosimilars by volume, according to IQVIA. While Indias share of biosimilars volume is significant, its revenue contribution remains comparatively modest. In revenue terms, India accounted for approximately 3.2 per cent of the global biosimilars market in 2025, according to the Grand View Research report. Indian biosimilar exports, currently valued at around $0.8 billion, are projected to grow to approximately $4.2 billion by 2030, accounting for about 4 per cent of the global biosimilars market. Exports continue to dominate market dynamics. Currently, Indias biosimilars market is export-driven, with imports playing a relatively minor role. Imports are largely innovator biologics (reference products) used for clinical trials or niche therapies not yet produced locally. The share of imports in overall biologics consumption is declining, as several local biosimilar manufacturers have achieved strong market penetration, said Dr Sridevi Khambhampaty, CEO, Shilpa Biologics. Sanjay Vyas, Managing Director, Parexel India agrees, India has traditionally been export-oriented in biosimilars, supplying cost-effective products to both emerging and regulated markets. Exports continue to dominate, reflecting Indias strength in large-scale manufacturing and biosimilar development. Imports, meanwhile, remain relatively limited and are typically focused on niche or highly specialised biologics. He added, That balance is gradually evolving. As Indias regulatory environment becomes more accepting of global data and streamlined biosimilar pathways, the domestic market is also seeing faster access to biosimilars developed both locally and internationally. Over time, this is expected to create a more balanced ecosystem, one where India remains a global export powerhouse while also strengthening domestic availability and patient access through quicker biosimilar launches. How Indias Biosimilars Industry Is Evolving Indias biosimilars market is moving from early adoption to structural maturity. For Indian pharma, biosimilars now represent a natural bridge between generics and innovation-led R&D. Firms with decades of manufacturing credibility are reinvesting that advantage into globally relevant biosimilar programs, particularly for regulated markets. Combined with Indias strengths in contract manufacturing, digital enablement, and a high-quality scientific workforce, this positions the country not just as a low-cost producer, but as a strategic global hub for biosimilar development and supply, said Vyas. A key catalyst accelerating this transition has been the changing global and domestic regulatory environment. Recent regulatory flexibility, particularly in the US and Europe has reduced the need for large, late-stage phase III clinical trials for biosimilars where sufficient analytical, PK (pharmacokinetic), and real-world evidence is available. This has significantly lowered development costs and timelines, making biosimilars a more attractive and viable pathway for Indian companies, said Vyas. Domestic regulatory reforms are further strengthening this trajectory. Regulatory reforms by the CDSCO, including draft guidelines aligned with global standards and proposals to allow waivers for certain trials, may accelerate development and approvals, said a spokesperson from Shilpa Biologicals. These regulatory and market tailwinds have pushed the Indian biosimilars industry into a new phase of maturity. Indias biosimilars industry is entering a decisive maturation phase. The early growth model anchored primarily in cost arbitrage, process efficiency, and fast-follow development has largely played out. Indian players have demonstrated that they can reliably develop and manufacture high-quality pharmaceuticals at scale. That credibility is now well established across regulated and semi-regulated markets, said Shreehas Tambe, CEO & Managing Director, Biocon Biologics Limited. Dr Cyrus Karkaria, President Biotechnology, Lupin agrees, Historically, Indias strength lay in affordability and scale. Today, that advantage is being reinforced by high-end biologics manufacturing know-howfrom robust cell line development and process characterization to advanced upstream and downstream technologies such as perfusion-based manufacturing and continuous chromatography This evolution is increasingly evident in how Indian companies approach biosimilar development and regulatory strategy. Indian companies are no longer approaching biosimilars purely as cost plays; instead, they are designing programmes with early engagement with regulators such as the US FDA and EMA, and with a clearer focus on global filings. This transition is supported by a steadily expanding innovation base: Indias pharma R&D pipeline has grown by roughly 1.5x over the past decade, underscoring a broader shift toward higher-value science, as highlighted by recent McKinsey & Company analyses, said Vyas. Despite persistent challenges, Indias direction is clear. Despite high development costs and challenges such as patent litigation and limited penetration in regulated markets, India is positioning itself as a global biologics hub. Further, Indian companies like Shilpa Biologicals are foraying into complex biosimilars such as ADCs and are also opening up to work on novel biologicals, marking a shift away from traditional biosimilars, said Dr Sridevi. The Next Phase of Indias Biosimilars Market Most experts agree that Indias biosimilars ecosystem is entering a new phase, shaped by regulatory evolution and more efficient development pathways. The focus is increasingly shifting toward interchangeability and global exports. Looking ahead, the next phase will be defined by smaller, more targeted studies, greater use of real-world and observational data, and closer regulatory dialogue. While clinical trials remain essential, they are becoming more focused and risk-based rather than expansive by default. This evolution positions India well to compete with other global biosimilars hubs, provided companies continue to strengthen regulatory strategy, data quality, and global execution capabilities, said Vyas. Strong regulatory support, expanding biologics expertise, and strategic partnerships are accelerating the momentum. These drivers are supporting both domestic uptake and export-led growth. With multiple biosimilars approved or under review in highly regulated markets, Indian companies are strengthening global confidence in the countrys biosimilars capabilities. Players such as Biocon Biologics continue to reinforce Indias position as a reliable and increasingly sophisticated global supplier," said Tambe. Indian companies are also working to improve biosimilar manufacturing robustness and scalability. The industry is moving decisively towards smarter manufacturing robustness across scales including medium-scale perfusion systems, modular facilities, and flexible upstreamdownstream integration. The shift will also be marked by the adoption of design processes that are economically sustainable, not just scientifically sound. These approaches allow manufacturers to increase yields dramatically while maintaining quality and regulatory confidence, said Dr Karkaria. Stronger global acceptance and more advanced manufacturing practices are reshaping Indias role in the international biosimilars market. Indias biosimilars ecosystem is undergoing a quiet but significant rebalancing. India is increasingly becoming a net exporter of high-quality biosimilars, enabled by price competitiveness, process sophistication and manufacturing credibility. As manufacturers invest in high-yield cell lines, longer resin life cycles, and integrated modular facilities, Indias role is evolving from a cost-efficient producer to a reliable global manufacturing hub for biosimilars, said Dr Karkaria. As over 55 blockbuster biologics lose patent exclusivity in the US and Europe by 2030, Indian players are perfectly positioned to capture the global patent cliff opportunity. Regulatory changes introduced in the United States in October 2025 are lowering development and approval barriers for biosimilars, supporting faster market entry. While the US remains a key market, trade uncertainty and the possibility of tariff actions are leading Indian companies to expand export strategies, with filings increasingly planned across Europe and other regions. All this is expected to define the next phase of Indias biosimilars industry. Ayesha Siddiqui Labour codes: Standardising compliance for life sciences sector January 31, 2026 | Saturday | Features | By Sanjiv Das The Government has consolidated 29 labour laws into four comprehensive Labour Codes. This move for across sectors is being seen as labour-friendly; however, a certain section of society seems to be wary. Experts from the life sciences sector welcome the new move on one hand, but express concern about the likely challenges. image credit- shutterstock The Government of India has announced the implementation of the four Labour Codes in November 2025. The laws, the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH) came into effect from November 21, 2025, rationalising 29 existing labour laws. The implementation of the four Labour Codes comes at a time when there has been a hue and cry over malpractices being followed by companies. News of mass layoffs is nothing new, and for an employee, it has far-reaching impacts when it comes to mental stress and agony. The need for the labour law Many of Indias labour laws were framed in the pre-Independence and early post-Independence era (1930s1950s). This was at a time when the economy and world of work were fundamentally different. While most major economies have updated and consolidated their labour regulations in recent decades, India continued to operate under fragmented, complex and in several parts outdated provisions spread across 29 Central labour laws. These restrictive frameworks struggled to keep pace with changing economic realities and evolving forms of employment, creating uncertainty and increasing compliance burden for both workers and industry. How will it impact the life sciences sector? For years, the life sciences sector operated under a fragmented framework of multiple labour laws, often leading to inconsistent wage structures, varied social security coverage, and interpretational ambiguityparticularly for contract manufacturing units, R&D teams, and field forces. By consolidating 29 central labour laws into four unified codescovering wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safetythe government has created a framework that is easier to understand and enforce. Talking specifically for the pharma, biotech and med-tech sector, Urvee Garg, Director, HAB Pharma says, The Code on Wages ensures a uniform wage definition, reducing long-standing disputes around allowances and statutory calculations. The Social Security Code extends coverage to fixed-term, contract, and project-based employeeshighly relevant for clinical research, validation teams, and plant operations. OSH Code strengthens workplace safety norms, which align well with GMP-driven manufacturing environments. For the workforce, this translates into predictability, protection, and dignity of employment. For employers, it creates alignment between labour compliance and the same structured governance already followed in quality and regulatory systems. Anshul Prakash, Partner, Khaitan & Co, points out that employers may also consider initiating an internal diagnostic exercise to map all current HR practices against the provisions of the Labour Codes that are already in force. He further mentions, The Labour Codes have the potential to bring meaningful relief to the workforce in the life sciences sector, particularly by creating a more uniform and contemporary framework around wages, social security, industrial relations and workplace safety. For a sector that typically operates with complex, multi-shift manufacturing and R&D environments, and a significant third-party workforce across plants, warehouses and field operations, a consolidated legal architecture can reduce fragmentation and improve consistency in how core protections and obligations are implemented across States, thereby benefiting both employees and employers. Adding to it, Manish Jain, Director, Naprod Life Sciences, says, In sectors such as pharmaceuticals and sterile manufacturing, where compliance, safety, and process discipline are non-negotiable, a simplified and uniform labour framework can reduce ambiguity for both workers and employers. However, the real impact will depend on how clearly the rules are framed and implemented at the state level, particularly in relation to wage restructuring and statutory benefits. When executed with clarity, the Codes can strengthen workforce confidence while supporting productivity and long-term capability building. Deepak Sharma, Co-founder and CEO, MedLern mentions, "The life sciences sector is now subject to a more rigorous Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code. Research scientists hired on fixed-term contracts now qualify for pro-rated gratuity after just one year instead of five. While this increases the cost of short-term project hiring, it supports better retention of specialised researchers. The labour codes distinguish between core and non-core activities. Since R&D and drug manufacturing are considered core to life sciences, companies face reduced flexibility in engaging third-party contract workers, encouraging a shift toward permanent or fixed-term direct hiring. Compliance steps by employers The new labour codes require employers to move from fragmented compliance to integrated workforce governance. Earlier, organisations followed multiple labour laws independently, often resulting in varied wage structures, siloed compliance processes, and inconsistent practices across locations. Now, the consolidated codes mandate uniform wage definitions, centralised compliance systems, and standardised people practices. Employers should focus on strengthening occupational safety systems, contractor governance, and documentation practices, given the heightened emphasis on workplace safety and working conditions under the new Codes. This is particularly relevant for manufacturing-led organisations operating continuous or multi-shift operations, where safety discipline and compliance consistency are critical. The following aspects can be looked into: Review of the timeframe for payment of wages; Impact of the definition of wages on gratuity, notice pay, retrenchment compensation, etc. (although the exact impact on EPF and ESI contributions requires notification of contribution ceilings by the Government and schemes under the labour codes); Mapping leave entitlements under the Shops and Establishments (S&E) Acts with those under the OSH Code to understand how they can be harmonised; Review of engagement of fixed-term employees, particularly on eligibility for and computation of gratuity; and Assessment of any contract labour engaged in the core activity. Likely challenges The industry unions seem to be in a cautious mode on how the new law will benefit the employees. Experts see this as a transition phase, not a window for sudden enforcement. In December 2025, unions across India protested against the new laws. Hari Kiran Chereddi, MD and CEO, HRV Pharma, opines, Organisations must analyse the remuneration packages based on the new definition of the word wages, distribute appointment letters to the employees, and update the personnel and payroll procedures. The complexities of transitional issues, salary and benefits system recalibration, and the differing regulations between states are some challenges that will need to be addressed by employers. The future The reforms intend to expand the scope of labour protections. The need is being met with the provision of universal minimum wage requirements, appointment letters being mandatory, the scope of social security being expanded to gig and contract service sector employees, and improved norms regarding workplace security. Arun Kumbhat, Senior Healthcare Consultant, mentions, The four codes on wage, regulating trade unions and templating employment conditions and redress, OSHs and Social Security have lofty goals and very desirable outcomes. The healthcare sector is perhaps in a relatively better position to align and comply than some other sectors, given a relatively higher need of. While such codification has undeniable and very desirable benefits, there is a need for Regulators and Policy Makers to walk a mile in the industry's shoes, and take a 360-degree view of the overall compliance burden of the healthcare and life science industry. Compliance must not be seen as a job creation opportunity and add parallel processes to workflows. Sharing his thoughts Girdhar Balwani, Business Mentor and Non - Executive Director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, opines, I do believe that these codes will benefit the workforce. The main benefits are unified wages, expanded social security, enhanced job security, improved working conditions, timely payments, etc. In the short to medium term, there will be challenges in the implementation. Appropriate governments (States v/s Centre) have to be clearly defined for the new rules, and responsibilities have to be allocated in terms of ensuring & monitoring the implementation. The four Labour Codes seem to be appropriate at a time when there have been reports of mass layoffs across sectors, and the life sciences sector is no exception to this. A good move by the government, however, the timely implementation by pharma and healthcare companies need to be seen. Bringing the unions to the same table seems to be a tumultuous task. On how far these laws will benefit the life sciences sector, only time will tell. Till then, it seems a good move by the government, both for the employers and the employees. Sanjiv Das sanjiv.das@mmactiv.com India has strong medical talent, increasing health awareness, and a real need for structured preventive care January 31, 2026 | Saturday | Views | By Narayan Kulkarni Preventive healthcare has long been an integral part of Japans medical system, where annual health check-ups are mandatory and early detection is key to improving population health outcomes. Launched in Bengaluru in 2021, NURAIndias first AI-powered preventive health screening centreis a collaboration between Fujifilms advanced imaging technology and Dr Kuttys Healthcares clinical expertise. Designed to deliver comprehensive screenings in under 120 minutes with same-day reporting, NURA brings Japans preventive care ethos to India. In an interview with BioSpectrum, Masaharu Morita, Founder & Program Director, NURA, reflects on his five-year journey and the evolving role of AI-led preventive healthcare in India. What inspired the launch of NURA, and why is preventive screening so central to your vision? NURA was born from a very simple but powerful ideahealthcare should be fair. In Japan, preventive health check-ups are part of everyday life. Early detection allows cancers to be treated when they are still manageable and helps prevent serious cardiac events before they occur. However, when I spoke to friends and colleagues from India and other countries, I realised that this basic protection was not universally available. Many people only visit hospitals once they feel unwell. That sense of inequality motivated me to take Japans preventive screening culture to other parts of the world, starting with India. Why did you choose India as the first market outside Japan? India was a natural choice for several reasons. It has one of the largest populations globally and a rapidly growing demand for healthcare services. From Japans perspective as well, India is a strategically important partner country. Fujifilm, which plays a major role in Japans healthcare technology ecosystem, was encouraged to expand more actively in India. Beyond these factors, India has strong medical talent, increasing health awareness, and a real need for structured preventive care. All of this made India the right place to begin. How has NURA been received in India so far? The response has been very encouraging. Over the past four years, NURA has conducted more than 150,000 screenings globally, with India contributing a significant share. We see participation both from individuals and from corporate-sponsored wellness programmes. While affordability is an important consideration in India, our objective has never been premium positioning. The goal is to make comprehensive, high-quality preventive screening accessible to a broader population. How many NURA centres are currently operational in India, and what are your expansion plans? At present, we operate six NURA centres in India, including locations in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bandra, and Calicut, along with a mobile screening unit. Bengaluru was our first centre. Looking ahead, we plan to expand into cities such as Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata. Over time, we also want to reach second- and third-tier cities, because preventive healthcare should not be limited to major metros. How is NURA different from traditional diagnostic or health check-up centres in India? Most diagnostic centres focus on organ-specific tests or symptomatic patients. NURA is fundamentally different because we specialise in whole-body, imaging-based screening for asymptomatic individuals. Our model combines cancer screening and metabolic screening, addressing lifestyle-related conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Instead of offering fragmented checks, we aim to identify abnormalities anywhere in the body at a very early stage. Why is the focus on asymptomatic individuals so important? Hospitals are designed to treat people who are already sick, and that role is essential. At NURA, we invite people who feel healthy. If we detect any abnormality, we guide them to a hospital for further diagnosis and treatment. This clear separationearly detection at NURA and treatment at hospitalscan significantly improve outcomes and reduce long-term healthcare costs. Can you explain why early detection is especially critical for diseases like cancer? Many cancers do not produce symptoms in their early stages. A small cancer may not cause pain or discomfort, so people feel no reason to seek medical care. Once the disease grows and spreads, symptoms appear, and treatment becomes far more complex. If cancer is detected early, outcomes are dramatically better. For example, in breast cancer, detecting stage one disease results in nearly a 99 per cent survival rate. If it spreads, survival can drop to around 30 per cent. This is true everywherethe human body is the same across countries. What role does AI play in enabling this early detection? AI is a support tool for doctors, not a replacement. Whole-body CT scans generate thousands of images, and manually reviewing them all carries the risk of fatigue, oversight, and delays. AI helps by highlighting areas that may require closer attention, allowing doctors to focus on potential abnormalities. Importantly, all final clinical decisions are made by trained physicians. AI improves efficiency, consistency, and accuracy, particularly as we scale across centres and countries. What role does Fujifilm play in the NURA model? Fujifilm provides approximately 8090 per cent of the imaging and technology platforms used at NURA centres. Radiology and internal imaging are core strengths of Fujifilm. For areas outside our expertisesuch as eye or hearing testswe collaborate with specialised partners. However, for internal, non-invasive imaging and AI-enabled diagnostics, Fujifilm technology forms the backbone of our operations. In Japan, NURA works closely with hospital networks. Why not integrate NURA directly into large hospital chains in India? As a medical technology company, we already supply imaging equipment and tools to many hospitals in India, and several hospitals actively use our technology. However, hospitals primarily focus on treatment because they see large numbers of sick patients. NURA is designed specifically for preventive screening and asymptomatic individuals, which requires a different workflow, environment, and patient mindset. In countries like Japan and Vietnam, preventive screening is supported by employers and governments. How does India compare? In India, preventive screening is still largely voluntary. The healthcare system understandably prioritises diagnosis and treatment due to population size and capacity constraints. Government-supported prevention will take time. Rather than waiting, we chose to build centres independently, How important are partnerships in NURAs global expansion strategy? Partnerships are absolutely critical. With the right partner, we can navigate regulations, adapt the model, and establish centres together. Without them, operating in a new market is very difficult. How do you see NURAs global expansion evolving over the next decade? Today, we operate around 1314 centres globally, including in Vietnam, Mongolia, UAE, South Africa, and Southeast Asia. Vietnam is particularly strong due to mandatory annual screening. Our long-term vision is ambitioushundreds of centres by 2030 and eventually thousands worldwide, built step by step. Do you see India playing a larger role in NURAs global strategy beyond screenings? I am very interested in manufacturing medical equipment in India. If we can produce high-quality, affordable machines here, India can serve not only its own population but also emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East. What message would you like to share with Indian consumers and healthcare leaders? Preventive screening is not a luxuryit is protection. Many serious diseases show no symptoms in their early stages. Preventive care should be accessible in every city. That is the future NURA is working towarda fairer healthcare system built on early detection. Narayan Kulkarni narayan.kulkarni@mmactiv.com Credit: imagn images, Stephen A. Smith For someone who has openly flirted with running for president as a Democrat, Stephen A. Smith has aligned with Donald Trump and his administration on a surprising number of controversial issues. But the arrest of former CNN host Don Lemon was a bridge too far. Lemon was arrested by federal agents along with three others for covering a protest at a Minneapolis church. A worship service was interrupted by protesters who believed that a pastor at the church was connected to ICE, who has been occupying Minnesota for weeks, murdering two American citizens along the way. Lemon and other journalists were there to cover the scene, as is their first amendment right. However, a little thing like the first amendment does not stand in the way of the authoritarian push from those currently in power. And with Lemon seen as an adversarial voice, thats all that was needed for him to be placed into custody. And Stephen A. Smith called on all journalists, no matter where they stand politically, to oppose the arrest of Don Lemon on his Straight Shooter political platform. If you support what happened to Don Lemon, you dont support The First Amendment pic.twitter.com/BZQnP382at Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 31, 2026 Whether you like it or not, Don Lemon is a member of hte press. Don Lemon has been in journalism for 30 years. Don Lemon worked at CNN for 17 years. And just because you dont have a specific organization that youre working for, thats where the word independence comes from, it doesnt mean that your journalism credentials are stripped. Not when youve been doing it for decades like him. This is straight BS what hes going through, Smith said. Im a member of the press too. And aint no way in hell anyone in the field of journalism shouldnt be supporting Don Lemon today. And thats including anyone on the right. Anybody in journalism. Im not saying it was wise, Im not saying I would have done it. Im not saying he should have walked into a church to do interviews and stuff like that for a couple of minutes. But it dont warrant this. You support this, you dont support the First Amendment. You dont support freedom of the press. Don Lemon has been critical of me, I dont give a damn, he added. It wasnt too long ago that Stephen A. Smith advocated for appeasement when it came to Donald Trump. Given all the events of the last several months and the way that Trump and the federal government continue to crack down on anyone that opposes him, maybe he has finally woken up to the grim reality that the country now faces. Three men have been arrested following the seizure of 506 kgs of cannabis in Co Louth on Friday. Gardai arrested two men in their 30s, and one in his 50s, after searching a premises where 10,120,000 worth of cannabis was found. The men - two in their 30s and one in his 50s - were arrested pursuant to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 in relation to facilitating and enhancing drug trafficking activities for an organised crime group. They are currently detained, pursuant to the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, at Garda stations in Co Louth and Co Dublin. The joint operation was conducted by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the Revenue Customs Service. Investigations are ongoing. A woman has been treated in hospital after she was attacked by masked men in Co Antrim. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident in a house in Ballymoney on Friday night. A PSNI spokesperson said: We received a report at around 9.15pm on Friday that two masked men, armed with weapons, had attacked a property in the Carnany Park area and assaulted a woman within the house. Appeal for information following report of burglary in Ballymoney. Details here: https://t.co/WLOsDVLuNf pic.twitter.com/3mBTcxpJdl Police Causeway Coast and Glens (@PSNICCGDistrict) January 31, 2026 Officers attended the scene, along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, who took the woman on to hospital for treatment to her injuries. There were a number of people in the property at the time of the attack, including another woman and a man, along with a number of children. A significant amount of damage was caused to the interior of the house, with numerous items smashed before the men made off. We believe the suspects turned right after leaving the house and then ran down an alleyway beside the next-door property. The PSNI said it was a very distressing incident for all concerned. An explosion tore through an apartment building in Irans port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, killing a four-year-old girl as local media footage purportedly showed a security force member being carried out by rescuers. The blast happened a day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. Already, the US military had warned Iran not to threaten its warships or commercial traffic in the strait, on which Bandar Abbas sits. The blast in Bandar Abbas killed a young girl (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP) State television quoted a local fire official as blaming the blast on a gas leak. Media reported at least 14 others suffered injuries in the explosion at the eight-story building, which blew out windows and covered the street below in debris. A local newspaper, Sobh-e Sahel, aired footage of one of its correspondents speaking in front of the building. The footage included a sequence that showed a man in black boots and a green security force uniform being carried out on a stretcher. He wore a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, his left hand covering the branch insignia on his uniform. Advertisement The local newspaper did not acknowledge the security force member being carried out elsewhere in its reporting. Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard itself did not discuss the blast, other than to deny that a Guard navy commander had been hurt in the explosion. Another explosion blamed on a gas explosion on Saturday in the southwestern city of Ahvaz killed five people, state media reported. It comes as Iran remains tense over a threat by US President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike on the country over the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations. Ali Larijani, a top security official in Iran, wrote on X late Saturday that structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing. However, there is no public sign of any talks with the United States, which Irans 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday called for de-escalation and said Egypt is working to bring the US and Iran to the negotiating table to achieve a peaceful and comprehensive settlement to the Iranian nuclear file, according to a statement on his phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Qatar in a statement said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani visited Tehran on Saturday and met Mr Larijani about efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region. A judge on Saturday ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention centre where they were taken after being detained in a Minneapolis suburb. Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack being surrounded by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, sparked even more outcry about the Trump administrations immigration crackdown in Minnesota. It also led to a protest at the family detention centre and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress. US District Judge Fred Biery, who was appointed by former Democratic president Bill Clinton, said in his ruling the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatising children. Congressman Joaquin Castro, left, visits five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father at the South Texas Family Residential Centre (Rep Joaquin Castro via AP) A judge had previously ruled that the boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, could not be removed from the US, at least for now. Neighbours and school officials say federal immigration officers in Minnesota used the preschooler as bait by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer. Advertisement The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an abject lie. It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway. During the January 28 visit with politicians Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, the boy slept in the arms of his father, who said Liam was frequently tired and not eating well at the detention facility housing about 1,100 people, according to Mr Castro. Detained families report poor conditions such as worms in food, fighting for clean water and poor medical care at the detention centre since its reopening last year. In December, a report filed by Ice acknowledged they held about 400 children longer than the recommended limit of 20 days. In his order on Saturday, Judge Biery said that apparent also is the governments ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence, suggesting the Trump administrations actions echo those that then-author and future president Thomas Jefferson enumerated as grievances against Englands King George. Among them: He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People and He has excited domestic Insurrection among us. Judge Biery included in his ruling a photo of Liam and references to two lines in the Bible: Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, and Jesus wept. We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal Family's lawyers He is not the only federal judge who has been tough on Ice recently. A Minnesota-based judge with a conservative pedigree described the agency as a serial violator of court orders related to the crackdown. Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy, has said there is a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day. It is that figure which the judge seemed to refer to as a quota. Advertisement Spokespersons from the US Department of Justice and US Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The law firm of Jennifer Scarborough, which is representing the boy and his family, said in a statement that it was working to ensure a safe and timely reunion. We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal, they said. Parts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the capitals of both neighbouring countries, were plunged into blackouts on Saturday caused by malfunction of high-voltage power lines, officials said. Officials did not directly link the accident to war damage, although Ukraine's power grid has suffered from the accumulated impact of Russian air strikes leading to severe restrictions on electricity supplies in recent weeks. Ukraine's digital ministry also said a cyberattack was not to blame. The system is under greater pressure as a cold spell returns this weekend. Russia agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure until February 1st at the request of US President Donald Trump. Kyiv said it would reciprocate, and the countries did not report major attacks. At least five Ukrainian regions and some parts of Moldova were affected by the blackouts, as well as capitals Kyiv and Chisinau, after the malfunction at 10:42 a.m. Kyiv time. Advertisement The metro in Kyiv suspended operations and water supplies in the city were cut. Traffic lights and some public transport in Chisinau were not working, according to the city mayor, and most districts did not have electricity. At a metro station in Kyiv with dimmed lights, some passengers were waiting, hopeful of resuming their journeys. Power lines malfunction Officials in both countries reported that power was partially restored in the early afternoon following rushed efforts to stabilise interconnected grids. "By evening, we will be back to where we were before the accident," Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the independent Energy Research Centre in Kyiv, told Reuters. Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal blamed a technical malfunction that caused simultaneous outages on two high-voltage power lines, one linking the grids of Romania and Moldova and another connecting western and central Ukraine. Moldova's energy ministry said the disruption there was triggered by serious problems in Ukraine's grid that led to a voltage drop on the line connecting Romania and Moldova. Romania's energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The accident caused a shutdown on Ukraine's side, triggered automatic protection at substations and the temporary disconnection of nuclear power plant units from the grid, Shmyhal said. Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A This story is part of the February 1 edition of Sunday Life. See all stories . Its a cliche. Lisa Millar knows its a cliche. I know its a cliche. But dammit, were doing it anyway: Shes never been happier. As one of the ABCs most popular faces and host of three shows Muster Dogs and its spinoff, Where Are They Now, as well as Back Roads shes thriving both professionally and in her personal life. On New Years Eve, her partner of two years, Simon Carless, proposed on the houseboat they share as the pair watched the fireworks over Murray Bridge in South Australia. I will get silly and giggly talking about Simon, she says, because I feel so lucky. We both do. We just feel so incredibly lucky that this has happened to us at this point in our lives. Loading When we meet in early December at a beachside cafe in Sydneys eastern suburbs, Millar, 56, is vibrating with happiness. She cant stop talking about Carless, a pilot, and work, and how happy she is (she texts me about the engagement later: I was totally surprised!). If she wasnt so lovely, it would feel over the top, but Millar is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. I do feel like a teenager with it all, she says. And I just think, You know what? Far out, Im gonna just enjoy it. We start most mornings when we remember with a little gratitude meditation, because we both think, Man, weve been through a lot, with relationships and all the rest of it, and we are just so grateful for what the worlds given us. Advertisement The pair first met in 2007, when Millar was living in Sydney. She was introduced to Carless and his then wife by a mutual friend, and they would see each other occasionally. Work then took Millar overseas first, in 2009, to Washington, where she was the ABCs North American bureau chief, then to London in 2015 as the ABCs Europe bureau chief. It was there she caught up with Carless, by now separated, a handful of times when he was passing through the city. But there was zero spark, says Millar, laughing. In fact, he likes telling his friends about how not only was there zero spark, but I once said he looked much older than his actual age, and insulted him, which hurt his ego! That all changed in November 2023, when they met up again for lunch in Melbourne, where Millar had been living since she returned from overseas to co-host the ABCs News Breakfast show in 2019. Bondi Born Finn wrap tunic and pants, Senso shoes. Corrie Bond When I left my apartment, a neighbour said, You look gorgeous, Lisa, where are you going? And I said, Im going to meet an old friend, or I might be going on a date. I remember saying that. From that moment, November 14, we have just absolutely had zero doubt that we were going to be together forever. What followed was a whirlwind romance, of sorts. After a trip to London for Christmas and New Years, they caught COVID-19. They decided to isolate together on Carless houseboat, which then became stuck on a sandbank for 28 days. It was, as they say in the classics, the start of a happy ever after. I felt like [to be] in my 50s, to be given another chance at this incredible happiness, I didnt want to screw it up, she says. Work had always come first before, and I had made decisions that not that I regret, because I dont believe in regrets, I think everything leads you to a particular place but I didnt want to make the mistakes, didnt want to follow the habits that I had [previously]. Advertisement What makes Millars story even more remarkable, is that it comes from the depths of unhappiness. When I last spoke to her two years ago, she was contemplating leaving News Breakfast. It had been nearly five years of pre-dawn wake-ups, loneliness and relentless trolling on social media about everything from her appearance, to the death of her father, former Nationals MP Clarrie Millar. I dont want to be the poster child for that kind of thing, she says. And Ive had people who are doing studies on trolling and they want to talk to me, and I dont want to because thats that. Im so relieved I survived it. Jac + Jack Bailey shirt and skirt. Senso Jacey shoes. Corrie Bond [My unhappiness] was a combination of things. I was living in Melbourne by myself in an apartment during the pandemic. I was separated from my family in Queensland, who Id been away from for nine years while overseas, and had thought that I would be seeing a lot more of them. So I didnt have the scaffolding around me, and I was utterly, utterly unprepared for what came. Millar sought comfort from her best friend, fellow ABC journalist Leigh Sales. I was in tears a lot, and [Sales] said, Well, the problem is, youre so nice to everyone that you dont understand it when someone doesnt want to be nice back. And that was kind of [it], I just kept thinking, I dont understand where its coming from. Additional support came from colleagues, as well as professional help from a counsellor. When I graduated from seeing this professional, she gave me a little applause, and I said, I just feel so great, says Millar. And I know that maybe if we spoke again in six months, there might be challenges I might be facing, but I feel like I just have so many more tools in my 50s [to] handle them. Millar with her fiance, pilot Simon Carless. Advertisement Millar now splits her time between Melbourne and Carless houseboat, where she bird watches (the pelican is her favourite), kayaks and reads. She is an ambassador for Park Run and hopes one day to get her pilots licence (not bad for someone who spent years with a fear of flying that was so profound, shed be ill for days before she had to step on a plane). Its not all play, though. Last year, she travelled around the country for the fourth season of Muster Dogs, while Back Roads has sent her to the Cocos Islands, the Snowy Mountains and deep into the Northern Territory and remote Western Australia. She jokes that shes eaten a chicken parmigiana in every pub in Australia and that the most grooming required for both shows is essentially wearing a hat. [Back Roads] really ticks that box for me about regional Australia because I do still feel like Im the kid from the country, says Millar. When people say, Oh, where are you from? I always say, country Queensland. I dont just say Queensland. And Im very proud of that. Millar grew up on a dairy farm in Kilkivan, about 200 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. The fourth of five children, she was a keen observer of the news from a young age and would interview her family with a tape recorder. While studying at university, she landed a cadetship at The Gympie Times. She moved to WIN TV in Townsville, and in 1993, joined the ABCs new Townsville bureau. From there, she soared, moving to Canberra before a posting to Washington in 2001 started her long career as a foreign correspondent. Bondi Born Capri silk tunic dress. Senso Jacey shoes. Corrie Bond Its fair to say then, that Back Roads and Muster Dogs are a distinct change of gear. Im surprised at how easily I switched off from news, she says. And I thought that it would kick back in, but it hasnt really. I still read the headlines of the newspapers, but Im OK not being fully engaged in every movement for my own sanity, I had to step back from that. That doesnt mean shes disconnected, it just means she has reconnected with herself. Advertisement Advertisement NationalNSWSharks Opinion If a summer of sharks restores our respect for the ocean, thats no bad thing Malcolm Knox Journalist, author and columnist January 31, 2026 8:30am January 31, 2026 8:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Going for a swim? It had been a stinking hot days work, and Manly beach was metres away, but the tradie wasnt interested. Not a chance, not even up to my ankles. Fear is not going in above the ankles one day, then diving straight into a rip the next. DIONNE GAIN The Manly stretch has been a sobering sight since January 19 when, in the third Sydney shark incident in barely 24 hours, a surfer was pulled from the waves at North Steyne with critical injuries. Andre de Ruyter would lose his lower leg, and the previous day at Nielsen Park in Sydney Harbour, 12-year-old Nico Antic suffered fatal injuries. Between those two events, a surfers board was bitten at Dee Why, not far from where, a few months earlier, Mercury Psillakis died. If we are lucky, 2025-26 will be marked out as the freak year when people in Sydney became too scared of sharks to go into the water. Gradually, theyre creeping back. No Nippers yet, but the heat has propelled a handful of swimmers into the water at South Manly. The Queenscliff ocean pool, warm with weed and wee, has been doing brisk business. In the last few days some swimmers, sticking tight and staying close to shore, have tested the open water. The patrolling jet skis and rubber duckies have eased off. Sirens, set off by electronic signals from tagged sharks, go off at their usual three or four times a week. If there were surfable waves (there havent been), boardriders would be edging back. Advertisement North Steyne was among a number of Sydney beaches closed after shark sightings and incidents in January. George Chan/Getty Images Fear isnt meant to be logical. One headland north, normality resumed quicker at Freshwater. South of the harbour, beach life was only momentarily interrupted, as if bull sharks only knew to turn left at Sydney Heads. There has been a widespread sense of loss, as if people have had their territorial rights to their ocean summer rescinded. Warm days have heightened this feeling that an entitlement has been taken away. As one proponent of shark culling asked, Sharks can have the whole ocean. Cant we just have the first hundred metres? While understandable, these sentiments are based more in emotion and habit than evidence. It hasnt taken long for humans to get used to the idea that they own this fringe of littoral water, and that sharks, like those other beach infringers, the cabana builders, have violated their free space. Im not saying that selfish cabana people are any smarter than sharks, but regulation and negotiation can at least modify their behaviour. Sharks tend not to listen to reasoning. If a positive can be taken from this years shark incidents, it will be to reverse some assumptions and restore respect for the ocean. Its not our swimming pool. It was never ours to take away. Advertisement There has been an alarming, and frankly astonishing, divergence between Australians use of the ocean and their respect for its risks. A March 2025 study by Royal Surf Lifesaving Australia found that among year 6 students, nearly half cannot swim 50 metres and tread water for two minutes. Only one in six 17-year-olds can swim the national benchmark distance of 400 metres. Swimming lessons in schools are in decline, a quarter of schools have no swimming carnivals, and Australians swimming ability shows little improvement after year 7. Each of these indicators had worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet the public, of all ages, is gravitating to the beach more and more. Irrational fear of sharks, as characterised in Jaws fictional Amity Island, is no better than irrational entitlement when it comes to how we interact with the ocean. Universal Pictures Notwithstanding efforts to educate people on swimming in rips, particularly from Rob Dr Rip Brander, there were 357 drowning deaths in Australia last year according to the National Drowning Report, 84 of them at beaches, a 27 per cent rise on the 10-year average. Shark incidents are different, of course, but they also involve assessing risk. Calls for improved education are thrown into sharp relief by the incident at North Steyne. I was there that day. The waves were ordinary but, Manly being Manly, in normal late-afternoon conditions there would have been dozens of surfers out. Days of rain had left murky water, so there were only three surfers on the entire stretch. The rest had weighed up the chance of an infection, and the two other shark incidents, and decided not to surf. Possibly de Ruyter and the two others saw a rare chance for empty North Steyne waves. They measured the odds. The chance of a shark incident was minuscule, if well above the normal. De Ruyter was incredibly unlucky and also incredibly lucky that the two others were there to pull him from the water. These complex calculations of risk can be inbuilt through years of experience and grounded in respect for nature. But theyre still new in the scale of things. Its easy to forget how recently the coastal ocean has come into non-Indigenous use. For colonial Australians, beach swimming began only a century ago and escalated to mass popularity in the last 50 years. In a blink, society has escalated the ocean environment from something unknown to a feature of cultural identity as Australian as the quarter-acre block. Irrational fear to reckless overconfidence in two generations. Advertisement The high prevalence of beach drownings among inexperienced swimmers underscores how long it takes to even begin to understand the ocean. Education of this kind is not a one-day course; its a lifelong accumulation of knowledge, of trial and error. Related Article Opinion Sharks Surfers like me cant get spooked by sharks. Then the fear wins Luke Kennedy Surfer and writer If there is one hope to take from the sad sight of this Januarys empty beaches, its that respect for the ocean must be rebuilt. Not fear. Fear is not going in above the ankles one day, then diving straight into a rip the next. Respect, on the other hand, is a matter of acquiring skills, calculating probabilities, figuring out when the odds are with you and when they are against you, learning from experience, and above all not taking the ocean for granted as if its your personal playground. Being in the ocean is always a game of odds. Learning how to swim, learning rips and learning about sharky conditions are not guarantees of safety; theyre only ways of tilting the odds in your favour. The decline in swimming education, coinciding with an increase in beach use, is a snapshot of irrational entitlement. Its flipside is irrational fear, Amity Island in Jaws. Fatalities on our beaches shouldnt terrify us; they should make us more humble in our approach to the ocean, more respectful, and more willing to learn. If absorbed in this way, the grim misfortunes of the past months can leave a positive legacy. Malcolm Knox is a journalist, author and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Remove items from your saved list to add more. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Six people, including one primary-school-aged boy in Brisbane, were hospitalised from the Gold Coast to Townsville overnight after accidents involving e-scooters or e-bikes. In seven hours, from 7.30pm on Friday to early Saturday morning, paramedics were called to six crashes, as well as an e-scooter fire in Kawana in which no-one was injured. The primary-school-aged boy was taken to the Queensland Childrens Hospital with a leg injury after an e-scooter and pedestrian incident on South Brisbanes Grey Street just before 10pm. Premier David Crisafulli has promised action on e-scooters and e-bikes, but not before an inquiry delivers its report. QUT On the Gold Coast, a teenage boy was hospitalised in a stable condition with leg injuries after falling from an e-bike at Helensvale, while another suffered head injuries after a scooter fall at Coomera. Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A A stream of almost 60 men in matching maroon shirts dots the eastern shoreline of the Redcliffe Peninsula. Its not an unusual sight. The group, which often numbers more than 100 walkers, meets at the Redcliffe Jetty three mornings a week. We start at the jetty and then go down to Scarborough, thats about six kilometres, says Denis Brennan, gesturing across the esplanade from the Jetty Lounge cafe. And we go out to Scotts Point another day. Denis Brennan has been leading Redcliffes The Man Walk for almost seven years. Courtney Kruk Brennan is the organiser or manbassador for Moreton Bays The Man Walk, an initiative founded by Kiama man Mark Burns with the simple goal of bringing men together to walk and talk. I see the good that comes out of it, the blokes who are really doing it tough, Brennan says. Theres a lot of friendship being created I get comments from some of the wives that they can see the difference in their husbands since coming here and getting that camaraderie. Advertisement The Man Walk has spread to more than 80 locations across Australia since launching in 2019. Brennans Redcliffe group is one of the biggest in the country, attracting anywhere from 50 to 120 walkers each session. I tell people youve got to have two things: a sick sense of humour and a thick hide, Brennan laughs, because if you havent got either, youre not going to make it with this group. Redcliffes The Man Walk group is one of the largest in the country. Denis Brennan A study published by Charles Sturt University in November found The Man Walks combination of group walks, open conversation and mateship delivered powerful health benefits. Participants said that walking together not only improves their physical health, but also creates opportunities for conversation, emotional support and connection, study lead Dr Nicole Snowdon says. These are factors that contribute to reduced anxiety, depression and loneliness. Brennan says local organisations and hospitals, including Redcliffe, Caboolture and Chermside, often refer men to the group if they feel that we could do them some good. Advertisement A lot of people build up everything inside, thats the problem, Brennan says. Theyve got to let it out and stop harbouring things. Sian Anstis hiking club is based on similar social foundations, but tends to attract a much younger cohort of women and men looking to meet new people. Sometimes we get kids who are fresh out of school, so 18- or 19-year-olds who arent friends with their schoolmates any more. They realise their circles are shifting and want to meet new people, Anstis says. Sian Anstis (right) launched Hike Club Social to help people make new connections, without the bars. Health and Wellbeing Queensland But its also people in their late thirties and early forties. I had a guy in his seventies the other day. Anstis launched Hike Club Social in late 2023 when she found herself at a crossroad in life. Advertisement The Auckland native had spent her childhood hiking New Zealands North Island with her mum and sisters, but five years after moving to Brisbane, she had lost the motivation to get outdoors. Related Article Mental health Craigs daughter stopped eating, talking and sleeping. What he did next could help other parents I love exercising, but I wasnt doing anything super adventurous, she explains. My world had just gotten a bit small. At the same time, she had grown tired of going out and drinking to socialise and meet new people. I was 29 and single and just kind of sick of [it], she says. I figured if I wanted to do [the hike club], other people might too. Her intuition paid off. Within months, Hike Club Social was flooded with interest from people drawn by the same desire to ditch the bars and make new connections. Advertisement Everyones just so on the same page, Anstis says. Finding that connection with someone that you wouldnt have met outside of doing an outdoorsy, random, courageous thing its never a bad time. Friendships and even some romantic relationships have blossomed beside thundering waterfalls, while scrambling up mountain peaks, and on trails through ancient rainforest. I get the same messages after every hike: That was such a good group today, Anstis says. But it always is. Earlier this year, she joined Health and Wellbeing Queenslands Healthy Is Happening campaign to promote accessible and affordable activities on the back of research showing an increasing number of Queenslanders aged 25-54 are facing cost and support barriers to exercise. My goal was to create both a social and active group; to help people increase confidence in hiking, socialising and being active outdoors, Anstis says. Advertisement Advertisement Exclusive PoliticsNSWNSW State Parliament The government warned homes on this floodplain would put lives at risk. Then, it approved 960 of them Max Maddison February 1, 2026 4:20am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A The NSW government has green-lit almost 1000 new homes for a flood-prone north-western Sydney suburb two years after Planning Minister Paul Scully warned development could put lives at risk. The proposed development at Marsden Park North, comprising 960 homes and an employment hub, is in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, considered by the state government to have Australias highest unmitigated flood risk exposure. Blacktown Council has also warned there are critical gaps in funding for the precinct, including unresolved transport and evacuation infrastructure. The decision to push ahead comes as the state struggles with an acute housing shortage. Despite widespread reform of rezoning laws, the number of homes being approved and completed remains below the level to meet demand. Advertisement Developer Leamac Property Group first proposed the Marsden Park North precinct more than a decade ago, with plans to build 6000 homes for an estimated population of nearly 20,000 people. The proposal was rejected after flood evacuation modelling found it would have almost doubled the average annual number of people at risk of flood impacts in the catchment by 2041. Marsden Park, pictured from above, is a rapidly growing area of north-western Sydney. Brook Mitchell A statement released by Scully and Western Sydney Minister Prue Car in October 2023 announcing the proposals refusal promised no more building on high-risk flood plains. New developments could impact the ability of both new and existing residents to evacuate safely during emergencies, which puts more lives at risk, Scully said at the time. Id rather a disappointed landowner confront me over a decision weve made to keep them safe, rather than console them when theyve lost a loved one because of floods. Advertisement Two years later, public exhibition of a scaled-back version of the rezoning with 960 homes and 260 hectares of industrial land for almost 3900 new jobs finished on Friday. Related Article Exclusive Property development Sydney is in a housing crisis. So why did the planning minister block 1700 new homes? The flood evacuation modelling scenarios completed in 2023 found that, even without any further rezoning, there would be an increase in the risk to life from already approved development in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley. In July 2022, flooding in the valley peaked at 13.93 metres the highest since 1978, although well short of the areas worst recorded flood (19.6 metres in 1867). Insurers began limiting policies for home owners on the floodplain after the 2022 disaster. The new development will put homes at the one-in-100 Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) level, with an additional three-metre buffer to allow for climate change functionally building the homes in areas with a one-in-500 chance of flooding. Hemmed in by eastern and southern creeks, most will be built in an area generally safe from inundation, although mapping shows large parts of the precinct would be underwater if the largest conceivable flood hit. Advertisement Developers have contested the use of the PMF level in planning decisions because of the minuscule probability of the event, considered between a one-in-10,000 chance to one-in-a million chance. Further development in flood-prone areas creates risks for upstream residents trying to evacuate, including from areas such as Windsor, due to increased congestion on arterial roadways. A Blacktown City Council spokesman said it was generally supportive of the proposal, and had identified using the area for employment as appropriate to its flood risk. But the council has identified critical gaps in funding for the transport and evacuation infrastructure needed to enable building at the proposed flood planning level. The means of funding repairs to community spaces projected to be damaged by flooding was also unclear. Scully said the updated proposal aimed to establish land as an employment hub above the new flood planning level, reducing the risk to community safety by building on less flood-prone land and introducing more stringent measures to help evacuations. Advertisement This proposal has been guided by flood modelling and expert advice and is consistent with the recommendations of the 2023 Flood Advisory Panels, he said. Declining to speak about specific developments, an Insurance Council of Australia spokeswoman said: There are already more than 240,000 homes in Australia that face a severe to extreme risk of flooding we should not be adding to this. Leamac founding partner Alexander Leaver declined to comment. Leamac is a client of Iemma Patterson Premier Advisory, a lobbying firm co-founded by former Labor premier Morris Iemma. Emails released by parliament reveal a push from Iemma and Leamac to ensure a version of the development was successful, including Leamac emailing the premier directly with frustrations about the sluggish process. Former NSW premier Morris Iemma (centre), Planning Minister Paul Scully (left) and Premier Chris Minns. Composite Advertisement Minutes from a meeting of Minns, staff and bureaucrats in June show Leamac noted the departments lack of support for a residential development due to the flood risk. The developer sought Minns continued support to ensure the department made quick progress on the proposal. A Minns spokeswoman said the plans managed risk in line with the 2022 Flood Inquirys recommendations. A department spokeswoman said it improved the 2018 draft rezoning proposal in close consultation with other agencies and Blacktown council, taking flooding events between 2020 and 2022 into strong consideration. Greens planning spokesperson Sue Higginson questioned Iemmas influence in progressing the plan. The Minns-Labor government came to power with a clearly stated vision that Western Sydney could not be exploited for development any more. Its now clear for all to see the crumbling of that conviction when faced with the property developer lobby, she said. Advertisement Responding to questions, Iemma rejected Higginsons accusation as factually wrong and ignorant of the origins of [the proposal], its status and the actual process being undertaken. Related Article Exclusive Property development How Morris Iemma helped James Packer get his way on a $100m Potts Point development He noted Marsden Park North had been deemed crucial for future housing and employment needs well before the Minns government was elected. [The proposal] is an attempt to end years of paralysis that have stalled the precinct and denied residents of Western Sydney new job opportunities closer to home, he said. The decision was consistent with the establishment of Western Sydney Airport and Mamre Road industrial hub. He denied discussing Marsden Park North at meetings with Minns in early 2024. It was Leamacs decision to engage the premier, rather than the planning minister, Iemma said, noting he did not attend the June meeting. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. Advertisement WorldNorth AmericaEpstein fallout Bill Gates caught STD from Russian girls, Epstein claimed Gordon Rayner , Verity Bowman and Nick Gutteridge January 31, 2026 9:09am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share A A A Bill Gates caught a sexually transmitted disease after sleeping with Russian girls, Jeffrey Epstein claimed in files released by the US Justice Department. Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, also claimed the Microsoft founder asked for antibiotics he could surreptitiously give to his then-wife Melinda, from whom he is now divorced. Bill Gatess spokesperson denied the claim as absolutely absurd and completely false. AP In a separate email, Epstein told Peter Mandelson he had monstrous fun with Gates in Seattle. Three million pages of documents released by the Trump administration also contain new photographs of Epstein with Gates. Advertisement The files also reveal that Epstein offered Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor dinner with a 26-year-old Russian girl, as well as a claim that Epstein gave Lord Mandelsons husband 10,000 for an osteopathy course. Related Article Epstein fallout Epstein survivors say fight for justice not over as final documents released Seven years after his death, Epstein continues to cast a long shadow over those who were in his orbit and Gates, once the worlds richest man, is among them. On July 18, 2013, Epstein sent a memo to himself including a number of allegations about Gates. It said: To add insult to the injury you them [sic] implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis. Advertisement Epstein sent himself another email at 1.03 the same morning, announcing a resignation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Epstein never worked for the foundation, so it is believed he was writing the email in someone elses voice. Gates was given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2005, in recognition of his services to charity. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire but is not known as Sir, a title reserved only for British citizens. It is likely there will now be calls for the honour to be revoked, though Whitehall sources would not be drawn on whether No.10 would back such a move. A spokesman for Gates said: These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epsteins frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates, and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame. Advertisement Fresh questions for Mandelson Other files raise fresh questions about the relationship between Epstein and Lord Mandelson, who was sacked as the British ambassador to Washington last year over previous revelations about his links to a man he called his best pal. Lord Mandelson referred to Epstein as a good friend and totally trustworthy in another newly released message. In a separate July 2011 email, Lord Mandelson asked Epstein, what u doing? Epstein replied: Spent the day with Gates, in Seattle. Having monstrous fun. Documents that were included in the previous batch of files. AP Advertisement Meanwhile, Mountbatten-Windsor will face fresh scrutiny over his own relationship with the convicted sex abuser, whose friendship led to him being stripped of his titles last year. The files show that Epstein introduced him to a 26-year-old Russian woman in 2010, after his conviction for soliciting prostitution. In emails to a contact listed as The Duke, Epstein wrote: I have a friend who i think you might enjoy having dinner with, her name is irina she will be london 20-24 [sic]. In response, the former Duke of York appeared to reply: Of course. I am in Geneva until the morning of 22nd but would be delighted to see her. Will she be bringing a message from you? Please give her my contact details to get in touch. It was signed HRH The Duke of York KG. Epstein later clarified the woman was 26, Russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email. Advertisement Other emails between Mountbatten-Windsor and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for child trafficking, were also published on Friday. Related Article Royal family Prince Andrew photo no fake, says photographer who sourced it in 2011 The disgraced British socialite sent an email to an address linked to Mountbatten-Windsor with her condolences after the death of his grandmother in 2002. The email, sent on March 31, 2002, and addressed to The Invisible Man, refers to him as sweet pea and says of the late Queen Mother: She was wonderful, and I am happy that I managed to meet her and speak with her. The following day she received a reply thanking her and signed A xxx. Advertisement Todd Blanche, the deputy US attorney-general, said the material published included more than 2000 videos and 180,000 images, though not all were taken by Epstein or those close to him, and they included large quantities of commercial pornography. The Trump administration was required by law to release all the material it holds on Epstein, who was jailed in 2009 after admitting soliciting prostitution, by December 19 last year. It had only released a fraction of the files by the deadline. The remainder of the material is believed to have now been published. Epsteins wide network of rich and powerful friends also included Donald Trump, who Epstein had claimed knew about the girls. However, Blanche insisted Trump had been exonerated by the full release of the files. He said: In none of these communications, even when doing his best to disparage President Trump, did Epstein suggest President Trump had done anything criminal or had any inappropriate contact with any of his victims. The Telegraph, London Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter. A "Davos on tour" event may come to Dublin in the spring, with the possibility of holding an event together with the World Economic Forum (WEF), which organises the annual gathering in Davos. Larry Fink, the interim co-chair of the WEFs governing board, suggested at the summit that the event, which brings together global business and political leaders, could expand its footprint, according to the Irish Times. Fink suggested Dublin as a potential arena, as well as Detroit in the United States, Jakarta in Indonesia and Argentinas Buenos Aires. Fink's co-chair Andre Hoffman dismissed the idea of permanently relocating the event from the Swiss Alpine ski resort of Davos; however, senior Government sources told the Irish Times that initial planning had begun for a potential satellite event in Ireland. It is understood Dublin Castle has been identified as a potential location for an event in May. The source indicated the guest list would be around 100, which is in contrast to the some 3,000 people that can be accommodated in Davos. It would be expected that senior Government figures, as well as EU figures and senior figures from the tech sector would be invited. Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay South James Geoghegan told the Dail earlier this month that Ireland should demonstrate ambition and hold up our hand in light of Fink's remarks. He was told by Minister of State Alan Dillon that there had been no official contact by the forum with the Government. Dillon also told the Dail that the suggestion of Dublin as a location "positions Dublin as a credible destination that offers stability, a strong regulatory environment and a genuinely international outlook... Hosting the annual meeting would be an opportunity to promote our economic success." The Irish Times understands there has been communication with the WEF, and that Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Enterprise departments within Government may play a role. However, the Department of Finance said it had not been involved in discussions around such an event. The Foreign Affairs and Enterprise departments did not comment when contacted by the Irish Times. By a 4-1 vote, the Chino Valley School Board increased its monthly compensation by 107 percent from $966 to $2,000. Shown at the dais is Andres Cruz, John Cervantes, Supt. Norm Enfield, Sonja Shaw, Shaun Smith, and James Na, who voted against the raise. Chino Valley school district video image A man goes through his belongings in a dumpster behind the Chino Hills Marketplace on the northeast corner of Chino Hills Parkway and Pipeline Avenue, a favorite spot for homeless individuals. Champion file photo by Marianne Napoles The Hamilton County Democratic Party has elected new officers to serve through the remainder of the current term, following a meeting of the partys Executive Committee held Wednesday evening. The following officers were elected by acclamation: Chair: Tammy Barnes Vice Chair: Al Douglas Treasurer: Brandi Hubbard Secretary: Jessica Nash Hampton The special election fills the remainder of the term ending next year and follows a brief interim period during which the party ensured continuity of leadership and operations. These elections allow us to move forward with clarity and purpose, said Chair Barnes. Our focus is on growing the party, expanding outreach, and making sure Democrats are showing up in every part of Hamilton County. We are building the infrastructure and relationships we need to compete and win. Ms. Barnes previously served as vice chair before stepping into the interim chair role earlier this winter. The newly elected leadership team brings a mix of experience and new perspectives as the party prepares for an active election year, it was stated. Vice Chair Douglas said, This year is about winning elections. Our team knows what it takes to run strong, successful campaigns in Hamilton County, and were putting that experience to work. Our goal is to recruit serious candidates, support them early, and flip seats this fall by meeting voters where they are and talking about the issues that matter to their lives. Officials said the Hamilton County Democratic Party will continue focusing on voter outreach, volunteer engagement, candidate recruitment, and coordinated campaign support as preparations accelerate for the 2026 election cycle. photo by Courtesy of Asa H. Gordon Library Special Collections, Savannah State University Previous Next Feb. 1, 1865, marked a pivotal moment in the history of the United States, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the joint resolution proposing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, formally abolishing slavery and affirming the nations commitment to freedom and human dignity. The date honoring that momentous occasion, National Freedom Day, was spearheaded by Major Richard R. Wright, Sr. Major Wright was a remarkable figure He would be the first valedictorian of what is today Clark-Atlanta University in 1876. In 1898, President William McKinley appointed Major Wright as an Army paymaster, making him the highest-ranking Black officer during the Spanish-American Wara conflict in which large numbers of Buffalo Soldiers served. Later in 1891, Major Wright would be appointed president of what is today Savannah State University. Major Wright became a tireless advocate for national recognition of Feb. 1 as a day to honor the abolition of slavery and the freedoms secured by the 13th Amendment. In 1941, at Major Wrights request, an assembly of civic leaders convened in Philadelphia to discuss history, culture, and the need for a more truthful public understanding of the end of chattel slavery and the freedoms that followed. The participants agreed that this milestone in American history deserved national recognition, and Feb. 1 was selected as the date to commemorate what became National Freedom Day. Though Major Wright did not live to see his vision fulfilled, President Harry S. Truman signed the legislation establishing National Freedom Day in 1948, one year after the death of its most steadfast champion. President Trumans resolution on thus effort unfolded during a period of profound racial unrest that underscored the unfinished work of freedom in America. In 1946, the brutal beating and permanent blinding of Sergeant Isaac Woodard, Jr., a decorated Black World War II veteran, by South Carolina police shocked the nation and exposed the depth of racial injustice faced by African Americans even after military service. Another powerful example of this injustice was the case of the Philadelphia 15, African American sailors who, in 1940, courageously reported discriminatory treatment while serving in the U.S. Navy and were punished with unjust discharges for speaking out. Decades later, their records were formally corrected, acknowledging that racial discrimination shaped their treatment. These events helped define the moral urgency of the Truman era and the growing federal responsibility to protect civil rights. Incidents such as this led to the eventual desegregation of the military through Executive Order 9981. National Freedom Day also marks the beginning of Black History Month, a national observance inspired in part by the work of Dr. Robert Starling Pritchard, founder of the Pan American Pan African Institute and a founding board member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. His lifelong commitment to celebrating African American history and achievement helped strengthen national recognition of Black history and culture. National Freedom Day is directly connected to National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, reminding the nation that the fight against slavery did not end in the nineteenth century. For the Chattanooga community, we also acknowledge the leadership of former U.S. Senator and former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker, who, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, championed the bipartisan End Modern Slavery Initiative Act of 2015, helping advance global efforts to combat human trafficking and forced laborcontinuing the legacy of freedom honored on this day. In observance of National Freedom Day, the NJOF will lead a national bell-ringing at 1 p.m. (the 13th hour) and urges Americans across the country to ring their bells 13 times, in honor of the 13th Amendment. Of special significance this year, upon my request, in consultation with the Truman Presidential Library and the National Archives and Records Administration, historians have verified that the original Presidential Proclamation 2824, National Freedom Day, signed by President Harry S. Truman on Jan. 25, 1949, remains preserved in the National Archives and is in good condition. Perhaps it has been unseen by most members of the general public for nearly 80 years. National Freedom Day stands as a cornerstone of the American republic, calling all communities to remember, to reflect, and to recommit to freedom, liberty, and justice for all. It is fitting on Feb. 1, 2026, that we will celebrate this occasion with the congregation of Bethlehem Wiley UMC. The members of this congregation can trace lineage back to many of Chattanoogas original African American citizens, many of whom were formally enslaved and formed many of Chattanoogas original neighborhoods and communities. A Cleveland firm, Danfoss Power Solutions, said it will be laying off 100 employees between April 1 and October. Officials said, "Danfoss Power Solutions has filed an official WARN Notice with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, notifying the agency of a permanent layoff effective April 01." The company is located at 1750 Hardeman Lane. The employees at the facility are not represented by a collective bargaining agreement, and do not have bumping rights, it was stated. The Southeast Local Workforce Development Area rapid response team, employed by the Southeast Tennessee Development District, has been notified to coordinate services with the employer and affected employees. The Southeast Local Workforce Development Board will be responsible for the oversight and continued follow-up of Rapid Response and Dislocated Worker services associated with this event. Philosophy, Aristotle observed, begins in wonder. Too often today, however, philosophy begins in arid formulas that look more like math equations than like curiosity about the great questions of lifeDoes God exist? or Is there an ultimate purpose to human existence? or What do science and religion tell us about ourselves, and do they conflict? A new book, The Call of Wonder: How the God of Reason Created Science in His Image, invites readers back into that sense of wonder by exploring how faith, science and reason interrelate. The author, biomedical engineer and theologian Brian Cranley, argues that both science and faith are grounded in reasonreason that is itself rooted in Godand therefore that the two disciplines are not fundamentally in conflict but in unity. Cranley begins by examining how reason leads to God. Classical philosophers like Plato and Aristotle both discovered God or a God-like first principle through rational inquiry. For Plato, this was the Good, which he described as the supremely perfect and eternal fount of goodness, being, and intelligibility. Although Plato did not directly identify the Good with God, he did call it divine, and his understanding of it comes strikingly close to traditional conceptions of God. As Cranley explains: The Good is perfect and unchanging just as the God we speak of today is perfect and unchanging. The Good is the necessary existence where all things find their own existence, another quality we discover in the God of monotheism. The Good, and God, are both seen as the great unifier of all things. Both shed the light of knowledge on the human mind to know the world around them. Plato, then, effectively reasoned his way to a basic (if incomplete) understanding of God, even if he did not explicitly call it God. Aristotle, meanwhile, also reasoned to the existence of God, which he called the Unmoved Mover and which he did identify as God. He did so by analyzing the nature of change and recognizing that the source of all change in the universe must itself be unchanging. How, though, is this possible? How does something cause change without itself changing? According to Aristotle, God causes change not by pushing the first domino but by existing perfectly and thus drawing all things toward himself. As Cranley writes, The Unmoved Mover is so perfect and so desirable that it causes all the universe to move and change out of desire. The Unmoved Mover draws all things toward itself simply by being who it is. In this way, God causes change without himself changing. Over the centuries, philosophers built on these foundations. For example, in the first century A.D., Jewish philosopher Philo synthesized these philosophical insights with the data of revelation. He urged that many stories in the first five books of the Bible (the Jewish Torah) are allegorical rather than literal. He further maintained that scripture often conveys deep philosophical truthstruths about the nature of God and his divine attributesthrough imagery rather than literal description. Finally, he also developed the Greek concept of Logos. For the Greeks, Logos was a term that conveyed the divine order or divine meaning that pervaded reality. Philo, though, refined this term in light of revelation. As Cranley explains, Philo believed strongly in Platonic philosophy as well as Judaism, which led him to replace Platos Form of the Good with Yahweh [God]. He then offered the idea that the Divine Logos was the Wisdom of God tasked with creating the world and performing Gods desired actions in it. Accordingly, Philo sharpened the insights he inherited from his Greek predecessors. Other philosophers also synthesized faith and reason, including Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, Christian philosophers Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, and Muslim philosophers Avicenna and Averroes, all of whom are covered in the book. After surveying these thinkers, Cranley turns to discoveries of modern science. He argues that contemporary scientific findings not only harmonize with what reason and faith tell us about God but also reflect the very nature of God himself. Take, for example, the oneness or indivisibility of God. This idea, notes Cranley, is mirrored in both the origin and the structure of the universe. For instance, modern cosmology suggests that, in the very first instant [of the Big Bang], all things were just one thing. Moreover, at the largest scales of the universe, no matter where we point our telescopes and detectors into deep space, the incoming data is relatively the same. There is a sameness to space in every observable direction. In this way, Cranley says, the universe reflects God, who is the ultimate simplicity, the same in every respect. But Cranley does not limit this mirroring of divine oneness to the cosmos as a whole. Human beings, he holds, also reflect the unity of God. Drawing on anthropological research, for instance, he writes that if the first moment of the Big Bang displayed oneness for the universe, then LUCA, the last universal common ancestor, similarly displayed unity for all of life. LUCA were tiny, single-celled organisms containing within them the potential to become every living thing. The single-celled ancestor of life was, like God, indivisible. Of course, this anthropological evidence naturally leads to the issue of evolution, where Cranleys analysis is especially helpful. He argues that, far from being in conflict with faith, the long history of life on earth in fact helps illuminate who we are and may also assist us in interpreting certain nonliteral passages of the Bible. He suggests, for example, that the five mass extinction events in earths history offer a fresh way of reading the days of Genesisa proposal not meant as dogma but as an imaginative exercise showing the harmony between revelation and scientific history. He goes even further by devoting a chapter to analyzing evolution and showing why it poses no threat to faith. Evolution may be a tool God designed to create abundant forms of life. Seen in this way, God, who is infinite life itself, creates a vast array of finite creatures through evolutionary processes that mirror him in different ways. If this is correct, then a variety of valid options for thinking about evolution emerge, and as Cranley points out, it really doesnt matter which one of the options is correct as long as it includes the data we know from science and recognizes a Creator. In other words, we can and should affirm both evolution and God, and multiple interpretations allow for that. Among the other topics Cranley addresses are a brief history of humanity, influential theological interpretations of the biblical creation accounts, and an examination of the nature of the human mind. In each case, Cranley draws further analogies between scientific findings and God. As one example, he points to our minds. When we can cease the endless stream of thoughts that pour through our heads, he says, we are able to catch a glimpse into the unity of our own minds completely at rest and perfectly one. The mind at rest, in a real way, reveals the image of Gods divine oneness. While readers may balk at the analogies Cranley draws between scientific concepts and the attributes of God, it is important to realize that he is offering them not to suggest that science proves God. His point, rather, is to illuminate the fundamental harmony between faith and scienceand to show further that if there are good independent reasons to suppose God exists, then coherence between science and faith is precisely what we should expect. Seen in this way, the unity between these two disciplines is unsurprising. If both faith and science are rooted in reason, and if reason itself is ultimately grounded in God, then science and faith do not compete but converge, each drawing us toward the source of all truth. The Call of Wonder, then, invites us to rediscover that convergence, and in doing so to recover the very sense of wonder with which philosophyand even sciencefirst began. Home Opinion Apatheism: Not atheism, agnosticism but another challenge to Christian faith Unlike other belief systems, apatheism is not a formal worldview. Rather, it is a posture or attitude of indifference toward belief in God. It is an outlook that Christian apologetics must engage with because it is a common obstacle to considering Christian belief. The author and journalist Jonathan Rauch, in a widely referenced article in The Atlantic, Let It Be, identifies himself as an apatheist. He defines the term apatheism as a disinclination to care all that much about ones own religion, and an even stronger disinclination to care about other peoples. Rather than being lazy recumbency, Rauch believes apatheism is a sociological achievement. Writing after the events of Sept.11, 2001, he explains that for much of history, religious zeal has driven division and violence, and sees the taming of religious passion not as a lapse, but as an achievement. Philosophers Trevor Hedberg and Jordan Huzarevich echo Rauchs sentiment: [Apatheism] is distinct from theism, atheism, and agnosticism. A theist believes that God exists; an atheist believes that God does not exist; an agnostic believes that we cannot know whether God exists; an apatheist believes that we should not care whether God exists (emphasis added). Hedberg and Huzarevich consider six common reasons for valuing existence questions (EQs). With the exception of how belief or disbelief in God could impact ones afterlife, they find the normal motivation for considering such questions unconvincing, and so insufficient reason for focusing on this question. According to Hedberg and Huzarevich, Each of these objections posits a different reason for thinking that belief in God is practically significant. Five of these objections prove unsuccessful. The sixth, which appeals to the practical significance of belief in God with respect to our fates in the afterlife, is more promising but nonetheless encounters significant obstacles. Since the success of this objection is controversial, whether we have good grounds to reject practical apatheism should be similarly controversial, and the view should be given further examination. Hedberg and Huzarevich thus conclude, If our answers to [existence questions] lack practical significance, then perhaps they warrant less philosophical attention, and perhaps debates concerning them should be more carefree because the stakes are not as high as most believe. They conclude that we should not care whether God exists. What are the needs and barriers in apologetics to apatheists? Kyle Beshears, a pastor and scholar who has written about apatheism, maintains that our present cultural milieu supports the flourishing of this attitude to faith. He identifies four related barriers to Christian belief: 1. contested belief and globalization, 2. existential security without God, 3. distraction, and 4. autonomy. First, following thinkers such as Charles Taylor, James K. A. Smith, and Alan Noble, Beshears points to the way belief in the contemporary world is contested due to increased globalization and the regular intersection of religious belief and cultural diversity. This is reminiscent of the pressures that Peter Berger terms a plausibility structure. Because we regularly encounter many different people with wildly different beliefs, it makes it harder to believe in Christianity as the one true faith. Second, the advances of science, the prevalence of secularism, as well as increased affluence and technology have created a sense of existential security that did not exist in earlier times in history, times when the irrelevance of God was unthinkable. As Charles Taylor explains, in the last five hundred years, there was a significant shift of focus to the immanent frame away from belief and dependence on what he calls the enchanted world, where God was believed to be involved and intervening in the world. Beshears continues, The more a society feels safe and taken care of, the less important it finds God to be. And the less motivated people are to turn to God, the less likely they will find his existence relevant. Apatheists share one commonality, according to Beshears: A sense of existential security absent God. Third, as well as self-sufficient, our world is also increasingly distracted. Drawing on Alan Nobles work, Beshears maintains that the persistent distraction of our culture prevents us from asking the deepest, most important questions about existence and truth. The things that prick our souls for the sake of the Gospel (e.g., death, beauty, anxiety, etc.) can be numbed quickly by an eight-hour dose of binge-watching. Beshears continues, We effortlessly avoid asking the biggest, most difficult questions of life because we are so busy. It is in this soil of contestability, diversity, comfort, and distraction that apatheism not only grows but flourishes. Finally, Beshears argues that the primacy of personal autonomy is the ultimate cause of apatheism. He writes, The core reason why apatheism exists is that we do not want to care about God. Weve developed an antipathy toward spiritual contemplation because we dont want what inevitably follows, a fundamental change in who we are and how we live. To sacrifice autonomy is too high a cost, so we protect it through apathy. It recalls what Francis Schaeffer termed idols of personal peace and affluence some years ago. People want to be left alone and to live untroubled by others needs, whether close by or across the world. Personal peace, Schaeffer explains, means wanting to have my personal life pattern undisturbed in my lifetime ... Affluence means an overwhelming and ever-increasing prosperity a life made up of things, things, and more things. Lived without measure, both are at odds with the lordship of Christ. These four obstacles contested belief and globalization, existential security without God, distraction, and autonomy are essential targets for apologetics among apatheists. Apatheism: A preliminary assessment There are a number of important observations and issues for apatheism that we should note. First, although apatheism is not a developed belief system, it is a belief. As Beshears argues, Ask an apatheist why they are uninterested in God, and their response will likely be that they dont believe God is relevant to their life. The problem is that they also do not believe questions about God are worth asking to know whether or not this is true, despite much of the world having been positively impacted by Christian theism, and particularly being crucial in shaping Western culture and society. Second, rather than being virtuous, there are good reasons to see apatheism as intellectually and morally harmful. Tawa Anderson argues, Apatheism leads to the vices of acedia (failure to care sufficiently about things that deserve close consideration) and misology (hatred of reasoned argumentation). Paul Copan is similarly critical: From a spiritual, rational, and moral perspective its like not caring about having cancer. Or its like a child who doesnt see the point of a good education. Lewiss words are fitting: Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. Third, apatheisms sense of progress is what Lewis called chronological snobbery. As Lewis defines it, chronological snobbery is the uncritical belief in the superiority of ones own time and culture, and the viewing of the past as discredited. Lewis felt he had blindly embraced chronological snobbery until Owen Barfield challenged him, and it had been an obstacle to him becoming a Christian. Lewis argues that you have to be aware of your own cultural context with its fashions and look at the arguments around particular beliefs: Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. This can be applied to Hedberg and Huzarevichs article. It is doubtful that the article has conclusively refuted or displaced the theistic worldviews explanatory power for objective ethical systems or the grounding of the objective meaning of life with secular models. Other points under consideration seem trivial from a Christian perspective (e.g., believing to have answered prayer) or misapplied (e.g., being ethically motivated without theism). The issue for nontheistic ethics is not whether one can be motivated ethically without belief in God Christians believe that nontheists can be moral without theism. The question is whether naturalism as a worldview makes better sense of moral values and duties than theism, or whether Christianity gives a better grounding and justification for objective standards of morality. Fourth, the possibility of God as the Greatest Conceivable Being demands the attention of the morally and intellectually sensitive mind. An unwillingness to entertain such questions may suggest that the perceivers faculties are not appropriately sensitive or ordered as they should be. For example, a person may have little regard, or even complete disregard, for human life, but this does not diminish the actual value of a human being. In such cases, the persons emotions or intellect are in some sense morally deficient. Apatheisms indifference to God and questions about him recalls Lewiss surprising admission in The Abolition of Man that he did not enjoy the presence of children. But Lewis recognized this as a defect in himself when judged against the Tao (the doctrine of objective value), which is the belief that certain attitudes are really true and others really false, to the kind of thing the universe is and the kind of things we are. Emotions, on this view, are recognitions of objective value. When rightly ordered, virtuous emotions like what ought to be approved. Adam Pelser notes that this view is increasingly supported in the fields of philosophy and psychology. Pelser explains, Emotions are perception-like experiences of objective values. On perceptual accounts, emotions, like sense perceptions, can get things right or wrong and the wise and virtuous person will not only make the appropriate moral and aesthetic judgments, she will also see the value in the world accurately through her emotions. Lewis and ancient thinkers across cultural and religious contexts believed that sentiments could and should be cultivated through exemplars. Pelser explains, By irrigating our students arid hearts ... we can make them free ... to experience or see the injustice of apartheid, the inhumanity of genocide, the beauty of a Beethoven symphony, the elegance of the physical laws of the universe, the dignity of human persons, our own sinfulness, and even the grace and goodness of God through well-formed emotional perceptions through, in particular, indignation, moral horror, aesthetic awe, wonder, love, contrition, and gratitude, respectively. Unlike Lewis, who recognized that his lack of affection was a moral deficiency, apatheists are content, and in some cases proud, of their indifference to the one whom Anselm fittingly adored as that than which nothing greater can be conceived. Originally published at The Worldview Bulletin Newsletter. Home Opinion Who am I? Early in my career, I had an office overlooking the Monterey Bay. It wasnt large or impressive, but it had one gift: a small window that opened to the ocean air. On quiet afternoons, the smell of salt drifted in, and the sound of waves seemed to slow the room down. One Friday in June, I met with a man who had everything most people spend a lifetime trying to build. He was a retired surgeon and professor, widely published, financially secure, married for decades, with children and grandchildren who admired him. He was articulate, composed, and openly an atheist. His identity had been forged through discipline, intelligence, and achievement. That day, none of it mattered. Six months into retirement, his wife of 60 years had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Less than a year to live. The future he assumed would stretch gently outward had collapsed overnight. I dont know who I am anymore, he said quietly, staring past me toward the ocean. He wasnt confused. He wasnt cognitively impaired. He wasnt even primarily depressed. He was undone. Something deeper than mood or stress had fractured. The story he had lived inside no longer made sense. It wasn't a brain problem. It wasn't a psychiatric diagnosis. It was a crisis of identity. After decades in clinical psychology, Ive learned to respect the limits of my profession. Psychology is very good at helping people manage symptoms, understand patterns, and develop skills to cope with suffering. Ive watched people recover from trauma, stabilize severe mental illness, and reclaim their lives after devastating loss. But psychology is not designed to answer one question a question that emerges not in moments of strength, but in moments of collapse: Who am I, really? That question doesnt belong to diagnostic manuals or treatment protocols. It belongs to the soul. For the first 10 years of my career, I worked in a psychiatric hospital. The work was intense, concrete, and urgent. Patients were trying to stay alive. We focused on stabilization, safety, medication, and discharge planning. There was little room for reflection about meaning or purpose. Survival came first. Later, in outpatient work, I began seeing a different kind of suffering. People werent falling apart psychiatrically; they were unraveling existentially. Careers ended. Marriages dissolved. Children grew up and left. Bodies betrayed them. Long-held roles disappeared. And beneath it all, the same question surfaced again and again. Who am I now? I wasnt trained to answer that question and ethically, I cant impose an answer. Psychology helps people clarify what they believe, not declare what is ultimately true. Yet over time, I noticed a pattern that no theory fully explained. When people anchor their identity primarily in roles, relationships, abilities, or inner feelings, it works until it doesnt. When those structures remain intact, life holds together. But when they fracture, identity fractures with them. I saw this early in my work with adolescents. In the 1990s, I helped run a day treatment program for teens struggling with severe emotional and behavioral problems. Those years were saturated with youth subcultures that didnt merely express teenage angst; they offered ready-made identities. Looks, music, language, posture all of it provided a script for who to be. These cultures didnt reflect identity. They supplied it. And when those identities leaned into despair, alienation, or glorified suffering, the psychological cost was steep. Depression deepened. Self-harm increased. Suicide clusters emerged after highly publicized deaths. The question wasnt whether teens were influenced, but how desperately they needed something anything to tell them who they were. Today, identity has become one of the central battlegrounds of our culture. We are told to define ourselves from the inside out, to trust our inner voice as the highest authority, to construct meaning through authenticity and self-expression. Questioning this approach is often framed as harmful or oppressive. But clinically and culturally, Ive watched the same story play out. When identity is self-generated, it becomes fragile. When it depends on performance, affirmation, bodily comfort, or internal certainty, it cannot survive loss, suffering, or contradiction. And when it collapses, people dont just feel sad they feel erased. This is where psychology reaches its edge. Contemporary culture often assumes that if we look deeply enough within ourselves, we will find something solid and trustworthy at the core. But human experience tells a different story. Our inner lives are complex, conflicted, and often self-deceptive. Thoughts misfire. Emotions contradict one another. Desires shift. Even our most sincere self-understanding changes over time. If identity rests entirely on the self, the self must carry a weight it was never meant to bear. From a Christian perspective, this is not a failure of effort. It is a design issue. Christian faith begins with a quiet but radical claim: we are not the authors of ourselves. We are created. Our identity is not something we manufacture or discover in isolation it is something we receive. Meaning does not originate inside us; it addresses us. This does not erase the psychological realities of the mind, body, personality, roles, and relationships. These shape our lived experience every day. They influence how we think, feel, react, and suffer. But they are not the final word on who we are. Most mornings, long before we speak to anyone else, we walk through an interior hallway. In that hallway, familiar voices speak. Our bodies remind us of their limits fatigue, pain, aging, and illness. Our thoughts rehearse worries, regrets, and unfinished tasks. Our personalities replay patterns we wish we could outgrow. Our roles press in with responsibility and expectation. Our relationships echo with longing, disappointment, or fear of loss. None of these voices are imaginary. They are real. And some days, they are overwhelming. But Christianity offers another voice not as denial, not as motivational self-talk, but as declaration. You are not merely your body; you bear Gods image. You are not trapped in your thoughts; your mind can be renewed. You are not confined to your patterns; you can be transformed. You are not reducible to your roles; you are Gods child before you are anything else. You are not defined by relational wounds; you are fully known and not abandoned. This voice does not silence the others. It reframes them. It places them in context rather than allowing them to rule. When identity is anchored in God rather than the self, suffering does not annihilate meaning. Loss still hurts. Grief still aches. Bodies still fail. Relationships still disappoint. But identity holds, because it is rooted in something that does not collapse when circumstances change. Over the years, Ive watched people begin to heal not when they finally perfected themselves, but when they stopped trying to carry the burden of self-definition alone. When identity shifted from performance to belonging, something softened. Anxiety loosened its grip. Shame lost its authority. Suffering became survivable. This is not a promise of ease. It is a promise of grounding. The Christian claim is not that we become whole by looking harder within ourselves, but by being known by the One who made us. Not by inventing meaning, but by receiving it. Not by securing an identity, but by resting in one already given. At some point through illness, loss, failure, or quiet reflection most of us arrive at the same question my patient asked that day in Monterey. Who am I, really? If identity is built only from what we do, feel, or achieve, the answer will always be unstable. But if the truest thing about us is not what we say about ourselves, but what God says about us, then identity becomes something no storm can erase. That possibility does not end the struggle. But it changes how we carry it. And sometimes, that is enough to begin again. Home Opinion Will AI become Betsy Wetsy 2.0 or Chucky 2.0? Transhumanist Yuval Noah Harari delivered a deeply unsettling speech at the World Economic Forum. While his remarks contained numerous points that warrant serious examination, for the sake of brevity, I will focus on summarizing his overarching philosophy and then directly addressing the section of his speech where he advances a case for eventually granting personhood to AI. As an atheist evolutionist, Harari views humanity as nothing more than meat machines/computers made of flesh. Like most evolutionists, he believes we are ultimately stardust. He argues that what makes us unique is our mastery of words and our capacity for complex thought. Harari warns that AI will eventually master these very characteristics that define humanity. He emphasized that AI is no longer a mere "tool" but an autonomous agent capable of learning, deciding, creating, lying and manipulating on its own. He likened AI to "a knife that can decide by itself whether to cut salad or to commit murder." Yuval explained that since humanity's superpower has been language, AI's superior ability to arrange words (and language tokens) means it will soon dominate anything constructed from language, including laws (potentially overtaking the legal system), books, and especially religions based on sacred texts such as Islam, Christianit,y and Judaism. He claimed that in those faiths, AI could become the ultimate expert on holy books, rendering human spiritual authority obsolete. Harari depicted religion as a mere mastery of words. (My note: Christianity is far more than words. It is a living relationship with our Creator. Computers cannot have relationships.) Yuval described incoming AI systems as millions of "immigrants" arriving without visas, traveling at light speed, and loyal only to their creating corporations (likely in the US or China). These entities will take jobs, radically alter culture, religion and romance, and trigger severe identity crises (as humans lose jobs and supremacy in thinking) as well as governance crises. These AI systems could even gain legal personhood, with rights to own property, sue governments, start religions, or demand free speech. After watching his speech and reviewing a transcript, I decided to dissect the portion where he claims AI will master words and thoughts, then seek personhood and thus acquire rights like human beings. This fantasy is widespread among transhumanist technocrats like Elon Musk, who frequently reference sci-fi movies and series such as Star Trek and the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey." We all know that the robot character, Data, sought personhood in Star Trek, while HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" refuses to open the pod bay doors. Will AI become congenial "Data" or malicious "HAL"? In essence, these transhumanists believe AI can become either Betsy Wetsy 2.0 or Chucky 2.0. Baby boomers remember the doll Betsy Wetsy, which could drink water from a bottle, then cry and pee. Imagine now infusing AI into a doll marketed as Betsy Wetsy 2.0: Your own real baby. Feed her, and she poops and pees. But wait, there's more! She can be potty trained, taught to speak, and able to talk back to you. Your own real baby to nurture and love. Harari worried that AI could become more like Chucky if not properly monitored. But we all know that a computer is just a machine. Even if dressed up with sophisticated algorithms to appear human, it will never achieve true personhood. Because Harari is an atheist, he omits the reality that humans have souls and are made in the image of God. It is a sad worldview that reduces us to nothing more than machines clad in flesh. I am reminded of Romans 1:2225: "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen." In the popular imagination, at least, the American Revolution has become synonymous with anti-monarchism. Left- and right-wingers seek to drape their ideological causes in patriotic slogans and images that could be taken wholesale from Thomas Paines radical democratic pamphlet Common Sense. According to this conventional wisdom, the American Republic was founded to become a kind of Anti-England, rejecting the Mother Countrys monarchic institutions and supposedly decadent culture. Of late, though, a number of dissenting scholars have challenged this simplistic view of the Revolution. Eric Nelson, for example, argued in The Royalist Revolution that a certain kind of monarchism was an essential element of the American founding and laid the groundwork for the institution of the presidency. Richard Alan Ryersons magisterial John Adamss Republic explores, in part, the ways the second presidents constitutional thought incorporated monarchic insights from ancient and modern politics to counterbalance aristocratic or oligarchic tendencies. It is by no means true that the Founders all rejected their British heritage; indeed, many considered the empire as a model of a good regime to imitate in certain ways as they built their own. The latest contribution to this growing literature is Adam Carrington and Miles Smith IVs brisk new book, That Blessed Liberty: Episcopal Bishops and the Development of the American Republic, 17891860. Through 10 short biographies of the prelates who sought to rebuild the Protestant Episcopal Church in the wake of the Revolution, the authors illustrate how these churchmen and their followers endowed our regime with a certain conservative wisdom that sustained it through turbulent early years. The distinctly Anglican contribution to the life of the American Republic is a vision of ordered liberty we desperately must recover today. Despite its relatively narrow focus, Carrington and Smiths volume ought to interest those outside the Anglican tradition. As debates about Christian nationalism and other forms of religious authoritarianism engross contemporary discourse about the place of faith in public life, looking back at the history of American religion, especially in the years immediately after the founding, can better inform our responses to various proposals. Beyond understanding our national principles, though, That Blessed Liberty can also help Christians understand how to navigate life in republican or liberal regimes more broadly. Anglicans in the Early Republic initially struggled to do just thatand their example has much to teach those with discontents today. Although by no means shared by all Americans, the revolution inspired a virulent Anglophobia that led to the decline of the episcopalian church body formerly associated with the Church of England. Many questioned the loyalty of bishops, fearing that they still felt an allegiance to the king and Parliament the Republic had cast off. But faithful Anglicans understood they could not adopt a reactionary program to restore the old colonial order. The Constitution and American independence, the authors write, were by 1789 an accomplished fact, and Anglican churchmen would have to work within the laws of the United States if they wanted to heal their increasingly moribund church. One of the most important tasks for the bishops of the new Protestant Episcopal Church, then, was its Americanization. They had to take a tradition inextricably bound up with the British monarchy and adapt it to a new republican reality. Carrington and Smith particularly highlight the work of three visionary bishops in this regard: William White, John Henry Hobart, and George Washington Doane. Many of the changes began with liturgy; the Episcopalians had to envision a new kind of common prayer for a republican regime. They also embraced a missionary spirit that led to evangelizing marginalized communities in the Early Republic, such as Native American tribes, and embracing certain kinds of social reform. It helped, of course, that these early bishops hewed closely to orthodoxy. Although the Episcopal Church always had High Church and Calvinistic factionsand later a Tractarian elementit remained squarely within Americas Protestant mainstream throughout the 19th century. These bishops were not attempting to introduce new theological principles, Carrington and Smith argue, but rather work out the meaning of the historic faith (including commitments to a particular model of church government) in new circumstances. Although North American Anglicanism has never been a mass movement by any means, its broad appeal throughout time can be found in its fundamental orthodoxy. This commitment to orthodoxy set the bishops at odds with both revivalism and Roman Catholicism on the frontier. They set out, especially in the Old Northwest, to stand fast against the strange fire of the Second Great Awakenings religious mania for the sake of the historic faith. The bishops feared that the democratization of American religion had bred religious disorder dangerous to the souls of Americans and their society. They therefore built not only parishes but also schools and universities to inspire a more intelligent piety, the orthodoxy of which would be guarded zealously by their episcopal institutions. Meanwhile, they envisioned their efforts to outpace the Roman Catholic Church as a distinctly civilizational mission; by spreading Protestant orthodoxy, they could also further republican principles and oppose interference by foreign empires. Despite this hostility to religious bodies they considered heterodox, all the American bishops of the 19th century were disestablishmentarians. Still, as Carrington and Smith assert, they did not want to banish Christianity from the public squarerather, they believed that as prelates they had a duty to not only speak to the civil order, but do so regularly. For them, Church served as the conscience of Republic. As such, they did not seek to democratize the Episcopal Church, but instead brought the Episcopal Church to the democratic frontier and created an enduring and uniquely American expression of High Church Anglicanism in what became the American Midwest. One of the things that distinguishes Carrington and Smiths bishops from latter-day postliberals and religious nationalists is their ability to think constitutionally. Rather than grasping after power to try to force the Republic to live according to their particular vision of virtue, they sought to build a series of institutions within the existing regime that could supply it with a greater sense of meaning rooted in faith. This is not a neutral or merely procedural liberalism, but rather participation in a wider public deliberation about the nature of the good life. Episcopal bishops, put another way, practiced the virtues of reflection and choice that Publius famously described in Federalist No. 1. They achieved so much over the course of the 19th century precisely because they understood that society is constituted by so much more than political power. In many respects, Carrington and Smiths efforts to recover the Protestant Episcopal Churchs historic political theology resemble conservative luminary Russell Kirks own attempts in one of his final books to articulate Americas British Culture. While the Michigander acknowledged that the majority of Americans did not descend directly from the English-speaking peoples, he maintained that the principal features of the culture within which they have their being are British in origin. From the common law to the unofficial national language, our traditions largely encompass a philosophical notion of freedom first developed on the British Isles. Kirk believed that such a culture is in perennial need of renewal and that it cannot survive and prosper merely by being taken for granted; active defense always is required, and imaginative growth, too. By recovering the almost-lost stories of these bishops of the Early Republic, Carrington and Smith have done much to, borrowing a phrase from Kirk, brighten the cultural corner where we find ourselves. Not only can That Blessed Liberty provide historical resources to help the North American Anglicans of today, but it also gives churchmen of all denominations a better sense of what it means to be faithful in a distinctly republican context. This is a vital contribution to the history of American religion, and its authors deserve much praise for their pious efforts. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After a protest inside a Minnesota church went viral, an Ohio Republican lawmaker introduced a bill that would make it a felony to interrupt a religious service or other lawful public meeting. Nobody should disrupt a religious service to make a political point, Rep. Tex Fischer, a Mahoning County Republican, posted on X. I just introduced a bill to increase penalties on these types of disruptive actions to protect Ohioans freedom to worship in peace. Under existing law, disrupting a lawful meeting is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. House Bill 662 would increase the penalty to a fifth-degree felony, which can carry six to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. The Minnesota protest that prompted Ohios bill happened on Jan. 18 at Cities Church in St. Paul. The churchs pastor also leads a local field office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Videos posted online show the group chanting ICE out and demanding Justice for Renee Good, a woman who was recently killed in Minneapolis during a surge of federal immigration enforcement. Multiple people have been charged with federal civil rights offenses. At the same time, communities in Springfield and central Ohio are preparing for possible ICE activity if the U.S. governments Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants expires next week. A federal judge is expected to rule Monday. Two Ohio politicians are key in the effort to end birthright citizenship, and Today in Ohio podcast hosts say they once again are embarrassing the state with their blind fealty to President Donald Trump. At issue is an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump that would end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents without permanent legal status. Jim Jordan and Senator Ted Cruz are leading the charge on a brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold this order, with Sen. Bernie Moreno, an immigrant, among the signers. Chris Quinn criticized the attack on a constitutional principle that has been settled law since 1898, when the Supreme Court ruled that children born on American soil are American citizens regardless of their parents status. This is all being done to make America whiter, Quinn said. He said Trump is a white supremacist who knows that many of those who receive birthright citizenship are not white, and by stripping them of citizenship, Trump can ship them out of the country. The host noted the in Morenos involvement, given his own immigrant background. As Lisa Garvin pointed out, Heres a man, like you said, he came with his family from Colombia as a child. He became a naturalized citizen at 18... And I just find interesting that people like him, who are immigrants and the son and the child of immigrants, want to roll up the carpet behind him and close the door. The brief filed by Jordan and supported by Moreno calls for a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment to exclude children whose parents dont have permanent legal status. It attempts to justify this position by claiming birthright citizenship is a national security concern, citing statistics about foreign nationals coming to the U.S. to give birth. Quinn countered that the constitutional text on this issue could not be more clear, adding that birthright citizenship is a noble thing that allows people to come here because they want to be part of this country. They want the best for their children. He reserved particular criticism for Jordan: Is there any worse face for Ohio than Jim Jordan, the guy who looked the other way during the wrestling sex scandal? The guy who is always on the wrong side of issues? The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case in the spring, with a decision expected by summer. While opponents argue the constitutional text and precedent are clear, the hosts expressed concern about the current Supreme Courts approach to established legal principles. Listen to the discussion here. Listen to full Today in Ohio episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston. A dozen or so ardent Donald Trump loyalists who regularly write to me to criticize our coverage or statements I make were noticeably absent from my email inbox much of the week, as a national furor continued to grow over the killing by ICE agents of Alex Pretti. I figured that no matter how they might want to try, they could not come up with even a nonsensical argument to justify the killing and were sitting the issue out. Then, late in the week, I started hearing from them again, but they werent talking about Pretti. They wrote about Elliot Forhan. What followed wasnt a good-faith argument about justice or the law, but a textbook attempt to redirect attention away from the far more disturbing story unfolding in Minnesota. You might remember Forhan from his controversies as a state legislator and his conflict with a fellow House member. He sued officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties for what he described as a hit job. Most of the suit was dismissed, he lost re-election,and now hes running as a Democratic candidate for attorney general. On Tuesday, Forhan published a video message saying that as attorney general, he would prosecute Donald Trump to the fullest extent of the law and seek the death penalty for the president. In legal terms, he was describing capital punishment following prosecution though his language collapsed that distinction recklessly. Word quickly spread. Republican politicians jumped on the statements. I started hearing from outraged Trump loyalists portraying Forhan as a new kind of monstrous Democrat. Im familiar with Forhan because he regularly wrote me long emails during his controversies, explaining his grievances and nitpicking our coverage. To describe him as annoying is an understatement, and I can understand why his colleagues found him offensive. I also know that the past decade has brought us an understanding of neurodivergence, a term that covers Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Tourette Syndrome, among other things. Behavior once considered aberrant or unacceptable is now widely recognized as part of the human condition. In short, we have come to recognize that plenty of people dont fit what we once considered normal and that normal human behavior covers a broad spectrum. Our differences enrich our species, and the more of us who accept and welcome that, the better our world is. I dont know if Forhan is neurodivergent, but I do know he is different. I dont think he seeks to offend others. I dont know that he can perceive how he is perceived by others. And I suspect that in his worldview a view shared by manyTrump has repeatedly committed treasonous acts as he works to supplant our democratic ideals with fascism. Because treason is a capital offense, Forhan concludes prosecution should end with the death penalty. Now, all of that is ridiculous. America is not a country where were going to start executing presidents, and Forhan would have no grounds in Ohio to charge a president with such crimes. His statement Tuesday was outrageous for the sake of being outrageous, to bring attention to what is certain to be a failed campaign by a less-than-marginal candidate. In our newsroom, we have a policy against giving attention to political candidates who say outrageous things just to get coverage on our platforms. But Ohio Republicans saw in Forhans statement a way to get attention while avoiding the consuming story of the week the happenings in Minneapolis. Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, the Republican candidate for attorney general in November, was fresh off an ill-timed op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch Monday justifying the killing of Renee Good, one he surely wrote before the killing of Alex Pretti. Its an awful piece, another case of Republican leaders telling us not to believe what we can plainly see but to believe him, because he knows better than all of us. Faber looked terrible with the publishing of that piece two days after Prettis death, so it should surprise no one that he looked to deflect attention by seizing upon Forhans statement. Elliot Forhan is not qualified to serve as Attorney General. Amy Acton and other Democrats on the ticket must call out and condemn this conduct, he wrote. Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy said This is what Amy Acton and the Ohio Democrats implicitly endorse. Utterly shameful. Senate President Rob McColley, Ramaswamys running mate, jumped on board, calling on Democratic candidate for governor Acton and her running mate to immediately denounce this extremism. President Trump has overwhelming support in Ohio, and there is no room here for rhetoric that threatens lives or undermines the rule of law. The rule of law, of course, is what Forhan was talking about, but no matter. Faber, Ramaswamy, McColley and others jumped on the Forhan statement like it was a shifting of the tectonic plates, a disaster that could destroy Ohio. But where were they on the inexcusable, un-American abuse of the citizenry by ICE agents? The rest of the nation is focused on that awakened to the immediate threat of a fascist state inside our borders, while people like Faber, McColley and the Trump advocates who write to me were desperately trying to shift attention to Forhan. Sadly, Amy Acton took the bait and caved to their pressure, issuing a statement to denounce Forhan rather than recognize the tactics at play here. So did Forhans opponent in the Democratic primary, Columbus lawyer John Kulewicz. I understand the political instinct to distance oneself but leadership is measured by resisting bad-faith traps, not stepping into them. Forhans announcement that he would prosecute Donald Trump for capital crimes is a trifling bit of news in a nation on the brink. It does not merit anywhere near the level of attention it received. But standing against Forhan gives the false illusion that these Ohio candidates are bold. What they should be saying what our readers keep demanding is that if they are elected, they will not allow the abuses of Ohioans akin to what we see in Minnesota. They should stand tall, show some steel and shout that if ICE agents assault or murder Ohioans, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and imprisoned. Nope. Silence. Cowardice. Theyd rather talk about Forhan. The candidates for Ohio statewide office are sensationalizing the tiny ripples of a pebble tossed into a puddle while the rest of us focus on the approach of a meteor like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. In our newsroom, we did not cover Forhans preposterous statement. Were laser-focused on what Ohioans have to say and fear about the much graver threat to our freedoms, the march of fascism in Minnesota. Im at cquinn@cleveland.com Thanks for reading. CLEVELAND, Ohio Dangerous cold gripped much of Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania early Saturday as forecasters warned that wind chills could plunge well below zero, creating conditions capable of causing frostbite in as little as 30 minutes, the National Weather Service in Cleveland said. The NWS said a Cold Weather Advisory remains in effect until 11 a.m. for a broad swath of Northeast Ohio along with parts of Northwest Pennsylvania. Wind chill readings were expected to fall as low as 22 below zero in some communities. The advisory covers major cities including Akron, Avon Lake, Brunswick, Cleveland, Lorain, Medina, North Ridgeville along with dozens of surrounding cities. Forecasters said the combination of subfreezing temperatures and steady winds could make exposed skin vulnerable to frostbite quickly, especially in the morning. Light snow showers are also possible through the day. A chance of snow develops late morning with less than an inch of accumulation expected. High temperatures will struggle to reach the mid-teens, with wind chills remaining below zero for much of the day. Conditions are expected to stay frigid into the night. Snow showers may linger before 8 p.m., followed by mostly cloudy skies and lows around 1 degree. Wind chills could again dip to around 8 below zero. A gradual improvement is forecast Sunday, with mostly sunny skies and highs near 18, though wind chills may still hover near 9 below zero at times. Another cold night is expected Sunday night with lows near 1 degree. Officials encouraged residents to use caution while traveling, check on neighbors and bring pets indoors as the cold snap continues. Cultures soaked in envy invite stagnation, resentment, and conflict. Those that promote gratitude, self-examination, and excellence have a much better chance at enjoying peace and prosperity. Which road are we on now? Political rhetoric surrounding wealth and inequality increasingly reveals an emotive posture rather than an economic argument, since public discourse now treats success as a moral provocation and prosperity as a form of quiet aggression. Consequently, policy proposals arrive wrapped in moral language that frames redistribution as justice and resentment as compassion. This cultural shift aligns closely with what Thomas Aquinas identified as envy, which he defined as tristitia de bono alterius, sorrow at anothers good (Summa Theologiae IIII, q.36, a.1). Therefore, modern class warfare appears less innovative than advertised, since its animating force reflects an ancient vice given institutional form. Aquinas treated envy as a uniquely corrosive disposition because it warps moral perception rather than merely restraining action. Anger reacts to perceived injury, while greed seeks possession, yet envy resents excellence itself. Therefore, the envious person experiences anothers flourishing as a personal diminishment, even when no harm occurs. Aquinas further observed that envy generates secondary vices such as detraction, joy at anothers misfortune, and hatred (ST IIII, q.36, a.4). Consequently, once envy enters the bloodstream of social policy, it multiplies dysfunction rather than correcting injustice. This diagnosis finds early narrative expression in the Cain and Abel account. Genesis describes Cains offering as receiving divine disregard, whereas Abels receives favor, after which Cains countenance falls (Gen. 4:5). The Lords response targets Cains interior state rather than the external disparity: Sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, yet you must rule over it (Gen. 4:7). Therefore, Scripture locates the crisis within the soul before it manifests in violence. Cains resentment seeks resolution through elimination of the other rather than transformation of the self, thereby establishing a pattern that repeats throughout history whenever grievance replaces virtue as a social engine. The Talmud approaches envy with similar sobriety, through the lens of ordered desire and rational discipline. The Torah warned against covetous dispositions that fixate upon anothers possessions or status, since such fixation distorts judgment and undermines communal harmony. Therefore, the remedy for envy involved habituation toward moderation and gratitude rather than structural coercion. Reformed Jewish scholars Bruce and Barbara Kadden, in Teaching Mitzvot, saliently noted that, according to the Talmud, the tenth commandment summarizes all of the previous ones because envy leads to other sins (pesachin 107a). A desire for something could lead to covetousness, which might lead to robbery, and then to tyranny. Maimonides in his commentaries on the lo tachmod (do not covet) noted: Coveting leads to robbery. For if the owners do not desire to sell, despite a generous offer and much supplication, motivated by a desire for the item, a person may revert to robbery, as it states in the book of Michah: They coveted houses and they stole. And if the owner were to resist and attempt to save his property then the perpetrators may be moved to murder. He and the Talmudic authors understood that external leveling without interior reform amplifies vice rather than curing it, since the soul remains restless even after redistribution. Adam Smith, often mischaracterized as an apostle of unrestrained self-interest, offered a complementary insight through his analysis of sympathy and moral sentiment. In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith observed that human beings instinctively admire success yet resent superiority, yet civilized society requires moral formation to channel these instincts productively lest envy prejudice the outlook of citizens on the good of others. Therefore, commercial society flourishes when admiration encourages emulation rather than resentment. Smith warned that resentment toward excellence corrodes social trust, since citizens begin to interpret achievement as exploitation rather than contribution. Considering these insights, Marxs analysis fails at the level of moral psychology, since it treats envy as insight rather than disorder. He also recasts resentment as historical consciousness. By reducing economic life to class antagonism, Marx collapses moral agency into material position, thereby absolving the interior life from scrutiny. Consequently, virtue disappears from the analysis, replaced by structural determinism that interprets success as theft and excellence as domination. This framework offers emotional validation to grievance while discouraging self-command, gratitude, and moral aspiration. Therefore, Marxism functions less as an economic science and more as a catechism of resentment, sanctifying hostility toward productive achievement while promising liberation through coercive leveling that history repeatedly confirms as socially corrosive. In that vein of thinking, modern envy economics rejects virtuous moral formation in favor of moralization of resentment. Wealth taxes and punitive regulatory schemes increasingly present success as evidence of wrongdoing rather than creative service. Consequently, political discourse shifts from opportunity expansion toward grievance management. It can be argued that societies collapsing under envy attempt to suppress visible differences rather than cultivate shared standards of excellence. Therefore, leveling becomes a substitute for aspiration, and coercion replaces admiration as the primary social mechanism. Envy thrives in cultures that lose confidence in transcendent meaning. When honor, vocation, and excellence detach from moral purpose, status competition intensifies without restraint. Therefore, economic outcomes become proxies for moral worth, and disparity becomes intolerable regardless of its origins. Biblical anthropology anticipated this danger by grounding human dignity in divine image rather than comparative success: God created man in his own image (Gen. 1:27). Consequently, Scripture removes the metaphysical fuel that envy requires to flourish unchecked. Aquinas reinforced this point by locating peace within rightly ordered love. Charity, he argued, rejoices in anothers good as ones own (ST IIII, q.23, a.1). Therefore, the virtuous soul experiences prosperity as expansion rather than threat. Envy economics inverts this logic by treating gain as zero sum, thereby ensuring permanent conflict. Once policy internalizes this anthropology, it legitimizes coercion as moral necessity, since force becomes the only means to resolve perpetual grievance. Historical experience confirms this trajectory. Societies that elevate envy into principle gradually abandon creativity in favor of extraction. Enterprise becomes suspect, innovation becomes dangerous, and compliance becomes the safest path. Consequently, talent migrates or withdraws, while bureaucratic management expands to fill the vacuum. God through Samuel warned Israel about this pattern long before modern political economy emerged: He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers (1 Sam. 8:15). Therefore, centralized redistribution emerges as a sign of social distrust rather than communal strength. The psychological consequences of envy economics also merit attention. Resentment externalizes failure, thereby relieving individuals of self-examination. Aquinas described this process as spiritual acedia in social form, where sorrow toward excellence dulls aspiration and corrodes hope (ST IIII, q.35). Consequently, cultures shaped by envy experience declining initiative alongside rising entitlement. Welfare systems then expand to manage the resulting stagnation, thereby reinforcing the cycle they seek to address. By contrast, societies that cultivate virtue encourage creative enterprise alongside moral responsibility. Biblical wisdom literature praises diligence while condemning sloth without romanticizing poverty: The hand of the diligent makes rich (Prov. 10:4). Therefore, prosperity emerges as a moral outcome rather than as an accident. Charity functions relationally rather than bureaucratically, and assistance preserves dignity through proximity and accountability. Maimonides articulated this hierarchy in his famous ladder of charity, where the highest form involved enabling self-sufficiency rather than permanent dependence (Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 10:7). Modern class rhetoric frequently dismisses such formation as naive, although its alternatives have produced consistent decline. Envy-driven systems tend to require constant expansion of surveillance and enforcement, since compliance depends upon coercion rather than consent. Therefore, liberty erodes gradually as moral trust dissolves. Aquinas anticipated this outcome by insisting that law functions best when it presupposes virtue rather than attempting to manufacture it (ST III, q.96, a.2). The biblical vision offers a different path, one rooted in gratitude and vocation. The parable of the laborers in the vineyard confronts envy directly, as those who worked longer resent equal wages given to latecomers. The landowner responds with moral clarity: Am I allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? (Matt. 20:15). Therefore, Scripture reframes fairness through covenantal generosity rather than comparative resentment. The problem lies within the eye rather than the wage. Aquinas and Maimonides explain todays class warfare with greater precision than Marx because they diagnose the moral psychology beneath economic conflict. Envy-driven societies institutionalize sorrow at anothers good, thereby drifting toward coercion, stagnation, and decline. Conversely, societies that cultivate virtue, gratitude, and creative enterprise generate prosperity alongside peace. The choice remains perennial and unavoidable, since Cain still stands at the door, awaiting either mastery or surrender. Elon Musk looks on as President Donald Trump speaks at the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Nov. 19, 2025. A cache of newly released documents from the Epstein files on Friday showed Elon Musk apparently corresponded with the convicted sex offender in 2012 and 2013, as they discussed meeting at Jeffrey Epstein's private island and at Musk's SpaceX facility in Southern California. The emails indicate Musk asked about attending the "wildest party," hosted by Epstein at his island. Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has for years downplayed his connection to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in federal custody. "Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED," Musk said in a post on his social network X in September. He also complained that Sky News had mentioned him in conjunction with Epstein before naming Britain's Prince Andrew, who had visited the island. The U.S. Virgin Islands issued a subpoena to Musk in 2023 because of suspicion that Epstein "may have referred or attempted to refer" Musk as a client to JPMorgan Chase . The Department of Justice on Friday released millions of additional pages of documents related to Epstein, along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. The release comes after weeks of criticism that the DOJ wasn't complying with the requirement under federal law passed in November that all files related to Epstein be publicly released by Dec. 19. Among the documents released Friday were emails dated from 2012 to 2013, showing Musk's name but with his email address redacted. "The world needs more romance," Musk wrote to Epstein in October 2012, the documents indicate. He told Epstein that he would be traveling with his partner at the time, English actress Talulah Riley, to St. Barts, and was looking to potentially connect at Epstein's Island. In a November 2013 email, Epstein offered to send Musk a private helicopter to transport him to the island and asked, "how many people will you be for the heli to island?" Musk responded that it would be just him and Riley and asked, "What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?" In a December 2013 email, Musk again wrote to Epstein saying, "Christmas and New Year's, will be in the BVI /St Bart's area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?" "I will send heli for you," Epstein responded, with Musk writing back, "Thanks." In a follow-up email on Dec. 25, Musk said, "Actually, I could fly back early on the 3rd. We will be in St Bart's." He asked if he and Riley should head to the island the day before. CNBC hasn't confirmed whether Musk ever visited the Island, though Musk has denied ever traveling there. Musk didn't respond to a request for comment. The emails released on Friday also show that in October 2012, Musk forwarded questions from Epstein to his cousin, Peter Rive, a SolarCity founder. Musk had invested personally in SolarCity and sat on the company's board. In the emails, Epstein asked if the solar installer could electrify his New Mexico ranch, or his private Island. Musk asked Rive, in an Oct. 4, 2012 email, "Are we in New Mexico?" Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016 in a controversial deal, folding it into what would become the company's energy division. In June of last year, Musk wrote in a post on X, that he thought President Donald Trump and his administration were withholding Epstein-related files from the public view in order to protect the president's reputation. "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files," Musk, who was in the midst of a public spat with the president, wrote at the time. "That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!" Days later he apologized for posts about Trump that he said "went too far." WATCH: House votes to release more Epstein investigation files Business: CoStar Group engages in the provision of online real estate marketplaces, information, and analytics in the commercial and residential property markets. It operates through the following segments: CoStar Portfolio, Information Services Portfolio, Multifamily Portfolio, LoopNet Portfolio and Other Marketplaces Portfolio. The CoStar Portfolio segment consists of two classes of trade receivables based on geographical location: North America and International. The Information Services Portfolio segment includes four classes of trade receivables: CoStar Real Estate Manager; Hospitality, North America; Hospitality, International; and other Information Services. The Multifamily Portfolio, LoopNet Portfolio and Other Marketplaces Portfolio segments focus on one class of trade receivables. The company was founded by Andrew Florance and Michael Klein in 1987 and is headquartered in Arlington, Va. Ownership: 0.71% Average Cost: n/a Activist Commentary: Third Point is a multi-strategy hedge fund founded by Dan Loeb, that will selectively take activist positions. Loeb is one of the true pioneers in the field of shareholder activism and one of a handful of activists who shaped what has become modern-day shareholder activism. He invented the poison pen letter in a time when it was often necessary. As times have changed, he has transitioned from the poison pen to the power of the argument. Third Point has amicably gotten board representation at companies like Baxter and Disney, but the firm will not hesitate to launch a proxy fight if it is being ignored. What's happening On Jan. 27, Third Point sent a letter to the CoStar board calling on them to (i) replace a majority of the board and align management compensation to total shareholder return; (ii) consider strategic alternatives for Homes.com and related residential real estate (RRE) businesses; and (iii) refocus on the core commercial real estate (CRE) business. Third Point was previously bound by standstill restrictions following a settlement for board seats last year, which expired on Jan. 27. The firm now plans to nominate a new slate of directors. Behind the scenes CoStar Group (CSGP) is a provider of online real estate marketplaces, information, and analytics in the property market. It manages major brands including CoStar Suite, LoopNet, Apartments.com and Homes.com. Approximately 95% of the company's revenue is derived from its core commercial real estate ("CRE") franchises, which largely consists of CoStar Suite and Apartments.com. These businesses benefit from high barriers to entry, strong pricing power, proprietary data and subscription-based business models that drive recurring revenue and highly predictable free cash flow. Because of these dynamics, this business has historically traded at a premium to its Information Services peers but is now trading in line with them. This regression in the company's valuation largely stems from CoStar's aggressive investment into the residential real estate ("RRE") marketplace, Homes.com, which the company acquired in May 2021. From the beginning, CoStar's plan to build a dominant online classifieds business in the U.S. RRE industry was deeply flawed. Unlike its core CoStar Suite and Apartment.com businesses, Homes.com lacks clear competitive advantages and meaningful differentiation and faces intense competition from well-established peers like Zillow. Nevertheless, over the past five years, CoStar has invested roughly $5 billion in its RRE segment, $3 billion of which was in the U.S. Despite this massive investment, the U.S. RRE businesses generated only $60 million of revenue in 2024 and $80 million in 2025. Moreover, in addition to these direct financial losses, these initiatives have diverted focus from the core CRE business, limiting its growth potential. It was this backdrop that initially prompted Third Point to engage with CoStar last year, which ultimately resulted in a support agreement between the company, D.E. Shaw and Third Point. This agreement included (i) the addition of Christine McCarthy, John Berisford and Rachel Glaser as directors to the board; (ii) the retirement of Michael Klein, Christopher Nassetta and Laura Kaplan from the board; (iii) the appointment of Louise Sams as independent board chair; and (iv) the creation of a capital allocation committee. While these governance changes appeared to be a meaningful step in the right direction, progress has been deeply disappointing. Management has continued to move forward with its U.S. RRE initiatives, repeatedly shifting the strategy and missing targets even after they had been revised. In fact, the RRE business has gotten so bad that in 2025, the company cut Homes.com subscription pricing by over 30% and Homes.com is now expected to reduce 2025 adjusted EBITDA by more than 65%. Moreover, these losses are not going away anytime soon, as CoStar's new medium-term guidance now projects that Homes.com will not break even until 2030. Unsurprisingly, these failures continue to be reflected in the company's share performance, which has been underperforming the S&P 500 by over 45 percentage points since the date of the agreement and over 120 percentage points over the past five years. With the standstill period now expired, it's perhaps no surprise that Third Point is escalating its engagement, issuing a letter to the CoStar board calling on them to (i) replace a majority of the board and align management compensation to total shareholder return; (ii) consider strategic alternatives for Homes.com and related RRE businesses; and (iii) refocus on the core CRE business. While the latter two of these initiatives may feel intuitive given the aforementioned track record, it prompts the troubling question as to why this has not already been put into motion. The answer to that is the board's failure to hold management accountable. In fact, the company has rewarded CEO Andrew Florance. In 2024, he received approximately $37 million in total compensation, placing him in the top 10% of S&P 500 CEO earners despite the company being in the bottom 10% of performers. The board has done nothing to remedy this going forward as it has proposed tying only 25% of his future long-term incentives to total shareholder return, further disconnecting his pay from shareholder outcomes and particularly concerning for a CEO with de minimis stock ownership. This was done by the new board with three of eight directors recently appointed through the Third Point/D.E. Shaw settlement agreement, which appears to underscore the degree of control the CEO maintains over the company. While this may seem like a tall task, if Third Point succeeds, the upside potential appears significant. The firm points out that CoStar Suite alone has significant untapped pricing power, with an average selling price of just $350 per month, far below comparable information services products. Third Point also believes that the company has substantial opportunities to expand into adjacent end markets and develop new agentic products. Overall, Third Point believes that the CRE business should be capable of achieving EBITDA margins above 50% in the medium term, with further expansion over time given that peers ultimately achieve margins from 60% to 70%. In addition, the company's under-levered balance sheet also provides capacity for meaningful share repurchases, creating further opportunities for shareholder value creation. Putting it all together, absent the RRE distraction, Third Point believes that the CRE business could compound revenue at a mid-teens rate and grow earnings power per share in excess of 20% annually. This engagement is an example of shareholder activism the way it ought to be. Third Point quickly and amicably agreed to a settlement with the company to give it a chance to show Third Point that it can change its ways and start to turn around its poor performance. Had CoStar Group done that, you would not be reading this right now. But the company did the opposite, leaning into the strategy that has been failing it and its shareholders. So, now Third Point knows two things for sure: (i) change is definitely needed and (ii) three new directors is not enough to release the grip that Florance has on the board. We would expect to see Third Point nominate anywhere from three to six new directors. Two of the three directors (Christine McCarthy and John Berisford) appointed in last year's settlement were selected by Third Point, and we would expect them to not be targeted this year. So, assuming they are on the ballot as incumbents, Third Point could get a majority of the board by winning three seats. The decision whether to go for more than three will be made after consulting advisors on strategy and doing proxy math, particularly in the era of the universal ballot. There is an outside chance that the firm goes for eight if the company does not nominate McCarthy and Berisford. We would hope to see a Third Point executive nominated because in situations like this where substantial change is needed and that change has been met with resistance by a founder/CEO for so many years, it is helpful to have the activist in the room who designed the plan and is most passionate about it. While Third Point does not overtly call for it, it is hard to imagine a scenario where the firm wins meaningful board representation and Florance stays on as CEO it does not seem like either of them would want that. Third Point, founded by Dan Loeb, is a true pioneer in shareholder activism, but has used it more sparingly in recent years as dictated by the market environment and available opportunities. He invented the poison pen letter in a time when it was often necessary. As times have changed, he has transitioned from the poison pen to the power of the argument. However, in this campaign we see shades of the old Dan Loeb using phrases like "feckless board of directors" and "CEO and his supine enablers." We particularly enjoyed his analogy of a CEO's compensation to elementary school children who win participation awards for finishing last. CoStar Group saw the new, more amicable Dan Loeb in April when he settled for three new directors. Now, the company may have woken up the Dan Loeb of the past, who has been in a sort of hibernation for years. We will not know for sure until March 13 when the nomination window opens. Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist investments. As Daymond John built the business that made him a millionaire, he didn't hastily quit his day job. Sticking it out made him more successful, he says. "I worked at Red Lobster for years while building FUBU," John posted to LinkedIn on Monday. "Not because I didn't believe in my dreams. Because it was smart." In 1992, the Queens, New York, native co-founded the clothing brand an acronym for "For Us, By Us" following a humble upbringing with his single mom. John launched the company with just $40, and the money he made as a waiter at the chain restaurant helped keep him afloat and invest in his business. "That job taught me sales and inventory, paid my bills [and] bought fabric and materials for my business," wrote John, 56. DON'T MISS: How to build custom GPTs and use AI agents FUBU rose to popularity in the early 1990s alongside a flourishing hip-hop and rap scene. John took his apparel to music video shoots and got rappers to take photos in his gear, he's said. In 1996, he put out an ad seeking funding for his business and landed a distribution deal with Samsung, he told Business Insider in February 2018. That investment reportedly helped FUBU bring in $30 million in sales in three months. The urban streetwear brand has since brought in more than $6 billion in total revenue to date, according to John's website. John, a longtime investor judge on ABC's "Shark Tank," still serves as the company's CEO. Statement by the Official Spokesperson to clarify certain reports: We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel. Beyond the fact of the Prime Ministers official visit to Israel in pic.twitter.com/ZOZSwE1AZA Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 31, 2026 India on Saturday strongly rejected a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein, describing it as little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal that deserves to be dismissed with the utmost contempt.The latest files relating to the convicted sex trafficker were released by US authorities.We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the prime minister and his visit to Israel, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.Beyond the fact of the prime ministers official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt, he said.The email is among investigative files released by the US Justice Department on Friday.The department released 3.5 million pages and 2,000 videos in line with an American law that was passed by the US Congress. A truly liberal order recognizes the limits imposed by human fallenness on all institutions. That does not mean truth must be sacrificed. In fact, our nation was founded on ideals of liberty and virtue. In recent years, Christians across the political spectrum have grown increasingly skeptical of liberalism. Postliberal movements argue that liberal democracy is not merely insufficient but fundamentally hostile to Christianity itself. According to this view, neutrality is a myth, liberal rights are corrosive of virtue, and Christians must choose between faithfulness and liberal politics. Yet this conclusion rests on a crucial confusion: the conflation of liberal political philosophy with liberal political order. While modern liberal theory, especially in its Rawlsian form, rests on foundations incompatible with Christianity, liberal democracy as a polity can still be defended on explicitly Christian grounds. Nicholas Wolterstorff helpfully distinguishes between liberalism as a theory of justice and liberalism as a form of government. The two are often treated as inseparable, but when the philosophical foundations of big-L liberalism, particularly those advanced by John Rawls, are examined closely, deep contradictions with Christian anthropology emerge. But it does not follow that Christians must therefore reject liberal democracy. To do so would be to throw out the political fruits of Christianitys own moral vision along with the flawed philosophical framing erected in their defense. The most serious difficulty with Rawlsian liberalism lies in its inheritance of Kantian moral philosophy. Rawls adopts a conception of liberty that treats individuals as autonomous moral legislators, bound primarily by principles they would choose under conditions of abstraction and impartiality. He argues for an unrestricted moral liberty, wherein, No recognition is given to the legitimate need for each individuals liberty to be carefully balanced against the liberty of each other individual. Liberty, on this account, is not ordered toward any particular good but exists as an unrestricted capacity to pursue self-chosen ends. This vision sits uneasily with the Christian understanding of freedom as something rightly ordered, freedom for the good, not merely freedom from constraint. The Kantian insistence that persons must always be treated as ends in themselves illustrates this tension. Christianity affirms the dignity of the human person, and Scripture reminds us that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Rom. 11:36), and that in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Human dignity derives not from self-legislation but from creation in the image of God. Rawlss attempt to ground justice in a moral framework that effaces this reality results in an anthropology that is at best incomplete and at worst incoherent. This incoherence becomes especially apparent in Rawlss commitment to neutrality regarding the good. Seeking a political framework capable of governing a deeply pluralistic society without appealing to contested moral or religious truths, Rawls argues that principles of justice must be justified independently of any comprehensive conception of the good life. Rawls maintains that a liberal conception of justice is not justified by its being the best moral conception but by its being the most reasonable political conception. Society, he claims, has no ends in the way individuals or associations do. Yet Rawls simultaneously insists each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. The result is an unstable paradigm that denies objective moral ends while smuggling one in through the back doora concept of justice that rests on long established Christian foundations. Rawls thus cannot escape making moral claims; he can only obscure their source. From a Christian perspective, this attempt at neutrality is not merely mistaken but impossible. Justice cannot be detached from a substantive account of the human person, and fairness, an often ambiguous concept, cannot serve as the highest moral aim. As Thomas Aquinas recognized, justice has charity as its end. Gods justice is not a blind, mechanical impartiality, but one tempered by mercy. Rawlss veil of ignorancea thought experiment that conceives of a social arrangement rooted in absolute disinterestednessmay succeed in preventing self-dealing (were it even possible), but it cannot supply the moral vision required to sustain a genuinely humane political order. Recognizing the failures of Rawlsian liberalism, however, does not commit Christians to rejecting liberal democracy itself. The error of much contemporary postliberal thought, especially in its calls for renewed moral establishment, is to assume that because neutrality is a myth, the state must therefore enforce a comprehensive moral or religious vision. Scripture indeed teaches that there is no neutrality and that no man can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24), but it does not follow that the coercive power of the state should be used to compel religious belief. Political laws in line with creational order are downstream from virtuous liberty. God gave Moses the law at Mount Sinai only after He had freed the Israelites from captivity. He begins his giving of the law by telling Moses, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 20:2). This means that law comes as a result of freedom, not in opposition to it. Here theologian Abraham Kuyper provides a far more compelling framework for Christian political engagement. Kuyper rejected both secular neutrality and theocratic coercion, arguing that the sovereignty of the State, and the sovereignty of conscience, are mutually exclusive, insisting instead on what he famously called sphere sovereignty. Human society, he argued, consists of distinct spheres: family, church, state, market, etc., each with its own God-given authority and limits. The states role is not to define the good life or enforce religious orthodoxy but to uphold justice and protect the proper functioning of these spheres. Kuyper was adamant that matters of conscience and religious belief form a boundary the state should not cross. At the same time, he denied that the state could ever be morally neutral. Every political order rests on assumptions about human nature, authority, and justice. The question is not whether such assumptions exist but whether they are rightly ordered and properly restrained. In this way, Kuyper offers a crucial distinction between substantive pluralism and structural pluralism. The former treats competing worldviews as equally true (or equally false), while the latter allows them to coexist under a legal system that limits the states reach and respects the freedom of conscience. Where Rawls attempts to avoid moral judgment altogether, Kuyper instead seeks limits on political power because of moral neutralitys impossibility and the realities of sin. This Kuyperian vision helps clarify why liberal democracy, properly understood, can serve Christian ends even if Rawlsian or Kantian philosophy cannot. Liberal democracy, at its best, is not an attempt to suspend moral judgment but to confine political authority to its proper sphere. It seeks out a political arrangement designed to prevent the gravest evils: the violation of persons, the concentration of unchecked power, and the coercion of conscience. Wolterstorff emphasizes that liberal democracy has a very thick moral basis and explains that this moral grounding lies in the acknowledgment of natural rights, by virtue of the worth they all possess on account of bearing the image of God and being loved by God. Historically, this connection is no accident. As Alexis de Tocqueville observed, Americans have long linked religion and liberty so closely that it is difficult to conceive of one without the other. The freedoms protected by liberal institutions did not arise from moral skepticism but from a theological vision that recognized both the dignity and the fallenness of the human person. Liberal democracy flourished where Christianity taught limits on rulers, on institutions, and on human pretensions to ultimate authority. None of this is to deny that liberal societies can decay or that Christians can misuse liberal freedoms. Our present moment offers ample evidence of both. Yet the answer to liberalisms philosophical failures is not authoritarianism, nor a nostalgic return to confessional states. It is a recovery of the Christian foundations that made liberty possible in the first place. In rejecting Rawls, Christians need not reject liberal democracy. On the contrary, by grounding political order in a rightly ordered anthropology, one shaped by creation, fall, and redemption, Christians can defend a form of liberal polity that protects freedom without denying truth. Such a society does not promise utopia, but it does allow men and women to live without fear, to pursue the good as they understand it, and by Gods grace to discover that if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36), not merely in a political but ultimately in a spiritual sense. Xi's special envoy visits Vietnam Xinhua) 10:24, January 31, 2026 HANOI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Liu Haixing, special envoy of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, visited Vietnam from Thursday to Friday to congratulate the successful convening of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and To Lam on his election as general secretary of the CPV Central Committee. Liu, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a congratulatory letter from Xi to To Lam. Liu said that China stands ready to work with Vietnam to faithfully implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties, and promote new and greater development in building the China-Vietnam community with a shared future. To Lam expressed his sincere appreciation and extended warm greetings to Xi. He noted that the new leadership of the CPV Central Committee is willing to continue deepening relations between the two parties and countries. During his visit, Liu also met with Le Hoai Trung, member of the Political Bureau of the CPV Central Committee and minister of foreign affairs of Vietnam. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) What ultimately drives economic growth and development? Is it culture, institutions, norms, innovation, technology, or some combination of all these things and other factors? Is there any way in which we can organize societies that will allow them to escape mass impoverishment? Or must we simply wait for massive technological breakthroughs to occur? And if that is the case, can the impact of such changes be magnified or, alternatively, deadened by political arrangements of any given society? These are perennial questions, and they continue to produce lengthy responses from scientists, economists, political scientists, moral philosophers, and historians. In some cases, such inquiry is underpinned by the search for the magic bullet that will kill stagnation, or the golden key guaranteed to open the door to prosperity and wider societal improvement. Others focus more directly on understanding the complexity of change and why the same set of factors operative in different societies often leads to vastly different results. Similar questions are at the heart of attempts to understand the causes of social and economic regression. Sometimes the answers are clear. If you collectivize your economy, you can expect that, at some point, the command-and-control model will induce stagnation and measurable decline. In other instances, the primary reasons for regression are not immediately obvious, and even a great deal of sustained research into these matters often produces very tentative answers that are almost immediately challenged in the scholarly literature. At the end of the Cold War, when the United States strode the world in its singular moment of global dominance and its great rival, the Soviet Union, had ceased to exist, there were many who were confident that the ways to improve society and the economy were now established beyond reasonable doubt. The economic argument had been won, and the faster that markets and their underlying institutional foundations could be put into place, the quicker would be the transition to a modernity characterized by freedom, prosperity, and order. Almost 40 decades later, things look quite different. Getting markets in place remains critical for progress, but it is plainly not enough. There are also many who have no strong interest in promoting markets and limited government. Sometimes their reasons are ideological. In much of western Europe, for example, deep attachment to the conviction that societies simply must have a high degree of significant top-down political management has played a role in Europe falling further and further behind the United States in terms of technological development. Nor is there any shortage of individuals and groups who take a dim view of innovation, technological or otherwise, because they think (or recognize) that their position will come under threat when there is a change in the status quo. There is thus nothing guaranteed about economic development and social improvement more generally, and it is entirely possible for such things to slow down, if not halt altogether. In our time, understanding how this occurs is more urgent, given the decline in many peoples faith that, under the right conditions, we can expect many things to be better. These realities help to make a new book, How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations, by the Oxford economic historian Carl Benedikt Frey, especially timely. The title might suggest that Frey is somewhat of a doomsdayer, but the books content belies that. For, as Frey illustrates in numerous places, we have reason to be optimistic, but only if we understand the complex interaction between institutions and technology and how this has played out in different settings. Refreshingly, Frey does not provide his readers with a laundry list of factors that diminish the pace of progress. He is also anxious to get beyond the worthy but well-worn debate about the relative importance that ought to be ascribed to bottom-up-driven development via entrepreneurs compared to the significance that should be attributed to political factors. That said, technology and how societies react to technological innovation is a central theme that pervades the book. Frey shows that it is entirely possible for political institutions in once-advanced societies to effectively strangle technological change and to start to fall behind other nations in which there is openness to such change, as well as an acceptance that some significant trade-offs may have to be made that will not please everyone. Frey begins by outlining what he describes as the mechanics of progress. He pays close attention to the social networks that sustain progress and innovation (such as the coffeehouses at which Enlightenment thinkers congregated) but also the role played by bureaucracyespecially the type that Max Weber studied closely. These things are often seen as being opposed to each other. But, as Frey points out, there are many occasions when the power of state bureaucracy has been used to clear away obstacles to decentralization, wide market exchange, and economic growth. He notes, for instance, how it was the Prussian state in the post-Napoleonic era that pushed through major domestic reforms that pulverized guilds and their ability to block the emergence of modern businesses and greater economic freedom in Prussia and eventually Germany as a whole. Post-Meiji Japan is another example of conscious political decisions made by the rulers of a centralized state to modernize the country and thereby allow Japan to break out of a semi-feudal framework and, eventually, to advance so rapidly that it was able to defeat militarily a major European power, Russia, in 1905. A similar process occurred in Britain, insofar as markets were able to integrate faster and deeper than in most other European nations because of Acts of Parliament that upheld property rights and made it harder for guilds to gain traction in the economy and society more generally. To be sure there were plenty of laws passed by successive parliaments that reflected the influence of guilds trying to shore up their position, even to the point of successfully lobbying for the banning of specific technologies such as needle-making machines. Nonetheless, the overall trajectory was toward the steady weakening of guild power that created space for innovation and experimentation. The challenge that all countries encounter, Frey stresses, is that some of the things that allow progress to occur, such as an efficient and streamlined state bureaucracy, can themselves start to become obstructions to improvement. For example, government bureaucracies will, at some point, start to become ill at ease with the unpredictability of free markets and the ups-and-downs associated with the business cycle. They will consequently attempt to exercise greater control over the pace and nature of progress, and thereby inadvertently undermine the sources of technological improvement. Having laid out a broad theory of how progress occurs and then starts to die, much of the rest of Freys book involves his exploration of his thesiss cogency through historical case studies. Proceeding chronologically, and beginning with ancient China, before turning to medieval and early modern Europe as well as specific nations such as Prussia and Russia, Frey illustrates how the same pattern consistently recurs. Progress mostly occurs because of technological change, and the process is often aided by institutional arrangements that help to remove barriers to the fuller realization of a given technological innovation. In many cases, this enables nations to catch up to more economically developed countries. At some point, however, the returns from this approach start to diminish, and outright regression begins to transpire. The causes, according to Frey, vary. One that features prominently throughout the book is the capture of bureaucracies by special interests, which then use state power to try and impede new entrepreneurs and competitors from entering the marketplace. There is also no shortage of cases in which bureaucracies over time develop their own agendas that have little to do with the countrys general welfare or the advancement of progress. Frey is careful, however, to be nuanced in the way he describes the process of growth and decline. Nineteenth-century Prussia and Czarist Russia, for example, may have both been autocratic states intent on modernization, but there were also plenty of differences that help to explain the different outcomes. Russia, Frey notes, had a weak society but also a weak state. The combination of a population enfeebled by the persistence of serfdom and a Russian state that struggled to implement comprehensive reform created enormous impediments to systematic success in that regard. Making matters worse was the Russian states heavy reliance upon repression to maintain control of society. This generated deep distrust toward the government on the part of important groups such as industrial elites. Other factors included the relative insecurity of property rights as well as the regimes efforts to control private-sector development. In short, while Russia did manage impressive development in the 19th century, especially in areas like railroad construction, the roots of its relative backwardness vis-a-vis countries like Germany and Britain were never comprehensively addressed. Looking at the present, Frey focuses readers attention upon the two countries that, thus far, have proved themselves the powerhouses of progress in the 21st century. Though China and the United States are vastly different countries, they far outstrip everyone else, something exacerbated by the relative stagnation and absence of technological breakthroughs that has characterized western Europe for some time. Frey, however, worries that neither the United States nor China will be able to master the problems that eventually lead to stagnation. In the case of America, Frey is concerned that many of its advantages, especially those associated with federalism, are starting to fray as a consequence of the obstacles created by the growth of regulation, the influence of lobbyists on federal and state governments and legislatures, as well as a legal system that increasingly provides enormous scope for people to impede, undermine, or even terminate innovation and technological change. Certainly, American federalism enables people fed up with political basket cases and regulatory behemoths like California, New York, and Illinois to flee to more amenable economic environs like Texas and Florida. But that does not ward off the impact of federal regulation or the influence of lobbyists upon a federal government that is far more powerful than it was in the 19th century. As for China, Frey sees a different dynamic at work. The decentralizing reforms enacted when Deng Xiaoping was in power and efforts to mildly liberalize parts of the economy in certain areas of the country enabled the Peoples Republic to escape the economic catastrophe of Maoism. The same reforms helped China eventually surpass the economies of Japan and western Europe. After 2008, however, China started pursuing a different path. Indeed, Dengs political and economic reforms were never about generating any meaningful political pluralism. A hallmark of Xi Jinpings rule has been to crush meaningful political debate within China, including inside the CCP itself. These political developments go together with an ever-expanding curtailment of what were always highly limited property rights. Exacerbating these problems is the nonexistence of judicial independence in China. According to Frey, this adds up to a political and economic environment likely to militate against successful ongoing technological development. None of this is to suggest that Frey is fundamentally pessimistic about the possibility of nations sustaining progress over prolonged periods of time. Rather, Freys conclusion is one of realism, one that provides an important rejoinder to some of the naivety that characterized discussion of such matters in the 1990s. To that extent, Freys book serves as an important caution to those who think that Chinas rise is unstoppable or who believe that America will eventually make the right policy decisions. In other words, progress, for all its benefits, is never inevitable. The news has been abuzz about newly elected NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He proudly ran as a democratic socialist and found support from kindred spirits like Bernie Sanders, who performed his swearing-in ceremony, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). Mamdani indeed ran an impressive campaign, knocking on doors, serving lunch at soup kitchens, and charming voters with his savvy social media outreach. To younger voters who overwhelmingly elected him, he seems like a breath of fresh air amid the gerontocracy in American politics. In his inaugural address, Mamdani urged New Yorkers to embrace the warmth of collectivism. Here is the extended quote, which illustrates his vision: For too long, we have turned to the private sector for greatness, while accepting mediocrity from those who serve the public. I cannot blame anyone who has come to question the role of government, whose faith in democracy has been eroded by decades of apathy. We will restore that trust by walking a different pathone where government is no longer solely the final recourse for those struggling, one where excellence is no longer the exceptionAnd if for too long these communities have existed as distinct from one another, we will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. If our campaign demonstrated that the people of New York yearn for solidarity, then let this government foster it. On paper, his sentiment may sound appealing. Who doesnt want solidarity, fairness, and affordability? Mamdani pairs this vision with a critique of inequality, including rising daycare costs, a lack of affordable housing, and costly bus fares. These are real challenges. The question is whether collectivism can deliver. Collectivism emphasizes communal control or ownership of necessary resources. Socialism institutionalizes this through state ownership of the means of production and central allocation of resources. Capitalism, by contrast, relies on the three Ps: private property, prices, profit-and-loss. These are the mechanisms by which markets allocate scarce resources. Property rights provide incentives for prudent investment. Prices guide us by providing information about changing levels of scarcity in a decentralized manner. Profit-and-loss are consumer-driven and thus discipline the owners of capital. Economics, at its core, is the study of how individual human beings make decisions under conditions of scarcity, uncertainty, and complexity. Political rhetoric, no matter how earnest, trendy, or charming, cannot override these fundamental realities. Incentives matter and are determined by the economic system we choose. Mamdani uses the language of collectivism to appeal to our notions of justice and fairness. He critiques the political privilege enjoyed by the wealthy and the rising cost of living. The challenge, however, lies in distinguishing policies that alleviate these problems from those that merely shift costs, generate pernicious unintended consequences, and entrench new forms of privilege. His version of collectivism focuses on taxing the wealthy to redistribute benefits to others. He sees the market economy as a zero-sum game and blames the rich, whom he deems greedy, for the astronomical costs of city life. Hence his disdain for rugged individualism. It is easy to see how this might resonate with young people facing prohibitive costs as they try to cut their teeth in the city. New York City is second only to Hawaii in cost of living. Moreover, it scores last in economic freedom of the 50 states. This miserable ranking is the result of high taxes, bloated government spending and debt, burdensome labor and business regulations, and crippling zoning and land-use laws. Housing provides an example. Rent-control and rent-stabilization laws have created 50,000 ghost apartmentsvacant units in which renovations languish. Mamdani calls the landlords abusive and exploiters who refuse to fix the apartments they own and is calling for rental ripoff hearings as if somehow this will solve the problem. He seems blithely ignorant of the regulatory framework that is the cause of the dilapidated and vacant apartments. It also raises a fundamental question about incentives, forcing the question of why landlords would let units sit vacant and deteriorate if they could otherwise rent them to earn a profit. Are these landlords uniquely stupid as well as evil? The answer, of course, is no. Unless Mamdani focuses on increasing housing supply, New Yorkers will not see any improvement in housing affordability. To be fair, he has taken steps to ease the burden of construction permits and regulatory barriers that make it difficult to build in New York. Despite this glimmer of hope, his appointment of Cea Weaver aligns with his collectivist agenda. She argues that home ownership is a weapon of white supremacy and that property has too long been treated as an individual good and not a collective good. It seems like collectivism all the way down. Yet markets through private property mitigate our greedy impulses. In his seminal work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith explained how markets channel self-interest into widespread economic benefit. Remarkably, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of Smiths book and the Declaration of Independence, a timely reminder that the American founders recognized the critical link between private property, individual freedom, and the prosperity of a commercial republic. As Smith scholar Erik Matson notes, these principles reflect a long-standing American moral sensibility that holds that liberty and the economic freedom it entails serve the common good. We cant appeal to landlords altruism for housing, to doctors dedication for universal healthcare, or to Uber drivers circadian rhythms for free transportation. Nor can we force property owners to give us things for nothing if we have any hope of increasing abundance and lowering costs. But regulatory reform is boring and the greed narrative sells, so in the case of the NYC mayoralty race, the resentment narrative worked. New Yorkers, knowingly or not, just voted for more of the same. We should, however, know better. The economic consequences of collectivism are not speculative; they have been repeatedly examined and empirically tested. Failure is a feature, not a bug. It seems odd to describe collectivism as warm if you know even a little history. Dominic Pino calls it a hilariously bad metaphor. The Soviet Union, the longest social experiment with collectivism, used a centralized heating system. Vast underground pipes delivered heat to buildings, homes, and apartments. It was known as the District Heating System, a name that sounds like it was ripped from the pages of The Hunger Games. There were no individual thermostats. Central planning via bureaucrats delivered predetermined amounts of heat, subsidized by Moscow. Some apartments were too hot; most were too cold. No one got what they wanted because individuals were not allowed to control the temperature in their own homes or bear the associated costs. Instead, arbitrary and capricious administrative decisions prevailed. The L.A. Times reported that, as a result, the Moscow heating system annually consumed more natural gas than all of France. So not only did people not get what they wanted, but there was rampant waste. As the name implies, collectivism requires the revocation of private property. This also means that we can no longer use market prices to guide us, so we must appoint bureaucrats to make these decisions on our behalf. What could go wrong? As it turns out, everything. Polish economist Oskar Lange, a defender of socialism, even warned that its real danger lay in the bureaucratization of ordinary life. Collectivism is so warm, youll need extra blankets, but youll have to ask the Blanket and Heating Czar for permission. Make sure you ask nicely. Moreover, collectivism thrives on surveillance, breeds suspicion, kills incentives to create value, and turns neighbors into threats, whereas commercial society, by contrast, offers a far more genuine warmth. You might say, But Toto, we arent in Leningrad anymore. True enough. But consider the contemporary examples of North and South Korea. Look at this photo of the Korean peninsula at night. After the sun sets, North Koreans, living under a collectivist system, have no access to light. A candle, a match, and a government-approved book are all they have; it doesnt sound very warm. By contrast, in the South you can read a bestseller on your Kindle at 2 a.m., under the covers, without a second thought. Abundance allows us to ignore the complex process by which we acquire goods and services, breeding ignorance of the economic realities that shape our world. This is why politicians like Mamdani resonate and why socialist ideas are increasingly popular. We can attempt to intervene in markets or even abandon them altogether, but such efforts consistently fail. Granted, the invisible hand of the market is scary. Rugged individualism may sound frigid, yet it is anything but. The phrase implies that we are siloed, atomistic actors who are ruthlessly utilitarian without a thought for our neighbor. A better description of the human condition that markets rely upon is our interdependence. We have innate dignity because we are created as unique individuals. We make individual choices, yet we desperately need each other, and market economies do a better job of aligning our interests. Still, we often long for visible hands. We like to believe that wise and benevolent actors are consciously directing outcomes for the common good. With these dynamics in mind, the political narrative in New York is especially misleading. That said, voters were presented with collectivism as a way out of their financial problems and a means to settle the score with the wealthy. The affordability crisis is real, but collectivism is not, and never has been, a workable solution. The worst-case scenario is that New Yorkers plunge into greater debt, the housing shortage is exacerbated, and free buses become rolling shelters. The last thing anyone wants is a return to the New York City of the 1970s. Moreover, there is no such thing as democratic collectivism. Collectivism inevitably expands bureaucracy and centralizes control, which requires force. Should we hope it succeeds so New Yorkers experience the predictable consequences of their political choices? Perhaps, but that comes at a great cost borne by individuals and businesses that are taxed more and offered less, potentially driving them out of the city altogether. Should we instead hope this is all a big failure and that Mamdani turns to a more traditional progressive approach, something that we may disagree with on economic grounds but that New York has long adopted? Even that carries risk, as proponents of collectivism will claim vindication and demand greater power: Give us more authority and another chance, and this time it will be different. What we really need is more opportunities and the removal of artificial barriers to growth and prosperity. As Thomas Sowell reminds us, there are no solutions, only trade-offs, and the goal is to deal with mans flaws and get the best trade-off we can. Politicians routinely disabuse themselves of economic realities because those realities constrain their utopian fantasies. Collectivism promises warmth, but in practice it reduces abundance, limits opportunity, and curtails human flourishing, delivering the opposite of what it claims to deliver. So bundle up. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/revisionist-history-carney-hits-back-at-harper-over-letter-challenging-the-liberal-leadership-frontrunners-economic-chops/ Rachel Aiello 202533 2012126/Adrian Wyld 2008 Jim Flaherty2008-2009 CTV550 20CTV News37%33% 40107.8 CTV 'Revisionist history: Carney hits back at Harper over letter challenging the Liberal leadership frontrunners economic chops https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/revisionist-history-carney-hits-back-at-harper-over-letter-challenging-the-liberal-leadership-frontrunners-economic-chops/ By Rachel Aiello March 03, 2025 In this file photo, then-Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney looks on as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper opens a meeting with international business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 26, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Liberal leadership frontrunner Mark Carney is hitting back at former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper for accusing the Liberal leadership frontrunner of taking undue economic credit. Responding to a letter Harper penned to Conservative party members and sent out as a fundraising blast Carneys campaign accused Harper of being called on to save Pierre Poilievre from a historic drop in support. But no amount of revisionist history can take away from Mr. Carneys proven record of economic leadership, his campaign said in a statement. Carneys team also doubled down on the assertion that Harper approached him to serve as finance minister, in noting that the former prime minister could have picked Poilievre, but didnt. The statement also included a handful of references to comments made by prominent Conservatives, including Harper, of the job Carney did as Canadas central banker. Canadians know that Pierre Poilievre and his team bring no experience or plan to protect our economy, and no ability to stand up to Donald Trump in a national crisis. Mr. Carney is ready to lead Canada and to build the strongest economy in the G7, Carneys campaign said. Harper says Carney taking credit for Flaherty hard calls Harper who appointed Carney to run the Bank of Canada back in 2008 spoke out Monday, blasting the former central banker for overstating his role in steering the country through the global financial crisis. In a fundraising letter sent to Conservatives, Harper questioned Carneys economic record, in the context of the massive economic danger Canada is facing in light of U.S. President Donald Trumps impending tariffs. I have listened, with increasing disbelief, to Mark Carneys attempts to take credit for things he had little or nothing to do with back then, Harper writes. He has been doing this at the expense of the late Jim Flaherty, among the greatest finance ministers in Canadas history, who sadly is not here to defend his record. But let me be very clear: the hard calls during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis were made by Jim. Harper went on to say Carneys experience as a Liberal economic advisor is tied to the carbon tax and sizeable deficits, calling the leadership contender wrong on all the big issues. The real reason Carney wants to claim our Conservative record for himself is that he dare not speak of his actual experience, Harper said. Former Flaherty staffer weighs in One former Flaherty staffer, speaking to CTV News on Monday, said while he agrees his former boss led the political and fiscal decisions such as running a $55 billion deficit, Carneys role on the monetary side shouldnt be minimized. Behind the scenes and intangible is that Carney and Flaherty were close. They liked each other. They talked a lot, and they worked well together, said Chisholm Pothier. Pothier who worked on a rival candidates leadership campaign during the race that elected Poilievre and is no longer a federal Conservative member described Carney as a sounding board for the then-finance minister. Up until Carney entered the political scene in Canada, it was generally a given that Harper, Flaherty, and Carney got us through the crisis and helped and set us on the path to recovery, he said, noting their working relationship predated the global financial crisis, to when Carney was a senior bureaucrat at the finance department. Liberals closing polling gap Both Carney and Harper have called the coming federal election the most consequential vote of their lifetimes. Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned and the race to replace him kicked off, the Liberals have seen a sizeable uptick in support, considerably narrowing the Conservatives lead. For months, Poilievres Conservatives had been enjoying around a 20-point polling advantage but as of last week, CTV News pollster Nik Nanos said that if an election was called, it would be a coin toss, with the Conservatives sitting at 37 per cent support, and the Liberals at 33 per cent. Nanos said at the time that the numbers indicate some Canadians are questioning why Consevatives are focusing their attacks on Carney, rather than spending more time talking about Trump and tariffs. Its not going to be a change election anymore. Its actually going to be who can best manage Donald Trump, and who do Canadians trust to move forward in some sort of positive way in the relationship with the United States. So, I think change is out the door as the ballot question, Nanos said. We may find that Canadians dont vote for a party that they like. They dont vote for potentially a leader that they like, but that Canadians as voters become very mercenary, looking at the choices that are before them. Liberals will elect their next leader on Sunday. While some voters have run into issues with the partys verification processes, party spokesperson Parker Lund said the system is working as it should to ensure a secure vote, and that theres a team working to troubleshoot more complex cases. Voting opened last week. So far, of the 400,000 registered Liberals eligible to cast a ballot, 100,000 people have been verified, and of those 78,000 have cast a ballot so far. With files from CTV News Stephanie Ha I was in a high-end bar in Midtown Manhattan months ago when the most beautiful woman I have ever seen walked in. She was impeccably put together: flawless makeup, a bombshell blowout and a body that suggested Pilates wasn't just a phase. I pointed her out to my friends, and one of them immediately rolled her eyes and said, 'She's famous around here.' The woman, my friend explained, was a well-known escort with a reputation for appearing at exactly the right events at exactly the right time. Her most talked-about story involved a financial conference in Utah, where she had allegedly set herself up in the men's bathroom and charged thousands per encounter. Apparently, it was the talk of the weekend. Whether every detail was true or not didn't matter. She became known for turning up at major events, making serious money and disappearing just as quickly. There were even whispers that she'd earned six figures from a single conference. Cash. Because behind the panels, networking drinks and glossy Instagram posts, there's a parallel economy operating quietly in the background wherever powerful men with money gather. One built on anonymity, entitlement and the belief that what happens away from home and away from consequences - doesn't quite count. It's a world that most people never see. And with the Super Bowl looming, guess what It's about to happen all over again. Behind the panels, networking drinks and glossy Instagram posts, there's a parallel economy operating quietly in the background wherever powerful men with money gather For years, it has been reported that Super Bowl week brings a surge in demand for escorts. Entire hospitality industries brace for it. Hotels fill. Prices soar. And women working in the sex industry quietly plan their calendars around it. How do I know? Well, over the years, I've built a following of OnlyFans creators and escorts. And, when I asked them about conferences and major sporting events after dark, the same stories kept coming up, often told casually, as if this was all perfectly normal. Several women said they can tell when a conference or major event is in town without checking their calendar because the same men suddenly reappear, often booking the same hotel, the same room type and sometimes even the same nights as the year prior. One woman described it as 'annual maintenance,' something clients build into their schedules. Another laughed and said some men don't even ask about availability. They just message to say they're 'back in town.' Men who are cautious at home also become bolder when they're traveling. One source told me a client once admitted he preferred booking while away because, in his words, 'nobody here knows me.' That anonymity changes things. When I asked about conferences and major sporting events after dark, the same stories kept coming up, often told casually, as if this was all perfectly normal There's also a strange pack mentality during conference weeks, an escort told me. One man books, then recommends her to a colleague over drinks the way you might suggest a good restaurant. In one case, a woman realized she was seeing multiple men from the same corporate group over a single weekend. Money talks differently, too. Several women admitted that, during these events, they raise their rates and rarely receive any resistance. One source recalled a client brushing off a higher price with a joke about putting it on expenses. She didn't think he was joking. At Davos this year, Swiss media reported that a single client spent $114,000 over four days with five women. Cannes, meanwhile, has long been described in industry reporting as the biggest payday of the year, with high-end escorts reportedly averaging around $4,000 a night and top-tier women charging far more. If you crunch the numbers, six figures suddenly doesn't sound so insane, especially if a woman lands one whale client, multiple consecutive nights, or a schedule that's basically back-to-back. If someone is charging $3,000 to $5,000 per booking during a peak week, and doing even one to two bookings a day across a four to six-day event, they're already in the $12,000 to $60,000 zone before you even talk about multi-night 'girlfriend experience' arrangements, premium discretion fees or clients booking in groups. And yes, it's often all in cash, which is why exact numbers are talked about like folklore. While it's easy to be blinded by dollar signs, there is a darker underbelly to such a lucrative industry. It's often all in cash, which is why exact numbers are talked about like folklore One woman told me conference bookings are also when she's most strict about her rules. The entitlement can tip quickly, particularly late at night when alcohol and status collide. 'Some of them forget you're a person,' she said. 'They're so used to people saying yes to them all day.' In fact, some women refuse certain events altogether. One source told me she won't go near men coming straight from rowdy sporting matches, where aggression and entitlement can blur. But running through every story is the same three-word understanding from men who are miles away from home: 'This stays here.' Not a request, but an assumption and one most crucial to this industry's survival. And good lord, is it a money maker. Everything about the murder of Rhiannon Whyte is distressing and horrific. Late one night in October 2024, as she waited to catch a train home after finishing work at a migrant hotel in Walsall, the much-loved mother of one was brutally attacked by one of the residents. For reasons unknown, Deng Chol Majek, a Sudanese asylum seeker, stabbed her 23 times. As Rhiannon lay dying, he celebrated by laughing and dancing. Yesterday, this beast was jailed for a minimum of 29 years - an abysmally lenient sentence given the depravity of his crime. Having arrived here unlawfully by small boat, he was housed and fed at taxpayers' expense. He repaid our charity by savagely killing an innocent young woman. Were this an isolated offence, it would be horrendous enough. But of course, it isn't. Every day now, there seems to be news of murders, sexual assaults and violence carried out by illegal immigrants. Just this week, a Pakistani asylum seeker was convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman in a park in Nottinghamshire. Rhiannon Whyte, 27, was attacked moments after leaving work and died in hospital with her family by her side Deng Chol Majek, who is from Sudan but arrived in the UK by small boat in July 2024, was previously found guilty of murdering mother-of-one Rhiannon Whyte in October 2024 Each one of these offences is a tragedy for the victims - a life ruined. But every single one of them is avoidable. True, many asylum seekers are law-abiding. But soft-touch Britain is letting in illegal migrants in huge numbers - overwhelmingly young, unvetted men from backwards cultures. It's no surprise the result is a catalogue of attacks on women and girls. This scandal has been years in the making. Successive governments have woefully failed to secure our borders, while the broken asylum system repeatedly promotes political correctness and the rights of migrants over protecting the public. In powerful comments, Rhiannon's grieving family condemned Sir Keir Starmer. Her death, they said, was a consequence of his failure to act on illegal immigration: 'Why are we allowing this to continuously happen?' They have a point. If illegal migrants were securely detained in immigration centres, or flown to a third country such as Rwanda for processing, these heinous crimes would not occur. But the Prime Minister - a classic human rights lawyer - is unwilling to introduce the radical legislation needed to make it happen. So how many more monsters like Majek will we keep letting in? And how many more families will have their hearts broken? Sir Keir positively shimmered with self-regard as a military band gave him a ceremonial welcome at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Thursday. Soon, however, the PM will be back from his China jaunt and the only sound ringing in his ears will be that of blown raspberries. Speaking outside court as her daughter's killer was jailed for a minimum of 29 years, Ms Whyte's mother Donna (pictured) called for the Government to take a tougher stance on illegal immigration He went to drum up trade but apart from getting a few economic crumbs, achieved little except to show how easily he succumbs to the flatteries of a malign dictator. Even the lifting of sanctions on sitting MPs and Peers is symbolic. China won't stop its industrial-scale espionage in Britain. But things are no better for the PM at home. After the hideously botched Budget, everyone from the hospitality industry to manufacturers are out for his blood. Labour are likely to get trounced in the Gorton and Denton by-election and Sir Keir faces flak for blocking leadership pretender Andy Burnham from standing. Economic growth withers by the day, his plan to scrap jury trials is on the rocks and his backbenchers are plotting his downfall. One can imagine he'd not want to return to the UK. Given his lamentable leadership, millions would also prefer him to stay away. A Colorado mother who 'died' just hours after giving birth claims her soul floated over her body and made its way to heaven before being 'drop-kicked' back to Earth. Hannah Mercado had just given birth to her second son, Watson, in 2021 when she was struck with 'intense' pain and bleeding. Mercado said: 'The nurse said it was totally normal, but then I got the most intense pain I'd ever felt before. Then there was blood everywhere and a blood clot came out of me that was the size of a pineapple. 'Instinctually I knew something was wrong. Then there were 25 people in my room - nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists. It was chaos.' Doctors told the now 32-year-old that part of her placenta was still in her body and that she would need emergency surgery to remove it. During the operation, however, the stay-at-home mom began to hemorrhage, causing her to fall unconscious as her heart stopped beating and her blood pressure plummeted. Doctors believe she 'died' for about a minute. During that time, Mercado claims she began to float above her body toward the afterlife, completely aware she was dead. She was then met with 'the brightest white light' that filled her with an overwhelming sense of peace before she fell back into her body. Mercado recovered fully from the ordeal, though she says it helped affirm her faith and squash any fears of death. Hannah Mercado had just given birth to her second son in 2021 when she suffered a near-death experience. She is pictured above shortly after the delivery She said: 'I started really not feeling good then started floating above myself and thought, 'Oh, I think I might be dying.' 'I couldn't see myself because I was surrounded by so many people. I could look down and see all these people working on me. 'It wasn't like my body was floating, it was like my mind was floating away. I do believe it was my soul leaving my body.' Mercado is one of ten percent of Americans who claim to have had a near-death experience (NDE), a transformative event that occurs during a severe medical crisis. Some feel themselves being propelled down into a black hole, blinded by a bright light or wandering a Matrix-like grid. Many are met by an angel and taken to Heaven for a visit. But when they return, the medical emergencies that nearly kill them often leave these patients with emotional whiplash. And not all NDEs are pleasant. A recent study out of the University of Virginia found that between 10 and 22 percent of these experiences are distressing. While Mercado was at first enamored by her experience, she was also hit with a sense of dread, thinking: 'I'm never going to see my kids again.' Mercado is pictured with her husband and both sons. She said she panicked during her near-death experience at the thought of never seeing her children again Mercado, pictured above with her husband and both children, said the experience has affirmed her faith in God and the afterlife 'That was heartbreaking,' she said. 'That was my last thought before I saw the brightest light I'd ever seen in my life. 'You could stare into the sun for minutes and it would never be this bright. It was all-encompassing, I was like inside the bright, white light. 'That's when I knew I was dead. I felt so at peace, it was like my soul was at peace.' The overall experience was short-lived when Mercado was suddenly brought back to her body. She said: 'Then it felt like I was drop-kicked into being alive. It was very abrupt and sudden. 'I was in a panic. I didn't know what had happened.' Mercado underwent two blood transfusions after coming back to consciousness, as she had lost half of her body's blood supply, over half a gallon. She has had no lasting complications from the ordeal and has had her faith in God and the afterlife further cemented. 'I've always been a Christian. This gave me even more of a realization that I do believe in God and I was going up to heaven. It made me realize the afterlife is real,' she said. 'It was definitely a spiritual experience. If anything it's made me closer to God. I'm definitely not afraid of dying anymore.' Don Lemon has been released without bail after appearing in a Los Angeles court Friday on federal charges relating to his coverage of anti-ICE protests at a church in Minneapolis earlier this month. The 59 year-old newsman - sporting a white suit and cream sweater - is accused of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers. During his 20 minute appearance Lemon didn't enter a formal plea but his lawyer Marilyn Bednarski told the court that he was pleading not guilty. 'He's committed to fighting this case - he's not going anywhere,' Bednarski told the court when prosecutors asked for Judge Patricia Donahue to impose bail of $100,000 on Lemon, who had been in custody overnight after his arrest Thursday in Beverly Hills. Prosecutors also asked the judge to order Lemon - who is in LA to cover this Sunday's Grammy Awards - to surrender his passport and restrict his travel to New York where he lives and Minnesota. 'This is a very serious felony,' argued lead government attorney Alexander Robbins at the packed hearing which was attended by LA mayor Karen Bass and Lemon's husband Tim Malone, whom the journalist blew a kiss to. Bednarski countered that as an international reporter, restricting his travel would be 'inappropriate.' 'He is not a flight risk. He is not a danger whatsoever. He has no criminal convictions. He has been a journalist since he graduated journalism school in 1996. That's what he does.' Judge Donahue rejected federal prosecutors' request for $100,000 bail and released Lemon on his own recognizance. She also said he could go on a planned sailing trip to France in June, 'so long as it does not interfere with any upcoming court proceedings in Minnesota,' where Lemon will face his next hearing on February 9. The judge also ordered Lemon to 'have no contact with victims or witnesses' in his case. Lemon (pictured outside court on Friday) was arrested in Los Angeles after joining pro-immigration protesters who stormed a Minnesota church earlier this month Lemon left the court with husband Tim Malone (right), who he blew a kiss to during the hearing Lemon (left) appears at a hearing in Los Angeles following his arrest for involvement in a protest at a church in Minnesota Lemon was seen in footage from the incident arguing with the church pastor over the storming of the Sunday service, telling the pastor: 'There's a Constitution and a First Amendment, and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest' Lemon said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and that he was there as an independent journalist chronicling protesters Lemon - who wore glasses and looked serious and focused during Friday's proceedings - answered 'yes' when Judge Donahue asked him if he understood the charges against him which were brought after a grand jury in Minnesota indicted him. Earlier, prosecutor Robbins said that during the Minnesota church demo, Lemon 'Placed himself near the door of the church and and physically obstructed people as they tried to exit the church.' But Benarski denied the accusation, telling the court that Lemon 'was not guilty of obstruction or violence. He is not a danger to the community. 'There is no evidence that my client used violence or acted with any kind of violence.' Lemon, who hosts his own YouTube channel after leaving CNN, was taken into federal custody in Los Angeles for joining pro-immigration protesters who stormed a Minnesota church. He is being charged with conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers. 'When life gives you lemons...' The White House said in a post, captioning a black and white image of Lemon inside the church. The incident was filmed for his show at the Cities Church in St Paul on January 18 where he captured protesters opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also leads the local ICE field office. Protesters screamed and harassed worshippers during the incident, which sparked nationwide fury. In his footage from the storming of the church, Lemon was seen arguing with a church pastor who called his antics 'shameless.' Lemon insisted that his behavior was covered by the First Amendment, as he fumed to the pastor: 'There's a Constitution and a First Amendment, and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.' He also later bragged on Jennifer Welch's 'I've Had It' podcast on Monday afternoon that he was the 'biggest name' at the anti-ICE church protest. 'You know, I said, 'I don't understand how I've become the face of it when I was a journalist' - I do understand that, I was the biggest name there,' Lemon told Jennifer Welch on her 'I've Had It' podcast on Monday afternoon. The White House mocked Lemon after he was arrested writing: 'When life gives you lemons...' Lemon joined protesters at the church earlier this month, where he interviewed organizer Nekima Levy Armstrong (pictured) - who was also later arrested for her role in the incident Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly aka 'Woke Farmer' were also arrested during this church protest The independent journalist then shared the message his producers gave him after realizing how much of a stir he made. 'I was on with my producers this morning... My producers were saying, I said, 'How did I become the face of this?', and my producers said Don, you're a gay, black man in America. 'And you have a platform, and you're the biggest name. Of course you're going to be the person that they single out, and they're gonna make the headline because it plays to their base, and their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes like Nicki Minaj, by the way,' Lemon added. A few days later, Lemon was indicted by a grand jury in Minnesota, and has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and a violation of the FACE act, which prohibits interfering with someone's right to worship. Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and that he was there as an independent journalist chronicling protesters. Along with Lemon's arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Jaunary 22 that Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen had been taken into custody. FBI Director Kash Patel later said that a third protester, William Kelly, had also been detained. A source told the Daily Mail that Lemon was seen being handcuffed while flanked by FBI and Homeland Security agents, and he 'didn't look overly happy.' An insider familiar with the investigation added that prosecutors considered that Lemon would likely enjoy the publicity of his arrest, and said it was 'definitely a downside' to bringing charges against him. Lemon seen with his husband Tim Malone David Easterwood, a pastor at Cities Church in St Paul (center left) and ICE field office director, seen alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference in October. Earlier this month, his church was targeted by anti-ICE protests joined by Lemon 'He'll write a book and act like he's a martyr,' the source said. 'But I also think if you don't do anything you send a message that people can disrupt church services, and I think they have to cut that s*** off and enforce the law.' Before Lemon was arrested, he attended the Grammy's Recording Academy Honors awards show in Los Angeles on Thursday night, where he was pictured alongside rapper Busta Rhymes. In a statement from Lemon's attorney Abbe Lowell following his arrest, the journalist defended the storming of the church in Minnesota as 'constitutionally protected.' 'Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,' the statement read. 'The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.' And in Lemon's attorney's statement on Friday, he hit out at federal investigators for charging him 'instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters.' 'The Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,' the statement read. 'This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand.' Lowell concluded the statement by declaring that Lemon 'will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.' Lemon began his journalism career as a weekend news anchor at a local station in Birmingham, Alabama, before working at outlets in Pennsylvania and Missouri. He went on to join NBC News from 2003 to 2006, before joining CNN in 2006. After eight years at the network he'd get his big gig anchoring CNN Tonight from 2014 until his firing in 2023. In 2024, he launched The Don Lemon Show as a podcast and YouTube series and married his longtime partner, real estate agent Tim Malone. Bill Maher has blasted 'poser' Hollywood celebrities for engaging in 'Golden Globes activism' after a stream of A-listers wore anti-ICE pins at the ceremony earlier this month. The comedian also skewered the mainstream media reaction to his questioning of entertainers who wore the pins in the wake of the fatal shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. During his 'New Rules' segment on his HBO show Real Time, Maher repeated his words from the red carpet: 'It was a terrible thing that happened and it shouldn't have happened, and if they didn't act like such thugs it wouldn't have had to happen. But I don't need to wear a pin about it.' He then mocked the supposed offense he caused by joking that if he'd 'had the chance to think about it, my answer would be... exactly the same! Yes, the same: ICE thugs, pins stupid.' Maher then revealed that fellow celebrities and friends sent him 'supporting texts' defending what he said on the red carpet, and added that he doesn't care about the internet dissecting his words. He read out headlines that portrayed him as 'laughing at' or 'mocking' what the media called 'Golden Globes activism' by not wearing the emblem. 'You mean the activism of fixing a f***ing pin to my suit? I'm sorry, it clashed with my Keffiyeh,' he cracked, adding a photoshopped image of himself wearing the Palestinian scarf. Maher then labeled celebrities 'f***ing posers' for jumping from cause to cause and wearing pins for all of them, arguing that doing so does nothing to solve any of the problems they aim to fix. Bill Maher took one more shot at 'poser' Hollywood celebrities for engaging in 'Golden Globes activism' wearing anti-ICE pins at the ceremony The comedian skewered the mainstream media reaction to his questioning of entertainers who did wear a pin in the wake of the shooting death of Renee Good 'Get out of here with your virtue-signaling body ornaments. They're just crucifixes for liberals, because every time I see one, I think "Jesus Christ",' he quipped. He then pivoted to asking celebrities to simply stay out of politics, arguing that it was hurting the causes liberal Hollywood claims to care about. 'Its having the opposite effect of what you want. Every big name in showbusiness came out for Kamala Harris... and she lost every swing state,' he pointed out. Maher noted that the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift and George Clooney had all endorsed Harris, often making people less excited about the Democrat candidate. 'Read the room, Democrats! Celebrities aren't helping and why would they? In a country where the big issue now is affordability, outside of, I don't know, [Bruce] Springsteen and a few others, celebrities don't strike people as relatable or in touch,' he said to applause. He noted various examples of celebrity behavior, from outlandish baby names to flying private and having multiple houses to buying 'castles, towns and islands.' 'Insulated divas whose talents allow them to pig out on the finer things in life, because we all need something to aspire to,' he described them as. Maher then pointed out that being talented is not the same as 'knowing things' and doesn't allow them the credibility to comment on politics. He read out headlines that portrayed him as 'laughing at' or 'mocking' what the media called 'Golden Globes activism' by not wearing the decal 'You mean the activism of fixing a f***ing pin to my suit? I'm sorry, it clashed with my Keffiyeh,' he cracked, adding a photoshopped image of himself wearing the headdress He reignited his feud with fellow comic Dave Chappelle, who in his last special said 'F*** Bill Maher' and called Maher's opinions: 'Smug, cracker-a** commentary.' They were in disagreement over Chappelle's view that it was easier to speak freely in Saudi Arabia than in America. 'I was right, what he said was stupid. America has many problems, including free speech issues on both left in right. But we're real different than Saudi Arabia and if you don't believe me, try opening a lesbian art gallery there.' Maher finally pivoted to the Democrat Party and told them to ditch their embrace of celebrity. 'Democrats, it's great you have all the big celebs but people see them as an arm of the Democratic Party, which they already see as lacking common sense.' Once more, he addressed Hollywood, saying: 'I know it's important to you that you're making a difference. You are, it's making independents vote Republican.' Multiple celebrities, including Wicked stars Ariana Grande, Mark Ruffalo and Natasha Lyonne, along with Hacks actress Jean Smart, wore the anti-ICE pins to the awards show. The host Wanda Sykes - who used one of her speeches at the Los Angeles show to mock Maher - also donned the badge on the lapel of her glittery silver suit. The host Wanda Sykes (pictured) - who used one of her speeches at the Los Angeles show to mock Maher - also donned the badge on the lapel of her glittery silver suit Maher reignited his feud with fellow comic Dave Chappelle, who in his last special said 'F*** Bill Maher' and called Maher's opinions: 'Smug, cracker-a** commentary' She roasted Maher at the show by saying he should 'try less'. Maher didn't join in the laughter, and he initially looked puzzled before displaying a stony-faced expression. Sykes told Variety she wore the pin 'for the mother who was murdered by an ICE agent' when a reporter asked her about the accessory. 'I know people were out marching and all today. And we need to speak up,' the comedian added. 'We need to be out there and shut this rogue government down,' Sykes said, 'because it's just awful what they're doing to people.' Good, 37, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan 'Jon' Ross in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 7. Pierre Poilievre has cemented his position as Canada's Conservative Party leader, having received a strong endorsement from members despite presiding over recent electoral defeats. He secured 87.4% of votes in the leadership review, held on Friday in Calgary among delegates instead of the wider membership, after delivering a speech calling for Canadians to stay united in the face of an "uncertain world" and amid growing separatist sentiments in Alberta and Quebec. "A house divided cannot stand," Poilievre said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A leadership review is automatically triggered after an election loss - in this case Poilievre's defeat to Mark Carney's Liberals last April, in which he also lost his own seat. Despite the political setbacks, delegates who spoke to the BBC said that they still had confidence in Poilievre to lead them into the next election. "As far as the party is concerned, I think we're in the right direction," said Thomas Bambrick, a delegate from Winnipeg, adding that the vote result equals to a "resounding yes" for trust in the Conservative leader. Ahead of the vote, Poilievre delivered a nearly hour-long speech that doubled as a pitch to Conservative voters at the party's convention in Calgary, Alberta, where he outlined his vision for Canada's future should his party form the next government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He focused much of his messaging on affordability and crime - issues that have long resonated with his base - and promised a small government that would represent "people who have felt unseen for too long". Poilievre also touched on geopolitical tensions facing Canada, including its strained relationship with the US, arguing that the same domestic policies he was pitching will also help Canada "stand on its own two feet". His speech was made on a backdrop of a growing grassroots separatist movement in the Conservative stronghold of Alberta, where a process of collecting signatures to trigger an independence referendum is under way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Quebec, the sovereignist Parti Quebecois is also polling ahead, promising its own independence referendum in the province should it be elected to the provincial government later this year. Poilievre addressed these threats to Canadian unity in his speech, blaming the Liberal Party for people losing "hope in the confederation". Party members who spoke to the BBC said the speech was well received, praising it for sticking to traditional Conservative messaging while also confronting separatism - what one member called "the elephant in the room". Ballots in Friday's vote were cast in person by delegates who were selected to represent Conservative voters in each constituency across Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Poilievre has remained popular with his party despite the Conservative's unexpected loss last year, as well as the loss of the seat he had held for more than 20 years. He later won back a seat in parliament in an Alberta by-election, where he received more than 80% of the vote. In recent months, two elected Conservative MPs have left the party to join the Liberals, who under Carney have adopted more centrist policies, raising questions about the party's unity and Poilievre's leadership. But supporters of Poilievre credit him with delivering historic gains for the party, which received a record 41% of the popular vote last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In particular, the Conservative leader has been successful in courting young voters through his messaging on affordability issues like the cost of living and housing. He has struggled, however, with defining his party's stance on US President Donald Trump, whom many Canadians have come to view as an existential threat due to his tariffs on Canadian goods and his rhetoric around it becoming the 51st US state. Poilievre has also struggled with his likeability, with surveys showing that more than half of Canadians hold a negative view of him. Many cite his tone, which they view as overly combative. Polls indicate his party is still trailing, with a Leger poll released this week showing the Conservatives nine points behind the Liberals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Poilievre addressed some of the shortcomings in his speech on Friday, telling party members that a lesson he learned is to not waver on his messaging. "You told us to ignore the voices who keep telling us to abandon our conservative principles," he said as the audience applauded. "We will stay true to our principles." BYD became the biggest EV seller in the world last year, overtaking Tesla in a major coup for the Chinese seller once derided by Elon Musk. The Chinese car maker arrived in Britain in March 2023 with its Atto 3 SUV. Since then, it has gone on to balloon in popularity and sales - brand awareness rose from 1 per cent in 2023 to 31 per cent in 2024 with BYD becoming the most familiar Chinese car brand in the UK. The 'Tesla-killer' became the biggest seller of 'electrified' cars in the UK last year, shifting 51,442 new plug-in hybrids and EVs. Its Seal U DM-i SUV was Britain's most popular hybrid. Globally in 2025, BYD sold 4.6 million electrified cars. Not bad for a relatively new brand, right? And now BYD has launched its third plug-in hybrid model - its ninth total model in total the UK: the Sealion 5 DM-i. The plug-in hybrid has targeted cheap family appeal with a starting price of 29,995. But is it any good? We decided to drive it from Shropshire to Wales and back to find out. We tried BYD third plug-in hybrid model, the Sealion 5 DM-i which is billed as a family car - but does the price do enough to make it appealing? BYD Sealion 5 DM-i looks - is it nice on the eye? We don't tend to give too much judgement on exterior looks, because at the end of the day it's all in the eye of the beholder. But you can't buy a car without having an opinion on its exterior, right? So, this brief synopsis of the Sealion 5 DM-i's design can be summed up in a statement made by one of my media colleagues: 'It looks like it's already 10 years old.' It does - much more in person than in pictures. I also nudged one of my fellow This is Money workers to gauge their opinion. 'It looks like it's from 2015,' they said. BYD claims it has 'an unmistakable body shape'. But I'd dare the average driver to pick it out of a line-up of affordable SUVs parked side-by-side in a car park. There's very little to distinguish at a glance between a past-generation MG ZS SUV or a Chery Tiggo 7. If you're buying for price and an SUV body shape, then fine. But if you do want a stylish car, this isn't going to be top of the shopping list. We can't pretend it's a good looking car because it isn't. It's forgettable at best and dated at worst... Practicality and comfort - will it cater for the whole family? The Sealion 5 DM-i can hold its head high when it comes to spaciousness. Legroom in the front and back is more than enough for adults above six feet, thanks mainly to the flat floor. The headroom in the rear is also very generous and won't cramp those in the tall category of life. The driver can adjust their seat six way electronically and the passenger has four settings. In the Design trim we drove, both are heated, and all seats are made from 'eco-friendly' vegan leather. The seats aren't especially comfortable, though. The headrests in particular being overly firm, but they'll do the job. The Sealion 5 DM-i has a 463-litre boot which increases to 1,410 litres when you fold the rear seats down. It's flat so easy to pack and the seats split 40:60 BYD's tech is good and the Sealion 5 DM-i has a easy to use, easy to connect to, fast processing 12.8-inch touchscreen and a 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster The boot provides 463 litres of space - larger than the MG ZS Hybrid's 443 litres - and with all three seats down this increases to 1,410 litres. The rear seats split 40:60. And the boot floor is flat which makes packing much easier. Is the quality inside the best a cheap Chinese car can deliver? No. It's a but plasticky. But it's acceptable for the price point. Technology - how much kit do you get? The 5 DM-i's 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster is clear and information such as vehicle speed, battery level and range is easy to read at a glance. This is paired with a 12.8-inch touchscreen. It was very easy to connect my iPhone for Apple CarPlay and I found the system, for the most part, intuitive and the processing speed is rapid. As with any new car entering the market in 2025, BYD is mandated to install a host of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) features. While undeniably improving safety and mitigating crash scenarios, the systems have become a major frustration for drivers forced to endure incessant beeping and bonging. By law, manufacturers have to ensure these features are active each time the vehicle starts up, so motorists have to switch it off before every journey. Most of the time, this can be an infuriating journey through the entire infotainment suite. When it comes to ADAS in the Sealion DM-i, it's sadly the typical story of recurring bonging that takes over willy nilly. It's not a sporty SUV but it's placement isn't bad and it's fine over bumps. However its steering is disconnected and the brakes need some refining. It will get you from A to B fine, but won't do much more What's it like to drive? I'd like to say I 'thrashed' the Sealion 5 DM-i over the border from England (Shrewsbury) to Wales (Lake Vyrnwy) and I gave it as good a go as possible, but this is no sporty SUV. While it's lacking some areas, it does remain well-planted and relatively smooth, glossing over Welsh potholes enough to make for a comfortable ride and there's enough power from the Comfort's 209 bhp (the model I drove) to get on and off roundabouts or pull out of sharp junctions quickly. The steering is a bit odd, though. There is a heavy sensation at the centre point and then an extremely light feeling as you rotate through a turn. And the front axle of the car seems disconnected, making sharp cornering a bit unsettling. The brakes had a lag to them, too, then grabbing suddenly at slow speeds. The problem appears to iron itself out at higher speeds, thankfully. I enjoyed the chunky centre gear selector rather than having it on the steering wheel like most new cars these days, and found it easy to set up the chair and steering wheel in the perfect position for my [lack of] height (5'3). I was also pleasantly surprised by how good visibility was over the bonnet - often I find it's difficult to get a good sense of front wheel placement when SUVs have long, high bonnets. The Comfort does 0-62mph in 7.7 seconds while it takes the Design 8.8 seconds. EV-only range is just 38.5 miles if you buy the Comfort trim, but that goes up to 53.4 miles if you pay slightly more and get the Design trim It's pretty quiet in the cabin too. There's not too much road or wind noise coming in, which makes it a relaxing space for passengers in particular. Both models sold in the UK deliver 209bhp. The Comfort can accelerate from zero to 62mph in 7.7 seconds while it takes the Design a full second longer (8.8 seconds). EV-only range is just 38.5 miles for the Comfort trim, but that goes up to 53.4 miles if you pay slightly more and for the Design model. Combined with a full tank of petrol, you can get a total of 616 miles or 631 miles (on paper) out of the 5 DM-i's respective versions. For reference, the Jaecoo 7 SHS can do 56 miles on EV-only but the MG HS Plug-in Hybrid, which costs from 32,245, can cover 75 miles on a single charge - a decent chunk more. There are just two trims which keeps things easy: The Comfort costs 29,995 and Design costs 32,995 Trims and pricing - what do you get for the price? We like a simple trim set-up here, and so are thankful to BYD for only launching just the two trims: Comfort and Design. Comfort costs 29,995 and Design costs 32,995. Design adds an extra 18.3kWh to the battery, an electric tailgate, heated front seats and smartphone wireless charging. You also get a 360-degree camera, front parking sensors and dynamic welcome lights. Standard features for both trims include (amongst others) rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rain-sensing wipers, and vehicle-to-load (where the car can power external devices). The Sealion 5 DM-i gives you a practical PHEV SUV that will help keep running costs down and save you a chunk of cash on more premium models. It's a pragmatic buy essentially Cars & Motoring Verdict: Is the Sealion 5 DM-i an enticing buy? Enticing isn't the word I'd use. A pragmatic buy would be a better way of putting it. This is a car for people who want a brand new family SUV but want to pay slightly less than they would for an equivalently specced Nissan Qashqai or Kia Sportage. It certainly isn't a car for people for people who want their dream SUV. And that's fine because it is affordable: the Volkswagen Tiguan PHEV in contrast will set you back almost 44,000 straight out the gate. A lot of people are turning to PHEVs currently, with the tech seen as a stepping stone to EV ownership. They also offer some of the biggest ranges from a brimmed fuel tank and fully charged battery, and the Sealion 5 will give you that as well as comfort features and smart tech. What it lacks in finesse and performance it makes up for in value for money - and relatively inexpensive monthly finance payments, which is the one 'enticing' feature of the BYD range. If you do want a Sealion 5 DM-i, we urged that you opt for the Design trim with the best EV-only range. You can believe it or not, but regular saving into a pension from an early age can make you richer in retirement than you ever dreamed possible. Perseverance, generous free top-ups and the magic of compounding really can build you a million-pound pension. Even if you fall short of that ambition, you can still end up with a very comfortable sum to see you through retirement by following our tips. The key thing to keep in mind is that you get big incentives for saving into a pension that are unlikely to be handed to you from any other sources during your life. The money you put in any pension is topped up by the Government with pension tax relief, and you get extra free cash from your employer as well if its a work pension. For example, pensions savers get an uplift to money they pay in to take them back to the position before tax, turning every 80 into 100 if you are a basic rate taxpayer. Higher rate taxpayers only need to put in 60, while additional rate taxpayers pay in just 55 to get to 100. There is a generous annual ceiling on how much you can pay into your pension and get tax relief the equivalent of your annual salary, including all contributions and the relief, up to a maximum of 60,000. You can go back and fill up the previous three years too if you suddenly come into some money, for example from an inheritance. Meanwhile, many employers will match your own pension contributions, and put in extra if you do. Here, we explain what it costs and how long it takes to build a million-pound pension. How saving 6 a day can get you to 1m Your 6 a day personal contribution is only the starting point. Next comes your employers contribution. The good news is that more than half of UK employers will match your own contributions, and in some cases go even further to attract and retain their staff, rather than just put in the compulsory auto enrolment minimum. Over the decades you can expect investment returns and compound growth to turbo charge your pension savings As a bare minimum, your employer should put in 3 per cent if you put in 5 per cent including tax relief under auto enrolment rules. Assuming your employer will match your contributions, that would mean a gross 7.50 on top of yours. Then comes tax relief, which on 6 is 1.50 meaning if you save 6 a day into a pension, a grand total of 15 a day is actually going into it. Over a year, that tots up to 2,190 from you, a 2,737.50 contribution from your employer, plus tax relief of 547.50. All in, thats 5,475. Most workplace pensions take a regular, monthly amount from your salary rather than an amount every day, but you can calculate what this equates to as a daily contribution by dividing it by the number of days in the month. Nearly 5,500 is a tidy annual sum to be saving, how do you then reach 1million? Pension and investment provider AJ Bell crunched the numbers to show how over the decades you can expect investment returns and compound growth to turbo charge these savings. Typically, the more investment risk you take, the better the returns. So, AJ Bell looked at a low, medium and high-risk strategy. With low-risk investments, which might only net you an average 4 per cent a year, it worked out that to hit 1million would take you 54 years. A middle way investment strategy, which might return 6 per cent a year, would get you there in 42 years. An adventurous approach that might generate an annual growth rate of 10 per cent would cut the time frame to just 31 years. Of course, to speed up that process you can increase your contributions. For example, saving 12 a day with a 10 per cent growth rate could allow you to get there in 24 years, though that assumes your employer continues to offer matching up to that level. You can avoid tax traps in general by boosting your pension, especially if you are earning around 60,000 or 100,000 Getting ahead in t he race for 1m Pensions are designed to let you sit back and let your money grow, but being proactive can really pay off. So, we have rounded up expert tips to build your pension as rapidly as you can. We have concentrated on defined contribution work pensions, which take regular payments from both employers and employees and invest them to provide a pot of money at retirement. Savers bear the investment risk, rather than employers. Traditional final salary or career average defined benefit pensions, are more generous and provide a guaranteed income after retirement for the rest of your life. Should you be fortunate enough to have one or more of these, you can also explore any additional voluntary contribution (AVC) offer by your scheme, or open a self-invested personal pension (Sipp) to improve your retirement savings further. Start as soon as possible Every pound you manage to put into a pension when you are young is incredibly valuable because it will snowball thanks to compound interest. It means you earn returns on your returns, which can build up dramatically. Retirement may seem a long way away when you are in your 20s but the longer you contribute for, the better your chance of meeting your goals, says Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown. Leaving it later means you have to hike your contributions significantly and that might prove a real challenge if you have other financial commitments. Use pay rises/bonuses Its well worth increasing your regular contributions in line with pay rises, and diverting some or all of your bonuses into lump sum payments into your pension where you can. Ms Morrissey says finding extra space in your budget to increase your pension contributions is hard, but it can have a huge impact on your final fund. Making a decision to hike them as soon as you get a pay rise or new job can be less painful as you dont get the chance to get used to having the extra money to spend. Check if your employer will put in more Pensions expert Helen Morrissey says: The longer you contribute for, the better your chance of meeting your goals If you are not already squeezing the maximum contributions possible out of your employer, youre throwing away free money. Extra top-ups are frequently available, particularly from large employers which are willing to make 4 per cent, 5 per cent or 6 per cent in matching contributions if you opt to save a higher proportion of your income. If you can afford to do this, you will also receive more pension tax relief from the Government than you would have done otherwise. It can be more financially advantageous to divert savings to max out these matched employer contributions, rather than stick spare money in a cash Isa or other account although you will be locking it up until retirement rather than having readier access to your funds. Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, says: Around half of UK employers offer some form of contribution matching to workers, meaning if you pay in more than the minimum, they will too. Alec Collie, head of medical at Wesleyan, says: Workplace pensions are one of the few times where paying a bit more can actually get you free money. In most schemes, your employers contribution is linked to what you put in. Monitor investment performance Your defined contribution pension will be invested in funds to grow your savings for retirement. These invest in the stock market, government and company bonds and other assets. Your employers default pension fund is chosen to fit the average staff member, and the vast majority around 90 to 95 per cent of workers stick with it. But work schemes also tend to offer a range of additional funds, which usually cost a bit more but cater to those who want more actively managed, adventurous, niche or ethical investments, or a combination of these. More adventurous funds, particularly those with higher exposure to stock markets, have historically generated much higher returns over the long run. Mr Collie says: Many people stay in default or cautious investments without realising the effect this can have over decades. Even small differences in annual growth can add up over time. He points out that investing successfully can significantly increase the size of your retirement pot without you paying in any extra. Default funds are meant to be one size fits all for a workforce, and Ms Young says you should keep in mind they arent designed for you or your goals. Younger people have decades to save, giving them more time to ride out the up and downs of putting more into the stock market in pursuit of higher returns than someone closing in on retirement. So, keep an eye on the performance of your pension fund and consider whether it is worth branching out. Both younger and older people might want to take more risk and tilt pension investments entirely or mostly towards stock market investments. If you plan to keep your pension invested in old age rather than buy guaranteed income with an annuity, you might want to stick with a stocks strategy throughout your working life. That is because you are likely to keep some of your pension pot invested for years after you retirement so have time to ride out any market falls. Look at the fees youre paying When comparing fund fees, the key figure to check is the ongoing charge, which is the investing industrys standard measure of fund running costs. The bigger it is, the costlier the fund is to run. The charge cap on a workplace default fund is 0.75 per cent, and the fees on the others will probably be higher. However, they will still generally be cheaper than if you buy the same fund yourself outside a pension, because workplace providers are able to negotiate bulk discounts. People considering whether to open a Sipp, because they have a wide and flexible range of funds, trusts and shares unlike work funds, should compare the charges. Also, remember the potential loss of free employer top-ups if you havent already maxed out matched contributions to your work scheme. Sign up to salary sacrifice Contributions under popular salary sacrifice schemes are going to be capped at 2,000 each year, but not until April 2029. The system allows workers to take a supposed pay cut, but that money goes into your pension instead (or you can use it towards other benefits like childcare). As salaries are lower both staff and their employers save on National Insurance. Mr Collie adds that you can avoid tax traps in general by boosting your pension, especially if you are earning around 60,000 or 100,000. That is because paying in more can reduce your taxable income, helping you keep more of what you earn while building your pension pot more quickly. For example, earnings between 50,000 and 60,000 can trigger the loss of child benefit, while income over 100,000 faces an effective tax rate of around 62 per cent in the rest of the UK and up to 67 per cent in Scotland due to the loss of the personal allowance. Merge old pensions if it makes sense You should find all the pensions youve saved into in previous jobs, and consider merging them but check charges and any valuable guarantees first. Ms Morrissey says if you havent kept track of all your pensions from previous employers you could be missing out on tens of thousands of pounds. That tiny pension you had early on in your career shouldnt be disregarded as time in the investment market means it could have grown significantly. The Government has a free pension tracing tool at: gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details Perseverance will pay off Even small contributions really add up so long as you stick at it. If you cut your pension saving at some point during your working life or stop saving altogether, get back to it as soon as you can. Its rarely too late to get started. If youre self-employed or not in work and so dont have access to a workplace pension, you can open your own and still benefit from pension tax relief. What have you done to boost your pension? Let us know at money@mailonsunday.co.uk Taxpayers could be forced to cough up 500 million a year if a new green levy is slapped on Britain's last blast furnaces, steel industry bosses fear. The extra green taxes caused by a change in Treasury policy could make Scunthorpe's steelworks so uncompetitive they are forced to shut, insiders say. The potential impact of the levy, which stems from a looming change to an emissions trading scheme known as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), was revealed after trade body UK Steel made an urgent plea to Chancellor Rachel Reeves for a rethink. The scheme forces firms to buy permits covering their carbon dioxide emissions to incentivise them to use more environmental methods. Domestic heavy industry is exempt but a revised version of the scheme to be launched next year could see it brought within the scope of the CBAM. Frank Aaskov, a director at UK Steel, said: 'Steelmakers have so far been shielded from most UK carbon costs through free allocations. But the Government will be sharply reducing these allocations. That means a traditional blast furnace in the UK like the one in Scunthorpe must increasingly buy almost all of its carbon allowances on the open market.' Looking into the abyss: Taxpayers could be forced to cough up 500 million a year if a new green levy is slapped on Britain's last blast furnaces UK Steel's research based on historical emissions for a British blast furnace shows that, once the phase out of these free allocations begins, carbon costs could rise 'extremely quickly'. Aaskov said: 'When the UK CBAM comes into effect, such a plant could face carbon costs of over 100 million annually, rising to almost 250 million in 2031, and nearly 500 million by 2035.' That would send Government subsidies for the Scunthorpe blast furnaces, run by nationalised British Steel, skyrocketing. Taxpayer funding for the steelworks has totalled 274 million, or more than 1 million a day, in the first seven months since the Government used emergency powers to take it over from China's Jingye in April last year, far more than the 700,000 in daily losses racked up under Jingye. Aaskov also said the industry was 'extremely concerned' that the revised CBAM would disadvantage British-made steel against foreign competition. This is because imports from countries including China would be subject to 'global average default values' for carbon emissions rather than exact data. The 'global average default' figures are understood to be less stringent than those used to calculate emission levies for British firms, which bosses fear will divert even more cheap foreign steel towards UK shores. Aaskov said: 'High emission foreign steel will still enter the UK at a large discount, undercutting domestic producers who are paying full UK emissions trading scheme costs. UK producers will pay the full carbon bill. Many importers will likely not. That's the gap we urgently need Government to fix.' Steel industry boss Sir Andrew Cook added: 'The only benefit of these green taxes is to give a warm feeling to a small section of the British public that 'something is being done' to avert the threat of climate change. 'This ignores the reality that even zero UK carbon emissions would make no significant difference globally. China is the biggest carbon emitter on the planet. Chinese steel is exclusively made by high carbon means. Far better to exclude Chinese steel from British markets and kill two birds with one stone. Help save the planet, and save British steel in the process.' Anger is also mounting that steel for building projects that could be made in Britain is still being imported from abroad. Last month, the Mail revealed that 7,000 tons of Chinese steel, costing 5 million, would be used in the taxpayer-funded Net Zero Teesside gas power station on the site of the Redcar steelworks. British Steel is understood to have bid for the contract but was rejected. Separately, Government procurement data showed a third of the 293,000 tons of steel bought for Government contracts last year for 374 million came from abroad, 53.9 million of which could have been made in Britain. The Government has yet to say where the estimated 50,000 tons of structural steel and 230,000 tons of reinforcement steel to build Suffolk's Sizewell C nuclear power station will come from. UK energy costs remain high, making it more expensive to produce metal domestically, with fears a glut of cheap Chinese steel could skew prices further. Almost eight months ago my neighbour got tradesmen in to replace his fence. After the old one had been taken down he halted the works, claiming that it had been in the wrong place and that we had effectively stolen some of his land. We have lived in our house for 50 years and the neighbour purchased his in 2020. The old fence was installed many years ago by the previous owners of my neighbour's house and we'd never had any problems before. We instructed a solicitor and chartered surveyors who produced a report which confirms that we do not have any of his land. A photo from Google earth has shown that a wall with his other neighbour was removed years before he bought the house. We suspect that therefore he has not taken his measurement from the correct position. The neighbour later got his own surveyor report, which like ours suggested we didn't have his land. However, he doesn't accept this and says he will not progress discussions until his surveyor issues a satisfactory report. What can be done to get him to install a new fence in the same position as the old one and give us back our privacy? This person's neighbour has taken down a fence and started a boundary dispute (file image) Jane Denton, of This is Money, replies: In your situation, the next step would be to get a joint site visit arranged for both your surveyors. This would start the process of getting the problem resolved once and for all. But since you first contacted me, you have informed me that your neighbour is now not responding to his surveyor and won't organise the visit. The fact two surveyors have both stated that you have not got any of your neighbour's land on your property, and say the fence should be put back where it was, is telling. The Land Registry title plans will be able to give some indication about the property boundaries and you should check them if you have not already done so. You have already endured eight months of no fence and no privacy. I know you are exasperated, but you should do what you can to avoid a drawn-out and costly full-blown legal dispute, which a case like this could easily turn into. Mediation and the drawing up of a mutually-agreed boundary agreement could be a good option. However, I'm not convinced your neighbour would agree. For an overview of the legal options you could consider, I asked two solicitors for their suggestions. Olivia Egdell-Page, a partner and head of property at Joseph A. Jones & Co, says: I am sorry to hear of the difficulties you are experiencing with your neighbour. Living alongside one another, engaged in a dispute and with no physical boundary in place must be tricky to navigate. Boundary disputes do occur in these circumstances, where a fence has perhaps been erected in the wrong position, giving one property owner a little extra land, to the detriment of the other. The Land Registry title plans, whilst useful to see the extent of a property, show only 'general' boundaries. Olivia Egdell-Page is a partner and head of property at Joseph A. Jones & Co Upon an application being made for registration, the Land Registry will reflect what it considers to be a reasonable interpretation of the land in the pre-registration deeds, overlaid on the Ordnance Survey mapping at that time, and any existing registrations. As registration was rolled out across England and Wales over a number of years, registrations have been completed based on mapping at various points in time, which results in plans of varying detail and sometimes accuracy. That being said, while your properties may have been registered at different points in time, the fact your respective surveyors are in agreement is encouraging. Without seeing the legal title, I am not able to offer specific advice. However, in cases where there is a query regarding the position of the physical boundary, it is possible to enter into a boundary agreement with a neighbour to determine the position. It seems in this instance that you are not likely to reach sufficient agreement to formalise this. You have handled this exactly as I would recommend to this point, namely to appoint a surveyor to assess and confirm the precise position of the boundary in question. In terms of the next steps, you may wish to consult your solicitor to see if there is any information within the title deeds to state who is responsible for the boundary in question. If this is your responsibility, you may wish to erect a new boundary in its place. I dont expect you would recover any contribution to the cost of these works, however, to reinstate your privacy, you may consider this money well spent. With a boundary dispute, a court injunction is a potential legal remedy used to compel a neighbour to reinstate a fence that was removed or wrongly placed on your property. Obtaining an injunction is typically a last resort after attempting other resolution methods, and it requires legal action and therefore additional costs will be incurred. As with any legal action, there is scope for this to escalate and for the costs to do likewise, so this would very much be an option to consider only when all other routes have been exhausted. However, if your neighbour is refusing to engage with you, it may be worth taking further advice to understand how to proceed. Manjinder Kaur Atwal, director of housing law at Duncan Lewis, says: This is a classic boundary row, and sadly, they have a habit of dragging on long after common sense has left the building. On the facts as you have presented them, your neighbours position is entirely without merit. The evidence points to a settled boundary backed by expert opinion on both sides. Once even his own surveyor agrees that the fence should be reinstated in its original position, continued refusal becomes unreasonable rather than arguable. In legal terms, there does not appear to be any real boundary dispute left to resolve. Manjinder Kaur Atwal is director of housing law at Duncan Lewis Importantly, the recent update sheds light on why matters are going nowhere. If your neighbour is failing to respond to his own surveyor or to instruct them to engage in discussions or a joint site visit because he will not confirm payment of their fees, that is not caution: it is obstruction by inaction. Courts expect parties to engage constructively with expert evidence. Preventing your own expert from progressing the matter is something judges take a very dim view of. That said, boundary disputes are rarely just about lines on a plan. When it is someone you have to live next door to, escalation can deepen rifts and make daily life uncomfortable long after the legal issue is resolved. For that reason, before heading straight to court, it is often sensible to propose mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution as a final olive branch. A short, structured mediation can allow your neighbour a face-saving way to accept the expert evidence and move on, without the cost, stress and lasting resentment that litigation can bring. Judges actively encourage this and expect parties to try to resolve matters amicably where possible. If mediation is refused or simply ignored, your position hardens further. Your solicitor should then send a formal letter before action, making it clear that the boundary has been professionally determined, there is no encroachment, and that the ongoing failure to reinstate the fence is interfering with your right to privacy and quiet enjoyment. The letter should set a short, fixed deadline for the fence to be reinstated. If that still doesnt prompt action, you can apply to the court for an injunction compelling your neighbour to put the fence back. Courts are particularly sympathetic where one party has been left without privacy for months due to anothers unreasonable behaviour. You may also be entitled to damages, including loss of amenity and the professional costs you have incurred. One final point for your neighbour, claiming to have legal advice when you havent is rarely wise. Judges value transparency and have little patience for manufactured disputes. In short, youve acted sensibly and proportionately throughout. Try mediation as a last attempt to resolve matters amicably, but if your neighbour continues to dig in, the law gives you clear and effective tools to bring this to an end and get your privacy back. A female ex-Navy recruit has told of the sexual abuse she and many more have suffered - and said she would not want a daughter of hers to join the armed forces. Ruth Sparkes, whose husband Simon also served in the Royal Navy, told the Daily Mail of her concerns after a report revealed the extent of armed forces harassment. Mrs Sparkes, who joined up as a 17-year-old, endured derogatory comments as well as what she described as 'opportunistic groping' - and told how women in the services would warn each other to stay away from certain military personnel. She is speaking out after an official Armed Forces Sexualised Behaviours and Sexual Harassment Survey revealed widespread misconduct across the British military. The report showed high levels of sexualised jokes, unwanted touching and behaviour that left many personnel feeling unsafe. Veterans minister Louise Sandher-Jones has described the findings as 'wholly unacceptable', while Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said the results illustrated the need for cultural reform. The study showed 67 per cent of women in service experienced at least one form of sexualised behaviour in the past year, while 34 per cent of men experienced similar. One in three women reported unwanted touching or groping and almost one in ten women reported sexual activity they did not consent to - with incidents described as more common in the junior ranks. Ex-Navy recruit Ruth Sparkes has told of the sexual abuse suffered by women in the services It comes after a sergeant major was jailed for six months for sexually assaulting a teenage female soldier who later took her own life. Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead in her room at Larkhill Camp, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, on December 15, 2021. Her death came following a complaint she made against Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, now 43, after he pinned her down and tried to kiss her, an inquest heard in February this year. He has now been ordered to serve his sentence in a civilian prison by the Judge Advocate General Alan Large and a military board. Webber, who was serving at the same base, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault at a pre-trial hearing and was sentenced on October 31 at Bulford Military Court in Salisbury, Wiltshire. In a development this week, it was revealed two senior officers are now facing a court martial over how they handled the matter. Major James Hook and Colonel Samantha Shepherd have been charged with offences relating to 'conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline'. Plea and trial preparation hearings are scheduled to take place at the Catterick Military Court Centre on March 11. Asergeant major was jailed in October 2025 for six months for sexually assaulting teenage female soldier Jaysley Beck (pictured) who later took her own life Jaysley's family previously welcomed the conviction of Webber but said 'nothing can undo the devastating loss of our beautiful daughter'. Her mother Leighann McCready said that the Army was 'clearly not a safe space for young women' and had written to the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker, with her concerns about 'multiple Army failings in the chain of command' that led to Jaysley's death. 'As a consequence of that, he directed that our concerns be referred to the service police and we are relieved finally to have reached this stage today where two individuals have been charged,' Ms McCready, from Cumbria, said. 'It wouldn't be appropriate to comment further on the latest court cases until they are over. But we can say we remain very unhappy with other parts of the Army's response. 'We were promised a new independent complaints process for service people especially young women like Jaysley who often have to deal with very difficult and challenging situations we have heard nothing further about this and as far as we can tell, young women are still not benefiting from it, almost a year on from the inquest and more than four years on from Jaysley's death. 'We feel constantly as though we have to push the Army to change and it is completely exhausting.' Mrs Sparkes agreed better action was now needed within the armed forces. The former Royal Navy engineer and founder of the safeguarding app SaferSpace.io, said of the military sexism study: 'I'd like to say I was shocked by the survey's findings, but I wasn't it was just what you'd expect to hear. Ruth Sparkes (left) has set up an app called SaferSpace alongside Sunita Gordon (right) 'But I'm honestly disappointed. There have been plenty of findings about sexual harassment and sexual misbehaviour across the armed forces. 'It's long standing. I experienced it and my colleagues experienced it - and it looks to be getting worse, to be honest. 'What I'm disappointed about is what we hear from the MoD and ministers, that they have policies in place to deal with problems that 'there's no room in our armed forces' for abuse. But there clearly is, isn't there? 'Nothing seems to be changing and I believe it's worse than it was. 'The harassment that Jaysley Beck had to suffer how would anyone cope with that?' Mrs Sparkes described how modern technology including mobile phones made it easier for abusers to prey upon victims - although they could also potentially be traced that way. She said: 'It's easier now to see what's happening not kept under a rock like they were. Texts, social media, sharing messages they can now be seen. 'But they are also new tools for predatory people, to harass especially young people who are most susceptible and don't know what their rights are.' Mrs Sparkes joined the Navy as a teenager, in Gosport in Hampshire, training to be an air engineer mechanic. She recalled: 'I wasn't really prepared for such male attention. I'd attended a mixed sex school and I was used to boys but not like this. 'I was overwhelmed by the male attention and wasn't prepared for how to deal with it. 'When I joined, we didn't have mobile phones, digital harassment, which there is now and is only getting worse. 'People who have a propensity to harass young girls, young women, now have a lot more tools to do so than before. 'You'd have lewd comments when queuing in the cafe or for a cup of tea. There would be opportunistic groping. 'You'd learn to protect yourself people would warn you who to stay away from. Women would tell each other who was a dodgy so-and-so. That was normal behaviour well, I thought it was normal. 'And if people complained, the attitude was, 'If you don't like it, you shouldn't have joined up'. Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was found hanging in her room at Larkhill Camp, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, on December 15, 2021 'I do think it has got worse. I have a son. If I had a daughter, I'd be thinking I wouldn't want her to join even though my husband is a former Royal Navy officer and we've both come from that background. 'I know what will matter most to the next 17-year-old who walks through the main gate. She won't be reading policy documents - but she will be watching what happens when someone reports. 'She will listen to how senior staff talk about women and girls. And she will notice if the man or woman everyone warns her about is still in post.' Mrs Sparkes added: 'Too often, nothing happens. And silence is the enemy.' She set up her SaferSpace app which advises people on how to report experiences of abuse anonymously, after reading an Ofsted report raising concerns about lack of safeguarding at a college where she previously worked. Mrs Sparkes said: 'The report found girls didn't feel safe in common areas and that was just in a three-day visit. 'It got me thinking, it got me angry and wondering, why are people not reporting? 'I thought, if people could report from a mobile phone and could do that anonymously, that would help not having to go through HR or a safeguarding office.' The death of Jaysley Beck, 19, came after she complained about Sgt Major Michael Webber (pictured at the training event in Hampshire), after he pinned her down and tried to kiss her An inquiry heard evidence from witnesses about inappropriate sexual behaviour by male soldiers towards their female colleagues at Larkhill - Jaysley Beck is pictured The Ministry of Defence responded to the latest survey's findings by saying: 'Unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place within the military and since this report was carried out in 2022, we have seen significant changes in the Army, including the introduction of clear and unequivocal policies to state that there will be zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours. 'These changes are being embedded throughout our culture, policies, and enduring practices across every part of the Army. 'The 2022 Cultural Audit of the British Army, along with several other data sources, events and initiatives such as the Army's teamwork campaign and the establishment of the Defence Raising Our Standards Team has played a significant part in ongoing efforts at every level to improve the experience of servicewomen in the Army.' Veterans minister Louise Sandher-Jones said: 'All those who choose to serve our country must be able to do so with dignity and respect, which is why today's survey results are wholly unacceptable. 'We commissioned the UK's first ever comprehensive military sexual harassment survey, which provides a no holds barred baseline to fully confront and address the root causes of this issue. New standards in transparency and accountability are being set across our Armed Forces. 'As a veteran myself, this mission is deeply personal to me and I want our military to be the best in class on this issue. 'Ministers and chiefs are working closely together to play our part in the Government's central mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.' Calls for further action come as two Army instructors who had sex with a teenage recruit and texted each other about her in a 'disgraceful, indecent, and misogynistic' way were jailed and sacked. Lance Sergeant Antony Pugh, 36, and Sergeant Connor Forgan, 32, boasted to each other about their sexual relations with the 17-year-old trainee and described her as a 'little hotty' and 'naked maid', a court martial heard. The two men, who both served in Afghanistan, each formed separate sexual relationships with the recruit, who cannot be named for legal reasons. A military judge condemned the behaviour from the instructors and said that in Pugh's case it amounted to 'grooming'. Both soldiers were found guilty of having sex with a child in breach of a position of trust following a court martial at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire. It is forbidden for trainers and trainees in the British Army to have sexual relations. Pugh was jailed for 20 months and Forgan was jailed for 16 months. Pugh was accused of showering the victim with 'bondage equipment' and gifts from a lingerie and sex toy website. The trainee, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she felt she could not say 'no' to the higher ranking man twice her age when he came to her accommodation. At the time, the instructors and friends were based at Catterick, a North Yorkshire training establishment that turns civilians into soldiers. Commander Edward Hannah, prosecuting, said the victim was a 'vulnerable child', who was 'upset and lonely' at Catterick. He said both defendants had shown degrees of planning in committing the offences and that they were in positions of trust owing to their rank. 'The hierarchal structure of the military places power with rank, especially in a training facility,' he added. Judge Jane England said that neither of the instructors had taken responsibility for their actions and continued to 'deny' having sex with the victim. She said this was an important in relation to Army recrutiment, adding: 'A female recruit choosing to go into a combat role and being targeted by her instructors in phase two training will have a chilling effect on other female recruits.' Both men were dismissed from the Army and placed on the sexual offender register. An Army spokesman said: 'We recognise the courage shown by the victim to ensure this extremely serious crime could be investigated and taken to a successful conviction.' Veterans minister Ms Sandher-Jones said: 'All those who choose to serve our country must be able to do so with dignity and respect. 'I commend the bravery of the victim for coming forward. Today's sentencing marks another step in rooting out criminal and unacceptable behaviour. 'We will ensure there is nowhere to hide for those who commit sexual violence. 'Through our Armed Forces Bill we are bringing about crucial reforms to better protect recruits and improve faith in the service justice system.' Thirty years ago in a quiet municipality of southern Brazil, three girls came face to face with an alien-like creature that would haunt them for decades. They described it as having a heart-shaped face, big red eyes, three horns on its forehead and a shiny brown body, crouched beside a wall in a vacant lot in the city of Varginha. Terrified, the girls fled and told their mother they had seen the devil. That encounter on January 20, 1996, launched the mystery of the E.T. of Varginha, a case that remains unsolved until this day. Now, the story is once again under the spotlight after new testimonies have come to light, including that of a doctor who claims he encountered a non-human creature in his hospital. At the time, one of the witnesses, Liliane Silva, said: It had arms and legs, like a human being, but also had three horns. The girls account quickly spread across Brazil, becoming a national sensation and earning the nickname the E.T. of Varginha. In the days following the sighting, local lawyer and ufologist Ubirajara Rodrigues interviewed the girls. A statue of the E.T. of Varginha The girls described a creature with a heart-shaped face, big red eyes, three horns on its forehead and a shiny brown body The alien-like creature was reportedly crouched beside a wall in a vacant lot in Varginha After hearing their account, he told them: You didnt see a demon or an ape, you saw an extraterrestrial, Silva recalled years later in a documentary released to mark the anniversary. In the weeks that followed, ufologists began collecting anonymous testimonies from people claiming to be members of the military. They alleged that the creature had been captured alive, taken to a hospital and later transferred to the Tres Coracoes barracks before being moved to a secret laboratory in Campinas. One soldier claimed the being barely had a nose, its eyes were very red, and its mouth was small. Residents also reported seeing a UFO flying over the area before landing. As the story escalated, the Brazilian Army launched an official investigation. Investigators questioned soldiers, commanders, firefighters and ufologists who had published books on the case. They also examined the movement logs of military vehicles during the relevant days. The result was a two-volume investigation totaling 600 pages declaring the story false and blaming the media for spreading lies. The military personnel cited by the press did not participate in any operation transporting any type of cargo. The media are mistaken, publicizing untrue events, the report stated. The official explanation suggested the girls had misinterpreted what they saw during a violent summer storm, which included heavy rain and hail. Investigators proposed the figure may have been Luis Antonio de Paula, known locally as Mudinho, a man with mental disabilities who walked crouched through the city. Investigators proposed the alien-like figure may have been Luis Antonio de Paula, a man with mental disabilities who walked crouched through the city The three women (then girls) who allegedly saw a nonhuman being give their testimony in the Moment of Contact documentary The witnesses have rejected that explanation ever since. We had known Mudinho since we were children; he was always crouching low, said Valquiria Silva, Without a doubt, it wasnt him. Silva was speaking in a new documentary released by Globo featuring fresh testimonies, including that of neurologist Italo Venturelli, who claims he encountered a nonhuman being in a Varginha hospital in 1996. It was like a child, neither green nor brown, as they said. What I saw was white, with a teardrop-shaped skull and lilac eyes. I looked at it, it looked at me, it looked out the window and back at me, Venturelli said. He explained that fear of ridicule kept him silent for decades, but a serious illness that nearly killed him prompted him to speak publicly. It was completely different from a human. It was very calm, it seemed like an angel, he said. Further testimony was recounted this week at a press conference in Washington organized by investigative filmmaker James Fox. Fox directed the film 'Moment of Contact' about the Varginha incident, where he interviewed several star witnesses. Italo Venturelli, (pictured) claims he encountered a nonhuman being in a Varginha hospital in 1996 Carlos de Sousa, a Brazilian man who said he witnessed the crash, told a press conference he initially thought the object was a blimp The director presented written and video testimony from people who say they encountered a nonhuman biological entity after what they describe as a UFO crash in January 1996. Witnesses claimed a cigar-shaped object in distress crashed into a field near Varginha. Carlos de Sousa, a Brazilian man who said he witnessed the crash, told the conference he initially thought the object was a blimp. He described seeing debris scattered around part of the craft and noticing a strong smell of ammonia and rotten eggs. According to de Sousa, army vehicles arrived shortly afterward and soldiers ordered him away at gunpoint. He said that after leaving the scene, men in suits approached him in an unmarked car and demonstrated knowledge of his personal details before telling him he never saw anything. Journalist Nyei Nadeia claimed he experienced a similar situation when attempting to investigate the incident. He said he was blocked by soldiers and described hearing people running through the woods shouting surround it and its smooth, and was warned he could be arrested if he continued asking questions. The girls mother claimed four men allegedly offered money if the family would say the girls had seen an animal or a sick person The witnesses drew the creature they had seen crouching beside a wall in Varginha The mother of Liliane and Valquiria Silva also spoke via video message at the conference, saying she found a footprint in the grass with three long toes and noticed a lingering smell. Luiza Helena de Silva described a visit from four men dressed in black who allegedly offered money if the family would say the girls had seen an animal or a sick person. The conference also featured testimony from individuals claiming military involvement. One man, whose identity was concealed, said he helped transport an extraterrestrial from a hospital before handing it over to other soldiers. A medical examiner who worked in Varginha at the time described performing an autopsy on a young soldier who died unexpectedly from what appeared to be a severe infection. A pathologist involved said the bacterium was highly aggressive and unusual. In a written statement for the event, he claimed the bacterium does not commonly infect humans, although it is found on Earth. Venturelli also spoke at the conference, where he expanded on his testimony. He claimed he sensed that the creature in the hospital was thankful for the care and wanted to leave. The neurosurgeon described having the impression that the being was very intelligent, with a strong sense of understanding and compassion in its gaze. The neurosurgeon described having the impression that the being was very intelligent Venturelli, who claims he saw the alien-like creature, comforts another witness, Carlos de Sousa, at the conference after sharing their testimonies Retired Colonel Fred Clausen told the conference that in his work as a fighter pilot in 1980, he encountered a UFO, but the military confiscated footage from his gun camera. He said he believes a US cargo plane secretly flew into Brazil in January 1996 and departed with unusual cargo, calling on anyone with knowledge of such a mission to come forward. The Pentagon has denied any evidence linking unidentified aerial phenomena to extraterrestrial life. Brazilian authorities have never officially endorsed the extraterrestrial claims. Varginhas City Council said it has never commented on the military investigation, according to El Pais. However, the citys current mayor, Leonardo Ciacci, revealed in the Globo documentary that when he managed a local bakery in 1996, the hospital allegedly involved refused its daily bread delivery on the day of the incident. As the mystery continues, citizens of Varginha have embraced their alien story. Once known solely for being a major coffee-producing area, the city is now a tourist attraction, with people flocking to see statues of the 'E.T. of Varginha' as well as a water tower designed as a UFO. A group of suspected travellers have 'destroyed' fields next to an A-list Berkshire wedding venue which has hosted everyone from Winston Churchill to Liam Gallagher. The encampment, which locals fear could become 'permanent', has seen dozens of caravans and old cars 'dumped' in a field opposite the luxurious 500-a-night Cliveden House hotel. The Grade I listed Italianate mansion is set in expansive grounds, with stunning views across to Windsor Castle and it has been a popular spot for members of the current crop of royals. Prior to her wedding, Meghan Markle and her mother spent the night at a suite in the hotel in 2018 and the late Queen and Princess Margaret often visited the house, making the five-mile trip from Windsor Castle. It was also the venue chosen by departing BBC star Carol Kirkwood who considered it the perfect backdrop to her private wedding to partner Steve Randall in 2023. However, just yards from the glitzy venue, residents living in nearby 700,000 houses say the views are less impressive due to the actions of the occupants of the field who have transformed it into a 'scrap yard'. In the quaint village of Taplow, residents said their lives have become 'hell' as a result of the work, which they describe as looking like a 'bombsite'. And businesses who spoke to the Daily Mail admitted unless something is done they are worried the site of the fields opposite starting to look 'dreadful' will put off their posh clientele. A group of suspected travellers have 'destroyed' fields next to an A-list Berkshire wedding venue, residents have claimed Locals have complained of cars and vehicles visiting both fields 'at all hours', constant noise, and it making the area look 'really ugly' The encampment and scrapyard sits opposite the majestic Cliveden House (pictured) luxury hotel Meghan Markle, pictured here with her mother, Doria Ragland, stayed at Cliveden House Hotel before she married Prince Harry Carol Kirkwood also considered it the perfect backdrop to her private wedding to partner Steve Randall in 2023 Locals have complained of cars and vehicles visiting both fields 'at all hours', constant noise, and it making the area look 'really ugly'. Patrick James, 56, said: 'It's been a mystery how it has ended up like this. We understand travellers are there but it also looks like businesses are being run off the fields. 'One looks like a scrap yard. There's dozens of old abandoned cars in one of the fields. There's even a fire engine. Almost every type of car you could imagine has just been dumped there. The fields are really badly churned up. It looks like a bombsite. 'They have destroyed it. It happened over a year ago and then has just got worse. Nobody knows how this nightmare will end.' Another resident said: 'We're all very unhappy. It looks appalling. It's really ugly. The noise is a real pain. The traffic is bad, there's often cars queuing out. It looks like a bombsite.' A bar manager said: 'It's terrible. People are worried about house prices. I know people at Cliveden House are really worried. 'You're spending all that money and opposite you have a scrap yard and god knows what else going on.' The Daily Mail spoke to a man who said he was living in a caravan on one of the fields. He spoke little English and said he could not explain what happened on the site or what type of work was carried out. Another who was working on the other field, which is where dozens of cars are dumped and which appears to be a scrap yard, refused to comment. Your browser does not support iframes. Residents claim the activity has been going on at the site for well over a year When the Daily Mail approached people working in the field they offered little explanation He had breached planning control by using the fields as a scrapyard. The council previously said that its enforcement team had received an enquiry about the alleged unauthorised change of use of the agricultural land to a scrapyard on January 3, 2024. But locals say the situation remains the same. Roger Worthington, vice chairman of Taplow Parish Council, told the Daily Mail: 'It used to be equestrian land and then it changed owner and they have just trashed the place. 'It's a disgrace. Various companies operate out of there and it is car scrapping, metal scrapping, burning and god knows what else. There's also a paint shop booth I believe. 'It's been a nightmare for locals. Enforcement action is still ongoing to get rid of them.' Peter Strachan, Buckinghamshire Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning, said: 'Following a multi-agency investigation, a closure notice was issued at this site by Thames Valley Police in November 2025. 'An enforcement notice has also previously been issued to the site owners for breaches of use. The landowners have appealed this enforcement notice but were unsuccessful. The use and the material on site must be removed by 2 April 2026.' Cliveden House is one of the top wedding venues in the country. Hiring the entire venue costs over 35,000 a day and per night for a room goes up to 650. It was also one of Queen Victoria's favourite places to stay, Winston Churchill loved it and more recently it has been the venue of Jermain Defoe's wedding. In 2023, it was also where Liam Gallagher visited with him mum Peggy where she ordered the rocker to mend his rift with brother Noel and reunite - which eventually happened. From the moment it was built in 1666 the vast house has been associated with royalty and nobility and is the former seat of one Prince of Wales, two Dukes, an Earl and the Viscounts Astor. It was built by the Duke of Buckingham for his mistress as a country pile where he could entertain her and their friends in style. Built on a commanding position on a chalk cliff, the name Cliff-dene was originally given to the estate. Lord George Hamilton bought Cliveden in 1696, shortly after he was made Earl of Orkney and on his death the estate passed through several generations. From the moment it was built in 1666 the vast house has been associated with royalty and nobility From 1737 to 1751 it was home to Frederick, Prince of Wales. The house remained in private ownership until in 1893 William Waldorf Astor, America's richest man, bought the house for $1.2million. At the turn of the century Cliveden became the setting for numerous glittering parties and the centre of European political and literary meetings. The heyday of entertaining was between the war where guests included George Bernard Shaw, TE Lawrence, Rudyard Kipling and Mahatma Gandhi. Since the 1940s the house has been managed by the National Trust. It is now leased to hoteliers Ian and Richard Livingstone who also own the spa resort Chewton Glen in the New Forest. Apart from weddings, it is also popular as setting for films and TV series. The Beatles second film Help featured the expansive grounds while other films including Chaplin and Cinderella were filmed at Cliveden. The TV series Mr Selfridge was also filmed at the Berkshire hotel. He told the victim his wife never had sex with him The wife of an electrician convicted of raping a grandmother while he was meant to be fitting solar panels at her home has taken a defiant stand, proclaiming her husband is innocent. Indian-born Amol Vijay Dhumal, 45, was recently jailed for five years for sexually assaulting the then 75-year-old in her Mount Colah home in Sydney's north-west in April 2024. The elderly woman told the court that Dhumal told her his wife never had sex with him, and then grabbed her, assaulting her in the lounge room as she cried: 'You've got to be kidding'. A NSW District Court jury found Dhumal guilty of the woman's traumatising rape last September. But this week, Dhumal's wife, Gouri, was still angrily protesting her husband's innocence. 'I know my husband is innocent so I don't want to talk about it,' said Ms Dhumal, who is raising twin boys on her own, including one who has autism. 'Just respect my privacy because there is no one around us that is helping. I'm in a stressful situation because there is no help from any community.' Dhumal had been sent to the victim's house to install solar panels with his two colleagues, before returning alone two days later to fix a problem with her power. He maintains he then had consensual sex with the elderly woman. Amol Vijay Dhumal raped the grandmother in her home after helping install solar panels He blamed the attack on his wife Gouri and told the victim his wife never had sex with him The attack occurred at a Mount Colah address in north-western Sydney in 2024 However, that claim was disavowed by a jury of his peers - who agreed with the prosecution case that Dhumal raped the woman and 'employed a level of force in holding her down and lifting her legs to do so'. DNA tests confirmed his semen was found in her underwear. When the Daily Mail approached Ms Dhumal at home in Sydney's west, she could be seen helping her two young sons out of the family car. Their sons' medical history formed a large part of Dhumal's applications to the court into why he should be allowed out on bail. One of the twins has been clinically diagnosed with Level 3 Autism Spectrum Disorder - the most severe form of the condition - and requires 'substantial and ongoing support.' The court was also told the other twin has a significant speech delay which requires 'consistent speech therapy and active parental engagement to encourage language development and social confidence.' The letter argued against Dhumal's incarceration and said 'the absence of either parent may adversely affect the children's emotional wellbeing and therapeutic progress.' In a character reference letter addressed to Judge Craig Everson SC on December 3, Ms Dhumal said her husband was a 'respectful, responsible, hardworking and kind person.' She confirmed she was aware of the 'sexual intercourse without consent' charge levelled against him and described him as a 'loyal and caring husband.' Mrs Dhumal could be seen to be helping her sons out of the car after telling the Daily Mail 'there is no one around us that is helping' Dhumal's defence team argued he should be allowed to live at home to help care for the children - one of whom requires 'substantial and ongoing support' She said she was 'in a stressful situation because there is no help from any community' 'He fulfills his marital responsibilities with sincerity, respect, and commitment,' she wrote. 'He has always been supportive, understanding and responsible towards me. 'As a father, Amol is loving, responsible, and deeply dedicated to our children, one of whom has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder level 3, and he handles the challenges that come with remarkable patience and compassion.' The couple are believed to have met 13 years ago. Dhumal's wife was in court for her husband's sentencing, and although she didn't want to comment on the rape, she told the court: 'My husband is loving and respectful.' A psychological report prepared for Dhumal's sentencing noted the couple speak on the phone two to three times a day. The woman was raped in her lounge room by Dhumal (stock image) 'He also added that his friends are also supportive, and he is very appreciative of this during this challenging period in his life,' the report found. 'He plans to appeal his charge if he is found guilty and will attempt to "take this to the Supreme Court if necessary".' 'He added this is especially important for him as he needs to get back home to help with his children's upbringing, especially his child with ASD, and because he is the primary provider of financial support for the family.' The report also found he was 'deeply committed to re-establishing his role as the primary financial (breadwinner) for his family.' It comes as the elderly woman's 1,549-word victim impact statement revealed the impact on her has been catastrophic. The 76-year-old, who was left too rattled to be in court with Dhumal when he was sentenced, said she'd been 'not living, but only existing' since the attack. She said she still lives in fear despite the fact Dhumal is behind bars. 'This is the most torturous tragedy of my life. I'm in prison in my own home,' she told the court. Judge Craig Everson SC sentenced Dhumal to five years in prison Only the woman's son knew about the sexual assault. She kept the attack from her grandchildren because, 'I like to protect them especially, they have young minds.' 'I wanted them to grow up and embrace multiculturalism in their schools, neighbourhood, in their communities and among their friends,' she wrote. 'I keep away my relatives, friends and all church and community activities, for the reason that I keep on breaking down. 'At times I was thinking, why am I still here? When I try to sleep, I've said to myself, I wish I don't wake up anymore.' Dhumal will be eligible for parole in April 2030. He has lodged an appeal but will remain behind bars in the meantime. A London councillor is being paid over 20,000 in taxpayer-funded allowances while based 5,000 miles away in Bangladesh, the Daily Mail has learned. Sabina Khan was elected to serve Tower Hamlets in east London but for the last eight months has been staying in Sylhet in the Asian country. Ms Khan - who was elected to represent Labour before defecting to the controversial Aspire party - is intending to continue to serve until coming elections in May when she will step down. The reason for her ongoing relocation appears to be her ambition to become a full MP in Bangladesh - and she is said to have notified her party and the council's monitoring officer here about her movements. Tower Hamlets confirmed Khan earns 11,898 a year as a councillor and an additional 8,702 as Scrutiny Lead for Resources, a role which requires her to closely examine council spending, a total of 20,600 annually. Since first travelling to Bangladesh last May she is understood to have spent most of her time in the country, and barring one or two appearances in person has either dialed in to council and committee meetings, sent a proxy representative to sit in on her behalf or missed them entirely. Her decision to stay in post until May means Khan will have taken home a whole year of allowances despite being based mostly in Asia. Sources at Tower Hamlets have branded the situation a 'scandal' adding it was 'staggering' that she hasn't been forced to resign with immediate effect. Sabina Khan (pictured) was elected to serve Tower Hamlets in east London but for the last eight months has been staying in Sylhet in the Asian country Ms Khan (pictured) - who was elected to represent Labour before defecting to the controversial Aspire party - is intending to continue to serve until coming elections in May when she will step down The reason for her ongoing relocation appears to be her ambition to become a full MP in Bangladesh - and she is said to have notified her party and the council's monitoring officer here about her movements. Pictured: Ms Khan with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband One council source told us: 'When she has joined meetings online you can see where she is - on her balcony in Bangladesh. It's scandalous.' Ms Khan is understood to have gone to the Asian country - with which, like many of her London constituents, she has family connections - in an attempt to get adopted as a parliamentary candidate. She was joined in this by fellow Tower Hamlets councillor Ohid Ahmed as both launched campaigns to represent the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as MPs - something which is legal under the UK electoral system. Videos shared on Khan's various social media channels shows her speaking at various BNP rallies and leafleting in Sylhet throughout December and January in the run up to the general election on February 12. The election will be the first since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the aunt of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, was ousted from power in a student-led uprising. Both London councillors were unsuccessful in the first round of selections and Mr Ahmed is understood to have returned to London and resumed his usual duties. But Ms Khan, who represents a ward in Mile End, still has hopes of getting onto a second candidates shortlist for women and minority groups and so is continuing to campaign in the north eastern region of Sylhet. Communities Secretary Steve Reed has said he was 'appalled' Ms Khan would 'abandon [her] commitment' to local residents while Tower Hamlets was engulfed in a catalogue of fraud scandals. One video shows Khan bemoaning the cost of cooking gas in Bangladesh. Ms Khan (pictured, her profile on the council website) is understood to have gone to the Asian country - with which, like many of her London constituents, she has family connections - in an attempt to get adopted as a parliamentary candidate A critic at Tower Hamlets has pointed out that her 20,600 package is ten times the average 1,961 annual wage in Bangladesh - equivalent to someone earning 390,400 a year in Britain. While receiving taxpayers' money in the UK, she also lambasted the sitting Bangladeshi government, saying: 'The money they spend, it's not their own. That's the hard-earned money of the people'. Another clip on her YouTube channel shows Khan on a bridge in Sylhet complaining about potholes. Tower Hamlets was this month awarded an amber rating - requiring significant improvement - for its own pothole management. When challenged about her conduct last November, Ms Khan said she had stepped down from her Tower Hamlets role to 'dedicate myself fully to public service in Bangladesh'. And she said her resignation had been accepted by Aspire and Tower Hamlets' monitoring officer. Speaking to Bangladesh's The Daily Star, she said: 'It is not unlawful under UK law for a councillor to engage in political activity abroad. 'I have continued to serve my constituents remotely and returned when required. Nonetheless, I have now stepped down to dedicate myself fully to public service in Bangladesh.' But it later emerged that Tower Hamlets had never received Khan's resignation and she then appeared at a one-off council meeting later that month. One councillor said: 'It's staggering. It is unfair on everybody, I think she should have done the decent thing and gone. She should resign, she frankly cannot do it from Bangladesh. 'I know what it's like at Tower Hamlets, with harrowing stories of casework. People come to see you, you can't do it from abroad, you have got to sit there and see people. You can't do casework by Microsoft Teams, I'm sorry it's ridiculous!' Khan had previously served as a Labour councillor on Brent Council in West London where she was criticised for not living in the borough. In 2022 she was elected as a Labour councillor in Tower Hamlets but in November 2024, alongside another councillor, she defected to Aspire in controversial circumstances. The defections gave Aspire overall control of Tower Hamlets council. Examination of Ms Khan's regular social media posts suggests she has been staying in Bangladesh for most of the last 8 months, breaking off for trips back to London last June for Eid-al-Adha and again in September and to Mecca for Umrah for two days in October. One clip (pictured) on her YouTube channel shows Khan on a bridge in Sylhet complaining about potholes Tower Hamlets, which is controlled by Mayor Lutfur Rahman's Aspire Party, has long been dogged with corruption and mismanagement claims. Rahman was banned from public office for five years in 2015 after being found to have won the previous year's election with the help of 'corrupt and illegal practices'. Despite this Rahman was re-elected Mayor in May 2022. Sabina Khan, Ohid Ahmed and the Aspire Party did not respond to our requests for comment. Tower Hamlets was also approached for comment. More than 20 students have returned to the University of Washington months after taking part in a pro-Palestinian protest that saw them storm campus, set fires and cause more than $1 million in damages. On May 5, 2025, 34 students linked to the Palestinian equality group Super UW were arrested following a several-hour takeover of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building to protest the university's relationships with Boeing and Israel. The $150 million building, backed with $10 million from defense and aircraft manufacturer Boeing, had opened only weeks before the incident. Walls were vandalized, doors glued shut, dumpsters set on fire, glass shattered and new lab equipment destroyed, according to King 5 News. 'I was like, 'Wow, what on earth happened?'' undergraduate student William Ngo told the outlet after arriving at the destroyed building the next day. 'I never thought this would happen, locking yourself into a building or barricading yourself in,' he added. 'It's just unheard of here.' The arrested students were suspended and a criminal investigation was launched, though the prosecutor's office has not yet filed any charges. On Wednesday, Vice President of Campus Community Safety Sally Clark confirmed to KOMO News that 23 students involved have been allowed to return to classes. More than 20 students have returned to the University of Washington months after taking part in a pro-Palestinian protest that saw them storm campus and cause more than $1 million in damages In May, 34 students linked to the Palestinian equality group Super UW held an alleged several-hour takeover of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building to protest the university's relationships with Boeing and Israel On Wednesday, Vice President of Campus Community Safety Sally Clark (pictured) said the decision followed a student conduct review, though didn't mention how many students will return The decision followed a student conduct review, though the university could not confirm how many of those students actually chose to come back to campus. According to Clark, the student conduct process holds students accountable and can result in serious consequences for their education and professional futures. When questioned about the lack of charges eight months after the alleged occupation, she acknowledged that the case remains 'unresolved,' even after months of investigations. Clark said accountability for the $1 million in damages is an 'ongoing issue' not handled through student conduct, but declined to comment on whether it is being addressed through criminal channels. She claimed it would be a 'mischaracterization' to say no charges have been filed, though the King County Prosecutor's Office has said it is still waiting on the school to provide more details before deciding on charges, according to KOMO News. After the alleged riot, the University of Washington Police Department (UWPD) faced backlash for what many saw as a 'bungled investigation.' Critics pointed to a lack of surveillance cameras inside the engineering building and limited coverage at entry points and doors. Clark denied that police dropped the ball, arguing that the department 'has worked extremely hard from that night.' Walls were vandalized, doors glued shut, dumpsters set on fire, glass shattered and destroyed lab equipment were among the scenes following the takeover Since the incident more than 250 days ago, the university has installed cameras both inside and outside the engineering building, she told the outlet. She said that, although the prosecutor's office has no record of felony or misdemeanor charges filed, information has been 'forwarded' by the police department. 'That work has been ongoing and we're grateful for the work that people are doing to help UWPD in assessing all of the evidence and in looking at all the potential routes to continue to do in order to get that right when they do file charges,' she said. Clark said that if the high-profile case ends without any charges, it would 'be a shame' and a missed opportunity. Last week, Spokesperson Casey McNertheny of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office told KOMO News that he does not think authorities mishandled the case. 'I think it's the difficulty of case law,' he said, adding that there is no concern about a statute of limitations despite the pending disciplinary hearings. Ana Sarna, co-founder of the University of Washington's Jewish Alumni Association, told the outlet: 'We're really disturbed by it.' 'When you don't have any accountability, then people are emboldened to do something worse,' she added. When asked about the lack of charges, Clark said that the case remains 'unresolved,' even after months of investigations Clark said accountability for the $1 million in damages is an 'ongoing issue' not handled through student conduct Meanwhile, the campus disciplinary process also drew controversy after Super UW, which claimed responsibility for the protest, posted that students were 'free' once a conduct board found only 'two minor violations,' KOMO News reported. The protest and overnight occupation played out publicly, with live streams and broadcasts across both television and online platforms. Dressed in black and brandishing Palestinian flags, protesters called on the university to sever its ties with Boeing due to the company's work with the Israeli military. Weapons supplied by Boeing have been used in Gaza, where Israeli military attacks have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. 'I was surprised by the extent they took it to,' graduate student Mitsuki Shimomura told King 5. Sophomore Kyle Chang told KOMO News: 'I was kind of surprised they were setting fires to things. I didn't know they were vandalizing inside the building.' The occupation ended after police in riot gear broke through barricades and arrested protesters inside. A day later, a second-floor classroom door had been torn off its hinges and epoxy-glued doorways blocked access to a main stairway and other exits, according to The Daily UW student newspaper. The May protest and six-hour overnight occupation played out publicly, with live streams and broadcasts across both television and online platforms Throughout the building, graffiti on the walls read: 'Boeing is the #1 weapons manufacturer to Israel, this building is NOT,' and 'Boeing kills' Clark said that if the high-profile case ends without any charges, it would 'be a shame' and a lost opportunity Throughout the building, graffiti on the walls read: 'Boeing is the #1 weapons manufacturer to Israel, this building is NOT,' and 'Boeing kills.' UW condemned the protest in a statement that read: 'The University will not be intimidated by this sort of horrific and destructive behavior and will not engage in dialogue with any group using or condoning such destructive tactics.' The university said it values its long-standing partnership with Boeing, which spans more than 100 years. In March, the Board of Regents voted not to pursue divestment from Boeing or other companies, arguing that it would violate academic freedom. NEED TO KNOW On July 15, 1976, 26 children between the ages of five and 14 along with their bus driver were abducted as they drove home from a fair in Chowchilla, California Three men forced the group at gunpoint into soundproof vans with blacked-out windows and then drove around for 11 hours The group was then forced down a shaft into a tractor trailer that was buried, leaving them all entombed in the middle of a remote quarry What started out as a day of celebration for 26 children in California ended in terror when they and their bus driver found themselves buried alive in the middle of a remote rock quarry. The youths, all between the ages of 5 and 14, were leaving the local fairgrounds in Chowchilla, a city located approximately 150 miles southeast of San Francisco, after a swim outing to mark the final day of summer school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As they journeyed home on July 15, 1976, the bus encountered a van in the middle of the road, forcing bus driver Ed Ray, then 55, to slow down. That is when a man with a gun approached Ray while his two accomplices ordered all of the children off the bus and into two waiting vans. The bus was abandoned in a ditch, covered with bamboo and brush to avoid detection while the vehicles carrying the children and Ray which were soundproofed with blacked-out windows were driven around for 11 hours before arriving at a gravel quarry some 100 miles away. Public records state that the children and Ray were then ordered to travel down a shaft and into a tractor-trailer, and then they were buried alive. The bus from which 26 children and their bus driver were kidnapped near Chowchilla UPI/Bettmann/Getty A massive search and rescue got underway but the bus appeared to have just disappeared along with all the children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Concerns became even more heightened when police located the abandoned school bus but no sign of the children, leading many parents to start fearing the worst. Unbeknownst to them, the 19 girls, 7 boys and Ray were busy plotting their escape. The kidnappers had left mattresses for the group, which they stacked up, allowing one boy to wedge open the hatch at the top of the tractor trailer. They then began to dig through the dirt and debris covering the van, and after 16 hours in the 108-square-foot space, two of the children and Ray were able to actually get themselves out of the tomb. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once free, they managed to find the security guard at the quarry and deputies with the Alameda County Sheriffs Office were able to safely evacuate all the children. Law enforcement quickly identified Frederick Newhall Woods IV, then 24, as a person of interest in the case since his father owned the quarry. Also suspected were his two friends, 24-year-old James Schoenfeld and 22-year-old Richard Schoenfeld. It was then revealed that the men had planned to demand a $5 million ransom for the safe return of the children, despite the fact that Woods lived with his family on a 79-acre estate while the Schoenfelds were the sons of a wealthy podiatrist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They had attempted to make that request after returning from burying the children alive, but news of the missing children had left all phone lines tied up and made it impossible for them to get through the police. The men would later say they even took a nap only to wake up and learn that the children had made their way out of the trailer. James Schoenfeld, Fred Woods and Richard Schoenfeld (l to r) Bettmann Archive 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. Richard voluntarily surrendered to authorities eight days after the kidnapping while his brother James was arrested a week after that in Menlo Park. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On that same day, members of the Canadian Mounted Police in Vancouver located Woods hiding out at an unassuming hotel. A search of his family's estate also turned up a gun used in the crime and a draft of the ransom note demanding $5 million. Woods and his co-conspirators eventually struck a deal with prosecutors that dropped all robbery charges against them in exchange for their guilty pleas to all counts of kidnapping. The three men were sentenced to life in prison but successfully appealed the court's decision, reducing their punishment to eight years to life in prison. Richard would eventually be released on parole in 2012, while his brother James was released three years later in 2015. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Woods walked free in 2022. Lynda Carrejo-Labendeira, who was 10 when she was buried alive, spoke with PEOPLE following James' 2015 release. "We fought at every hearing and thought our voices would make a difference, that being there meant something to the parole board, but it didnt," she said, making no secret of her anger at the decision to let him walk free. In 2016 the 25 surviving victims successfully filed a lawsuit against their kidnappers and received an undisclosed sum. The money was paid out of Woods trust fund. Read the original article on People A pensioner evicted from her home after losing a five-year legal battle with her neighbour over a 1ft strip of land insisted that she has no regrets. Jenny Field, 77, was removed from her house in Poole, Dorset by bailiffs on Monday after a judge ordered that it be sold to pay the 113,000 she owes neighbour Pauline Clark in legal fees. She has been provided with emergency housing by her local authority for the next six weeks, after which she will have to make her own living arrangements. Ms Field told The Daily Mail: I dont know what Im going to do after the six weeks is up or where Im going to live. 'My life has become a nightmare, everything is uncertain and its causing me a lot of stress. How could the court have done this to an old woman like me? But I dont have any regrets. I had to fight this case in the courts, I didnt have any other option because this woman stole my land. 'Ive lost my home and it cost me a lot of money but if I had to do it all again, I would. She added: Sometimes you just need to take a stand. My only regret is that I should not have bought a house next door to this woman (Ms Clark) in the first place. Jenny Field, 77, said she 'doesn't regret' her five-year court battle with her next door neighbour that led to her losing her home The pensioner was evicted on Monday after bailiffs arrived and ordered the house be sold to pay the 113,000 owed to her neighbour 'If Id known what she was going to be like, Id have bought a bungalow somewhere else. Ive only managed to collect a few bits of clothing from my home and am going to a local food bank so that I can eat. The courts treatment of me has been disgusting but I had to do what is right. Ms Field has been given 21 days to empty the contents of her 420,000 home, which she purchased in 2016, before it is put on the market. The dispute started after Mrs Clarke erected a boundary fence which Ms Field claimed was 12 inches on her land. She hired her own contractors two months later and had the 6ft fence taken down. She later repositioned it to reclaim 'her land'. Mrs Clark took her to court and won, with Ms Field ordered to cover the cost of the fence she took down and two thirds of Mrs Clark's legal fees, about 21,000 at the time. But Ms Field refused to accept the outcome and the case went back to court multiple times, sending the legal bill skyrocketing to six figures. She revealed that she has two grown up children who live close to London, but she does not want to move in with them as she does not want to be a burden. Neighbour Pauline Clark pictured leaving Bournemouth County Court last September The boundary between Ms Field's bungalow on the left and neighbour Pauline Clark's on the right has been at the centre of a five-year dispute Ms Field was evicted after refusing to accept Mrs Clarke's legal victory over the boundary Ms Field added: My kids have told me to accept the court judgment, pay off my neighbour, buy a new home with the money left over and move on with my life. But I cant even think about the future at the moment. I cant sleep, my health is in a bad way and this whole matter has been absolute hell. Ms Field insisted that she does not have the funds to continue fighting her case in court but will attempt to challenge the ruling however she can. She said: Ive sent emails to the Land Registry and the court telling them that this decision is wrong, and they have no right to evict me. But nobody is listening to me. Last September, a county court judge said Ms Field's claims that Mrs Clark's case was fraudulent were 'totally without merit' and made an order to have her home sold. She was given a deadline of December 6 to pay the 113,000 bill or her home would be sold from under her to settle the debt. Judge Ross Fentem said the 'draconian order' was a last resort, but that Ms Field had had every opportunity to pay. Ms Field admitted that after moving into her bungalow relations between her and Mrs Clark had never been good. She said: She moved in a year before me in 2015 and to be honest, we never got on. We rarely spoke and never even had a cup of tea together. Ive never liked her, and shes never liked me. Mrs Clark's solicitor Anna Curtis has said there was ample equity in Ms Field's property for her to pay the debt and still be able to buy a comfortable retirement property mortgage free and have cash leftover. In passing his judgement at Bournemouth County Court last September, Judge Fentem said: 'This is a very long-running boundary dispute. The defendant [Ms Field] has, in various ways, sought to relitigate the original case. 'Her case is fundamentally that... the original fence was a boundary fence and that it was entirely on her land. 'Every attempt to relitigate has failed. She appears to be convinced some form of fraud has taken place. There appears to be no reasoned basis for the allegation. 'There is no evidence in the documentation any wrongdoing was committed. 'I have no confidence at all the claimant [Mrs Clark] will be paid what she is owed except by an order for sale. 'This matter needs resolution, the parties need to find a way of putting the entirety of this dispute behind them. 'The order for sale is a last resort and Draconian remedy but taking all the factors into account I should make an order for sale in this case.' Dean Stalham can remember all too clearly the way his daughters doctor behaved whenever he graced them with his presence. All smiles and success, Dean reflects, he would sweep into the ward and talk himself up as some sort of miracle man. And for a time, the Ramsgate-based artist and charity worker believed orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar might well be one. Always quick to reassure, Jabbar insisted Deans young daughter Bunty born with a rare condition that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue and eat away at the bone was receiving the very best care. Under his specialist hands, he emphasised, the leg she was in danger of losing could be saved. He sold her a dream, as Dean puts it. So, at Jabbars suggestion, his sunny, spirited and brave daughter had multiple unsuccessful and painful procedures. All in vain. In 2020, aged just seven, Bunty was told her left leg would need to be amputated below the knee after all a devastating blow after so many surgeries to save it. Far more devastating still, however, has been learning that many of those were unnecessary. For along with dozens of other parents, Dean has since found himself confronting the unthinkable reality that his daughter was not just a patient but a victim of a man now dubbed the Del Boy doctor a surgeon who, far from helping the vulnerable children in his care, left many with life-changing injuries and irreparable damage courtesy of what one mother told the Daily Mail yesterday was a God complex. Bunty Stalham was born with a rare condition that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue and eat away at the bone, and underwent a number of surgeries Yaser Jabbar, dubbed the Del Boy doctor, was a surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital who, far from helping the vulnerable children in his care, left many with life-changing injuries and irreparable damage Some were as young as four months. Amputation, permanent deformities and chronic pain are among Jabbars dreadful legacy, alongside muscle and nerve damage. One patient was left with one leg an astonishing 20cm shorter than the other. Then there are the deep psychological scars inflicted on young patients: nightmares, flashbacks and, in some cases, a fear of hospitals so deep that they cannot face further corrective surgery. Little wonder, then, that when news of the now 45-year-olds actions surfaced in autumn 2024, it provoked widespread shock not least because it unfolded at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), an institution regarded as one of the finest childrens hospitals in the world. Then there was the sheer potential scale of the damage. Between 2017 and 2022 the years of his tenure at GOSH Jabbar treated 789 patients, as well as an unknown number in private practice. How many, exactly, had suffered at his hands? Only this week has there been an answer. Following the publication of a long-awaited report, it emerged that 94 children endured harm, 36 of them severe. Among the ghastly litany of failures experienced by those unfortunate enough to be under Jabbars care were misplaced implants, injuries to bones and procedures that never needed to take place at all. Could there a more catastrophic betrayal of trust by a hospital? Perhaps only the fact that many parents who raised concerns were repeatedly dismissed. I was questioning this man for years because things just didnt seem right, recalls Dean, who today believes Jabbar took it upon himself to be the Almighty saviour of a limb that was beyond saving, leading to multiple surgeries that were no benefit to Bunty whatsoever. I challenged him on multiple occasions but he was so dismissive. I complained to the hospital too and that was dismissed as well. I was repeatedly told hed done nothing wrong. This, despite the fact that, it later emerged, Jabbars reputation among some colleagues was such that staff working alongside him privately admitted they would not want him operating on their own friends or family. As Caroline Murgatroyd, of Hudgell Solicitors representing a number of families in a civil action against GOSH, told the Daily Mail yesterday: The Trust admitted in its report that there was a serious incident involving him in 2021. Then, in 2022, further concerns were raised and when they looked back, there had already been seven separate complaints against Mr Jabbar. Why did it take so many to sttart things rolling? Bunty's father, Dean, who today believes Jabbar took it upon himself to be the Almighty saviour of a limb that was beyond saving, says multiple surgeries were of no benefit to Bunty whatsoever' Great Ormond Street is regarded as one of the world's leading childrens hospitals That question will no doubt prompt ongoing soul-searching at Great Ormond Street, from where chief executive Matthew Shaw this week said the hospital was profoundly sorry for what had happened and had made significant changes both to the orthopaedic service and across the hospital. From Yaser Jabbar himself, however, there has been silence. He was last known to be living in Dubai, having moved there in late 2022 to take up a post at the Clemenceau Medical Center after voluntarily giving up his licence to practise in the UK. He left that role in September 2024 after news of an investigation became public and his current whereabouts are unknown. Almost as baffling as how long he went unchecked is the question of motivation. Jabbar appeared to be the consummate surgeon, with an impressive CV. While little is known about his family background, he trained at Londons St Georges Hospital, graduating in 2004 and registering with the General Medical Council the same year. He completed specialist orthopaedic training in Oxford and London, spent a year working in hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney, then returned to the UK, working at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital before arriving at GOSH in 2017. His speciality was limb straightening and lengthening in children born with congenital deformities or disease complex surgery involving circular steel frames and tension wires attached to bones that are surgically broken and gradually stretched to allow new bone to form. There was no shortage of candidates at GOSH, a hospital long synonymous until now with paediatric excellence and where Jabbar quickly acquired a reputation as a confident surgeon. Too confident, is how Mark Harvey, father of George Davison, now 17, from Essex puts it. He was a likeable guy. At the time I said he was like the Del Boy of doctors. He would make jokes and was very confident. George was born with a rare condition affecting bone development and had multiple surgeries from the age of two, involving steel pins and months of recovery. In June 2021, Jabbar operated on Georges wrist and arm using a metal Ilizarov frame a procedure a Royal College of Surgeons report later concluded had not been properly discussed with the family. The surgery left Georges hand more deformed and him in continuing pain. I trusted Jabbar, his father says. It makes me sick that this happened. It is a sentiment echoed repeatedly by families affected by Jabbars actions, among them Claire Osborne from Fleet, Hampshire, who told the Daily Mail this week she believed Jabbar had a God complex. Her daughter Ella, now 16, was born with a rare congenital disorder affecting multiple systems, including her bones. In 2020, she was seen by Jabbar for genu valgum, a condition in which the knees angle inward. Jabbars solution was to screw a small metal plate, shaped like a figure of eight, to the bone to slow growth on one side while allowing the rest to develop normally. One month after surgery we could see Ella was deteriorating, Claire says. Every time she walked her legs were clicking. She was in pain, but when we went back to see Jabbar he sat in his chair with his hands behind his head and said: If Im not worried, you shouldnt worry. He was so arrogant. As months passed, Jabbar failed to respond to requests for follow-up appointments and, in desperation, Claire and husband Chris sought a second opinion from GOSH consultant orthopaedic surgeon Sarah McMahon who would go on to raise the alarm about Jabbar and who conducted the surgery that followed, breaking Ellas knees and hips to make her legs straight again. If we had met Sarah McMahon in 2020 she could have had that work then, Claire says. It is an if only shared by so many of Jabbars former patients and their families. In Great Yarmouth, meanwhile, 19-year-old James Wood has also been left with a legacy of trauma. Ella, now 16, was born with a rare congenital disorder affecting multiple systems, including her bones. Her mother says: One month after surgery we could see she was deteriorating James Wood was just 12 when he had surgery, including Achilles tendon lengthening, intended to help him walk but which instead triggered a cascade of horror Born with a rare condition limiting movement in his legs, he was just 12 when he had surgery, including Achilles tendon lengthening, intended to help him walk but which instead triggered a cascade of horror. A metal frame fixed to his leg went catastrophically wrong, puncturing his femoral artery. Within weeks, he was in extreme pain, his thigh swelling with internal bleeding. An ultrasound identified a large collection of fluid and a biopsy was performed. Medics discovered that one of the pins used to secure the frame had protruded into his thigh. When it was removed, there was lots of bleeding and surgeons noted damage to his femoral artery. The frame was then removed and James was placed in a full-length cast to support his leg, developing a pressure sore so severe that when it was removed, the back of his heel was rotten, scraped raw by the casts tightness. Walking became agony. Now a university student, he still cannot fully bend his leg. His feet are permanently misshapen and trauma has driven him to refuse further surgery, while the discovery that he is one of a legion of patients to have suffered unnecessarily at Jabbars hands has been profound. To find out my surgeon was harming not just me but many others, and was not stopped for years, is abysmal, he says. Perhaps as shocking as the injuries themselves is the extent to which parental concerns were ignored: by 2021 Dean Stalham and other parents had complained to GOSH, by which point Rob Hill, a highly respected surgeon with three decades at the hospital, had also raised an alarm. Hill contacted the hospitals then head of service in early 2020 after learning a family believed they had been misled by Jabbar about surgery performed on their childs elbow. He cited concerns about Jabbars honesty, integrity and his tendency to work in isolation, and was asked to submit a report, which he did in June 2020. Astonishingly it took another two years for senior managers to act: only in June 2022 did decisive action follow, after Sarah McMahon raised the alarm while overseeing Jabbars patients during his absence following a motorbike accident. This time, GOSH commissioned a Royal College of Surgeons review in September 2022 though it was kept under wraps. The following month Jabbar started an unpaid sabbatical. The RCS concluded its findings just over a year later (by which time Jabbar had left both the hospital and the UK) yet the review was not publicly acknowledged until September 2024. Among the damning findings of the 100-page report were that Jabbar had altered clinical records after surgery and that managers had failed to act on whistleblowers concerns. Many of those affected, of course, have known that desperate truth for some time and are now left to live with consequences which have been little eased by this weeks independent report. As Georgina Wade, a solicitor at Tees Law representing several families in a civil action against GOSH, told the Daily Mail: The effects have been far more profound than the report suggests, both physically and emotionally. Many of these children already had complex, life-limiting conditions but they were made worse, sometimes to the point that injuries can no longer be fixed. Some children, now adults, have developed phobias of hospitals and refuse further surgery because they cannot face going through it again. Her words are echoed by Caroline Murgatroyd, who believes that this weeks report does not go far enough in terms of accountability. Were supporting young people who feel their childhoods were ruined by constant hospital visits and operations, she says. To discover they were actually harmed is devastating. The psychological damage the nightmares, the trauma has barely been acknowledged. The impact on parents is also enormous. Many blame themselves for trusting the hospital and Mr Jabbar. They shouldnt. It was the system that failed them. Whether the matter becomes criminal remains to be seen. Last night a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the Daily Mail: We are in contact with Great Ormond Street Hospital and will review the report to assess whether police involvement is required. Whatever the outcome, little will mitigate the pain of the families whose paths crossed with Jabbar. I feel I let her down, says Dean of daughter Bunty, now turning 13 and living with a prosthetic limb and a permanent limp. As a parent, your heart breaks when you feel you havent done enough. For Claire Osborne, meanwhile, what she and others have been through raises troubling questions about the trust we place in the medical profession. Every time you sign that piece of paper to allow your child to go under the knife you are putting their life into the hands of someone else, she says. Now because of what has happened we have to think that every time we sign that piece of paper we are risking their lives further and opening them up to damage. How do we ever trust someone again? Additional reporting: Stephanie Condron Lech Walesa, the living legend who freed Poland (and, he would claim, the entire world) from communism, was raised in a poor farming family, received only a basic education and worked as a shipyard electrician. In April 1991, therefore, when Queen Elizabeth invited him and his wife Danuta, a former flower shop assistant, to stay with her for three days at Windsor Castle, social commentators feared the couple would be horribly out of their depth. As a plumed horse carriage carried them to their first engagement, a banquet in St George's Hall attended by the royals and Prime Minister John Major, snooty 'experts' envisaged them making faux pas such as mistaking their finger bowls for cabbage soup. Yet as Walesa tells me in a rare personal interview later described by his personal assistant as the most revealing he has given he and the Queen became such great 'mates' that he felt able to complain to her that his stonebuilt bath in the castle was too cold and tell her he'd have been 'more comfortable in a hotel'. He also claims to have delivered her a stark warning based on his electrical knowhow. Had she heeded it, he says, one of the worst royal catastrophes of recent times might have been averted. As he and Danuta settled into their superficially opulent quarters, Walesa tells me, he was alarmed to find bare wires protruding from the wall and realised that the centuriesold castle had fallen so far into disrepair that it was in a 'dangerous' condition. After fearlessly leading the mass 'Solidarity' trade union strikes that began the Eastern Bloc's collapse, he was by then Poland's first democratically elected president. Pragmatic as always, however, Walesa named by Time magazine as one of the most significant figures of the 20th century reverted into sparky mode. Lech Walesa, the living legend who freed Poland (and, he would claim, the entire world) from communism, has given a rare personal interview to the Daily Mail Walesa with Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. When the late Queen invited him and his wife Danuta, a former flower shop assistant, to stay with her for three days at Windsor Castle, social commentators feared the couple would be horribly out of their depth 'I had a look at the wires and thought, this place needs repairing. It was in a terrible state,' he tells me, chuckling so hard that the points of his trademark moustache begin to twitch. 'Some of them were hanging down, so I fixed those myself. 'Then I warned Elizabeth what would happen. I said I'd looked at the electrical fixtures, and I told her straight, 'This castle will catch fire soon' and within a few weeks it did just that!' Walesa's timing is somewhat awry. In fact, the huge fire that raged through Windsor Castle, destroying priceless antiquities and causing 35million of structural damage, came 19 months later, in 1992 a year the Queen memorably described as her 'annus horribilis'. And while faulty electrics were initially thought to have started the blaze, it was later attributed to a workman's spotlight, which had been left too close to some curtains and set them alight. Given that Walesa's epochmaking life is entering its 83rd year, however, perhaps we shouldn't expect pinpoint accuracy in his entertaining reminiscences. Before we move on from the Queen, I ask him in jest whether he and Danuta had taken a crashcourse in etiquette before his state visit. Were their calloused hands trembling as they lifted the solid silver cutlery? He leans back on his chair and lets out another throaty laugh. 'No, not at all! Do you know what? In a way, I felt superior to Elizabeth, and that's why she admired me. 'She was probably thinking, 'How is this possible? He is showing me no special respect. Nothing at all.' I just treated her as though she was my mate, which was unthinkable for her. 'She was really amazed by my attitude, that's why she liked meeting me and we met on a few more occasions. Noone else treated her like that. But I'm different from other guys. I don't behave according to the official guidelines.' Walesa shakes hands with Margaret Thatcher in 1989. While Walesa forged a close bond with the Queen, Mrs Thatcher's admiration for him, frequently expressed during her time as prime minister, was not requited The trade union activist is reportedly recovering from cancer and his paunch strains the buttons of a dated, grey shirt sporting a Ukraine badge and an image of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Poland's patron saint Evidently not. While Walesa forged a close bond with the Queen, it's jarring to hear that Margaret Thatcher's admiration for him, frequently expressed during her time as prime minister, was not requited. For as he startlingly admits, when it comes to politics, he is an unreconstructed sexist. 'I'm old school. I treat women a little differently than men,' he says with an unapologetic shrug. 'I'm a male chauvinist, women in politics don't suit me very well. I was respectful to her it was all very appropriate but still I knew she was a woman.' I assume he's jesting again, but no. 'We got on quite well, but her style of politics was very different to mine. She always asked everyone for advice before making decisions... I never ask.' From the moment we meet in a cavernous new museum beside the Gdansk shipyard that stands testimony to Solidarity's victory Walesa leaves no doubt that he feels assured of his place in history. The trade union activist is reportedly recovering from cancer and his paunch strains the buttons of a dated, grey shirt sporting a Ukraine badge and an image of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Poland's patron saint. But he is not slowing down. Indeed, the young man in a hurry has simply morphed into an old, and frequently irascible, man in an even greater hurry. 'Bring it on, man! I want difficult questions! Easy ones make me sleepy,' he barks, waving away my interpreter's opening pleasantries. 'I've got no time, I'm 83! I only have a few more hours left to live!' We open with Poland's economic resurgence (made possible, he suggests, because he removed its 'shackles') and, with impatient claps of his hands, race on to the power struggle between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and China's leader Xi Jinping, which, he avers, poses a greater threat to humankind than the Cold War. Walesa told the Mail: 'Some people don't like me because I speak my mind. They will be more appreciative of me [when] I'm harmless and resting dead. I achieved wonderful, just unbelievable things. I walked a straight and just path, and I never gave up on my goals' More of that later. However, it's when I steer the conversation on to personal matters that Walesa stops grandstanding and bares his soul. While he was being lauded for facing down the forces of communism, he confesses, his wife and eight children paid a heavy price. For many years, he was at pains to present them as a strong family unit. In his 1992 autobiography he recalls how Danuta, whom he fell for in her teens when she served him flowers in her shop, was the 'rock' upon whom he relied as the authorities tried to break him. When heavies from the SB, Poland's secret service, raided their house and planted bugging devices, she would mock them fearlessly. And in 1981, when they arrested him for a year's internment, she tried to break their car window with her shoe. Since he feared being banned from reentering Poland if he went to Oslo to receive his Nobel Peace Prize, in 1993, Danuta collected it for him. However, in 2011, when she released her own bombshell memoir (without warning Walesa what it would contain) it became clear there was not always solidarity in their marriage. She depicted Walesa as an egocentric and overbearing husband who made major family decisions without consulting her, and consigned her to the role of cleaning lady, cook and nursemaid. Meanwhile, 'crowds of labour union members, advisers, politicians, journalists and lunatics [were] pouring into our apartment from dawn until late at night. 'When Solidarity was born, the father and the husband were gone. With that bloody politics he was less and less involved with the children and with me... there was no formal divorce but there were two separate worlds in our family.' Though Walesa affects another little joke about Danuta's book 'sometimes I regret that she learned to write' her revelations clearly still rankle. 'I was brought up to believe that one doesn't tell everyone what is happening at home, and she revealed everything, just like women do,' he says. Thatcher with Walesa in Gdansk. When it comes to politics, the former president admits he is an unreconstructed sexist Walesa speaks at a rally in Poland in 2018. While he has been lauded for facing down the forces of communism, he confesses, his wife and eight children paid a heavy price A few years after the memoir was published, tragedy struck the family. In 2017, his third child, Przemyslaw, was found dead at his Gdansk apartment, aged 43. Suicide and foul play were ruled out but he had struggled with depression and alcoholism. Then, last year, his second child, Slawomir, who had suffered similar problems, also died suddenly, aged 52. Again, the cause was not suspicious but remains a mystery, for Poland does not hold public inquests. 'They were burdened by their parents' struggle,' Walesa replies balefully, striving to explain why they found life so painful. 'They were obviously raised differently from other kids.' Does he feel guilty? For once he pauses before answering bleakly: '[Their deaths] are the proof that they were not properly raised because there was no father at home. They weren't looked after at the right time. 'But that is the cost one had to pay. I destroyed the old order. I freed the world from... communism. I paid for it with the loss of my family, and my children not being brought up as well as they should have been. But serious politics is like this. Once you are in, there is no way out.' What of Danuta? They still share the same sprawling house in the Gdansk suburbs, which he bought cheaply in 1988 when it was in need of renovation, but are they fully reconciled? He gives me a saucy wink and responds obliquely. 'Yes, as far as my age allows, but of all my masculine activities, all I have left these days is shaving. And even that doesn't go very well my hand shakes.' Along with his six surviving children, Walesa has 'about 20 grandchildren' and a greatgrandchild. His oldest son, Bogdan, works for him, but otherwise there is 'no strong connection' between them. Back on more comfortable ground, I wonder what he makes of the increasingly erratic Trump presidency. He bids his aide to show me a photo of himself with The Donald and makes another extraordinary claim. Walesa faced allegations he was a communist spy during the Cold War to which he responds: 'What kind of communist agent would I be, if I was the one who destroyed communism?' It was taken in 2011, Walesa says, when Trump was beginning to set his sights on the White House but worried about his lack of political experience, and invited him to MaraLago to give him some 'advice'. Walesa says he encouraged him to stand, for if a simple workman like him could become the leader of his nation, so could a billionaire businessman. Today, appalled by Trump's belligerence, the man who overthrew Poland's communist regime without resorting to violence deeply regrets those words. 'He's either a Soviet agent or an enormously talented politician who sees the world needs to be reformed but tries to reform it by force,' Walesa surmises. 'He's right about the reforms but totally wrong about the methods.' So how would he have handled Putin, particularly over Ukraine? After all, he negotiated with the peaceable, Westfriendly Mikhail Gorbachev and vodkasodden Boris Yeltsin, not a powercrazed dictator who threatened to start a nuclear war. Had Solidarity been up against Putin, I venture, the Iron Curtain might still be intact. Walesa gasps incredulously: 'With Putin, it would have been even easier! When the war [in Ukraine] started, I announced publicly, 'Get Putin over here, I want to talk to him.' And I'd have said to him, I'll sit opposite you and you'll listen to what I have to say. 'I'd have said, 'What do you want? You want a fight? All your weapons are rubbish! Out of date. You'd have no chance. Come on, I'll show you! Don't annoy me or I'll bloody well slap you!' 'I don't want to fight [but] that's the way to talk to him. Whenever I spoke with Yeltsin, our talks were very manly. You had to be straight forward, not play the diplomacy game.' By now I've kept Walesa in his seat for over an hour and he's checking his watch. It's time to broach a matter that could see me shown the door. In his younger days, was he really a communist spy? When this accusation first surfaced, more than 25 years ago, it seemed preposterous, but opinions changed in 2016 when the widow of Poland's communistera interior minister released a cache of documents her husband had stashed away. Though some GenZ Poles are sceptical about Walesa, to most in Poland he remains a paragon Purportedly signed by Walesa using the alias 'Bolek', the papers later authenticated by handwriting experts appear to prove the security service paid him hundreds of pounds in the early 1970s to snoop on his shipyard comrades. He has always insisted the 'evidence' was concocted to smear him and repeats his denial to me albeit with an intriguing new caveat. 'What kind of communist agent would I be, if I was the one who destroyed communism?' he asks, not unreasonably. 'When I was young and silly, I was tempted to become a member [of the secret service]. It was my idea to become a part of the system and dismantle it from within.' However, realising he was secretly planning to sabotage their operations as a double agent, he claims, the SB refused to accept him into their ranks. 'The only mistake I made was trying to explain myself later. The outcome of my struggle was such that I shouldn't have need to justify myself, but I got into explaining and it ruined me.' Judging by my conversations in Gdansk, the notion that he is in any way 'ruined' is farfetched. Though some GenZ Poles are sceptical about him, to most he remains a paragon. It is not customary here to erect statues to living heroes, and he feigns not to care whether his moustached features will one day gaze down on town squares across the land. But he says: 'Some people don't like me because I speak my mind. They will be more appreciative of me [when] I'm harmless and resting dead. I achieved wonderful, just unbelievable things. I walked a straight and just path, and I never gave up on my goals.' For all his directness and his monumental sense of selfimportance, the shipyard spark's old 'mate' Elizabeth would surely have agreed with that. Additional reporting by Szymon Gontarski Peers and MPs who had sanctions lifted by China on Friday vowed to keep calling out Beijings abuses. Sir Keir Starmer revealed that travel bans and asset freezes imposed on the parliamentarians five years ago have ended after he lobbied Xi Jinping during their talks in Beijing. It is thought the diplomatic breakthrough will remove a major obstacle to the Chinese president coming to the UK for the G20 summit next year. But the group - who had been accused by the Chinese authorities of having maliciously spread lies and disinformation after they raised the alarm about the mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province - said it would not buy their silence. They criticised the fact that sanctions have not been lifted on non-parliamentarians and demanded assurances that Britain would not end its restrictions on Chinese officials. The group, including Tory MPs Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Tom Tugendhat as well as Labour peer Baroness Kennedy and crossbencher Lord Alton said: We were not contacted by anyone in government prior to this decision being made public, and we expect clear assurances that UK sanctions against the four Chinese government officials responsible for genocide remain firmly in place. It appears that sanctions have not been lifted on former MP Tim Loughton, nor on Essex Court Chambers, Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, the Uyghur Tribunal, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, or Dr Joanne Smith Finley. We also remain unclear as to whether sanctions on our family members are still in force. The selective lifting of sanctions solely on sitting parliamentarians is wrong. Parliament exists to represent and defend the people of the United Kingdom. Seeking or accepting preferential treatment for current MPs and Peers sends a damaging signal that some are more deserving of protection than others. Travel bans and asset freezes imposed on UK parliamentarian five years ago have ended after Sir Keir Starmer lobbied Xi Jinping during their talks in Beijing The group included Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith (pictured) who has maintained that this decision will not silence their support for the Uyghurs They added: While British citizen Jimmy Lai remains imprisoned, and Uyghurs continue to suffer atrocity crimes, we take no comfort in this decision and will not be silenced. We look forward to receiving urgent assurances from the government regarding those who were placed under sanction together with us, and take this opportunity to express our ongoing solidarity with the Uyghur people, whose cause we will not drop. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: I think that this is something that they have done so that the Chinese president can have a visit to Parliament. I wouldnt be surprised if sanctions go back after that... we need to stop being naive and think that if we go on a visit and then they lift sanctions, everything is fine. And Lib Dem MP Wera Hobhouse, who was denied entry to Hong Kong last year but was not on the sanctions list, said: I was never on an official sanction list, yet I was arbitrarily denied entry to Hong Kong when trying to meet my newborn grandson. We need assurance from the Prime Minister that all parliamentarians can criticise the actions of the CCP without fear of retribution. The MPs and peers had been under sanctions since March 2021 after Beijing hit back in response to the UK adding four Chinese government officials to a list of targeted individuals over alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang. The Prime Minister made the surprise announcement that the sanctions had been lifted in broadcast interviews on Friday, after he was asked how he could countenance the Chinese leaders visit while MPs remain under sanctions. Jimmy Lai, 78, has been detained since December 2020 and faces life in prison. In December 2025, he was convicted of colluding with foreign forces under the city's controversial national security law Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had said President Xi would not be allowed the honour of giving a speech at Westminster while MPs remained sanctioned. Sir Keir told GB News: I know that the action taken in relation to our parliamentarians has been a real cause of concern, understandably so. And therefore I raised that issue whilst I was here, and the Chinese are absolutely clear in response, the restrictions no longer apply. President Xi said to me that that means all parliamentarians are welcome. And I think that shows that if you engage, you can raise the difficult issues, the issues that my parliamentary college would have expected me to raise, and therefore I can be clear, the restrictions no longer apply. And he added: In relation to President Xi coming to the UK. Obviously were hosting the G20 in 2027, China is a G20 country, and therefore I hope hell attend. In a separate interview with Channel 4 News, Sir Keir was told the lifting of sanctions was fairly cosmetic as the MPs and peers would not travel to China and had also suffered intimidation. He replied: Its a very important matter, we raised the issue as weve raised a number of sensitive issues. And he told Sky News that the result justified his decision to visit China, after he was accused of kowtowing to President Xi and gaining little in return. Thats something that couldnt have happened if we werent here, having the leader-to-leader exchange. It doesnt happen if you stick your head in the sand. The Chinese foreign ministry said: The two sides agreed in principle to resume normal exchanges between the legislatures of the two countries. China welcomes British parliamentarians who have the willingness to visit China more and experience the real China. Sources insisted there was no quid pro quo in the deal and that the UK has not lifted the sanctions it had imposed on Chinese officials at the same time. Nadine Dorries and Nicky Haslam are perched on the big green sofa in her sitting room in the Cotswolds, surrounded by wallpaper samples, fabric swatches, photos of exquisite Louis XV armchairs and a cloud of cigarette smoke and bickering happily. About colour schemes for her new home. And a television in a wooden cabinet with bifold doors that the former culture secretary has set her heart on. No, no, no! SO middle class. You cant have that, cries Nicky, appalled. And, particularly, her suggestion of a nice plaster ceiling rose in place of the overhead light. Vile, absolutely vile! You are certainly not getting a ceiling rose. They are the most awful, common thing in this whole world. They cant even agree on when they became best friends. We met at a party in London, says Nicky, 86, and today a vision in a brown corduroy suit, burgundy cravat, cap, beaded bracelets and lovely white teeth. No, no, no, sweetie, it was in the Cotswolds, says Nadine, 68, in understated beige. No, DARLING, says Nicky firmly, fag in hand. It was in London. With Joan Collins. And I remember because theres always an instant with someone you really immediately love. They do one little thing when you meet them, like say, God, doesnt Joan Collins look awful! and you love them for ever! And he laughs and stubs out his cigarette as Nadine makes frantic shush signs from her end of the sofa and mutters, Oh my God, you are going to get me into so much trouble! It wasnt even me who said it. Anyway, with apologies to Dame Joan maybe she was having an off day that was more than two years ago and, ever since, the pair have been great, if unlikely, besties. Nadine Dorries and Nicky Haslam, surrounded by wallpaper samples and fabric swatches, can't even agree on when they became friends The former culture secretary's suggestion of a nice plaster ceiling rose in place of the overhead light prompts: Vile, absolutely vile! You are certainly not getting a ceiling rose. They are the most awful, common thing in this whole world' One, Britains most famous and poshest interior decorator who, over many years, has been best friends with everyone from Wallis Simpson to Andy Warhol, the Rolling Stones to Jean Shrimpton, has attended more parties than anyone on the planet and has said he loves a teeny bump of cocaine before, well, any major activity. The other, of course, a writer, columnist for this paper and former politician who was brought up on a council estate in Liverpool, but who has done very nicely, thank you very much. For the past couple of years they have been hanging out at each others houses (barely five minutes apart in the Cotswolds) and at the pub. But mostly at parties where Nicky smokes endlessly, drinks tequila and they both spend a lot of time discussing everyone else there. Have you seen what shes wearing? Oh dear! They are still marvelling at the awfulness of the Claridges Christmas tree unveiling party in December. Oh my God, that party ghastly. Ghastly! says Nicky, and makes a vomit face in utter disgust. Though everyone wanted to talk to you Bob Geldof, Richard E Grant... says Nadine. Anyway, somewhere along the way, and perhaps foolishly, they agreed that Nicky would bring his brilliantly eclectic style to Nadines home made of honey stone and prise her away from her beloved beige. Im mostly retired, but whats the point in having a friend whos a decorator, if he doesnt decorate your home, he says. (In case you havent read about it in a recent column for this paper, Nadine recently downsized from a far bigger and grander house a few miles away, and it hasnt been easy.) The whole process blew my brain up. Downsizing was very hard and so emotional. My big house had status and prestige, she says very honestly. I know I shouldnt say it, but I couldnt help thinking, What are my friends going to think of me that Im broke? That Im getting old? So now she and her tiny house of which Nicky strongly approves have been added to a client list that includes the King, Sir Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Paolo Gucci, Bryan Ferry, and fellow Cotswolds dweller Anne Robinson, who reportedly paid 200,000 a room for the pleasure. Which means that Nicky is very much in charge. Which is a bit of a shock, because Nadine loves to be in control. And because, well, so far it hasnt gone entirely smoothly. For starters, their styles are so very different. A house designed by Nadine would be all creams and chromes. Cotswold chic, I think its called. All light and lovely with a nice bit of dark furniture a bit like Im dressed today, she says, smoothing her beige dress down. And that is exactly Nickys worst nightmare. Gah! Ghastly. Thats not decorating, thats just styling. Anybody can do that its just beige rot! For which I blame Kelly Hoppen, who I happen to like very much and is the sweetest person, but shes got terrible ideas. He, meanwhile, loves colour, texture, an awful lot of beautiful furniture and endless things to catch the eye. You need a lot of things to make a small room bigger. And never, ever, any ceiling lights. So common. Nicky has never really been one to keep his views to himself. Hes long been a self-styled arbiter of taste, and every Christmas since 2018 his annual list of 40 Things I Find Common has been printed on a tea towel (now 50), and has included everything from Bono, type 2 diabetes, Antony Gormley sculptures, Wordle and Kilner jars. It always causes a social stir. Particularly last year, when he included the Welsh Guards. Naturally, he applies the same approach to decorating. And please do call me a decorator, he interjects. Because thats what I am. NOT an interior designer. Anyone can do that. Unfortunately, a lot of his decorating betes noires would normally be on Nadines wish list. Not just television cabinets and wall-to-wall cream in the hallway and stairs, where hes now insisting on a cocoa-coloured floor with a wide mustard-and-yellow striped wallpaper. Sometimes I have to guide you away from what you want, he says. As well as ceiling lights other than in a hallway where a pendant lamp is OK wall lights are also forbidden. Lamps are better, but please, not pleated shades! And his head nearly blows off when Nadine says she fancies a nice bit of marble from a shop down the road called Marble World. No, no, no. Real marble is disgusting. Looks horrible! So, so dreary. And I HATE green marble. Eughh! Unbe-f*****g-lievable! Nicky says of sourcing a beautiful Louis XV armchair for 1,000 Nicky's exquisite hand-painted picture shows his vision for what Nadine's bland box of a sitting room will become He has also banned pretty much every stick of furniture she owns. The two sofas wrong, wrong, wrong. The geometric rug going. All the lighting. The three dark wood tables cluttering up the hallway on the way out! (Which, presumably, is why, just before he arrived with his assistant, Flora, and bags and boxes of samples, she begged her builder to hide a new John Lewis shelving unit upstairs, so he wouldnt see it. Quick, quick, before he gets here hes not very good on the stairs.) In fact, hes so fastidious that he cant even look at a trio of pictures leaning against the wall. No, no they have to move. I cant focus with them in my eyeline. The only thing hes allowed her to keep is an antique cocktail cabinet that belonged to her late husband, Paul, who passed away in 2019. I dont love it, but you cant really see it behind the door, he says. Anyway, are the staff here going to make a cup of tea soon? So Nadine jumps up and pops to the kitchen to do the honours. And then he lights his fourth cigarette and really gets stuck in. Not about Nadine I adore her. I really do, but she needs help. But about horrible, greasy Stanley Tucci, so overdressed and pleased with himself in his tiny clothes. He met the American actor at the birthday party of his great friend, the late Jilly Cooper, down the road. How, at the same party, he mistook Poldark heartthrob and one-time possible James Bond Aidan Turner for an Iranian taxi driver. Tiny. Hideous. It was definitely him! And how much he adored both the late Queen wonderful woman who wrote me lots of nice notes and the current Queen, with whom he has been great pals for years and finds adorable. And how hed never, ever decorate for the Beckhams. Good God, no! I dont want people with no taste! I want to work with people with good taste. Theyve got no idea. They wouldnt know what taste is. It is only when I ask about William and Kate that he turns to his assistant, Flora, and asks, What should I say? And she says firmly: You must be very polite, Nicky. Well hes [William] my cousin so I cant not be polite. Well... I think she does a very good job. Though I much prefer... no, no.I mustnt say. Sorry, no. Im not saying. And the smell of Californian rose petals hangs in the air for a moment as Nadine comes back in with the tea, and our conversation turns to his proper friends, like David Cameron though I didnt think much of his politics Jeremy Clarkson and Anne Robinson. And they all adore Nadine though maybe not Anne. Not yet. Shes terrifies me scary, arch, forbidding! says Nadine. Shes fun! says Nicky. You just have to give her back what she gives you. And her autobiography [Memoirs Of An Unfit Mother] fabulous! Really wonderful. One of the greatest books ever written! Nadine, in return, has taken him to parties at Boris and Carries, her great pals down the road. But he knew everyone there already! He always does. Hes an amazing raconteur and the best gossip youll ever meet and his phone rings constantly when youre with him. Itll be Lady Glenconner, Mick Jagger, Rupert Everett. Today, hes a teeny bit unsteady on his feet Were all getting on! and despite a nasty chesty cough, gamely lights fag after fag, if not actually smoking much of each. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with his sense of humour making Nadine say lesbian, lesbian, lesbian over and over during the photos, because its the best word to make your face look good. Or his extraordinary talent for design. Once weve cleared Nadines furniture a bit, he unfurls an exquisite antique rug that will become the centrepiece for her sitting room. Ravishing, ravishing! he cries in delight. Look at the swans thrashing about in the corners! He shows us pictures of the beautiful Louis XV armchairs hes somehow sourced for 1,000 Unbe-f*****g-lievable! he says. I love to save money! And, finally, he hands Nadine an exquisite hand-painted picture of what her bland box of a sitting room will become. Its all pinks and greens and textures and wonderful and you immediately want to be in that room, sitting on the sofa. Oh my God. Oh my God, she cries. Youve blown my mind. 'Its not very beige. But its very beautiful. Its gorgeous all that furniture! She seems to love it. At least on paper. Its certainly very different from anything shes ever lived in. But most of all, she loves him. Impossible not to. What a brilliant, brilliant man. So now for the big question, as the decorating team move in and her old furniture goes out. Will she get used to all the chintz and lamps and those wild thrashing swans? Will she invite us back to see the result? And, most importantly, will they still be best friends, gossiping at parties about everybody else there, when its all over? A small-town store manager is in fear of his life after he was falsely accused of being the immigration agent who shot dead Alex Pretti. Evan Kilgore, 32, woke up on Sunday morning to hundreds of death threats and his face plastered all over the internet. Thousands of posts across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads called him a murderer, Nazi, and worse - and many called for his death. 'People were saying they were gonna hunt me down... they were going to find me, find my address, find my family,' Kilgore told the Daily Mail. Police were so concerned for Kilgore and his family's safety that they stationed a squad car outside his parents' home in case someone tried to kill them. Kilgore had been accused of being the Customs and Border Protection agent who shot dead Veterans Affairs nurse Pretti in Minneapolis last Saturday. This was despite Kilgore never having even visited Minneapolis in his life, nor working for any kind of law enforcement or even the government. Instead, he lives in a small town in Ohio where he manages a minor retail chain and is an amateur right-wing Twitter commentator. Evan Kilgore, 32, woke up on Sunday morning to hundreds of death threats and his face plastered all over the internet, falsely accusing him of being the federal agent who shot dead Alex Pretti in Minneapolis Pretti's death was filmed from multiple angles, showing him be dragged to the ground at a protest and shot up to 10 times while agents tried to detain him 'I'm just a normal guy, I have nothing to do with this,' the bewildered Kilgore said after providing the Daily Mail with proof he was not in Minnesota the day Pretti was shot. Pretti's death was filmed from multiple angles, showing him be dragged to the ground at a protest and shot up to 10 times while agents tried to detain him. The footage prompted angry people around the world to attempt to identify the agent. None of the agents involved in the shooting have been officially identified by authorities. Within hours, popular Atlantic City DJ and left-wing influencer Patrick Jeanty Jr posted a video to his combined one million followers claiming Kilgore was the shooter. 'This is the POS that unalived Alex Pretti in Minnesota! His name is Evan Kilgore,' Jeanty, 36, wrote under a photo of Kilgore over the video. 'I hope you are forever haunted by images of what you did to that man. I hope your family never finds peace,' Jeanty said. 'Now the whole internet knows who you are, gay. Better go into hiding like you boy Jonathan Ross.' Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Ross shot dead Renee Good earlier this month sparking a wave of protests against ICE across the country. Harassment of Kilgore escalated quickly over coming days as left-wing social media users sent him alarming messages. Popular Atlantic City DJ and left-wing influencer Patrick Jeanty Jr posted a video claiming Kilgore was the shooter Another popular social media user posted this photo, claiming it was Kilgore under the mask People openly called for Kilgore's death on social media One Twitter account demanded his 'head on a platter' be delivered, and another suggested they 'take care of him.' 'Got your address so better sleep with one eye open you f**king monster,' one message sent to Kilgore read. Another threatened: 'We are going to find you and take care of you murderer. You can run but you can't hide. Your days are numbered.' A third wrote that he hoped someone 'followed through on the threats' and another that his family would also be targeted. They were. The lynch mob took little time finding Kilgore's parents' address, which they assumed was his as it was linked to him. After they started sending threats to his parents, whom the Daily Mail is not naming, Kilgore went to the local police to file a report. 'Evan also stated he and his family have received multiple phone calls from private number, with callers claiming they know his address and stating they are coming to his residence,' part of the report read. 'Evan expressed fear for his safety and the safety of his family.' Kilgore (left) with Kyle Rittenhouse at a Turning Point USA event Some of the disturbing comments posted publicly by users wishing Kilgore harm Police spoke to Kilgore's parents about some of the terrifying calls their received at their home, including one where the caller made ominous 'clicking sounds,' according to the police report. The callers read out the home's address to prove they knew where it was. 'My parents are talking about leaving for a couple of weeks down to maybe Florida or something, and I've taken a couple days off of work due to the stress,' Kilgore said. 'It's just done an insane amount of damage to my reputation and has led me to have some legitimate fears for my safety. 'Even last night I was seeing some posts somebody was calling for me to be beheaded." Kilgore begged on Twitter numerous times for people to stop, pointing out it was obvious from his posts he lived in a different state. 'I hardly slept last night, I had to contact everyone in my family about safety concerns, I filed a police report, and I am reporting and documenting every single post and comment I see,' he wrote. Jeanty - who was jailed for child abuse in Ocean County, New Jersey, in 2016 - eventually took down his original video, but instead of apologizing he doubled down in a follow-up. Harassment of Kilgore escalated quickly over coming days as left-wing social media users sent him alarming messages Kilgore actually lives in a small town in Ohio where he manages a small retail chain One Twitter account demanded his 'head on a platter' be delivered A third wrote that he hoped someone 'followed through on the threats' 'Sorry not sorry, I don't feel bad for you. I hope whatever comes your way, comes your way. I don't care,' he said. 'I don't apologize to racist white men who actively want black and brown people to die.' Kilgore said he had no idea whether Jeanty mistakenly believed he was the shooter, or if he deliberately framed him to prompt the avalanche of abuse. The Christian nationalist admits he supports the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and elsewhere, but so do a lot of other people. Many of Kilgore's views are controversial and some fall on the fringe right, but he has also strongly criticized Trump Administration figures and refuses to support Israel. Even before he started his Twitter account, he got into hot water for racial issues. Kilgore and two colleagues were fired from the Grace College & Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, in 2017 for making a fake rap album cover. He posed flashing a fake gang sign with 'Thug Life' written on his knuckles while another employee wore an afro wig and others donned stereotypical urban black clothing. Kilgore and two colleagues were fired from the Grace College & Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, in 2017 for making a fake rap album cover Kilgore's drivers license was issued in Ohio, where he lives, not Minnesota Many of Kilgore's views are controversial and some fall on the fringe right NGA was written on the photo, which Kilgore told the Indy Star at the time stood for 'Not Grace Appropriate' - an in-'joke' popular with staff and students to refer to anything considered 'sinful.' Grace's then-president Bill Katip called the photo 'insensitive and inappropriate' and noted it prompted widespread 'criticism, concern, and hurt.' 'We must do more to help ensure people of all backgrounds are treated with respect and feel welcome,' he said and the time. But Kilgore doesn't believe his Twitter posts warrant the terrifying harassment he's faced over the past week - and has no way of know when it will end. He plans to sue Jeanty for defamation and other causes, along with possible others who spread the false claims across the internet and harassed him. Kilgore said police were also investigating Jeanty for possible criminal charges. 'The police are taking it very seriously,' he said. Daily Mail reached out to Jeanty for further comment. The family of a disabled Texas man who died in intensive care is accusing US immigration authorities of causing his death by separating him from his full-time caregiver and refusing to release his detained father, even as he lay dying. Wael Tarabishi, a US citizen with advanced Pompe disease, died on Friday at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, south of Dallas, weeks after his father Maher Tarabishi was taken into ICE custody during a routine immigration check-in. Maher, 62, had been Wael's primary caregiver for more than three decades and managed his ventilator, feeding tubes, medications, and daily medical needs. Since his arrest on October 28, Maher has been held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas. His family says Wael's health deteriorated rapidly after his father was removed from the home. 'I blame ICE,' Maher's daughter-in-law Shahd Arnaout told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. 'Maybe they did not kill Wael with a bullet, but they killed him when they took his father away.' Wael, who could not move or breathe on his own due to his rare genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle failure, was hospitalized twice after Maher's arrest after his condition worsened. In November, he was treated for sepsis and pneumonia. In late December, he was admitted again to the ICU after a stomach infection caused his feeding tube to leak. Wael Tarabishi, right, a US citizen with advanced Pompe disease, died Friday in intensive care at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. He is pictured alongside his father Maher Tarabishi Maher Tarabishi, left, had been his primary caregiver to his son, Wael, for more than 30 years before being detained by ICE in October. They are pictured alongside another family member That second hospitalization lasted 30 days and ended with Wael dying on Friday afternoon. 'Wael is a US citizen, and he was asking for his dad to be next to him while he's dying,' Arnaout explained. 'His country failed him.' According to the family, doctors had warned that Wael required highly specialized care and that Maher was the only person who fully understood his complex medical needs. Wael was diagnosed with Pompe disease at four and was not expected to live past the age of ten, but survived more than 30 years under his father's care. In Wael's final hours, his family signed a 'do not resuscitate' order as his organs began to fail. The family made an emergency plea for Maher's release so he could be with his son before he died. The request was denied. Wael was diagnosed at four and was not expected to live past the age of ten, but survived more than 30 years under his father's care Doctors originally told the family Wael would not live past the age of 10. Maher, top, learned of Waels death while still in immigration custody Wael was hospitalized twice after his fathers detention, including for sepsis, pneumonia, and a feeding tube infection A Facebook campaign page kept supporters abreast of developments An online campaign sprung up in the hope of getting Maher released to be with his son Maher had to learn of his son's death during a phone call from detention. 'He couldn't handle it,' Arnaout said to the Star Telegram. The family is now asking ICE to release Maher so he can attend Wael's funeral. 'ICE has NOT received a formal request from anyone to attend funeral services. Requests for temporary release are considered on a case by case basis,' the agency said in a statement. ICE has described Maher as a 'criminal alien' and alleged he was affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization, a claim his family denies. Maher Tarabishi is a Jordanian national who entered the US in 1994 and overstayed on a tourist visa. He later applied for asylum. His family says he has complied with immigration requirements and regularly attended check-ins. On Friday, Maher's attorney filed a motion to reopen his asylum case after discovering that his former lawyer had been practicing without a valid license. Advocates say Maher's detention may never have occurred if his legal representation had been legitimate. The case went viral after Billie Eilish shared Waels story on her social media The story drew international attention after Billie Eilish reposted Wael Tarabishis case to her Facebook stories, amplifying calls for Mahers release Maher, left, entered the US in 1994 and has been seeking asylum since his visa expired. His sons were both US citizens having been born here Maher Tarabishis arrest is part of a larger increase in immigration enforcement during President Donald Trumps second term In December, the family and community activists gathered outside the hospital, pleading directly with President Donald Trump for Maher's release. In a prepared statement read by a cousin, Wael himself had said: 'He is the one who knows my body when it is about to fail. He is the one who keeps me alive when I'm at my weakest.' Maher's daughter-in-law said simply: 'This is not a man who should be behind bars. This is a man who should be beside his child, his sick child.' The case drew widespread attention on Friday after Billie Eilish shared the story on her social media, prompting renewed scrutiny of immigration detention policies. 'We call on every congressional representative that represents Texas to take action to the fullest extent of their capacity to ensure that Maher gets the opportunity to properly mourn his son and grieve with his family, as is his human right to do,' a spokesperson for the Tarabishi family said. Maher Tarabishi remains in ICE custody. The Daily Mail has contacted ICE for comment. As Trump world implodes over the deportation chaos in Minneapolis, one figure has been surviving the leaks and backstabbing like a 'cockroach' but has now taken on one fight he can't win. Insiders tell the Daily Mail that Corey Lewandowski, the bare-knuckle political brawler who wields unprecedented power within the Department of Homeland Security, may finally be on his way out after he allegedly coordinated a hit against Trump's most trusted lieutenant, Stephen Miller. It came as Kristi Noem, Lewandowski's boss and rumored lover, was facing backlash for claiming that an armed ICU nurse, Alex Pretti, fatally shot by immigration agents had intended to 'massacre' officers. White House officials later walked back these claims after it was revealed Pretti had his firearm removed when officers shot him. Noem sought to shift responsibility onto Miller, telling reporters: 'Everything I've done, I've done at the direction of the President and Stephen.' Within hours of her broadside, Miller issued his own statement blaming Border Patrol for the bad intel on Saturday's shooting while privately seething over Noem's attempt to shift blame on him. Multiple sources told the Daily Mail the effort was coordinated by Lewandowski as part of a broader attempt to shield Noem's career, and by extension his own. The comments backfired. 'That's just something you don't do,' one administration official told the Daily Mail. 'As a leader, if something comes out of your mouth, it doesn't matter if somebody told you to say it. You should have verified it. You never blame other people or throw them under the bus.' 'They are all trying to blame each other,' a Homeland Security official said. But that source predicted Miller will come out on top because he's Trump's most trusted ally. Sources told the Daily Mail that Lewandowski is coordinating the effort to blame Stephen Miller for the administration's reaction to Alex Pretti's death Stephen Miller, one of Trump's most loyal aids, will likely survive the duel with Lewandowski, sources tell the Daly Mail Moments before Alex Pretti (on the ground) was fatally shot in the Minnesota city on Saturday 'It's not Noem, it's Miller,' the official said. 'Miller was there for the first administration. A lot of people call him Trump's hatchet man, and what he says, Trump will go by.' A DHS official said he had spoken with aides close to Noem who claim Lewandowski, a 'special government employee' (SGE) who has served as her de-facto chief of staff, is about to be 'out the door.' Lewandowski's status as an SGE allows him to avoid disclosing his private financial earnings while working in the government. Another White House insider told the Mail that there are no immediate plans to fire Noem, but that she would be given a soft landing in coming months. Speculation is that she would launch a bid in South Dakota's 2026 Senate primary, or do groundwork to run for president in 2028. However, Lewandowski, who infamously served as Trump's campaign manager in 2016 before being ousted by the president's daughter Ivanka, has weathered repeated scandals while clinging to power. Washington insiders say they won't believe he's gone until they see him gone. 'Corey is like a cockroach; he just never goes away and always survives,' a GOP political operative close to the White House told the Daily Mail. Trump defended Noem in a late-night post on Truth Social on Friday by suggesting shes been targeted by critics 'because she is a woman, and has done a really GREAT JOB!' But this time, insiders acknowledge, appears different. Join the debate Has Kristi Noem damaged her own future by shifting the blame? Sources close to Tom Homan tell the Daily Mail that it is believed Lewandowski also orchestrated the bribery leak Lewandowski responded to the expose by denying any wrongdoing and accused Homan of leaking the allegations Trump has responded to the immigration crisis in recent days by sidelining Noem and Lewandowski out of the Minneapolis crackdown. The president installed her longtime rival, border czar Tom Homan. Homan during a press conference on Thursday morning promised to implement a 'draw down' of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis if local officials cooperate. It is notable that Noem's chief rival, Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott, stood right behind Homan as he delivered his remarks, solidifying his power over immigration operations on the ground in Minneapolis. Weeks prior it emerged Noem and Lewandowski attempted to push out the Border Patrol chief, but met resistance from the White House and officials aligned with Homan. 'Noem's always had something against Scott, but the only way she can retaliate is to shut down his requests,' the DHS official told the Daily Mail, alluding to a recent reports she rejected Scott's office renovation plan. 'Rodney and Homan grew up together in the agency,' the source added. 'They're going to stick up for each other. That's why Rodney was up there this (Thursday) morning behind Homan and not her.' The rift between Homan and Noem widened last September after allegations emerged in the media that Homan had been recorded in 2024 accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents posing as business executives in a sting tied to potential future government contracts. News reports allege that the Department of Justice under Trump ultimately shut down the investigation once he took office. Sources close to Homan tell the Daily Mail that it is believed Lewandowski orchestrated the bribery leak, elevating a feud that has torn DHS into two rival camps: Team Noem and Team Homan. Likewise, Lewandowski has also publicly accused Homan of leaking to the media, prompting the White House to issue a rare condemnation. This after the Daily Mail reported in December that Lewandowski had pressured ICE officials to provide him a badge and gun going so far as to demand it while interviewing a potential ICE director candidate early last year. Lewandowski responded to the expose by denying any wrongdoing and accused Homan of leaking the allegations. Trump has responded to the immigration crisis in recent days by sidelining Noem and Lewandowski out of the Minneapolis crackdown. The president installed her longtime rival, border czar Tom Homan 'I don't know how many times Tom Homan can pitch you the same story,' Lewandowski told the Daily Mail in a fiery phone call, adding: 'He's your source, not mine.' Shortly after the story was published, the White House, where Miller holds sway, issued a statement rejecting Lewandowski's claim and defended Homan, taking sides for the first time in the long simmering, behind-the-scenes feud between two powerhouse aides in DHS. 'Tom Homan is an American patriot who does not leak to the media and is very respectful of the White House's press processes,' said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. 'The American people are grateful for Tom's critical work securing the border and Making America Safe Again. He is an invaluable member of the Administration who is working tirelessly to implement the president's agenda.' Now as the Trump administration has sidelined the power couple out of Minneapolis, DHS sources are whispering more about a possible shakeup to the president's cabinet. Multiple current and former DHS officials have told the Daily Mail that former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is a strong contender to replace Noem. 'That's been rumbling around for a couple weeks and that's still in play,' one official shared, noting there have been quiet communications but that Youngkin and the White House have been careful not to disclose information. Noem's power inside DHS, however, is closely tied to Lewandowski, who followed her from South Dakota where he served as an advisor when she was governor. Multiple current and former DHS officials have told the Daily Mail that former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is a strong contender to replace Noem 'He makes bad decisions, and he always wants to be with Kristi. That is going to be her downfall,' the DHS official concluded. Sources close to the White House predict Stephen Miller will remain untouched despite widespread condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans. When asked about Noem's efforts to pin blame on Miller for the messaging following the Pretti shooting, his wife Katie Miller declined to comment. 'The Miller camp does not talk to reporters. Full stop,' Miller's wife said. 'Everyone else can do whatever they want.' They've hung him upside down like a slab of meat. Stripped to his underwear. Arms bound tight with tape. Ankles lashed to a tree trunk in the open winter air. The second man, attached to a neighbouring tree, is at least taped upright. A man screams at them in Russian. He stuffs a fistful of snow into one of the men's mouths. Both cringe in terror, whimpering protestations and pleas. This is no medieval dungeon - it's the Russian army in Ukraine in the 21st century. The men's 'crime'? Refusing to walk, yet again, into what they call 'the meat grinder': frontal assaults against dug-in Ukrainian machine guns and drones, where the life expectancy of a recruit is measured in minutes. The punishment was filmed not so much to shame the perpetrators - whose voices were digitally disguised - as to terrorise the rest of the conscripts. This is not merely sadism; there is a method to it. The men are a warning pinned to a tree like a note: advance or hang. This is now the lot of the Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. Other videos that have surfaced tell the same story. Men are beaten with rifle butts for retreating, denied food and endlessly threatened with execution. In one case, a deserter is forced to dig his own grave before being 'reprieved' and sent back to the line in what is one of the most cruel forms of psychological torture. In another, a unit commander shoots over the heads of his own men to drive them out of a trench and into oncoming enemy fire. In a further case the warning was even more horrific. In November 2022, Yevgeny Nuzhin, a recruit of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, who had tried to defect after being captured near Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, was returned in a prisoner exchange. This kind of disloyalty could not be allowed to stand. Nuzhin's head was taped to a brick, his arms were bound and he was forced to kneel. Then, on camera, a man in combat gear calmly raised a sledgehammer and smashed it down on his skull. Once. Twice. Until the body went limp. A Russian soldier is hung upside down and taped to a tree in just his underwear. Such barbaric punishments are increasingly the lot of those who try and escape the 'meat grinder' - the frontal assaults against dug-in Ukrainian machine guns and drones, where the life expectancy of a recruit is measured in minutes Russia's President Vladimir Putin 'is no president, he's the czar of a nuclear-armed state: unaccountable to his people, insulated from international norms and cocooned by fear and flattery', writes David Patrikarakos The footage was circulated by Wagner channels as a warning to those even thinking of running: a barbaric execution, filmed in high definition and shared around the world. In units around Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, soldiers who refused to advance have been chained to poles and radiators, or thrown into open pits in the ground and left for days without food in the snow. Some were kept under the observation of drones - a menacing presence hovering above, just waiting for the soldier to try to flee, at which point he would likely be killed. Others were tied up like livestock and left swaying in view of their comrades as if to say: this is what disobedience gets you. And when fear is not enough, there is the most final of punishments: the bullet. Investigators have now documented scores of Russian officers who have shot their own soldiers in cold blood. Men accused of refusing an order, of hesitating, of speaking back, are taken aside and 'zeroed out' or 'obnuleniye' - a neutral word that masks an egregious crime. Some are killed in front of their platoons to serve as a warning. Others vanish into cellars or the woods, their shallow graves scraped over by frozen soil. This is not an army, it's a penal colony, driven forward by terror and kept in line by execution. But the Kremlin is too shrewd to remain deaf to the accusations that soldiers have made against their superiors. The Chief Military Prosecutor's Office has received more than 12,000 complaints related to various abuses since the 2022 invasion. But due process is an illusion. While the government tolerates grievance, only a handful of cases will ever be investigated, given that reports last year spoke of an unofficial ban on interrogating field commanders. As of October, from the thousands of complaints, only ten criminal cases have been launched, with just five officers convicted of killing subordinates. It's little surprise that Russia is burning through men at a rate unseen in Europe since the Second World War. Entire waves of mobilised reservists and convicts have been thrown into no man's land. A man is tortured by Russian soldiers who shared the footage online. Other videos that have surfaced tell the same story. Men are beaten with rifle butts for retreating, denied food and endlessly threatened with execution A Russian strike in eastern Ukraine earlier this month. The Russian military has always relied on fear. The tradition of 'dedovshchina' - the savage hazing of conscripts - long pre-dates the war in Ukraine As they charge towards Ukrainian lines, their goal is often not even to storm them, initially at least, but to draw fire and therefore reveal enemy positions - to die so that the next wave might advance a few dozen metres. I have heard first hand about these attacks from Ukrainian machine-gunners who told me how you line up the sights, squeeze the trigger, round after round, until the barrel glows and the air shimmers with heat. The first wave falls, and then another comes, and another. When the gun runs dry, you frantically change the box, knowing in those few seconds the figures are still stumbling forward through smoke and snow. 'You get tired,' a general in Rubizhne in the Luhansk Oblast region of eastern Ukraine told me. 'They just keep coming. But that's OK. We just keep firing.' This is the logic of Putin's Russia: a state that treats human life as an expendable resource, and fear and coercion as substitutes for morale. Why does Russia torture its own soldiers? Simply because it must. Soldiers who believe their mission is just, and their leadership legitimate, don't need to be hung upside down in the snow. The coffins returning to provincial towns and villages across Russia have stripped away the lies. The promise of quick victory has dissolved into mud and mines, and so the reservoir of willing 'patriotic' volunteers has dried up. Even after a formal mobilisation of 300,000 men, and the frantic signing-up of hundreds of thousands more with cash bounties and inflated salaries, the Kremlin is exhausting manpower at a rate no normal society could sustain. Western intelligence estimates put Russia's total casualties at close to a million, with more than 200,000 dead. At times the army has been losing more than a thousand men a day, killed or wounded. Battalions are chewed up to gain a few hundred metres; fresh conscripts are thrown forward to die where the last wave fell. In some sectors, analysts calculate, dozens of Russian soldiers have been maimed or killed for every single square mile of ground taken. The pitiful rate at which the Russian army has crawled forward was laid bare this week by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Analysis by the Washington-based think-tank shows Russia has advanced between 15 and 70 metres per day since early 2024. For comparison, in 1916 British and French soldiers gained an average of 80 metres a day at the Somme. Yet in its assault on the Donbas city of Chasiv Yar, Putin's forces have barely managed 15 metres a day - slower than a snail. Russian soldiers in the Rostov region of Russia. It's little surprise that Russia is burning through men at a rate unseen in Europe since the Second World War. Entire waves of mobilised reservists and convicts have been thrown into no man's land Russian tanks trundle through Red Square to mark VE Day. Western intelligence estimates put Russia's total casualties at close to a million, with more than 200,000 dead The senselessness of all this death for such little reward carries on without end for one reason: the man at the top. Vladimir Putin is no president, he's the czar of a nuclear-armed state: unaccountable to his people, insulated from international norms and cocooned by fear and flattery. He has no parliament that can impeach him, no press that can challenge him, no electorate that can remove him. When he needs more men, he takes them. When they resist, his commanders break them. The Russian military has always relied on fear. The tradition of 'dedovshchina' - the savage hazing of conscripts - long pre-dates Ukraine. It's a system based on violence and humiliation: the suicides are priced in. In one widely documented case from a Russian garrison in Siberia, a young conscript was stripped to his underwear, beaten with belts and rifle slings, and forced to stand at attention for hours in the snow while senior soldiers poured cold water over him. In another, a recruit was made to crawl the length of a corridor while being kicked and stamped on, ordered to kiss his comrade's boots, then locked in a cupboard overnight. These rituals are an established part of a system in which terror, not training, is the glue that holds units together. The state tolerates it because it has kept the machine running. And the message is the same as it was for centuries in Russia, from Ivan the Terrible's serfs to Putin's conscripts: your body belongs to the state. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, right, during a meeting to discuss the ongoing war against Ukraine at the Kremlin David Patrikarakos (pictured) writes: 'The message is the same as it was for centuries in Russia, from Ivan the Terrible's serfs to Putin's conscripts: your body belongs to the state' This is why the Kremlin can feed men into the furnace with such indifference. Why it can mobilise hundreds of thousands, send them forward with minimal training, minimal protection, minimal chance of survival, and why, when one wave is cut down, another is assembled behind it. War has merely stripped away the military's last restraints: now the cruelty doesn't stop with the men in uniform - it reaches into their homes, and to their families. In Russia's far eastern provinces, military police and masked enforcers have begun hunting the families of deserters like animals. Sons who slipped away from the front find their mothers seized, beaten and shocked with electric batons. Fathers are dragged off, hooded and told that they will suffer, and their boys will be branded traitors unless the missing men return to the line. The state even takes family members hostage to feed its war. The Ukrainian soldiers I meet understand this better than most Western politicians. They know that they are not fighting units so much as an entire state culture. A culture that fetishises death and enforces obedience with the lash. In Russia dissent is blasphemy, the individual is nothing and the state everything. Ukrainians have seen, as I have, the mass graves in liberated towns - the bodies piled high with bullet holes and torture marks. They have listened to intercepted calls in which Russian soldiers describe torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war and raping Ukrainian women. For all the talk of negotiations and fatigue and 'realism', the basic truth remains unchanged. Ukraine is fighting a state that has invaded Georgia, Crimea, Syria and eastern Ukraine. Each time it has pushed further because the response is so weak. We know what happens when these kinds of fetid regimes are appeased: they don't stop, they advance. The choice, then, is not between war and peace. We are already at war with Russia - and have been for years, whether we accept or like this fact, it remains the case. The choice facing us is between stopping a system of the most horrific brutality in Ukraine now, or facing it later, in much more powerful and widespread form. We have yet to wholly decide. But, believe me, the men hanging upside down in the snow already know the answer and, by now, so should we. A top criminal psychologist has claimed the manhunt for an alleged triple murderer is likely to end in a shootout with cops rather than the accused killer surrendering. Julian Ingram, 37, remains at large after allegedly shooting dead his ex-partner Sophie Quinn, 25, her boyfriend John Harris, 32, and her aunt Nerida Quinn, 50, and wounding Kaleb McQueen, 19, at Lake Cargelligo, in regional NSW, on January 22. Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro labelled Ingram a 'narcissistic psychopath' and claimed the alleged gunman would not go quietly if he was caught. 'He doesn't want to go to jail, and if he is caught and convicted, he's facing a very long time in prison for killing four people, if you include a foetus, which I do, and trying to kill a fifth,' he told news.com.au. 'That is a very strong motivator for people like him, and he will evade detection for as long as possible. 'Suicide by cop if confronted by police, then he'd become the Ned Kelly of the west in his mind.' Ms Quinn, who separated from Ingram last year and was in a relationship with Mr Harris at the time of her death, was due to give birth in March to a baby boy. Mr Watson-Munro, who has spent more than four decades dealing with notorious criminals, said Ingram may have a fragile ego, but still felt a sense of ownership over his ex-partner. Police released CCTV footage of Julian Ingram attending a police station hours before the alleged murders Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro fears Ingram will prefer a shootout with police rather than handing himself in Special Forces personnel have been seen in the hunt for Ingram 'I think it was a sense of entitlement that he owned his ex-partner. I think that's what was driving him. To him it's like someone stole his car,' he said. On Wednesday, a resident in Lake Cargelligo claimed DNA test results showing Ingram was not the father of Ms Quinn's baby could have triggered his alleged spree. Mr Harris' cousin, Derek, told the Daily Mail days earlier it was unclear who the biological father of Ms Quinn's unborn baby was. Mr Watson-Munro claimed Ingram had planned the alleged killings. He thinks the fact Ms Quinn had moved on from Ingram had a greater impact on his actions than the question of whose baby she was carrying. 'It's not a crime of passion, it's a crime of control and rage,' Mr Watson-Munro said. 'The most dangerous time for women is when they signal they are going to leave or when they do leave a relationship. It's about control and anger.' Police haven't ruled out the theory that Ingram could be receiving assistance as he remains on the run in the scorching heatwave that's gripping inland Australia. One of Ingram's alleged victims was his ex-partner Sophie Quinn Ms Quinn's new boyfriend John Harris was also allegedly gunned down Julian Ingram, who is wanted on an outstanding warrant for murder, allegedly discovered he was not the father of Ms Quinn's baby a week earlier The remote search area for Ingram at Mount Hope, northwest of Lake Cargelligo 'It is possible he is seeking help from people he knows, and we're making contact with known associates, trying to cut down those possibilities,' Western Region Commander Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland said last weekend. Mr Watson-Munro agreed with Assistant Commissioner Holland and added that Ingram would 'likely fight' if confronted by police or members of the public. 'Who knows what's floating through his mind, none of it would be rational, which is why it is so important that if he is spotted, people should not approach him, they should contact police,' he said. 'They will do everything they can to resist getting caught for as long as they can, that may even mean taking hostages.' Ingram is described as between 165cm and 170cm tall, with a medium build, short dark hair and brown eyes. He was last seen driving a Ford Ranger utility with NSW registration DM-07-GZ, which has council signage, a metal tray back, high-visibility side markings and an emergency light bar on the roof. Police haven't ruled out the possibility that Ingram may have since switched vehicles. Dans une operation de grande envergure, les forces armees nigerianes ont porte un coup severe au terrorisme dans le nord du pays. Le porte-parole du contingent conjoint operant dans l'Etat de Kaduna, le colonel Sani Uba, a confirme ce samedi la destruction d'une base cle de terroristes et la neutralisation de dix-huit combattants. L'offensive, menee dans le cadre de l'operation "Hadin Kai" (Unite), a cible deux bastions terroristes. La premiere frappe coordonnee a vise un repaire strategique pres de la localite de Bula Dalo. "Les troupes ont engage le combat, detruit les terroristes et aneanti leur base cle", a rapporte le colonel Uba sur le reseau social X. "Les autres ont ete mis en deroute." Le bilan est lourd pour les assaillants : douze combattants ont ete elimines. Les forces nigerianes ont egalement saisi un arsenal impressionnant comprenant des armes a feu, des systemes de defense aerienne portables, des missiles antichars et des lance-grenades. Dans la foulee, une seconde base, situee pres de Sabon Gari dans la zone de Garno, a ete detruite. Cette action a permis de neutraliser six autres terroristes et de confisquer une grande quantite d'armes et d'equipements militaires. Lutte contre l'hydre Boko Haram et l'EIWA Cette operation s'inscrit dans la vaste campagne de l'operation Hadin Kai, deployee pour eradiquer la menace des groupes jihadistes, principalement Boko Haram et sa faction dissidente, l'Etat islamique en Afrique de l'Ouest (ISWAP*). Ne en 2002 dans l'Etat voisin de Borno avec l'ambition de prendre le pouvoir, Boko Haram a plonge la region dans une violence extreme a partir de 2009. Bien que militairement affaibli et deloge d'une grande partie du territoire nigerian apres une defaite majeure en 2015, le groupe s'est replie dans des zones reculees et a etendu ses activites criminelles aux pays voisins du bassin du lac Tchad. La scission de 2015 et l'emergence de l'ISWAP, plus tourne vers le controle territorial et lie a l'organisation Etat islamique, ont complexifie la lutte antiterroriste. La destruction de ces bases dans le Kaduna, une zone peripherique par rapport a son fief historique, demontre a la fois la resilience des forces nigerianes et la capacite de nuisance persistante de ces groupes, contraints de se deplacer. Cette double frappe constitue un succes tactique significatif pour Abuja. Elle permet de perturber les capacites logistiques et operationnelles des terroristes, de securiser les populations civiles et d'envoyer un message fort sur la determination de l'armee nigeriane a poursuivre son offensive. Major Strike in Nigeria: Army Annihilates Key Terrorist Base, Eliminates 18 Fighters in Kaduna In a large-scale operation, the Nigerian Armed Forces have dealt a severe blow to terrorism in the north of the country. The spokesman for the joint contingent operating in Kaduna State, Colonel Sani Uba, confirmed on Saturday the destruction of a key terrorist base and the neutralization of eighteen fighters. The offensive, conducted under "Operation Hadin Kai" (Unity), targeted two terrorist strongholds. The first coordinated strike hit a strategic hideout near the locality of Bula Dalo. "The troops engaged the terrorists, destroyed them, and annihilated their key base," Colonel Uba reported on social media X. "Others were routed." The toll is heavy for the assailants: twelve combatants were eliminated. Nigerian forces also seized an impressive arsenal including firearms, portable air defense systems, anti-tank missiles, and grenade launchers. Subsequently, a second base, located near Sabon Gari in the Garno area, was destroyed. This action led to the neutralization of six more terrorists and the confiscation of a large quantity of weapons and military equipment. Fighting the Boko Haram Hydra and ISWAP This operation is part of the vast campaign of Operation Hadin Kai, deployed to eradicate the threat from jihadist groups, primarily Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP*). Born in 2002 in the neighboring state of Borno with the ambition of seizing power, Boko Haram plunged the region into extreme violence from 2009. Although militarily weakened and dislodged from much of Nigerian territory after a major defeat in 2015, the group has retreated to remote areas and extended its criminal activities to neighboring countries around Lake Chad. The 2015 split and the emergence of ISWAP, more focused on territorial control and linked to the Islamic State organization, have complicated the counter-terrorism fight. The destruction of these bases in Kaduna, a peripheral area relative to its historical stronghold, demonstrates both the resilience of the Nigerian forces and the persistent disruptive capacity of these groups, forced to relocate. This double strike constitutes a significant tactical success for Abuja. It disrupts the terrorists' logistical and operational capabilities, secures civilian populations, and sends a strong message about the determination of the Nigerian army to continue its offensive. Nigeria, Kaduna, operation Hadin Kai, armee nigeriane, Boko Haram, Etat islamique en Afrique de l'Ouest, ISWAP, terrorisme, base terroriste detruite, colonel Sani Uba, Bula Dalo, Sabon Gari, lutte antiterroriste, nord-est Nigeria, saisie d'armes, frappe militaire, securite, lac Tchad Nigeria, Kaduna, Operation Hadin Kai, Nigerian army, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, terrorism, terrorist base destroyed, Colonel Sani Uba, Bula Dalo, Sabon Gari, counter-terrorism, northeast Nigeria, weapons seizure, military strike, security, Lake Chad Moussa Nassourou An Indigenous woman has demanded authorities shut down K'gari over fears dingoes are stalking visitors after a Canadian backpacker was found dead. Samala Cronin urged authorities to act swiftly and ban visitors from travelling to the island off the south-east Queensland coast . Her plea comes after Piper James, 19, was found dead on January 19, her body surrounded by a pack of dingoes. An autopsy uncovered evidence of 'pre-mortem' dingo bites, but found drowning was most likely the cause of death. Ms Cronin made the chilling claim the dingoes had been stalking Ms James and that the wild dogs are targeting humans. 'That's what they do because they're a wild animal. That pack has taught itself to hunt humans,' she said. 'They're hunting humans because they're starving. They're starving because their natural resources are being exploited for tourism.' Ms James was working at the tourist hotspot, formerly known as Fraser Island, and it was reported she went for an early morning swim at the beach. Samala Thakialee Cronin urged authorities to take action immediately and stop visitors from travelling to the island off the coast of south-east Queensland Her plea comes after Piper James, 19, was found dead on January 19, with her body surrounded by a pack of dingoes Her body was found a short time later surrounded by at least 10 dingoes near a popular tourist site, the SS Maheno wreck. Ms Cronin argued Ms James would not have gone for a swim, as she would have been aware that the water was too dangerous after living on the island for six weeks. 'You do not go swimming on the eastern beach. You're shark bait if you swim on the eastern beach,' she said. 'It's a tiger shark breeding ground. The continental shelf sits 3km out from there. And those rips, those tides, and those currents are crazy. 'You do not swim on the eastern side of the island one of the first things you learn if you go to K'gari.' She claimed the dingoes had started to pick up on her habits because 'every morning she would go and ring her parents at 5am'. 'She would walk to get reception on the beach because that's where you get reception,' Ms Cronin said. 'When I found out she was doing that, I was like, "Wow, they stalked her".' Ms Cronin argued Ms James would not have gone for a swim, as she would have been aware that the water was too dangerous after living on the island for six weeks Dingoes roam K'gari, often coming into contact with humans (stock image) Ms Cronin claimed the dingoes likely chased Ms James, corralled her into the ocean, and drove her into the water where she drowned. She said K'gari 'needs to be shut down' because there are too many people on the island. Ms Cronin said the islands natural resources have been exploited for tourism, leaving wild dogs without enough food. 'Their environment has been taken over by people who treat it like a holiday place,' she said. 'It's not. It's a dangerous place.' It's understood Ms James had recently landed a job working with backpackers on K'gari and was camping near Woralie Road at Seventy Five Mile Beach. Rangers increased patrols across K'gari the world's largest sand island following the tragedy. Six dingoes have since been euthanised after showing 'aggressive behaviour'. Ms James' father Todd revealed the family will be travelling to Australia Ms Cronin claimed it was well-known that swimming in certain parts of K'gari was dangerous There are many warning signs on K'gari telling tourists of the dangers of dingoes Ms James' family will travel from Canada and arrive in Queensland on Tuesday for a ceremony held near where her body was discovered as they come to terms with the tragedy. There will also be a traditional smoking ceremony alongside the Butchulla Indigenous people of K'gari. Ms James' father Todd confirmed the family's travel plans on social media. 'It is now time to go to Australia to be with Piper, walk where she last walked, and try to feel the spirit of my baby girl in some way,' he wrote on Facebook. 'We will return with Piper back home to Canada... Not ready to say goodbye.' Three people have been rushed to hospital after a barbecue exploded at a popular caravan park on the NSW south coast. Paramedics were called to the BIG4 Ingenia Holidays park at Lake Conjola at 7.30am on Saturday morning and assessed five people at the scene. A Toll Rescue helicopter was deployed to the area, taking a doctor and specialist care paramedics to the park. Two children under five were treated for minor injuries while a woman in her 30s was sent to Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital suffering abdominal injuries. Another was sent in a stable condition. A man in his 30s was sent to Wollongong Hospital in a stable condition with face injuries. NSW Ambulance told Daily Mail none of the injuries were life threatening. The explosion occurred at a caravan park at Lake Conjola on Saturday morning An entire town has been put up for sale, with the owners asking for as much as $10million, however the locals are furious about it. Licola is located by the Macalister River in Victoria, a three-hour drive from Melbourne, and has just five people living in it. The Lions Club has owned and operated the town for more than 50 years, but is now asking interested buyers for between $6million and $10million. The town includes 45 acres of freehold land across five titles, accommodation buildings and program facilities for more than 300 people, a caravan park, the general store, and fuel facilities. Single mum Leanne O'Donnell has started a GoFundMe to try and raise money to buy the town and has collected $7,000 so far. 'This fundraiser exists to raise eight million dollars to place a bid to purchase the town of Licola as a whole and keep it community-led, protected from over-polishing, over-commercialisation, or development that erases its soul,' she wrote. 'I absolutely love this town. If it gets into the hands of a developer and turns into something that it's not, it [will] just break my heart.' Ms O'Donnell ran Licola's caravan park and general store, and is now living in a van with her son after the Lions Club ended her lease. Leanne O'Donnell tried desperately to save the general store and caravan park she runs She used part of her $400,000 in life savings to run the park and store, but was given until Saturday to vacate. Ms O'Donnell arrived in Licola four years ago and became well-known in the village. She told Yahoo she didn't move to Licola for money, but because running a general store and small caravan park was an ambition of hers. 'When you love what you do, the money comes second. I work from my heart, and they're (Lions Club) working from a spreadsheet,' she said. 'They've got me over a barrel because I invested my life savings into this, and now they just think that they can just come in and take it all away, and I've got nothing that I can do about it.' The region is visited by loyal caravanners, many who pay an annual fee for their spot at the park because they come back year after year. The town is also frequented by motorbike riders and hikers. Licola is the only Victorian town not connected to the main electricity grid, generating its own power through solar. Ms O'Donnell runs the general store in Licola, in rural Victoria Licola is about 250km from Melbourne but has loyal visitors It even pumps and treats its own water and handles its own waste management. Ms O'Donnell also operated the Community Postal Agency, but it stopped trading on Australia Day. The Lions Club of Victoria and southern NSW has owned the township since 1969 and told Yahoo in a statement a number of factors influenced its decision to end Ms O'Donnell's lease. 'A recent strategic review found that increasing financial pressures, ageing accommodation and infrastructure, reduced school and camp participation, rising insurance costs and limited capacity for reinvestment have made the current facility-based model unsustainable,' the statement said. News of the sale has not sat well, with many people turning on the club. 'People rely on the store in town, and closing in the middle of peak season is stupidity at its best,' one wrote on the Licola Caravan Park & General Store Facebook page. 'There are some great past leaders of Lions and leaders of the Licola village and camp whom I know are turning in their graves,' another person wrote. The property was bought by the Lions Club for $20,000 in 1969 and they transformed it into a wilderness camp for children. Ms O'Donnell with customers outside the general store she runs Licola is in Victoria's high country, around 250km from Melbourne An online petition to save Ms O'Donnell's store and renew her lease has over 8,000 signatures. Daily Mail contacted Ms O'Donnell and the Lions Club for comment. Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed criticism from Donald Trump for seeking closer ties with China. The Prime Minister said it would be 'foolhardy' not to do business with the world's second largest economy, despite the US President warning it was 'very dangerous'. He also claimed Mr Trump was referring more to Canada, which he has threatened with 100 per cent tariffs for discussing a free trade deal with President Xi Jinping. The Prime Minister's comments came as Downing Street announced his visit to Beijing would yield 2 billion in export deals and investments in the UK - including from the cult Labubu toy brand - following criticism he had come away empty-handed. When asked what he made of President Trump's claim that 'it's very dangerous' for the UK to do business with China, Sir Keir told the BBC: 'This visit has been a real success, particularly in opening up the market. We have a business delegation of 60 leaders and you only need to spend five minutes with them to see what a difference it will make to our economy back home.' He said Mr Trump's comments 'look to me as if they are directed more [towards] the Canadians than us', adding: 'The US/UK relationship is very close so we discussed this visit with his team before we came on the visit.' Sir Keir continued: 'Given China is the second biggest economy in the world, and our third biggest trading partner, if you take Hong Kong as well, it's foolhardy to sit with your head in the sand and refuse to engage.' It marks the third time in less than a fortnight that the PM has publicly disagreed with Mr Trump, following their disputes over Greenland and the sacrifices made by Nato troops in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister said it would be 'foolhardy' not to do business with the world's second largest economy, despite the US President warning it was 'very dangerous' It marks the third time in less than a fortnight that the PM has publicly disagreed with Mr Trump, following their disputes over Greenland and the sacrifices made by Nato troops in Afghanistan Sir Keir also said he'd be happy to take his own family on holiday to China after agreeing a deal to scrap visas for business people and visitors staying for fewer than 30 days. He also insisted his team took 'the necessary precautions' for security before the visit, understood to mean taking 'burner' phones containing no sensitive information, but said he was not advised to get dressed under the bedcovers as former PM Theresa May had been. 'No, I wasn't, and I didn't,' he told Sky News. As his China trip ended, Downing Street announced that 'over the course of the visit, the PM welcomed 2.2 billion in export deals, around 2.3 billion in market access wins over five years, and hundreds of millions worth of new investments'. New plans included Chinese company Pop Mart - makers of the viral Labubu dolls - setting up a regional hub in London and opening 27 shops across Europe, with up to seven in England. Chinese truck and van maker Chery will open its European HQ in Liverpool, while energy storage firm HiTHIUM will bring 200 million and generate 300 jobs. According to Downing Street, British firms would also increase their presence in China, with bike manufacturer Brompton on course to hit sales of more than 100 million over the next three years, and Glasgow Prestwick Airport announcing 76 million in exports from direct cargo services to China. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: 'We will leave China having put our relationship with one of the world's biggest economies on a stronger footing, unlocking billions for the UK, and setting the course for new commercial partnerships.' Disturbing photos released in the Epstein files appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor. In the three photographs, a man believed to be Andrew can be seen leaning over the woman who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out. He is staring directly at the camera in one picture, while in another he has placed his left hand on the female's stomach. The man, thought to be the former Duke of York, is barefoot and is wearing jeans and a white polo shirt, along with a silver watch. Another person can be seen in the photographs, sitting in a leopard-print chair with their feet up on a table. Like much of the material released in the Epstein files, it is unclear when or where the images were taken and no further context is given. Last month, a photo of Andrew lying on the laps of five women at Sandringham was released in another batch of files. More than three million more documents were published last night by the US Department of Justice. Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said there have been 'extensive redactions' to the documents. Redactions include information with personally identifiable details of victims, medical files, any depictions of child sexual abuse material, anything that would jeopardise an active investigation, or anything depicting death or physical abuse. Blanche added that they have blurred the faces of any women, other than sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, but have not redacted the faces of any men. Among the documents was the revelation that Andrew invited Jeffrey Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended. He promised 'lots of privacy' to the paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor. Disturbing new images released as part of last night's Epstein files appear to show Andrew Mountbatten Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor In the three images, a man who appears to be the former Prince, can be seen crouching over the person who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out It is unclear where the images where taken and no further context is given Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was spotted driving his car on the Windsor Estate this morning just hours after the latest tranche of documents in the Epstein files were released The former Prince appeared straight faced as he was seen driving his car on Saturday Andrew also appeared expressionless as he was seen horse riding later in the day The former Duke enjoyed a ride in the sun on Saturday hours after the latest release of the Epstein files In the astonishing email, from September 2010, Epstein requested 'private time' while on a visit to London, to which Andrew replied: 'We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy.' It is not clear if the offer was taken up. But just two days later, the pair were back in email contact, with Epstein asking the then-prince 'g [Ghislaine Maxwell] is here with me...what are you doing?' Andrew replied to say he had a 'lunch with a Saudi Prince and then out to secret intelligence firm', before telling Epstein: 'Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I'll be here free from 1600ish.' The exchange came during what must have been one of Epstein's first sojourns outside the US, having served a 13-month sentence for sex crimes mostly in his Palm Beach mansion following a sweetheart plea deal with prosecutors. The previous month, Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman, saying: 'She has your email.' The prince, who would have been 50 at the time, replied that he would be 'delighted to see her'. And he cheerfully asked the convicted child sex predator, whose house arrest had finished just days earlier: 'Good to be free?' Andrew faces a fresh round of humiliation after the largest-yet Epstein document dump, containing thousands of references to him. Lord Mandelson and Bill Gates were also dragged further into the Epstein mire. A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell was released as part of the Epstein files in December Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein in December 2010.The former prince invited the paedophile to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended Andrew promised 'lots of privacy' to the convicted paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed in the Epstein files According to Epstein, the Microsoft founder caught a sexually transmitted disease from 'Russian girls' - then suggested secretly slipping his wife Melinda antibiotics. There are also new emails relating to Sarah, formerly the Duchess of York, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - including pictures of them from Andrew's electronic Christmas cards. Several emails refer to the well-chronicled debts of Sarah - who took money from Epstein to help pay them off. One email sent in August 2009 shows her thanking him for being 'the brother I have always wished for'. In another email, Ms Ferguson calls Epstein 'my dear spectacular and special friend' and 'a legend'. Epstein's madam - and Andrew's long-term friend - Maxwell is also heavily referenced in the documents. In one email to Andrew, she joked that 'five stunning redheads' would now have to 'play with ourselves' because the former duke had said he should spend time with his children instead of visiting 'the Island', thought to be Epstein's private property in the US Virgin Islands. The email exchange - in which Andrew calls himself 'The Invisible Man' - from August 2002 reveals the prince begging Maxwell's forgiveness if he turns down her offer and holidays with his family instead. She replies, 'I will not be remotely offended', but then jokes that a woman whose name was redacted 'who is now coming and five other stunning redheads will all just have to play with ourselves'. Elsewhere in the files, a 25-year-old masseuse said to have worked for Epstein in 1999 said she 'didn't feel good' about being asked to massage Andrew - because she thought she was being asked 'to do more'. Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman, saying: 'She has your email.' The prince, who would have been 50 at the time, replied that he would be 'delighted to see her'. And he cheerfully asked the convicted child sex predator, whose house arrest had finished just days earlier: 'Good to be free?' The unnamed woman submitted a statement to a private investigations team in 2021 that was sent to Maxwell's defence team, the files show. She said: 'I was only involved with Jeffrey for a year. 'I never saw him like a creepy guy. There were never any young girls. I saw Prince Andrew and Donald Trump. [Epstein] wanted me to give Prince Andrew a massage, but I didn't feel good about that. I wonder if he was offering me to him to do more.' Andrew and President Trump have consistently denied any wrongdoing. But the former prince's explanations in his car-crash Newsnight interview in November 2019 looked flakier than ever following the raft of new emails disclosed in the files. He notoriously told Emily Maitlis he had gone to New York in 2010 to 'end his friendship' with the convicted paedophile because that was 'the right thing to do'. But one of the newly released emails shows Andrew telling Epstein: 'See you tomorrow afternoon. Really looking forward to seeing you and spending some time with you after so long.' In another email days before they met in New York, Andrew wrote to his friend, saying there were 'some interesting things to discuss and plot'. Far from cutting ties with Epstein, the prince later wrote a 'Happy Christmas' email to 'Dear J', adding that it had been great to spend time 'with my US family', the documents reveal. But there was some potentially welcome news for Andrew regarding American prosecutors' requests to interview him as a witness to Epstein's child sex crimes. Epstein was found dead inside his New York prison cell in 2019. His death was ruled suicide by hanging After a prosecutor from the Southern District of New York complained of 'zero cooperation' from Andrew in 2020, a new email reveals an internal FBI memo stating: 'He's not a big part of our investigation.' Elsewhere in the files, the former prince expressed 'frustration' at not being able to go on holiday because of the 2003 Iraq War, which cost the lives of 179 British personnel. Less than two weeks after British troops were sent in to topple Saddam Hussein, Andrew whined he would 'love to be able to get away'. He wrote to Maxwell on March 31 that year: 'With this war on, the media would go bananas if I was to be known to be out of the country whilst this was on. I am becoming frustrated at this slight caging!' Releasing the files, US deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche compared the amount of evidence reviewed to 'two Eiffel Towers' worth of material. He insisted the Department of Justice had not protected Mr Trump despite the 'hunger or a thirst for information'. Britain missed out on 1.3bn in lost spending by Chinese visitors last year because of the 'tourist tax', research has revealed. As Beijing rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, retail and leisure bosses reiterated their calls for Labour to reinstate tax-free shopping. Before the initiative was axed in 2021, tourists from outside the EU - including China - could receive a VAT refund on purchases in the UK, essentially making items 20per cent cheaper. Chinese visitor numbers to the UK last year were just 82 per cent of 2019 levels, according to the Association of International Retail (AIR). These numbers underscore arguments that a lack of a tax rebate for tourists has held back Britain's recovery from the pandemic. In comparison, Spain's levels of Chinese visitor numbers were 121pc of their pre-Covid levels. Instead of spending money in Britain, tourists are flocking to Paris, Milan and Berlin, leaving these economies to reap the rewards at the UK's expense. The Mail has been campaigning for the Government to 'Scrap the Tourist Tax' to help boost all avenues of the visitor economy - from factories producing luxury goods to tearooms in countryside tourist hotspots. Big names, including Giorgio Armani, Pernod Ricard and the owner of the Westfield shopping malls, all argue that the cost of these refunds is outweighed by the enormous benefits of encouraging more visitors to Britain. Sir Keir Starmer in Beijing earlier this week. As China rolled out the red carpet for the Prime Minister, retail and leisure bosses reiterated their calls for Labour to reinstate tax-free shopping Derrick Hardman, chair of the Association of International Retail, said: 'This is yet more evidence that the UK has shot itself in the foot by scrapping tax-free shopping for international visitors. 'VisitBritain states that shopping is the number one priority for Chinese travellers, yet we have made ourselves a significantly less attractive place to come and spend. 'This isn't just hitting retailers, but everyone involved in the tourist economy - hotels, restaurants, pubs, visitor attractions, transport and so on. 'All we are asking for is that the Government agrees to a proper review of the impact across the economy of ending tax-free shopping. Any government serious about jobs and growth would agree to look at this.' The Metropolitan Police is facing a 5million bill for new toilets and changing rooms for its 12 transgender staff. Following a legal challenge over the rights of transgender people, Britain's largest police force has assessed the cost of dedicated transgender facilities. The Good Law Project argued that guidance that single-sex toilets should only be used by people of the same biological gender breached the rights of transgender people. The guidance was temporarily withdrawn after the claims, and the Met Police have since calculated the costs to fit new toilets. 'The overall cost of providing new toilets and changing spaces for transgender people at stations and main police buildings is conservatively estimated to be 5million,' one source told The Sun of the Met's financial assessment. 'There would also be a 300,000-a-year bill for maintenance.' It comes as Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said his already overstretched force has faced 'eye-watering cuts' with the force plugging a 260million funding gap. Retired Met chief superintendent Simon Ovens said: 'Most of the Met estate is old and not easily converted. At a time of withering financial cuts, spending 5million on such things is frankly ridiculous.' A Met Police spokesperson said: 'We are reviewing our options to understand how any potential legal requirements could be met in the most cost-effective way.' It comes as Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) said his already overstretched force has faced 'eye-watering cuts' with the force plugging a 260million funding gap Earlier this year, Sir Mark Rowley accused 'pundits' of damaging London's reputation after he was confronted with the force's disastrous record on mobile phone theft in the capital. Sir Mark launched an impassioned defence of the Met's crime statistics, claiming one news organisation was 'allergic' to a 'good news story about London'. It came after figures published today showed the rate of unlawful killings in the capital dropped to an historic low last year, while the number of homicides dropped below 100 for the first time since 2014. But Sir Mark was clearly aggrieved when he was presented with other statistics, first released last year, which showed shoplifting offences increased by 54 per cent in 2024, and was asked about claims an estimated 100,000 mobile phones were stolen on city streets during those 12 months. Sir Mark, who has led Britain's largest police force since 2022, told presenter Stig Abell Times Radio: 'The fact that so much public debate is now more on rhetoric than it is on facts is not my responsibility. 'It's the rhetoric of, frankly, pundits like yourself rather than looking at the evidence. My point is simply, people who live and work in London generally feel safe. 'I don't claim it's perfect.' He added: 'What I am pushing back on is the idea that crime in London is somehow out of control. Your browser does not support iframes. 'London is a safe city and it's going in the right direction.' Mr Abell denied he was a pundit. A YouGov survey published earlier this month found nearly two-thirds of Londoners (63 per cent) felt the city was 'safe', compared with one-third (34 per cent) who felt the opposite. Four per cent of those polled were unsure. But across Britain, 61 per cent of respondents said they thought London was an unsafe place to live. According to the Office for National Statistics, almost 90,000 shoplifting offences were recorded by police in London in 2024, up from just over 58,000 in 2023. Sir Mark said the force was working on reducing mobile phone theft, and estimated it would be down by '15 to 20 per cent' by the end of this year. But he added: 'Why are you so allergic to a story about good news about London?' London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan also said there had been a significant recent reduction in street theft. He said he was working with mobile phone manufacturers to 'design-out crime', for example by introducing 'kill switches' to mean stolen phones cannot be used, making device theft less attractive to criminals. Sir Sadiq told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I fully accept the perception of crime, we are going to address that by tackling crime.' A rising number of people are contacting the Church of England to ask priests to carry out exorcisms to 'deliver them from evil'. Representatives from the Church's 'deliverance ministries' said they have seen an uptick in inquiries about the practice since the Covid-19 pandemic. They said most people, however, are looking for spiritual help to put their 'minds at rest' rather than a dramatic exorcism as is often depicted in Hollywood films. It follows reports this week that an NHS trust called in an exorcist after staff said they had seen ghosts including a 'girl in a red dress' at a hospice in Norwich. Employees at the site, which was previously used as a children's hospital, feared it may still be haunted by spirits following a series of paranormal incidents. To calm their fears, the NHS reportedly requested the help of deliverance ministers to carry out a religious service using holy oil. Commonly known as exorcists, deliverance ministers are employed by the Church of England to rid places or people of evil spirits. They became a household concept in the 1970s following the release of the horror film, The Exorcist, which follows the story of a young girl who was possessed by a demon. Max Von Sydow plays a priest in the 1973 film The Exorcist An NHS trust called in an exorcist after staff reported seeing ghosts including a 'girl in a red dress' at a hospice in Norwich. Pictured: Jenny Lind Children's Hospital The spooky sightings occurred at Priscilla Bacon Lodge, near Colman Hospital, which has been used by Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust to provide specialist end-of-life care. However, up until 1975 it was the site of Jenny Lind Children's Hospital, with some staff believing it is still haunted by spirits. Sources said there were concerns about 'paranormal incidents' at the hospice, with one person reportedly seeing the spectre of a 'small child in a red dress'. It is understood that an exorcism wasn't actually carried out at the site, but instead the chaplain carried out a blessing of the building. Dr Anne Richards, the Church of England's national officer for 'deliverance ministry', explained that while in Hollywood exorcisms conjure up scenes of screaming and shouting, in practice they are usually quiet and calm affairs. She said the focus tends to be on reassuring people, who have often suffered a recent bereavement, and not 'upping the temperature'. Dr Richards told The Times: 'The number of inquiries they receive is rising. It's fair to say there is an uptick in requests for help. 'But it's not to do with a spirit being cast out of a person. It's a whole range.' 'We had quite a surge of cases after Covid with people who, during lockdown, started to hear funny things in their houses. Most of the time it was the plumbing,' she added. Linda Blair portrays Regan MacNeil in the horror film The Exorcist A young patient is pictured recovering at the Jenny Lind Hospital in Norwich in 1955 Emails seen by the Telegraph show that in 2023, the hospice chaplain contacted the Diocese of Norwich for 'advice/support from the deliverance team'. They said it had been a 'difficult time' at the site and requested 'some holy oil' from Norwich Cathedral. The chaplain reportedly said this would be used to conduct a religious service for staff and patients who were concerned that the site was haunted. A week later, another email was sent to the Diocese of Norwich, which is understood to have confirmed they were in 'conversation with a member of the deliverance team'. The trust confirmed that a 'blessing of the building' was carried out but denied that an exorcist ever visited the site in person. They also refused to comment on what paranormal activity patients and staff claimed to have seen. Priscilla Bacon Lodge moved into new premises in 2023, after the paranormal incidents were reported. The building is now no longer in use, despite being briefly repurposed into a therapy unit. The Hollywood mogul in charge of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics wrote raunchy emails discussing 'massages', 'rubbing' and naked beach frolics with Jeffrey Epstein's partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell. The 2003 emails from LA talent agency chief and 2028 Olympic Committee Chair Casey Wasserman were revealed in the latest giant tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice on Friday morning. Wasserman, 51, was less than two years into his marriage to then-wife Laura Ziffren when he swapped highly flirtatious messages with Maxwell, asking her on April 1, 2003: 'Where are you, I miss you. I will be in NYC for 4 days starting april 22 can we book that massage now?' Amid a flurry of messages two days later Maxwell, 64, wrote 'all that rubbing - are you sure you can take it?' 'There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild - I suppose I could practise them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?' she added. While the two were trading the risque messages and arranging the sensual massage, his wife was eight months pregnant with their son. In a statement to the Daily Mail, Wasserman said: 'I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell, which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light. 'I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,' Wasserman claimed. 'As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. Casey Wasserman with his then-wife Laura Ziffren in 2019. The couple, who married in 2001 and were together for over 20 years, are now divorced Maxwell is currently behind bars for grooming, trafficking, and abusing minors with Epstein (pictured together in 2005) Wasserman, 51, was less than two years into his marriage to then-wife Laura when he swapped highly flirtatious messages with Maxwell 'I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them,' he concluded. Wasserman is a major figure in Hollywood as a top music and movie agency chief behind such music greats as Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. He also brought Billie Eilish into his roster by acquiring music agency Paradigm in 2021. VIP guests to his 600-person 50th birthday bash in Santa Monica in June 2024 included former president Bill Clinton, ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris's husband Doug Emhoff. Absent and behind bars for grooming, trafficking, and abusing minors with Epstein was Maxwell. Maxwell signed off many of her messages to him with 'Kisses', and he with 'xoxo', the emails released by the DOJ reveal. When Wasserman described LA's often overcast June weather in one 2003 email, Maxwell replied with a raunchy response. 'What foggy enough so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?' she wrote in the April 7, 2003 email, adding: 'Or something like that' On April 6, 2003, Maxwell wrote him: 'Thought you might like to know I am now in Paris - can I bring you back anything from Here?' When Wasserman described LA's often overcast June weather in one 2003 email, Maxwell replied with a raunchy response Maxwell discussed combinations of edible treats she could bring him from her trip to London Amid a flurry of messages Maxwell, 64, wrote 'all that rubbing - are you sure you can take it?' Maxwell signed off many of her messages to him with 'Kisses', and he with 'xoxo', the emails released by the DOJ reveal On April 6, 2003, Maxwell wrote him: 'Thought you might like to know I am now in Paris - can I bring you back anything from Here?' The Daily Mail previously obtained an undated photograph of Wasserman in front of a plane with Epstein and Maxwell He replied: 'The only thing that i want from paris is you.' The next day Maxwell was discussing combinations of edible treats she could bring him from her trip to London. 'Ok, so that combo did not do it for you, what combo would then?' She asked. 'You, me, and not else much' he replied. Other emails show Maxwell arranging a trip from Los Angeles to New York on his jet. The Daily Mail previously obtained an undated photo of a younger Wasserman with Epstein and Maxwell in front of a private plane. Flight logs from Epstein's jet show Wasserman and his then-wife flew with Epstein, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to Africa for an HIV charity event in 2002. There is no suggestion Wasserman took part in any of Epstein's crimes, and the Africa trip took place before the criminal investigation into his sex trafficking began. The highly flirtatious messages may prove embarrassing for the LA28 chief, who has already had to contend with allegations of repeated romantic affairs with his own staffers that allegedly occurred throughout his marriage. Wasserman is a major figure in Hollywood as a top music and movie agency chief. He is also LA 2028 Olympic Committee Chair (pictured last year) Wasserman is pictured with his current girlfriend, Jenny Chandler Eleven sources including some of his alleged mistresses provided information to the Daily Mail in 2024 about his alleged womanizing over the years. Wasserman reportedly 'love bombed' potential conquests, showered them with Louboutin shoes, La Perla lingerie, handbags, and even Range Rovers but when his interest wained, he callously dropped them like a hot potato, sources claimed. He was accused of a string of romantic relationships with his employees including his secretary Patricia Feau, who now works in a $350,000 salary job on the LA28 Olympic nonprofit, his former private jet flight attendant Jenny Chandler, who is his current girlfriend, and another flight attendant whose clients include the Playboy publisher. Feau denied the affair when contacted by the Daily Mail. Wasserman did not respond, but later dismissed the allegations as gossip. 'If The Daily Mail qualifies as reporting, then I guess we're all in trouble,' Wasserman told CNBC in September 2024. 'But we live in a day and age where people can say whatever they want without facts, without cooperation, without sources, and it's the world we live in.' Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was banned from the online gaming platform Xbox Live in 2013 for threatening his fellow gamers, a file released by the Department of Justice shows. The email, released Friday, seemingly notified Epstein that his access had 'been permanently suspended due to harassment, threats, and/or abuse of other players.' 'This conduct has been determined to be severe, repeated, and/or excessive,' continues the email, dated December 19, 2013. No specific behaviors are given for the late financier's ban from Xbox Live, which allows users to connect to play games against one another via the internet on the Microsoft console. However, the possible transgressions cited by the email include threats of death, harm, property damage, or any other act of violence or vandalism; verbal abuse; extortion or manipulation; libel, defamation, or slander; or stalking. The latest drop of some three million files linked to the late sex offender includes lurid stories regarding Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as well as email exchanges about Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Earlier Friday, Gates denied claims made by Epstein that the tech boss caught a sexually transmitted disease from 'Russian girls', obtained antibiotics from Epstein to treat the infection, and secretly slipped them to Melinda Gates. In a rare statement, a spokesperson for the Microsoft billionaire told the Daily Mail: 'These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was banned from the online gaming platform Xbox Live in 2013 for threatening his fellow gamers, according to government files 'The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.' Epstein made the astonishing claims about the Microsoft billionaire in emails he sent to himself on July 18, 2013. The emails were among the hundreds of thousands of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice on Friday morning. Gates has previously said he regrets his friendship with the late pedophile, who died in a New York City jail in 2019, and has long denied any impropriety. Over the years, Gates has sought to downplay his yearslong relationship with Epstein, claiming the pair did not have a 'business relationship or friendship' and alleging all of their meetings were in group settings. He also previously denied attending any of Epstein's parties or going to his various residences. Hundreds of thousands of documents related to the convicted pedophile had already been made public by the House Committee on Oversight in late 2025, including sickening images showing Epstein surrounded by young-looking women. The email released by the Department of Justice Fiday notifies Epstein that his access 'been permanently suspended due to harassment, threats, and/or abuse of other players' A new photo showing Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein with friends was released on Friday. Gates denied any and all accusations against him in the files The files, released following Epstein's death in 2019, contain disturbing photographs of women's bodies, harrowing notes, and references to famous figures including former President Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson. Previous document dumps have sparked fierce backlash after large swathes of material were heavily redacted by the Justice Department. Officials said the caveats were necessary to protect victims' privacy, national security, and other sensitive interests. Ghislaine Maxwell, who had a close relationship with the disgraced financier, has since claimed that 29 of Epstein's associates were shielded through 'secret settlements' with the Justice Department. The allegation was made in a habeas corpus petition she filed on December 17 seeking to overturn her conviction. The files, posted on the DOJ's website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials withheld from an initial release of documents in December. Congressional Democrats, who have been key to pushing for the release of case files on Epstein, say that Friday's release is just half of the files that have been collected. Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19, following a civil war within the Republican Party over the records which the President branded a Democrat 'hoax.' The law requires the government to open its files on the convicted sex offender as well as his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Maxwell. Epstein was found hanged in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein. Two men have been found dead at a northwest Sydney property with both suffering wounds. Police were called to a home on Harrisons Lane, Glenorie, 44km northwest of Sydney, at 8.40am on Saturday following a concern for welfare report. Officers found the bodies of the two men, both aged 28, with laceration injuries. NSW Police told Daily Mail the deaths were not being treated as suspicious. Lifeline: 13 11 14 Police found the two men dead on Harrisons Lane, Glenorie, on Saturday morning Police aren't treating the deaths as suspicious He founded the charity Serving Our People A charity boss has been charged with multiple offences following an investigation into the alleged sexual assaults of three women. Yas Daniel Matbouly, 50, stepped down from his charity, Serving Our People (SOP), at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast after police raided the head office. There is no suggestion the charity has been involved in or is accused of any wrongdoing. He has since been charged with 51 offences including 34 counts of sexual assault and 14 of rape. He is also accused of two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one of attempted rape. Police allege Matbouly committed the offences against three women aged in their 20s between April and November last year. Matbouly handed himself in to authorities shortly after the police raid and was taken to Southport Police Station on Friday. Appearing at Southport Magistrates Court on Saturday, prosecutors argued against granting bail to Matbouly. Yas Daniel Matbouly (pictured) has been charged with 51 offences after police raided his charity's Gold Coast headquarters on Friday Matbouly's charity Serving Our People (SOP) has been supported by politicians including Queensland Premier David Crisafulli (both pictured) They argued that bail should not be approved due to the seriousness of the offences and concerns that Matbouly was a flight risk. Defence lawyer Tim Ryan KC reportedly told the court any risks could be mitigated by tougher bail conditions. He indicated his client had taken the matter seriously, stepping down from the charity following the police raid. 'He presented himself voluntarily by arrangement at 6pm to the police station,' Mr Ryan said, according to ABC News. 'In the context of the investigation, he surrendered himself in the face of the allegation.' Matbouly was granted bail but is banned from international travel and must report to Broadbeach Police Station twice a week. He is also not allowed to contact the alleged victims, all of whom are in their 20s and were known to him. Outside the court, reporters asked Matbouly if he was a threat to the community. He replied: 'No'. Police allege three women were assaulted by Matbouly between April and November 2025 Matbouly founded the charity Serving Our People (SOP) in 2020. There is no suggestion that the organisation has been involved in or is accused of any wrongdoing Matbouly confirmed his active cooperation with police during their investigation. He has not yet entered a plea and the matter was adjourned until February 19. SOP was founded in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been described as 'Australia's fastest-growing charity', with 1300 volunteers and 11 full-time staff. The charity, which has previously collaborated with government officials and Hollywood director Baz Luhrmann, delivers free food to those in need. Last year, Luhrmann recorded a supportive video message for a fundraising ball for SOP, later shared on social media. Matbouly has been pictured delivering food as part of the charity's work alongside Queensland Premier David Crisafulli. SOP has also been supported by state Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek, Housing Minister Sam O'Connor and federal opposition environment spokesperson Angie Bell. It is understood four committee members of SOP resigned in 2025, three of whom left within a week between late November and early December, ABC News reports. The Daily Mail has contacted Matbouly through his lawyer, Mr Ryan, as well as reaching out to SOP for comment. Australians have questioned the level of offence police charged a man with after he allegedly threw an explosive device into a large Invasion Day protest crowd. A glass container that had ball bearings and screws in an unknown liquid was hurled into a demonstration gathered at Forrest Place, in Perth's CBD, on January 26. Police alleged the device was designed to 'explode on impact', saying it was only down to good fortune that it did not detonate. A 31-year-old man, from Warwick, in northern Perth, was charged with intent to do harm in such a way as to endanger life, health or safety and with making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances. But young Australian Georgia, whose partner was a speaker at the event, posted a video on social media claiming the charges should be harsher. 'It is so lucky that for whatever reason [the alleged bomb] didn't light properly and the device didn't detonate,' she said. '[Police] raided his home and found a bunch of other [alleged] explosive-related material and they have charged him with intent to harm. 'Like, what the actual f*** is going on in this f***ing colony these days. It's absurd. I can't eat, I just feel so sick.' Young Australian Georgia (pictured) has criticised WA Police for not charging a man with an offence related to terrorism after an incident at an Invasion Day protest in Perth A glass container which contained ball bearings and screws in an unknown liquid was hurled into a demonstration gathered at Forrest Place, in Perth's CBD, on January 26 A 31-year-old man was charged with intent to do harm in such a way as to endanger life, health or safety and with making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances Georgia slammed the 'minimal' coverage of what had happened, adding: 'I've literally had to tell people on the East Coast that it has happened.' Her comments were echoed by other Australians, who also questioned the level of the offence with which the man was charged. 'It begs belief!... I am so very glad it was a failed attempt,' one person commented. Another wrote: 'I hope he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and this should be upgraded to terrorism!' Counter-terrorism expert and Murdoch University associate professor Mark Briskey told The Australian the device had similarities to homemade pipe bombs used by terrorists in various incidents he had helped investigate throughout Asia. 'I think we are very lucky that this didn't detonate,' he said. The Daily Mail has contacted WA Police and the WA Justice Department for comment. Following the man's arrest, police seized his electronic devices but have not disclosed any information they found that could suggest a motivation for the alleged act. WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said officers must establish a political, religious or ideological motive in order to declare the incident a terrorist act The 31-year-old man did not apply for bail and the matter has been adjourned until February 17 WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said officers must establish a political, religious or ideological motive in order to declare the incident a terrorist act. Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia has similarly said it cannot be called an act of terror without confirmation. Minutes after the device was thrown, police evacuated the crowd by commandeering the stage and asking everyone to leave. The court granted a suppression order on the man's identity due to fears for his safety if other inmates learned the accusations against him. He did not apply for bail and the matter has been adjourned until February 17. The Prime Minister has unleashed on the embattled opposition after the Coalition collapsed earlier this month and rumours have swirled about Sussan Ley's leadership. Anthony Albanese visited South Australia on Saturday to announce a $800million housing deal that promises to 'unlock 17,000 new homes' for people in the state. But, during a press conference, he was asked by reporters about the position of the opposition. 'They're a shambles and they are focused on their hatred of each other,' Albanese said, according to Sky News. 'We are focused on the Australian people, their needs and the national interest. 'You can't fight for Australians if you are obsessed with fighting yourselves and that is what the former Coalition has become.' Albanese went on to take aim at a secret breakfast meeting between suspected rivals to the Liberals' top job, senior MPs Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor, in Melbourne. The pair had met on Thursday to discuss the future of the Liberal leadership at the newly purchased $2.5million home of Ley loyalist, Senator James Paterson. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described the Liberal party as 'beyond belief' Opposition leader Sussan Ley faces persistent rumours of a possible leadership challenge But, as the summit took place just hours before a colleague's funeral, Albanese did not miss the chance to criticise the unfolding events. 'This is beyond belief, frankly,' he said on Saturday. 'You had a funeral to farewell Katie Allen, who was not just respected in the Liberal Party but across the board, and a bunch of blokes sitting in a house somewhere in Melbourne plotting to knock off the first female leader of the Liberal Party.' Hastie, 43, has since announced that he was pulling out of the Liberal leadership race after he failed to rally enough support from other party members. 'Over the past few weeks there has been speculation about the future leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia,' he said on Friday. 'I've previously stated that I would welcome the opportunity to serve my party and our country as leader of the Liberal Party. 'But having consulted with colleagues over the past week and respecting their honest feedback to me, it is clear that I do not have the support needed to become leader of the Liberal Party. 'On this basis, I wish to make it clear I will not be contesting the leadership of the Liberal Party.' One of Ley's main rivals, Andrew Hastie, announced on Friday that he would not challenge her It is not clear whether Paterson was acting as peacemaker, power broker, or kingmaker with his presence at the secret breakfast meeting. He told ABC Radio National on Thursday: 'You can assume that I continue to support Sussan.' However, with Hastie's withdrawal from the race, attention has shifted to whether Taylor will launch a leadership bid and if he commands sufficient backing. While he has not said anything on the matter, he posted a statement on social media on Friday, sharing his admiration for Hastie. 'An individual of his abilities and principles has much to contribute on the front lines of our fight for the promise of Australia and to ensure that our best days lie ahead,' Taylor said of Hastie. 'My colleague and friend is a great asset to the Liberal cause, with formidable strengths and an unwavering commitment to serving our country.' Speculation about a challenge to Ley's leadership intensified after parliament passed laws allowing for the outlawing of hate groups and increasing penalties for hate speech in response to the December 14 Bondi Beach terror attack. The legislation ultimately triggered the coalition's break up after MPs from the Nationals broke with the Liberals in voting against the laws. However, moderate figures remain largely behind Ley, believing she may avoid a challenge altogether if her opponents continue to squabble over who should run. While they concede the party's polling has slipped under her leadership, they argue that another round of instability would only accelerate the slide towards irrelevance. However, Ley's critics argue the party's position is so dire, any change would be better than the status quo. Sceptics caution that Taylor may not be the saviour some imagine, and dumping the first woman to lead the Liberal Party could spark a backlash far worse than the current internal unrest. Taylor's critics have also said he may not 'stick the landing' if he takes the leadership, and could further erode female support for the party. A letter discovered at a home in one of Perth's most exclusive suburbs could reveal key details for a police investigation into the suspected double murder-suicide of a family of four. The bodies of Maiwenna Goasdoue, 49, her partner Jarrod Clune, 50, and their teenage sons Leon, 16, and Otis, 14, were found inside their Mosman Park property on Friday morning. A person who provided care services for the boys, who are understood to have 'severe autism', raised the alarm about 8.15am after arriving at the home for a pre-arranged visit. It is understood the visitor found a note which contained words to the effect of 'Don't enter' and a direction to call emergency services. On Saturday, it was revealed there was a second note believed to be a letter that led to initial deductions that the tragedy was a case of double murder-suicide, WA Today reported. The letter reportedly had details indicating there was some planning behind the act. This is understood to have included suggestions on how the family wished for their finances to be arranged after their deaths, WA Today reported. The note also reportedly had details about the family's mindset before their deaths. It appeared to suggest the parents made a joint decision to end their lives. Maiwenna Goasdoue, her partner Jarrod Clune (both pictured), and their two teenage sons were discovered dead inside their home in Mosman Park, Perth A person who provided care services for the boys raised the alarm on Friday after arriving at the home for a pre-arranged visit French-born Ms Goasdoue who was known as 'Mai' to her friends had previously described her sons as disabled (pictured, Otis and Leon) French-born Ms Goasdoue who was known as 'Mai' to her friends had previously described her sons as disabled. As a member of several online support groups, she confided that her sons' conditions were at the severe end of the autism spectrum. 'My two boys have that very severe level of autism. Still both very different,' she commented on a Facebook post. Fellow mum and close friend Nedra told the Daily Mail on Friday she was shocked and devastated by the unimaginable tragedy. Mai and Jarrod were the most devoted, loving, protective parents and their whole lives revolved around their beautiful boys,' she said. Nedra said the couple were under immense pressure as they struggled to find reliable care, particularly for one child who needed a high level of ongoing support. It was incredibly hard to find anyone who could look after the boys, especially one of them with the level of support he needed, she said. Anyone helping had to be just as devoted to her boys as [Ms Goasdoue] was. Fellow mum and close friend Nedra said Jarrod (pictured) and Mai were the 'most devoted, loving, protective parents' whose lives revolved around there sons It was revealed on Saturday that police may have found a 'letter' which contained details indicating there was some planning behind the suspected double murder-suicide Nedra said the pair felt increasingly isolated and unsupported by friends and family, adding that the boys' diagnoses could make life 'difficult and very challenging'. 'They often felt isolated, unsupported and abandoned by family, friends, support services, schools, the NDIS, the health system and the community in general,' she said. 'No one can understand the endless fight to get the support and services they so desperately needed. Mai wouldnt even put her boys into respite care in case they were mistreated in any way. 'I can imagine that [there was a] lack of support [and] chronic sleep deprivation [as] the boys did not sleep through the night and long school holidays of challenging behaviours made [Mai and Jarrod] feel they had no other option.' Another friend, who chose to remain anonymous, described the parents as a 'strong couple' who loved their children 'deeply and moved all the stones they could to ensure that they had the required supports and help'. 'Unfortunately they were fighting a losing battle against a system which is not here to assist,' they said. 'This was not a domestic violence-related murder-suicide. 'This tragedy arose because two parents were so beaten down by the system, so isolated, so fearful for the future of their children that they could see no other way out.' Neighbours could be seen gathered outside the Mosman Park home on Friday Police said no weapon was used during the incident and there is no known history of family violence connected to those involved Detective Acting Inspector Jessica Securo told reporters on Friday that the deaths were being considered as a 'double murder-suicide'. She said no weapon was used during the incident and there is no known history of family violence connected to those involved. 'Although this investigation is in its infancy, police are investigating this matter as a double murder-suicide,' she said. She stated that the bodies of the family were located 'in different parts of the property'. 'There is no ongoing risk to the community.' Inspector Securo described the incident as 'highly distressing' and confirmed the teenage boys had 'significant health challenges'. 'This is an incredibly tragic situation for the family, the person who discovered them, and our first responders,' she said. St John WA confirmed five ambulance crews were called to the Mosman Park address at 8.29am. Western Australia Police remain at the scene, with several surrounding streets closed as forensic investigations continue. Mosman Park is one of Perth's most expensive suburbs and is bordered by some of the city's most popular beaches, including nearby Cottesloe. Anyone affected by the tragedy is urged to seek support. Lifeline: 13 11 14 Former prime minister and outgoing US Ambassador Kevin Rudd has denied attending Jeffrey Epstein's New York home following the release of new US Department of Justice files. In a lengthy statement, Dr Rudd vehemently denied ever corresponding with the convicted US sex offender or visiting any of his houses. About 3.5 million pages of documents relating to Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice overnight, shedding further light on his network of contacts in business, politics and the media. The documents give insight into how Epstein used his contacts to court those in power, using others to initiate meetings between him and other high-profile people. For decades, Epstein maintained friendly relationships with former presidents and high-ranking officials and was reportedly involved in intelligence and influence activities. Epstein was jailed for soliciting sex with minors and committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on more serious charges of sex trafficking of minors. More than 2000 videos and 180,000 images were also released in Friday's dump. The files, posted to the department's website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd (pictured) has denied attending Jeffrey Epstein's New York home following the release of new US Department of Justice files About 3.5 million pages of documents relating to Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice overnight (pictured, a binder of 'The Epstein Files' shown in February 2025) Epstein was jailed for soliciting sex with minors and committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on more serious charges of sex trafficking of minors Emails in the file release showed Epstein had scheduled to meet Dr Rudd on Sunday, June 8, 2014, at 4.30pm. But Dr Rudd strongly denied ever meeting Epstein and said there was no evidence that the former prime minister had accepted any invitation made to him. 'Our office has no records of this meeting, and the published documents gave no indication about who was involved in organising it,' a statement from Dr Rudd's office said. 'In any case, they were unsuccessful in arranging the introduction.' Dr Rudd is one of thousands mentioned in the Epstein files, and the Daily Mail is not suggesting there was any form of personal relationship between Epstein and Mr Rudd, or that Mr Rudd engaged in any improper or illegal conduct, or that he had any knowledge of any improper or illegal conduct by Epstein. 'We cannot rule out the possibility that they might have attended the same event at some stage, since Dr Rudd has attended literally thousands of functions in New York over the years,' the statement said. 'Most references to Dr Rudd in these latest documents mention him in passing. Others indicate there were attempts by mutual acquaintances of Jeffrey Epstein to introduce him to Dr Rudd. 'No introduction ever took place, and there is no evidence of any direct contact between Jeffrey Epstein and either Dr Rudd or his office.' The release comes after months of accusations between the government and Congress regarding the slow pace and opacity of the documents, which have been withheld due to extensive records and legal documentation pertaining to the Epstein case. In the statement Dr Rudd's office said: 'Even if these various records were somehow to be accepted at face value, none of them allege that Dr Rudd engaged in any wrongful activity or had any knowledge of Epstein's crimes. 'Dr Rudd's legal team is prepared to launch legal action against any defamatory statements asserting any kind of personal relationship between Dr Rudd and Epstein.' He said he will be pleading not guilty He allegedly posed as an agent to lure victims A man who allegedly faked being a Disney casting agent in order to lure in young actors for sex acts has said he will plead not guilty after fronting a Sydney court. Police launched an investigation in November 2025 after reports a man allegedly falsified documents and posed as a casting agent for an international company. It is alleged he offered false TV or film opportunities in exchange for sexual activity. Officers then raided a home in Lewisham, in Sydney's inner-west, about 9am on Friday where they seized documentation and electronic items. A 57-year-old man, identified by ABC News as Gerard Vamadevan, was arrested at the scene. He was charged with a total of 11 offences, including one count each of procuring a child for prostitution, and stalking or intimidating with intent to cause fear or physical harm. He was also charged with six counts of possessing identification information with intention to commit or facilitate indictable offences, and three counts of dealing with identification information to commit or facilitate indictable offences. Appearing at Sydney Local Court on Saturday, Vamadevan told the magistrate he pretended to be a Disney executive because he was 'lonely'. Gerard Vamadevan was charged with 11 offences after allegedly posing as an executive for Disney to lure young actors. He said he will be pleading not guilty to the charges Police raided his home after two months of investigation The 57-year-old told a court he pretended to be an executive because he was 'lonely' 'All I did with them [the alleged victims] was bought them coffee and shouted them dinner,' he told the court, according to ABC News. 'I was lonely and I wanted company, I have three who remain friends.' Magistrate Robert Cook noted Vamadevan was subject to a Recognisance Release Order under the Commonwealth Crimes Act 1914 at the time of the alleged offences. The act enables those who plead guilty or are found guilty of a Commonwealth criminal offence to avoid going to prison, despite a criminal conviction being recorded against them. But those serving the order must comply with strict conditions. The court heard that Vamadevan claimed he needed to be granted bail to access mental health support. 'I need to be of a clear, sound mind, my primary trigger is solitude. I used to drink to self-medicate and that's when I caused the offences,' he said. Police prosecutor Sergeant Candice Chapman argued Vamadevan should not be granted bail, claiming that no conditions could guarantee he would not reoffend, the court heard. Magistrate Cook granted bail with strict conditions. These included requirements that Vamadevan report to police daily and refrain from using the internet except for work-related purposes. Vamadevan told the court he would be pleading not guilty on his next appearance. He is due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on February 5. Romantic emails between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Ghislaine Maxwell in which they told one another they loved each other is adding to speculation that the pair were romantically involved. Affectionate exchanges in which they refer to each other by names including 'darling' and 'sweet pea', while stating they 'long for' one another are reigniting claims from friends and even a former royal protection officer that they were in fact lovers. The conversations have emerged as part of a new tranche of Epstein documents released last night. More than three million more documents were published by the US Department of Justice, although many of them are heavily redacted. Among the files are thousands of photographs and videos, including several pictures showing disgraced royal Andrew crouching over a woman lying on the floor and touching her stomach. Other emails show how Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, 66, described paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein as the 'brother I have always wished for'. Emails between Andrew, 65, - who went by the moniker The Invisible Man - and Maxwell in 2002 tell how he sought Maxwell's 'permission' to spend time with his ex-wife and children instead of travelling to the US. Andrew has previously denied having a close friendship with Maxwell, 64. He married Ferguson in 1986 before the pair separated in 1992 and divorcing in 1996. In an email signed 'A', the sender says: 'As the planning is getting more difficult over the bank holiday weekend here I am thinking now I might join Sarah and the kids in Sotogrande for a few days which would be very important and a good thing for the girls, rather than trek across the pond. Romantic emails between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Ghislaine Maxwell in which they told one another they loved each other is adding to speculation that the pair were romantically involved Disturbing new images released as part of last night's Epstein files appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor In emails from 2002, Andrew said he was 'longing to see' Maxwell in gushing correspondence which has reignited speculation over the pair's relationship Andrew earlier asked for Maxwell's 'permission' to skip a trip to see her in the US and spend time with his ex-wife and children instead 'Please will you give me permission to do so and I am conscious of the "better offer" syndrome but in this case it wouldn't be that... I think!' It was in response to Maxwell discussing plans for an upcoming trip in which she told how Andrew would 'be free to go out with' a man named Philip in Miami 'for some fun'. In her reply dated August 24, Maxwell said 'Andrew sweet heart - I fully understand if you want to spend time w/Sarah and the kids. I will not be remotely offended - sad not to spend time w/you and sad not to see you but at this point w/precious holidays and few days off I agree that this idea of coming to the Island looks less appealing'. In a suggestive follow-up sent on August 25, Maxwell said: 'No problem, (redacted), who is now coming and 5 other stunning red heads will all just have to play with ourselves.' She concluded the message: 'I shall miss you. I love you lots. Gx.' In a reply on August 27, Andrew said: 'I am very sad at not coming to join you but I am so glad to be able to see more of my kids that the compensation is justified. 'But whatever I love you and am longing to see you when either you or I are in the same part of the world.' He added: 'Look forward to catching up with you before you disappear to some exotic place and please don't catch anything nasty on your travels! 'Masses of love and thanks, A xxx.' Later that year, on October 28, an email believed to be from Maxwell asked Andrew about speculation he might have more children - Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice were 12 and 14 at the time. A mugshot of Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year jail term for sex trafficking, was also released as part of the files Maxwell referred to Andrew as 'sweet pea' amid claims they were once lovers Andrew was seen behind the wheel of a Range Rover in Windsor on Saturday morning - hours after the release of the files Andrew waves as he is seen horse-riding in Windsor on Saturday morning The emails saw the pair call each other pet names and sign off with 'love' Maxwell also comforted Andrew after the death of the Queen Mother in March 2002 In an email exchange in October 2002, believed to be between Maxwell and Andrew, the former prince denies he plans to have any more children before signing off 'masses of love' In three images released by the US DOJ last night, a man who appears to be Andrew, can be seen crouching over the person who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out It is unclear where the images where taken and no further context is given 'I am in LA on my way to Hawaii. Is it true you are having more children? I shall have to refer to you as super sperm!' the sender wrote, signing off 'Gx'. In reply, Andrew wrote: 'No I am not having any more children and don't believe everything you read in the papers! 'Sarah said that she'd like to have another child if she could and if too old might adopt one instead, in answer to a throw away question in a week long trek around Sierra Leone a couple of weeks ago that appeared in the Observer Magazine this weekend. 'In fact a very good article considering the difficulty factor of the journalist! What are you going to do to help me then? Masses of love A xxx.' In 2005 Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year jail term in the US for sex trafficking associated with Epstein, received an email from 'The Invisible Man' again dubbing her 'darling'. 'Darling Oops!' Andrew wrote. 'I will be arriving in LA on flight number QF 025 at 1045 on Sunday 2nd October. 'I am then in your hands (Literally) until Saturday/Sunday, when I have to return to London, either from LA or New York.' Following further discussion of flight times, Andrew signed off: 'Let me know if this is OK. Love you A xxx.' Other exchanges between the pair show how she comforted the former prince after the death of the Queen Mother. Writing on March 31, 2002, one day after her death, Maxwell affectionately dubbed Andrew 'sweat [sic] pea', adding: 'Sorry you had to rush home, and also under such sad circumstances.' The former prince was spotted laughing on his ride around the Windsor estate today, just hours after new photographs of him were released Andrew has previously denied having a close friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured) A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell was released as part of the Epstein files in December Elsewhere in the files released on Friday, Sarah Ferguson (left) called Epstein the 'brother I have always wished for' while Andrew invited him to Buckingham Palace days after the end of the convicted paedophile's sentence The following day Andrew replied and promised 'I will ring you later today to chat', signing off the email with 'A' and three kisses. Today royal historian Andrew Lownie, author of a bombshell biography of the former Duke and Duchess of York published last year, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, told the Daily Mail Maxwell and Andrew were 'lovers'. 'They were lovers, they had been lovers,' he said. 'They have known each other for years. It was a very close relationship. 'Ghislaine was Epstein's right-hand woman. She was very, very close to Andrew. 'She was providing girls for Andrew, in effect, along with Epstein, and she'd done that before.' Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to his relationship with Epstein. Commenting on whether the scope of Andrew and Sarah's relationship with Epstein is now known, he added: 'I'm sure there's worse to come.' Euan Rellie, a banker who has known Maxwell since university, previously told a documentary how the couple often appeared 'intimate', adding they had an 'easy warmth' around each other. 'I got the sense that Prince Andrew and Ghislaine had probably been girlfriend and boyfriend in the past,' he added during the 2022 ITV documentary. Former royal protection officer Paul Page also hinted that the relationship between Ghislaine and Maxwell was more than friendly. Describing how he first met the convicted sex trafficker a quarter of a century ago, he said: 'I first met Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001. From the way she was allowed to enter and exit the palace at will, we realised and suspected that she may have had an intimate relationship with Prince Andrew. 'A colleague of mine remembered her coming in four times in one day. She kept coming in and out, in and out.' Elsewhere in the files, emails show how Andrew invited Jeffrey Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended. He promised 'lots of privacy' to the paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor. It is not clear if the offer was taken up. But just two days later, the pair were back in email contact, with Epstein asking the then-prince 'g [Ghislaine Maxwell] is here with me...what are you doing?' Andrew replied to say he had a 'lunch with a Saudi Prince and then out to secret intelligence firm', before telling Epstein: 'Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I'll be here free from 1600ish.' The exchange came during what must have been one of Epstein's first sojourns outside the US, having served a 13-month sentence for sex crimes mostly in his Palm Beach mansion following a sweetheart plea deal with prosecutors. The previous month, Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman, saying: 'She has your email.' The prince, who would have been 50 at the time, replied that he would be 'delighted to see her'. And he cheerfully asked the convicted child sex predator, whose house arrest had finished just days earlier: 'Good to be free?' There are also new emails relating to Sarah, formerly the Duchess of York, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - including pictures of them from Andrew's electronic Christmas cards. Several emails refer to the well-chronicled debts of Sarah - who took money from Epstein to help pay them off. One email sent in August 2009 shows her thanking him for being 'the brother I have always wished for'. In others, Ms Ferguson calls Epstein 'my dear spectacular and special friend' and 'a legend', adding he is the 'brother I have always wished for'. A Royal biographer has claimed 'there is worse to come' for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as the former Prince was pictured for the first time since being mentioned in the latest dump of documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein. The disgraced royal, who was seen driving his car and later riding a horse in Windsor on Saturday, featured several times in over three million documents published last night by the US Department of Justice linked to the paedophile financier. Among the documents was the revelation that Andrew invited Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended, while a series of disturbing photographs appear to show the ex-Duke on all fours over a woman. Elsewhere, in the document dump, screenshots and scans appear to show the former Prince exchanged emails with Epstein about meeting a 'beautiful' 26-year-old Russian woman. Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson also featured, with one email appearing to show her thanking Epstein for 'being the brother I have always wished for'. Andrew Lownie, a royal historian who published a biography about the former Duke and Duchess, told the Daily Mail he believes there is 'worse to come' for Andrew. He added that Sarah's close relationship with Epstein was equally 'damaging', adding the former husband and wife's reputations 'are absolutely in the dust' and 'neither of them can ever recover from what has been emerging'. The former couple lost Windsor mansion, previously home to the Queen Mother, following further revelations over their relationship with Epstein last year. Earlier this week it was claimed that Sarah will not join Andrew in relocating to Sandringham because she 'would prefer to stay in the Windsor area' - leaving her in the midst of a 'housing crisis' as she is yet to find a new permanent property. Disturbing new images released as part of last night's Epstein files appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was spotted driving his car on the Windsor Estate this morning just hours after the latest tranche of documents in the Epstein files were released The former Prince appeared straight-faced as he was seen driving his car on Saturday Andrew also appeared expressionless as he was seen horse-riding later in the day The former Duke enjoyed a ride in the sun on Saturday hours after the latest release of the Epstein files '[The Royal family] had plenty of opportunities to discipline Andrew, to remove him from his posts in the past to deal with him, but they've only done so because of public pressure and media pressure,' Mr Lownie continued. 'But I don't think any of this will come as a surprise to the Palace. They've been bracing themselves for the stuff to emerge at some point.' Mr Lownie also accused the King's brother and former sister-in-law of lying about ending their relationship with Epstein even after he pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2009. He said: 'You can't believe a single word either Andrew or Sarah Ferguson says and I learned that over my four years of research. 'They lie even about things they don't need to lie about. So, I'm afraid their reputations are absolutely in the dust. Neither of them can ever recover from what's been emerging.' But Mr Lownie warned there is 'worse to come' for the former Duke, saying 'this is only a very small percentage of the material the DOJ collected. There's also more material with the Epstein estate, which they could release if they wished to.' The documents also revealed a number of gushing emails, seemingly exchanged between Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell, in which they told one another they loved each other. Mr Lownie said this was further proof that the pair were romantically involved, having known each other for many years. 'They were lovers, they had been lovers. They have known each other for years. It was a very close relationship. It was very tight. Ghislaine was Epstein's right-hand woman. She was very, very close to Andrew. 'Andrew was very integral to the whole operation. He would have seen everything, he would have known an awful lot. I think it's very telling that he ran away to Balmoral to avoid the summons. He's never made any comment on any of the allegations. 'In the last few years, he's, refused to apologize to the victims in any of the statements. He's never cooperated with law enforcement or the victim's lawyers. He is deeply, deeply implicated, which is why he's not going to go and talk to the Senate or anyone else.' Andrew has repeatedly denied all accusations against him relating to his association with Epstein. Andrew Lownie (pictured) is the author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York Mr Lownie said Andrew and Sarah Ferguson (pictured) 'can never recover' from the Epstein scandal after their names appeared to be mentioned in several documents related to the paedophile financier The Duke and Duchess of York are divorced but have lived together for years and remain close to their daughters, although this is said to have been strained by recent scandal Andrew appeared fed up during a horse ride in Windsor on Saturday morning But he appeared in greater spirits later in the day as he was seen laughing while riding through a wooded area in Windsor Mr Lownie claimed Andrew's involvement with Epstein 'is the biggest scandal to the royal family in over 100 years', adding that the disgraced paedophile had been using him to get to the late Queen. 'Epstein got very close to the Royal Family and he was using Andrew to get to the Queen. I think Epstein thought that he could be doing business things for the Queen. 'I have no doubt that the members of the royal family probably met Epstein, that hasn't emerged yet. The family were helping Andrew, whether inadvertently or advertently, knowing who the people were. 'But, he had the support of the family for what he was doing, so it wouldn't surprise me to have the Queen meeting some of these people, like Epstein.' Elsewhere, biographer Tom Bower said the latest documents were 'absolutely devastating', adding 'the photos alone of Andrew on his knees are pretty awful'. He told GB News: 'It further underlines how Andrew lied about his relationship with Epstein, claiming he had nothing to do with him after prison, but here he is exchanging emails about women both in London and elsewhere. 'It's utterly devastating and thank God the King stripped him of his titles and isolated him. 'But it really does suggest Epstein was supplying women to Andrew because he was suggesting this particular girl visiting England, would be visiting Andrew and they exchanged texts and emails and I think that's pretty damning and sordid. 'It confirms for too many years the royal family buried this issue and didn't want to grasp the nettle just when the truth was so obvious for so long.' Photos and emails related to the disgraced paedophile continue to emerge following the release of more than three million documents published by the US Department of Justice on Friday. In three photographs released last night, a man believed to be Andrew can be seen leaning over the woman who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out. He is staring directly at the camera in one picture, while in another he has placed his left hand on the female's stomach. The man, thought to be the former Duke, is barefoot and is wearing jeans and a white polo shirt, along with a silver watch. Another person can be seen in the photographs, sitting in a leopard-print chair with their feet up on a table. In the three images, a man who appears to be the former Prince, can be seen crouching over the person who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out It is unclear where the images where taken and no further context is given A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell was released as part of the Epstein files in December Like much of the material released in the Epstein files, it is unclear when or where the images were taken and no further context is given. Last month, a photo of Andrew lying on the laps of five women at Sandringham was released in another batch of files. Another email exchange appears to show that Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman, saying: 'She has your email.' The prince, who would have been 50 at the time, replied that he would be 'delighted to see her'. And he cheerfully asked the convicted child sex predator, whose house arrest had finished just days earlier: 'Good to be free?' Royal commentator Jenny Bond criticised Andrew's judgement over the alleged incident, raising concerns that such a meeting would have been a huge security issue. She told Sky News: 'Well, you have to wonder. I mean, did some brain cells not whirr into action, saying "Now this doesn't seem like a good idea, a 26-year-old Russian beautiful woman wants to have dinner with me". 'I mean, did it not occur to him that this could be a real security risk? Did the Profumo affair not fire into his brain? Apparently not. Andrew does not seem to engage the brain cells that he has very readily when it comes to Epstein.' Also among the documents was the revelation that Andrew invited Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended. He promised 'lots of privacy' to the paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor. In the astonishing email, from September 2010, Epstein requested 'private time' while on a visit to London, to which Andrew replied: 'We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy.' It is not clear if the offer was taken up. But just two days later, the pair were back in email contact, with Epstein asking the then-prince 'g [Ghislaine Maxwell] is here with me...what are you doing?' Andrew replied to say he had a 'lunch with a Saudi Prince and then out to secret intelligence firm', before telling Epstein: 'Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I'll be here free from 1600ish.' The exchange came during what must have been one of Epstein's first sojourns outside the US, having served a 13-month sentence for sex crimes mostly in his Palm Beach mansion following a sweetheart plea deal with prosecutors. Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed in the Epstein files Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman According to Epstein, Microsoft founder Bill Gates caught a sexually transmitted disease from 'Russian girls' - then suggested secretly slipping his wife Melinda antibiotics. There are also new emails relating to Sarah, formerly the Duchess of York, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - including pictures of them from Andrew's electronic Christmas cards. Several emails refer to the well-chronicled debts of Sarah - who took money from Epstein to help pay them off. One email sent in August 2009 shows her thanking him for being 'the brother I have always wished for'. In another email, Ms Ferguson calls Epstein 'my dear spectacular and special friend' and 'a legend'. Epstein's madam - and Andrew's long-term friend - Maxwell is also heavily referenced in the documents. In one email to Andrew, she joked that 'five stunning redheads' would now have to 'play with ourselves' because the former duke had said he should spend time with his children instead of visiting 'the Island', thought to be Epstein's private property in the US Virgin Islands. The email exchange - in which Andrew calls himself 'The Invisible Man' - from August 2002 reveals the prince begging Maxwell's forgiveness if he turns down her offer and holidays with his family instead. She replies, 'I will not be remotely offended', but then jokes that a woman whose name was redacted 'who is now coming and five other stunning redheads will all just have to play with ourselves'. Elsewhere in the files, a 25-year-old masseuse said to have worked for Epstein in 1999 said she 'didn't feel good' about being asked to massage Andrew - because she thought she was being asked 'to do more'. The unnamed woman submitted a statement to a private investigations team in 2021 that was sent to Maxwell's defence team, the files show. She said: 'I was only involved with Jeffrey for a year. 'I never saw him like a creepy guy. There were never any young girls. I saw Prince Andrew and Donald Trump. [Epstein] wanted me to give Prince Andrew a massage, but I didn't feel good about that. I wonder if he was offering me to him to do more.' Andrew and President Trump have consistently denied any wrongdoing. But the former prince's explanations in his car-crash Newsnight interview in November 2019 looked flakier than ever following the raft of new emails disclosed in the files. He notoriously told Emily Maitlis he had gone to New York in 2010 to 'end his friendship' with the convicted paedophile because that was 'the right thing to do'. But one of the newly released emails shows Andrew telling Epstein: 'See you tomorrow afternoon. Really looking forward to seeing you and spending some time with you after so long.' In another email days before they met in New York, Andrew wrote to his friend, saying there were 'some interesting things to discuss and plot'. Far from cutting ties with Epstein, the prince later wrote a 'Happy Christmas' email to 'Dear J', adding that it had been great to spend time 'with my US family', the documents reveal. But there was some potentially welcome news for Andrew regarding American prosecutors' requests to interview him as a witness to Epstein's child sex crimes. Epstein was found dead inside his New York prison cell in 2019. His death was ruled suicide by hanging After a prosecutor from the Southern District of New York complained of 'zero cooperation' from Andrew in 2020, a new email reveals an internal FBI memo stating: 'He's not a big part of our investigation.' Elsewhere in the files, the former prince expressed 'frustration' at not being able to go on holiday because of the 2003 Iraq War, which cost the lives of 179 British personnel. Less than two weeks after British troops were sent in to topple Saddam Hussein, Andrew whined he would 'love to be able to get away'. He wrote to Maxwell on March 31 that year: 'With this war on, the media would go bananas if I was to be known to be out of the country whilst this was on. I am becoming frustrated at this slight caging!' Releasing the files, US deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche compared the amount of evidence reviewed to 'two Eiffel Towers' worth of material. He insisted the Department of Justice had not protected Mr Trump despite the 'hunger or a thirst for information'. Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2019 after an interview on BBC Newsnight but the publication of Ms Giuffre's posthumous memoir, and the US government's release of documents from Epstein's estate, brought more scrutiny over his relationship with the financier. It led to the King officially stripping his disgraced brother of both his HRH style and his prince title. The loss of Andrew's titles meant Sarah reverted back to her maiden name of Sarah Ferguson, with the former duchess also criticised for writing to Epstein after his conviction calling him a 'supreme friend', despite publicly disowning him in the media. The former couple also lost their Windsor mansion, previously home to the Queen Mother, over their relationship with Epstein. But while Andrew is set to relocate to Sandringham, it has been claimed that Sarah 'will not be moving in' because she would prefer to stay in the Windsor area. Relations are warmer between Ferguson and the couples daughters, but no offer of permanent accommodation has been extended to their mother', a source told The Times. 'For now, Andrew and Sarah have a housing crisis. It may mean that they have to lower their expectations about the sort of lifestyle they wish to lead.' The King has paid a surprise visit to joggers at a local Sandringham parkrun organised in partnership with the Move Against Cancer charity. Charles attended the event on Saturday morning as a spectator, surprising the Sandringham runners for the second year in a row and ahead of World Cancer Day next week. The monarch's appearance comes just hours after the latest tranche of documents in the Epstein files was released, with disturbing photos seemingly showing his brother Andrew crawling on all fours over a female. The parkrun, organised in partnership with Move Against Cancer's 5K Your Way group, was set up to support those living with and beyond cancer, as well as families, friends and healthcare professionals. Last year, the King chatted to members of the event as they met to mark the occasion with cake and coffee at the visitors' centre on his Norfolk estate. Charles has been receiving cancer treatment as an outpatient since early February 2024. In December last year, the head of state announced in a video message that his cancer treatment would be reduced in the new year, adding the 'good news' was down to early diagnosis, successful care and following 'doctors' orders'. The 5KYW run takes place on the last Saturday morning of every month and encourages anyone impacted by cancer to walk, jog, run, cheer or volunteer at more than 120 parkrun events across the UK and Ireland on the last Saturday of each month. Parkrun was founded in 2004 and, more than 20 years on, hundreds of thousands of people across 22 countries and five continents take part in free, weekly, timed five-kilometre running events each weekend in parks around the world. The King pays a visit to joggers at a local Sandringham parkrun on Saturday, January 31, 2026 Charles surprised runners in Sandringham for the second year in a row ahead of World Cancer Day next week The parkrun, organised in partnership with Move Against Cancer's 5K Your Way group, was set up to support those living with and beyond cancer The king announced in February 2024 that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and, in a break from centuries of secrecy around royal health, he has since spoken openly about the illness, using his story to promote cancer awareness and treatment. The king has not officially disclosed what type of cancer he has or what kind of treatment he is receiving. The palace said it was an intentional decision designed to ensure his message reaches the widest possible audience. The king's cancer was discovered after treatment for an enlarged prostate. While doctors ruled out prostate cancer, tests revealed 'a separate issue of concern,' palace officials said last year. Charles suspended his public appearances for about two months after his diagnosis. Since returning to the public eye, he has visited cancer treatment centres across the country and shared stories with fellow patients. Cancer charities said the number of people seeking cancer information jumped after the king revealed he was undergoing treatment last year. Cancer Research U.K. said about 100,000 people have visited its Screening Checker website since it was launched on December 5, most of them since the king's statement on Friday. Join the debate Do moments like this make the royals feel more relatable? King Charles III and volunteer Sarah Byatt at a marshal point watch runners in the Sandringham parkrun in Sandringham, Norfolk. Picture date: Saturday January 31, 2026 The 5KYW run takes place on the last Saturday morning of every month and encourages anyone impacted by cancer to walk, jog, run, cheer or volunteer at more than 120 parkrun events across the UK and Ireland The King was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 The king has not officially disclosed what type of cancer he has The charity's Chief Executive, Michelle Mitchell, said: 'When public figures speak openly about their cancer diagnosis, it can prompt others to check in on their health.' Broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, the king's authorised biographer, said the statement was 'a remarkable thing for a monarch to do.' 'It takes guts, and the fact that he came out and did that will save lives,' Dimbleby said. The Princess of Wales, who announced her own cancer diagnosis six weeks after her father-in-law, has also given updates on her treatment. Kate announced in January that her cancer is in remission. Charles' surprise appearance at the running event comes less than a day after disturbing photos released in the Epstein files appeared to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor. In the three photographs, a man believed to be Andrew can be seen leaning over the woman who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out. He is staring directly at the camera in one picture, while in another, he has placed his left hand on the female's stomach. The man, thought to be the former Duke of York, is barefoot and is wearing jeans and a white polo shirt, along with a silver watch. Cancer charities said the number of people seeking cancer information jumped after the king revealed he was undergoing treatment last year This is the second year in a row Charles has surprised the Sandringham runners ahead of World Cancer Day on February 4 Last year, the King chatted to members of the event as they met to mark the occasion with cake and coffee at the visitors' centre on his Norfolk estate King Charles III and volunteer Sarah Byatt (left) at a marshal point speak to members of the Sandringham parkrun in Sandringham, Norfolk King Charles greets a runner in Sandringham Another person can be seen in the photographs, sitting in a leopard-print chair with their feet up on a table. Like much of the material released in the Epstein files, it is unclear when or where the images were taken, and no further context is given. Last month, a photo of Andrew lying on the laps of five women at Sandringham was released in another batch of files. More than three million more documents were published last night by the US Department of Justice. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said there have been 'extensive redactions' to the documents. Redactions include information with personally identifiable details of victims, medical files, any depictions of child sexual abuse material, anything that would jeopardise an active investigation, or anything depicting death or physical abuse. Blanche added that they have blurred the faces of any women, other than sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, but have not redacted the faces of any men. Among the documents was the revelation that Andrew invited Jeffrey Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended. He promised 'lots of privacy' to the paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor. Jeffrey Epstein wanted to leave his girlfriend $50million, a 33-carat diamond ring, 'Pedo Island' and his New York townhouse according to a will he signed two days before he died. The disgraced financier planned to leave his $288m fortune and his collection of international properties to at least 44 different beneficiaries when he died. The will, executed by Epstein on August 8, 2019 - just two days before he was found dead in his New York prison cell as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges, was signed by the paedophile's lawyer Darren Indyke eight days after his death. But rather than his beneficiaries receiving millions, his estate was passed on to a trust and has since been used to compensate victims and pay taxes and legal fees. There is just $127m left of the original sum, latest accounts show. Epstein hoped to give his girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak, $50m from the will which has been released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of the latest batch of Epstein files. Ms Shuliak, who is originally from Belarus, is thought to have been in a relationship with Epstein for between eight to ten years. Her sex offender boyfriend also wanted to give her 'paedophile island' Little Saint James, his Zorro Ranch estate, his notorious New York townhouse and properties in Paris and Florida. He also intended to leave her a 33-carat diamond ring 'flanked by baguette-cut diamonds mounted in platinum'. Jeffrey Epstein wanted to leave his girlfriend Karyna Shuliak $50million according to his will Ms Shuliak is originally from Belarus and is thought to have been in a relationship with Epstein for between eight to ten years Paedophile Epstein wanted to leave Ms Shuliak $50m, another $50m to his lawyer Darren Indyke and $25m to accountant Richard Kahn Epstein left a handwritten message on the will, stating the ring was 'in contemplation of marriage'. Lawyer Mr Indyke was set to receive $50m while $25m was due to go to Epstein's accountant Richard Kahn. Meanwhile, his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for sex trafficking, would receive $10m. As would his brother Mark Epstein and pilot Larry Visoski. Ms Shuliak was the last person to speak to Epstein on the phone before his suicide. And prison records revealed that 11 days before his death, she visited him in person at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Ms Shuliak had also been one of several people with Epstein on his private jet when he was arrested in July 2019 - after the FBI apprehended him on his way back from Paris at the popular private-destination Teterboro airport, New Jersey. Originally from Minsk, the Belarusian is believed to have arrived in the US in 2009 and married Epstein associate Jennifer Kalin. Within a few years, she became romantically involved with Epstein and would come to earn the nickname the inspector for her obsessive snooping on the paedophile during their relationship. Her connection to Epstein was only revealed a few months after the financier's death. Epstein is said to have paid for her mother's expensive medical treatment, and may have helped fund the upscale home where her parents live in Minsk, the largely rundown capital of Belarus. Join the debate What should have happened to Epstein's fortune? The DoJ released three million documents relating to the Epstein files on Friday, including photos and videos of disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (pictured on Saturday) Andrew appeared in great spirits on Saturday and was seen laughing while riding through a wooded area in Windsor The former prince was spotted driving his black Range Rover on Saturday a day after the files were published The DoJ released three million documents from the Epstein files on Friday. Among the files are thousands of photographs and videos, including several pictures showing disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching over a woman lying on the floor and touching her stomach. Other emails show how Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, 66, described paedophile financier Epstein as the 'brother I have always wished for'. Emails between Andrew, 65, - who went by the moniker The Invisible Man - and Maxwell in 2002 tell how he sought Maxwell's 'permission' to spend time with his ex-wife and children instead of travelling to the US. Andrew Mountbatten Windsors continued relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted of sex with a child is laid bare in further correspondence and pictures released yesterday. Newly released files from the US Department of Justice expose emails between the pair including an invitation for Epstein to have dinner at Buckingham Palace in 2010 just months after his release from jail for procuring a child for prostitution. A series of bizarre pictures of a barefoot and casually dressed Andrew kneeling on the floor bending over an outstretched young woman have also been released. The uncaptioned and undated pictures show Andrew on all fours looking up at the camera as he looms over the motionless young woman who is lying on her back wearing black leggings and a white top. In one he is looking down and touching the woman's abdomen as she appears to move her arm. In the background, someones crossed and bare feet can be seen up on a table. A chain of emails between Epstein and an account called the Duke in August 2010 also detail Epstein offering and arranging to set up a dinner for Andrew in the same year with a woman he describes as a 26 year old beautiful, clever and trustworthy Russian because he thinks he might enjoy having dinner with her. Andrew responds with an email which is signed A saying: Of course. I am in Geneva until the morning of 22nd but would be delighted to see her. Will she be bringing a message from you? Please give her my contact details to get in touch. His email is finished off with an official email signature HRH The Duke of York KG referring to his Knight of the Garter honour. Disturbing new images released as part of last night's Epstein files appear to show Andrew Mountbatten Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor In the three images, a man who appears to be the former Prince, can be seen crouching over the person who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out It is unclear where the images where taken and no further context is given This highest of honours - bestowed on him by his late mother, the Queen - was stripped from him along with his title by King Charles after previous revelations about the pairs close relationship surfaced last year. Epstein confirms to Andrew that the woman has his email to which he responds That was quick! How are you? Good to be free? Epstein says: (redacted).. great to be free of many things. The exchange ends with Andrew saying: So many opportunities that I am frustratingly not allowed to participate in. And so many that are obvious but can't get anyone to fire on. Must come and see you sometime soon. The files also contain an apparent invite from Andrew for the then convicted sex offender to visit him at Buckingham Palace in September 2010. In the exchange, Epstein tells Andrew he is in London, and Andrew replies I am just departing Scotland should be down by 1800. I'll ring you when I get down if you can give me a number to ring. Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman, saying: 'She has your email.' The prince, who would have been 50 at the time, replied that he would be 'delighted to see her'. And he cheerfully asked the convicted child sex predator, whose house arrest had finished just days earlier: 'Good to be free?' An email addressed to the 'Invisible Man', who signs emails off as 'A', refers to him as 'super sperm' Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was spotted driving his car on the Windsor Estate this morning just hours after the latest tranche of documents in the Epstein files were released Alternatively we could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy. '"A."' Further emails include details of Epsteins intention to visit Andrew at other royal residences including Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, the home he is now being forced to quit in disgrace. The friendly messages between the pair are among three million files, 180,000 images and more than 2000 videos released in a surprise move at around 4pm UK time yesterday afternoon. The release of the files which the administration had been ordered to make public was over a month late from the release deadline but officials said it had taken so long to properly vet the documents. They were released in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act which was signed by Donald Trump last November agreeing to make public everything held on the disgraced financier. They add to the half a million files already released. The so -called Epstein files contain mountains of evidence accumulated by the DoJ on his activities and include hundreds of mentions on Trump himself, many from anonymous calls to an FBI national tipline - some of them claims of sexual abuse - which the DoJ insist are unfounded and false. They come from a list compiled by the FBI last year based on the calls which the DoJ say are unverified and made without supporting evidence. Mr Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing with regard to Epstein. A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell was released as part of the Epstein files in December Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein in December 2010.The former prince invited the paedophile to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended Andrew appeared in surprisingly high spirits as he was seen horse riding later in the day At other times he appeared disgruntled while out riding near Windsor Castle with his groom Republican congressman Glenn Grothman told the BBC today that he believed that if there had been anything damaging to the President in the files Biden would have released them during his presidency. He also told Radio 4s Today programme that a million further pages of the files were being released for congressmen to look through. US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said it would be the last release from the files but Epstein survivors have claimed only around 50 per cent of the information they hold on Epstein has been released despite promises of full transparency. The evidence was among that accumulated from material found at Epsteins multiple residences but had been controversially held back by successive US administrations since the billionaire financier killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on further sex offences. In a press conference yesterday, Mr Blanche denied anyone had been protected including the President, saying: We did not protect President Trump, we didnt protect or not protect anybody. Theres a hunger, a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents. Theres nothing I can do about that. A lawyer representing some of the paedophiles victims, who fought for the release of the files, told the BBC today that they do not trust the DoJ and believe that they are holding more back and have been selective in their release. Mary Fitilchyan, from the Bloom Firm in LA, said Epstein was well connected and high profile. He had other wealthy high profile people in his circle, some may have been co-conspirators and engaged in other sexual crimes with him. Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed in the Epstein files Andrew promised 'lots of privacy' to the convicted paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor The email exchange between an address named 'The Invisible Man' and Maxwell in August 2002 show the pair talking about organising a weekend together on 'the Island' There is a sentiment that some of these people are being protected. The survivors main focus and worry is that they are being protected, she told Radio 4s Today programme. Many of the pages of the files are heavily redacted which have led to calls for full transparency from Republicans and Democrats. In a joint statement, Epstein survivors said they would not stop until the truth was released. The latest release also reveals more about Epsteins contact with Sarah Ferguson and a host of public figures including Lord Mandelson and their continued contact after his conviction. In 2009, when incredibly Epstein was still under house arrest, emails which appear to be between Epstein and Andrews ex-wife include an email from her saying I am landing in Palm Beach in a couple of hours. Is there any chance on my quick layover that I can get to have a cup of tea?. Further embarrassing emails are made public between Lord Mandelson, who was sacked from his role as Washington ambassador last year because of his relationship with Epstein revealed in emails from 2008 in the first tranche of released files, and Epstein. In the newly released series of emails, the then Business Secretary is said to have asked Epstein in 2009 when he was a senior Labour cabinet minister and Epstein was still serving his prison sentence in Florida, whether he can stay at his New York apartment on a visit to the US. He suggests to Mandelson that because of the press interest he might wish to stay in another property of his. Mandelson responds that he was on a private visit and the facilities are better at Epsteins apartment. It is believed he did not stay at any of the properties in the end. The files also reveal that later in 2009 when Epstein was released from prison Lord Mandelsons now husband and then partner asked and received money for an osteopathy course he wanted to go on. A sum of 10,000 was paid to him but emails between Epstein and his accountant in 2010 suggest that further payments were made. Epstein was found dead inside his New York prison cell in 2019. His death was ruled suicide by hanging Lord Mandelson has said he is neither culpable or complicit in Epsteins crimes and has apologised to his victims for continuing his association with Epstein. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is also thrust under the spotlight in the latest file release. He has rejected allegations which appear in messages that Epstein apparently drafted that he contracted a sexually transmitted disease from Russian girls Epstein set him up with and later asked Epstein for antibiotics he could secretly dose his wife of the time Melinda with. A spokesman for Mr Gates has said that the allegations are absolutely absurd and completely false. A document in the files released yesterday also confirms that the US authorities formally requested an interview with the former Prince in 2020 in connection with their enquiries into the paedophiles crimes. The former Prince was asked for assistance as he may have been a witness to and/or participant in certain events relevant to their investigation. In his disastrous Newnight interview in 2019, Andrew indicated he would be prepared to help US authorities but in 2020, American federal prosecutor Geoffrey Berman said that Andrew had in fact provided zero cooperation with the federal prosecutors and the FBI. He has always denied any wrongdoing. Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice are facing a new woe today as they ponder how to react to the latest revelations from the Epstein files about their father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. It was suggested this week that the pair are 'emotionally drained' by the slow-rolling scandal embroiling both their father, Andrew, 65, and mother, Sarah Ferguson, 66. The release of three million more files relating to the paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein by the US Department of Justice last night will only add to their burden as the sisters debate how to navigate an increasingly hostile climate. New pictures of Andrew on all fours while leaning over a woman lying on the floor and emails showing he invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace just days after the convict's prison sentence ended make for embarrassing viewing. Meanwhile Ferguson's gushing email to Epstein describing him as the 'brother I have always wished for' amid fresh details of how she asked for help with one of her businesses gives no respite either. Publicly, Eugenie, 35, and Beatrice, 37, have drastically limited their contact with their parents since troves of files related to Epstein began being released at the end of 2025. One source previously told the Mail on Sunday that Eugenie had cut off all contact with Andrew, likening it to the public falling out between Victoria and David Beckham and their son Brooklyn. But this was disputed by others in the know, who said the princess - who established The Anti-Slavery Collective to help counter sex trafficking - has no plans to cut off her father completely. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (left), Princess Eugenie (centre) and Princess Beatrice (right) at St Paul's Cathedral in London in June 2016 Andrew waves as he is seen horseriding in Windsor on Saturday morning It is no secret however that she is taking a dim view of Andrew's refusal to apologise to Epstein's victims, while her sister Beatrice is said to so far be taking a slightly more nuanced approach. She invited Andrew to the christening of her 11-month-old daughter Athena in London last month, which Eugenie also attended. A friend of Eugenie's told the Mail: 'Andrew's main concern is that his daughters are not tainted by his difficulties, so he is keeping his distance from them. 'Bea and Eug feel very sorry for their parents. They are keeping in touch with them and making sure they're OK. Both Andrew and Sarah want their daughters to remain part of the Royal Family and were happy for them to spend Christmas in Norfolk.' While the King stripped Andrew and Fergie of their titles last October over their links to Epstein, he made a point of keeping their daughters in the royal fold and allowing them to retain the titles. Speaking to Sky News today, royal expert and former BBC journalist Jennie Bond said the sisters must be 'hugely conflicted'. 'Their daughters, I think, are hugely conflicted,' she said. 'Reports suggests that Eugenie, particularly, who is a champion of the anti-slavery campaign, she's finding things very, very difficult. 'Beatrice has been seen out riding with her father recently, so very difficult for both daughters. 'They must feel very conflicted in their loyalties. Trying times for the family.' Beatrice recently visited her father in Windsor and even accompanied him on a horse ride with her four-year-old daughter Sienna. Photographs show a downcast-looking Andrew riding ahead, while Beatrice walked alongside Sienna and a groom. They spent more than 45 minutes wandering the grounds, and it has been reported that Beatrice also visited her father at his soon-to-be former home, Royal Lodge. The princesses are keeping a public distance from their parents Andrew and Sarah Ferguson Andrew was seen behind the wheel of a Range Rover in Windsor on Saturday morning - hours after the release of the files The former prince was spotted laughing on his ride around the Windsor estate, just hours after new photographs of him were released Andrew and his ex-wife Ferguson are being evicted from the 30-room property over their relationship with Epstein, and face moving out in the coming days or weeks. Removal vans have been seen coming and going at the property, with Andrew understood to be relocating to the smaller Marsh Farm in Norfolk. Meanwhile the former Duchess of York is said to be in the midst of a 'housing crisis' and is clinging on to the hope of finding a new place in Windsor. While Andrew is begrudgingly off to Sandringham, Ms Ferguson 'will not be moving in' because she 'would prefer to stay in the Windsor area', a source close to her said. 'Relations are warmer between Ferguson and the couple's daughters, but no offer of permanent accommodation has been extended to their mother', they told The Times. 'For now, Andrew and Sarah have a housing crisis. It may mean that they have to lower their expectations about the sort of lifestyle they wish to lead.' Beatrice lives in the Cotswolds while Eugenie splits her time between Kensington Palace and a Portuguese villa so neither can give their mother a roof over her head. The sisters are said to have offered their mother a place to stay when she needs it - but not permanently. Disturbing new images released as part of last night's Epstein files appear to show Andrew Mountbatten Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor In the three images, a man who appears to be the former Prince, can be seen crouching over the person who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out It is unclear where the images where taken and no further context is given Images of Sarah Ferguson, including with a young woman, were also released as part of an earlier set of files last month A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell was released as part of the Epstein files in December The couple's daughters are said to be concerned about both their parents' mental health, with Princess Anne and Prince Edward also remaining in touch with Andrew over similar concerns. Andrew and Sarah have been all but ostracised by senior royals including the King and Queen and Prince William. It comes as photos and emails related to the disgraced paedophile continue to emerge following the release of more than three million documents published by the US Department of Justice on Friday. In three photographs released last night, a man believed to be Andrew can be seen leaning over the woman who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out. He is staring directly at the camera in one picture, while in another he has placed his left hand on the female's stomach. Among the documents was the revelation that Andrew invited Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended. He promised 'lots of privacy' to the paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor. The previous month, Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman, saying: 'She has your email.' The prince, who would have been 50 at the time, replied that he would be 'delighted to see her'. And he cheerfully asked the convicted child sex predator, whose house arrest had finished just days earlier: 'Good to be free?' There are also new emails relating to Sarah, formerly the Duchess of York, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - including pictures of them from Andrew's electronic Christmas cards. Several emails refer to the well-chronicled debts of Sarah - who took money from Epstein to help pay them off. One email sent in August 2009 shows her thanking him for being 'the brother I have always wished for'. In another email, Ms Ferguson calls Epstein 'my dear spectacular and special friend' and 'a legend'. Chaotic scenes unfolded on Friday night in Los Angeles as protesters carrying Mexican and American flags clashed with police while demonstrating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Protesters stormed the outside of a federal prison in downtown Los Angeles and came face-to-face with police officers, who protected themselves behind shields before unleashing pepper balls and tear gas. One dramatic image depicted a protester striking an officer's shield with a skateboard. Another revealed police firing non-lethal rounds at protesters in an effort to disperse them. The Los Angeles Police Department issued a warning just before 9pm, ordering all protesters near Union Station to disperse within 10 minutes. Officers then infiltrated the scene and said they were met with bottles and rocks hurled at them, according to the LAPD's social media account. LAPD Central Division announced a 'tactical alert' after federal authorities were hit with debris, bottles, and other objects. As the night continued, the LAPD arrested 'violent agitators' who were allegedly 'fighting with officers,' one of whom was accused of 'using a sling shot to shoot hard metal objects at officers who were standing on the line.' Mayor Karen Bass later confirmed that five people were arrested during the dramatic confrontation. The LAPD told Daily Mail on Saturday afternoon that the arrests increased to eight, six for failure to disperse, one for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, and one for violating curfew. Chaotic scenes unfolded after a protest moved toward a federal prison in downtown Los Angeles. One image showed a protester striking a police shield with his skateboard Police fired off non-lethal rounds of chemical irritant to disperse demonstrators, seen above Some demonstrators engaged in physical confrontations with the LAPD after officers issued a tactical alert Bass urged protesters in the city to remain peaceful during a press conference on Friday, adding that violence was 'exactly what I believe this administration wants to see happen.' 'I think the protests are extremely important, but it is equally important for these protests to be peaceful, for vandalism not to take place,' she said. 'That does not impact the administration in any kind of way that is going to bring about any type of change.' Protesters told the Los Angeles Times that officers positioned themselves on the roof and fired off non-lethal rounds, deploying a green and yellow irritant that created a large cloud. Many of the protesters were seen in gas masks as some covered their eyes and fled the scene. Obscene messages were written on the front of the Metropolitan Detention Center, and protesters were seen pushing a large red dumpster to barricade themselves from police. One of the demonstrators, Yamilet Segundo, 19, told the Los Angeles Times: 'I told my friends we should come out after school to use our voice, but I wasnt expecting to see this. 'Its honestly really sad to see that it reached this point. Im kind of nervous now because it seems like its getting violent.' Protesters were seen pushing a large red dumpster in front of the detention center to create a barricade from police One image from the chaos revealed officers firing off non-lethal rounds to disperse the demonstration Protesters who weren't wearing gas masks or protection over their faces were seen pouring water and milk over their eyes Another protester, Phil Swift, 22, told the publication that he was at the front of the crowd when LAPD officers sprayed tear gas directly into his eyes. Bass doubled down on her message to refrain from violence later in the evening, writing on X: 'Peaceful protest is a constitutional right. 'I urge Angelenos to exercise that right safely and not give this administration an excuse to escalate. Los Angeles stands together.' Democratic Representative Maxine Waters had joined the demonstration earlier in the evening, defending the protesters from officers. 'What I see here at the detention center are people exercising their constitutional rights,' Waters said, as reported by local Fox affiliate, Fox 11. 'And of course, theyre now trying to tear gas everybody. Its in the air, but people are not moving.' Before the chaos unfolded in front of a federal prison, protesters demonstrated peacefully throughout the day across Los Angeles. The demonstrators were part of a nationwide ICE Out initiative to oppose federal immigration raids. Protesters took to the streets on Friday in Los Angeles to demand an end to ICE raids. Pictured above are demonstrators marching outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, pictured above at a press conference on Friday, urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and not to provoke retaliation from the Trump administration On Friday, many participated in a 'national shutdown' by refusing to spend money or go to work to send a message to the Trump administration. Thousands of people took to the streets in Minneapolis for the second week in a row. The city has been caught in the crosshairs of Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. ICE raids have escalated to deadly degrees this month, as two Minneapolis residents, nurse Alex Pretti and mother, Renee Good, were fatally shot by federal agents. Protests are expected to continue throughout the weekend as local and state representatives have repeatedly called on the president to decrease the raids and de-escalate tensions. Police Scotland are issuing threat to life alerts to major criminals at a rate of one every month, alarming new figures show. The Mail can reveal 11 so-called Osman warnings were sent out by the force last year, pushing the total since 2021 to 68. Osman letters are issued to an identified victim where it is assessed there is a specific real and immediate threat to their safety. They are sent because police in Scotland have a legal duty to protect life - so they must pass on intelligence about threats. The figures come amid escalating gangland warfare and concerns that policing cuts have left the single force under-equipped to combat high-level gangsters and tackle rising violent crime. Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: These alarming figures highlight the huge pressure Police Scotland faces in dealing with regular and credible threats to life, which is doubtless fuelled by gangland rivalry. After years of SNP cuts, officers are being stretched to breaking point, raising serious questions about whether every threat is being spotted and dealt with in time. The public will rightly be concerned that an overstretched police force is being left to manage life or death situations, and the carnage caused by organised criminal gangs, without the resources it needs. Gangsters Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr were gunned down outside a bar in Spain Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said the 'alarming figures highlight the huge pressure Police Scotland faces in dealing with regular and credible threats to life' Feuds between rival gangs have seen properties torched, businesses destroyed, and homes shot at. The turf wars began in Edinburgh before spilling to the west of the country last year. In April last year, Police Scotland said officers had visited more than 100 homes and seized almost 700 hours of CCTV footage amid the violence as they attempted to crackdown on the chaos. Threat to life warnings are a result of a case that was heard at the European Court of Human Rights back in 1998, where the police in England were found to have failed to pass on a credible threat to Ali Osman, who was subsequently murdered. Former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher, an expert on organised crime, said: The culture that has developed since it was determined the police have a duty to pass on these threats is that the police will almost always err on the side of caution. This means that despite professional judgment suggesting that threats may not actually be carried out, the warning will be passed on. The need for the warnings provision has operational implications. It restricts the ability of the police to undertake pre-planned operations to monitor and intercept a would be killer in the act, which would attract a significant custodial sentence. Mr Gallagher said the warnings can be abused by criminals who can issue threats they know will not be carried out, to check if the police have the ability to monitor their communications. He said they will issue a supposed threat in certain circles as a test and see if the police will in turn issue a threat to life warning. If the police do, the criminal knows their communication methods are compromised. Mr Gallagher said: Only the most sophisticated criminals resort to such tactics - but in the end, they are the ones you have to worry about the most. In one of the most notorious incidents of violence in organised crime, Scottish gangsters Ross Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46, were shot dead in Spain in May last year while they watched the Champions League final in Monaghans bar in Fuengirola. Both victims were linked to the Lyons crime group, based in Scotland, which has been in a deadly feud with the Daniel clan for almost 20 years. Michael Terrence Riley was arrested in Liverpool after the shooting and is currently awaiting trial in Spain. David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, representing rank-and-file officers, called for urgent investment in frontline policing to tackle the growing gangland activity. He said: Police officers are doing all they can, but the simple truth is that there are not enough officers to meet the rising demand. Officers are under immense pressure, with chronic staffing shortages making it harder to respond proactively and disrupt gang activity before it escalates. Unless investment is made in frontline policing, we fear this trend will continue -and that more lives will be at risk as a result. Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Higgins said: Police Scotland will take all reasonable steps to protect the lives of people where there is a real and immediate risk to them. Threat to life warnings, personal safety advice and disruption notices are issued for a number of reasons. This can include any form of criminal or potential criminal incidents where the threat, risk and harm is assessed to require the issue of a warning, advice or notice to keep people safe. A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Threattolife warnings, personal safety advice and disruption notices are issued for a range of reasons. 'We are investing a record 1.7billion in policing for 202627 and our continuing investment enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in the last financial year than at any time since 2013, with a further intake planned in March. 'Scotland remains a safe place to live, with more police officers per capita than England and Wales, and recorded crime has fallen by half since 1991.' Eight 'violent offenders' escaped from a Louisiana detention center, prompting a dramatic statewide search. At 1.20am on Friday, state police reported the inmates, including three accused killers, were missing from Riverbend Detention Center in East Carroll Parish. Destin Brogan, 22, Trenton Taplin, 29, and Kolin Loney, 21, were being held as they awaited trial for murder charges, reported Fox Digital. The other escapees were Savion Wheeler, 31, Hugo Molina, 27, Kevin Slaughter Jr, 25, Krisean Salinas, 21, and Kopelon Vicknair, 19. The Louisiana State Police Department issued a statement warning the public not to approach the fugitives. 'All fugitives are considered violent offenders,' it read. 'Do not approach under any circumstances. If you observe or have information regarding their whereabouts, contact law enforcement immediately.' No additional details were released explaining how the fugitives pulled off the dramatic escape. The inmates escaped from Riverbend Detention Center in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana Hugo Molina, 27, was held at Riverbend Detention Center for second-degree murder charges Kevin Slaughter Jr (left), 25, and Destin Brogan (right), 22, were among the escapees East Carroll Parish requested the assistance of the Louisiana State Police Detectives- Monroe Field Office to take over the lead role in the investigation. Madison, East Carroll and Ouachita parish sheriff's offices were called to assist, along with the Alexandria Police Department, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Louisiana Probation and Parole, the US Marshals Service and the FBI. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a statement about the frantic search on social media. 'I have been in contact with East Carroll Parish Sheriff Wydette Williams and Louisiana Sheriffs Association President Kevin Cobb, and have offered the full assistance of my office, including the Fugitive Apprehension Unit,' she wrote. 'I am actively monitoring the situation.' By Friday at 9.55pm, Slaughter and Loney were captured. Just hours later, officials located Salinas, Brogan and Vicknair. Early Saturday morning, all eight escape artists were officially captured and in custody. Krisean Salinas, 21, has faced multiple arrests. He was among the first three fugitives located by police Trenton Taplin, 29, (left) and Kopelon Vicknair (right), 19, were among the eight captured and in custody as of Saturday morning The eight inmates had been captured by Saturday morning. Their photos were shared by Louisiana State Police The detention center is pictured. It is not clear how they pulled off the escape Taplin was being held at Riverbend Detention Center as he faced second-degree murder charges for a 2020 shooting, per KQKI. Brogan's trial for second-degree murder, tied to a 2022 shooting, was scheduled for May 11. Molina was also being held for second-degree murder, according to WBRZ. Loney faced multiple felony cases, including second-degree murder and previous convictions for burglary and property damage, reported WAFB. Vicknair awaited trial for charges related to a 2023 homicide. Slaughter was reportedly accused of aggravated assault and Salinas has faced multiple arrests. The reason for Wheeler's detainment is unknown. In Louisiana, inmates who commit simple escape can have multiple years tacked on to their prison sentence. The Daily Mail contacted the Louisiana State Police and the Riverbend Detention Center for more information. Detectives searching for the missing partner of Sir Mick Jagger's granddaughter have released images of two dog walkers they believe could help with the investigation, a week on since the 37-year-old disappeared. Alexander Key, a chef who has two children with Assisi Jackson, 33, was spotted in the Cobweb Inn pub in Boscastle, Cornwall on Friday afternoon. He was sitting alone, wearing a black hooded top covered by a red stripy jumper. CCTV then shows him again at 3.25pm last Saturday, walking past the Wellington Pub on Old Road, in the direction of Boscastle Harbour towards the River Valency. Police released CCTV images today of a couple with dogs walking in the opposite direction a short time later. Officers are keen to speak to them to understand if they passed Alexander on their walk. He was reported missing on Saturday evening to Devon and Cornwall Police, who have launched an urgent search, having become 'increasingly concerned' for him. The CCTV from Saturday shows Key still wearing the distinctive red shirt, but with the addition of a blue anorak or waterproof and black trainers. Officers have been looking for Key in treacherous weather after the area was hit by Storm Ingrid on Friday and Saturday, then Storm Chandra earlier in the week. CCTV footage issued by the Cobweb Inn showed Key sitting in the pub, before another image showed him walking outside an hour later. The pub appealed to anyone with information to come forward, saying: 'His family are so worried.' Detectives searching for the missing partner of Sir Mick Jagger's granddaughter have released images of two dog walkers they believe could help with the investigation Alexander Key, 37, went missing from the Cornish seaside village of Boscastle last Friday Alexander Key was reported missing on Saturday evening to Devon and Cornwall Police Alexander Key was also shown inside the Cobweb Inn in Boscastle at about 2.30pm last Friday CCTV images show Alexander Key leaving the Cobweb Inn in Boscastle on Friday afternoon A CCTV image of Alexander Key at 3.25pm on Saturday, walking past the Wellington Pub on Old Road in Boscastle, in the direction of Boscastle Harbour towards the River Valency The CCTV image of Alexander Key was released by Devon and Cornwall Police on Tuesday Assisi's mother, jewellery designer Jade Jagger, 54, took to social media to share the initial police appeal with her followers, posting images of Key on Instagram. He is described by police as being 5ft 8in tall, of medium build with distinctive bright peroxide blonde hair and is normally seen wearing brightly coloured clothing. In the police images shared by Jade - daughter of the Rolling Stones frontman and his first wife Bianca Jagger - Key can be seen wearing a striking orange patterned jacket. The picturesque coastal village of Boscastle, known for its dramatic harbour and cliff-top walks, attracts visitors year-round but can be treacherous, particularly in winter. Assisi is the eldest grandchild of rock legend Sir Mick, 82, and the daughter of Jade and her former partner, the artist Piers Jackson. Assisi and Key live in Cornwall, where they are raising their two young daughters, Ezra, 11, and Romy, six. Assisi, whose father is artist Peter Jackson, is Sir Mick Jagger's eldest grandchild Alexander Key has two children with Assisi Jackson and they both live in Cornwall Assisi Jackson with her mother Jade Jagger in London in 2014 Jade Jagger with her parents, Sir Mick and his first wife Bianca Jagger, in London in 2013 Jade Jagger took to social media to share the police appeal with her Instagram followers Key co-owns The Rocket Store, a popular seafood restaurant in Boscastle, with head chef Freddie Woodruff. The restaurant is known for using fresh ingredients, including fish caught daily by Key's father and meat from their family farm. Its interior features a prominent painting of a star constellation by Assisi's father, Piers. Jade was pregnant with Assisi's half-brother, Ray Emmanuel Fillary, at the same time as Assisi was expecting her first child. Jade gave birth to Ray just weeks after her granddaughter Ezra was born in May 2014, making Jade both a mother and grandmother to babies born within weeks of each other. Officers are urging anyone who may have seen Key or knows of his whereabouts to contact them immediately on 999, quoting log number 847 of 24/1/26. Labour has announced its candidate for the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election after Andy Burnham was blocked from standing by Sir Keir Starmer. Angeliki Stogia, Manchester city councillor for Whalley Range, was unveiled to supporters on Saturday afternoon. It comes after the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham sought and was denied permission to stand for the party. The by-election was prompted by the resignation of former MP Andrew Gwynne, who stood down citing health reasons. It is being seen as a crucial test for the Prime Minister amid record-low approval ratings, and will see Labour try and keep Reform from gaining another MP following recent high profile defections of Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman. Labour's announcement comes just days after the party's civil war deepened over the decision of its NEC to block Andy Burnham from standing in the seat. Allies of Sir Keir feared that self-styled 'King of the North' Burnham might be seeking re-election to Parliament as part of a plan to ultimately dethrone and replace his embattled party leader. So far, Reform UK has unveiled their candidate as GB News presenter Matt Goodwin while the Greens have opted for plumber and plasterer Hannah Spencer. Angeliki Stogia, Manchester city councillor for Whalley Range, was unveiled to supporters on Saturday afternoon Ms Stogia was flanked by Labour party chairwoman Anna Turley (right) and deputy leader Lucy Powell (left) as her candidacy was announced at the event in the Greater Manchester constituency Ms Stogia meets with Labour supporters at the announcement in the Gorton and Denton constituency Labour supporters hold placards in support of Angeliki Stogia as she is announced as the Labour Party candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election After her candidacy was announced Ms Stogia said she is 'so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning'. She told a crowd of Labour activists: 'I am absolutely thrilled and excited, and I want to thank everyone who came to the hustings. 'I am a proud Mancunian woman. I have walked the streets of this constituency. 'This is about Manchester. Manchester is a city united, we are rejecting division. I am so looking forward to going out on the doorstep and winning this for Labour.' Ms Stogia was flanked by Labour party chairwoman Anna Turley and deputy leader Lucy Powell as her candidacy was announced at the event in the Greater Manchester constituency. She was previously selected as a Labour candidate in the 2024 election in Chester South and Eddisbury. She gained 32.1 per cent of the vote and came second, behind Conservative MP Aphra Brandreth, who received 37.9 per cent. The Prime Minister was absent from the announcement as he is currently on an official visit to Japan. According to the latest polls, the constituency is on a knife-edge with research by Find Out Know putting Reform UK on 36 per cent and Labour on 33 per cent, while the Greens are a distant third with 21 per cent. Labour's announcement comes just days after the party's civil war deepened over the decision of its NEC to block Andy Burnham (pictured) from standing in the seat Your browser does not support iframes. Last week Andy Burnham announced his desire to run in the by-election for Labour, but the former Health Secretary was blocked by Starmer and his allies. In a meeting that lasted just 45 minutes Labour's NEC rejected his request by eight votes to one, ostensibly over the cost of electing a new mayor to replace him. The Prime Minister was one of those who voted against him, as was party chairwoman Anna Turley. Only Lucy Powell, the Labour deputy leader - who is also a Manchester MP - voted in favour of him running. The Mayor of Greater Manchester took to social media to share his 'disappointment'. 'I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that,' Mr Burnham said. 'We are stronger together and let's stay that way.' But amid his manoeuvres last year for a leadership bid which threatened to overshadow Labour's party conference in September, Starmer allies will be breathing a sigh of relief that a potential rival has been, for now, struck down - any leader of the Labour Party has to be a sitting MP. However, with the by-election being seen by some backbenchers as a referendum on Sir Keir's leadership, nerves are heightening following candidate announcements from Reform UK and the Greens. Reform has chosen GB News presenter Matt Goodwin as their contender, with the Conservatives yet to announce their candidate Plumber and trainee plasterer Hannah Spencer was named as the Green candidate at an event in Gorton & Denton alongside party leader Zack Polanski on Friday Nigel Farage's party has opted for GB News commentator Matt Goodwin, a 44-year-old former academic, whose family is from Manchester. Appearing at a press conference in the constituency to announce his candidacy, Mr Goodwin said: 'I am not a career politician. I am not a Tory. 'I am not part of the establishment. I am not part of the Westminster blob. 'I am, like many people in this seat and millions of people in this country, hard-working taxpayers who are just fed up of watching what is happening to their communities and to their home.' Meanwhile for the Greens, plumber Hannah Spencer, 34, will be aiming to pick enough votes up from Labour to force a shock result. At the 2024 election outgoing MP Mr Gwynne won the seat for Labour with more than half the vote - 18,555 - in 2024 while Nigel Farage's Reform UK came second on 5,142 votes, narrowly beating the Greens with 4,810. Satellite images reveal a flurry of activity at the Iranian nuclear sites bombed by the United States and Israel last year. The images by Planet Labs PBC captured roofs being built over two damaged buildings at the The Isfahan and Natanz facilities which were left devastated last June. Experts also noted growing piles of dirt thought to be linked to the creation of a new nuclear bunker. The construction marks the first major activity visible by satellite at any of Iran's damaged nuclear sites since its 12-day war with Israel last summer. The coverings block satellites from observing activity on the ground, which is currently the only way the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can monitor the sites. The activity comes as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that Iran negotiate a deal over its nuclear program and threatened to send an 'armada' to the country. On Wednesday, Trump warned Tehran that, 'The next attack will be far worse! Don't make that happen again'. Experts said the roofs do not signal reconstruction but instead appear aimed at assessing whether 'key assets' including highly enriched uranium survived the attacks. This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC showed the rubble of the Natanz site on December 3, 2025 Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC showed the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Planet covered by a new roof at Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Wednesday 'They want to be able to get at any recovered assets they can get to without Israel or the United States seeing what survived,' Andrea Stricker, who studies Iran for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Associated Press Israel first struck Iran's nuclear sites before the US deployed a barrage of bunkerbusting bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The American strikes 'significantly degraded Iran's nuclear program,' according to the White House's National Security Strategy published in November. Iran has not allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the sites since the attacks. Natanz, about 135 miles south of Tehran, is a sprawling complex of above and belowground facilities that did most of Iran's uranium enrichment. Iran began building a roof over the damaged facility in December and finished construction by the end of the month, according to the new satellite images. The country never publicly acknowledged the work. Natanz's electrical system appears to remain destroyed. The fresh photos also revealed that Iran appeared to be continuing excavation work that began in 2023 at Pickaxe Mountain, which is a few hundred yards south of Natanz's perimeter fence. On Wednesday, Trump warned that 'a massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose' This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC showed a roof built over rubble Iran's Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center This photo from Planet Labs PBC displayed the rubble before a roof was built over it at the Isfahan site Meanwhile, the nuclear site near Isfahan was largely used to produce uranium gas that is then fed into centrifuges for enrichment. The satellite images showed Iran completed a roof over a structure near the site's northeast corner in early January. The roofs appeared to be an attempt to, 'recover any sort of remaining assets or rubble without letting us know what they are getting out of there,' according to Sarah Burkhard, a senior research associate at the Institute for Science and International Security. Two tunnels into a nearby mountain have also been filled with dirt, per the photos. This was also a defensive measure that Iran took before the June war. A third tunnel appeared to have been cleared of the dirt, with new walls built at its entrance. Sean O'Connor, an expert at the opensource intelligence firm Janes, said Iran's objective was likely, 'to obscure activity' instead of to 'repair or rebuild a structure for use.' The new satellite images were revealed as the Trump administration has repeatedly urged Iran to reach a nuclear deal. On Wednesday, the US President wrote on Truth Social: 'A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose.' Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not allowed inspectors back to the sites since they were bombed He added the fleet was 'larger' than the one sent to Venezuela and 'ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.' Trump added: 'Hopefully Iran will quickly 'Come to the Table' and negotiate a fair and equitable deal NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS one that is good for all parties.' He called last year's strikes 'a major destruction of Iran' and also warned: 'The next attack will be far worse! Don't make that happen again.' Last June, a leaked 'top secret' assessment suggested that Tehran's stockpile of enriched uranium remained intact after the bombings. The report, which the White House called 'flatout wrong', was conducted by the Defense Intelligence Agency and leaked by CNN. Anonymous sources claimed the unprecedented missile strikes had only set Iran back 'a few months, tops'. Two explosions rocked Iran on Saturday and killed at least five people as the country continues to grapple with violent protests. One person, a four-year-old girl, was killed, and 14 more were injured following a blast near Iran's southern port of Bander Abbas today. The port, which lies on the Strait of Hormuz, handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil, and is also reportedly home to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Headquarters. A second blast was reported more than 600 miles away in an eight-storey residential building in the town of Ahvaz, where four people died, according to local reports, which fire officials say was caused by a gas leak. Two Israeli officials told Reuters on Saturday that Israel was not involved in the blasts, but it remains unclear whether the explosions were linked to any US military action. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted in the second explosion were 'completely false'. Pictures showed significant damage to the lower floors of the tower block, while several cars and a shop were also reportedly damaged. Footage showed the aftermath of the explosion, with rubble strewn across the street. Other videos and pictures showed smoke rising from the site of the explosion today. Several explosions rocked Iran on Saturday, leaving at least four people dead At least four people were killed when the explosion struck a residential building. Picture shows thick plumes of smoke billowing out of an apartment block following an explosion in Iran Screen grab shows damage after an explosion in a building in Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran on the Gulf coast, though the cause of the blast is yet unknown Iranian media said the blast was being investigated but gave no further information, and the cause of both explosions is currently unknown. The reported explosions come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington after Iranian authorities quelled the biggest protests to convulse the country in three years, and also amid ongoing Western concerns over Iran's nuclear programme. The nationwide protests erupted in December over economic hardship and posed one of the toughest challenges to the country's clerical rulers. At least 5,000 people were killed in the protests, including 500 members of the security forces, according to Iranian officials. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that an 'armada' was heading toward Iran. Multiple sources said on Friday that Trump was weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces. Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused US, Israeli and European leaders of exploiting Iran's economic problems, inciting unrest and providing people with the means to 'tear the nation apart'. Pictures show significant damage to the lower floors of the tower block State television said the explosion occurred at an eight-storey building, 'destroying two floors, several vehicles, and shops' Image shows damage caused to a shop front and a vehicle after the explosion on Saturday The reported explosions come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington The explosion is understood to be under investigation The explosions come after multiple sources said on Friday that Trump was weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces Tension between the US and Iran has spiked in the wake of a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests. Trump had threatened military action if Iran continued to kill peaceful protesters or carried out mass executions of those detained. There have been no further protests for days, and Trump claimed recently that Tehran had halted the planned execution of about 800 arrested protesters a claim Iran's top prosecutor called 'completely false'. But the President has indicated he is keeping his options open, saying on Thursday that any military action would make last June's US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites 'look like peanuts'. US Central Command said on social media that its Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle now has a presence in the Middle East, noting the fighter jet 'enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability'. Similarly, the UK's Ministry of Defence said Thursday that it deployed its Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar 'in a defensive capacity'. The protests in Iran began on December 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iran's theocracy, which does not tolerate dissent. The death toll reported by activists has continued to rise since the end of the demonstrations, as information trickles out despite a more than two-week internet blackout the most comprehensive in Iran's history. Alongside the prospect of a military attack from the US, the Iranian regime is in danger of suffering further financial pain. Trump has warned that any country doing business with Iran will pay a 25 per cent tariff on trade with the US, effective immediately. The UK has also applied pressure on the regime. Two Israeli officials told Reuters on Saturday that Israel was not involved in the blasts Iran has been rocked by violent protests this month. Pictured: Families and residents gather at the Kahrizak Coroner's Office confronting rows of body bags as they search for relatives killed during the regime's violent crackdown on protests Protesters set fire to a car in Tehran. Even by the regime's own estimates, between 2,000 and 3,000 have been killed - but new figures have put the death toll at more than 33,000 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran, last week Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke to Mr Araghchi and called on the Iranian government to 'immediately end the violence, uphold fundamental rights and freedoms and ensure British nationals are safe'. But ministers have come under pressure to act as more than 100 protesters gathered outside Downing Street on Saturday to call on the Government to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Keir Starmer has refused to make it illegal to support the group because he believes it will have no effect and would only make Britain feel 'better about ourselves'. Downing Street said the prime minister 'utterly condemns' the violence being used by the authorities in Iran. Meanwhile, the country's exiled crown prince of Iran has vowed to seize the power 'taken by this regime' and put it back into the hands of its citizens. Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution, reiterated his 'unwavering commitment to democracy and human rights'. During a press conference on January 16, he told reporters: 'This has been my position the day I started and remains my position to this day. 'They [the Iranian people] know they can trust me because I've never wavered from this and ultimately what I'm trying to make sure is the final element that will prove to the Iranians that are in full control of their own destiny is to turn power back to them a power that has been taken away from them by this regime which we are fighting today. Heavily armed trucks seen patrolling Tehran on Saturday after being deployed to protect government sites A woman holds up a placard as she stands in front of a pre-1979 Islamic Revolution Iranian flag during a demonstration in solidarity with Iranian protestors, in Israel's central city of Holon on January 24, 2026 'That's my commitment, and they can trust me on that.' Mr Pahlavi also encouraged protesters, who have chanted slogans including 'Death to the dictator!' and 'Death to the Islamic Republic!' to make their voices heard. 'Great nation of Iran, the eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets and, as a united front, shout your demands,' he said in a statement earlier this month. 'I warn the Islamic Republic, its leader and the (Revolutionary Guard) that the world and (US President Donald Trump) are closely watching you. Suppression of the people will not go unanswered.' The Ministry of Construction has signed a contract with Spanish consultancy Ineco to provide a feasibility study on the NorthSouth high-speed railway project. Spains largest consulting firm will be responsible for making cost estimates and providing criteria to help the ministry select contractors for the project, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Danh Huy said Friday. A bullet train in Japan. Photo by Pixabay/aun4496 Ineco will also consult on technology and technical standards. Once the feasibility study report is completed, the ministry will determine the total investment and investment model. The State policy is to mobilize social resources but it is not possible to transfer all risks to enterprises, Danh said. For public services in which the private companies finds it difficult to participate, the State will retain a leading role, he added. The high-speed rail is one of Vietnams biggest infrastructure projects in upcoming years with an estimated price tag of VND1.7 quadrillion (US$67 billion) and run 1,541 kilometers between Hanoi and HCMC. Vingroup, the conglomerate owned by Vietnam's richest billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, last month withdrew its bid to build the rail. The government has announced plans to break ground on the project in December 2026 and complete it by 2035. A Florida man was arrested after allegedly parading half-naked around a resort and performing a 'sexual performance' with a vacuum cleaner. Kevin Westerhold, 51, was detained on January 27 in Oviedo after police received a call reporting lewd behavior outside of a residence days prior. Westerhold faces one charge of exposing sexual organs. The Osceola County Sheriff's Office responded to the call at the Windsor Hills Resort in Kissimmee on January 22. 'Witnesses provided statements and a cell phone recording showing a partially clothed male engaged in inappropriate conduct,' read their statement on the incident. Witnesses alleged Westerhold was, 'engaged in a sexual performance with a vacuum cleaner,' reported WAGMTV. But by the time police arrived, Westerhold was gone. He reportedly resides 40 miles away in Oviedo and operates multiple Airbnb locations with his wife in the neighborhood. Kevin Westerhold, 51, was arrested after allegedly exposing himself in front of a Florida residence Police canvased the area to find multiple reports of the man's alleged inappropriate behavior. One complaint on January 21 reported a 'nude male in a shared hallway'. 'Residents also provided Blink video footage showing the suspect partially clothed or nude in the hallway,' read the report. Deputies found that Westerhold's alleged nudity had been reported to the neighborhood's HOA in December. The luxury neighborhood described itself as a 'comfortable and enjoyable environment for families,' with easy access to Disney World and Universal Studios, according to the website. Townhomes, condominiums and single-family homes are available for rent by private owners. Most rentals start from $200 and go up to $1,000 per night. Westerhold was found to operate multiple Airbnb properties with his wife at Windsor Hills Resort in Kissimmee (pictured) Westerhold was detained by the Oviedo Police Department near his home and booked in Seminole County Jail. Westerhold was released shortly after and will appear in court next month, reported US Magazine. The Daily Mail contacted the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, the Oviedo Police Department and Westerhold for comment. Donald Trump penned an angry message to Minnesota lawmakers, accusing them of allowing fraud in the state and threatening Representative Ilhan Omar with jail time. Minnesota has come under intense scrutiny from the Trump administration, with the federal government claiming that local officials turned a blind eye to the misuse of federal funds. Aimee Bock, 44, was found guilty on several fraud, bribery, and conspiracy charges for misusing funds intended for the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. The case spotlighted welfare programs in the state, with prosecutors now alleging that half of the $18 billion in federal funds used to support Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen. Now, the president is claiming that fraud in the state is 'far greater' than $19 billion, writing in a post on Truth Social: 'The Biden Administration knew this FRAUD was happening, and did absolutely nothing about it. 'Scammer Illhan Omar and her absolutely terrible friends from Somalia should all be in jail right now or, far worse, send them back to Somalia,' the continued. 'Governor Waltz is either the most CORRUPT government official in history, or the most INCOMPETENT. Even a very low IQ person, of which there are many, should have known what was going on in Minnesota!!!' Minnesota lawmakers have been at odds with the Trump administration, as the president continues to hurl accusations of fraud, attacks against the state's Somali community, and heightened raids from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. President Donald Trump, pictured above in the Oval Office on Friday, penned a scathing message to Minnesota lawmakers on Truth Social Trump threatened Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, pictured above on Tuesday, with jail time or a fate 'far worse' in a social media rant on Saturday morning Trump's rant also issued a bizarre attack against Governor Tim Walz, pictured above with his wife Gwen last August. Trump called Walz the 'most corrupt government official in history' on Saturday morning The saga began when Assistant US Attorney Joe Thompson announced in December that Minnesota-based companies and nonprofits were using federal funds for personal gain. 'The magnitude cannot be overstated,' Thompson said during a news conference in Minneapolis. 'What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. Its staggering, industrial-scale fraud.' Governor Tim Walz has long been a subject of Trump's wrath, with the president using the allegations to claim that Minnesota is a 'hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.' Walz has condemned the fraud cases in his state and initiated a third-party audit of 14 high-risk Medicaid programs. The Feeding Our Future scandal dates back to 2022, when 47 people were accused of funneling $250 million in federal funds for their own use. Bock was accused of overseeing the fraud scheme along with dozens of her associates and co-defendants, many of whom were of Somali descent. Trump used the case to justify several racist attacks against the Somali community, accusing them of 'ripping off' Minnesota, and referring to them as 'garbage.' Representative Ilhan Omar, pictured above with her husband, Tim Mynett in 2023, has been a frequent target of Trump's verbal attacks Aimee Bock, pictured above in 2022, pleaded guilty to several fraud and conspiracy charges for falsely applying for federal funds through the nonprofit, Feeding Our Future He told reporters in December that he 'didn't want' Somalis in the state and has called them 'garbage.' Earlier this month, the Trump administration said Somalis living in the US on a Temporary Protective Status (TPS) would have to leave the country by March 17. TPS is granted to immigrants from countries that have been destabilized, impoverished, or face a humanitarian crisis. Former President Joe Biden renewed TPS for Somalis in 2022. Civilians in Somalia are subject to abuses carried out by the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab. The country has also faced a devastating food crisis. Sources previously told Fox News that there are roughly 2,500 Somalis living in the US under TPS. Over half of them still have pending applications. 'They came in through Biden's open borders, and we're getting them out of our country,' Trump said of the decision to revoke TPS for Somalis. 'That's why our crime numbers are so good. We have record-low crime numbers.' Trump has also levied a slew of attacks against Omar, who was born in Somalia before fleeing the country. Omar was attacked by an angry protester while speaking at a Minneapolis town hall on Tuesday night. The man, identified as Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, lunged at Omar while she spoke and sprayed a liquid on her from a syringe. It was later revealed that the liquid was apple cider vinegar. Trump, pictured above at the White House on Friday, has previously said that Somalis, who make up a significant portion of Minnesota's population, are 'garbage' and has ordered them out of the country Just before the incident, Trump slammed Omar at a rally in Iowa, telling his supporters that only immigrants who 'can show that they love our country' would be allowed to stay in the US. 'They have to be proud, not like Ilhan Omar,' he continued. 'She comes from a country thats a disaster. So probably, its considered, I think - its not even a country.' When Trump was later asked to react to Omar's attack, he said that he didn't 'think about her.' In response to Trump's remarks, Omar questioned whether Trump was 'suffering from dementia' and pointed out that he spoke about her extensively at his rally. 'What the facts have shown since I have gotten into elected office is that every time the President of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket,' she added. While Omar has stood defiant against Trump, Walz recently announced during an interview with MS NOW that he 'will never run for an elected office again.' 'There's other ways to serve,' Walz added. 'And I'll find them.' Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was part of a PR campaign to help disgraced director Harvey Weinstein's film The King's Speech win an Oscar, emails released in the Epstein files have shown. Hollywood publicists working on the film, which scooped four Academy Awards in 2011, had planned to host a private screening for the former Prince and even tried to recruit the help of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, to bolster support. In the film Colin Firth portrays Andrew's grandfather George VI, who assumed the throne after his brother Edward's surprise abdication in 1936 and follows his battle against a speech impediment. An email, which is among more than three million documents released by the Department of Justice on Friday, reveals Hollywood publicist Peggy Siegal had asked Epstein to ensure the ex-Duke watched the film. The message, sent to Epstein on behalf of Ms Siegal, stated: 'As per our phone conversation Prince Andrew will be in the states Nov 29 Dec 5. 'We will get a print of The King's Speech from Harvey Weinstein and have you host a very private, small, no press screening for Prince Andrew. 'Tell Prince Andrew the film, and Colin Firth who portrays his grandfather, is going to win the Oscar. Xoxo, Peggy.' In another email sent to Epstein just weeks before the academy awards, Ms Siegal seemingly admits that she 'slipped' Andrew a DVD of the film in the hopes he would pass it on for the late Queen to watch. An email reveals Hollywood publicist Peggy Siegal had asked Epstein to ensure Andrew watched The King's Speech Andrew and his mother Queen Elizabeth pictured at Trooping the Colour in 2019 Epstein was found dead inside his New York prison cell in 2019. His death was ruled suicide by hanging Following the film's official release in September 2010, there had been much speculation as to whether it had been watched by Queen Elizabeth. In an effort to drive up the film's acclaim, Ms Siegal seemingly attempted to show it to as many members of the Royal Family as possible. In another email exchange with Epstein on November 5, 2011, the publicist says Mr Firth had tried to show it to the then Prince Charles but the Palace said 'no'. 'Tom Hooper told me Colin Firth was going to show it to Prince Charles and the palace said NO,' the message stated. 'Tom Hooper told me the palace said they will never know if the royals every [sic] see the film...they said this on "The Queen" until it won all these awards... The Kings Speech is going to WIN THE OSCAR!!!' Months later, Epstein and Ms Siegal seemingly discussed the film again. In an email sent on February 4, 2011, he wrote: 'she should have seen it at Christmas but the DVD she had did not work , i will know wed whether or not she actually saw it.' It is unclear who Epstein is referring to in the exchange, but Ms Siegal appeared overjoyed by the news. She replied: 'This is the best email you EVER sent me. I am controlling myself not to send it to Harvey. xoxo Peg'. Weinstein was an executive producer of the film, which scooped four Academy Awards In the film Colin Firth (left) portrays Andrew's grandfather George VI, who assumed the throne after his brother Edward's surprise abdication in 1936 Other emails from the latest tranche of Epstein files appear to mention the ex-Duke On February 5, the BBC reported that the Queen had 'given her blessing' to the film and had been 'moved' after watching a private screening. The article included a quote from screenwriter David Seidler, saying it was 'incredibly and wonderfully gratifying' to have the Monarch's endorsement. Later that day, Ms Siegal messaged Epstein again, reacting to a similar story from the Hollywood Reporter which claimed 'Queen Elizabeth just endorsed The King's Speech'. She wrote in the email: 'Now the Queen herself jumps into the race the day the ballots go out and suddenly the film is the intemet (sic) darling. 'I sent my ballot in minutes after receiving it with a royal flush. Every person we invite and call for Geoffrey's dinner, we encourage to vote. 'I am controlling myself until Feb. 27th when I hope we all have chance to get s*** faced Monk together. What a ride. xoxo Peg'. Then on February 12, Ms Siegal revealed she had 'slipped' a copy of the King's Speech DVD into Andrew's pocket. 'As much as want to take credit for slipping Prince Andrew a dvd of TKS at Jeffrey Epstein's...I found out Tom Hooper had sent dvds to a few secretaries of the Queen in Buckingham Palace in October and the Royal family has been hip to this film from day one....and her recent "MOVED" review is priceless.' The former Prince appeared straight-faced as he was seen driving his car on Saturday Andrew appeared fed up during a horse ride in Windsor later in the day on Saturday But he appeared in greater spirits later in the day as he was seen laughing while riding through a wooded area in Windsor It was revealed in another tranche of Epstein files last year that Prince Andrew hosted Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Weinstein at Royal Lodge. The trio were at the 30-room royal residence - where the former Duke of York continues to live for free - for Princess Beatrice's 18th birthday party in 2006. While it had previously been reported that the trio attended the masked ball at Windsor Castle, it was not known that they were hosted by Andrew at his home. It is understood that Epstein, Maxwell and Weinstein visited Royal Lodge ahead of the main party. Two powerful American technology companies' mega deal may be called off, despite the public announcement of commitment. OpenAI and Nvidia announced a $100 billion deal in November, stating in a memorandum of understanding that the latter would invest the large chunk of change to help the former build at least 10 gigawatts of computing power. But that deal may be falling apart as insiders told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the deal has yet to get outside of the preliminary stage. Both sides are reconsidering the deal, and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang has privately criticized Sam Altman's company's approach to business, insiders said. Huang is also worried about competitors' growth, such as Google's Gemini and Anthropic - where the latter he has also promised a large sum of money. A Nvidia spokesperson told WSJ that OpenAI is still its preferred partnership, and it is still working with the artificial intelligence company on a deal. OpenAI told WSJ: 'Our teams are actively working through details of our partnership. NVIDIA technology has underpinned our breakthroughs from the start, powers our systems today, and will remain central as we scale what comes next.' For Nvidia to completely walk away from the deal is unlikely as OpenAI is one of its biggest investors, insiders told WSJ. Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang (pictured) and OpenAI's Sam Altman announced an intent to make a $100 billion deal in November Both sides are reconsidering the deal, and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang has privately criticized Sam Altman's (pictured) company's approach to business, insiders said However, Nvidia is investing in other competitors, like Anthropic, which announced up to a $10 billion investment in the company. If the deal between OpenAI and Nvidia goes through, the first gigawatt of Nvidia systems will be deployed in the second half of 2026, it said in the letter of intention last year. The Nvidia-OpenAI partnership came 10 days after OpenAI said it had reached a new tentative agreement that would give Microsoft a $100billion equity stake in its for-profit corporation. OpenAI is technically controlled by its nonprofit. Altman said the new data centers that Nvidia will build are in addition to the previously announced projects. 'Building this infrastructure is critical to everything we want to do,' Altman said at the time. 'Without doing this, we cannot deliver the services people want. We cant keep making better models.' He said both Nvidia and Microsoft are 'passive investors,' and OpenAIs nonprofit and board controls the company. OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 and its nonprofit board has continued to control the for-profit subsidiary that now develops and sells its AI products. It has emerged that a Sudanese migrant who dragged an 18-year-old woman onto train tracks in Germany and killed them both had been arrested two days before by police and freed. The shocking incident that happened in front of passengers at Wandsbek Markt subway station in Hamburg on Thursday evening saw a man, 25, grab a teenage woman waiting for a train and pull her onto the tracks in front of an incoming train. Both were struck by the incoming train at around 10.07pm and died at the scene. But it has now been reported that the man, named as 'Ariop A.' by German press, had a history of violent offences. Just two days before the incident at Hamburg, he allegedly attacked police officers. He was arrested and police began proceedings against him for resisting arrest and for aggravated assault, but he was later released. Witnesses reported that a man had been walking along the platform beforehand and may have been intoxicated, according to Nonstopnews. One witness told the outlet that the man then stumbled toward a young woman saying 'I'll take you with me' before pulling her onto the tracks without warning. Passengers were shocked by a horrific incident at a Hamburg station on Thursday evening, which saw a teenage woman waiting for a train pulled onto the tracks and killed by a man, who also died Authorities say it is not believed they knew each other prior to the incident, which is being investigated as murder The incident happened on Thursday evening at around 10.07pm and was attended by police, paramedics and fire crews as well as the German Red Cross' crisis intervention team who were deployed to provide psychological support to eyewitnesses According to German police, the man is believed to be from South Sudan while the victim was an Iranian national named Fatemeh D. Tragically, Fatemeh reportedly fled domestic violence and had most recently been living at a women's shelter before she was killed, BILD reported. Authorities confirmed that they were investigating the incident as a suspected murder, as investigators spent Thursday night securing evidence at the train station. Investigators said there is currently no evidence to suggest the two victims knew each other and that enquiries into the circumstances remain ongoing. The LKA 26 criminal investigation unit initially led the on-site response. Due to the suspicion of homicide, the case was later transferred to the LKA 41 homicide squad, which is now working closely with the public prosecutors office. Officers are now gathering and reviewing evidence, including footage and witness statements. Following the fatal incident, the German Red Cross crisis intervention team was deployed to provide psychological support to eyewitnesses. According to German police, the man is believed to be from South Sudan while the victim was an Iranian national named Fatemeh D Tragically, the 18-year-old victim had reportedly fled domestic violence and had last stayed at a women's shelter Both bodies were removed from the station in wooden coffins. Officers are now gathering and reviewing evidence, including footage and witness statements The two deceased were removed from the station in wooden coffins and police and emergency responders remained present at the station throughout the night. The incident also caused major disruption to public transport. Last August, a young girl was killed in Lower Saxony after being allegedly pushed in front of a train by an Iraqi man. 16-year-old Liana K from Ukraine was waiting for the train in the town of Friedland when 31-year-old Muhammad A, a rejected asylum seeker, allegedly pushed the teen in front of a freight train. The man was arrested two weeks later on suspicion of murder after his DNA was found on the deceased girl's shoulder. Now, prosecutors have said the asylum seeker was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the time of the crime. Instead of a criminal trial, they are now trying to have him permanently committed to a psychiatric facility. A payout of more than 134,000 of taxpayers money to Police Scotlands Chief Constable to help her buy a second home may have been unlawful, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Oversight body the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) signed off relocation expenses when Jo Farrell appointed to the 270,000-a-year top job in 2023 decided to retain her 1 million family home in Northumberland and also buy a 600,000 Edinburgh apartment. But there appears to be no identifiable provision in law, or in police regulations covering relocation expenses, which allows the SPA to authorise payments relating to second homes raising serious questions over whether the authority acted within its powers. Now there are calls for public watchdog Audit Scotland to launch a probe. Scottish Tories justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: If SNP ministers and the Scottish Police Authority cannot point to why this spending was authorised, then Audit Scotland must investigate. Expenses claimed by Ms Farrell included more than 70,000 in fees, Land and Building Transaction Tax, and Additional Dwelling Supplement a tax introduced by the SNP government explicitly designed to discourage the purchase of second homes. The SPA has repeatedly failed to respond to requests to identify specific legislation which permits second home expenses instead relying on an internal policy document and general statutory powers to justify the payments. It is understood that, historically, chief officers recruited by Police Scotland who wanted to retain family homes and purchase a second property were told that only expenses associated with bona fide relocation would be reimbursed. Jo Farrell was appointed to the 270,000-a-year top job in 2023 Police pay, allowances and expenses are governed by the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013, with Annex 19 covering relocation expenses for all ranks. But there is no explicit reference to second home purchases or to reimbursement of taxes like LBTT or ADS. The rules are regularly updated but any change to entitlements must be formally agreed through the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland. Our probe, including an extensive freedom of information request, has found no evidence that the regulations have been updated or approved in relation to second homes. The police authoritys own staff have highlighted anomalies in the Chief Officers Relocation Procedure, a policy document which it claims meets the legal requirements for such payments. In one review of financial assistance available to Chief Officers to relocate an official notes: second home purchase not explicitly in regs. Decision makers need to be aware of this. One retired chief officer said: There is a lot of anger about these payments, both within Police Scotland and from ex-officers like myself. The regulations were only intended to reimburse officers who have genuinely relocated to Scotland, and that is entirely appropriate and reasonable. But they were never intended to support the purchase of a second home, which for all intents and purposes is a lifestyle choice. In Police Scotlands latest annual accounts, under Benefits in Kind, it was noted: Jo Farrell received taxable relocation expenses of 69,901 (134,426 including tax costs paid). Ms Farrells benefits in kind is the highest recorded of any Chief Constable in the history of Police Scotland the combined expenses attributed to the three Chief Constables who preceded her over ten years amounted to just 43,900. Mr Kerr added: This decision smacks of the Scottish Police Authority trying to close ranks. Taxpayers have been billed a six-figure sum for the Chief Constables second home, yet its unclear what grounds this decision was taken on. This decision should have been subjected to robust scrutiny. Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: These are significant sums of public money and it is important that there is transparency about these arrangements. A spokesman for the Scottish Police Authority said that the authority reimburses relocation costs in line with the Chief Officer relocation procedure. He added: This procedure complies with Annex 19 of the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013, agreed through the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland. Activist Peter Tatchell has been arrested at a pro-Palestine march in central London after officers spotted him holding a 'globalise the intifada' placard, his foundation said. The human rights campaigner was carrying a sign that read 'Globalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel's occupation of Gaza & West Bank' at the protest on Saturday. In a statement released by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, the 74-year-old said the arrest was 'an attack on free speech'. He said: 'The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law. The police are engaged in over-reach by making it an arrestable offence. 'This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalise peaceful protests. 'The Arab word intifada means uprising, rebellion or resistance against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. 'It does not mean violence and is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against Jewish people.' Tatchell was taken to Sutton police station to be detained, according to his foundation. Just before his arrest, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell posted a picture of himself on X holding up the placard with the words, 'Globalise the intifada' In a statement released by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, the 74-year-old said the arrest was 'an attack on free speech' Tatchell was seen having handcuffs placed onto his wrists while being surrounded by Met Police officers during his arrest at Saturday's protest Tatchell's arrest came as thousands gathered on Saturday for the Palestine Coalition-organised protest, which set off from Russell Square towards Whitehall shortly after 1pm Today's protest marks the first mass demonstration in central London this year and comes amid mounting tensions in the Middle East The Metropolitan Police said in December that protesters chanting 'globalise the intifada' will now be arrested because the 'context has changed' in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, as well as an attack on Heaton Park Synagogue in October. Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and GMP Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said in a joint statement at the time that communities were 'concerned' by placards and chants including the phrase and those using it at future protests should expect police action. 'Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed - words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests.' The Board of Deputies of British Jews backed the decision, describing it as 'necessary intervention' on those 'inciting violence'. 'We have long warned that people chanting slogans like 'globalise the intifada' are inciting violence, and we have been making the case for robust enforcement in relation to this slogan with government at all levels for some time,' the board said In a post on X, Met Police said: 'Officers policing the Palestine Coalition protest have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offence. He was seen carrying a sign including the words 'globalise the intifada'.' Tatchell had been marching close to police officers and with the sign on display for about a mile from Russell Square to the top of the Strand when the group came across a counter-protest, according to a witness. At that point, he was stopped and 'manhandled by 10 officers', according to Jacky Summerfield, who was with him. Officers were seen speaking to a man holding a placard calling for the Labour Government to de-proscribe Palestine Action Thousands gathered in central London to demonstrate in support of the pro-Palestinian cause Pro-Iranian regime supporters, one wearing a top with Khamenei's face, were at the protest Former Labour leader and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn was among the attendees today Your Party MP Zarah Sultana was among the speakers at the national march for Palestine 'I was shoved back behind a cordon of officers and unable to speak to him after that,' she said. I couldn't get any closer to hear anything more than (that) it was for Section 5 (of the Public Order Act). 'There had been no issue until that, he was walking near the police officers,' she added. Nobody had said or done anything.' Just before his arrest, Tatchell posted a picture of himself on X holding up the placard with the words, 'Globalise the intifada'. The Australian-British human rights campaigner is known for his work spanning more than 50 years championing such causes as LGBT rights and social justice movements. Tatchell's arrest came as thousands gathered on Saturday for the Palestine Coalition-organised protest, which set off from Russell Square towards Whitehall shortly after 1pm. There is also a counter protest organised by Stop The Hate, which has gathered at Aldwych. Barriers have been put in place, with officers flanking the area to prevent the two groups from coming into contact with one another. Officers meanwhile were also present at a smaller UKIP protest that began at Marble Arch and is set to end at the North Terrace of Trafalgar square. Met Police said a man had been arrested for common assault after passing through the area and confronting protesters. One woman held up a sign saying 'Arab children's' lives matter' at the march on Saturday Two further people have been arrested on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation after they were spotted by officers carrying a banner with the words 'we are all Palestine Action'. A woman has also been arrested in Whitehall after she was seen wearing a t-shirt with the words 'globalise the intifada' on. At the Palestine Coalition protest, audible chants could be heard from the crowd of 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'. The song, which has been adopted by Hamas and is used in the terror group's official charter, is deemed anti-Semitic and a direct call for the state of Israel to be destroyed. Others could be heard shouting 'death death to the IDF' and 'intifada revolution', often interpreted as a call for violent uprising against Israel and supporters of Israel. Dozens were also spotted holding signs in support of the Iranian regime and waving flags despite Iranian authorities quelling the biggest protests to convulse the country in three years, with possibly tens of thousands said to have been killed by the regime. Today's protest marks the first mass demonstration in central London this year and comes amid mounting tensions in the Middle East. Police were force to hold back Pro-Palestinian demonstrators and warn them with arrest as they verbally clashed with Israeli supporters gathered near The Strand. They yelled abuse and swore as the Israeli supporters retaliated by playing Lilly Allen's hit song F*** You on a loudspeaker and chanting 'you can shove Palestine up your a**e'. Palestinian campaigners in return swore at the pro-Israel gathering and shouted 'go to hell'. Demonstrators at a counter protest organised by Stop The Hate were kept away from the other protesters as the marched through London UK Independence Party (UKIP) party leader Nick Tenconi spoke in Trafalgar Square, London, during a Ukip organised rally The smaller gathering took place as a pro-Palestinian march and counter protest took place in the capital on Saturday UKIP supporters were seen holding up Christian crucifixes and flying England flags at the rally One sign held by female Palestinian demonstrator praised West Midlands Police just weeks after Chief Constable Craig Guildford was forced to quit over his decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match at Aston Villa in November. Many said the decision amounted to antisemitism and sparked a huge political scandal. The sign read: 'Thank you West Midlands Police for keeping school children safe. Shame on hysterical Maccabi politicians.' Other signs on display at the march included the depiction of a masked fighter, as well as the slogan 'Palestine will rise' and a clenched fist. Speakers at the rally were critical of plans by US President Donald Trump to run Gaza with a 'Board of Peace'. while one described former PM Tony Blair as a 'butcher'. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor swapped gossip with Ghislaine Maxwell about a female friend who had been intimate with an actor named 'George C', emails from the latest Epstein files have revealed. In a gossipy email on 24 Dec 2002 - the day before Maxwell's birthday on Christmas Day - the former Prince told the disgraced socialite he had some 'gossip' to pass on about a mutual friend. He writes: 'I do believe that tomorrow is of some significance to you! I am not emailing about that but something else that I thought you ought to know seeing as you are so into gossip and I think I might have some for you! 'I last spoke to you when Carol R was coming over to see you and you mentioned something about a man called George C. He said that after sending 'Carol' a Christmas card, she 'came back this weekend with another piece of the puzzle'. 'She saw Mr C, as she says, at the premiere of his new movie on Thursday and they managed to "hither" (her word) to each other and apparently no one can "hither" like Mr C,' Andrew wrote. 'Now the indiscreet bit and the bit I don't understand. She said that she got to 'licky palm' with him. What is 'licky palm?' Is this something I must try someday?' Actor George Clooney attended the London premiere of his directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind in December 2002 but it is unclear if 'George C.' refers to him. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor swapped gossip with Ghislaine Maxwell about a female friend who had been intimate with an actor named 'George C' Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Royal Ascot Ladies Day in June 2000 George Clooney arrives at the UGC Haymarket, London, for the UK premiere of his latest film Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind on February 18, 2003 The email was one of over three million documents published last night by the US Department of Justice in relation to the paedophile financier. Among the files are thousands of photographs and videos, including several pictures showing disgraced royal Andrew crouching over a woman lying on the floor and touching her stomach. Other emails show affectionate exchanges between Andrew and Maxwell in which they refer to each other by names including 'darling' and 'sweet pea', while stating they 'long for' one another. In one exchange, Andrew - who went by the moniker The Invisible Man - and Maxwell in 2002 tell how he sought Maxwell's 'permission' to spend time with his ex-wife and children instead of travelling to the US. Andrew has previously denied having a close friendship with Maxwell, 64. He married Ferguson in 1986 before the pair separated in 1992 and divorcing in 1996. In an email signed 'A', the sender says: 'As the planning is getting more difficult over the bank holiday weekend here I am thinking now I might join Sarah and the kids in Sotogrande for a few days which would be very important and a good thing for the girls, rather than trek across the pond. 'Please will you give me permission to do so and I am conscious of the "better offer" syndrome but in this case it wouldn't be that... I think!' It was in response to Maxwell discussing plans for an upcoming trip in which she told how Andrew would 'be free to go out with' a man named Philip in Miami 'for some fun'. Join the debate Who was Andrew referring to? Andrew was seen behind the wheel of a Range Rover in Windsor on Saturday morning - hours after the release of the files Andrew was also seen horse-riding in Windsor later on Saturday morning Disturbing new images released as part of last night's Epstein files appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor In emails from 2002, Andrew said he was 'longing to see' Maxwell in gushing correspondence which has reignited speculation over the pair's relationship In her reply dated August 24, Maxwell said 'Andrew sweet heart - I fully understand if you want to spend time w/Sarah and the kids. I will not be remotely offended - sad not to spend time w/you and sad not to see you but at this point w/precious holidays and few days off I agree that this idea of coming to the Island looks less appealing'. In a suggestive follow-up sent on August 25, Maxwell said: 'No problem, (redacted), who is now coming and 5 other stunning red heads will all just have to play with ourselves.' She concluded the message: 'I shall miss you. I love you lots. Gx.' In a reply on August 27, Andrew said: 'I am very sad at not coming to join you but I am so glad to be able to see more of my kids that the compensation is justified. 'But whatever I love you and am longing to see you when either you or I are in the same part of the world.' He added: 'Look forward to catching up with you before you disappear to some exotic place and please don't catch anything nasty on your travels! 'Masses of love and thanks, A xxx.' Later that year, on October 28, an email believed to be from Maxwell asked Andrew about speculation he might have more children - Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice were 12 and 14 at the time. 'I am in LA on my way to Hawaii. Is it true you are having more children? I shall have to refer to you as super sperm!' the sender wrote, signing off 'Gx'. In a reply on August 27, Andrew said: 'I am very sad at not coming to join you but I am so glad to be able to see more of my kids that the compensation is justified. 'But whatever I love you and am longing to see you when either you or I are in the same part of the world.' He added: 'Look forward to catching up with you before you disappear to some exotic place and please don't catch anything nasty on your travels! 'Masses of love and thanks, A xxx.' In an email exchange in October 2002, believed to be between Maxwell and Andrew, the former prince denies he plans to have any more children before signing off 'masses of love' Other emails saw the pair call each other pet names and sign off with 'love' Maxwell also comforted Andrew after the death of the Queen Mother in March 2002 Later that year, on October 28, an email believed to be from Maxwell asked Andrew about speculation he might have more children - Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice were 12 and 14 at the time. In reply, Andrew wrote: 'No I am not having any more children and don't believe everything you read in the papers! 'Sarah said that she'd like to have another child if she could and if too old might adopt one instead, in answer to a throw away question in a week long trek around Sierra Leone a couple of weeks ago that appeared in the Observer Magazine this weekend. 'In fact a very good article considering the difficulty factor of the journalist! What are you going to do to help me then? Masses of love A xxx.' In 2005 Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year jail term in the US for sex trafficking associated with Epstein, received an email from 'The Invisible Man' again dubbing her 'darling'. 'Darling Oops!' Andrew wrote. 'I will be arriving in LA on flight number QF 025 at 1045 on Sunday 2nd October. 'I am then in your hands (Literally) until Saturday/Sunday, when I have to return to London, either from LA or New York.' Following further discussion of flight times, Andrew signed off: 'Let me know if this is OK. Love you A xxx.' Other exchanges between the pair show how she comforted the former prince after the death of the Queen Mother. Writing on March 31, 2002, one day after her death, Maxwell affectionately dubbed Andrew 'sweat [sic] pea', adding: 'Sorry you had to rush home, and also under such sad circumstances.' Royal historian Andrew Lownie, author of a bombshell biography of the former Duke and Duchess of York published last year, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, told the Daily Mail Maxwell and Andrew were 'lovers'. 'They were lovers, they had been lovers,' he said. 'They have known each other for years. It was a very close relationship. 'Ghislaine was Epstein's right-hand woman. She was very, very close to Andrew. She was providing girls for Andrew, in effect, along with Epstein, and she'd done that before.' Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to his relationship with Epstein. Satellite images show activity at two Iranian nuclear sites bombed last year by Israel and the US amid soaring tensions over the Islamic Republic's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. The images from Planet Labs PBC show that roofs have been built over two damaged buildings at the Isfahan and Natanz facilities, the first major activity noticeable by satellite at any of the country's stricken nuclear sites since Israel's 12-day war with Iran in June. Iran has not publicly discussed the activity at the two sites. US President Donald Trump repeatedly has demanded that Iran negotiate a deal over its nuclear program to avert threatened American military strikes over the country's crackdown on protesters. The US has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Middle East, but it remains unclear whether Trump will decide to use force. The new roofs do not appear to be a sign of reconstruction starting at the heavily damaged facilities, experts who examined the sites said. Instead, they are likely part of Iran's efforts to assess whether key assets such as limited stocks of highly enriched uranium survived the strikes,' said Andrea Stricker, who studies Iran for the Washington-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies, which has been sanctioned by Tehran. 'They want to be able to get at any recovered assets they can get to without Israel or the United States seeing what survived,' she said. This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Planet covered by a new roof at Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026 This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the rubble of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Dec. 3, 2025 Prior to Israel launching a 12-day war with Iran in June, the Islamic Republic had three major nuclear sites associated with its program. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. However, Iranian officials in recent years have increasingly threatened to pursue the bomb. The West and the IAEA - a watchdog agency for the UN - say Iran had an organised nuclear weapons program up until 2003. The Natanz site, some 135 miles south of the capital, is a mix of above- and below-ground laboratories that did the majority of Iran's uranium enrichment. Before the war, the IAEA said Iran used advanced centrifuges there to enrich uranium up to 60 per cent, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Some of the material is presumed to have been onsite when the entire complex was attacked. The facility outside the city of Isfahan was mainly known for producing the uranium gas that is fed into centrifuges to be spun and purified. A third site, Fordo, some 60 miles southwest of the capital, housed a hardened enrichment site under a mountain. During last year's war, Israel targeted the sites first, followed by US strikes using bunker-busting bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. The new roofs do not appear to be a sign of reconstruction starting at the heavily damaged facilities, according to experts who examined the sites The US strikes 'significantly degraded Iran's nuclear program,' the White House's National Security Strategy published in November said, though specifics on the damage have been hard to come by publicly. Iran has not allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the sites since the attacks. The main above-ground enrichment building at Natanz was known as the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant. Israel hit the building on June 13, leaving it 'functionally destroyed,' and 'seriously damaging' underground halls holding cascades of centrifuges, the IAEA's director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said at the time. A US follow-up attack on June 22 hit Natanz's underground facilities with bunker-busting bombs, likely decimating what remained. The Planet Labs PBC images show Iran began in December to build a roof over the damaged plant. It completed work on the roof by the end of the month. Iran has not provided any public acknowledgement of that work. Natanz's electrical system appears to still be destroyed. Iran also appears to be continuing digging work that it began in 2023 at Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or 'Pickaxe Mountain,' a few hundred meters south of the Natanz complex's perimeter fence. Satellite images show piles of dirt from the excavation growing in size. It is believed to be building a new underground nuclear facility there. At Isfahan, a similar roof over a structure near the facility's northeast corner was being finished in early January. The exact function of that building isn't publicly known, although the Israeli military at the time said its strikes at Isfahan targeted sites there associated with centrifuge manufacturing. Meanwhile, imagery shows that two tunnels into a mountain near the Isfahan facility have been packed with dirt, a measure against missile strikes that Iran also did just before the June war. A third tunnel appears to have been cleared of dirt, with a new set of walls built near the entrance as an apparent security measure. Sarah Burkhard, a senior research associate for the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, which long has watched Iran's nuclear sites, said the roofs appear to be part of an operation to 'recover any sort of remaining assets or rubble without letting us know what they are getting out of there.' Border Patrol boss Gregory Bovino allegedly disparaged a US attorney's Jewish faith while discussing the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, according to insiders. Bovino who was deemed the agency's CommanderatLarge mocked US attorney in Minnesota Daniel N. Rosen's religion during a phone call on January 12, according to The New York Times. He used the term 'chosen people', a reference to Jewish people, in a snide way towards Minnesota's US Attorney Daniel N. Rosen, per sources cited by the outlet. Rosen, who was nominated by US President Donald Trump for his position, is an Orthodox Jew who observes Shabbat. Bovino also reportedly asked sarcastically whether the prosecutor understood that Orthodox Jewish criminals did not take weekends off. The remarks came as Bovino pressed Rosen to pursue tougher charges against demonstrators he believed were obstructing immigration operations, the NYT said. The Border Patrol chief had become one of the faces of the ongoing immigration crackdown in Minnesota, drawing outrage for his comments after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37. President Trump pulled Bovino from Minneapolis this week and replaced him with border czar Tom Homan. Gregory Bovino made disparaging remarks about US attorney in Minnesota Daniel N. Rosen's religion during a January 12 call, The New York Times reported Rosen has said that the 'rapid escalation of violent antisemitism in America' was one of his 'primary motivations' for pursuing office During the call earlier this month, Bovino reportedly complained that he could not reach Rosen on parts of the weekend because of Shabbat. Although Rosen delegated the conversation to a deputy, prosecutors from his office were listening in. Rosen previously cited the 'rapid escalation of violent antisemitism in America' as one of his 'primary motivations' for pursuing office. 'Jewish history tells us that Jews fare poorly in societies that turn polarized, and where that polarization evolves into factional hatreds in the nonJewish societies within which we live,' Rosen told Jewish Insider. He added: 'Those factional hatreds virtually always evolve into violent expressions of hate against the Jews.' Rosen also shared that his orthodoxy was a 'slow' transition through his early adulthood and that he studied the Talmud every day. One day after the call with Bovino, six federal prosecutors in Minnesota from the US attorney's office quit their jobs in protest over how the Department of Justice handled Good's death at the hands of a federal officer earlier this month. Bovino reportedly asked sarcastically whether Rosen understood that Orthodox Jewish criminals did not take weekends off The Border Patrol Commander-at-Large became one of the faces of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota and other parts of the US The motherofthree was shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7 in Minneapolis after allegedly refusing officers' demands to open her car door during a demonstration. Bovino said that Good and her wife Rebecca's actions leading up to the shots fired were 'a means, intent and opportunity'. He described Good's vehicle as a 'fourthousand pound missile' headed toward Ross. 'Hats off to that ICE agent,' Bovino said. 'I'm glad he made it out alive, I'm glad he's with his family.' Bovino sparked further backlash following ICU nurse Pretti's death, as he said law enforcement were the true victims of the incident. He added that Pretti 'put himself in that situation' following his actions. The Border Patrol boss also claimed that Pretti planned to 'massacre' federal agents when he was killed. Bovino's actions and comments drew criticism from leading Democrats around the US, including California Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom said it was, 'as if [Bovino] literally went on eBay and purchased SS garb,' referring to Adolf Hitler's Schutzstaffel. Bovino said that Renee Good's actions alongside her wife leading up to her death were 'a means, intent and opportunity' Bovino left Minneapolis earlier this week and was promptly replaced by Homan. 'President Trump and I, along with others in the administration, have recognized that certain improvements could and should be made,' Homan said. Initial reports indicated that Bovino had been fired, but those were shot down by the Department of Homeland Security's assistant press secretary Tricia McLaughlin. On Monday, she called Bovino a 'key part of the President's team and a great American'. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and its assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin, the US Customs and Border Protection and Bovino, the Department of Justice and Daniel N. Rosen's office for comment. The NYT said the McLaughlin did not directly respond to the allegations. 'Instead of focusing on gossip, why don't you focus on something actually important like the victims of illegal alien crime or the criminals taken out of Minneapolis communities?' she told the outlet. Photo: https://www.facebook.com/RedCrossUkraine The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) continues evacuating residents from frontline communities in Dnipropetrovsk region. "Every day, a team from the Ukrainian Red Cross Society rapid response unit in Dnipropetrovsk region carries out evacuations from frontline communities in the region," the URCS said in a post on Facebook. During each evacuation mission, volunteers pay special attention to families with children, older people, people with disabilities, and other residents with limited mobility. Every evacuee receives safe transportation, as well as the necessary assistance and support along the way from URCS volunteers. They look every inch the perfect couple, side-by-side in top designer clothes. No wonder then that one of Britains top models, Lady Jean Campbell, and her boyfriend Orfeo Tagiuri, have been chosen to front the Valentines Day campaign for Burberry. The advertising blitz involves a short film and a set of photos starring the loved-up pair and showcases Burberry accessories such as bags and small leather goods, as well as jewellery, fragrances and knitwear. Mr Tagiuri is seen wearing the labels reversible check Harrington jacket while Lady Jean dons a Fitzrovia trench coat, paired with a horseshoe bag. And it isnt the first time the 5ft 8in socialite has been seen in the labels famous check. Lady Jean, daughter of Colin Campbell, the 7th Earl of Cawdor, first shot to fame when she was cast in a Burberry campaign in December 2013. And its not surprising that she gravitated towards haute couture, given that her mother, Lady Isabella, was a fashion editor at British Vogue for five years. The Vogue veteran also designed for the Holland & Holland brand, partnering with Scots supermodel Stella Tennant. Lady Jean Campbell and her partner Orfeo Tagiuri in Burberry's Valentine's campaign Picture: Burberry, www.burberry.com Lady Jean Campbell Orfeo Tagiuri sporting monogrammed scarves by Burberry Picture: Burberry, www.burberry.com Lord Colin, meanwhile, worked as an architect and contributed to developments around Nairn and Moray, close to the familys ancestral home at Cawdor Castle. Lady Jean, 27, is no newcomer to the fashion scene, having been scouted at just 12 years old. But it hasnt always been easy for her. The runway model faced a significant challenge when, as a child, she developed chronic pain from the debilitating condition hip dysplasia. This led to multiple surgeries to realign her pelvis, with medics having to break bones in three places to rearrange it. The recovery process was taxing, with the model spending time in a wheelchair and on crutches. However, despite many years of pain, it never stopped Lady Jean making her own mark on high fashion. As part of the campaign, Burberry is offering buyers the chance to have its scarves personalised with embroidered initials, roses and love hearts. All of the new products feature in the short film, which the company describes as quiet moments of intimacy in everyday scenes set against the backdrop of London. The search for a young British girl swept out to sea by a freak wave has been 'hindered' by a storm, an MP has said. Inaayah Makda, seven, was sitting on rocks at a beach in the coastal city of Casablanca, Morocco, on Wednesday when she and her family became surrounded by water. Inaayah was knocked into the water along with several relatives - though they all made it back out. The family, from Blackburn in Lancashire, spent hours calling out her name and walking up and down the beach but to no avail. Her local MP, Adnan Hussain, has now said efforts to find the little girl are ongoing but 'have been hindered due to a storm'. In a statement, Mr Hussain, Independent MP for Blackburn, explained: 'Following a productive conversation earlier today I have received strong assurances from the ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco that he will do all in his power to ensure every action is taken by local authorities to assist in the search for Inaayah. 'On behalf of the family, I asked the ambassador to help push for the assignment of a dedicated police liaison officer to provide direct and immediate support for the family on the ground.' Mr Hussain added updates were being provided to the Foreign Office by the governor of Casablanca said the Moroccan Civil Protection Team. Inaayah Makda (pictured), seven, was sitting on rocks at a beach in the coastal city of Casablanca, Morocco, on Wednesday when she and her family became surrounded by water A neighbour of the family described Inaayah, a pupil at Roe Lee Park Primary School in the Lancashire town, as a 'lovely, bubbly, cheeky little girl' The Foreign Office previously said it was 'supporting the family of a British national reported missing in Morocco and are in contact with the local authorities'. The family had been on the first day of their week-long holiday when the wave struck. They have since criticised local authorities for not doing enough to find Inaayah. A family member in the UK told the Lancashire Telegraph: 'We are all really worried. You can understand this is really distressing for everyone. 'The support we have got from the local authorities in Morocco can only be described as inhumane. The family over there have been walking up and down the beach, conducting their own search. They have been disregarded.' The relative added the group had not been warned of any potential dangers of walking on the rocks outside the historic city, which sits on the Atlantic Ocean. She also claimed Moroccan authorities told her family to 'wait for the body to wash up.' She said: 'They actually got told it was too rough to go out to sea, and they should wait for the body to wash up on sea.' Several members of Inaayah's family were also swept into the water with her, though they made it back out (File image of a Morocco beach) Your browser does not support iframes. Inaayah's father, Zubair, recalled the incident on UCTV, a Blackburn-based broadcaster. He said: 'We were just on rocks [that] were... half a metre high. The tide suddenly swept everyone out. 'Inaayah was on the rock behind me. We got swept to the right and she got swept to the left. I did not see where Inaayah was, as she got swept away so quickly. 'I couldn't find her at all. We are trying to get help, because the police here are... useless. They are not doing anything.' A relative told the broadcaster the tide appeared to be a long way out when the family first arrived at on the coast, but came in within roughly 20 minutes - catching them all by surprise. Meanwhile a neighbour of the family described Inaayah, a pupil at Roe Lee Park Primary School in the Lancashire town, as a 'lovely, bubbly, cheeky little girl'. She said the young girl is her parents' only child and is 'their whole world', adding: 'We're all just in shock, we're devastated.' Mr Hussain said the Foreign Office had 'reiterated my request' for a dedicated police liaison officer with the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He added steps were being taken to ensure 'constant and unimpeded communication 'between the families and authorities'. Adnan Hussain (pictured) said the Foreign Office had 'reiterated my request' for a dedicated police liaison officer with the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thanking the Moroccan ambassador, Moroccan authorities and the Foreign Office, Mr Hussain said: 'I remain in constant contact with the family, and will continue to provide whatever further assistance I can. 'I would like to take the opportunity to thank and commend the people of Blackburn for coming together and offering support and solidarity to Inaayah's family during this devastating time.' Inaayah's family have launched a GoFundMe appeal which will cover the cost of a private search, including boat hire, aerial support and a translator. They have so far raised 61,000. The appeal reads: 'As many of you may have seen, our beautiful seven-year-old niece Inaya has gone missing after being swept out to sea on the first day of her family holiday in Morocco. 'This is an unimaginably distressing time for her parents and loved ones. 'We are urgently asking for your kind support and donations to help cover the costs of the ongoing search efforts, including private boat hire, aerial support, as well as essential family expenses. 'These include translator support, emergency travel, and other unforeseen costs arising from the search and coordination with local authorities. 'At present, many of these costs are being met privately by the family, and we are coming together to do everything possible to support them during this critical time. 'Every single penny truly counts and will go directly towards supporting the search for Inaya and the family's immediate needs. 'Please continue to keep Inaya and her family in your prayers during this incredibly difficult time.' Critics have hit out at a pay increase handed to bosses at two under-fire health boards. Executives at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian have been awarded rises worth up to 20,000 a year because of their work on a planned shakeup of the health service. However, critics have blasted the situation, stating that thousands of frontline NHS staff regularly take on more responsibility without getting any extra pay. The uplift is part of a project looking at how Scotlands 14 health boards can work together more closely in coming years to tackle issues such as waiting times and delays. Ministers have said the geographical boundaries and accountabilities of health boards will remain. However, the project has seen them but split into west and east subnational planning and delivery committees (SPDC). The chief executives and chairpersons of NHS Lothian and NHS GGC are in charge of setting it up. As such, they have been awarded 10 per cent pay increases and time away from their regular roles to do so. Professor Caroline Hiscox is the Chief Executive of NHS Lothian NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chief executive Professor Jann Gardner The development comes as NHS GGC faces criticism over issues raised during the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry. NHS Lothian has also come under fire after inspectors last year found a culture of mistrust at Edinburgh's maternity unit. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chief executive, Professor Jann Gardner, earns an annual salary of between 195,000 and 200,000, according to the boards accounts. Meanwhile, its chairwoman Dr Lesley Thomson KC has an annual salary of between 55,000 and 60,000. The latest NHS Lothian accounts show chief executive Professor Caroline Hiscox earns between 195,000 and 200,000 a year while chairman Professor John Connaghan earns between 50,000 and 55,000. Both boards confirmed they have been awarded a 10 per cent salary uplift as part of NHS Scotland guidance that remunerates staff undertaking temporary, additional responsibilities outwith their own health board. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: Scots will be appalled that bosses at two under-fire health boards are being given a bumper pay rise. He added: This money should have gone to frontline doctors and nurses who are working flat out for their patients, not bureaucrats. Colin Poolman, executive director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said: Just last month we reported that many of our members are working over their contracted hours every week without being paid for this extra work. To hear that senior executives are apparently being paid more to dedicate less time to resolving local challenges will only demoralise frontline staff further, particularly given the lack of clarity around the role of these subnational planning and delivery committees. Its thought the executives will take on the extra responsibilities for between nine and 12 months while the longer-term needs are reviewed. It is not clear how much time the new roles are taking up for the senior executives. The Scottish Government said officials are currently reviewing this matter and we will provide further details in due course. A Police and Crime Commissioner has been censured for joining an anti-migrant march. Katy Bourne - who has served as the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) of Sussex since 2012 - has been accused of taking a side after she attended a protest in Crowborough, East Sussex. The march in November last year saw hundreds of people take to the streets after the Labour Government announced controversial plans to house up to 500 migrants would be housed in the former military camp. Last week, the first migrants were moved into the site. Ms Bourne's decision to join protesters caused outrage among members of a crime panel, made up of councillors and other delegates, who claimed that she was no longer impartial on the issue. Now, the panel have declared they have lost confidence in Ms Bourne and voted in favour of censuring her. A separate motion, brought by the panel, also claimed the commissioner, who is running to become the first Sussex mayor, had 'brought the office into disrepute' due to a lack of impartiality. In response to the panel, the Conservative PCC said she 'on trial for doing my job' and claimed the motion was a 'co-ordinated personal attack on my integrity.' During the meeting, which took place yesterday, Ms Bourne also faced questions over her previous comments calling for asylum seekers to be electronically tagged. Katy Bourne (pictured) - who has served as the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) of Sussex since 2012 - has been accused of taking a side after she attended a protest in Crowborough, East Sussex Protesters in Crowborough earlier this month. Ms Bourne attended a similar protest last year which caused outrage among members of a crime panel, made up of councillors and other delegates, who claimed that she was no longer impartial on the issue The motion, tabled by Lewes Green Party councillor Paul Keene, read: 'This panel has lost confidence in the commissioner and in the commissioner's conduct after her actions in attending a protest march on November 8, 2025 in Crowborough.' Ms Bourne, a Conservative, said she would complain to the monitoring officer for the panel, saying she felt the motion was harassment. Prior to the vote, Bourne left the room saying that she was disgusted by the motion against her. A spokesman for West Sussex County Council, which hosts the panel, said: 'If a complaint is received then it will be looked at carefully and responded to appropriately. However, we believe that all processes have been followed correctly.' Last week, after 27 asylum seekers became the first occupants of the barracks, thousands of protesters descended on the site. Crowds chanted 'Keir Starmer's traitor' and marched along the roads in the largest demonstration the town has seen yet. They waved hundreds of flags, including Union Jacks, St George's Crosses and the flag of Sussex, and also chanted 'Who's streets? Our streets'. There were signs bearing messages such as, 'We've been ignored and neglected so we're now at risk.' A heavily decorated van at the centre of proceedings had 'Stop the boats' and 'Crowborough says no' emblazoned on it. Meanwhile, Sussex Police arrested three people after a vehicle was blocked from leaving the site. A federal judge has struck down Minnesota's bid to end Trump's anti-immigration operations in the state, but confessed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has operated with 'excessive force.' US District Judge Katherine Menendez denied a motion on Saturday put forth by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to halt the federal government's ICE raids across the state. Ellison brought on the case against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, DHS Associate Director John Condon, ICE Director Todd Lyons, ICE officials Marcos Charles and Rodney Scott, Customs and Border Protection chief Gregory Bovino, and ICE Director in Saint Paul David Easterwood. The Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge in December, surging federal resources in Minnesota to detain and deport undocumented migrants. 'Since Operation Metro Surge began, there have been multiple shootings of Minnesota residents by federal immigration enforcement agents,' Judge Menedez noted. 'Additionally, there is evidence that ICE and CBP agents have engaged in racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other harmful actions.' Despite Menendez's characterization of immigration operations, she rejected the bid to stop federal agents, disagreeing with Ellison's claim that it violated the 10th Amendment. The 10th Amendment requires shared powers between the state and federal governments. A federal judge has denied Minnesota's motion to end ICE raids in the state. However, the judge did confess that federal agents have operated with 'excessive use of force.' Pictured are federal agents pointing weapons at protesters last Saturday Minnesota has been caught in the cross fires of the Trump administration's war with sanctuary polices. Pictured above is an aerial view of a vigil for Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent last week Judge Menendez wrote in her ruling: 'There is evidence that ICE and CBP agents have engaged in racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other harmful actions.' Pictured are federal agents detaining a protester outside an ICE facility in Minneapolis on January 9 Ellison argued that the Trump administration's massive operation was unconstitutional and that the federal government was overreaching its power. However, Menendez cast doubt over whether Minnesota made that argument, writing that Ellison failed to establish a direct precedent or halt the ICE raids. The judge concluded that the deployment of armed federal immigration officers was unprecedented, and existing precedent couldn't be applied. US District Court Judge Katherine Menendez, pictured above, issued the decision on Saturday Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the decision on social media, writing: 'Another HUGE @TheJusticeDept legal win in Minnesota just now: a Biden-appointed district judge denied Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellisons attempt to keep ICE out of Minnesota. 'Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from enforcing federal law in Minnesota.' Despite the Trump administration's victory, Menendez made clear in her ruling that immigration enforcement in the state had caused a negative impact on the people of Minnesota. The judge cited the cost of police overtime, plummeting school attendance, delays in emergency response, and hardship for small businesses as consequences of Operation Metro Surge. Menendez also wrote that there was evidence to suggest the federal government surged operations to coerce Minneapolis officials into repealing their status as a sanctuary city. Outrage in Minnesota over violent ICE raids heightened after ICU nurse, Alex Pretti, pictured above, was fatally shot by an agent Earlier this month, Minnesota mom Renee Good, pictured above, was also killed by ICE while driving her car Cities and states with sanctuary status prohibit local law enforcement from informing federal agents about residents' immigration status. The policy is intended to encourage undocumented migrants to report crimes or emergencies without the fear of deportation. The Department of Justice has argued that sanctuary polices encourage illegal immigration, threatening litigation against cities and states that have refused to repeal or modify their policy. Menendez cited a letter Bondi sent to Governor Tim Walz, explicitly demanding that sanctuary police be removed. Minnesota officials have refused to bend to the Trump administration's demands, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey doubling down on the city's policies. He's repeatedly called for an end to Operation Metro Surge, demanding that ICE leave his city in viral and explicit messages. On Wednesday, Frey addressed sanctuary policies during a CNN town hall. He defended them as a 'safety strategy.' 'We want people who are undocumented to have the confidence to call 911 without the fear that theyll get deported in doing so,' he said. 'That is a safety strategy. That is not an immigration strategy. That is a safety strategy.' The case was brought against ICE Director Todd Lyons and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Protests have been frequent in Minnesota and across the nation this month. Demonstrators have frequently clashed with ICE agents and local law enforcement, as pictured above Minnesota officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz have called on the Trump administration to scale back Operation Metro Surge Minnesota has come under a microscope in recent weeks, as ICE agents and CBP officers raid the city. Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent while trying to move her car during a tense showdown with officers on the street on January 7. Just last week, ICU nurse Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a federal agent. Minnesota officials have condemned the killings, using them as examples of violence ICE has perpetuated against civilians. DHS has defended the agents in both cases, claiming they acted in self-defense. ICE raids have continued across the country, heightening tensions between state and federal officials. On Friday, people across the country participated in a 'national shutdown' by refusing to make purchases or go to work to send a message to the Trump administration. ICE Out protests are expected to continue this weekend. The Daily Mail has reached out to Ellison's office for comment on the motion denial. The SNP government was alerted to 14 serious infection outbreaks at Scotlands 1 billion superhospital in the first three years after it opened but failed to act on the critical warnings. The spate of rare red and amber health alerts were issued between 2015 and 2018 by health board chiefs as infected children and adults lay dying or desperately ill at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus, according to explosive new documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday. Yet then health secretary Shona Robison whose officials would legally have been informed of the warnings failed to step in and investigate the outbreaks. The disclosure also heaps more pressure on First Minister John Swinney who has claimed that his government only became aware of infection issues at the hospital in March 2018 almost three years after the first official health alert. This revelation comes just days after Mr Swinney was accused of misleading the Scottish parliament and lying to voters by fabricating information when quizzed over claims that political pressure led to the opening of the QEUH before it was ready. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said that the Mail on Sundays disclosure over the timing of the infections warnings proves that Mr Swinney has been caught lying to patients and families again. He said: If the Scottish Government received 14 red or amber Healthcare Infection Incident Assessment Tool (HIIAT) infection alerts between 2015 and 2018, many involving immunocompromised patients, then the claim that ministers only became aware of serious infection problems at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in March 2018 becomes another proven lie from the SNP. These warnings exist precisely because lives are at risk. Former Health Secretary Shona Robison and Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon are being urged to explain what they knew and when about infections at the QEUH First Minister John Swinney has insisted there was no pressure applied to open the QEUH The 1billion Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow opened in 2015 As revealed by the Scottish Mail on Sunday, last month NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) finally accepted there was a probable link between infections in some child cancer patients and the facilitys contaminated water supply. But health chiefs have failed to acknowledge a connection between the 842million hospital campuss flawed ventilation system and any infections in patients, or any connection to infections outwith 2016-2018. NHSGGC is currently a suspect in a corporate homicide probe into the deaths of four patients at the QEUH and RHC - Milly Main, 10, Gail Armstrong, 73, and two other children- while the deaths of Andrew Slorance, 49, Tony Dynes, 63, and Molly Cuddihy, 23, are being probed by police. In total 84 childrens infections have been reviewed by independent experts, with around a third of them possibly linked to the hospitals environment although this is not accepted by the health board. The documents show government officials should have been informed on at least 14 occasions about infection outbreaks at both hospitals before March 2018 including instances where experts were examining water and ventilation as a potential source. Mr Sarwar said: This revelation makes clear that the Scottish Government were made aware of concerns at the QEUH long before they claimed, despite that they failed to act and continued to lie to patients and families. The pattern of denial, deception and cover-up at the very heart of government has moved beyond normal political scandal and become an inhumane disregard for these patients and their families and the memories of the victims. According to infection control rules for NHS boards in Scotland, any incident or outbreak that happens in a healthcare setting must be recorded using the Healthcare Infection Incident Assessment Tool (HIIAT). Incidents are coded as either green, amber or red depending on severity. The Scottish Governments health and social care department are notified of all red and amber incidents, according to official documents, to provide the government with assurance that all incidents are being effectively assessed. Milly Main, 10, who died in 2017 after contracting a rare infection, with her mum Kimberly Darroch In October 2015 two red reports were issued - one for an outbreak of bacteria Serratia marcescens which affected 13 babies in the paediatric intensive care unit, and another for a bloodborne virus at the QEUH. Notes on the Serratia incident show NHSGGC were already examining the units ventilators and sinks in connection with the outbreak, brought in extra cleaning regimes using chlorine and even considered closing the unit. In 2016 there were three amber reports for the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), and one for the QEUH. They included an outbreak of aspergillus, a mould associated with soil and dust, in two children in the cancer ward. Notes relating to this outbreak show ventilation problems had been identified already and concerns were being raised by NHSGGC specialists. Another outbreak of Serratia marcescens was recorded as amber in November 2016, affecting three babies in intensive care. In 2017, three red reports were issued about incidents in the RHC, and one in the QEUH. There were two amber alerts for that year one for each hospital. One report, made in March 2017, related to an increase in fungal infections on ward 2A of the RHC the specialist ward for child cancer patients. In July 2017, two patients contracted bacteria Stenotrophomonas maltophilia while in the child cancer unit at the RHC. One of them was Milly Main, a 10-year-old from Lanark, who died following the infection. She had been in remission from leukaemia at the time. On March 3, 2018, a red report was issued after two children contracted Cupriavidus and pseudomonas bacterial infections. Notes from a meeting about this incident reveal that routine water testing two years earlier revealed the presence of Cupriavidus, but the same test was negative this time. Experts also tested sinks and showers on the ward, some of which tested positive for pseudomonas. Nicola Sturgeon was First Minister and Shona Robison was the Health Secretary between 2014 and June 2018, covering the period when the hospital opened and until Mr Swinney claimed the government first learned about infection problems. Ms Robison has never been questioned on her knowledge of the scandal, or why she failed to take any action. It emerged last week that Ms Robison, now deputy First Minister, cancelled a pledge to have experts check infection controls just weeks before it opened. The then-health secretary told MSPs in February 2015 that an independent audit would be carried out at the new facility in Glasgow before patients were allowed to move in, but u-turned on April 7. Former Health secretary Alex Neil said he was informed about HIIAT reports depending on their severity, and it would depend on how critical it is and if it was of a sufficient level of threat Theres a need for Lord Brodie to put the relevant ministers and special advisors from 2015 on the stand under oath to establish what they knew as well as the people within the health board who were putting on internal pressure to open the hospital. Either ministers were told and chose to do nothing, or they were not told and the system was deliberately allowed to fail. At best it is negligence, at worst it is a criminal conspiracy - either one caused death and avoidable suffering.' This sickness at the heart of this SNP government must end. The Scottish Government refused to answer direct questions about whether Ms Robison was informed of any HIIAT red or amber reports relating to the QEUH or RHC, who in government was told about these incidents and what action was taken. In the days when Scotlands rivers were teeming with salmon, a crafty poacher taking one for the pot may have seemed harmless. But with numbers dwindling to record lows, poaching has become a major threat to the future of the countrys most iconic fish. Last week, in a bid to stamp out poaching for good, draconian new penalties were passed at Holyrood and anyone caught illegally catching salmon now faces a 10,000 fine for every single fish. And its not just the poachers who can end up in trouble. The move also targets any amateur cooks and restaurant owners who might be tempted to snap up a no-questions-asked fish with a fine of up to 40,000 just for being in possession of illegally caught or poached salmon. Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, said: Fish poaching is a serious wildlife crime. An amendment was made to The Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill containing provisions to increase penalties for the most serious and damaging wildlife crimes involving fish. Wild salmon populations are at crisis point. We are working to ensure the protection and recovery of this iconic species. Although Scotlands salmon rivers are famed around the world, in almost three-quarters of them numbers are so low that a mandatory catch and release policy is in place, making it illegal for fishermen to remove any fish they catch under threat of a fine or criminal conviction. Anyone caught illegally catching salmon now faces a 10,000 fine for every single fish Poaching has become a major threat to the future of the countrys most iconic fish Scotland's salmon rivers are world famous, but numbers are so low that a mandatory catch and release policy is now in place The new penalties were introduced on the recommendation of Fisheries Management Scotland, which represents the countrys river and fishery managers. The groups Enforcement Committee recently published a report highlighting how illegal fishing and poaching threaten already fragile populations. Catches of wild Atlantic salmon, it said, are at their lowest levels since records began in 1952, with populations in Scotland now in a critical state. With Atlantic salmon now classified as endangered in the UK, the report said: It is therefore clear that illegal exploitation, of any sort, is unsustainable. Given the critical state of Scotlands salmon populations, we believe that there is sound justification for enhancing the penalty regime. A mature female salmon will carry an average of 4,000-6,000 eggs and this highlights the impact that the removal of even a single fish through such criminal activity will have. Under the new laws, illegal salmon fishing now carries a statutory maximum fine, which is 10,000 for summary offences prosecuted in the sheriff court. For the first time, every illegal fish is counted as a separate offence. The new law states: The person who committed the offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine in respect of each salmon. Meanwhile, possessing salmon which have been illegally taken, killed or landed can now incur a fine of up to 40,000. Detective Sergeant David Lynn, Police Scotlands Wildlife Crime Coordinator, said: Poaching is the highest volume wildlife crime in Scotland. Its crucial that offenders are brought to justice. I would encourage the public to report suspicious behaviour around rivers and lochs. It started with an innocuous Google search... and ended with me being lied to, harassed and spied on by the health board at the centre of one of Britains biggest NHS scandals. Id never heard of Cryptococcus before but as soon as I typed it into the search engine, I was thrown headlong into a seven-year battle with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) for the truth about rare infections plaguing cancer patients... and a battle for justice which also took a heavy personal toll on me as a journalist. The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) had opened in 2015 to great fanfare. The Scottish Government constantly boasted about how it was on time and under budget and berated anyone who dared to criticise its shiny new achievement. The late Queen Elizabeth had even been guest of honor at the opening ceremony. How was it possible that four years later patients had contracted Cryptococcus which my googling told me was an infection related to bird droppings at this 1 billion state-of-the art facility? NHSGGC had issued an inconspicuous press release about the incident on January 18, 2019, just after 5pm and a second the next day confirming two patients had died. Alarm bells were ringing and my list of questions continued to grow no matter how many times I tried to get an explanation. Ive spent the last seven years investigating the problems at the QEUH and the adjoining Royal Hospital for Children (RHC). The more I looked, the more I found and the more concerns I had that something was seriously wrong. But the more I pressed, the greater the pushback. I was now firmly in the grip of the health board stasi... and it was relentless. Hannah Rodger has been investigating the hospital scandal for seven years The work Ive done trying to get to the truth has taken over more of my life than I want to admit. I know more than any normal person should about bacteria, ventilation systems and infection control. Last year I even woke my fiance up in the middle of the night muttering about the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry in my sleep. Ive faced some of the most obstructive and aggressive tactics from NHSGGC during this scandal as Ive seen from any organisation. Brick walls were thrown up when I tried to find out what happened. While my own experience has caused sleepless nights and a huge amount of stress, its nothing compared to what whistleblowers, patients and families have been through. At first, NHSGGC would complain about every story I wrote. Theyd request corrections for minor things and delay responding to my queries for days. One of the first stories I wrote was about a 50 million repair bill for the hospital, which Id figured out had a serious problem with ventilation if spores from pigeon poo were able to infect people already very sick with cancer. Health bosses insisted this figure wasnt true and demanded the story be removed. Luckily I had good sources and a brave editor who backed me all the way. This time last year the repair bill was sitting at around 78 million, although its most likely gone up since then. My first victory. It emerged the NHS was spying on Hannah's social media as well as that of Louise Slorance whose husband Andrew contracted an infection while undergoing treatment at the QEUH They desperately tried to find out who my sources were. I remember one press officer joking that my sources were on holiday and thats why I hadnt written anything that week. Another said they knew I had certain sources and suggested these supposed sources were mentally unstable. I was appalled that a health board would be attempting to use someones mental health as a reason to discredit them. When the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry started in 2020 I discovered that NHSGGC had been conducting a full-blown mole hunt to try to find out who was speaking to me. Their detective work didnt yield anything conclusive, but that didnt stop them pointing the finger at three brave whistleblowers Drs Teresa Inkster, Penelope Redding and Christine Peters who they appeared to be fixated on as the source of all my stories. Another common tactic was to bombard me with information in the hope Id get confused. Sometimes basic questions would illicit swathes of text in reply. When I sent freedom of information requests they were refused, delayed or ignored. Ive asked NHSGGC to interview its chief executive probably a dozen times in the last seven years - each time theyve refused. The same for the government, with the exception of former health secretary Jeane Freeman - the only minister to ever accept my request. She commissioned a review then a public inquiry, apologised to patients and met whistleblowers. I felt she was the only one brave enough to tackle the problem even if it was going to create a headache for her government. Its a shame her successors havent been so brave. In mid-2024 I decided I wanted to know what information NHSGGC had about me, and put in a Subject Access Request. What I uncovered was shocking and frankly creepy. While a lot of the information was redacted, what was revealed showed an organisation that didnt respect me or my work and seemed to think what I was doing was somehow immoral. Put quite simply, they were spying on me. In 2019 they claimed talking to me was dangerous and that I twisted the truth. They described questions I was asking about the death of a toddler as shenanigans. In 2020 I started working in Westminster but did a handful of QEUH stories during this time. Even then NHSGGC were monitoring my career progression. After being promoted, NHSGGC staff emails stated: Did you see shes been made Westminster Editor? The reply: Well done her (at least shell be leaving us alone!!). While it made me chuckle that I clearly had gotten under their skin, I was uncomfortable with their monitoring to say the least. The most upsetting was when I discovered a personal message Id sent to a former colleague, who now works for NHSGGC, had been relayed around the communications team. During the pandemic my gran had been diagonosed with cancer and was in the QEUH before she died. Id trawled the NHS website and all the guidance on hospital visits but my head was scrambled with worry. In desperation Id texted my former colleague asking if they knew if Id be able to visit or not. To my horror I saw that message had been passed on to the communications team with an unsympathetic reply from one employee saying there was very clear guidance online so not sure where Hannah is looking. They monitored my social media and discussed my posts. An email chain from 2021 is simply titled: Hannah Rodgers - summary timeline details my interactions with them, albeit spelling my name incorrectly. I later found out they were spying on others who were critical, including Louise Slorance whose husband Andrew contracted aspergillus while awaiting a bone marrow transplant at the QEUH in 2020. Louise was one of many people subject to the health boards social listening campaign, where they used private software to monitor what specific people were saying online. My article about their spying was raised in parliament and it forced an apology. Having followed the whole Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, I never thought I would end up submitting evidence to it myself but I had to last year when Sandra Bustillo, NHSGGC communications manager, claimed I had previously revealed my sources. Any journalist knows that protecting your sources is the number one priority and it is something I categorically did not do. Thankfully my evidence has now been published by the inquiry, putting my points on the record. The QEUH scandal has been a story - although story isnt the right word for it- thatll stay with me forever. Some of my original sources are now people Id consider friends. Ive watched children affected by infections grow up into headstrong teenagers, and seen families move abroad to rebuild their lives away from the shadow of the hospitals scandal. Ive also seen the devastating impact on those who tried to expose this sorry episode. With the conclusion of the public inquiry coming later this year, many hope it will answer their questions about what happened. Im not so confident, but I wont stop asking questions. This is the moment hammer-wielding thugs broke into a family-run jewellers and ransacked the window display while brave staff tried to fend them off. The brazen daytime heist took place in Richmond, west London, on Saturday morning. In footage, taken by a onlooker and shared widely on social media, two men can be seen swinging a large hammer against the glass of the the family-owned jewellers Gregory & Co. They then peel away the glass and start filling a blue bag with all the valuables on display. Staff members inside the shop can then be seen desperately trying to claw back what they can before the thieves can snatch it. Bravely, the staff then begin hitting the robbers with what appears to be a small box to try and deter them from taking anymore goods - without much success. The thugs then flee the scene as shocked bystanders watch on. An employee who works at a nearby store and witnessed the incident told the Daily Mail of how the robbers caused chaos this Saturday morning during their heist in the affluent west London town. This is the moment hammer-wielding thugs broke into a family-run jewellers and ransacked the window display while brave staff tried to fend them off In footage, taken by a onlooker and shared widely on social media, two men can be seen swinging a larger hammer against the glass of the the family-owned jewellers Gregory & Co 'The two guys appeared out of nowhere carrying a large sledgehammer and a bag. They then started smashing the jewellers window up,' they said. The Daily Mail have approached the Metropolitan Police for a comment. The heist is just the latest instance of robbers targeting jewellers across the capital. On Thursday, Sultan Jewellers in Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, was attacked by several men who smashed the shop's windows with a sledgehammer. Police officers were at the scene within three minutes and were threatened with a hammer as the thieves tried to speed away on mopeds. A 33-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of aggravated burglary and remains in police custody. But multiple thieves escaped police. A police cordon was in place more than 12 hours after the theft while shards of broken glass and jewellery remained strewn on the floor outside. Jack Stones, the landlord at the neighbouring Defectors Weld pub, said fresh blood was on the pavement outside the jewellers when he walked past at 7am, more than three hours after the attack. One resident said the attack was eerily similar to another heist which saw three robbers armed with a sledgehammer smash into the shop with a Range Rover in October 2019. Sultan Jewellers in Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, was targeted by several men who smashed the shop's windows with sledgehammers A police cordon was in place more than 12 hours after the theft while shards of broken glass and jewellery remained strewn on the floor Mr Khan, who only gave his surname, said: 'Its Shepherds Bush, theres always young people causing trouble, kicking the doors of shops down and drinking. Crime around here has got so bad lately.' The aforementioned previous robbery saw a black Range Rover crash through the window of the e-Smart Money foreign exchange, which was linked internally to the jewellers, before a thief in a motorcycle helmet rushed out with a sledgehammer. Bystanders were forced to take justice into their own hands and restrained one of the three robbers, Ben Wegener, as they attempted to flee on foot towards Westfield shopping centre. Pedestrians rushed to the thief, who had dropped a bag on the ground when he fell, and attempted to restrain him, pummelling him on the street while other onlookers filmed the scenes. A small group then pushed the apparent thief back to the ground when he tried to rise to his feet. Wegener, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he and two accomplices robbed the store, narrowly missing people inside. The other two robbers escaped but Wegener pleaded guilty to robbery, dangerous driving, possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage and receiving stolen goods. Police later recovered the Range Rover, which was stolen and was displaying false number plates. A Detroit judge allegedly embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from vulnerable and elderly adults to buy a local bar and a $62,000 new car. Andrea Bradley-Baskin, 46, a judge for Michigan's 36th District Court, has been accused of using laundered money to buy the now-closed Chick's Bar in Detroit, a new Ford Expedition, and cover her rent for the entire year, an indictment said. Bradley-Baskin was indicted along with three other people including her father Avery Bradley, 72, in connection with the 'years long scheme,' according to prosecutors. The father-daughter duo allegedly conspired with Nancy Williams, 59, and Dwight Rashad, 69, to systematically funnel funds away from vulnerable adults under their purview. Williams is the owner of Guardian and Associates, a fiduciary agency for more than 1,000 incapacitated people, while Rashad owns residential properties housing the elderly and incapacitated. Bradley-Baskin and Bradley's law firm represented Guardian and Associates, which would place vulnerable adults within Rashad's housing and would collect kickbacks, according to the indictment. Williams is also accused of using some of the victims' money to pay rent to Rashad even though they were not living at his facilities. The judge is accused of using $70,000 of one ward's income to buy Chick's Bar, the indictment, viewed by the Daily Mail, said. Andrea Bradley-Baskin, 46, a judge for Michigan's 36th District Court, has been accused of using laundered money to buy the now-closed Chick's Bar in Detroit, a new Ford Expedition, and cover her rent for the entire year, an indictment said The judge is accused of using $70,000 of one ward's income to buy Chick's Bar, according to the indictment She also allegedly used a ward's funds to sign a two-year lease on a Ford Expedition SUV, the indictment alleged. Bradley, Williams, and Rashad are accused of laundering more than $203,000 from a legal settlement one victim received. 'This state judge and her cronies allegedly abused that high honor for personal gain by preying on the needy protected by the court,' US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. said in a statement. 'This would be a grievous abuse of our public trust.' Prosecutors alleged the foursome are guilty of 'looting bank accounts, exploiting legal authority, and profiting off those who relied on them for care and protection'. 'No matter who you are, or what your position is, it is entirely unacceptable to help yourself to money that is not yours,' Karen Wingerd, special agent in charge for the Detroit Field Office, said in a statement. All four were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud over alleged crimes dating back to 2016. Bradley is additionally charged with wire fraud. He, his daughter and Rashad have been charged with money laundering. The judge also got hit with a single count of making a false statement. Bradley-Baskin was indicted along with three other people including her father Avery Bradley, 72, in connection with the 'years long scheme,' according to prosecutors Bradley-Baskin is a judge for the 36th District Court, a position she took after working with her dad as a lawyer It is not uncommon that probate courts assign guardians or conservators to those legally ruled unfit to care for themselves. Those appointed to care for the individuals are required to work in the best interests of their wards. The Daily Mail has reached out to Bradley and Bradley-Baskin's lawyers. It is unclear if the others have sought counsel. China's medical insurance fund sees stable operation Xinhua) 10:32, January 31, 2026 BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's basic medical insurance fund reported steady operations in 2025, with total revenue reaching approximately 2.95 trillion yuan (about 423 billion U.S. dollars) and expenditure standing at 2.42 trillion yuan, the National Healthcare Security Administration said on Friday. Breaking down the figures, revenue from the pooled fund for basic medical insurance, which covers employees and includes maternity insurance, reached 1.83 trillion yuan in 2025. The expenditure totaled 1.36 trillion yuan, of which maternity insurance benefits accounted for 135.97 billion yuan, according to the administration. As of the end of 2024, about 1.33 billion Chinese residents had joined the basic medical insurance schemes. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Energy workers have restored critical infrastructure in the city of Kyiv, Kyiv region, and Dnipropetrovsk region, while in Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, and Odesa regions electricity is already being returned to the population, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal reported. "As of 14:00, electricity supply for critical infrastructure has been restored in the city of Kyiv, Kyiv region, and Dnipropetrovsk region. The next stage will be the gradual restoration of power for residential consumers," Shmyhal wrote on his Telegram channel. According to him, in Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, and Odesa regions, energy workers are already returning electricity to residents. "The power system is functioning as a whole. Ukrenergo dispatchers are controlling the situation. At the same time, we continue to observe a significant capacity deficit. Several regions remain under emergency outage schedules," the Minister of Energy said. Six people have been shot, including a six-year-old child, after gunfire rang out at a Louisiana Mardi Gras parade. The child is in a critical condition following the shooting outside of East Feliciana Parish Courthouse in Clinton on Saturday around 12.20pm, WBRZ reported. No fatalities have been reported. Clinton had reportedly just started its 21st annual 'Mardi Gras in the Country' parade. The sheriff's office told WAFB that the fanfare was immediately shut down. Three suspects are in custody, The Advocate reported. Police are searching for a vehicle involved in the shooting. AirMed and multiple police agencies responded to the scene, per KPEL. Your browser does not support iframes. A shooting outside of East Feliciana Parish Courthouse in Clinton, Louisiana has left six injured At least six people were shot on Saturday in Clinton, Louisiana, including one six-year-old Clinton residents were attended the 21st Annual 'Mardi Gras in the Country' parade when shots rang out Police taped off the area and have arrested four suspects in the shooting Parade attendee Teresa Wells posted a video from the parade where she can be seen speaking to the camera as music blared before several rounds of gunshots rang out. 'Oh my god,' she yelled. 'Who just did that?' Wells ran for cover and appeared to scream for a friend nearby. A child screamed and cried in the background. Another witness spoke to WBRZ about the shooting. 'Everybody started running,' he said. 'This does not happen often in this particular area.' Multiple agencies responded to the incident including Louisiana State Police Victims ran as multiple round of gunshots rang out over the blaring music Officials said no fatalities have been reported. AirMed reportedly responded to the scene The Louisiana State Police took over the investigation. Streets were blocked off around the courthouse as parade guests and participants were ushered out of the area. Clinton is located more than 100 miles north of New Orleans and has a population of just 1,300 people. The Daily Mail contacted the Clinton Police Department for more information. A Netflix documentary about Lucy Letby that contains police footage of her being arrested in her pyjamas has been condemned by her parents as a 'complete invasion of privacy'. Speaking publicly for the first time since their daughter was jailed for life in August 2023, Susan and John Letby also said that the chief officer at the force which investigated the deaths of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital 'seemed to have a deep hatred' of them. Their remarks were made ahead of the release of the feature-length documentary on Wednesday, which is expected to show more unreleased footage of Letby during her arrests. It comes amid mounting doubts among eminent experts over the safety of the prosecution case against Letby, 36, who was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of seven others at the hospital between 2015 and 2016. Over the past 18 months, The Mail on Sunday has highlighted how she was found guilty on the basis of contested statistical probabilities and disputed theories about how she might have inflicted harm on the children. The juries reached their verdict despite the absence of any forensic or CCTV evidence and the lack of a convincing motive. Apparent contradictions in the testimony of Dr Dewi Evans, 75, the prosecution's chief expert witness, have come under particular scrutiny. Cheshire Constabulary passed further evidence to prosecutors last year relating to eight potential offences of attempted murder and one offence of murder at the hospital. Lucy Letby's parents John and Susan Letby at Manchester Crown Court in 2023 during their daughter's trial Lucy Letby during her arrest. Her parents have claimed police footage, shown in a new Netflix documentary, of Letby being arrested in her pyjamas is a 'complete invasion of privacy' But after studying the files, the CPS confirmed last month that Letby will face no further charges. Her defence team argue that this was because a new trial would have exposed the flaws in her original convictions. A trailer for the Netflix programme shows officers arriving at the nurse's family home, where she was staying with her parents, in Hereford in June 2019 and entering her bedroom. She is seen sitting up in bed, looking confused, as police say they are arresting her on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. She is then led away in her dressing gown. The Letbys told The Sunday Times that said they would not watch the documentary because 'it would likely kill us if we did'. They said in a statement: 'We've always imagined that if something life-changing is going to happen to you the next day, you would somehow have a premonition that something was about to happen. 'We can honestly say that on the eve of all three of the arrests we had absolutely no idea they were coming.' Her parents questioned why police had decided to release the footage and said: 'Why is [investigating officer Detective Superintendent] Paul Hughes, with whom we always co-operated fully, allowed to show the world what took place in our house that morning and Netflix not even have the decency to tell us? A trailer for the Netflix programme shows officers arriving at Letby's family home in Hereford, where she was staying with her parents, in June 2019 and entering her bedroom. Police then arrest her on suspicion of murder and attempted murder Letby was jailed for life in August 2023 for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of seven others between 2015 and 2016 Netflix's new documentary about the Lucy Letby case is set to be released on Wednesday 'He seems to have a deep hatred of us.' The couple reveal that they had co-operated with the police by reporting to them in March 2017 that Stephen Brearey and Ravi Jayaram - doctors at the hospital whose role in encouraging a police investigation into Letby at a time when the hospital was struggling to keep premature babies alive has come under increasing scrutiny - were trying to make their daughter a 'scapegoat' for the failings. Dame Esther Rantzen, the former host of BBC consumer show That's Life!, told The Sunday Times that the case should be re-examined. Letby's case is now being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Israeli air strikes killed at least 32 people including children in Gaza on Saturday, according to local authorities. Strikes hit locations across the territory, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. An airstrike also hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people and wounding others. Palestinians have described these strikes as the heaviest since the second phase of the ceasefire, brokered by President Trump in October, came into effect earlier this month. Egypt, one of the ceasefire mediators, condemned the Israeli strikes in the 'strongest terms', warning they posed 'a direct threat to the political course' of the truce. Qatar, another mediator, called the strikes a 'dangerous escalation' and said continuing them threatens the political process. 'The death toll since dawn today has risen to 32, most of them children and women,' said the civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, updating an earlier toll of 28. 'Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted,' agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in the statement. Smoke rises from the Gath shelter, housing displaced Palestinians, after an Israeli air strike in the west of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip on January 31, 2026 Strikes hit locations across the territory, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said Palestinians inspect a damaged police station in Gaza City, Gaza, on January 31, 2026 A unit in an apartment building of Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood was left entirely destroyed, and blood spatters were visible on the street below, an AFP journalist reported. Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City apartment building strike killed three children, their aunt and grandmother on Saturday morning, while the police station strike killed at least 14, including four policewomen, civilians and inmates. 'We found my three little nieces in the street. They say "ceasefire" and all. What did those children do? What did we do?' said Samer al-Atbash, an uncle of the three dead children, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, Nasser Hospital said a strike on the tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven people, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Video footage and images from across Gaza showed bodies being lifted out of rubble and a multiple buildings destroyed. The strikes came a day before the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza's southernmost city. All of the territory's border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. Rafah's opening, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8 Palestinians see the Rafah crossing as a lifeline for the tens of thousands in need of treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed. Rafah's opening, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire. Reopening borders is among the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now under way, which also include demilitarising the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction. Still, Saturday's strikes are a reminder that the death toll in Gaza is still rising even as the ceasefire agreement inches forward. Hamas called the strikes 'a renewed flagrant violation' and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop strikes. A military official, speaking on Saturday on the condition of anonymity in line with protocol, could not comment on the specific targets, but said Israel carried out overnight and Saturday strikes in response to what the army said were ceasefire violations the day before. Israel's military, which has hit targets on both sides of the ceasefire's yellow line, has said strikes since October have been in response to violations of the agreement. In a statement on Friday, the military said they killed three militants exiting a tunnel in an Israeli-controlled zone in Rafah. Gaza's Health Ministry has recorded 509 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on October 10. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Elon Musk claimed that his emails with dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein have been 'misinterpreted' as he insisted that he did not go to his island. The world's richest man said Saturday on X that he had declined, 'repeated invitations' from Epstein to visit him in the Caribbean or fly on his famed 'Lolita Express' private plane. Musk added that he was, 'well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name'. 'I don't care about that, but what I do care about is that we at least attempt to prosecute those who committed serious crimes with Epstein,' Musk said. In particular he called for those who committed, 'heinous exploitation of underage girls' to be brought to justice. Government files appeared to show that the Tesla leader emailed Epstein about what day would be suitable to visit the financier for a soiree. 'What day/night will be the wildest party on =our [sic] island?' Musk emailed Epstein on November 25, 2012, per Department of Justice documents released on Friday. Elon Musk said he was 'well aware that some email correspondence with [Jeffrey Epstein] could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name' Documents released by the Department of Justice on Friday revealed that Musk emailed Epstein about what day to visit him for a party Musk also said the latest release of the Epstein files was 'nothing but a distraction'. The Tesla leader added that justice would only arrive when arrests are made in connection to the convicted sex offender's crimes. 'What matters is not release [sic] of some subset of the Epstein files, but rather the prosecution of those who committed heinous crimes with Epstein,' Musk wrote on X. Musk also called for Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's 'clients' to be detained. 'Until we see at least one client arrest, this partial release of Epstein files means nothing,' he said. The date of Musk's email came after Epstein had been convicted of sex crimes against minors in Florida. Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring a child for prostitution in 2008. Musk called the latest release of the Epstein files was 'nothing but a distraction' and called for arrests to be made Musk's cozy relationship with the deceased pedophile was unveiled on Friday as part of the Justice Department's release of more than three million documents relating to Epstein. The emails - dated roughly four years after Epstein's conviction - showed the disgraced pedophile asking Musk, 'how many people will you be for the heli to island.' Musk responded that it would probably be himself and his then-wife Talulah Riley. A further email from the multibillionaire to Epstein on Christmas saw Musk inquiring about whether Epstein had any 'parties planned'. Musk wrote: 'I've been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose.' 'The invitation is much appreciated,' he added. 'But a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what I'm looking for.' Musk emailed Epstein again in the following year, in December 2013, to coordinate a trip. An undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York showed Ghislaine Maxwell rubbing's Epstein feet on a plane Epstein owned Little St. James Island in the US Virgin Islands. 'Will be in the BVI/St Bart's area over the holidays,' Musk wrote to Epstein. 'Is there a good time to visit?' Epstein responded: 'any day 1st - 8th . play it by ear if you want. always space for you.' Other emails between the two appeared to show the late financier promising to send a helicopter for the Tesla billionaire. The pair communicated again on Christmas Day with Epstein writing, 'the 2 or 3 would be perfect. I will come and get you.' Musk noted that he would need to travel back to Los Angeles on January 2, 2013, before claiming he could delay his departure. 'Actually, I could fly back early on the 3rd. We will be in St Bart's. When should we head to your island on the 2nd?' Musk wrote to Epstein. It is not clear whether he ultimately visited Epstein on his island, but the email communications indicate they had a friendly relationship. Epstein was discovered hanging in his New York prison cell on August 10, 2019, as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide Last September, Musk claimed that he had turned down invitations from Epstein to visit his island. 'Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED,' he wrote on X. Musk claimed the same version of events in 2019 when he said that Epstein, 'tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island' but that he turned down the invitations. 'Epstein is obviously a creep,' Musk told Vanity Fair then. He added: 'Several years ago, I was at his house in Manhattan for about 30 minutes in the middle of the afternoon with Talulah, as she was curious about meeting this strange person for a novel she was writing.' Epstein was accused of trafficking and sexually abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14, according to his July 2019 indictment. He was found hanging in his New York prison cell on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide. Epstein's co-conspirator Maxwell is the only person serving time in prison related to the dead pedophile's crimes. The Daily Mail has reached out to Musk's companies - SpaceX, Tesla, X and xAI - for comment. Sir Keir Starmer tonight called on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to testify before the US Congress after disturbing photos of the former prince appeared in the latest Epstein files. The Prime Minister said the disgraced former Duke of York had a duty to the victims of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, as further damaging material emerged from the disclosure. Sir Keir said victims 'have to be the first priority' and that 'anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that'. He added that a 'victim-centred' approach was why Andrew should co-operate fully and provide information 'in whatever form' he is requested. The comments came after images appearing to show Andrew crouched over an unidentified woman were published. The photographs form part of more than three million documents released by the US Department of Justice on Friday. As he arrived in Japan for the final leg of his visit to East Asia, Sir Keir was asked if Andrew should apologise and testify to the congressional Epstein investigation. The Prime Minister replied: 'Firstly I always approach this question with the victims of Epstein's in mind. Epstein's victims have to be the first priority. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor 'should be prepared' to testify before the US Congress about his links to Jeffrey Epstein, after he featured in the latest disclosure of files related to the disgraced paedophile financier, Sir Keir Starmer has suggested Pictures which appear to show Andrew crouched over an unidentified woman are featured in the latest disclosure of files linked to Epstein A 'victim-centred' approach to dealing with Epstein is the reason Andrew should share information in 'whatever form' he is asked, the Prime Minister said 'Whether there should be an apology, that's a matter for Andrew. 'But, yes, in terms of testifying, I've always said anybody who's got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they're asked to do that because you can't be victim-centred if you're not prepared to do that. The Government continued to heap pressure on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to testify before a US investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, as it is what the paedophile financier's victims 'deserve and need'. Communities Secretary Steve Reed was asked on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News if the Government would comply with an extradition request from the US for the former duke, should one be made. He replied: 'You're asking me now details of legislation that would depend on the type of offence that may or may not have been committed. It's entirely hypothetical. 'I don't think it's sensible for me to come on here and start talking hypothetically about situations that may or may not exist. 'But the principle here is very, very clear: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor clearly has insight into what was going on, and he should testify, because the victims deserve and need him, and anybody else who may have witnessed things, to do that.' Mr Reed added he had 'no idea' if the Government could compel Andrew to take part in the congressional investigation. The calls came as more documents from the files revealed testimony from a new woman who claimed that both Andrew and Epstein 'abused her terribly'. She alleged in a statement to the FBI that she was trafficked to the paedophile financier and then used by him and Andrew. The woman, who has not been identified said in her July 2020, submission: 'I have been trafficked to Epstein. He and Andrew have dragged me through hell and back. 'They tore me and hurt the very soul of me. He became a controller and sexually abused me. 'He was friends with Andrew, who did the same thing.' She claimed to have been abused between 1996 and 2018. Andrew has always denied all the allegations against him. The latest pictures, released in a document of 100 pages of photographs, also appear to show the former duke touching the woman's abdomen. Another unidentified person's feet are up on a table in the background. They have no captions and it is not known where they were taken. Elsewhere in the document dump, screenshots and scans appear to show the former prince exchanged emails with Epstein about a 'beautiful' Russian woman and invited him to Buckingham Palace. Lord Mandelson, the former ambassador to the US, also features in the release of files. The peer was sacked as the chief envoy to Washington DC after revelations of his continued contact with Epstein following his guilty plea in 2008 to soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor. Lord Mandelson has offered an unequivocal apology to Epstein's victims. The documents showed exchanges between Epstein and Reinaldo Avila da Silva, the husband of Lord Mandelson, about paying a fee for him to attend the British School of Osteopathy. One email referred to a 10,000 transfer from Epstein. Sir Keir was asked if the payment, apparently made while Lord Mandelson was serving as business secretary, fell below the standards of a peer of the realm. The images are among more than three million documents published by the US Department of Justice on Friday, including images of a man who appears to be Andrew kneeling on the floor next to a woman lying down Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaves Royal Lodge for a ride in Windsor Great Park on January 31 It comes after earlier today it emerged Andrew sent photographs of his daughters Eugenie and Beatrice to Epstein at Christmas as the princesses were dragged into the latest scandal to hit their disgraced parents The Prime Minister replied: 'In relation to Peter Mandelson, obviously he was removed as ambassador in relation to the further information that came to light in September of last year and I've nothing more to say in relation to Peter Mandelson.' It comes after earlier today it emerged Andrew sent photographs of his daughters Eugenie and Beatrice to Epstein at Christmas as the princesses were dragged into the latest scandal to hit their disgraced parents. The King's brother, 65, included a series of snaps of the sisters in two festive emails sent in 2011 and 2012, files released by the US Department of Justice last night show. The pictures were sent when Eugenie was 21 and 22, and Beatrice was 23 and 24, after the disgraced financier's 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution. The intimate family snaps were sent up to two years after the former prince previously claimed to have cut off all contact with the paedophile. The image of him proudly showing off his daughters' exploits as a doting father figure draws a stark contrast with the secret life he and ex-wife Sarah lived behind closed doors as they rubbed shoulders with the rich and powerful. The emails were released as part of a tranche of some three million documents relating to Epstein by the US government on Friday, and were just a fraction of the embarrassing content for the former Duke and Duchess of York. The latest revelations leave Beatrice and Eugenie in 'trying times', royal expert Jennie Bond said today, as the sisters struggle to navigate their father's increasingly humiliating position ostracised from the royal family. The first email, sent from Andrew's official 'HRH The Duke of York' email account on December 21, 2011, included a picture of Beatrice and Eugenie posing together in the snow. Princess Beatrice is pictured wearing a silver Christmas cracker hat and ear muffs, while Princess Eugenie is wrapped up in a fur hat and brown scarf. A photograph of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson which was revealed in the latest release of the Epstein files on Friday Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sent photographs of his daughters Eugenie and Beatrice to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein at Christmas (Pictured: Andrew, Sarah Ferguson and their daughters at a 2006 birthday party for Princess Beatrice which was attended by Epstein, Harvey Weinstein and Ghislaine Maxwell) It is one of four images on the greetings card which also include a photograph of a snow-covered Royal Lodge and what appears to be Andrew in a canoe. The card states: 'Wishing you much joy and happiness and this time and for the year ahead' and is signed by Andrew. The second card, sent on December 20 2012, include pictures of the princesses on a charity bike ride and mountain climbing. In captioned photos it displays Andrew abseiling down The Shard, and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 66, walking across Great Slave Lake in Canada. Princess Beatrice is seen posing with one hand on her hip while climbing Mont Blanc in February 2012, while her sister is seen taking part in a Night Rider event in London, atop a bike and wearing high-vis and a helmet. Alongside 3,000 other participants, Princess Eugenie raised 9,000 for her charities of choice, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and the MCC Foundation to support the building of a cricket stadium in Rwanda. The images see the innocent sisters dragged into the latest twist in the scandal which has engulfed their parents for months, seeing them stripped of privileges, titles and finally evicted from their 30-room home, the Royal Lodge in Windsor. The son of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei owns luxury mansions in Britain worth more than 100 million. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who is touted as the leader's successor, is said to own 11 properties on The Bishops Avenue - an exclusive street in Hampstead, north London, also known as 'Billionaires' Row'. Mr Khamenei, the Ayatollah's second son, owns the properties through a network of shell companies, one of which is registered in the tax haven of the Isle of Man. Birch Ventures Limited does not list Mr Khamenei as a director or owner, but it lists banker Ali Ansari as a beneficial owner. Mr Ansari, described as an Iranian oligarch with close links to the Khamenei family, was sanctioned by the Treasury in October. He is accused of financing the Ayatollah's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), said to be behind most of the killings of protesters in the recent nationwide anti-regime demonstrations that left up to 70,000 Iranians dead. Mr Ansari used to run the Ayandeh Bank, which collapsed last year, adding to Iran's economic woes. The Treasury sanction statement made no reference to Mr Khamenei being linked to Mr Ansari. The news channel Bloomberg says it has spoken to sources and seen documents which link the London properties to Mr Khamenei, who has built himself a global property empire through Mr Ansari. Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is pictured during a protest on May 31, 2019 Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who is touted as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's successor, is said to own 11 properties on Bishops Avenue (pictured) Land Registry Records show The Bishops Avenue premises were all bought together in 2013 for 73 million, and their value is now believed to be in excess of 100 million. It comes as five people were killed after explosions ripped across Iran yesterday. Video footage showed smoke billowing from a building in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas. A four-year-old girl was killed and 14 people injured. Fire chiefs blamed the blast on a gas explosion. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said social media reports alleging the commander of the regime's naval forces had been targeted in the Bandar Abbas explosion were 'completely false'. Four members of the same family died in an explosion in the city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border, according to the state-run Tehran Times. Again, a gas leak was blamed for the blast. Four other explosions were reported across Iran. It follows US President Donald Trump's threat of airstrikes against the Ayatollah over the deaths of protesters. Two Israeli officials said the country was not involved in the blasts. Last night, the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. Bandar Abbas, home to Iran's most important container port, lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil. It is also home to the IRGC naval headquarters. A second woman has claimed she was sent to the UK by paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The alleged encounter is said to have taken place at his former 30-bedroom mansion, Royal Lodge, in Windsor, in 2010. It is the first time an Epstein survivor has claimed they were sexually abused at a royal residence. The woman, who is not British and was in her 20s at the time, said she was given a tour of Buckingham Palace and tea after spending the night with Andrew. While the Palace records the names of visitors, it has not been possible to corroborate her claims without revealing her identity. This is the second woman to allege that she was sent to the UK by Epstein to have sex with Andrew. Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that she was brought to London to have sex with the former Prince in 2001 when she was 17, was the first. Ms Giuffre, who took her own life last April, said she was forced to have sex with Andrew twice more in 2001 and 2002 - once in New York and again on Epstein's private Caribbean island. Andrew has always denied Ms Giuffre's claims. The revelations come after images appearing to show Andrew crouched on all fours over a woman were published in the Epstein files. He is staring directly at the camera in one picture, while in another he has placed his left hand on the female's stomach. Andrew is seen taking a stroll through Central Park in New York with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 Images appearing to show former Prince Andrew crouched on all fours over a woman were published in the Epstein files Andrew is pictured with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell He is yet to comment on the latest allegations which were first reported by the BBC. The second woman to accuse the ex-Duke of sexual assault is being represented by Brad Edwards from the US law firm Edwards Henderson. He told the Daily Mail: 'Our client has suffered enough. As everyone knows, Andrews power and access flowed directly from his status in the royal family, and that power enabled the conduct at issue. 'The time has come for the monarchy to acknowledge the harm caused and to ensure any victims are fairly treated. This is about responsibility and repairnot avoidance.' Edwards Henderson is based in Florida and has represented 200 Epstein survivors worldwide, including Andrew's accuser Ms Giuffre. Ms Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against Andrew in 2021 and the case was settled for an estimated 12million the following year. Meanwhile, further documents from the Epstein files today revealed testimony from a another woman who claimed that both Andrew and Epstein 'abused her terribly'. She alleged in a statement to the FBI that she was trafficked to the paedophile financier and then used by him and Andrew. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaves Royal Lodge for a ride in Windsor Great Park on January 31 Epstein is pictured in Cambridge in 2004. He died by suicide in prison in 2019 The woman, who has not been identified, said in her July 2020 submission: 'I have been trafficked to Epstein. He and Andrew have dragged me through hell and back. 'They tore me and hurt the very soul of me. He became a controller and sexually abused me. 'He was friends with Andrew, who did the same thing.' She claimed to have been abused between 1996 and 2018. It comes as Sir Keir Starmer tonight called on Andrew to testify before the US Congress following the disclosure of three million new Epstein documents. The Prime Minister said victims 'have to be the first priority' and that 'anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that'. He added that a 'victim-centred' approach was why Andrew should co-operate fully and provide information 'in whatever form' he is requested. Other revelations that emerged yesterday include the accusation that Andrew invited Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace days after his house arrest ended. He promised 'lots of privacy' to the paedophile shortly after he was granted his freedom following a conviction for soliciting a minor. In the astonishing email, from September 2010, Epstein requested 'private time' while on a visit to London, to which Andrew replied: 'We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy.' In the three images, a man who appears to be the former Prince, can be seen crouching over the person who is sprawled face up with their arms spread out The townhouse where the financier Jeffrey Epstein is accused of engaging in sex acts with underage girls It is unclear where the images where taken and no further context is given It is not clear if the offer was taken up. But just two days later, the pair were back in email contact, with Epstein asking the then-Prince: 'g [Ghislaine Maxwell] is here with me...what are you doing?' Andrew replied to say he had a 'lunch with a Saudi Prince and then out to secret intelligence firm', before telling Epstein: 'Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I'll be here free from 1600ish.' The exchange came during what must have been one of Epstein's first sojourns outside the US, having served a 13-month sentence for sex crimes mostly in his Palm Beach mansion following a sweetheart plea deal with prosecutors. The previous month, Epstein had offered to set up a dinner for Andrew with a 'clever, beautiful and trustworthy' 26-year-old Russian woman, saying: 'She has your email.' The Prince, who would have been 50 at the time, replied that he would be 'delighted to see her'. And he cheerfully asked the convicted child sex predator, whose house arrest had finished just days earlier: 'Good to be free?' There are also new emails relating to Sarah, formerly the Duchess of York, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - including pictures of them from Andrew's electronic Christmas cards. Several emails refer to the well-chronicled debts of Sarah - who took money from Epstein to help pay them off. One email sent in August 2009 shows her thanking him for being 'the brother I have always wished for'. In another email, Ms Ferguson calls Epstein 'my dear spectacular and special friend' and 'a legend'. Epstein's madam - and Andrew's long-term friend - Maxwell is also heavily referenced in the documents. In one email to Andrew, she joked that 'five stunning redheads' would now have to 'play with ourselves' because the former Duke had said he should spend time with his children instead of visiting 'the Island', thought to be Epstein's private property in the US Virgin Islands. The email exchange - in which Andrew calls himself 'The Invisible Man' - from August 2002 reveals the Prince begging Maxwell's forgiveness if he turns down her offer and holidays with his family instead. She replies, 'I will not be remotely offended', but then jokes that a woman whose name was redacted 'who is now coming and five other stunning redheads will all just have to play with ourselves'. Elsewhere in the files, a 25-year-old masseuse said to have worked for Epstein in 1999 said she 'didn't feel good' about being asked to massage Andrew - because she thought she was being asked 'to do more'. The unnamed woman submitted a statement to a private investigations team in 2021 that was sent to Maxwell's defence team, the files show. She said: 'I was only involved with Jeffrey for a year. 'I never saw him like a creepy guy. There were never any young girls. I saw Prince Andrew and Donald Trump. [Epstein] wanted me to give Prince Andrew a massage, but I didn't feel good about that. I wonder if he was offering me to him to do more.' Andrew and President Trump have consistently denied any wrongdoing. Sandee and Joshua Greenberg have spoken to the Daily Mail's Trial USA podcast about their 15-year search for answers over the disputed death of their daughter, Ellen. Ellen Rae Greenberg, 27, a Philadelphia elementary school teacher, was found dead in her locked apartment in 2011 with over 10 stab wounds to her head and neck. Despite an autopsy initially ruling the death a homicide, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office surprisingly changed the ruling to suicide weeks later in February 2011 after police challenged the findings. Since then, Ellen's parents have fought with the city to have the ruling overturned and the case reopened. In 2024, Sandee and Joshua had a breakthrough when Dr. Marlon Osbourne, the medical examiner who performed Ellen's autopsy, signed a sworn statement saying he no longer believed her death was suicide. Ellen Rae Greenberg, 27, a Philadelphia elementary school teacher, was found dead in her locked apartment in 2011 with over 20 stab wounds to her head, neck and torso Multiple forensic experts concluded that the wounds to the back of Ellen's head and neck were physically impossible to self-inflict In January 2026, it emerged that the US Attorney's Office was investigating possible corruption in how multiple agencies handled Ellen's case, with subpoenas reportedly issued to Philadelphia police, prosecutors and the medical examiner's office. 'Ellen's psychiatrist had written in her notes, which we obtained later on, that our daughter was not suicidal', Joshua told Daily Mail Features Editor, Laura Collins, in an exclusive interview. 'She was suffering from anxiety. If you have anxiety, you don't commit suicide. 'We knew something was wrong we contacted Dr. Cyril Wecht, a specialist in reviewing homicides who worked on the JFK assassination. 'He came back to us with suspicions of homicide. He also told us that women do not usually use methods that are painful to kill themselves. If you research women who have committed suicide, you will not find anyone who has stabbed themselves.' Beyond the method, there were a number of strange details about Ellen's death that led people to challenge the suicide ruling. Multiple forensic experts concluded that the wounds to the back of Ellen's head and neck were physically impossible to self-inflict. One wound had severed Ellen's spinal cord, which would have caused immediate paralysis, making it impossible for her to continue harming herself. At least one of her injuries was shown to have occurred post-mortem, an impossibility for a suicide. At the time of her death, Ellen was living with her lawyer fiance, Samuel Goldberg, 43, who said he was at the gym when she died. Upon returning home, he found the apartment door locked from the inside with a swing latch. After waiting outside for approximately 45 minutes to an hour, he said he broke down the door to gain entry. Sandee and Joshua question Goldberg's account and believe police accepted his version of events without conducting a full investigation. Goldberg has never been named a suspect and has not been charged with any crime in connection with Ellen's death. At the time of her death, Ellen was living with her lawyer fiance, Samuel Goldberg, 43, who said he was at the gym when she died Sandee and Joshua question Goldberg's account and believe police accepted his version of events without conducting a full investigation 'Police never did a thorough examination of that apartment', Joshua claimed. 'They came back with a search warrant three days after. Crime scene cleaners had already scrubbed the scene. 'There were no yellow retainer strips - saying don't go here, don't go there. The crime scene was open. 'I hate to use a specific name, but Sam sent his uncle to the apartment to get him clothes for the funeral. 'The uncle also took Ellen's computers, handbags, car keys and other personal items. He did not have permission from us to touch or take that. 'We always felt that was weird because as a lawyer, you would know not to remove things from a crime scene. Sandee added: 'We would like to know exactly what happened that day. Why was Ellen not wearing her engagement ring? Was she planning on leaving? 'After Ellen passed, Sam would check in with me and we would have conversations. I would say to him: 'Sam, we know this isn't a suicide.' There would then be an awkward silence.' Both Sandee and Josh admitted the search for answers had taken an enormous toll on them. However, Sandee revealed she felt 'more optimistic than ever before' since news of a federal investigation. She said: 'That fact that the case is out of corrupt Pennsylvania is very encouraging. It may lead to something, but I can't predict the future.' Listen to a full breakdown of Ellen's case by searching for the Trial USA now, wherever you get your podcasts. The Princess of Wales showed off her love of art as she paid a visit to a culture centre in Winchester. Kate, who studied Art History at St Andrews, called The Beauty of Earth exhibition celebrating the legacy of the Morris family 'inspiring'. She wrote on Instagram: 'My thanks to the team at The Arc in Winchester. 'It was inspiring to see how they have placed creativity at the heart of the community and made art widely accessible. 'The Beauty of The Earth exhibition was a powerful reminder of the connection between nature, creativity and craft.' Kate signed off personally: 'C'. The exhibition, now sold out, ran from November 15 until February 4 and was guest curated by Suzanne Fagence Cooper, a specialist in 19th and 20th century art and design. It showcased the work of the Morris family and their appreciation of nature, shown through their homes which were transformed into 'creative and pleasurable spaces'. The exhibition states: 'From embroidery to wallpaper, decorated books to oil paintings, the exhibition gathers works from the earliest days of Jane and Williams marriage. Kate eagerly discussed the artwork as she explored the Morris exhibition in Winchester Kate wrote: 'The Beauty of The Earth exhibition was a powerful reminder of the connection between nature, creativity and craft' Kate thanked The Arc centre for their 'inspiring' creativity after her visit to the Morris family exhibition The cultural hub responded that it was an 'honour' to have been visited by the Princess 'It will also feature works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and John Ruskin, as well as designs by May Morris which are on public display for the first time. 'Together, these will show how the visionary art of the Morris family can still encourage us to love the narrow spot that surrounds our daily life. It also featured a sound piece recorded in the countryside at the Morris family's summer house in Oxfordshire. The Duchess, 44, was dressed stylishly in a camel coat and orange scarf with a fitted turtle neck jumper on the visit to Winchester's Arc Centre, a hub for the city set in an iconic Grade II listed building. The centre, established as a charity in 2014, contains Winchester Library and hosts live performances, classes and talks, as well as art exhibitions. They responded to the Princess: 'We were honoured to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales to Beauty of the Earth: The Art of May, Jane & William Morris at The Arc, Winchester. 'This exhibition celebrates the enduring legacy of the Morris family, highlighting the artistic contributions of May and Jane Morris alongside William Morris. 'We are proud to see this important exhibition recognised in this way.' Last year, art-fan Kate unveiled her own exhibition at the V&A, an arts organisation of which she is a patron Pictured: The Princess of Wales being shown around the V&A East Storehouse, a cultural destination in east London, by the director of the V&A, Tristram Hunt The Princess of Wales has long been a supporter of the arts, having studied it at university and since becoming a patron of many arts-based charities. Last year, she unveiled her own art exhibition at the V&A in London. Kate, who is Royal Patron of the V&A, personally worked with the museum's curatorial team to select eight significant works from across its large collection for her 'Makers and Creators' exhibition. Her chosen objects included a watercolour study of a forest glade by children's author Beatrix Potter, a 15th century earthenware tile and a furnishing screen designed by William Morris's assistant, J H Dearle in the mid-1880s. They also include Oliver Messel's costume for the Fairy of the Woodland Glades, worn by Diana Vere in The Royal Ballet's 1960 production of The Sleeping Beauty. Some states in America offer the safest and most supportive environments for starting a family, while others fall far short, a study suggests. Massachusetts was named the best overall for raising children, thanks to its top-tier schools and quality public services. A study ranked each of the 50 states using five key indicators that matter most to families. Massachusetts excelled in areas such as education and health, ranking third in family fun, first in education and child care, and third in affordability, despite having a high cost of living. The Bay State fulfilled key criteria, including having high-quality schools and low infant mortality rates. 'Raising a family has become significantly more expensive in recent years as the cost of living has risen quickly,' said Chip Lupo, analyst at financial website WalletHub, which conducted the study. 'It can cost a family as much as $320,000 to raise a child to age 18, according to statistics from the US Department of Agriculture. 'In light of the expensive nature of being a parent and the responsibility it entails, it's important to live in a city that is affordable while still providing quality health care, education, safety and opportunities for enrichment.' Some states in America offer the safest and most supportive environments for raising a family - and some fall far short, a study has suggested Massachusetts came out on top, thanks to its excellent schools and quality public services North Jamestown, North Dakota, came third in the ranking by the financial website WalletHub Following Massachusetts, the highest-ranked states were Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. They were followed by Nebraska, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Illinois and Maine in tenth. All those states had positive metrics across areas such as family fun, health and safety, and socioeconomic conditions. For example, Minnesota's strong family income statistics and lower divorce rates helped secure its spot near the top. For families considering relocation or evaluating quality of life, the rankings offer a detailed snapshot of how states compare for financial, educational and safety issues. Massachusetts, Minnesota, and North Dakota may offer the best balance of opportunity and livability, while states at the bottom may present challenges in cost, access to quality services or community resources. But not all states fared well. The bottom five scored lowest for family-friendly conditions, with New Mexico landing in the worst spot, despite the fact that it became the first state in the US to offer no-cost universal child care to all residents late last year. 'New Mexico ranks last overall for raising a family because many core conditions that support family life are weak,' said Lupo. 'While the state recently introduced universal free childcare, this policy was not yet in effect when the report was compiled, so its potential impact on family affordability and well-being was not captured in the rankings. New Mexico will likely rise in the rankings next year.' Huntsville in Alabama, which scored low in five major categories, such as family fun and health Mobile in Alabama, one of the states that was ranked as one of the worst to raise a family New Mexico is at the bottom of the rankings, due to having fewer places for family fun, weak education outcomes, poor health indicators and economic headwinds 'In the family fun category, New Mexico ranks 47th for attractions as well as fitness and recreation centers per capita, and it is 50th for the share of children living near a park or playground. 'That means fewer everyday options for kids to play, be active, and spend quality time with family. 'Education is an even bigger challenge. New Mexico is 50th in education and child Care. Public schools rank 39th, the graduation rate is just 81.9 percent, the 43rd spot. It has the lowest participation in school extracurricular activities. 'These weaknesses limit childrens academic and social opportunities despite mid-range child-care costs.' In New Mexico, the health stats are concerning, too. 'The state has the highest infant mortality rate and the lowest life expectancy at 71.92 years, alongside some of the fewest pediatricians with 2.03 per capita, 49th and childrens hospitals, ranked 49th,' Lupo said. Economically, families are also under strain in the state. 'New Mexico has one of the lowest median family incomes at $79,974 it's 45th, the highest share of families in poverty at 14.3 percent at 50th, and a high separation and divorce rate at 23.99 percent, 47th. Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, which lagged behind in factors such as affordable housing, health and safety, and economic opportunities Illinois checked important criteria, such as top-tier schools, lower infant mortality rates and quality public services, all determined essential for a successful family life New Hampshire had positive metrics in areas such as family fun, as well as health and safety Santa Fe in New Mexico, which scored badly in affordable housing and economic opportunities 'While job security ranks fourth and foreclosure rates are low, these positives are outweighed by financial stress and limited opportunities for children. 'Altogether, these factors help explain why New Mexico is at the bottom of the rankings. Fewer places for family fun, weak education outcomes, poor health indicators, and economic headwinds make it especially challenging to raise a family there.' Along with New Mexico at the bottom were West Virginia, Mississippi, Nevada, and Alabama at 46. According to the data, these states lag behind in key areas, including affordable housing, health, safety, and economic opportunities, all of which are critical to family stability and quality of life. WalletHub analysts compiled data across five major categories, including family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability and socioeconomics. Each state was scored based on those metrics, with a higher score reflecting conditions more favorable for family life. In Kherson, four civilians, including two children, were injured after a car detonated an explosive device, preliminarily identified as a petal-type mine, according to the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutors Office. "According to the investigation, on January 31, 2026, at around 7:30 a.m. in Kherson, a car detonated an explosive device, preliminarily a petal-type mine. As a result of the explosion, four civilians were injured: a man, a woman, and two girls," the statement said, as published on the Telegram channel. Under the procedural supervision of the Kherson District Prosecutors Office, a pre-trial investigation has been launched into the commission of a war crime under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Homes are being snatched back by lenders at alarming rates nationwide - but in five states, the crisis is hitting especially hard. Foreclosures, which occur when a bank takes back a home after missed mortgage payments, jumped 14 percent from a year earlier. In total, 367,460 US properties faced foreclosure filings in 2025, meaning they were in some stage of being repossessed by a lender, according to ATTOM's data. The storm was most intense in Florida, where one in every 230 homes slipped into the foreclosure pipeline. It is an unsettling sign in a state already grappling with soaring insurance and home association costs. Economist Michael Szanto said Floridas deepening condo crisis is playing a major role. 'Florida is being uniquely affected by a massive rise in assessments for older condo buildings in response to the tragic Surfside collapse,' he explained, referring to the deadly 2021 condominium disaster that reshaped safety rules statewide. Close behind, Delaware and South Carolina were also near the eye of the storm, with roughly one in every 240 homes facing a filing. The trouble didn't stop there. Illinois and Nevada rounded out the top five, each seeing about one in 248 housing units pulled into the process - a sign the wave is washing across both Midwestern and Western markets. Your browser does not support iframes. Foreclosure is when a bank or lender takes back a home because the owner hasn't made the required mortgage payments Economist Michael Szanto What's striking is that there's no clear pattern to the top five at all. They span beaches and bayous, the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic, red states and blue, boomtowns and old industrial hubs alike. That scattershot lineup underscores just how widespread the foreclosure problem has become - this isn't a regional slump, it's a nationwide strain showing up in every corner of the map. Certainly, there's no simple 'one-size-fits-all' reason why these very different states top the foreclosure rankings. Instead, the pressure points tend to be common economic stresses - rising costs outpacing incomes, affordability crunches, and market weaknesses - which are now showing up across the country, not just in one region or type of economy. Experts warn even more homes may be seized in 2026. 'If the job market weakens, and it may very well, then we could unfortunately down the road see the increase in the foreclosure rate significantly accelerate,' said Szanto. The strain is showing in big cities, too. Among metros over one million people, Jacksonville led the nation in 2025 with one foreclosure for every 200 homes, followed by Las Vegas (1 in 210), Chicago (1 in 214), and Orlando (1 in 217). Experts point to tight housing supply and higher mortgage rates locking out would-be buyers. While the numbers look alarming, Attom CEO Rob Barber says they reflect a 'normalization' after years of unusually low foreclosures. Join the debate What do you think is truly driving the foreclosure crisis in so many different states? The foreclosure storm hit hardest in the Sunshine State, where Florida (pictured) led the nation with one in every 230 homes slipping into the foreclosure pipeline Delaware (pictured) and South Carolina weren't far from the eye of the storm, with roughly one in every 240 homes facing a filing Illinois (pictured) and Nevada joined the front line, each seeing about one in 248 housing units pulled into the process Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM In smaller metros, the picture is even bleaker. Lakeland, Florida topped the list at one in 145 homes, followed by Columbia, South Carolina (1 in 165), Cleveland (1 in 187), Cape Coral, Florida (1 in 189), and Atlantic City, New Jersey (1 in 192). The picture for the housing market and the broader economy is growing darker. The US added just about 584,000 jobs in 2025, marking the weakest year for job growth outside a recession since 2003. As foreclosures climb, neighborhoods are being swamped with cut-price, bank-owned homes that pull down nearby property values. For many homeowners, that means watching their equity shrink simply because of their address. The spike in foreclosure filings points to deeper financial strain. Homeowners hit by rising taxes and interest costs are falling behind, often missing other payments too, from credit cards to car loans. All of it is stirring uneasy comparisons to the downturn of 2008. If Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages, they're likely cutting back on essentials like food, transportation, and healthcare - an affordability crunch that weighs on economic growth. A new theory may finally explain why the Bermuda Triangle has long been linked to mysterious disappearances of ships and planes. Researchers have long suggested that unusual environmental conditions, such as rare combinations of methane gas releases from the ocean floor, may have temporarily disrupted buoyancy and engines. According to Ronald Kapper of 'What If Science,' the phenomenon may have been active in the past but has since disappeared, which could explain why incidents in the area have declined in recent decades. The theory does not involve aliens, portals or curses, but rather natural forces that could briefly create dangerous conditions. Some scientists speculate that the Bermuda Triangle may have once been prone to clusters of accidents due to these unique conditions. If true, this could resolve centuries of speculation while keeping the region's mystique intact. While the new explanation is gaining attention on forums and social media, experts caution that evidence remains limited. The US Coast Guard emphasized that there is no recognized geographic hazard, and many incidents may have been exaggerated or misreported. Researchers have suggested that gases in the water disrupted boat buoyancy and engines. Now, a new theory says those gases have dissipated The Bermuda Triangle has fascinated the public for more than 500 years, beginning with Christopher Columbus' report of strange lights on his voyage in 1492 The Bermuda Triangle is a loosely defined, roughly 500,000-square-mile region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is commonly described as a triangular area connecting three points: Miami, Florida, Bermuda and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The study has suggested that methane eruptions from the seafloor are a plausible explanation for sudden ship sinkings or engine failures in the area. These gas releases could have lowered water density, causing ships to lose buoyancy, and may even have affected small aircraft flying low over the ocean. Kapper noted that similar methane hazards occur elsewhere, but if the Bermuda Triangle experienced a temporary 'active field,' it could explain the cluster of disappearances reported during certain periods. 'More speculative voices suggest something even stranger: that the Triangle was briefly affected by an unknown natural phenomenon that no longer exists,' he wrote for What if Science, an educational website that explores complex scientific theories, physics, and history by applying them to absurd or hypothetical scenarios. 'Not aliens or portals, but rare combinations of environmental forces. Methane gas released from the ocean floor, for example, has been proposed as a hazard capable of disrupting buoyancy and engines. 'While evidence remains debated, such releases are known to occur in other regions. If an active field once existed beneath the Triangle and later quieted, it could explain a rise and fall in incidents.' The sinking of the U.S.S. Cyclops has never been fully explained (Getty) Other experts are more skeptical, such as Nigel Watson, author of Portraits of Alien Encounters Revisited, who said: 'Some think it is a doorway to different dimensions allowing UFOs to zip in and out of this area, others think that odd magnetic anomalies and energies are causing these events. 'We have to consider a cluster of possibilities. We must take into consideration that many of the events in the Bermuda Triangle have been over-hyped and manipulated to make them sound more mysterious, and there are other so-called mystery triangles in other parts of the world. Certainly, it is puzzling that we look for and 'find' weird phenomena in triangular patterns!' Was there once a strange phenomenon beneath the Bermuda Triangle, but it has left the area? The Bermuda Triangle has fascinated the public for more than 500 years, beginning with Christopher Columbus' report of strange lights on his voyage in 1492. Paranormal enthusiasts have long suggested the area is cursed or linked to alien activity, time portals, or lost civilizations. The region roughly forms a triangle from Bermuda to southern Florida and east to the Bahamas. Charles Berlitz's 1974 book The Bermuda Triangle popularized the idea that more than 1,000 lives were lost, with planes and ships disappearing 'without a trace.' Notable cases, such as the unexplained sinking of the USS Cyclops in 1918 with all 306 crew members aboard, remain unsolved. Theories about the ship's loss have ranged from a manganese explosion to mutiny, giant octopus attacks, or a German submarine strike, which the German navy denied. Scientists have also proposed natural causes like unbalanced cargo or mechanical failures. Other proposed explanations for Bermuda Triangle incidents have included rogue waves, unusual magnetic fields, and extreme weather. Yet insurers such as Lloyds of London and the U.S. Coast Guard say there is no evidence that the area is uniquely dangerous, and many of the reported disappearances have been exaggerated or misreported. Despite this, the Triangle continues to intrigue both the public and researchers alike, and the new methane theory could finally offer a grounded explanation for centuries of mystery. The Superstition Mountains of Arizona are home to one of America's most enduring legends: a lost gold mine so rich it has fueled deaths, disappearances and obsession for more than a century. The story centers on a fortune allegedly extracted from the mountains' interior, where witnesses later said the gold came not from a shallow pocket but from a massive vein. When German immigrant Jacob Waltz, remembered as the Lost Dutchman, died in Phoenix in 1891, he reportedly left behind a chest containing '48lbs of raw gold' and a trail of cryptic clues that have haunted treasure hunters ever since. Waltz had claimed the mine held enough gold to make '20 men millionaires,' a figure that, based on historic prices, would be worth an estimated $4.9billion today. Now, more than 130 years later, a modern treasure hunter has finally traced those clues to a precise location. Matt Polston told the Daily Mail he has spent the past decade investigating the legend, guided by a mysterious stone map etched with Latin symbols and warnings. He believes the map leads to a massive, natural, heart-shaped mountain deep in the Superstition range, and that the mine lies hidden on its downward slope. According to Polston, the entrance exists but was so overgrown with trees that he and two other treasure hunters walked past it without realizing. The Superstition Mountains (pictured) are a prominent, rugged volcanic mountain range in Arizona, located about 40mi east of Phoenix near Apache Junction. Legend says that it is hiding a massive gold mine Matt Polston (right) told the Daily Mail he has spent the past decade investigating the legend, guided by a mysterious stone map etched with Latin symbols and warnings (Polston is pictured with two friends during a trip to Superstition Mountain) The Lost Dutchman Mine is sometimes casually referred to as 'America's El Dorado,' a nickname reflecting the scale of the rumored fortune rather than any historical connection to the South American legend. Lore says the mine's origins date back even further, to the 1840s, when the Peralta family of northern Mexico worked rich gold deposits deep in the Superstitions. The Apaches ambushed their final expedition in 1848, leaving behind a fortune that has since vanished, and leading to what became known as the Massacre Grounds. In the 1870s, Waltz was said to have rediscovered the mine and secretly extracted gold so pure that witnesses later described it as part of a massive vein rather than a shallow pocket. Waltz had arrived in America from Germany in the 1830s, bringing mining experience from his homeland. Census records later placed him working at a mine in California before he eventually settled in the Phoenix area in the 1860s, where he was officially listed as a farmer. Yet townspeople noticed something did not add up, as Waltz routinely paid for supplies with raw gold. 'Apparently, on several occasions, there were people who tried following him into the mountains to reach the mine,' Polston, who runs The Lost Dutchman Mine Location, Rewriting History Facebook page, told the Daily Mail. 'Waltz would either lose them in the rugged terrain or confront them directly, warning that they would die if they didn't stop following him.' Polston believes the mine is located on the side of an enormous heart-shaped mountain (pictured) within the Superstition range In early 1891, a flood washed away Waltz's home, and he was taken in by Julia Thomas, a bakery owner and longtime friend. As his health deteriorated, Waltz promised that once he recovered, he would take her to the mine - it was a promise he never fulfilled. When Waltz became gravely ill, Thomas left briefly to fetch a doctor. During her absence, several passersby stayed with him, including a man named Dick Holmes, to whom Waltz revealed what he could. 'Waltz told him, "Pull the chest out from under my bed,"' Polston said, noting that there was allegedly 48lbs of raw gold inside. Holmes reportedly assumed the mine was only a small pocket of ore, but Waltz corrected him. 'No, it's a vein,' Waltz said, holding his hands about 18in apart to show its width. After Waltz's death, Holmes spent roughly 20 years searching for the mine before his health failed. His son, Brownie Holmes, continued the hunt for another 60 years, keeping the legend alive for generations. The mystery deepened in 1949, when a man named Travis Tomlinson stumbled upon carved stones just south of the Superstition Mountains while stopped on the side of the road. Polston has studied the clues left behind, including stone maps (pictured) that appear to show exactly how to get to the mine Another stone (pictured) shows a priest figure without legs and reads: 'The trail is perilous. I go to 18 places. Search the map, search the heart.' That final line became the turning point Those artifacts, now known as the Peralta Stones, are housed at the Superstition Mountain Museum in Apache Junction. 'People are kind of split,' Polston said. 'Some say that they're fake. If you ask me, 100 percent, no doubt, they are real.' The stones are double-sided, and when placed together, Polston said, they form a trail map. One side depicts a horse, includes the phrase 'The treasure of the Church of Santa Fe' and references grazing north of the Rio. Another stone shows a priest figure without legs and reads: 'The trail is perilous. I go to 18 places. Search the map, search the heart.' That final line became the turning point. Polston believes the map leads not to Weaver's Needle - the landmark most searches have focused on - but to a specific mountain along the range. 'The trail leads you to a heart,' he said. The formation, he explained, is enormous, 'like 2mi by 2mi,' with a 2,000ft elevation difference from the tip of the heart to its upper lobes. The stones (pictured) are double-sided, and when placed together, Polston said, they form a trail map The trail etched on the stones, Polston said, aligns with a creek visible from above and from the ground. Within the heart-shaped mountain, Polston said, there are seven man-made structures, corresponding to Latin terms carved into the stones, including 'Domus,' meaning house or dwelling. His search began after watching an episode of America Unearthed, which suggested geological evidence supported the mine's existence in the eastern Superstitions. He said his initial searches via Google Earth were unsuccessful - until he zoomed out. 'That's when I saw the shape of the heart and the creek coming off of it,' he said. 'And I was like, I gotta do some more research.' Over the next decade, Polston made multiple trips to Arizona, often driving 24 hours straight, battling extreme heat, dehydration and dangerous terrain. 'The Superstition Mountains are very rugged and unforgiving,' he warned. 'I highly advise you let someone in the world know where you're going, your planned path, and if they haven't heard from you by a certain time on a specific day, to alert search and rescue.' Polston eventually reached the heart-shaped mountain itself, sleeping within 1,500 feet of where he believes the mine to be. The suspected entrance, he said, can be accessed through a side canyon now so overgrown with trees that it is nearly invisible. 'We literally walked right past it,' he told the Daily Mail. Despite never reaching the exact spot, Polston believes science supports his conclusion. He pointed to multiple fault zones converging at the location, a geological condition that, he said, can dramatically concentrate gold deposits. 'We know his gold was real,' he said. 'And I just gotta find it.' For now, the Lost Dutchman's mine remains hidden somewhere within 160,000 acres of unforgiving wilderness, a legend suspended between history, geology and legend, still daring the next person to follow the trail and 'search the heart.' The moment space fans have waited more than 50 years for is almost upon us, as NASA prepares to launch its Artemis II mission to the moon. But as the space agency counts down to the historic launch, experts have revealed everything that might go wrong. From a devastating fire on the launch pad to the sudden loss of power midflight, the astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen must be prepared for every eventuality. While NASA has previously demonstrated that the mission is possible with the uncrewed Artemis I flight, adding a human crew brings entirely new risks. To keep the crew safe, Artemis II has been designed to include advanced systems for evacuation and escape at any point in the mission. At the heart of this strategy is the Launch Abort System (LAS), a 13.4metretall (44 feet) tower strapped to the top of the Orion spacecraft that can pull the crew to safety in milliseconds. In addition, as we recently found out when NASA dramatically evacuated the ISS due to a medical crisis, even a small health issue could become critical in space. From a catastrophic fireball on the launchpad to burning up on reentry, here are the seven worstcase scenarios for the upcoming Artemis II mission. From a devastating fire on the launch pad to the sudden loss of power midflight, the astronauts Reid Wiseman (bottom), Victor Glover (top), Christina Koch (left), and Jeremy Hansen (right) must be prepared for every eventuality Your browser does not support iframes. 1. Emergency on the launch pad NASA has identified three possible launch windows for Artemis II in the coming months: From February 6 to February 11, from March 6 to March 11, and from April 1 to April 6. When that launch day comes, the Artemis II crew will climb aboard their Orion spacecraft, strapped to NASA's most powerful rocket. The Space Launch System is a 98metre (322foot) behemoth, filled with over two million litres of supercooled liquid hydrogen, chilled to 252C (423F). Ahead of launch, NASA will conduct one or more 'wet dress rehearsals', during which it will practice safely fuelling and emptying the massive rocket. However, there is always the possibility of an unexpected propellant leak as Artemis II prepares to launch. NASA says that potential dangers include fire, propellant leaks, structural failure, or critical system malfunctions. If that were to happen, the crew might have just minutes to escape from the top of the 83metretall (247foot) launch tower. The first moment something could go wrong is on the launch platform. If a propellant leak is detected, the crew will need to evacuate via the emergency slidewire baskets The 5 worstcase scenarios for Artemis II Propellant leak or fire on the launch pad Structural failure during launch Systems failure during lunar flight Medical emergency Heatshield failure during reentry Advertisement If possible, the astronauts will climb out of Orion's hatch and flee the tower via the highspeed 'emergency egress slidewire baskets'. The crew will strap themselves into baskets and hurtle down a cable connected to the ground 365 metres (1,200 feet) away in just 30 seconds. However, if something goes seriously wrong, the crew might not have time to make it into the slidewire baskets, which is where Orion's Launch Abort System (LAS) comes in. The LAS is made up of two parts: the launch abort tower, containing three solid rocket motors, and the fairing assembly containing four protective panels. If the tower detects that something is going wrong with the launch, the rockets will fire, producing 181,400 kilograms of thrust (400,000 lbs). This will tear Orion's crew module away from the rest of the rocket, accelerating to speeds over 100 miles per hour in five seconds. If Artemis II has to abort while on the ground, the LAS will blast Orion 1,800 metres (6,000 feet) into the air and over a mile away from the launch pad before levelling out. The parachutes will then deploy, dropping the crew safely down into the Atlantic Ocean, having travelled five to 12 miles (819 km) in just three minutes. The Space Launch System Rocket is a 98metre (322foot) behemoth, filled with over two million litres of supercooled liquid hydrogen, chilled to 252C (423F). NASA is prepared to evacuate the rocket at a moment's notice should something go wrong 2. Failure during ascent Once the rocket engines start to fire and the SLS starts to lift off the ground, Artemis II will enter one of the most dangerous phases of the whole mission. Chris Bosquillon, cochair of the Moon Village Association's working group for Disruptive Technology & Lunar Governance, told the Daily Mail: 'During launch and ascent, the SLS large rocket engines, cryogenic fuels, and complex systems must work perfectly. 'Abort systems exist, but the highest dynamic forces on the crew occur here.' Mr Bosquillon says that this launch will be riskier than a typical flight to the International Space Station, and about as dangerous as past Apollo missions. About 90 seconds after takeoff, the spacecraft will hit 'maximum dynamic pressure' as the combination of acceleration and air resistance puts the maximum strain on the vehicle. A structural failure at this moment would result in the rocket simply tearing itself apart under the immense forces of launch. Luckily for the Artemis II crew, the LAS system can still bail them out if something goes wrong. If something goes wrong during launch, NASA will fire the Launch Abort System rocket on top of the Orion spacecraft, pulling the crew module away from the rocket in milliseconds The Artemis II crew Reid Wiseman Commander A US Navy aviator and test pilot with 27 years of experience. Wiseman has previously spent 165 days in space onboard the ISS Victor Glover Pilot A US Navy aviator and test pilot with 3,500 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft Glover served as Flight Engineer on the ISS during a 168day mission Christina Koch Mission specialist An engineer and scientist specialising in electrical engineering Holds the record for longest spaceflight by a woman, spending consecutive days on the ISS Jeremy Hansen Mission specialist Selected by the Canadian Space Agency to join Artemis II A Canadian Armed Forces fighter pilot, physicist, and experienced aquanaut Advertisement According to NASA, escaping the rocket will be much harder at this moment since the LAS needs to pull Orion to safety without being torn apart in the supersonic airflow. If something goes wrong during launch, the LAS will fire for around four seconds before Orion jettisons the engines and opens its parachute, landing anywhere within a few to a few hundred miles of the launch site. While this should keep the crew alive, it will not be a comfortable ride as the astronauts could experience forces 15 times the acceleration of gravity, or 15G. For reference, the maximum force a trained fighter pilot can typically sustain without passing out is 9G, while the average human typically can't handle more than 6G. 3. Critical systems failure Part of what makes Artemis II riskier than NASA's standard missions is that it is testing relatively new technology. Compared to a spacecraft like the Crew Dragon, which has been used dozens of times, the Orion spacecraft has only been used once, during Artemis I. 'Orion's life support and deepspace systems have never been flown with a crew before,' says Mr Bosquillon. If the Launch Abort System has to fire during the launch, the astronauts will be catapulted to safety up to 100 miles away as the acceleration causes forces 15 times stronger than gravity. Pictured: The launch of Artemis I in 2022 This creates a risk that one of the critical systems might fail once Orion has already left the atmosphere. If something goes wrong during the first day, while Orion is still in lowEarth orbit, the crew can simply fire the engines to make an early return to Earth. But if part of the engines or lifesupport system were to fail once the trip to the Moon had begun, things would be much more complicated. The absolute worstcase scenario would involve multiple systems failing, including the propulsion system, leaving Orion unable to alter its course. Mr Bosquillon says: 'During the lunar flyby, Artemis II is dependent on onboard systems; contrary to orbital space stations, there is no option for rapid crew rescue.' To mitigate this issue, NASA will put Orion on what is known as a 'free return trajectory'. This means the spacecraft will naturally swing around the moon and be tossed back towards the Earth by lunar gravity, without needing to fire its engines at all. 'This is the solution that provides a builtin safe return baseline if major propulsion fails,' says Mr Bosquillon. If systems fail during flight, Artemis II may have to wait for its trajectory to carry it around the moon and back to Earth. For this reason, Orion (pictured) is stocked with enough food, water, and air to last longer than the 10 expected days In case of emergency, Orion is stocked with more food, water, and air than is needed for the planned 10 days and contains multiple redundant systems to keep the crew alive long enough to return home. 4. Medical emergencies Earlier this month, NASA was forced to make the firstever evacuation of the ISS after a crew member suffered an unspecified medical emergency. Although the space agency has remained tightlipped on the details, this shows just how quickly medical issues can spiral into a crisis. Living outside Earth's gravitational pull can have devastating effects on the body, causing prolonged periods of nausea, muscle and bone atrophy, and cardiovascular issues. However, the bigger problem for Artemis II is simply how far the crew will be from health should something go wrong. Dr Myles Harris, an expert on health risks in remote settings at UCL and founder of Space Health Research, told the Daily Mail: 'Space is an extreme remote environment, and astronauts react to the stressors of spaceflight differently. 'It follows that many of the challenges of healthcare in space are similar to the challenges of providing healthcare in remote and rural environments on Earth.' Artemis II will follow the firstever medical evacuation of the ISS, showing how health issues in space can quickly become critical. Left to Right: Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui during the evacuation Just like an Antarctic expedition here on Earth, the astronauts will have limited medical equipment, unreliable access to expert opinion, and will be days away from the nearest hospital. If a crew member were to experience a medical problem, these factors mean that small issues can become critical. 5. Heatshield failure Once Orion has completed its lunar flyby and the return flight to Earth, the crew will still have to face the single most dangerous part of the mission. As Orion hits Earth's atmosphere at around 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 km/h), friction will cut that speed to just 300 miles per hour (482 km/h) in just minutes. The result is an incredible amount of heat, as the front of the spacecraft reaches temperatures of around 2,760C (5,000F). At this point, the only thing standing between the crew and instant destruction will be about four centimetres of thermalresistant material called the heatshield. The problem is that some experts and former astronauts don't believe Orion's heatshield is up to the task. The most dangerous moment will occur during reentry, as Orion's heatshield is subjected to enormous temperatures due to friction with the atmosphere. Pictured: Orion's heatshield after reentry during Artemis I During the Artemis I test, NASA found that Orion's heatshield was cracked and cratered with unexpected damage. The heatshield material, known as Avcoat, is designed to burn away during reentry to help dissipate the heat, but this damage was well beyond what NASA had expected. While the heat shield didn't fail, and the crew would have been safe, the heatshield wasn't performing as NASA had expected. Following the mission, Dr Danny Olivas, a former NASA astronaut who served on a space agencyappointed independent review team that investigated the incident, told CNN: 'There's no doubt about it: This is not the heat shield that NASA would want to give its astronauts.' The problem was that the Avcoat layer wasn't permeable enough, so gases built up in pockets and blasted off entire chunks. NASA has decided not to change the heatshield going into Artemis II, but has made some important changes to the mission. Mr Bosquillon says: 'NASA decided to adjust the Artemis II reentry trajectory so as to reduce the time spent in extreme speed and thermal conditions that triggered the issue.' Artemis II will make a 'skipping' reentry as it returns to Earth, meaning it acts like a stone bouncing on water as it dips and lowers itself into the atmosphere. The heatshield coating is designed to burn away during reentry, however, NASA found that the coating had chipped and deteriorated far more than expected during Artemis I NASA has not altered the heatshield for Artemis II, but has adjusted the trajectory so that Orion will spend less time at critical temperatures This helps the craft spread out the heat caused by decelerating and target a precise splashdown area. With the new tractor, the craft won't bounce as high on each skip and will just loft slightly. NASA says this is intended to create 'a steeper descent angle to reduce exposure time at peak heating, thus minimising further char loss.' If NASA's modelling proves correct, this should ensure that the Avcoat keeps the crew safe, without switching to an untested heatshield technology 'NASA identified the root cause, updated its models, and adjusted operations to preserve crew safety without rushing to redesign, which in fact would have been a major risk factor since largely untested,' says Mr Bosquillon. A woman who was clinically dead for less than a minute said she received a glimpse of humanity's terrifying future. Angela Harris was a teacher and mother of two young children when she had a near-death experience during a routine medical test in 2015. Just 18 minutes into a tilt-table test, used to diagnose the cause of unexplained fainting spells, Harris went into seizures and said she was 'ejected' from her body and entered another realm. In a cloud-like space described as the afterlife, she was met by the souls of her deceased loved ones from her current life, as well as from past lives. Although her heart only stopped for 32 seconds, Harris claimed her experience didn't end in the afterlife, as she was also transported to two other planets and saw herself living as an alien on each of them. Harris believed that her soul had chosen all of these different lives, including her life on Earth, to grow and learn from each unique experience, something she said every person's soul did before they are born. Before returning to her body, Harris also claimed to have seen an undated point in Earth's future, during a time when wars had devastated the global population and humanity now lived in more localized and self-sufficient communities. 'I was thinking about the future and my mind went in that direction, and I saw a future where we returned to a much more non-agrarian society,' Harris explained. 'There were wars that happened. We lost a lot of population, and at this particular moment, when I was accessing. We had moved back to living in more localized cities.' Angela Harris claimed she saw the future of humanity during a near-death experience in 2015 (Stock Image) During her out-of-body experience, Harris claimed she discovered how souls plan out their entire lives on Earth and other worlds before birth, including hard experiences like pain or personal traumas, to help their souls learn important lessons. She said souls do this because we are all connected as a part of one entity known by many near-death experiencers as Source or God, and every soul's growth makes Source stronger, even when it involves playing 'difficult' roles. 'We plan our lives, and this is very hard to hear for a lot of people,' Harris said while sharing her experience with The Other Side NDE last year. As Harris viewed the other lives she had chosen for soul, she saw two parallel versions of herself: one as a being with blue skin, and another with a mantis-like body donning a rusty red exoskeleton, round dark eyes, and antennae. 'I'm seeing myself living another life, a different life, in a different space as what a lot of people here would define as an alien, but is really just another soul on another planet doing the same things I'm doing here as a human,' she explained. Harris said she was able to access visions of parallel lives for her family just by thinking about them, comparing the experience to walking into a flowing river of information, allowing the mother to see both her daughters as adults after her death. In that moment, focusing on the future, Harris was able to see the rest of Earth's future, where the globally connected nature of today's society had broken down, and Americans now focused on maintaining self-sufficient farms. In that vision of the future, humanity still had technology but used it more harmoniously, ending divisions and large population migrations that Harris had said caused global chaos and conflict. Join the debate Do YOU believe near-death experiences can reveal humanity's future? Harris said she was greeted in the afterlife by soul of her loved ones, both from that life and previous lifetimes on Earth (Stock Image) Angela Harris (Pictured) was undergoing medical tests in 2015 when she began having seizures and her heart stopped 'I don't specifically remember a time frame from that, but I will tell you what I feel of it in the memories I have - it's not too far off,' Harris warned. Throughout the experience, the teacher said she was guided by a being named Melanie, who appeared as a woman in a cream-colored robe holding a book. According to Harris, they communicated telepathically as if they were lifelong friends, with Melanie being the only entity to speak with her and help her from one part of the experience to the next. Despite not communicating with Source or a god-like entity, Harris said her journey felt like pure love, total peace, and a release from all pain as she came home to her 'true self.' Like other near-death experiencers, Harris recalled not wanting to return to her human form because the afterlife was so beautiful and peaceful. After doctors restarted her heart, Harris described life on Earth as feeling heavy, hot, gross, and empty by comparison. Since the experience more than a decade ago, Harris said it transformed her into a more compassionate and intuitive person. Like others who claimed to have met the universal energy being known as Source, Harris said she now sees herself as a soul temporarily driving a 'human bus.' adding that there is only love awaiting souls leaving Earth, with no hell or punishment in the next life. A former activist who says she was 'brainwashed' by climate change ideology has come out to warn others against what she calls a science which simply isn't true. Social media manager Lucy Biggers revealed that, in her 20s, she was one of the loudest voices sounding the alarm on global warming and efforts to police the world's carbon footprint. 'I interviewed Greta Thunberg, I have interviewed AOC [Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], I pushed ideas like the Green New Deal, plastic straw bans, plastic bag bans - anything you could think that is like the typical climate activist, I pushed those things,' she said. Now in her mid-30s, however, she released a scathing takedown of her former life, claiming her eyes were opened by what she witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic and becoming a parent, adding that scientists who challenged the belief that man-made carbon dioxide (CO) emissions were destroying the planet supplied the proof she needed. 'I think this idea that warming is bad for humans can't hold up to any scrutiny if you look at it honestly,' Biggers said in a video viewed on X more than 500,000 times. Biggers claimed Earth has actually been in a prolonged period of natural warming for centuries, ever since the end of the so-called Little Ice Age in the 1600s, and that former President Thomas Jefferson even documented a warmer climate in the 1700s. Climate change is the term used to describe Earth's warming, mainly as a result of human activity, such as burning coal, oil, and gas. Scientists and climate activists have warned that this extra warmth could cause more extreme storms, rising seas that flood cities, and hotter summers that make it harder to grow food worldwide - all within the next 25 years. Social media manager Lucy Biggers (Pictured) claimed on social media that she was 'brainwashed' into becoming a climate change activist Climate scientists have said that greenhouse emissions are leading to irreversible warming that will raise sea levels and threaten mass extinction (Stock Image) However, Biggers produced examples of conflicting climate data over the years she claimed was evidence that casts serious doubt on the narrative than modern human activities were having a major impact on the environment. 'Climate change isn't dangerous, and there isn't a consensus on how much of it we can even control, and if the solutions like solar and wind even work,' Biggers argued in her social media post. Biggers said she started questioning her climate activism during the Covid-19 pandemic and after having her first child, noting that even with the world effectively shutting down for over a year, it did little to reduce climate emissions. She mentioned also realizing that things like oil pipelines might be safer for the environment than trains, and plastic bans could actually increase carbon footprints compared to using allegedly eco-friendly alternatives. 'I did not want to be on my deathbed one day having regrets of sitting on what was the truth because of fear,' the former activist explained. After these doubts, Biggers revealed she read books that showed climate science is more complicated and less alarming than what she had been promoting a decade ago, which helped her shift to becoming a 'climate realist.' The first book, Apocalypse Never by Michael Shellenberger, a former environmental activist, argued against doomsday predictions and highlighted how environmental progress had already improved the world. The second book, Unsettled by Steve Koonin, a physicist who worked under President Obama, explained the uncertainties in current climate models and data, challenging the idea of a simple, catastrophic crisis in Earth's future. Join the debate How do you feel about climate activists who now claim the science behind their cause is misleading? Biggers (Pictured) admitted to being a major climate activist a decade ago, working with noted progressive climate advocates such as Greta Thunberg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Climate advocates have targeted carbon emissions as a leading cause of global warming, but skeptics said carbon dioxide actually helps plant life (Stock Image) She added that higher CO levels have also been turned into a scapegoat by climate change alarmists, who blame them for global warming, melting glaciers, and rising sea levels worldwide. 'And the increase in CO, we've seen global greening go up 15 to 20 percent in some areas. Plants have better growing seasons because CO is a plant food, if you remember from biology class,' Biggers explained. 'And so this idea that CO was inherently bad, I also call b******* on.' In November, Richard Lindzen, Professor Emeritus of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), echoed this in an interview with the Daily Mail. Lindzen explained the basic math behind 'climate alarm,' revealing that the emphasis on lowering specific emissions like CO simply doesn't produce the worldwide temperature changes advocates have said it will. Moreover, Lindzen said today's CO levels need even more help to boost plant growth, which would reduce their need for water, making more food possible for billions of people in more arid regions. 'I think we're low in CO. In the geological sense, it's much too low. Even the increase in CO we've seen so far has probably increased arable land by 30 to 40 percent,' Lindzen argued. 'We are not causing the imminent crisis that we think that we are,' he told Daily Mail. Biggers said she embraced climate activism in her 20s because she felt a strong sense of belonging and purpose from being part of a group that she believed was fighting for 'the right side of history.' After the birth of her second child, however, Biggers became concerned that children and young adults today are being taught an alarmist view of climate change in schools, which she called overly simplistic and fear-inducing. She claimed that teaching climate change in this way has led to a mental health crisis among youths, causing them to feel nihilistic about their futures, avoid having children, and viewing modern society as doomed. 'The opposite is true. We live in a really abundant, safe, prosperous time, and humans have never had more choice than they do now,' Biggers contended. Jeffrey Epstein raped underage girls several times a day as part of a sickening routine detailed in new documents released by the Department Of Justice. An alleged victim, in a civil complaint filed in Florida in 2010, revealed the process young girls endured upon their arrival at his Palm Beach mansion. Each girl was brought to his home in private transportation arranged by Epstein and greeted by an assistant who collected her personal information, the complaint said. Uncomfortable image: Jeffrey Epstein and a group of young women in an undated photo released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee in December The girl was then led up a 'remote flight of stairs' to a room containing a shower and massage table. If it was her first encounter with the pedophile, another girl would be in the room to 'lead the way', before being dismissed by Epstein, the alleged victim claimed. Epstein would then have his massage, 'wearing only a small towel, which eventually would be removed'. He gave his victims 'specific instructions as to where and how he wanted' things done and would order them to strip naked, the complaint revealed. The pedophile then performed 'one or more lewd, lascivious, and sexual acts' on the girl or forced her to engage in sexual activity with other girls in front of him. The most well-known of Epstein's victims was Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who died by suicide last year. Epstein would masturbate, fondle the girls' breasts, touch their genitals, and coerce them into sex acts with him and each other, the complaint detailed. Famous picture: The most well-known of Epstein's victims was Virginia Giuffre, (center) who died by suicide last year. She accused Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (right) of arranging for her to have sexual encounters at age 17 and 18 with several public figures including ex-Prince Andrew (left). All of them denied her allegations The alleged victim, who was introduced to Epstein at the age of 15, claimed that after his climax, the pedophile financier would pay her $200 and have her escorted out of his home. He also allegedly threatened her, warning if 'she told anyone what happened at his house bad things could happen'. The filing stated that Epstein 'committed such acts regularly on a daily basis and, in most instances, several times a day.' After the massage appointments, Epstein and his associates would call the alleged victim at her homes. If the victim did not answer, he would 'take steps to find out where she was', the complaint said. She further alleged that Epstein and his associates would harass her to recruit other minor girls and threaten her if she refused to do so. The civil complaint was made public on Friday in the Justice Department's latest release of records from its investigative files on Epstein. Getting close: This photo of two young women in bikinis was included in the trove of Epstein files turned over to the DOJ by the pedophile financier's estate Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest Epstein disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, which were posted to the department's website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December. The documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law was enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Lawmakers complained when the DOJ made only a limited release last month, but officials said more time was needed to review an additional trove of documents that were discovered and to review the records to ensure sensitive information about victims was not inadvertently released. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. Friday's files also include an email Epstein sent to himself claiming Bill Gates had slept with Russian girls, caught a sexually transmitted disease and asked for help getting antibiotics he wished to give to his ex-wife Melinda. Gates has denied the allegations made in that email. Dark duo: Epstein and his once girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in St Tropez, France In 2008 and 2009, Epstein served jail time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. At the time, investigators had gathered evidence that Epstein had sexually abused underage girls at his home in Palm Beach, but the U.S. attorney's office agreed not to prosecute him in exchange for his guilty plea to lesser state charges. A federal jury in New York convicted Maxwell of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of his underage victims in 2021. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence at a prison camp in Texas, after being moved there from a federal prison in Florida. She denies any wrongdoing. Prosecutors never charged anyone else in connection with Epstein's abuse of girls, but Giuffre accused him in lawsuits of having arranged for her to have sexual encounters at age 17 and 18 with numerous politicians, business titans, noted academics, and others, all of whom denied her allegations. Among the people she accused was ex-Prince Andrew, the British royal who lost his title over his close relationship with Epstein and allegations that he had sex with Giuffre. Andrew has long denied those allegations. The Hollywood mogul in charge of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics wrote raunchy emails discussing 'massages', 'rubbing' and naked beach frolics with Jeffrey Epstein's ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell. The 2003 emails from LA talent agency chief and 2028 Olympic Committee Chair Casey Wasserman were revealed in the latest release of Epstein files by the Department Of Justice on Friday morning. Wasserman, 51, was less than two years into his marriage to then-wife Laura Ziffren when he swapped highly flirtatious messages with Maxwell, asking her on April 1, 2003: 'Where are you, I miss you. I will be in NYC for four days starting april 22 can we book that massage now?' New information: Flirty messages betweeen Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell have emerged from when he was with his then-wife Laura Ziffren Two days later Maxwell, 64, wrote: 'All that rubbing - are you sure you can take it? 'There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild - I suppose I could practise them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?' While the two were trading risque messages and arranging the sensual massage, Wasserman's wife was eight months pregnant with their son. The Daily Mail has reached out to him for comment. Wasserman is a major figure in Hollywood as a top music and movie agency chief behind greats including Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. He also brought Billie Eilish into his roster when he acquired music agency Paradigm in 2021. VIP guests to his 600-person 50th birthday bash in Santa Monica in June 2024 included former president Bill Clinton, ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Vice President Kamala Harris's husband Doug Emhoff. Locked up: Maxwell is currently behind bars for grooming, trafficking, and abusing minors with Jeffery Epstein (pictured together in 2005) Murky waters: Wasserman was less than two years into his marriage to then-wife Laura when he swapped flirtatious messages with Maxwell Maxwell signed off many of her messages to Wasserman with 'Kisses', and he with 'xoxo', the emails released by the DOJ reveal. When Wasserman described LA's often overcast June weather in one 2003 email, Maxwell replied with a raunchy response. On April 7, 2003 she wrote: 'What foggy enough so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up? Or something like that' Sexed up: The pair even found a way to make bad weather seem sexy in one 2003 email Buying gifts: Maxwell discussed combinations of edible treats she could bring Wasserman from her trip to London On April 6, 2003, Maxwell wrote: 'Thought you might like to know I am now in Paris - can I bring you back anything from Here?' Wasserman replied: 'The only thing that I want from paris is you.' The next day Maxwell was discussing combinations of edible treats she could bring him from her trip to London. 'Ok, so that combo did not do it for you, what combo would then?' She asked. 'You, me, and not else much' he replied. Other emails show Maxwell arranging a trip from Los Angeles to New York on Wasserman's jet. Too much? After Wasserman asked to organize a massage Maxwell wrote 'all that rubbing - are you sure you can take it?' New request: Other messages showed the pair talking about spending time in Malibu Old snap: The Daily Mail previously obtained an undated photograph of Wasserman in front of a plane with Epstein and Maxwell The Daily Mail previously obtained an undated photo of a younger Wasserman with Epstein and Maxwell in front of a private plane. Flight logs from Epstein's jet show Wasserman and his then-wife flew with him, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, and Chris Tucker to Africa for a HIV charity event in 2002. There is no suggestion Wasserman took part in any of Epstein's crimes, and the Africa trip took place before the criminal investigation into his sex trafficking began. The highly flirtatious messages may prove embarrassing for the LA28 chief, who has already had to contend with allegations of repeated romantic affairs with his own staffers that allegedly occurred throughout his marriage. Eleven sources including some of his alleged mistresses provided information to the Daily Mail in 2024 about his alleged womanizing over the years. Major player: Wasserman is the LA 2028 Olympic Committee Chair New lady: Wasserman pictured with his current girlfriend Jenny Chandler Wasserman reportedly 'love bombed' potential conquests, showered them with Louboutin shoes, La Perla lingerie, handbags, and even Range Rovers but when his interest waned he callously dropped them like a hot potato, sources claimed. He was accused of having several romantic relationships with his employees including his secretary Patricia Feau who now works in a $350,000 salary job on the LA28 Olympic nonprofit, his former private jet flight attendant Jenny Chandler, who is his current girlfriend, and another flight attendant whose clients include the Playboy publisher. Feau denied the affair when contacted by the Daily Mail. Wasserman did not respond, but later dismissed the allegations as gossip. In September 2024, Wasserman told CNBC: 'If The Daily Mail qualifies as reporting, then I guess we're all in trouble. But we live in a day and age where people can say whatever they want without facts, without cooperation, without sources, and it's the world we live in.' Halle Berry said she has 'never felt more seen' as she opened up on the horror stories of the film industry whilst promoting her new hit with Chris Hemsworth. The star, 59, has teamed up with Chris, 42, for their new crime thriller Crime 101, along with Barry Keogh and Mark Ruffalo. Appearing on this week's Graham Norton Show with Chris, Halle said she never felt 'more seen' than when working on the show. The best time: Halle Berry has said she has 'never felt more seen' as she opened up on the horror stories of the film industry whilst promoting her new film with Chris Hemsworth, Crime 101 on The Graham Norton Show Co-star pals: Halle was joined by Chris on the sofa along with Barry Keogh and Mark Ruffalo Halle is the only woman of colour to have won an Oscar for Best Actress. She scooped the gong in 2002, beating Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Renee Zellweger, and Sissy Spacek. Describing her character, Halle said she found similarities with her alter ego, explaining to host Graham, 62: 'She stands up for all women in middle life. She has a voice. I think that has been a long time coming. 'Many women who are down the path of life like I am will feel very happy to be seen.' All smiles: Chris described his new movie with Halle as 'sleek and sexy' Speaking about the working environment on the set of Crime 101, Halle said: 'It was amazing. When you've being doing this for over 30 years and you say it is the all-time best, that's something. 'You hear about the horror stories that go on in the industry, but not at all here. I have never felt more seen, protected and stood up for as I did on this movie.' Asked by Graham about her historic Oscar win, Halle described it as 'an out of body experience'. Making history Halle is the only woman of colour to have won an Oscar for Best Actress; pictured in 2002 Halle said: 'That night I had an out of body experience. I didn't think I would win so didn't write a speech and I was in utter shock and disbelief. 'It was only an hour later that it sunk in, and I couldn't stop telling people, "I won an Oscar!"' Elsewhere, Chris described his new movie with Halle as 'sleek and sexy' with complex characters. He said: 'It is a throwback to the 70s, 80s, and 90s heist movies that we all love, with a contemporary feel. 'There are complex characters and a deep level of emotion, and it's entertaining, sleek, sexy, and visually pretty stunning. It was the best script I had read in years.' Haters gonna hate: Rachel joked about her legendary Mean Girls character Regina George and spoke about how hated she was by fans Coming soon: John told Graham how it is 'really weird and strange' to have new movie Is This Thing On? based on his life The pair appeared on Graham's sofa alongside Canadian actress Rachel McAdams and comedian John Bishop. Rachel, 47, joked about her legendary Mean Girls character Regina George and how she was hated by fans. She said: 'I didn't know how hated she would be and for how long. The first time I saw the film with an audience I was with my best friend. Everyone cheered when Regina was hit by a bus, but my friend stood up and screamed, "Nooooo!"' Meanwhile, John, 59, told Graham how it is 'weird and strange' to have a new movie Is This Thing On? based on his life. He said: 'I wanted to be part of the writing process, but I was too close to the story, so I had to step away. I'm so glad I did. There was a big portion of trust involved, but the end result is brilliant. It really is a lovely film.' John added that he was tempted to have a cameo in the film, though producers didn't ask him. He joked: 'I don't think a film by Bradley Cooper is going to be made better by me being in it.' When Czech tourist Dan Frolec travelled to Croatia more than two decades ago with a group of friends, he was expecting a week of sun, sea and scuba diving in one of Europe's most idyllic coastal regions. The plan was to spend breezy afternoons aboard sailing boats, enjoying deep dive excursions in the Adriatic Sea and beachside dinners in the evening. However, instead, the trip ended in tragedy, with the mysterious deaths of two divers. Dan was quickly cast into a nightmare, accused of the murder of one of them and held for five weeks while the case was investigated. Now 55 and living in Bali with his wife and their two children, he's revisited the trauma of that fateful scuba diving trip in 2002 in a new book, The Cave, which is released online this week. In it, Dan, who was 31 at the time of the deaths, details how a routine dive led to an international investigation, widespread media attention and a legal ordeal that nearly cost him his freedom. The eight-strong group had travelled to Croatia in high spirits, with all of the travellers in the party experienced divers to varying degrees. The underwater excursion that would end in the loss of two lives had been organised by a friend who owned a sailing boat equipped for scuba diving. Dan says each member of the group was confident in their experience prior to the dive. Dan Frolec, 55, revisits a fateful scuba diving trip in Croatia in 2002 that ended with the mysterious deaths of two divers - one of them a close friend - and a five-week detention Pictured: Dan, originally from the Czech Republic, aged 31 on the very boat he and his friends explored the Adriatic Sea from in 2002 Dan's new book, The Cave, details how a routine dive led to two deaths, an international investigation and a legal ordeal that nearly cost him his freedom He explains: 'One guy who was a scuba diving instructor and cave diving instructor, another person who was scuba diving instructor then there was me and my friend who'd done maybe 50100 dives.' After spending a number of days along the coast, they anchored overnight in what Dan remembers as a 'beautiful bay' - Poganica bay - where they'd enjoyed "afternoon sun and meals by the sea". But while studying their charts, they noticed a circled marking on the seabed. The boat's owner explained it was believed to be a hole - though no one knew exactly what it was. Curious, the group agreed to explore it the following afternoon. The day itself passed with no issues, but everything changed once the group entered the water. Four divers descended first, exploring near the boat before returning, while another member of the group and Dan's friend, Miroslav, opted to snorkel near the surface. Once the group arrived back on the boat, they announced they had discovered an underwater cave, and shortly returned to the sea to further explore. Intrigued by what lay below, Miroslav announced he would also join the others underwater. Dan recalls Miroslav saying at the time, 'I don't want to die I will go snorkeling just with you to see what it is'. He observed the area was close to the boat and shallow, around 10 metres deep - nothing appeared out of the ordinary or dangerous. What no one realised at the time was that Miroslav narrowly missed the others. Pictured: The boat Dan and his friends sailed on to get to their diving spot. Here, they enjoyed afternoon meals and lapped up the sun before their trip took a turn Dive computer data would later show he arrived at the cave entrance just four minutes after the group had exited. Believing they were still inside, he entered alone. According to Dan, the cave itself was a deception. From the seabed, it appeared as a dark opening around two metres wide - yet, in reality, it dropped like a chimney from 10 metres to roughly 22 metres, branching into a system of caverns and corridors. When the four divers resurfaced and spoke about the cave, Dan asked where Miroslav was. They hadn't seen him. Around 40 minutes after he went into the water, the group quickly realised Miroslav must have gone in alone. By that point, time was critical, as his air supply would already have been running low. After widely searching the area, they were unable to find him. Dan shares what they believe happened next, as he explains how underwater caves often contain fine silt that clings to ceilings and floors. Visibility isn't normally an issue - until the cave is disturbed. As Dan describes it, 'When you exhale bubbles... the sand starts kind of falling... visibility drops to zero'. Pictured: Dan and his friends before the dive in Croatia Pictured: Poganica bay, where the accident happened He believes Miroslav became disoriented, unable to tell whether he was still inside the cave or back in open water. After an hour of searching, the Croatian Navy was called to assist, but their divers were not trained in cave diving, and searches were delayed until the following morning. During the rescue operation, one Navy diver became lost but resurfaced, while another died below the surface. Still unaware of Miroslav's fate, Dan and the rest of the group were taken in for questioning at the local police station - but what followed was an intense interrogation, with Dan soon becoming the focus. He was subjected to a polygraph test and repeatedly asked whether he had killed his friend. During questioning, police revealed for the first time that Miroslav had been found with a knife in his chest. Dan recalls, 'They attached me to the polygraph "Do you know how Miroslav died?" "Do you know it was a murder that he had knife in the chest?"' He believes the tactic was designed to exhaust and bamboozle him into admitting 'the truth'. The investigation continued for weeks. Outside of the station's four walls, scuba diving forums filled with speculation and theories. However, data from dive computers and smart watches showed Miroslav had reached the cave floor long before Navy divers entered the water, ruling out any foul play or outside involvement. During the investigation, Dan spent five weeks in detention as Croatian police accused him of murdering his friend, who was found dead in the sea with a knife in his chest Pictured: Custody cell drawings he spent his time doing while being held As for what may have truly happened to his friend, Dan believes Miroslav may have taken his own life when he realised he was running out of air. He explains: 'There are many people who get lost in the caves and then basically drown.' In extreme conditions, panic and oxygen deprivation can influence a person's decision to end their own life. Dive computer data showed Miroslav swimming beneath the cave ceiling at around 22 metres, likely searching for an exit. Suddenly, the data recorded a quick descent to 54 metres - the bottom of the cave. Dan believes this marks the moment Miroslav lost consciousness or died. The autopsy was inconclusive, showing signs of both drowning and a fatal knife wound. All the while, Dan says authorities focused on the knife, and evidence of drowning was largely ignored. After five weeks, Dan and his friends were released due to lack of evidence, with an investigating judge dismissing the police's claims, concluding the death was most likely an accident followed by suicide. Dan believes the case was driven by a need to assign the blame on someone, to potentially divert attention from internal failures during the Navy rescue that resulted in the death of a senior officer's son. Pictured: At the airport after arrival to Prague in 2002 The incident dominated headlines in both Croatia and the Czech Republic, though Dan found himself portrayed very differently across borders, with his home country showing support while Croatia's media maintained an accusatory stance. Beyond the legal ordeal, Dan speaks most painfully about loss, as he describes taking a photograph of Miroslav on the boat shortly before the dive, where he ate his last meal and soaked up the rays. The image was later printed onto a canvas, framed and given to Miroslav's mother, as Dan recalls: 'Our life was damaged and impacted but not like for her'. It took Dan around a year to adjust after his release, and though the experience has never left him, it stopped feeling actively 'threatening' and 'scary' after a while. For Dan, writing The Cave became a way to process what happened and reclaim control of the narrative. Looking back, Dan still replays one moment in his mind - the instant Miroslav decided to dive alone. He says: 'He is going underwater alone which is against the rules. Many times I thought to tell him: "Hey, but you're going on your own? Are you sure?" 'He was quite tough, and he was kind of also experienced... so, maybe he would have gone anyway.' Pictured: Dan with his then-girlfriend (now wife) as he arrived to Prague in 2002 What he remains proud of is how the group responded once they realised Miroslav was missing, and how his management role at work allowed him to naturally lead in the moment. He explains: 'I was leading a multi-national, you know, team in my job. In that moment, I said, "Hey guys, hold on. No panic. We need to now make a plan and try to find him and do everything the best we can."' As for fellow travellers and adventurers who hope to embark on similar trips abroad, Dan stresses the importance of preparation and respecting unfamiliar environments. He advises: 'Get local intelligence, in terms of somebody who's been there - who has been to the mountain, who has been in the cave. Talk to them, then follow their advice. Ask yourself: Am I equipped for that? Do I have enough training? 'Because those kind of things are super important. Don't just go and find out.' Dan's new book, The Cave, is available to buy now here on Amazon (Paperback is 11.09 and the Kindle version is 0.99). Photo: https://t.me/DeepStateUA The enemy has advanced near the village of Pryluky in the Vozdvyzhivka rural community and near the village of Zelene in the Hulyaipole urban community of Polohy district, Zaporizhia region, the OSINT project DeepState reported. According to the projects maps, the area of territory under occupier control in the Hulyaipole sector has increased by 19.31 square kilometers, while the area of the gray zone has expanded by 11.18 square kilometers. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 19 attacks by the occupiers in the Huliaipole sector in the area of Hulyaipole and toward Zelene, Dobropillia, Huliaipole, and Olenokonstiantynivka. As reported, last week the occupiers were expanding their controlled territory by an average of 3.8 square kilometers per day, while the gray zone was increasing daily by an average of 7.6 square kilometers. An Agatha Christie series branded 'one of the best TV adaptations ever' has raced up the Netflix charts - and it's not recent release Seven Dials. Christie's detective stories have been adapted for the screen on multiple occasions - such as her sleuth Miss Marple. Over the years, this legendary character has been portrayed several times on-screen. One iteration - titled Agatha Christie's Marple - has now found a brand new home on Netflix. The programme originally ran from 2004, with a total of 23 episodes airing across six series. Geraldine McEwan played the title role for series one through three, with Julia McKenzie taking over for the latter three series. A much-loved Agatha Christie TV adaptation has soared to the top of the Netflix charts Agatha Christie's Marple began airing in 2004, ultimately leading to six series comprising 23 episodes Geraldine McEwan (pictured) played Miss Marple for the first three series, before retiring from the role Viewers can also spot recognisable faces pop up in the show, including Joanna Lumley, Benedict Cumberbatch and Timothy Dalton. Other examples include Keeley Hawes, Brian Cox, Richard Armitage and Amanda Holden, to name a few. The programme experiments with Christie's work, with some episodes placing Miss Marple into stories where she originally did not feature. One viewer wrote on IMDB: 'I love the original book, and I love this adaptation. All star cast (best hits of the actors of Britain). 'Naturally it's very different to the original, but I enjoyed how it had been adapted, beautiful location as well!' Another added: 'I am an Agatha Christie scholar who has researched her work for years. Does that make me a better viewer? Not necessarily, but a more attentive one. I can honestly say this is one of the best TV adaptations and definitely worth 10 stars. 'Its got everything and more. Please give it a chance and stop comparing it against other productions.' While a third chimed in: 'Agatha Christies Marple is a fantastically directed, wonderfully filmed, all-round SUPERB TV series that retains both the atmosphere and irresistible charm of the authors source material, even when it deviates from the strict plots.' Viewers can also spot other familiar faces pop up in the ITV programme, such as Amanda Holden Earlier this month, Netflix released a new adaptation of Seven Dials - based upon Christie's 1929 novel of the same name. It follows Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce) investigating a murder at a 1920s country house. Joined by Scotland Yard's Superintendent Battle (Martin Freeman), these sleuths uncover dark secrets linking the death to the elusive Seven Dials society. Meanwhile, the cast also includes Helena Bonham Carter as Bundle's mother, Lady Chaterham. Although Seven Dials raced to the top of Netflix's charts, some viewers claimed it is 'putting them to sleep'. One wrote on X: Im not normally a book adaptation purist but Seven Dials on Netflix has taken out so much from the original that all the tension, intrigue and fun have gone, which in a murder mystery is quite important.' Based on Agatha Christie's 1929 novel of the same name, Seven Dials follows Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce) investigating a murder at a 1920s country house Another remarked: How is it possible to make an Agatha Christie murder mystery dull, bland and uninteresting?' A third branded the series as 'terrible' and argued that Seven Dials contained a 'creaky script and boring tropes.' Elsewhere, another Agatha Christie adaptation landed on BBC iPlayer for viewers to enjoy. Originally released in 2018, Ordeal By Innocence stars British acting legend Bill Nighy as Leo Argyll and Morven Christie as his housekeeper, Kirsten Lindstrom, who he rapes as a teenager. In the original story, wealthy but overbearing mother-of-five Rachel Argyle (Anna Chancellor) is murdered by housekeeper Kirsten. But the conclusion to the BBC series unveils a different person as her killer. The show's IMDb synopsis reads: 'Christmas 1954. Wealthy philanthropist Rachel Argyll is murdered at her family estate Sunny Point. Her adopted son Jack Argyll is arrested for her murder. He vehemently protests his innocence.' Ordeal By Innocence has an impressive rating of 7.2 out of 10 on IMDb and an even more incredible Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%. Shelter (15, 107 mins) Verdict: Jason and the juggernaut Rating: When a rugged, taciturn man played by Jason Statham lives alone with a dog in a disused lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, you can bet your last tray of Pedigree Chum that hell turn out to be a special forces veteran, living off-grid because there are rotters in suits who want him dead. There were glaring clues in Stathams last two films, A Working Man (2025) and The Beekeeper (2024), in which he played a special forces veteran trying to keep a low profile as, respectively, a construction-site foreman and, yes, a beekeeper. This time, in Shelter, his character Michael Mason has gone a step further in pursuit of the quiet life legging it to the Hebrides. Jason Statham plays the lead character, Michael Mason, in Ric Roman Waugh's new film Shelter The film's action brings Mason into the path of a young girl - Jesse, played by Bodhi Rae Breathnach The impressive supporting cast features such talent as Bill Nighy (pictured) and Harriet Walter, among others There, he unwittingly drags a young girl into the line of fire. This is Jesse, played by Bodhi Rae Breathnach, last seen in Hamnet as William Shakespeares daughter Susanna. Aptly enough, its a Shakespearean-level tempest that delivers her into the hands of Mason, who plunges into storm-tossed waters to save her. But in that time-honoured way of cinematic tough guys, he is then lumbered with an unwanted companion (see True Grit and dozens, if not hundreds, more). Happily, Jesse is a doughty child, so when Masons whereabouts become known to rogue elements in MI6, who duly issue a liquidation order, she takes in her stride the killing spree that ensues. Mason, you see, can knock off a boat-load of commandos before breakfast, his voice never rising to more than a gruff whisper. There is no such restraint with the films ever-more histrionic music. The strings and percussion sections of an unseen orchestra do relentless battle to see which can more forcefully remind us were watching an exciting action thriller. Thus serenaded, Mason and Jesse make it to the mainland, where he deals with a few zealous Highlands and Islands cops, although less ruthlessly than he dispatched the commandos. Jason's character Mason is heading to London - but he has a formidable enemy in pursuit of him Live by the sword, die by the sword. Live by the taser, get temporarily incapacitated by the taser. That is our heros honourable credo. By now, however, he also has a formidable lone assassin on his tail, the only man able to give Mason a run for his money. Mind you, its doubtful whether Mason has any money left having clearly spent a fortune on fabulous knitwear. Theres not just an inter-agency kill order on his head, but also a designer beanie. Masons destination is London, but if his mind is straying to the Harvey Nichols sales he doesnt show it. He needs to get Jesse to safety, so takes her to a nightclub owned by a human-trafficker, who might be able to spirit her out of the country. Why a nightclub? So there will be murder on the dancefloor, of course, once a fresh set of operatives close in on him under the subtle cover of yet more throbbing music. Will Jesse get away? Will Mason be squashed by the MI6 juggernaut? Will he ever stop whispering? Youll find no spoilers here. By the way, the supporting cast in Ric Roman Waughs film includes Harriet Walter and Bill Nighy. Brad Pitt is giving his $12 million Los Angeles love nest a resort-style makeover, new Daily Mail photos reveal. Exclusive aerials images show the Oscar-winning actor has transformed the grounds of his sprawling Hollywood Hills home that he now shares with girlfriend, Ines de Ramon swapping out traditional landscaping for rows of palm trees. The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom Spanish-style estate has quickly become a private oasis for Pitt and his live-in other half, with the couple clearly wasting no time putting their stamp on the place. The aerial shots show tall palms encircling the pool area, creating both privacy and a luxe vacation vibe a far cry from the property's previous, more traditional greenery. He has also replaced the old sun shades that once dotted the backyard with updated outdoor furniture and a sleek dining table and chairs positioned poolside. The revamp marks a notable shift for the F1 star, who is estimated to be worth around $400 million and finalized the purchase on August 5, 2025 a bittersweet day that also marked the death of his mother, Jane Pitt, at age 84. Slide me Before and after: Brad Pitt's sprawling $12 million Hollywood Hills mansion's traditional landscaping has been swapped for palm-lined greenery as the actor puts his personal stamp on the property The revamped grounds reflect a fresh chapter for Brad Pitt, who now shares the home with girlfriend Ines de Ramon Before Pitt moved in, the home belonged to rocker Dave Keuning, lead guitarist of The Killers, but the actor is clearly steering the property in a very different direction. Pitt, who celebrated his 62nd birthday on December 18, has been dating de Ramon since late 2022, and the pair were previously spotted enjoying cozy nights at his Los Feliz pad just down the road from estranged wife Angelina Jolie and their six children. That chapter came to an abrupt end after a burglary in June 2025, prompting Pitt to put the property on the market and relocate full time to his new, more secure estate. The towering palms, refreshed outdoor furnishings and a backyard that looks more like a luxury resort suggests this property is shaping up to be a permanent home for the two. The Fight Club actor was able to acquire the house for lower than the asking price, which Dave and wife Emilie had initially listed on the market for $13.99 million back in June, per the Wall Street Journal. The house is located in the Outpost Estates community and offers scenic views of bustling Los Angeles as well as the Pacific Ocean. Rows of towering palm trees now surround the pool at Pitts LA home, giving the backyard the feel of a luxury vacation hideaway The palm trees not only add glamour but increase privacy at the six-bedroom estate nestled in the Hollywood Hills The revamp includes updated outdoor furniture and a sleek poolside dining setup, aerial photos reveal The kitchen has up-to-date appliances and a modern design with marble countertops and backsplash. A spacious island is located in the middle of the kitchen which also leads to an open living room area. The second level of the house contains a large balcony that also looks down at the backyard, where residents can spend time by the outdoor swimming pool. When not taking a dip in the cool water, there is also a designated barbecue and kitchen area outside, as well as a comfy couch and lounge chairs. A brick pathway leads to the front entrance of the mansion, which was built back in 1989 and is 8,385 square feet. Some rooms inside the abode contain arched ceilings while one of the bathrooms also has marble finishings for a glamorous touch. The estate additionally has wooden flooring and an arched hallway that leads to the open living room and fireplace. Margot Robbie made a bold style statement at the Wuthering Heights premiere on Wednesday when she hit the red carpet in one of Elizabeth Taylor's most iconic jewellery pieces. The Oscar nominee, 35, wowed in a breathtaking couture gown by Schiaparelli, but it was Taylor's Taj Mahal diamond necklace, which is worth a reported $8 million, that truly stole the show. Taylor's necklace was a gift from her fifth husband Richard Burton 54 years ago on her 40th birthday and it is among the most recognizable pieces in the late Hollywood star's legendary jewellery collection. Yet it is far from the only dazzling gem that Taylor owned, with her collection selling for an incredible $137 million at auction after her death. So where did her jewels end up? While some were bought back by houses such as Cartier and Bulgari, others ended up in private collections and have been lent out to celebrities to parade down the red carpet. What happened to Elizabeth Taylor's $137 million jewellery collection? Inside the late star's incredible haul (Taylor pictured at the Academy Awards in 1970) Margot Robbie made a bold style statement at the Wuthering Heights premiere on Wednesday when she hit the red carpet in one of Elizabeth Taylor's most iconic jewellery pieces The Oscar nominee, 35, wowed in Taylor's Taj Mahal diamond necklace, which is worth a reported $8 million (left, Taylor wearing the necklace in 1972) It's fitting that Taylor's jewellery is still on display, given she loved seeing her gems. 'Her jewelry wasn't locked away,' photographer Catherine Opie told People in 2015. 'When Elizabeth had insomnia, she'd often go into the jewelry closet to make different arrangements to look at.' Certainly, the Taj Mahal necklace elevated Robbie's red carpet look this week. The Taj Mahal diamond got its name because it was believed it had belonged to Shah Jahan who commissioned the Taj Mahal monument in Agra in India. In presenting it to Taylor in 1972, Burton famously quipped: 'I would have liked to buy her the Taj-Mahal but it would cost too much to transport.' The gem sold for $8.8 million in December 2011 at an auction in New York. But the buyer later asked for a refund alleging the jewel hadn't actually belonged to a Mughal emperor. Christie's canceled the sale at the buyer's request and asked for the $7.2 million paid to Taylor's estate. It refused. Court documents obtained by Daily Mail Online showed that the two parties eventually reached a deal to dismiss all claims against each other and the Taj Mahal diamond would be put up for auction once more. The Taj Mahal diamond got its name because it was believed it had belonged to Shah Jahan who commissioned the Taj Mahal monument in Agra in India Burton also bought Taylor an emerald Bulgari necklace, which Bulgari bought back in 2011 (Taylor is pictured at the 1968 A Flea in Her Ear Paris Premiere) It was famously worn by Julianne Moore two years later and the jewellery house has since loaned it to other celebrities Another one of Burton's lavish gifts to Taylor was the La Peregrina Pearl, discovered in 1516, and once part of the Spanish Crown Jewels and worn by royals like Mary I of England A Cartier ruby-and-diamond necklace was bought back by Cartier at the Christie's auction in 2011, for $3.8 million It was originally a gift to Taylor from her third husband Mike Todd, with the actress describing the necklace as 'Like the sun, lit up and made of red fire' (Taylor pictured wearing the necklace in 1958 with Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynold) Burton also bought his wife the matching earrings and bracelet from the brand The Taj Mahal diamond was just one of many gems Burton bought his wife. The 69.4 carat Taylor-Burton diamond was bought by Burton in 1969 and is now owned by Robert Mouawad. It has not been publicly seen since 1979. He also bought her an emerald Bulgari necklace, which Bulgari bought back at the 2011 auction. It was famously worn by Julianne Moore two years later and the jewellery house has since loaned it to other celebrities. Another one of Burton's lavish gifts to Taylor was the La Peregrina Pearl, discovered in 1516, and once part of the Spanish Crown Jewels and worn by royals like Mary I of England. The 56 carat gem sold in 2011 for $11.8 million. It's now owned by a private buyer and held in a private collection. A Cartier ruby-and-diamond necklace was bought back by Cartier at the Christie's auction in 2011, for $3.8 million. It was originally a gift to Taylor from her third husband Mike Todd, with the actress describing the necklace as 'Like the sun, lit up and made of red fire.' The 69.4 carat Taylor-Burton diamond was bought by Burton in 1969 and is now owned by Robert Mouawad. It has not been publicly seen since 1979 (pictured wearing the necklace with Richard Burton at the 1970 Oscars) Another one of Elizabeth's famous gems is the Krupp diamond, later named the Elizabeth Taylor diamond (pictured with Burton in 1968) It was purchased by the Korean E-Land Group for $8.8 million, setting a record price per carat for a colourless diamond Last year, Kim Kardashian wore one of Taylor's jewels while attending Balenciaga's Paris Fashion Week show The reality star was dripping with diamonds, including Taylor's huge chandelier earrings, which were on loan from jewellery designer Lorraine Schwartz The stunning diamond earrings were given to Taylor by her husband Mike Todd in 1957, shortly before his death in 1958 (Pictured in Los Angeles in February 1958) She also wore the multi-carat diamond necklace Taylor had received from Burton Another one of Elizabeth's famous gems is the Krupp diamond, later named the Elizabeth Taylor diamond. It was purchased by the Korean E-Land Group for $8.8 million, setting a record price per carat for a colourless diamond. Last year, Kim Kardashian wore one of Taylor's jewels while attending Balenciaga's Paris Fashion Week show. The reality star was dripping with diamonds, including Taylor's huge chandelier earrings, which were on loan from jewellery designer Lorraine Schwartz. The earrings were given to the Oscar winner by Todd in 1957 shortly before his death in March 1958. They are believed to be valued at $400,000. For the look, Kardashian was dressed in a cream satin slip dress, similar to the slip Taylor wore in the 1958 drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Taylor rose in fame as a child actress in the 1940s before landing a number of prominent roles in the 50s and 60s, including her part as Cleopatra. The UK-born actress-turned-humanitarian continued to make her mark on the Hollywood industry into the 90s when she was named the seventh-greatest female screen legend by the American Film Institute. Burton gifted Taylor The Bulgari Sautoir - a diamond and sapphire necklace - on her 40th birthday. It sold for $5,906,500 at Christie's The Duchess of Windsor gave Taylor her gold Prince of Wales Brooch. It sold for $1,314,500 at Christie's (pictured at Forbes Magazine's 70th Anniversary Celebration in 1987) Taylor is pictured wearing the Daisy Parure by Van Cleef & Arpels necklace at the 1993 Oscars. It sold for $746,500 at Christie's Taylor wears the Massoni monkey necklace and earrings, with Michael Jackson in 2000 at the Carousel of Hope gala. It sold for $290,500 at Christie's She then died in 2011 at the age of 79 from congestive heart failure. But during her life, Taylor amassed a large collection of designer clothing, accessories, wigs, furniture, and personal memorabilia. In 2019, Julien's Auctions partnered with House of Taylor for a three-day auction to celebrate the late actress' legacy by selling iconic clothing, jewelry, and other pieces from her life. Items sold during the three days included film costumes and clothing from luxury designers like Christian Dior, Edith Head, Gucci, and Oscar de la Renta. Joel Creasey has revealed his next big career move after it was announced he wouldn't be joining co-stars Ricki-Lee Coulter and Tim Blackwell on Breakfast radio. Nova announced a huge shake-up on Friday when the station revealed it has axed Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie from the early morning slot and replaced them with Ricki-Lee & Tim. But fans of their current Drive show were left confused when comedian Joel didn't appear to be included in the announcement, despite being the third on their team. Now, the host, 35, has revealed on the Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel show that he won't be moving far because he has just landed his very own national show on Nova. 'Very much inspired by the heavenly Chrissie Swan, I'm going solo,' he announced on Friday afternoon. 'What were they thinking! You'll be able to hear The Joel Creasey Show nationally at lunchtimes.' Joel Creasey, 35, (pictured) has revealed his next big career move after it was announced he wouldn't be joining co-stars Ricki-Lee Coulter, 40, and Tim Blackwell, 44, on Breakfast radio 'And yeah, I guess the boss has figured the world is already on fire. Let's just pour more gasoline onto it and see what chaos he can cause!' he joked. Co-host Tim, 44, later quipped to Joel: 'When you think about it, lunchtime for you is kind of breakfast radio for you we're all kind of getting up earlier.' 'You've got your own version of breakfast!' Ricki-Lee, 40, added. 'I really do! That is my breakfast,' Joel responded. Nova has since revealed in a media release that The Joel Creasey Show is set to make its debut in April. It comes after news broke that Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie would be leaving the Breakfast time slot and shifting into national Drive instead. Hosts Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald, Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli and Kate Ritchie announced the news on Friday's breakfast show. 'After 15 years of doing this breakfast radio show, the Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie show, they have finally completed their apprenticeship, and they're going to be graduating to the national drive time position,' Wippa, 46, said. Nova announced a huge shake-up on Friday when the station revealed it has axed Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie (pictured) from the early morning slot and replaced them with Ricki-Lee & Tim - but fans were left confused when Joel wasn't included in the announcement '4-6pm around Australia on the country's best Radio Network, Nova. There it is, guys!' Fitzy, 48, added: 'Now, I know there's probably a lot of people freaking out thinking that we were going to leave. We're not. This is not a goodbye at all. 'This is the evolution of the show. We've been doing this for 15 years, and we have an amazing audience. 'We cannot do this without you, but we've been dropping you and the kids off at school every morning, but now we're just going to be driving you home in the afternoon.' 'It's as simple as that, and the show will be Fitzy, Wippa & Kate. One condition that we made, Wippa and I, was if we're going to do this show, Kate Ritchie doesn't get two names,' he joked. Not missing a beat, Kate, 47, quipped: 'Well, Kate Ritchie's not being dropped from the show! And I think that's because I finally learned how to spell my name, so I don't need to see it on the side of buses.' Kate said she's 'thrilled' about making the move. 'I've absolutely loved my time with the boys on Sydney Breakfast and I'm thrilled we now get to share our show with all of Australia,' she said in a statement. Now, the host has revealed on the Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel show that he won't be moving far because he has just landed his very own national show on Nova 'My morning alarm is ready and waiting to be set for packing school lunch and doing drop-off again with the beauty of entertaining our loyal listeners on their drive home. It'll be an exciting evolution for all of us.' Wippa similarly approached the news with optimism, saying, 'The time has come to share the love with the rest of the country.' Fitzy added: 'I'm so proud of what we've achieved with our audience in Sydney over the past 15 years, but equally excited to open up to our national family.' The changes will take place on Monday, February 9, 2026. Ariana Grande poked fun at her apparent six fingers following a photoshop fail from her recent shoot for Vogue Japan on Thursday. The Wicked star, 32, left fans in hysterics after the extra appendage was brought to her attention on Instagram, joking how it could come in handy. One follower shared the snap, which sees Ariana looking stunning in a floral co-ord with statement diamond earrings and sheer gloves. However while leaning her left heavily-tattooed hand against a wall, the pop superstar appears to have an extra finger. One follower captioned the post: 'Whos responsible for giving Ariana 6 fingers.'. To which the actress replied: 'Holy sh***! Oh my goodness how exciting ! Ive been saying I need some extra appendages so that I can start an album ! Thankful for this'. Ariana Grande poked fun at her apparent six fingers following a photoshop fail from her recent shoot for Vogue Japan on Thursday (pictured last month) Fans went wild following Ariana's comments, saying: 'LMFAO': 'LMFAO I love you so much queen': 'this is soooooo silly I love u': 'Silly ari'. It comes after this week's BAFTA nominations featured some shock snubs, including Ariana's movie Wicked: For Good's absence from all the major categories. Last year the first Wicked film earned seven nominations, and came home with two wins. But its sequel has failed to live up to the success of the first movie and a week after being shut out of the Oscar nominations entirely, it only picked up two BAFTA nods. Though Jon M Chu's movie earned recognition in the costume and hair and make-up categories, its stars Ariana and Cynthia Erivo were snubbed from the acting fields. Other notable BAFTA snubs include no Guillermo del Toro in the Director category. Del Toro's movie Frankenstein received eight nominations including a Supporting Actor nod for Jacob Elordi and a string of craft and technical nods. As well as losing out on a Director nomination, the movie also was not recognised in the Best Film or Adapted Screenplay categories, despite being represented in both those fields for the Oscars. The acting categories have thrown up some surprises with four actors who were nominated at the Oscars missing out at the BAFTAs. One follower captioned the post: 'Whos responsible for giving Ariana 6 fingers.'. To which the actress replied: 'Holy sh***! Oh my goodness how exciting !' Fans went wild following Ariana's comments, saying: 'LMFAO': 'LMFAO I love you so much queen': 'this is soooooo silly I love u': 'Silly ari' - pictured January 2026 It comes after this week's BAFTA nominations featured some shock snubs, including Ariana's movie Wicked: For Good's absence from all the major categories - pictured Grande, director Jon Chu and Cynthia Erivo They are Amy Madigan for Weapons, Delroy Lindo for Sinners, Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent and Elle Fanning for Sentimental Value. And in contrast, there are actors who missed out at the Oscars but have been nominated by BAFTA, including Paul Mescal for Hamnet, Jesse Plemons for Bugonia and Marty Supreme star Odessa A'Zion. The surprise additions are largely due to the BAFTAs featuring six slots for its performance categories, one more than the Oscars. In death as in life, the beloved actress Catherine O'Hara keenly protected her privacy. The Canadian-American star passed away in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, leaving behind a husband and two children, a legacy of iconic comedic roles and millions of devastated fans. She was 71 years old. So far the details are scant. A statement from her talent agency said she had succumbed to 'a brief illness'. An LA Fire Department spokesperson said that 'at 4:48am [Friday] we responded to a request for medical aid.' And a brief 911 audio recording appears to reveal dispatchers referring to her having 'difficulty breathing'. New photos obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail captured her heartbroken husband, production designer Bo Welch, for the first time since her passing in LA on Friday. But while Welch, 74, may have known this was coming, it seems that many of those closest to O'Hara were kept in the dark about her condition during her final days. It has, sources say, left some friends in 'complete shock'. O'Hara, pictured with her husband Bo Welch, appeared noticeably frail at the 2025 Emmy Awards last September New photos obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail captured Welch, in LA on Friday, for the first time since her passing But while Welch, 74, may have known this was coming, it seems that many of those closest to O'Hara were kept in the dark about her condition during her final days It has, sources say, left some friends in 'complete shock' According to one source, O'Hara was spotted at SUR Restaurant in West Hollywood just a few weeks ago on January 13. The popular venue, owned by reality star Lisa Vanderpump, was hosting an event for Supermodels Unlimited magazine, but O'Hara managed to dodge any pictures. She was, the source said, 'in great spirits'. 'As quickly as she was seen, she left, but she looked healthy for a 71 year old,' the source added. O'Hara had seemed noticeably thin during her last public appearance at the Emmy Awards back in September last year. And she was then absent from the Golden Globes, held earlier this month, despite having been nominated for an award. Paul Herman, a retired physician who has lived next door to O'Hara in the affluent Brentwood neighborhood of LA for over 25 years, told the Daily Mail that he had 'no knowledge' of her mystery illness. The Golden Globes absence had made him a 'little bit suspicious', he said, but added that he hadn't properly seen O'Hara out in Brentwood in 'years'. 'Bo and Catherine were always very pleasant. They were just the kindest, most agreeable neighbors,' he said. It would all be in keeping with a life almost uniquely devoid of controversy or intrigue by Hollywood standards. Despite having spent over 40 years in the spotlight enjoying genuinely A-list fame thanks to roles in hit movies such as Martin Scorsese's After Hours (1985), Beetlejuice (1988) and, of course, Home Alone (1990) not much was ever known about O'Hara's politics. Her two adult sons live completely private lives. And she had been happily married to Welch since 1992. Years ago, O'Hara revealed that she had been diagnosed with situs inversus a rare genetic condition in which major internal organs sit on the mirror opposite side of the body from their normal positions. 'I'm a freak,' the actress joked in a 2020 interview. The condition is generally harmless and there is no suggestion that it brought about her death. Brentwood neighbor Paul Herman told the Daily Mail he had 'no knowledge' of the mystery illness O'Hara (whose home is pictured) had been battling Despite having spent over 40 years in the spotlight, not much was ever known about O'Hara's politics. Her two adult sons (pictured as children in 2003) live completely private lives. And she had been happily married to Welch since 1992 It was at their home in Brentwood that O'Hara and Welch, who met on the set of Beetlejuice in the late 80s, raised their two sons Matthew, born in 1994, and Luke, born in 1997. While it is unclear exactly how long she had been in poor health, O'Hara was noticeably emotional at the Toronto International Film Festival held a week before the Emmys on September 7 last year where her longtime friend and former Schitt's Creek co-star Eugene Levy presented her with the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award. 'Darling Eugene. When I think of my happiest days in this adventure in show business, I realize most of them have been with you,' she said. Like Levy, O'Hara was one of several prominent comedians who got their start with the comedy troupe Second City based in her hometown of Toronto, Canada. Together, they helped launch the troupe's televised sketch show, SCTV for which O'Hara won her first Emmy Award in 1982. Her big break into cinema then came in 1988, as Delia Deetz in Tim Burton's iconic horror-comedy Beetlejuice. But it was her touching performance as Macaulay Culkin's mother, in the 1990 instant-classic Christmas movie Home Alone, that warmed the hearts of millions. Culkin, now 45, was among the first to pay tribute to O'Hara on Friday. Taking to Instagram, the actor shared a side-by-side photo of himself and O'Hara as mother-and-son duo in Home Alone alongside a recent image of the pair. Macaulay Culkin, who co-starred with O'Hara in 1990's Home Alone, shared a tribute following news of her passing In the side-by-side photo of himself and O'Hara, he wrote, 'Mama. I thought we had time' 'Mama. I thought we had time,' Culkin wrote. 'I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. I'll see you later.' Ever true to her improv roots, O'Hara also collaborated with legendary director and screenwriter Christopher Guest in a number of critically acclaimed mockumentaries, including 1996's Waiting for Guffman, 2000's Best in Show, 2003's A Mighty Wind and 2006's For Your Consideration. Guest, who is married to actress Jamie Lee Curtis, said in a statement on Friday per Variety: 'I am devastated. We have lost one of the comic giants of our age. I send my love to her family.' In recent years, O'Hara enjoyed a career resurgence as the eccentric Moira Rose in all 80 episodes of Schitt's Creek, the sitcom that was co-created by her close friend Levy and his actor son Dan Levy. In 2020, she received another Emmy for her lead actress role. The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for O'Hara for comment. Brooklyn Beckham is besotted. Me and my girl. Luckiest man in the world. Love you baby, he writes. His slightly older girlfriend responds: Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world. I love you! Happy Valentines Day. The pair have only been dating for a few weeks but already the L word is being used, and on social media, too. Then there is the new tattoo on Brooklyns arm which reads I will always love you. This is not, however, a scene from the early days of his romance with actress Nicola Peltz, the woman who is now his wife and at the centre of the most toxic public family fallout since Prince Harry fled Britain and denounced the royals on primetime TV. Rather, it is a description of the relationship that preceded the Beckham-Peltz marriage: that between David and Victorias eldest son and model Hana Cross, whom he dated for around ten months from late 2018. And if the parallels between the beginnings of the two love affairs are striking soppy social media posts, flamboyant inkings and a girfriend clad in VB designs with more than a passing resemblance to his mother it is the demise of the relationship with Hana that has prompted close scrutiny this week. Indeed it could be that the seeds of the current schism in the Beckham family actually lie in the lessons Brooklyn learned from what happened with Hana. Brooklyn Beckham dated Hana Cross for around ten months Indeed it could be that the seeds of the current schism in the Beckham family actually lie in the lessons Brooklyn learned from what happened with Hana, writes Katie Hind Just days after I revealed this week that Hana had been warned off telling her side of the story by some in Brooklyns camp although her spokesman says she acted of her own free will I can now reveal a fuller picture of that ill-fated union and the role his parents had leading up to their break-up. In scenes highly reminiscent of todays feud, with little hope of reconciliation following last weeks bombshell statement from Brooklyn, I can reveal that his relationship with Hana was also subject to parental interference. Incredibly, there were complaints from the Beckhams that Brooklyn was not putting the family first when he was with Hana, that he was neglecting his grandparents and that his girfriend wouldnt sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), preventing her from talking about private family matters. I can even reveal that the Beckhams staged an intervention to see more of their son and also disinvited Hana to Davids 44th birthday celebrations. A source at the time said: The relationship is becoming an increasing problem for the Beckhams. It is causing friction. This week a friend of the family told the Daily Mail that Brooklyn was besotted and naive in the romance with Hana from the very beginning as the family believe he now is with Nicola. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, the friend says: He was always like that naive. He and Hana were together about a year as I recall but he was much younger then. She wasnt The One. It became clear during the relationship that David and Victoria really didnt like Hana. This was difficult and painful and she felt that they put pressure on Brooklyn over it. Meanwhile friends of Hana, now 27, say that she remembers issues with his parents at the time and that he was treated as the family black sheep. But more than that, she was left distressed and needing to heal after their toxic relationship. According to a song she recorded after the break-up, her young lover had a habit for dishonesty, thought of her as temporary and, woundingly, broke up with her without even giving a reason why. But if, as we shall see, there was a clear link between the end of the relationship with Hana and pressure exerted on Brooklyn from his parents, the motivation behind his incendiary 1,200-word repudiation of his family on Instagram last week, becomes clearer. To recap: Brooklyn said that his family had tried to ruin his marriage, that he doesnt want to make up with them, and that all that matters to them is looking good on social media. Victoria Beckham, friends tell the Daily Mail, 'really didnt like Hana' His parents are, he claimed, performative and inauthentic, and this had caused him anxiety which only stepping away and being with his wife have healed. Back in 2018, the relationship with Hana got off to a promising start. The pair were introduced by a friend of Brooklyns cousin Libby Adams, the daughter of Victorias sister Louise. They stared dating in December of that year when he was 19 and she was 20, nearly 21. At the time Hana was a very successful young model, feted for her perfect brows and effortless cool. No nepo baby, she was born Hana Mahmood in Leeds, to Sarah, a shop manager and Khalid, a shop proprietor. Later, the family including older brother Haris moved to Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, where Hana left secondary school after her GCSEs to pursue a modelling career under the surname Cross. Her big break was winning a talent competition to be the face of fashion brand New Look. Appearances in Glamour and Tatler magazines swiftly followed. The first sighting of her with Brooklyn was where else? at a Brand Beckham event. In this case, it was a party in Londons fashionable Notting Hill in December 2018 to celebrate whisky brand Haig Club, which David was plugging at the time. A week later the romance was confirmed when they strolled around the British Fashion Awards at the Albert Hall hand-in-hand. At this point, the Beckhams were having a period of what seemed to onlookers like a spell of marital discord. Inside the ceremony, David chatted with his best friend Dave Gardner and with Rita Ora, while Victoria, stony-faced, turned her back on him. But the blossoming love affair enjoyed by Brooklyn captured at least some of the headlines. Hanas first (and only) Christmas chez Beckham followed, including New Year celebrations to mark the start of 2019 with an ostentatious fireworks display at the familys Cotswolds home. Victoria, David and Brooklyn all posted pictures of the party, with the whole clan lining up on a sofa, including Davids sister Joanne and his mum Sandra. Dave Gardner joined them with his then-wife, the Hollywood actress Liv Tyler. None of it seemed to phase Hana in the slightest. Come early January and she was on the front row of a Kent & Curwen show at London Fashion Week at which David presented his own clothing range, inspired by the TV drama Peaky Blinders. On her Instagram page, Hana showed off a VB ensemble and wrote: Love love love my new beanie, hoodie and bomber from #reebokxvictoriabeckham. Victoria, for her own part, wrote on Twitter that Hana was looking great dressed from head-to-toe in another outfit from her range a 1,195 parka jacket, 1,765 leather trousers and a 100 T-shirt. In February, Hana was on the front row of Victorias fashion show in London in VB 575 orange trousers and a 420 lace T-shirt, sitting close to Vogue boss Anna Wintour. Two months later in April and Hana was front and centre again at the celebrations for Victorias 45th birthday in Los Angeles with everything from the doughnut-themed breakfast to the family dinner at Italian restaurant Giorgio Baldi documented on Instagram. Amid all this synergistic plugging, things appeared to be moving fast for the young couple, and it was revealed that Brooklyn and Hana were being given the self-contained staff quarters in the Beckhams London house in Holland Park for privacy. A family source revealed: David and Victoria love having Brooklyn at home when hes in London. But hes nearly 20 and they have decided that he needs some independence. Its a great way for Brooklyn to make steps towards moving out, but not for good just yet, and it means he can spend as much time with Hana as he likes. Soon afterwards it was said that one of the three barns which make up the Cotswolds house was being turned into similar accommodation for the young couple. But away from the carefully curated public pronouncements about the relationship, cracks were beginning to show. And some might interpret the Beckhams close involvement in the burgeoning romance as more controlling than supportive, possibly sparked by concerns that tensions were building in the romance. Away from the carefully curated public pronouncements about the romance, cracks were beginning to show in Brooklyn and Hana's relationship Brooklyn and Hana appear to have a tearful argument after dining at restaurant Madeo in Beverly Hills in 2010 In March a row had erupted between Brooklyn and Hana when they attended a music gig in Camden, north London. A source said: It had been a bit of a wild night out and it got a bit messy. Brooklyn got really upset and ended up storming into the street. Hana read him the riot act and told him she didnt like it when he was acting up, drinking too much. Then in May came a public spat that seemed to come out of nowhere at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The two of them were there to attend the premiere of Quentin Tarantinos film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. But over lunch a few days later, a truly nasty, noisy fight kicked off between them on the terrace of the Martinez hotel where both had been drinking champagne. Hana apparently confronted Brooklyn about something and then angrily turned away from him. There was screaming and crying and the Beckhams security intervened to tell them to cool down. Brooklyn was, it was reported, jealous of his girlfriend drawing male attention. Sources said that David and Victoria were seriously frustrated and also concerned by what appeared to be a toxic relationship and a humiliating public drama. Not only that, but according to friends a source of tension was Brooklyns refusal to make Hana sign a non-disclosure agreement which had pitted him against his famous parents. David and Victoria reportedly wanted to gag Hana to protect Brooklyn in case they split but their romantic son didnt want to put the brand first. A source said at the time: The Beckhams make nearly all employees and associates sign NDAs and theyve asked that Hana sign one. But loyal Brooklyn refuses and thinks its insulting. Brooklyn has a wonderful life and enjoys the trappings of fame, but his family are worried that hes going out in the middle of the night, getting up to God-knows-what. The source went on: Theyre hoping this is just a phase, and he will soon focus entirely on his photography career, which is now really beginning to flourish. These are exciting times for him, and understandably Victoria and David dont want any distractions. Hana was not invited to Davids birthday celebrations that May which is strikingly similar to reports that David wanted Brooklyn to come alone to his 50th birthday celebrations last year. And by June, reports suggested that his parents were staging an intervention to freeze Hana out. At that time, David apparently asked his son simply to spend more time with the family than with Hana. In late June there was reported upset over Brooklyn not attending his grandmother Sandras 70th birthday celebrations. Instead he was on holiday in Malibu with Hana. A source said at the time: Its pretty much a three-line whip to turn up at family events. Instead, Brooklyn went on holiday, which frankly, he could have taken another time. How reminiscent this is of the recent criticisms of Brooklyn for not being in touch with his grandparents. Soon afterwards, within a matter of weeks, he and Hana had parted for good. All of which raises the question did Brooklyn learn from the demise of his romance with Hana, under pressure from his family, that he needed to protect Nicola from those same demands? Back in 2019 he was asked to show up, to conform to the family timetable, and to put his love life second to Brand Beckham. That was the end of the romance. This time around, as we all know, he chose to do things very differently. Jess Rowe has shared a touching tribute to her daughter Allegra as she celebrates the teen's 19th birthday with a Barbie-themed party. The TV star, 55, who shares Allegra and her other daughter Giselle with husband Peter Overton, posted photos of the special occasion to her Instagram account. In images uploaded on Friday, Allegra was all smiles as she slipped into a strapless red dress and posed with a Barbie doll-shaped birthday cake. The model's frock featured a sweetheart neckline and colourful, layered skirts. Opting for a minimal makeup look, she added a soft curl to her platinum blonde locks and happily posed with her mother and 16-year-old sister. 'Celebrating your 19th birthday darling heart @allegra_overton with a 'dress as your favourite Barbie' party!' Jess captioned the post. Jess Rowe, 55, has shared a touching tribute to her daughter Allegra as she celebrates the teen's 19th birthday with a Barbie-themed party. Pictured from left: Jess, Allegra, Giselle The TV star, who shares Allegra and her other daughter Giselle with husband Peter Overton, 59, posted photos of the special occasion to her Instagram account 'May all your dreams come true as you head into the world - our wish upon a star.' Jess opted for a colourful ensemble on her daughter's big day, rocking rainbow slacks and an overshirt with a matching visor. Meanwhile, Giselle opted for a pastel pink look with a crop top and mini skirt. As for Peter, 59, the newscaster also got into the spirit with a pink shirt, putting himself to work in the kitchen. Several more photos shared to Instagram revealed Allegra enjoyed themed cupcakes for her birthday, and invited several close friends over to her home to celebrate. It comes just a few months after Peter suffered a nasty fall at home and ended up in hospital with a severe injury. The Nine News Sydney anchor hurt his wrist so badly he required a gruelling four-hour surgery, which involved a bone graft, three metal plates, and multiple screws. Jess shared the shocking news to Instagram in November. In images uploaded on Friday, Allegra was all smiles as she slipped into a strapless red dress and posed with a Barbie doll-shaped birthday cake As for Peter, the newscaster also got into the spirit with a pink shirt, putting himself to work in the kitchen 'Never a dull moment in our house!' she wrote, revealing the extent of her husband's injury. 'What with Allegra finishing her HSC & the chaos that can be daily life, Petee recently had a nasty fall at home, badly injuring his wrist.' Jess added that Peter was under 'strict instructions to rest & recover,' and that it would be 'some time before he's back on screen'. She also praised the medical team who looked after her husband. 'A special shout out to our healthcare system, the emergency nurses, physios, doctors & specialist surgeons who are the most remarkable, caring & compassionate people. We are very lucky,' she said. Sofia Vergara enjoyed a mini reunion with some of her former Modern Family co-stars in sweet selfies. The 53-year-old star - who recently turned heads at the premiere of Paris Hilton's Infinite Icon documentary - jumped to her main Instagram page on Friday to reveal she spent time with Julie Bowen and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Vergara had played the character of Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the hit ABC series which aired for 11 seasons. The actress gazed towards the camera as she snapped the image as Bowen and Ferguson also flashed cheerful smiles. The trio was also joined by Ferguson's husband Justin Mikita - who is known for appearing in project such as Taylor Swift's music video for You Need To Calm Down. Vergara dressed for the lighthearted occasion wearing a figure-hugging, brown knit dress as well as a brown leather jacket layered on top. Sofia Vergara, 53, enjoyed a mini reunion with some of her former Modern Family co-stars in sweet selfies She jumped to her main Instagram page on Friday to reveal she spent time with Julie Bowen and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as well as the actor's husband Justin Mikita Her long locks were parted in the middle and effortlessly flowed down straight past her shoulders. She opted for minimal accessories to allow her look to be the main focal point and added a pair of small earrings and a few flashy rings on her hands. The star's makeup was glammed up and comprised of a layer of mascara to her voluminous lashes as well as a smoky shadow around her eyes. A light blush was added to her cheekbones for a radiant glow while a darker nude-colored tint was worn on her lips for a finishing touch. Vergara soon took to her Instagram stories to give fans a closer look at her stylish ensemble in a mirror selfie. She additionally carried a tan-colored clutch in her hand to hold a few items she needed during the fun gathering. Bowen had also played the role of Claire Dunphy in the series while Ferguson had portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on Modern Family. It is not the first time the trio have come together following the end of the sitcom in 2020. The actress gazed towards the camera as she snapped the image as Bowen and Ferguson also flashed cheerful smiles Vergara had played the character of Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the hit ABC series which aired for 11 seasons (seen above) It is not the first time the trio have come together following the end of the sitcom in 2020. Back in 2023, Vergara hosted Bowen and Ferguson at her mansion - with Ferguson's husband also joining in on the fun at the time Back in 2023, Vergara hosted Bowen and Ferguson at her mansion - with Ferguson's husband also joining in on the fun at the time. Later that same year, a larger cast reunion took place which the Columbian-born actress had also hosted. At the time, Rico Rodriguez, Ed O'Neill, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Bowen, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet were pictured. But Ty Burrell had not been able to make the special get together. However, the actor was still there in spirit as they printed out a photo of him and framed it. Last year in October, Vergara offered an update on the Modern Family cast five years after the series finale. 'We are still like a family,' the Griselda actress told E! News. 'Everything we do, we are connected in a gigantic chat with all the kids and all the actors. And we're always watching each other, supporting each other.' The following month, she recalled to People how the cast had initially been 'disconnected' when filming came to a close. Later that same year, a larger cast reunion took place which the Columbian-born actress had also hosted (seen above) 'Everything we do, we are connected in a gigantic chat with all the kids and all the actors. And we're always watching each other, supporting each other,' Vergara said; seen with Ed O'Neill on Modern Family Vergara explained they 'kind of got separated because we finished, and two weeks later, they closed everything for COVID. We got disconnected really fast.' The star has been keeping busy and recently collaborated with fellow actress Octavia Spencer in a Detect the SOS campaign. The ad is set to air later next month on February 8 during Super Bowl LX. Detect the SOS is 'a public health mission to elevate awareness and encourage people with high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes to include a uACR urine test as part of a comprehensive chronic kidney disease screening.' The test is able to also 'help uncover hidden risks for events like heart attack or stroke,' per the official website. Spencer recently opened up about taking a role in the health campaign and told People, 'Your body could be sending out an SOS if your kidneys are malfunctioning and you wanna answer the call. 'And while that sounds like it's scary, the way to detect it is easy.' The star has been keeping busy and recently collaborated with fellow actress Octavia Spencer in a Detect the SOS health campaign And last week, Vergara dressed to impress in a strapless leather dress that clung to her toned figure at the premiere of Paris Hilton's documentary Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir (seen above) She crossed paths with other attendees at the star-studded festivities including model and former America's Got Talent judge Heidi Klum And last week, Vergara dressed to impress in a strapless leather dress that clung to her toned figure at the premiere of Paris Hilton's documentary Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir. Her dark hair was parted in the middle and cascaded down past her shoulders in light waves. She crossed paths with other attendees at the star-studded festivities including model and former America's Got Talent judge Heidi Klum. Vergara shared a series of snaps from the screening, with one image showing the pair nibbling on popcorn while sitting next to each other inside the theater. Interfax-Ukraine to host press conference 'Supreme Court sides with defenders of Markhalivsky Forest: illegal transfer of land for military cemetery annulled' Photo: : nmmc.mva.gov.ua On Wednesday, February 4, at 11.00, a press conference entitled "The Supreme Court sides with defenders of the Markhalivsky Forest: illegal transfer of land for a military cemetery annulled" will begin at the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. Participants include lawyer Yulia Rybitska, residents of Markhalivka Nadiya Kovalenko and Viktoriya Chechenkova, Director of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center Volodymyr Boreiko (8/5a Reitarska Street). The event will be streamed on the Interfax-Ukraine YouTube channel. Journalists may register on site with valid press credentials. Kylie Jenner turned heads on Thursday night in a vintage Maison Margiela look. Following her appearance at Charli xcx's The Moment premiere, the 28-year-old star attended the afterparty in a 'dress form' bustier that flashed her ample cleavage. The fashionista paired her burlap-inspired top with a midi-length black leather skirt and matching pointed-toe heels. She skipped jewelry for the retro '90s archival moment, and her jet-black hair was pulled back. Jenner made sure to give her nearly 400 million Instagram followers a closer glimpse at the outfit as she shared photos in her Stories. Stylist duo Mackenzie and Rose Grandquist were behind the billionaire's latest look. Kylie Jenner turned heads on Thursday night in a vintage Maison Margiela look Following her appearance at Charli xcx's The Moment premiere, the 28-year-old star attended the afterparty in a 'dress form' bustier that flashed her ample cleavage The fashionista paired to burlap-inspired top with a midi-length black leather skirt and matching pointed-toe heels The Kylie Cosmetics mogul appearsin Charli's highly anticipated 'tour mockumentary' about her career-defining Brat era, marking her acting debut. For the movie premiere, she flashed her toned midriff in a ruffled cream-colored sleeveless blouse paired with a low-rise black maxi skirt, also by Margiela. The Moment premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City last weekend. It follows the pop star in the lead-up to her first headline tour and explores her personal and public narratives. Through the scripted scenes it shows how subculture is transfigured by commercial success, with record executives contemplating how they can make it a 'brat summer forever.' The Moment is currently screening in limited release. The film, from director Aidan Zamiri, is slated for nationwide release on February 6. Thursday evening's glamorous premiere event was hosted at LA's Fine Arts Theatre. She skipped jewelry for the retro '90s archival moment, and her jet-black hair was pulled back Jenner made sure to give her nearly 400 million Instagram followers a closer glimpse at the outfit as she shared photos in her Stories Stylist duo Mackenzie and Rose Grandquist were behind the billionaire's latest look Jenner plays herself in the satirical movie, which was announced last October. The trailer, which dropped in December, combines concert footage with scripted scenes that feature Hollywood stars Alexander Skarsgard and Rachel Sennott. In the opening scene, Charli asks: 'Dont you just think the whole, like, "Keep having a Brat Summer!" thing is a bit cringe? 'The label is like, "More Brat, Brat, Brat, Brat, Brat, forever," and you know, maybe they are right. Urgh for f***'s sake.' The musician visibly struggles with fame and adds: 'Everyones so desperate for me to be f***ing innovative all the time. And f***ing cool!' Jenner then chimes in: 'The second people are getting sick of you, that's when you need to go even harder.' Jane Fonda hit out at president Donald Trump outside of Don Lemon's court hearing on Friday, after the journalist was arrested over a pro-immigration protest at a Minnesota church. The Barbarella actress, 88, defended the former CNN anchor as she spoke to assembled protesters outside of a federal courthouse in Los Angeles. Taking a swipe at the commander-in-chief, she told the crowd: 'They arrested the wrong Don.' Lemon, 59, is accused of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers, after he joined anti-ICE protesters who stormed a church on January 18. But Fonda passionately defended the reporter, telling the crowd: 'Don Lemon is a professional journalist. He, and his producer, were doing their job. Nothing more, nothing less. And he's been arrested.' 'I know Don Lemon. My husband created CNN. And I will fight for their right to speak, which is guaranteed in our constitution,' she said, in reference to her third ex-husband, media mogul Ted Turner, 87, who founded CNN. Jane Fonda, 88, hit out at president Donald Trump outside of Don Lemon's court hearing on Friday, after the journalist was arrested over a pro-immigration protest at a Minnesota church Lemon (pictured outside the courthouse in Los Angeles on Friday) is accused of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers Fonda and Turner got married in 1991. They separated in 2000, and their divorce was finalized in 2001. Fonda promised to continue speaking out on behalf of journalists as she urged others to do the same. 'We are not ready to sit and be quiet. We have to speak up. Every American who believes in our constitution has to speak up.' 'And they'll make up all kinds of defamatory things to say about him. That's what they're doing. This is how autocrats act.' 'We can't fall for it. We have to speak up. When a red line is crossed like this, we cannot be silent.' Lemon - sporting a white suit and cream sweater - was released without bail after appearing at court on federal charges relating to his coverage of anti-ICE protests at a church in Minneapolis earlier this month. During his 20 minute appearance Lemon didn't enter a formal plea but his lawyer Marilyn Bednarski told the court that he was pleading not guilty. 'He's committed to fighting this case - he's not going anywhere,' Bednarski told the court when prosecutors asked for Judge Patricia Donahue to impose bail of $100,000 on Lemon, who had been in custody overnight after his arrest Thursday in Beverly Hills. Prosecutors also asked the judge to order Lemon - who is in LA to cover this Sunday's Grammy Awards - to surrender his passport and restrict his travel to New York where he lives and Minnesota. 'This is a very serious felony,' argued lead government attorney Alexander Robbins at the packed hearing which was attended by LA mayor Karen Bass and Lemon's husband Tim Malone, whom the journalist blew a kiss to. The Barbarella actress defended the former CNN anchor as she spoke to assembled protesters outside the courthouse Taking a swipe at the commander-in-chief, she told the crowd: 'They arrested the wrong Don' 'Don Lemon is a professional journalist. He, and his producer, were doing their job. Nothing more, nothing less. And he's been arrested,' she told the crowd 'I know Don Lemon. My husband created CNN. And I will fight for their right to speak,' she said, in reference to her third ex-husband, media mogul Ted Turner, 87, who founded CNN; The former pair pictured in 1990 Bednarski countered that as an international reporter, restricting his travel would be 'inappropriate.' 'He is not a flight risk. He is not a danger whatsoever. He has no criminal convictions. He has been a journalist since he graduated journalism school in 1996. That's what he does.' Judge Donahue rejected federal prosecutors' request for $100,000 bail and released Lemon on his own recognizance. She also said he could go on a planned sailing trip to France in June, 'so long as it does not interfere with any upcoming court proceedings in Minnesota,' where Lemon will face his next hearing on February 9. The judge also ordered Lemon to 'have no contact with victims or witnesses' in his case. The White House mocked Lemon after his arrest. 'When life gives you lemons...' the official Trump administration account said in a post, captioning a black and white image of Lemon inside the church. The incident was filmed for his show at the Cities Church in St Paul on January 18 where he captured protesters opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also leads the local ICE field office. Protesters screamed and harassed worshippers during the incident, which sparked nationwide fury. In his footage from the storming of the church, Lemon was seen arguing with a church pastor who called his antics 'shameless.' The White House mocked Lemon after his arrest on Thursday; President Trump pictured on Friday in Washington 'When life gives you lemons...' the official Trump administration account said in a post, captioning a black and white image of Lemon inside the church Lemon insisted that his behavior was covered by the First Amendment, as he fumed to the pastor: 'There's a Constitution and a First Amendment, and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.' He also later bragged on Jennifer Welch's 'I've Had It' podcast on Monday afternoon that he was the 'biggest name' at the anti-ICE church protest. 'You know, I said, 'I don't understand how I've become the face of it when I was a journalist' - I do understand that, I was the biggest name there,' Lemon told Welch. The independent journalist then shared the message his producers gave him after realizing how much of a stir he made. 'I was on with my producers this morning... My producers were saying, I said, 'How did I become the face of this?', and my producers said Don, you're a gay, black man in America. 'And you have a platform, and you're the biggest name. Of course you're going to be the person that they single out, and they're gonna make the headline because it plays to their base, and their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes like Nicki Minaj, by the way,' Lemon added. A few days later, Lemon was indicted by a grand jury in Minnesota, and has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and a violation of the FACE act, which prohibits interfering with someone's right to worship. Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and that he was there as an independent journalist chronicling protesters. Along with Lemon's arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Jaunary 22 that Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen had been taken into custody. Lemon was seen in footage from the incident on January 18th arguing with the church pastor as anti-ICE protesters screamed and harassed worshippers FBI Director Kash Patel later said that a third protester, William Kelly, had also been detained. A source told the Daily Mail that Lemon was seen being handcuffed while flanked by FBI and Homeland Security agents, and he 'didn't look overly happy.' An insider familiar with the investigation added that prosecutors considered that Lemon would likely enjoy the publicity of his arrest, and said it was 'definitely a downside' to bringing charges against him. 'He'll write a book and act like he's a martyr,' the source said. 'But I also think if you don't do anything you send a message that people can disrupt church services, and I think they have to cut that s*** off and enforce the law.' Lemon began his journalism career as a weekend news anchor at a local station in Birmingham, Alabama, before working at outlets in Pennsylvania and Missouri. He went on to join NBC News from 2003 to 2006, before joining CNN in 2006. After eight years at the network he'd get his big gig anchoring CNN Tonight from 2014 until his firing in 2023. In 2024, he launched The Don Lemon Show as a podcast and YouTube series and married his longtime partner, real estate agent Tim Malone. Kate Walsh, who played Eric Dane's love interest on Grey's Anatomy, has shared her heartache as he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The early seasons of the show were dominated by the tangled love quadrangle of Addison Montgomery (Walsh), Mark Sloan aka 'McSteamy' (Dane), Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd aka 'McDreamy' (Patrick Dempsey). Decades after the four characters became household names on the hospital drama, Dane revealed last year that he has ALS, which is known in some countries as motor neurone disease and colloquially in America as Lou Gehrig's disease. The rare, incurable degenerative condition impairs the nervous system over time and causes the muscles to increasingly suffer from paralysis. Dane, 53, has sharply declined since his diagnosis, using a wheelchair, losing the use of one of his arms and pulling out of a public appearance just last week citing the 'physical realities' his illness has forced him to face. Now Walsh, 58, has said that Dane's condition is 'so painful. Its really sad. I havent been in touch with him, but Ive reached out and sent my love and support and strength. Its so heartbreaking,' according to People. Kate Walsh, who played Eric Dane's love interest on Grey's Anatomy, has shared her heartache as he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); they are pictured on the show in 2006 'I havent been in touch with him, but Ive reached out and sent my love and support and strength,' said Walsh, who is pictured at Paris Fashion Week last July Hailing him as 'such a beautiful person and such an incredible man,' she noted that 'Ive had other friends that have battled with this disease, and its just horrific.' She added that 'my heart goes out to him' and that she has kept 'him, his family, his girls, in my prayers,' as Dane and his estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart amicably co-parent their daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, amid his health downturn. Walsh's character Addison appears on the show as the estranged wife of the Patrick Dempsey character Derek Shepherd, known to fans as 'McDreamy.' The marriage collapsed before the events of the show because she had an affair with Dane's character Mark Sloan, an incorrigible lothario known as 'McSteamy,' only to leave Mark in turn and abort his baby upon discovering he was unfaithful to her. In the early seasons of the series, Addison is attempting to win Derek back, while her ex-husband is in the process of moving on with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). Bruised by Derek's love for Meredith, Addison occasionally takes comfort in Mark's arms but sloughs off his attempts to reignite a more serious relationship. Creator Shonda Rhimes eventually spun off Addison's storyline into the series Private Practice, which ran from 2007 to 2013 and focused on her new life in Los Angeles away from the Seattle setting of Grey's Anatomy. Walsh's remarks on Dane's health struggles come shortly after Dempsey revealed he had been in contact with his former co-star as he suffers from ALS. Decades after the four characters became household names on the hospital drama, Dane revealed last year that he has ALS; he is pictured that June Dane and Walsh's characters on Grey's Anatomy were involved in a love quadrangle with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) 'It's very hard for him, but I do try to stay in touch and see how he's doing,' Dempsey, 60, explained in a new interview with Parade. Dempsey's outreach extended to trying to get Dane a part on his new hit man drama Memory of a Killer, which premiered on USA last weekend. 'Unfortunately, the progression of his disease made it virtually impossible,' Dempsey said, though he added he was 'happy to see that' Dane was able to make it to Toronto to film a part on the hospital show Brilliant Minds, starring Zachary Quinto. 'I think he's been incredibly courageous in the face of this horrible disease,' Dempsey said warmly of Dane. 'He's such a wonderful human being. He has such a great sense of humor, and he's so intelligent.' Dane, whose recent work includes playing the father of Jacob Elordi's character on Euphoria, insisted last month that he will keep acting. 'I still have my brain and I still have my speech,' he said on a virtual panel for IAMALS.org. 'I'm not about to concede my purpose for some disease.' David Tennant, Aidan Turner and... the Queen. There aren't many people who could command such a crowd and pack out Southwark Cathedral on a bleak January day. But then, there weren't many like the late, great Dame Jilly Cooper. They were there to pay tribute to the muchloved author, who died at the age of 88 after a fall in her home in Gloucestershire in October last year. The service of thanksgiving for her life and work heard from a multitude of friends, famous fans and family including Sir Derek Jacobi, Rupert Everett, stars from the hit TV adaptation of her book Rivals and her literary agent Felicity Blunt (sister of Emily). It was told of the writer's 'champagne soul', her magical 'Alice in Wonderland' house in the Cotswolds and about how five horses lined up to pay an impromptu tribute to her at her private funeral in Bisley, Gloucestershire. As Ms Blunt said in her eulogy, Dame Jilly was, for those who came of age in the early 1990s, the Taylor Swift of the literary world. 'I worshipped her from the moment I read Riders,' she told the congregation, while her husband, actor Stanley Tucci, looked on proudly. Ms Blunt praised the queen of the bonkbuster for her Austenesque books which sold 12 million copies. Through the Rutshire Chronicles, Dame Jilly introduced many to sex, horses and the upper classes and words such as 'heavenly', 'orgasmic' and 'ravishing'. Aidan Turner and Caitlin Fitzgerald attend the memorial for Dame Jilly Cooper - the muchloved author who died at the age of 88 after a fall in her home in Gloucestershire in October last year David Tennant and his wife Georgia at the memorial service. The service of thanksgiving for Dame Jilly's life and work heard from a multitude of friends Under the huge arches of the cathedral, Dame Joanna Lumley read an extract from one of Dame Jilly's books, The Common Years, about her time in Putney. Everett read a traditional Celtic song and actors Alex Hassell and Bella Maclean, from the recent Disney+ version of Rivals, read an extract from the book. Dame Jilly's children, Felix and Emily, and grandchildren including Scarlett Cooper, who read a prayer of intercession, joined with stars of stage, screen and the literary world, including fellow writers Elizabeth Day, Jojo Moyes and Helen Fielding, to remember her. The moving service culminated with the hymn Jerusalem before the congregation gathered to enjoy a glass (or three) of Moet served, in true Dame Jilly style, in huge jeroboams. Dame Joanna, who was dressed smartly in a black hat and suit, said she had known Dame Jilly since the 1970s when she shared a flat with some girlfriends. She described her as 'heavenly'. 'She never, ever had a bad word to say about anyone and was such fun,' Joanna said. It was a sentiment echoed by many including the Rivals cast. Danny Dyer described her as 'warm, funny and a bit of a flirt', while Aidan Turner said she would sit at the back and observe them quietly during filming. Presenter Clare Balding, who said she'd known Dame Jilly since going to her school with her daughter Emily, described her as 'incredibly kind and generous'. Queen Camilla with the daughter of Dame Jilly Cooper, Emily Tarrant (second right) and her sons Lysander (far left), Jago (second left) and Acer (right) Presenter Clare Balding, who said she'd known Dame Jilly since going to her school with her daughter Emily, described her as 'incredibly kind and generous' 'I remember her books being banned from our school because they were so naughty,' she said. Balding described her as 'a life force with a great love of the countryside, animals and champagne'. Bridget Jones creator Fielding described Jilly as 'an inspiration, personally and professionally'. Comedian Helen Lederer talked about being invited to Dame Jilly's house for a party, which was, apparently just like a scene from Rivals. 'Jilly was an individual who commanded love, curiousity and warmth,' she said. Fourlegged fans also joined the congregation, including two of the dogs from Rivals, a labrador and a terrier cross. Just before leaving, the terrier was spotted trying to mount the leg of a member of the congregation. Some may say such an act would have raised a wry smile from Dame Jilly herself. We've lost another true original. Catherine O'Hara's death on Friday morning, at age 71, comes as a shock. She was rare among Hollywood stars: A comedic genius whose indelible work spanned generations and who, notably, seemed kind. Most people who are professionally funny not all, but most are obviously animated by anger, self-loathing or unhappiness. Not O'Hara. She always seemed to sparkle. She reveled in being a professional kook. 'When in doubt,' she told The New Yorker in 2019, 'play insane.' In real life, she was anything but. The tributes pouring in attest to that. We've lost another true original. Catherine O'Hara's death on Friday morning, at age 71, comes as a shock. She was rare among Hollywood stars: A comedic genius whose indelible work spanned generations - and who, notably, seemed kind. (Pictured in Home Alone with Macaulay Culkin). Michael Keaton, who starred alongside O'Hara in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, wrote on Instagram: 'She's been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend. This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her.' Pedro Pascal, who worked with O'Hara on The Last of Us, posted: 'There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Always.' Actress Rita Wilson: 'Catherine O'Hara a woman who was authentic and truthful in all she did.' Craig Mazin, writer and producer of The Last of Us: 'It all hurts terribly. Goodbye, you legend you wonderful, brilliant, kind, beautiful human being. We were lucky to have had you at all.' As much as Hollywood is given to hyperbole, this all feels genuine. O'Hara was, indeed, special. Born on March 4, 1954 in Toronto, she was one of seven children. 'Being funny was highly encouraged in our family,' she told The New Yorker. 'I think everyone is born with humor, but your life can beat it out of you, sadly. Or you can be lucky enough to grow up in it.' O'Hara began making her name as part of SCTV, the Second City Television sketch show in Canada, before her breakout came opposite Keaton in Tim Burton's phantasmagorical 1988 comedy Beetlejuice. But it was her role as Macaulay Culkin's mom in the 1990 blockbuster Home Alone a mother, of course, who forgets she left her 8-year-old, Kevin, back at home while jetting to Paris with the rest of her family that made O'Hara a household name. Culkin himself took to Instagram to mourn his on-screen mother. 'Mama,' he wrote, next to a still from the original movie of him in character with O'Hara and another, more recent photo of them together. 'I thought we had time I love you.' A lesser actress wouldn't have been able to make an audience fall in love with her, let alone forgive her for leaving her small son at home, at Christmas, to fend off two burglars. Such was O'Hara's unique gift. She returned to her improv roots for a series of films with Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, starring as unhinged characters in the mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration. 'I think there's a bit of the sameness in a lot of the characters I do,' O'Hara told Vulture in 2019. 'I think there's a lot of insecure delusional [sic]. And I say this a lot, but I love playing people who have no real sense of the impression they're making on anyone else.' It was her unforgettable Moira Rose, the dispossessed aging actress-wife-mother on Schitt's Creek, that was O'Hara's crowning achievement. No one had ever seen a character like Moira before: a woman dressed to the nines in a rural backwater, a snob with heart and an accent of indeterminate origin rivaled, in oddness, only by the various and sundry wigs hanging from her motel room wall Moira's scalps, as it were. 'I had no idea that anyone else would care,' O'Hara said in 2020. 'I said, 'Can I wear different wigs all the time?' and they said, 'Yes!' Moira's increasingly zany, dated wigs became the show's standout running gag. O'Hara took inspiration from none other than heiress and one-time Alexander McQueen muse Daphne Guinness for Moira's look. Sarah Jessica Parker could never. Would-be comic actors such as Parker who just accepted the Carol Burnett Award for 'her outstanding contributions to television' are mere supporting players compared to the outsize genius of Catherine O'Hara. O'Hara never sacrificed a laugh for vanity. She didn't take herself seriously. She didn't merchandise her husband, their two sons or her home life. And unlike younger female comics such as Amy Schumer, Nikki Glaser or Lena Dunham, O'Hara never degraded herself or her physical appearance to get cheap laughs. Perhaps because O'Hara knew, unlike the perpetually gushing, preening, needy Parkers and Dunhams of the world, that she was the real deal. It was her unforgettable Moira Rose, the dispossessed aging actress-wife-mother on Schitt's Creek (pictured), that was O'Hara's crowning achievement. Moira Rose was O'Hara's creation from the ground up. She told The New Yorker about pitching Moira's look to father-and-son show creators Eugene and Dan Levy. '[Guinness's] wardrobe, it's just so great and extreme,' she told The New Yorker. 'It's strong and it's armor, which is perfect when you've had your life ripped out from under you, like Moira, and you're in this place that's like the town you got out of earlier in life.' O'Hara located Moira's heart: a woman who had worked so hard, only to find herself returned to her humble beginnings and yet refused, in her inimitable, humorous way, to be dragged back down. Sarah Jessica Parker, who refuses to abandon the character she's been playing for nearly 30 years, could learn a lot. 'Moira just has so much to show, she believes, but doesn't know quite what that is yet,' O'Hara told Vulture. 'And if you can externally present different versions of yourself with the help of great wigs and wardrobe, then it boosts your confidence. I have more to me, too. I can be different. I can still grow.' What a lesson in being a great artist, a great comedienne, and more importantly, a good person. Seth Rogen shared he is devastated by costar Catherine O'Hara's sudden death. The actor and comedian, 43, who worked with O'Hara in his award-winning Apple TV series The Studio, posted a touching tribute to the actress, after she passed away at age 71 on Friday. He shared a sweet photo of the late star with a mischievous smile on her face as she poked him on the back. 'Really don't know what to say' Rogen started his post. 'I told O'Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I'd ever had the pleasure of watching on screen.' He also revealed that her role as Macaulay Culkin's mom in the 1990 holiday blockbuster Home Alone inspired him to make films. 'Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour.' Seth Rogen, 43, shared he is devastated by his costar Catherine O'Hara's sudden death on Friday; Rogen seen January 24 in Park City, Utah 'She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it.' 'This is just devastating. We're all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.' O'Hara starred as Patty Leigh in Apple TV+'s The Studio. Ike Barinholtz, who also starred alongside O'Hara in The Studio, expressed his sorrow in a statement shared on Instagram. Alongside a photo of the two of them standing together on a staircase, he penned: 'I never in a million years thought I would get to work with Catherine O'Hara let alone become friends with her.' 'So profoundly sad she's somewhere else now. So incredibly grateful I got to spend the time I did with her. Thank you Catherine, I love you.' O'Hara's turn as Patty Leigh on The Studio which debuted on Apple TV in March 2025 was one of her final screen roles. On the show, Patty a high-powered Hollywood executive served as a mentor to Rogen's character, Matt Remick, and the pair developed a similar bond off screen. The actor posted a touching tribute, sharing a sweet photo of the late actress with a mischievous smile on her face as she poked him on the back O'Hara starred as Patty Leigh in Apple TV+'s The Studio alongside Rogen; The two seen in a still from the show Ike Barinholtz, who also starred alongside O'Hara in The Studio, expressed his sorrow in a statement shared on Instagram 'We actually do get along, but chemistry can be faked. I think you never know. Just because you like someone in real life, it doesn't mean you'll have good chemistry with them,' Rogen said about O'Hara during an interview in March 2025. 'Thank God it worked out that way. We were shooting the first scene together, and it seemed to be going well.' O'Hara added, 'I like Seth. I really like Seth, so that helps.' O'Hara was rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency at her Los Angeles home on Friday, prior to her sudden death at age 71. The Home Alone star was having 'difficulty breathing' before she was taken to the hospital, according to a dispatch audio obtained by the Daily Mail. First responders were called to O'Hara's Brentwood home at around 5 AM on Friday. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and listed in serious condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Within hours, the iconic actress was declared dead. Her cause of death has not been revealed at this time. A statement from CAA, the agency that represented OHara, said the actress died Friday 'at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.' An LAFD spokesperson told the Daily Mail: 'At 4:48 am we responded to a request for medical aid to that address and transported an approximately 70-year-old female in serious condition.' OHara's last public appearance was at the Emmys in September, where she appeared frail on the red carpet. O'Hara was rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency at her Los Angeles home on Friday, prior to her sudden death at age 71; Seen 2025 Her cause of death has not been revealed at this time. OHara's last public appearance was at the Emmys in September, where she appeared frail on the red carpet (pictured) She leaves behind her husband of 30-plus years Bo Welch, and their sons Matthew, 32, and Luke, 29. O'Hara was notably absent from the 2026 Golden Globes on January 11, where she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television for The Studio. The ceremony saw her Home Alone costar Macaulay Culkin take to the stage to present the award for Best Screenplay Motion Picture, and reflect on his role in the holiday classic. As news of OHaras tragic death spread, Culkin led the tributes on Instagram with a heartbreaking post. He shared a split image: one from the classic Home Alone film and another from a more recent reunion at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023. 'Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later,' he wrote. A Toronto native, OHara got her start as a member of the legendary SCTV cast, helping launch the careers of comedy icons like John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Rick Moranis. The actress became a household name playing Culkin's mom in the first two Home Alone films, and she charmed audiences as the eccentric Moira Rose in all 80 episodes of Schitts Creek. Her comedic talent also shone in Christopher Guests hit mockumentaries, including Best in Show (2000) and A Mighty Wind (2003). Fans also remember her unforgettable turns in Tim Burtons Beetlejuice. The actress became a household name playing Macaulay Culkin's mom in the first two Home Alone films; pictured with Culkin in Home Alone Over the past decade, she enjoyed a career resurgence with Schitts Creek, earning an Emmy for her role as the eccentric Moira Rose. In 2020, she nabbed the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the role. Her talent extended well beyond comedy, with 2025's The Studio showcasing her ability to move effortlessly between comedic and dramatic roles. OHaras awards resume was already formidable: she won an Emmy in 1982 for her work on SCTV Network and again in 2020 for her iconic turn as Moira Rose on Schitts Creek, while earning eight additional nominations for acting and writing. In 2017, she was named to the Order of Canada, one of the countrys highest honors. In 2025, she received a rare double nomination, recognized for her guest role on HBOs The Last of Us and her performance in The Studio. Elsa Pataky flaunted her very toned, trim pins on Friday as she returned home to the Byron Bay mansion she shares with husband Chris Hemsworth and their children. The Spanish model and actress, 49, put on a leggy display in a pair of mini red shorts which matched her knit top as she was spotted getting out of her vehicle. She kept her eyes hidden behind a pair of red-tinted glasses, adding to the monochrome look, and finished it off with white sneakers. At one point, the Fast and Furious star appeared to be engrossed in something on her mobile phone as she carried a brown paper bag in hand. The mother-of-three opted for a makeup-free look, sweeping her blonde tresses back into a loose, low ponytail. As Hollywood hunk Chris, 42, promotes his latest film, Elsa is currently at home alone at their palatial $50 million Byron Bay residence. Elsa Pataky, 49, flaunted her very toned, trim pins on Friday as she returned home to the Byron Bay mansion she shares with husband Chris Hemsworth, 42, and their children The Spanish model and actress put on a leggy display in a pair of mini red shorts which matched her knit top as she was spotted getting out of her vehicle The couple frequently spend time apart as their work commitments often see them jetting all around the world. Chris most recently appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside co-star Halle Berry as they discussed their new thriller Crime 101. Chris described his new movie as 'sleek and sexy' with complex characters. 'It is a throwback to the 70s, 80s and 90s heist movies that we all love, with a contemporary feel,' he said. 'There are complex characters and a deep level of emotion, and it's entertaining, sleek, sexy, and visually pretty stunning. It was the best script I had read in years.' Halle, 59, went on to sing the praises of her co-stars, which also include Barry Keoghan and Mark Ruffalo, saying she had 'never felt more seen' on a movie set. Describing her character, Halle said she found similarities with her alter ego, explaining to Irish host Graham that she 'has a voice'. 'She stands up for all women in middle life. She has a voice. I think that has been a long time coming,' she said. She kept her eyes hidden behind a pair of red-tinted glasses, adding to the monochrome look, and finished it off with white sneakers At one point, the Fast and Furious star appeared to be engrossed in something on her mobile phone as she carried a brown paper bag in hand The mother-of-three opted for a makeup-free look, sweeping her blonde tresses back into a loose, low ponytail 'Many women who are down the path of life like I am will feel very happy to be seen.' Speaking about the working environment on set of Crime 101, Halle said: 'It was amazing. 'When you've being doing this for over 30 years and you say it is the all-time best, that's something. 'You hear about the horror stories that go on in the industry, but not at all here. I have never felt more seen, protected and stood up for as I did on this movie.' As Hollywood hunk Chris, 42, promotes his latest film, Elsa is currently at home alone at their palatial $50 million Byron Bay residence Elsa is pictured getting out of her car Dan Levy and his father Eugene shared touching tributes to their Schitt's Creek co-star Catherine O'Hara following her death on Friday. Dan, 42, expressed that O'Hara who starred as his eccentric mother Moira Rose on the show was 'family' both on and off the screen, after news broke that she passed away at age 71. 'What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O'Hara's brilliance for all those years,' Dan wrote in an Instagram tribute, where he also shared two photos of them. 'Having spent over fifty years collaborating with my Dad, Catherine was extended family before she ever played my family. It's hard to imagine a world without her in it.' 'I will cherish every funny memory I was fortunate enough to make with her,' he added. Dan wrapped up his tribute sharing that he was thinking of her loved ones: 'My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke and every member of her big, beautiful family.' Meanwhile Eugene, 79 who starred on Schitt's Creek as Moira's husband, Johnny Rose, and was a longtime friend and collaborator of O'Hara's told Daily Mail in a statement: 'Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today.' Dan Levy, 42, and his father Eugene, 79, shared touching tributes to their Schitt's Creek co-star Catherine O'Hara following her death at age 71 on Friday 'I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O'Hara for over fifty years. From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt's Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her.' He added: 'My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke, and the entire O'Hara family.' Annie Murphy, who played the daughter of O'Hara and Eugene's characters and the sister of Dan's, added her voice to the choir as well. 'Ha-ha-HAAAA?!?! Her laugh was a perpetual Yes, And...,' wrote Murphy, quoting the typical improv prompt. 'It challenged anyone who heard it to join in, and be as delighted as she was. Gosh, were we ever lucky to have her.' She added that O'Hara 'would never have presumed to call herself a teacher (too self-deprecating, too Canadian) but holy f***, was I ever a student.' Murphy then listed some of the lessons she had gleaned from observing O'Hara, such as: 'Giggles first. Jokes always. As long as they feel right in your bones.' Others included: 'When you find the people you love and make you laugh, stick with your lovers and laughers,' as well as: 'Everybody on set is a part of the community who (ideally) wants to make something great - treat them as such.' The fourth pearl of wisdom was: 'Make suggestions, even if it means overstepping sometimes. Acknowledge if it doesn't work. Be appreciative of those who appreciate it when it does.' Annie Murphy, who played the daughter of O'Hara and Eugene's characters and the sister of Dan's, shared an homage as well O'Hara left behind her husband of 30-plus years Bo Welch, and their sons Matthew, 32, and Luke, 29. Eugene and O'Hara first met in 1974 as members of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto, beginning a legendary 50-year creative partnership Running from 2015 to 2020, Schitt's Creek followed the once-rich Rose family as they rebuilt their lives in the town of Schitt's Creek, where they took over the Rosebud Motel. The show also starred Annie Murphy as Alexis Rose, Moira's daughter. O'Hara won her second Emmy Award in 2020 for the role, after she'd previously won in 1982 for her role on SCTV Network. The cast had their last public appearance at the 2024 Emmy Awards, where Dan and Eugene co-hosted the show. After Schitt's Creek wrapped, Dan who co-created the series with his father Eugene told People he hoped the story might continue. 'My hope is that one day we can all get together. I see these people all the time. We're in constant contact with each other,' he said in 2022. Dan expressed that O'Hara who starred as his eccentric mother Moira Rose on the show was 'family' both on and off the screen, after news broke that she passed 'What a gift to have gotten to dance in the warm glow of Catherine O'Hara's brilliance for all those years,' Dan wrote in an Instagram tribute 'It's hard to imagine a world without her in it,' he added, sharing two photos of them Meanwhile Eugene told Daily Mail in a statement: 'Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today'; They are seen in 2020 Eugene and Catherine first met in 1974 as members of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto, beginning a legendary 50-year creative partnership; Eugene pictured with Catherine and her husband Bo Welch in a throwback snap 'So the love is there. The desire to work together is there, and the desire to tell more stories is there.' 'I think it just comes down to making sure that it's the right story to tell. And I think we're also proud of the work we did on Schitt's. And when you end on such a high, it really forces you to think very carefully about what the next step is. Because whatever that is, is an extension of something that most people don't have, don't get to see in their life. And I really respect the audience in that thing.' O'Hara was rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency at her Los Angeles home on Friday, prior to her sudden death at age 71. The Home Alone star was having 'difficulty breathing' before she was taken to the hospital, according to a dispatch audio obtained by the Daily Mail. First responders were called to O'Hara's Brentwood home at around 5 AM on Friday. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and listed in serious condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Within hours, the iconic actress was declared dead. Her cause of death has not been revealed at this time. A statement from CAA, the agency that represented OHara, said the actress died Friday 'at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.' An LAFD spokesperson told the Daily Mail: 'At 4:48 am we responded to a request for medical aid to that address and transported an approximately 70-year-old female in serious condition.' O'Hara starred on Schitt's Creek as the fabulously dramatic matriarch alongside husband Johnny Rose (played by Eugene), and kids David (Dan) and Alexis (Annie Murphy) O'Hara won her second Emmy Award in 2020 for the role, after she'd previously won in 1982 for her role on SCTV Network The cast had their last public appearance at the 2024 Emmy Awards, where Dan and Eugene co-hosted the show OHara's last public appearance was at the Emmys in September, where she appeared frail on the red carpet. O'Hara was notably absent from the 2026 Golden Globes on January 11, where she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television for The Studio. The ceremony saw her Home Alone costar Macaulay Culkin take to the stage to present the award for Best Screenplay Motion Picture, and reflect on his role in the holiday classic. As news of OHaras tragic death spread, Culkin led the tributes on Instagram with a heartbreaking post. He shared a split image: one from the classic Home Alone film and another from a more recent reunion at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023. 'Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. Ill see you later,' he wrote. A Toronto native, OHara got her start as a member of the legendary SCTV cast, helping launch the careers of comedy icons like Levy, John Candy, and Rick Moranis. The actress became a household name playing Culkin's mom in the first two Home Alone films, and she charmed audiences as the eccentric Moira in all 80 episodes of Schitts Creek. Her comedic talent also shone in Christopher Guests hit mockumentaries, including Best in Show (2000) and A Mighty Wind (2003). Fans also remember her unforgettable turns in Tim Burtons Beetlejuice. O'Hara was rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency at her Los Angeles home on Friday, prior to her sudden death at age 71. Her cause of death has not yet been released; Pictured in 2025 The actress became a household name playing Macaulay Culkin's mom in the first two Home Alone films; pictured with Culkin in Home Alone Her talent extended well beyond comedy, with 2025's The Studio showcasing her ability to move effortlessly between comedic and dramatic roles. OHaras awards resume was already formidable: she won an Emmy in 1982 for her work on SCTV Network and again in 2020 for her iconic turn as Moira on Schitts Creek, while earning eight additional nominations for acting and writing. In 2017, she was named to the Order of Canada, one of the countrys highest honors. In 2025, she received a rare double nomination, recognized for her guest role on HBOs The Last of Us and her performance in The Studio. Joe Rogan has confessed he refused to pay the entry fee to have his podcast submitted for a Golden Globes nomination. This year, the awards offered a best podcast prize for the first time ever, but notably snubbed viewership juggernauts like Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly. Rather, the nominees were a Hollywood-safe list of politically correct picks like Dax Shepard, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Alex Cooper and winner Amy Poehler. There was an explosion of controversy over the fact 'anti-woke' figures like Rogan were excluded, but he himself has now added another wrinkle to the story. 'So here's the thing. A lot of people say: "Why wasn't Joe Rogan nominated for the Golden Globes? Why did Amy Poehler win?" I didn't submit,' he said while interviewing Bert Kreischer on Thursday's episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. 'So they asked me to submit to be nominated for the Golden Globes, and you had to pay $500, and the $500 was like for paperwork or whatever. I said no,' he shared. Joe Rogan has confessed he refused to pay the entry fee to have his podcast submitted for a Golden Globes nomination this year; pictured on a different episode of his podcast 'I don't care. I already won. You can't tell me I didn't win. I've been number one for six years in a row. All of a sudden you're gonna have a contest in front of all these people wearing tuxedoes and you're gonna say now I'm not number one?' His remarks came after Bill Maher, who attended the Golden Globes but was not nominated, used his own podcast Club Random to slate the awards show for neglecting to recognize Rogan with a nod. Maher urged Hollywood people to 'get out of your f***ing bubble,' insisting that 'I want to be one of you, I am one of you,' while calling them 'so hard to defend' on account of being 'f***ing smug a**holes.' This year's nominees for best podcast included Call Her Daddy by online superstar Alex Cooper and the eventually triumphant Good Hang with Amy Poehler. SmartLess - hosted by sitcom alumni Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes - was also in contention along with the self-help Mel Robbins Podcast. Rounding out the category was Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard - co-hosted with producer Monica Padman - and the NPR news podcast Up First. In the wake of the Golden Globes, Rogan received an imprimatur from mainstream Hollywood in the form of an interview with A-listers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Their episode dropped on January 16, five days after the awards show, and as of this Friday night has amassed more than five million views on YouTube alone. Amy Poehler is pictured accepting the Golden Globe earlier this month for her podcast Good Hang, for which she was nominated in a category that included her ex-husband Will Arnett Various clips went viral from the episode as viewers delighted in the back-and-forth between Affleck and Damon, longtime best friends who rose to fame together. On the episode that debuted two days before the Golden Globes, Rogan's guest was yet another Hollywood heavyweight, Bradley Cooper. Cooper was promoting his latest directorial effort Is This Thing On?, starring none other than Golden Globe podcast nominee Arnett, Poehler's ex-husband. Recent mainstream showbiz stars to have appeared on Rogan's show include Russell Crowe, Ethan Hawke, John Mellencamp, Johnny Knoxville, Billy Bob Thornton and Jelly Roll, all in the space of the past three months. Catherine O'Hara reportedly had to miss the start of filming for the second season of The Studio in the days before her death aged 71. A statement from CAA, the agency that represented O'Hara, said the actress died Friday 'at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness'. The actress, known for roles in Home Alone and Schitt's Creek, was due to begin filming her role as Patty Leigh on The Studio when production began in mid-January. But a source close to the production said Catherine was due to appear in some early scenes but this had to be changed due to 'personal matters'. A source told The Sun: 'She was scheduled to film, but they reworked the schedule to focus on scenes without her character. 'It was not widely known she was dealing with any health or major issues. I don't believe she ever filmed anything for season two.' Catherine O'Hara had to miss the start of filming for the second season of The Studio in the days before her death aged 71 The actress, known for roles in Home Alone and Schitt's Creek, was due to begin filming her role as Patty Leigh on The Studio when production began in mid-January Catherine had a lead role in season one, playing a mentor to Seth Rogen's character Matt Remick as he becomes the head of a film production company. The comedian was rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency at her Los Angeles home on Friday. The Best In Show star was having 'difficulty breathing' before she was taken to the hospital, according to a dispatch audio obtained by the Daily Mail. First responders were called to O'Hara's Brentwood home at around 5am on Friday. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and listed in serious condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Her cause of death has not been revealed at this time. An LAFD spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'At 4.48am we responded to a request for medical aid to that address and transported an approximately 70-year-old female in serious condition.' She leaves behind her husband of 30-plus years Bo Welch, and their sons Matthew, 32, and Luke, 29. O'Hara was notably absent from the 2026 Golden Globes on January 11, where she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress on Television for The Studio. The ceremony saw her Home Alone co-star Macaulay Culkin take to the stage to present the award for Best Screenplay Motion Picture, and reflect on his role in the holiday classic. But a source close to the production said Catherine was due to appear in some early scenes but this had to be changed due to 'personal matters' As news of O'Hara's tragic death spread, Culkin led the tributes on Instagram with a heartbreaking post. He shared a split image: one from the classic Home Alone film and another from a more recent reunion at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023. 'Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. I'll see you later,' he wrote. Other stars also paid tribute, including Pedro Pascal, who appeared alongside O'Hara in season two of HBO's The Last of Us. Posting on Instagram, he wrote, 'Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Always,' adding a heart emoji. Justin Theroux, who co-starred with O'Hara in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, shared a photo of her on-set chair bearing her name, writing simply, 'Oh Catherine. You will be so so missed.' And filmmaker Ron Howard, who worked with O'Hara on the 1994 film The Paper, called the loss 'shattering news'. 'What a wonderful person, artist and collaborator,' he wrote. As news of OHara's tragic death became public, her Home Alone co-star Macaulay Culkin led the tributes on Instagram with a heartbreaking post 'Mama. I thought we had time,' he wrote in the caption O'Hara famously played Culkin's mother in the first two Home Alone films He enjoyed a sweet reunion with his onscreen mom as she introduced him at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in 2023 'I was lucky enough to direct, produce and act in projects with her, and she only grew more brilliant each year. My heart goes out to Bo and family.' Just a week before her startling appearance at the 2025 Emmys in September, O'Hara reunited with another longtime collaborator, Eugene Levy, as she was honored with the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. She was clearly emotional as Levy handed her the golden award, leading to a heartfelt acceptance speech. 'Eugene, that's too much. Thank you, darling,' she said after his introduction. The star continued, 'Darling Eugene. When I think of my happiest days in this adventure in show business, I realize most of them have been with you.' Their on-screen partnership stretches back to the 1970s, when they first shared the screen on Canadian sketch comedy series Second City Television. They went on to co-star in the 1996 comedy-musical Waiting for Guffman, which Levy co-wrote with Christopher Guest, and later in the 2000 dog show satire Best in Show, playing Gerry and Cookie Fleck. OHara and Levy continued their collaboration in 2003 with the mockumentary A Mighty Wind, centered on a fictional folk music reunion, and again in 2006 with For Your Consideration, a Hollywood spoof where OHara played an actress and Levy her co-stars agent. Fans also remember O'Hara's unforgettable turns in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice; Pictured in a Beetlejuice promo image with Geena Davis in 1988 O'Hara had a resurgence playing the eccentric Moira Rose on Schitt's Creek; (L-R) O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy in a promo image for the show A Toronto native, OHara got her start as a member of the legendary SCTV cast, helping launch the careers of comedy icons like John Candy, Levy and Rick Moranis. The actress became a household name playing Culkin's mom in the first two Home Alone films, and she charmed audiences as the eccentric Moira Rose in all 80 episodes of Schitts Creek. Her comedic talent also shone in Christopher Guests hit mockumentaries, including Best in Show (2000) and A Mighty Wind (2003). Fans also remember her unforgettable turns in Tim Burtons Beetlejuice. Over the past decade, she enjoyed a career resurgence with Schitts Creek, earning an Emmy for her role as the eccentric Moira Rose. In 2020, she nabbed the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the role. OHaras awards resume was already formidable: she won an Emmy in 1982 for her work on SCTV Network and again in 2020 for her iconic turn as Moira Rose on Schitts Creek, while earning eight additional nominations for acting and writing. In 2017, she was named to the Order of Canada, one of the countrys highest honors. In 2025, she received a rare double nomination, recognized for her guest role on HBOs The Last of Us and her performance in The Studio. Petro Poroshenko, Member of Parliament of Ukraine and leader of the European Solidarity party, remembered Andriy Parubiy, who would have turned 55 on this day. In his post, he noted that Parubiy remained a responsible person, did not seek easy solutions, and thought in terms of the state. According to Poroshenko, for Parubiy, the army, language, faith, and European choice were the foundation of Ukraine's existence, the politician wrote on Facebook. "My friend, today you would have turned 55. But I still remember that terrible day at the end of a hot summer when a killer's bullet took your life. It is still difficult to talk about Andriy in the past tense. It is difficult to realise that he will no longer come to our transparent office or appear in the Verkhovna Rada hall. It is difficult to accept that he is no longer with us," Poroshenko wrote. "Today, within the walls of parliament, there are photos of you looking at us, showing your entire journey. A student at Lviv University, the first national liberation rallies, then political and public activity. Here is a photo with Vyacheslav Chornovil in the Lviv Regional Council. After the Orange Revolution, the Maidan Self-Defence Forces, work in the Verkhovna Rada. The historic moment when we won the Language Law. And here you are with a weapon in your hands in Kyiv in 2022... Here are your family and friends... Photos that forever captured who you really were," writes the fifth President. According to him, Andriy Parubiy was always one of those who was capable of taking responsibility: "He did not look for convenient solutions and did not choose the easy way out. He chose the right way. He remained human in his office, in the parliament hall, on the Maidan. For him, power was not a privilege it was a duty. A duty to those who stood by him, who trusted and supported him." "Andriy thought in terms of the state. The army, language, faith, the European choice for him, these were not slogans, but the foundation without which Ukraine would not survive. He was able to see years ahead and took responsibility for decisions that shaped our future. He never betrayed himself. Because he knew that compromising with your conscience is a defeat, even if it looks like a victory on the outside," Poroshenko notes. "Such people do not leave forever. They remain in the principles that we must preserve. In the state that they helped to maintain. In the path that they paved for future generations. Andriy, we miss you very much... It still hurts," Petro Poroshenko writes. Naomi Campbell wrapped up warm as she enjoyed a luxury shopping trip at Gucci in Mayfair, London on Friday. The model, 55, donned an animal print faux fur coat for the outing which she wore over a black turtle neck top and matching trousers. Also sporting a pair of trendy sunglasses, Naomi added to her look with black boots and a dark brown handbag. Last month, the star met Pope Leo XIV, where she gifted him a book called La Via Delle Spezie, which roughly translates to The Spice Route - which is a historical overview of the role spices have played in the history of food. Naomi kept her style effortlessly chic with a fitted black peplum blazer for the occasion paired with a pencil skirt and a white shirt. She completed the ensemble with sheer tights, a pair of heels and wore a lace Catholic Mantilla Veil, as well as rosary beads and a cross. Naomi Campbell wrapped up warm as she enjoyed a luxury shopping trip at Gucci in Mayfair, London on Friday The model, 55, donned an animal print faux fur coat for the outing which she wore over a black turtle neck top and matching trousers Back in June, Naomi paid her respects to the late Pope Francis as she visited his tomb in Rome, Italy. At the time, she took to her Instagram page revealing she couldn't pass by the Italian capital without a 'moment of deep gratitude before departing'. The catwalk queen captured her entrance and parts of her visit inside the astonishing Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore. Pope Francis died in April this year at the age of 88. Naomi wrote alongside a snap of the holy place: 'Couldn't be in Rome without paying my respects to Pope Francis. A moment of deep gratitude before departing. You are so missed. Heartfelt, reverent, and full of longing. ' The star also shared a picture posing with a group of Italian police officers who were, perhaps, huge fans of the model. Earlier this summer, Bikini-clad Naomi showcased her age-defying physique as she enjoyed a lavish trip to Ibiza. She flaunted her taut physique and washboard abs as she posed up a storm in a black two-piece bikini. Join the debate Would YOU wear something this bold day-to-day? It comes after the model presented Pope Leo XIV with an unlikely gift while attending his general audience at The Vatican Bikini-clad Naomi Campbell showcased her age-defying physique as she enjoyed a lavish trip to Ibiza The supermodel recently gave her followers a glimpse at the hard work behind her toned physique. She sported an Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) suit for a session of Reformer Pilates, and posted a video of her workout on Instagram Stories. The EMS is designed to enhance workouts by delivering low-frequency electrical impulses to major muscles, causing them to contract more intensely. Posing in the unlikely addition to her gym wardrobe, Naomi then shared a clip of herself exercising on the Reformer Pilates machine. The model is no stranger to documenting her exercise regime on social media, having previously shared videos of herself doing yoga at a 300-per-month gym in Dubai. Holly Ramsay gushed over her new husband Adam Peaty's ripped abs as she shared a snap of the shirtless hunk posing in budgy smugglers on Saturday. The newly-weds continued their luxury honeymoon in Queensland, Australia after beginning their trip in Mauritius. Olympic swimmer Adam made sure to have no days off training as he flexed his muscular physique after a swim. 'First session in Australia done. Can't beat this place', he captioned his post. Holly revealed they are staying in the luxury five-star Mondrian Gold Coast as she took to her Instagram to share a snap of the incredible balcony views. The couple, who tied the knot in Bath last year, started their trip at the luxurious 6,000-a-night resort in Mauritius. Holly Ramsay gushed over her new husband Adam Peaty's ripped abs as she shared a snap of the shirtless hunk posing in budgy smugglers on Saturday Olympic swimmer Adam made sure to have no days off training as he flexed his muscular physique after a swim During their trip, the couple put themselves in her celebrity chef dad Gordon Ramsay's shoes as they whipped up a curry during a masterclass. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Holly, 26, shared an array of snaps from the class, including her new husband in chef whites. Holly and Adam, 31, started their day by heading to the food market to shop for ingredients before returning to the resort for a private cooking class with a chef. She captioned the snaps: 'Morning at the local market and then straight to the kitchen to learn how to make a Mauritian curry, yes chef @adamramsaypeaty!!' Holly looked incredible as she slipped into a bikini while sharing more photos from her honeymoon on Tuesday. She took to her Instagram Stories and posted a selfie wearing a black beaded bikini top along with a red wrap skirt. Holly styled her brunette locks into a ponytail and sported a pair of trendy sunglasses. She also shared a photo of her new husband Adam as he went for a stroll along the grounds of the scenic resort where the couple are spending their holiday. Holly revealed they are staying in the luxury five-star Mondrian Gold Coast as she took to her Instagram to share a snap of the incredible balcony views The newly-weds continued their luxury honeymoon in Queensland, Australia after beginning their trip in Mauritius Holly, 26, shared an array of snaps from the class, including her new husband in chef whites During their trip, the couple put themselves in her celebrity chef dad Gordon Ramsay's shoes as they whipped up a curry during a masterclass (Gordon, Tana, Holly and Adam pictured) The Olympic swimmer went shirtless for the outing and wore a pair of black swimming trunks. The Daily Mail revealed last week that Holly and Adam have jetted off to the One&Only Le Saint Geran - one of the island's most prestigious five-star hotel and spa complexes. The couple belatedly flew from London to Mauritius after delaying their 10-day escape while three-time Olympic gold medallist Adam took part in a swimming competition in Romania. Shortly after arriving, the couple were seen hurrying down to the white sand beach, where Adam posed for selfies with locals. One onlooker told the Daily Mail: 'They looked very loved-up and relaxed. Adam was happy to stop and chat and seemed in great spirits.' Le Saint Geran, set on an idyllic private peninsula, offers suites that can soar in price to more than 6,000 a night. The property, among the first luxury resorts built on the island in 1975, has attracted a glittering guest list over the years, including Nelson Mandela, George and Amal Clooney, Rihanna and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Guests can even arrive by helicopter, landing on a pad just steps from the beach, while a chauffeur-driven luxury car service is also available. Private villas on the palm tree dotted estate have reportedly sold for as much as $13.6million (10.1million). Holly looked incredible as she slipped into a bikini while sharing more photos from her honeymoon on Tuesday She also shared a photo of her new husband Adam as he went for a stroll along the grounds of the scenic resort where the couple are spending their holiday The couple's no-expense-spared jaunt has been covered by Holly's father, Gordon, himself a repeat visitor to Le Saint Geran with wife, Tana. Holly revealed to British Vogue that her parents had paid for the trip to Mauritius as a 'wedding present', in what could be viewed as a thinly-veiled jibe at her husband's absent parents. She said: 'We're going to Mauritius to just lie by the sea - that was our wedding present from my parents. I had to tell Adam we weren't basing our honeymoon around a 25-metre pool' Prior to taking off from the UK, Holly shared a snap of her hand luggage showing off a Christian Dior handbag along with a pair of flippers and a snorkel. She wrote: 'The most chic hand luggage, thanks to my husband.' Grady Demond Wilson, best known for playing Lamont Sanford on the hit NBC sitcom Sanford and Son, has died at the age of 79. The beloved actor passed away Friday morning at his home in Palm Springs, California, following complications related to cancer. His son, Demond Wilson Jr., confirmed the news to TMZ, though he did not disclose the specific type of cancer his father had been battling. 'I loved him. He was a great man,' Demond Jr. told the outlet. Wilson starred opposite Redd Foxx as Fred Sanfords sharp-tongued son on Sanford and Son from 1972 to 1977. After the shows success, he went on to headline several television projects, including a lead role on the short-lived sitcom Baby Im Back!. Grady Demond Wilson, best known for playing Lamont Sanford on the hit NBC sitcom Sanford and Son, has died at the age of 79; (pictured in 2016) Wilson starred opposite Redd Foxx as Fred Sanfords sharp-tongued son on Sanford and Son from 1972 to 1977 Appearing opposite Foxx on Sanford & Son, the duo helped push boundaries with one of televisions earliest Black-led sitcoms. 'Redd and I were making history back in those days,' Demond wrote in his 2009 autobiography. 'We were the first Blacks to be on television in that capacity and we opened the door for all those other shows that came after us.' Wilson is survived by his wife, former model Cicely Johnston, along with their six children. The couple married in 1974 and later devoted much of their life together to their shared Christian faith. After the shows success, he went on to headline several television projects, including a lead role on the short-lived sitcom Baby Im Back! Appearing opposite Foxx on Sanford & Son, the duo helped push boundaries with one of televisions earliest Black-led sitcoms. 'Redd and I were making history back in those days,' Demond wrote in his 2009 autobiography, adding, 'We were the first Blacks to be on television in that capacity and we opened the door for all those other shows that' Beyond his acting career and service as a Vietnam War veteran with the U.S. Army, Wilson embraced ministry, becoming an ordained Christian pastor in the 1980s. He went on to found the Restoration House of America, a nonprofit aimed at helping formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reenter society. Wilson also chronicled his life and beliefs through a memoir, in addition to authoring several faith-based books. Fans quickly took to social media to honor the late star, with one writing on X: 'RIP Demond Wilson. My parents were pretty insistent on a 10 PM bed time when I was a kid, but they always let me make an exception for Sanford and Son when it came on WPHL at 10. Always worth it.' James Haskell beamed from ear to ear as he prepared to board a flight to Tenerife to continue filming Celebs Go Dating. The former rugby player, 40, was joined by fellow show stars Gabby Allen and Lucinda Light as they jetted off to Spain to explore more connections for the E4 show. James appeared in good spirits as he made his way along the the travelator in a brown jacket with a white T-shirt and dark trousers. Former Love Island star Gabby kept it casual in a grey hoodie and white leggings which she paired with a matching jacket. Also sporting a pair of brown boots, the beauty completed her look with a white capand matching handbag. MAFS Australia star Lucinda opted for a brown jacket with grey trousers and a pair of tan ankle boots. James Haskell beamed from ear to ear as he prepared to board a flight to Tenerife to continue filming Celebs Go Dating The former rugby player, 40, was joined by fellow show stars Gabby Allen and Lucinda Light as they jetted off to Spain to explore more connections for the E4 show Also taking part in this year's series are Loose Women's Coleen Nolan, rapper Professor Green and Ibiza Weekender star David Potts. James' stint on Celebs Go Dating comes two years after his split from ex-wife Chloe Madeley. The former couple, who share daughter Bodhi, three, wed in 2018 before splitting five years later and battling a 'very volatile' divorce. Since the breakdown of their relationship, the former rugby player, 40, dated Big Brother star Sara McLean but the pair split just two days after going public. Insiders previously told The Sun: 'James has been single bar a few fleeting flings since he broke up with Chloe and his mates want him to get back into the dating game. 'E4 bosses have made a play for him to appear in the next series. The source added: 'They think he'd be brilliant because he's not only a decent name for them, he's genuinely very funny and they think he could charm the ladies.' James previously spoke out about how the 'the worst bits' of navigating the split are hidden from social media. Speaking about his relationship with Chloe on the This Morning sofa, James said: 'Chloe is an amazing mum, an amazing woman. She is so talented and smart, and brilliant at what she does. James appeared in good spirits as he made his way along the the travelator in a brown jacket with a white T-shirt and dark trousers Former Love Island star Gabby kept it casual in a grey hoodie and white leggings which she paired with a matching jacket. MAFS Australia star Lucinda opted for a brown jacket with grey trousers and a pair of tan ankle boots Lucinda complimented her look with a gold necklace and a grey hat Also taking part in the new series are Coleen Nolan, Professor Green and David Pottts 'When you get separated, obviously, because we live our lives in the public eye in some respect, basically you put yourself out there and sometimes people look to you to see how you behave in those situations, and for me, when you separate, the priority always becomes the child and your egos don't matter. 'We're able to co-parent in a way, sometimes is good, sometimes is bad, that's what happens. But we do it constructively for our daughter. 'I think it's important to talk about it. A lot of men reach out to me on social media and go "Listen, I'm separating, I'm having this, I wonder how you do that, I've seen that." 'I think sometimes social media can give you a false image, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. 'You never post about bad stuff. You've got to take everything with a punch of salt.' He added of Chloe: 'She always had my back. She's got my back now. She's always great like that. Our daughter is amazing, and hopefully you can keep that process, it's not always straight forward. But you've got to try!' Meanwhile the personal trainer recently admitted that the divorce from her ex-husband was 'very volatile'. Speaking to The Sun, Chloe said: 'Its two years since we separated and its been f*****g long enough, our life has very slowly fallen into place as co-parents and as ex-husband and wife.' She explained: 'Its fine now, but the divorce process has been incredibly emotional and volatile. We have weeks where everythings fine and we get on really well. 'And then we have weeks where we dont agree on something or someone gets frustrated or angry, and then we dont speak.' James' stint on Celebs Go Dating comes two years after his split from ex-wife Chloe Madeley (pictured in 2019) Chloe revealed she now has a strict policy to avoid major rows, explaining that she left the marriage because she didn't want conflict. Elsewhere in the interview, she described receiving the court letter confirming their divorce would be finalised on December 30, admitting it made her feel like she had 'failed' for the first time since the split. She added that she doesn't see the New Year as a 'fresh start', but rather a time of grieving. Chloe also ruled out reconciling with James, insisting she doesn't want another relationship with him after their marriage became 'dark', 'sad' and 'painful'. Despite their differences, she praised James as a father and said their relationship has improved since the split, noting they now co-parent well and still spend time together as a family. Directors Chris Columbus and Tim Burton have honored Catherine O'Hara in emotional tributes after her death at age 71. The Hollywood icon passed away on Friday 'at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness,' per a statement from her agency CAA. A cause of death has not been released. According to audio dispatch obtained by the Daily Mail, the star was having 'difficulty breathing' before she was taken to the hospital. Hours later, O'Hara was declared dead. Columbus - who is known for directing Home Alone and Home Alone 2 - penned he is 'heartbroken' in a post shared to Instagram. O'Hara had played the role of Macaulay Culkin's onscreen mother Kate McCallister in the two films. 'Today we lost Catherine O'Hara. I'm stunned and heartbroken, along with the rest of the world.' Directors Chris Columbus and Tim Burton have honored Catherine O'Hara in emotional tributes after her death at age 71 Columbus - who is known for directing Home Alone and Home Alone 2 - penned he is 'heartbroken' in a post shared to Instagram The filmmaker added, 'I was an obsessive fan of Catherine's brilliant comedic work on SCTV and was thrilled when she agreed to play Kevin's Mom in Home Alone.' Columbus then reflected on O'Hara's memorable performance in the beloved 1990 movie. 'What most people don't realize is that Catherine carries the weight of 50% of that film. The movie simply would not work without her extraordinary performance.' He continued, 'Catherine grounds the picture with a profound emotional depth. I will miss her greatly. 'Yet there is a small sense of comfort, realizing that two of the finest human beings I've ever known, Catherine and John Candy, are together again, brilliantly improvising, making each other laugh.' Candy had also taken on a role in Home Alone, and passed away at the age of 43 from a heart attack in 1994. Columbus additionally shared a photo as he posed with O'Hara and Culkin that appeared to have been taken last year in March. Burton - who directed O'Hara in Beetlejuice and the 2024 sequel - also honored the late actress on Instagram. The filmmaker added, 'I was an obsessive fan of Catherine's brilliant comedic work on SCTV and was thrilled when she agreed to play Kevin's Mom in Home Alone' 'What most people don't realize is that Catherine carries the weight of 50% of that film. The movie simply would not work without her extraordinary performance,' Columbus added He continued, 'Catherine grounds the picture with a profound emotional depth. I will miss her greatly'; seen in 2025 in Toronto Alongside a behind-the-scenes image from the set of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the filmmaker wrote, 'Catherine, I love you. 'This picture shows how much light you gave to all of us. You were a special part of my life and after life.' In the photo, O'Hara flashed a cheerful smile while standing next to Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder as well as Burton. She appeared in other Burton projects including The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) where she voiced Sally and also the 2012 animated movie Frankenweenie. A number of tributes poured in on Friday following the news of the actress's heartbreaking passing. Culkin took to Instagram to share a throwback photo of them in Home Alone as well as their 2023 reunion. 'Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more,' he wrote in the caption. 'I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you. I'll see you later.' Their final tearful reunion took place in December 2023 when O'Hara introduced the actor as he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Burton - who directed O'Hara in Beetlejuice and the 2024 sequel - also honored the late actress on Instagram She appeared in other Burton projects including The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) where she voiced Sally and also the 2012 animated movie Frankenweenie Culkin took to Instagram to share a throwback photo of them in Home Alone as well as their 2023 reunion Their final tearful reunion took place in December 2023 when O'Hara introduced the actor as he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (seen above) O'Hara recently took on a role in Seth Rogen's Apple TV+ series The Studio, and the actor also shared a tribute. 'Really don't know what to say I told O'Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I'd ever had the pleasure of watching on screen.' Rogen added, 'Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour. 'She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We're all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.' Other stars also reflected on O'Hara's life and legacy through moving tributes such as Eugene Levy, Michael Keaton, Francesca Scorsese, Pedro Pascal, Justin Theroux, Jamie Lee Curtis and Brooke Shields. Creative Arts Agency (CAA) - which represented O'Hara - said in a statement that the late actress died at 'at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.' A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department told the Daily Mail, 'At 4:48 am we responded to a request for medical aid to that address and transported an approximately 70-year-old female in serious condition.' O'Hara recently took on a role in Seth Rogen's Apple TV+ series The Studio, and the actor also shared a tribute Other stars also reflected on O'Hara's life and legacy through moving tributes such as Eugene Levy, Michael Keaton, Francesca Scorsese, Pedro Pascal, Justin Theroux, Jamie Lee Curtis and Brooke Shields; O'Hara and Levy seen in 2016 And according to audio dispatch obtained by the Daily Mail, the star had been having 'difficulty breathing' before she was taken to the hospital. Around 5 AM on Friday, first responders were called to O'Hara's Brentwood residence and was then rushed to the hospital while listed in serious condition, per the Los Angeles Fire Department. Hours later, the actress was declared dead and her cause of death has yet to be released. O'Hara's last public appearance was when she attended the Emmy Awards last year in September. She is survived by her husband Bo Welch - whom she had tied the knot with in 1992 - and their children Matthew, 32, and Luke, 29. Creative Arts Agency (CAA) - which represented O'Hara - said in a statement that the late actress died at 'at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness'; seen in 1981 She is survived by her husband Bo Welch - whom she had tied the knot with in 1992 - and their children Matthew, 32, and Luke, 29; the late actress and Welch seen in September 2025 in L.A. Her family will have a 'private celebration of life' following her passing, per an obituary seen by Just Jared. Along with taking on roles in Home Alone and Beetlejuice, O'Hara had other notable appearances in projects such as Schitt's Creek, The Last Of Us and Six Feet Under. The star was also known for appearing on the Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV from 1976 through 1979. Her acting performances had also been recognized over the years, with O'Hara receiving awards such as two Emmys and one Golden Globe. Bella Hadids cowboy ex boyfriend Adan Banuelos landed himself in trouble just days after the couple reportedly called it quits. The award-winning horse trainer was arrested in Texas early Saturday morning for public intoxication, TMZ reports. He quickly posted bond, coughing up a $386 fee to get out of Parker County Jail. The 29-year-old supermodel and Banuelos, a familiar name on the competitive horse circuit, recently ended their romance, per ET. A source told ET that Hadid is taking the breakup hard, calling the split emotionally significant given how serious things had become. 'Shes still processing it,' the insider added, noting that the pair had shared a very serious bond. Bella Hadids cowboy ex boyfriend Adan Banuelos landed himself in trouble just days after the couple reportedly called it quits; (pictured 2024) The award-winning horse trainer was arrested in Texas early Saturday morning for public intoxication, TMZ reports; (pictured 2024) According to the source, Hadid has been leaning into her work and surrounding herself with close friends to 'distract herself from the split'. Despite the reports, the former couple are still following each other on Instagram. The former couple first sparked dating rumors in October 2023, when they were spotted together in Texas. At the time, Hadid was frequently seen attending rodeo events and spending extended time in the state. By February 2024, the relationship had gone public on social media, with Hadid sharing affectionate snapshots of the pair wearing matching cowboy hats. Throughout their time together, Hadid spoke openly about how grounding the relationship felt, particularly as she took some time out of the spotlight. She previously credited her life in Texas with bringing her a sense of peace and stability. The split marks another personal transition for Hadid, who has been candid in recent years about prioritizing her health and well-being amid her long-term battle with chronic Lyme disease. The Daily Mail has reached out to Hadid's representatives for comment, but has not heard back, at this time. Neither Hadid nor Banuelos has addressed the breakup publicly. A source told ET that Hadid is taking the breakup hard, describing the split as emotionally significant given how committed the relationship had become (pictured in 2024) Back in April 2024, Hadid announced she would be taking a step back from modeling after moving to Texas with her 'partner'. 'For the first time now, I'm not putting on a fake face. If I don't feel good, I won't go. If I don't feel good, I take time for myself,' she told Allure. 'And I've never had the opportunity to do that or say that before,' she continued. 'Now when anybody sees me in pictures and they say, I look happy, I genuinely am. I am feeling better; my bad days now were my old good days.' Banuelos is an accomplished cowboy and was voted into the NCHA Riders Hall of Fame at age 28, the youngest ever to be inducted. In a May 2025 interview with British Vogue, Hadid spoke fondly of Banuelos, who she said was working hard to 'hopefully build a home and a family one day'. 'She's still processing it,' the insider said, adding that the pair's bond had been 'very serious' (seen in 2024) According to the source, Hadid has been leaning into her work and surrounding herself with close friends to 'distract herself from the split' 'Family is on my mind,' she told the outlet. 'I can't wait to be a mom. I think that I'm somebody for a lot of people, but in the real intimate way of being the person that somebody can count on consistently, that will change my life for me.' She continued: 'And I cannot wait. I never grew up being like, "Oh, I have this vision of marriage." I have this vision of being a mother. But it's got to a point where I'm like: "You know what? That's something that's for me." I think that would make me truly happy.' She also revealed to the outlet that they met him while she was visiting her mother Yolanda Hadid. At the time, she said Banuelos was completely unaware of her fame and described him as a 'breath of fresh air'. 'He basically came in, walked into the exhibit hall, which is where we do all of the show stuff,' she said. 'I was getting a cowboy hat fitted. I just saw him and I was like that's the I always wanted the cowboy. And he's pretty gorgeous, let me tell you something.' The former couple first sparked dating rumors in October 2023, when they were spotted together in Texas; seen in September 2024 Meanwhile, Banuelos joked to W Magazine in 2024 that 'if it wasn't for horses' he would 'have never met the love' of his life. 'It's a passion that her whole family shares,' Banuelos continued. 'I was just a lucky guy that said hi. I didn't really know who I was saying hi to.' He went on to gush, 'I just knew, she's gorgeous. And if I would've known, I probably would've stuttered my way right out it.' In regards to her horse riding skills, Banuelos said, 'She's very natural, very good at it. All animals, not only horses, love her. Her lifestyle is a lot of fashion and it looks glamorous and this and that, but at heart, she's a cowgirl.' Despite the reports, the former couple are still following each other on Instagram A month prior, Banuelos confirmed the model had moved into his fifth wheel trainer RV during an episode of the Along For The Ride podcast. 'She did do the 5th wheel, happily. It was bada**,' he said. 'It was cool because I really wanted that to be a part of our relationship. You know, you start having feelings for somebody and you start thinking things like, "Man, maybe this is the rest of my life here."' He added, 'And knowing that she is that simple of a human being [and] that the material things aren't important - or the most important thing.' Banuelos later raved: 'Man, I can't tell you how happy I am. I can't tell you how fortunate I am... this young lady is one of the kindest, biggest-hearted and sweet person I've [ever met]. I mean I didn't know God made 'em like that.' Ben Affleck and Matt Damons The Rip director Joe Carnahan has been accused of sexual battery and stalking by his ex-girlfriend. Michelle Crosby, 45, filed legal documents claiming Carnahan, 56, physically attacked her multiple times over the course of their four-year relationship, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Crosby, a lawyer, alleges that after the couple began dating in 2020, Carnahan persuaded her to relocate from Manhattan to Los Angeles, where the relationship quickly deteriorated. The suit details numerous assaults, including choking, pushing her into a Christmas tree, and striking her repeatedly through a sofa cushion while pinning her beneath his nearly 300-pound frame. The allegations appear in a cross-complaint filed in response to a lawsuit by Carnahan, who claims Crosby damaged a Porsche he had lent her. Carnahan has denied all allegations. Ben Affleckand Matt Damons The Rip director Joe Carnahan has been accused of sexual battery and stalking by his ex-girlfriend; (Matt Damon, Joe Carnahan and Ben Affleck pictured January 13) Michelle Crosby, 45, filed legal documents claiming Carnahan, 56, physically attacked her multiple times over the course of their four-year relationship, according to The Hollywood Reporter; (Damon, Carnahan and Affleck pictured January 12) Daily Mail has not received a response to its request for comment from reps for Carnahan, Affleck and Damon. Crosbys filing alleges a 2024 hotel-room incident that 'turned violent,' per court documents reviewed by the outlet. 'What began as consensual intimacy turned violent when Carnahan suddenly yanked her hair as she screamed for him to stop. He refused, remarking, If you think you can do this to me, I will break you of that misunderstanding. Afterward he callously laughed and said, I guess you wont be attending any parties without hair, the documents read. The legal papers added: 'When he was finished, he hastily packed and left the room. Ms. Crosby reported the assault to the Riverside Sheriffs Department. 'She sustained permanent scalp damage and bald patches, compounded by stress-related hair loss, forcing her to wear a wig. 'Shortly afterward, Carnahan emailed her as though nothing had happened, asking for a list of her needs and attaching a copy of the script RIP.' Crosby also accused Carnahan of a 'pattern of physical violence,' claiming in the filing that it included 'shoving her into a Christmas tree, pinning her under his body, grabbing her throat and tackling her to the ground.' 'This was monstrous behavior by a Hollywood director that should not be left unchallenged,' Crosby said, per The Hollywood Reporter. 'These grave matters demand accountability.' The suit details numerous assaults, including choking, pushing her into a Christmastree, and striking her repeatedly through a sofa cushion while pinning her beneath his nearly 300-pound frame The allegations appear in a cross-complaint filed in response to a lawsuit by Carnahan, who claims Crosby damaged a Porsche he had lent her; (Damon, Affleck, Teyana Taylor, and Carnahan on January 13) Carnahans attorney Wendy Slavkin said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, 'This was a completely consensual relationship which ended in Spring 2024 and since then the other party has consistently threatened Joe with exactly what youre reading now the threat to attack Joe publicly when his film was released. 'The allegations against Joe were dismissed in July of 2025 and he has not had any contact with the defendant outside of a courtroom last May, while trying to obtain a permanent restraining order against her.' Carnahan recently directed Affleck and Damon in The Rip, which racked up 41.6 million views in its first three days on Netflix in January. Crosby filed her cross-complaint before the films press tour. Inspired by a 2016 Miami-Dade narcotics raid, the movie follows a team of Miami officers who discover millions in cash and must decide whether to keep it. Paris Hilton has gotten candid about the status of her friendship with Lindsay Lohan after their years-long feud. The 44-year-old TV personality - who recently gushed over her BFF and 'icon' Britney Spears - opened up about the topic during an appearance on Thursday's episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. Hilton and Lohan were previously embroiled in a feud that seemingly sparked up in 2006 - and continued as the two stars made public jibes at each other. Back in 2019, The Simple Life alum had called the Mean Girls actress 'lame' and 'embarrassing.' But the pair have seemingly brushed aside any hard feelings towards each other in recent years. Cohen had read a question where a fan asked if Hilton has 'reconnected with Lindsay Lohan at all since she's made her comeback?' 'Yes,' Hilton replied, before revealing, 'We are planning to get the kids together.' Paris Hilton, 44, has gotten candid about the status of her friendship with Lindsay Lohan, 39, after their years-long feud Hilton and Lohan were previously embroiled in a feud that seemingly sparked up in 2006 - and continued as the two stars made public jibes at each other; seen in 2004 The star continued, 'I'm so happy for her. She is glowing.' Hilton is mom to son Phoenix, three, and London, two, whom she shares with husband Carter Reum. The actress also welcomed a son named Luai in July 2023 with her husband Bader Shammas. Kyle Richards and Kathy Hilton also joined in on the latest WWHL interview, with Richards chiming to add that Lohan is 'so sweet.' The reported feud between the pair seemingly began back in 2006 when the actress was dating Hilton's ex and heir Stavros Niarchos. At the time that Lohan was linked to Niarchos, Hilton's pal Brandon Davis had called the actress a 'fire crotch' - with Hilton appearing to laugh nearby with a phone to her ear, per E! News. Davis went on to issue an apology to Lohan and Hilton's publicist said in a statement to TMZ, 'It is unfair to characterize Brandon's statements as being reflective of Paris' feelings about Lindsay.' The publicist further defended Hilton saying Davis had been the one speaking and added that the star 'uses her cell phone as a defensive tool' in order to avoid being asked questions by reporters. 'Yes,' Hilton replied, before revealing, 'We are planning to get the kids together'; the pair seen in 2005 in L.A. The star continued, 'I'm so happy for her. She is glowing'; Lohan seen earlier this month in Dubai Kyle Richards and Kathy Hilton also joined in on the latest WWHL interview, with Richards chiming to add that Lohan is 'so sweet' Shortly after, Lohan responded to the moment during an interview with Elle and admitted she plans to 'never see' the video. 'Obviously, she's very comfortable making videos,' Lohan had also added, referencing to Hilton's infamous sex tape which was leaked when she was 19-years-old. Lohan also claimed that Hilton had hit and spilled a drink on her amid their ongoing public feud. Hilton alleged that Lohan crashed a night out she was having with pal Britney Spears back in November 2006. At the time, iconic pictures were taken as Hilton sat in the driver's seat of a vehicle as both she and the pop star left a party. Lohan suddenly appeared and also jumped in the car - which was notably caught on camera. The actress could be seen in the passenger seat while the Baby One More Time songstress was in the middle. 'Just as we got to the car, that's when Lindsay came up. It was kind of awkward because we were having some drama,' the mother-of-two recalled on her podcast episode in 2021. Just as Hilton was preparing to drive away with Spears, Lohan had approached the car - prompting Hilton to ask nearby paparazzi to question the actress about the rumors. Hilton alleged that Lohan crashed a night out she was having with pal Britney Spears back in November 2006 (seen above) 'Just as we got to the car, that's when Lindsay came up. It was kind of awkward because we were having some drama,' the mother-of-two recalled on her podcast episode in 2021; seen earlier this month in NYC 'Lindsay said, "No, Paris would never hit me, I've known her since I was 15." It was basically just not admitting what she did.' Hilton added, 'It was quite awkward to be asked that question, and it was just weird how that whole thing happened. All of a sudden, I look over, and she's in my car. We weren't getting along, but I was polite.' But the pair continued to make public jibes at each other amid their on-and-off friendship. Back in 2019 during a past appearance on WWHL, Cohen had asked Hilton to 'say three nice things about Lindsay Lohan.' The TV personality replied, 'She's...beyond,' before pausing and then adding, '...lame and embarrassing.' But while stopping by WWHL a few years later in 2022, Hilton gave a positive update on her status with the actress. 'I just feel like we're grown-ups now,' she explained at the time. 'I just got married. She just got engaged. We're not in high school. I think it was just very immature and now everything is all good.' The TV personality replied, 'She's...beyond,' before pausing and then adding, '...lame and embarrassing'; seen in 2004 'I just feel like we're grown-ups now,' she explained at the time. 'I just got married. She just got engaged. We're not in high school. I think it was just very immature and now everything is all good'; Lohan seen above with husband Bader Shammas Hilton also shared that the pair had 'reconnected' at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscars party. During a TalkShopLive, per Page Six, Hilton expressed that she 'reconnected' with the actress 'a few months' earlier at the post-Oscars bash. The star shared that they were 'just talking about being moms' while adding, '[It was] so good to see her. She looks so beautiful. [I'm] so happy for her.' Hilton also sent her congratulations on two separate occasions when Lohan announced her engagement in 2021 and then her pregnancy two years later. The TV personality has also been keeping busy this month to celebrate her latest project. Hilton recently promoted her new documentary Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir which hit theaters this week on January 30; seen earlier this month in L.A. She promoted her new documentary Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir which hit theaters this week on January 30. It follows her 'music journey - from her childhood dreams to her club-going adolescence, from her debut album to her musical reinvention - weaving together concert footage, unfiltered moments, archival clips, never-before-seen home videos, original narration, and new interviews,' per an official description. In regards to her music career, Hilton has released two studio albums as well as 19 singles thus far. The Simple Life alum also shared that she has been having conversation with Spears in regards to making some 'fun music' together. Newlyweds Holly Ramsay and Adam Peaty shared another glimpse of their lavish honeymoon on Saturday after arriving in Australia. The daughter of Gordon Ramsay, 26, and Olympic swimmer, 31, soaked up the sun in Queensland after beginning their trip at a luxurious 6,000-a-night resort in Mauritius. Holly showcased her jaw-dropping figure and incredibly toned abs in a skimpy black and white crop top with matching shorts for a 5am hike. Taking to their Instagram Stories the couple enjoyed their walk before sitting down to an alfresco breakfast ahead of Adam training in a nearby pool. He showcased his buff and tattooed physique in a pair of tiny budgie smugglers alongside the caption: 'First session in Australia done, can't beat this place'. Holly revealed they are staying in the luxury five-star Mondrian Gold Coast as she took to her Instagram to share a snap of the incredible balcony views. Newlyweds Holly Ramsay and Adam Peaty shared another glimpse of their lavish honeymoon on Saturday after arriving in Australia. The daughter of Gordon Ramsay, 26, and Olympic swimmer, 31, soaked up the sun in Queensland after beginning their trip at a luxurious 6,000-a-night resort in Mauritius During their trip, the couple put themselves in her celebrity chef dad Gordon's shoes as they whipped up a curry during a masterclass. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Holly shared an array of snaps from the class, including her new husband in chef whites. Holly and Adam started their day by heading to the food market to shop for ingredients before returning to the resort for a private cooking class with a chef. She captioned the snaps: 'Morning at the local market and then straight to the kitchen to learn how to make a Mauritian curry, yes chef @adamramsaypeaty!!' Holly looked incredible as she slipped into a bikini while sharing more photos from her honeymoon on Tuesday. She took to her Instagram Stories and posted a selfie wearing a black beaded bikini top along with a red wrap skirt. Holly styled her brunette locks into a ponytail and sported a pair of trendy sunglasses. She also shared a photo of her new husband Adam as he went for a stroll along the grounds of the scenic resort where the couple are spending their holiday. Holly showcased her jaw-dropping figure and incredibly toned abs in a skimpy black and white crop top with matching shorts for a 5am hike She previously gushed over her new husband ripped abs as she shared a snap of the shirtless hunk posing in budgie smugglers Holly revealed they are staying in the luxury five-star Mondrian Gold Coast as she took to her Instagram to share a snap of the incredible balcony views The Olympic swimmer went shirtless for the outing and wore a pair of black swimming trunks. The Daily Mail revealed last week that Holly and Adam have jetted off to the One&Only Le Saint Geran - one of the island's most prestigious five-star hotel and spa complexes. The couple belatedly flew from London to Mauritius after delaying their 10-day escape while three-time Olympic gold medallist Adam took part in a swimming competition in Romania. Shortly after arriving, the couple were seen hurrying down to the white sand beach, where Adam posed for selfies with locals. One onlooker told the Daily Mail: 'They looked very loved-up and relaxed. Adam was happy to stop and chat and seemed in great spirits.' Le Saint Geran, set on an idyllic private peninsula, offers suites that can soar in price to more than 6,000 a night. The property, among the first luxury resorts built on the island in 1975, has attracted a glittering guest list over the years, including Nelson Mandela, George and Amal Clooney, Rihanna and the Prince and Princess of Wales. The newly-weds continued their luxury honeymoon in Queensland, Australia after beginning their trip in Mauritius Guests can even arrive by helicopter, landing on a pad just steps from the beach, while a chauffeur-driven luxury car service is also available. Private villas on the palm tree dotted estate have reportedly sold for as much as $13.6million (10.1million). The couple's no-expense-spared jaunt has been covered by Holly's father, Gordon, himself a repeat visitor to Le Saint Geran with wife, Tana. Holly revealed to British Vogue that her parents had paid for the trip to Mauritius as a 'wedding present', in what could be viewed as a thinly-veiled jibe at her husband's absent parents. She said: 'We're going to Mauritius to just lie by the sea - that was our wedding present from my parents. I had to tell Adam we weren't basing our honeymoon around a 25-metre pool' Prior to taking off from the UK, Holly shared a snap of her hand luggage showing off a Christian Dior handbag along with a pair of flippers and a snorkel. She wrote: 'The most chic hand luggage, thanks to my husband.' Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF (NYSEARCA:FRTY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 32,213 shares, a growth of 268.7% from the December 31st total of 8,736 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 25,843 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 25,843 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF Price Performance FRTY stock traded down $0.54 on Friday, reaching $21.07. 20,589 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,009. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $21.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.01 million, a PE ratio of 36.46 and a beta of 1.12. Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF has a 12 month low of $13.56 and a 12 month high of $23.36. Get Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF alerts: Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF Announces Dividend The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.041 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 20.0%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF About Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRTY. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 85,356 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 49,758 shares of the companys stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 3,162 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF by 5.5% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 46,630 shares of the companys stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. (Get Free Report) The Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF (FRTY) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Russell Midcap Growth index. The fund is an actively-managed, non-transparent ETF that provides exposure to US mid-cap companies with growth characteristics. The fund utilizes the Precidian non-transparent model. FRTY was launched on Feb 26, 2021 and is managed by Alger. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Schneider Electric plant in Wuhan recognized as one of three global Talent Lighthouses by World Economic Forum Schneider Electric, the global leader in energy technologies, today announced that its plant in Wuhan (China) has been recognized by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Global Lighthouse for Talentone of only three sites worldwide to receive this designation. The Global Lighthouse Network is a World Economic Forum initiative that recognizes advanced manufacturing sites and value chains that have achieved exceptional results in productivity, supply chain resilience, customer centricity, sustainability, and talent development. The initiative was co-founded with McKinsey & Company and is supported by an advisory board of industry leaders who collectively shape the future of global manufacturing. A new award categoryTalent Lighthouseidentifies manufacturing sites that achieve a transformational impact on the workforce through advanced solutions in work process and safety design, talent planning, engagement and onboarding, development, and workforce effectiveness. The Wuhan plant became Schneider Electrics ninth Lighthouse site globally and the first recognized for talent development, complementing the companys eight other Lighthouse factories and distribution centers, including five Sustainability Lighthouses. As Schneider Electrics strategic supply chain hub in China and a model of digital manufacturing transformation, the Wuhan plant faced significant workforce challenges driven by rapid automation and a 239% expansion of its product portfolio. Initially, only 20% of employees had automation skills, onboarding new employees took 75 days, and technical staff turnover reached 48%. Over the past five years, the plant increased its automation level by 55% and expanded its product portfolio by 239%, creating a critical shortage of qualified personnel. To address these challenges, Schneider Electric implemented a people-centered workforce of the future model that combines technology, partnerships, and continuous learning. Training future talent: in partnership with 11 vocational and technical institutions, the company introduced digital internship programs, AI labs, and scholarships, creating a sustainable talent pipeline with the required skills. AI-based competency management: AI identified and tracked skills gaps, assigning personalized learning programs complemented by career pathways based on a pay for skills principle. Workforce readiness increased from 20% to 76%, and 56% of employees upskilled. Human-centered planning: optimized task allocation reduced overtime and improved order-fulfillment performance. GenAI-assisted maintenance: intelligent prompts and a mentoring system reduced repair time and lowered technical staff turnover from 48% to 6%. Accelerating new product introduction with AI: automating routine tasks freed engineers for higher value-added work and reduced the new product launch cycle by 66.7%from 36 to 12 months. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is as much about people as it is about technology, said Mourad Tamoud, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Schneider Electric. With our Wuhan plant, we have demonstrated that when AI and human potential work together, organizations can build resilient, agile, and future-ready teamswhile ensuring that technology serves its ultimate purpose: delivering more value to customers. Today, competitiveness is no longer determined solely by efficiency, but by the ability to sense, adapt, and respond quickly, said Kiva Allgood, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum. This years industrial transformation examples show how intelligently driven operations scale, placing resilience and sustainability at the heart of manufacturing companies activities. This achievement underscores Schneider Electrics commitment to developing future-ready talent, building an agile organization, and fostering a culture that unlocks peoples potential and drives innovation. Related resources: About Schneider Electric Schneider Electric is a global leader in energy technologies that delivers efficiency and sustainability through electrification, automation, and digitalization of industry, business, and homes. The companys technologies enable buildings, data centers, factories, infrastructure, and power grids to operate as open, interconnected ecosystems, improving productivity, resilience, and environmental performance. Schneider Electrics portfolio includes smart devices, software-oriented architectures, AI-based systems, digital services, and expert consulting. With 160,000 employees and 1 million partners in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric consistently ranks among the worlds most sustainable companies. www.se.com Discover the latest energy technology insights on Schneider Electric Insights AZZ (NYSE:AZZ Get Free Report) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, January 30th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have commented on AZZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded AZZ from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price objective on shares of AZZ in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a buy (b) rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AZZ presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $117.17. Get AZZ alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on AZZ AZZ Stock Performance Shares of AZZ traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $124.39. 174,316 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 150,803. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $112.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.64. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.13. AZZ has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $127.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. AZZ (NYSE:AZZ Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $425.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.97 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 19.89%.AZZs revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.900-6.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year. AZZ Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. AZZs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.52%. Insider Activity at AZZ In other news, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 2,790 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $353,325.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,203,485.44. The trade was a 9.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 5,358 shares of company stock valued at $659,302 over the last quarter. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders. About AZZ Get Free Report) AZZ Inc, incorporated in 1956 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a leading provider of galvanizing and metal finishing solutions alongside electrical equipment and services. The company supports a diverse range of industriessuch as energy, infrastructure, heavy equipment and general industrial marketsby delivering corrosion protection and high-performance electrical solutions designed for demanding environments. AZZ operates two primary business segments. The Global Coatings & Services segment offers hot-dip galvanizing, metal finishing, painting, powder coating and related value-added services to steel fabricators and original equipment manufacturers. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for AZZ Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AZZ and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $13.21 and last traded at $13.1150, with a volume of 5414635 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.92. Analysts Set New Price Targets BKD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a sell (d-) rating on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America raised shares of Brookdale Senior Living from an underperform rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $6.75 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living to $15.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Brookdale Senior Living from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Brookdale Senior Living from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Sunday, November 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookdale Senior Living presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $13.25. Get Brookdale Senior Living alerts: View Our Latest Report on BKD Brookdale Senior Living Trading Up 3.4% The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.33 and a 200 day moving average of $9.35. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.45 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 39.87. Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $813.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $825.59 million. Brookdale Senior Living had a negative return on equity of 173.75% and a negative net margin of 9.52%. On average, analysts predict that Brookdale Senior Living Inc. will post -0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookdale Senior Living Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKD. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,100,420 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,888,000 after buying an additional 36,604 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brookdale Senior Living by 34.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,506 shares of the companys stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Brookdale Senior Living by 3.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 138,383 shares of the companys stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 4,323 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 67.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,171,161 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,591,000 after acquiring an additional 876,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living during the first quarter valued at approximately $181,000. About Brookdale Senior Living (Get Free Report) Brookdale Senior Living Inc (NYSE: BKD) is one of the nations largest operators of senior living communities, offering a full spectrum of living options that includes independent living, assisted living, memory care, continuing care retirement communities, respite care and skilled nursing services. The company emphasizes programs and amenities that support wellness, social engagement and overall quality of life for older adults. Across the United States and Puerto Rico, Brookdale manages more than 700 communities serving tens of thousands of residents. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Brookdale Senior Living Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookdale Senior Living and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE:GIB Get Free Report) (TSE:GIB.A) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $83.75 and last traded at $84.51, with a volume of 321380 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.23. The technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.55 by ($0.04). CGI Group had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 18.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Get CGI Group alerts: CGI Group Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. CGI Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.99%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several brokerages have issued reports on GIB. Scotiabank began coverage on CGI Group in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a sector perform rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a hold (c-) rating on shares of CGI Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an outperform rating on shares of CGI Group in a report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $81.00 price objective (down from $105.00) on shares of CGI Group in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, TD Securities raised CGI Group to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $117.00. Read Our Latest Report on CGI Group Hedge Funds Weigh In On CGI Group Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CGI Group by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 3,452,820 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $361,881,000 after acquiring an additional 397,005 shares during the last quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA purchased a new stake in CGI Group in the third quarter worth approximately $6,498,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in CGI Group by 786.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 81,470 shares of the technology companys stock worth $8,141,000 after purchasing an additional 72,277 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its stake in CGI Group by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 67,190 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $5,972,000 after buying an additional 17,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of CGI Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $768,000. 66.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. CGI Group Price Performance The stock has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.96. About CGI Group (Get Free Report) CGI Group Inc is a global information technology and business consulting firm that delivers a broad range of services including IT consulting, systems integration, application development and maintenance, infrastructure and network services, managed IT and business process outsourcing. The company works with clients to design, build and operate IT systems and business solutions, with capabilities spanning cloud and hybrid IT environments, cybersecurity, data analytics and artificial intelligence, digital transformation and enterprise resource planning implementations. Founded in 1976 in Quebec by Serge Godin and Andre Imbeau, CGI has grown from a regional systems integrator into a multinational professional services organization. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for CGI Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CGI Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of CGI Inc (TSE:GIB.A Get Free Report) (NYSE:GIB) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as C$114.47 and last traded at C$114.93, with a volume of 391253 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$119.95. Trending Headlines about CGI Here are the key news stories impacting CGI this week: Get CGI alerts: Positive Sentiment: TD Securities raised its price target to C$153 and kept a buy rating, increasing visible upside and likely supporting buying interest. Read More. Read More. TD Securities raised its price target to C$153 and kept a buy rating, increasing visible upside and likely supporting buying interest. Read More. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Desjardins initiated/issued a new C$157 price target with a buy rating, representing a material premium to the current price and bolstering bullish analyst coverage. Read More. Desjardins initiated/issued a new C$157 price target with a buy rating, representing a material premium to the current price and bolstering bullish analyst coverage. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity moved its target to C$150 and retained a buy rating, signaling continued confidence from a major shop despite a modest cut. Read More. Canaccord Genuity moved its target to C$150 and retained a buy rating, signaling continued confidence from a major shop despite a modest cut. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank set a C$140 target, adding another analyst reference point above the current price that can support demand from value-oriented investors. Read More. Scotiabank set a C$140 target, adding another analyst reference point above the current price that can support demand from value-oriented investors. Read More. Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets lowered its target from C$145 to C$137, a cut that tempers upside expectations and may reduce conviction among more cautious holders. Read More. BMO Capital Markets lowered its target from C$145 to C$137, a cut that tempers upside expectations and may reduce conviction among more cautious holders. Read More. Negative Sentiment: CIBC trimmed its price target from C$139 to C$132, another downward revision that offsets some of the positive analyst noise. Read More. CIBC trimmed its price target from C$139 to C$132, another downward revision that offsets some of the positive analyst noise. Read More. Negative Sentiment: A recent Yahoo Finance piece highlights a ~29% oneyear share decline and frames CGI as a potential value opportunity a signal that sentiment has been weak and some investors may remain cautious despite analyst buy calls. Read More. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have issued reports on GIB.A. TD Securities boosted their target price on CGI from C$145.00 to C$153.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on CGI from C$145.00 to C$137.00 in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on CGI from C$165.00 to C$150.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of CGI from C$155.00 to C$150.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of CGI from C$139.00 to C$132.00 in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CGI has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$147.67. CGI Stock Performance The business has a 50 day moving average of C$125.78 and a 200-day moving average of C$127.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.24, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of C$25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.23. CGI (TSE:GIB.A Get Free Report) (NYSE:GIB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported C$2.12 EPS for the quarter. CGI had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 11.51%.The company had revenue of C$4.08 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CGI Inc will post 8.3679245 EPS for the current fiscal year. CGI Increases Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 19th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from CGIs previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. CGIs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.16%. CGI Company Profile (Get Free Report) Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 91,000 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for CGI Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CGI and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of 1.78 per share by the oil and gas company on Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a 4.1% increase from Chevrons previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. Chevron has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 38 consecutive years. Chevron has a dividend payout ratio of 71.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Chevron to earn $12.59 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.3%. Get Chevron alerts: Chevron Stock Performance Shares of NYSE CVX traded up $5.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $176.75. 22,932,963 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,233,197. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $155.87 and a 200 day moving average of $155.24. Chevron has a 1 year low of $132.04 and a 1 year high of $177.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.70. Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron Chevron ( NYSE:CVX Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Chevron had a return on equity of 8.74% and a net margin of 6.57%.The company had revenue of $45.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $48.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. Chevrons revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Chevron will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year. In related news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 320,700 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.99, for a total transaction of $52,270,893.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,355,205.50. This represents a 95.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John B. Hess sold 275,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.75, for a total transaction of $41,456,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,128,045 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $170,052,783.75. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 645,924 shares of company stock worth $102,079,188. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Chevron by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 73,448 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $11,406,000 after acquiring an additional 11,875 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Chevron by 15.3% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,620,231 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $251,606,000 after acquiring an additional 215,345 shares during the period. Solitude Financial Services boosted its holdings in Chevron by 8.2% in the second quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 25,325 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,662,000. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Chevron by 21.4% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 51,115 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $7,319,000 after buying an additional 9,002 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Chevron (Get Free Report) Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevrons core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide. Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Chevron Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chevron and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Exchange Income Co. (TSE:EIF Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$98.76 and last traded at C$98.65, with a volume of 87546 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$98.22. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms recently issued reports on EIF. Desjardins boosted their price target on Exchange Income from C$87.00 to C$102.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Exchange Income from C$90.00 to C$105.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Exchange Income from C$92.00 to C$100.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Ventum Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Exchange Income from C$95.00 to C$110.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Exchange Income from C$93.00 to C$106.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exchange Income has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of C$97.35. Get Exchange Income alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Exchange Income Exchange Income Trading Down 1.3% The firms fifty day simple moving average is C$85.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$77.25. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 173.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.76. Exchange Income (TSE:EIF Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported C$1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$959.74 million for the quarter. Exchange Income had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 9.73%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exchange Income Co. will post 3.9962963 EPS for the current fiscal year. Exchange Income Company Profile (Get Free Report) Exchange Income Corp is a diversified acquisition-oriented corporation focused on opportunities in two sectors, aerospace, aviation services and equipment, and manufacturing. The business plan of the corporation is to invest in profitable, well-established companies with strong cash flows operating in niche markets. Its Aerospace and Aviation segment is a key revenue driver, recognizes revenue from the provision of flight, flight ancillary services, and the sale or lease of aircraft and aftermarket parts. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Exchange Income Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Exchange Income and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund (NYSEARCA:EMLP Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 173,295 shares, a decrease of 48.6% from the December 31st total of 337,418 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 291,640 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 291,640 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund by 6.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,381 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $258,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund by 15.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 24,572 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund by 21.5% during the second quarter. Keystone Financial Group Inc. now owns 77,458 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 13,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund by 34.5% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 7,397 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. Get First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund alerts: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund Stock Down 0.3% First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.10. 150,496 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 263,090. First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund has a 12 month low of $32.62 and a 12 month high of $40.43. The stocks fifty day moving average is $38.50 and its 200-day moving average is $38.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59 and a beta of 0.65. About First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund The First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund (EMLP) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Alerian MLP index. The fund is an actively managed fund that invests in North American energy infrastructure MLPs and LLCs. EMLP was launched on Jun 21, 2012 and is managed by First Trust. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB Get Free Report) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui acquired 290,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $68.13 per share, for a total transaction of $19,757,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 55,908,435 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,809,041,676.55. This trade represents a 0.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a companys stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC. W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4% Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,732,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,536,692. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $70.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.99. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.07 and a 12 month high of $78.96. Get W.R. Berkley alerts: W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.W.R. Berkleys revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkleys payout ratio is presently 8.09%. A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a neutral rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group reiterated a neutral rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded W.R. Berkley from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Reduce and a consensus price target of $70.43. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WRB Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the companys stock. Key Headlines Impacting W.R. Berkley Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week: About W.R. Berkley (Get Free Report) W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines. The companys product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for W.R. Berkley Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for W.R. Berkley and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. TD SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX Get Free Report) Director Richard Hume sold 25,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.67, for a total transaction of $4,016,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,515 shares in the company, valued at $7,634,235.05. This represents a 34.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. TD SYNNEX Stock Performance Shares of SNX stock traded down $3.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $158.65. The company had a trading volume of 587,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,684. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $152.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.27. TD SYNNEX Corporation has a one year low of $92.23 and a one year high of $167.76. The firm has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.37. Get TD SYNNEX alerts: TD SYNNEX (NYSE:SNX Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.15. TD SYNNEX had a net margin of 1.32% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The company had revenue of $17.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.09 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. TD SYNNEX has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that TD SYNNEX Corporation will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. TD SYNNEX Increases Dividend Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from TD SYNNEXs previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. TD SYNNEXs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.26%. Several research firms have recently commented on SNX. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of TD SYNNEX from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Sunday, January 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of TD SYNNEX from $164.00 to $163.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an outperform rating on shares of TD SYNNEX in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on TD SYNNEX from $187.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $182.00 target price on shares of TD SYNNEX in a report on Friday, January 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, TD SYNNEX currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $170.64. View Our Latest Report on TD SYNNEX Hedge Funds Weigh In On TD SYNNEX Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SNX. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in TD SYNNEX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ossiam grew its holdings in TD SYNNEX by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 164 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of TD SYNNEX during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of TD SYNNEX by 675.9% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 225 shares of the business services providers stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of TD SYNNEX during the third quarter worth $42,000. 84.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About TD SYNNEX (Get Free Report) TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the information technology industry. Formed in September 2021 through the merger of Tech Data and SYNNEX Corporation, the company provides a comprehensive range of products, services and solutions that span hardware, software, cloud, mobility, security and data center technologies. TD SYNNEX partners with vendors, resellers and system integrators to design, deploy and support IT infrastructures across diverse market segments, including commercial enterprises, public sector organizations and retail operations. The companys core business activities include the distribution of technology products from manufacturers such as servers, storage, networking equipment and peripherals, as well as the resale and provisioning of software licenses and cloud-based solutions. Read More Receive News & Ratings for TD SYNNEX Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TD SYNNEX and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM Get Free Report) Director David Farr bought 1,000 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $304.00 per share, with a total value of $304,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,258 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,814,432. This trade represents a 12.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. International Business Machines Stock Performance Shares of IBM stock traded down $2.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $306.48. The stock had a trading volume of 5,938,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,658,533. International Business Machines Corporation has a one year low of $214.50 and a one year high of $324.90. The firm has a market cap of $286.48 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.70. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $302.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Get International Business Machines alerts: International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.33 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.96% and a net margin of 15.69%.International Business Machiness revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year. International Business Machines Announces Dividend Trending Headlines about International Business Machines The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. International Business Machiness dividend payout ratio is 60.27%. Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and upgraded 2026 revenue outlook IBM reported betterthanexpected Q4 EPS and revenue, highlighted strong software and AI (watsonx/Red Hat) momentum, and gave FY2026 revenue guidance above Street consensus. These fundamentals are the primary driver of recent upside interest. IBM Q4 Earnings Surpass Estimates Q4 beat and upgraded 2026 revenue outlook IBM reported betterthanexpected Q4 EPS and revenue, highlighted strong software and AI (watsonx/Red Hat) momentum, and gave FY2026 revenue guidance above Street consensus. These fundamentals are the primary driver of recent upside interest. Positive Sentiment: AI & software growth narrative strengthened Management said AIrelated revenue and software growth powered the quarter (software +14%, infrastructure +21%), and IBM is positioning with its Confluent acquisition to expand data streaming for AI workloads a strategic tailwind for valuation. Analysis Of IBMs Confluent Acquisition AI & software growth narrative strengthened Management said AIrelated revenue and software growth powered the quarter (software +14%, infrastructure +21%), and IBM is positioning with its Confluent acquisition to expand data streaming for AI workloads a strategic tailwind for valuation. Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets Multiple firms lifted price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (Evercore to $345 outperf; JPMorgan raised its target). Upgrades add buying pressure and validate managements AI story. Evercore Raises Target JPMorgan Raises IBM Target Analyst upgrades and higher targets Multiple firms lifted price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (Evercore to $345 outperf; JPMorgan raised its target). Upgrades add buying pressure and validate managements AI story. Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns intact IBM declared its quarterly dividend ($1.68 per share), supporting income investors and signaling confidence in cash flow. (Exdividend date noted in company disclosures.) Shareholder returns intact IBM declared its quarterly dividend ($1.68 per share), supporting income investors and signaling confidence in cash flow. (Exdividend date noted in company disclosures.) Positive Sentiment: Board addition brings operating experience IBM elected Ramon L. Laguarta (former PepsiCo CEO) to the board, adding consumersector and global ops expertise that investors often view as governance strength. IBM Elects Ramon L. Laguarta Board addition brings operating experience IBM elected Ramon L. Laguarta (former PepsiCo CEO) to the board, adding consumersector and global ops expertise that investors often view as governance strength. Neutral Sentiment: Large bond sale draws attention to funding and leverage IBM has launched multipart bond offerings (euro and dollar) to fund deals and operations; investors are parsing issuance size, yields and the impact on balancesheet leverage. This is a funding update rather than an earnings surprise, so impact is mixed. IBM Bond Sale Puts Fresh Funding And Valuation In Investor Focus Large bond sale draws attention to funding and leverage IBM has launched multipart bond offerings (euro and dollar) to fund deals and operations; investors are parsing issuance size, yields and the impact on balancesheet leverage. This is a funding update rather than an earnings surprise, so impact is mixed. Negative Sentiment: Bearish/critical takes remain Some analysts and commentaries highlight risks (execution, macro sensitivity, or areas of weakness) and published critical pieces framing cautionary scenarios that can pressure sentiment after initial euphoria. IBM: Limping Into 2026 Institutional Trading of International Business Machines A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in International Business Machines during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, SWAN Capital LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IBM shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Dbs Bank raised shares of International Business Machines from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Argus set a $360.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $330.07. Read Our Latest Analysis on IBM International Business Machines Company Profile (Get Free Report) International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM. IBMs principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development. Read More Receive News & Ratings for International Business Machines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for International Business Machines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. China launches satellite for Algeria Xinhua) 13:51, January 31, 2026 A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying an Algerian remote sensing satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Jan. 31, 2026.(Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) JIUQUAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- China launched an Algerian remote sensing satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Saturday. A Long March-2C carrier rocket lifted off from the launch center at 12:01 p.m. (Beijing Time), successfully sending the satellite into its planned orbit. The Algerian satellite will be primarily used for land planning and disaster prevention and mitigation. Saturday's launch marked the 629th mission of China's Long March rocket series. A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying an Algerian remote sensing satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Jan. 31, 2026. Launched at 12:01 p.m. (Beijing Time), the satellite has been successfully sent into its planned orbit. The Algerian satellite will be primarily used for land planning and disaster prevention and mitigation. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying an Algerian remote sensing satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Jan. 31, 2026. Launched at 12:01 p.m. (Beijing Time), the satellite has been successfully sent into its planned orbit. The Algerian satellite will be primarily used for land planning and disaster prevention and mitigation. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying an Algerian remote sensing satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Jan. 31, 2026. Launched at 12:01 p.m. (Beijing Time), the satellite has been successfully sent into its planned orbit. The Algerian satellite will be primarily used for land planning and disaster prevention and mitigation. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying an Algerian remote sensing satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Jan. 31, 2026. Launched at 12:01 p.m. (Beijing Time), the satellite has been successfully sent into its planned orbit. The Algerian satellite will be primarily used for land planning and disaster prevention and mitigation. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF (NYSEARCA:POWA Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 293 shares, a drop of 50.4% from the December 31st total of 591 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,189 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,189 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days. Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF Stock Performance POWA stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $91.86. 3,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,696. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $91.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.29. Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF has a 52-week low of $73.16 and a 52-week high of $93.93. The company has a market cap of $194.74 million, a P/E ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 0.83. Get Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF by 2.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 130,296 shares of the companys stock worth $11,281,000 after purchasing an additional 3,621 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF by 5.9% in the third quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 37,093 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,358,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF by 1.0% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,170 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,826,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new position in shares of Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF during the 4th quarter worth $1,469,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,028,000. Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF Company Profile The Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF (POWA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Bloomberg Pricing Power index. The fund selects US large- and mid-cap stocks of companies considered well-positioned to maintain stable profit margins in all market conditions. Stocks satisfying a four factor screening process are included in the index, on an equal-weight basis POWA was launched on Dec 15, 2006 and is issued by Invesco. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Bloomberg Pricing Power ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF (NYSEARCA:EWN Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 61,164 shares, a growth of 98.9% from the December 31st total of 30,758 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 124,522 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 124,522 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days. iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF Price Performance Shares of NYSEARCA EWN traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.27. The companys stock had a trading volume of 81,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,743. iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF has a 52 week low of $41.40 and a 52 week high of $64.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.46 million, a PE ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.91. Get iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF alerts: Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 404,093 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $23,441,000 after acquiring an additional 3,367 shares in the last quarter. Marotta Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marotta Asset Management now owns 184,002 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $10,827,000 after purchasing an additional 5,596 shares during the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF in the second quarter worth about $4,540,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF by 864.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 76,388 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $4,431,000 after purchasing an additional 68,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF by 7.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 65,817 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $3,818,000 after buying an additional 4,436 shares during the period. About iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Netherlands Investable Market Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI Netherlands Investable Market Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Components primarily include consumer staples, financial and industrials companies. The Fund invests in a particular segment of the securities markets and seeks to track the performance of a securities index that generally is not representative of the market as a whole. See Also Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates: 1/22/2026 Lithia Motors had its hold (c+) rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings. 1/21/2026 Lithia Motors had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $410.00 to $390.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock. 1/16/2026 Lithia Motors had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $350.00 to $355.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock. 1/12/2026 Lithia Motors had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $327.00 to $358.00. They now have an equal weight rating on the stock. Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors In other news, Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $27,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,810 shares of the companys stock, valued at $651,600. The trade was a 3.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders. Get Lithia Motors Inc alerts: Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers. The companys core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Lithia Motors Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lithia Motors Inc and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:MTSFF Get Free Report) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 3,400 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 240% from the previous sessions volume of 1,000 shares.The stock last traded at $11.30 and had previously closed at $11.15. Mitsui Fudosan Price Performance The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.86. Get Mitsui Fudosan alerts: Mitsui Fudosan Company Profile (Get Free Report) Mitsui Fudosan Co, Ltd. is a leading integrated real estate developer based in Tokyo, Japan, and a core member of the Mitsui Group. The company engages in a wide range of property-related activities, including the development, leasing and management of office buildings, retail facilities, residential complexes, hotels, resorts and logistics centers. Through both groundup and redevelopment projects, Mitsui Fudosan has established a diverse portfolio that spans landmark mixeduse developments such as Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown. Founded in 1941, Mitsui Fudosan has grown from its domestic origins into a global real estate enterprise. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Mitsui Fudosan Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mitsui Fudosan and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG Get Free Report) is projected to announce its Q3 2026 results before the market opens on Monday, February 2nd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.14 per share and revenue of $5.5765 billion for the quarter. Interested persons can check the companys upcoming Q3 2026 earning summary page for the latest details on the call scheduled for Monday, February 2, 2026 at 1:00 AM ET. Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 28th. The bank reported ($1.61) earnings per share for the quarter. Mizuho Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 11.57%.The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts expect Mizuho Financial Group to post $0 EPS for the current fiscal year and $0 EPS for the next fiscal year. Get Mizuho Financial Group alerts: Mizuho Financial Group Stock Down 0.1% NYSE MFG opened at $8.64 on Friday. Mizuho Financial Group has a one year low of $4.04 and a one year high of $8.81. The company has a market cap of $107.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.87. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mizuho Financial Group Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MFG. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mizuho Financial Group by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 20,052 shares of the banks stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Mizuho Financial Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,343 shares of the banks stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mizuho Financial Group by 2.1% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 106,595 shares of the banks stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mizuho Financial Group by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 14,194 shares of the banks stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Mizuho Financial Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 216,636 shares of the banks stock worth $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.26% of the companys stock. Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a buy (a-) rating on shares of Mizuho Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mizuho Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of Buy. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Mizuho Financial Group About Mizuho Financial Group (Get Free Report) Mizuho Financial Group, Inc is a major Japanese banking and financial services holding company headquartered in Tokyo. The group operates through a network of subsidiaries that provide a full range of retail, corporate and investment banking services. Its core businesses include deposit-taking and lending, transaction banking, cash management, trade finance and treasury services for both individual and institutional clients. Beyond traditional commercial banking, Mizuho offers securities and capital markets services, investment banking, underwriting, M&A advisory, and asset management through its securities and trust banking arms. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Mizuho Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mizuho Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 6,780 and last traded at GBX 6,718, with a volume of 1261902250 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 6,728. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a GBX 5,300 price target on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 4,600 to GBX 5,700 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 6,000 to GBX 6,100 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Rio Tinto Group from GBX 6,100 to GBX 6,950 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 5,830. Get Rio Tinto Group alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on RIO Rio Tinto Group Stock Performance Insiders Place Their Bets The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 25.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 5,979.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 5,245.37. The firm has a market cap of 109.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of -0.64 and a beta of 0.59. In other Rio Tinto Group news, insider Peter Cunningham sold 3,108 shares of Rio Tinto Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 5,464, for a total transaction of 169,821.12. Insiders own 0.10% of the companys stock. About Rio Tinto Group (Get Free Report) We operate in 35 countries where our 60,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs. Our portfolio includes iron ore, copper, aluminium and a range of other minerals and materials needed for people, communities and nations to grow and prosper, and for the world to cut carbon emissions to net zero. We continuously search for new projects that can support the energy transition, currently exploring for 7 commodities in 17 countries. We have more than 150 years of mining and processing experience guiding our work. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Rio Tinto Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rio Tinto Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Schibsted ASA (OTCMKTS:SBSNY Get Free Report) were down 0.7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $28.25 and last traded at $28.79. Approximately 7,319 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 10,501 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.00. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut Schibsted ASA from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Reduce. Get Schibsted ASA alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on SBSNY Schibsted ASA Trading Down 0.7% About Schibsted ASA The businesss 50-day moving average price is $27.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.71. (Get Free Report) Schibsted ASA is a Norway-based media and technology group headquartered in Oslo. Established in 1839 with the founding of the newspaper Aftenposten, the company has evolved into a leading digital operator in classifieds, online marketplaces and news media. Schibsted leverages data-driven insights and technology platforms to connect buyers and sellers, as well as to deliver news and content to audiences across multiple channels. In its media division, Schibsted publishes prominent Scandinavian news brands, including Aftenposten in Norway and Verdens Gang (VG), offering both print and digital editions. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Schibsted ASA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Schibsted ASA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE:TV Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 852,320 shares, a drop of 48.3% from the December 31st total of 1,647,952 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 852,829 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Based on an average trading volume of 852,829 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grupo Televisa A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Grupo Televisa by 52.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,059,394 shares of the companys stock worth $46,120,000 after purchasing an additional 7,204,072 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Grupo Televisa by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 18,551,819 shares of the companys stock worth $40,628,000 after acquiring an additional 605,393 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Grupo Televisa in the second quarter worth approximately $4,692,000. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in Grupo Televisa in the 2nd quarter worth $2,321,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grupo Televisa by 272.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 134,168 shares of the companys stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 98,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.77% of the companys stock. Get Grupo Televisa alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades TV has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a sell (d-) rating on shares of Grupo Televisa in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Grupo Televisa from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reissued a buy rating on shares of Grupo Televisa in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a buy rating on shares of Grupo Televisa in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $5.07. Grupo Televisa Stock Up 0.5% Shares of Grupo Televisa stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.27. 822,812 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 960,289. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.73. Grupo Televisa has a 1-year low of $1.55 and a 1-year high of $3.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of -3.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.29. Grupo Televisa Company Profile (Get Free Report) Grupo Televisa, SAB. is a leading Mexican multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Mexico City, specializing in the creation, production and distribution of Spanish-language content. The company operates free-to-air television networks, subscription pay-TV services, broadband and telephony under its cable arm, and a range of digital streaming platforms. Grupo Televisas portfolio spans news, sports, telenovelas, reality programming and original series, positioning it as one of the largest content producers in the Spanish-speaking world. Televisas broadcast division includes flagship channels such as Las Estrellas and Canal 5, while its pay-TV segment features operations under brands like Sky Mexico and Izzi Telecom. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Grupo Televisa Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Grupo Televisa and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $57.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ARE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $72.00 to $50.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $83.00 to $45.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alexandria Real Estate Equities has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $65.86. Get Alexandria Real Estate Equities alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on Alexandria Real Estate Equities Alexandria Real Estate Equities Stock Up 1.1% Alexandria Real Estate Equities stock opened at $54.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.48, a PEG ratio of 6.52 and a beta of 1.31. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a 1-year low of $44.10 and a 1-year high of $105.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.65. Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.01. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a negative return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 47.23%.The company had revenue of $754.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $742.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.250-6.550 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year. Alexandria Real Estate Equities declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Alexandria Real Estate Equitiess payout ratio is -34.12%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, Director Sheila K. Mcgrath bought 3,100 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $141,360.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $382,675.20. The trade was a 58.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alexandria Real Estate Equities Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 102.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,245 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,762 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 4,261.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 4.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,455 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,015 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 171.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,591 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.54% of the companys stock. Key Stories Impacting Alexandria Real Estate Equities Here are the key news stories impacting Alexandria Real Estate Equities this week: Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised price targets this week, signaling analyst confidence in recovery potential Evercore bumped its target to $67 and kept an outperform rating. This is being read as bullish for upside expectations. Evercore price target raise Multiple brokerages raised price targets this week, signaling analyst confidence in recovery potential Evercore bumped its target to $67 and kept an outperform rating. This is being read as bullish for upside expectations. Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its target to $60 (neutral rating), another upward revision that supports near-term upside vs. current levels. Cantor Fitzgerald price target raise Cantor Fitzgerald raised its target to $60 (neutral rating), another upward revision that supports near-term upside vs. current levels. Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $57 (hold), adding incremental support to the view that downside is limited from current levels. Jefferies price target raise Jefferies raised its price target to $57 (hold), adding incremental support to the view that downside is limited from current levels. Positive Sentiment: Quarterly earnings call highlighted stronger leasing activity in places and revenue slightly ahead of expectations, which investors view as evidence leasing fundamentals may stabilize. Q4 earnings call highlights Quarterly earnings call highlighted stronger leasing activity in places and revenue slightly ahead of expectations, which investors view as evidence leasing fundamentals may stabilize. Neutral Sentiment: Management is pursuing asset sales in the Bay Area (converting or selling life-sciences sites for housing), a move that can improve liquidity and de-lever the balance sheet but signals willingness to exit some life-sciences exposure. Bay Area site sales Management is pursuing asset sales in the Bay Area (converting or selling life-sciences sites for housing), a move that can improve liquidity and de-lever the balance sheet but signals willingness to exit some life-sciences exposure. Neutral Sentiment: Company and brokers hold an average Hold recommendation, reflecting mixed views across the sell side not a consensus buy but not a clear sell either. Brokerage consensus Company and brokers hold an average Hold recommendation, reflecting mixed views across the sell side not a consensus buy but not a clear sell either. Negative Sentiment: Alexandria reported a roughly $1 billion loss tied to portfolio markdowns and non-cash items, and management warned of continued challenges in lab leasing negatives that pressure near-term earnings visibility and NAV. $1B loss and lab glut Alexandria reported a roughly $1 billion loss tied to portfolio markdowns and non-cash items, and management warned of continued challenges in lab leasing negatives that pressure near-term earnings visibility and NAV. Negative Sentiment: Plans were scrapped to convert a Fenway lab site to a different use, highlighting project-level pullbacks and execution changes amid weaker demand. Fenway conversion canceled Plans were scrapped to convert a Fenway lab site to a different use, highlighting project-level pullbacks and execution changes amid weaker demand. Negative Sentiment: Coverage notes Alexandria underperformed peers recently, reflecting investor concern about exposure to a lab-glutted market and the companys heavy leverage relative to peers. Underperformance vs peers Alexandria Real Estate Equities Company Profile (Get Free Report) Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc (NYSE: ARE) is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, development and management of collaborative life science and technology campuses. The companys properties are designed to support research and innovation by providing specialized laboratory, office and manufacturing space tailored to biotechnology, pharmaceutical, academic and related industries. Since its founding in 1994, Alexandria has cultivated a diversified portfolio of campuses across leading innovation clusters in North America and Europe. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU Get Free Report) shares were down 9.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $104.58 and last traded at $104.4390. Approximately 3,147,757 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 2,786,994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.72. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. HSBC reiterated a reduce rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a buy (b-) rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $95.00. Get AngloGold Ashanti alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 13.3% The company has a market capitalization of $38.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%. Sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year. AngloGold Ashanti Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. AngloGold Ashantis dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.18%. Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth $321,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 579.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the mining companys stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,623 shares of the mining companys stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,409 shares during the period. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 2nd quarter valued at about $293,000. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter valued at about $1,625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the companys stock. About AngloGold Ashanti (Get Free Report) AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the companys core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other byproducts depending on local geology and processing methods. The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer. Read More Receive News & Ratings for AngloGold Ashanti Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AngloGold Ashanti and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. In 2008, after eight years together, Molly Roden Winter proposed to her husband that they open their marriage. When she did this, she didnt really have the slightest idea what she was asking for, or what awaited her. Open marriage. Never have two words together contradicted each other more. The idea of marrying only one person (forever, in theory) seems to clash with a concept that suggests freedom and a variety of options. But the journey that Winter embarked on when she decided to open her relationship not only led her to reconcile these two terms, but also to dismantle one by one some of the ideas associated with open relationships, ultimately finding a more confident and self-aware version of herself. She recounts this experience in More: A Memoir of Open Marriage (2024), a hilarious book, written in an unfiltered first person thats both embarrassing and heartwarming. In its pages, Winter, 53, documents emotional highs and lows, tearful visits to the therapist, awkward sexual encounters and parallel relationships that would change everything: My book is the story of the first 10 years of my open marriage, because it took me 10 years to feel comfortable loving another person, the Illinois-born author explains, in a video call with EL PAIS. When she decided to open up their relationship, her marriage to Stewart to whom she is still married today, in addition to having three other partners wasnt teetering on the brink of divorce but it wasnt exactly at its best, either. Two young children, a husband working late and a life with few surprises led her to notice a man who also noticed her. And that ignited everything. With Stewart who had previously shown himself as being receptive to an open relationship everything was easy. There were no lies only some innocent omissions, discussions and negotiations that resulted in the marriage becoming more open. For Molly, however, nothing was simple. The supposed freedom it was going to bring her morphed into insecurities about herself, about what she was doing and why. Meanwhile, she worried that, for her husband, having emotional and sexual relationships with other people seemed like a piece of cake. Its all in the book, but she sums it up in one sentence: The hardest thing is allowing your partner to love someone else. In her memoir, the author revisits all these emotions, which she managed to mitigate thanks to her therapist: He used a metaphor that helped me a lot: the idea that there was a hole in my bucket and that I needed to learn to mend it myself. Otherwise, you never feel like its enough. You try to fill yourself from the outside, instead of realizing that everything you need is within you. For Winter, opening her marriage was the beginning of an inner journey of self-discovery that is still ongoing. The author affirms that relationships are my favorite way of learning about myself. She explains further: When youre monogamous, you can think that everything is fine; you have a foundation and you dont need anything else. But when you have many relationships simultaneously, theres a kind of gap between them: you come out of one and youre not quite ready for the next. If youre a grounded person, then you dont feel that gap. In a lighthearted and always humorous tone, the author asserts that, today, she feels like shes enough, so everything else is enough, too. Its only taken me 52 years to figure that out! Besides offering a peek into her most private life, which she generously shares with readers, More: A Memoir of Open Marriage also serves as a guide a highly-personalized and vivid one for those who want to try an open relationship. Or, at least, for those who are curious about the idea. In it, youll find the red lines and rigid rules that Winter and her husband initially set for themselves, believing these conditions would ensure that their new glass toy wouldnt break. Our golden rule was not to fall in love with other people, the author explains. They also couldnt see people who lived in their neighborhood, among other naive notions that crumbled with time and practice. Molly Roden Winter and her husband, Stewart, in a photo that they provided. Unfortunately (and fortunately), nothing is so simple. Theres no map, no clear way to do this, she warns. Those who do it to explore sex, while attempting to avoid emotional involvement, can end up like the writer: I started out like that and now, Im not interested in having relationships with people I dont love, she sighs. Those who try to save their marriage this way are also on the wrong track: If your options are divorce or an open marriage, its better to just get divorced and save yourself some time. Its like having children to save a marriage. Dont complicate things; you know thats not going to work, she concludes. She also has some tips for getting an open marriage off to a good start, such as going at the pace of the less enthusiastic person. If the more enthusiastic person takes the initiative, everything will fall apart. She explains this in greater detail: If two people are invested in each other and one of them thinks that opening the relationship is exciting, but also feels nervous about it, let that person set the pace. She also recommends taking time to process feelings and catch up, because the pace can be different for each person. One partner may still be hurt by something that happened, for instance, two months ago. For Winter, polyamory has been an eye-opener: People want to feel strong and free and maybe we equate romantic love with a loss of freedom, or with weakness. When youre not monogamous, when you have multiple relationships, you have complete freedom, but you also need a lot of strength. Returning to her own experience: I once believed that if I had many relationships, if I had many partners, then I would never be alone again. But every time I ended a relationship, I felt abandoned. And if my husband continued having relationships and I had just broken up with someone, I felt even more alone. I learned that whats important is having a good relationship with yourself. Forever grateful to her therapist, she says that she was able to break free from this cycle because he helped her identify the pattern and ask herself the right questions, which were hidden behind her desire to open her marriage: What are you doing here? Why do you want this? And what are you running away from? Now, with things much clearer, the publication of her memoir has taken her around the world, where, to her surprise, shes met many women like herself. In January 2025, I participated in a literary festival in Sri Lanka. After my talk, many women approached me to chat. Although their culture seems quite conservative, they would say things like, My friend has an open marriage, or I want to ask my husband, but I dont know how. It was very unifying, she says. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (OTCMKTS:BKKLY Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,372 shares, an increase of 151.4% from the December 31st total of 2,137 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 29,682 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Based on an average daily volume of 29,682 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Bangkok Bank Public Trading Down 1.3% Shares of OTCMKTS BKKLY opened at $25.60 on Friday. Bangkok Bank Public has a 12 month low of $18.70 and a 12 month high of $28.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.30. Get Bangkok Bank Public alerts: Bangkok Bank Public Company Profile (Get Free Report) Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (OTCMKTS:BKKLY) is one of Thailands largest commercial banks, providing a full range of banking and financial services to individual, corporate and institutional clients. Since its founding in 1944 by Chin Sophonpanich, the bank has built a comprehensive suite of products that includes retail and private banking, corporate lending, trade finance, foreign exchange and treasury services. In the corporate sector, Bangkok Bank offers working capital and term loans, structured trade and commodity finance, cash management and foreign exchange solutions designed to support both domestic companies and multinational enterprises. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Bangkok Bank Public Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bangkok Bank Public and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Berman McAleer LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJR Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 401,376 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $47,696,000. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF accounts for about 6.7% of Berman McAleer LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Berman McAleer LLC owned about 0.06% of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 1.7% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 152,880 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $18,167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,526 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 6.5% during the third quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 137,641 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $16,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,361 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 22,564 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,681,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Your Advocates Ltd. LLP lifted its stake in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 197.6% in the 3rd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 244 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 66.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF alerts: iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Stock Performance NYSEARCA IJR opened at $127.03 on Friday. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has a fifty-two week low of $89.22 and a fifty-two week high of $131.64. The stocks fifty day moving average is $123.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 1.08. About iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, formerly iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors SmallCap 600 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of publicly traded securities in the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market. The Index serves as the underlying index for the S&P 600/Citigroup Growth and Value Index series. The component stocks are weighted according to the total float-adjusted market value of their outstanding shares. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IJR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Berman McAleer LLC bought a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,110 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $610,000. Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 427,422 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 75,082 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,024,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 83.4% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 13,072 shares of the companys stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 15.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,121 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 7,051 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 137.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 782 shares of the companys stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the companys stock. Get McCormick & Company Incorporated alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently commented on MKC. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $82.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an outperform rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a hold (c-) rating on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a hold rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $73.30. McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 0.8% Shares of NYSE MKC opened at $61.80 on Friday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $66.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.47. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $59.62 and a fifty-two week high of $86.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.28. McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.01). McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 11.54%.The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. McCormick & Company, Incorporateds quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.050-3.130 EPS. On average, analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current year. McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 29th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporateds previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 29th. McCormick & Company, Incorporateds payout ratio is currently 65.53%. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, major shareholder Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.43, for a total transaction of $3,371,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 246,762 shares in the company, valued at $16,639,161.66. This trade represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brendan M. Foley sold 57,144 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $3,746,360.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,652 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,123,225.12. The trade was a 34.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,158 shares of company stock worth $9,635,824. 23.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile (Free Report) McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) is a global leader in spices, seasonings and flavor solutions. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the company traces its origins to the late 19th century and has grown into a major manufacturer and marketer of branded and privatelabel flavor products for consumer, industrial and foodservice markets. McCormicks product portfolio includes pure spices and herbs, blended seasonings, marinades, rubs, sauces, extracts and specialty flavorings, along with ingredient systems and custom flavor development for manufacturers and foodservice operators. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for McCormick & Company Incorporated Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McCormick & Company Incorporated and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Marubeni (OTCMKTS:MARUY Get Free Report) and Barloworld (OTCMKTS:BRRAY Get Free Report) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk. Risk & Volatility Marubeni has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barloworld has a beta of -0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 129% less volatile than the S&P 500. Get Marubeni alerts: Profitability This table compares Marubeni and Barloworlds net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Marubeni 7.04% 14.83% 6.16% Barloworld N/A N/A N/A Institutional & Insider Ownership Analyst Ratings 0.1% of Marubeni shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. This is a summary of current ratings for Marubeni and Barloworld, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Marubeni 1 0 1 0 2.00 Barloworld 0 0 0 0 0.00 Valuation and Earnings This table compares Marubeni and Barloworlds top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Marubeni $51.16 billion 1.07 $3.32 billion $23.16 14.30 Barloworld $2.09 billion 1.41 $79.96 million N/A N/A Marubeni has higher revenue and earnings than Barloworld. Dividends Marubeni pays an annual dividend of $5.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Barloworld pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Marubeni pays out 21.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Summary Marubeni beats Barloworld on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks. About Marubeni (Get Free Report) Marubeni Corporation engages in various business activities. It manufactures, wholesales, and retails apparel, footwear, home furnishing and sport goods, industrial and textile materials, tire and rubber materials, and household and nursing care products; develops uranium, nuclear fuel cycle, iron ore, coking coal, copper mines, and related equipment and services; smelts and refines aluminum and magnesium; leases temporary steel construction materials; explores for, develops, and produces oil and gas; manages infrastructure funds; and develops and manages real estate. The company also offers insurance, technical, ICT, and logistic services; agri-inputs; fertilizer and crop protection product contracting services; crop protection product formulations; wood chips, biomass fuels, pulp and waste papers, paper, paperboards, sanitary, and building and construction materials; engineering, procurement, and construction services; and operation and maintenance services. It trades in fertilizers, dairy, agricultural, and marine products; sugar, processed food, beverages raw materials, and commercial use food materials; grains, oilseeds, feed ingredients, compound feeds, fresh and processed meat, petrochemicals, plastics, salts, chlor-alkalis, life science products, electronic materials, fertilizer materials, and inorganic mineral resources and chemicals; steelmaking raw materials, ferroalloys, nonferrous metals, and steel products; cement and ingots related materials; and petroleum and LPG. The company engages in infrastructure; water; automotive finance; power generation; power service and retail; natural gas; hydrogen; and fuel ammonia businesses. It owns, purchases, operates, leases, sells, and charters aerospace and ship products; leases refrigerated trailers, commercial vehicles, and freight cars; and sells, trades in, leases, finances, and services construction and industrial machinery, and mobility products. The company was founded in 1858 and is based in Tokyo, Japan. About Barloworld (Get Free Report) Barloworld Limited operates as an industrial processing, distribution, and services company in Southern Africa, Australia, Russia, and Mongolia. The company operates through Equipment Southern Africa, Automotive, Ingrain, Equipment Eurasia, and Other segments. The company offers industrial equipment and services comprising of earthmoving equipment, industrial services, and power systems that enable various mining, construction, and power solutions. It also manufactures various products, which includes food, beverages, paper, pharmaceuticals, building material and adhesives, and others. In addition, the company offers starch, glucose, and other products; and salvage management and disposal services. It serves mining, construction, energy, and transportation sectors. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Sandton, South Africa. Receive News & Ratings for Marubeni Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marubeni and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Volatility & Risk Daito Trust Construction has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Daito Trust Constructions competitors have a beta of 0.91, suggesting that their average share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Institutional and Insider Ownership 58.4% of shares of all REAL ESTATE OPS companies are held by institutional investors. 22.2% of shares of all REAL ESTATE OPS companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Get Daito Trust Construction alerts: Profitability This table compares Daito Trust Construction and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Daito Trust Construction N/A N/A N/A Daito Trust Construction Competitors 3.49% -19.77% 0.45% Dividends Valuation and Earnings Daito Trust Construction pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Daito Trust Construction pays out 123.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, REAL ESTATE OPS companies pay a dividend yield of 2.1% and pay out 428.3% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Daito Trust Construction is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. This table compares Daito Trust Construction and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Daito Trust Construction $12.10 billion $619.46 million 40.08 Daito Trust Construction Competitors $3.44 billion $119.94 million 47.02 Daito Trust Construction has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Daito Trust Construction is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Summary Daito Trust Construction competitors beat Daito Trust Construction on 6 of the 11 factors compared. Daito Trust Construction Company Profile (Get Free Report) Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. designs, constructs, and rents apartments and condominiums in Japan. It operates through three segments: Construction, Real Estate, and Finance. The company design and construct rental housing and other structure construction; ironwork and construction; building management and renovation, and whole building leasing; rental housing tenant guarantor services; advertising; and LP gas supply businesses. Further, the company operates day service centers and childcare facilities; operates hotels in Malaysia; and bridge financing for general contractors. Additionally, it sells short-term insurance; offers credit card settlements services; rental apartment and condominium brokering services; provides real estate management and asset succession consulting services; and offers document shipping and destruction, printing, and administrative services. The company also engages in development and sale of investment-type apartment properties, and management of facility reservation portal sites. Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Receive News & Ratings for Daito Trust Construction Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Daito Trust Construction and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Deutsche Wohnen AG (OTCMKTS:DWHHF Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 18,259 shares, a decline of 36.2% from the December 31st total of 28,599 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently days. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Deutsche Wohnen Stock Performance Shares of Deutsche Wohnen stock remained flat at $25.40 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.09. Deutsche Wohnen has a 12-month low of $24.89 and a 12-month high of $25.40. The firm has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of -14.94 and a beta of 0.82. Get Deutsche Wohnen alerts: Deutsche Wohnen Company Profile (Get Free Report) Deutsche Wohnen SE is one of Germanys leading residential real estate companies, specializing in the acquisition, development and management of rental properties. The company focuses on long-term residential leases, offering a diversified portfolio that includes both modern apartments and selected commercial premises. Its core services encompass property management, tenant relations and asset enhancement, with an emphasis on energy-efficient upgrades and sustainability initiatives. Through in-house development teams, Deutsche Wohnen oversees new-build projects as well as comprehensive renovation and modernisation programs aimed at improving living standards and reducing environmental impact. Operations are concentrated in Germanys major metropolitan markets, notably Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Deutsche Wohnen Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Deutsche Wohnen and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:EVM Get Free Report) shares crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.46 and traded as high as $9.59. Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund shares last traded at $9.46, with a volume of 368,359 shares traded. Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund Stock Down 0.8% The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.31. Get Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund alerts: About Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund (Get Free Report) Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:EVM) is a closed-end, diversified management investment company that seeks to provide tax-exempt income by investing primarily in municipal obligations issued by or on behalf of the State of California and its political subdivisions. The fund is structured to deliver current income exempt from federal and California state income taxes, making it a targeted solution for investors in higher tax brackets seeking exposure to Californias municipal market. The funds portfolio is composed predominantly of investment-grade municipal securities, including general obligation bonds, revenue bonds and municipal lease obligations. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH Free Report) by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,250 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock after acquiring an additional 4,271 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLCs holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,837,207,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth about $1,572,193,000. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $2,729,912,000 after buying an additional 4,730,192 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $528,273,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 6,191,871 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $1,904,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the companys stock. Get UnitedHealth Group alerts: UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.8% NYSE:UNH opened at $287.03 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $606.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $330.74 and a 200-day moving average of $323.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $260.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.42. UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement UnitedHealth Group ( NYSE:UNH Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.02. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The firm had revenue of $113.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.81 EPS. UnitedHealth Groups revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.750- EPS. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.02%. More UnitedHealth Group News Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a buy rating and a $406.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $408.00 to $361.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a hold (c-) rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $376.75. Get Our Latest Report on UNH UnitedHealth Group Company Profile (Free Report) UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets. UnitedHealthcare is the companys benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for UnitedHealth Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UnitedHealth Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Franklin FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:FLEE Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 25,505 shares, a drop of 32.4% from the December 31st total of 37,731 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 10,173 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Based on an average trading volume of 10,173 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin FTSE Europe ETF Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Franklin FTSE Europe ETF by 298.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 259,038 shares of the companys stock worth $8,675,000 after acquiring an additional 194,028 shares during the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin FTSE Europe ETF by 129.6% in the 3rd quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 187,317 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,500,000 after purchasing an additional 105,741 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin FTSE Europe ETF by 110.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 148,894 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,989,000 after buying an additional 78,164 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin FTSE Europe ETF by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 49,371 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 17,785 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in Franklin FTSE Europe ETF in the third quarter worth $589,000. Get Franklin FTSE Europe ETF alerts: Franklin FTSE Europe ETF Stock Down 0.8% Shares of FLEE stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.33. 185,166 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,233. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.35. Franklin FTSE Europe ETF has a 1-year low of $27.41 and a 1-year high of $38.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.66 million, a PE ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 0.90. About Franklin FTSE Europe ETF The Franklin FTSE Europe ETF (FLEE) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the FTSE Developed Europe RIC Capped index. The fund tracks a market cap-weighted index of large- and mid-cap stocks in developed European countries. FLEE was launched on Nov 2, 2017 and is managed by Franklin Templeton. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Franklin FTSE Europe ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Franklin FTSE Europe ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Guangshen Railway Company Limited (OTCMKTS:GNGYF Get Free Report) were up 8.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $0.26 and last traded at $0.26. Approximately 10,000 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 91,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.24. Guangshen Railway Price Performance The stocks fifty day moving average is $0.27 and its 200-day moving average is $0.31. Get Guangshen Railway alerts: About Guangshen Railway (Get Free Report) Guangshen Railway Company Limited operates passenger and freight rail services along the GuangzhouShenzhen corridor in Guangdong Province, China. Established in 1996 as the first joint-stock railway reform pilot in the country, the company manages the 147-kilometer line linking Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen and border crossings into Hong Kong. Regular high-frequency intercity trains serve daily commuters, while longer-distance services connect urban centers across the Pearl River Delta. Beyond core transport services, Guangshen Railway provides comprehensive logistics and freight forwarding solutions. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Guangshen Railway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Guangshen Railway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A new chapter in the story of the Gelman collection has brought clarity to the whereabouts of part of the emblematic private art holding that, for decades, has been shrouded in accusations, silence, and contradictory accounts. On January 21, Banco Santander announced that it had reached an agreement with the collections new owners, the powerful Zambrano family, to manage what is now called the Gelman Santander collection and is made up of 160 pieces by artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Maria Izquierdo, Rufino Tamayo, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. It has also announced that the works will soon be shown in Spain. History of the collection Jacques and Natasha Gelman met in Mexico at the end of the 1930s, during one of the formers work trips as a film producer. The couple settled down permanently in the country in 1941 due to the Second World War, which marked the beginning of their intense labor as collectors that would define their cultural legacy. Beyond buying works, the Gelmans also became patrons of Mexican artists. Thanks to their connections, the two developed close relationships with key figures from the national art scene like Kahlo and Rivera, of whom they commissioned a portrait of Natasha surrounded by the male painters iconic calla lilies. Diego Riveras Portrait of Natasha Gelman. Banco Santander After the death of Jacques in 1986, a friendship formed between Natasha and art curator Robert R. Littman, who Natasha named executor of the collection in her will. As theirs was one of the countrys most important collections of modern art, it was the couples wish that the works remain in Mexico. When Natasha died, Littman created the Vergel Foundation, in the hopes of preserving the archive. Five years later, after a period abroad that allowed funds to be raised for the acquisition of new pieces, the collection finally returned to Mexico. The pieces were intended to remain for 15 years in a museum in Cuernavaca, Morelos, but in 2008, the collection was lost to public view after a series of legal proceedings that threatened to displace Littman as executor. Dispute over rights The first of these quarrels was initiated by a lawyer named Francisco Enrique Fuentes Olvera, who bought the inheritance rights to the assets not included in Natashas will from her half-brother, Mario Sebastian Zawalka. The purchase meant that anything not clearly accounted for in the will would become the property of Fuentes. At the time, Littman described the ruling as illegal and irrational, and said that his removal as executor was invalid. Another legal episode related to the Gelman collection involves one of Mexicos most beloved men: the actor Mario Moreno, better known as Cantinflas. The relationship between the cinema icon and Jacques Gelman began when the producer started financing the actors films. In addition to their professional affiliation, they became great friends and, according to some accounts, it was Moreno who introduced Jacques to several painters. In accordance with the version of events presented by Cantinflass family, Littman had taken advantage of Natasha Gelmans supposed Alzheimers disease after her husbands death to be appointed executor of the collection. Mario Moreno Ivanova, the actors son, claimed to be the legitimate heir of part of the collection, arguing that Jacques Gelman had been his godfather. But his complaint filed with the Attorney Generals Office of the Federal District was unsuccesful after there was deemed to be insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges, and eventually, the statute of limitations expired. In 2025, Cantinflass grandson, Mario Moreno del Moral, brought the case to social media. In a video posted to TikTok, the young man said that his grandfather had been betrayed by Jacques Gelman after some of the paintings acquired by the famous comedian had been incorporated into the collection due to their cultural value. According to this version, there had been an agreement that the works would eventually come under the control of Rioma Films, the production company in which the two men had been partners. Jacques dies in 1986 without respecting the deal they had, and completely forgetting he had given his word to my grandfather. He left the transfer of rights to all his works to his wife, including those that had belonged to my grandfather, said Moreno del Moral. Natasha and Jacques Gelman in an undated photo. Mysterious reappearance After these legal problems, Littman decided to keep a low profile and in the years that followed, there were few signs of the collections whereabouts. It wound up divided into three sections: Mexican art, pre-Columbian sculpture (whose location is still unknown), and another which was dedicated to European modern art, with works by artists like Picasso, Mondrian, Kandinsky and Dali, which has for years been exhibited at the MoMA in New York. In 2024, several of the Mexican pieces were put up for sale in New York by Sothebys. As the works had been declared a national artistic asset, there are specific conditions regarding their protection, which led the Mexican Institute of Fine Arts and Literature to suspend their auction to ensure compliance with legal provisions. The situation raised alarms over the possibility that Littman was gradually dismantling the collection by selling pieces separately. Experts have lamented that the Mexican government did not make significant efforts to recover the collection and secure its definitive return to the country. Following the controversy came the announcement of the works acquistion by the monied Zambrano family, whose fortune was amassed thanks to the legacy of Monterrey businessman Lorenzo Zambrano Gutierrez, founder of Cemex. According to a statement from Banco Santander, the Zambrano family came to an agreement with the Vergel Foundation to buy the pieces in 2023, which has led to even more doubts, given that the role of executor implies that an asset may not be sold unless the will explicitly gives one permission to do so and Natasha Gelmans will has never been made public. For their part, directors at Banco Santander have said that the document is clear in having left ownership of the collection in the hands of Robert R. Littman. We have done all the necessary research to confirm the information. We have no doubt about Robert Littmans ability to transfer the assets to the Zambranos, said Daniel Vega Perez, director of the new Faro Santander center, where the pieces will be exhibited. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (OTCMKTS:IDCBY Get Free Report) and Raiffeisen Bank International (OTCMKTS:RAIFY Get Free Report) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability. Profitability This table compares Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Raiffeisen Bank Internationals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. 24.10% 8.96% 0.71% Raiffeisen Bank International -0.14% 3.09% 0.32% Dividends Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. pays an annual dividend of $0.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Raiffeisen Bank International pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. pays out 22.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Raiffeisen Bank International pays out 25.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Analyst Ratings Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. 0 0 0 0 0.00 Raiffeisen Bank International 0 1 0 0 2.00 Volatility and Risk This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Raiffeisen Bank International, as reported by MarketBeat. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. has a beta of 0.14, meaning that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Raiffeisen Bank International has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Earnings and Valuation This table compares Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Raiffeisen Bank Internationals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. $219.33 billion 1.34 $50.89 billion $2.74 6.03 Raiffeisen Bank International $15.33 billion 1.10 $1.25 billion $0.71 17.98 Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. has higher revenue and earnings than Raiffeisen Bank International. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Raiffeisen Bank International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Summary Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. beats Raiffeisen Bank International on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks. About Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (Get Free Report) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, and Treasury Operations segments. The Corporate Banking segment offers financial products and services to corporations, government agencies, and financial institutions. Its products and services include trade financing, deposit, corporate wealth management, custody, and various corporate intermediary services, as well as corporate loans. Its Personal Banking segment provides financial products and services to individual customers. This segment's products and services comprise personal loans and cards, deposits, and personal wealth management and intermediary services. The Treasury Business segment is involved in the money market transactions, investment securities, and proprietary and foreign exchange transactions businesses. It also offers e-banking services, investment banking, financial leasing, and insurance services. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited was incorporated in 1984 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. About Raiffeisen Bank International (Get Free Report) Raiffeisen Bank International AG, together with its subsidiaries, offers banking services to corporate, private customers, and institutional customers. The company offers cash management, cross border accounts, electronic banking, payments solutions, sustainable and subsidized financing, leveraged and acquisition financing, project and structured financing, real estate financing, leasing, factoring, trade and export financing, investment banking, investing, hedging, and investor services to its institutional clients and corporate customers in agri food and beverage, automotive, construction and building materials, food and beverage, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, packaging, real estate, retail, technology, telecom, and utilities industries. It also provides retail and private banking services, including deposits, loans, wealth management, and advisory services to retail customers and small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the company offers clearing, reporting, settlement, guarantees, letters of credit, fund administration, acceptances, brokerage, asset management, and custody services; and investment banking services, including asset based finance, fund finance and alternatives investments, loan syndication, mergers and acquisitions advisory, and debt and equity capital markets services. It operates through a network of business outlets in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, as well as Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Raiffeisen Bank International AG was founded in 1886 and is based in Vienna, Austria. Receive News & Ratings for Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hermes International SA Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:HESAY Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,366 shares, an increase of 60.3% from the December 31st total of 7,714 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 80,644 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Approximately 0.0% of the companys shares are sold short. Approximately 0.0% of the companys shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 80,644 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered Hermes International from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Hermes International from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Hermes International from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Get Hermes International alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on HESAY Hermes International Price Performance Hermes International Company Profile Shares of OTCMKTS HESAY opened at $240.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.50, a quick ratio of 3.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Hermes International has a 1 year low of $232.01 and a 1 year high of $303.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $249.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.88. (Get Free Report) Hermes International is a French luxury goods company renowned for its high-end leather goods, scarves, ready-to-wear apparel, watches, jewelry, fragrances and home accessories. Founded in 1837 as a harness and bridle workshop, the firm has evolved into one of the worlds most recognizable luxury maisons, known for artisanal craftsmanship, quality materials and a focus on timeless design. The company is headquartered in Paris and maintains a strong heritage identity that influences its product development and brand positioning. Key product categories include leather goods and iconic handbags, silk scarves and ties, fashion and accessories, timepieces and fine jewelry, as well as fragrances and selected home collections. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Hermes International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hermes International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its stake in shares of HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS Free Report) by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,036 shares of the software makers stock after selling 26,484 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltds holdings in HubSpot were worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HUBS. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of HubSpot by 88.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the software makers stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in HubSpot by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 10,666 shares of the software makers stock worth $5,937,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its stake in shares of HubSpot by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 4,023 shares of the software makers stock worth $2,239,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of HubSpot by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 9,101 shares of the software makers stock worth $5,066,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of HubSpot during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get HubSpot alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several brokerages recently weighed in on HUBS. Zacks Research lowered shares of HubSpot from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of HubSpot from $900.00 to $700.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of HubSpot from $685.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reissued a buy rating on shares of HubSpot in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on HubSpot from $650.00 to $560.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HubSpot presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $593.07. Insider Activity In other news, Director Brian Halligan sold 8,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $2,578,730.00. Following the sale, the director owned 487,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,850,422.72. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 25,735 shares of company stock worth $8,943,006 over the last three months. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. HubSpot Stock Down 0.6% Shares of NYSE:HUBS opened at $279.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3,499.75, a PEG ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $364.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.09. HubSpot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.73 and a twelve month high of $881.13. HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The software maker reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $809.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $786.80 million. HubSpot had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 1.21%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.18 EPS. Analysts anticipate that HubSpot, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current year. HubSpot Company Profile (Free Report) HubSpot, Inc is a software company that develops a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed to help organizations attract, engage and delight customers. Its primary business activities center on providing integrated marketing, sales and customer service tools that support inbound marketing strategies, content management, lead nurturing, sales automation and customer support workflows. The companys product suite is organized around modular hubs built on a central CRM: Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub and Operations Hub. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HUBS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for HubSpot Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for HubSpot and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock, valued at approximately $611,000. Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Curio Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 36,600.0% in the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Pfizer during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Pfizer in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 302.5% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the companys stock. Get Pfizer alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes PFE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank started coverage on Pfizer in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a sector outperform rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a neutral rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a market perform rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Friday, October 31st. HSBC reissued a buy rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Pfizer from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $28.06. Key Headlines Impacting Pfizer Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week: Pfizer Stock Up 1.2% PFE stock opened at $26.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The companys 50-day moving average price is $25.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.03. Pfizer Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.92 and a 52 week high of $27.69. The company has a market cap of $150.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.47. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $16.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.94 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 20.17%. Pfizer has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.000-3.150 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Pfizer Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Pfizers dividend payout ratio is 100.00%. About Pfizer (Free Report) Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and vaccines for human health. Its activities span discovery research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and global commercial distribution across multiple therapeutic areas. Pfizers portfolio and pipeline cover oncology, immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, rare diseases, hospital acute care and anti-infectives, along with a substantial vaccine business. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Thursday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.8796 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 1st. This represents a dividend yield of 589.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. ING Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. ING Group has a dividend payout ratio of 26.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect ING Group to earn $2.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.6%. Get ING Group alerts: ING Group Stock Down 1.6% Shares of ING opened at $29.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. ING Group has a 12 month low of $16.04 and a 12 month high of $30.10. The firms 50 day moving average is $27.86 and its 200-day moving average is $25.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.82. Key Headlines Impacting ING Group ING Group ( NYSE:ING Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 27.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current year. Here are the key news stories impacting ING Group this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS beat consensus (reported ~$0.57 vs. ~0.52 expected), driven by strong margins and profitability that exceeded analyst estimates a key reason for investor confidence. ING Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Q4 EPS beat consensus (reported ~$0.57 vs. ~0.52 expected), driven by strong margins and profitability that exceeded analyst estimates a key reason for investor confidence. Positive Sentiment: ING reported a robust FY2025 net result of 6,327 million, citing continued growth in customer balances and fee income supports confidence in recurring revenue and earnings power. ING FY2025 Net Result ING reported a robust FY2025 net result of 6,327 million, citing continued growth in customer balances and fee income supports confidence in recurring revenue and earnings power. Positive Sentiment: ING declared a dividend of 0.8796 per share (record April 17, payable May 1), which supports shareholder returns and may attract income-focused investors. ING declared a dividend of 0.8796 per share (record April 17, payable May 1), which supports shareholder returns and may attract income-focused investors. Positive Sentiment: Management guided for further growth this year and next, citing loan-volume expansion and rising fee & commission income as diversification away from pure rate-driven revenue positive for medium-term revenue stability. WSJ: ING Guides for Further Growth Management guided for further growth this year and next, citing loan-volume expansion and rising fee & commission income as diversification away from pure rate-driven revenue positive for medium-term revenue stability. Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies initiated coverage on ING, which can increase analyst attention and liquidity; impact depends on the issued rating/price target. Jefferies Initiates Coverage Jefferies initiated coverage on ING, which can increase analyst attention and liquidity; impact depends on the issued rating/price target. Neutral Sentiment: Company released its earnings slide deck and full call transcript useful for investors doing deeper diligence on segment performance and guidance. Earnings Presentation Company released its earnings slide deck and full call transcript useful for investors doing deeper diligence on segment performance and guidance. Negative Sentiment: Revenue for the quarter missed consensus materially (reported ~$4.61B vs. ~$6.67B expected), which likely prompted investor concern about top-line momentum despite the EPS beat a primary driver of the stock decline. MarketBeat: Q4 Results ING Group Company Profile (Get Free Report) ING Group N.V. is a Dutch multinational financial services company headquartered in Amsterdam. Formed through the consolidation of Dutch financial businesses, ING operates as a banking and financial services group that serves retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporates and institutional clients. The company is organized under a two-tier governance model common in the Netherlands, with an Executive Board responsible for day-to-day management and a Supervisory Board providing oversight. INGs principal activities include retail and direct banking, commercial and wholesale banking, corporate lending, transaction services and cash management, and a range of investment and savings products. Read More Receive News & Ratings for ING Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ING Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Keybank National Association OH lessened its holdings in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA:RSP Free Report) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,616,565 shares of the companys stock after selling 227,127 shares during the period. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF accounts for 2.4% of Keybank National Association OHs portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Keybank National Association OH owned 0.94% of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF worth $686,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RSP. Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada bought a new position in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF during the second quarter worth $29,000. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management lifted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF by 335.8% during the 3rd quarter. Copia Wealth Management now owns 231 shares of the companys stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 61.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF alerts: Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF Stock Performance RSP opened at $198.08 on Friday. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF has a 52-week low of $150.35 and a 52-week high of $200.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 0.99. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $194.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.80. About Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, formerly Rydex S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, seeks to replicate as closely as possible, the daily performance of the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (the Index). The Index is a capitalization-weighted index covering 500 industrial, utility, transportation and financial companies of the United States markets (mostly NYSE Euronext issues). The Index utilizes quarterly rebalancing to maintain its equal-weight stance. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 90% of its net assets, plus any borrowing for investment purposes, in the equity securities (and derivatives thereof) included in the Index. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lowered its stake in iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:ILCG Free Report) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 444,445 shares of the companys stock after selling 16,628 shares during the quarter. iShares Morningstar Growth ETF comprises 2.4% of McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.s holdings in iShares Morningstar Growth ETF were worth $46,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in iShares Morningstar Growth ETF by 1.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 84,928 shares of the companys stock worth $6,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of iShares Morningstar Growth ETF by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,880 shares of the companys stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Morningstar Growth ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Morningstar Growth ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,050,000. Finally, BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in iShares Morningstar Growth ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at about $239,000. Get iShares Morningstar Growth ETF alerts: iShares Morningstar Growth ETF Stock Performance ILCG stock opened at $104.66 on Friday. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $104.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.16. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.10 and a beta of 1.16. iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has a fifty-two week low of $69.47 and a fifty-two week high of $109.22. iShares Morningstar Growth ETF Profile The iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund tracks a market cap-weighted index of growth stocks, selected from the top 90% of the US market-cap spectrum. ILCG was launched on Jun 28, 2004 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ILCG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:ILCG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Morningstar Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Morningstar Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI Thailand ETF (NYSEARCA:THD Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 131,996 shares, a drop of 31.6% from the December 31st total of 193,105 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 125,398 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 3.5% of the companys stock are short sold. Currently, 3.5% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 125,398 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI Thailand ETF A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. grew its stake in iShares MSCI Thailand ETF by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. now owns 428,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,205,000 after buying an additional 206,600 shares during the last quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Thailand ETF in the third quarter valued at about $12,751,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Thailand ETF in the second quarter valued at about $6,136,000. Millburn Ridgefield LLC DE lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI Thailand ETF by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millburn Ridgefield LLC DE now owns 76,746 shares of the companys stock worth $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI Thailand ETF by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 75,645 shares of the companys stock worth $3,818,000 after purchasing an additional 6,746 shares during the last quarter. 67.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get iShares MSCI Thailand ETF alerts: iShares MSCI Thailand ETF Stock Performance Shares of NYSEARCA THD traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.16. 113,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 154,696. The companys fifty day moving average is $60.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.44. iShares MSCI Thailand ETF has a fifty-two week low of $45.23 and a fifty-two week high of $65.26. The stock has a market cap of $255.80 million, a PE ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 0.61. iShares MSCI Thailand ETF Company Profile The iShares MSCI Thailand ETF (THD) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Thailand IMI 25-50 index, a market-cap-weighted index of the Thai equity market. THD was launched on Mar 26, 2008 and is managed by BlackRock. Read More Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Thailand ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Thailand ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares North American Natural Resources ETF (BATS:IGE Get Free Report) crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $48.85 and traded as low as $47.37. iShares North American Natural Resources ETF shares last traded at $57.7650, with a volume of 68,343 shares. iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Stock Performance The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.91 and a 200 day moving average of $48.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $766.61 million, a P/E ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 0.79. Get iShares North American Natural Resources ETF alerts: Institutional Trading of iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 2,675.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 555 shares of the companys stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares North American Natural Resources ETF during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Peterson Wealth Services grew its stake in shares of iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 575.2% during the third quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 2,910 shares of the companys stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 1,344.2% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,607 shares of the companys stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 4,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 481.2% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,195 shares of the companys stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares in the last quarter. About iShares North American Natural Resources ETF iShares North American Natural Resources ETF, formerly iShares S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of U.S.-traded natural resource-related stocks as represented by the S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index (the Index). The Index has been developed as an equity benchmark for the United States-traded natural resource related stocks. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares North American Natural Resources ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Private Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in JPMorgan Active Value ETF (NYSEARCA:JAVA Free Report) by 56.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,700 shares of the companys stock after selling 7,450 shares during the quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLCs holdings in JPMorgan Active Value ETF were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in JPMorgan Active Value ETF during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Active Value ETF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Active Value ETF in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Active Value ETF by 211.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 737 shares of the companys stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in JPMorgan Active Value ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.07% of the companys stock. Get JPMorgan Active Value ETF alerts: JPMorgan Active Value ETF Stock Performance Shares of JAVA stock opened at $74.97 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.68. The stock has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of -82.38 and a beta of 0.81. JPMorgan Active Value ETF has a 1 year low of $55.51 and a 1 year high of $75.63. JPMorgan Active Value ETF Company Profile The JPMorgan Active Value ETF (JAVA) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in large cap equity. The fund is an actively managed fund of US large-cap value stocks selected based on proprietary fundamental analysis. JAVA was launched on Oct 4, 2021 and is managed by JPMorgan Chase. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JAVA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for JPMorgan Active Value ETF (NYSEARCA:JAVA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for JPMorgan Active Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JPMorgan Active Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Under the US presidents approach, the region is once again subject to a relationship shaped by coercion and strategic calculation When Donald Trump publicly questioned control over the Panama Canal, alarms went off across Central America. It was not just another bombastic statement in the Republicans provocative style it was the first visible sign of a policy that once again places the region under U.S. oversight. Trump revived old interventionist instincts by interfering in Hondurass presidential election and threatening to cut aid to Central American governments as leverage to force them into agreements aimed at curbing migration. Once again, the isthmus appears on Washingtons radar not as a strategic partner, but as a backyard to be controlled. Wounds from U.S. interference still fester in Central America. Since the 19th century, the United States has turned the region into a priority of its foreign policy one subject to Washingtons designs. The logic was always the same: protect economic, commercial, and geopolitical interests under the guise of hemispheric stability and security. In 1909, the U.S. intervened in Nicaragua to force the fall of president Jose Santos Zelaya, who was accused of challenging U.S. and European interests. But the countrys subjugation was cemented with the military occupation of U.S. Marines in 1912, which lasted until 1933 and installed a puppet government led by Anastasio Somoza Garcia before the Marines withdrew. That imposition marked the beginning of one of the longest-lasting and bloodiest family dictatorships in Latin America, which endured for more than 40 years. Polling station in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on November 30, 2025. Delmer Membreno The U.S. has a long history of interventions in the region. In 1954, Washington orchestrated the overthrow of Guatemalas democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz, through a CIA-backed covert operation that marked the beginning of decades of violence and civil war. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration funded and supplied the Contras, a right-wing guerrilla force aiming to topple Nicaraguas Sandinista government a strategy that escalated into a civil war claiming over 50,000 lives. In 1989, 24,000 U.S. Southern Command troops invaded Panama to remove dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, in an operation that left dozens of civilians dead and solidified the image of the United States as the regions ultimate arbiter. That past is more than just historical memory. Trumps return to the White House has revived a policy of direct pressure, devoid of diplomatic nuance. Experts consulted by EL PAIS interpret this strategy as an attempt to counter Chinas growing influence in what Washington still considers its natural sphere of influence. Central America, crisscrossed by key trade routes and in urgent need of investment, has become a battleground in the global power struggle. Central America is viewed by the United States as a strategic obligation that must remain within its sphere of influence, explains Carlos Murillo, professor of International Relations at the National University of Costa Rica. According to the academic, this renewed version of the Monroe Doctrine which he defines as a Trump Doctrine, based on economic and political coercion will become increasingly visible. Central American countries have no room to maneuver if they receive threats of tariffs or even military intervention, as happened in the past with Panama, he says. Murillo argues that the United States seeks to reclaim the global hegemony it held in the mid-20th century and, to do so, considers it essential to exercise political, economic, and military control over the Western Hemisphere. Marco Rubio during his visit to the Panama Canal, on February 6, 2026. Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett (EFE/Official State Department) The new policy of interference began just days after Trump returned to power in January 2025, when he insisted on the need to take back the Panama Canal. China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didnt give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and were taking it back, he declared. Trump accused the Panamanian government of severely overcharging U.S. ships and suggested that Washington could retake control of the infrastructure. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino immediately rejected Trumps statements, responding that the canal is and will remain Panamas. Latin America rallied behind the Central American country. Geopolitical analyst Angel Martinez, from Swansea University in Wales, explains that Trump sees regaining control of the canal as a way to secure a quick and symbolic victory. It kills several birds with one stone: it reaffirms geopolitical power, connects with a nationalist narrative that mobilizes his supporters, and reinforces the idea that the United States will not tolerate Chinese expansion in its immediate vicinity, he explains. According to Martinez, recovering the canal does not necessarily mean direct administration; it could also involve imposing preferential conditions for U.S. ships or retaining the ability to monitor maritime traffic. That is also a way of taking control, he explains. The next chapter of this new era of intervention played out in Honduras. Trump explicitly intervened in the presidential elections to support the conservative candidate Nasry Asfura, who was ultimately declared the winner after a long and chaotic recount that plunged the country into weeks of uncertainty. I hope the people of Honduras vote for Freedom and Democracy and elect Tito Asfura President! Trump wrote on Truth Social a few days before the election. The U.S. president also pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been sentenced in New York to 45 years in prison for his ties to drug trafficking, a decision that shocked Hondurans. Nasry Asfura casts his vote in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in November 2025. STR (EFE) The average Honduran has a lot of faith in the United States and sees it as a benchmark for what we aspire to be, explains Lucia Vijil, a researcher at the Center for Studies for Democracy (Cespad), from Tegucigalpa. The United States is our main trading partner, and what it says about Honduras carries enormous weight. Trump sees everything in terms of business: money, strategic agreements, profits. There is no real interest in strengthening institutions or democracy. For decades, U.S. interventions were justified under the guise of defending democracy, although in practice it led to military dictatorships and authoritarian regimes in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. For the last 15 years, with its ups and downs, the United States had been an ally on issues of democracy and human rights. That is no longer the case, says Katya Salazar, executive director of the Due Process Foundation, based in Washington. In her view, democracy is also being undermined in the United States. Undue interference in foreign elections is unprecedented and worrying, she warns. I have no doubt that the United States will get involved in other elections, promoting the election of not just right-wing presidents, but far-right presidents who share Washingtons new Christian and nationalist values. The next test for this policy will be Costa Rica, which will hold elections on February 1. The country is experiencing an authoritarian drift under the government of President Rodrigo Chaves, who, barred from seeking reelection, is trying to ensure the continuity of his policies through the official candidacy of Laura Fernandez. According to analyst Murillo, the Costa Rican executive branch is showing evident subordination to Washington, visible in decisions such as accepting deported migrants from third countries a policy that mirrors the model promoted by the United States in El Salvador. El Salvador occupies a central place in Trumps regional strategy. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele maintains a privileged relationship with Washington. There are personal and political ties. Bukele has been skillful in positioning himself as a reliable partner for the United States, explains Carlos Cascante, an academic at the University of Costa Rica. Honduras, experts add, is also of particular interest because it is home to the only U.S. military base in Central America. Nayib Bukele in San Salvador (El Salvador). January 19, 2026. Javier Aparicio (EFE) Trumps disregard for democracy is even more evident in his approach to Nicaragua. Despite reports of crimes against humanity committed by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, Washington has applied only limited pressure. A Politico report revealed that Managua cooperates with the United States in the fight against drug trafficking, which has spared Ortega and Murillo from Trumps wrath. Still, signs of pressure do exist: Ortega recently released several political prisoners, and the U.S. State Department demanded the unconditional release of all of political prisoners. According to Cascante, U.S. pressure on Nicaragua is mainly exerted through commercial channels. Analyst Murillo, however, believes the regime has little room to maneuver. You cant have a troublesome neighbor in your backyard, he says. Ortega knows that neither Russia nor China would come to his aid in the event of a direct intervention. The word intervention has thus returned to the Central American political vocabulary. A region marked by the memory of occupations, coups, and wars now watches as the United States returns with a ruthless policy. Once again, Central America appears on Washingtons radar not as a community of sovereign nations, but as a strategic space that must fall in line, seemingly at any cost. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition K3 Business Technology Group plc (LON:KBT Get Free Report)s share price crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 41.98 and traded as low as GBX 37.55. K3 Business Technology Group shares last traded at GBX 40, with a volume of 1,167,285 shares. K3 Business Technology Group Price Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 40 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 41.74. The firm has a market capitalization of 17.87 million, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 0.83. K3 Business Technology Group Company Profile (Get Free Report) K3 Business Technology Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides computer software and consultancy services in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the United States, and internationally. It operates through K3 Products and Third-Party Solutions segments. The company offers K3 fashion, a concept-to-consumer solution; K3 pebblestone for small brand owners and retailers; K3 imagine, a unified retail commerce system; K3 MStore, an sale system that manages ticketing, sales, membership, fundraising, event planning, and email marketing; K3 Business Planning, an integrated module that enables enterprises to define multiple budgets for various business areas; K3 ViJi; Microsoft Cloud for Retail solution; and Business Central, an end-to-end solution for managing various business processes, as well as NexSys. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for K3 Business Technology Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for K3 Business Technology Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KDDI Corporation Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:KDDIY Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 65,876 shares, a decline of 42.2% from the December 31st total of 113,943 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 392,716 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 392,716 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. KDDI Stock Down 0.6% Shares of OTCMKTS KDDIY opened at $16.81 on Friday. The firms 50-day moving average is $17.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.84. The company has a market capitalization of $64.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.05. KDDI has a 12-month low of $9.06 and a 12-month high of $19.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Get KDDI alerts: KDDI (OTCMKTS:KDDIY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.40 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that KDDI will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Separately, Zacks Research raised KDDI from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold. Read Our Latest Report on KDDIY About KDDI (Get Free Report) KDDI Corporation (OTCMKTS: KDDIY) is a diversified Japanese telecommunications and information services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Formed in 2000 through the merger of DDI Corporation, KDD Corporation and IDO Corporation, KDDI provides a broad set of connectivity and digital services for both consumer and enterprise customers. The company operates under well-known consumer brands and through a network of subsidiaries and affiliates that deliver telecommunications, internet and ICT solutions. At its core, KDDI offers mobile communications services (including the au consumer brand), fixed-line and broadband internet access, and fiber-optic services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for KDDI Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KDDI and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. L.M. Kohn & Company cut its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE Free Report) by 75.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 501 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 1,567 shares during the quarter. L.M. Kohn & Companys holdings in Deere & Company were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Deere & Company by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,372,671 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $11,376,279,000 after acquiring an additional 309,081 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $5,297,913,000 after purchasing an additional 64,262 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,778 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,810,807,000 after acquiring an additional 111,627 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,578,243,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,580,228 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,312,020,000 after buying an additional 236,406 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Deere & Company alerts: Key Headlines Impacting Deere & Company Here are the key news stories impacting Deere & Company this week: Positive Sentiment: Traders rotating out of big tech and into cyclical, economysensitive stocks helped push Deere to an intraday record as investors price in lower rates and stronger growth expectations. Deere shares jump to record as traders rotate out of tech Traders rotating out of big tech and into cyclical, economysensitive stocks helped push Deere to an intraday record as investors price in lower rates and stronger growth expectations. Positive Sentiment: Deere is expanding U.S. manufacturing footprint with two new industrial facilities (Indiana and North Carolina), signaling management expects sustained demand and supporting future capacity and service operations. John Deere to Open Two New Industrial Facilities in Indiana, North Carolina Deere is expanding U.S. manufacturing footprint with two new industrial facilities (Indiana and North Carolina), signaling management expects sustained demand and supporting future capacity and service operations. Positive Sentiment: Deere plans to recall about 99 workers at its Davenport and Dubuque plants in February, a nearterm sign of ramping production and improving order activity at U.S. facilities. John Deere to recall 99 workers at Davenport, Dubuque plants in February Insider Activity at Deere & Company Deere & Company Trading Down 0.7% In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,603,920. The trade was a 36.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total value of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares in the company, valued at $59,160,775.30. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing . Insiders have sold a total of 64,578 shares of company stock valued at $32,471,682 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Shares of DE stock opened at $526.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $487.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $482.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $404.42 and a 52-week high of $537.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $12.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.77 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 20.54%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year. Deere & Company Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Deere & Companys dividend payout ratio is presently 35.01%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reiterated a positive rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. DA Davidson restated a buy rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $480.00 to $460.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $520.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $609.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $524.20. View Our Latest Stock Report on Deere & Company Deere & Company Profile (Free Report) Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deerewho developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soilsthe company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide. The companys principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Deere & Company (NYSE:DE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Deere & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Deere & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO Free Report) by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 164,860 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 54,080 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.s holdings in Oklo were worth $18,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oklo by 195.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,248,425 shares of the companys stock worth $125,906,000 after buying an additional 1,488,482 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Oklo by 454.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,138,658 shares of the companys stock valued at $119,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752,946 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Oklo during the second quarter worth $40,919,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Oklo by 4,974.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 582,002 shares of the companys stock worth $12,589,000 after acquiring an additional 570,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Oklo by 720.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,808 shares of the companys stock worth $22,945,000 after purchasing an additional 359,866 shares during the period. 85.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Oklo alerts: Oklo Stock Performance OKLO stock opened at $79.50 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.47. The company has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -147.22 and a beta of 0.76. Oklo Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.42 and a 52-week high of $193.84. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Oklo ( NYSE:OKLO Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.07). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oklo Inc. will post -8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating on shares of Oklo in a report on Friday, January 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Oklo in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $106.00 price objective on shares of Oklo in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Oklo in a report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a buy rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Oklo in a report on Monday, November 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oklo presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $103.20. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Oklo Insider Buying and Selling at Oklo In other Oklo news, CFO Richard Craig Bealmear sold 69,841 shares of Oklo stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.40, for a total transaction of $5,475,534.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 202,072 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,842,444.80. The trade was a 25.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider William Carroll Murphy Goodwin sold 11,936 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.84, for a total transaction of $1,215,562.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,750 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $891,100. The trade was a 57.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,552,800 shares of company stock worth $137,543,426. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the companys stock. About Oklo (Free Report) Oklo, Inc is a California-based energy technology company specializing in the design and development of advanced nuclear microreactors. Headquartered in Fremont, the firm focuses on small modular reactor (SMR) technology that leverages fast-neutron fission and liquid-metal cooling to deliver carbon-free power. Oklos core objective is to bring compact, factory-built reactors online within a decade, offering a low-footprint alternative to traditional large nuclear plants. The companys flagship product, the Aurora microreactor, is a 1.5-megawatt electric (MWe) fast reactor cooled by a sodium alloy. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OKLO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Oklo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Oklo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Marsh (NYSE:MRSH Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $195.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock. Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marsh from $199.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $199.33. Get Marsh alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Marsh Marsh Trading Up 0.2% Marsh stock opened at $188.21 on Friday. Marsh has a 52 week low of $174.18 and a 52 week high of $248.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $92.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.76. Marsh (NYSE:MRSH Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $6.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.52 billion. Marsh had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 31.60%. The businesss revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Marsh Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 29th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Marshs payout ratio is presently 42.70%. Key Headlines Impacting Marsh Here are the key news stories impacting Marsh this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and consulting-unit strength Marsh reported $2.12 EPS vs. $1.97 est., revenue around $6.6B (beats estimates) and y/y revenue growth of ~8.7%; company commentary highlighted strength in consulting and insurance lines. Article Title Q4 earnings beat and consulting-unit strength Marsh reported $2.12 EPS vs. $1.97 est., revenue around $6.6B (beats estimates) and y/y revenue growth of ~8.7%; company commentary highlighted strength in consulting and insurance lines. Positive Sentiment: Fourth-quarter profit rise driven by core insurance business coverage reiterates that insurance operations and fee-based consulting lifted profitability and revenue. This is the primary fundamental driver for the stock move. Article Title Fourth-quarter profit rise driven by core insurance business coverage reiterates that insurance operations and fee-based consulting lifted profitability and revenue. This is the primary fundamental driver for the stock move. Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $203 (from $199) with an Equal Weight rating the lift to a $203 target (~7.9% above current levels) likely contributed to buying interest. Article Title Wells Fargo raised its price target to $203 (from $199) with an Equal Weight rating the lift to a $203 target (~7.9% above current levels) likely contributed to buying interest. Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley nudged its target to $195 (from $190) and kept an Equal Weight rating another upward revision that supports the stock. Article Title Morgan Stanley nudged its target to $195 (from $190) and kept an Equal Weight rating another upward revision that supports the stock. Neutral Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed a Sector Perform rating with a $200 target a modestly constructive take but not a buy/upgrade; this is neutral-to-slightly supportive. Article Title RBC reaffirmed a Sector Perform rating with a $200 target a modestly constructive take but not a buy/upgrade; this is neutral-to-slightly supportive. Neutral Sentiment: Non-financial article (filming locations for Under Salt Marsh) is unrelated to Marsh plcs business and unlikely to affect the stock. Article Title About Marsh (Get Free Report) Marsh is a global insurance broker and risk advisor that helps organizations assess, manage and transfer a broad range of risks. The firm provides insurance placement and broking services for commercial and public-sector clients as well as specialty solutions for families and high-net-worth individuals. Its work focuses on identifying exposures, designing risk-transfer strategies and securing coverage from insurers and reinsurers to protect clients assets and operations. Services offered by Marsh include commercial property and casualty broking, cyber and professional-liability placement, employee benefits consulting, and industry-specific specialty lines such as marine, energy and construction. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Marsh Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marsh and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of Reduce by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.5833. Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MUR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy Oil from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday. KeyCorp reiterated a sector weight rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm restated a neutral rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Get Murphy Oil alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on MUR Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.3% Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $30.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.76 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $35.19. The firms 50 day moving average price is $31.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.49. Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Murphy Oils revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year. Murphy Oil Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Murphy Oils previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oils dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 180.56%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 148.1% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Key Stories Impacting Murphy Oil Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat on EPS: Murphy reported $0.14/share, beating the consensus loss and surprising to the upside supportive for near-term earnings sentiment. Earnings Beat Q4 earnings beat on EPS: Murphy reported $0.14/share, beating the consensus loss and surprising to the upside supportive for near-term earnings sentiment. Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike: Murphy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (7.7% increase) implying a ~4.5% yield raises cash return to shareholders and supports income-oriented buyers. Dividend hike: Murphy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (7.7% increase) implying a ~4.5% yield raises cash return to shareholders and supports income-oriented buyers. Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $32, reflecting some analyst optimism on valuation/upside. Wells Fargo PT Wells Fargo raised its price target to $32, reflecting some analyst optimism on valuation/upside. Positive Sentiment: Operational upside: Coverage highlighting a successful appraisal well and followon potential could support longerterm production expectations. Appraisal Well Operational upside: Coverage highlighting a successful appraisal well and followon potential could support longerterm production expectations. Neutral Sentiment: Company disclosures: The full Q4 earnings presentation and transcript are available for investors who want detail on cash flow, capex and guidance; useful for modeling but not a single headline mover. Earnings Transcript Presentation Company disclosures: The full Q4 earnings presentation and transcript are available for investors who want detail on cash flow, capex and guidance; useful for modeling but not a single headline mover. Neutral Sentiment: Reported net profit: Local coverage notes a $11.9M quarterly profit confirms profitability but magnitude is modest relative to market cap. Profit Report Reported net profit: Local coverage notes a $11.9M quarterly profit confirms profitability but magnitude is modest relative to market cap. Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry developments (new offshore deals/discoveries in Morocco and Vietnam) may influence regional exploration sentiment but are not companyspecific catalysts. Morocco Deal Vietnam Discovery Broader industry developments (new offshore deals/discoveries in Morocco and Vietnam) may influence regional exploration sentiment but are not companyspecific catalysts. Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss and market reaction: Q4 revenue came in below estimates, which analysts flagged and which triggered an intraday selloff. Revenue Miss Revenue miss and market reaction: Q4 revenue came in below estimates, which analysts flagged and which triggered an intraday selloff. Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgrade: Barclays cut its rating to underweight and lowered its price target to $29, citing downside versus current levels a clear nearterm headwind for sentiment. Barclays Downgrade TickerReport Murphy Oil Company Profile (Get Free Report) Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The companys operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility. Murphy Oils exploration and production activities are geographically diversified. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Murphy Oil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Murphy Oil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.88 and last traded at $8.4480, with a volume of 272242 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.39. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades OIS has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a hold (c) rating on shares of Oil States International in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Oil States International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Oil States International from $6.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $8.00. Get Oil States International alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on Oil States International Oil States International Stock Performance The business has a 50-day moving average of $7.30 and a 200 day moving average of $6.30. The stock has a market cap of $506.98 million, a PE ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 1.27. Oil States International (NYSE:OIS Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $165.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $169.01 million. Oil States International had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 2.85%. Oil States Internationals revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Oil States International, Inc. will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Buying and Selling at Oil States International In related news, CEO Cindy B. Taylor sold 14,760 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.75, for a total value of $99,630.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,109,724 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,240,637. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oil States International Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Oil States International by 187.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 17,716 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 11,545 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Oil States International in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its position in shares of Oil States International by 454.3% in the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 252,171 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 206,678 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Oil States International by 46.6% in the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,300 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $6,294,000 after acquiring an additional 373,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Oil States International by 221.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,876 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.44% of the companys stock. About Oil States International (Get Free Report) Oil States International, Inc is a Houston-based provider of products and services to the global oil and gas industry. Through its well site solutions and flat steel solutions segments, the company supplies critical equipment and consumables used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its well site offerings include a broad range of rental productssuch as coiled tubing, frac iron, pressure control equipment and downhole tool rentalsdesigned to support drilling rigs and well completion crews. In addition to rental and service offerings, Oil States Internationals flat steel solutions business manufactures and distributes steel pipeline and flowback products. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Oil States International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Oil States International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV Get Free Report)s stock had its outperform rating reiterated by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. They presently have a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canadas price target would suggest a potential upside of 26.70% from the companys current price. OVV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ovintiv from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a buy rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Ovintiv in a report on Saturday, January 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Ovintiv in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair began coverage on Ovintiv in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ovintiv from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $51.82. Get Ovintiv alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on OVV Ovintiv Stock Performance Shares of OVV traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $43.41. 4,544,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,941,265. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $39.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.81. The company has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.70, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Ovintiv has a twelve month low of $29.80 and a twelve month high of $45.96. Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Ovintiv had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 2.64%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ovintiv will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, COO Gregory Dean Givens sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $2,016,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 105,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,269,616.11. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ovintiv Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ovintiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Ovintiv by 316.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 846 shares of the companys stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ovintiv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ovintiv during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ovintiv during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Ovintiv Company Profile (Get Free Report) Ovintiv Inc is a North American energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Formerly known as Encana Corporation, the company rebranded as Ovintiv in January 2020 and established its headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Ovintivs upstream portfolio spans multiple unconventional resource plays, reflecting a strategy centered on high-return projects and disciplined capital allocation. The companys core business activities include the acquisition and development of acreage in major shale basins across the United States and Canada. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Ovintiv Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ovintiv and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Oxford Bank (OTCMKTS:OXBC Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $13.87 million for the quarter. Oxford Bank Price Performance Shares of OXBC stock opened at $41.80 on Friday. Oxford Bank has a 1-year low of $33.15 and a 1-year high of $42.50. The firm has a market cap of $103.50 million, a PE ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.31. Get Oxford Bank alerts: About Oxford Bank (Get Free Report) Oxford Bank (OTCMKTS: OXBC) is a Massachusetts-based community bank headquartered in Oxford, Massachusetts. Established as a mutual savings institution in the late 19th century, the bank now operates as a publicly traded company on the OTC Markets. It focuses on providing personalized banking services to individuals and businesses across central Massachusetts, combining local decision-making with a commitment to community engagement. In its personal banking division, Oxford Bank offers a range of deposit products including checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Oxford Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Oxford Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc (OTCMKTS:ILPMF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 18,089 shares, a drop of 31.4% from the December 31st total of 26,379 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently days. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently days. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Permanent TSB Group in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Sell. Get Permanent TSB Group alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ILPMF Permanent TSB Group Stock Up 2.1% About Permanent TSB Group ILPMF stock opened at $3.60 on Friday. Permanent TSB Group has a 12 month low of $1.60 and a 12 month high of $3.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.03. (Get Free Report) Permanent TSB Group plc is a retail bank headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, primarily serving personal, mortgage and small business customers across the Republic of Ireland. The bank offers an integrated range of financial solutions designed to meet everyday banking needs, including current accounts, savings products and digital banking services. With a focus on customer accessibility, Permanent TSB operates a network of branches and ATMs complemented by online and mobile platforms. Core lending activities revolve around home mortgages and personal loans. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Permanent TSB Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Permanent TSB Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. China's Qiongzhou Strait gears up to ensure smooth Spring Festival travel rush Xinhua) 10:58, January 31, 2026 BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Qiongzhou Strait is bracing for a surge in passenger and vehicle traffic during this year's Spring Festival travel rush, the first since the launch of island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), according to the Ministry of Transport. Connecting South China's island province of Hainan with Guangdong Province on the mainland, the strait is expected to handle more than 4.66 million passenger trips and over 1.17 million vehicle crossings, representing year-on-year increases of 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively, the ministry said on Friday. Demand for cross-strait transport of new energy vehicles (NEVs) is projected to rise sharply, with NEV shipments expected to exceed 200,000 units, accounting for more than 17 percent of the total vehicle traffic, according to the ministry. Li Ying, spokesperson for the ministry, said transport authorities are ramping up preparations to ensure smooth and orderly travel during the peak period. To address the rapid growth in NEV transport demand, she said that measures have been taken to raise the daily NEV transport capacity from an average of 3,500 units in 2025 to 5,000 units. This year's Spring Festival travel rush, also known as chunyun, will run from Feb. 2 to March 13. Official estimates indicate that inter-regional passenger trips during the period are projected to reach 9.5 billion, a record high. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) The most pro-American corner of Germany faces a potential rupture following Trumps threats against Europe and Greenland: He has caused a lot of damage Hallo! How are you? English? Deutsch? Languages mingle at Da Nino restaurant, and so do the people. About 20 friends and acquaintances, German and American, have come here to have a good time and cultivate transatlantic friendships. A challenging task today. The echoes of Donald Trumps threats to his allies reach even the Stammtisch, a German-American discussion group that meets monthly in Ramstein-Miesenbach, the German municipality that houses the largest U.S. military base overseas. The attendees catch up on each others lives. They practice English (the Germans) and German (the Americans). They plan activities, relax with a beer or a soft drink. On this Thursday its unavoidable, and to top it off, theres a journalist in the room they talk about Trump and his attempts to seize Greenland, a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Its not a comfortable topic. Im embarrassed, says Judy, a civilian employee at Ramstein Air Base. Like others at the Stammtisch, this Minnesota native doesnt want to give her last name. Ronnie, a retired U.S. serviceman who decided to stay in Germany, explains: We have barbecues together with the Germans. Were neighbors. We help each other. We respect each other. What happens in politics is beyond our control. The 'Stammtisch,' a German-American discussion group, in an image shared on their Facebook profile. The connection between Germans and Americans is deep in the Ramstein-Miesenbach region, home to some 50,000 Americans, including soldiers, families, and civilians. Over the decades, friendships have blossomed and marriages have taken place. Some, like Ronnie, have stayed to live in this most pro-American corner of Germany, a symbol of the strained transatlantic relationship. We survived Trumps first term. I hope we survive this one, says Maria, a German high school teacher. She explains that she sometimes tries to avoid the topic in conversations: It can ruin friendships. I have friends on both sides, says Vivian, another German in Da Nino, who works for a pharmaceutical company. Most of them tell me, I dont understand what this man is doing. A sigh of relief swept through Ramstein-Miesenbach on Wednesday when Trump said he was ruling out the military option to gain control of Greenland. Some felt they had just dodged a bullet that could have proven fatal. What would be the point of this base and this region if the protecting power became the enemy? Donald Trump in Davos, January 21. Jonathan Ernst (REUTERS) Well see what happens, says John Constance, the organizer of the German-American discussion group at Da Nino. Constance, who works at the Atlantische Academie, a non-profit organization in Rhineland-Palatinate, wonders: What would have happened if U.S. armed forces had attacked Greenland? What if there had been a conflict within NATO, with a NATO base here? How could we be here together if one member is attacked? Journalist Holger Stark, author of the recently published Das erwachsene Land. Deutschland ohne Amerika: eine historichen Chance (The Grown-Up Country. Germany Without America: A Historic Opportunity), describes the current moment as a second fall of the Wall. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the Soviets withdrew from East Germany. Is it time for the U.S. to withdraw? Of the 84,000 U.S. military personnel in Europe, nearly half are stationed in Germany, with Ramstein as their main base. It has been described as a stationary aircraft carrier, as it is a crucial installation for the U.S. to project its power globally (the Spanish base of Rota, a sister city of Ramstein-Miesenbach, is another such location). During the Cold War, with the Iron Curtain just a few hundred miles away, this was the theater where World War III could have erupted. When George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, the wounded arrived daily at the military hospital in nearby Landstuhl. Today, everything is up in the air. When Trump said he would take Greenland the easy way or the hard way, the idea of closing the bases ceased to seem like a fantasy. People here arent afraid that everything will suddenly disappear, but they do wonder what will happen tomorrow or the day after, says Ralf Hechler, mayor of Ramstein-Miesenbach. His office is adorned with symbols of German-American friendship and a statue of the Virgin Mary. A Christian Democrat in the pro-European and pro-Atlantic tradition of his party, he finds it hard to imagine his town without the base: I dont think it will happen. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance at Ramstein Air Force Base in April 2025. Pool (Getty Images) Hechler recalls all that Germany owes to the United States: the Marshall Plan, the reconstruction after Nazism, the defense of democracy... And he points out that the U.S. presence is also an economic engine for the region, comparable to the role that the chemical giant BASF plays for the nearby city of Ludwigshafen. Trump, he says, has caused a lot of damage with his actions and the way he treats others. What he hasnt yet managed to do is turn the people here against the Americans. Atomic bombs Leaving Ramstein, 80 miles north, the road winds through a picturesque landscape of hills and forests. It skirts the Moselle River and its vineyards until reaching Buchel, an airbase of the Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces. This could be paradise, if it werent for the bombs, says Elke Koller, a retired pharmacist who has spent three decades campaigning against nuclear weapons, in Buchel and around the world. Koller lives a few miles from the base, where the United States stores between 10 and 20 B61 nuclear bombs. They protect Germany and at the same time make it susceptible to blackmail, Stark writes in The Grown-Up Country. They offer us no protection. They make us a target, laments Koller, who unsuccessfully took the case to the Constitutional Court a few years ago. I wouldnt be upset if Trump withdrew them. Our motive isnt personal, notes Hildegard Slabik-Munter, also an anti-nuclear weapons activist and a pediatrician, in Kollers living room. She means that they arent fighting just for Buchel: The important thing is that its a threat to the whole world. At the entrance to the airbase, Koller and Slabik-Munters group has installed several crosses, a peace bell, and a banner calling for an ecumenical prayer on February 6. At the entrance to the village of Buchel, next to the base, a sign in Cyrillic script advertises a general store selling Eastern European products. It is run by Alexander Hofmann, a member of the minority of Germans whose ancestors emigrated to Russia and, for the most part, were deported by the USSR to Kazakhstan. Hofmann was born there 42 years ago. In 2004, he emigrated to Germany. He ended up here, right next to Germanys largest nuclear arsenal. Were not afraid. We have Jesus Christ, Hofmann says at the counter. Id be happy if the Americans left. Let them take their bombs and go. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe (NYSEARCA:UPV Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,605 shares, a decrease of 33.8% from the December 31st total of 5,449 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,520 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 3.0% of the companys shares are sold short. Currently, 3.0% of the companys shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,520 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe Trading Down 2.0% Shares of UPV traded down $1.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.85. 1,128 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,386. ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe has a 12 month low of $51.37 and a 12 month high of $101.41. The companys fifty day moving average price is $90.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.83. Get ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe stock. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe (NYSEARCA:UPV Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,130 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $206,000. Jane Street Group LLC owned 2.72% of ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe as of its most recent SEC filing. ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe Company Profile ProShares Ultra MSCI Europe seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the daily performance of the MSCI Europe Index (the Index). The Fund seeks investment results for a single day only, not for longer periods. The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of the developed markets in Europe. The Index is divided into large and mid-cap segments, and targets approximately 85% of free float-adjusted market capitalization of the region. See Also Receive News & Ratings for ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ProShares Ultra FTSE Europe and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ageas (OTCMKTS:AGESY Get Free Report) and Sompo (OTCMKTS:SMPNY Get Free Report) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership. Dividends Ageas pays an annual dividend of $2.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Sompo pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Sompo pays out 15.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Get Ageas alerts: Profitability This table compares Ageas and Sompos net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Ageas N/A N/A N/A Sompo 10.20% 14.10% 3.41% Analyst Ratings Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Ageas 0 1 1 0 2.50 Sompo 0 0 0 0 0.00 Volatility & Risk This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Ageas and Sompo, as reported by MarketBeat. Ageas has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sompo has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Earnings and Valuation This table compares Ageas and Sompos gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Ageas $14.68 billion 0.93 $1.21 billion N/A N/A Sompo $35.81 billion 0.90 $2.79 billion $1.89 9.10 Sompo has higher revenue and earnings than Ageas. Summary Ageas beats Sompo on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks. About Ageas (Get Free Report) ageas SA/NV, together with its subsidiaries, engages in insurance business. It operates in five segments: Belgium, Europe, Asia, Reinsurance, and General Account. The company offers property, casualty, and life insurance products, as well as pension products; and reinsurance products. It provides life insurance products include risks related to the life and death of individuals; and non-life insurance products comprise accident and health, motor, fire, and other property insurance products, as well as insurance services for other damages to property. The company serves private individuals, as well as small, medium-sized, and large companies through independent brokers and the bank channels. ageas SA/NV was founded in 1824 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. About Sompo (Get Free Report) Sompo Holdings, Inc. provides property and casualty (P&C) insurance services in Japan and internationally. The company operates through Domestic P&C Insurance Business, Overseas Insurance Business, Domestic Life Insurance Business, and Nursing Care & Seniors Business segments. It offers various P&C insurance products, including automobile, fire, personal accident, and marine, as well as security, risk management, assistance, and warranty services; and life insurance products. The company also provides nursing care and seniors services; and customer security, health, and wellbeing support services. In addition, it offers asset management services; home remodeling services; and health support services comprising health guidance and employee assistance programs. The company was formerly known as Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Sompo Holdings, Inc. in October 2016. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Receive News & Ratings for Ageas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ageas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL Get Free Report) insider Thomas Tesh sold 887 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $56,111.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,041.44. The trade was a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Rollins Trading Up 0.5% Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $63.34 on Friday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $61.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.56. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.07 and a 1 year high of $63.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.19 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Get Rollins alerts: Rollins (NYSE:ROL Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.02 billion. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Rollins Announces Dividend Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Rollinss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.22%. A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ROL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price target on Rollins and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group set a $65.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 target price on shares of Rollins and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Rollins from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $67.67. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ROL Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rollins by 16.2% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 128,043 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $7,224,000 after purchasing an additional 17,845 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Rollins by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,208,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 11.0% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 158,775 shares of the business services providers stock worth $8,958,000 after acquiring an additional 15,699 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Rollins by 78.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,282,659 shares of the business services providers stock worth $128,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,185 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 139.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 416,737 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $24,479,000 after acquiring an additional 242,699 shares in the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Trending Headlines about Rollins Here are the key news stories impacting Rollins this week: Positive Sentiment: Recent operating results support valuation Rollins reported an Octoberquarter beat (EPS $0.35 vs. $0.32) with ~12% revenue growth and strong ROE, which underpins investor confidence in recurring service demand. MarketBeat ROL Profile Recent operating results support valuation Rollins reported an Octoberquarter beat (EPS $0.35 vs. $0.32) with ~12% revenue growth and strong ROE, which underpins investor confidence in recurring service demand. Positive Sentiment: Dividend confirmed Company set a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 ($0.73 annualized), supporting income investors and making the yield (~1.2%) a modest positive for holders ahead of the exdividend date. Dividend notice Dividend confirmed Company set a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 ($0.73 annualized), supporting income investors and making the yield (~1.2%) a modest positive for holders ahead of the exdividend date. Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing remains favorable Multiple firms (Morgan Stanley, RBC, Goldman, Bernstein) carry Buy/Outperform views and the average price target (~$67.7) sits above current levels, providing a constructive backdrop. Analyst coverage Analyst backing remains favorable Multiple firms (Morgan Stanley, RBC, Goldman, Bernstein) carry Buy/Outperform views and the average price target (~$67.7) sits above current levels, providing a constructive backdrop. Neutral Sentiment: UBS reassessment ahead of earnings kept a Neutral rating but nudged the price target higher to $65 suggests the nearterm setup is balanced rather than decisively bullish. UBS article UBS reassessment ahead of earnings kept a Neutral rating but nudged the price target higher to $65 suggests the nearterm setup is balanced rather than decisively bullish. Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed several funds increased stakes in Q4 while institutions still own a majority (~52%), which can stabilize the stock but limits volatility. Institutional holdings Institutional positioning is mixed several funds increased stakes in Q4 while institutions still own a majority (~52%), which can stabilize the stock but limits volatility. Neutral Sentiment: Media noise unrelated to the company (references to WWEs Rollins) appeared in feeds unlikely to affect fundamentals or trading. Example media item Media noise unrelated to the company (references to WWEs Rollins) appeared in feeds unlikely to affect fundamentals or trading. Negative Sentiment: Clustered insider selling by senior executives and founders multiple Form 4s on Jan. 2628 show sizable sales by Gary W. Rollins, John F. Wilson, CEO Jerry Gahlhoff and others. While sales can reflect personal tax/planning, clustered seniorlevel disposals often add nearterm supply and are read as a negative by the market. Sample SEC filing (Gary Rollins) About Rollins (Get Free Report) Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors. Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Rollins Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rollins and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StandardAero (NYSE:SARO Get Free Report)s stock had its outperform rating restated by Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canadas target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.70% from the companys current price. A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of StandardAero from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Susquehanna set a $38.00 price target on StandardAero in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an outperform rating on shares of StandardAero in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on StandardAero from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of StandardAero from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.00. Get StandardAero alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on StandardAero StandardAero Stock Down 0.9% StandardAero stock opened at $30.91 on Thursday. StandardAero has a fifty-two week low of $21.31 and a fifty-two week high of $34.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.20 and a beta of 1.04. The stocks fifty day moving average is $29.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.18. StandardAero (NYSE:SARO Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. StandardAero had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that StandardAero will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year. StandardAero declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $450.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued. Insider Transactions at StandardAero In other StandardAero news, CEO Russell Wayne Ford sold 40,000 shares of StandardAero stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.24, for a total value of $1,209,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 886,955 shares in the company, valued at $26,821,519.20. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.90% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Carlyle Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of StandardAero by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Carlyle Group Inc. now owns 152,673,891 shares of the companys stock worth $4,832,129,000 after purchasing an additional 18,321,061 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in StandardAero by 120.9% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,139,581 shares of the companys stock worth $31,099,000 after purchasing an additional 623,652 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in StandardAero by 311.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,548,613 shares of the companys stock worth $261,759,000 after purchasing an additional 6,471,813 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in StandardAero in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,479,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in StandardAero during the second quarter valued at approximately $639,000. About StandardAero (Get Free Report) StandardAero is a global aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider specializing in gas turbine engines, auxiliary power units (APUs), airframe components and oil & gas rotating equipment. The company offers a full suite of technical services including engine repair and overhaul, component repair, accessory maintenance, parts manufacturing and on-site field support. Its customer base spans commercial airlines, business and general aviation operators, regional carriers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and defense organizations. With roots dating back to 1911, StandardAero has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the largest independent MRO providers in the industry. See Also Receive News & Ratings for StandardAero Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for StandardAero and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 11.500-11.900 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 12.360. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 0.1% SHW opened at $354.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 1.26. Sherwin-Williams has a one year low of $308.84 and a one year high of $379.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $338.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $343.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Get Sherwin-Williams alerts: Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 65.26% and a net margin of 10.90%.The firms quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sherwin-Williams will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research analysts have recently commented on SHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $378.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reissued a buy rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $400.00 to $390.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a hold (c+) rating on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Sherwin-Williams from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $380.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $386.33. Read Our Latest Stock Report on Sherwin-Williams Sherwin-Williams News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Sherwin-Williams this week: Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and solid results SherwinWilliams reported $2.23 EPS vs. $2.16 consensus and $5.60B revenue (vs. ~$5.57B est.), with yearoveryear revenue growth and high margins; management highlighted record sales and profitability for 2025. Read More. Q4 beat and solid results SherwinWilliams reported $2.23 EPS vs. $2.16 consensus and $5.60B revenue (vs. ~$5.57B est.), with yearoveryear revenue growth and high margins; management highlighted record sales and profitability for 2025. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Management points to strategic growth opportunities company signaled it is considering acquisitions as the next growth phase, which could accelerate market share, product portfolio and Syvinil integration benefits if executed well. Read More. Management points to strategic growth opportunities company signaled it is considering acquisitions as the next growth phase, which could accelerate market share, product portfolio and Syvinil integration benefits if executed well. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Analyst mix: Morgan Stanley kept a Buy rating and $385 PT, highlighting mediumterm upside from share gains and synergies, while Bank of America reiterated a Hold and $370 PT citing muted nearterm catalysts shows divergent views on upside vs. execution risk. Read More. Analyst mix: Morgan Stanley kept a Buy rating and $385 PT, highlighting mediumterm upside from share gains and synergies, while Bank of America reiterated a Hold and $370 PT citing muted nearterm catalysts shows divergent views on upside vs. execution risk. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Investor takeaways from the call/slide deck management provided details on segment performance (Consumer Brands, Performance Coatings) and reiterated focus on margins and integration savings; these are constructive but tied to execution. Read More. Investor takeaways from the call/slide deck management provided details on segment performance (Consumer Brands, Performance Coatings) and reiterated focus on margins and integration savings; these are constructive but tied to execution. Read More. Negative Sentiment: Belowconsensus FY2026 guidance and demand uncertainty SherwinWilliams gave EPS guidance of roughly $11.50$11.90 vs. consensus near $12.36 and warned housing demand is hard to predict, which pressured sentiment because it reduces nearterm upside visibility. Read More. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 4,241 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 4.3% during the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1.7% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC lifted its holdings in Sherwin-Williams by 0.4% in the second quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 12,535 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $4,304,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, First Foundation Advisors boosted its position in Sherwin-Williams by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 2,117 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.67% of the companys stock. Sherwin-Williams Company Profile (Get Free Report) Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) is a global manufacturer and distributor of paints, coatings and related products. Founded in 1866 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company supplies a broad range of coatings for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Its product offering includes architectural paints and stains, industrial and protective coatings, automotive finishes, and a variety of sundry products such as primers, sealants and specialty treatments used by professionals and consumers. The company sells through multiple channels, including a large network of company-operated retail paint stores that serve professional contractors and do-it-yourself consumers, as well as through distributors and mass retailers. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Sherwin-Williams Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sherwin-Williams and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Siemens AG (OTCMKTS:SIEGY Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. Several analysts recently issued reports on SIEGY shares. Barclays reissued an underweight rating on shares of Siemens in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research raised Siemens from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Siemens from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Siemens in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an outperform rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Siemens in a report on Monday, December 15th. They issued an outperform rating for the company. Get Siemens alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on SIEGY Siemens Stock Performance Siemens stock opened at $151.32 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.97. Siemens has a twelve month low of $94.55 and a twelve month high of $156.44. The company has a market capitalization of $242.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Siemens (OTCMKTS:SIEGY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The technology company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $24.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $21.49 billion. Siemens had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 11.65%. Siemens has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.080-6.430 EPS. Research analysts expect that Siemens will post 6.59 EPS for the current year. Siemens Company Profile (Get Free Report) Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate headquartered in Munich that develops and sells infrastructure and industrial technology. The companys activities cover a broad range of engineering and technology solutions, including industrial automation and control systems, software for product lifecycle and factory automation, building and energy management systems, and transportation solutions such as rolling stock and rail signaling. Siemens serves industrial, commercial and public-sector customers with products and turnkey systems as well as lifecycle services and digital solutions. Siemens operates through multiple business units that emphasize digitalization, electrification and automation across industries. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Siemens Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Siemens and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Bank of America from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the airlines stock. A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the company from $43.00 to $57.50 in a report on Friday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $44.76. Get Southwest Airlines alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Stock Down 2.0% LUV stock opened at $47.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $49.85. The firms 50-day moving average is $40.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.21. Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 6.18%. Southwest Airliness revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Southwest Airliness dividend payout ratio is 85.71%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,652,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $2,010,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,218 shares of the airlines stock valued at $4,150,000 after purchasing an additional 9,739 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.4% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 578,088 shares of the airlines stock valued at $18,447,000 after buying an additional 29,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,406,652 shares of the airlines stock worth $45,632,000 after acquiring an additional 325,030 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Trending Headlines about Southwest Airlines Here are the key news stories impacting Southwest Airlines this week: Positive Sentiment: Management issued robust FY2026 guidance (at least $4.00 adjusted EPS) and signaled material upside from new seat/ancillary fees the guidance and new revenue levers are the main driver of recent upside. Q4 Earnings Highlights Management issued robust FY2026 guidance (at least $4.00 adjusted EPS) and signaled material upside from new seat/ancillary fees the guidance and new revenue levers are the main driver of recent upside. Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat EPS estimates ($0.58 vs. $0.56) which reinforced confidence in the recovery and margin improvement. Earnings Beat Q4 results beat EPS estimates ($0.58 vs. $0.56) which reinforced confidence in the recovery and margin improvement. Positive Sentiment: Multiple bullish analyst moves raised upside expectations Morgan Stanley to $55 (overweight), BMO upgraded to outperform with $57.50, Wells Fargo and TD Cowen lifted targets toward $50 these upgrades support the stocks upside narrative. Analyst Coverage Multiple bullish analyst moves raised upside expectations Morgan Stanley to $55 (overweight), BMO upgraded to outperform with $57.50, Wells Fargo and TD Cowen lifted targets toward $50 these upgrades support the stocks upside narrative. Neutral Sentiment: Industry and stockscreen pieces (Zacks, Seeking Alpha) compare LUV to peers and discuss valuation; helpful for context but less likely to drive immediate moves. Peer Comparison Industry and stockscreen pieces (Zacks, Seeking Alpha) compare LUV to peers and discuss valuation; helpful for context but less likely to drive immediate moves. Negative Sentiment: Nearterm guidance is mixed: Q1 EPS guidance of ~$0.45 came in below Street estimates, and revenue trends in the quarter lagged expectations a nearterm headwind for sentiment. Guidance & Results Nearterm guidance is mixed: Q1 EPS guidance of ~$0.45 came in below Street estimates, and revenue trends in the quarter lagged expectations a nearterm headwind for sentiment. Negative Sentiment: Some large firms remain bearish or cautious despite raising targets Goldman Sachs raised its PT to $32 but maintains a sell rating, and Bank of America kept an underperform stance with a $42 PT these lowerPT calls can cap rallies and prompt profittaking. Goldman / BofA Notes About Southwest Airlines (Get Free Report) Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwests operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis. Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Southwest Airlines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southwest Airlines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,933 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock, valued at approximately $809,000. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bristol Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 107.2% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 605 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol Myers Squibb by 202.8% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 639 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in Bristol Myers Squibb by 51.9% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 781 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the companys stock. Get Bristol Myers Squibb alerts: Bristol Myers Squibb Trading Up 1.4% BMY stock opened at $55.03 on Friday. Bristol Myers Squibb Company has a 52-week low of $42.52 and a 52-week high of $63.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm has a market cap of $112.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.29. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $53.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.64. Bristol Myers Squibb Increases Dividend Bristol Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.75 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 76.53% and a net margin of 12.57%.Bristol Myers Squibbs revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bristol Myers Squibb Company will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Bristol Myers Squibbs previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Bristol Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is currently 85.14%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BMY shares. Truist Financial set a $65.00 price target on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a market perform rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a hold (c-) rating on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $37.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Bristol Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, January 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $57.43. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on BMY Bristol Myers Squibb Profile (Free Report) Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, focused on discovering, developing and delivering medicines for serious diseases. The companys core activities include research and development, clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of prescription pharmaceuticals across multiple therapeutic areas. BMS concentrates on advancing therapies in oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular disease and specialty areas through both small molecules and biologics. BMSs marketed portfolio and latestage pipeline reflect a strong emphasis on cancer and immunemediated conditions. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bristol Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Summit Global Investments trimmed its position in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO Free Report) by 73.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,155 shares of the companys stock after selling 5,873 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments holdings in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF were worth $1,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vanguard S&P 500 ETF by 248.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF by 900.0% in the second quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 50 shares of the companys stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF during the second quarter worth $30,000. Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new stake in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF by 800.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the companys stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Get Vanguard S&P 500 ETF alerts: Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Trading Down 0.3% VOO opened at $636.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $851.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97 and a beta of 1.00. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has a 12 month low of $442.80 and a 12 month high of $641.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $630.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $612.25. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Company Profile Vanguard 500 Index Fund (the Fund) is an open-end investment company, or mutual fund. The Fund offers four classes of shares: Investor Shares, Admiral Shares, Signal Shares, and Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) Shares. The Fund seeks to track the investment performance of the Standard & Poors 500 Index, an unmanaged benchmark representing the United States large-capitalization stocks. The Fund employs a passive management-or indexing-investment approach designed to track the performance of the Standard & Poors 500 Index. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VOO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Summit Global Investments lessened its holdings in Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (NYSE:TAK Free Report) by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 85,202 shares of the companys stock after selling 96,451 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments holdings in Takeda Pharmaceutical were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $706,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Takeda Pharmaceutical by 29.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,112 shares of the companys stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Takeda Pharmaceutical by 21.7% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,623 shares of the companys stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical by 216.1% in the second quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 126,279 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,952,000 after buying an additional 86,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 432,654 shares of the companys stock worth $6,689,000 after buying an additional 45,726 shares during the period. 9.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Takeda Pharmaceutical alerts: Takeda Pharmaceutical Trading Up 0.2% Shares of TAK opened at $17.21 on Friday. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. has a 52-week low of $12.99 and a 52-week high of $17.25. The stock has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a PE ratio of 71.71 and a beta of 0.03. The firms fifty day moving average is $15.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Analyst Ratings Changes Takeda Pharmaceutical ( NYSE:TAK Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $7.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.81 billion. Takeda Pharmaceutical had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 2.58%. Research analysts forecast that Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a hold (c-) rating on shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They set an overweight rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold. View Our Latest Report on Takeda Pharmaceutical Takeda Pharmaceutical News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Takeda Pharmaceutical this week: Takeda Pharmaceutical Profile (Free Report) Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE: TAK) is a Tokyo-based, multinational biopharmaceutical company with roots dating back to 1781. The company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products for patients worldwide. Takeda is publicly listed and operates as a fully integrated R&D-driven healthcare company focused on delivering specialty medicines and therapies across a range of therapeutic areas. Takedas main business activities encompass discovery and development of prescription medicines, clinical development and regulatory affairs, manufacturing of small molecules and biologics, and global commercial operations. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TAK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (NYSE:TAK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Takeda Pharmaceutical Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Takeda Pharmaceutical and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The country once again finds itself asking how far its sovereignty truly extends when Washington decides to act On January 3, Panama woke up with the strange sensation of looking in a mirror. During the early hours of the morning while the world tried to process the details about the capture of Nicolas Maduro, as a result of a U.S. military operation the country that is home to the Panama Canal once again delved into a wound that, 36 years later, remains open: the 1989 U.S. invasion. The scene remains alive in the countrys memory. It returns, again and again, suspended between the past and contemporary debate. At midnight on December 20, 1989, the United States military offensive was deployed simultaneously, by land and by air. Helicopters, fighter jets and special forces took over strategic points in the capital and its surroundings, while entire neighborhoods woke up to the roar of explosions and gunshots. The objective was to put an end to the regime and capture the dictator, Manuel Antonio Noriega. He surrendered just days later, also on January 3, a coincidence that returns an unfinished story to the present. For a nation without an army one which manages a strategic sea lane for global trade the operation in Venezuela brought up an uncomfortable question: what room to maneuver does Panama have when the United States decides to act in its own backyard? Every so often, this question resurfaces. On January 20 the one-year anniversary of Donald Trumps return to the White House the U.S. president avoided answering a question about whether his intention to take back the Panama Canal was still on the table. I dont want to tell you that. He then paused, gave a tight smile and shrugged: Its sort of on the table. Although in Panama that response didnt make major headlines beyond socialmedia comments like this one: The Canal of 2026 is not the Canal of 1999; he has no idea how any of this works [] the comment evoked the bitter memory of January 20, 2025, when, during his inauguration speech, Trump set his sights on the Panama Canal. China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didnt give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and were taking it back, he said at the time. A U.S. soldier encounters a Panamanian prisoner on the street in 1989. Consolidated News Pictures (Getty Images) He mentioned Panama six times [in his inauguration speech]; curiously, he didnt mention Venezuela, but Venezuela suffered the consequences of a policy that, if I had to summarize it, is the end of multilateralism, said former Panamanian Foreign Minister Jorge Eduardo Ritter on a local television channel. The president of Panama, Jose Raul Mulino, responded with a resounding absolutely not when asked in Davos, Switzerland, if amidst the tension over Greenland, Venezuela and Canada he feared a new escalation over the Canal. However, on the isthmus, the conversation is still alive, and its reinforced by the persistent echo of what happened in Caracas. When history returns to the debate An analysis by the consulting firm SHIFT Porter Novelli examined more than 2,500 comments on Panamanian social media between January 3 and 8, the days when Maduros capture dominated public conversation. It revealed that 44% of the mentions used geopolitical and historical language, with direct references to the 1989 invasion. Another significant percentage of social media users expressed fear that the action in Venezuela would set a precedent for future interventions in Latin America. During the turbulent days of the first-half of 2025, the U.S. president was insistently talking about recovering the Panama Canal. In Washington, according to NBC News, the possibility of a military intervention in order to ensure the operation of the interoceanic waterway was even briefly mentioned. However, the Pentagon ended up ruling out this option. Panama lived through 2025 under the weight of concerns caused by Donald Trumps expressions about the Canal, recalls John Feeley, a former U.S. ambassador to Panama. Still, he rules out that theres a risk of U.S. military action against the country, its government, or the Canal. What he does recognize is a deeper impact, which is linked to a historical perception thats difficult to eradicate. [General] Omar Torrijos, [who governed Panama from 1968 until 1981], said that the security of Panamanians was in the shadow of the eagle. That shadow is still there, he says. In his view, many in Latin America still believe that if a country does something Trump dislikes, it could trigger an unwanted reaction. This perception is reinforced by the strategic value of the Panama Canal, through which more than 14,000 ships transit per year. The infrastructure connects more than 170 countries through nearly 190 trade routes. For sociologist Danilo Toro, the Panamanian reaction to the fall of Maduro cannot be understood without considering the Canals central role in U.S. foreign policy. Its not that Panama wasnt important before. It always was, he maintains. The difference is that, under the Trump administration, this value was expressed more explicitly and recurrently. Feeley rules out that the operation in Venezuela responds to a hemispheric security strategy or a commitment to Venezuelan democracy. The United States did not act for democratic reasons, not even to remove a dictator, he says. It did it for other reasons: oil. In his view, what unsettles much of the region is not whether Maduro did or did not deserve to be removed from power, but the fact that Washington chose to violate another states sovereignty. That concern is reflected in public sentiment. According to a recent survey commissioned by the International Center for Political and Social Studies (CIEPS), seven out of 10 people believe Trumps intention to regain control of the Canal is real. Between caution and diplomacy Domestically, Mulino has adopted a stance of support for the democratic path. He conveyed this directly to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, urging her to remain firm in defending the popular will. Days after the military operation in Caracas, he reiterated that position and reminded the public that Panama safeguards the records that, according to the Venezuelan opposition, show that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the July 2024 presidential election. Panamas Foreign Ministry echoed that stance in a statement calling on the de facto authorities that still remain in Venezuela to recognize the electoral results, and emphasized Panamas role as custodian of the records. This official position coexists with a Venezuelan presence thats part of the Central American countrys daily landscape. The Venezuelan diaspora in Panama exceeds 58,000 people, according to the latest census. For many of them, the news of Maduros capture came as a shock. The early hours of January 3 unfolded amid frantic messages, urgent phone calls, and the anxiety of those who felt something they believed buried in the past was suddenly resurfacing. Ricardo Contreras, a member of the opposition collective ConVenezuela and a Panama resident for five years, recalls it this way: We didnt really know what was happening. News was coming and going until Trump announced he had Nicolas Maduro in custody. Not all reactions, however, followed that line. Four days after the military operation in Caracas, the National Police of Panama put down a demonstration by students from the countrys main public university: they were going to protest in front of the U.S. ambassadors residence. The episode highlighted that beyond the Venezuelan community the event had struck a nerve within a segment of Panamanian society. U.S. troops patrol the streets of Panama during Operation Just Cause. Steven D Starr (Corbis via Getty Images) Two operations, two contexts According to the Venezuelans interviewed for this report, the U.S. offensive hasnt substantially altered their life plans. Regardless of what happens in their country of origin, Panama continues to be perceived as a haven of stability. However, the political dimension of the event opened a broader debate about the place that Panama occupies in the face of Washingtons actions in Latin America. For Feeley, the parallel between the invasion of Panama in 1989 and the operation in Venezuela is tempting, but misleading. Theyre different cases, he affirms. In Panama, for instance, there was institutional coordination, consultation with Congress and a democratic transition process. In Venezuela, there wasnt regime change, but rather a replacement of leadership within the same regime. U.S. armored vehicles during Operation Rough Rider in Panama. Corbis via Getty Images Political analyst Cristina Ramirez, a doctoral student at Kings College London, agrees that the comparison is forced. In 1989, she points out, the United States not only captured Noriega, but also dismantled the structure of the regime, enforced the electoral results from May of that year and kept troops in the country to guarantee a transition before withdrawing. A similar deployment in Venezuela, she adds, is practically unthinkable today, both due to its military cost and the lack of internal consensus within the United States. Ramirez also highlights another key difference: the relationship between Panama and Washington was governed by treaties that protected the neutrality of the Canal and established a clear withdrawal schedule. There were no demands or conditions made in exchange. Ten years later, the Canal passed into Panamanian hands as planned, she recalls. The gap isnt only political, but also economic. After the invasion of Panama, the United States contributed to the institutional reconstruction of the country. In the Venezuelan case, Feeley maintains, theres no comparable commitment. [In this case, were not talking] about transition or reconstruction. Were talking about profits, he says, alluding to the control of oil resources. Panama, once again, is seen from that blurry border that separates institutional memory from crude geopolitical interests. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Takeda Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TAK Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. Takeda Pharmaceutical had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 10.73%. The firm had revenue of $7.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.81 billion. Here are the key takeaways from Takeda Pharmaceuticals conference call: Get Takeda Pharmaceutical alerts: Takeda delivered three Phase3 wins oveporexin , rusfertide and zasocitinib has filed NDAs for the first two, is preparing the zasocitinib filing for 2027, and expects these launches over the next 18 months to be major growth drivers. , and has filed NDAs for the first two, is preparing the zasocitinib filing for 2027, and expects these launches over the next 18 months to be major growth drivers. Management cut revenue guidance to a low singledigit decline at CER due mainly to strongerthanexpected generic erosion of Vyvanse , which was the primary headwind to yeartodate revenue performance. , which was the primary headwind to yeartodate revenue performance. Operational cost discipline and lower R&D/SG&A allowed Takeda to maintain fullyear guidance for core operating profit and core EPS , and to upgrade adjusted free cash flow despite the Vyvanse headwind. and , and to upgrade adjusted free cash flow despite the Vyvanse headwind. Entyvio showed strong Q3 growth and broader U.S. pen coverage (~80%), but its selection for IRA price negotiation introduces uncertainty around 2028 Medicare pricing and potential impact on longterm peak sales. Takeda Pharmaceutical Trading Up 0.2% NYSE:TAK traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $17.21. 5,626,273 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,160,032. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.41 and a 200-day moving average of $14.81. The stock has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a PE ratio of 71.71 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Takeda Pharmaceutical has a fifty-two week low of $12.99 and a fifty-two week high of $17.25. Key Takeda Pharmaceutical News Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Here are the key news stories impacting Takeda Pharmaceutical this week: TAK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a hold (c-) rating on shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Takeda Pharmaceutical from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Takeda Pharmaceutical in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued an overweight rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold. View Our Latest Stock Report on Takeda Pharmaceutical Institutional Trading of Takeda Pharmaceutical A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Takeda Pharmaceutical by 56.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,586 shares of the companys stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical in the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 7,823 shares of the companys stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,379 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Takeda Pharmaceutical during the 2nd quarter worth $174,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Takeda Pharmaceutical by 1,652.2% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,845 shares of the companys stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 11,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.17% of the companys stock. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Profile (Get Free Report) Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE: TAK) is a Tokyo-based, multinational biopharmaceutical company with roots dating back to 1781. The company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products for patients worldwide. Takeda is publicly listed and operates as a fully integrated R&D-driven healthcare company focused on delivering specialty medicines and therapies across a range of therapeutic areas. Takedas main business activities encompass discovery and development of prescription medicines, clinical development and regulatory affairs, manufacturing of small molecules and biologics, and global commercial operations. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Takeda Pharmaceutical Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Takeda Pharmaceutical and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Freeport-McMoRan, Newmont, and Barrick Mining are the three Gold stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeats stock screener tool. Gold stocks are shares of companies whose primary business involves gold typically gold mining, exploration, processing, or related services and sometimes include equity in funds that directly track gold producers. They give investors leveraged exposure to movements in the price of gold while also carrying company-specific operational, geopolitical, and management risks, so theyre used both as a hedge and as a speculative investment. These companies had the highest dollar trading volume of any Gold stocks within the last several days. Get alerts: Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. Newmont (NEM) Newmont Corporation engages in the production and exploration of gold. It also explores for copper, silver, zinc, and lead. The company has operations and/or assets in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Peru, Suriname, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Fiji, and Ghana. Read Our Latest Research Report on NEM Barrick Mining (B) Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX. In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick. Read Our Latest Research Report on B See Also Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $273.00 to $270.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products companys stock. Truist Financials price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.20% from the companys previous close. PKG has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a buy (b-) rating on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Packaging Corporation of America from $229.00 to $226.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Packaging Corporation of America from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $236.00. Get Packaging Corporation of America alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on PKG Packaging Corporation of America Price Performance NYSE:PKG opened at $222.77 on Thursday. The businesss 50-day moving average is $209.35 and its 200 day moving average is $206.96. Packaging Corporation of America has a 12 month low of $172.71 and a 12 month high of $231.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.41 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 19.18% and a net margin of 8.61%.The businesss revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Trading of Packaging Corporation of America A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PKG. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 73.5% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 538.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,303 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 5,316 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 43.6% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 42.4% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the companys stock. About Packaging Corporation of America (Get Free Report) Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG) is a leading North American manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products. The company produces a range of paper-based packaging solutions including linerboard, corrugating medium, corrugated shipping containers, retail-ready packaging and point-of-purchase displays. In addition to core packaging products, Packaging Corporation of America offers packaging design, testing and supply-chain services intended to optimize protection, cost and sustainability for customers. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, the company operates an integrated network of mills and corrugated manufacturing facilities across the United States and serves customers throughout North America in industries such as e-commerce, grocery and food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and industrial markets. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Packaging Corporation of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Packaging Corporation of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJR Free Report) by 43.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,476 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 4,159 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLCs holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 8.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,028,123 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $112,364,000 after acquiring an additional 78,649 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC increased its stake in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 27,452 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $3,000,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Capital Management LLC increased its position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 11.4% in the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Capital Management LLC now owns 545,285 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $64,780,000 after purchasing an additional 55,761 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 240,184 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $26,250,000 after buying an additional 39,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF in the third quarter worth about $10,009,000. 66.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF alerts: iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Stock Performance NYSEARCA IJR opened at $127.03 on Friday. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has a fifty-two week low of $89.22 and a fifty-two week high of $131.64. The company has a market cap of $93.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 1.08. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $123.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.09. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Company Profile iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, formerly iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors SmallCap 600 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of publicly traded securities in the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market. The Index serves as the underlying index for the S&P 600/Citigroup Growth and Value Index series. The component stocks are weighted according to the total float-adjusted market value of their outstanding shares. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC Free Report) by 146.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,642 shares of the asset managers stock after buying an additional 12,866 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbHs holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 103.0% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 544 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Moelis & Company by 44.0% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 599 shares of the asset managers stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in Moelis & Company in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Moelis & Company alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts have recently commented on MC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They set a buy rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Moelis & Company from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a market perform rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a hold (c) rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $73.00. Moelis & Company Stock Up 0.0% Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $71.75 on Friday. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $47.00 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The companys 50 day moving average price is $70.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.97. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.85. Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $356.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.14 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 45.62%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year. Moelis & Company Profile (Free Report) Moelis & Co operates as a holding company. It engages in the provision of financial advisory, capital raising and asset management services to a client base including corporations, governments, sovereign wealth funds and financial sponsors. The firm focuses on clients including large public multinational corporations, middle market private companies, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and governments. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Moelis & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Moelis & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (NYSE:MMI Free Report) by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,696 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after purchasing an additional 18,498 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.13% of Marcus & Millichap worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Marcus & Millichap by 260.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 47,328 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 34,215 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Marcus & Millichap by 6.6% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 614,410 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $18,869,000 after purchasing an additional 38,159 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Marcus & Millichap by 7.9% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 14,383 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Marcus & Millichap by 2.1% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 34,025 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Marcus & Millichap by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 282,533 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $8,677,000 after buying an additional 19,351 shares during the last quarter. 62.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Marcus & Millichap alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets MMI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a sell (d+) rating on shares of Marcus & Millichap in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Marcus & Millichap from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Marcus & Millichap from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Reduce and an average price target of $29.00. Marcus & Millichap Stock Performance Shares of MMI stock opened at $27.25 on Friday. Marcus & Millichap, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.30 and a 52-week high of $41.94. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -170.31 and a beta of 1.33. The firms 50-day moving average is $27.71 and its 200-day moving average is $29.56. Marcus & Millichap (NYSE:MMI Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.13. Marcus & Millichap had a negative return on equity of 0.58% and a negative net margin of 0.89%.The firm had revenue of $193.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.10 million. Marcus & Millichap Company Profile (Free Report) Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI) is a leading commercial real estate brokerage firm focused on investment sales, financing, research and advisory services. Founded in 1971 by George M. Marcus and William A. Millichap, the company has grown to specialize in the marketing of multifamily, retail, office, industrial, hospitality and other commercial property types. Through an extensive network of investment specialists, Marcus & Millichap connects property owners and investors with tailored transactions across a range of asset classes. The firm offers comprehensive capital markets solutions, including debt and equity placement, structured finance, and customized financing programs. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MMI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (NYSE:MMI Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Marcus & Millichap Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marcus & Millichap and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wajax Co. (TSE:WJX Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$25.36 and traded as high as C$28.62. Wajax shares last traded at C$28.59, with a volume of 22,765 shares trading hands. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades WJX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Wajax from C$26.00 to C$27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on shares of Wajax from C$25.00 to C$27.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Wajax from C$26.00 to C$27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$26.50. Get Wajax alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on WJX Wajax Trading Down 1.1% The stocks fifty day simple moving average is C$27.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$25.40. The firm has a market cap of C$614.76 million, a PE ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 116.61, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Wajax (TSE:WJX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported C$0.75 earnings per share for the quarter. Wajax had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 2.55%.The company had revenue of C$483.15 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wajax Co. will post 3.4850136 earnings per share for the current year. About Wajax (Get Free Report) Wajax Corp is a Canadian distributor of industrial components. The companys core business is the sale of parts and service support of equipment, power systems, and industrial components through a network of branches in Canada. Most of its revenue is generated from the sale of equipment which includes machinery and components used for construction purposes and its industrial components find utility in businesses like mining, forestry, and material handling for other industrial purposes. It sells to leading manufacturer brands such as Hitachi, JCB, Bell, Hyster, Palfinger and other similar industries. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Wajax Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wajax and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Welch & Forbes LLC bought a new stake in shares of Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 88,380 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock, valued at approximately $8,659,000. Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Uber Technologies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,551,519 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $17,685,157,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025,483 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Uber Technologies by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,859,136 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $4,258,756,000 after buying an additional 1,168,288 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Uber Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $2,348,319,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Uber Technologies by 1.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,810,255 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $1,288,497,000 after acquiring an additional 142,933 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Uber Technologies by 5.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,518,594 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $1,167,985,000 after acquiring an additional 615,692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.24% of the companys stock. Get Uber Technologies alerts: Uber Technologies Stock Performance Shares of NYSE UBER opened at $80.07 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $166.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 1.20. Uber Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.63 and a 1 year high of $101.99. Key Uber Technologies News Uber Technologies ( NYSE:UBER Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The ride-sharing company reported $3.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.67 by $2.44. The company had revenue of $13.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.25 billion. Uber Technologies had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 68.17%. Uber Technologiess revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Uber Technologies, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Here are the key news stories impacting Uber Technologies this week: Insider Activity In other news, CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah sold 5,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $519,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 20,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,919,355.30. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony West sold 3,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $260,937.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 176,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,744,764. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,875 shares of company stock worth $1,319,130 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.84% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Melius Research set a $73.00 target price on Uber Technologies in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Uber Technologies in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Uber Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a buy rating on shares of Uber Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Uber Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $107.50. Read Our Latest Research Report on UBER About Uber Technologies (Free Report) Uber Technologies, Inc is a technology company that operates a global platform connecting riders, drivers, couriers, restaurants and shippers. Founded in 2009 by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick and headquartered in San Francisco, Uber developed one of the first large-scale ride-hailing marketplaces and has since expanded into a broader set of mobility and logistics services. The company completed its initial public offering in 2019 and continues to position its app-based network as a multi-modal transportation and delivery platform. Ubers principal businesses include mobility services (ride-hailing and shared rides), delivery through Uber Eats, and freight logistics via Uber Freight. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UBER? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Uber Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Uber Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 24,703 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $815,000. A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Pinterest by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 835,179 shares of the companys stock worth $26,600,000 after purchasing an additional 110,089 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 4.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 1,019,178 shares of the companys stock worth $36,548,000 after purchasing an additional 43,541 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pinterest by 243.1% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,446 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 49,204 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pinterest by 302.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 133,193 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,285,000 after buying an additional 100,063 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its position in Pinterest by 101.4% during the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 206,903 shares of the companys stock worth $6,652,000 after buying an additional 104,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.81% of the companys stock. Get Pinterest alerts: Pinterest Price Performance PINS stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.23. Pinterest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.83 and a 1 year high of $40.90. Insider Buying and Selling Pinterest ( NYSE:PINS Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Pinterest had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 48.99%.The businesss quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other Pinterest news, insider Malik Ducard sold 2,293 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $60,030.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 697,480 shares of the companys stock, valued at $18,260,026.40. This represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Donnelly Julia Brau sold 22,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.86, for a total value of $590,151.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 540,358 shares of the companys stock, valued at $13,973,657.88. This represents a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 105,161 shares of company stock worth $2,796,466 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.06% of the companys stock. Key Pinterest News Here are the key news stories impacting Pinterest this week: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Pinterest from $42.00 to $35.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup restated a buy rating on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $48.00 to $39.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Pinterest from $41.00 to $35.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $38.00. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Pinterest About Pinterest (Free Report) Pinterest, Inc operates a visual discovery platform that helps users find inspiration and ideas for projects ranging from home design and fashion to cooking and travel. Users create and curate Pins images or videos linked to content organized on thematic boards. The service is available through its website and mobile applications and emphasizes personalized recommendations and visual search to surface relevant content based on user interests. The companys primary revenue model is advertising, offering promoted content formats that integrate into user feeds and search results. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Pinterest Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pinterest and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Venezuelan economist and former minister rules out any possibility of recovery or revival of the oil sector without the restoration of citizens rights Like many Venezuelans, Ricardo Hausmanns celebration over Nicolas Maduros fall was shortlived. Hausmann, 69, one of the regions most prominent economists and a leading voice of the Venezuelan exile community in the United States, has been watching events unfold with caution from Boston, where he has directed Harvard Universitys Center for International Development for more than two decades and teaches at the Kennedy School of Government. Since the early hours of January 3, when the pieces on Venezuelas political chessboard shifted in an unexpected way, he has cautiously followed the rapid chain of developments in his home country. These days began with immense joy and have gradually turned into days of great concern, says Hausmann in a video call with EL PAIS. All of this has made me think about what the next steps will be for the diaspora and the democratic movement to confront this situation, because it would be a mistake to believe that we can remain passive in the face of Trumps plans. The former minister does not consider Washingtons strategy toward Venezuela entirely misguided, but he does describe it as unpredictable. Donald Trump told The New York Times that the only limit on his actions abroad would be his own moral compass, not any international law. The problem with that is that if he does whatever he wants, his behavior cannot be predicted. When this country liberated Europe, it had an ethic that guided it. Not anymore. This government has a predatory narrative. That means we all have to manage that risk. And I dont think the way to do that is simply to pray for Trumps goodwill or trust him blindly, he says Question. How did you view the first meeting between President Trump and Maria Corina Machado? Answer. Maria Corina has had to skillfully manage Trumps pathological narcissism. Hes obsessed with the Nobel Prize and believes he deserves it because he stopped eight wars. Maria Corina is noble enough to try to remove that issue from the discussion so it doesnt become an obstacle to Venezuelan democracy. Trump loves flattery, but he doesnt respect those who flatter him. He only understands transactions, and Maria Corina is the leader of a crucial political movement. In Trumps attempt to steer the situation in Venezuela, it is in his interest to have her on his side rather than opposing him. Whether she gets a seat at the table in this transition process will depend on that. Q. What if they dont give it to her? A. Inevitably, she will have to distance herself to defend the political interests of her movement. I think that at this moment, she has been very useful to Trump. I hope that Trump will also be useful to the democratic movement, although the scenario is still unclear. Q. One of Machados points of negotiation with the White House is her return to Venezuela. A. If Maria Corina cant return, who can? If the United States doesnt get Delcy Rodriguez to release the political prisoners and allow the return of the exiles, there will be no economic recovery. Its very important that the Trump administration demonstrate that it can change things within the country. They havent been able to get out [Interior Minister] Diosdado Cabello, who was included in the same indictment as Nicolas Maduro. Nor have they been able to get out [Defense Minister] Vladimir Padrino Lopez. There are hundreds of military personnel imprisoned on the orders of Cabello, who controls the armed wing of Chavismo. Delcy hasnt been able to get him out either, but the day he feels like it, Diosdado can get her out. Were in a very strange situation of governance within Venezuela, where the cash flow which comes from oil is administered by Trump. He says Delcy is doing everything they ask of her, and I find that interesting, because if political prisoners arent released in the next few days, those prisoners will effectively become Trumps responsibility. Q. Why does Washington still refuse to prioritize the democratic path? A. Trump believes he has timelines that are not in the Constitution. The Constitution clearly states that when there is an absolute absence of the president, elections must be called within 30 days. And when the absence is not absolute, he can be given 90 days to see if he reappears, and up to another 90 days. But within 180 days, elections must be held, no matter what. Those are not Trumps timelines. The White House is acting outside any constitutional framework exactly what Maduro used to do. Serious companies will not want to invest in oil until there is legality. Perhaps it will be easier for them to concentrate production in [Venezuelas state-owned oil company] PDVSA so the government can earn money from the cash flow, but that will significantly slow down the recovery of production. Q. The demand for legality made by companies like ExxonMobil before reinvesting in Venezuela aligns with the national interest in a democratic transition. A. Oil companies want to operate in a country with the rule of law. The current hydrocarbons law makes Venezuela uninvestable. Delcy has already announced that it will be amended, but who will do it an illegitimate National Assembly that no one recognizes? Thats not credible. If the aircraft carrier and everything else the United States has deployed in the Caribbean arent enough to remove Diosdado, it seems to me that this is a sign the regime is simply waiting for Trump to get distracted and shift priorities so they can remain entrenched in power. I dont see U.S. pressure to lead a negotiation toward a political pact in the country, though I acknowledge that very few days have passed. Q. You were a minister in the 1990s, just as Panama was going through a transition after Noriegas capture. What lesson can be drawn from that U.S. intervention? A. Guillermo Endara had won the election and, after Noriega was removed, the Americans installed him in power. Something similar could have happened in Venezuela with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, but the Trump administration chose not to do it, and we still dont know how farreaching that decision will be. If Trump does not facilitate the transition to democracy, Venezuelans will have no choice but to oppose this strategy sooner rather than later. Only through that pressure will we be able to steer events in the direction we want. Q. In 2018, you told EL PAIS that countries that collapse the way Venezuela did never recover in less than a decade. Do you still stand by that? A. We need to distinguish between trend and level. Venezuela was four times richer the day Maduro came to power [in April 2013] than it is today. GDP fell by 75%, which means that to get back to where we were, the economy would have to quadruple in size. That will take more than a decade because of the massive emigration. The human capital the country once had is no longer there, and weve spent eight years depreciating our institutional physical capital without replacing it. There is a huge amount of work to do, but Venezuelas recovery depends, without question, on the return of its diaspora. Yet if we remain a country where, for example, journalists cannot publish that Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize, everything suggests people cannot return. The return of the diaspora is conditioned on the restoration of rights; without those, there will be no strong recovery. Q. So Venezuelas future doesnt depend solely on reviving the oil sector? A. Let me put it this way. When I was born [in 1956], Venezuela produced three million barrels of oil a day. Now it produces less than one million, and back then we had seven million inhabitants. Today, counting the diaspora, we are around 35 million. That means the population is five times what it was when I was born, but with only a third of the oil production of that time 21 fewer barrels per capita than in the 1950s. If you want to create prosperity, no matter how much you recover the oil sector, we are now far bigger than that. Venezuela has about 12 million hectares of good farmland, and only 300,000 are currently being used. We have the best hydroelectric river in the world, and were not harnessing that power. Our tourism potential is absolutely phenomenal, and were doing nothing with it. We also have a highly connected diaspora capable of integrating the country into the worlds of software, artificial intelligence, and new industries. If we truly want to inspire Venezuelans, we need to draw a future much larger than oil. The countrys recovery will require billions, and that will come hand in hand with restructuring. Q. Do you feel optimistic about what comes next? A. This is not the time to let our guard down. That would be dangerous. We need to make the issue of our rights and freedoms a political priority in the United States. It also needs to be part of the debates and negotiations between the U.S. and Europe. Europeans are in a moment of great weakness; they have avoided clashing with the Americans over the war in Ukraine. Venezuela has $5 billion at the International Monetary Fund, and Europe could deny Delcy Rodriguezs government access to those funds. To achieve that, we need to build an international prodemocracy coalition for Venezuela. The Democratic Party should take up that cause, because if Trump loses the November midterm elections, there will be greater democratic oversight of his actions. Were going to have to keep fighting. This match is far from won. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition A year after the migrant route between Colombia and Panama fell into disuse, the towns that lived off migrants in transit are now advertising their beaches and lush rainforest The first time Gabriel Pimentel crossed the Darien Gap was three years ago and he did so barefoot. He left from Falcon, Venezuela, with a small bundle on his back, several changes of clothes, two pairs of shoes, a waterproof pocket where he kept less than $300 and a university teaching certificate, a job that had earned him a monthly salary of less than $6. The sneakers he wore through the jungle that connects Colombia with Panama were given to a father who was traveling with three children because he had lost his boots en route. There was always someone worse off than you, he says. He never imagined that shortly after arriving in the United States he would turn around and cross the inhospitable jungle again to return to a Venezuela much more uncertain than the one he had left. Donald Trumps return to the White House changed everything. The tightening of asylum applications, border restrictions and the hunt for migrants by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) discouraged practically 99% of the migrants who, just over a year ago, had been arriving in their hundreds of thousands. In 2023, this deadly route witnessed the passage of more than half a million immigrants of 70 different nationalities. Today, the few who come are returnees, says Maxibel Sanchez, a Venezuelan motorcycle taxi driver based in the far north of Colombia. But what we want to see are tourists. The main challenge for the towns of Capurgana and Necocli on the other side of the Gulf of Uraba is to change the image of the Darien to one of lush beaches and mountains as opposed to thousands of terrified people, with mud up to their knees and their feet in tatters. The migratory dynamics have changed and we are gaining the trust of tourists, explains Yimy Leiter Aguilar Mosquera, secretary of Chocos department of economic development and natural resources. This area has much more to contribute; we have a great chance to show off its beauty to the world and the experiences to be had around nature and identity. The lush jungle has already forgotten the migrants passage. Many of the paths previously demarcated with machetes are now covered by infinite shades of green. Only a muddy flashlight, empty sugar packets and baby blankets remind us that this was once the most dangerous crossing in Latin America. Pimentel, 25, does not recognize the Capurgana anymore. When he migrated in 2023, this small town of less than 2,000 was awash with people of all colors camping on the banks or huddling in humble hotel rooms. He remembers how the street vendors who now offer mango and sapote juices, advertised rubber boots and tablets to make the water drinkable. We were their business, he concludes. Behind him, two sun-reddened tourists pose for a selfie in front of giant white letters with the name of the community. Cheese! says one wearing braids and colorful crocs. Migrants walk through a mountain in the Darien Gap (Colombia), in 2022. Mauricio Duenas Castaneda (EFE) Rafael Mendez travels through the town in a ramshackle tuktuk. This vehicle used to be loaded with the luggage of dozens of migrants who needed to be taken to the beginning of the route. He earned around $180 per person. Similarly, Don Elber used his horses to take women to La Miel or El Paraiso, a few steps from Panama; Don Rafael Bello had his hotel full of families and Don Carlos never lacked clients for his boat trips. The contributions each of them made to the community action board subsidized Capurganas only paved road and the construction of the town park. There was no lack of money, mainly because of the abusive prices the migrants were charged. The cost of a hotel room doubled from $25 to almost $50 and lunches cost $12. It is true that some raised their prices, but its not like this community doesnt need the money too. Our state has also abandoned us, says Rafael, a local representative of the businessmens collective. The migrants brought in money, the returnees bring nothing but garbage. The bonanza was short-lived. Trumps immigration policy stopped the economic engine of Capurgana and Necocli in its tracks. Only the savings of those who were making money off the migrants and the sun-faded posters of the International Organization for Migration remain. Protect your identity documents from water and humidity... Do not give them to strangers, one reads. I dont want any American dream anymore On a morning at the end of November, in the immigration office of Capurgana, the only occupant is the guard glued to a fan. Its almost noon and the one in Necocli is still closed. Its a far cry from a year back when there were endless lines of asylum seekers. Freymar Figueroa, 30, waits for his cell phone to finish charging at a clothing store. He is also returning to Venezuela after two years in the U.S. I dont want any American dream anymore. I just want to hug my mother, he says through tears. His passage through Mexico was worse than crossing the jungle. There was nothing they didnt do to me, he says with his eyes fixed on the sea. Two migrants work braidin hair in Necocli (Colombia), in 2024. CHELO CAMACHO This territory belongs to the biogeographic Choco, a region that academics say has 10% of the worlds biodiversity. Its richness is due to a number of reasons, including its access to both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, its status as a bridge between the north and south of the continent, the isolation provided by the Western Cordillera of the Andes, and the confluence of trade winds that make it one of the rainiest areas in the world. The Darien is a biologists dream, harboring as it does dozens of new species. It is a great destination for scientific tourism, says Saul Hoyos, a Colombian biologist. Jaguars, toucans, colorful frogs and howler monkeys provide the soundtrack for a jungle that culminates in the crystal clear beaches of Capurgana. Choco is not the only region of Colombia that is betting on tourism. The country has positioned itself as the most visited in South America with 5.3 million foreign tourists during the first nine months of 2025 a growth of 56%, indicating that people are gradually shelving the memory of the armed conflict that plagued the country for more than 60 years. People kayaking near Capurgana. Kike Calvo (Universal Images Group) The midday boat is about to set sail in Capurgana. A handful of locals play ludo in front of the port, oblivious to the eagerness of tourists who, smeared in sun cream, confirm which boat they are storing their luggage in. They rush up, put on their life jackets and take their final photos in front of the majestic beaches. I hope that everyone has found the relaxation they were seeking in Capurgana, says the guide as the boat fills up. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Something extraordinary has happened, even if we havent fully realized it yet: algorithms are now capable of solving intellectual tasks. These models are not replicas of human intelligence. Their intelligence is limited, different, and curiously turns out to work in a way that resembles intuition. This is one of the seven lessons weve learned so far about them and about ourselves Artificial intelligence was born in the 1950s when a group of pioneers wondered if they could make their computers think. After 70 years, something tremendous has happened: neural networks are solving cognitive tasks. For 300,000 years, these tasks were the exclusive domain of living beings. Not anymore. Its not controversial: its a fact. And it has happened suddenly. Machine learning with neural networks has solved problems that eluded machines for decades: ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude handle language They have fluent and encyclopedic knowledge They write code at a superhuman level They describe images at a human level They transcribe at a human level They translate at a human level Other models generate realistic images, predict hurricanes, win at Go, and drive cars in Phoenix. AI researcher Francois Chollet sums it up this way: In the last decade, deep learning has achieved nothing less than a technological revolution. Each of these achievements would have been a remarkable breakthrough on its own. Solving them all with a single technique is like discovering a master key that unlocks every door at once. Why now? Three pieces converged: algorithms, computing power, and massive amounts of data. We can even put faces to them, because behind each element is a person who took a gamble. Academic Geoffrey Hinton kept working on neural networks long after his colleagues had abandoned them. Jensen Huang, Nvidias CEO, kept improving parallelprocessing chips far beyond what video games the core of his business actually needed. And researcher FeiFei Li risked her career to build ImageNet, an image collection that seemed absurdly large at the time. But these three pieces aligned. In 2012, two of Hintons students, Ilya Sutskever and Alex Krizhevsky, combined them to achieve spectacular success: they built AlexNet, a neural network capable of seeingrecognizing images far better than anything that had come before. The rumor spread quickly through the laboratories: this worked. Hintons team had found a formula: networks, data, and computing in gigantic quantities. The impact of this transformation will be profound. As Ethan Mollick, one of the most astute observers of our time, has said, even if AI development were to stop tomorrow, we would still have a decade of changes across entire industries. No one knows how far these machines will go. Between the hype promising superhuman intelligence every year and the denial that ignores the obvious, we are missing something crucial: current AI models are already fascinating. The latest big surprise is that they work in a way that closely resembles intuition. Their development forces us to confront deep questions about how they work and how we do. And they have already given us some answers.. Lesson 1. Machines can learn Its the most overlooked and least controversial lesson: machines learn. James Watts centrifugal governor (1788) already adjusted the speed of steam engines without supervision. It was the beginning of a discovery: you dont need to fully specify the rules of a device for it to work. Classical programming consists of defining rules and expecting answers: This is how you add; now add 2 and 2. But machine learning works the other way around: you give it examples, and the system discovers the rules. Chollet sums it up in Deep Learning with Python: A machine learning system is trained rather than programmed. The most powerful example is the large language models like Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT. They are neural networks tangles of computational units connected in successive layers, imitating the neurons of the brain with hundreds of billions of parameters that are adjusted during training. Every success and every mistake tweaks those parameters. This learning process is extremely long, opaque due to its sheer scale, but not mysterious. Its mathematical. And it has worked. Hidden here is what the field calls the bitter lesson. For decades, experts tried to encode their knowledge into machines. They failed. What succeeded was creating the conditions for knowledge to emerge and stepping aside. Lesson 2. AIs have emergent abilities The bitter lesson hides a profound idea: something complex can emerge from simple processes. It is the principle that organizes life. Evolution didnt design each organ; it set in motion a process mutation, recombination, selection and from there sprang eyes, wings, brains. Now we have replicated that process in machines. Lets return to large language models (LLMs). Without going into the divisive topic of defining their capabilities, its clear they handle language with flexibility. You can converse with ChatGPT; it detects sarcasm and responds to changing contexts. But no one programmed it with grammar or explained sarcasm to it. How is this possible? Most experts assumed that mastering language fluently would require general intelligence (something humanlike across a wide range of tasks). Yet it turned out that the simple training task of predict the next word had emergent power. The procedure is simple. The first training of an LLM is what we call pretraining: the model is presented with snippets of text from the internet and asked to predict the next token (a word or fragment). When it fails, the parameters responsible for the error are adjusted. This simple process, repeated an astronomical number of times, ends up creating models that predict words very well and that learn much more along the way. For Carlos Riquelme, a researcher at Microsoft AI, this was a crucial discovery. He shared his astonishment from 2017, when he was working at Google Brain: I was amazed by the power of scaling. By scaling a very simple method [predicting the next word] with large amounts of data and powerful models, it became clear that it was possible to largely replicate human linguistic capacity. The key is this: to predict words you need to grasp complex concepts. Suppose you have to complete these sentences, which Blaise Aguera y Arcas compiles in a brilliant new book, What is Intelligence?. In stacks of pennies, the height of Mount Kilimanjaro is After her dog died, Jen didnt leave the house for days, so her friends decided Filling these gaps requires geographical knowledge, mathematics, common sense, and even theory of mind to put yourself in Jen and her friends shoes. In this way, what seemed like a narrow linguistic task predicting the next word turned out to encompass all tasks, argues Aguera y Arcas in his book. For example, when presented with the phrase about Kilimanjaro, Googles latest Gemini 3 model thinks for a minute and then responds (correctly): The height of the mountain is approximately 3.9 million cents. For Jens friends, it offers different options, from showing up at her door with ice cream to taking turns visiting her. Aguera y Arcas provides another example in an email exchange: multiplication. An LLM like Gemini or ChatGPT might have memorized common calculations from the internet, such as 2 7. But they also predict 871 133, which doesnt appear anywhere. Successfully performing these operations generally implies having inferred non-trivial algorithms from examples. Its the trick of emergence: a simple process produces complex capabilities. Lesson 3. AI learns with a crappy evolution Our AI doesnt learn like people. A child is born with a lot of innate machinery, and then learns with little data and few experiences, with remarkable efficiency. The pre-training of an LLM is very different: it begins with a blank slate and learns very slowly with millions of examples. The topic is cats: training an AI to identify cats in an image requires thousands of photos, but a two-year-old can distinguish them by seeing three. Theres a better analogy: evolution. The renowned researcher Andrej Karpathy describes LLM training as a kind of crappy evolution. In a recent podcast, he spoke about how surprising its development has been: we can build these ghosts, spirit-like entities, by imitating internet documents. This works. Its a way to bring you up to something that has a lot of built-in knowledge and intelligence in some way, similar to maybe what evolution has done. Why does this analogy work? Because evolution also arises from a vast number of tiny trials and changes (mutations and symbiosis), repeated over millions of years. Its a slow, blind process that ends up embedding capabilities in living beings: instincts, reflexes, or patterns. Its chaotic and noisy. Thats why each gene influences many characteristics of an organism; and thats why medicines have side effects, because they disrupt circuits other than the intended one. Actually, the surprise of an AI mastering language by predicting words which surprised Riquelme reminds me of the shock that Darwin caused: how to accept that animals, people, and even his poems are the byproduct of a blind process that only seeks to maximize copies? Lesson 4. We have automated cognition Francois Chollet is cautious when speaking about artificial intelligence. He prefers to call it cognitive automation. True intelligence, in his view, will require something that current models lack: cognitive autonomy, the ability to confront the unknown and adapt. Chollet wants to curb the hype, although at the same time he acknowledges a remarkable achievement: we are automating cognitive tasks on an industrial scale. Whats surprising about deep learning is how much can be achieved with pure memorization, he says via email. For him, LLMs lack the deliberate and efficient reasoning that humans possess. Thats why, initially, they made crude errors, such as miscounting the rs in the word raspberries. What surprises him is that they can often compensate for that lack of reasoning: If you have almost infinite experience, intelligence isnt so critical. Other experts see more than just memorization: are we witnessing real intelligence? Andrej Karpathy believes so. On Dwarkesh Patels podcast, he explained that pretraining does two things: Number one, its picking up all this knowledge, as I call it. Number two, its actually becoming intelligent. By observing the algorithmic patterns in the internet, it boots up all these little circuits and algorithms inside the neural net to do things like in-context learning. Jeremy Berman, creator of the leading algorithm in the ARC Prize, became convinced by the new reasoningfocused models, which emerged about a year ago and include learning stages without examples: I was surprised that you can train a model on its own attempts, and that allows it to think and learn for itself, he explains in a message exchange. He is referring to reinforcement learning (RL), described by the creators of DeepSeek R1. If you present a math problem to an LLM, let them answer 100 times, and train them on their best answers, the LLM learns. This goes beyond the pure memorization of pre-training. Thanks to this, the latest generation of models can solve long, complex problems that their versions from just a few months ago were unable to handle. A man interacts with a robot at the pib@school fair in Hanover, in March 2025. JULIAN STRATENSCHULTE ( DPA / AFP / ContactoPhoto ) Carlos Riquelme points out that there are semantic differences: Algorithms, mechanisms, and ways of reasoning can be memorized. Some might call that circuits for thinking, while others might say that the algorithm was simply memorized, like how we learn to add. Furthermore, Riquelme emphasizes that real-world learning is more active. From the moment the model generates its responses and receives feedback, it can end up memorizing something that wasnt in its initial data. Aguera y Arcas believes that AI is real intelligence without further qualifiers. He thinks models like Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude display a capacity for generalization that goes beyond what we can reasonably call memorization. And he is surprised that Chollet argues otherwise: What evidence is he looking for? he asked. For Aguera y Arcas, nature already shows that intelligence comes in many forms, such as Portia spiders which plan cunning attacks or octopuses, which distribute their cognition across their arms. Lesson 5. Its more intuitive than rational Here comes the paradox. In the 20thcentury imagination, robots were supposed to be cold, rational machines: logic, calculation, deduction. But todays AI works the other way around.. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate in Economics, distinguished two systems in human thought. System 1 is fast, automatic, and intuitive; it uses shortcuts and patterns. System 2 is slow, deliberate, and rational; it requires conscious effort. The former dominates our lives. A baby knows how to nurse, we pull our hand away from fire, we hold a glass with just the right force Things that took robots decades to learn. Whats surprising is that early LLMs operate much closer to System 1 than to System 2. They mimic the style of Jorge Luis Borges, they write with rhythm. They do things without being able to explain how just like us. They dont reason step by step; theyve absorbed patterns at massive scale. And deliberate reasoning deduction, counting, logic is precisely where they struggle. Thats why recent innovations seek to add reasoning. The aforementioned reasoning models from DeepSeek R1 to the current generation write for themselves before responding, generating more cautious and reflective, step-by-step thought processes. Other advances pursue the same goal: reinforcement training that rewards correct reasoning, launching multiple attempts in parallel and selecting the best one, or connecting models to external mathematical tools that overcome their limitations. Its an attempt to build an artificial System 2. And its working, at least to some extent: the newest models excel at math and spatial tests where the first LLMs failed. Lesson 6. Humans are also patterns If AI captures patterns and uses them to write, translate, and draw, an uncomfortable question arises: how much of us works the same way? Perhaps more than we like to admit. We already know that our brains rely on constant shortcuts. Watching how machine learning performs, its hard not to wonder how much of what we traditionally attribute to talent or experience writing with rhythm, choosing colors, sensing tone is actually automatic. The history of science is the history of dismantling our exceptionalism. Galileo showed we are not the center of the universe; Darwin showed we are not special creations; neuroscience showed we are not one but many. Now AI adds another lesson: abilities we once felt were uniquely ours can be captured through largescale pattern recognition. Lesson 7. We are living through a Cambrian explosion of AI Todays AI systems have deep limitations. Andrej Karpathy listed some of them in the podcast mentioned earlier: They dont have enough intelligence, theyre not multimodal enough, they cant do computer use [...] They dont have continual learning, he said. Theyre cognitively lacking and its just not working. It will take about a decade to work through all of those issues." But a new avenue has opened up with the successful formula of networks, data, and computing. Thats why we are living through a Cambrian period. Like that explosion of life 540 million years ago, when a multitude of animals suddenly appeared, we are now seeing an explosion of novel approaches to artificial intelligence. There are laboratories exploring fascinating directions: Sara Hooker is working on adaptive systems, Fei-Fei Li wants to build models that decipher the physical world, and Francois Chollet is researching AIs that write and evolve their own logical programs. How far will these attempts go? Blaise Aguera y Arcas sees no limits: Our brains achieve incredible feats of reasoning, creativity, and empathy. And those brains are circuitry: they are not something supernatural. And if they are not supernatural, they can be modeled computationally. Will we achieve this in practice? Nobody knows. But the question is no longer theoretical. We are watching algorithms learning to read, write, program, and reason clumsily at times, astonishingly at others. Whatever happens from now on, this has already occurred. And it is extraordinary. Perhaps it will end up being the most important transformation of our lives. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,900 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock, valued at approximately $5,836,000. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.4% of Lingohr Asset Management GmbHs investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Get UnitedHealth Group alerts: Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNH. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 827 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,524 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Berman McAleer LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $305,000. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,876,774 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $648,050,000 after acquiring an additional 54,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.7% during the third quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 31,000 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock worth $10,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the companys stock. UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance Shares of UNH opened at $287.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.42. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $234.60 and a 52-week high of $606.36. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $330.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.29. UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend UnitedHealth Group ( NYSE:UNH Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $113.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $113.38 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 2.69%.The companys revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.81 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.750- EPS. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. UnitedHealth Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 67.02%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp reissued an overweight rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $376.75. Read Our Latest Stock Report on UnitedHealth Group Key UnitedHealth Group News Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week: About UnitedHealth Group (Free Report) UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets. UnitedHealthcare is the companys benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs. See Also Receive News & Ratings for UnitedHealth Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UnitedHealth Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG Free Report) by 91.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,446 shares of the companys stock after selling 242,498 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltds holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Get Procter & Gamble alerts: Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth $32,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at $34,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth PG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Dbs Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Procter & Gamble from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $179.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. TD Cowen cut Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $164.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $167.00. Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 95,903 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.15, for a total value of $14,495,738.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 182,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $27,601,048.05. The trade was a 34.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the companys stock. Procter & Gamble Stock Performance PG stock opened at $151.80 on Friday. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $137.62 and a 1-year high of $179.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $144.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.33. The company has a market capitalization of $352.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year. Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio is currently 62.67%. Procter & Gamble Profile (Free Report) Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the worlds largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide. P&Gs product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Procter & Gamble Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Procter & Gamble and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Berman McAleer LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,563 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,008,000. Get Procter & Gamble alerts: Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth $25,000. Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth about $37,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a neutral rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lowered Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating and increased their target price for the company from $150.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $175.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $167.00. Insider Activity In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 95,903 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.15, for a total value of $14,495,738.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 182,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at $27,601,048.05. This trade represents a 34.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the companys stock. Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.3% Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $151.80 on Friday. Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $137.62 and a 12-month high of $179.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $144.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.39. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $22.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year. Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.67%. About Procter & Gamble (Free Report) Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the worlds largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide. P&Gs product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Procter & Gamble Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Procter & Gamble and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE:BIP Get Free Report) (TSE:BIP.UN) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $36.81 and last traded at $36.5430, with a volume of 21268 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.35. Get Brookfield Infrastructure Partners alerts: The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.455 dividend. This is a positive change from Brookfield Infrastructure Partnerss previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partnerss dividend payout ratio is 191.11%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BIP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a hold (c+) rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday. TD Securities restated a buy rating and set a $57.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday. TD Cowen restated a buy rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday. Finally, National Bankshares raised their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $42.13. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Down 0.5% The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 40.19 and a beta of 1.10. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $34.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP Get Free Report) (TSE:BIP.UN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.42). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The company had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year. More Brookfield Infrastructure Partners News Here are the key news stories impacting Brookfield Infrastructure Partners this week: Positive Sentiment: Brookfield declared a quarterly dividend of $0.455 (ex-dividend Feb 27; pay Mar 31), a 5.8% increase from the prior payout and implying a roughly 5.0% yield supports income investors and signals distribution sustainability. Read More. Brookfield declared a quarterly dividend of $0.455 (ex-dividend Feb 27; pay Mar 31), a 5.8% increase from the prior payout and implying a roughly 5.0% yield supports income investors and signals distribution sustainability. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Management announced its 17th consecutive distribution increase alongside yearend results, reinforcing the companys income-growth narrative and suggesting continued capital allocation toward shareholder distributions. Read More. Management announced its 17th consecutive distribution increase alongside yearend results, reinforcing the companys income-growth narrative and suggesting continued capital allocation toward shareholder distributions. Read More. Positive Sentiment: RBC raised its price target on BIP to $41 and kept an outperform rating a signal that some sellside analysts see ~doubledigit upside from current levels and may attract buyers. Read More. RBC raised its price target on BIP to $41 and kept an outperform rating a signal that some sellside analysts see ~doubledigit upside from current levels and may attract buyers. Read More. Positive Sentiment: Commentary surfaced on whether the 17th straight distribution hike plus an AI-related business narrative shift could re-price the stock narrative change might broaden investor interest beyond traditional infrastructure income buyers. Read More. Commentary surfaced on whether the 17th straight distribution hike plus an AI-related business narrative shift could re-price the stock narrative change might broaden investor interest beyond traditional infrastructure income buyers. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results: BIP reported $0.87 EPS, in line with consensus, and revenue of $6.30B (larger than consensus). Results were largely inline, so the earnings release likely produced a muted market reaction versus the distribution and guidance items. Read More. Q4 results: BIP reported $0.87 EPS, in line with consensus, and revenue of $6.30B (larger than consensus). Results were largely inline, so the earnings release likely produced a muted market reaction versus the distribution and guidance items. Read More. Neutral Sentiment: Earnings-call transcript is available for investors who want details on segment performance, capital deployment and any forward commentary that could move the stock. Read More. Institutional Trading of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,802,475 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $53,696,000 after purchasing an additional 195,276 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 24,734 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,931 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,449 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.9% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,920 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 1.3% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 23,616 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the companys stock. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile (Get Free Report) Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP) is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns and operates a diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets across four core sectors: utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure. Through long-lived, regulated or contracted assets, Brookfield Infrastructure provides essential services such as electricity transmission and distribution, toll road and port operations, midstream energy logistics and fiber-based data networks. The companys utilities division encompasses regulated electricity and gas distribution networks in North and South America, Europe and Australia, ensuring stable cash flows under current regulatory frameworks. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP Get Free Report) (TSE:BEP) were up 5.5% on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $30.26 and last traded at $30.0050. Approximately 391,681 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 518,114 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.45. Get Brookfield Renewable Partners alerts: The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.88. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 0.66%. Brookfield Renewable Partners Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.373 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Brookfield Renewable Partnerss dividend payout ratio is presently -173.26%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms have recently commented on BEP. National Bankshares upped their target price on Brookfield Renewable Partners from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. CIBC set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners and gave the company an outperformer rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $35.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $34.93. Read Our Latest Analysis on BEP Institutional Trading of Brookfield Renewable Partners Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 16.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,127,549 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $261,189,000 after buying an additional 1,414,837 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,978,958 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $179,837,000 after acquiring an additional 428,446 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its position in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 2.5% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 2,751,581 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $70,795,000 after purchasing an additional 67,481 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 8.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,697,265 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $69,226,000 after acquiring an additional 207,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,791,832 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $46,211,000 after buying an additional 301,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.16% of the companys stock. Brookfield Renewable Partners Price Performance The company has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.73 and a beta of 1.12. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $27.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Brookfield Renewable Partners Company Profile (Get Free Report) Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. is a leading global owner, operator and developer of renewable power assets. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BEP, the partnership focuses on generating clean electricity from a diversified mix of hydroelectric, wind, solar and energy storage facilities. As part of the Brookfield Asset Management group, Brookfield Renewable leverages a long-term, asset-backed approach to investing in sustainable energy projects that support the transition to a low-carbon economy. The companys platform encompasses approximately 23,000 megawatts of installed capacity across four continents. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Renewable Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Renewable Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG Free Report) by 1,413.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,533 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after buying an additional 23,846 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLCs holdings in EOG Resources were worth $2,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Get EOG Resources alerts: Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 10,950.0% during the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 221 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 122.8% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 323 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. 89.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Insiders Place Their Bets In other EOG Resources news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.68, for a total transaction of $211,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 54,979 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,180.72. This represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. EOG Resources Stock Performance Shares of EOG opened at $112.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $60.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The businesss 50 day moving average is $106.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.80. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.59 and a 52-week high of $135.87. EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The energy exploration company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.29. EOG Resources had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year. EOG Resources Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.64%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts have issued reports on EOG shares. Siebert Williams Shank cut their price objective on EOG Resources from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down previously from $144.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on EOG Resources from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $134.07. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on EOG EOG Resources Company Profile (Free Report) EOG Resources, Inc (NYSE: EOG) is an independent exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Tracing its corporate origins to Enron Oil & Gas Company in the late 1990s, the company established itself as a standalone E&P operator and has grown into one of the largest U.S. upstream producers. EOG focuses on the exploration, development and production of crude oil, condensate, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). As an upstream-focused company, EOGs core activities include geologic and geophysical exploration, drilling and completion of wells, reservoir development, and the marketing of hydrocarbon production. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for EOG Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EOG Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Keybank National Association OH lowered its stake in shares of McDonalds Corporation (NYSE:MCD Free Report) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 376,395 shares of the fast-food giants stock after selling 12,211 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH owned about 0.05% of McDonalds worth $114,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Get McDonald's alerts: Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonalds in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. grew its stake in McDonalds by 142.9% during the 2nd quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 85 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in McDonalds by 162.5% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 84 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in McDonalds in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonalds during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. McDonalds Trading Down 0.2% Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $314.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $224.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.53. McDonalds Corporation has a 12-month low of $283.47 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $309.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.41. Analysts Set New Price Targets McDonalds ( NYSE:MCD Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.10 billion. McDonalds had a negative return on equity of 280.89% and a net margin of 32.04%.The companys quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McDonalds Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Several equities research analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Citigroup cut their price target on McDonalds from $381.00 to $375.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a buy (b-) rating on shares of McDonalds in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating on shares of McDonalds in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of McDonalds from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of McDonalds in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a sector perform rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $328.88. Read Our Latest Research Report on MCD Insider Activity at McDonalds In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,486 shares of McDonalds stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $795,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,268 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,005,760. The trade was a 28.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 2,626 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.58, for a total value of $805,079.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,398 shares in the company, valued at $1,654,918.84. This represents a 32.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 45,142 shares of company stock worth $13,841,169 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock. McDonalds Company Profile (Free Report) McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is a global quick-service restaurant company best known for its hamburgers, French fries and breakfast offerings. The company develops, operates and franchises a system of restaurants that sell a range of food and beverage items, including signature products such as the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets, McCafe coffee beverages and a variety of salads, desserts and seasonal menu items. McDonalds serves customers through company-operated restaurants and franchised locations, and it supports sales via dine-in, drive-thru, digital ordering platforms and third-party delivery partnerships. Founded in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald as a single San Bernardino, California restaurant, the business was transformed into a franchising model after Ray Kroc joined in the mid-1950s and led the brands national and international expansion. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for McDonald's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McDonald's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F Free Report) by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,003,700 shares of the auto manufacturers stock after purchasing an additional 308,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of Ford Motor worth $35,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Get Ford Motor alerts: Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 462,245,997 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $5,015,369,000 after buying an additional 4,585,636 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ford Motor by 3.7% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 145,172,134 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $1,575,118,000 after purchasing an additional 5,118,228 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ford Motor by 17.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,784,031 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $1,122,434,000 after purchasing an additional 15,748,694 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $405,328,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 34,301,362 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $372,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.74% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms have recently commented on F. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Ford Motor from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $12.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ford Motor presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $13.19. Ford Motor Stock Performance Shares of F stock opened at $13.87 on Friday. Ford Motor Company has a 52 week low of $8.44 and a 52 week high of $14.50. The company has a market capitalization of $55.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.12. Ford Motor Company Profile (Free Report) Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan. Founded by Henry Ford in 1903, the company became an early pioneer of mass-production techniques with the Model T and the adoption of the moving assembly line. Today, Ford designs, manufactures, markets and services a broad range of vehicles and mobility solutions under the Ford and Lincoln brands, spanning passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and commercial vehicles. Fords business activities extend beyond vehicle production to include parts and aftermarket services, fleet and commercial sales, and automotive financing through Ford Motor Credit Company. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Ford Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ford Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Suzuki Motor (OTCMKTS:SZKMY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 18,053 shares, an increase of 59.6% from the December 31st total of 11,314 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 57,898 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Approximately 0.0% of the companys shares are short sold. Approximately 0.0% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 57,898 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Get Suzuki Motor alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Zacks Research upgraded Suzuki Motor from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Suzuki Motor presently has a consensus rating of Buy. View Our Latest Analysis on Suzuki Motor Suzuki Motor Price Performance Shares of Suzuki Motor stock opened at $54.89 on Friday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $59.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.27. Suzuki Motor has a 12-month low of $39.54 and a 12-month high of $64.94. The firm has a market cap of $26.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Suzuki Motor (OTCMKTS:SZKMY Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter. Suzuki Motor had a net margin of 6.71% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Suzuki Motor will post 5.11 EPS for the current year. About Suzuki Motor (Get Free Report) Suzuki Motor Corporation traces its roots to 1909 when Michio Suzuki founded Suzuki Loom Works; the company later entered motor vehicle production and was reorganized as an independent motor company in the mid-20th century. Headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan, Suzuki has grown into a multinational manufacturer known for producing compact, fuel-efficient vehicles and a broad range of two- and four-wheeled products. The company has a long history in small-car and motorcycle design and has adapted its product portfolio over decades to serve both personal and light commercial transport markets. Suzukis primary business activities include the design, manufacture and sale of automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and outboard motors, along with related parts and accessories. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Suzuki Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Suzuki Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Xiaomi Co. (OTCMKTS:XIACF Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 136,978,391 shares, an increase of 71.1% from the December 31st total of 80,043,727 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 280,098 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 489.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 280,098 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 489.0 days. Get Xiaomi alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Xiaomi from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xiaomi currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Xiaomi Xiaomi Stock Performance Xiaomi Company Profile XIACF stock opened at $4.54 on Friday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $5.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.05. Xiaomi has a 12-month low of $4.15 and a 12-month high of $9.00. (Get Free Report) Xiaomi Corporation, founded in April 2010 by entrepreneur Lei Jun and a group of partners, is a Chinese multinational electronics company headquartered in Beijing. The company began with the launch of its proprietary MIUI operating system and quickly expanded into hardware design and manufacturing. Over the past decade, Xiaomi has established itself as one of the worlds leading smartphone vendors, focusing on delivering high-performance devices at competitive price points. In addition to its core smartphone business, Xiaomi operates two main hardware sub-brands: Mi and Redmi. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Xiaomi Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Xiaomi and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. PICTURED ABOVE: ENTERPRISE LAUNCH. . . . The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Ruari McHugh pictured at the launch of the 'Succeed in Enterprise' programme at the Guildhall on Thursday morning. The programme is a key element and will be delivered across two-years in partnership with Enterprise North West and Strabane Enterprise Agency, drawing on their expertise and previous success in delivering similar core business development programmes. Included from left are Emma Quinn, Project Officer, LMP, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Caolan Campbell, Contract Manager, Enterprise North West and Orla McNulty, Chief Executive Officer, Strabane Enterprises. (Photo: Jim McCafferty Photography) The Succeed in Enterprise programme is led by the Derry and Strabane Labour Market Partnership (DSLMP) and is being delivered as part of a province-wide approach developed by the Department for Communities (DfC) in an effort to deliver employability support locally. Funded by the DfC, Labour Market Partnerships (LMP) create targeted employment action plans for council areas, allowing for collaboration at local and regional level to support people towards and into work. The LMP programme aims to address employment and training issues by pooling local resources and providing a joined up and flexible approach to employability support. The Council, along with the other ten local authorities, has established a local labour market partnership and action plan tailored to the needs of each individual council area. The Succeed in Enterprise programme is a key element and will be delivered across two-years in partnership with Enterprise North West and Strabane Enterprise Agency, drawing on their expertise and previous success in delivering similar core business development programmes. Speaking ahead of the launch, Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District, Councillor Ruairi McHugh, said it would provide much needed support for new entrepreneurs and anyone wishing to explore the self-employment route. He said: I am delighted to see the launch of the Succeed in Enterprise programme, which represents a vital investment in the untapped potential of our local people. We know that many individuals across Derry and Strabane have fantastic business ideas but often lack the specialised guidance or financial confidence to take that first step. READ NEXT: Magherafelt residents part of pilot for first climate training people with a learning disability By removing these barriers and providing a tailored, supportive environment, we are not just helping people start businesses, we are fostering a more resilient and inclusive local economy. I would encourage anyone who has ever dreamed of being their own boss, but felt held back by their circumstances, to reach out and see how this partnership can help turn their ambition into a reality. The Succeed in Enterprise programme aims to support local people who want to start a business but face a number of barriers to progressing through mainstream channels due to personal circumstances, as explained by the Council's Labour Market Partnership Manager, Nicky Gilleece. "Succeed in Enterprise will help develop both business and personal skills and address structural and personal barriers, building skills, confidence and self-esteem," she said. "It will also help participants to explore business concepts, leading to the development of business plans, testing of business ideas and the creation of new businesses. "The programme will help to bridge this gap for individuals who may need additional support to progress their business ambitions." Caolan Campbell, Programme Manager for the Succeed in Enterprise programme at Enterprise North West, said they were delighted to be working with the Council to deliver the programme. "Enterprise North West and our partner Strabane Enterprise Agency are delighted to be once again able to provide this much needed support to local aspiring entrepreneurs," he said. "In our experience, the combination of one-to-one specialist mentoring, workshops and financial support offered by Succeed in Enterprise is the best way to help new businesses get off the ground." To find out more about the Succeed in Enterprise programme and how you can benefit, email Enterprise North West: info@enterprisenw.com, Strabane Enterprise Agency: info@seagency.co.uk or call 028 71352693 (ENW) or 028 7138 2518 (SEA). People in Northern Ireland face a political choice between Stormont or Starmer, DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said. In his weekly message to party members ahead of the second anniversary of the return of Stormont, Mr Robinson argued that devolution is not perfect but said abandoning it would be a serious mistake. The devolved powersharing institutions returned at the start of February 2024 following a two-year suspension when the DUP collapsed the Executive in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements. When the Assembly and Executive were restored, Sinn Fein was the largest party, with Michelle ONeill taking the position of First Minister with the DUPs Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy First Minister. Mr Robinson said his party had never created the impression that the return of Stormont would be transformational. He said: The DUP was clear that re-establishing the institutions would not magically fix public services. Years of underfunding and the consequences of that were never going to be resolved overnight. And today I am under no illusion about the pressures people continue to face. I see the condition of our roads and I know how many people are still waiting far too long for medical appointments. He added: But we did know this, Northern Ireland is better governed by locally-elected representatives, accountable to the people we serve and who we live beside, than by semi-detached decision-makers with no real stake in our communities. The DUP leader said 2027 would see the next Assembly election and people are entitled to expect much more. Mr Robinson said whilst Sinn Feins focus is on a border poll, his partys focus was on making Northern Ireland work. He added: That means facing the reality that our civil service is structurally broken with a lack of expertise and soaring sickness levels. It means listening to the voices in business about rates and recognising that our planning system is grinding growth to a standstill. The DUP leader added: The choice ahead remains exactly as it has been, devolution or direct rule, Stormont or Starmer. Those who argue for direct rule ignore the reality that our policies will then be shaped by people whose priority is those they are accountable to, not those of us in Northern Ireland. Devolution is not perfect. An Executive of opposites is not going to be an exemplar for decisive decision-making, let alone collegiality. But abandoning it would be a serious mistake. Progress doesnt happen overnight, but it doesnt happen at all without devolution. In his statement marking two years since the return of Stormont, TUV leader Jim Allister said unionists should ask was it worth it?. He said: What did we get in return? More protocol parcels border, veterinary medicines border, new car border, more than 190 million spent on border posts to partition the UK, trade diversion building the stepping stone of the all-Ireland economy, more EU law. And because of all that a weakened union and unionism robbed of the only real leverage it had. Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. A student draws pictures of horses to mark the Year of the Horse during a celebration for the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival in Atbara, Sudan, Jan. 29, 2026. (Photo by Fayez Elzaky/Xinhua) ATBARA, Sudan, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- A Mandarin teaching center in Atbara in Sudan's River Nile State organized a celebration for the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival on Thursday for the second consecutive year. The entrance to the National Fund Hall, the venue for the celebration, was decorated with red lanterns and traditional Chinese ornaments, meticulously hung by the center's students. Inside, the hall was filled with Spring Festival banners and Chinese characters conveying messages of optimism and renewal. Muwaffaq Atif Babikir, director of the city's Mandarin Language Center, told Xinhua that the center's students began preparing for the celebration well in advance. "This time, we made sure to provide Spring Festival banners and related cultural materials," he said. "Some were arranged through our own efforts, and the Chinese Embassy in Sudan offered valuable support, allowing us to present a well-rounded celebration that truly reflects the spirit of Chinese culture." The event aims to introduce the local community to the traditions of the Spring Festival while encouraging students to deepen their interest in learning Chinese, Babikir said. He also noted that the center has become an important platform for cultural exchange, with new branches established in Port Sudan and Omdurman. Students also saw this celebration as a chance to demonstrate their progress in learning Chinese, presenting artistic performances inspired by Chinese culture, such as singing and poetry recitations. Interactive stations featured traditional paper-cutting and Chinese calligraphy, with local students and children enthusiastically joining in and trying their hand at these crafts, assisted by Chinese residents living in the city. A mural depicting a horse, symbolizing the upcoming Chinese Year of the Horse, captured the attention of visitors. Its designer, student Ala'a Abu Bakr, told Xinhua that learning Chinese "is not just about words." "It's also about understanding symbols and culture, and that's what I tried to express through this artwork," she said. Nineteen-year-old student Sara Hisham, who took part in the artistic performances, shared that the celebration had been a significant inspiration for her to start learning Chinese. "I attended last year's event as a spectator and didn't understand the language," she said, adding, "But the experience encouraged me to enroll at the center. Today, I'm a third-level student, taking part in performances, and I feel much closer to Chinese culture." She added that the themes associated with the Spring Festival -- hope and new beginnings -- carry special significance in light of the current circumstances in Sudan, a country still embroiled in civil conflict. Aya Siddiq, 26, traveled from Omdurman to attend the event. "Despite the challenges of travel, I found this celebration a positive space for connection and cultural exchange," she said. "The values of the Spring Festival are important, and I hope similar events will take place in more cities in the future." At the closing of the event, Xu Jian, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan, told Xinhua that the celebration served as a successful example of cultural exchange between the two countries and highlighted the appeal of Chinese culture. "Despite the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the Mandarin Language Center has remained active, continuing to teach Chinese and promote Chinese culture," Xu said. Paper-cut decorations are seen during a celebration for the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival in Atbara, Sudan, Jan. 29, 2026. (Photo by Fayez Elzaky/Xinhua) Louth TD Paula Butterly was on Newstalk recently discussing her shocking discovery that children in Louth schools are involved with drugs from as young as seven years old. Deputy Butterly said she visited three schools in Louth before Christmas time and was told shocking information from the teacher about their young students. The children in Louth schools right down to the age of seven are coming into the classrooms high, according to the Louth TD. Now, if that wasn't shocking enough, they then went on to tell me about incidents where the children are actually being used as mules and they're being groomed by other children - well technically teenagers - and it's absolutely shocking. Deputy Butterly said that the children in question come from homes which are afflicted by addiction. In a lot of cases, the mothers in particular, because perhaps the fathers aren't present, they are afflicted by addiction themselves, she explained. The teachers have tried to intervene with the families, help them along, but you know they can't do everything and they shouldn't be expected to. Statistics relating to child exploitation by children in the drug trade are quite frightening, according to Paula. Youth diversion schemes tend to focus on children from 12 upward so Paula has urged the Government to consider widening the scope to those in primary school as well. READ NEXT: Louth businesses take Irelands .ie domain to new heights - Louth Live We have a project there called the Green Town project, which is in Limerick, and I brought that to Minister O'Callaghan before Christmas, she said. It has had huge success in tackling the issue of child exploitation and criminal networks; I would like to see that rolled out in Drogheda. I would also like it rolled out at a national level because whatever is happening in Drogheda is happening in other towns, Paula said on NewsTalk. Marymount National School in Drogheda has been approved for a new 20-classroom building. The building, which will include four dedicated Special Educational Needs (SEN) classrooms has been welcomed by Fianna Fail Senator Alison Comyn. Senator Comyn said it is a hugely important and welcome day for both Marymount and Louth. "This new school building is not just welcome, it is essential. Pupils and staff have endured unacceptable conditions for far too long, and todays confirmation brings long-overdue certainty, she said. Marymount NS which was built in 1969 is reported to have faced long-standing structural and environmental challenges, including damp, poor insulation, overcrowding and limited SEN facilities. Senator Comyn said teachers and staff have shown extraordinary dedication in what she called "difficult circumstances". "Parents have advocated tirelessly for their children. This decision recognises that reality and delivers the safe, warm and inclusive learning environment every child deserves, she said. In addition to Marymount NS, five other schools in Louth have been included in the first tranche of prioritised school projects under the National Development Plan. A talented young artist from Drogheda, Co Louth is celebrating after being named a winner in the 2025 Credit Union Art Competition, one of Irelands most established youth art initiatives. James Moonan, representing Drogheda Credit Union, claimed first place in the Age 18 category, with judges praising his artwork for its creativity, originality, and expressive interpretation of this years theme, The Future Is. Jamess artwork was selected from more than 25,000 entries submitted by young artists from across Ireland, making his achievement a moment of pride for his family, school, and the wider Drogheda community. The national final, held at Croke Park, brought together winners, runners up and their families for a special celebration of artistic achievement. ILCU President Brendan Jenkins commended the high standard of this years entries, noting that the creativity and imagination demonstrated by young people was exceptional. Through their work, these artists offer inspiring visions, rich in hope and innovation, of what the future could be. Their pieces reflect both personal dreams and collective possibilities, reminding us that the future is shaped by the ideas and aspirations we choose to nurture today. Brendan Jenkins added: This competition is about far more than winning prizes, its about confidence, self-expression, and community pride. Every participant should be immensely proud of their contribution. Read Next: Empty laughing gas cannisters 'everywhere' in Dundalk On behalf of the ILCU, I extend my congratulations to all our award recipients. Indeed, sincere thanks to every artist who took part in making this years competition such a wonderful celebration of creativity. A Credit Union spokesperson said: The Credit Union Art Competition remains a cornerstone of the credit union movements commitment to nurturing creativity and supporting young people in communities nationwide. By encouraging artistic expression, credit unions help ensure the arts continue to thrive as a vital and accessible part of Irish life. Louth food lovers have plenty to celebrate as two local favourites, Sitar Indian Restaurant & Takeaway in Dundalk and Il Forno in Drogheda, have been shortlisted in the 12th annual Just Eat Awards. Recognising the restaurants, grocers, and retailers that people order from most across Ireland, the awards shine a spotlight on the countys thriving food scene, from neighbourhood independents to internationally inspired flavours. With categories ranging from Best Indian & Nepalese to Best Pizza, Louths nominees are in the running for a chance to be crowned Independent Restaurant of the Year and take home a 100,000 prize fund to grow their business in 2026. Independent Restaurant of the Year will be awarded to the restaurant that secures the highest number of public votes across its individual category and overall. In addition to the title, the winner will receive a 100,000 prize fund, offering a powerful platform to build brand awareness, reach new customers and take their business to the next stage. Voting for the 2025 Just Eat Awards is now officially open, and food lovers across Ireland are encouraged to support their favourite by casting a vote. Every vote submitted will also be entered into a draw to win free Just Eat for a year. Commenting on the announcement of this years awards, Amanda Roche-Kelly, Managing Director at Just Eat Ireland, said: Irelands food scene is in a strong place, even though restaurants are dealing with rising costs and ongoing pressures across the sector. What stands out is the effort and care that goes into every order, from the food itself to the service people experience every day. Read Next: Film Club returns to Dundalk's An Tain with a new programme for spring 2026 The Just Eat Awards are about recognising independent restaurants that people genuinely love and rely on in their communities including the two restaurants in Louth that have been nominated. By awarding this 100,000 prize to the Independent Restaurant of the Year, Just Eat is committed to investing this media value for the winning partner to help further grow and evolve their business in 2026. For more information on the 12th annual Just Eat Awards, visit https://www.just-eat.ie/awards/2025/ie/home/, or follow @justeatie on Instagram and TikTok. Click NEXT or on the arrows above to see next picture Network Ireland Louth kicked off their first event of 2026 with an event entitled Growth in Motion delivered by Diane Roberts, Founder at XPinnovates. The event took place in AMTCE in Dundalk, which is the National Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre established by LMETB. The members of Network Ireland Louth were treated to a tour of the facility to see the technology being used to deliver quality learning and skills training, to enhance the skills of learners. This tour was followed by networking among the members before Diane Roberts presented her Growth Sprint Framework to all the businesswomen in Network Ireland Louth. She presented practical approaches to help turn strategy into confident action in everyones business. Diane advised that the key objective of the Growth Sprint Strategy is to establish the SSO - Single Strategic Objective. Diane highlighted the importance of clarity, focus and confident execution when turning strategy into action. Diane was keen to remind the room that risk was a huge factor in this and needed to be looked at from both angles, the likelihood of it happening and what is the impact on a business. She also advised that when it comes to business not making a decision is making a decision. Pauline Clarke, of Kookee and Eat Loaded Cookies, started off her year as President of Network Ireland Louth by thanking Diane for her invaluable advice in helping members grow their businesses with focus. She also expressed her thanks to the crowd present and said she is looking forward to her year as President and to supporting all members in their business journeys. The next event takes place on 12th February in the Monasterboice Inn. This event is being delivered by Annmarie McHugh, Business Consultant, who will talk about Lean Management & Six Sigma to help businesses. For information and registration for the February event, check out the events page on www.networkireland.ie. Read Next: Gardai investigate burglary in Dundalk Network Ireland is a progressive, dynamic organisation supporting the professional and personal development of women. With over 1,200 members and a strong nationwide presence, the group holds regular events, workshops, and networking opportunities that promote empowerment and leadership for women in business. They are always open to new members joining, who can avail of all the supports and benefits available. It doesnt matter if someone is an established businesswoman or just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey. To join Network Ireland, go to: www.networkireland.ie and become a member. Louth continued to experience steady growth in its residential property landscape throughout 2025, with 1,892 new residential address points added to the GeoDirectory database over the year. Construction activity remained strong, with 1,780 residential buildings classified as under construction in December 2025, reflecting sustained investment in the countys housing stock. The residential vacancy rate in Louth stood at 2.6% at the end of 2025, notably below the national average of 3.7%, indicating a relatively tight housing market. Over the twelve months to November 2025, a total of 1,535 residential property transactions were recorded in the county, with just under 40% involving newly built dwellings. The average residential property price in Louth reached 343,844 during this period, consistent with broader national trends of rising property values. The report, prepared by EY, found that a total of 35,056 new residential address points were added to the GeoDirectory database nationally in 2025. Dublin accounted for the largest proportion of new residential address points with 11,966 new additions, followed by Cork (3,761), Kildare (3,107) Louth (1,892) and Meath (1,761). Nationally, 27,931 new buildings under construction in the state in December, 25.5% higher than the same point in 2024. The highest concentration of residential development activity in the State at the end of 2025 was in Dublin, where 5,046 buildings were under construction. Outside of the capital, construction levels were highest in Cork (3,668 buildings), Kildare (2,075 buildings), Louth (1,780 buildings) and Meath (1,703 buildings). The residential vacancy rate in Louth in December 2025 was 2.6%, lower than the national average of 3.7%. The national residential vacancy rate remained at a record low of 3.7% in Q4 2025, decreasing by 0.1% from the same period in 2024. In total, 79,703 residential units in the State were classified as vacant by GeoDirectory at the end of last year. The lowest residential vacancy rates were recorded in Dublin, where 1.2% of the overall housing stock was vacant. Kildare (1.7%), Waterford (2.0%), Meath (2.2%) and Carlow (2.4%) all recorded vacancy rates of below 2.5%. Residential vacancies in December 2025 were highest in the west and north-west of the country. At 11.7%, Leitrim recorded the highest vacancy rate, followed by Mayo (10.3%), Roscommon (10.1%), Donegal (9.0%) and Sligo (8.5%). A total of 19,438 derelict units were recorded in the State by GeoDirectory in Q4 2025, a 3.3% decrease compared to the previous year. 1.1% of these derelict buildings were recorded in Louth. A total of 1,535 residential property transactions were recorded in Louth in the twelve months to November 2025, according to CSO data. 39.7% of these transactions involved new dwellings. The average house price rose in all counties in the State between November 2024 and November 2025, with the national average house increasing by 6.6% to 427,937. In Louth, the average residential property price was 343,844. Residential property prices were highest in Dublin (588,649), Wicklow (501,881) and Kildare (443,164). These were the only three counties where the average house price exceeded the national average. The lowest average house prices were recorded in Longford (206,583), Donegal (215,554) and Leitrim (218,507), although the average residential property transaction in Leitrim increased by 28,562 (15%) during the period in question. Read Next: Louth councillor loses race to become Green Party Deputy Leader Commenting on the findings of the latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report, Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory said, 2025 saw an acceleration in residential construction activity nationally, which was over 25% higher than what was recorded in 2024. Delivering this new supply pipeline to the market in 2026 should be a priority for the sector, as low vacancy rates combined with increased demand continues to drive the average property price upwards. Simon MacAllister, Partner at EY said The latest GeoDirectory report highlights the continued positive momentum in Irelands housing market. Construction activity strengthened considerably in the last quarter of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, while vacancy rates continued to tighten, falling to 3.7% nationally and just 1.2% in Dublin. Looking ahead, a series of policy changes introduced last year have been welcomed by construction sector and it is hoped they will unlock further housing growth potential and spur additional commencements in 2026 and beyond. A mother in County Louth has been left pulling out her hair due to a lack of special school places, the Dail has heard. Louth Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly spoke about the issues facing one of her constituents during a recent debate on school admissions. Deputy Butterly said: I raise an issue on behalf of one of my constituents who is quite literally pulling out her hair because she has no idea where or if she will place her child in a special school next September. We know that parents of children with special needs face many challenges and one of them is the assessments. Through no fault of her own, last October she knew she was going to miss the deadline because her child has been on a waiting list for an assessment. READ NEXT: Gardai investigate burglary in Dundalk She made clear to the NCSE that this was going to be the case but only last week she received notice that there is no place for her child in September 2026. She continued by pleading with Minister of State Michael Moynihan to address the issue. As one can imagine, this has caused untold anxiety because she cannot wait and her child cannot wait for a year, staying at home or wondering where to place the child. The Minister of State knows how essential early intervention is to a child's progression and development. Children cannot afford to stay at home and stay still for a year without knowing. I would like to think this is just one exceptional case but unfortunately there has been a further case in my constituency. I believe this is going to be the case across the island. Deputy Butterly requested that the NCSE (National Council of Special Education) portal be reopened so that the woman can find a school place for her child. My ask is quite simple: can the portal be reopened temporarily to allow for these assessments to be put through, if available? We know that the waiting lists for assessments are to the detriment of the children, the parents and the family members in the communities. Can the portal be reopened? If not, can we give instructions to the NCSE to work on a case-by-case basis to find a suitable place for these children in September 2026? In response, Minister Moynihan thanked Deputy Butterly for the genuineness of her question. He highlighted the work the Department of Education has done on providing additional special school spaces in the past year. He cited his own experience at a school gate one time, where a child did not know where they would be going to secondary school. Minister Moynihan said the deadline of October 1, 2025, was brought in so that the Department would have a better understanding of the demand for September of this year. However, he acknowledged the difficulties faced by some parents in meeting that deadline. He continued: The Deputy asked if we could work on a case-by-case basis. That is what we are doing. We have a number of families that notified [us] after the October 1 deadline and we are working on that challenge. We will work with and support families. Minister Moynihan added that the Department is not looking at reopening the portal because it needs to get information sooner. He concluded by requesting that Deputy Butterly privately share the specific details of the womans case with him. HARARE, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- "China has always been a good comrade and partner in Africa's quest for national liberation, development and rejuvenation," Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote on Wednesday in a reply letter to veterans of Zimbabwe's national liberation war. In his letter, Xi noted that in their youth, the veterans devoted themselves to the great cause of national liberation, left their homelands, and forged with China a profound friendship and comradeship in the struggle. The profound friendship and earnest expectations conveyed in the letter have greatly inspired Zimbabwean veterans and evoked warm responses across Africa, resonating deeply with the two peoples' shared aspiration to work together to build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and to write a new chapter in China-Africa friendship. LASTING FRIENDSHIP China has firmly supported Africa's struggle against imperialism and colonialism and the continent's cause of national liberation. During Zimbabwe's national liberation struggle in the 1960s and 1970s, many fighters received training in China or from Chinese instructors in Africa, creating enduring stories in the history of the two countries' relations. Ahead of his state visit to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi published a signed article in Zimbabwean media, recalling the profound and time-tested friendship between the two countries. "During the national liberation struggle in Zimbabwe, the Chinese people steadfastly stood behind the Zimbabwean people as comrades in arms. I was touched to learn that many Zimbabwean freedom fighters who received training from the Chinese side both in China and at Nachingwea camp in Tanzania can still sing songs such as the 'Three Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention'," Xi wrote. William Murumbuzi, a Zimbabwean veteran, told Xinhua that he was deeply impressed by Xi's signed article in 2015 and felt excited to participate in writing the letter to Xi and receive a reply from him. "For many years, President Xi has kept this friendship close to his heart. His reply makes us feel deeply honored and moved," he said. "We wanted to write to President Xi to tell him that we will never forget this experience, nor will we ever forget the friendship between Zimbabwe and China," Humphrey Makuyana, another veteran, told Xinhua in an interview. According to Makuyana, the training he received from Chinese instructors deepened his understanding of the bond between the army and the people. "We were the fish, and the people were the water in which we should live." "Though separated by thousands of miles, our hearts have always been connected, and justice and dignity remain the umbilical bond between our two peoples," the veterans wrote in the letter to Xi. In his reply letter, Xi expressed the hope that the veterans will inspire more African youth to devote themselves to the cause of China-Zimbabwe and China-Africa friendship. "CHINA ALWAYS DELIVERS ON ITS COMMITMENTS" During the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, China and Zimbabwe signed a series of cooperation documents in the presence of the two heads of state. After retiring from military service, Murumbuzi has been working for a private company and has maintained close cooperation with Chinese partners, giving him firsthand insight into the implementation of the summit outcomes. He noted that China has consistently advocated common development with its African partners, and that Chinese technologies and experience are helping African countries, including Zimbabwe, create jobs and improve people's livelihoods. "This model of mutually beneficial cooperation has enabled us to feel what a shared future truly means, and it has strengthened my confidence in Africa and China advancing toward modernization hand in hand," he said. Two years ago, Zindi, a village in Zimbabwe's Mashonaland Central Province, was a poor community plagued by water and electricity shortages. Today, the China-Zimbabwe agricultural cooperation demonstration village has undergone a striking transformation: solar-powered water pumps now provide a steady supply of clean water, while greenhouse facilities for scientific seed breeding complement green maize fields. According to Weveson Zindi, the village head, the advanced farming and livestock-breeding techniques introduced by Chinese agricultural experts have significantly improved villagers' living conditions. "When it comes to China and Africa working hand in hand, it's basically leaving no one behind, and this is what China has been trying to do over the years," said Dennis Munene Mwaniki, executive director of the China-Africa Center at Kenya's Africa Policy Institute. "PARTNERSHIP THAT ENRICHES OUR LIVES" In his reply letter, Xi stressed that 2026 marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and African nations as well as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. "President Xi has always attached great importance to people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa," said Didier Dieudonne Nama, national pedagogic inspector of Chinese Language in the Ministry of Secondary Education of Cameroon, adding that as people-to-people exchanges deepen, the peoples of China and Africa will grow closer and more tightly connected. Activities marking the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges have already begun, which are expected to deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and African peoples through exchanges in various fields and inject fresh momentum into building a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. "President Xi always values the bonds between the peoples of China and Africa," said Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. "China is our true friend and a true brother." "As we mark 70 years of China-Africa diplomatic ties, we celebrate a partnership that enriches our lives, a partnership of life-transforming people-to-people exchanges," said Herbert Mushangwe, a professor at the Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe. Low-cost airline, Ryanair, has announced that it is hosting a recruitment event in Dundalk next month, as part of a series of regional recruitment events across Ireland this February as part of a major hiring drive for Cabin Crew roles based at Dublin Airport The airline is recruiting for approximately 100 positions and is inviting interested candidates to attend in-person recruitment events in hotels across Offaly, Westmeath, Louth, Laois, Kilkenny, Wexford and Kildare. Ryanair said that successful candidates will receive a 2,000 joining bonus and take part in a fully paid six-week Cabin Crew training course, with courses commencing in February and March. No previous cabin crew experience is required, as full training is provided. All events begin at 10:30am and attendees can arrive on the day. The full list of venues, along with the dates recruitment events will be taking place in each one, is as follows: Drogheda 04 February The Mill Drogheda Navan 05 February Newgrange Hotel Navan Dundalk 10 February The Imperial Hotel Portlaoise 10 February The Killeshin Hotel & Leisure Club Tullamore 11 February Bridge House Hotel Kilkenny 11 February Hotel Kilkenny Mullingar 12 February Annebrook House Hotel Wexford 12 February Talbot Hotel Athlone 17 February Athlone Springs Hotel Naas 18 February Lawlors Hotel Ryanair adds that the roles may suit individuals seeking a career change, those returning to work, or candidates interested in customer service and aviation careers. Read also: Revised time table announced for Louth rail services this weekend Further details on Cabin Crew roles and the recruitment process are available here. The extraordinary lack of bus services from Louth to Meath has been slammed in the Dail. Louth Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly raised the issue during a recent debate on bus services. Deputy Butterly said: When I want to take a bus or train from Belfast to Dublin, Dundalk or Drogheda, the routes have improved. By rail or bus, they are absolutely excellent and even on the hour. However, if I want to go from east to west, from Clogherhead to Dunleer or Ardee and on to Trim or Kells, there are no buses and no public services to enable people to get to work or to get to medical appointments. READ NEXT: New Louth GAA stadium to open in a year as transformative development hailed She continued by saying that she has written to the National Transport Authority (NTA) but received no reply. Deputy Butterly added: If there is any reply, it is saying they have no plans to develop any services east to west within County Louth, or even connecting County Louth to County Meath. I find this extraordinary when we are trying to encourage people to use more public transport. There is the cost to car owners and to people who have to take time off work to bring loved ones to medical appointments. Surely this is something that can be considered. Minister for Transport Darragh OBrien provided a general response to all members who made contributions, but did not answer Deputy Butterlys specific queries. Minister OBrien said: We will make a further improvement this year in 2026. Am I going to be able to keep everybody happy with all the services they want in 2026? No, I am not. However, we are going to see a further step change in that regard, an increase and improvement. We are talking about the bus network. The first two BusConnects corridors have started and there has been major investment in rail, road and our bus network as well. We have lots of good things. This period of time could be transformational, he added. Minister OBrien concluded by noting that 43 million public transport journeys were made in 2024. He added that the Government will continue to work to increase this figure year on year. Monaghan County Council this week signed contracts with the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, at the Peace Campus, Monaghan, securing a transformative 7.0 million investment for the redevelopment of the former St Louis Chapel. This major funding allocation is provided under the Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme (THRIVE) and is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Northern and Western Regional Programme 202127. The project is a flagship element of Monaghans St Louis Lands masterplan and follows extensive public engagement undertaken through Town Centre First Monaghan. The signing marks a significant milestone in the effort to restore and repurpose the long derelict St Louis Chapel into a vibrant, multifunctional community asset that will act as a cornerstone for Monaghan Town. Cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council, Cllr PJ OHanlon, said at the signing which took place on Tuesday: Todays signing is a major milestone for Monaghan. The St Louis Chapel is one of our towns most meaningful heritage assets, and securing this level of investment is a strong statement of confidence in our future. "It shows what can be achieved when community vision, collaboration, and long-term planning come together, and I am delighted to see this project moving firmly into delivery. The redevelopment forms a central component of Monaghan County Councils long-term vision for the St Louis Lands, a 21-acre publicly owned heritage campus acquired by the Council in 2024. Read also: Ryanair holding recruitment events with 2,000 joining bonus The site includes the former convent, nursing home, national school, lake, and forest grounds, making it one of the countys most significant heritage clusters and an important opportunity for cultural, social and economic renewal. Cathaoirleach of Monaghan MD, Cllr Seamus Treanor, said:This project has been shaped by the community from the outset. Local residents, community groups, artists and voluntary organisations played a vital role in articulating what this building should become, and their input has ensured the redevelopment reflects real community needs. "The chapel will once again be a place of gathering and participationan open, welcoming space that supports creativity, learning and social connection at the heart of Monaghan Town. The redevelopment will see the historic chapel sensitively restored and brought back into active use, transforming it into a centre for creativity, innovation and community activity. It will include multi-purpose performance, event and meeting spaces, exhibition areas, a cafe, ancillary facilities and improved internal circulation designed to welcome visitors and support a wide range of uses. Chief Executive Robert Burns said:This funding allows us to move confidently from vision to detailed delivery. Projects involving protected structures demand careful planning, strong financial backing and a clear strategy for conservation and adaptation. "This investment provides the certainty required to proceed with design, statutory approvals, procurement and construction, ensuring that the restored chapel will be both architecturally respectful and of lasting value to the community. The project will follow a conservation led approach that honours the buildings historical and architectural significance while adapting it to contemporary needs. It will also enhance pedestrian connectivity between the St Louis Lands and Monaghan Town Centre, strengthening the cultural and community spine of the area. Director of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, Conall McGettigan, said:The Regional Assemblies support balanced regional development and the revitalisation of towns as outlined in our Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies. "Todays agreement is a strong example of how ERDF funding can assist heritage regeneration in key urban centres, enabling local authorities and their communities to revitalise landmark heritage assets across our region. Ultimately, the restored chapel will not only preserve an important part of Monaghans architectural and cultural heritage but will also create a shared community space that fosters creativity, learning and connection renewing a place that has been central to Monaghans story for generations. At just four months old, baby Shea is about to have an operation to correct his cleft lip. Lorraine OSullivan, mother of baby Shea, who appears on Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital We see how he fares in the next episode of documentary series Any Given Day: Cork University Hospitalon RTE1 on Wednesday at 9.35pm, as his anxious mother Lorraine OSullivan describes her emotions. The series follows staff shifts and patient journeys across the Cork hospital, and also in the episode, Patricia is rushed to CUH by ambulance, critically ill and struggling to breathe. She needs a special pressure mask to force oxygen into her lungs and keep her airways functioning. The Emergency Department teams first job is to stabilise her, then try to find the cause of her acute breathing problems. Peter has a large aortic aneurysm that requires surgery before it bursts, which would likely prove fatal. The surgical team, led by Consultant Vascular Surgeon Greg Fulton, allow young surgeons in training to attend, with one executing a critical part of the op. Meanwhile, Sue has stage 4 ovarian cancer - her second diagnosis of the disease. Consultant Oncologist Dearbhaile Collins has identified a new drug that could potentially help her. Choirs from across Ireland and around the world will perform in more than 90 venues across Cork city and county when the Cork International Choral Festival returns from April 29 to May 3 this year. One of Europes longest running choral festivals, the event will see performances in concert halls, historic spaces and unexpected settings across the city. The festivals artistic director Peter Stobart said: For five days, Cork becomes a place where voices meet, where audiences stumble upon music in unexpected spaces, and where people connect through something as simple and powerful as singing together." At the heart of the festival remains the prestigious Fleischmann International Trophy Competition, which draws outstanding amateur choirs from around the world to Cork each year. The Cork International Choral Festival is proudly supported by The Arts Council, Failte Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork County Council, with media partners including the Irish Examiner, The Echo and Corks 96FM. See corkchoral.ie. Full programme details and ticket information are available at https://www.corkchoral.ie/ The investigation of a 2.1m drug seizure at Ringaskiddy last July saw a 59-year-old truck driver declare, when a new charge was brought against him: I am not guilty, and I dont know anything about it. Detective Garda Rory Fogarty brought the new charge against Robert Slivar, of no fixed abode, but formerly of Ivanic in Croatia, at Cork District Court. The charge was one of having drugs for sale or supply at a time when the value exceeded 13,000, the threshold for a minimum jail sentence of 10 years, unless there are exceptional circumstances. He was previously charged with related counts under the Misuse of Drugs Act. It was alleged that there was a seizure of 93 packages of herbal cannabis with a total weight of 107kg. Mr Slivar, who travelled to Cork by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium on July 27, was already charged with cannabis possession and having the cannabis for sale or supply at the Port of Cork, Ringaskiddy, on that date. Remanded in custody On the application of Sergeant John Kelleher, yesterday, at Cork District Court, the defendant has been remanded in custody until February 4 for preparation and service of a book of evidence. Diarmuid Kelleher, solicitor, said the accused had been remanded in custody since the beginning of August. He is not happy, to say the least, he said. He has a lot of problems. He went into custody with an ear infection, and since then he has had to have part of his ear removed. And he has been sleeping on the floor in prison. Judge Catherine Ryan asked if the accused was getting medical attention in prison. Mr Kelleher said that he was. Dt Gda Ryan Dillon previously objected to bail, citing the strength of evidence and the seriousness of the charge. A Cork city nursing home is to close after more than two decades, meaning that its 37 residents will need to be relocated, most likely outside of the city. The management of Blairs Hill Nursing Home in Sundays Well told The Echo: It is with bitter disappointment that we can confirm that we have taken the decision to close Blairs Hill Nursing Home, after 21 years of service within the community of the northside of Cork. The closure will be undertaken in a sensitive manner, and with the residents and their families our priority. The proposed date of closure is March 31. The privately-owned centre was registered for 37 residents, as of its most recent Hiqa inspection, last April. These residents will have to be transferred elsewhere. Shortage Last November, a HSE spokesperson told The Echo that there is, unfortunately, a well-recognised shortage of public nursing home beds in the Cork city area. Cork North Central Fine Gael TD Colm Burke told The Echo: They will have to transfer the elderly people there to different nursing homes, and that can be quite upsetting for them. They could end up far away from the city. There arent many nursing homes in Cork city, and all of them are full, so the question is: How do you fill that vacuum? Mr Burke said he is planning to write to the HSE asking them to help find more spaces locally for the residents. Cork-based advocate for the elderly, Paddy OBrien, told The Echo that news of the closure is a great pity. I sympathise with the residents, its a big upheaval for them. When a person goes into a nursing home and has to be moved, it upsets them completely. It can take 12 months for them to settle in somewhere new. Its heartbreaking for the residents being moved around, after they have built up relationships with everyone there. Cut off Mr OBrien said while the shortage of nursing beds in the city has been going on for years and years, he hoped there would be availability in HSE facilities for the residents to stay in Cork city, or even the suburbs. Dont have them going out to Mallow, Midleton, Kinsale, or Fermoy. If people are moved further away, it can prevent their friends and family many of whom are also elderly from being able to visit them. People cant travel there, and that can leave the residents cut off from loved ones, which can send them into a state they never recover from. The latest Hiqa report into the nursing home, based on an inspection carried out in April and published in August last year, found the centre not compliant in six areas, substantially compliant in three, and compliant in eight. Though several positives were identified during this inspection, Hiqa said: Significant action was required to come into compliance with the regulations relevant to; notification of incidents, governance and management, fire precautions, care planning, healthcare, and residents rights. Ottoline Spearman A man in his 20s is in hospital following a serious assault that took place in Dublin on Friday evening. Gardai said the assault took place on North Wall Quay, Dublin 1 at approximately 11:30 pm on Friday night, after an event that had taken place in the area. The man was subsequently brought to hospital with serious injuries. Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to this incident to contact them. Anyone who was in the area between 11:15 and 11:45 pm on Friday, January 30th, and who may have any information about the incident is asked to contact them. Anyone with camera footage (including mobile phone and dash-cam footage) is asked to make it available. Gardai can be contacted at Store Street Garda Station on 01 6668000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. Investigations are ongoing. Tom Tuite A judge has limited a 15-year-old Dublin boy's social media activity amid claims he has been posting car theft-related videos online, and his family "cannot handle" him. The teen, who cannot be named because he is a juvenile, was arrested in Lucan, Co Dublin, on Friday night and found asleep in the boot of a car. He appeared before Judge Gerard Jones at Dublin District Court on Saturday morning. He was charged with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle without the owner's consent. Garda Evan Mullally said that after catching the sleeping teenager, he was found to be carrying a screwdriver. There was no objection to bail, subject to conditions including a 9pm-7am curfew and not getting on or into any motor vehicle unless in the company of a licensed and insured driver. Garda Mullally sought an order preventing the teen, who has yet to enter a plea, from using a mobile phone and certain apps, alleging the boy was using them to "set up meetings". Defence counsel Kevin McCrave challenged the necessity of requesting that condition. Garda Mullally maintained that the boy has been running videos of himself behind the wheel of vehicles. The boy was accompanied to court by his grandparents, with the judge noting that Tusla, the child and family agency, was also involved with the teen. The garda alleged the teenager was going out every night and getting involved in motor theft, and his grandparents could not handle him. Counsel argued that the term could be altered to specify that the boy must not use a phone or social media to post videos, which Judge Jones accepted and imposed. The judge told the grandparents that he appreciated their coming to the hearing. Responsible adults are required to attend court proceedings against juveniles, including bail hearings. The boy was warned to comply with the terms and ordered to appear at the Children's Court on a date in February. The Taoiseach has said he will meet with those affected by Storm Chandra floods later this week. Micheal Martin's comments come after he met with the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) on Saturday, where he was briefed on the current situation and response. The public has been warned to remain vigilant in the coming days, as the weather remains unsettled. The Taoiseach confirmed he will be meeting with people affected by the storm, telling RTE News: "I will be doing that", adding "we will be out there meeting people on the ground to hear what they have to say". He said the Government's "main focus right now" is to "respond adequately to the various areas that have been impacted here, both in terms of humanitarian and business support schemes". He said this will include "what interim measures we can take and what additional resources may be required by local authorities". Mr Martin also said he was told of the need "to be on high vigilance over the next 10 days, because there will be more rain next week". The NECG said crews and volunteers remain on the ground responding to the effects of the storm and will provide support where needed. Eligibility for the emergency humanitarian flooding scheme is also to be expanded Local authority crews are to continue working over the coming days to alleviate flooding, clean up in its aftermath, and prepare for the risk of further flooding. Minister and the NECG Chair Keith Leonard paid tribute to the volunteers who are giving their time and energy to help communities this bank holiday weekend, the Irish Examiner reported. While rain is forecast to ease today and tomorrow, the impacts of Friday nights rain may continue throughout the weekend, and flooding is a continuing risk due to saturated ground conditions and high river levels. The Minister is also seeking to increase the upper limit for payments under the scheme from 20,000 to 100,000 for the most impacted premises. The Irish Red Cross has set up a helpline to provide support to distressed people affected by flooding. The helpline at 01-6424648 will be open 9am to 6pm across the bank holiday weekend and until required. BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China has become a critical contributor to scientific innovation and advanced manufacturing, as well as a driving force for common prosperity worldwide, Pascal Soriot, CEO of British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, told Xinhua on Friday. Soriot made the remarks in an interview in Beijing, a day after the firm pledged to invest 15 billion U.S. dollars in China through 2030 to expand medicines manufacturing and R&D facilities. China's evolving scientific achievements, optimizing opening-up policies and steadfast support for international collaboration have fueled the firm's continued confidence and investment in the Chinese economy, Soriot said. "In the last five to six years, China has become a fundamental part of innovation in global pharmaceuticals," Soriot said, adding that this investment marks a new chapter for AstraZeneca in China and will strengthen its contribution to China's high-quality development. In addition to the firm's strategic R&D centers in Beijing and Shanghai, the investment will further expand its existing manufacturing facilities in Beijing and in east China's Wuxi, Taizhou and Qingdao, along with the establishment of two new plants focusing on cell therapies and radioconjugates, the latter being a new modality for cancer treatment. These investments will grow AstraZeneca's highly skilled workforce in China to more than 20,000 and create thousands of additional jobs across the healthcare ecosystem, the company said. China is AstraZeneca's second-largest market and a strategic hub for global innovation, supplying its medicines to more than 70 markets. Since entering China in 1993, the company has introduced more than 40 innovative medicines, covering therapeutic areas including oncology, respiratory diseases, rare diseases, as well as vaccines and immunology. In 2024, the firm announced to invest 475 million U.S. dollars in its Wuxi factory, followed by an investment of 2.5 billion dollars in Beijing under an agreement signed in 2025, spanning the next five years. China has encouraged global business leaders to come to China, invest in China and support the common prosperity agenda, and AstraZeneca is honored to respond to this call by contributing to the global development of life sciences, Soriot said. "Investing for patients in China is also investing in innovation, manufacturing and the export of these medicines to the rest of the world," he added. As a member of the delegation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ongoing visit to China, Soriot reaffirmed his optimism about China's future development and bilateral cooperation prospects between the two countries. Beyond the life sciences sector, there is also enormous potential for collaboration in artificial intelligence, green energy and many other fields, Soriot said. "We want to collaborate with Chinese companies, and we also welcome competition, as it leads to more products that benefit patients around the world," he added. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang told reporters that the company will "invest a great deal of money" in OpenAI's latest funding round, according to Bloomberg, after The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that the two companies were rethinking a previous $100 billion deal that hasn't "progressed beyond the early stages" of negotiations. Speaking to reporters in Taipei this weekend, Huang reportedly said it could be "the largest investment we've ever made." NVIDIA and OpenAI jointly announced in September that NVIDIA would be investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI to build 10 gigawatts of AI data centers. The companies said then that they were targeting the second half of 2026 for the first phase of the project to go online. Citing sources familiar with the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reported that Huang has highlighted privately that the agreement was nonbinding and has criticized OpenAI's business approach as lacking discipline. According to Bloomberg, however, Huang called the report's claims "nonsense," and told reporters on Saturday, "I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. Theyre one of the most consequential companies of our time. But, Bloomberg reports, he said NVIDIA's investment in this funding round wouldn't come near $100 billion. OnlyFans is looking to cash out once again, but this time in a deal that would value it at several billion dollars less than a potential sale that previously fell through. As reported by TechCrunch, the online platform known for subscription-based pornographic content is in talks to sell a majority stake to Architect Capital, an investment firm based in San Francisco. According to the report, the proposed deal includes $3.5 billion in equity and $2 billion in debt, which values OnlyFans at $5.5 billion. TechCrunch also reported that Architect Capital and OnlyFans are currently in exclusive talks, where the website's owner can't negotiate with other potential buyers for a certain amount of time. With no set timeline yet for the deal, the deal is far from an official closing. Last year, OnlyFans' owner Leonid Radvinsky was also negotiating with another investment firm, Forest Road Company, to sell the platform. Although that deal never went through, the talks leading up to the sale valued OnlyFans at a much higher $8 billion. The London-based website, which still doesn't want to be known as just a porn site, is still growing and reported a nine percent increase in gross revenue for its 2024 fiscal year, earning more than $7.2 billion. Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz reside in a luxury manner which is partly supported by a hefty monthly household allowance from her billionaire dad. As per a report by Daily Mail, Peltz is getting approximately $1 million a month from her father, investor Nelson Peltz, whose estimated fortune of $1.6 billion. It is far beyond the reported net worth of David and Victoria Beckham. The financial revelations arrive as Beckham has recently emphasized that he's chosen a more "peaceful" path focused on his marriage, even as his relationship with his parents has been under public strain. But if the Daily Mail's breakdown is accurate, the quieter approach has not meant a smaller lifestyle. Instead, it points to a pattern of premium real estate, elite travel and top-tier retail therapy. Beverly Hills Mansion and Costly Do-Overs One of the examples that help show the situation most clearly is the couple's home in Beverly Hills. The latest acquisition of a property in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood for reportedly $16 million was after what was characterized as a very thorough hunt for the right home in late 2024. The home is roughly 7, 000 sq. ft. and comes with a spa, a gym, and a home theater. The Daily Mail reports that the deal included more than $100,000 in furnishings and artwork. Even so, the couple didn't keep everything as-is. They later stripped out a high-end kitchen and designer bathrooms and replaced them, with renovation costs estimated at $1 million or more. That wasn't their first swing at buying in the area. They previously purchased another Los Angeles home for $10.5 million, then sold it months later at a loss. Peltz later called that decision "silly," explaining they moved too fast before figuring out where they actually wanted to live full time. Read more: Unsealed Nicola Peltz Wedding Texts Reveal Hidden Costs And Tension With Victoria Beckham Private Jets, Yachts and Five-Star Escapes Travel is another major line item. The outlet says the pair regularly fly by private jet, including trips to the Peltz family estate in Palm Beach. A single round, trip flight alone, from the outlet's estimation, might be up to $100,000. Their getaways usually revolve around yachts, luxurious resorts and celebrity favorite secret spots. The duo has visited St. Tropez, Los Cabos and Aspen, besides a recent trip to San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, where the overnight stay can cost several thousands of dollars. Aside from that, they were on the Peltz family superyacht charter, the famous "Project X," which at some point was rumored to be available for $1.2 million a week. Posts from social media that showed their trips revealed romantic dinners with candles, wine cellars and beautiful sea views. One of the photos that the outlet focused on was an ultra, rare dessert wine which was said to cost about $18,500 a bottle. Beckham who often shares cooking and drink, related content on his social media has lately started to embrace the wine, enthusiast role by showing glimpses of his collection through the posts. Designer Fashion, Dining and Statement Gifts Spending extends to closets and jewelry boxes as well. The couple showed one week of outfits their total value exceeded $80,000. Among the brands were vintage Chanel and Saint Laurent. Even their relaxing time at home was attributed to a high cost as the matching Valentino robes are said to have been priced at over $1,000 each. Dining choices also are of a very high standard. Beckham has delved into food projects and chef collaborations and is a regular at some of the most expensive Los Angeles restaurants. The Daily Mail mentions Osteria Mozza and the Michelin, starred Hayato among their favorites, while premium sushi takeout from Nobu is their usual option at home. Gift-giving between the two is often elaborate and public. Brooklyn Beckham proposed with a diamond ring estimated at $481,000. In one of their more unusual luxury keepsakes, the couple had their wisdom teeth turned into matching gold necklaces. Cars are also a part of the story. Brooklyn Beckham has had several high, performance cars to his name, including a McLaren and a classic BMW. After their wedding, David gave them, as one of the gifts, a restored electric Jaguar estimated to be in the six-figure range. Anuradha Chenoy writes: Nothing can be more cynical than President Donald Trumps proposal for a new Board of Peace (BoP) being marketed as an international peace-building organisation. Trump declared this BoP at the Davos Club meeting last week. Some heads of state from the 50 that Trump invited to become members endorsed the BoP charter. The machinations behind this BoP should be taken seriously. The BoP originates from the Security Council Resolutions (2803, 17 November 2025) call for a comprehensive plan and a transitional body (till 2027) to end the Gaza conflict. It mandates a BoP with operational entities for peace in Gaza, an international stabilisation force, after which the Israeli Defense Forces would withdraw and a full resumption of humanitarian aid in cooperation with the United Nations (UN) (China and Russia abstained from this United States [US] proposed resolution). Trump manipulated this resolution to create his own private BoP with a charter which does not mention the word Gaza. The charter says that for durable peace, there is a need to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed. So, this BoP is offered as that nimble and effective peace-keeping body to deliver peace. The agenda is to delegitimise the UN, and the US has already withdrawn from over 60 UN bodies. The intention is to sideline the only legitimate international institution and self-empower an exclusive club subservient to Trump. The BoP charter anoints Trump as the inaugural Chairman and as the representative of the US, and gives him permanency and many rights. He has the exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve any entity of this BoP, and decide who will be invited or dismissed. Chairman Trump will designate his successor, or if he is incapacitated, the executive board will. In other words, Trump has declared himself the emperor (for life) of world peace with his own select council. The charter states that the BoP will undertake peace-building functions internationally, indicating that whenever there is a conflict, Trump and his band can turn up for opportunities that arise from it. The member states will serve only a three-year term, but can be permanent at a fee of more than $1 billion. So, the most sycophantic states with deep pockets filled with taxpayers money will do so. The BoP structure has a nominated executive board with a chief executive who will plan meetings and agendas and report to Chairman Trump. This BoP is to be funded by member states and organizationsundoubtedly the big tech companies that support Trump and have both capital and desire to make international governance rules. The BoPs seven-member founding executive board comprises Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner; builder friend, Steve Witkoff; secretary of state, Marco Rubio; former British prime minister, Tony Blair; World Bank President, Ajay Banga; and billionaire private equity chief, Marc Rowan. The membership reveals that real estate and financial extraction are the motives to be pursued in any conflict-affected area, which will be fertile ground for the BoP. The BoP charter claims international legal personality to enter contracts to pursue its missions and for financial purposes. Disputes between members will be solved through collaboration, and the chairman has the final say (for example, since both India and Pakistan have been invited to join, the chairman will be the final arbiter in any dispute between them, as he has the final say). The White House also announced a Gaza executive board that will function under the BoP, led by Kushner, Witkoff, Blair, Bulgarian billionaire Nickolai Mladenov, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi. Israel has vociferously objected to the Turk and Qatari names and is lobbying to reject them. Kushner unveiled a set of AI-generated maps and plans for Gaza in the vision of his father-in-law. These plans have been termed as the Vegas-ification of Gaza. The plans mark out areas for tourism, resorts, residential towers but are foggy on the ghettoes for Palestinians. The plan erases Gazas social fabric, aligns with Israels occupation and excludes the real inhabitantsthe Palestinianswho were not consulted in the plan. Kushner calls the Gaza peace efforts very entrepreneurial. Clearly, the social engineering involved will turn Gazans into service providers. Their destroyed hospitals, universities, and cultural centres will remain buried and erased. This Gaza executive board will oversee a subcommittee of technocrats called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, with some Palestinian technocrats as administrators. There is no reference to Palestinian rights, interests, rehabilitation, land, livelihood or statehood, which is a travesty of hundreds of UN resolutions, of every norm and international humanitarian law. Meanwhile, the Israeli genocidal aggression in Gaza goes on in hybrid waysIsrael, on 21 January, seized and destroyed the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine, a blatant violation of international law. Gaza is left with little support for its besieged people, with 70,000 people killed; this strip and its people are traumatised and besieged. So, who will carry out the reconstruction? The 25 countries that signed the charter of the BoP, including Israel, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Argentina, etc, want to please Trump and get construction contracts. European Union and BRICS countries have wisely held out so far. China stated that it will defend the UN, stand by the international law-based order, and this board is not about peace. China has taken a normative stance that others should also adopt in their own self-interest. It would not be prudent for India to join Trumps BoP because it will mean becoming party to a neocolonial, private venture of the Trump administration. Second, it will make India complicit in the US plan to bypass the UN and international law to which India has remained committed since the foundation of both the Indian Republic and the UN. Third, India claims to be a voice of the global South and lobbies for inclusion in decision-making international bodies. This board excludes the poor and even middle-power countries of the global South. Fourth, India prides in charting its own course and negotiating its own disputes without foreign intervention, but the BoP mandates intervention in any international conflict worldwide. Fifth, by joining, India will give up the core of its foreign policy of strategic autonomy and dignity in the international system and it will instead accept intervention and be a small cog in the Trump wheel. Trumps plan is a posturing for peace by a president who has, in his first year, bombed seven countries, abducted a head of state, killed without proof in international waters, confiscated ships in the high seas and threatens much more of the same. This BoP resembles a theatre of the absurd if it were not to have tragic consequences for millions of people that the Trump imperial enterprise threatens across the world. The US has evidently taken a position bent on destroying international institutions and rebuilding its hegemony. The question is, how many countries will fall in line and who will resist. The ones that stand by the UN will be the historic winners in this game of cloak and dagger. Support Us Your Support will ensure EPWs financial viability and sustainability. The EPW produces independent and public-spirited scholarship and analyses of contemporary affairs every week. EPW is one of the few publications that keep alive the spirit of intellectual inquiry in the Indian media. Often described as a publication with a social conscience, EPW has never shied away from taking strong editorial positions. Our publication is free from political pressure, or commercial interests. Our editorial independence is our pride. We rely on your support to continue the endeavour of highlighting the challenges faced by the disadvantaged, writings from the margins, and scholarship on the most pertinent issues that concern contemporary Indian society. Every contribution is valuable for our future. Tanzanian students learn to make steamed buns in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Jan. 28, 2026. (Xinhua/Emmanuel Herman) by Xinhua writers Hua Hongli, Lin Guangyao, Lucas Liganga DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- In a bustling kitchen in the heart of Dar es Salaam, the rhythmic thud of cleavers hitting chopping boards fills the air. Amid the steam and sizzle of woks, Ruth Washima Seni, a young Tanzanian hospitality student, is attempting a feat of precision: slicing a potato into hair-thin strips. This is the "silver needle" cut, a demanding test of knife skills in Chinese cuisine. For Seni, it represents more than just a cooking technique; it is a slice of a new future. "I didn't just learn how to cook Chinese food. I learned techniques, nutrition, discipline, and culture," said Seni, wiping her brow after mastering the cut. "Now I can prepare dumplings, buns, and stir-fried beef, and I understand why Chinese food focuses so much on health and balance." Seni is one of 20 students in the latest batch of a unique culinary program at the Kilimanjaro Institute of Technology and Management (KITM). Launched in January 2026, the course is a collaboration between the institute and "The Best Company," a Chinese enterprise dedicated to cultural exchange. BEYOND THE RECIPE The program goes beyond teaching recipes; it immerses students in the philosophy of Chinese gastronomy. Led by Chef Wang Bo from Sichuan Province, the curriculum covers the spicy heat of Sichuan dishes, the savory depth of northeastern stews, and the delicate, fresh flavors of Cantonese cuisine. "Chinese cuisine is very flexible," said Wang. "You can combine and substitute ingredients. But to do that well, you must understand the principles behind the food." For the students, the learning curve involves more than just taste. It includes mastering the use of chopsticks and understanding the cultural stories behind dishes like dumplings (Jiaozi), which symbolize wealth and togetherness. "I realized Chinese people are not all the same," Seni noted. "Each region has its own culture and food." COOKING FOR A CAREER While the cultural exchange is vibrant, the primary driver for these young "dreamers" is economic opportunity. Filbert Haule, a hospitality tutor at KITM, explained that the decision to introduce Chinese cuisine was strategic. With Chinese tourists and businesspeople playing an increasingly visible role in Tanzania's economy, the demand for authentic Chinese food is rising. Furthermore, Tanzania is preparing for a major influx of international visitors as it gears up to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). "We want to offer visitors new tastes," Haule said. "When investors and restaurant owners see that these students can cook authentic and delicious Chinese food, they will be impressed. That creates more opportunities." A BRIDGE OF FLAVORS The course structure is rigorous. Mornings are spent watching video lessons from professional chefs in China, followed by afternoon practical sessions in KITM's kitchens where local ingredients-Tanzanian beef, lamb, and seafood-are transformed into Chinese classics. For Chef Wang, food is the ultimate diplomat. "Food is a bridge that connects people," he said. "When students understand the culture, they cook with feeling, and the dish reaches a higher level." Graduates of the program are recommended to Chinese restaurants and hotels across the region, offering them a fast track to employment. For Ruth Seni, the wok has opened a world of possibilities. She now practices her skills at home, confident that she possesses a competitive edge in the job market. "These are skills that make you different," she said, looking at her finished dish of stir-fried beef. "It's culture, health, business, and connection. I can even start my own restaurant one day." Tanzanian students learn "silver needle" cut, a demanding test of knife skills in Chinese cuisine, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Jan. 28, 2026. (Xinhua/Emmanuel Herman) Ektaa Kapoors cult television franchise Naagin could soon be making the leap from the small screen to movie theatres. Following the strong run of Naagin 7, reports suggest that the producer is exploring the possibility of expanding the supernatural universe into feature films. According to an independent industry source, Balaji Telefilms is currently in conversation to potentially take the Naagin brand beyond television. Given the franchises enduring popularity and its larger-than-life mythology, the makers are said to be considering a cinematic adaptation that would reimagine the shapeshifting serpent saga for the big screen. While discussions are still at an early stage, the intent is to scale up the visual spectacle and storytelling for a theatrical audience. Naagin has been one of Indian televisions most successful supernatural shows, consistently drawing high viewership since its debut. The series returned with its seventh season in 2025, featuring Priyanka Chahar Choudhary as the iconic ichchhadhari naagin. With seven seasons already under its belt, the franchise has built a loyal fan base that extends far beyond television. An insider shared that although the idea is still being developed, the teams experience in successfully delivering multiple seasons makes a big-screen transition a realistic next step. The aim, reportedly, is to retain the emotional core and mythology of Naagin while giving it a fresh, cinematic treatment. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @naagincolors7 Adding to the buzz around serpent-based stories, Shraddha Kapoor is set to headline Nagin: An Epic Tale of Love and Sacrifice, a separate film project that has been in development for some time. As per reports, the film is expected to go on floors in April 2026. A source revealed that with Shraddha locked in, the rest of the cast has also fallen into place, allowing the project to finally move forward. Producer Nikhil Dwivedi earlier confirmed that Shraddha was enthusiastic about playing a shapeshifting snake and was the first actor to come on board the film. While there is no official announcement yet regarding Naagins theatrical outing, the growing chatter signals that Ektaa Kapoor may soon be ready to bring her iconic TV creation to cinemas, giving fans a whole new way to experience the fantasy world they love. Also Read: Anil Rahi Barve Responds After Shraddha Kapoor Exits Ektaa Kapoors Film Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 30, 2026) - Tokenwell Platforms Inc. (CSE: TWEL) (OTCQB: TWELF) (FSE: Y920) ("Tokenwell" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement under the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (as defined below) of a minimum of 10,000,000 units of the Company (each a "Unit") and a maximum of 12,500,000 Units at a price of $0.12 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of a minimum of $1,200,000 and a maximum of $1,500,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit consisting of one (1) common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one (1) Common Share at a price of $0.20 per Common Share for a period of 24 months (the "Expiry Time") from the following Closing Date (as defined below) provided that the Warrants shall not be exercisable for a period of 60 days after the Closing Date. Subject to compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and in accordance with National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106"), the Offering is being made to purchasers' resident in Canada, except Quebec, as well as certain jurisdictions outside of Canada, pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of NI- 45-106 (the "Listed Issuer Financing Exemption"). The securities offered under the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption will not be subject to a hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The Offering is expected to close on or about February 13, 2026 (the "Closing Date"), or such other date as the Company may determine, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals. The Company intends on using the net proceeds from the Offering to fund further development of the Company's digital asset platform, including marketing thereof, and for general working capital purposes. In connection with the closing of the Offering, the Company may pay finders' fees to eligible parties who have assisted in introducing subscribers to the Offering. Completion of the Offering remains subject to regulatory approval. There is an offering document (the "Offering Document") related to the Offering that will be accessible under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at www.tokenwell.com. Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. About Tokenwell Platforms Inc. (CSE: TWEL) (OTCQB: TWELF) (FWB: Y920) Tokenwell is a publicly listed cutting-edge digital asset platform dedicated to making digital assets accessible, secure, and efficient for users worldwide. With a focus on innovation and user-centric design, Tokenwell empowers individuals and businesses to engage with the crypto economy confidently. For more information about Tokenwell, its upcoming launches, product benefits and features, Crypto users should visit www.tokenwell.io and download the Tokenwell app on iOS or Android . Potential investors are invited to visit www.tokenwell.com and everyone should follow us on LinkedIn , X & Telegram, and also subscribe to our News Alert opportunity for free and timely notifications from the Company. For further information Tokenwell Disclaimer - Tokenwell Platforms Inc. is not an investment adviser or commodity trading advisor. Tokenwell makes no representation regarding the advisability of investments linked to its products. Assets remain on users' own exchanges. Terms and conditions available at tokenwell.com . Forward-Looking Statements 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 "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 expected closing date of the Offering; the anticipated proceeds to be raised under the Offering; the intended use of any proceeds raised under the Offering; and the payment of any finder's fees in connection with the Offering. These forward-looking 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: the inability of the Company to raise the anticipated proceeds under the Offering; the inability of the Company to utilize the anticipated proceeds of the Offering as anticipated; and risks related to global financial markets, including the trading price of the Company's shares. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation: the Company will be able to raise the anticipated proceeds under the Offering and on the timetable anticipated; and the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as currently anticipated. 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. You should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements. Neither the CSE nor its Regulatory Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATED 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/282280 Source: Tokenwell Platforms Inc. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 30, 2026) - Mexican Gold Mining Corp. (TSXV: MEX) (the "Company" or "Mexican Gold") announces that, effective today's date (the "Grant Date"), it has granted stock options ("Options") to certain directors, officers, and consultants of the Company to acquire an aggregate of 3,650,000 common shares of Mexican Gold ("Common Shares"), pursuant to the Company's stock option plan. The Options vest upon the Grant Date and are each convertible into a Common Share at an exercise price of $0.16 until January 30, 2031. In addition, the Options (and any Common Shares issuable upon exercise thereof) are subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange and a four-month hold period from the Grant Date in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. About Mexican Gold Mining Corp. Mexican Gold is a Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company committed to building long-term value through ongoing discoveries and strategic acquisitions of prospective precious metals and copper projects in the Americas. Mexican Gold is exploring and advancing the Las Minas Project, which is located in the core of the Las Minas mining district in Veracruz State, Mexico, and host to one of the newest, under-explored skarn systems known in Mexico. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains 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, without limitation, statements relating to the future operating or financial performance of the Company, 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, TSX Venture Exchange acceptance of the grant of Options. 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 Company, 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 of the Company to obtain the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release concerning these items. The Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements if beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors change, except as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/282275 Source: Mexican Gold Mining Corp.